‘Ikebukuro West Gate Park’ Netflix Series Review - The Local Hero vs The Strangler

The series Ikebukuro West Gate Park was released in 200o and is now available to stream on Netflix. It has Tomoya Nagase in the lead role as Makoto. The other actors in the series are Yōsuke Kubozuka as Takashi, Ai Kato as Hikaru, Shun Oguri as Yoshikazu, Aiko Morishita as Ritsuko, Wakana Sakai as Rika, and others.

In the opening scene of the first episode of the series, we can see a man sitting at the commode, looking at vulgar magazines. The next scene shows a pair together in the hotel room when suddenly the man strangulates the woman. He is a serial killer, also known by the name The Strangler, he can be seen attracting innocent women, taking them to hotels, raping them, and then killing them. The whole community is in shock after learning about this incident, but the Police seem to be not taking any action. It was until the incident happened in Ikebukuro West Gate Park that they woke up and tried to solve the case.

Random girls in the series are shown asking men to go have drinks with them. When the men agree, they take them to expensive restaurants and make huge bills. Failing to pay at these restaurants, the man is stripped of all their belongings (including their clothes). This is a normal culture that’s shown in the locality. Most men in Ikebukuro West Gate Park are perverts. 

Makoto, a 20-year-old boy is the local hero of the community and he’s loved by all of them. His mom owns a fruit shop and can be seen engaged in other sorts of activities also so that she can bring cash home. According to a recent local survey, Mokato was ranked the hottest man in the community. There’s also a local gang in IWGP (Ikebukuro West Gate Park), known as the G-boys. The leader of the gang, King is a close friend of Makoto’s and they can be seen partying together. Some of the gang fights are shown in the first episode of the series.

One day, Makoto meets Shun at a store where he was stealing books. Makoto and King catch him, and slowly a friendship develops. On the same day, the boys are introduced to Hikaru and Rika who came asking them for drinks. They all hang out together, and Rika develops a liking for our hero. They’re seen going to a hotel together but didn’t hook up as Makoto was hesitant. In the neighbor's hotel room, The Strangler made another woman his victim, which made the Police suspicious. A few days later, Rika is killed by The Stranger (the serial killer), and Makoto is the prime suspect in that case. 

The boy takes it upon himself to solve the case of her murder, and the G-boys also join him. To know whether he’ll be able to catch the offender and who it turns out to be, you’ll have to watch the series. In the initial two episodes only, the series builds up the mystery in the minds of the audience. 

In my opinion, Ikebukuro West Gate Park is a good series to watch with just 12 episodes and a duration of 46 minutes each (except the first and the last episode which are longer). The actors in the series did a wonderful job. The initial episodes built up hype which unfortunately couldn’t be carried until the end. The story obviously needed an explanation hence the boring ending, but the show is still good. It is a simple yet effective crime thriller. There’s also an anime of the same name which is liked a lot by the audience. 

The series has its own funny and serious moments which’ll be liked by the audience. You’ll enjoy watching the show as it shows teenagers having fun, but suddenly one day, tragedy hits them, and they take it up themselves to solve the case of brutal murders going on in their community.

Final Score – [7/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
Follow @_riyasinghhh_ on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times