Synopsis
Ryuzaki Shinji who possesses a “God Hand”, the power to heal wounds and illnesses just by touching the patient, is in fact a dark introvert who does not reveal his true self to others. Aoi Ryosuke who possesses the “Demon’s Hand”, the power to kill a person just by touching him, is as kind and pure as an angel. When the demon meets the God, a fatal battle begins…

Detective Hasebe Nagisa gets caught by the criminals during a deep cover operation. Ryosuke, a man she does not even know comes to save her and she witnesses his “Demon’s Hand” in action. Thereafter she discovers by coincidence the existence of Shinji’s “God Hand” and brings the two together. Little did she know that this would cause great disorder to the world and even to her own life.

My Impressions:
What made me want to take the first “lookie” was… hey c’mon; one guy can kill with a touch and the other can heal with a touch…  that’s enough right there to pique my interest!  Orthros no Inu first episode “The Devil’s Hand and The God’s Hand” was quite interesting.  An hour long, I sat glued to my seat watching it.  It has the formula of: mystery, and the makings of a good supernatural drama!  The twist on this series, is the fact that the dark guy or bad guy,  has the healing powers whereas the  squeaky clean-good samaritan-on the geeky side Sensei of an all girls high school  has the power to kill.  Usually it’s the other way around… great twist!  :-D

Ryosuke [ good guy, killing hand], his character is soooooooooo squeaky clean that it was really interesting when he used his powers the first time.  It was something he always had and was warn by his Mother in childhood not to get angry with anyone because bad things happens.  So it appears he lived life to adulthood being that guy who “turn the other cheek,” and became a passive, submissive person.

Whereas Ryuzaki [dark mysterious, healing hand], ten years prior killed three males and is in prison for life and is being used by the Warden for his own personal gain. 

Detective Hasebe Nagisa has this ‘over zealous’ nature that was somewhat a bit of a turn off for me… however, I’m hoping it will tone down as the series progresses.  Because of that overly zealous nature, she tends to do things as a one woman show and it causes her to get suspended from the job.  But that does not stop her for getting information from an fellow Detective.    After witnessing Ryosuke using his powers, she becomes obsessed with it.  Upon learning about Ryuzaki, she figures he’s Ryosuke’s opposite, visit him in the prison where Ryuzaki asks her to bring Ryosuke to him.

Only wanting to see Ryosuke,  the Warden brings him to see Ryuzaki while Hasebe-san waits in the Warden’s office pissed off that she was not invited to the meeting.  Both men trade off what’s it like to have the powers that they have.  Ryuzaki convinces Ryosuke to help him break out of jail by killing the Warden and he promised that he would bring him back to life.  Naive Ryosuke goes along with the plan, and Ryuzaki assaults him, and escapes by jumping one of the prison guards, stealing his clothes and walking out of the prison.  Hasebe-san catches up to him and hesitates about shooting him because she herself has someone that she wants healed: her daughter who’s an asthmatic.  Ryuzaki over powers her and takes her gun and disappears into the shadows.

The first episode also dealt with characters that gave an inkling of what’s to come.

For example:
You have a politician that’s running for office and secretly, she’s in bad health.  The public doesn’t know and if it gets out, her political career will be over.
Then there’s an ex-cop who’s now a derelict but knows about Ryuzaki.  He does not believe that he has “God’s Hands” but rather, a  pair of “Devil’s Hands.”
I tell ya… the makings of a good  suspense-supernatural drama!

This series has promise.  There’s even an online community created for it:   <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/orthrosnoinu/">Orthros no Inu Livejournal Community</a> and one can go there for downloads of episodes.  Note:  1st episode – large file.  The community site has the episode broken up into pieces.  [Something I haven't learn how to do yet :-(  ]

Conclusion
I like the first episode.  I thought it was tastefully done, and the storyline already has my wheels turning!  Totally recommend this series.

Rating: 8.5/10 — not bad of a rating for the first episode.

Drama, Suspense, Mystery, Supernatural

Orthros no Inu
Category:  JDrama
Year:  July 24, 2009
Network:  TBS
Fan Sub:  Nya!Fansubs
Episodes:  Ongoing