"Akai Meiro" drama, episode two 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.

 Thanks if you read that first recap which I thought turned out to be quite good though still probably didn't give it enough justice. Don't think there will be much action in this drama but have a strong feeling the intensity level will be sky high, there's so many mysteries and dark secrets. So if you read that first post you know that the wife of the main character Masato had been murdered and that will be the main storyline, this recap picks up from that as Taeko's death ended off the previous episode.

 That first screenshot above was from episode one which had a brutal murder to end the show though we viewers didn't see the killing. The woman is Taeko Yuki who was the wife of the main character Masato Yuki, along with his trusted friend Yanagida Masato rushed to the scene. Which was at a motel in Kawasaki, that's thirteen miles from the Setagaya area in Tokyo where Masato lives. Taeko's death was due to strangulation along with many bruises to the back of her head. The second to fourth screenshots above are from when Masato had to visit the coroner's office to make the ID official, with him was his fifteen year old daughter Akiko who of course was just so stunned at what took place. Naturally so wasn't Masato though he can keep his feelings hidden well and it did make some of his colleagues wonder if he was a cold hearted person. Not at all for Masato is a criminal psychologist so has learned to always keep his emotions on an even keel though he was/is quite upset about the murder.

 After three years in America Masato has recently returned to Japan and is a professor at the Towa Medical University Hospital. Masato is leading a new unit that will help the police determine if a suspect is competent enough to stand trial or needs to enter a hospital, so far his only teammate is the new employee Kyoko Sonoda. Masato will be taking a bit of time off here and there but has told everyone the show must go on and the work will continue on a regular schedule. The police did question Masato a few times about the murder and sure more will take place in future shows. No witness saw Taeko enter the motel but she had been seen leaving Masato's party in a white sedan though who was driving was a mystery. What is also a mystery is why Taeko had taken her wedding ring off, could she been having an affair or even be involved in a prostitution network? On the left in the bottom screenshot is the prosecutor Yanagida, he's also Masato's lawyer and close friend who seems like a decent chap. He was chatting with Masato's supervisor Oyama who I don't like, he's more concerned with the hospital's image than the death of his employee's wife and Yanagida was trying to talk some sense into this man.

 Two days after Taeko's death was her funeral, though we won't be seeing her alive ever again we'll probably see flashbacks of her and she is the key to the major storyline. There was nice turnout for the sad occasion, Masato is well known and all of his colleagues were there. Including his new assistant Kyoko who is such a prying woman, she was taking notice of all the mourners and more about her shortly. There's two screenshots above of Yanagida talking with Yukiko after the funeral, she too is very important to the story. This short chat did raise a few more questions and seemed like the prosecutor Yanagida is thinking that Yukiko is a bit suspicious though has no evidence. There are many secrets about everyone's past, the major one could be who is the birth mother of Akiko who is right above. I'm getting the impression it may be Yukiko as she did mention to Yanagida she wasn't trying to get someone back, who else could it be besides Akiko? Then again perhaps her father Masato, another mystery is if he had an affair with Yukiko many years ago and the outcome was Akiko!!!!

 After that brief chat Yukiko was heading home and went to the train station. On her tail was the prying Kyoko and why would she have been following her after the funeral? At the station Yukiko did slump down and looked like she was about to pass out, Kyoko rushed over to help this woman and it was the first time they had met. Kyoko escorted Yukiko to her brother Jun's apartment which was nearby, he wasn't home but the door was unlocked. There Yukiko revealed to Kyoko that she had a heart problem but didn't go into any details, sure we'll be hearing more about it. Arriving soon was her brother Jun, that's him in two screenshots above and Kyoko left right after that. Jun is a puzzling man so far and did ask Yukiko about Taeko's funeral, in the first show there was a five second scene where it appeared Jun may have followed Taeko but did that really happen? Also above you can also see Masato asking Akiko about her mother, after being found in a motel and from what the police had said Masato was wondering what kind of woman Taeko may have become while he was in America.

 Thanks to the pressure from the prosecutor Yanagida who also knew Taeko well her murder is the #1 priority at the Setagaya precinct. Once again Masato was asked to come in and the police do have a few clues but nothing that major. That witness did feel that Taeko was with a younger man though his face wasn't seen nor could they describe his body.... tall, short, thin, long hair, etc.? This white sedan found at the motel had been stolen so while there are a few clues the police don't seem to be making much progress though right at the end they did.... or was it a huge mistake? Back at home Masato was searching his wife's belongings for any kind of clue, he stumbled upon Taeko's diary and he never knew she kept one. Her entries almost seemed to be coded, Masato could understand some things but not all. What really piqued his curiosity was how Taeko kept referring to some with the letter A, Masato couldn't think of any of her friends whose names began with that letter as the mysteries keep piling up, there are still 24 episodes to go.

 Kyoko is one nosy woman, she had attempted to bring some files to Masato's house though no one was at home. Nearby is a snack job and there are some screenshots above of Kyoko visiting it. There's no site which has a complete list of characters so there are a few whose name I don't know yet such as the man who runs this snack bar and a frequent customer. Arriving soon after was Jun who did recognize Kyoko and had some harsh words for her boss Masato. Such as he probably didn't care for his wife Taeko which was way off base and even the snack bar owner said that. Jun did add a few other things in but was mainly rambling, however that has made Kyoko even more curious and exactly who is this woman? She did eventually drop those files off though only Akiko was at home, upon returning to Towa University who should be there but Kyoko's leader Masato. Who was mulling his current life over, being a criminal psychologist means Masato does know much about people's behaviors and is there something he had missed about his wife Taeko?

 Personally think that Masato was beating himself over nothing. He's only been back in Japan for about ten days after spending three years in America, of course so much happened in that time which he wasn't aware of. YET that is and sure over time whatever Taeko's problems were would have been solved, Masato did muse how it was ironic that a criminal psychologist's wife should be murdered. As mentioned before the daughter Akiko had noticed a change in her mother who wouldn't reveal anything to Akiko who did tell her father that but after the death. These two episodes have been so solid and the time zooms by in them, by now there's less than five minutes to go and only one scene. Which took place at Jun's shabby apartment, he was feeding his new goldfish when there was a knock at the door and who should it be but the police!

 The two were the detectives from the Setagaya precinct who are investigating Taeko's murder, these men's names also haven't been mentioned. They want Jun to accompany them to the station, he had a feeling it was about Taeko's murder and told the pair not to waste their time. At the motel room where the crime happened the police found a pair of gloves and they belonged to Jun, how did they get there? To that Jun had no answer and there was a brief scuffle with the two detectives who quickly subdued Jun and dragged him away. That's Jun in the bottom screenshot above and guess what, he' about to be charged for the murder of Taeko!!!! I don't think he did it but for now the evidence does point to him though the case would be extremely flimsy, that scene ended this second episode. This was a rarity for me as I wrote up two long recaps in one day but wanted to finish them so I could move on to the next episode! As explained in the first recap will be writing up 6-8 of these in advance and will have a pair every three days, that's when the next pair will be published.