Ep 1 is an ok set up episode. The whole thing can be summed up into two storylines that are connected but have parts that feel disconnected. First, we have Kuraki's (Nishijima Hidetoshi) story. He's the ace of the public security police, who's wife died in the explosion.
Kuraki is the troubled soul hard boiled detective and as the episode progresses we learn about his troubled past and the incident with his daughter and wife. My only complaint of the Kuraki story is I wish they had revealed the incident with flashbacks only and without explanation and let the viewers put 2 and 2 together instead of the heavy handed I just want to truth and then showing varies unsolved cases.
Supporting Kuraki in his story is Osugi (Kagawa teruyuki), the section 1 investigator who declares many times his hatred for the public security section. He and Densha end up as our exposition characters though I am very skeptical of this boogeyman Daruma storyline. The second Kuraki supporting character is of course, Akeboshi Miki (Maki Yoko) who is from section 2 of public securities and answers directly to Kita Yoshio and was at the scene of the blast.
The second main story is about the killer Shingai who loses his memory. I really don't like the way his eyes turn completely black in two scenes cause it implies that there are supernatural powers at work, especially combined with the Daruma story. Not sure the Shingai actor is the right guy for the role and it doesn't help that the people trying to kill him were overacting.
The one thing I didn't understand was what was Shometani Shota doing in the beginning of the episode. He was filming the results of the blast, dropped his camera as if he were going to save this girl who was saved by Maki Yoko and he was never seen again. Maybe he will resurface in ep 2?
Let's see what happens in episode two when the story should really get going. The preview at the end looks very exciting. I actually watched episode 1 twice because somehow it didn't occur to me that Japanese subs would be available since TBS is doing season 1. It was so much easier for me to understand with Japanese subs. Fingers crossed episode 2 is good.