"Akai Meiro" drama, episode 21 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 never happened but in the fifth episode we did learn that Masato isn't the true father of Akiko, who is? The answer to that is in the final character bio.

 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 hadn't happened through ten shows but since then Akiko's role had grown and she could be the key figure to all of these incidents and mysteries.

 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? That ended up being Misaki who was charged in episode twenty with her killing. Around the 16th show Jun began to have problems with his arms and fingers, Kyoko deduced it was Meningioma which is similar to a brain tumor. Jun's condition ended up getting much worse, in the 20th show he became blind and shortly after died in Kyoko's arms.

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. Beginning with the 14th show began to wonder if Kyoko may be involved with all of these sordid incidents, if so that would make for such an interesting storyline.

 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! **** In episode 19 Oyama gave Masato back the leadership of the criminal lab again. But more importantly Oyama tried to run over Masato at the end of the show, it wasn't the first time he had tried that and Oyama soon drove his car into a bay at Izu ending his life.

 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 Village Snack shop seen often and Jun's best friend. Goro was also good friends with Misaki who visited his snack bar often. 

Norihiko Yamamoto as Toshihiko Misaki.... A photographer and a character whose role wasn't that large or important until the 15th episode. However Jun had his suspicions about Misaki such as was he involved in the harassment of Masato's family and could he have possibly murdered Taeko? It appears the answer to that is yes, Misaki was arrested in the 20th show for her murder and did confess but it also appears he may have been working under someone or possibly could have had an accomplice. 

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 .... Episode fifteen .... Episode sixteen

Episode seventeen .... Episode eighteen .... Episode nineteen .... Episode twenty

 

 There's Jun above and if you've been reading these recaps you know that he met his demise at the end of the last episode. For close to four shows his health was declining rapidly and it was because he had a condition called Meningioma which is similar to a brain tumor. Jun never got any treatment and in this episode his ashes were sent to his hometown of Kyoto, that above was a mini shrine at his sister Yukiko's house. In real life Matsuda asked to be cut from the drama, one reason was he thought his role would be the main one but the focus ended being about Masato's family. Matsuda also wasn't pleased with a lot of the lines he had to say and asked many times for them to be changed, so around episode fifteen he asked to be written out and that did happen. Three main characters are now dead with of course the main one being Taeko in the first episode. In the last show Misaki was arrested for her murder and did confess, odds are high he did do the killing though it's not 100% certain. Did some editing to his bio above and we only saw him for two minutes in this show, one main question about Misaki that hasn't been answered was if he was working under someone or had an accomplice?

 Not as much seemed to take place in this episode until the second half which does make sense as most mysteries have been cleared up. However there was a cliffhanger coming into this show, as the previous episode ended Akiko had received a letter saying Egami was her true father. Akiko knew that but had never seen a photo of the man but there was one with the letter. That stunned Akiko as she has met Egami twice and thought he was a nice man, she still doesn't know he's still on the lam for a 1959 murder. Her father Masato told Akiko the letter was just a prank and silently she didn't believe that at all. What was worrying Masato was who had sent the letter, with Misaki in jail did he have an accomplice or was working under someone? That could be a key minor storyline and we all know that there's no way Egami would have sent that letter. Dates are rarely mentioned in these shows, Egami's statue of limitations for his murder will expire in one month so think the time has to be around the middle of February, for Akiko that's when her final exams are taking place.

 She finished her last one and after that visited Yukiko's house to pay her final respects to Jun. Akiko did ask a few times about her real father Egami, why is he in hiding and what does Yukiko know? She knows everything and though Akiko put some pressure on her Yukiko wouldn't say a word about Egami's past. By the end of the episode Akiko still has no idea her true father killed someone and how much longer will this remain a secret from her? Later on Yukiko did meet up with Masato to let him know about Akiko's curiosity and he was so relieved that the secret is still under wraps. During this mini scene Yukiko did let Masato know Akiko has met Egami twice, that he wasn't aware of though don't think Masato feels Egami is a dangerous man. Two episodes ago the Towa University dean told Masato he would be leading an international seminar in Kyoto about criminal psychology, his aides reminded Masato about that in this show and one screenshot of that is above. But with all that's been taking place it appears Masato may back out which he said later on in the show and that would be a disappointment to so many though it's not official.

 After the arrest of Misaki for killing Taeko not sure what's going through Akiko's mind. She visited the Setagaya detention center and asked her father's best friend Yanagida if she could have a talk with Misaki! That shook him up and he did refuse the request by saying no one save for his lawyer had visitation rights but think Yanagida was more scared of what may take place in that meeting. As you can also see above Masato was contemplating about that most recent letter, with Misaki in jail who could have sent it? His accomplice would be the most logical answer and there wasn't all that much focus on the letter though would think there would be soon. One person who wouldn't have sent it was Egami and he's in the middle two screenshots above. Yukiko's house still has a police stakeout in case Egami should ever appear and he did something very ingenious to see her. Egami called Yukiko asking her to meet him at a train station, when she arrived there was no Egami. That's because he knew the police would follow Yukiko, when she left the house he slipped in the back and and waited for her! Luckily Yukiko's husband Hidehiko wasn't there and when she arrived back home was naturally stunned to see Egami.

 He wants to see Akiko one final time and pleaded with Yukiko to set up a meeting with her. There's only four weeks to go until Egami's statue of limitations ends for his 1959 murder so he's taking a huge risk with that request, why not just lay low for another month? However knowing he has a daughter has changed Egami, he wants to see Akiko so badly so he'll take any kind of risk and to our surprise after hearing his pleas Yukiko agreed to set up a meeting with her! Later on Yukiko met up with Masato to tell him everything that had taken place. He was a bit irate at Yukiko for telling Egami that he could see Akiko but Masato didn't quite refuse that offer. He's come to trust Kyoko more than anyone else in his life, Masato asked her how did she feel about Akiko meeting her father? Which has happened twice but at those times Akiko hadn't realized who Egami was. Kyoko thought it would be wise to set up the meeting, this secret of Egami's past has been dragging on for too long and wouldn't it be better for Akiko to hear the truth about her and Egami's past?

 Though he's become such an important person in this drama we only saw Misaki in one mini scene, so far Masato and Kyoko haven't begun evaluating him. In the top two screenshots above Yanagida was interviewing Misaki and was really curious why he murdered Taeko and began to harass Masato and those around him so much? To that Misaki gave a very vague response, he also said the same thing to Jun in the last show. Which is that Misaki despised those who are doing so much better than he was in life, Masato's family fit the bill so he wanted some sort of 'revenge' but wouldn't have so many more millions been doing better than Misaki too? That baffled Yanagida but with five more shows to go sure the real truth will be revealed, later on Yanagida did meet with his best pal Masato. Who let Yanagida know that he's going to set up a meeting with Egami for that Sunday but does not want the police around, Masato felt he could convince Egami to turn himself in by just talking with him. To me wonder why Masato would think that, Egami has been on the lam for almost fifteen years and with his statue of limitations expiring in four weeks why give yourself up now?

 Masato contacted Yukiko to set up a date to meet Egami, it would be for that Sunday at a park and Masato would be bringing Akiko who of course had no clue about what would be taking place. However that call was overheard by Yukiko's husband Hidehiko who felt she was getting a bit too deeply involved in this matter. Egami is a wanted murderer, if Yukiko and Masato help this man out they could be charged with helping a fleeing villain but what's done is done according to Yukiko. So Hidehiko took matters into his own hands, he left the house to use a payphone as not to be overheard. He contacted the Setagaya police and a pair of detectives will be at the park Sunday to grab Egami, naturally Masato had no idea what was going to take place. It's finally Sunday, as you can see in the bottom screenshot above Masato told Akiko they were going to the park so she could practice her painting, Masato would also be doing a painting though thought he had zero artistic skills.

 Seemed not as much took place in this episode as there were only seven minutes to go in the show. This park scene had very little dialogue, Akiko picked a spot to paint some trees while Masato went further on down the path so he could have some privacy and hopefully notice Egami first. That's him in the second screenshot above, Masato did notice Egami but at almost the same time so didn't the pair of Setagaya detectives. There was no way Masato could let Egami be arrested as it would seem as though Masato set him up plus if Egami was in custody his 1959 murder would be known to Akiko. So Masato loudly yelled back 'Watch Out!' to Akiko hoping Egami would notice the detectives on his tail. Which happened and the pair did come so close to nabbing Egami who was able to escape and Masato wondered what exactly took place, did his friend Yanagida tell the police about this meeting? Of course not and later on Masato did meet up with Kyoko who we didn't see that often in this episode, he revealed to her all that took place.

 And later on she did meet up with Yanagida for about the fifth time and explained to him what had taken place. Yanagida didn't say a word to the police and Masato has nothing to worry about as there's no crime him or Yukiko could be charged with. Yanagida did drop another subtle hint to Kyoko and he's wondering why hasn't she made a move towards Masato, also vice versa. The episode came to it's ending with the above bottom screenshot, a dejected Akiko was sitting on her bed and did she realize all that had taken place that day at the park? Don't think she did as it didn't appear she even knew Egami was there but then again she may have seen him and that may not be revealed until the next recap which is the following post.