A Newcomer’s Reflection on the Police Detective Kaga Drama Series
The film 祈りの幕が下りる時 (a.k.a. The Crimes That Bind), released in Japan last January 2018, concluded the live action adaptation of Keigo Higashino’s Police Detective Kaga series. In prose, the Police Detective Kaga series spans nine novels and a short story collection, while the live-action dramatization includes a TV series, two feature-length TV specials, and two feature films. Ironically for me, 祈りの幕が下りる時, which I caught at the 2019’s Japanese Film Festival, was my first introduction to Higashino’s protagonist.
Despite lacking the context for the series, the film was quite potent and left a deep impression on me. Hiroshi Abe, who plays Kyoichiro Kaga, was both charismatic yet fallible, making for an interesting detective-type character. Arguably the true protagonist of the film was Abe’s co-star, Nanako Matsushima, who plays Hiromi Asai and easily steals the show with her acting range and compelling characterization. Western fans might remember Matsushima for her role in Ringu but to me, this is easily one of her most potent performances.
It was honestly a surprise to me when I read a review that 祈りの幕が下りる時 was the conclusion to a lengthy series that started as far back as 2010 (1986 if we’re basing it on the novels). Detective Kaga piqued my interest, so I decided then and there to track down the novels in English and read all of them.
An All-Too Brief Detour
Unfortunately for me, of the ten books that comprise the series, only two of them have been translated into English.
Minotaur Books published Malice and Newcomer, which were translated by Alexander O. Smith and Giles Murray respectively. Of personal interest was the involvement of Smith as he also translated several of Higashino’s other books. Another popular series from Higashino is Detective Galileo, and Minotaur Books published three of them (Smith worked on the translations for all three).
A short digression is that some of Higashino’s other works have been translated into English by other publishers, notably Vertical, Little, Brown, and recently, Yen On. These novels, however, aren’t part of a series, so it is understandable why these books might not be a good fit for Minotaur Books, but are perfect for a publisher like Vertical.
Malice had an interesting plot — especially if you’re a writer or someone keenly aware of the craft (such as a critic) — but perhaps the problem with Malice is that the version of Detective Kaga presented there doesn’t have much personality and is simply going through the motions of solving a crime.
Newcomer, on the other hand, transformed how I viewed Detective Kaga, and it is no surprise that this is the book that bridges the prose and drama series. If the Detective Kaga in Malice was a blank slate, Newcomer grounds him by situating him in a distinct area, Nihonbashi, and slowly unravels his character by having him solve numerous mundane and seemingly innocuous problems around the city.
Considering how Newcomer was published 13 years after the original release of Malice, I imagine that Higashino’s craft and technique was honed over the years to present to us the polished version of Detective Kaga that is presented in the book.
Unfortunately for me, unless new Police Detective Kaga novels are translated, this marked the end of my quest to read all of the Detective Kaga books. I did eventually dive into Higashino’s other works, but that’s another discussion.
So where did Detective Kaga take me next?
Diving into the Drama Series
In 2010, TBS broadcasted 新参者, a ten-episode drama series based on Higashino’s book of the same name (which was translated as Newcomer).
Having read the novel and seen the series, even if the two texts share the same title and source material, they are, in many ways, different.
Sometimes, talking about the differences between TV and prose is academic. With 新参者, as much as we might credit Higashino for the source material, a lot of credit should also go to the screenwriters, the producers, the director, and of course, the actors. It’s a compelling drama that is both faithful to the book it’s based on, while creating its own mythology.
Casting Abe as Kaga was brilliant in the sense that it creates a distinct image of Detective Kaga where there was none before. He’s tall, dominating, and quirky. One of the embellishments of the drama series is the gag that Detective Kaga can’t taste one of Nihonbashi’s delicacies as whenever he lines up at the shop, either they run out, or some pressing business interrupts him.
More interesting was the introduction of two supporting characters that weren’t present in the original book. Junpei Mizobata plays Shuhei Matsumiya, a police detective who’s also the cousin of Kaga. At first glance, his insertion might seem like the addition of a Watson-type character, but the writers of the show use him not simply for comedy relief, but to add to Kaga’s backstory. Kaga’s grievances against his father is a source of tension between Matsumiya and Kaga, and this is slowly unraveled over the course of the series (and pays off in the movies).
Meisa Kuroki plays Ami Aoyama, a part-time journalist and waitress, and at first glance, Aoyama’s inclusion seems like an extraneous addition to the cast, but her involvement becomes a key point to the plot and how she was integrated into the story was noteworthy.
Matsumiya and Aoyama would become important aspects of the Detective Kaga mythology that one or the other (sometimes both) would be included in the sequels that followed.
The TV Specials and Movies
After the success of 新参者, the franchise would return in various TV specials (essentially a feature-length film released on TV) and movies. What’s interesting is how the producers decided to alternate between prequels and sequels.
赤い指, aired in 2011, is the first TV special after the original series aired. It’s an adaptation of the novel that preceded 新参者 and we see Kaga operating outside of Nihonbashi. It also serves as an introduction on how Matsumiya and Aoyama’s originally met Kaga.
Perhaps the strongest aspect of 赤い指 is how it unravels a tragedy. It does not hide who the culprits of the crime are, but revolves around the family drama that surrounds them. There’s is a bit of the mystery element, but it doesn’t take center stage. The emphasis is more on the motivations of each individual and how this culminates to the show’s conclusion.
In 2012, the first movie was released: 麒麟の翼 〜劇場版・新参者〜. It’s based on the novel 麒麟の翼, with the 劇場版・新参者 subtitle indicating that it’s part of the 新参者 series and takes place post-Nihonbashi.
The film is everything I wanted in a Detective Kaga drama. There’s a compelling mystery that needs to be solved, the various supporting cast have various demons they need to wrestle with, and rising stars Yui Aragaki and Tori Matsuzaka’s performances do not disappoint. Aragaki portrays Kaori Nakahara, the girlfriend of the accused suspect in the film. She has little involvement in the actual crime but the investment and internal conflict of the character is sold by Aragaki’s acting. Matsuzaka, on the other hand, portrays the son of the victim and we witness a range of emotions from his character as the film plays out.
2014 was the release of the TV special 眠りの森 ～新参者スペシャル. It’s based on 眠りの森, the second novel in the Detective Kaga series dating back to 1989. It’s an interesting choice of subject matter to adapt, but it also leaves a deep impression due to the supporting cast, notably Satomi Ishihara’s portrayal of Mio Asaoka.
In many ways, 眠りの森 ～新参者スペシャル should have been the generic Detective Kaga I read in Malice. He’s stripped of recurring supporting cast (Matsumiya and Aoyama) and it takes place outside of Nihonbashi. However, the show compensates in other ways. We open with Detective Kaga dozing off while out on a date, establishing his vulnerability and goofiness despite his competency (and also serves as an in-joke for those familiar with Abe and his co-star’s career). There’s also Kaga’s interactions with the various cast, whether it’s his informal partner Daisuke Ota, potrayed by Akira Emoto, whose plight is similar to Kaga’s father, or the various suspects in the film. There’s a lot of stunning performances from the cast, but Asaoka steals the show as her character finds herself at the center of the events of 眠りの森 ～新参者スペシャル. In many ways, Detective Kaga is simply the point of view character rather than the protagonist; he is merely a vehicle to tell Asaoka’s story.
Everything culminates in 祈りの幕が下りる時, released four years after 眠りの森 ～新参者スペシャル aired. It’s a reunion of sorts as some of the actors from the original drama series return and features the same setting, Nihonbashi. If you’re a fan of the original actors, it’s a send-off and a fitting finale. It also ties the loose ends that have been seeded throughout the entire series. One of the focus of the drama is how Kaga’s relationship with his father deteriorated, and how his mother was missing in his life. 祈りの幕が下りる時 features a crime that involves his deceased mother and addresses Detective Kaga’s past and present.
Personally, I would love to read the English translations of the novels these TV specials and movies are based on. But I’m skeptical this will happen anytime soon, so the dramas seem like the best way to experience Detective Kaga’s adventures.
