Tsumabuki Satoshi reportedly dating actress Maiko since 2012

Tsumabuki Satoshi and Maiko are said to be dating as reported in various sources on 11 August. When asked about the report, both artistes' agencies did not deny this and said that they will leave things up to the artistes since this is a private matter. According to reports, Tsumabuki and Maiko got to know each other when they worked together in the 2012 FujiTV drama "Higashino Keigo Mysteries" and started dating soon after that.

Maiko has a American father and Japanese mother and was seen in dramas such as "Ryomaden", "Ohisama" and her latest movie is "Kuime". Tsumabuki's latest drama is the ongoing "Wakamonotachi 2014" showing on FujiTV.

Source: Sponichi

Review of Higashino Keigo Mysteries Ep 4 - Reiko to Reiko

The episode opens with a rainy night where a woman is waiting at a dimly-lit street with minimal human and vehicle traffic while holding a red umbrella. When a man drives into the street and stops at the T-junction where the woman is waiting, the woman suddenly charges at the man with a knife and stabs him forcefully. The man crumbles in shock as he succumbs to the attack while the woman runs off.

At the same time, Asano Yoko (Mizuki Arisa) is holding a press conference for a case which she has recently won. Apparently, Yoko managed to get a favourable judgement for an underage boy who was charged for murder but the media attacks Yoko for defending a murderer just because he is underage.  Yoko is unfazed by the criticism and declares that she believes that people are kind by nature and she calls upon the public to be more receptive about the idea of giving people who repent a chance to change for the better.

When Yoko returns home, she hears strange noises at the bicycle parking lot and goes to check things out. She is surprised to see Yamashita Reiko (Ohno Ito) curled up at a corner, drenched from the downpour earlier and mumbling that she doesn't know who she is. Yoko wants to send Reiko to the police but the latter is adamant about not going there because she can't even remember who she is. Out of no choice, Yoko brings Reiko back to her apartment for the night.

Meanwhile, Inspector Imanishi appears at the crime scene where the murder took place and is rather grumpy as he hears the debrief from his colleague. However, he suddenly takes notice of the unique nature of this case when his colleague relates that there were people who saw a young woman waiting in the rain with a red umbrella before the murder took place.

The next day, Yoko finds a handphone strap among Reiko's possessions and finds out that this is her first name. However, Reiko seems to have no recollection of this. While out to buy something from a convenience store, Yoko hears about the murder last night and is startled to know that the eyewitness accounts seem to point to Reiko as the murderer. She calls her friend Fujikawa Shinichi (Yoshida Eisaku) to come to her house without telling him why. In order to find evidence, Yoko goes back to the bicycle parking lot and finds Reiko's red umbrella and the murder weapon.

When Yoko returns to her apartment, she is surprised to see Reiko reacting strongly against Shinichi's appearance and keeps telling him to go away. Yoko finally manages to calm Reiko down but the latter soon loses consciousness.

Shinichi tells Yoko that she should inform the police about Reiko but Yoko is adamant that this is not the right time yet. He realises that Yoko intends to help Reiko because there is a likelihood that Reiko could have suffered a trauma during her childhood and hates men for some reason and Yoko had a similar experience when she was abused by her own mother. Shinichi reluctantly agrees to Yoko's request but warns her against being too emotionally involved in Reiko's case.

Just then, Yoko and Shinichi realise that Reiko has woken up and to their surprise, she seems to have gone through an entire personality change and becomes extremely violent and rude. Reiko holds a knife to herself and threatens to commit suicide if Shinichi does not get her neighbour Ichihara Sanae to appear in front of her.

It turns out that Reiko had killed the man she thought was Sanae's boyfriend because she thought that Sanae was going to ignore her after she gets married. However, Sanae states that this can't be possible because she was with her fiance last night. This makes Reiko very agitated as she realises that she has killed the wrong person. Just when Reiko tries to charge at Sanae for attempting to betray her, Imanishi and his colleague charge into Yoko's apartment and stops Reiko.

Although Reiko claims ignorance as to why she committed the murder, it is slowly revealed that Sanae was wary of Reiko growing too reliant on her as the latter was trying to control her life with her sudden violence outbursts. This seemed to lend credibility to the theory that Reiko has multiple personalities within her. However, when Shinichi and Imanishi raise the likelihood of Reiko putting on a pretense to escape responsibility, this is immediately shot down by Yoko who believes Reiko wholeheartedly. At the same time, the police also found out that Reiko was made use of by Fukuzawa, Sanae's colleague who had been attacked by Reiko before, and his married lover Maemura Katsuko (Asami Reina) who wanted her husband out of the way as they were in the midst of divorce proceedings. Katsuko had apparently lied to Reiko that her husband was Sanae's  boyfriend in order to get her to kill him.

Just when the police are getting to the bottom of the case, Fukuzawa killed Katsuko in the spur of the moment because of disputes over her dead husband's inheritance. As a result, Reiko is unable to stand trial for the murder because she was instigated by Fukuzawa and Katsuko and that she had a psychological condition.

After the case is concluded, Yoko and Shinichi go to the hospital to meet Reiko who is about to be discharged. However, they get the shock of their lives as Reiko reveals her true colours and that she has been lying all the time in order to evade responsibility for the murder. Reiko knows very well that Yoko wouldn't expose her and laughs heartily about her "victory" as she leaves the hospital.

No doubt Yoko is stunned by the betrayal and her misplaced trust, she repeats her usual stand about giving repentant teenagers a chance to change during the press conference for Reiko's case. However, the same words now ring hollow because Yoko had just been betrayed and deceived by someone who she trusted wholeheartedly...

This episode wasn't very strong in the story aspect not really because we already knew the culprit beforehand but rather the way the sequence of events was presented. It seemed to be such a huge coincidence and good luck for Yoko that she managed to deduce the truth from the facts that popped up at convenient junctures. The suspense factor was seriously lacking and I felt as if facts were shoved into the viewer's face so that the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle can fit nicely. It would have been better if the presentation of the case was done with more thought.

As a result, the only thing left for the viewer to guess is, was Reiko really suffering from multiple personalities or was she putting on an act? I for one, didn't believe her at all but towards the climax, there was this hint that she might not be as evil as I thought because she got away scot-free. The sole redeeming factor which saved this episode from being a total failure was the fact that Reiko was indeed playing tricks on Yoko and I like how Yoko had to sit through the same press conference despite having her convictions shattered, her trust misplaced and being betrayed by someone who acted well in front of her. It felt like a tight slap to Yoko's ego and that made the story more memorable.

I've never been a fan of Mizuki Arisa but I don't dislike her as well. There wasn't anything particularly outstanding about her acting this episode and I found my attention drifting to Yoshida Eisaku and Ohno Ito instead. No doubt Yoshida had very little airtime this time, he was still a joy to watch on screen. Ohno did quite well to show the two sides of Reiko and to be frank, she was more eye-catching that Mizuki's portrayal of Yoko. That can't be helped in a sense because Reiko's character was supposed to be more engaging.

After watching four episodes of this drama, I can't say that there is any particular episode which was satisfying from beginning to end. They all had their own flaws (and good points too!) which I felt boiled down to the execution of the material. It can't be that Higashino Keigo's short stories would differ so much from his long novels in that the suspense factor is so much lower and there isn't a lot to reflect on after watching the drama. 45 minutes for one story may be too short but too long for a SP of 2 hours. I think FujiTV really set a huge challenge for themselves by taking this up because even with a good story, if the developments are not laid out properly with enough thought given to the presentation, it will still bore viewers no matter how many A-listers you feature in the cast.

I just hope episode 5 can offer something more interesting and hopefully, reflect a change in direction especially after the drama suffered from some bad press in the early part of the season for its poor execution.

Review of Higashino Keigo Mysteries Ep 3 - Endless Night

Tamura Atsuko (Matsushita Nao) is sleeping along in a Tokyo apartment where she is woken up by the sound of her ringing phone. While half asleep, Atsuko answers the phone and is shocked to hear the Osaka police informing her about her husband Yoichi (Tanaka Kotaro) found dead at his company. She scrambles to get to Osaka and starts to recall what happened between her and Yoichi during the train ride...

Just six months into their marriage, Yoichi came home very excited over the prospect of being allowed to set up a new branch in Osaka by his father but was met with a cold response from Atsuko who objected to the idea of moving there. She gave all sorts of reasons which were easily dismissed by Yoichi and finally resorted to threatening to live apart if Yoichi insisted on going to Osaka. That was why the couple had to live apart in Tokyo and Osaka and Atsuko would not visit Yoichi there no matter how hard he tried to persuade her.

Atsuko reaches Osaka and meets Banba Juuzo (Osugi Ren), a police detective in charge of Yoichi's case. He brings her to the crime scene and asks Atsuko about when Yoichi last contacted her. According to her, Yoichi had called her the day before yesterday and tried to persuade her to come to Osaka for a holiday but she refused the suggestion again. Banba tries to probe further about a possible reason why Yoichi was killed but Atsuko can think of nothing.

After the crime scene inspection, Banba offers to drive Atsuko to a hotel so that she can take a rest but she indicates that she wants to go to Yoichi's apartment instead. It is there when she finally breaks down as the reality of her husband's death hits her although she had been pretty much emotionless ever since she got the call from the police.

That night, Atsuko is struggling to fall asleep when she hears noises in her apartment. She tries to check things out and is startled to see a man with a knife charging at her. Luckily, Atsuko manages to get out of the apartment quickly and gets someone to help her call the police. When Banba and his colleagues get to Yoichi's apartment, they find a visibly shaken Atsuko trying to describe what happened. Banba then suggests bringing Atsuko to a hotel to rest as she cannot stay in Yoichi's apartment anymore.

However, as the investigation progresses, it is becoming clearer that there is something more to Yoichi's death and Atsuko's strong dislike for Osaka actually stems from a bad experience during her childhood. Banba suspects Atsuko for being involved in the case and sets out to prove his theory...

Of all the episodes so far, this takes the cake for being the slowest in terms of pacing and the most boring. Although there was an attempt to show that Atsuko is merely the victim's wife, there were telltale signs that she wasn't as innocent as she seemed. From the time she answered the call, you can see that she wasn't really surprised by it although you can actually argue that she wasn't one to show her emotions freely except when she was trying to show her obvious dislike for Osaka. That's when she tended to get a bit hysterical. Of course, when you hear the story why she hates the city, it has got partly to do with what her mother instilled in her rather than her own direct feelings. And the subsequent appearances of that skinhead as if he really wanted to kill her really felt like it was a make-up story because he wouldn't have dared to show up in broad daylight or expose himself to danger after the first attempt on Atsuko's life failed.

Matsushita Nao's acting tends to be a bit erratic at times. There are occasions when she comes across as quite good but in this drama, her performance was simply bland, if not bordering on boring. Of course, it has to do with the fact that Atsuko showed mainly brooding and hysterical faces for most of the story but you just don't get the feeling that there is more to Atsuko than those two expressions. It was a pity though but somehow, I can understand that in 45 minutes, it's rather difficult to make an impression. On the other hand, Osugi Ren's acting was good as usual and he really made the screen light up even though he wasn't the lead. Actually, among all the three detectives portrayed so far, he actually comes off as rather mild-mannered compared to the first two who were a bit more forceful in their investigation tactics. Banba's strong observation skills served to help him notice the discrepancies in Atsuko's words and I like that he wasn't actively digging holes for her to fall into. If Atsuko had been a role with more meat, the interaction between Banba and her might become more interesting. The only saving grace was that, it was lucky for Atsuko that she could actually pour out her inner thoughts to him as if Banba was a fatherly figure so at least, it would have brought her some inner peace, no doubt she was still heading for prison.

Review of Higashino Keigo Mysteries Ep 2 - Hannin no inai satsujin no yoru

The episode opens with a scene in a room where a woman is lying dead on the floor with blood over her and a man, Sato Takuya (Sakaguchi Kenji) bends over to check whether she is indeed dead. He confirms it to two other men who are also in the room and they head to the living room to discuss what to do.

The murder was actually committed by Takao, the second son of the Kishida household which is headed by famous architect Kishida Sousuke, and the victim was his new home tutor Yagi Yukiko. According to Takao, Yukiko had ridiculed him for something and it made Takao go mad with anger and stab Yukiko with the knife she brought along to pare the apples. Takao is scared out of his wits while his father is eager to cover the crime up because it would damage the family's reputation. Sousuke pleads with Sato to help but the latter insists that he can't do that. Out of no choice, Sousuke offers a huge sum of money to Sato where he finally relents after giving some thought.

Sato offers to come up with a plan to conceal the crime and wants the Kishida family to do his bidding. He tells Masaki, the eldest son of Sousuke, to help him transport the body to the mountains for disposal. Strangely enough, Sato seems unusually calm while Masaki is shivering badly as they try to dig a hole to bury Yukiko's body. When Masaki asks about it, Sato claims that he's also scared by what he has to do but has to put up a brave front in order to make sure that things get done properly since he's being paid good money for this.

After disposing Yukiko's body, Sato and Masaki return to the Kishida residence. Masaki is especially angry to hear that Takao went to bed while he had to do the dirty task for his half-brother. Sato advises the family on how they can conceal the fact that Yukiko ever came to their place as a tutor and that they should deny knowing her. In case any of the neighbours happen to have seen Yukiko coming to their house, he will get his girlfriend Kawai Masami (Seki Megumi) to pose as her since Sato believes that nobody has seen Yukiko's face clearly enough to recognise her.

Sato returns home after a long night to find Masami waiting for him there. He doesn't mention in detail what happened at the Kishida household but gets Masami to agree to be Yukiko's imposter. Sato then breaks into Yukiko's apartment and takes away all evidence that could prove that she was a private tutor.
Things seem to be going according to Sato's plans but a man who claims to be Yukiko's elder brother comes to the Kishida household with her photo. Although the Kishida family sticks to their story that they have never seen Yukiko before, her brother's suspicions are aroused and he goes to the police to file a missing person report. At the same time, due to a heavy downpour in the mountains, Yukiko's body gets discovered which marks a downward spiral for Sato and the Kishida family...

Compared to the first story, the sub-title for this episode didn't have a clear meaning until it is revealed towards the end what exactly happened on that fateful night. To begin with, there wasn't even a murder and everything had been meticulously planned by a man who would stoop at nothing to get money through unscrupulous means. Morever, this plan could help him get rid of a clingy woman so it was really something which could kill two birds with one stone. At the beginning, Sato looked very much like an innocent party who had been involved in the mess because of his greed for money. However, as we got to know more about him, the only thing which remained constant was his greed and we got to see how cold and ruthless he could be. That smirk on his face and nonchalance when talking about Yukiko was simply too evil and he deserved to come to no good end but then, this drama doesn't show you the final "outcome" of what happened to the culprit so there is a lot of room for imagination because the viewer can "design" what kind of punishment would be suitable for such a criminal.

Frankly speaking, I do like this story quite a bit for its twists but Sakaguchi had a disadvantage compared to Karasawa Toshiaki in the first episode because the latter had Tanaka Rena to bring up the tension in the story. Somehow, Seki Megumi's limited airtime and the fact that the Kishida family members were not really key players in the whole scam made it a bit boring at times. Sakaguchi felt like he was doing a one-man's show most of the time until the police detective appeared and became a constant annoying factor to Sato who was bent on getting away scot-free from the mess. It felt like too late and too little though.

On a side note, Nakai Kiichi's case seems to be progressing so slowly that I've somewhat lost a bit of interest in just 2 episodes. Actually, the narration is fine on its own but adds little value to the drama in terms of connecting these individual stories. Well, we don't need them to be connected anyway since they are pretty much independent of one another but if there is a need for a narrator, then there should be a reason justifying his presence rather than go on and on about his own murder. It remains to be seen if there is some hidden story behind his death but really, if it's something as simple as killing him to prevent the exposure of a embezzlement scam, it's not going to be satisfying enough, at least for me.

Review of Higashino Keigo Mysteries Ep 1 - Sayonara Coach

I have to admit, I'm watching this drama mainly for the story rather than the star-studded cast lineup. I've always liked to watch Higashino Keigo's novels being made into dramas (although there were some which weren't handled so nicely) so this is a must-watch for me. Then again, I was a bit sceptical about how they could cram each short story into one episode and make it as engaging as a full-length drama which was usually based on an entire novel. The first episode was largely predictable but I liked the twist at the end which added an extra meaning to the title than what was obvious to all.

The episode begins with Nakai Kiichi playing the character of a spirit who stands beside his own corpse and starts to explain how he might have died. I'll call him Mr. Editor for now since there's no mention of his name so far. Mr. Editor stresses that he was a well-loved man and he can't figure out who might have wanted him dead. Just then, his secretary enters the room and discovers Mr. Editor's body. This leads him to wonder if a past affair with his secretary could have prompted her to kill him. As Mr.Editor starts to explain how frightening a spurned woman's wrath can be, this leads us to the main story in this episode.

Mochizuki Naomi (Tanaka Rena) was found dead in the locker room of the archery club of Mizuki Electronics and the police are combing the room for clues. Her coach Ishigami Jun (Karasawa Toshiaki) is being questioned by the police since he's the one who found her body and he has to watch the suicide note Mochizuki left for him in the form of a video tape.In the video recording, Mochizuki recounted how she was tired after trying her best in archery over many years and yet she couldn't fulfill her promise to Ishigami i.e. making it to the Olympics. As such, she felt that she had nothing left in life and had to end her life. Mochizuki repeated the words "sayonara coach" (goodbye coach) at least twice in the video which suggested that the message in the suicide note was meant for Ishigami.

Suzuki Kazuma (Nishioka Tokuma), a police detective, is in charge of this case and is especially interested in why Mochizuki had to go through all that trouble to kill herself (consuming sleeping pills and setting a timer to turn on the electric circuit she attached to her body) and leave the suicide note in a video. He gradually starts to suspect that things between Mochizuki and Ishigami weren't that simple after all and later finds out that Mochizuki had confided in a man who had been stalking her about the fact that she had committed suicide before and Ishigami had saved her then. Ishigami is eager to move on and forget about Mochizuki's death which further arouses Suzuki's suspicion.

In the end, it is revealed that Mochizuki and Ishigami started having an affair from the night he saved her from her first suicide attempt. She became more and more attached to him and was gradually showing signs of mental instability. When Mochizuki went to Ishigami's place and appeared to try to harm his wife (Toda Naho), Ishigami realised that he had to get rid of Mochizuki. He wanted to use the video she made during her first suicide and even persuaded Mochizuki to cut her long hair to match the hairstyle in the old video on the pretext of taking a final photo before Mochizuki retired as an archery athlete. This was when Mochizuki realised that Ishigami had the intention to kill her. However, she went along with his idea which made Ishigami think that his plan was foolproof. Little did he know that Mochizuki had left telltale clues in a new video she took after cutting her hair and wanted Ishigami to be implicated so that she could literally "bring him along to hell" with her death.

Like what I said, I thought it was too obvious from the start that Ishigami was guilty of killing Mochizuki and the only probable reason I could think of was because they were having an affair and he had to dump her. However, the saving grace was that Mochizuki was aware of Ishigami's plans and still went along for the sake of using her life to bring down Ishigami. There was no way Ishigami would leave his wife for her but she was also reluctant to let him get away with it while she suffered the agony of losing her love. That's why Mr.Editor remarked in the opening scene that a spurned woman's wrath is indeed extreme and frightening. Mochizuki was smart enough to make a new video and leave telltale clues that would indicate that there were discrepancies with the crime scene and what's featured in the video. I think fate also played a part in helping her because a spider which had been crawling on her bow in the locker room was featured in the suicide note video and that was the only thing Ishigami needed to see in order to realise that he was outsmarted by his protege. This final twist also added a different meaning to the title of this episode. It not only meant that Mochizuki was saying goodbye to her coach because she was going to die and also referred to the fact that Ishigami could only kiss his happy life goodbye when he was nabbed by the police.

Mr.Editor's presence was probably meant to lighten up the mood but at present, there's really nothing much to talk about with regard to his own murder so I guess some viewers may feel that his presence is redundant. I'm hoping that as he appears in more episodes, the mystery surrounding his death will be enticing and interesting enough to justify his role as navigator in this drama.

"Higashino Keigo Mysteries" gets 11.3% for its first episode

The first episode of summer drama "Higashino Keigo Mysteries" shown on 5 July got a rating of 11.3% in the Kanto region. The drama featured Nakai Kiichi as the editor of a mystery magazine and navigator of the series and the first episode titled "Sayonara Coach" had Karasawa Toshiaki as its lead.
Source: Sponichi
 
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Seems like the response is rather lukewarm...wonder what was the reason for the low ratings? The story? The acting? The appeal of the lead? I'll have to watch the first episode to get a clearer idea what might be the key problem. Anyway, with the Olympics coming up, the summer dramas are in for a beating especially if key games involving Japan are shown in the same timeslots. Let's hope that we won't see a season winner getting less than 15% in average ratings come September.

Completion screening of "Higashino Keigo Mysteries"

Nakai Kiichi appeared at the completion screening of the 1st episode of summer drama "Higashino Keigo Mysteries" on 3 July, which is due to begin its run on 5 July at 10pm on Thursdays. He plays the navigator in this drama which features a different lead for each of its 11 episodes. Nakai expressed confidence in the drama and said that if it does badly in its ratings, the responsibility would have to be his only since he is the only one who appears throughout the entire story.

Source: Nikkansports

Preview of Higashino Keigo Mysteries - Summer 2012

Title: Higashino Keigo Mysteries
Official website: here
Broadcast by: FujiTV
O.A. Start Date: 5 July 2012
Timeslot: Thursdays 10pm

Cast and List of episodes:

Navigator: Nakai Kiichi

1) Sayonara Coach (Goodbye, Coach)
Starring Karasawa Toshiaki
Co-stars include Tanaka Rena, Toda Naho, Nishioka Tokuma

2) Hannin no inai satsujin no yoru (A night where a murder's culprit is non-existent)
Starring Sakaguchi Kenji

3) Endless Night
Starring Matsushita Nao

4) Reiko to Reiko (Reiko and Reiko)
Starring Mizuki Arisa

5) Amai hazu nano ni (It's supposed to be sweet)
Starring: Sorimachi Takashi

6) Charades ga ippai (Many charades)
Starring Nagasawa Masami

7) Shiroi Kyoki (A white murder weapon)
Starring Toda Erika

8) Chiisana Koi no Monogatari (A small intentional story)
Starring Miura Haruma

9) Kekkon Houkoku (Marriage report)
Starring Hirosue Ryoko

10) 20nenme no Yakusoku (A promise in the 20th year)
Starring Shinohara Ryoko

11) Saisei Majutsu no Onna (A woman who has rejuvenation tricks)
Starring Suzuki Kyoka

Shinohara Ryoko to make her comeback in "Higashino Keigo Mysteries"

Shinohara Ryoko will make her comeback to acting since the birth of her second child in February. She will be starring in the 10th episode of summer drama "Higashino Keigo Mysteries" which is titled "20nenme no Yakusoku" where she plays a woman whose live-in boyfriend declared to her from the start that he does not want kids. When her boyfriend returns to his hometown for a visit, Shinohara's character follows him secretly and finds out that he is involved in a brutal murder 20 years ago.

Filming for this episode will begin in early July.

Source: Sanspo

More cast announcements for "Higashino Keigo Mysteries"

FujiTV announced 5 new cast members for its summer drama "Higashino Keigo Mysteries" due to be shown from 5 July at 10pm on Thursdays. Suzuki Kyoka will play the lead role in "Saisei Majutsu no Onna", Sakaguchi Kenji appearing in "Hannin no inai satsujin no yoru", Toda Erika in "Shiroi Kyoki", Miura Haruma in "Chiisana Koi no Monogatari" and Hirosue Ryoko in "Kekkon Houkoku". The 11 stories featured in this drama come from 3 short stories compilation works of Higashino i.e. "Hannin no inai satsujin no yoru", "Ayashii hitobito" and "Ano koro no dare ka".

Source: Sanspo

FujiTV summer drama "Higashino Keigo Mystery Series"

FujiTV will start a "Higashino Keigo Mysteries" from July 2012 in its Thursday 10pm timeslot which features 11 short stories from the famous writer. There will be a different lead actor in each week's episode and the entire drama will feature Nakai Kiichi as the key person to give an introduction to each story. Marking the first episode will be Karasawa Toshiaki who plays a professional archery coach of a corporate team in the story "Sayonara Coach" and tries to find out the truth behind the apparent suicide of his student.

FujiTV also announced the leads in some of the follow-up episodes include Matsushita Nao in "Endless Night", Mizuki Arisa in "Reiko to Reiko", Sorimachi Takashi in "Amai hazu nano ni" and Nagasawa Masami in "Charade ga ippai". The leads of other episodes will be made known at a later date.

Source: Sanspo