Drama Dealing with After Death Business (Dele and Move to Heaven)

How many dramas have you watched  with death, nearly dead or back to life after death theme? Well, I haven't watched a lot myself, but, the ones I finished watching, mostly have the same theme, that is finishing the deceased matters before they go back to 'heaven'. Say Boku dake ga 17 sai no Sekai de (The World Where I'm Only 17 years old), Itsuka Nemuri ni Tsuku Hi (Someday I'll Fall Asleep), Our 30 Minute Sessions, and Not Quite Dead Yet. The latest title is a bit different since the main character was asleep, and not dead yet. 

Some weeks ago, I finished watching 2 dramas that have almost the same theme, that is, taking care of the deceased matters after they died. One is a Japanese drama entitled Dele, and the other one is a Korean drama entitled Move to Heaven. If you have watched the two of them, I think you would know what I mean. But if you haven't, take this post as a recommended dramas for you.

These two dramas carry almost the same theme, namely cleansing from the dead. Move to Heaven tells about cleaning the belongings of the dead. The service is called  trauma cleaner, whether they died naturally or died from being killed. While Dele drama also provides cleaning services for the digital data of those who have died.

Let me start with Dele.  

Dele was released in 2018 wih 8 episodes. The story revolves around a company called dele. A freelancer programmer, Sakagami Keishi (Yamada Takayuki), together with his sister, who owns a law firm, runs the company to delete all the unfavorable digital records left in their computers and smartphones after the clients die. Since Sakagami Keishi is paralysed in the lower half of his body, he has to sit on a wheelchair. Due to his paralysis, his sister found him someone who can help him. Mashiba Yutaro (Masaki Suda) is the one who helps Sakagami Keishi. 

Keishi is described as a cold figure who didn't want to be emotionally involved with those who die. When he was told to delete the data, he just deleted it right away. However, since Mashiba Yutaro joined, this data deletion has become a bit emotional and dramatic. This Yutaro often sniffed something wrong with someone's death. It's his free-will style that sometimes irritated Keishi. On the other hand, Keishi's sister saw something in Yutaro, therefore, Yutaro was like her dear brother for her. She  somehow, saw that Keishi and Yutaro could make a very good team in dele.

What about Move to Heaven drama? 

Similar to dele, Move to heaven has 3 workers, namely Han Geu-ru (Tang Jun Sang) who inherited this service from his father, he was assisted by his uncle who was an ex-convict named Chong Sang Gu (Lee Je Hoon) and Geu-ru's childhood friend, Yoon Na Mu (Hong Seung He). Geu-ru was a 20-year-old autistic child who had an extraordinary memory. What he read, saw and heard, even if only once, he would remember in great detail. He worked exactly what his father taught him, never deviating from what he should. Meanwhile, Sang Gu, the uncle at first seemed reluctant to help the trauma cleaner. Initially, he had malicious intentions of stealing wealth from his nephew, but until episode 6, it seemed that his intentions have evaporated. Meanwhile, Na Mu, Geu-ru's childhood friend, became his uncle's scout if he did evil thing to his nephew. Na Mu also helped with trauma cleaner.

 

When cleaning the deceased's house, the Move to Heaven team was often involved in the life before the deceased died. Especially Geu-ru who has a very sharp memory and eyes, he intelligently sequenced events from one another. One of the most valuable relic boxes will later be handed over to the deceased's family. Well, here is usually what drains the audience's tears. Did I cry a lot? Hmmmm....

Similar to Move to heaven, the Dele team often has to deal with the past of the deceased before he died, especially when the person who died was killed. As soon as the news that a client of Dele died, Yutaro was given the task of checking whether the he/ she was really dead. The his/ her digital data will be deleted within 24 hours or 48 hours, if there was no recent access from the owner. Well, when it comes to someone's past, it was possible to get further mystery that even endangered the lives of the team members. But, still, someone's past might be as heartbreaking as your love life. LOL.

the shoes that will make you cry

*****

While I was watching both of the dramas, frankly, I was waiting for the moment of emotion that made my nose runny and my eyes puffy, that I was embarrassed to leave my room... Unfortunately, I didn't find this situation in Move to Heaven. Maybe because I already predicted what would happen in some scenes, like the mother who was hated by the child was actually a mother who loved his son, or this elderly couple who chose to die together had a sweet but sad past, or a sad love story between a doctor and a violinist. At this and that moment, I have had a bunch of BL dramas, seemed to have guessed that there would be a shonen ai thing between them... It's similar to one episode of Dele, which had this Shounen ai thingy, but I found out at the last minute of the episode. If you could see a glimpse of the characters gesture, you would find it, obviously.

What about Dele? Did I shed my tears for the episodes? Well, I'm a kind of person who could not cry easily, but at times, I could get choked of some simple scenes. To be honest, I cried uncontrollably in episode 2. But that's all I got. The next episodes were like other slice of life dramas I have been watching. It's even a bit amusing to see the behavior of Yutaro, who likes to claim to be the brother or sister of the deceased victim but then avoided when the police came to check the crime scene. Not to mention his looks like a homeless bum; long limp hair, shabby jacket and pants and a smile that is actually friendly but one must be afraid of being mistaken for a sane person or not... But he has a very good heart. When taking care of the bullied children, he could make cold Keishi to join him taking care of the bullied ones. It's wholesome, isn't it? 

Comparing the two drama, I can say that Move to Heaven is lighter than Dele. Everything, related to the deceased things, is done in one episode. You will find something warm and deep after someone dies. As Geu-ru said, the deceased can talk, or has something to deliver to their family, or their loved ones. It's gentle and wholesome. For Dele, who would have thought that the episode one would be related in the last episode? that Yutaro joining is somewhat set up, and the involvement of police and politics matters could endanger Keishi as well as Yutaro. Deleting some digital files must be a prominent thing, as as not to be misused. But, the files might open something hidden that could be valuable for certain people. The plot twist, at the end, was somewhat shocking, but I expect that there would be season 2 for this amazing drama. 

dele trailer 

Move to Heaven trailer

So, if you're looking for a drama related to death, that is not about the dead coming back to life for the sake of finishing their business, you can try watching these two dramas. Looking for some drama that would make you shed tears with rolls of tissue, dele and Move to Heaven are for you. 

PS: Move to Heaven is available in Netflix. Just wait for dele to be available in Netflix, if you want to watch this amazing drama.  

See you in the next recommendation.

Jaa, matta.... 

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