Drama Review: Hanzawa Naoki

Oh dear. I forget to review this drama. Off the bat, I want to say I love this drama a lot. Based off a novel, it was very well written and there was a lot of twists and turns. Hanzawa Naoki is a banker working at Tokyo Chuo Bank at the Osaka branch. In a nutshell, this is one man's struggle and revenge story against corporate scum with pure intention to reform the banking industry for good.


The TV drama makes sure the audience doesn't get lost with all the banking terminology and takes you through the workings of a Japanese bank. You get a sense of how banks in Japan work and how much pressure these people get. The story focuses on Hanzawa who is falsely accused of having Tokyo Chuo Bank lose 500 million yen when someone else was clearly pulling the strings. While most bankers would crumble under the pressure, Hanzawa is determined to uncover the secret behind it with intention to make the ones responsible pay tenfold. Throughout the drama, they always flash back to the moment of young Hanzawa seeing his father commit suicide because the bank refused to lend money to them. While it gets very repetitive hearing his father's words "Don't become a robot", the meaning becomes more imminent towards the climax. Don't be someone who always says yes when you clearly see that something is very wrong.

The themes of good versus evil is always prominent. There are various examples of corporate scum in the series like putting pressure on those inferior, shifting blame and bullying others to get what they want, and intense cases of bribery. In every episode, it feels like Hanzawa is teetering on the edge about to be demoted or fired yet every time he has an extraordinary comeback, a slap in the face for the antagonists. It is so exciting to see Hanzawa work with people to get back money that was lost because he is always scheming against the antagonists. There's also the theme of what kind of morality can be justified. Can the ends justify the means? While the antagonists play their dirty tricks, Hanzawa reveals the darkness in his heart.

The last episode had me going what?! It was a cliffhanger and it feels like they probably want to continue the series with a second season. Honestly, I would really love to see a second season of more scheming. The drama is very intense. I think the acting was very well done. It seems that it was very well received in Japan as well as outside of Japan. Hanzawa's wife, Hana, may have been a minor character, but her character keeps the audience grounded to "good morality" as well as keeping Hanzawa sane. She is also the "good wife" supporting her husband whole-heartedly in the entire fight and willing to put up with other pressures.

Edit --- 9/17/19

It's been 4 years since I wrote this review. I still want to see a sequel to Hanzawa Naoki. Please make a season 2. This show introduced me to more talented Japanese actors.