Odoru Daisousasen [Bayside Shakedown] (1997) [Drama Review]

Odoru Daisousasen; or, To Protect and Serve

     In order to serve justice, you need to be superior.

I admit it, this was bound to happen. Even though I am more into movies than TV shows, I occasionally feel the need to check out some Japanese or Korean drama. Thus, I picked up Odoru Daisousasen, hoping it will be something with Police Academy-feel to it. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. The very first episode sucked me in so badly that I binge-watched all 11 episodes. I could not believe what was happening. Why is this show so awesome that I can’t stop watching it!? Well, let’s find out more about the phenomenon of Bayside Shakedown franchise.

Release Info

Developed by: Ryoichi Kimizuka Starring: Yuji Oda, Eri Fukatsu, Toshiro Yanagiba, Yusuke Santamaria

Language: Japanese Original Title: 踊る大捜査線 No. of eps.: 12 (+4 SPs)

Synopsis

A young up-and-coming police officer Shunsaku Aoshima (Yuji Oda) finally becomes a detective and is assigned to the fictional Wangan Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Aoshima quickly realises that his new job is not about spectacular shootouts, car chases, and explosions. Instead, police work is more like “office politics with bureaucratic red tape, lethargic civil servants, bosses more interested in playing golf and saving face than solving crime” (source). Nevertheless, a new detective soon finds motivation and excitement as he makes friends with fellow WPS officers and cracks a series of big (and small) cases throughout the series.

Odoru Daisousasen is not just a typical soap opera tearjerker, but rather, a well made mixture of police drama and comedy. There are serious bits as well as lots of moments where utter hilarity ensues. The show is filled with likeable characters, awesome soundtrack, provocative stories, and intriguing subplots. It’s no wonder that it became such a massive hit in Japan. Bayside Shakedown’s success spanned a series of TV specials, theatrical movies, spin-offs, and even a stage-play...

Now a few words about the characters:

Sergeant Aoshima Shunsaku (Yuji Oda): The main hero of the show (with the same name as the Governor of Tokyo). He is an outgoing extrovert with a dynamic personality. In addition, he has an infallible moral compass, so usually emotions get the better of him. He always wears a used up coat when going to a crime scene.

Superintendent Muroi Shinji (Toshiro Yanagiba): Constantly-frowning top man of HQ’s investigative division. When he steps into action, sh*t gets real. He often crosses paths with Aoshima and the young detective gradually changes his perspective on how the police should work. Initially being a cold and emotionless bureaucrat, he eventually shows his compassionate side.

Sergeant Onda Sumire (Eri Fukatsu): An independent woman with a strong affinity for consuming food. She sympathises with victims of male abuse as she herself had a similar experience in the past. Frequently deals with burglary cases.

Kashiwagi Yukino (Miki Mizuno): A traumatised witness of her father’s death. After being ruthlessly interrogated by Muroi, she regains health thanks to Aoshima’s compassion. When HQ accuses her of being part of a drug-smuggling ring, Aoshima clears her of suspicion. Grateful to Wangan detectives, she decides to join the police force.

Senior Inspector Waku Heihachiro (Chosuke Ikariya): The eldest detective in the section and a mentor figure to Aoshima. Waku can’t close the case of his partner’s murder as he is unable to find the murderer.

Assistant Inspector Mashita Masayoshi (Yusuke Santamaria): A bit cowardly but extremely likable youngster. He is in the so-called “career group” as he constantly studies for exams to become an inspector. His father is a high-rank official, thus WPS chiefs are always sympathetic to him. Hopelessly in love with Yukino.

Division Chief Uozumi Jiro (Kenta Satoi): A well-mannered detective who secretly dreads Mashita’s development up the career ladder. He frequently mentions his wife, Angela, who is Finnish. She makes an unexpected appearance in the Year-End Special Alert TV movie.

Chief Kanda (Soichiro Kitamura), Assistant Chief Akiyama (Satoru Saito), Section Chief Hakamada (Takehiko Ono): The “Three Amigos” of the Wangan Station. These stooges care more about sucking up to HQ officials than doing the real job. Together, they seek solutions to the most ridiculous problems (like proper naming of the investigative groups, choosing the best-looking secretaries, or embezzling public funds without getting caught).

With regard to the show itself, below are short descriptions and my thoughts on the individual episodes:

Ep. 1: Detective Salaryman's First Difficult Case- A great introduction to the series. We start the work along with Aoshima and discover all the peculiarities of the Wangan Station. Of course, there is also a murder case (which Aoshima is not allowed to investigate). As a result, the conflict between police headquarters and jurisdictional officers is drawn up. Superintendent Muroi Shinji is the personification of bureaucracy and heartlessness as he questions a traumatised witness, Kashiwagi Yukino. Aoshima, in contrast, shows compassion for the witness and resolves not to become like Muroi.

Ep. 2: An Express Package of Love and Revenge- In my opinion, the most hilarious episode of the series. Aoshima is targeted by an insurance agent, Sumire for some reason does not want to be alone on Tuesday nights, and Waku receives a relaxing chair with a grenade underneath it. Basically, the toilet situation from Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) perfected.

Ep. 3: Erased Written Evidence and a Female Incident- A typical story of a spoiled brat who got off easy because of his daddy has connections. Yet, it’s never easy with Sumire and Aoshima as they teach a purse-snatcher a lesson. Nice Sumire-centered story.

 

Ep. 4: A Woman's Tears and Detective's Pride- Aoshima’s first chance to become HQ investigator as Muroi orders him to follow a certain criminal. However, things get out of hand and Aoshima learns that big and small cases should be equal for detectives. Aoshima nearly quits the job, but WPS colleagues refuel his faith. A wonderful development of Aoshima/Muroi relation.

 

Ep. 5: Her Scream Cannot Be Heard- This episode literally scared the hell out of me. I’m not joking. Sumire’s fear of Tuesday nights is finally revealed and it turns out to be a stalker! Sumire is attacked and injured; as a result, WPS officers take matters into their hands to hunt down the creep. Yet, Aoshima comes up with a dangerous plan to arrest the stalker. Awesome Sumire-centered story with an epic finale.

 

Ep. 6: Stake-out... Her Love and the Truth- First episode of a two-part story revolving around Yukino. Aoshima and Waku go on a stake-out (very much like Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez) and observe the apartment of a drug smuggler. Surprisingly, Yukino turns out to have just moved there. Aoshima, convinced of her innocence, opposes HQ’s accusations against her. In order to save Yukino, he arrests her at WPS; in consequence, buying himself 48 hours to prove her innocence.

 

Ep. 7: Time limit, 48 Hours- Continuation of the previous story, more engaging this time. As Yukino remains safe at the station, Aoshima and Waku go at lengths to find the drug dealer from Los Angeles. In order to do this, Aoshima uses his tricks and charm of a salaryman, which is quite hilarious.

 

Ep. 8: Goodbye Beloved Detective- Dark times have come for jurisdictional detectives as profiling team of university students takes over murder investigation. Muroi is visibly displeased with the students' arrogance, whereas Waku takes a leave of absence. The story ends with a bitter conclusion that technology outweighs detective skill.

 

Ep. 9: Wangan Station's Great Panic and Detective Aoshima's Critical Moment- Aoshima and Sumire are ordered by the Section Chief to guard the lover of a man who murdered his wife. The situation is quite complicated and outrageous, especially as the lover does not see her fault in the crime. In the midst of the station’s chaos, a mysterious man comes face to face with the lover. Nice story with an action-packed ending.

 

Ep. 10: Evil Bullet: The Detective's Tears That Disappeared in the Rain- First part of the final story. Waku is soon retiring, but he did not close the 6-year-old case of his partner’s murder. The suspect has fled the country, but a casino owner provides Aoshima with a tip. Meanwhile, Mashita ineptly courts Yukino who has just passed her police academy entrance exams. All of a sudden, Mashita tries to calm down an angry bystander, but the man stabs him in the middle of a street...

 

Ep. 11: Final Episode- As Mashita is fighting for his life in hospital, WPS officers draw their guns and proceed to search for the assaulter. It turns out to be the very same man who killed Waku’s partner six years earlier. As HQ is unwilling to take immediate action, Aoshima and Muroi join forces to apprehend the criminal. This episode is all about Aoshima and Muroi and how much they have in common. At the end of the day, the criminal is arrested, but Muroi is reprimanded and Aoshima demoted. Still, the two make a promise to each other which provides the seed for the continuation.

 

In addition, it has to be mentioned that there was also episode No. 12 (The case of the brutal strangulation homicide of the company director), which was basically a short compilation of outtakes and bloopers from the show, with the actors losing it each time they made a mistake.
To sum up, if you like police drama that does not treat itself too seriously, then Odoru Daisousasen is the perfect choice for you. In addition, if you are new to Japanese drama and don’t know where to start, then the show is also good for starters as it primarily focuses on cops, action, tears, and laughs all at once. It simply has everything one could wish for from a decent police procedural. In other words: extremely entertaining, gripping, and best of the best.

 

Overall score: 10/10

Farida Jalal Appreciation Post

I have just seen this little sweet short and it reminded me how brilliant Farida Jalal is. Please stop making horrendous jokes about her performance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) (SRK movies are not the only ones in which she played). Also, stop spreading false rumours about her death. Farida is well and alive. Even though she is 68 years old, she is still going strong as Bollywood’s veteran actress.

Instead of making fun of her SRK movies, small-minded whiners should watch such classics as Aradhana (1969), Bobby (1973) or Henna (1992). For your own sake, read this great article by Khalid Mohamed which sums up Farida Jalal's career: Happy Birthday Farida Jalal: B-Town’s Most Dependable Co-Actor; or even better, watch this heart-warming interview in which the actress discusses her life and film career.

Starting as a pretty young lady in Taqdeer (1967) and performing as "cute and bubbly" heroine throughout the 1970s, she eventually became the paragon of everyday mommy, aunty and granny. Observe her onscreen transformation through the decades here. Nevertheless, in my personal opinion,  Farida Jalal's greatest achievement is her performance as Mehmooda Begum in Shyam Benegal's Mammo.

Farida Jalal is the driving force of this motion picture. Apart from the fact that she was not the first choice to play the leading part, she did the job flawlessly. Though she has many memorable roles, like, for instance, as the mother in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), I will associate her with this loud and big-hearted extrovert who Mammo Nani was. Farida Jalal is a true gem and a cinematic treasure of India. I wish you many more outstanding performances!

 

Sources used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnkwY6FT6PE

https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/celebrities/farida-jalal-from-rajesh-khanna-sweetheart-to-dilip-kumar-sister-to-aapa-in-student-of-the-year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeI7D109-iI

http://www.farnazfever.com/article/magnificent-transformation-farida-jalal-over-years

In Silence Is Our Strength: Understanding Martin Scorsese’s Spiritual Odyssey [Editorial]

Disclaimer: This is not a regular review. Instead, the herein post is a collection of interpretations and my personal thoughts on the movie.

Ordinary films come and go; that’s why we call them forgettable. Great films stand the test of time, that’s why they are called timeless. Into which of these two categories does Martin Scorsese’s latest movie, Silence (2016), fit in? Various award committees have already made their choice. Now, it’s up to us - the viewers - to break away from the dogma of aesthetics-dictated-by-the-mainstream and discover the true value of a story about two Jesuits making it Big in Japan.

As soon as I saw the first trailer for Silence in November 2016, I got hooked. This was not just a new film from Martin Scorsese, it was based on a novel by the awesome Shusaku Edo, and had an amazing cast (Spider-Man, Kylo Ren, and Qui Gon-Jin in one movie). The trailer left me with an impression that this is going to be Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri (1962) meets The Ten Commandments (1956). Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to see Silence on the big screen.

However, it turned out that the film will not hit the Polish screens until after two months after its premiere in America. This was a kind of a disappointment but an expected one from the Polish distributor. Nevertheless, I was determined to wait patiently. In the meantime, I have fallen gravely ill. My condition became quite serious and I had to take a leave of absence from university and undergo a long and exhausting treatment. When I found myself in this difficult in-disposition, I unconsciously began evaluating my life: my successes, my failures, my beliefs, and convictions. I have always regarded myself as an Agnostic Deist and I still do. I won’t force anyone into believing that God indeed exists. It’s just a matter of my own belief system. Thus, I believe in the existence of a higher power out there.

I was too sick to check out Silence when it finally arrived in Polish cinemas. Fortunately, I eventually got round to see the movie when it came out on Blu-ray and... I can only describe it in this way: a complete catharsis.

Evidently, Silence is a movie which focuses on religious issues. Martin Scorsese himself described it as a story about a man who gives up his faith to gain his faith. The plot goes like this: It’s the 17th century, the Tokugawa Shogunate is brutally eradicating Christianity in Japan. Two Jesuit priests, Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Garupe (Adam Driver), secretly travel there so as to find their missing mentor, father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who is rumoured to have committed apostasy.

Since its cinematic release, there’s been a lot of internet discussion going on the internet with people trying to make out the meaning of Silence. Undoubtedly, it’s a story about religion. The main question posed by the film is: Can people freely practise their own beliefs? That’s the general theme with the Japanese being oppressed by the government, yet there’s so much more than this issue. Silence endows us with problems of personal faith, torture-enforced-apostasy, and shame.

Of all the interpretations out there, two really got my attention: the one by Bishop Barron and Wesley Tomsky. Both extremely insightful and interesting, but tackling the movie entirely from a Catholic perspective. Bishop Barron nails it to the cross when talking about the cultural elite who likes the Christianity to be just about ambiguity, complexity, difficulty, etc, which is the mainstream perspective of Silence: nothing is clear, God is uncertain, Christianity is vague– it’s just a touching story about a priest who is forced to commit apostasy. Then, there’s the Catholic stance: Bishop Barron provides an intriguing example of Jesuits being like Special Ops in the war zone. Would it be okay for soldiers commit betrayal and go over the enemy’s side? Not so much. Wesley Tomsky supports this way of thinking by further analysis of father Rodrigues. The Jesuit supports the sacrilege of Christian iconography so that the Japanese could stay alive. This is what, according to Tomsky, already makes Rodrigues an anti-hero. Father Garupe does not deny his faith at any point and he dies in consequence. Rodrigues, on the other hand, finally gives in because he can’t stand the sufferings of Christian believers anymore.

Thus, the central problem unfolds before us: eternal life vs. earthly life. Which of the two is more important? Father Garupe chose the first, whereas Rodrigues and Ferrera were brought down to their knees and supported the latter. Like I said, Bishop Barron’s Special Ops-parallel is very descriptive, but Rodrigues and Ferrera did what they did to stop the killings of innocent people. Of course, in religious terms, they did not survive the task of God. Instead, they became the government puppets, symbols of propaganda. However, did they really renounce their faith? Ferrera at one point says: “Only our Lord can judge your heart”, whereas Rodrigues holds a tiny crucifix in his hand at the very end of the movie. Yet, in my opinion, the most important scene of the film is towards the end as Kichijiro (Yosuke Kubozuka), the story's Judas, begs already-converted Rodrigues to hear his confessions. It is at that moment when Rodrigues utters: ”It was in the silence that I heard your voice” and shares a religious moment with Kichijiro.

I don’t deny Catholic interpretations of Silence, yet the film is so multidimensional with its story that I think we can step outside the box for a moment. To me, this is a story about staying true to personal convictions. In case of Rodrigues, these were Christian beliefs. I would like to use my own analogy here: You have specific political views and a group of close followers, but there’s a whole society of people with completely different political views and they begin to kill your followers. Would you publicly renounce your views in order to save them?

I titled this post “In Silence is Our Strength”, because that’s how I understand the message of this movie. External forces may smear you, break you, destroy you, but deep deep down your heart, you will never reject what you believe in. That’s why Rodrigues heard the voice of Jesus in silence. To him, silence became the message of God. To others, silence is means of survival in this ideologically-driven world of political correctness, atheism, double standards, and postmodernity.

A fact to conclude: Japanese Christians remained silent for 200 years until they were granted religious freedom after the Meiji Restoration.