"Akai Meiro" drama, episode five 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.

 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.

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!

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 clothing factory.

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

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

 Thanks if you've been checking these recaps out, think they're very easy to read but we're only at the 20% mark of this long series! Did a lot more editing to the above character section, it does help reading the previous recaps though that above section does have quite a bit of info. No intense cliffhanger ended the last show, this one started off a bit sluggish again but by the end it was another interesting view. Few more puzzles were cleared up which will be explained but two more questions did arise, actually one is a continuation of a thought I've been having which is if Jun was really the killer of Taeko? Let's get to what took place, the next post has the recap for episode six.

 We didn't see the official announcement in this or the previous episode but after Masato did a clinical evaluation on Jun he's deemed him fit to stand trial. Which has made the many of the staff at Towa University a bit irate as they felt because it was his wife's killer Masato should have stepped aside as it could bring a scandal to the school and hospital. The tabloids are about to jump all over this story, one is about to publish an article and in the top screenshot  above Masato's superior Oyama was warning him about the possible repercussions and more about this later. In the second screenshot Masato had visited his favorite neighborhood snack bar for the first time since his return from America. The owner is Goro who is in white and is a very decent chap, his friend in blue is named Misaki. Just learned his name in this episode and he does not like Masato at all and did make some snide remarks to him, probably for helping the police out with Jun's case. At least at home all seems to be going well for Masato, his fifteen year old daughter Akiko has grown up so quickly because of her mother's tragic murder, she does most of the cooking and the pair share the cleaning chores. 

 For the first time Jun's sister Yukiko was allowed to see him in prison, Jun has confessed but who knows when or if this case will go to trial. The visit took place with the detectives on his case not far away so what was said between the siblings could be easily overheard so they had to watch what was discussed. However Yukiko did whisper and ask why did Jun kill Taeko who she had known for over twenty years. To that Jun didn't give much of a response but did say he's beginning to even terrify himself! After that brief visit Jun was once again questioned by the two detectives on the case though once again Jun for the most part remained mum. He's twice insisted he hit Taeko in the back of her had with a metal vase which has never been found, I'm not convinced he is the killer and the actual cause of death was from strangulation. In the bottom screenshot above is Masato's new assistant for his Criminal Lab Kyoko, did learn in this show she had attended a university in Germany. You will see her in this episode wearing a patch over her left eye, in the previous two shows she had worn sunglasses so in real life she must have been having some eye problems.

 Kyoko had brought some files over for Masatoto his house, besides Jun and one other case in the beginning of the series haven't seen the two evaluate any other suspects. Besides the files Kyoko had also brought over some German sweets which Masato thought were so yummy. However Akiko didn't want any and said she had an errand so dashed out of the house. That kind of stunned Masato and we viewers too as we thought Akiko did like Kyoko, wonder if she's thinking her father is looking to replace her mother too quickly which is far from the truth. There was no errand as Akiko just wanted to leave the house, she ended up passing by Goro's snack bar and played a game of Othello against Misaki who appeared to have eyes for the much younger Akiko. That game took place outside the snack bar, just happening to pass by was Akiko's real birth mother Yukiko though of course Akiko isn't aware of that. But she is aware that her brother is the main suspect in the murder of her mother Taeko so once again Akiko told Yukiko to stay far away from her and her father which won't be happening.

 In a bit of a surprise when Akiko returned home she pleaded with Kyoko to stay for dinner, that shocked her father also but a good time was had by all. I had the feeling after that encounter with Yukiko Akiko wanted someone else at home besides her father in case Yukiko burst on the scene again which didn't happen. But Yukiko did make as appearance the next day at Masato's office under the false premise of she wanted a psychological evaluation. Yukiko gave some lame reasons for that request but Masato knew she had come for one reason and that's for him to allow her to see Akiko. For fifteen years Yukiko hadn't made a huge effort to see Akiko but began to shortly before Taeko's murder, why now???? Yukiko's pleas fell on deaf ears, even if she could see Akiko only every ten days that would be enough but Masato sternly rejected those pleas. What would happen if Yukiko ever let it slip that she was Akiko's birth mother plus Akiko now only looks at her as the sister of her mother's killer, Jun.

 Kyoko wasn't as prying as she had been in previous episodes but did spy Yukiko leaving the building. She dashed out and asked Yukiko to stay away from Masato and Akiko, she's beginning to make their lives miserable but don't think that advice went anywhere. Earlier in the recap said how much of the staff at Towa University/Hospital were against Masato making the evaluation if Jun was competent enough to stand trial and/or go to prison. So Masato's superior Oyama cancelled a presentation he and Kyoko were going to do at the school about the psych of a criminal. That day an article came out in a tabloid about the activities of Masato, it was actually a fair article but Oyama felt it was for the best if that presentation was cancelled. To date Oyama hadn't been that supportive of Masato but he was here, he told him to continue on with his new Criminal Lab and don't let what others say prevent his research which is very important. So it was nice to see Oyama have Masato's back but bet it won't be the last we hear of the staff's grumblings, there may be more articles coming out too. There were only four scenes in the final twenty minutes but all were very key to the storyline, that above one was the first with the next one featuring Masato's best friend Yanagida meeting Jun for the first time.

 Yanagida is the prosecutor for the Setagaya ward/district, have a feeling he's like me and doesn't seem positive that Jun murdered Taeko even though he confessed. Yanagida isn't too confident with this case as almost all of the evidence is circumstantial, there are four witnesses who did see Jun outside the Kawasaki motel where Taeko was killed but no person saw Jun with her. The two Setagaya detectives working on the case think that Jun may be covering for someone which is a strong possibility. The Setagaya precinct chief almost dropped the case due to lack of evidence but was talked back into resuming it by the detectives. Yanagida also feels that something isn't adding up with Jun's story, the way he described killing Taeko by hitting her over the head with a metal vase and then strangling her didn't seem possible with her injuries and the way the motel room looked. So this interview was like many of Jun's other ones, he did relate some crime details but not enough to prosecute him.... wonder if his quietness makes everyone wonder why did Jun confess? There's still 21 episodes to go, of course the story needs to be dragged out a bit which is what's going on with Jun but soon there could be another piece added in.

 That new bit added to the story hasn't happened yet but it may soon. In that top screenshot above Masato was in his office reading a report out loud to himself. The report was of a robbery and homicide that had taken place on March 17, 1959 and the current date for this drama is mid-October 1974. The incident took place at a small store in the Hirakawa section of Kyoto, the woman's name who was murdered was Takuni Kimura. The killer was a man named Masaru Egami, for now have no clue how this may tie in with what's happening in the present day. My guess is that Egami may have hooked up with Yukiko and could be the true father of Akiko so that could be a very interesting new story. After meeting with Jun Yanagida met up with Masato but of course being a prosecutor couldn't reveal many details of the case. Now that the first tabloid article about Masato evaluating Jun has been published Yanagida is very concerned about future articles, what he's really worried about is Akiko finding out the truth about her real birth mother. Yanagida could tell Masato was hiding some things from him, one Masato did reveal which is that so many of the staff at Towa University want to see him resign and Masato is seriously thinking about doing that. 

 The other thing concerning Masato was that crime from 1959 and the man Egami, Yanagida did press his friend about that but for now Masato has to keep everything under wraps. While going home at the train station Masato noticed his daughter Akiko there, she too was heading home but Masato suggested they take a stroll first. Where he revealed to Akiko that he was having some serious thoughts about resigning from the university, why don't they head to the countryside and live in his parent's old house as both of them are deceased. That was a no go for Akiko who gave her father a rather convincing pep talk about why he shouldn't quit, Akiko has seen the article written about her father and said don't worry about that as she's wise for her age and felt most bad things in the article were lies. You could tell Masato was quite proud of Akiko and her maturity, the pair went happily home. When they entered the house there were only ten seconds to go in the episode, the phone rang and Masato answered it. It was Yukiko's servant, there's been a suicide attempt and could Masato rush right over?!?! So that was a dramatic ending to this episode, all have been so solid up until now and the details with that suicide attempt will be explained in the next recap, haven't viewed episode six yet.