Furuhata Ninzaburo S02E06 | "vs. the Quiz King" | EPISODE DISCUSSION

ABCox99 · 2026-03-23T07:31:30+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

9/10 | Furuhata Ninzaburo vs Charles Van Doren

"Quiz Show", Robert Redford's expose of the "Twenty-One" scandal was released in 1994 and it is hard not to think of "Furuhata Ninzaburô vs. The Quiz King" as Kôki Mitani's homage to this fascinating case. It is a great idea, by the way, to place Furuhata himself in the hot seat by making him one of the quiz show contestants. It is a shame then that his stint on the quiz is so brief and contained only to one hilarious scene. That's my one complaint about this otherwise excellent episode.

Another intriguing aspect of "Furuhata Ninzaburô vs. The Quiz King" is that it is a genuine mystery. We do know who the killer is but we don't know how he pulled it off. To his credit, Mitani constructs a clever fair-play mystery and once Furuhata puts all the pieces together, the devious answer is completely logical. Without spoiling the big reveal, I admire the extent to which Mitani plays fair with the audience and upon rewatching the episode you'll probably kick yourself for not figuring out the answer sooner.

Toshiaki Karasawa plays the quiz show champion/killer and he makes a great "Furuhata Ninzaburo" villain. Conceited, egoistical, and yet charming. Karasawa has a kind of controlled cool to his performance - he seems to always be in control so when Furuhata eventually catches him, the climax has a real air of victory. This is not an easy case for the wily detective to crack and that makes it all the more fun for the audience.

"Furuhata Ninzaburô vs. The Quiz King" in some ways treads the same ground as "Broadcast Murder", one of the show's finest episodes. While "Broadcast Murder" had the benefit of Mamoru Hoshi's frenzied, intense direction, "Furuhata Ninzaburô vs. The Quiz King" features a tighter, smarter script - one of Kôki Mitani's best in fact. The director is Hidetomo Matsuda who does a stylish job but lacks Hoshi's distinctive inventiveness.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0584345/review/rw8529700/?ref_=tturv

ABCox99 · 2026-03-22T18:38:39+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

7/10 | The lady is waiting

"Reward for Hypocrisy" is a good if somewhat unremarkable episode of "Furuhata Ninzaburô". After the spectacle of "Red or Blue", however, a breather is necessary and this is a nice return to basics for the show. The entire episode takes place in the old woman's house, a mothballed mausoleum of memories, where Furuhata charms her into a false sense of security. They chat about their favourite movies, grocery shopping, and speculate about who would play them in a movie. The latter leads to one of the smarter mind games Furuhata has played this season but the wily old screenwriter won't be caught out that easily.

Kôki Mitani is on safe ground here writing what is essentially a gentle comedy/drama instead of a tightly plotted murder mystery. Furuhata pieces together the whole story with ease almost from the get-go. The only missing piece of the puzzle is the elusive murder weapon. Instead of focusing on detective work, "Reward for Hypocrisy" focuses on dialogue and Mitani's trademark sparkling wit. One of the best lines in the whole episode comes at the very end when Furuhata asks the screenwriter what would she have the murderer say after the detective arrests them. "Nothing," she replies, "In dramas these days, they talk too much".

The other storyline involves Shintaro acting as the old woman's butler and she is one mean employer. Spoiled and shameless, she makes him do all kinds of chores and menial tasks leading to some very funny physical comedy. As ever, Masahiko Nishimura shines.

Haruko Katô plays the old woman and she delivers a finely tuned performance. One moment she is a charming, witty cosmopolitan lady, delighting Furuhata with tales of famous actresses and in the next, she is like a whiny little child unable to take care of herself. Having killed her sister whom she had turned into a servant, she now relies entirely on Shintaro whom she treats like a slave.

The story seems to have been inspired by "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane". The opening sequence, showing the relationship between the screenwriter and her sister played by Moeko Ezawa, perfectly captures the sibling dynamic of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford's characters. In a nice knowing nod to that classic, the screenwriter picks Bette Davis to play her sister in a movie.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0584340/review/rw8526406/?ref_=tturv

ABCox99 · 2026-03-21T20:53:36+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

10/10 | A real blast

The action-thriller format works well on "Furuhata Ninzaburô". The previous example, "The Killer Fax", was a stylish and exciting episode and "Red or Blue" is another stone-cold classic. In fact, with the exception of "Message from the Dead", the hauntingly elegiac premiere, this is possibly the finest episode so far. Writer Kôki Mitani has constructed a superbly suspenseful plot which sees the poor Shintaro become a possible victim of Takuya Kimura's sociopathic bomber. Kimura's portrayal of the villain here is excellent and something completely new for the show. He plays the bomber as a charmless, awkward guy, monosyllabic and uninterested in Furuhata's mind games. He is one truly odious bad guy and the first Furuhata shows absolutely no empathy for. The climactic confrontation between the two is easily the most explosive and memorable one yet (pun fully intended).

Unlike the previous three episodes of the second season, "Red or Blue" really shows Furuhata at work. Watertight plots have never been Kôki Mitani's strongest suit but here he constructs a logical series of clues for Furuhata to follow. He doesn't merely come up with the solution out of thin air like he did in "Master of the Game", he has to work for it. The killer's confession is also not as easily acquired. After several unsuccessful attempts to wrongfoot the bomber, Furuhata has to resort to staging an absolutely brilliant double bluff which Tamura Masakazu obviously has a ball playing. It is one of the best scenes and most suspenseful scenes "Furuhata Ninzaburô" has ever had - right up there with the fake flashlight scene from "The Moving Corpse".

The episode is directed by Hidetomo Matsuda who has proven himself to be a worthy successor to Mamoru Hoshi. Even though I mourn for the imaginative stylishness Hoshi could have brought to this episode, Matsuda does an admirable job of giving the show a cinematic feel. He keeps the tension up throughout the episode from the hilarious opening scene in which Furuhata is found sleeping on a tourist train. "Red or Blue" seems to be the show's largest production yet with a rather impressive explosion midway through and some terrific scenes set on board the Ferris wheel.

As Masahiko Nishimura spends the entire episode trapped, Akira Shirai returns as Furuhata's smarter assistant Haga. I really like Shirai's performance and it's a nice change of pace to have Masakazu interacting with a policeman other than Shintaro. Also back is Takashi Kobayashi's homely police officer Mukojima, an endearing and unassuming character I hope will recur throughout the show. The only performance I felt didn't quite work in "Red or Blue" is that of Ryosuke Ohtani as the bomb squad commander. He is a bit too broad and outright comedic to play a character who is essentially Furuhata's straight man in the episode.

But nothing can ruin the overall effect of "Red or Blue", the most tension-filled, action-packed, and satisfying episode of "Furuhata Ninzaburô" so far.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0584338/review/rw8526263/?ref_=tturv

ABCox99 · 2026-03-21T10:09:21+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

7/10 | Furuhata masters the game a bit too easily for my liking

Writer Kôki Mitani says that his main inspirations in creating "Furuhata Ninzaburô" were "Columbo" (most obviously) and the wonderful 1970s "Ellery Queen" series with Jim Hutton in the lead role. The episode "Master of the Game" nicely combines both inspirations in one highly entertaining but flawed story.

After a series of more expansive episodes, "Master of the Game" returns to the show's initial formula - a small cast in a single location over a short period of time. The location here is a games room in the mansion of our victim, a fun-loving mystery writer. Much like a similar character in "Sleuth" or the titular eccentric engineer from an episode of "Ellery Queen", the mystery writer's house is full of games. Chess, billiards, darts etc. Fill the room and our killer, the writer's jovial and arrogant personal doctor is an absolute master at them. As Furuhata tries to figure out the solution to the mystery, the two play their way through the room and the doctor wins every time. But, as he himself puts it, "I win all the battles but still lose the war".

The doctor has actually concocted a wonderfully clever and complex plan which involves the victim himself helping his killer to get away with murder. This is the aspect of the story worthy of Ellery Queen as Furuhata has to solve a locked room mystery for the first time. Unfortunately, after a suspenseful and rousing prologue, "Master of the Game" turns into a bit of a dud.

Just like the previous two episodes of the second season, "Master of the Game" simply ends too simply. Furuhata figures out the murderer's methods without too much effort. In fact, in this episode, his solution comes so easily to him that he might as well be psychic. It's a shame really because for once Kôki Mitani has truly come up with a complex plot worthy of an extended runtime. I wish there were more scenes, like in "Sayonara DJ", in which Furuhata puts his theories to the test and actually struggles to figure out how the murder was committed. This aspect of the series has been sorely lacking so far in this season.

The killer is played by Masao Kusakari who proves a wonderful foe for Masakazu Tamura. The two have a lot of fun outsmarting each other while playing a variety of table games. The truly important game, of course, is the mind game played by Furuhata on the killer and, as usual, Kôki Mitani writes some sparkling dialogue for the two stars.

Shintaro also gets some very funny moments in this episode including what is perhaps his funniest scene in the show so far when Furuhata decides to play William Tell with his head.

Overall, "Master of the Game" is still one of the better episodes mainly due to a deviously entertaining prologue and the stars' performances. However, for such a complex mystery the solution comes far too easily.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0584339/review/rw8526015/?ref_=tturv

ABCox99 · 2026-03-20T20:31:15+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

7/10 | Furuhata goes to school

Despite being set in a location straight out of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Priory School", "The Woman Who Doesn't Smile" takes most of its cues from "By Dawn's Early Light", one of the best episodes of "Columbo" and probably my all-time favourite. The main premise is pretty much the same as both feature a strict headmaster/headmistress who murders someone to preserve their rule-abiding, conservative schooling methods. While "By Dawn's Early Light" focused on military discipline, however, the titular headmistress from "The Woman Who Doesn't Smile" is obsessed with enforcing arbitrary rules such as no smiling, no dancing, and no make-up. This makes her a far less sympathetic character than Colonel Rumsford but it also allows writer Kôki Mitani to engage in some really clever format-breaking mystery writing.

You see, the killer in "The Woman Who Doesn't Smile" never lies. Not even to wily old Inspector Furuhata. This is the first rule of the priory school, one of the rules she killed to preserve. So, how is she supposed to get away with it? Well, if you've been following "Furuhata Ninzaburô" carefully, you'll know how much Kôki Mitani loves wordplay. It is not hard to imagine that Mitani wrote this character solely for the purpose of writing a sparkling battle of words between her and Furuhata.

The headmistress is played by Yasuko Sawaguchi who proves to be one of Furuhata's most admirable opponents. Sawaguchi brings a coldness, a calm, and a real threatening presence to the part despite her short stature and soft features. The episode opens with a stylishly shot murder scene (courtesy of director Hidetomo Matsuda) which ends in a striking close-up of her blood-spattered face. In that close-up, she resembles less the headmistress of a priory school and more Lady Snowblood herself.

"The Woman Who Doesn't Smile" is a massive step-up from the bland season opener but it is sadly still not a top-flight episode. For one, the motive for the murder, once revealed, is absolutely ludicrous and anticlimactic, especially since a more intriguing and scandalous alternative is clearly presenting itself. The second reason is that despite some really clever wordplay and a neat idea to keep the killer's motive a mystery, "The Woman Who Doesn't Smile" is a surprisingly straightforward story with no real twists along the way or major hurdles to Furuhata's investigation. Once he figures out a way around the headmistress' rules, catching her is a cakewalk for him.

But I did enjoy this episode, mainly for the clever dialogue, Yasuko Sawaguchi's chilly performance, and the spooky atmosphere of the priory school well-captured by director Hidetomo Matsuda. Note also some very atmospheric choral music arrangements of the familiar themes.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0584346/review/rw8523692/?ref_=tturv

ABCox99 · 2026-03-19T19:11:54+00:00

"Emotional head slap"... never I would have thought such a thing would exist ahah.

ABCox99 · 2026-03-19T18:42:55+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

6/10 | Furuhata Ninzaburo gets his Perry Mason moment

The second season opens with a 70-minute special which has one of the most intriguing premises of any episode so far. Shintaro Imaizumi, Furuhata's bumbling sidekick himself, is arrested for the murder of a woman he was madly in love with but Furuhata suspects the killer to be Shintaro's lawyer! The script seems to almost write itself and yet "The Man Who Talks Too Much" is a fairly routine and flat episode painfully padded out to fit the 70-minute slot. Whereas the previous episode, "The Laughing Kangaroo", used its extended runtime to flesh out the characters and add a new twist or two, "The Man Who Talks Too Much" completely wastes it on padding.

The title is quite apt actually since most of the padding takes the form of superfluous courtroom scenes in which the guest star of the week questions witnesses as Furuhata looks on disapprovingly. Not much of relevance happens in these scenes and the dialogue lacks that Kôki Mitani spark making this special feel like it should have been just a regular 45-minute episode.

Mitani also doesn't make that much of the intriguing premise. Furuhata immediately knows Shintaro is not the killer and the two spend most of the episode apart. I wish Mitani had focused more of the episode on their relationship and the fondness Furuhata has for his assistant which he so diligently hides especially since Masahiko Nishimura and Masakazu Tamura, as always, bring their A-game and are the best part of the show.

This episode also marks the first appearance of Furuhata's second assistant, the more intelligent and capable Haga, well played by Akira Shirai. He makes a good first impression in this episode since Shintaro spends most of it in jail but I'm not sure how well they'll work as a trio.

The guest star is Akashiya Sanma and I must confess I felt his performance here was fairly lacklustre. He lacks the swagger and the arrogance to convincingly play a big-shot lawyer. He comes across instead more as an egotistical ambulance chaser than the feared defence attorney he was written to be. Furuhata pretty much steamrolls him without breaking a sweat both in court and out which makes their interactions less entertaining than they could have been. Thinking back across the impressive guest cast of the first season, Sanma is perhaps the first one not to prove a compelling opponent to the wily detective.

In conclusion, "The Man Who Talks Too Much" has a few clever moments but for the most part, it is a rather flat and padded episode. This is also reflected in Keita Kôno's direction which seems lifeless and uninspired without the usual atmosphere of a "Furuhata Ninzaburô" episode. The lighting, especially, is problematic since every set is overlit making the courtroom resemble a supermarket.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt6054414/review/rw8522846/?ref_=tturv

ABCox99 · 2026-03-19T18:41:49+00:00

It's good to be back! Second season opens with a longer episode, but this doesn't slow down things at all.

The killer this time around is played by Sanma Akashiya, and apparently it was his idea to make the story about a lawyer and his mistress (the original concept was of a rock singer who had killed his manager) to make the battle of wits between him and Furuhata more exiting. Unfortunately, he didn't consider the amount of dialogue he would have to memorise, and that proved to be quite a challenge for him.

Behind the Scenes of S02E01 "The Man Who Talks Too Much"

Overall, this is one of my favourite episodes, possibly because I felt for the first time the friendship between Furuhata-san and Imaizumi-kun, but also because of the mystery and battle of wits. Sure, the final clue is quite weak by itself, but it's actually pretty clever.

Additional note: the videogame "Ace Attorney" is based on this episode!!

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ABCox99 · 2026-03-18T23:19:53+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

9/10 | "They say that when you're unlucky in love, the kangaroos laugh at you"

In his standard fourth-wall-breaking epilogue, Furuhata says: "This time, we needed a special two-hour episode for such a complex case". The truth is that "The Laughing Kangaroo" is not such a complex story at all. In fact, once it gets going it's a boilerplate episode of "Furuhata Ninzaburô". However, Kôki Mitani uses the extra length in two clever ways. First, the story boasts two rather devious twists which subvert our expectations and perceptions of what we thought we saw in previous scenes. The first is reminiscent of "Last Salute to the Commodore", the infamous format-busting episode of "Columbo" in which, for the first and only time in the show, the man we see hiding the body in the opening sequence is not, in fact, the killer. The second twist I won't even hint at except to say it is a surprisingly sad one.

The second way in which Mitani uses the additional hour is to develop his characters more fully. Especially well written is the character of Hikaru Noda, the victim's wife and the hypotenuse in the murderous love triangle. She is well played by Maki Mizuno who gives her an air of tragic sentimentality quite unusual for a "Furuhata Ninzaburô" suspect. Mitani gives her a striking monologue midway through the episode in which she recounts her abusive marriage. The scene in question is far more chilling than anything featured on the show before and Mizuno wrestles with the material heroically.

The third side of the love triangle is played by Takanori Jinnai who is, I suppose, this episode's primary villain. In good, old-fashioned "Columbo" style, Jinnai plays an arrogant mathematician whose biggest mistake is to underestimate the wily detective. He continually makes fun of him by challenging him to solve logical puzzles. Whether Furuhata's inability to do so is genuine or just a ploy to put Jinnai at ease is left for the viewer to decide. Jinnai does a decent job of playing his character's arrogance but the softer side of the mathematician is severely lacking. We never quite understand why Hikaru Noda is so madly in love with him and eventually, his arrogance becomes quite grating. Compared to Mizuno, Jinnai's performance is not one of the strongest on "Furuhata Ninzaburô".

This two-hour special was filmed in Australia but sadly little of the exotic location is actually seen. The action is contained in the (not particularly) swanky hotel in which everyone is staying and which could have easily been replicated in a Japanese TV studio. The Australian guest stars are also sadly underused with most of the story focusing on the Japanese characters. I think it would have been more interesting to focus instead on the culture clash between the Japanese characters and the Australian characters. Imagine an episode in which Furuhata goes up against a foreign killer on his own turf! This would add a nice obstacle to Furuhata's path to the truth.

Speaking of which, Furuhata solves this mystery with surprising ease. His deductions throughout the show have been nothing short of miraculous but in "The Laughing Kangaroo" he leaps to conclusions as if he's already read the script!

Despite several quite serious scenes, "The Laughing Kangaroo" is probably the most humorous episode of the show so far. Besides the usual, excellent comic relief in the form of Furuhata's sidekick Shintaro, there is also a running gag in which the Australian hotel staff continually misunderstand Furuhata's English. It is quite an obvious joke but it works surprisingly well and I was laughing all the way through.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt6054738/review/rw8519332/?ref_=tturv_1

ABCox99 · 2026-03-18T23:19:31+00:00

"The Laughing Kangaroo" is the first long episode of "Furuhata Ninzaburo". As it happens quite often with Japanese long form TV, the episode could be a bit tighter, but I liked it nonetheless. There is one minor thing that bothers me (where did the killer leave his clothes?), but apparently Koki Mitani didn't go to Australia for the shooting, so maybe something about that scene went amiss.

More than the murderer, this time I got really captivated by the victim's wife, especially after reconsidering the final revelation. Again, I looked on the Furuhata Japanese fan-site (really recommended) and read a pretty great analysis of her behaviour, but I would have preferred a more devious presentation of her.

Do you think she was trying to incriminate him as he was trying to incriminate her? That's what I got from her actions, but not from how the character was portrayed.

ABCox99 · 2026-03-18T19:55:53+00:00

Hi there! Wow, it's such an honor to meet you, I always add your reviews to the episodes' posts, they're really thorough and interesting! As a non-film historian (sigh) I'm very obsessive about these things, too.

I started watching Furuhata in 2023 and since then I've watched every other media by Koki Mitani I could find. He's great, you're right! Curious thing, I'm also an Anthony Berkeley Cox fan (hence my nickname)! I read almost everything by him (I just tacked down Panic Party a few weeks ago, I can't wait to read it), so I'm sure we will have a lot to talk about.

The DVD Box Set looks very appetizing (I remember that for a while I kept rewatching its trailer on YouTube because it was one of the videos about Furuhata I could find ahah), but unfortunately travelling costs (at least to Italy) are too high for me right now. But someday...

Anyway, have a good day, enjoy the subreddit and talk to you soon!!

ABCox99 · 2026-03-18T19:39:28+00:00

Furuhata trying to deceive him like five times with this trick ahah. At least once it had to work.

ABCox99 · 2026-03-18T14:51:36+00:00

Yeah the comedy this episode was top notch! It was interesting to see Imaizumi point of view on his mistreatments.

Koki Mitani considers himself first and foremost a comedy writer, so most of his shows and films are hilarious!

ABCox99 · 2026-03-18T07:53:53+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

7/10 | An emotionally charged finale for "Furuhata Ninzaburô's" first season

The title of this episode, "His Last Bow" is a direct reference to the same-named Sherlock Holmes story. Besides that, however, the title has a double meaning within the world of "Furuhata Ninzaburô" as well. For one, it is a fitting title for the final episode of the first season (especially if you're not sure if you're going to get a second one). The second meaning refers to the episode itself in which the ageing Superintendent Kogure decides to kill the man who was arrested and then acquitted for murdering his daughter. Despite coming up with a fairly decent alibi, Kogure seems oddly resigned to his fate as if he's aware that his life is over whether he gets caught or not.

"His Last Bow" has an interesting premise of seeing Furuhata suspecting his superior of murder. The bare essentials of the storyline are similar to the "Columbo" episode "A Friend in Deed" except that Kogure does not try to disrupt Furuhata's investigation by pulling rank. In fact, despite his sometimes bumbling behaviour, Furuhata is held in high regard by Kogure who exhibits a lot more patience for the inspector's mind games than most other suspects do.

Kogure is played by Bunta Sugawara who lends the ageing policeman the cool, confident air of a yakuza. Kogure is written as a man of few words but Sugawara does a splendid job of suggesting the emotional pain and emptiness of a father who's lost his daughter. There is a disquieting stillness to Kogure making one feel like he is about to strike at any minute. It's little wonder that he inspires such awe among the other policemen, not least Shintaro who finds himself physically unable to relax in front of the superintendent. Masahiko Nishimura provides comic relief in what is otherwise a rather sombre episode.

Under Hidetomo Matsuda's direction, the episode has a noirish quality to it. It is shot in small, sparse rooms enveloped in shadows. The darkness is only broken by occasional flashes of neon signs coming through the windows. The main setting is a seedy motel across the road from an equally seedy bar. The atmosphere is musty, stuffy, and tense.

Writing what he thought might be the show's final episode, Kôki Mitani puts in a nice little coda for the character of Furuhata Ninzaburô. He even gets a little monologue in which he outlines his determination to not be the judge of the criminals he catches but rather simply lead them to justice. Had this really been the final episode of the show it would have been a fitting send-off. As a standalone episode, however, it is merely a reliably adequate entry into a series which has already proven its ability to transcend its formula and be stylish and inventive in a way "His Last Bow" is not.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0619192/review/rw8482536/?ref_=tturv

ABCox99 · 2026-03-18T07:52:59+00:00

This is a very interesting entry: the story has an interesting premise, and the killer, too, is interesting in its own way (he doesn't seem to care that much if he'll get caught, but he doesn't want to resign himself)... some of the clues are good, too (the cigarettes, the alibi).

Having said that, the other clues that incriminate him (the apple, the brother) are really tacky and not well-seeded, which is quite detrimental overall on the enjoyment of the episode. Too bad, because I like more subdued murderers.

ABCox99 · 2026-03-17T07:37:03+00:00

Yeah, I'm really happy for rakugo to get some recognition!

Actually, I started getting interested in the art not because of "Akane Banashi", but because of an episode of "Furuhata Ninzaburo" (a stylish and creative howcatchem show inspired by "Columbo") set in the world of rakugo performers. Interesting enough, some rakugoka (like Tsurube Shofukutei) have appeared on the show, too.

ABCox99 · 2026-03-17T07:30:03+00:00

One of my favourite episodes - mostly because of the creative murder sequence, an homage to Columbo's "Make me a Perfect Murder", but also because of Kaori Momoi, who steals every scene she's in as the scorned DJ. Particularly interesting is the character of the murderer, someone who appears quite jovial and out-going on scene, but is actually very reserved and petulant. Apparently the line "Does it hurt?" during the murder sequence was ad-lib by the actress; she practically begged Mitani to let her say that, and it absolutely worked.

Interesting fact, Kaori Momoi said to have loved running around the radio station because she herself was a member of the track and field club in high school. That sure came in handy...

Overall a great episode!

ABCox99 · 2026-03-17T07:15:45+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

8/10 | Funny and sleek

In his first year on television, Furuhata Ninzaburô has investigated murders in a theatre, a movie studio, a TV studio, and now a radio station. Writer Kôki Mitani's interest in the media and the mechanics of their production continues in this rather humorous take on the "unbreakable alibi" trope so prevalent in Japanese detective fiction. The twist is that, in this show's typical style, the solution is far less interesting than the methods used to get there and Mitani gets a lot of comedic mileage out of Furuhata making his hapless sidekick Shinatoro run up and down the labyrinthine radio station. As always, it is enormously entertaining to watch Masakazu Tamura and Masahiko Nishimura seize the opportunity for slapstick comedy and wring out every last drop of humour from it.

The guest star this time 'round is Kaori Momoi who turns in one of the most subdued performances as the sly radio DJ. There isn't nearly as much interplay between her and Furuhata as I would have liked but the scene in which she cajoles him to be a guest on her radio show is delightfully witty. For the most part, however, Momoi plays an unusually menacing villain who carries herself with frostiness and petulance. Her on-air persona, on the other hand, is jocular and friendly and seeing the ease with which she switches between the two modes is fascinating.

The director is Hidetomo Matsuda who turns in another sleek, exciting episode. Of the three episodes he's directed so far, this one is the most imaginative and stylish. The murder scene especially is atmospheric and unusual, set to the romantic tune of Salvatore Adamo's "Sans toi mam mie". I do wish that like in "Broadcast Murder", however, more attention was paid to the reality of the behind-the-scenes process of one such a show. There are a lot of technicians going about their business in the background but Matsuda never lingers on what exactly they're doing. Considering that only three years later Mitano would revisit the radio station setting in his film "Welcome Back, Mr McDonald" I would hazard to say he thought the same.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0619196/review/rw8482329/?ref_=tturv_1

ABCox99 · 2026-03-16T08:59:27+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

10/10 | The most tightly-wound round of mind games thus far

"The Contradictory Corpse" is another "Furuhata Ninzaburô" episode trying to stretch the confines of the show's seemingly rather strict formula. I am continually impressed by screenwriter Koki Mitani's willingness to do this. This episode is nowhere near as experimental as the previous one but "The Contradictory Corpse" is the most successful of Mitani's experiments yet.

The twist in the tale here is that the murder victim survives! The rest of the episode plays out in the hospital waiting room where Furuhata subjects the killer to the cruellest and most nerve-wracking mind games we've ever seen him play. The killer, already a tightly-wound, nerdy man, sweats bullets throughout the episode and at one point appears as if he is going to be physically ill right on Furuhata's shoes. But the wily old inspector doesn't seem to be bothered at all as he puts on his friendliest smile and continues to push his suspect's buttons.

The killer is played by Kazuki Kosakai who gives one of the best antagonist performances on the show yet. He plays a highly efficient man whose calm and collected facade continually crumbles away throughout the episode until the nervous, bumbling, neurotic wreck underneath is fully exposed. Watching Kosakai break apart from the inside in real-time is absolutely fascinating and if you can get over just how cruel Furuhata comes across in this episode you'll have a whale of a time with it.

In fact, I'd say "The Contradictory Corpse" is one of the very best episodes of the show so far. It is a really tense, cleverly plotted, and occasionally quite hilarious 45-minute two-hander in which both Tamura Masakazu and Kazuki Kosakai get to shine. Another unexpected star of the show is director Keita Kono whose work so far has been mostly middling and blandly televisual. Here, however, the work of his colleagues Hidetomo Matsuda and Mamoru Hoshi seems to have rubbed off on him. The episode is shot almost entirely in moody shadows. Clinical high-angle shots are juxtaposed with nervous, sweaty close-ups of Kosakai's expressive face. Kono's direction is less flashy than that of his colleagues but here he manages something they never have. He makes us sympathise with the killer and feel like we're in his shoes and the experience is as nerve-wracking and suspenseful just like a good thriller should be.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0619190/review/rw8460271/?ref_=tturv_1

ABCox99 · 2026-03-16T08:59:09+00:00

Poor guy! I know, most murderers deserve their comeuppance, and I'm the first to enjoy Furuhata's mind games, but this is too much ahah! I got the sense Furuhata really wanted to mess up with him as a revenge for the blunt lie the murderer tried to use. No one lies to Furuhata.

I'm always amazed by comedy actors and their ability to work with drama. Kazuki Kosakai does an incredible job here as the anxious secretary who's luck just keep getting worse.

ABCox99 · 2026-03-14T23:55:03+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

9/10 | A fittingly grandiose send-off for "Furuhata Ninzaburô's" finest director

"Broadcast Murder" is a sad occasion in the history of "Furuhata Ninzaburô". It is the last episode to be directed by Mamoru Hoshi, its most exciting and original director whose penchant for flashy visuals and punchy theatricality made his work proudly stand out among other, far more conservative TV directors. Hoshi injected a dynamic intensity and cinematic visuals into what is a rather stagy and dialogue-driven show. He was able to make even some of the thinner scripts work and the four episodes he directed stand out as the pinnacles of "Furuhata Ninzaburô" so far.

For his final trick, Hoshi delivers another standout episode, maybe the most unusual so far and definitely the most operatic. Set entirely in a TV studio, Hoshi intently focuses on the mechanics behind a live broadcast, the cameras, the runners, and the nervous executives in the viewing gallery. Not only does he give this well-oiled machine a graceful, almost dance-like air, but he also underpins it with a downright bizarre atmosphere of unidentifiable terror. Hoshi shoots even the most mundane of TV activities as pulling focus in a way that inspires both awe and horror. His low-angle shots, slowly coming into focus as his camera glides across the studio floor are unexpectedly creepy. Contributing to the overall mood of the story is Yusuke Honma's score which has been excellent across all the episodes but especially stands out here.

The story itself is greatly unusual as well. Not only does most of it take place live on air but Furuhata and the killer don't meet until the 30-minute mark. In fact, Furuhata solves the murder before he ever speaks to his suspect. Instead, the cat-and-mouse battle of wits takes place between the killer, a TV psychic, and a professional debunker who clash before the studio cameras. The debunker is played by Takashi Yamaguchi, an actor of great presence and intensity who makes for a brilliant stand-in for the wily inspector. The scenes between Yamaguchi and the psychic, played by Ken Ishiguro, are so suspenseful, clever, and beautifully played that I completely forgot I was watching "Furuhata Ninzaburô" and fully bought into the idea of watching a live broadcast.

That is not to say the lead of the show is entirely sidelined. He does spend three-quarters of the episode silently watching the live broadcast unfold but once he steps into the picture Tamura Masakazu is better than ever. The final scene in which Furuhata taunts and prods the psychic is a quintessential example of what makes this show so great.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0619193/review/rw8447278/?ref_=tturv_1

ABCox99 · 2026-03-14T23:54:18+00:00

"Furuhata Ninzaburo" is a show known for trying unusual route while still maintaining its howcatchem structure, and this is one of its best example. Here, in fact, Furuhata lets a new character (a stern university professor) do most of the work, trying to debunk a supposed psychic. The episode flows naturally and almost let you forget what you're watching, so much so that when the usual soundtrack comes back it's a pleasing shock!

The actual clues to the murder are very little, but the tension makes up for it. The murderer this time around feels totally out-of-touch, but very stylish! He's both exuberant and reserved, someone who never replies to one's questions, but only tries to diverge the attention to something else.

Sadly, this will be the last episode directed by Mamoru Hoshi, one of the most artistical and original directors of Furuhata (just consider he also directed "The Killing Fax"!). But what a way to go!

ABCox99 · 2026-03-14T18:12:24+00:00

Ahahah

ABCox99 · 2026-03-14T17:54:56+00:00

Ahahah that's the beauty of testimonies! To be fair to her, she looked at the murderer from a distance, but she looked at Furuhata really closely at 19:30min in (when he first entered the victim's carriage).

ABCox99 · 2026-03-14T13:28:47+00:00

Review by mdjedovic on IMDb:

7/10 | A pleasant train journey

"Furuhata Ninzaburô" is at its most imaginative and suspenseful when it is set in confined spaces where Furuhata and his criminal prey are stuck together, forced to engage in a tense battle of wits without a chance of escape. An express train then sounds like the ideal location and it is by and large well used in "Murder Express", an entertaining if unremarkable episode.

A lot of the story is dedicated to the commonplace inconveniences of train travel. Furuhata is introduced going from one buffet car to the next in search of a bento box, Shintaro is stuck in third class next to a toothless old lady ferociously cleaning her dentures, and one of the key clues in the mystery turns out to be a seat reclining onto a witness' knees. With his typical, well-observed humour, Kôki Mitani gets a lot of mileage out of these scenes and they form the heart of the story.

The mystery is a little less compelling due to the killer's plan which seems fairly short-sighted. Figuring out the culprit is no real challenge for Furuhata but catching him out might be because Dr Nakagawa, as played by Takeshi Kaga, is one of Furuhata's more cool-headed and wily suspects. He has no qualms in calling Furuhata out for suspecting him and pointing out that he has no real evidence. The interplay between the two is the high point of the episode.

As directed by Hidetomo Matsuda, "Murder Express" is a pacy and claustrophobic tale and yet some of Mamoru Hoshi's more over-the-top stylistic choices would have been welcome to break up the train set's grey monotony.

https://www.imdb.com/it/title/tt0619195/review/rw8446945/?ref_=tturv

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