"Sukeban Deka" season one drama, recap two of 24 episodes

 

Air Dates: April 11 to October 31, 1985 Thursdays at 7:30 pm on Fuji-TV

Based upon the manga by Shinji Wada, there were some differences between the manga and this series such as two new characters but for the most part what took place in the manga was followed... Subs by Mashhamid though a few others have also subbed this series

Ratings: Average for all 24 episodes was 13.04%, the high was 17.0% while 9.6% was the lowest and that happened twice. This episode's rating was 13.5% which was .2 higher than the previous show and this aired on April 18, 1985

 For my first two 'comeback dramas' after taking a four month break picked a pair of ancient ones, good timing for this series as it aired exactly forty years ago! No solid reasons for picking these but thought the pair, the other was "Shoujou Commando Izumi", would be easier to recap as they're both 25 minute shows and though I do enjoy 45+ minute episodes they can take a while to write up. Sure many of you readers may have a basic knowledge of these DEKA series which were very popular back in the 1980's as there two more seasons after this plus some movies. But there were also many films in this genre that were released from about 1970-74 though they weren't nearly as innocent as this show or movies but do recommend those 1970's films which are among my favorites.

 May do a bit of editing to these first few paragraphs though then again may delete them and throw in some other thoughts or info, we'll see how things work out. Did say I was hoping for a pair of easier dramas for my return to recapping but neither one will be as easy as expected. This one especially and have a strong feeling the Bio section will be needing a lot of editing as we go along plus I bet there are going to be many characters who come and go. Will admit I was really confused about many things after viewing the first show which was only so-so until the end and wondered did I make the right decision as this is a long series with 24 episodes. However the second show was so much better and didn't begin writing this up until viewing that one, that does happen often where the first show is working out the kinks. For the previous series did five batches of three recaps as it was a fifteen episode show which worked out well. So was going to continue that with this series and have eight batches of three recaps but now I'm not sure what to do, am leaning on going back to having two at a time and will decide that at the end of the next recap which is the post below this one.

 The heroine in this series was Yuki Saito who was eighteen when the show began in April 1985, she turned nineteen while it was airing. Wouldn't call Yuki a superstar but she's an actress most drama fans should know of as she's been so busy over the last forty years appearing in too many dramas, movies and stage plays to count! Yuki is also a singer who has about ten albums and 25 singles along with doing many other theme songs to dramas, she does the ending song to this show. Yuki is now 58 in age and she was an attractive woman back in her twenties and thirties, not saying she looks bad now but as mentioned is getting up there in age. Enough of an intro as there's always another mini section after the main character bios which are below and will be editing them quite often.

 Most of the action will be taking place at the Takanoha Academy high school but in episode one the setting was St. Annes school which did slightly confuse me. Episode two is when Saki enrolls at Takanoha Academy and we didn't meet most major characters until then or at least the main students. Most of these photos at the top are of Saki holding a Yo-Yo, it's no ordinary one! When it flips open it shows the Police Crest as Saki is an undercover detective and what power it has. The Yo-Yo can smash through steel and if a person gets hit with it they're down for the count, the steel string is very long and can also double as a pair of handcuffs.

 Yuki Saito as Saki Asamiya.... There is so much to say about Saki and not enough space! Saki's mother Natsu is currently on death row for killing her husband Toshiya, that happened when Saki was six in age which was eleven years ago. For the next nine years don't know yet what became of Saki but by the age of twelve she was a delinquent. She did enter high school but was expelled from Takanoha Academy at the age of fifteen and sent to Kanto Kita Juvenile Center but there was something about Saki or perhaps her circumstances which attracted the attention of the two men below this bio, Jin and Shirei. They're the top two executives of the very secret government department Dark Agency, they've recruited Saki to become an undercover detective as being a teen will allow to work much more efficiently at high schools. Of course Saki refused at first but the offer included an apartment, clothes and such plus a huge kicker. Which is that if Saki successfully completed a mission her mother Natsu's death penalty would be voided though would have to finish a prison sentence. To that offer Saki agreed but the Dark Agency did renege on their end of the deal and came up with an excuse for Saki to do another mission which she reluctantly said yes to so think that scenario of Dark Agency using Saki will continue on. Know more changes will be done to Saki's bio but that covers what we learned in the first two episodes. Saki's mother Natsu is in the bottom screenshot, don't think we'll be seeing her too often.

 

Koji Naka as Kyoichiro Jin.... The top agent for Dark Agency and is Saki's 'handler'. Jin was a cool looking man and was very respected by his superior Shirei. Jin is very skilled at martial arts and drives a yellow Porsche 911.

 Hiroyuki Nagato as Kurayami Shirei.... Leader of Dark Agency and the person who recruited  Saki to be an undercover detective at high schools. To me it appears Shirei is the one toying with Saki and saying he'll void her mother's death sentence to keep her doing missions, think Jin does have a soft spot for Saki and doesn't like seeing her used. Shirei had been a judge at one time and was one of the six on the panel for Natsu's murder trial! Perhaps that's why he chose Saki to be a secret detective as he had been keeping tabs on her for about a decade and felt she was finally ready for action! Don't know if it will continue on for the whole series but when Shirei appears in screen we never see him clearly, he is an older man and maybe keeping his face obscured adds to the mystery.

 The remaining characters are all from Takanoha Academy which is a high school, in Tokyo? No characters appeared in the first episode so these bios will definitely need to be edited for future posts, the top characters are the students. Don't think any teachers will be key to the stories but will add a pair in plus the principal. Saki had attended this school when she was fifteen in age but had been expelled in her first year and sent to a detention center, she's now returned to the fury of many who remember her!

Chiaki Watanabe as Miyako Yumekoji.... She too is a delinquent girl but unlike Saki was never sent away to a detention center and is very intelligent though her ego is a bit too large. When Saki had been expelled Miyako took 'control' of the school or in other words has become the leader of the school's undesirables. Who are females and you never see girls have male underlings in these shows or films, of course those henchmen(women?) are Yes People who bully others. None of that group of Miyako's followers will have large roles but we will be seeing them often enough, the names of the main four girls are Tomiko, Hanako, Masayo and Tamami. That's them in the first screenshot below, Miyako is on the left and in the center of the second screenshot. Miyako is a very attractive teen and for now hates Saki with such a passion so a theme for the first half of the series will be of her trying to take Saki down. Of course Miyako doesn't know Saki is an undercover detective and had felt she returned to Takanoha Academy to take control of the female gangs which was not the case.

 Yasuyoshi Masuda as Sanpei Nowaki.... That's an odd name and don't recall ever seeing either of those before. Senpai wasn't at Takanoha Academy when Saki was enrolled there two years ago, when he first saw Saki in present times it was love at first sight for Senpai!!!! Who had no idea of Saki's past but was so enamored with her ultra coolness plus she was attractive. Unsure(doubt) if Saki will ever return Senpai's feelings of love but think he will become a trusted ally.

 Jo Onode as Taro.... Didn't see him in the second episode so have no screenshot for the character but included him for now as this role is supposed to be important. Same goes for Mai Tachihara who plays Kazuko Hasegawa, she too we didn't see in show #2. The pair below were guest stars for this episode, the man was named Oki and the woman was Atsuko. Both worked at Takanoha Academy and tried to frame Saki for a bank robbery(!), it was their only appearance in the series.

 

 Genji Kawai as Miyagawa.... Principal of Takanoha Academy and he probably won't be an important character but should be in most episodes, he's the older man sitting at the desk.

 Hiraizumi Sei as Numa Juzo.... PE teacher at the academy and also the home room teacher of Saki's. Juzo was strongly opposed to Saki being able to reenroll at the school but like all didn't know she was an undercover detective. He also works in  the guidance department and can be extremely strict.

 There is one woman English teacher who may be added in but that should be it for the cast or for now. There will be some new storylines and characters added into the series as we go along so off course will add in any major characters and keep editing to the existing characters also. Will also use this section for the links to previous recaps though naturally there are none for now. 

 You do see those characters at the end of most of these kinds of dramas, ones where the story is ongoing. Those Hiragana characters spell out Tsudzuku which means To be continued, of course it means the story and that car is Jin's yellow Porsche 911. For each recap will have a video for this series and hopefully there can be a new one for each post and there aren't as many as I thought. For today have another long one but if you're a fan of these kinds of shows it's worth skimming through. It's from a VHS of the series and that format was so common up until about the year 2000. It features many outtakes and behind the scenes clips of the heroine Saki aka Yuki Saito, unlike the video for episode one this is subbed in English and features many of the show's shooting locations. Below the video will be a screenshot of what the episode's title was, that happened in the previous drama I reviewed and was having titles much more common in the 80's?

 

 

 

 Today's video is also a longish one but it is subbed in English and was very interesting as it had a lot of behind the scenes footage from many filming locations. Also right above is the semi coolish looking Saki Asamiya who was just hopping off her motorcycle at high school, to me even cooler is her Dark Agency 'handler' Jin who drives a yellow Porsche 911 and that's him in the bottom screenshot. That's from the final few silent seconds as Saki had completed her second secret mission for Dark Agency, Jin is their top spy and perhaps also the assistant leader. But to date zero is known about the group but there's still 22 episodes to go and most things will eventually get explained. Midway through the first episode was wondering if I made the wrong mistake on having this as my next drama watch? That first show did begin off very slowly plus I was confused about many things, mainly the characters. But the second half of that show was so much better which continued on into this show which I enjoyed quite a bit and it is common for dramas to begin off a bit sluggish. Sure you read the above recap and in it Saki had solved the mystery of a murder along with much corruption at the very elite St. Annes private high school. Beginning with this show Saki has enrolled at the public Takanoha Academy high school and I think most of the action will be taking place there. So let's get to this second episode and as you can see below not many at the school were overjoyed to see.... the return of Saki Asamiya!!!!

 

 None were pleased with the return of Saki for she had once been a student there two years ago, she had been expelled for being such a troublemaker. Not just at school where she had control of the girl gangs, even though Saki was just a freshman at the time, but was also such a juvenile delinquent all around the city, it's name hasn't been mentioned but presume Tokyo. That's the staff at Takanoha Academy in the second and third screenshots above, they were all moaning to the principal about Saki's sudden return. The principal is the older man sitting down, his name is Miyagawa and doubt if his role will be large but he will be in most episodes. Miyagawa was explaining to all that the decision to let Saki reenroll wasn't his and someone from high above had pulled the strings, he and the other teachers fumed about that and why let such a delinquent back into their school?! But the staff had no choice for as Miyagawa told all if Saki wasn't admitted they could lose their accreditation! That string pulling was by the mysterious Dark Agency, more on them very shortly. Sure most know that high school in Japan lasts for only three years compared to four in America so by now Saki should be a senior and do know she is seventeen in age. For almost two years had been at the Kanto Kita Juvenile Center so presume she got schooling there, she was allowed to leave early because of the Dark Agency. **** Checked and Saki is a Junior so may be a year behind her peers as far as schooling goes. When Saki had originally been at Takanoha Academy she controlled the major girl gang there, now of course there's a new leader. Who is the girl on the left in the top screenshot, her name is Miyako Yumekoji. She will prove to be Saki's number one nemesis for much of this series though think they may become allies.

 Miyako has four main cohorts in her gang, none of those roles are large or important but the quartet may be having a lot of screentime. Those four are in the top screenshot, their names are Tomoko, Hanako, Masayo and Tamami, the four had been alerting Miyako about the return of Saki. Because of her reappearance Miyako felt that Saki would now want to regain control of the girl gangs at Takanoha Academy but that's not the case though Miyako didn't know that or at least not yet. She sent some of her underlings to greet Saki in a less than heartwarming way, Saki wasn't at school for even an hour when she got into a pair of fights with Miyako's gang and beat both girls! Those skirmishes were broken up by the man above who is named Numa and he may be somewhat important in this drama. Numa is the PE teacher at Takanoha Academy and is also on the Guidance team, he is a stern man but also a fair person and he told Saki along with Miyako's hench(wo)men no more fighting or else! Also above you can see Saki arriving at school on her motorbike, it's now the following day. She was greeted by that boy Sanpei Nowaki who comes from a wealthy family and took an instant liking towards Saki, he wasn't at Takanoha Academy when she was expelled two years ago. Sanpei quickly became so enamored with Saki and though his feelings may never be returned he could end up being a close friend. More on him later and when Saki arrived back at her pad after school waiting for her was the man above and right below, he's Jin who was the person responsible for getting Saki back into Takanoha Academy. He's also her 'handler' from the Dark Agency and had some news for her, not good in the least as she now has to do a second mission for this secret government group!!!!

 In the third screenshot above Saki had screamed to Jin "You Tricked Me!" and Saki was justified in blowing a fuse as she was betrayed. For the Dark Agency had recruited Saki in the first show to solve a case for them, it was only supposed to be a one time deal. For some odd reason Saki's mother Natsu's life sentence in prison had been changed to one where she would be executed!!!! But Jin and his superior Shirei told Saki they could get that execution voided if she would do a mission at a different high school, Saki agreed to the deal and solved the case. So naturally she presumed Dark Agency would uphold their end of the deal and to an extent did as I think they're paying the bills for her apartment and motorbike. But now Jin has informed Saki the reason he was able to get her reenrolled at Takanoha Academy was because there's some underhanded things going on there but wasn't too specific. Jin's superior Shirei is the person at Dark Agency who made the decision to trick Saki, that's him in the second screenshot above and we never get a clear look at his face. I personally think that Jin does like Saki quite a bit and doesn't want to see any harm befall her, if it was up to him then he wouldn't have had her continue as an undercover teen detective. But orders are orders so Jin had to follow them, of course Saki was fuming and why not for will these underhanded tricks by Dark Agency carry on for the rest of her life? 

 For now Saki didn't have much of a choice as Jin said her mother's execution is back on, the mother Natsu had killed her husband Toshiya eleven years ago. To me it appeared there was nothing majorly bad/evil going on at Takanoha Academy and that the Dark Agency leader Shirei was preparing for future battles, doubt if Saki would have been sent there just to break up Miyako's girl gang. But perhaps Shirei knew more than he let on for a major incident was about to take place. The next day at school Saki had gone to the school's admin. office to complete some forms, the secretary Atsuko made a comment about how Saki was lefthanded and at the time wasn't sure if it would be key to the story, it was. Later on Saki mentioned she had been a righthander until suffering an injury from getting beaten at the Juvenile Detention Center, most people still presumed Saki was still righthanded.... but not Atsuko, hmmmm. That is so key to the story for the next afternoon there was a bank robbery and 100 million yen was stolen! There's a screenshot of that above and below, one of the robbers was a woman as the camera showed and that she was lefthanded! The police had received an anonymous call that Saki was the culprit, with her being recently released from the detention center the call was believed and the police rushed to Takanoha Academy! This was a well planned framing as the robber used their left hand during the heist and that was one strike against Saki, the second was when many bills from the robbery were found in her school locker! Despite the protest of the PE teacher Numa Saki was dragged off to jail and was this the perfect frame up? For a while it appeared so, Saki had no idea on how to contact Jin who had an unknown small mission that he wanted her to complete that afternoon by 1:00 pm, if not the execution of her mother Natsu will be taking place at 3:00 pm! Finally Jin heard about Saki's arrest and hurried off to where she was being held, he did say the execution was postponed so naturally we viewers were thinking it was never supposed to take place!

 Final segment, this is a longish recap for so much did take place, what happened is right above and the first four screenshots below. Plus it was longer for in a way this was the second first post(?), what I mean is that we were introduced to the characters and such at Takanoha Academy so needed to talk about them a bit. At first I though that the Dark Agency were responsible for Saki's arrest and that bank robbery but it wasn't so, Jin was truly angry at what had taken place and how could this have happened? Jin was able to get Saki released and did warn her that the girl gang from Takanoha Academy were looking to teach her a lesson! But Jin also said not to fight back if she was attacked as if she did it may blow her cover. One advantage to episodes being a little over 23 minutes in length is that it means they fly right my, a slight negative is that often endings are rushed. After Saki's release there was only about six minutes to go and the action was nonstop for the rest of the show. Saki at first wanted to find those who were responsible for her arrest, thanks to Jin she does have a clue or two to follow up on. But first there was an obstacle and that was the presence of Miyako, she wants a showdown with her rival Saki and now! The location was the high school baseball field, tailing Saki has been her admirer and future friend Sanpei who seems like a decent chap. Saki didn't want to fight as she recalled what Jin had told her about not blowing her cover and try to come off as a normal student. However Miyako's cronies forced Saki's hand as they began to pummel the poor Sanpei, Saki got in a few powerful punches but then happened to notice Jin sitting in the stands observing her.

 So that put an end to Saki's fighting but we did see she is quite a formidable opponent though for now has to remain meek. Miyako's mates got some good licks in and stood laughing at her, this wimp is the unbeatable Saki?!!!! But that did work for the gang soon left and now with only two minutes remaining Saki caught up to the pair of bank robbers who tried to frame her for their heist. Jin had told Saki to think back and try to recall who now knows she mainly uses her left hand, Saki thought back to her encounter with the school secretary Atsuko. Somehow Saki found her immediately and probably because the episode was about to end! With Atsuko was her partner Oki who had been posing as a janitor at Takanoha Academy. Both thought they were free to flee with the 100 million yen booty but lying in wait was Saki, that yo-yo is so powerful as it smashed their getaway car's windshield and blew a hole in their briefcase which sent the yen notes flying everywhere! That yo-yo can also become unescapable handcuffs, the devious duo was soon under wraps and though a bit more did take place it wasn't a long final scene. At the show's end we did see Saki walk away from the parking garage where she found the robbers, she passed by Jin and his car which is just below but didn't utter a word. Was Saki thinking this better be the end of the Dark Agency taking advantage her and that wraps up this post. I enjoyed this episode so much more than the first show so hoping the upward trend will continue, won't be having a set schedule for these recaps but a pair should be done every 4-5 days.