"Akai Meiro" drama, episode eleven of 26 recap

 

 Air Dates: October 4, 1974 until March 28, 1975... Friday nights at 9:00 pm on TBS/Daiei

There's 26 episodes that are 46 minutes in length, this series is also known as Red Maze

 Once again the subs were done by GEO9875, fifth series I've recapped by them. This is the first of a long running RED series, there were a few more dramas and some TV specials.

The average rating for the drama was 18.9% with a high of 22.7%.

Main Cast: Thanks again to GEO9875 for doing the subs for this series, another classic that has been revived. This could prove to be a challenge for me and may write up 6-8 recaps before publishing any. The recent series I finished "Abunai Deka" had 51 episodes but all were stand alone stories. This drama is one long 26 episode story so don't want to have long gaps between the recaps, every now and again do need a break so that's where the challenge will be. Am writing most of this up after viewing two shows, know there will be much editing to the character's bios and a few new ones may have to be added in. But I am looking forward to this series and it has started off strongly, except for a pair of Sentai shows this is the oldest drama I've viewed. 

 This drama has such a strong cast, so many were stars at the time or became one. Ken Utsui is the older man above, he sadly died ten years ago but what a terrific actor he was. Playing his wife who died early on was Akiko Koyama, she'll be turning ninety this year and have seen her in so many older films, she was so classy and attractive. Momoe Yamaguchi needs no intro as she may be the most popular Idol in the history of Japan, recommend reading up on her. Yusaku Matsuda died at the age of forty in 1989, he was a star actor but could be known more for being the father of two current popular actors Ryuhei and Shota Matsuda. Some others in the main cast are also known, will talk about a few of them in future posts. Below on the left is Takeo who was killed at the end of the first episode, on the right is her old friend Yukiho and could that conversation be the key behind everything that will take place?

 Ken Utsui as Masato Yuki.... A psychiatrist who has just returned to Japan after spending three years in NYC as a college lecturer/professor about the minds of criminals. In Tokyo Masato works at Towa Medical University Hospital, he's the leader of a new section called Laboratory of Criminal Psychology and Medicine. Masato's wife was Takeo who was murdered early on, he's the father of the next character Akiko. He seems to be a calm and collected individual but does Masato have a secret past, such as did he have an affair with Yukiko? That is still unknown but in the fifth episode did learn that Masato isn't the true father of Akiko, who is?

 Momoe Yamaguchi as Akiko Yuki.... Masato's fifteen year old daughter who is a freshman in high school. She's also the daughter of the following woman and a major question is if Akiko is truly Taeko's daughter, will be doing much editing for this character. Which hadn't happened through ten shows but her role will become more important.

 Akiko Koyama as Taeko Yuki.... Though she was murdered at the end of the first episode still have her in this section as Taeko is so important to the story. We will be seeing her in flashbacks as the main story is finding out who was her killer? While Masato was in America a huge question is was Taeko having an affair, she acted so secretly upon his return. Another puzzle for now is if Taeko is the birth mother of Akiko? No and that was revealed in the fourth episode but Taeko had raised her since birth.

Yusaki Matsuda as Jun Tsuzuki.... Jun is 26 in age and is currently unemployed, he had been a construction worker. He's the younger brother of the below woman, something unknown(for now) happened in Jun's past which has made him so dour and unsociable. At the end of the second episode he was arrested for the murder of Taeko but personally think he's innocent. In March 1971 his then girlfriend Fujiko had been raped and murdered by a middle aged man. Masato had done the evaluation on this man who he deemed unfit to stand trial which would be Jun's motive if he is the actual killer of Taeko. Jun was arrested again in the sixth episode for Taeko's murder but near the end of episode eight was released. The key bit of evidence had been his work helmet but according to the Forensics Unit it had been tampered with and who is trying to frame Jun?

Aiko Nagayama as Yukiko Sakurai.... Jun's older sister who is married but it seems to be a loveless marriage. Yukiko also has a few mysteries surrounding her, one is did she have an affair with Masato before he went to America three years ago? She had grown up with Taeko but the pair did drift apart, because of the affair? Or perhaps something else such as I'm thinking that Yukiko is the birth mother of Akiko!!!! The two women hold a very dark secret and have for fifteen years, that happens to be the age of Akiko! **** In episode five it was revealed Yukiko is the true mother of Akiko, the father's name is Egami who killed someone fifteen years ago and is still on the lam.

Ryoko Nakano as Kyoko Sonoda.... New clinical psychologist in Masato's criminal unit. Kyoko seems to be such a nosy woman but also very competent at her work, she is very attractive and wonder if she has set her eyes upon her leader Masato? Yes she does which many have noticed though not Masato, Kyoko had attended a university in Germany.

 Makoto Sato as Yusaku Yanagida.... Prosecutor who is also Masato's lawyer, advisor and his best friend. The pair have known each other for decades and Yanagida seems to be a real decent man who is also trying to solve the mystery of Taeko's murder, that's him on the left below. He too once had the hots for Taeko but lost out to Masato though it never affected their friendship.

Masaya Takahashi as Professor Oyama.... He's Masato's superior at the university and don't know much about him to to date but he doesn't seem to like Masato and may not be trustworthy. That's Oyama on the right below, he cares more about the college's image than his own staff. In the fifth show some anger had arisen with the university staff because of Masato doing the evaluation of Jun, in a surprise Oyama has his back and will stand up for him.

 Here's a few others of the cast who we see now and again though don't have huge roles.

Goro Oshi as Goro Murai.... Owner of the snack bar seen often and Jun's best friend. Goro is also good friends with Misaki who visits his snack bar often and we do see him briefly in each episode. Misaki is a photographer and though not knowing Masato seems to dislike him immensely.

Goro Tarumi as Hidehiko Sakurai.... Yukiko's husband and owns a combo clothing factory and store. They had been in Yukiko's family for decades but had fallen upon hard times, Hidehiko has worked hard to make it profitable again.

Isao Tamagawa as Sakazaki.... Lead detective for Taeko's murder case.

Toshiaki Nishizawa as Masaru Egami.... We first learned of him at the end of the fifth episode. Over fifteen years ago he had been dating Yukiko in Kyoto and had gotten her pregnant. In March 1959 Egami had robbed and murdered a woman, since then he's been on the lam but is the.... true father of Akiko!!!! Many who knew of Egami thought he was dead but has now resurfaced in Tokyo, why as the statue of limitations ends in less than four months and could be have been involved in Taeko's murder? By the end of the eleventh show is doesn't appear so but it also seems as though an unknown man is trying to protect Egami from the police and Masato.

Previous recaps.... May be difficult to read many of them but if you've been following the story there would be no need. However much does happen in each show so don't have the time to explain everything that has taken place up until this point, some of the above is very informative but reading a few of these would definitely help.

 

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six .... Episode seven .... Episode eight

Episode nine .... Episode ten

 It's April 5th and have I smashed that goal of mine of having 6-8 recaps for this series written up before publishing any! So think I need to take a mini break from these posts as I have been neglecting doing regular ones but can breath easier knowing so many of these are done. Once again no info was revealed about that blackmail attempt on Masato at the end of the ninth episode when he was told to put five million yen one of his accounts, still can't understand how this unknown creep would have access to Masato's bank account. Exciting climax to this episode and think the biggest thing we learned in this show is that it appears Egami is not the man who tried to blackmail Masato nor has been threatening him. Much of that will be revealed in this post but not all as we're still in the dark about many things.

 The main story by far in this drama is about unraveling the mystery of Masato's wife Taeko's murder plus some other stories that have crept into the plot. However Masato also has a FT job which is working at the Towa University and Hospital, when he returned from America he opened a new unit to evaluate suspects and victims for the police. But after interviewing Jun the college staff was in an uproar and Masato's superior Oyama had to suspend the program so Masato has been teaching regular classes. In the beginning of this show a main college official told Masato most everything has been cleared up and his program can continue but with one major condition. Which is that Oyama will now be the leader of this unit and everything has to go through him first. In a way it was a demotion for Masato, if he refused the offer the only alternative would have been to resign. Which Masato did not want to do, he'll work under Oyama for a while to see how things pan out. Of course Masato wasn't happy and neither were his colleagues, especially his partner/assistant Kyoko. She told Masato she would have refused the offer but there's no way he could quit his position, things will work out he assured her and the pair took on their first new case at the Tokyo Detention Center.

 You see Jun in a few above screenshots, he has nowhere to stay so has been crashing at the Snack Village shop which his best friend Goro owns. Jun was thrown out of sister's house for punching her husband Hidehiko, she still cares for him so brought Jun some warm clothes as it's now December. While Yukiko was in the shop passing by it's front road was Akiko, her fifteen year old daughter though so few know that fact. Goro invited Akiko in but she refused the offer as it was finals week at school, to that Yukiko breathed such a sigh of relief. Jun noticed that and in the last show he did deduce, along with Kyoko, that Yukiko is Akiko's real mother but is keeping that a secret from her. That first evaluation at the detention center went well enough for Masato and Kyoko, there will be another with this suspect in two days and it's to determine if he's competent enough to stand trial. While the pair were crossing the yard of the center a red paper airplane passed by them, Kyoko ran over to pick it up. There was a note written on the plane which is right below, for the third time Masato has received a note saying he's not the real father of Akiko!!!!

 Masato brought Kyoko to a coffee shop after that and it was a longish scene where he revealed a few of his secrets to Kyoko. Who already knew some things such as Akiko wasn't the true daughter of Masato and Taeko which did stun Masato, how much does Kyoko know about him? Not much more but she also has become aware of the man Egami though knows so little about him. Masato did open up more than usual and did admit this elusive Egami man is the true father of Akiko, the mother is Yukiko which is why he's been seeing so much of her for their secret could be exposed soon. Kyoko really wants to help Masato out and she had such a bright smile on her face during this scene as Masato is trusting her with so many secrets. However Masato is a bit leery about asking for help, he feels the man writing these notes will target anyone looking for Egami or more details about Taeko's murder so being around Masato could be quite dangerous.

 While that was taking place Jun did visit Masato's house, now that he's discovered he's Akiko's uncle Jun has become a bit protective of her. Akiko was hanging some laundry outside, it is December so how would it ever dry? The two do get along well and had a mini chat inside the house, Jun was trying to give her tips about dating but Akiko said she already had ten guys waiting to be her boyfriend! Jun did ask about Taeko and would Akiko ever want another mother, it did seem to disturb her a bit as she said she will only ever have one mother as of course she has no clue yet about Yukiko. Now that he's out of jail Jun's role has become much larger, next he paid a visit to Kyoko's apartment and just have a feeling something will happen with them soon, perhaps a romantic tryst? Once again Kyoko suggested they team up to find Egami though like the first time Jun gave no answer but soon he may not need her help. That's because of the top two screenshots below, the following day Jun was still out hunting for Egami and continued to show his magazine photo at construction sites. No one really knew the man but said he often stayed at a flophouse in a seedy area of Tokyo, Jun soon went there but didn't know what building to check out. The Setagaya police did as they raided a flophouse looking for Egami who barely escaped unnoticed out the back fire escape. Unnoticed by the police but not Jun who saw him and for the next five hours or so secretly followed Egami everywhere he went, more about that coming up.

 Somehow Masato and Yukiko heard of that raid, perhaps the prosecutor Yanagida called Masato and we never did see Yanagida in this episode. For fifteen years Masato, his wife Taeko and Yukiko had kept the secret of Yukiko being Akiko's birth mother but she feels that secret may not remain one for much longer. Masato referred to it as a water leak, once water starts coming out of something there's no stopping the leak and how can they plug it back up? There is one screenshot above of a man wearing sunglasses, that's all we saw of his face. He was spying on Masato and Yukiko during their chat, of course it wasn't Egami as he's running away from the police. **** So there is one more person who does know the secret of Akiko, that person has to be the one putting notes in Masato's mailbox plus calling Kyoko up to threaten her about trying to find Egami, what connection could this person have to Egami? You also have to think this mysterious character could be the #1 suspect in Taeko's murder but as of now no one knows of his existence. 

 Later that evening paying a visit to Masato's home was the above man, Yukiko's husband Hidehiko. He's very suspicious of the two being with each other so much since Taeko's death and why wouldn't he be? Hiding in the stairwell listening to everything was Akiko, that wasn't known by Masato at the time. Hidehiko wasn't irate with Masato, he just wants some answers to why he's been seeing so much of his wife? But Masato didn't do himself any favors by remaining so mum, he did say him and Yukiko weren't romantically linked which is the truth. But he never did nor could reveal the true reason which is of course that Yukiko is Akiko's mother. So a frustrated Hudehiko eventually gave up but did say he would be having another conversation with Masato in the future. While leaving Hidehiko did drop a bombshell onto Masato, he's heard a rumor that Yukiko had a child before they were married and what did he know about it? To that Masato said he had no clue and he is such an excellent liar, a question that I thought of did Hidehiko really hear that rumor and if so from who?

 Always make those first few paragraphs a bit too long, there's only about seven minutes to go in the show and two other scenes. A third for as mentioned Akiko did overhear much of that conversation between Hidehiko and her father. She too wants to know what exactly has been going on between Yukiko and her father Masato, he's been acting so secretly as of late and is it true he could be having an affair or perhaps did have one with her in the past? Of course not was Masato's reply, of naturally he's being so secretive towards Akiko lately for the truth about her birth is so close to being revealed, there's no way he can bring up a subject like that. Masato did reassure his daughter that she's his only reason for living, Taeko's death has affected him more than Akiko could realize. Not sure if she was fully satisfied with his answers for a phone call interrupted their conversation. Of all people it was Yukiko once again, she's calling from the hospital as Jun was almost killed by a passing car! It was a very brief scene but after following Egami all around Tokyo for about eight hours he finally confronted the man. Sure that Egami recalled Jun but said he had never seen him before and fled away, Jun gave chase but soon after a car came barreling down on Jun and by two inches missed sending him to an early grave!

 Jun's injuries weren't too severe, mainly a sprained ankle and could be released from the hospital. There Jun told his sister Yukiko and Masato that it was no accident, that car was aiming for him and was the driver that mysterious man mentioned earlier who wore sunglasses and had been spying on Masato and Yukiko? He had also been spying on Jun who had been on Egami's tail, on another odd note Jun received a call at the hospital, who would know he was there? It had to be that mysterious man who warned Jun to lay off Egami or he could meet the same fate as.... Kyoko?! Obviously that meant she was in danger, Jun and Masato quickly dashed to her apartment and arrived in the nick of time. The door was open and when they entered the smell of gas was suffocating, someone had turned on the gas stove to full blast and fled the apartment. Jun found Kyoko passed out in her bed, she's still alive but wouldn't have been five minutes later. Jun picked Kyoko up, think he's was going to bring her to the hospital with of course Masato and that was an intense ending to this episode. Bit more action in this show and there hasn't been a dull moment so far, the conclusion to the above scene should open the next episode.