The Japanese anime series Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo, which aired on July 5, 2008, to September 27, 2008, for 13 episodes, was directed by Tarō Iwasaki and animated by Dogakobo studios.[1] News of a TV adaptation for the novels series by Yoshiki Tanaka was announced in 2007.[2][3]
Ryōko Yakushiji, a graduate of Tokyo University's Law Faculty, is currently among the youngest Superintendent in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. With the assistance of her subordinate Junichirō Izumida, Ryōko works with her colleagues including her rival and fellow Superintendent Yukiko Muromachi, alongside JACES security forces personnel and her personal maids Lucienne and Marianne to investigate and resolve seemingly paranormal, supernatural or bizarre events before they go out of hand. The young Superintendent later becomes the target of a conspiracy, hatched from the shadows by an influential socialite named Ruriko Isurugi and supported by extremist factions in the Japan Private Police, Shiba and the JGSDF, aimed at creating a true Japanese military.
Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo had been aired previously at BS11 Digital, Chiba TV, KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, Television Saitama and TVK.[4][5] Titles of the opening and ending themes are rendered in French. The opening theme Thème Principal and ending themes À demain sur la lune (#1,3), Ryoko 2 (#2,6), Songe d'une nuit d'été (#4,7,9,10,12), La Vie en rose (#5), Le combat (#8,11)[6] and Theme principal La chanson d'atsuko (#13) [7] are all sung by KATSU.[8]
DVDs of the series were released in Japan on September 26, 2008, October 22, 2008, December 25, 2008, and January 21, 2009.[9] Each volume contains 3 episodes, except for the 3rd volume which has 4 episodes.[9]
Episodes edit
| No. | Title[10] | Director[10] | Screenwriter[10] | Original air date[10] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "FILE01 Ginza Crime Tower (1st part)" Transliteration: "FILE01 Ginza kuraimu tawaa (zenpen)" (Japanese: FILE01 銀座クライムタワー(前編)) | Taro Iwasaki | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | July 5, 2008 | |
|
Superintendent Ryōko Yakushiji and her subordinate, Assistant Inspector Junichirō Izumida of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, launch an investigation after they witness a man waste away from rapid muscular atrophy, emit fumes and die in a mummified state within seconds while in downtown Ginza. Although a clue points to a known religious cult, additional investigation leads them to an amakudari haven which Yakushiji later decides to take down. To achieve her goal, she has to endure the presence of her rival, fellow superintendent Yukiko Muromachi, and survive an assassination attempt. At the latter part of the episode, the manga author, Yoshiki Tanaka makes his cameo appearance signing an autograph for a female restaurant visitor. | |||||
| 02 | "FILE02 Ginza Crime Tower (2nd part)" Transliteration: "FILE02 Ginza kuraimu tawaa (kouhen)" (Japanese: FILE02 銀座クライムタワー(後編)) | Taro Iwasaki | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | July 12, 2008 | |
|
While investigating the series of mummifications, Superintendent Yakushiji survives an attempt on her life by a cult member who claims that the deaths were necessary experiments to achieve a divine purpose. Through their findings, a link between the owner of the amakudari establishment and the cult leadership is confirmed. Yakushiji and Izumida then embark on a mission to destroy the cult and come across surprising discoveries as they do so. | |||||
| 03 | "FILE03 The Sakuradamon Incident" Transliteration: "FILE03 Sakuradamon jihen" (Japanese: FILE03 桜田門事変) | Hiroshi Haraguchi | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | July 19, 2008 | |
|
It is Assistant Inspector Izumida's day off and while the rest of Superintendent Yakushiji's staff can only hope that things turn out well in his absence, Yakushiji impatiently bide her time. Two newspaper reporters take issue with the young Superintendent's well-known notoriety within the police force as the successor of JACES and, in spite of having been warned against it, decide to stalk her in the hopes of digging up dirt they could use to appeal to public sentiment. Yakushiji then leads them across town through several establishments with Izumida in tow, having picked him up the moment office hours - and his day off - ended. | |||||
| 04 | "FILE04 Musashino Twilight" Transliteration: "FILE04 Musashino sumire irodoki" (Japanese: FILE04 武蔵野すみれいろどき) | Masahiko Watanabe | Kenichi Kanemaki | July 26, 2008 | |
|
A series of gruesome murders occur within the vicinity of a park. Having gotten past her rival and fellow Superintendent, Yukiko Muromachi; Superintendent Yakushiji and her subordinate, Assistant Inspector Izumida question a former Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare for his involvement in the illegal experimentation involving human cells and that of an unidentified primate. Their investigation reveals a lead to the whereabouts of the experiment which may just help put an end to the series of murders. | |||||
| 05 | "FILE05 The Bug That Crawls the Omotesando" Transliteration: "FILE05 Omotesandō o Hau Mushi" (Japanese: FILE05 表参道を這(は)う蟲(むし)) | Masahiko Otsuka | 42 Script Cell | August 2, 2008 | |
|
During transport, a minor traffic accident alters the defense systems of an anti-terrorist security robot and causes it to malfunction and go berserk, killing several security guards. Superintendent Yakushiji and her subordinate, Assistant Inspector Izumida, are drawn to the situation which becomes complicated when Izumida's elementary school cousin, Mana, gets involved. In addition, the two police officers discover the presence of armed tactical teams of the Japan Private Police (JPP), a JACES rival and a known PMC-type security company, secretly deployed to neutralize the situation and conceal the evidence of robot's existence. | |||||
| 06 | "FILE06 Made in Kasumigaseki" Transliteration: "FILE06 Meido in Kasumigaseki" (Japanese: FILE06 メイドin霞ヶ関) | Naoki Murata | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | August 9, 2008 | |
| Superintendent Yakushiji, Izumida and her newly arrived maids; Marianne and Lucienne, investigate the appearance of a giant salamander within a secret gaming resort for corrupt politicians beneath the Greater Tokyo Area. They encounter gunmen hired to destroy the creature. | |||||
| 07 | "FILE07 Okinawa, Kounoshima" Transliteration: "FILE07 Okinawa, Kounoshima" (Japanese: FILE07 沖縄, 神の島) | Kiyotaka Itani | 42 Script Cell | August 16, 2008 | |
| Superintendent Yakushiji and her subordinate, Assistant Inspector Izumida, head to Okinawa - where several environmentalists have gone missing - to investigate the reclusive JPP founder Ryojun Tadomura. Her rival and fellow Superintendent, Yukiko Muromachi, also arrives to carry out an assignment. They find that the JPP founder's villa has been brought under the control of a mutated species of mangrove trees, likely caused by genetic experiments that went out of control. | |||||
| 08 | "FILE08 Tamagawa Suicide" Transliteration: "FILE08 Tamagawa suusaido" (Japanese: FILE08 多摩川スーサイド) | Yasushi Murotani | Kenichi Kanemaki | August 23, 2008 | |
| The unusual circumstances surrounding the death of a former classmate, the most recent victim in a series of suicides which have already claimed the life of a well-known police forensics scientist, along with an unusual tip prompt Superintendent Yakushiji and her subordinate, Assistant Inspector Izumida, to launch an investigation by searching for clues in an acoustic lab. They come across a bitter university professor and a new species of ultrasound crickets. | |||||
| 09 | "FILE09 Queen of Shiba" Transliteration: "FILE09 Shiba no joou" (Japanese: FILE09 芝の女王) | Hama Tsumamori | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | August 30, 2008 | |
|
Superintendent Yakushiji receives an email from the Paris District Police Department and temporarily stops reporting to the office thereafter. Meanwhile, Assistant Inspector Izumida is invited by Superintendent Muromachi for a private discussion about an investigation she has been conducting, in a personal capacity, on Shiba and the mysterious woman who controls it from the shadows known simply as the Queen of Shiba. Weeks later, a bill regulating the practice of amakudari is voted upon and backed by a secret organization of renegade police officials led by the Queen of Shiba, a smear campaign is launched capitalizing on Yakushiji's notoriety in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Amidst the controversy and media attention, Yakushiji shows up and takes Izumida away to infiltrate a JPP stronghold in the Greater Tokyo Area where they discover the existence of a kid in her early teens who looks exactly like her. | |||||
| 10 | "FILE10 Linen Trap" Transliteration: "FILE10 Azabu no wana" (Japanese: FILE10 麻布の罠(わな)) | Tomoaki Ota | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | September 6, 2008 | |
|
Superintendent Yakushiji and her subordinate, Assistant Inspector Izumida, take the child into their custody but find that the child has no idea of who she is. They then dub her later as Monami. Meanwhile, the Queen of Shiba destroys DK Pharmaceuticals along with other public buildings and reaffirm an alliance with the Defense Minister to further each other's ambitions. Yakushiji prepares to send Monami overseas to ensure that she is far from the clutches of the enemy. However, distraught over the nature of the plan, Monami runs away and is eventually captured by JPP operatives. She is then confined in an incubating apparatus. | |||||
| 11 | "FILE11 Takanawa Princess" Transliteration: "FILE11 Takanawa no purinsesu" (Japanese: FILE11 高輪のプリンセス) | Mitsuru Nakasumu | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | September 13, 2008 | |
|
Superintendent Muromachi, continues her surveillance on Shiba amidst the ongoing preparations for the anti-terrorist exercise covering the Greater Tokyo Area. Superintendent Yakushiji confronts her rival about the latter's surveillance activities on Shiba just as Muromachi was preparing to visit Assistant Inspector Izumida. Yakushiji then identifies the Queen of Shiba as Isurugi Ruriko and reveals her involvement with JACES and then JPP. Around that time, having escaped from captivity and already a young woman, Monami finds her way to Izumida's apartment before passing out. When Yakushiji and Muromachi arrive, it is decided that Monami and Izumida will stay with Yakushiji at her place. Yakushiji and Izumida holds a discussion on Shiba while Nonagase reveals Yakushiji's infatuation with Izumida to Monami. It is around this time that Nonagase is unmasked. Nonagase then takes Monami to see Isurugi Ruriko who informs her of the true purpose of her creation and existence. | |||||
| 12 | "FILE12 Tokyo Dead or Love (1st Part)" Transliteration: "FILE12 Tōkyō Deddo oa Rabu (Zenpen)" (Japanese: FILE12 東京デッド·オア·ラブ(前編)) | Takenori Mihara | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | September 20, 2008 | |
|
Monami leaves with Isurugi Ruriko upset after seeing Assistant Inspector Izumida shield his superior from a bomb blast. Later at Shiba, Isurugi Ruriko and other conspirators in the JGSDF and the JPP finalize their plans for the anti-terrorist exercise. Superintendent Yakushiji leaves the evacuation of her staff to her rival, Superintendent Muromachi, and makes the first move. Having regained consciousness, Assistant Inspector Izumida rushes over to Yakushiji who had by this time survived attacks from an AH-64 Apache and a Type 90 MBT. Yakushiji and Izumida are reunited at the harbor where they bravely face a Type 10. | |||||
| 13 | "FILE12B Tokyo Dead or Love (2nd Part)" Transliteration: "FILE12B Tōkyō Deddo oa Rabu (Kōhen)" (Japanese: FILE12B 東京デッド·オア·ラブ(後編)) | Taro Iwasaki | Hiroyuki Kawasaki | September 27, 2008 | |
|
Superintendent Yakushiji and her subordinate, Assistant Inspector Izumida, head out to Shiba with the Type 10 under Marianne and Lucienne's control. Just as Yakushiji and Izumida are surrounded, a Type 81 SAM destroys Tokyo Tower severing the link to the JGSDF soldiers under mind-control. This time, it is Monami that Izumida shields from falling debris. Yakushiji destroys Isurugi Ruriko using a formula she had previously prepared but reveals that another clone will pick up where the failed Queen of Shiba left off. In the aftermath, just as the year was about to end, Yakushiji holds a press conference where, to everyone's utter dismay and terror, she declares her decision to continue her career as a law officer with more passion and conviction than before. | |||||
References edit
- General
- "Starchild's Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo episode guide" (in Japanese).
- Specific
- ^ "Dogakobo Studio's Official Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo Production Page" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
- ^ "Galactic Heroes Author Does Yakushiji Mystery TV Anime (Updated)". 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
- ^ "Starchild's Official Cast/Staff Page" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ "「ドラ寄せお涼」がアニメに登場！ 「薬師寺涼子の怪奇事件簿」7月より放送開始". Dengeki Online. 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
- ^ "Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo's On Air Schedule Page, Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo's Starchild Page" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ "Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo's CD Page, Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo's Starchild Page" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ "遂にクライマックス！TVアニメ「薬師寺涼子の怪奇事件簿」のDVDが9月26日よりリリース開始！" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ "Tokyo MX's Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo cast/staff page" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ a b "Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo's DVD Page, Yakushiji Ryōko no Kaiki Jikenbo's Starchild Page" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ a b c d 薬師寺涼子の怪奇事件簿(2008) (in Japanese). All Cinema. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
External links edit
- Starchild's Official Site (in Japanese)
- Tokyo MX's Official Site (in Japanese)