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| Emi Takei and Aiba Masaki in Kizoku Tantei |
Ah, the classic “Whoudunnit”, a violent murder, a sealed-off location, and a handful of murder suspects, ONE of whom is definitely the Killer...these are all the makings of a Hercule Poirot plot, but the detectives on THIS case are not like any detectives you’ve ever seen!
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| Emi Takei as Aika Takatoku |
Aika Takatoku (my darling Emi Takei) is a novice detective who happens to be at such a murder mystery set up: her friend has held a “Porcini Party” and when Aika arrives, discover the murdered body of one of her friends in the cellar! Immediately taking action, she slips on her gloves and begins doing some investigating as the police are called.
When the authorities arrive, they are of the inept sort, and nothing signifies this more than when you see that the head investigator Hanagata is played by Namase Katsuhisa, here playing the same kind of arrogant and mostly clueless cop like he did as Kenzo Yabe in the TRICK series- He even belittles and abuses Emi in the same condescending way he treated Naoko Yamada, shoving her around and telling her to shut up, LOL! (there’s even a really cute cameo that gives a wink to TRICK when you see the ending credits)!
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| Namase Katsuhisa as Raiu Hanagata |
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| "IDGAF" Forensics Agent Izumi (Michiko Tanaka) |
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| Meeting Takatoku... |
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| Already Butting Heads!!! |
So between the able Takatoku and the blustery Hanagata, all five suspects are brought out and interviewed. They are just about to dig into the case, when a strange butler named Yamamoto (Yutaka Matsushige) appears and announces that someone requests an audience of them!
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| Hanagata accusing the suspsects |
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| Aya Hirayama |
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| Haruka Kinami |
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| The Butler Appears!!! |
Making their way out side, they see a garish tent setup as if a travelling sideshow had just stopped by. Going inside they are met with a sturdy Caretaker, a Bustling Maid as well as the aforementioned butler. Once they are settled, the host finally makes his appearance, and he introduces himself only as the “Noble Detective”, telling everyone involved that HE will be solving the case!
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| The Mystery Host revealed! |
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| Aiba as "Noble Detective" |
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| Takatoku Ain't Impressed. |
An angry Takatoku is irked, not only by this guy’s conceited tone, but by the fact that she’s heard of this so-called “detective” before and has hard thoughts about him.
Hanagata is reluctant to let this pompous fellow tromp all over his crime scene, but a call from his superiors tells him that this man is a very, very rich and/or influential person and should be allowed to do whatever he wishes. And so in the end, it’s Takatoko, Hanagata And this mysterious “Noble Detective” who are ALL on the case!
Well, ON the case might be a stretch, at least for this Noble Gentleman, as he spends the entire day strolling around the place, enjoying wine and meals and frolicking with the female guests, while his servants Sato, Tanaka, and Yamamoto are the ones actually doing the footwork and investigating it takes to really solve the case!
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| Noble Detective's Servants |
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| Tanaka taking care to the facts and correlations |
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| while Yamamoto and Sato do the legwork. |
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| Looking outside... |
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| ..and seeing the "Noble" detective goofing around! |
Of course, in the end, despite all her hard work, Aika Takatoku is left in the dust when the Noble Detective and his crew solve the case. He takes all credit for the success, making Takatoku even more furious, stating she will never respect a "detective" who doens't do the work himself, to which he retorts back that a real detective solves the case, and she didn't do that, so who'd the real detective?
So far this is an interesting drama, but, like IQ246, I’m a bit irritated by having Emi’s character work diligently only to have her detective work be shown up by the cocky and smug “main” guy in the end. Hope it develops like IQ246 and some balance is made between the characters!
NOTES:
Despite the fact that it’s a Aiba Masaki/Emi Takei drama, the real heart of the show is between Emi’s Takatoku and Katsuhisa’s Hanagata- it’s their interactions that really make the show- they are so hilarious together, with Hanagata trying desperately to appear as a smart, hardcore detective and she making light of his authority and teasing him at the way he caters to Aiba’s whims!
When Emi arrives at the Mansion, my first thought upon seeing it was, “Huh, that’s the mansion Yamada Takayuki and his gang visited in Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou No Shiro, and no sooner had I thought that when Emi knocked on the door and it was answered by Haruka Kinami! I was like HEY, it’s Murasaki!!! LOL!
The Mansion in "Yuusha Yoshihiko:
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| Tsuyoshi Muroi,Yamada Takayuki, Kinami Haruka,Shin Takuma |
and in "Kizoku Tantei:
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| Haruka Kinami Again!!!! |
One special treat was seeing Miho Nakayama here…strange to see her in such a secondary character role, so used to seeing her headlining the dramas she stars in. But she does shine as the affable and energetic maid/investigator Tanaka. Great to see Miho , loved her acting and music as far back as the mid 90’s!
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| Miho Nakayama as Tanaka |
And Ooooohhhh, Haruka Igawa is looking so DAMN fine and luscious here as Kiriko Kitami, Emi’s mysterious Mentor (who seems to have a history with that eccentric “nobleman”) whenever she’s onscreen I can’t focus on anyhting except her! Such a beauty!
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| Haruka Igawa as Kiriko Kitami |
Lastly, (and this might not be such a wink to the audience as much as a mere coincidence), I had to smile when Aiba, as the intriguing Nobleman, welcomed all the people to his abode and said “Yokoso, Wagaya E!” , the title of his last drama!
