"Abunai Deka" drama: Episode 51 of 51(!!!!) recap(season six, episode eight/final)

 

 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 21.4%

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

Episode 40 .... Episode 41 .... Episode 42 .... Episode 43 .... Episode 44

Episode 45 .... Episode 46 .... Episode 47 .... Episode 48 .... Episode 49

 

 Made it to the end and when I originally started viewing this series didn't think it would happen. Will give my final grade for the show now and of course it was a high one or else wouldn't have viewed 51 episodes. Have never given a 10/10 for a drama, think my two highest to date were 9.7/10 for season one of "Liar Game" and you now know where the blog title came from. The series that tied that mark was a Korean drama titled "While You Were Sleeping" and that aired seven yeas ago. For this series will give a final grade of 9.3/10 and not many shows have topped that figure. My only complaint was the character of Kaoru who just acted so inane and silly way too often but luckily she wasn't the maim focus in too many episodes. Every show had a very interesting case and for the most part every one was different. There were so many action scenes but often real detective work did solve the cases, if I had to give a grade just for the enjoyment level it would be a 10/10!!!! Plus the team of Takayama and Oshita were unbeatable, this won't be the end of them as I do have two movies that aired after this series ended and will be reviewing those in about a month. So if you do enjoy police dramas give this a very, very high recommendation!

 Thought this series would end off with a final battle between Takayama and his arch enemy the Ginsei Yakuza group. That didn't happen and bet they were a main part of the story in at least twenty episodes. In the above screenshot Oshita mentioned the name of Asami Kobayashi who I had never heard of. She was born in 1953 and was such a popular singer back in the 1970's and 80's, she also appeared in many dramas but didn't do a guest spot in this one and you did learn something new for today! Let's get to this episode's action and it was a tad confusing, mainly for the investigators at the Minato precinct and it did end on an eerie note.... was the main culprit in this episode a Ghost?

 That's the inane Juvenile Unit investigator Kaoru in the second and third to last screenshots above. She had received a call from a young girl named Mayumi whom Kaoru couldn't recall, this girl was very incensed at that so Mayumi said she would kill herself! It wasn't the main story in this show but will refer back to it again and Kaoru did have a minor hand with catching the killer at the end. When this episode began Takayama and Oshita were in a toy store, at first it seemed like some sort of gag scene. But it wasn't as a young man began shooting and took a woman as a hostage. He sped away with the two investigators on his tail and when that happens a perp will never escape! This unnamed thug was easily nabbed and dragged down to the Minato station but during the chase something very key to the story took place. There was a 110(911) call made to the station, the caller was a man who said someone was about to kill him! This man was calling from a phone booth in front of the Shinko warehouse, closest to the scene were Takayama and Oshita. But they had been chasing this other shooter and couldn't respond to the call, some time later the investigators Yoshi and Tanaka were sent to check it out.

 In the fourth screenshot above was the presumed caller, he was found around the corner from the phone booth and had been stabbed to death. His name had been Ichiro Yamanaka, really nothing was known of this man as he didn't have a police record nor a family, who would want to kill him? This Yamanaka turned out to be a Eerie character in the show, was he truly killed and if so did he return as a Spirit? Yamakana did have a matchbook in his pocket from a bar, visiting this place were of course Takayama and Oshita. The bartender said Yamanaka had got into a beef there with a Yakuza goon and it appeared they would face off outside the bar. The 'hero duo' quickly found this thug and I thought it was way too easy how it happened. The killer's name was Takeda and he readily confessed to stabbing Yamanaka though his reason was a bit absurd. Takeda had recently quit smoking, when Yamanaka began to light up one butt after another at the bar it was too much for Takeda who soon killed this man after his 110 call!!!! Not a good reason for murder and Takayama told the goon not to worry about quitting smoking as he'll have at least ten years in prison to do that! So you would think with this murder being solved that's the end of it's story but that's far from the case. Later on Takayama and Oshita had been on the rooftop of a restaurant, Oshita received a call and in that bottom screenshot above it was a fake one as the intention was for the caller to aim a rifle at his head!

 But luckily Takayama noticed a reflection from a rifle, he saw a man aiming the weapon at Oshita and dove to save his partner. Which he did though the bullet did graze Oshita but it was nothing major. The duo sped to the rooftop across the street but the sniper was long gone but did leave a clue. Which was an address book that was completely empty save for one name, Ichiro Yamanaka! Was this his actual address book and if not whose could it be, that really confused everyone at the Minato station. While they were discussing Yamanaka's killing again and also this man shooting at Oshita a call came into the chief Kondo's desk. Yoshi answered it and by the way the crazed caller talked it was as if he wanted to avenge the killing of Yamanaka and the confusion level would rise even higher. For Yoshi had also taken that 110 call from Yamanaka, he swore the voices were the same and later that claim was backed up by the tapes of the calls. So it appears Oshita was targeted for not responding to the 110 call from Yamanaka, but the question no one asked is how did this caller/shooter know that he hadn't responded to Yamanaka's call for help?

 The investigator Tanaka said it had to be the work of a Ghost and truly believed it. Of course no one else at the station would believe such a tale but at the end was he correct? A little while later that man in the middle screenshot above entered the Minato station and his gun was blazing! For this disguised man began to shoot at everyone at the station but luckily didn't hit anyone. However when the shooter fled out the back door he did hit an officer who did end up surviving. Takayama was hot on this mad man's tail who tore away in a station wagon. For at least the tenth time in this series Takayama hopped on a motorcycle and gave chase, he is an Ace driver. It was an exciting chase scene and even though Takayama was on a bike was able to blow out the back window of the vehicle. Which ended up on a dirt road, there was no escape for this shooter! However there was for when Takayama rushed up to the driver's door the station wagon was empty, did this man just vanish into thin air???? Now everyone is more confused than ever at the Minato station, a new question arose which was is the person that was killed really Yamanaka or someone else?

 That theory about Tanaka's 'Ghost' arose again, the chief Kondo said Pfui to that and told his men to start doing some real investigating! It appeared this shooter may be an Ace sniper, Takayama and Oshita began to check out everyone they knew that fit the bill and also had a grudge against the police, of course that list was endless! In a humorous scene Takayama operated a crane and began to smash the car of a suspect(!) but that didn't lead anywhere, neither did checking out about twenty other suspects. So for once the unbeatable team of Takayama and Oshita were getting a bit discouraged but they never give up and soon found a key clue though one that was once again confusing! This shooter struck again as he took out two officers at a Police Box and both did survive. The car used was a rental and at the company Yoshi and Tanaka did find that clue though as mentioned was another confusing one. The car renter had shown his ID, the person's name was.... Ichiro Yamanaka!!!! So what exactly is going on, is that man in the morgue truly Yamanaka or did he just leave some info to make the police believe that was the dead person.... or was the unknown person one avenging his murder?

 Meanwhile Kaoru was still on the hunt for this girl named Mayumi who claimed she was going to kill herself. One huge problem was that there were many with that name Kaoru had worked with and she had no last name to go by. So she interviewed about a dozen girls and struck out each time. However at  a clothing store she did hit pay dirt as a clerk there named Michiru knew Mayumi but she had quit last month. Michiru had a few ideas on where Mayumi may be such as the nearby abandoned US Army base and Kaoru dragged this clerk there. On the base's roof was a person but it wasn't who Kaoru was looking for, instead it was that killer and when he noticed Kaoru began to fire at her! That led to a caller notifying the Minato station of gunshots being fired, zooming to the base was of course Takayama and Oshita. They were able to lead Kaoru and Michiru to safety, now to finally nab this unknown man though then again it could be Yamanaka or his ghost! Kaoru and Michiru were able to track down the actual Mayumi but who claimed she was just having boyfriend problems and had wanted to vent to someone, needless to say Kaoru was beyond infuriated. 

 There was a shootout at this base and this assassin/killer/sniper was the toughest opponent to date for Takayama and Oshita, that's what they had said. This man was able to flee the building and in the process shot another officer, his fifth one but all survived. The destination for this shooter was the nearby canal. he hijacked a small boat and tore away. There was no other boat for the investigators to hop into so they trailed this man via the road, Takayama did try to shoot this man but that's tough when there's a boat and car moving at the same time. So the pair rushed well ahead and waited near the entrance of a bridge. When the boat passed both began to fire and returning the shots was this still unnamed man who left the boat's wheel and went to it's back. He made himself a sitting duck, both Takayama and Oshita had a clear shot at him and didn't miss. However and that's a big however instead of falling into the canal this man simply.... VANISHED!!!!

 That's what the duo later told their chief Kondo at the Minato station and he couldn't believe his ears! But us viewers also saw what Takayama and Oshita witnessed, this man just disappearing into thin air! That's the chief Kondo at the end of the series above, he didn't know what to think but of course why would his top investigators say such a tale if it wasn't true? So this drama did end on a mysterious note, who was this shooter that wanted to avenge Yamanaka's death or was it actually Yamanaka and somehow else had been killed or had it truly been his ghost???? We'll probably never know and that's how this long yet terrific drama came to it's conclusion. Can't think of anything else to add in that wasn't said in the intro, thanks to all that may have read many of these recaps and will be reviewing two of the spinoff movies in about a month.