"Akai Meiro" drama, episode 22 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

 

 Four more episodes to go after this one and guess it's time to decide what will be up next? There are a pair of Korean dramas that I will be recapping but both will be airing for at least one more month, this series will be completed in exactly a week. "Black Familia" is a show that I really want to view but two more episodes need to be subbed so am thinking June for that drama. So the other one is a oddish show from 2022 called "Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna", it's the first season and the second aired earlier this year. Been getting a bit nostalgic and have missed posting about Manami Higa who has the lead role in both seasons. The episodes are short so should be able to zip through that first season, if that one is decent the will do the second right after that. EDIT: Wrote the above up a week ago and may view something else first. The drama mentioned revolves around food and so doesn't another series called "Dinner Mate" which aired in 2020 and is Korean. It's a romance drama without.... romance(!) and it really seems to be such a different kind of show so now am leaning towards that one. Will take a week off after finishing this series and you'll see what my decision was.

 On to this recap and the intensity has really dropped in the last two shows. That was to be expected as Jun died two episodes ago and he was by far the most intense character in this drama. Add in that Misaki was arrested for the murder of Taeko and with that happening Masato, Akiko and those around them haven't been threatened. But this still turned out to be a very good show and Egami had his most screen time to date but wonder if we'll be seeing much more of him? Let's get to what took place and there was no cliffhanger to end the previous episode.

 Sure you read the above recap so you should recall near the end of that 21st episode Masato set it up for Egami to meet his daughter Akiko. They had met twice before but both times Akiko didn't realize that Egami was her true father, she had no clue what Masato had planned. The meeting was set up for a Sunday afternoon at a nearby park, the Setagaya police had been tipped off about Egami being there. Luckily for him Masato saw the two detectives at the park and warned Egami to flee, he did and barely escaped from being arrested. In the middle screenshot Masato had a mini interview with a detective from the Tokyo PD along with one from Kyoto where Egami had committed his murder back in 1959. Masato was able to convince both detectives it was just a coincidence him and Akiko happened to be at the park at the same time, seems for now they bought Masato's lies. But unknown to him at that very time meeting in the same park were his daughter Akiko and Egami, that's the first four screenshots above. Akiko had received a letter at the beginning of the previous episode with a photo of Egami saying he was her true father, Masato said it was just a prank though Akiko didn't believe him.

 So the pair had begun to meet up almost every day at the park, Akiko is on Winter break from her school. As you can see Egami claimed he wasn't Akiko's biological father but she knows better, it's not that she would dump Masato for Egami but wants to know him better. For instance why does Egami have to remain hidden, is he on the run from the law(?) but he was unable to tell Akiko the truth. These meetings have to be short for who knows when the police may happen to spot Egami by accident, he is taking a chance as the statue of limitations for his 1959 murder expires in less than four weeks. Of course Akiko has to keep these meetings a secret from Masato, the one person she can depend on for advice and answers is Kyoko. The two had a chat which is right above, Akiko asked did Egami commit a serious crime which is why he's on the run from the law? That Kyoko did say was true but never said the crime was murder, that secret may be revealed by the end of the show. In the bottom screenshot above Masato did hear the end of the conversation, Kyoko admitted that she said Egami is on the lam but didn't tell Akiko about the crime, Kyoko also mentioned about the pair meeting up. Masato wasn't too pleased with what had been going on but didn't scold or talk with Akiko about it.

 After Misaki was arrested in episode twenty for the murder of Taeko we've only seen him in one scene each of the last two shows. Masato's best friend Yanagida had agreed to the odd request of Masato doing the criminal evaluation on Misaki to see if he's competent to stand trial, without a doubt he is. Masato did meet with Misaki briefly which is right above but it wasn't part of the evaluation, Kyoko will also be part of that. Once again Misaki claimed he despised families that 'have it all in life', he targeted Masato's family for 'revenge' but never explained fully why. Misaki said the same things to Yanagida in the last episode and wish we learned more of why Misaki did all of those horrible incidents. One thing that is now clearer is that Masato now feels Misaki was working alone, no letters, phone calls or incidents have taken place since his arrest. Also above you can see Masato agreed to lead a prestigious international conference on Criminal Psychology that will be held in Kyoto. His aides were quite pleased as they had worked on getting research for Masato, Kyoko actually did most of the work.

 Once again while Masato was busy Akiko met up with Egami who told her this will have to be their final meeting. He can't stay in one place for too long as the police know he's in the area, Akiko then said she has one last request if this is to be their final meeting. Which is that her, Egami and Akiko's real mother go out once on a family outing before Egami has to leave! Akiko called Yukiko who was stunned at what Akiko had planned but how could she leave her house as the police have a stakeout there? Yukiko called Kyoko and explained the situation, Kyoko may be the most dependable person in this drama. She met up with Yukiko and had everything planned out, the pair entered a Kimono shop. The two detectives following Yukiko noticed her looking at kimonos and go into a dressing room to try one on. But Yukiko was able to slip out a back door where there was a waiting taxi, the detectives had no clue what was taking place. Yukiko dashed to an amusement park to see her daughter Akiko and her old boyfriend Egami for their first and last time together as a family.

 Knowing that Yukiko was safe from being discovered Kyoko headed back to Towa University but one person did know what was going on! We don't see her often and have never mentioned her until now who is Yukiko's maid at home Kume. She overheard that conversation of Yukiko going to the amusement park and followed her there, personally thought she was spying for Yukiko's husband Hidehiko. But Kume wasn't and in a surprise called up Masato at work but couldn't utter a word and quickly hung up though Masato is about to learn what's currently going on from Kyoko. Who semi-admitted she went behind Masato's back and did help out Akiko with finally reuniting with her entire birth family. For the longest of times Kyoko had always thought Akiko learning the truth about her past would be the best thing, especially if she learned it from Masato. His best friend Yanagida has had the same thoughts but Masato has always been so worried if Akiko knew her father was a criminal and how it would devastate her but later on did confess he may have been mistaken.

 With Kyoko in tow the pair headed to the amusement park though she waited outside, what exactly was the plan of Masato's? As it turned out he didn't have one, when he spotted Akiko, Yukiko and Egami having such an enjoyable time on the rides Masato couldn't bring himself to stop that happiness. If this is the one and only time the three can spend together why should Masato break up this 'family reunion', he soon left the park to hook back up with Kyoko. Who said don't worry about Akiko, she has matured so much during this series and would never leave Masato. Which ended up being true for that evening Akiko did confess to what she had done that day and did give such a heartwarming speech to Masato. Think by now Akiko is sixteen in age and Masato was so highly impressed that his daughter may be more aware of what goes on with people than he does! Akiko was slightly worried that Egami had thoughts of suicide and couldn't let him go through with an act such as that, to me think she succeeded. As a closer to her speech Akiko did let her father Masato know she would never leave him, in a way she's blessed as she's had two sets of parents.

 Actually during that scene Akiko was more of the parent, Masato may be an ace criminal psychologist but seems his daughter knew more about how people think than he does! It's finally time for the international seminar about criminal psychology and Masato was one of the key speakers. It took place in Kyoto and Kyoko traveled there with him, noticed she was the only woman there. In the third screenshot above Kyoko had run into an old classmate from Germany, his name was never mentioned but have a strong feeling he had such a crush on Kyoko and will we be seeing him again? At this conference instead of reading from his notes Masato went off the cuff and talked about his family. Masato confessed he may not be the expert criminal psychologist all thought he was, he has learned so much since the murder of his wife Taeko and the harassment that happened after to his family and friends. It's a much different view of how a criminal thinks when you've been personally involved and he has some plans for new research which will involve his daughter Akiko.

 Save for Kyoko none in attendance had known what Masato had gone through, that speech hit the mark and he received a standing ovation. Don't know if Masato gave his prepared presentation for the next scene was that night when Masato had returned to Tokyo, there's only a minute to go in the episode. Akiko is aware that Egami has been on the run from the police but what crime could he have committed, as the show ended you can see above what question she asked Masato and we don't know what his response was. That brings this recap to it's conclusion, another fine episode but wish we were learning more about Misaki and exactly why he killed Taeko and harassed her family after that.

EDIT: That speech was quite important but at the time we didn't realize what Masato's plans would be for his daughter Akiko. That will be explained in the next recap and it was a but surprising, also more than a tad confusing.