"Abunai Deka" drama: Episode 33 of 51(!!!!) recap(season four, episode seven)

 

 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 17.6%

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. Beginning with the fourth season she became goofier than ever which has been annoying.

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. Five years ago before coming chief Kondo had killed a Yakuza thug which is one reason he's so feared.

  In the third season the roles of Yoshi and Tanaka have become much larger, will add them in for season four. In the two screenshots below Yoshi is on the left, Tanaka is right next to him.

 

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 26th episode. Now we're up to season four, that will be episode's 27 through 35.

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

Episode 23 .... Episode 24 .... Episode 25 .... Episode 26 .... Episode 27 .... Episode 28

Episode 29 .... Episode 30 .... Episode 31 .... Episode 32

 

 In episode 31 the action took place on the island of Oshima and also in the city of Nagasaki, first time in about twenty shows the story took place outside of the Yokohama area. The last episode took place back in the usual city of Yokohama but for this show the first half took place back in Nagasaki and one other place, why wasn't this the 32nd show then? While not every episode has been a classic all the stories have been top notch to date, this show had a very interesting plot. Right above is the main hero Takayama, doesn't he look a bit spaced out???? Yes and that's because he was, had Takayama become an addict and what a beginning to this show seeing him like that! Will get into what took place and it's nice to see so many different storylines. For the first time will be doing a trio of recaps as that will wrap up the fourth season so of course that means two more recaps are after this one.

 It wasn't revealed until almost ten minutes had elapsed but the first scenes took place on the island of Kyushu. At first was wondering if Takayama was involved in some sort of training exercise or perhaps it was some dream he was having for he looked more strung out than most junkies would have looked being so ultra high. But no, Takayama was truly buzzed to the Nth degree and at a wharf broke up a drug deal, in that condition was he working on a case? No for Takayama ambled over with his pistol aimed at the thugs, opened up a suitcase which was packed with cocaine and smiled to himself as if he had hit the jackpot! For Takayama could have cared less about the other suitcase which was jammed packed with cash and wanted the drugs to continue with his binge!!!! So all of us viewers were wondering what was up with our hero Takayama, was he an ex-addict who had relapsed and if so what had sent him over the edge? There being at least half a dozen thugs on the wharf and with Takayama being so strung out they quickly surrounded him leaving him with no alternative but to plunge into the water with the man thug Sudo looking on in glee. That's him in the third screenshot wearing glasses and we'll be seeing more of him as he is the main culprit in this episode. He told his goons to hold back from firing at Takayama for in his condition there was no chance of him surviving as the gangsters soon zoomed away with their drug deal being successful, there was no way this could be the end of Takayama or was it?

 Of course not but it would be a long and hard road back for Takayama who had been working solo on the island of Kyushu. Back at the Minato precinct in Yokahama everyone wondered where had Takayama disappeared to as he had been AWOL for over two days. His chief Kondo was furious with his absence though deep down was quite worried, even Takayama's close partner Oshita had no clue what had befallen Takayama, perhaps off with a woman? To a small extent yes as that morning a call came in from a woman who said that Takayama needed help and she was calling from Sasebo. Oshita had answered the call and had no clue where this location was, the chief Kondo did and said it was on the island of Kyushu.... what's Takayama doing there? This woman didn't give many details but said to hurry, Oshita was dispatched to pick up his partner. This woman's name was Keiko Fujishiro who owned a boutique, on her way there one morning she had noticed the frazzled Takayama hiding in an alley, it was a few hours after the mini scene with the Kudo gang. Keiko brought Takayama back to her shop as he didn't look like your usual junkie, she found out he was an investigator and quickly called Yokohama. That gang had trailed the pair to Keiko's shop but couldn't enter as it was right next door to a police station, those goons were waiting outside for their chance to grab Takayama. The bottom screenshots above are of Oshita making it to Kyushu, the woman is Keiko. The woman in the bottom screenshot is named Yoshie Nogami who is an official with Kondo's clan, rare for a woman to be in the Yakuza but she may have also been his mistress.... but not for long!

 That bottom screenshot s a cool one and will get to who that is in a few moments. Oshita finally managed to reunite with his partner Takayama who was still hurting but did relate a bit of what had happened to him. Secretly Takayama had been trailing Kudo for a while starting in Yokohama, Takayama discovered he would be making a drug deal in Kyushu and trailed Kudo there. But on the cruiser heading to the island Takayama had been captured by the gang and held as a prisoner for almost a day before escaping. But while he was held hostage Takayama had been pumped full of drugs, so much am surprised he didn't die! So what Takayama is going through now are some severe withdrawals, so severe it's why he wanted to take the suitcase of drugs at the wharf.... to use for himself! But by now Takayama's head was becoming much clearer, his plan was to handcuff himself to a bed and remain that way until the withdrawals faded which took about five hours, shouldn't it have been longer? Meanwhile Oshita got to know Keiko a bit better and why not as she was an attractive woman, the two also devised a plan. That was for getting Takayama off the island of Kyushu, the boutique had a back entrance and they could slip out there. Which is what happened and though Kudo's gang did discover Takayama and Oshita had fled the island they had a huge head start.

 Their journey brought them back to Nagasaki for the second time in three episodes. Most investigators would have returned to Yokohama but Takayama and Oshita are not your usual investigators! Of course Takayama wants revenge against Kudo and his gang but with just his partner Oshita they were badly outnumbered. Oshita had called the Minato office and told them a bit of what had been taking place, the chief was so worried he sent the young detective Machida to Nagasaki. In that third screenshot the heroes had trapped a thug named Okabe and he was the one selling the drugs at the wharf. Get him and the path to Kudo would be much easier and Okabe did give the pair a lot of info. However he was able to slip away for Takayama was still in pain from the drugs, he will be that way for most of this episode. Back in Yokohama the Minato precinct has made Kudo public enemy #1 but when they raided his office the gangster had already flown the coop. In that third to last screenshot above Takayama had received a call from Kudo who by now was also in Nagasaki. He thought that Keiko was Takayama's girl so had taken her hostage, come to a pier tonight or she'll be history! That you can see above and this goon did have the upper hand, Takayama had a gun which he stole from Kudo but it had only one bullet. That he made count as Takayama was able to shoot the gun out of this thug's hand, watching from the wings was Kudo who sent his gang into action to eliminate Takayama. But arriving in the nick of time was Machida in that bottom screenshot, he wasn't known for being a sharpshooter but took out two of Kudo's henchmen. The rest of the gang soon fled along with Kudo, Machida was a hero and for here on out the action will be taking place in Yokohama.

 That top screenshot above is the last we saw of Keiko, that was a minor tragedy for her and Takayama as though they didn't know each other for a long time the pair really hit it off well. Back in Yokohama the chief Kondo wasn't too upset with Takayama after he explained about trailing Kudo to Kyushu, things just got out of hand but for now Takayama did keep from him being strung out on drugs. We knew that Kudo was the head of a Yokohama Yakuza clan but didn't know their name up until now, it's Isoyama. The problem is the chief Kondo doesn't want this case going any further, Takayama may have witnessed an illegal deal but there's zero evidence. That is until now for while their discussion was going on a report came in about a dead woman found in the Yamashita Canal, it was the woman mentioned well above. Who was Yoshie Nogami and was an associate of Kudo, there was enough evidence to link her murder to Kudo and Kondo finally relented in letting his troops hunt down this Yakuza leader. After trailing or being with Kudo for so many days Takayama, though a bit drugged at the time, did acquire a few useful facts about the Isoyama clan's leader.

 The main one being his semi-partner was a respected businessman named Tokudaiji, that's him in the bottom screenshot above. The Minato chief Kondo blew a gasket when Takayama told him this man was first on the list to investigate, didn't Takayama realize what an upstanding citizen Tokudaiji was who had won many civic awards? Takayama knew what could be done with those 'awards' and is now back working with his regular partner Oshita as the pair paid this 'fine man' a visit. Naturally Tokudaiji claimed to know zero about Kudo or any kind of drug dealing but he wasn't as strong willed as a gangster and the investigators knew he could be easily rattled. They soon departed Tokudaiji's office but Takayama made a return visit which sent shivers up and down Tokudaiji's spine for he didn't know Takayama was from the police! He claimed to be a hit man from Nagasaki, unless Tokudaiji told Takayama where Kudo was hiding the shipment of five kilos of drugs then he would have to complete his assignment.... of eliminating Tokudaiji! Who soon was on the phone to Kudo about what took place, a meeting was quickly set up to settle matters but we all know how the Yakuza operate!

 Final segment and probably made those first two parts a bit too long as there was less than seven minutes to go at this point. Back in the second half of the 80's Yokohama seemed to be so full of abandoned buildings as most episodes ended off with a scene at one of them, this show followed the trend. Tokudaiji arrived at such a building to meet up with Kudo, naturally secretly trailing him was Takayama and Oshita. The meetup was for Tokudaiji to get back the five kilos of drugs that Kudo had received in that Kyushu trade and give them to the Nagasaki hitman Takayama(!), Tokudaiji was worried his life will be wiped out if he can't get them. It was Tokudaiji who set up the deal so though the drugs aren't his he is heavily involved in the illegal activity. Of course a seasoned pro such as Kudo wouldn't give a wimpy guy such as Tokudaiji the drugs and the meeting was an excuse to eliminate Tokudaiji who fell for the trick. 

Kudo ordered his gang to shoot the onetime respected businessman but of course it being the end of the show the two heroes Takayama and Oshita arrived on the scene. They saved Tokudaiji's life and took out the entire Isoyama clan save for their leader Kudo. Who Takayama had tracked down to at an abandoned warehouse and wanted revenge for being held hostage and being pumped full of drugs. It did appear Takayama was dead serious with revenge as we were wondering would he have shot the thug? Luckily for Kudo Oshita arrived on the scene and slapped cuffs on the gangster, he too was wondering would Takayama have killed the man? Back at the station for a change the chief Kondo was pleased and that's when Takayama confessed about being injected with so many drugs, his condition had been so bad some at the Minato station were wondering had he gotten AIDS?! Of course not and that wraps up this recap which was a fine story, two more posts after this to wrap up season four.