"Sukeban Deka" season one drama, recap fourteen 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 13.6% which was a drop of 3.4% from the previous episode and this aired on August 1, 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 though we haven't seen him in a physical fight through eight episodes 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 one 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. By the third episode Sanpei has become friends with Saki, not best friends yet but he is her only one.

  

 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 though usually is fair to all except not at first towards Saki.

Previous recaps

 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. Have said om other dramas how in a way it could be easier to wait until the entire series has been finished or pick a certain show to wait until, say the midway point. Then you could go into one post and click on the links for each episode as doing it that way makes it so much easier to read plus this is the only was you can read them in order quickly as searching could take a while.

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six ... Episode seven .... Episode eight

Episode nine .... Episode ten .... Episode eleven .... Episode twelve

 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. So it is getting tougher so may have to leave a video up for two recaps or perhaps have some of Yuki's J-Pop songs. For today have Yuki's first ever single which is titled "Graduation" from February 1985, two months before this series began and it hit #5 on the charts. Below the video will be a screenshot of what the episode's title was, those you saw in the previous drama I reviewed and was having titles much more common in the 80's? WARNING: This is the same video as the previous post, it's very difficult to post videos in the middle of posts so skipped having a new one for today. Unsure whether to continue on with these videos, does anyone view them?

 

                              

 Have done some editing to the main characters but not as much as I was expecting nor have any new ones been added in. But odds are high the first three characters below will be added to the above list beginning with the fifteenth episode, after I view that will decide. The first female Ayumi was introduced in the 11th episode, she comes from a very rich family and quickly became the enemy of Saki. Following her is Ayumi's slightly younger sister Kumi who we met in the previous episode and she may be a key character from here on out. She was an important piece of this two episode story which the topic was a piano competition, though a horrible person Kumi is quite a talented player. Third down is the oldest Mizuchi sister Reimi who we didn't meet until the end of this episode. Viewed the preview for episode fifteen and she too may become an important piece of this drama, actually the entire Mizuchi family will. Who is led by the fourth man down who is the father Gouzo and supposedly is the sixth richest man in Japan and what a crooked person he is! The bottom man is named Kawasaki, he's the new dean of music at the elite Eiko Arts Academy and was the instructor for both Kumi and her rival Junko, at the end of this episode we said RIP to Kawasaki!!!!

 Presumed you read the above recap, thanks if you did and it makes my job easier as I don't have to explain as much. Also makes it easier for you viewers as you know where we stand in the story, this is another two episode tale and those work out much better as sometimes too much happens to be squeezed into a 23 1/2 minute episode. As mentioned in the prior post wrote this pair up at least a few days ago and waited until I viewed the next two shows before publishing these though wrote them up before viewing those episodes.... sound confusing? I've been so lax when it comes to writing these up so wanted to get a bit ahead of myself if that inertia strikes me again....

                     

 Haven't really checked on what will he happening over the final ten episodes but think for the next eight the Mizuchi sisters will be so important to all of the stories. Especially Ayumi and it is a positive in shows when the Hero has some major enemies who pop in and out during the series. Much shorter intro than usual and that's thanks to it being a two episode story. We left off in the last recap with our heroine Saki Asamiya tied to a Baseball stadium railing, that was courtesy of her arch enemy Ayumi Mizuchi who was revving up her motorcycle to barrel into Saki!!!! And the main reason was because Ayumi was trying to help out her younger sister Kumi and to eliminate a girl named Junko Shiina from participating in a Piano competition. First time I've seen playing the piano be the main topic in a Deka, Tokusatsu or Sentai series, now to the action!

 I do like our heroine Saki quite a bit and more so with each episode. But my favorite character is her Dark Agency handler Kyoichiro Jin who is just so cool looking and he lets his actions do most of the talking. Wish his role was a bit bigger but he's so key to the ongoing story, he's saved the life of Saki twice in the previous three shows and made it a hat trick early on in this fourteenth episode! That's Jin in the top screenshot, with Ayumi on her motorcycle barreling towards Saki who was tied to a stadium railing Jin jumped in front of her while holding Kumi as a hostage! That naturally made Ayumi jack on the brakes and come to a halt, Jin quickly untied Saki and told her to flee which she did. On her way out Saki did encounter that masked motorcycle group, this was the fourth time she's come across them and have noticed how much she fears them which could be a first for Saki. However after watching Jin in action the bikers let Saki escape, Jin also found his way out of the stadium unscathed and it would take an Army of Texas Rangers to bring him down! So for now Saki is safe and so isn't her new friend Junko Shiina who is the girl Saki was assigned to guard on this mission/case. When Ayumi's goons tried attacking Junko Saki's best friend Sanpei was there to help the girl out while Saki's battle moved on to the stadium, Sanpei brought the girl to a nearby hospital and she's A-OK for her upcoming piano competition.

 Telling Junko it was a relief to see her unhurt in the fourth screenshot is her instructor from the Eiko Arts Academy Tashihiro Kawasaki. This man is very talented at the piano and had been schooled by Junko's father Koichi who was killed at the beginning of the previous episode, so wasn't Junko's mother. No one has come out and said it yet but we viewers know Kawasaki probably had a hand in those two deaths and perhaps even planned them, the deaths were from a car crash where the brakes had been tampered with. Besides being one of Junko's instructors at the elite musical high school Kawasaki has also been educating the sister of Ayumi Mizuchi, she's Kumi who we met in the last show. The Mizuchi family is so wealthy as the father Gouzo is the sixth richest man in Japan, the family is not accustomed to losing and always get their way..... often by extortion or in Ayumi's case having goons do her dirty work! Kumi is the same age as her rival Junko, also Saki, and though Kumi is such an arrogant lowlife she truly is very talented at the piano. But according to Kawasaki Junko is just a bit better so the plan is to get Junko out of the way, she was supposed to die in that car crash but survived. Then there was that attempt to kidnap Junko which was foiled by our Deka Saki who had been helped by her mate Sanpei. Now Kawasaki is trying to discourage Junko from entering this national piano competition as he knows Junko will do better with the judges and it just so happens he is one. You can see him above trying to discourage Junko but it's not working as she knows how talented of a pianist she is and so doesn't everyone around her.

 When this two episode story began there were five days to go until the All Japan Pianist Concours were to be held, it's now the eve of the competition. When I discuss the action most of what I talk about will be in the above group of screenshots which usually consist of nine or ten of them. In the first one above Saki was checking in with her handler Jin, the two have thwarted the attempts to date of Ayumi, Kumi and Kawasaki trying to prevent Junko from performing at the piano competition. But both knew that the trio will not give up and how right they were with the details coming up shortly. The screenshots after that show the Mizuchi family, the father Gozou is so crazed with trying to acquire even more power and don't know if he will be an important part of the series from here on out. His two daughters will certainly be and Ayumi was telling her father about the one rival who has stood in Ayumi's way too often, of course she meant Saki!!!! Kumi too is not a person you would want as an enemy but as mentioned twice she truly is talented at the piano, with a bit more practice bet she's have a chance at impressing the judges enough at the Piano Concours to win even without cheating.

 No mention was made of the Mizuchi mother but may in future episodes, it's now the day of this prestigious All Japan Piano Competition and above are a few screenshots from it and two of them feature the judges, that's Kawasaki on the left in the bottom one. He had just rushed back to his seat for there's a five minute intermission between players, five minutes plenty enough for the demon Kawasaki! He found Junko alone backstage and I was so surprised Saki wasn't guarding the girl as she had to know a final attempt would be made to prevent Junko from playing. Kawasaki was pretending to give Junko encouragement but in reality his aim was to hurt the girl badly, he succeeded as Kawasaki pulled out a knife and stabbed Junko in the stomach! That's her slumped on the ground above and for the longest time no one had realized Junko had been stabbed, in the meantime Kawasaki rushed back to his judge's seat but unknown to him had dropped his tie clip at the scene. Though just a student at the Takanoha Academy for a week most students really liked Junko and enjoyed listening to her piano playing so she had her own cheering section at the concert! But when Junko didn't appear in stage all wondered where had she disappeared to, the clock was ticking and if she didn't begin to play within two minutes she would be disqualified! But just before the clock hit zero appearing on stage was Junko, that's her below and during her performance no one had noticed the blood dripping down her dress! **** Never did give all of the details why Kawasaki was helping Kumi so much. Her father had recently bought the elite Eiko Arts Academy, if Kawasaki could clear the path for Kumi to win the competition and also to rid the school of Junko's father the elder Mizuchi would make Kawasaki the new dean of music. What a greedy bastard he was and there was also a few other dirty shenanigans Kawasaki was forced to do.

 So much took place in the final seven or so minutes, what did is right above and also the eight screenshots below! Wow, always have 3-4 below but never eight which means so much did happen and it was an exciting climax. Which began off with Junko appearing on stage and as mentioned no one had noticed the blood dripping down the left side of her dress. The piece she selected for the Concours was Chopin's "Fantasie Impromptu" and while she played it perfectly there was something off with her performance. That was noticed by Saki who was sitting in the audience, Junko's playing was a bit stiff and too robotic, there was none of that 'feeling' which had set her apart from others. Of course just being able to play and finish the piece was quite the achievement, once Junko finished she passed out and dashing to the stage was Saki. Luckily there was a doctor in the audience, Junko was rushed to the hospital for the second time in this episode and she should recover. At the auditorium where the competition had been held Saki's best friend and also budding Deka Sanpei found a key piece of evidence. Where Junko was stabbed was a pool of blood which of course was to be expected, what was not expected was a Tie Clip which Sanpei found and it belonged to the piano master turned villain Kawasaki!!!! Who at this moment had been at the Mizuchi mansion celebrating the fact Kumi won this prestigious piano recital, you can see above Saki was beside herself when she found out who had won! Which in a way did make sense as Kumi did pay well but if Junko was at full strength she easily would have come out on top.

 Down to the final ~3 minutes, the celebration party for Kumi was in full swing but it was soon to come to a crashing halt thanks to..... SAKI!!!! Most of that scene is right below and to me the best part of a show is at the end when Saki gives the culprit such a tongue lashing and it's usually to an adult. Saki showed Kawasaki his tie clip that was found where Junko was stabbed, it was also him that had tampered with the brakes of Junko's father's car. This final fight scene didn't last too long but it was still a bit exciting, Kawasaki tried to flee with Kumi as she(and her father) had ordered him to do her dirty work and none of her family tried to intervene save for Ayumi. Kawasaki and Kumi fled down an outside staircase, he slipped but had been grabbed by Kumi before he fell from this third story staircase. But with Saki quickly approaching Kumi had to drop Kawasaki, you can see below that fall resulted in his death! Kumi had a slight scuffle with Saki who couldn't arrest this girl for Kawasaki had done her dirty work. Instead Saki did something cruel but well deserved which was to injure Kumi's right arm/hand and now she won't be able play the piano for a loooong time! There was only twenty seconds to go by now, the narrator told us that Saki's battles with the Mizuchi family are only going to become more brutal in the future. The final few seconds, which is the eighth screenshot down, showed Ayumi and Kumi at the airport to greet their oldest sister Reimi back to Japan and now Saki will have a trio of sisters to battle.... you know who I'm putting my money on! That wraps this recap up and thanks for reading it, the episodes and stories are getting much better and this battle against the Mizuchi sisters will continue for I think eight more shows. Now on to watch episode fifteen, the next pair of recaps should be in just a few days.