"Abunai Deka" drama: Episode 40 of 51(!!!!) recap(season five, 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 15.4%

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 ran from the nineteenth until the 26th episode. Season four has been completed which is episodes 27 through 35. So now were down to the last two seasons which each have eight episodes.

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 .... Episode 33 .... Episode 34

Episode 35 .... Episode 36 .... Episode 37 .... Episode 38 .... Episode 39

 Getting slightly burnt out from writing recaps up but the pace for this series will pick up as I want to finish the remaining ten episodes within a month. Takes too long to count but bet in the last year I've set a personal record for writing these up which do take a while, not just the writing but the viewing of the episodes and taking screenshots. Least there's no major ongoing storyline so if I am late by a few days it doesn't really matter. There is one minor ongoing storyline which has to deal with the Yakuza gang Ginsei. We hadn't seen them for six shows but they did make a brief appearance in the last episode plus we heard more about them in this one. Don't know how this series will end but think the Ginsei clan becomes much more involved in the stories and there's nothing more in life than our main  hero Takayama wants to see than the group rubbed out! **** The guest actress for this episode was a nineteen year old named Risa Yamamoto. She was a semi-popular J-Pop singer in the 1980's releasing six singles and an album along with appearing in many dramas but seemed to disappear after 1990.

 Every story has something slightly different about it though the cases are like most you may see in other police dramas. This time around the main guest star Risa, who was mentioned, was a 16 year old girl who had amnesia. Her real name in the show was Chikako Tashiro but she couldn't remember that so the officers at the Minato precinct dubbed her Yoko and that's the name I'll be using. The episode began off with the top screenshot, a drug dealer named Kuboyama had been found murdered at a pier and by all accounts it was a deal that went wrong. Kuboyama's partners were named Kitazawa and Kimizuka, while they weren't wanted for the murder they were being hunted down as it was very likely they witnessed the killing. This drug deal gone bad had taken place the previous night, for some strange reason at the scene was Yoko who had witnessed the shooting. But in their haste to flee Kitazawa and Kimizuka had run over Yoko, that resulted in her getting amnesia. Did say the pair of dealers weren't wanted but because Yoko saw them they were worried she would finger them as the killers and also being involved in a drug deal. 

 That's Yoko in the fourth screenshot above, she remembers zero about her past and the only thing she had that was possibly a clue was a pendant with the initials ST. So this will be one of the toughest cases to date for the two main heroes Takayama and Oshita but never bet against them! Kitazawa and Kimizuka have been long time drug dealers so of course they're known to the Minato police, for now Takayama will be on the search for them but will be joined later by his partner Oshita. Takayama did discover the thugs had bought guns the morning after Kuboyama's murder, not to kill anyone but to protect themselves and had fled their apartment. Besides the police who else is on the hunt for Kitazawa and Kimizuka are the Yakuza gang Ginsei. They've been a thorn in Takayama's side for seemingly eternity, he correctly surmised if they're involved did they commit the murder? Much more on them throughout the recap and while Takayama was on that side of the case his partner Oshita had visited Yoko at the hospital. She had taken an instant liking towards Oshita who along with the Juvenile Unit investigator Kaoru have been assigned to protect Yoko. Besides Kitazawa and Kimizuka the Ginsei clan may want to silence her as Yoko did witness the murder which was done by one of their thugs.

 Amnesia is a very frustrating condition, there's not much doctors can do except wait for it to pass which could take one day.... or a decade! Oshita naturally wants it to be cured in one day and did try many things such as giving Yoko a new pendant with her name on it along with driving her around Yokohama in the hope it would jog her memories which failed. The Ginsei clan has gotten much deeper into drug dealing, so much their line is called the Yokohama Connection. That's a name the Minato station has heard of but know so little about it, their chief Kondo is quite worried this could turn into a much bigger case than they could handle. A very huge clue was discovered which will solve this case but it took a while for things to work out. Visiting some bars near the Yamashita Pier where the murder took place Takayama and Oshita discovered a seaman named Shinsuke Tashiro may be involved in drug dealing. If that last name sounds familiar it is as it's the last name of Yoko aka Chikako though at the time the police didn't know her real name. Hmmmm thought Oshita, did the did the pendant with the initials ST stand for Shinsuke Tashiro and if so was Yoko dating him or was just a friend?

 Neither one and when Tashiro was brought to the Minato station he claimed not to know who Yoko was. When he discovered she had amnesia Tashiro did play it smart as there was no way Yoko could give the police any info on him. Of course the Minato staff knew Tashiro was lying through his teeth about not knowing Yoko but for now couldn't prove a thing, a tail will soon be put on him. So what started out as a simple murder case of a drug pusher has grown immensely, the dreaded Ginsei gang is involved, a seaman named Tashiro may be bringing in drugs from SE Asia and the two thugs Kitazawa and Kimizuka are after Yoko! So that's why the chief Kondo is so worried for his troops and had wanted to bring in the Prefect police but was talked out of it by Takayama. The biggest key to the case is for Yoko to regain her memory, Oshita had a bright idea which sort of worked. With the young detective Machida driving Oshita had brought Yoko out once again around Yokohama and said we're being followed! But it was all a trick as in the car tailing them was the pair of investigators Yoshi and Tanaka. The chase ended up under a bridge and the investigators got into a scrap with Oshita, he thought an incident such as that would bring Yoko's memory back. Which it did but Oshita was carried away with his act, not paying attention to her Yoko fled the scene as she was even able to elude Machida.

 In the intro section did say I had been a bit bunt out from writing so many recaps up. So had taken a week off(!) between viewing this episode and writing it up, remember most but some events are a tad hazy and glad there's plenty of screenshots. Now remembering everything is Yoko who recalled her name was Chikako but will keep using Yoko. So when Oshita went overboard with his act Yoko fled and now there's a trio chasing after her though she's just sixteen in age! Of course the Minato police are on the hunt for her, so aren't the thugs Kitazawa and Kimizuka as she saw them do a drug deal and then there's the Ginsei clan as one of their gangsters murdered Kuboyama. One person not looking for Yoko is Tashiro and it was discovered he truly was her brother. Oshita had paid a visit to Yoko's empty apartment where she lives alone, she's just sixteen but attends high school and works as a cashier at a mart. At her residence Oshita noticed a photo of the siblings together and also a recent letter from Tashiro. He told Yoko he would be pulling into port soon and had come into a lot of money, that bit of info sealed the deal as whether Tashiro was a drug smuggler or not.

 First to find Yoko were the dealers Kitazawa and Kimizuka, they held her hostage as they knew she was Tashiro's sister. For a ransom they want the Heroin that he had just smuggled in but that was now impossible as Tashiro had already made a deal with the Ginsei gang and had been paid. Right above is the Minato chief Kondo telling his troops about the deal, the shipment was large and that's the last thing they need which is having the Ginsei clan become even bigger dealers. During this time Oshita, with intel collected by Takayama, had located Yoko and that's him above on the roof of a car. He was able to rescue her from the clutches of Kitazawa and Kimizuka so one part of the case has been closed, the arrest of those two dealers. Not much the Minato station can do about the Ginsei gang for now except to keep tabs on how they sell the drugs, the main hunt is looking for Yoko's brother Tashiro. His ship is scheduled to leave later on that day, if he escapes it could mean he'll try to smuggle even more Heroin in but we know what the odds of him being successful against Takayama and Oshita are.... Zero!

 When Oshita had searched Yoko's apartment in her purse he had found a key to a bus station locker, with it was a note from her brother saying the bag in the locker was hers to keep! After getting out of the hospital for a second time Yoko paid a visit to the locker, she had no clue what could be in the bag. Oshita had trailed her and he knew exactly what she would find.... the profits her brother Tashiro had made selling Heroin! Which was what it was though Yoko didn't know that, she does know that her brother is leaving on his ship Salvia later that day and will ask him then. But first Tashiro had to escape from the clutches of the Ginsei gang as they wanted revenge for him killing one of their men in that drug deal even though the goods were delivered. But luckily for Tashiro he had been tailed by Takayama who saved the day for this young dealer but would Takayama let him go? NO but then again Takayama had no evidence against Tashiro, in his travel bag was zero cash nor any drugs, what charges can be thrown at him? The final major scene was outside the Salvia ship with Tashiro about to board but arriving to bid farewell was his sister Yoko along with Oshita.

 As she asked above Yoko was wondering did the bag jammed full of cash come from drug deals? Tashiro never quite gave an answer of Yes or No, he told Yoko it had been money he was saving up which in a way was true. He wants his sister to have a decent education and it was supposed to be for Yoko attending college though Takayama above said he was full of bull!!!! Tashiro did try to escape and did have a gun but he had no chance against Takayama who wounded him in the leg, also above you can see the drug money being blown away by the wind! So Tashiro was dragged away, there were no charges against Yoko aka Chikako as she hadn't done anything wrong and returned to her normal life. So ends this recap and of course more did happen but try not to explain every single detail as I hope some of you may be interested in viewing this superb series. Few more screenshots below of the action and the next post is the recap for episode 41.