"Abunai Deka" drama: Episode 34 of 51(!!!!) recap(season four, episode eight)

 

 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 21.0%

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

 

 Short intro, no interesting trivia about this episode nor were there any major guest stars. You wouldn't know it but have been taking my time writing these final three recaps for season four up. Will admit I'm just a tad bunt out from writing so many up and 2023 just may have set a record for most recaps, think I may take a ten day break with viewing dramas after the next post. Let's get to the action and once again it was an interesting case with the Minato precinct trying to take out two Yakuza clans and a third joined in near the end.

 Seems for this fourth season Takayama has been the main focus of most stories, not so much this time around. Oshita got most of the spotlight and that's him in the top screenshot somewhat looking like a gangster. For the first half of this show he was using the name of Yappa no Masa(?) but think I'll just keep referring to him as Oshita. Yappa no Masa was a real gangster and in the third to last screenshot that's him with his back turned towards us. He's a gangster from Osaka and was nabbed upon arriving in Yokohama, he was not known by the local Yakuza clans so Oshita took his place to solve a case. Which was a very major one as the Kohyei Kaiun gang had stolen a priceless list from an undercover agent who was then killed, that list gave the names of all of the Narcotic Agents in Japan! If those names were to be revealed it could be the end of so many agent's lives plus it would make smuggling drugs in so much easier. The Kohyei Kaiun gang has targeted five major criminal organizations they want to sell this valuable info to, the starting price would be 20 million yen and Yappa no Masa had come from Osaka to hopefully purchase a copy of the list.

 Oshita's main job is of course to get the original list back but that's easier said than done, there's no evidence against the Kohyei Kaiun gang so the Minato police couldn't make a raid. That's where Oshita came in, he needed to get close to the Kohyei Kaiun gang and especially their leader Makoto Sekigawa to gain access to the list of narcotic agents. Will have to say Oshita was just a so-so gangster, he looked the part but Sekigawa was very leery of him and why not as he knew the police would be after the list. In the middle two screenshot above is a man named Nishijima, he looks like a thug but wasn't. He's a top officer in the Osaka prefecture and was sent to Yokohama to take over the case from the Minato station. The chief Kondo was at first furious with the order but relented as he thought if there's any screwups then they will take the blame. Meanwhile Oshita remained on the case, his regular partner Takayama had been working with Yoshi, aka Papa, and the pair had been keeping Oshita under surveillance. The object wasn't to get a copy of this narcotic agents list as it may have been tampered with, the original was needed but it's been kept hidden in a safe. Bad news for Oshita as the real Yappa no Masa has told the investigators another agent from Osaka will be arriving to help Oshita out, if this man named Kawashima meets Oshita then the whole case is doomed! So you can see above that Kondo has ordered Oshita off the case but he's refusing to abandon it and wanted to finish what he began.

 What's made our two 'heroes' Takayama and Oshita so efficient and interesting is that they have no rules and do things their own way, especially Takayama. That does draw the ire of their chief Kondo to hit a high boiling point so often but what can he say when they solve case after case? While drinking with a pair of Kohyei Kaiun goons Oshita did learn the names of he four other Yakuza clans who may be buying that priceless list, each for 20 million yen or combined a hundred million which does sound a bit too low. Oshita had observed Sekigawa's safe being opened many times and learned the combination, the next day his plan was to swipe the original list! Meanwhile Takayama had encountered the gangster Kawashima who had just arrived from Osaka, if he meets up with Oshita the whole case is a failure. Takayama did rough this goon up a bit and though he didn't do anything Kawashima was locked up at the Minato station as Takayama will be taking his place. Back at the Kohyei Kaiun's leader's office Oshita was able to open Sekigawa's safe, could he escape without being noticed? Not a chance as soon one henchman arrived on the scene followed by Sekigawa, looks like Oshita's life will soon be history. But perhaps not as entering the office was Takayama acting as Kawashima, Oshita had no clue what his partner had been up to.

 Takayama was an even worse gangster than Oshita was and soon his secret was revealed, that's all right above. The Minato chief Kondo had ordered Takayama to drop the case, he was livid when he heard what was going down as the Osaka officer Nishijima had the Kohyei Kaiun office under surveillance. Him and his troops invaded the Kohyei Kaiun office though not in a very professional way but least they saved the lives of Takayama and Oshita. Instead of knocking at the office door or perhaps sneaking in the prefect police came in with their guns blazing, there was such bedlam Sekigawa and his gang were able to flee out the backdoor to safety. Needless to say Takayama and Oshita were furious with Nishijima and couldn't be have found a better way to nab the Kohyei Kaiun gang? After that debacle there was no way Takayama and Oshita were going to drop this case, for now they kept pretending to be gangsters from Osaka. Their new plan was to meet up with one of the gangs that were thinking of purchasing the list from Sekigawa, Seagull(Kamome) was a Yokohama clan so their office was the next destination for the two heroes.

 Though Sekigawa had to flee his Kohyei Kaiun office he still has the original list of secret narcotics agents. The Osaka group probably won't be dealing with him but Sekigawa does have an old friend named Iioka who has helped Sekigawa out many times in the past and is the leader of the Seagull Yakuza family. However Iioka is laid up in the hospital and for now his daughter Sanae is overseeing things, that's who Takayama and Oshita paid a visit to. The Seagull clan has seen better days, they may not stay in operation much longer which is why Sekigawa wanted to help his old friend out. Sanae wants to get out of the criminal business once and for all, her group can't afford 20 million yen plus they're not drug smugglers. But the pair of investigators told Sanae to play along with Sekigawa if he should call which he did less than five minutes later. With Takayama and Oshita coaching her Sanae set up a meeting with Sekigawa for that afternoon where she would bring the 20 million but where would she get it? 

 No need to worry about that for as usual Takayama and Oshita have devised a plan, Sanae can stay behind for the meeting. Right after this deal Sekigawa would be traveling to Nagoya and Kyushu to hopefully sell more copies of his list. Though he did know Sanae it had been twenty yeas since Sekigawa had seen her so odds are high he wouldn't remember what she looked like  A stand-in would be used who was the Juvenile Unit investigator Kaoru, the last few episodes have been much better for her screen time has decreased! She'll stand in as Sanae, her assistant Suzue will be her associate with other Minato detectives waiting in the wings. Twenty million yen had to be brought to this meeting and of course the station didn't have it. So in secret Takayama, Oshita, Karou and Suzue spent an hour creating fake cash and it didn't look too real to me. The chief Kondo knew something was up with his unit and knowing his two best detectives Kondo knew they were planning on bringing Sekigawa's gang down. Kondo went down to his bank and withdrew.... the twenty million yen needed from his severance fund! That's the second time in this series he's done that and he must have a lot of confidence in Takayama and Oshita. Just before Kondo went to his bank Sanae had called the station, Kondo answered and she told him the meeting would he held a half later than originally scheduled. So by then Kondo knew what devious mischief was going on, why tell his unit to cease as they never listen to him!!!!

 Keep making the first half of these recaps just a little too long, we're only down to five minutes to go in this show. So at a wharf Karou as Sanae met up with her 'father's friend' Sekigawa and it wasn't a long deal. The minute the list was handed over the Minato force jumped into action, Sekigawa did attempt to flee which ended up being a short yet exciting car chase. But of course there's no escaping from Takayama and Oshita, also the other investigators from the station are quite efficient too. Also there was a brief appearance from the Ginsei gang who are Takayama's major nemesis. They were beaten off quickly and fled, did they have notions of stealing the list? So the original list with the secret Narcotic Agents hidden around Japan was recovered along with their chief's twenty million yen! The Osaka main investigator wasn't thrilled his troops couldn't take the credit for getting the list back but it is safe and sound so Nishijima could return to Osaka as a semi-hero. That wraps this recap up and for the first time only needed seven paragraphs instead of eight. Next post is for episode 35 which I haven't viewed yet, it's the final show for season four.