"Hiru" drama: Season two, episode four 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.

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

 

 Exciting conclusion to the third episode which carried over to this show. But before we get into the events want to explain a few things about the 'hero' Kara as there wasn't enough room in the last two recaps and maybe you can understand him better. In the second episode we learned that Kara's mother had tried a double suicide when he was eight years old, she died but Kara survived. After that he lived in many foster homes and became such an introvert who rarely talked to others. He was more interested in gardening than Baseball so his classmates ignored him and thought Kara was a sissy. 

 But then we learned at the age of thirteen he met Hako at school who really did respect Kara's knowledge of flowers. He still didn't talk too much but Hako was his only semi friend which is why he's always looking out for her in this series, both would be about 23 in age. Also that friendship ended a year later when Kara met his mentor Mishin and her other student Nanashi. So Hako thought Kara had committed suicide when he was fourteen but obviously that didn't happen and that should answer any questions about Kara who is on the verge of finding that masked man who killed Mishin.

 When the third episode ended Hako, in the bottom screenshot, had been staying at an empty home thanks to Chikin who really has helped her out. But in the early morning hours Hako heard the front door open, it wasn't Chikin but a young girl she had never seen before. Her name was Koga who had run away from a Karaoke bar that the sinister Yashima owned, it appears it was a place where young females were sold to foreign men. Don't know how she knew about this place but had a key, unknown to Koga she had been followed there by the mysterious masked man in the top screenshot, the same one that killed Kara's mentor Mishin? With Hako watching from the staircase this man cut the throat of Koga which instantly killed her but his mask slipped off. Hako didn't know who it was but we viewers did as this man was Tetris who was a Hiru in the first season and now he's a close aide of Yashima's. Hako couldn't keep silent and let out a gasp after the murder, Tetris heard it and chased her back upstairs where Hako locked herself in a bedroom. She ran to the balcony and with no alternative jumped from the second floor, she sprained her ankle badly but escaped safely to the fury of Tetris.

 Writing that out helped me figure out how Koga had been followed as Tetris knew who she was and there's no way he could let the police find her. Also it enlightened me about the recent criminal activities of the Hiru community and that's because at one time Tetris was a part of it. So he knew how badly a Hiru needed money, with Yashima and his associate Abe the Price King pawn shop was opened where Hirus could sell their stolen goods at a fair price plus get some fake IDs, of course illegal but a smart move by Tetris to make cash and keep watch over the Hiru community. Tetris knows about the 'Hiru Hunter' Kara but does Kara know about him(?), that I'm not sure of. Meanwhile after her escape Hako was able to contact Chikin who brought her to a 'safe house' that Kara and his female friend Robo use in emergencies. Did learn in this show that Robo for certain is a call girl and she's become insanely jealous of Kara's relationship with Hako. Kara did meet up with Hako who couldn't give much info about the masked killer Tetris as it was dark and she didn't know who he was but at least now Kara knows this man is very close by.... but for long?

 During their brief conversation we did learn a bit about Hako's past and as mentioned she did go to school with Kara until his fake suicide at the age of fourteen. Her home life was anything but pleasant and Hako couldn't wait until she graduated from high school to leave. Which she did and attended a college in Tokyo but even though she worked Hako just couldn't afford college so dropped out. Then it seems she went through a series of jobs until meeting  a man named Ryo who became Hako's boyfriend, talked about that in the first recap. No dates were mentioned but think she broke up with Ryo about ten weeks ago, since then Hako has been leading the life of a Hiru but she's far from being a successful one. Kara had often insisted Hako quit the life and return home but after hearing that story he can understand the situation she's in.  Right above is the detective Suzuki and since the first show of season one she's been investigating the killings of three people who she presumes were Hirus and why were they targeted?

 With Koga getting killed early in this show it brings the total up to four and finally a clue has been found linking them. Whoever the killer is seems to have drawn blood from them as Suzuki mumbles above but for what reason? That gets revealed in the next show and that was another interesting twist to this story. Beginning in the last show Suzuki and her partner Sato have been staking out the Price King pawn shop as that's where the Hirus have been selling their stolen goods and also where they've been getting fake IDs. The owner is Yashima but the day to day operations are run by a man named Abe and according to him the police are getting closer each day to obtaining evidence about the shop. To be a successful criminal you do need a smart mind which is what Yashima has. Suzuki took the first step and sent him a list of stolen merchandise that Hirus had sold at his shop! But while she was back at the station for the night Yashima and his gang cleaned out the Price King pawn shop, now where are Suzuki and Sato going to get their evidence against Yashima?

 An episode is only 26 minutes in length but there's never a dull moment, we're down to the final five minutes. For the first time Suzuki met Yashima when he returned some of the stolen goods from the list personally to the police station! He's such an arrogant man who Suzuki immediately hated and she better watch her step. Yashima never will get 'his hands dirty' and instead lets Tetris take care of the killings. You can see above that Yashima has contacted his trusted hitman to find out more about Suzuki but in the next show no attempt was made on her life. And to top the day off Suzuki received a call that said the shop manager Abe had committed suicide at a love hotel! She knew that Yashima was behind the killing but Suzuki still isn't aware of the man Tetris yet, neither is Kara and events were moving so fast for Suzuki so she contacted him again for some more info.

 We're now at the final scene and Kara paid a visit to her apartment, what Suzuki is hoping for as that some Hirus would testify against Yashima and could Kara help her with that? That won't work was Kara's answer and he would never ask a Hiru to do such a deed but he also knows something has to be done to nab Yashima. Right above Suzuki did reveal about blood being drawn from the dead Hiru bodies but Kara was mystified too at why it was being done. So as the show ended there was another question, this time from Kara wondering what the relationship was between Yashima and the masked killer which Suzuki didn't know either. Whew, that ends this recap and this is really turning out to be an intense series and it's a shame there's only six episodes. Viewed the fifth show halfway through this recap and the ending to that has set up things for a murderous final episode. As usual plenty more screenshots to help you follow the story a bit better.