"Akai Meiro" drama, episode six 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! **** 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 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

 

 Above is Ryoko Nakana who plays Kyoko Sonoda in this series, she was 24 in age when the drama was filmed. She was quite a popular and busy actress up until 2010 when she hit the age of sixty but don't think I've seen her in anything else. She's also quite noted for being an activist, one that helps others in developing countries and has hosted many documentaries about her work. **** On an odd note Kyoko is the only adult character who isn't a chain smoker! Don't think it's an exaggeration to say combined the characters smoke a carton of butts in every episode! There's a few others in the cast who are noted and will have some info on them in the future. On to this episode's action and the previous one did end on an intense cliffhanger, Masato had just received a call at home saying that Yukiko had attempted to kill herself!

 The call was from Yukiko's servant, with Yukiko's husband Hidehiko not at home she told the servant to try Masato. Who at the time could care less about what Yukiko had done(!), he told the woman he was busy and hung up! Masato proceeded to help his daughter Akiko prepare dinner but had a change of heart and  rushed to Yukiko's house, good thing Masato did. Don't know how Yukiko attempted suicide but was awake and alert when Masato arrived though a bit weak. She told him to check the envelope on the floor, when Masato opened it a second letter fell out and a note said to read that second letter. The only thing in it was a photograph ripped from a magazine, there's two screenshots of it above. The main person in the photo is Yukiko's younger brother Jun who of course is in jail for the murder of Masato's wife Taeko though it's still in doubt if he was the killer. However there was a second person in the bottom right of the photo who could become so key to the story. His name is Masaru Egami, talked about him in the previous episode and how fifteen years ago he had killed a woman in Kyoto. During this scene Yukiko revealed something that had been on Masato's mind for many years, this Egami creep is the true father of Masato's daughter Akiko!!!!

 Yukiko, Masato and everyone else who knew of Egami had presumed he had died many years ago but here's proof he's still alive! The photo was taken at the construction site for a new Tokyo subway line, Jun worked there off and on so was Egami trying to get close to Jun and could the pair have somehow been partners in the murder of Taeko???? The saying is a photo is worth a thousand words but this one is worth a hundred times that and will that Egami end up being the key piece to Taeko's death? The photo had been left in Yukiko's mailbox that morning, the shock of it was so much for her she had attempted to kill herself but of course failed. The only person who could have put it in her mailbox was Egami but the big question is what does he want from Yukiko? Masato knows all about the old case and the statue of limitations for the Kyoto murder expires in four months, he wondered why would Egami take such a chance on revealing himself?

 Will have more about Egami and that photo in this recap, that could be a main topic in the next show too. Near Masato's house is a snack bar and finally learned the name of it in this show which is Snack Village and run by a decent man named Goro. Masato often stops there and he did in this show, a lucky break for him as he saw a massive version of the Jun photo on the wall. Goro told Masato the photo was taken by his good friend Misaki and he will be back later on that day. Masato did meet that man briefly in the last show and Misaki did not take a liking towards Masato for it appears he has some grudge against him. Above is the prosecutor Yanagida, he was talking about Misaki and is this very minor character going to be important in the future? Masato did meet up with Misaki later on at the snack shop, once again Misaki had some snide remarks for Masato but softened up when he heard Jun was released. Yes, Misaki did take that photo right around September 20th and it's now about five weeks later. Misaki was just taking a photo of his friend Jun and had no idea who that other man was, Misaki didn't even notice it until now and as mentioned is that old time murderer Egami.

 What I said about Jun above was true, he was released by the prosecutor Yanagida. Who felt there wasn't enough solid evidence that would stand up in court, yes Jun had been in the area of the Kawasaki motel where Taeko was murdered but no witness saw them together. Plus the object that was used to hit Taeko over the head hasn't been found, there's really no evidence that would place Jun in the motel room where Taeko was slain. Though he's been released Jun has nowhere to go, his landlord evicted him from his apartment and the foreman at the subway site won't hire on Jun for any more day jobs. He did meet with his sister Yukiko but just for a minute, he told her a pair of Setagaya detectives were tailing him so he didn't want to get her involved, more about the release coming up further down. Things aren't going so well for Masato either, at Towa University his superior Oyama has put his new Criminal Lab program on hiatus for a while due to the pressure from the school's staff. Oyama did once again stick up for Masato who wasn't there when the announcement was made, he told Kyoko the program would continue but when he didn't know. Oyama offered Kyoko a regular teaching position at the school as he has noticed her talents and working with Masato may affect her future, she did turn down that offer.

 Masato eventually arrived at the school to hear the news of his program being suspended, he didn't appear to be all that crushed about it. Kyoko seems to be getting closer to Masato and I don't mean in a working manner, he's the only one not to notice as even his daughter Akiko told him above Kyoko may have a crush on him! Kyoko did escort Masato home and was going to help Akiko prepare dinner, however she was at the market so Kyoko went to find her. But Yanagida was at the house as he wanted to talk one on one with his best friend Masato about the release of Jun. Masato understood fully why Jun could no longer be held but Yanagida added in that though Jun is now free he'll put some pressure on him and Yanagida will still be working hard on this case though he's still not positive Jun is the killer. Akiko did return home but without Kyoko, she told her father Kyoko had met a client and went off with him, I have no clue as of yet what that was about and neither does Masato.

 When Kyoko returned to her home that evening we still had no idea where she had disappeared to, just as she entered her apartment the phone rang and did someone watch her enter? There was a mysterious man's voice at the other end, he told Kyoko to lay off this cases of Jun and Egami or else.... she would meet the same fate as Taeko! That would scare most women to death but not Kyoko who has begun to play the role of a junior detective as far as the Taeko case goes. The next day she went to Goro's Snack Village shop, think she's worn out her welcome. Jun happened to be there and surprisingly Kyoko told him the case against him isn't closed which did draw the ire of everyone there. Kyoko can be devious, she dropped some subtle yet false hints that her and Masato were close to being a couple and think she did that to make them wary of her and also Masato. Who himself is also playing the role of a detective, he and Kyoko do have free time with their program being suspended. For the second time Masato visited the subway construction site where the photo was taken, about a month ago. Most workers recognized Egami but he hasn't been seen since the day the photo was taken, to them he was known as Kacchan. Makes you wonder if Egami didn't have some scheme planned up to get to know Jun better, if so don't think it worked. One other minor yet could be major thing has to deal with Misaki. Seems his father may have some past with Masato, could Egami possibly be Misaki's father and this photo he took of Jun was part of this unknown scheme????

 Of course more happens than what has been written, can't discuss every minor detail or this post would be so much longer. What an intense final ten minutes as after two days of freedom.... Jun has been arrested again for the murder of Taeko! In a drainpipe near the Kawasaki motel she was killed at a yellow construction helmet was found by a boy whose mother notified the police. On the helmet the blood of Taeko was found and also Jun's fingerprints but there were also others on it. However inside the helmet were his initials, Yanagida ordered that Jun be arrested immediately and this time everyone will work doubly hard to prove that Jun is guilty of murder. Yanagida called Masato with the news, he rushed over to the prosecutor's office but along the way met Jun's sister Yukiko. Masato told her that even though his helmet was found he still believes that something else is going on, such as is Jun being framed and/or if he did kill Taeko was it upon the orders of someone else? Yukiko is terrified about Egami being back in the picture, her husband Hidehiko doesn't know she's the birth mother of Akiko so she can't turn to him, Masato said don't worry as he'll do all he can for Yukiko.

 Jun was grilled endlessly at the Setagaya precinct but wouldn't offer any alibis, excuses or reasons for this discovery of his construction helmet. If Jun is innocent or did the job for someone he isn't making things easy on himself, as a matter of fact much worse and why isn't he caring about his life? Masato finally made it to Yanagida's office and had a urgent plea for his best friend, let Masato meet privately with Jun before it goes any further. Yanagida would love to help his friend out but his hands are tied(for now), there are rules concerning suspects and if he allowed Masato to meet with Jun that could destroy the case. As the episode ended once again Yanagida pressed Masato about the case, what is he hiding from him? For now the answer would be the return of Egami, after not knowing anything about him until the end of the previous episode he could prove to be one major piece of this murder story. Thanks for reading all the way to the end, plenty more screenshots below of what took place and will have the next pair of recaps in three days.