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

 

 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 18.6%

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.

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. **** We haven't seen her for many episodes so may end up deleting this character.

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.

 

Will add in one guest star for this episode, there were a few others but this woman was on screen for most of the show.

Isshikiko as Etsuko Sakuma.... Popular hostess at the Kingston Club but also has such a devious side. Etsuko's previous boyfriend was named Morioka(below) who was a bank robber, was she involved in any of those heists? We did learn she certainly was and in this show was the mastermind behind the case in this episode. That was unknown until the end and a man who had such a crush on Etsuko was the detective Machida who is above in the middle. 

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

   

 

 It's understandable if you're shaking your head and wondering what is that Nao 😈 doing(?!), will explain what is going on. Had plans to recap the Korean drama "Zombie Detective", viewed the first three episodes and wrote up half of the first show's recap. But had a change of heart as the show wasn't as good as I was expecting and thought do I want to write up twelve recaps? The answer was NO but do plan on continuing with the series which is okay and who knows, maybe I will get around to it. "Abunai Deka" is a 1986/87 drama that I began to recap earlier this year, by March had written up eighteen recaps of the 51 episode series. This was a show I was enjoying quite a bit but was worried that I may get very burnt out if I kept viewing it so took a break. A much longer one than I had planned as it's been eight months since the last post but since then have recapped seven other shows, had forgotten about this until recently. There's a current Japanese drama airing which I will begin recapping in December and thought what could I view until then?

 Luckily remembered there were still 33 shows to watch so dove right back into this but don't expect the recaps to come quickly. The yearly faves list will begin in less than three weeks and that does take time, the new plan is to recap the next nine episodes of this series and then start on the other drama. There were 51 episodes in this series and they did run for 51 consecutive weeks but there were six seasons! The drama kept getting renewed before a season ended and just kept on going. The eighteen recaps done earlier were for the first two seasons, this one also has nine episodes and the last three seasons each had eight shows. Hope that makes everything clear and if I left anything out will talk about it in the next recap which is the following post. Right above is this drama's main star Takayama and I admit to really liking him. However now and again one of the medium sized characters gets a turn in the spotlight so we only saw Takayama for about 3-4 minutes of this show and that above screenshot did end the show. But his partner Oshita had plenty of screen time and let's finally get to this recap, most cases such as this story last for just one episode. 

 There were a few other minor characters who we saw more of in this episode, one was Yoshi in the second to last screenshot and another detective named Tanaka. The show began off with that first screenshot above, Oshita brought his Minato precinct mate Kaoru to an upscale place called the Kingston Club. Kaoru thought it was finally a date! Nope, for Oshita said they were undercover trying to find the culprit behind a recent bank heist and her heart was broken once again. This club was chosen for the top hostess there had been the ex-girlfriend of the robber who is named Morioka, the hostess is Etsuko dressed in white above. Also undercover at the Kingston Club was the young detective Machida who was pretending to be a waiter/bellboy. Besides that Machida was assigned to spy on Etsuko's apartment during the day from a building across the street, Machida is loved by all the girls but have to wonder has he ever had a steady girlfriend? The stakeout at the club went nowhere during that first day as the robber Morioka never made an appearance but the action picked up the next day.

 Oshita visited his mate in viewing Etsuko's pad and think he had a crush on her, so soon didn't Machida. Zero had taken place at Etsuko's apartment but soon that would change as the two detectives noticed her getting roughed up by a pair or thugs and dashed over there, that Oshita is such a riot when he's in pursuit of a criminal! He couldn't enter Etsuko's place as not to reveal his identity, Machida could as she thinks he's a new employee of the Kingston Club. We don't see him in action enough but Machida is the best fighter at the Minato station and took care of those two thugs but did get slashed by one of their knives. Oshita had been waiting outside for these goons but they managed to elude him, it was still too early for any of these hooligans to be nabbed! Back at Etsuko's apartment she nursed Machida's wound and right then is when you could tell he was falling for her, it was soon to get worse but of course he couldn't tell her he was a police detective. We did see Takayama here and there, back at the Minato station he was able to wrangle out of a suspect the name of the robber who had helped Morioka on the heist, it was man named Shinozaki and now the hunt turned towards him.

 Shinozaki was holed up at his girlfriend's apartment in the Shinyamashita section off Yokohama, on the hunt for him were the two detectives mentioned we usually don't see too often. Who are Yoshi and in the sunglasses is Tanaka, as you can see Oshita's coolish style has rubbed off on him though it's almost impossible to have the cool vibes Oshita has! The pair had Shinozaki cornered but he jumped out of the second story window and dashed away but also leaping from the window was Tanaka who soon caught up with the thug. However Shinozaki swiveled around and was pointing his pistol at Tanaka's head! But he was in a 'Oshita Mood' and before the goon could fire Tanaka did, Shinozaki was down and out but it seemed he was just badly hurt, however it was a direct shot and the bank robber was dead! Tanaka was shocked beyond belief and was consoled by his mates but if Tanaka didn't fire it just may have been him lying dead! However the coroner found something that did shock everyone, it wasn't Takana's bullet that killed Shinozaki but one from the same gun used at the bank heist he was involved in!

 Which meant that Morioka was the man who killed his bank robbery partner and besides brawn Oshita also has a bit of brains. He told his boss Kondo, the man in glasses above, that there was more to the robbery than they first thought. When Shinozaki had been killed he had been carrying a bag of 50 million yen from the robbery, Morioka could have easily snatched the bag and ran so why didn't he? Taking a trip to the robbed bank the detectives Yoshi and Tanaka discovered that there were a bunch of safety deposit boxes broken into, could they hold the key to Shinozaki's murder and anyone else involved? Yes they will but before that back to Machida who has now moved in with the hostess Etsuko!!!! But it was no love affair as she was so terrified of those goons roughing her up again and asked Machida to be her full time bodyguard to the tune of 100,000 yen a month. Of course he agreed but he was on assignment so the romance never got off the ground, Machida was still a bit leery about Etsuko and even tapped her phone. He soon overheard Etsuko taking with her ex-boyfriend Morioka and have a feeling the pair never did break up. The conversation had to deal with stolen diamonds, Morioka wants Etsuko to meet him at a pier the next morning and the two will say sayonara to Japan! **** Almost forgot to add in that during this time Etsuko had discovered Machida was a detective when she saw a badge in his bag but kept her mouth shut about the discovery.

 That's Morioka in the top screenshot above, though the main culprit in this case we saw very little of him though he was referred to often. So that overheard conversation of Etsuko's blew away those romantic fantasies Machida was having of her but he still is on assignment and had to keep what he learned under wraps for now. In one of those safety deposit boxes Morioka had stolen diamonds from a man named Tabata, that's him in the bottom three screenshots above and he owns a shady trading company. Stealing those diamonds was the main target for the bank heist, taking money and breaking into other boxes was a diversion which may have worked if Shinozaki wasn't killed. Tabata is a known smuggler to the Minato station police and is even wanted by another prefecture for smuggling. The amount of diamonds Morioka stole from Tabata's box was worth over a billion yen, back then that was close to $700,000 so quite a haul! Of course Tabata was not going to sit on his hands and do nothing, he sent his henchmen back to nab Etsuko before she could flee with Morioka and the incident took place at the Kingston Club.

 Machida was still undercover as a waiter there, when he noticed these thugs snatching Etsuko he jumped into action but being unarmed he too was taken as a hostage. The pair were brought to an abandoned warehouse and have mentioned in previous recaps how many abandoned building there were in Yokohama during the mid-1980's. Tabata knows Etsuko will be fleeing with Morioka though he has no clue where the robber is hiding out. Unless she opens her mouth soon about his location it'll be curtains for Etsuko and Machida. So Etsuko told a convincing lie where she said her and Morioka would be leaving the next day from the Honmuko container pier, it was to just stall for time but it worked. The thugs contacted their boss Tabata with what they had found out and it just so happens that Oshita was in his office, so wasn't the other detective Yoshi. The pair learned the whereabouts of Etsuko and their mate Machida, on to save the day! But before that Tabata had pulled a fast one and pointed a pistol at Oshita's face, the gun luckily backfired and it was Tabata who was shot!

 Final segment and after writing up so many long recaps for Korean dramas the last few months doing these will feel like a walk in the park! Those thugs bought Etsuko's lie completely and were planning on leaving her with Machida tied up at the warehouse. One of the unnamed goons jumped into a car and was going to head to that pier which Etsuko mentioned but this man did not get too far. Because arriving on the scene was Oshita and had the coolest moment of this show. Underneath his trench coat he had his pistol and shot the thug right between the eyes as the car was barreling towards Oshita! Back at the warehouse Etsuko had managed to cut herself and Machida free with a knife she had hidden, Machida soon grappled with the other thugs and came out on top. While that was taking place Etsuko ran from the warehouse to the next pier which is where she was going to meet Morioka, he was already there waiting. With him was the bag of stolen diamonds but what took place shocked him as Etsuko took his gun and shot her lover(?) to death. She claimed to Machida, who viewed the scene, that it was in self defense but not sure if he believed her.

 So while he was checking on Morioka's wound which was fatal Etsuko pointed the pistol at Machida's head and was about to fire. She never got the chance as the gun was shot out of her hand by Oshita who had kept himself hidden to view all of the action. As you can see above he told his younger mate Machida never to trust a woman and is that because Oshita is so unlucky in love?! At this time it was also revealed by Oshita that after doing some investigating Etsuko was the Mastermind behind this diamond theft, very possibly all of the other bank robberies Morioka had done too! So the case ended on that note and glad I picked this series back up as it was such an enjoyable watch. My only minor beef to date is how quickly the episodes end and how we viewers are in the dark about many things. For instance about how did Oshita discover Etsuko was the mastermind behind this diamond theft and we didn't have any clue on that until the very end. Just a minor beef and now on to watch episode twenty, the recap for that is the next post.