"Akai Meiro" drama, episode fifteen 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 hasn't happened yet through ten shows but her role is becoming slightly 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. No longer as in episode ten Oyama will now be the leader of Masato's criminal lab and will take all of the credit!

 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 .... Episode eleven .... Episode twelve

Episode thirteen .... Episode fourteen

 

 That above was Akiko's comment at the beginning of this episode, think she'll soon regret saying those words! The previous recap ended off on a happy note and this one began off the same way. Akiko was wearing a kimono her deceased mother Taeko had made for her, Akiko was reluctant at first to wear it but when she did she looked radiant. However in the final few seconds of that last episode the phone had rung, up to now that's always been an omen of bad news. Masato was not going to answer it but was talked into it by Akiko, at the other end was his best friend Yanagida so for once a call wasn't of some tragic news! Let's get to what else took place in this episode, one again the main theme was about Akiko's true birth parents and that story could also tie in with Taeko's murder.

**** Did this pair of recaps two days early as I may be busy on Tuesday so the next pair probably wont be until Thursday.

 As usual no dates were mentioned but thinking it's around January 10, 1975 and Towa University is back in session. Masato's Criminal Psych Lab is back up running again though we didn't see him evaluate any suspects or victims, he had four of them to do. But it appears they all went well and later on Masato's superior Oyama said that him and Kyoko had done a superb job but was peeved when Masato had to leave to take care of family business again. The last few episodes Akiko's role has really grown and has become much more important, she had almost as much screen time as her father Masato in this show. Akiko does all of the cooking and is becoming a master at it, she had gone shopping that day but forgot to buy milk. So on her way home she stopped at the Snack Village shop to borrow some of theirs. At the shop she told the owner Goro and his best friend Misaki she knows all about her past, she really impressed them when she said her only real parents are Masato and the now dead Taeko! Also that day Akiko visited the Sakurai residence to see her real mother Yukiko who was at the doctors and we never saw her once this show.

 But we did see plenty of her husband Hidehiko who entertained Akiko for a while and let a key detail slip out though it was unintentional. Which was of Akiko's birth father's name which is Masaru Egami, the Masaru is spelled with the characters for WIN according to Hidehiko. Akiko said the story she heard was of Egami being a seaman who died on a voyage to the South Seas, Hidehiko didn't correct her but now Akiko knows the name of her real father. Later that evening Hidehiko paid a visit to Masato's house, he's becoming a regular there. Akiko had asked Masato about the name of Egami and he did say that it was the name of her true father though of course never let out the fact he's a murderer still on the lam! It was a mistake for Hidehiko revealing the name but he presumed Masato had already told Akiko that, of course that didn't happen but Masato did thank him for not telling her the truth about Egami's past. Once again Hidehiko did bring up the subject of Akiko coming to live with her mother Yukiko, once again Masato refused to listen to that request as Akiko still feels he's her true father. However by the end of the show will Akiko begin to think that leaving Masato may be for the best????

 It was Masato's assistant at Towa University Kyoko who had told Akiko that story of her birth father dying at sea, she had created it off the top of her head. But shortly after Kyoko was regretting telling Akiko that tale as sooner or later the truth will come out but Masato said not to worry about things as it's now his responsibility. The next day at work Masato did tell Kyoko that now Akiko knows her fathers name is Egami but still believes he died at sea, Kyoko was still beating herself up for telling that story. She saw how stressed out Masato was, their evaluations for the day were complete so why not go out for some fun?! This fun was a rock club and it's not that Masato had a grand time but he was so touched with Kyoko trying to cheer him up. But he told her there was no way he could return her 'love' and departed right after that but Kyoko was so happy she got through to him. 

 Akiko has become to so fond of Kyoko who is nine years older, Masato is beginning to also depend on Kyoko to help him with his daughter. The next day Akiko had called Kyoko and invited her over to the house for tea as it can get so lonely waiting for her father to come home. Wonder if the situation with Yukiko is praying on Masato's mind of whether Akiko would ever go and live with her. That's because Kyoko is such an attractive woman and would make for an excellent new mother which would be Akiko's third!!!! That little get together was interrupted by the arrival of Jun and it was the only scene he was in. He said the trio should go out and they ended up at a ice skating rink, Jun doesn't skate but Kyoko does and it looked like Akiko was quite good at it. There she met a classmate named Aono who seems to really like Akiko though they're not dating and the pair went off skating together. That gave Kyoko some time to talk with Jun and told him Akiko now knows the name of Egami. Jun didn't have much to say about that save for that he was still hunting for the man and soon left as he had no impact on what took place in this episode. Above is a screenshot with a name circled in Red, will discuss that after this batch of screenshots.

 The previous day when Akiko returned home from school she found a large envelope on their doorstep, it was filled with what she thought were her father's work files. So Akiko never read any of the contents and gave them to her father Masato that night, he was stunned and irate with what was in the envelope. Which were newspaper clippings from the Spring of 1959 and they were about the murder that Egami had committed during a botched robbery! There's no doubt the articles were left for Akiko to read, Masato lucked out when she thought they were his from work and the next day showed everything to his best friend, the prosecutor Yanagida. Who also was stunned by this note, just who is this Mysterious Man bringing such havoc to the lives of Masato and those close to him? Who knows at this point but the word close is a key one according to Yanagida. He feels this unknown man is someone close to Masato, perhaps not a close friend but someone who knows his life well enough. Yanagida also felt Masato's house was being watched, how else would this person know when he or Akiko arrived and left? So that evening Yanagida escorted Masato home and when they arrived there both the front and side doors were unlocked but there was no Akiko.

 Masato quickly checked things out, it didn't appear as though anything was taken nor was there any damage plus no new notes had been left. Yanagida is such a wise man, he's surmised this person playing games with Masato was just letting him know he can enter and leave the house whenever he wants, could he be viewing the two at this moment? So of course Masato is extremely worried for Akiko's safety, he left work early the next day to greet her when she returned home from school. But when he opened the door there was a classmate of Akiko's named Aono, the same one who had joined her at the ice skating rink. Aono told Masato he brought Akiko home for she had received an eerie note in her locker that day, she was up in her room crying. When Masato entered Akiko showed him that note above, 'Akiko's father is still alive!'. Of course that freaked Akiko out but she seemed more upset that her father had lied to her saying Egami had died at sea, She tore downstairs, grabbed Aono and said the pair were going to the movies, Aono was dazed at what was taking place and he did seem to be quite a decent young man. 

 Masato's life is rapidly falling apart, he truly can be called an Innocent Victim. After Akiko left Masato strolled over to Kyoko's apartment, he's really come to trust her judgments. But he just wanted someone to sound off to, Masato feels he's lost the true trust of Akiko and is there any way to regain it? Kyoko still feels the best thing to do is tell Akiko about every single thing about her past which Masato is still very hesitant to do. Kyoko did escort Masato home as he wanted to be there for when Akiko returned, the pair walked arm in arm and will he ever come to love Kyoko? Akiko was at home when he arrived so Kyoko left, but there was someone else waiting to see Masato. Who was Yukiko's husband Hidehiko and he dropped a pair of bombshells onto Masato's lap! One was that he is planning on granting Yukiko's request to get a divorce, her doctor feels this will help alleviate many of her problems. Then a real bombshell was delivered by Hidehiko, after the divorce is finalized he wants Masato to marry Yukiko so she can live with Akiko!!!!

 That is one scenario Masato never wants to see happen, Hidehiko felt it would be the best option for both Akiko and Yukiko. Though Masato never said NO he did tell Hidehiko to leave, what else happened was that when Akiko entered the room with a tray of tea Hidehiko asked wouldn't she want Yukiko as he new mother???? Akiko too is such an innocent victim, she was in tears after that comment and ran up to her room. Hidehiko left right after that and Masato went upstairs to talk with his daughter. Who was sound asleep but in the final seconds Masato discovered that bottom screenshot above, Akiko had scribbled out the faces of everyone in that family photo! That was a dramatic ending and though there was no 'action' as usual the intensity level once again became sky high and can't wait to view the next episode which is the post below this one. **** Could be way off with this thought and will continue with it in the next recap. It's about Kyoko and though I do like her quite a bit she's become so suspicious to me. When Yanagida told Masato that it had to be someone close in his life harassing Akiko and him I began to think about Kyoko, if she was involved with Taeko's murder what an interesting story that would become!