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.
Above is a main guest star for this episode and her name is Kimiko Yo who turned 67 this year. I've seen her in quite a few older things and never realized how popular she had been, she's still very busy as an actress. Kimiko has been in too many movies and dramas to count, twice she's won a major movie award for best supporting actress. She also appeared in the 18th episode but can't recall that. In this show she played the character of Hiromi Nagisa who in a twist at the end was revealed to be the leader of a diamond smuggling gang! That above screenshot is how the episode began, Hiromi was singing at a Yokohama club and she was very popular. Hope that wasn't a spoiler and now on to the final episode of season four.
There was a witness who is in the middle screenshot, she'll actually become the major figure in this murder/jewelry heist case. Her name is Yoko Yamanishi, she's twenty in age and attends night school to finish up her high school education. Yoko is also a budding poet and some of that wasn't revealed until later. Takayama and Oshita didn't notice it then but we viewers did which was that Yoko had some vision problems, without her glasses she can barely see a thing. When the killers murdered Nakatsuka Yoko's glasses had been knocked off so she couldn't see the thugs faces clearly. They didn't know that and would have killed her but they were out of bullets. Yoko did see a detail which was that one killer's mouth seemed to shine, that she kept secret until the end. The following morning at the Minato station the investigator's chief Kondo was beyond irate, Nakatsuka had been killed, his murderers had gotten away and the witness Yoko had also disappeared! But as usual some hard work and luck came the way of Takayama and Oshita. They discovered Nakatsuka had a close mate named Maruchi who had given Nakatsuka the gun he used on his heists, that's him in the bottom screenshot above.
So now the hunt is on for Maruchi who probably had a hand in the jewelry store heists, the police didn't have to look hard for him. The stakeout is back on at the club Hiromi was singing at, it appears that Maruchi has had a crush on her. In that top screenshot it shows Hiromi singing at the club, Takayama noticed that necklace and did it look expensive! So much so that could it have been one stolen by the now murdered Nakatsuka? After her performance Hiromi had been accosted by Marcuhi and did say the police didn't have to look hard for him! He wanted that necklace Hiromi was wearing and guess it was worth a fortune but arriving to break up the mini scuffle was Takayama and Oshita, quickly fleeing was Marcuhi. Hiromi was brought back to the Minato station where she said it was her first time meeting Maruchi which was the truth and for a long time he had such a secret crush on her. While at the station Takayama was able to get the necklace from Hiromi and claimed it was police procedure to check on such valuable trinkets. He brought it to the shop Hiromi claimed she purchased it at and the owner did verify she was telling the truth. However after she left the station Takayama told Kondo that while Hiromi may have purchased the necklace at the shop not the jewels in it.
Which the shop owner had valued at 20 million yen(!), hmmmm, so a twist has arisen in the case and was somehow Hiromi involved in the jewelry store heists? Don't know why but the Juvenile Unit at the station had dragged in Yoko Yamanishi, what a stroke of luck for Takayama and Oshita! They have finally found their witness to the murder of Nakatsuka but Yoko wasn't much help, it's when she revealed how little she can see without her glasses. But Yoko did tell the investigators about the killers trying to shoot her but were out of ammo, Yoko had become so frightened she was moving that day. The chief Kondo ordered Takayama and Oshita to help the poor young woman out and this new apartment will soon be so key to the story. At her new place was when Yoko told Takayama and Oshita that her goal in life was to become a poet, she had a huge trunk full of just books. Can't understand then why at the age of twenty Yoko has to attend a night high school to get her degree, the investigators did take a liking towards her and will visit often, the main reason being to protect Yoko.
A character we've been seeing much more of in this fourth season is Suzue from the Juvenile Unit, he was assigned to be Yoko's bodyguard. So for now Yoko is well protected but of course the brothers Doji and Saga still have their sights on getting rid of her. Back at the Minato station there's been a lot of investigating about the jewelry heists held all around Japan, that investigating was done by the young detective Machida. Yokohama is the 13th city the singer Hiromi has visited for her tour the last three months. At each tour stop that would last for 3-4 days a jewelry store had been robbed, was it a coincidence that Hiromi happened to be there? It was no coincidence to Machida and the chief Kondo agreed with him, now a hunt is also on for Hiromi who we didn't see much of until the end of the show. Her potential assailant Maruchi had been tailed by Oshita who saw him conversing with a man, it happened to be one of the brothers Saga! Oshita at the time had no clue who the brother was but trailed Maruchi to the Bund Hotel, also there was the investigator Yoshi who had followed Hiromi there. The pair were having a meeting in room 506, when Oshita and Yoshi arrived there Hiromi had slipped out right under their noses! But Maruchi was there badly injured by a gun shot, he told Oshita Hiromi had shot him and the thug he had been talking to was one of the brothers who had murdered Nakatsuka, hope it's not too confusing. **** One thing I hadn't tied together was that Nakatsuka, Maruchi, Doji and Saga were part of the gang who robbed the jewelry stores, who was their boss?
Maruchi was able to give Oshita one more piece of important info, that was Saga's address. Oshita immediately knew it was right next to Yoko's new apartment and now it was a hunt to nab these two brothers before Yoko too was eliminated! For this day Kaoru was Yoko's bodyguard, the pair had been unsuccessfully trying to sell her poems on the street and headed back to Yoko's pad. Shortly after the brothers arrived and told Yoko they would be moving out that day, they wanted to give her a bottle of wine to thank her for that welcoming gift. It was no ordinary bottle of wine as it was laced with poison, to the dismay of Doji and Saga Yoko said to stay and share it with her and Kaoru. No one touched the wine though their glasses were filled, during this time Yoko had said she had written a poem called "My Beloved Killer" as she was being hunted down by two killer thugs. It was also during this time Yoko confessed she's almost blind without her glasses and never saw the goons who had killed Nakatsuka. That info changed the plans of the brothers, they no longer were worried about being identified and didn't want to kill Yoko.... YET! For she asked the brother Doji to read her poem, while he was his mouth was wide open and Yoko recalled the SHINY teeth that was mentioned in the beginning, you can see Doji's teeth above.
Yoko told Kaoru these were the killers(!), the brothers quickly threw the pair of women into Yoko's huge chest and fled the building. Arriving only a minute later was Takayama and Oshita, were they too late to save their mate Kaoru and Yoko? No, for they did spot the brothers with that huge chest and trailed them to an abandoned warehouse, the investigators couldn't shoot as they might hit the chest. Making an appearance at this time was Hiromi and it was discovered then she was the main boss of this jewelry heist gang. Soon enough Doji and Saga were taken down, during that action Hiromi had attached some dynamite to the chest and she was already to light the fuse! However she was winged in the arm but while falling did manage to light the fuse, the chest blew up with.... Kaoru and Yoko inside? NO, for they soon arrived to pummel Hiromi who was soon arrested, the chest had opened for a minute earlier and the pair were able to escape to safety.... why then was it so heavy? So once again a case was solved and 100% of them have been to date, did zip through the ending a bit quickly as this recap was getting a bit long. But most of the action is in the above and below screenshots, this fourth season ended on a high note. So as mentioned in the intro will be taking a break from this drama to recap another one, possibly two, but will be back soon enough with the final sixteen episodes.
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