"Abunai Deka" drama: Episode 23 of 51(!!!!) recap(season three, episode five)

 

 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 15.3%

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:  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 him referred to as 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. However she is a tough woman who used to be a regular officer and knows how to use a gun well.

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.... that may have been a lie.

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: There's 51 episodes but they were divided into six seasons, there was no break between them. Season one was episode one to nine, second season was ten through eighteen and this third will run from the nineteenth until the 27th episode. 

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

Episode six .... Episode seven .... Episode eight .... Episode nine .... Episode ten

Episode eleven .... Episode twelve .... Episode thirteen .... Episode fourteen

Episode fifteen .... Episode sixteen .... Episode seventeen .... Episode eighteen

Episode nineteen .... Episode twenty .... Episode twenty-one .... Episode twenty-two

 

 That bottom screenshot is from this episode, it was from a scene beginning at the 37 minute mark and was the final major scene of the show. What is special about it is the Nichigeki Cinema where the scene took place and it was a shootout with this episode's main culprit. There was a superb 1990's trilogy of movies called 'Maiku Hama' and I highly recommend viewing those, I've seen those movies too many times to count and the first one in Black and White was the best. The setting of the movies was in Yokohama like this drama is and the private investigator Maiku Hama's office was on the second floor of that above cinema. So hit pause once this scene started thinking about the films and was this cinema the HQ for Hama because it was shown in this drama? Don't know but wouldn't doubt it, it was also a 2002 twelve episode drama but have never seen it.

 Wonder if anyone else caught that bit of obscure trivia, the outside was only shown for a few seconds as most of the action took place inside. Starting to zip through this series a bit quicker, the next post has the recap for episode 24. Then there's three more shows to go in this second season, may take a short break to view another drama which is still airing but all 51 episodes will be recapped. Not much else to add in about this series so let's dive right into the action. 

 Every story to date has been different but the most common case has been a bank robbery which took place in this show. In that top screenshot the drama's two heroes Takayama and Oshita were staking out a snack bar called Polestar, it was owned by the woman in the second to last screenshot whose name is Tomoko Negishi. She's the girlfriend of a thug named Shuhei Iwami and he was the bank robber who had stolen 150 million yen in this episode's bank heist. Takayama and Oshita felt sure the robber would end up at Tomoko's place but after two days of staking the joint out Iwami was a no show. He hadn't been seen in Yokohama since the robbery and where could this culprit have disappeared to? Chiba was the location and the prefect police there had notified the Minato station Iwami was in custody and would soon be transporting him back. However Iwami is one slippery goon who has been in prison twice before, in Chiba he had killed the two guards who were going to transport him.

 

 So now the hunt was back of for Iwami but as was the case for the first time around the Minato investigators had no clue where he could be hiding out. Once again the two leads Takayama and Oshita paid the Polestar snack bar a visit where the owner Tomoko had no idea where her boyfriend Iwami could be, at the time it was true. The detective Tanaka was left there in case the bank robber made an appearance which did happen but not until much later on. A pressing question was what happened with the 150 million yen that Iwami stole? When the Chiba police had picked him up Iwami didn't have the loot, did he stash it somewhere or give it to a comrade? In the third to last screenshot above is man named Seiji Kana who was in three mini scenes. The young detective Machida had picked the hustler up for stealing a coat from a store. Takayama questioned this man and discovered that the coat cost 3,500 yen and he had only 3,200 on him. So Kana was short by just 300 yen and Takayama did give Machida a lesson on how to deal with men like him who weren't true criminals. The young detective should have just paid the difference which will put the police in a better light plus the Minato precinct had much more pressing matters. Such as what Takayama says in the bottom screenshot above, there's been a bus hijacked and it was full of preschool children!!!!

 Every show seems to have a chase scene, this was the first time one involving a bus took place. Who the hijacker wasn't a mystery for too long as when Takayama's car caught up to this bus he could see it was the wanted bank robber Iwami! That's in the first screenshot above, driving was the investigator Yoshi who we've seen much more of in this third season. His nickname is Papa as he's the only one in the unit married with children. In another car was Oshita who was with the Juvenile Unit detective Hideo who yearned so bad to be with the Investigative Unit. Oshita was able to convince Hideo into jumping from a bridge onto the bus ala Dirty Harry which didn't quite work as Hideo landed on a truck, that's him in the third screenshot. But the truck driver joined the chase for the bus but in the end may have been more of a hindrance than help. On the bus Iwami, in the second screenshot, held the teacher at bay with a knife planted against her throat and there were about seven preschoolers on it. The bus driver could be a stunt person as he was able to keep the police cars behind him but was eventually trapped near a wharf.

 During the commotion Iwami had somehow managed to flee and no one saw him? Back at the Minato station what was really baffling to Takayama and his chief Kondo is why would Iwami hijack a bus? He wanted to remain hidden so why would he take the chance of being arrested? Soon news came to the station that Iwami had struck again, this time at the nearby Washinzaka Hospital. When Takayama and Oshita arrived they discovered that Iwami had taken a pregnant woman as a hostage, has this bank robber lost all of his marbles? Our two heroes gave chase and were able to spot Iwami fleeing with this woman outside of the hospital, seeing the police Iwami left the woman and once again fled to safety. What Takayama had deduced was that Iwami did not have the 150 million yen from the bank heist and didn't know where the money was. So obviously he's trying to locate it but how would hijacking a bus and then kidnapping a pregnant woman help him find the loot? The woman's name was Yoshie Sakuma, a little bit of research has found out that her five year old son had been on the hijacked bus, a coincidence? No for it was also discovered her husband Sakuma has known Iwami for a few years, the man had been thought to be helping out Iwami but nothing could ever be proved. In the bottom screenshot above and the one right below that's Sakuma on the right.

 While the pair of investigators were paying their first visit to Sakuma's office, he owned a real estate firm, a call came in from Iwami. Takayama had answered and once the criminal knew he was speaking to the police the call was cut short but Takayama pretended the conversation was still going on in the hopes of fooling Sakuma. Which worked ass he told Takayama and Oshita the 150 million yen was hidden at Takashima Wharf but that can no longer be true as why would Iwami be looking for the loot? Takayama seemed to do most of the talking this episode as Oshita was a bit quiet for a change. Takayama told Sakuma the reason Iwami pulled those two stunts with the bus and at the hospital was because of his family, Iwami probably felt that Sakuma had gone to the wharf and taken the stolen money, with a family member Iwami could make a trade for the cash. But Sakuma swore up and own that he didn't have the money and the investigators did believe him. However he's still on Iwami's 'hit list' and unless the money can be found quickly Sakuma and his family's lives are in danger.

 Iwami is a smart criminal, staking out Sakuma's real estate office wouldn't work as the investigators would be noticed. So Sakuma was brought into the Minato station for more questioning plus it was for his safety, the police are also protecting his family. But Takayama had a brainstorm and secretly whisked Sakuma out of the station to the fury of his chief Kondo. If Iwami feels Sakuma has his 150 million yen then why not play along and act as though he did? A new real estate office was rented out for Sakuma and Oshita even bought him a five million yen foreign car(!), those things should draw Iwami out of hiding. All of this is in the above screenshots and that's Iwami in the bottom two. The detective Tanaka was still at Tomoko's snack bar in case Iwami ever made an appearance there. He did and as you can see by now had a gun and was able to subdue Tanaka while also taking his gun. Iwami had gotten that first gun by making a scene at a pier the previous night hoping the police would arrive They did and he was able to snatch a pistol away from one officer and in the struggle shot him! Iwami is really becoming unhinged as he's become more violent than ever and that's what money will do to you!

 Final segment and after taking Tanaka's revolver Iwami told him to call Takayama to find out where he was. Which was at this fake new real estate office and guess who is going to head there now?! You would think Iwami but instead arriving in his place was his girlfriend Tomoko, that's her with the gun above. Right after she entered the office Iwami called Sakuma and said to tell Tomoko where the stolen loot was hidden but of course couldn't because he had no clue. Unknown to Iwami and Tomoko hiding in a back room was Takayama and Oshita, they rushed out to save the day and it's when Tomoko pulled that gun, it was a five shot pistol and the one Iwami had stolen from that policeman at the pier. Even with a gun Tomoko was outnumbered so fled the office quickly where she joined up with Iwami who was in a car. Our two heroes gave chase and the final destination was that cinema I had discussed in the intro. An action packed police movie was showing which meant Takayama and Oshita had a hard time determining whether the gunfire was from the film or if Iwami was firing at them! Luckily no movie goers were hit and what an eerie place for a shootout. Takayama was trying to count the bullets, once he felt Iwami had fired five he jumped out from behind a seat and said to put his hands up(!), the thug had taken a woman hostage while this was going on.

Takayama slowly strutted towards Iwami and said you have no more bullets while laughing at him. But off to the side his partner Oshita had also been counting the bullets, he too knew five had been fired. However he knew something that Takayama didn't which was that Iwami was using Tanaka's pistol, that contained seven bullets and in the nick of time Oshita shot the gun out of Iwami's hand and saved his partner's life. Takayama picked up the gun Iwami had been using and shot at the ceiling, of course the gun was still loaded and Takayama came so close to passing out! So that closes the case as Iwami is now in custody but as the chief Kondo says above where's the 150 million from the bank robbery? Oshita had an inkling and remember that minor character Kana from the beginning? Oshita had seen this guy one other time and though poor had been wearing a gold watch, where did he get the money for that? So Oshita put two and two together deducing that Kana had picked up the bag of money from Takashima Wharf. Kana was found at an expensive restaurant and that's in the bottom two screenshots above. Kana did admit he picked up the bag of money but didn't know it was stolen, since then he's bene living like a King and has spent the majority of it! Kana was brought in to the station after that but what charges could be pressed against him? That ended this 23rd episode and also it's the finale of this recap, the next post is for the 24th episode, sixth of season three, and haven't viewed that yet.