"Octo: Kanjou Sousakan Shinno Akari" drama, episode five recap

 

 Air Dates: July 8th until September 9, 2022 on NTV  Thursdays at midnight

Episodes are 43 minutes in length, subs are being done by Kaizan Subs

Main Cast: Most of the action takes place at the East Kanagawa police station. We really only saw the top two characters in the first show so will be updating these bios.... have been...

Marie Iitoyo as Akari Shinno.... 28 year old detective who has been at the station for a year. The recaps will explain it better but Akari has this 'unique ability' to read people's emotions, she can do that by the colors coming out of their eyes which only she can see! Akari does come off as an introvert for outside she wears a hood and inside never looks at someone's eyes, that's because she doesn't want to know what their emotions are. At the age of thirteen her parents were murdered by a intruder at their home, that's when Akari got the ability to read emotions and since then her sister has been in the hospital.

Kodai Asaka as Ryo Kazehaya.... Akari's new partner but isn't what he seems to be. Kazehaya is actually a spy sent by a director named Hirayasu at the National Police, his mission is to spy on Akari and the rest of the staff at the East Kanagawa station. But he has taken a liking towards Akari and think they'll make for a solid team. The 'demotion' was because Kazehaya found his old boss dealing drugs and the upper brass covered it up.

Takashi Yamanaka as Kohei Kumokawa.... Deputy Chief at the station who really believes in Akari's talents which can't be used as evidence in court.

Eiichiro Funakoshi as Mamoru Hirayasu.... A director at the National Police Force and why has he sent Kazehaya to spy on the station? In episode five we may have learned of their relationship, is he the father of Kazehaya?

Mikoto Hibi as Satoko Kitamura.... Female detective at the station, after five shows we really haven't seen enough of her.

Kouki Nishida as Takahiro Nanjo.... Was a male detective at the station but think we may not see him after the third episode. In that show Nanjo was forced to resign because of a stalking incident which took place a year ago at his old precinct.

Asami Usuda as Yuki Komoto.... Akari's psychiatrist and she knows everything about the way you can read emotions from others. Don't think she has this ability though and not sure why Akari has been visiting her for so many years. Could be because of her parents deaths plus to get advice on her unique talent of reading emotions.

Rena Matsui as Shiori Shinno.... Akari's 35 year old sister who we didn't see in this show but know she's in the hospital, has she been there since her parents were murdered? Think so which will be explained in the beginning.

 Guest Stars

Yosuke Asari as Subaru Shiota(Kogure).... His real name is Kogure but used Shiota to get closer to Akiko and he became her secretary. When she died Shiota received half of her fortune, why was that and was he more than just a secretary?

Kyusaku Shimada as Daigo Onodera.... Funeral Home director however that appears to be a front. Onodera used to work with Komokawa at the East Kanagawa station but quit, why is not known and is he also spying for Hirayasu?

Masako Chiba as Akiko Mochizuki.... We only saw her in flashbacks as the action in this show took place at Akiko's funeral. She died of natural causes but had a mysterious background which finally was revealed in this episode.

Kenta Satoi as Keijiro Mochizuki.... Akiko's husband and both were directors at a prestigious hospital, the pair had three very greedy and unloving children.

Promo video for episode five

Previous recaps

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

 

 Much different episode for this first of two recaps and glad we did get a change. Not that this series was falling into a rut but every show followed the exact same pattern and by changing things around it made it the best episode to date. What helped was that Marie had more screen time than in any other show and for the first time we didn't see as much of her new partner Kazehaya who may have played more of the important role in solving the first four cases.

 In that top screenshot you can see there's a very old photo of Kazehaya whose first name is Ryo. He's with the a top director of the National Police and his name is Hirayasu, he still remains quite a mystery though we haven't seen much of him to date. So as the screenshot shows Kazehaya is the son of Hirayasu and does he have any inkling of that? I have a feeling the answer is NO and his present assignment for Hirayasu is to spy on the East Kanagawa station. At first thought Hirayasu wanted Akari to be monitored but now am thinking that Kazehaya is keeping an eye out for her safety, reasons for that and other things mentioned are in the last two recaps. Holding that photo was the chief at the East Kanagawa station Kumokawa who is also in the second screenshot, why would he have that photo and there's many minor things that haven't come to light yet, on with the regular recap.

 **** WARNING.... These recaps have had eight average sized paragraphs and that will be the case for this post too. But am giving a warning that what you'll be reading in the first five(?) are almost all lies and we didn't know that until about ten minutes in the show were left. This is just a heads up so the ending isn't too confusing and as mentioned this may have been the top show to date.

 Almost all of the action takes place at a funeral home where a wake is taking place. The deceased's name was Akiko Mochizuki who appeared to be between 55-60, she apparently died from heart failure. Akiko was the co-director of the esteemed Mochizuki Hospital located in East Kanagawa and she took over the director duties from her father. She was very respected by the community and the funeral had quite the turnout to mourn her, Akiko's three children were there but the only thing they loved about their mother was her money! Also in attendance was her husband of 30+ years Keijiro and he was the other co-director. One other key person from Akiko's life who was there was Shiota, a man 34 years old who had been her executive secretary for three years and the two were quite close. The visiting hours had just about wrapped up when popping in with no time to spare was of all people Akari and she had no clue what she's gotten herself into!

 Fifteen years ago when Akari's parents had been murdered she had to spend some time at a hospital which happened to be the one run by Akiko's family. She took an instant liking to Akari and helped her overcome the trauma she was going through so she was there to pay her final respects and to give a silent thanks to the woman who kind of saved her life. The reason Akari barely made it in time was that she had to ride her bike to the funeral home! If you've read the previous recaps you know that Akari can read people's emotions by the colors coming out of their eyes, she developed that ability right after her parents died. So because of that Akari shies away from public transportation as she can't look at the faces of so many at once, it's such a terrifying ordeal for her. Meanwhile in the lobby Shiota received a call and we didn't learn what it was about until the end. However it set him in motion for he quickly burst into the funeral room, locked all the doors and grabbed Akiko's husband Keijiro as you can see above. Shiota had a knife pinned against the man's throat and told all seven that no one is leaving the room until he's had some questions answered, the funeral home's director was there too.

 Onodera is the name of the funeral home director, you can see him above as he's tied back to back with Akari. At the end of this show we learned that Onodera isn't quite who we thought he was and the mysteries keep piling up. So Shiota managed to tie up seven people, though he had a knife wouldn't you think they could have overpowered him? Shiota is convinced that Akiko did not die of heart failure and he wants to know the real cause of her death, were one of her three children responsible? Of course all denied Shiota's accusations and while they didn't love their mother none could killed her and as it turned out none did. But Akiko's children all have something shady about them, for instance her eldest son Ikuto may have his medical license taken away for malpractice. Shiota was much more concerned with the family so didn't pay enough attention to Akira who of course had been reading the emotions streaming out of eyes, the main color was blue which is above. Somehow there was a box of colored pencils five feet away(!) and Akari began her magic by writing those colors in her notebook, Blue is the color of Surprise.

 In that bottom screenshot are Akari's mates from the East Kanagawa station. There had been a tunnel collapse so the prefectural police would be delayed so they have to maintain order but for now they have no way to enter the room to save Akari. Lot of talk was going on in the room and the tensions were running high but during this whole affair never had the impression that Shiota could have stabbed anyone. The seventh person in that room was Akiko's lawyer who had her will with him, no one knew what was in it. Her husband has had some suspicions about his wife's past but never mentioned them out loud, that led Keijiro to suggest to the lawyer to read the will immediately as it might defuse the situation a bit. We only heard a small amount of what was in the will which was the first part, Akiko is leaving 50% of her vast estate to her secretary Shiota and did he know that beforehand? That's what the emotion of Surprise may have meant and to Akari she had an inkling that Shiota knew the will would be favorable to him. Of course Akiko's three children were furious but serves them right for being so greedy, her husband Keijiro seemed relieved when he heard what Shiota was receiving. 

 For the second time Akira noticed the emotion of Surprise coming out of Shiota's eyes, it was revealed later the first time was because of him learning about the tunnel collapse. This time it was because of what was written in the will and as mentioned her children were furious but there has to be a good reason Akiko would leave Shiota such a fortune. While this hostage scene was going on had the feeling Shiota was stalling for time as he seemed to stretch things out, why will soon be revealed. For instance at first he claimed Akiko's death wasn't from natural heart failure though he eventually agreed it was but it did waste some time. Another instance was after the will was read, Shiota claimed Akiko left him so much for they had been having an affair!!!! That was a shocker but he wasn't too convincing and soon that accusation died out but the question is still lingering about why did Akiko leave him half her fortune? That was soon answered by the husband Keijiro and to Akari he had the emotion of Relief coming from his eyes. 

 So up until now almost everything you've heard could be considered to be false save for Shiota being Akiko's secretary and how she left him half of her estate. Now the real truth of why Shiota is holding everyone hostage and stalling for time begins to be revealed, the husband Keijiro got the ball rolling. The reason for that emotion of Relief was that the will confirmed a long time inkling he had which was that.... Shiota was Akiko's son! Keijiro never had the evidence to proof his assumption and didn't want to press the issue with Akiko but as it turned out he was right with his theory. Which Shiota said was true and now it's a case of him telling the truth mixed in with lies, he's still stalling for time. Shiota did love his mother and though he never admitted to Akiko he was her son seemed she knew after a while and it's why the will was so favorable to him. When Akiko was in her early twenties she had been dating a man named Kogure, he's the real father of Shiota and actually raised him. Shiota is 34 years old so he was born in 1988, back then Akiko had been working at her father's hospital which at the time was struggling. Akiko also loved her future husband Keijiro who came from a wealthy family, if she would abandon her son and marry Kejiro they would fund the hospital until it became profitable and with really no choice that's what Akiko did. Plus it was 'hush money' as Akiko was never to reveal to Keijiro about her son and some $$ went to Kogure to keep his mouth shut.

 Before the situation could go any further finally the cavalry arrived who was Kazehaya in the above top screenshot. He had been searching for a while to find another way into the room where the hostages were held, to me he was mainly worried about Akari. Kazehaya was furious when he confronted Shiota and think he had a notion of clobbering this man but luckily was stopped from that. By Akari as she had also noticed that during this period that Shiota had been mainly stalling for time and this whole event wasn't planned, naturally the question is why? Within seconds that answer came as Akari's mate Satoko brought a man confined to a wheelchair into the room, you can see him above. His name is Kogure, the father of Shiota and also Akiko's ex-lover(!), Shiota's real last name is also Kogure. The father had been delayed arriving at the funeral because of that collapsed tunnel, when Shiota heard the news he knew he had to stall for time and this whole hostage scene came from the top of is head, not a bright idea but it worked! Shiota wanted his father to have one last look at Akiko who he still loved, so that all worked out well but you wonder didn't Shiota have any other alternatives to delay the funeral from ending?

 Of course Shiota was still arrested but least his reasons were understandable and according to Akari's chief Kumokawa it doesn't appear the charges against Shiota will be major. There's two minutes to go and something very mysterious took place, will we be hearing more about it? The funeral director Onodera is no ordinary man as he once worked with Kumokawa at the station and is he now some sort of spy? In the very first screenshot was a photo showing who was the father of Kazehaya, that photo had been delivered to Kumokawa by Onodera!!!! But there's more to that as Kumokawa has recently obtained a photo of him with the National Police director Hirayasu, who is this man Onodera and who is he working for? So that ending left so many possibilities for a future storyline which I hope gets expanded, little bit of conspiracy would be a nice twist. Haven't watched the next episode yet but will later on today and hope that intrigue continues, that recap is the next post and as always do recommend viewing the many screenshots below.