What the hell is a J-Drama??

J-dramas are basically short soap-drama TV series. Most of the time, they deal with romance, tragedies like
an impossible love, and spread over a dozen episodes. They are made to be short, quickly produced,
quickly aired, and some might say quickly forgotten ^^ Their particularity is that they (most of the time)
focus on characters rather than action; more dialogues & emotions than activity...
There are some dramas that become quickly famous because of an original story, or a good casting,
or because of their humour or deep chara psychology... This one is going to be the most famous drama ever
because it has a bit of all these things; great actors, interesting characters that have a real personnality,
lots of humour and, being a police story, there's even some action ^^
 

Chronology

After the success of this TV show, the network produced special long-features episodes:

- Nenmatsu tokubetsu keikai special was broadcasted on Dec. 1997, and was immediatly a hit, with around 25% spectators watching.

- Wangansho fukei monogatari shoka no kotsuanzen special on June 1998

- Aki no hanzai bokumetsu special on Oct. 1998
 

And finally, the first cinema movie was out on theater on Oct. 1998;
Bayside Shakedown, the movie has immediatly been ranked top movie of the year (7 million spectators entries and 84 million $ profits). Realisation team and starring was the same as for the TV show. Being a cinema movie, there's of course a lot more action & suspense than on TV.

Big trouble at the Wangan police station; a murder case, a strange internet website, and the Chief himself kidnapped! Aoshima leads his investigation on the streets, while Muroi has seemingly decided to put his career before his old friends... This time the story is not focused only on Aoshima, all the characters are here and have their share of scenario.

After a long wait of 5 years for the desperate fans, the second movie came out on theaters on Dec. 2003;  Bayside Shakedown 2: Save the Rainbow Bridge!
Aoshima is tired of the small missions he always gets... this time he's assigned to a
vampire research, and several cases of pickpocketing. However a dead body is  found near the rainbow bridge, and once again the big police officers take control of the Wangan police station to solve this murder. Aoshima, with the help of Muroi, has to prevent the murders of the bridge, and of course clear up his cases of vampires and pickpockets... all in all a boring day at the station ^^

Big success for this long-awaited sequel; 122 million $ and the highest entries account of all times for a non-animated movie!
 

- Negotiator Mashita Masayoshi (on cinema in July 2005)
- Suspect Muroi Shinji (on cinema, August 05)

- Odoru Legend ~ The Fugitive, Kijima Jouichirou (TV special on Dec. 05)

What is so special about that cop??

Except that he's cute ^^ ? Well, it's difficult to describe a whole series... it's not about the stories, most of them are small investigations in the neighborhood of course. What gives all the interest are the heroes; you watch them interact in their everyday life, their struggle to reach their professional and personnal goals, their dreams, their friendship & support... you get attached to all these people while you share a bit of their life. Besides, the actors are really fitted and know how to play. And of course, the two movies helped a lot in making the series even more famous; they give a new aspect to it, with a ton more action and a frenetic suspense, they are real blockbusters.
Odai is considered to be THE series of the 90's, no other drama had so much success before. There is even a museum in Fuji TV's building, dedicated to the show; it houses all the goodies commercialised, from the small keychains to Oda's coat, and even the Wangan Ramen ^^ an instant ramen bowl!

Now onto the part that interests you most ^^ the relationship between Aoshima and Muroi could not be more platonic... In fact they don't even work together; Muroi works at the crime section, which is a kind of police headquarters. He's the elite called up when there is a serious investigation, while Aoshima and his colleagues are left the small jobs in the local squad. Muroi is a cold officer at first, but working with Aoshima makes him realise all the useless bureaucracy that prevents them from really doing their job properly. He starts changing, and this change is not appreciated by the other officers of the headquarters. Aoshima & Muroi then make a pact; Aoshima will keep following orders, and Muroi will climb up the ranks in the headquarter, so that one day hopefully, the small local squad will be able to do their job without useless bureaucracy getting in the way.