Sunday, 15 October 2017

Chiisana Kyojin 2017 summary and review


Okada Masaki as the hot, secretive Yamada Haruhiko (山田春彦) 

I finally finished Chiisana Kyojin (小さな巨人 , literally translated as "Little Giants"), albeit it's not yet subtitled, hence following it is rather difficult. The series is so good that I watched it twice, partly to get a better understanding of the story, and partly just to have a Masaki-festa. Okada Masaki played as another detective, but unlike when he was at the Scientific Investigation Squad (as Inspector Yurine Tomohisa), this time Yamada Haruhiko (山田春彦) was a serious detective at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Trivia: 春彦 Haruhiko means “the lad of spring time”, hence Yamada’s name can be interpreted as “the lad of spring time that wanders around the mountains and paddy fields”. Nice, eh?

I’m VERY happy that Masaki took this role, because Yamada diversified Masaki’s portfolio a lot. Yamada Haruhiko is officially my favourite Okada Masaki character to date (excluding those I haven’t seen, e.g., Nijimura Keichō and Katsura Kotarō). Seriously, Masaki was AMAZING as Yamada Haruhiko. Aside from the fact that I totally think he’s hot as Yamada, Masaki as Yamada also had a screen presence. Yamada’s steps were decided, determined and – at times – also threatening.  His manner of speaking was brisk and at times clipped, such that it created throbbing sensations in my heart (and I’m not the only one thinking like that…). Unlike many of Masaki’s characters (the unlucky yet kind Kakushidate Yakusuke comes to mind) who had the penchant of speaking long sentences very fast, Yamada’s sentences are jagged and to the point. Yamada isn’t a person who beats around the bush, and he’s generally very clear of what he wants. Masaki also retained his habit to pronounce every “u” in any “desu” Yamada said (instead of just “des”), and this actually had lent to more impactful conversations with his jagged deliveries.

(I have uploaded the short review as well! Scroll down to the last section)



Episode 1

Kosaka and Yamada (Ep 1)

I find Yamada an interesting character. Yamada Haruhiko (山田春彦) used to be the second-in-command for Detective Kosaka Shinichiro (actor Hasegawa Hiroki). At the same level of command with Kosaka was Fujikura. Above them at the top of the Metropolitan Police Department was Chief Onoda. Early in the series, Kosaka was a smart but snob Metropolitan detective. He was then demoted to the local Shiba police station when he “scratched” the car of Nakata Ryuichi, the heir of Nakata Electronics during an investigation. Yamada remained in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. I think Yamada just wanted to play by the book, though he might be snob as well for he was still with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. As the result, Yamada was often at odds with Kosaka after the latter moved to Shiba Station.

Then one night, a woman named Kazami Kyoko who worked at Nakata Electronics was found dead, falling from the rooftop of her company. Kyoko’s father suspected that she committed suicide because of her boyfriend (Nakata Ryuichi). Ryuichi happened to be one of the top executives at Nakata Electronics and the son of the company’s owner. Later, Nakata Kazumasa (Ryuichi’s father) was kidnapped by Mr Kazami.

Yamada has a really good fashion sense.
Look at the red inner lining of his jacket (Ep 1)


Yamada reluctantly worked together with Kosaka to unveil the kidnapping details. However, when Mr Kazami threatened to kill the Nakata Kazumasa, Watabe (one of Kosaka’s detective at Shiba Station) was able to connect with Kyoko’s father. As Watabe negotiated via Messenger, Kosaka begged his Chief Onoda to let Watabe negotiate. Chief Onoda couldn’t care less (I HATE HIM!), he immediately ordered the SWAT team to attack Mr Kazami. Meanwhile, Yamada and his team broke into Kosaka’s office and stopped Watabe just as the latter was able to make Kazami agree to surrender.

(a fangirl side note: when Yamada barged into Kosaka’s Shiba office, he looked so sexy in his determination! Masaki’s Yamada had decided steps and an imposing figure, despite maintaining his lean appearance. There was some weight in his steps and attitude that just spoke volumes of authority…)



However, at the end of Ep 1, Yamada started to question the morality of Chief Onoda. I guess Yamada realised too late that Kosaka and Watabe would have been able to stop the kidnapping without the SWAT barging in (Kyoko’s dad had to be hospitalized because of that).


The moment Yamada started to realise Kosaka might have been the good guy (EP 1)


Episode 2

Yamada's pocket habit...

Chief Onoda told Yamada to work again with Kosaka to solve the suicide/murder of Kyoko. Kosaka, Watabe and Yamada visited Nakata Electronics and talked to a woman named Ikezawa Naho who oversaw the security video. Kosaka was finally able to make Ikezawa admitted that she was with Kyoko the moment Kyoko died. However, before Ikezawa told the story, Kyoko’s former boyfriend came in and whisked Ikezawa away from the room.

A seriously @-hole but sizzling hot detective...

If interrogated by a hot detective like Yamada, I'll just confess things I didn't even do...


Later, Kosaka found out that the MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) had captured Ikezawa Naho based on Yamada’s information. Enraged, Kosaka confronted and shirt-fronted Yamada, but the latter just smirked and thanked Kosaka for the hard work. A-hole! (okay, but seriously, Okada Masaki was hot as the two-faced character here…Actually, a detective that hot should be made illegal…)




Actually, at the MPD office, Yamada later defended his action (not sure on what ground, but I think it was because he was under the direct order of Onoda). Yet Yamada showed no remorse or guilt about whisking away Naho who was willing to testify largely because of Kosaka’s persuasion. Damn I hate Yamada here!

Oh, do wipe out your smirk, you cute #*@&$%#...



Episode 3

Introducing Yamamoto Arisa into the crime scene. Arisa was the woman whom Kosaka saw with Nakata Ryuichi in Ep 1 (remember, Ryuichi was actually the guy who caused Kosaka’s demotion to Shiba Station). Kosaka’s antenna got alerted when Arisa’s name and face appeared during the Nakata Electronics briefing. Yamada was also investigating Arisa separately, yet his source dismissed his probing by mentioning something about Yamada’s dad (Yamada Isao). Yamada was left standing in disbelief as his informant left. I think Yamada hated it when people linked him with Yamada Isao’s influence. At least he got that integrity within him!

Later, Mishima Yuri saw Yamada’s informant talked to her chief of operation (she didn’t know he was the person Yamada earlier talked to). Not sure what happened there.

Kosaka and Watabe tracked Yamamoto Arisa to a bar called ‘Red’. Later, when Kosaka returned to his Shiba office, Yamada came to talk to him. Not sure what about, but Kosaka then asked something… along the line of why Yamada chose this career. Something like, with his father’s influence, he could easily get another career? Yamada exploded right then. I think he said Kosaka knew nothing about him (Yamada) to give such an opinion. I think Yamada said that his life is his own, his path is his own choosing and his own fight. I think this is the first time Kosaka saw something else in Yamada than just a guy who wanted to please his superintendents. Perhaps Yamada actually did that because he wanted to climb up the ladder himself, instead of relying on his father’s influence. Angered because Kosaka joined the list of people who linked his success with his political dad, Yamada Haruhiko left the discussion abruptly.



Kosaka returned home to find a box of Adidas that made him realise about Arisa’s connection. Arisa wasn’t working with Adidas; it’s just Adidas’ symbol was similar to a folder that Arisa was holding when Kosaka first saw her. I don’t know what Arisa’s company was, but Nakata Ryuichi actually also had that company folder (it wasn’t Nakata Electronics’ cos their logo was blue, not red, and of a different style).

The day after, Yamada returned to the Shiba office and confronted Kosaka and team for something. I think he said that Kosaka’s deduction about Yamamoto Arisa was wrong. Kosaka challenged Yamada to tell them what he knew. Yamada finally joined forces with Kosaka, for his piece of intelligence actually matched Kosaka’s. They went to Red Bar together to find Arisa. Yet, as they arrived there, they found Arisa talking to Fujikura. Upon realizing that Yamada had no idea how Fujikura got the lead, Kosaka questioned Fujikura, who didn’t spill any beans.

The Red Bar manager also said that Arisa was actually at the bar on 17 March (not sure why that date was important, perhaps the date Kazami Kyoko died. Kosaka then changed track, he wanted to test if the manager was lying. Since the bar manager was an avid video game player, Kosaka asked his team to look through the security camera of a particular video game shop to see if the manager was there on 17 March at night. Apparently he was, hence he was lying that Kyoko was in the bar that night.

All through this tiring night, Yamada actually stayed at Shiba Station. I think he thought that the whole process was silly, but when Kosaka found that the manager lied, Yamada started to respect Kosaka. Later, Kosaka asked Watabe to copy the DVD that contained the evidential footage. However, one of Kosaka’s superintendents actually stole the DVD during the copying process. Unfortunately for this superintendent, Kosaka knew something was amiss and he deliberately asked Watabe to copy the DVD. This superintendent was alerted by Nakamura Toshiya, who was coerced into doing that (or he would be fired I guess). Yamada helped Kosaka producing the evidence that the superintendent stopped the copying of the DVD, hence putting the superintendent in the guilt chair. Nakamura apologized, Kosaka was generous about it. Watching Kosaka’s team so readily accepting Nakamura again, Yamada looked pensive. I think he thought that he never had such team warmth in his own team, while Kosaka – only a few weeks into being the Shiba detective – was able to gather some loyalties from his team.

Oh yeah, sometimes in Ep 3, Yamada actually asked Chief Onoda about the Kosaka vs Nakata thing (Yamada was a regular driver for Onoda in the first episodes, despite the former actually holding a high managerial position). Something Onoda said made Yamada disrespect him more. Yamada later helped Kosaka investigating the Nakata problem further. They found out that Chief Onoda at least once had dinner with the Nakata father and son, hence cementing the suspicion that Onoda was playing dirt as well.


Episode 4

While running through some agenda with Chief Onoda, Yamada found out that Onoda was going to have a dinner with Nakata Kazumasa (the father of Nakata Ryuichi) at 19:00 at a restaurant (Miyabi, I think). Yamada tipped Kosaka about it (I recognized Yamada’s Kanji name (山田春彦) appearing in Kosaka’s text). That night, Kosaka secretly installed himself in a dining compartment next to Onoda’s appointed compartment. Yamada drove Onoda to Miyabi, then the cool/cute/stern-but-cute driver/detective waited outside with Kosaka’s team. Nakata Kazumasa appeared, but then as he was about to enter Onoda’s compartment, he stopped and checked his message. Onoda had alerted him that some policemen were observing the place, hence Kazumasa cancelled the dinner before he even met Onoda. After Kazumasa left, Onoda called Yamada saying that they should go home too (“Yamada, kaeruzo!”). Onoda then quickly opened Kosaka’s compartment, catching the latter by surprise. When interrogation was heating up, Yamada appeared, saying that he was ready to take Onoda home (or something like that). Onoda left; Yamada tarried for another minute to quickly update Kosaka about what happened. Later in the car, Onoda wondered out loud how Kosaka’s team knew he was about to have dinner with Nakata. Yamada said he had no idea about it, but Onoda already smelled fish.

The next day, Kosaka changed tactic: he and team zeroed in at Nakata Ryuichi. However, they never saw him together with Yamamoto Arisa. Meanwhile, Onoda suspected Yamada (who was now a frequent visitor to the Shiba Station; I wonder if Onoda wasn’t looking for him to do some errands…) as the mole to the Miyabi meeting. Onoda confronted Yamada about it. I’m not sure if Yamada confessed, but he did apologise about something. Later, Yamada met Kosaka secretly in the Nakata Electronics basement parking for surveillance. Yamada told Kosaka that Onoda suspected him (Yamada). Soon after, Arisa appeared walking to a car. Ryuichi followed her and took her to his car. Yamada and Kosaka tailed them. I think inside the car, Arisa asked if Ryuichi killed Kyoko. Ryuichi said no, and something to the effect of he would put the blame on Arisa or something like that, such that it shocked Arisa. Ryuichi dropped Arisa at her house. As Arisa walked to the door, Kosaka and Yamada appeared, asking Arisa to testify. Kosaka gave Arisa his name card and let her decide. Kosaka and Yamada returned to the Shiba police station; Kosaka told his team what happened. Just then, Arisa called and said she would testify.

Laer, Kosaka told the MPD that Arisa was going to testify and someone would pick her up at her place. Onoda wasn’t looking happy. He returned home, but he asked another detective to drive him home instead of Yamada (yay! Yamada isn’t a driver anymore!).

Scene changed to Arisa’s home where a figure entered her house in the dark. Suddenly, the room lit and Kosaka-Yamada appeared… asking why Chief Mikasa was there.

Apparently, the intruder was Chief Mikasa Yohei instead of Chief Onoda. Arisa had actually arrived at the Shiba station on her own, where she gave the info she knew. Kosaka then staged a play that the MPD would think that Arisa was waiting for a pick up.

“Somosomo naze sono bashō wakatandesu?” the cute Yamada asked. “In the first place, how did you know about this place?” Eh, isn’t Mikasa a policeman?

Anyway, Mikasa shōchō denied involvement in the Nakata case. Despite Yamada and Kosaka throwing lines of evidence, Mikasa still sauntered out of Arisa’s living room.

Later, as the tired Kosaka and Yamada returned to the Shiba office, in shock they found that Fujikura and the Tokyo MPD squad were whisking Yamamoto Arisa away from the safe haven of the Shiba office. This time, Yamada definitely wasn’t the bad guy, for he was as shocked as Kosaka when he found out the helpless Arisa was moved to the Tokyo MPD.   In the background, Onoda was talking to Chief Yanagisawa Hajime about Kosaka.


Episode 5

Chief Onoda reprimanded Kosaka and Yamada for something. I think he scolded Kosaka-Yamada for trying to take on Chief Mikasa without enough evidence. This surprised me because I always thought Onoda as an antagonist here, but he actually helped Kosaka-Yamada in their Nakata investigation. Onoda gave KY time until 5 am the next morning to gather evidence against Mikasa. Kosaka had a meeting with his team and also with Yamada. Nakamura produced some photographs about a USB that was found next to Kyoko’s body the night she died. Watabe realised that the USB belonged to Kyoko because it had a talisman that Kyoko received from her father for her birthday (Watabe realised it after examining Kyoko’s Facebook). The MPD had the USB in a plastic bag as an evidence. There was a chip missing on the USB case; that chip was not in the plastic bag that contained the USB. Kosaka gambled that the missing chip might have been taken by someone, possibly a policeman, because Ryuichi didn’t have time to get down from the rooftop to the ground pavement to retrieve the USB. If Mikasa had the missing chip, then he must have taken and hidden it, thus cementing his involvement in the Nakata case.

Kosaka and team then stole the key to Mikasa’s office and rummaged around to find the missing USB chip. However, Mikasa returned too early because his subordinate told him that he couldn’t find the office key in the usual place. In the last minute before they left Mikasa’s office, Kosaka deliberately disturbed the upper drawer of Mikasa’s desk. The drawers were locked, hence the missing chip should be there.  Unless Mikasa had thrown away the chip, of course (and why should he keep the evidence anyway…).

Anyway, Mikasa returned and got a panic attack to see his drawer disturbed. Kosaka didn’t open the drawer, perhaps he didn’t have time, perhaps he just wanted to scare Mikasa. The latter worked, for Mikasa opened the drawer, moved an item from it and went to a big room in the MPD that stored evidential items.

That evening, after hour, Onoda and Mikasa had a party with Nakata Ryuichi et al. Kosaka and team rummaged around the 5,000 evidential items in that storage room. Yamada stayed up all night with Kosaka’s team. Fujikura from the Tokyo Investigation Team joined in as well.

Fujikura et al from the MPD eventually joined the search effort

Yamada was also moved by Kosaka's pep talk

A totally fan-girl comment: if you have been wondering if Masaki had been hitting the gym, I think you're right. These are the back shot of Yamada (ahem), and it shows a typical back and shoulders of someone who started doing regular gym...

Nakamura found out that I'm basically a pervert...

My apologies Okada-san, I can't help staring at your B-side...

Mō ichido... Makoto ni taihen mōshiwake arimasen, Okada-sama!


Here's another indication of Masaki hitting the gym: his arms.


Ahem. Back to the series.

At exactly 5 am, Yamada eventually found the USB chip in between stacks of evidential items. That evidence was used to confiscate Ryuichi who was about to fly overseas with the earliest flight.

Yamada joined Kosaka interrogating Ryuichi

I don’t really understand how the chip was very important, actually. Unless it showed that Kyoko indeed fell from the rooftop; but the coroners already established that aspect. Or perhaps the chip meant that the USB indeed fell with Kyoko, but we knew it as well, right?

Anyway, the evidence brought down Ryuichi and his father. However, somehow Mikasa escaped unscatched, which greatly disappointed Kosaka and Yamada. Mikasa still worked with the MPD despite evidence against him.

As ep 5 finished, Mishima Yuri asked for a transfer to Kosaka’s Shiba department. That’s quite late I think, cos until now she was just standing there, collecting signatures for her boss. I think she shouldn’t be the 3rd actor in line then if this is her role so far; Watabe and Fujikura (and even Onoda) had more roles than her…


Episode 6

Some big changes at the beginning of the episode. Kosaka has been moved to Toyosu Police Station, a much bigger place than Shiba Station. With him, Mishima Yuri was also transferred. Most surprisingly, Yamada Haruhiko had been transferred there. I think Onoda wasn’t happy with Yamada’s involvement in the Nakata Electronics thing, hence Onoda demoted Yamada. That was why Yamada was seen to touch his own jacket collar during a meeting; he lost his MPD position (and the MPD pin) and he was resentful about it.


Yamada was distressed about his demotion from the Metropolitan Police Dept


Yamada's resentment also made him an unfriendly colleague for Kosaka, and the latter was worried about it.

That day, a woman came to Toyosu Station to report about her missing husband. She said her husband (Yokozawa Yuichi) worked at the Somei Gakuen (a university), and Yokazawa-san (the husband) was accused of corruption (I think).

Yamada accompanied Kosaka and Mishima Yuri to investigate Somei Gakuen. This university was led by Kanazaki Reiko and Tominaga Takuzo, the latter was a former police official about the same cohort with Kosaka’s father and Chief Onoda.

Yamada had no scruples in bribing an employee $100 to talk, which made Mishima uncomfortable. Later, Yamada secretly met a person from the company. This person had known Yamada in the past and called Yamada “Keiji-san” (刑事さん), which means "Detective". Yamada called this person “Eguchi-san”. Yamada leaving the rookie Mishima on her own made Kosaka questioning where Yamada was, but the younger investigator said nothing (I think he said he was just looking around the uni for some clues).

Also that day, Watabe-san arrived at the Toyosu Police Station. Watabe got a better, more appropriate suit, that suited him. Well, now he works for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, thus he got the pin (while Kosaka and Yamada lost the pin).

Mishima later saw Yamada coming out of the apartment of the Yokazawa. He was actually looking for a clue in that apartment from Yokazawa’s wife. Mishima returned to Somei Gakuen to ask some more things from the same lady. Despite Mishima’s moral dilemma, she eventually had to bribe the staff 10,000 yen to receive more info.  Mishima found out that one Yabeta-san (actually, Eguchi-san) came to visit Yokazawa a while earlier.

That night, Kosaka, Mishima et al tried to tail Yabeta/Eguchi, but he got away because Yamada tipped Yabeta. It was actually cool how Yamada appeared in the background behind Mishima to observe them observing Yabeta. I think Masaki should take this secretive role more often; it suits him (well, the real Masaki is shy, not secretive, but Masaki got Yamada to the core!).

As Mishima trailed the alley alone, Yabeta pushed some iron bars towards her. Unexpectedly, Yamada appeared and shoved her to the grown, effectively rescuing her. When Kosaka et al arrived at the scene, Yamada swiftly hid his ear piece and told the others to “go to the left” to search for Yabeta. Mishima was surprised because Eguchi clearly walked to the right. Later, in the office, she told Kosaka about it.



Yamada returned to Yokozawa's house. As he left the house, he was confronted by Kosaka. Apparently Yabeta/Eguchi was a policeman before; and he was Yamada’s senpai nonetheless! Eguchi gave Yamada some info about Somei Gakuen and Yokuzawa. Yamada gave Kosaka as much info, but when Kosaka asked why he didn’t tell him earlier, Yamada told Kosaka that he preferred to work alone. Since Kosaka wasn’t his supervisor anyway, he wasn’t obliged to tell Kosaka anything. Technically, he might be right, for Kosaka and Yamada shared the same boss (a lady detective). However, Yamada’s persistence in working alone irked me.

As Yamada left the meeting room, he received a call from Eguchi who asked him to come to Somei Gakuen ASAP. Off Yamada went, but he didn’t realise that Mishima tracked Yamada’s car and thus led her and Kosaka to the Somei Gakuen building.

OT: why is it that the simply act of Yamada, I mean, Okada Masaki, driving a car turned me on??? In Ep 4, he also gave me that shiver…Must be his neat suit and the Superman cowlick he had as Yamada…

Upon arriving at the Somei Gakuen upper floor, Kosaka and Mishima found Yamada in front of the dead Eguchi. The bakamono Yamada ran, Kosaka chased him. Yamada was eventually captured by Fujikura and his team. However, beforehand, Yamada said something to Kosaka which baffled him. He said “Yokatta”, which meant “thank God” or "thank heaven", but why? Because Kosaka was the one who found him standing next to Eguchi?

The hot cute detective was arrested (his wet cowlick makes him sexier....)



Episode 7

Fujikura interrogated Yamada (Ep 7)

Yamada was taken into custody; Fujikura questioned him. Eventually Fujikura delivered his investigation result to the whole MPD: Yamada didn’t kill Eguchi because three pieces of hair belonging to Yokozawa Yuichi was found on Eguchi’s body. Yamada did plan to have a meeting with Eguchi, but he arrived to find the latter already dead. The murder weapon was a piece of steel that seemed to be dropped from a height. Just as he examined Eguchi, someone hit Yamada’s head, but not enough to make Yamada fainted. Yamada still saw someone running away from the scene. With that, Yamada was temporarily cleared from the suspicion, but he remained in the custody.

Kosaka asked Onoda to release Yamada, but I think Onoda refused. Knowing that Yamada had to be released, Kosaka went to see Yamada Isao, the Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan (who was also Yamada’s father) to ask Onoda to release Yamada. Grudgingly, Onoda did as told. After Yamada was released, Kosaka told Yamada that Yamada’s father might be linked to Somei Gakuen as well. Yamada didn’t really like it that his father was alerted; for he wasn’t in a good term with his dad. Kosaka showed Yamada that Yamada Isao was actually linked to the Somei Gakuen somehow.

Yamada finally apologized to Kosaka, while Kosaka thanked Yamada for telling him the truth this time. Yamada Haruhiko later even sent a very expensive wagyu to Kosaka’s wife as a token of gratitude. Yamada, Kosaka, Mishima and Watabe inspected Eguchi’s locker in Somei Gakuen and found a Somei Gakuen pen.

It seems someone took hair sample of Yokazawa to blame the latter. Yamada found that the three hair pieces was too perfect for an evidence. For Mishima’s benefit, Yamada explained that a piece of hair is not enough for evidence, but three would be enough. Three pieces of hair in the crime scene was very convenient. Kosaka and Yamada suspected that Tominaga might know something. Yet, before Kosaka and Yamada went to confront the next culprit, Watabe came to warn them against this step. It seems Chief Onoda had told Watabe to stop the investigation. Instead, Watabe dumped boxes of DVDs (perhaps security tapes?) for Kosaka’s team to investigate. Kosaka and Yamada didn’t feel that those tapes need to be examined again, but they had to do that.

Fujikura called Kosaka, telling that Tominaga was in Onoda’s office. Kosaka and Yamada came to Onoda’s office, Kosaka had an argument with Tominaga while Yamada was fuming in the background (I think because Onoda and Tominaga basically killed the investigation). I think Tominaga also said he wasn’t at the office that night.


Later, Watabe came to the office. The whole gang, including Yamada, requested that Watabe allowed or helped them doing an investigation at the Somei Gakuen. Watabe finally agreed.

The team asked the students of the Gakuen about their photos and found one selfie that accidentally captured Tominaga (Somei Gakuen’s co-CEO) in the background. That means that Tominaga lied about him not being in the office that night. It seems that Tominaga was the one who put Yokozawa’s hair in Eguchi’s body to shift the blame to Yokozawa. Which means, that if the policemen couldn't find a record of Tominaga coming to the office that evening, someone must have deleted the evidence that Tominaga was there?

Yamada and Kosaka also noticed that Tominaga had a Somei Gakuen pen on his breast pocket. I don't understand why the pen was important, cos that was a generic Gakuen pen. It doesn't translate that the pen that the team found in the Gakuen change room was Tominaga's, right? Kosaka was determined that Tominaga was lying about his alibi. Kosaka and Yamada asked Onoda's permission to arrest Tominaga. Onoda eventually agreed (I still find him the most annoying police chief I've seen!).

Onoda accompanied by Fujikura et al politely picked Tominaga for questioning (Kosaka and Yamada didn't join cos they were not part of the MPD anymore). Yet, later Tominaga was released again, to Yamada’s and Kosaka’s disappointment.


Episode 8

 Yamada and Kosaka questioned why Onoda released Tominaga; Onoda released a security video showing Yokozawa Yuichi running away from the scene about the same time as Eguchi’s death. Later at the Toyosu office, Mishima said she couldn’t believe Yokozawa killed Eguchi.

Mishima accompanied Yokozawa Ami during the investigation. Ami knew that Mishima accompanied her just in case Yuichi contacted her, but since Mishima was nice, I think it didn’t really trouble Ami. Ami received a message from her husband Yuichi. It seemed he needed money. Ami later went to a park to deliver Yuichi’s money. While observing Ami from a distance, Yamada asked Kosaka about Kosaka’s father, who was an MPD director before he resigned. Yamada started to understand Kosaka’s background here. Meanwhile, since Ami knew she was tailed, she aborted her plan to deliver supplies to Yuichi. No one understood how Yuichi was able to not come, except for Mishima who started to realise that Ami might have used her (Mishima’s) phone to contact Yuichi, advising him not to come.

That night, when Yamada was discussing the case with Kosaka, he received a phone call from a person. Kosaka got suspicious because Yamada didn’t share the contact with him. The day after, Yuichi contacted Ami. Since Ami’s phone was tapped, the whole MPD knew it and planned to catch Yokozawa. At 1845, Ami and Mishima came to a mall as Yokozawa promised (they planned to see Yokozawa at 1900 – as per Yamada’s info when he checked his very expensive Hamilton watch).

Yamada's face reflected on his Hamilton Jazzmaster Viewmatic (RPP USD 700-ish)(source)

Btw, the Hamilton Jazzmaster Viewmatic might have been Masaki's private collection.
Photo taken during a Chiisana Kyojin press conference  (source)

Eventually Mishima found out that Ami was using her phone to contact Yuichi. Mishima “accidentally” spilled tea onto Ami’s clothes, hence Ami had to change. Ami used the opportunity in the changing room to escape and met Yuichi on the top floor of the mall. However, Mishima, Yamada and Kosaka found out about it. Yuichi consented to be arrested, for he would tell all the truth to Kosaka. Yet, just as Kosaka was about to whisk Yuichi away, Fujikura and his MPD team arrived and took over the case. Kosaka, Yamada and Mishima were surprised and disappointed, because so far, nothing good came out of a case that MPD handled.

“Who are we doing this for? Is that for Ii-kachō?!” Kosaka challenged Fujikura, the latter couldn’t reply properly and just left. Fujikura and team arrived at the Toyosu Police Station (so is that the central Tokyo Station then? Thus Yamada et al also occupied the same building with Fujikura’s MPD?). Yet as Fujikura walked into the MPD section, he had a change of mind. Just as Yamada, Mishima and Kosaka arrived, Fujikura returned to deliver Yuichi to Kosaka et al. Delighted for the change of event, Kosaka ordered Yamada and Mishima to immediately detain and question Yuichi. Kosaka remained at the lobby to ask if Fujikura would be okay with this. With misty-eyed, Fujikura replied something that I couldn’t catch, but it might be along the line that he finally realised who all these works for (definitely not for Chief Onoda!). I so love Fujikura here! I have liked him since he helped the team in Ep 5 to find the USB chip, but his action here made me love him!

Later, as Fujikura received the call from the angry Onoda, Kosaka returned to his office. Mishima barged in to report that Yuichi went missing from the interrogation room. Alarmed, Kosaka asked which detective interrogated Yuichi. When Mishima said it was Yamada, Kosaka fumed and charged into the interrogation room. Yamada wasn’t there. Did he help Yuichi escape? Yamada did receive a call beforehand, was it related to Yuichi’s disappearance?

The episode ended with Yokozawa Yuichi running away from the police station. Huffing and puffing, he then stopped and turned to see that Yamada was approaching him with a mysterious and menacing smile. 


Episode 9

Supremely vexed and disappointed that Yamada double-crossed him again, Kosaka returned home to find his wife saying that he had guests waiting for him. The guests were surprisingly Yamada Haruhiko and Yokozawa Yuichi. When Kosaka shirt-fronted Yamada, Yokozawa Yuichi interjected, saying that Yamada actually rescued him by letting him escaping the police station. Yuichi told Kosaka what he had told Yamada, about the corruption in the Somei Gakuen. The night Eguchi died, he actually called Yuichi to meet him at the place where Yamada was going to meet Eguchi. Yet, as Yuichi arrived, he found Eguchi died, and he saw Tominaga putting the blame on Yuichi (using Yuichi’s hair). Thus, Yuichi ran away from the Gakuen, which was later recorded by the CCTV. Yuichi gave Yamada the key to a container at the port that stored Somei Gakuen’s records.

Yamada also told Kosaka about the Somei Gakuen corruption (or illegal donation I guess?) on 1 July 2000 (i.e. 17 years ago). The illegal donation/corruption involved not only Tominaga and Kanazaki Reiko (the current CEOs), but also Yamada Isao (Yamada’s father). It seems that Isao and Tominaga received 50 million Yen and 20 million Yen, respectively, from the Gakuen. Yamada received a copy of that transaction (I presume from Yuichi), but the bottom part of the original transaction seemed to have been torn. The case seemed to also involve Kosaka’s father, who used to be the head of the MPD before he retired.

The torn page that Kosaka and Yamada obtained from Yokozawa Yuichi

Yamada Isao's name is the first one with the pink highlight


The morning after, Kosaka finally took Yamada to see his (Kosaka’s) father. I think the father had Alzheimer or so. When Yamada asked Kosaka Sr whether he remembered Onoda and Tominaga (by showing their photos), Kosaka Sr didn’t respond. Yamada showed Kosaka Sr the copy of the torn page, asking if Kosaka Sr knew about it. Yet, MPD (led bu Watabe) arrived and Yamada had to hide on the balcony. Just before Watabe inspected the balcony, Kosaka Sr suddenly returned to the current plane of existence. He questioned why Watabe was so rude as to barge into the house of the previous MPD head. Watabe felt ashamed and left the place.

Yamada and Kosaka resumed their investigation. Kosaka Sr finally said “Yamada” as he pointed out to the paper that our Yamada Haruhiko held. He said “Yamada-san to no kizuna da…”

"The connection with Yamada-san."

Yamada jumped on the clue. “When you said ‘Yamada-san’, you meant my father, right? Do you remember the connection between this page with my father? What is the connection?!”

Yet, just like that, Kosaka Sr returned to his own world and ceased to respond to Yamada’s questions.

Yamada then said something to Kosaka that I didn’t catch. But it involved the death of Matsuyama Yoshinori, a detective assistant of Yamada Isao. Haruhiko liked Matsuyama-san, for the detective always treated the young Yamada with fondness. However, Matsuyama committed suicide, which disturbed Haruhiko greatly. Later, the boy overheard his father talking to Kosaka Sr. about Matsuyama, but I didn’t catch what was it about. But I think, although at that time he couldn’t understand it, this time Yamada Haruhiko realised what his father talked to Kosaka Sr about. Yamada realised now that Matsuyama’s death must have been related to the Somei Gakuen corruption/donation.

Yamada trusted Kosaka with the key Yokozawa gave him. Afterwards, Yamada confronted his father about the illegal donation/corruption 17 years ago, about the torn page, and about Matsuyama Yoshinori’s death.  Yamada said that he remembered all those events until now. He said he knew that the crime was on his father’s hands.

Yet, Yamada Isao said something which made Yamada very disappointed. Onoda arrived and arrested Yamada Haruhiko. Yamada disbelievingly said, “Otō-san” to his father, but his father disowned him.

It was a very beautiful, beautiful scene where Yamada shed tears because he just had to face the evil who was his father. Onoda threw Yamada into the police jail. And I just want to hug Yamada Haruhiko, but I couldn’t… My poor baby…


Kosaka was visibly disturbed when he heard from Mishima that Yamada was jailed. Later,  Watabe told Kosaka that he would always be his ally. Kosaka took Watabe home and shared with him Yokasawa’s secret. Kosaka also knew that Kanazaki Reiko was involved with Eguchi's murder, at the very least. Kosaka paid Reiko a visit. When they were talking (or when Kosaka tried to make Reiko talk), a bang was heard in the room. Surprised, Reiko asked if Kosaka heard that. Kosaka said, if Reiko heard it, then she must have heard the steel that dropped onto Eguchi and killed the latter. I think Reiko once said that she didn't hear anything around Eguchi died, although she was in her office. But now, she heard the steel clanking clearly, hence she lied when she said she didn't hear anything the night Eguchi died. (btw, it was Mishima et al who dropped a piece of steel this time as Kosaka talked to Reiko).

Kosaka enlisted the help of some other detectives (I suspect from the finance department I guess) to arrest Reiko. Yet, when he was about to take a breather, Onoda summoned him. At his office, Onoda told Kosaka that Yokozawa and Watabe had been to the harbor to open the secret container (the key was the key to a container) containing Somei Gakuen’s files which showed the Somei Gakuen corruption. Yet, some MPD detectives appeared and took the files instead, plus they arrested Yokozawa.

Kosaka fumed because he thought Yamada backstabbed him again. Yet, Yamada actually refused to tell Onoda the location of the secret, although Onoda dangled the "I know about the secret 17 years ago and I can tell youuuu about it if you spill the beaaaan..." carrot in front of Yamada. Since Yamada refused to tell Onoda (instead, he asked to be returned back to his cell), Onoda told his team to tail Watabe, hence they learned that Watabe was going to the harbor later.

Kosaka confronted Chief Onoda, who told Kosaka that he (Onoda) and Yamada senior were indeed involved in bribing Somei Gakuen.  Apparently, Kosaka’s father was also involved in the corruption 17 years ago, which gave Kosaka a major shock.


Episode 10

Kosaka was in jail, but Fujikura talked to him about something involving Onoda. I think Fujikura found out that Onoda called Tominaga during a particularly important time (not sure when). Fujikura released Kosaka and Yamada Haruhiko; the three of them discussed the case with Watabe. Then Kosaka, Yamada and Watabe were summoned by Chief Yanagisawa Hajime (played by Tezuka Teru who was Masaki’s boss in “Yutori desu ga, nani ka?”). For the record, Yanagisawa had a thinly-veiled distaste about Onoda, thus when the Somei Gakuen case had Onoda’s footprint, Yanagisawa jumped at the chance to investigate Onoda.

Kosaka did tell his superintendent Yanagisawa Hajime that the charge against Yokozawa Yuichi was a false charge (enzai) hence Yuichi had to be released. Yanagisawa then told Yamada, Kosaka and Watabe that he actually overheard Onoda talking to Eguchi who presented Onoda with the page with the missing info. Eguchi asked Onoda about the torn page, but Onoda dismissed it. Yanagisawa ordered Kosaka et al to prove that Yokozawa did not kill Eguchi; and they only had 36 hours to do that.

Kosaka and Yamada traced the Somei Gakuen pen that they found in the Gakuen male changing room. Convinced that the pen would belong either to Onoda or Tominaga, Kosaka-Yamada staged something that made Onoda dashed off to the Gakuen to retrieve the pen. I think Kosaka-Yamada leaked info that a pen cap was found nearby the crime scene, and the fingerprints on the pen could lead to the murderer. Onoda arrived in the Gakuen and retrieved the pen cap, only to find that it wasn’t the original pen cap. Kosaka and Yamada cornered Onoda on the spot, but Onoda just winged it. In his own office, Onoda later produced another pen cap (palm/face) and showed it to Yamada and Kosaka who were baffled.


Onoda got caught rummaging for the infamous pen cap


... by the two (almost) bromancing duo.


 Mishima met the disappointed duo and told them that, during the first days of the Eguchi murder investigation, she saw Kanazaki Reiko rummaging the gutter for something. Kosaka now wondered if the pen actually belonged to Reiko.

Later, Mishima reported that the Somei Gakuen notes went missing from her desk. Suspecting that there was another mole in their department, Kosaka and Yamada lured the thief by displaying important evidence on the table. They found out that Chief Sudō (the only high-ranking policewoman in this series) was the one who stole Mishima’s documents and sent them to Tomonaga.

Chief Sudō, was caught with her hands in the proverbial cookie jar

After busting Sudō, the team worked day and night again for the case.  In early morning of the second day before the deadline, as they drank their coffee, Yamada Haruhiko and Kosaka Shinichiro lowered down their guards and shared the lessons they learned since Kosaka’s demotion. They now have seen who they should really protect. I.e., innocent people, not the reputation of their superintendents. Yamada also said that it seemed that he and Kosaka had now forged a kizuna, a connection as well. It’s just that their connection is now to protect people, not for corruption or to hide messy murders (the way Yamada Isao asked Kosaka’s father to do). Kosaka agreed; Yamada Haruhiko smiled for the first time in the series.

Will get the source later from Tumblr

Oh when people smile from the heart...


Misa broke off the budding bromance talk by showing up at Kosaka’s office and gave him some clean clothes and a letter from Kosaka’s dad. Since Mr Kosaka had Alzheimer (or dementia?), his memories came and went with no control. Yet, recently, after Kosaka’s visit, Mr Kosaka had such clarity that he was able to write a letter, telling his son the Somei Gakuen story 17 years ago. Apparently, Matsuyama Yoshinori (the detective who worked under Yamada Isao) found about the fishy transactions between his own boss Yamada Isao and Kanazaki Reiko as the Vice Chancellor/CEO of the Somei Gakuen. When Matsuyama questioned Reiko with the ledger as the evidence, the latter got angry and tried to forcefully take the ledger from Matsuyama. In the struggle, Reiko pushed the poor detective off the coastal cliff, thus Matsuyama met his end tragically. Reiko then pulled her strings with Yamada Isao and Tominaga (who were both high-ranking policemen at that time). Yamada Isao told Kosaka’s father to drop the Matsuyama death investigation. He also told Onoda to keep the torn ledger in his safety box.

Finally, Kosaka used tape to record Onada’s rant. Huh, should’ve done it days ago! Then Kosaka made a pep talk that made Onada produced the final prove that he (Onada) was indeed involved in the corruption 17 years ago.

Which I don’t get. Can’t Kosaka produce a warrant to arrest Onada despite his lower rank?

Everyone is the same in front of the law, right?

Anyway, all’s well that ends well?

Not really. At the end of the story, we see Kanazaki Reiko and Tominaga under investigation, and most likely going to jail. Yokozawa Yuchi was released from his charges and reunited with his wife.

Yamada Isao had his sins leaked out to the press, and he had to evade them in his own house while his son Haruhiko watched almost expressionlessly from across the street.



This sad scene had given me idea for this fan-fiction


YET: Why the hell is Onoda still the Chief at the end of the story??? He wasn’t the head of MPD anymore (he wore the same blue uniform now as Yanagisawa, but we see Chief Sudō and the rest (including Mishima) lining up to welcome Onoda. And, what the heck was Sudō doing there? Wasn’t she leaking out info to the enemy?

As I said: What the heck??? Are those loose ends for Part 2 or SP?

Anyway, at least we have our heroes returning back to the Metropolitan Police Department. Kosaka and Yamada are reinstated in the Tokyo Investigation Team, yep with the red pin again. Yamada is again Kosaka’s second in command, but the two of them had earned each other’s respect and trust this time.




For them, all’s well that ends well… at least until we have an SP…



Update 6 Feb 2018: (a very short) Review 

This (very short) review is belatedly delivered, but better than not. Those who have followed my Twitter account ( @snowmoon74) will know that I’m still crazy about Chiisana Kyojin, about Yamada Haruhiko in particular. Okada Masaki’s Yamada is his most beautiful portrayal so far, both from the aesthetics viewpoint (Yamada is drop dead gorgeous even when scowling) and from the viewpoint of character development. Masaki’s peeling-off of the character’s complexity was truly commendable, I’m amazed that he didn’t win any awards for this game. He truly upped his game in Chiisana Kyojin, something that he continued in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure IMO, for so many people also said how excellent he was as Nijimura Keichō (this article actually said that Okada Masaki was the true star of JoJo’s movie).

Chiisana Kyojin isn’t only an important series for me; it was also important for Okada Masaki. When asked in a recent interview what was his career turning point, Masaki said that portraying Yamada in CK was definitely a turning point for him.

10年以上のキャリアを振り返ってみて、転機だったと感じた作品や人物はいますか？ 
毎年必ず素敵な出会いがあるので転機と言われると難しいのですが、去年出演させて頂いたドラマ『小さな巨人』（TBS系）で大先輩の方々と一緒にお芝居できたのが凄く良い経験になりました。 
Q: Looking back over more than 10 years of career, was there any work or role that seems like a turning point for you? 
A: “Although it’s difficult to detect a turning point in my career since every year I had wonderful roles, it was a wonderful experience to be in “Chiisana Kyojin” with my seniors last year.”  


Story-wise, Chiisana Kyojin was a typical corruption story in the police department. However, we just can’t see who was the real baddie here, for even Chief Onoda made some moves that made me question his real motives. Kosaka Shinichiro was a good foil-turned-friend for Yamada Haruhiko, kudos to Hasegawa Hiroki for portraying Kosaka-san. Hasegawa and Okada actually collaborated for the first time in the 2012 Holy Monster, you know? Hasegawa was a very rich businessman who got his hands dirty in a birth and murder case; Okada was the kind doctor who assisted the birth of a baby, which became central in the story. Masaki was already performing well back then in 2012, but Chiisana Kyojin definitely shows how far Masaki’s talent has developed in 5 years…

Moving on to other actors and characters…

I find no weak links in other main characters of CK. I love Kagawa Teruyuki’s Chief Onoda, Yasuda Ken’s Watanabe Hisashi, as well as Suruga Tarō’s Fujikura (I really love Fujikura, I wish he had longer screen time). The short appearance of Inspector Matsuoka (who first talked to Yamada during the Yamamoto Arisa investigation) was also memorable (perhaps because actor Takahashi Mitsuomi was cute in his smirks). Yamada Isao (Yamada Haruhiko’s dad, played by Takahashi Hideki) was very memorable in his short tyrannical bursts, it was very touching to see Yamada crying as his dad disowned him.

If anything, I’m lamenting the insufficient usage of Mishima Yuri (Yoshine Kyōko’s character). Perhaps because she was still young, she didn’t seem to matter in this story. We can replace her with another character, and that would still be fine. Too bad; cos I liked her short interaction with Yamada, particularly when Yamada rescued her from the falling iron bars.

(though I have to admit that I have this plot bunny about Yamada having an unresolved issue with a character ideally played by Kitagawa Keiko… and this character should enter the series in Part 2… thus creating a nice triangle between her, Yamada and Mishima...)

Now, since we have several plot holes at the end of the series, SURELY part 2 should come soon? Come on, TBS, gimme a break! I really want to see Yamada and Kosaka-san again… particularly after Tweeter Ume Kae posted this comic about Yamada getting shot after protecting Kosaka. That would be epic… Okada Masaki’s characters were shot twice in the series at least (one during the 2015 Scientific Task Force series with Fujiwara Tatsuya and one in Himitsu: Top Secret 2016 with Ikuta Toma). However, only in Himitsu I was impressed by escalated gunfight and the level of injury that Aoki Ikkō had to endure (Aoki was shot in the hips, thus almost crippling him).

Anyway, yeah, bottom line: Chiisana Kyojin was and is still the highlight of Okada Masaki’s performance to date, IMO. We’ll see if his Nijimura Keichō tops Yamada. My JoJo Blu-ray won’t arrive until late March, so… until then, I’ll just have to re-watch Yamada again and again… (and I don’t mind since he’s so gorgeous!).



By the way, I found that the Chiisana Kyojin manga exists since April 2017. The author (Ume Kae 香枝) might have been commissioned to run the story after the CK series was well-received by the audience (because I’ve never read anywhere that CK was based on a manga series, unlike Himitsu which was based on a manga series).

Kosaka & Yamada protecting each other (Ch 36, story & art by Ume Kae)
Yamada got shot protecting Kosaka (Ch 15, story & art by Ume Kae)


Yamada's injury (Ch 15, story & art by Ume Kae)


I like Ume Kae’s drawing style, and after seeing his work, I really want to read the manga now!



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