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.
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.
