Air Dates: April 11 to October 31, 1985 Thursdays at 7:30 pm on Fuji-TV
Based upon the manga by Shinji Wada, there were some differences between the manga and this series such as two new characters but for the most part what took place in the manga was followed... Subs by Mashhamid though a few others have also subbed this series
Ratings: Average for all 24 episodes was 13.04%, the high was 17.0% while 9.6% was the lowest and that happened twice. This episode's rating was 14.5% and that was a nice increase over the previous three episodes, this aired on October 24, 1985 .
The heroine in this series was Yuki Saito who was eighteen when the show began in April 1985, she turned nineteen while it was airing. Wouldn't call Yuki a superstar but she's an actress most drama fans should know of as she's been so busy over the last forty years appearing in too many dramas, movies and stage plays to count! Yuki is also a singer who has about ten albums and 25 singles along with doing many other theme songs to dramas, she does the ending song to this show. Yuki is now 58 in age and she was an attractive woman back in her twenties and thirties, not saying she looks bad now but as mentioned is getting up there in age. Enough of an intro as there's always another mini section after the main character bios which are below and will be editing them quite often.
Most of the action will be taking place at the Takanoha Academy high school but in episode one the setting was St. Annes school which did slightly confuse me. Episode two is when Saki enrolls at Takanoha Academy and we didn't meet most major characters until then or at least the main students. Most of these photos at the top are of Saki holding a Yo-Yo, it's no ordinary one! When it flips open it shows the Police Crest as Saki is an undercover detective and what power it has. The Yo-Yo can smash through steel and if a person gets hit with it they're down for the count, the steel string is very long and can also double as a pair of handcuffs.
Yuki Saito as Saki Asamiya.... There is so much to say about Saki and not enough space! Saki's mother Natsu is currently on death row for killing her husband Toshiya, that happened when Saki was six in age which was eleven years ago. For the next nine years don't know yet what became of Saki but by the age of twelve she was a delinquent. She did enter high school but was expelled from Takanoha Academy at the age of fifteen and sent to Kanto Kita Juvenile Center but there was something about Saki or perhaps her circumstances which attracted the attention of the two men below this bio, Jin and Shirei. They're the top two executives of the very secret government department Dark Agency, they've recruited Saki to become an undercover detective as being a teen will allow to work much more efficiently at high schools.
Of course Saki refused at first but the offer included an apartment, clothes and such plus a huge kicker. Which is that if Saki successfully completed a mission her mother Natsu's death penalty would be voided though would have to finish a prison sentence. To that offer Saki agreed but the Dark Agency did renege on their end of the deal and came up with an excuse for Saki to do another mission which she reluctantly said yes to so think that scenario of Dark Agency using Saki will continue on. Know more changes will be done to Saki's bio but that covers what we learned in the first two episodes. Saki's mother Natsu is in the bottom screenshot, don't think we'll be seeing her too often. In the 22nd episode Natsu was found innocent as her former boss Gouzo Mizuchi had committed the murder. At the end of that show Saki was relieved of her duties working with Dark Agency after her mother was released from prison but in the next episode Saki was once again a DEKA!!!!
Koji Naka as Kyoichiro Jin.... The top agent for Dark Agency and is Saki's 'handler'. Jin was a cool looking man and was very respected by his superior Shirei. Jin is very skilled at martial arts though we haven't seen him in a physical fight through eight episodes and drives a yellow Porsche 911. In episode fifteen we learned that Jin was born in 1956 so that would make his age 29, he had attended a university in America and graduated in 1982. That meant he was 26 at the time and after returning to Japan Jin began to work for the National Police Agency, the Dark Agency must be an offshoot department. After beginning with the police none of Jin's records or activities are in their database so it's like Jin has been erased from the Earth, discovering that was the very devious older Mizuchi sister Reimi.
Hiroyuki Nagato as Kurayami Shirei.... Leader of Dark Agency and the person who recruited Saki to be an undercover detective at high schools. To me it appears Shirei is the one toying with Saki and saying he'll void her mother's death sentence to keep her doing missions, think Jin does have a soft spot for Saki and doesn't like seeing her used. Shirei had been a judge at one time and was one of the six on the panel for Natsu's murder trial! Perhaps that's why he chose Saki to be a secret detective as he had been keeping tabs on her for about a decade and felt she was finally ready for action! Don't know if it will continue on for the whole series but when Shirei appears in screen we never see him clearly, he is an older man and maybe keeping his face obscured adds to the mystery.
The remaining characters are all from Takanoha Academy which is a high school, in Tokyo? No characters appeared in the first episode so these bios will definitely need to be edited for future posts, the top characters are the students. Don't think any teachers will be key to the stories but will add one in plus the principal. Saki had attended this school when she was fifteen in age but had been expelled in her first year and sent to a detention center, she's now returned to the fury of many who remember her!
Chiaki Watanabe as Miyako Yumekoji.... She too is a delinquent girl but unlike Saki was never sent away to a detention center and is very intelligent though her ego is a bit too large. When Saki had been expelled Miyako took 'control' of the school or in other words has become the leader of the school's undesirables. Who are females and you never see girls have male underlings in these shows or films, of course those henchmen(women?) are Yes People who bully others. None of that group of Miyako's followers will have large roles but we will be seeing them often enough, the names of the main four girls are Tomiko, Hanako, Masayo and Tamami. That's them in the first screenshot below, Miyako is on the left and in the center of the second screenshot. Miyako is a very attractive teen and for now hates Saki with such a passion so a theme for the first half of the series will be of her trying to take Saki down. Of course Miyako doesn't know Saki is an undercover detective and had felt she returned to Takanoha Academy to take control of the female gangs which was not the case.
Yasuyoshi Masuda as Sanpei Nowaki.... That's an odd name and don't recall ever seeing either of those before. Senpai wasn't at Takanoha Academy when Saki was enrolled there two years ago, when he first saw Saki in present times it was love at first sight for Senpai!!!! Who had no idea of Saki's past but was so enamored with her ultra coolness plus she was attractive. Unsure(doubt) if Saki will ever return Senpai's feelings of love but think he will become a trusted ally. By the third episode Sanpei has become friends with Saki, not best friends yet but he is her only one.
Genji Kawai as Miyagawa.... Principal of Takanoha Academy and he probably won't be an important character but should be in most episodes, he's the older man sitting at the desk.
Hiraizumi Sei as Numa Juzo.... PE teacher at the academy and also the home room teacher of Saki's. Juzo was strongly opposed to Saki being able to reenroll at the school but like all didn't know she was an undercover detective. He also works in the guidance department and can be extremely strict though usually is fair to all except not at first towards Saki.
The Mizuchi family.... just added these four characters in as they will be so very important for at least the next eight episodes. Least the three sisters will, doubt if we'll see much of the father but just in case we do added his name in here. We first met Ayumi in episode eleven, then Kumi in the thirteenth and the elder Mizichi sister Reimi in episode fifteen.
Yasuko Endo as Ayumi Mizuchi.... Though just seventeen in age when this was filmed in the show she was at least a year older than Saki. Ayumi comes from a very wealthy family and is the president of the Kanto Region Student Council Union among other things. Ayumi used that position to try and take control Saki's high school Takanoha Academy but that failed, she's Saki's most bitter enemy and also her toughest opponent. **** Checked up on the actress and read a very sad story, six months after this show ended Yasuko committed suicide and was just seventeen in age. Besides acting she was also about to begin a singing career at the time of her death which was from jumping out of a seventh story window. That death was very suspicious at the time and so many rumors began to spread about why the tragedy occurred but no one knew the real answer. She must have tangled with Saki five times and though she won a few battles in the end run Ayumi lost all of her wars against her most bitter rival! At the end of the 22nd episode she was arrested after her father had been duped into revealing all of his and the family's dark secrets!
Natsumi Asano as Kumi Mizuchi.... I seventeen in age which is the same as Saki and is another sister who needs to be avoided! Though such a low life person Kumi is a very talented pianist and the competition she was in was the focus of episodes thirteen and fourteen. At the end of the 14th show she got into a scrap with Saki, Kumi's right hand and arm was injured so was unable to play the ivories for a while. Kumi is a very skilled bow and arrow shooter along with being adept at riding a motorcycle. At the end of the 22nd episode she was arrested after her father had been duped into revealing all of his and the family's dark secrets!
Hitomi Takahashi as Reimi Mizuchi.... We finally met the oldest sister in the fifteenth episode, she's just returned to Japan after attending college in America. Reimi is quite an attractive woman but also one you don't want to tangle with as she is so ruthless. And devious as she's vowed to take down Saki for hurting her two younger sisters and to me it's not Ayumi who is Saki's most dangerous opponent but Reimi! She has quite the setup at her father's office which is the top screenshot below, considering this drama took place in 1985 Reimi had some tech gadgets which are common today but were very rare back then. She was the only Mizuchi family member not to go to prison or to die, the final two shows are a death match against her bitter rival Saki(!) though Reimi does respect her quite a bit.
Shigeru Kamiyama as Gouzo Mizuchi.... Don't think we'll be seeing much of him but his fortune is so key to the sisters enacting their revenge on Saki! Gouzo owns the Mizuchi Corporation and is supposedly the sixth richest man in Japan, his family never loses and often have to resort to such underhanded and violent measures to achieve that! After being duped into confessing many of his crimes in the 22nd episode Gouzo shot himself in the head in front of Saki, Jin and Sanpei. For a few episodes it appeared Gouzo may have been Saki's real father after raping her mother Natsu but in the end run don't think he was her true father.
Previous recaps
Here we are at the end, am a bit sad this is it for the series but that's also been the case for many others.... hundreds???? That video above is of a Yuki 1992 single titled "Itsuka"(Someday), it wasn't one of her more known singles as it only reached #50 on the charts. But the PV did feature her mate from this series who was Yasuyoshi Masuda, he played Saki's best friend Sanpei in the show. That was an important role and after this video came out he retired from show biz, he's the man wearing glasses who first appears at the 1:22 mark, Yuki wrote the lyrics for this song. I have seen her in many other shows and have recapped a pair of her recent ones. But until now hadn't paid enough attention to Yuki and she was such an attractive woman though not in an obvious way. There is a photo above of her wearing a swimsuit and that's a rarity as she never needed to do gravure photo shoots to become noticeable. The middle pic above is of a 'Greatest Hit Singles' CD which I just obtained recently and I much prefer the older J-Pop music from the 1980's and 90's. Will be doing more things that Yuki appeared in and do recommend checking out her Ja.wiki page and what a long career she's had as she's put so many to shame with the amount of dramas, movies and albums she's had.... why can't other women I like so much be even half as busy?!
Hard to top that bottom screenshot and that magnetic smile gets a grade of 10/10 from me!!!! Speaking of grades will begin off with mine for this series which got immensely better as it went along. At first I had wondered if I had made a mistake with choosing this as a series I would recap, try to pick out dramas I think will be quite good. Did mention the sluggish start in the opening two recaps but it did improve, by the end of the tenth show would have given it a rating of 8.7/10. Then it seemed to become such a different drama as slowly but surely the trio of Mizuchi sisters were introduced and those storylines were close to unbeatable, at times had wished episodes were five minutes longer. My rating for the final fourteen shows would be an 9.5/10 which is one of my highest grades ever, overall it averages out to be about 9.2/10 if you round off. There were only a few negatives to me, one was the slowish first few episodes. Another was that often the fight scenes at the end of a show weren't long enough and that's why I wished the episodes were a bit longer.
Also those fighting scenes moved so quickly it was hard to take screenshots which is why I've said it's a much better drama to view instead of reading about. There were so many positives about this show, especially the cast that was led by Yuki as the heroine Saki Asamiya, also excellent was her Dark Agency handler Jin plus her ultra evil opponent Reimi Mizuchi. The final fourteen episodes had so much intrigue, mystery, action, plot changes and original storylines so this is one series I HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Guess there is one other minor beef but it does make sense which is why Saki hadn't been killed during the final dozen shows. The Mizuchi sisters truly tried to eliminate Saki six or more times without any success and why didn't they just hire a sniper(or army!) to take her out? But that would have meant less intrigue plus you can't kill off the heroine halfway through. In the recap above this mentioned what may be up next, let me add a third possibility. Which is the 1983-84 series "Kagaku Sentai Dynaman" and that looks so super to me, I love those Sentai/Superhero series and never do enough recaps for them so that kind of show is up next. After that will view season two of this series which didn't star Yuki, perhaps that's why this final episode ended the way it did? EDIT: Do view many more shows than I recap, usually don't have posts for those I have on DVD and what a (too!)large collection I have. Lately been viewing many older American series but tonight it's back to Japanese shows, once again what to choose gives me a headache! Think it's narrowed down to the first season of 'Ultraman" which aired in 1966 or "Iron King" from 1972-73, have seen both but not for many years and forget what's happened in both series.... same goes for "Super Robot Red Baron" which I like even more than those other two....
Whew, what a long post it's been so far and still haven't finished this intro section yet! This was an excellent finale though not as much took place compared to other episodes so it should be easy to write up. The five screenshots above are from this last show with the first being it's title, after that you can see an irate Saki is determined to make her final appearance as a Deka an historical victory! And it was as for the second time in three episodes she saved Japan from being taken over by the diabolical Mizuchi family and did the 100 million citizens realize what this former juvenile delinquent had done?!!!! Actually the only Mizuchi family member left is the oldest daughter Reimi, her two evil sisters are in prison and her overly corrupt father Gouzo shot himself to death at the end of episode 22.
This finale is not a true continuation of episode 23's story, in that Saki's classmate Kazumi was mistaken for our hero and had been run over by a motorcycle gang. That was an order from Reimi who was furious with her henchmen's mistake in not attacking the correct target and presume the girl has fully recovered as no mention was made of her in this show. Which will be a final Death Match between Saki and Reimi but was there a true winner? That I really don't know and you'll discover why at the very end. Right above is Saki with her Dark Agency handler Jin who had more screentime in this episode than any other one and he could be the third piece of that Death Match. That's Saki talking about Reimi in that screenshot and included it for doesn't Jin tower over Saki? In real life Yuki is 161 cm and that's not too short, just shy of 64 inches. Koji Naka who played Jin was a very tall man as his height was 191 cm and that's a little over 75 inches! Won't be rehashing too much of what has taken place up until now as I'm sure you know where this long story stands and above are links to the previous 22 episodes if you need to jog your memory and I do on occasion. So let's finally dive into the action and there was more of the physical kind in this finale than any other episode and I am so sad at this point knowing this is it for the terrific series....
That attack by Sanpei of course rattled Saki and she couldn't believe her best friend would do such a thing. Of course Sanpei wouldn't have if he was in his right mind, Jin had a secret government doctor come in to examine Sanpei and this scene is above. Sanpei had been injected with the drug P3Y which the Japan military had used in WWII, it's now outlawed. The drug makes a person brain dead and they will only listen to the commands of those who spoke to them first after the injection, in this case it was Saki's #1 nemesis Reimi! So this drug brainwashes people and though outlawed some evil underground organizations still use it in extreme situations. P3Y is also a killer for if an antidote isn't administered within 24 hours the person will die, how long does Sanpei have to live? After Jin explained all that to Saki she returned home and Jin would guard Sanpei which didn't work out at all! For when Jin entered his hospital room Jin jumped out of bed as the sedatives had worn off, Sanpei grappled with the stunned Jin and proceeded to jump out of the window! Jin gave chase but Sanpei hopped into a waiting vehicle that was sent by Reimi and it tore away. It wasn't explained but Reimi must have phoned Sanpei in his room and gave him orders to escape! ****Did forget to mention that Sanpei had been abducted earlier in the day by the same group of men and that's when this lethal brainwashing drug was injected. The following morning Saki received a call from Reimi, that's in the bottom screenshot above and right below. Sanpei had been injected at 3:00 pm the prior day, it's now mid morning so Sanpei has another 5-6 hours to live if the antidote isn't administered. Reimi gave Saki an ultimatum, meet her at 1:00 pm at the abandoned Yeast Pharmaceutical Factory for a final showdown or Sanpei dies!!!!
A few of the ten(?) guards had managed to fire a few shots from their machine guns, all missed Jin but one person did get injured. Who was Reimi as Sanpei had awoken from his dazed state and stabbed Reimi on the left side of her stomach just before she was grabbed by Jin! It wasn't a life threatening wound but severe enough where Reimi couldn't escape from Jin's grasp. When Reimi told Jin the antidote was destroyed it sent him into a fury and that's the first time it's happened in the series as Jin is so ultra cool, calm and collective. The time was now about 1:15 pm so Sanpei had only two hours to live, Jin grabbed the seventeen year old boy and literally carried him to his yellow Porsche 911. Like he did with Saki Jin punched him hard enough to make the lad unconscious. The gunfire from the guards continued but they kept missing, a bleeding Reimi told them to stop. At his car Jin sent an urgent message to the Dark Agency HQ, he needed an antidote for the P3Y drug and NOW!!!! Here's where the first tragedy occurred and it was courtesy of Reimi who is holding a rifle above, she's an ace shooter and unlike her guards didn't miss! Her target was Jin and it was a direct hit to his chest, he may have been hit twice. Jin staggered away from his car and a few minutes later arriving was Saki, the second to last screenshot above. Sanpei was passed out from being punched and he had only about ninety minutes to live, of course Saki wondered where was Jin and she wandered off looking for him. Right after she left there was a response from the Dark Agency HQ that they had the P3Y antidote but could Sanpei be administered it in time? Yes, for he did live as we saw at the end and who was his savior? In the bottom screenshot above and right below Saki did find Jin who was slumped under a bridge and at first Saki didn't notice any wounds....
By now think Reimi realized her dream of ruling Japan was never going to happen and it appeared she lost all of her will to live. So Reimi said if she was going to Hell so wasn't Saki, Reimi coolly walked over to a high-tech control panel(!) in this abandoned factory and pulled some levers. Soon the place was ablaze in flames and smoke, though she could have fled Saki remained. She had some final brutal words for Reimi and my favorite part of many episodes was when Saki gave her beaten opponent a lecture at the end! Some of those words are above and near the bottom, didn't Saki want to live instead of giving a lecture? For those levers Reimi pulled activated some tubes of poison gas, within five minutes both would be dead! Saki's new Yo-Yo is more powerful than her previous one, she used that against Reimi and Saki's direct hits against her may have ended Reimi's life before the gas did. Justice was served as Saki turned back every evil opponent in this series and everyone was more dangerous than the previous monster! At this point there was only a minute to go in the show before the credits began, I was expecting to see a victorious Saki return to Takanoha Academy as the savior of Japan(!) and why not have one more paragraph for this is the final recap!
Just below is from the final minute and how the series ended. It was at the high school and all were mourning.... the death of their classmate Saki Asamiya!!!! Which did surprise me and not all believed she was dead such as Saki's best friend Sanpei in the second and third screenshots below. With that this series came to it's conclusion and in the intro gave so many reasons why this was one of the best dramas I've viewed in the last few years. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this series which is easy enough to get and at 24 minutes an episode you can breeze through it. **** My final deductions are that the producers of this show had Saki die at the end for the star Yuki Saito couldn't do a second season for she was going to have the lead role in an upcoming Asadora(morning drama). So they may not have had any definite plans on what to do next which is why Saki was presumed killed at the end and perhaps secretly someone from Dark Agency had saved her from the poisonous gas and fire. Bet that's what happened and sure some of you have seen season two so you know the true details. I will be getting to those other two seasons but let me take a break from a Deka series as the last two shows I've recapped have been that genre. So thanks for reading this and any other posts, besides those others seasons also am planning on reviewing the two movies and those I've viewed many times.
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