"Abunai Deka" drama: Episode five of 51(!!!!) recap

 

 Air Dates: October 5, 1986 until September 27,1987 on NTV, Sunday nights at 9:00 pm

Director: Toru Murakawa, this episode's rating was 14.5%

Subs were once again done by GEO9875, this was one huge project to do so will give a huge thumbs up for doing the subs and hope the recaps gives the series it's proper justice. 

Main Cast: Wrote this up after viewing the first two shows and know there will be a lot of editing to the bios as we have so much to learn about the characters. The first two get the most screen time by far but the other four main characters are also very key to this drama. The setting is the Minato Police Station in the Naka ward of Yokohama and the station is part of the Kanagawa prefectural police. If you enjoy J-Pop songs then this show has some superb tunes, most know I'm a fan but do prefer the music from the 80's. Plus there's no beating the hairdos of women from that era! This series also goes by the name of....

 Hiroshi Tachi as Toshiki Takayama.... You'll see Taka often in the screenshots. He's about a 35 year old man who is an investigator of serious crimes and the gangsters go out of their way to avoid him! Takayama has a bit of a 'cool persona' about him and is an ace with guns, he's the partner of Oshita but seems they didn't start working closely together until the first episode. While both are aces with guns their methods also get them in hot water with their superiors but the pair usually come out on top at the end as far as solving cases go.

Kyohei Shibata as Yuji Oshita.... About the same age as Takayama but looks younger. During the first episode Oshita blurted out he's got a bit of a shady past and it surprised many he became a sergeant. He knows how to pick a lock and some other methods criminals use, sure we'll find out more as time goes on. Like his new partner Takayama he is quite adept using all guns, unlike his partner Oshita isn't much of a 'people person' as Takayama is the one who often interviews witnesses, criminals or others. 

Atsuko Asana as Kaoru Mayama.... Member of the Juvenile Division which shares the same office as the Investigative Unit which Takayama and Oshita are a part of. Karou has gone out to crime scenes with the detectives but they never let her get in on the real action.

Toru Nakamura as Toru Machida.... Not a rookie but hasn't been an inspector for all that long. Machida is the best fighter in the unit and also the women swoon over him but he does have a girlfriend which he said in the first show. 

Nana Kinomi as Yuko Matsumura.... How about that hairdo?! Yuko is the chief of the Juvenile Division but haven't seen her make much of a contribution to any cases so far. She does share some unknown secret from the past with the Investigative chief Kondo that took place ten years ago, will that become part of the story? She's also quite the 'Fashion Queen' who often shows up at the station in some new glittering outfit.

Shizuo Chujo as Takuzo Kondo.... Chief of the Investigation Unit, smart man but seems to be more concerned on what he'll be having for lunch! But at one time Kondo was feared by the Yokohama gangsters and has been on the force for thirty years.

 There's a few more minor characters such as the detective Yoshi, chief Tanaka and female officer Hitomi,  if their roles become larger will add them onto this list.

 

Previous recaps

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

  

 Thanks if you've perused the previous recaps, know they don't make for the most exciting of reads. Not sure what else I'll be recapping besides this drama, had been doing the "Kamen Rider Geats" series. Have done posts up until the sixteenth episode and did view the two after that but unsure whether to keep doing recaps or not for it, will decide in another week or two but will finish watching the series. There are two new shows that just began and at least one, hopefully both, will be dramas that will also be recapped. Both have have had only one episode that's aired, will wait until three shows are subbed before beginning on them. On to this old time drama and there's only 45 more to go after today! So far this has been a very fun and action packed drama, this episode was slightly confusing to me but usually when I begin to write a post out things become much more clearer. 

**** As mentioned a few times the screenshots look much different than usual. Before 1990 Japanese TV shows were shot in a 4:3 ratio or full screen, these days it's a ratio of 16:9.

 There has been this very minor storyline in the first six shows and perhaps it'll become more important. It has to deal with a Yakuza clan named Ginsei and Takayama has vowed to take them down if it's the last thing he does! However any investigating has to be done on his own time as Takayama's chief, right above, Kondo has ordered him to stay away from the clan. Which may be impossible to do as the Ginsei henchman are everywhere, such as the man in the second to last screenshot above and more on him coming right up. Drug smuggling was the theme to this episode and there's been a different kind of story for each show. In the top screenshot Takayama was in a club with the Juvenile investigator Karou, there being no women in the Investigative unit she often helps them out which is her choice as she'd rather work with them than dealing with teens. The pair had thought there would be a drug deal going down in the club with a man named Kato though it never took place.

 Karou is someone who does enjoy the spirits, no deal went down but plenty of liquor did down her throat and you can see her above stumbling into the station the following morning! When the stakeout for the drug deal ended Takayama was summoned to help his partner Oshita out at a jewelry store robbery. However nothing was taken though the owner said he was clubbed over the head, Takayama was extremely leery about the owner Ishizuka and he'll be proven right with his suspicions. The way the criminal had broken in was the same way a few prior robberies had taken place, with the MO being the same the suspect in this odd break became a man named Nakazawa, he too is right above. The following morning Oshita paid a visit to the man's apartment, Nakazawa wasn't there though another man was who fled away quickly. Oshita gave chase but what a slippery man this was as he was able to elude Oshita which doesn't happen often. 

 Karou is a whiz at computers, there's the one she uses right above and haven't they come a long way in a few decades! After returning to the Minato police station empty handed there was a surprise call for Oshita, of all people it was the robbery suspect Nakazawa! He wants to turn himself in for Nakazawa is scared for his and his wife's Yorika's life, she's been kidnapped! Before Nakazawa could give his location a group of thugs tore him from a phone booth and dragged Nakazawa to an empty warehouse, there are so many of those in dramas! Takayama is correct with his suspicions about the jewelry store owner Ishizuka as it's him who was the leader of this group of thugs! He's demanding to know where are the stolen goods Nakazawa grabbed from his store last night, if not gems what was taken? Nakazawa was mum and wouldn't reveal anything about the break in, when the hood holding the gun turned away Nakazawa made a mad dash for an exit and that was to no avail as he was shot in the back!

 Which infuriated Ishizuka to no end as a dead Nakazawa now can't tell him the location of the stolen merchandise. Later on Nakazawa's body was dragged out of a nearby river with Oshita and Takayama there, Takayama was silently forming his own idea on what happened. He did visit the jewelry store once again to question Ishizuka who still claimed no gems were stolen which actually wasn't a lie. So what of Nakazawa's wife Yorika who was supposed to have been kidnapped? As it turns out she was in  way by the ex-Ginsei clan member Shimazaki, he's called the Minato station demanding drugs(!) or else the woman will be history! Yorika had a shady past, at 17 she was arrested for drugs and seemed she just married Nakazawa who could keep her supplied with any kinds of drugs. This Shimazaki was also a semi addict at one time and wasn't completely clean, he was holding Yorika hostage at an apartment building and it took no time at all for Oshita and Takayama to nab this creep. Yorika was also there who was suffering from withdrawals, could the drugs have been for her?

 And Yorika wanting drugs was the case, Shimazaki had such a crush on her and would do anything Yorika ordered him to do. All of that was revealed by her to Oshita and Takayama at the station, during this time Yorika kept pleading for a hit which was naturally never supplied. Yorika was a barrelful of information, so much that Takayama has finally hit pay dirt as he's surmised why her husband Nakazawa broke into the jewelry shop. Not to steal any valuable jewels but instead the drugs that the owner Ishizuka kept in his safe, he was right saying no gems were stolen! Right above is Takayama talking to Karou whose role seems to be getting larger. He's figured out why no drug deal went down that night during their stakeout at the club, that scene opened this episode.

 The drugs that were going to be dealt had been stolen by Nakazawa, no drugs meant no deal! However there's no evidence to nab the jewelry store owner Ishizuka though least now that he knows he's being watched will curtail his dealings for a while. So the massive question for Oshita and Takayama at this point was.... where are the drugs Nakazawa stole from Ishizuka's safe? Two searches of his apartment turned up zero, the first search was done by Ishizuka's henchman while the second was done by Machida of the Investigative unit. If the police want to nab this dealer Ishizuka they better put it in high gear, the story is he's leaving for Hong Kong in the morning!

 Have noticed in these recaps the first few paragraphs are way too long and when it comes to the final segment need to stretch things out a bit to make everything somewhat uniform in size. After questioning Yorika a bit more plus some digging by Machida it's been discovered how Nakazawa has hidden the drugs he's stolen over the years. Instead of keeping them at his apartment Nakazawa had a box at the post office(!) where he would hide his stolen drugs until the heat cooled down, that's what he did with his haul from the jewelry store. Just as Ishizuka was leaving his store for Hong Kong he was stopped by Oshita and Takayama, not for long as his goons battled the police while Ishizuka made his getaway. Though our heroes were outnumbered there really is no match for the likes of Oshita and Takayama, not only are they ace gunslingers but also can fight with the best of them.

 So the pair made short order of those thugs and eventually trapped Ishizuka at a pier where he was carrying a suitcase. After the police discovered how Kanazawa would hide his drugs they made sure Ishizuka was aware of where his drugs were stashed so he could steal them right back, unless Ishizuka had drugs on him there was no proof he was involved in any dealing. And that proof is right above, that's the suitcase Ishizuka was carrying with gems on the top and hidden below were bags of cocaine. So our dynamic duo is now five for five in solving cases, instead of sticking around for the arrest Takayama had met a pair of American women at the pier and ended up sailing out to sea with them! That ends this fifth recap and the next post is for episode six.