"Informa" drama: Episode six recap

 

 Air Dates: January 19th until March 24th on Kansai TV, Thursday nights at 12:25 am

 Subs were done by Magicstar at NYAA, episodes are ~24 minutes in length. This drama is based upon a novel by Garyu Okita that came out on December 5, 2022 so not a long wait until it became a show, it will also be a manga.

Main Cast: Sure there will be some updating as we go along but it appears after two episodes the top two characters will easily have the most screen time. Its nice to see Megumi whose role is a medium sized one yet important. She was a fave actress of mine for a while and was also a popular gravure model back in the 2000's, she's now 41 in age but still looks terrific to me. Hopefully won't have to add any more names to this list, it's only a 25 minute show but what a large cast.

Kenta Kiritani as Keijiro Kihara.... The 'Informa' in the series which is the Japanese word for informant. Which is what Keijiro is and he has his hands in so many shady activities involving celebs, politicians and criminals. There was a sordid affair five years ago that forced Keijiro to leave Tokyo but he's returned for good in the first episode.

Reo Sano as Kanji Mishima.... Young reporter for the Weekly Times newspaper, Kanji's wish was to have beefier stories and he may come to regret that wish!

Megumi as Asuka Nagasawa.... Editor of the Weekly Times newspaper which is a tabloid mainly reporting on celeb scandals and such. But Asuka does have a background in hard news and it was her who told Kanji to work with Keijiro aka the Informa.

Yasushi Fuchikami as Kyosuke Kawamura.... We didn't meet him until the second episode. Keijiro's 'younger brother' but just in the Yakuza sense of being brothers. The two are very close and Kawamura is the leader of the Mugurama group.

Go Morita as Saeki.... What a ruthless man who is a contract killer, supposedly from overseas but he is a Japanese man. Though very ruthless Saeki is also quite intelligent and careful which is why he's been a killer for so long.

Toru Hakozaki.... Older reporter for the Weekly Times.

Kana Kita as Nana.... Works at a hostess club and has known Keijiro for many years. She has a five year daughter and is the father Kawamura? No, it was revealed in episode five who the real father was Nana's husband Ainosuke however he was shot to death five years ago just before the birth of his child.

Ryo Tajima as Okabayashi.... A member of Saeki's gang and appears to be the brains of the team though can be brutal when it's needed.

Wataru Ichinose as Kim.... Also a member of Saeki's gang who is their 'heavyweight'. Kim is a Korean but was born in Japan, Tokyo's Korean town.

Kazuya Takahashi as Katsuji Maruyama.... Detective with the Metro Police and their organized crime division, he has a long history with Keijiro.

Mototaka Mishimura as Mizukoshi.... Maruyama's partner..

  

Previous recaps

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

 

 Those are two screenshots of Megumi above from this episode, she may be 41 in age but she still makes my heart beat out of control! Still have one, perhaps two, more older photobooks of her which I'll be posting soon and perhaps one of them will be today.(it was!) Thanks if you read the above recap which was the best show to date, also the most intense and especially the ending. So was really waiting to see how things would turn out but guess what.... we need to wait at least one more week for that! Except for the last thirty seconds everything that took place in this 29 minute episode was a flashback of what happened five years ago which I've been so curious about. Didn't realize it until the end but the hostess Nana had been telling this story to Kanji, a reporter for the Weekly Times tabloid. Most of the story revolves around her husband Ainosuke and how he was killed five years ago, also there was a bit about how Keijiro became the Informa and let's finally get to the action.

 In that top screenshot is Ainosuke and what a fighter he is! Seems he knows every kind of martial arts plus packs such a mean punch, he's someone you'd want backing you but at the end of the episode he did meet his match. Ainosuke was the chauffer and assistant to Keijiro aka the Informa, the pair are in the second screenshot above. Keijiro had recently quit his Yakuza clan, so didn't his close ally Kawamura though he started his own gang. Keijiro was explaining to Ainosuke what his new activity would be, an informant which flew right over the young man's head. The informant part is spilling the dirt on corrupt politicians, businessmen, celebs, etc. and of course a certain sum will need to be paid for Keijiro to keep his mouth shut. Ainosuke may not understand what his boss is planning on doing but it doesn't matter as Ainosuke will obey and follow Keijiro through the Gates of Hell!

 In that middle screenshot is Ainosuke with his wife Nana who is expecting her first child. She works at a hostess club but of course wasn't working there at the time but returned shortly after the birth of her daughter Ai. So while Keijiro is the key character in this drama the key storyline has to deal with the above three men who are still around in present times when the drama is set in. From left to right is Kim who is the trio's strongman, in the middle is the leader and ruthless killer Saeki while on the right is Okbayashi who is the brains of the group though also very tough. As for now don't know who the older man is above but he hired Saeki and his mates five years ago to do an assignment for him, five years later the man is still hiring Saeki to do more killing. Right below is Keijiro's Yakuza brother Kawamura, we didn't see too much of him but they both quit the gangster racket at the same time and why would have been nice to know.

 That's Saeki in the second to last screenshot, if he's after you then hate to say it but you don't stand much of a chance.... probably zero! Saeki and his two mates have been ordered to rid Japan of some lowlifes by that older man but this first job won't be a killing one. The first assignment Ainosuke is on with Keijiro is in the top screenshot, his only task is to make sure everything is filmed. The man Keijiro is with is named Tadakoro who is a corrupt politician. Keijiro has some dirt on this man who feels he's untouchable, he isn't for soon was forced to resign. In this scene Tadakoro blew off Keijiro's demand for cash to remain mum on his activities which at the time we didn't know what they were. So it was really only a 'semi victory' for Keijiro as while he did bring down a creep his wallet's contents didn't grow any larger.

 In the middle screenshot above is Keijiro at meeting with two others besides Ainosuke. The woman is Asuka who is the editor of the Weekly Times tabloid, five years later she still gets along with Keijiro so well and so doesn't the older man in the screenshot. His name is Maruyama who is an investigator for the Tokyo police's organized crime unit. They're the ones who were supplying Keijiro with info on some of the lowlifes he could target, in the case of Maruyama it's because the police were ordered to stay away from these 'elite people'. Shirakawa is the man both want Keijiro to target next, he owns an elite corporation, an exclusive hotel and even a pro soccer team so needless to say the man is filthy rich! They've given him much info on this man, such as he'll be holding an orgy(!) that weekend at his massive estate and also in attendance will be some of his crony lowlifes. Asuka has heard the females there will be models and hostesses, many will be underage and it's Kiejiro's task to nab Shirakawa with one of those young gals. In an odd twist guess who else will be at the orgy? If you said Saeki you're correct as the assignment he was given was to give Shirakawa an ultimatum but not kill him.

 First on the scene was Keijiro with his top notch fighter Ainosuke. He had two orders, take out the dozen or so henchmen guarding the estate plus film the whole ordeal! Which Ainosuke managed to do and he took down those goons without breaking a sweat, soon every guard was out of action but surprised none had any guns. Meanwhile with everything under control Keijiro made it to Shirakawa's room, that's above and of course he was with an underage female who did look so ultra kawaii. Kiejiro managed to tie up this creep but we never did see or hear what kinds of demands he made of Shirakawa, sure it had to do with hush money. While that was taking place Ainosuke finally met his match, he had entered the mansion and few seconds later so didn't Saeki with his mates. The heavyweight of the trio is Kim and this man's fighting ability seems to be unmatched. No matter how many times Ainosuke hit or kicked Kim the man never flinched, instead he used Ainosuke as a punching bag and he was soon out for the count but would recover. Saeki made it up to Shirakawa's room and it was the first time Keijiro had ever seen this man, he had no clue who he was.

 Saeki doesn't fool around or waste time, he immediately shot Keijiro in the leg as the assignment was not to kill anyone. Saeki then gave Shirakawa a 'contract', most of what it contained was unknown but we do know one thing which is that the man was forced to resign, that's above. So with the task done Saeki and his mates zoomed away from the manor but in pursuit was the partially recovered Ainosuke, he could not accept losing to Kim. Which was a deadly mistake as Saeki's vehicle stopped with Kim jumping out. As bad as the first beating was this one was worst, Kim wanted to leave him but Ainosuke just couldn't keep his mouth shut and threatened Saeki. Who as mentioned doesn't fool around and shot Ainosuke dead with one shot, arriving a minute later was Keijiro with the detective Maruyama. Keijiro couldn't believe his best friend was gunned down and now we know why Keijiro still has revenge on his mind five years later. That ended the flashback which lasted the entire episode save for the final thirty seconds. There we saw once again Kawamura being shot to death in present time by Saeki who then aimed his gun at Keijiro. But right at that moment Saeki's phone rang, he answered it and was it to abort the current mission? Probably so and that finally ends this recap which was the longest to date but so much occurred. The last two episodes have been the best to date and in two weeks will be back with the next pair of recaps.