"Hiru" drama: Season two, episode five recap

 

 Air Dates: April 15th until May 20,2022 on WOWOW, Friday nights at 11:00 pm

Subs were once again done by Irozuku Subs and episodes are 26 minutes in length.

Main Cast: Save for the first character all of the Hirus are different from the first season which also had only six episodes, the two detectives also made a return. Hiru is the name for Leeches in Japanese but it also has a different meaning. It could be for a person who 'leeches' off of others which is the case in this drama. A Hiru may spend the night or day at someone's residence while they're working or at school. A Hiru has no regular place to live so they'll eat, clean and sleep at those residences which are usually apartments and a Hiru could almost be considered a Squatter. 

Kentaro Sakaguchi as Kara.... His real name is Makoto Tsukinuma and is the only returning Hiru from the first season. Kara is known as a 'Hiru Hunter' and he may have killed a few of them for a reason we just learned in the second episode. He's on the hunt for a mysterious masked person who killed his mentor Mishin some years ago and has been seeking revenge since. Kara has this unique ability to suddenly appear and disappear in what seems a blink of an eye!

Marie Iitoyo as Hako.... Her real name is Sakura Yoko, thought Marie would be in season one which didn't happen but least her role in this show is quite large. The Yo in Yoko can also be pronounced Ha which is where Hako comes from. Hako did go to school with Kara a decade ago, she's a Hiru but not a very adept one who has to keep getting bailed out of tense situations.

Yui Sakuma as Robo.... Not much is known of her yet but she's a very curious woman, she's about 23 in age and so aren't the first two characters. She knows Kara well and it appears Robo works part time as a call girl to find out info about Hirus for him.

Masaki Miura as Nanashi.... Close friend of Kara's and both were under the wing of Mishin until her death. Nanashi is currently very sick and in the hospital but what is his illness?

Harumi Shuhama as Mishin.... As mentioned the 'mentor' of both Kara and Nanashi. We met her in the second episode through some flashbacks and that's the only way we'll see Mishin as she was killed by this mysterious masked man, small role but a very important one.

Jiei Wakabayashi as Chikin.... Also a Hiru who we met in the second episode. He's helped out Hako twice but can't quite figure out if he's a good or bad Hiru.

Mizuki Itagaki as Tetris.... Another character from the first season though we didn't see him until the third show. In that first season Tetris was a Hiru but hated the life and tried to break free from it, we finally learned that he did. However he's working for the below man Yashima so he's now in the underworld plus is he the man who murdered Mishin?

Itsuji Itao as Yashima.... Hadn't seen much of him through three shows but his role is now becoming larger. He runs a black market operation which Hirus go to often to sell things or to buy fake ID's.

Takeshi Onishi as Abe.... Manager of the Price King pawn shop which is actually a black market operation owned by Yashima. However he has a criminal record so Abe's name is on the deed and he buys so many stolen things from Hirus. Was killed at the end of the fourth show but it was made to look like a suicide.

Manami Konishi as Chika Suzuki.... Female detective who was also in season one and she did help out a pair of Hirus as she does fight for justice though her partner was killed by a Hiru.

Kotaro Tanaka as Junya Sato.... Suzuki's new partner who was also in season one, the main case the pair are working on is finding out the mystery of Kara.

Links to the first three episodes and may help to skim through at least the third show:

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three

 

 Writing this up on May 20th and the final episode airs today so it's a good thing I won't be able to give away any spoilers! Shame this second season was just six shows as I've really enjoyed this so much more than the first season which at least ended on a high note. Not much of a cliff hanger to end off the fourth show, it was a scene with the 'Hiru Hunter' Kara at the female detective Suzuki's apartment. Neither was able to help the other but they both have the same two goals, find and bring down Yashima but more importantly find out who this masked killer is. But Suzuki did reveal one thing to Kara which he didn't know, it was about the four murdered victims who were probably killed by Tetris. The four victims had blood drawn out of them after their murder, why would that happen and the two of them were baffled but not for long.

 In three of the above screenshots was a very key character from the first season who was in the opening scene which just lasted for two minutes. If any person would know about the blood being withdrawn from dead Hirus it would be the one time King of them... Yobi! He's awaiting trial for too many charges to count, he of course hates the police but not as much as he despises Yashima and Tetris. Yobi has agreed to tell Suzuki what he knows, one fact was the Yashima was running a human trafficking ring which Suzuki had suspected. The women were being held at a Karaoke club but once victim #4 Koga escaped the place was shut down. But according to Yobi it was more than just selling women for prostitution, it was also about selling the blood and organs from the victims! So obviously Tetris has killed many more than the four victims that have been found plus if a Hiru ever disappeared who would ever notice?

 **** Was wondering then why did Tetris leave the bodies of those four recent women he murdered? Was a squad from Yashima's group supposed to come in later and get them but couldn't because Suzuki discovered the bodies first? That was never answered and wouldn't be surprised if it never is. One other thing is that Yobi said there's a mole among the Hiru community and think Yobi may have been one too to know all of this info. This mole reports to Yashima about what a Hiru is doing and that person is right above. Had some suspicions about Chikin but couldn't quite put my finger on whether he was a good or bad Hiru. The answer is Bad as Chikin is the mole working for Yashima but also have the feeling Chikin is really hating what he's been doing. Right above Yashima has ordered him to bring Hako in and she had quickly become a 'friend' of Chikin so that's something he doesn't want to do but sadly he has no choices, follow Yashima's orders or be killed! In that last show Yashima's Price King pawn shop had to be closed down due to the heat from the police. His gang is now operating out of an abandoned warehouse in the Kawazaki district and what a fall for this creep!

 More about Yashima and his group coming up which is an intense scene to end this episode. Haven't talked about Hako yet and she's the only Hiru to ever see the face of the masked killer, the one Kara has been searching years for. As mentioned many times Tetris is that masked killer and Hako witnessed him killing the runaway Koga in the last show, during that scene his mask slipped off. So while Hako saw his face very briefly it may have been too dark to see it clearly plus Hako had no clue who Tetris was nor had even heard of him. So Hako was able to escape and has been staying at a safe house set up by Kara and Robo. We need to learn more about this woman Robo, she's a close friend of Kara's but are they in any kind of relationship? It's so hard to tell as Kara is a very cold person yet one who will do anything for a person he cares about. Robo is helping take care of Hako but is quite jealous, in two above screenshots she brought Hako to the hospital to meet Kara's oldest friend Nanashi, he's someone else we need to learn more about such as why is he in the hospital?

 Upon leaving the hospital Robo finally opened up about her feelings towards Hako and they weren't pleasant comments. She's so jealous of how Kara cares so much for his old schoolmate and told Hako she wished she would vanish! Though it's the same man both look at Kara differently, Hako still likes her old friend who at the time was named Makoto and to Hako he hasn't changed. Meanwhile Robo likes the new version of this man and there's only one show left to find out what the relationship is between Kara and Robo. If you can recall two paragraphs ago Yashima ordered that Hako be brought to him, Chikin didn't do the job though his henchman did. So as Hako and Robo were conversing outside the hospital a van zoomed up out of nowhere, a group of men grabbed the two women and threw them in the back. In that bottom screenshot above is what's happened to them as both are now captives at the abandoned building Yashima is holed up at, think getting Robo was a special bonus for him.

 Yashima's hitman Tetris was there, currently he's being hunted for four murders but to me the total could be ten times higher. Hako is the only person to have seen Tetris without that mask off while he committed a murder, though he was standing right in front of her not positive Hako knew who he really was. But there was no way Yashima or Tetris could have taken a chance on Hako not knowing but there was also another reason for kidnapping her. Which is that thanks to Chikin Yashima knows how much Kara cares about Hako, perhaps Robo too so having them as hostages is the perfect bait to bring Kara to this building. The mole Chikin was ordered to call Kara and tell him to rush to this building to save the life of Hako! But Chikin did respect Kara and just couldn't make that call to the man, not doing that may have been a blunder as Yashima ended Chikin's life with two pistol shots.

 So it was Tetris on the phone with Kara and still unsure if he has any idea who Tetris is, we'll definitely know in the final show. Hako and Robo were brought to a room where they were still tied up but did manage to remove the tape over their mouths. Robo may hate Hako but they need to work as a pair if they want to escape and possibly help Kara. That's him right above for in the final ten seconds he arrived at the building, leering at him from above was the masked Tetris and what a final episode this could be. Almost forgot to add in that Suzuki was using this M-12 system which had tracked Yashima's car, she doesn't know his exact location but does know he's in the district where there's a few abandoned buildings. That wraps this up and how I hope the final show is as good as the first five, seems every episode has been better than the previous one. It's still May 20th so the final show hasn't aired which is good as no spoilers were given away and that recap is the next post.