Voice

Synopsis:

A group of five medical students take on the task of conveying the "voices of the dead." Kaji Daiki fails to get into a popular heart surgery seminar but is somehow accepted into a seminar on forensic pathology. When he approaches professor Sagawa and asks him why he ended up in the seminar, Sagawa challenges him by asking why he wants to study heart surgery. Daiki replies that medicine is meaningless after the heart stops, but Sagawa counters that medicine also applies to the dead. And so, together with fellow students Ryosuke, Kanako, Teppei and Akira, Daiki begins to explore the mysteries of death.

My opinion:

It is unexpectedly "good" for me. I have never seen or been interested in medical-related shows so this is my first time. I kinda expecting something more clinical and scientific. And this series is a deviation from my expections, for good and for bad. The good side is: there is a lot of human drama. I love to watch shows that make me cry and the first few episodes were just wow. I think I cried even more bitterly than the actors/actresses haha.. The human drama part is very very good, although unfortunately in the last few episodes, it deteriorates. The death scenes are not that graphic and bloody so I guess the medical part is not really the focus after all. The bad side: I did not expect that the "conveying the message of the death" would be that of CSI stuff. Doctors going to the place where the accident/death occurs to find clues bla bla bla? Meh meh... it's just inconceivable in real life..

The series also touch on various medical issues such as euthanasia and medical malpractice. I also learn few things about autopsy (like the procedures) and medical conditions such as Crushing Syndrome and Munchausen Syndrome. They are real!! Lol.. Crushing syndrome is when there is a damage to muscles and there is release of potassium which results in heart problems and death. Munchausen Syndrome is when people are faking medical conditions to attract people's attention.. There is even Munchausen Syndrome by proxy!! Lol.. I also learn how useful autopsy can be although the results sometimes can be distorted. No wonder everytime there is a mysterious death in Hollywood, they would always do autopsy (even though it means cutting up the body). It sounds cruel to cut the dead but hey sometimes it is a must to find out anything weird or unusual about someone's death.

Some things are pretty interesting too like people can actually survive a few hours after an electocution before finally die because of arrhtyhmias and heart failure and edema becomes undetected after someone dies (real or not I'm not sure leh!!) haha.. Some things are questionable for example: how can 4th year medical students to not know about anaphylaxis??

Another thing I would like to commend is about the twists presented in the story. It makes the sad part even sadder (and make I tear even more T_T). However, this is not my favourite as it scores quite low in terms of "replayability" factor. I seriously don't think I would rewatch this show haha.. unless for the few episodes which are very good for emo materials (to help me cry). The story and character development are also not that satisfactory to me. Seriously, what is the conclusion/ending of the story? Unsure..

My afterthoughts:

This show just proves another point why I am not suited to work in a hospital. My threshold to pain and suffering is just terribly low. I honestly was quite nauseated from the first episode when they did the autopsy. Firstly, they open the body from the neck to the navel. Then they measure the cutaneous fat thickness. Then they will check the ribs, CUT the ribs, then feel/touch the organs, remove organs if necessary for some chemical tests bla bla bla.. These things are only described in words (not in graphics) and I was already so much sickened imagining this stuff.. How can I survive to see the real thing?? I will faint daily if I work in a hospital ba..

Pharmacists are depicted in bad light (again!). Bleah, it's a common thing in US show so I was very surprised to see the episode when a pharmacy student stole penicillin from his school to induce colitis to her sister. I seriously have no idea what's the problem with pharmacy that it is always depicted in negative lights in TV shows. Haha.. But to be honest, I think it's time for the profession to find out where its place in the medical settings. Afterall, it cannot be a coincidence that it is always portrayed badly. There must be something very very wrong..

And I guess I will just stick to school life drama xD.. This one doesn't work quite right for me haha.. even though I am interested to watch mainly because of the actors. I admit that I had good crying sessions.. but overall the series did not leave me with a good impression LOL