Ju-on: Origins (Netflix Japan) S01: B

Back in 2002 it was released the movie Ju-on: The Grudge in Japan. Writer and director Takashi Shimizu, made such an impression in Hollywood that two years later they released the remake / expanded universe The Grudge with Sarah Michelle Gellar, with him as the director. From here on the universe kept expanding with sequels for both the Japanese and the Hollywood version. This year believe it or not was released the latest Hollywood film of this franchise and there was even a film involving the ghost from The Grudge with the ghost of The Ring, made in Japan, classic cinema right?

Ju-on: Origins takes us back to events before the original film, it also means the first Japanese horror series from Netflix. Much like The Haunting Of Hill House and Dark, Origins cover different timelines, just like in the original movie. Showing us thru the eyes of a paranormal researcher, who is very interested in the subject. He is writing a book about the history of the infamous house, he is the one that discovers that different horrific murders happened at that same place. He traces the survivors and talks to them about their experience in search of clues, to know why exactly this things happen there. In the different timelines we are witness to those murders and slowly we connect the dots about who is who.

For me this was very interesting, the fact that ghosts have no timeline, that they exist anywhere in time, even before they died. The series is slowly paced which help built up the suspense. We have to remember that Japanese horror is more about the suspense than scary scenes. Still I did jump from my seat a couple of times. The music is also a key element, specially the end credits song. Each chapter they leave you with a cliffhanger and we cut to that creepy song, I never skipped it and like it the feeling it gave me.

Some of the stories are more interesting than others, and our researcher is not someone with strong expressions, he often looks as in a trance, but I guess that's how they directed him. Some of the murders are gore scenes that look a little bit exaggerated, and a couple of times break the mood set by the pace of the show.

I remember loving The Grudge not really loving the sequel with Amber Tamblyn, but this is slightly better than the rest of the universe they created after Ju-on: The Grudge. Something really cool would have been a cameo by Sarah Michelle Gellar, maybe for the second season if they have it.

If you like Japanese horror, this is something you should watch. If you like Hollywood horror, this is something you should probably stay away from it.

Something that Netflix should really work on, is in their IMDB pages of their international productions. This is a Netflix Japan production and the IMDB page for it is basically empty. No creators, no production team, only one actor listed and without the name of who he is playing. I have encountered this in other non US shows.I find this very disrespectful to the cast and crew of those shows, something that should definitely need to be fixed. Some of the production companies might be small and without experience, but Netflix isn't. They should do it for them or teach them how to do it.

This is why I didn't drop more names about who created the show, my best guess is that it was Takashi Shimizu himself or any names of the actors and the role they played. I think I recognized in one of the story lines Ki Hong Lee from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. But not quite sure about it.