"Akai Meiro" drama, episode one 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?

 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?

Yusaki Matsuda as Jun Tsuzuki.... Through two episodes he's quite an enigma. 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. 

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?

 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.

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.

 WHEW(!), writing that above section up is the toughest part of a drama post and glad after this just need to edit it but wouldn't doubt if a few more characters will be added in. Am beginning this on March 25th though it may not be published until around April 11th(7th!!!!). In the beginning did say this drama would be a challenge as it's a 26 episode story and don't want huge gaps between the posts. Know I will be taking a few days off in early April which is why the first pair of recaps should be done around that date, how close was I to the prediction? That will also give me time to write up many recaps in advance, am hoping eight can be done and then every three days will publish another pair while working on the ones after the eighth episode, does that make sense?

 I'm looking forward to this series and so far have watched the first two episodes. To me the older movies from the 1960's to 80's are so much better than the current ones, bet that's the case with most older dramas too but it's a rarity when such an ancient series like this one is subbed. So thanks again to GEO9875 for picking up an older classic. Enough stalling and let's get to the first episode's action, it's not confusing at all and everything is fairly straightforward. However every major character does have some mysteries and secrets surrounding them, sure all will be revealed as we go along. **** Did make a lot of guesses in these first two recaps about what may have happened in the past and about the characters, some were right on the money though some were quite amiss but as the recaps go along everything will become much clearer.

 As is the case for most older Japanese TV shows the dimensions of the screenshots is 4:3, perhaps the quality isn't as pristine as modern dramas but I think the videos are fine.

 In the top screenshot above and who will be in so many of them is the show's main character(hero?) Masato Yuki. He's a psychologist who for three years has been in America teaching and lecturing about the minds of criminals, seems Masato was a big hit. For his final day in America he was in NYC, not sure if all three years were spent there. Within five minutes Masato has returned to Tokyo and will be seeing his family for the first time in three years. That's his fifteen year old daughter Akiko in the second screenshot, the older woman above is Masato's wife Taeko. Of course both were overjoyed that Masato had returned home, especially Akiko and while her role hasn't been a major one in the first two shows she will be a very important character. Even more important than her will be Akiko's mother Taeko, this drama's main story is of her being murdered! So Taeko was alone for three years, that's a long time for a grown woman and she was a bit secretive towards her husband after he returned. A huge question that will hopefully be answered soon is if Taeko had an affair during those three years.

 

 Off the subject for a few seconds and look at the third to last screenshot. Think up until the 1970's when a married couple's bedroom was shown there had to be separate beds, that's the case in that screenshot and fairly sure that was also the case for American shows. Though Taeko has been acting a bit suspiciously things at home seem to be going well, that will be changing later on in this episode. Masato has returned to being a professor at the Towa Medical University Hospital in Tokyo. He'll be running a new unit called the Criminal Psychology Lab where him and Masato's soon to be assembled team will be interviewing suspected criminals. They have to determine if a suspect is well enough to be tried in a court of law, many criminals will fake a mental illness to avoid prison. For now it's just Masato on the team but on his second day back he's acquired his first assistant, she's in the second to last screenshot above. Her name is Kyoko Sonoda who is a very attractive woman, a smart one too though isn't too experienced yet working with criminals. It didn't happen so much in this show but Kyoko can be quite prying, I'm wondering if she will soon have the hots for her leader Masato?

 Don't know how busy this new unit will be as for now there's only Masato and Kyoko but on day one they have a man to interview. It consisted of two scenes, will combine the two to make it easier to understand and the screenshots of them are right above. There was a man named Yano who had tried stabbing riders on a train from Yokohama to Tokyo, is he sane or faking being a bit deranged? Masato let Kyoko try her hand with her first ever examination and she did a solid job according to Masato. Kyoko did ask the right questions but even so she couldn't quite tell if Yano was acting or truly was a bit crazed. Masato felt sure this man was faking an illness and he is a master at criminal psychology. He told Yano unless he comes clean on things he'll be sent to prison, if the truth is told perhaps Masato can help this criminal out. To make a long story short Yano was faking being deranged and he did have some good reasons for doing that. Yano had got mixed up with a gang who attempted a bank robbery, that failed and though Yano wasn't involved in the actual robbery knew all the details and these thugs wanted to see him rubbed out! So if Yano gets sent to prison he would be a marked man, in a hospital he'd be safe and sound.

That's the story he told Masato and Yano even revealed where the gang's hideout was where weapons were found and the gang members were rounded up. As far as Yano goes not sure what happened to him, Masato did say he would help the man out if he confessed but the outcome of that wasn't revealed. When Masato returned home from America on that first day his daughter Akiko said she had been followed home from the station by a woman. Taeko seemed to have an inkling on who that may be but remained mum, the next day after that first interview with Yano Masato went to Akiko's school to make sure she came home safe. Watching Akiko from outside was the woman above who Masato asked if it wasn't Yukiko? That is the woman's name and she is going to prove to be such an important part of this murder case though of course don't know much about her at this point. It was a brief talk but by the way Masato addressed Yukiko it almost seemed the pair may have hooked up together before he went to America or perhaps even much earlier. Yukiko said she had to dash home and tried to leave but almost fainted within twenty feet, Masato saved her from falling down some steps and rushed her to a nearby hospital. Yukiko does have a heart condition and will have a few more details in the next recap.

 Masato soon left the hospital as Yukiko's condition was improving, she too soon left and went to a shabby apartment which is the top screenshot above. The man is her younger brother Jun Tsuzuki who we only saw briefly in this episode, he also will be an important character. Yukiko is married but it seems she doesn't love her husband and often comes to Jun's place. He's currently unemployed but had worked doing construction overnight building a subway. Jun is 26 in age and what a dour, unsociable man he is and will have much more on him in the next post. However have more now about Yukiko and did say she would be so key to this drama's storyline(s). The next day she secretly got in touch with Taeko, the pair had grown up together but these days don't seem to that close, as a matter of fact Taeko has some very ill feelings about her ex-friend. There's a few screenshot above of their short encounter but it did raise quite a few questions. Taeko kept asking Yukiko will she honor that agreement from fifteen years ago and do nothing to hurt Akiko, what exactly was she talking about? 

 For now don't know but can take a few educated guesses. This promise the ex-friends made together was from fifteen years ago, that's when Taeko's daughter Akiko was born and by the way the women talked is Taeko really the birth mother of her? Or could Akiko's true mother be Yukiko and it wouldn't shock me if that was the case, have a feeling Masato may have hooked up with Yukiko in the past and was Akiko the outcome of their affair? Need to leave that mystery hanging as who knows what this long time secret is but sure bits of it will be revealed in future episodes. After that short meeting Taeko had to rush off to the Hotel Urashima where her husband Masato was having a mini welcome back party thrown by the university and also to give a speech about what he learned in America. Standing next to Taeko at the occasion was Masato's new assistant Kyoko and did say she is one prying woman, she did spy on Taeko who had gotten a call during the party. She quickly left with Kyoko observing her, how did the caller know that Taeko would be at the hotel and sadly  it was the last anyone saw of Taeko alive. For she never returned home that night, naturally Masato and Akiko above were quite frantic with worry.

 Nothing was heard from Taeko for two days and how can such a responsible woman disappear just like that? There were no clues about what may have happened though Akiko did tell her father Taeko had been acting a bit strangely since his return home. Of course Masato's mind was constantly about the whereabouts of his wife and in the second screenshot his superior reminded Masato that he also has a job to do. That superior's name is Oyama and we haven't seen much of him to date but there's something I just don't like about that man. After that brief encounter is when Masato had that second session with the criminal Yano which was discussed earlier but you can see above that Kyoko was saying she is no match for an expert such as Masato. Also above in the second and third to last screenshots is a man named Yusaku Yanagida, to me he seems like such a decent fellow. Yanagida is a prosecutor and also Masato's lawyer/advisor, seems the pair have known each other for a very long time. Yanagida too is so worried about Taeko's disappearance, being a prosecutor he has some pull with the police and it's now their #1 case. 

 Yanagida did have some info about Taeko that he asked Masato, such as why was Taeko possibly mixed up with an escort service? That was news to Masato and there's no way his wife could be mixed up in that type of racket though then again he hadn't seen Taeko for three years. Yanagida's pull with the police did pay off as Taeko was finally discovered and perhaps it would have been better if she hadn't! There was less than a minute to go in this first episode, while at Masato's house Yanagida received a call from the police saying Taeko had been found at a motel in Kawasaki. The two friends zoomed there and the final thing that was shown in this show was the bottom screenshot above, the murdered Taeko in a hotel room!!!! That was quite an ending to this superb opening episode and you will be learning much more about Taeko's death in the next recap which is the following post, have a feeling this could be an addictive series.