"Abunai Deka" drama: Episode two 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 13.5%

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.

 

 Thanks for reading that first episode, that was a solid episode but this was slightly better. Better is how the recaps should be with each passing one as it'll really help learning more about the characters, everything about this series was brand new to me when I started viewing it. So will be doing this drama as long as possible, perhaps all 51 episodes. Will also continue on with the "Kamen Rider Geats" series and the next pair of recaps will be coming up within the week. Besides them not sure if I'll be recapping any others, need to see what new shows get subbed and grab my attention.

 Hopefully that first recap and the above info has explained much about the characters but know we'll be learning so much more about them, still have 49 episodes to go! Let's get right to the action and it's probably a Friday as it's payday at the Minato police station. In that top screenshot is Oshita on the left who doesn't manage his money so well, on the right is Takayama who told him that yet he too needed a loan to tide him over until payday. That loan, Oshita had one too, was courtesy of the younger investigator Machida who we didn't see too much of in the first show though he will have a large role. Machida is a few years younger than the pair and has learned quite a bit from them, not all positives though! Machida could be the best fighter in the investigative unit and also the most handsome as the women swoon over him though he did say in the first show he has a girlfriend. Machida caught up with the pair while they were having lunch, it being payday is the perfect time for his mates to pay back their 10,000+ yen loan so it was off to the bank for the merry trio!

 The three arrived just in time, not because the bank was about to close but it was about to be robbed! He wasn't the ringleader but in the second screenshot above wearing purple is one of the robbers whose name is Youda, he got by far the most screen time. His cohorts in crime were Aizawa and Murai but we didn't learn their names until much later. That trio definitely wasn't expecting three investigators to be in the bank at the same time, the robbery ended up being a dud from the get go with Murai panicking and firing his pistol everywhere but luckily there were no injuries. The would be robbers fled the scene with Oshita, Takayama and Machida in hot pursuit, two escaped but at least Takayama and Oshita were able to collar the runt of the bunch who was Youda. However Machida had gone out on his own and been able to follow the fleeing two robbers, this is one lesson he learned badly from Oshita and Takayama. Both always try to do things their way and often don't follow police procedure which at times has come back to bite them. Taking a page out of their book Machida didn't call for backup or tell his mates he was still on the hunt which in the end almost cost Machida his life!

 So while Oshita and Takayama were nabbing Youda Machida had thought he had cornered the other two would-be robbers on a boat. It started to move and the pair weren't on deck so there was no chance for Machida to shoot either of them, against his better judgment he leapt onto the boat from a bridge! While Machida may be the best fighter in his unit the fall left him defenseless and before long the duo of Aizawa and Murai had grabbed him as a hostage. They brought Machida to an unknown location in a white van which they then abandoned, for now no one at the Minato police station knows what's happened with their comrade. But Youda had been arrested and hopefully he would reveal the location of his gang's lair where Machida probably is. That Youda is one wise guy and even the smooth talking Takayama couldn't get this punk to open up. But Oshita and Takayama have their own unorthodox methods, they dragged Youda down to the basement where a shooting area was set up and proceeded to have target practice with Youda in the middle! That drew the ire of the female investigator Karou who is in the fourth screenshot, she happened to stumble across the pairs 'pistol practicing'! 

 Youda opened up a little bit revealing the names of his two cohorts and also the location of their lair but by the time the police arrived it had been cleared out. The time is now 2:00 pm and the Minato station has received a call from Machida's kidnappers. By 4:00 pm if they haven't got a ransom of 50 million yen then their mate Machida would soon just be a part of their memories! That's a lot of cash to get in less than two hours but the Investigative Unit chief Kondo was able to do that. We learned later on he had gotten much of the money by raiding the severance funds of his unit! The kidnappers also are demanding that Youda be released, they want him along with Oshita and Takayama to deliver the huge sum of money and will be calling back within two hours.

 This drama was filmed in 1986/7 in Yokohama, was reading that at the time the Naka area was going through some major redevelopment so many scenes were shot in abandoned buildings or ones that were about to be razed. And a building about to be razed is where the two robbers brought the tied up Machida to, they had no intentions of releasing him when the got the ransom. Machida was able to untie himself with some broken glass and was then in a scuffle with his kidnappers, looked like him being the unit's best fighter was no lie! But it was two against one plus the gang had a gun so before long Machida was subdued again and it appeared there's no escape this time around. The two robbers Aizawa and Murai knew this building was about ti be razed which is why Machida was brought there, with the demolition beginning soon the pair fled the building to wait for their partner Youda. He was on his way with the fifty million yen in cash though think the total in the suitcases was much less.

 This Youda is a such a punk and betrayer, he was able to snatch a suitcase away from Takayama and fled the scene with Takayama too injured to give chase. But Oshita is an investigator who never gives up and pursued the fleeing Oshita by himself and was able to corner him, it approaching 4:00 pm it was off to pay the ransom and save Machida's life! During this time there were other detectives in the area hunting for their mates and the kidnappers, they didn't arrive until the situation was in hand. Finally Oshita, along with Youda, met up with the robbers who now also have a high school girl as a hostage for further protection. But unknown to everyone lurking in the shadows was Takayama who had quickly recovered his injuries and it seemed he was about to fire at Aizawa or Murai, perhaps both! The ransom money was given over and during the exchange Youda had ideas of fleeing with a suitcase again but was talked out of it by Oshita. Eventually the robbers did get the huge amount of cash and jumped into their waiting car to flee the scene, of course no one knew lurking was Takayama!!!!

 Bit of a quick ending but a very exciting one. Takayama was able to leap onto the hood of the escaping car and it appeared he did his own stunts! Takayama was able to smash the windshield before getting thrown off the hood, meanwhile Oshita had shot out the back window and soon the car was out of commission. Nabbing the robbers was done in such an action packed way but the more pressing issue was where's their mate Machida? Of course he was still in that abandoned building and the demolishment of it had begun, Takayama as you can see above rushed to the scene and told the crew to stop their razing! But by then it was a moot point as once again Machida had managed to untie himself and jumped from the second floor before it was razed so it was kind of a happy ending, the robbers had been arrested plus Machida was safe and sound. That bottom screenshot above is how the episode ended, as mentioned Machida has learned some methods from Takayama and Oshita though not all correct ones. He wasn't reprimanded but had to write an apology to the unit's chief Kondo who does go easy on his workers if they produce results. Had Takayama followed correct police procedure and not how his mates did things none of what took place may have happened.

 That ends this recap and it was much easier than I expected, bit shorter also. So through two episodes have to say I'm really enjoying this drama and think that enjoyment level will become much higher as we go along. Not going to have any kind of schedule for this series, would like to have at a pair of recaps a week if not more but it being so old not in a rush. Below are more screenshots to help you follow the action a bit better, as mentioned in the first recap older Japanese TV shows filmed in full screen which is a 4:3 ratio, today it's 16:9. If you're a member of DA then that's where the suns can be grabbed and this is a drama I would highly recommend.