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Aibou squee
Even though I ended up not nominating Aibou | Partners for Yuletide after all, I still found my brain being eaten by Aibou plot bunnies while trying to write my official Yuletide fic. (Fortunately the fic is now finished, no thanks to the brain-eating bunnies!) So for the last day of National Blog Posting Month, I've decided to go ahead and share my love of Aibou.
Aibou (English translation: Partners) is a Japanese detective drama--I love watching most J-dramas, detective/mystery shows in particular, and Aibou is my absolute favorite out of all of them! To summarize:
Inspector Sugishita Ukyo (played by Mizutani Yutaka) and his partner(s) have been demoted to the Special Missions office, which is where the Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department sends its losers and troublemakers in the hopes that they'll quit (out of boredom, since they're given no official duties, although being paid to do nothing doesn't sound too bad to me). Ukyo is supposed to be the head of Special Missions, but it's usually a department of one, since no one has stayed longer than a few months and some people don't even last a whole day--until Kameyama Kaoru (Terawaki Yasufumi) comes along. Kaoru is cheerful and good-hearted, but impulsive and hot-tempered in contrast to Ukyo's much more reserved personality and Sherlock Holmes-like methods of logic and deductive reasoning. Minus Holmes's arrogance I should add; he is almost always pleasant and outwardly polite, even when he's being treated rudely, but despite his mild demeanor, he is doggedly persistent at seeking out the truth--which is the one thing that he and Kaoru share. Neither of them will back off from an investigation even when ordered to by the top brass, who are usually more concerned with advancing their own ambitions and protecting the MPD's public image than in achieving justice for the victims. This idealistic stubbornness is probably why they ended up being demoted to Special Missions.
Despite being complete opposites in personality, the two get along surprisingly well. While Kaoru isn't Ukyo's equal in intellect, he's a loyal partner and often a chance remark from him will spark a sudden insight in Ukyo that will help them solve the case. Ukyo seems to keep an emotional distance from people and doesn't appear to have any close friends other than his ex-wife Tamaki (they are amicably divorced, and he frequently hangs out at the bar she runs). Kaoru draws Ukyo out of his shell a bit and the two of them become friends as well as partners, and Kaoru's girlfriend (and eventual wife) Miwako becomes friends with Ukyo and Tamaki as well. (Not that they ever really talk about their friendship or explicitly refer to it as such, but the bond between them is obvious.) It's quite interesting, and I think significant, that Kaoru immediately calls Ukyo by his given name when they first meet--which is actually quite rude, since Ukyo is his superior in rank, aside from the just having met part. Kaoru doesn't seem intend any rudeness, though; it just seems to be part of his more friendly and open nature. (Though he doesn't call any of the other detectives by their given names.) Ukyo is taken aback at first, but doesn't object, and eventually seems to be comfortable with being called "Ukyo-san," although he always properly addresses Kaoru as "Kameyama-kun."
Before being demoted, Kaoru used to work in Investigative Division One (the department that handles homicides). His former partner Itami (Kawahara Kazuhisa) still works there, now partnered with Detectives Miura and Serizawa (an older detective and a young rookie, respectively). I affectionately refer to them as the Three Stooges, since they often come into humorous conflict with Special Missions. Despite having no official duties, Ukyo and Kaoru blithely investigate whichever cases catch Ukyo's interest, and the Division One detectives don't hesitate to voice their objections when Special Missions interferes with their cases. Well, mostly it's Itami who seems to take their presence as a personal insult--Miura's objections seem to be almost perfunctory, without much heat; and Serizawa often accidentally(?) lets information slip to Kaoru and Ukyo, even though that usually earns him a whack upside the head from Itami for running off at the mouth. (My sister was much amused and dubbed it "the Gibbs slap," since Gibbs on NCIS often whacks Tony in almost exactly the same way.) Personally, I think that Serizawa does it accidentally-on-purpose so that Special Missions can help them solve the case, since it seems like he should have learned his lesson by now from all the Gibbs-slapping if it really was an accident.
The reason behind Itami's grudge? Probably partly pride as detective, not wanting someone else messing with his case. And a large part of it seems to be some sort of ongoing rivalry with Kaoru--the two of them always exchange childish insults when they run into each other. Still, beneath all the bickering and insults, there seems to be a friendship of sorts between Kaoru and Itami (though neither would ever admit it), and over the years, we increasingly see Itami becoming frustrated with the restrictions placed upon him by the top brass (for example, being told to back off an investigation where a big-shot politician is a suspect)--restrictions that Ukyo freely ignores, which I suspect is what really pisses Itami off. (There's a complicated story behind why Ukyo isn't simply fired for insubordination, involving the protection of a high-ranking police official.) Beneath Itami's abrasive personality is a decent guy and an honest cop, and I've grown almost as fond of him as I am of the main characters. Also, I like the way he gets creative with his insults, using courtesy so exaggerated that it's obviously meant to be sarcastic by addressing Ukyo as "Keibu-dono" ("Sir Inspector").
In Season 7, actor Terawaki left the show, which means that Kaoru departed Special Missions for reasons that would be spoilery to give away. That leaves Ukyo alone again, until Inspector Kanbe Takeru (Oikawa Mitsuhiro) is assigned to Special Missions at the end of Season 7 (although he isn't a regular character until Season 8). However, Ukyo is standoffish and cold to Kanbe, keeping him at arm's length, and is a bit harsh with him at times, although his cutting remarks are still cloaked in outward politeness--it's obvious that Ukyo misses Kaoru, even if he won't admit it, and he won't welcome anyone trying to take Kaoru's place. Kanbe is also a very different type of character from Kaoru, which I thought was a wiser and more interesting choice them simply adding another Kaoru-type. He's much less impulsive and tends to follow the rules more, and has a much cooler demeanor--both "cool" as in not hot-headed, and "cool" as in handsome and stylish. Kanbe has to work hard to earn Ukyo's respect--a very slow and grudging process, encouraged somewhat by Tamaki, who seems a little worried about Ukyo being alone after Kaoru left, and so apparently wants him to accept Kanbe as his new partner.
I've only been able to watch up through Season 8, but apparently Kanbe leaves and Ukyo gets another new partner, Kai Tooru (Narimiya Hiroki) in Season 11, currently airing in Japan now. A Japanese friend told me that Narimiya is considered to be a young and trendy actor, and he has a fan community on LJ, so I'm hoping that will boost interest in Aibou in English-speaking fandom so that maybe people will start writing Aibou fanfic! The show does kinda have that bromance cop-vibe going, so you would think that the slash fans would be all over it. True, it hasn't been officially licensed in English, aside from airing subtitled on a few Asian-language TV stations in the US, but hasn't stopped manga and anime fans from tracking down fan-translations for favorite shows. Maybe it's just that Mizutani isn't young and pretty enough for the usual yaoi crowd? (Although I think Oikawa qualifies, and Narimiya certainly does.) I should add that I don't actually ship Ukyo with any of the guys, partly because he and Tamaki still seem to care about each other, and because also Kaoru has such a solid relationship with Miwako, whom I love. But I definitely love the friendship vibe between those two guys, so gen fic would be welcome, and I would not be averse to reading slash fic if someone wanted to convince me of a ship, as long as they didn't bash Tamaki or Miwako. (There's a period in which Kaoru and Miwako temporarily broke up, I think in Season 3 or 4, so slash fic could be set in that period without infidelity. Or just go the AU "they broke up but remained friends" route.) Kanbe is single (at least in Season 8), so no problem shipping him with anyone.
There is a canonical gay character on the show, I should mention: Ohkouchi Haruki (Satoshi Jinbo), a much-feared investigator, whom I think comes from the administrative branch of the MPD. Everyone fears his stern and menacing demeanor, but he turns out to be a decent guy beneath that facade. Kaoru and Ukyo meet him during the investigation of an apparent murder-suicide between a married detective and a hostess, presumed to be his mistress.It turns out that Ohkouchi and the detective were lovers, but in order to advance his career, the detective chose to get married. To cover his affair with Ohkouchi, the detective pretended to be seeing the hostess, and the wife got jealous and killed her. Blaming himself, the detective covered for the wife by staging the scene to look like a lover's murder-suicide, and then killed himself. Ukyo eventually discovers the truth, and Ohkouchi asks if loving a man is such a sin, to which Ukyo replies that the sin was not in loving a man, but in the way that they covered up and lied about that love. However, he and Kaoru do not tell anyone else about the gay love affair, and Ohkouchi becomes an ally and a friend of sorts after that.
(It seems to be expected that men need to get married to advance up the career ladder, whether in politics, private companies, and apparently the police force in Japan. I'm not sure why--to conform to social norms? To prove oneself reliable and trustworthy by being a family man? Although Ohkouchi is single and seems to have advanced pretty far, but perhaps he is an exception? Maybe people just think that no woman would want to marry such a scary guy? Nobody seems to suspect that he's gay.)
Unfortunately, Ohkouchi is only a supporting character, so he doesn't appear in every episode, and we don't learn anything more about his personal life (as far as I've seen, anyway), which is too bad. He's really interesting and I'd like to know more about him--a perfect candidate for fanfiction, I suppose!
I wish I could post some video links, but the official website does not seem to have any episodes available for online streaming. CD Japan has the dvd sets for sale, but they're very expensive, have no English subtitles, and are Region 2 only. I'm sure there are fansubs out on the web somewhere, and there are a number of short clips and trailers on You Tube if you just want to sample the show. Argh, I really wish there was a quick and easy (and legal) way to share the show with you guys, because it is just so awesome and I'd love to get more people interested in it!
Especially because of the aforementioned plotbunnies--they all seem to be focused on Itami, for some reason. Someday I'd like to explore Kaoru and Itami's past when they were partnered together. I also got bitten by a Haru crossover plotbunny in which Itami was one of Kikuchi's one-night-stands years ago before the gay scandal (in my fanon-verse, Kikuchi's dad was a detective with the MPD, which means Itami would have crossed paths with Papa Kikuchi at some point, and boy, wouldn't that be awkward!). But the plotbunny currently eating my brain is a Itami/Kanbe fic in which Itami goes to a gay bar and runs into Kanbe, much to his shock and horror (because he hates Special Missions on principle, although Kanbe has never really done anything in particular to offend him). I feel comfortable making Itami gay because we've never seen a wife or girlfriend, and he's probably single, since Serizawa makes a remark about Itami not having any plans on Christmas Eve, considered a romantic holiday in Japan. (Basically implying that Itami can't get a date, for which he receives another Gibbs-slap!) Kanbe does have an ex-girlfriend, but could be bisexual. I don't know, I just enjoy the idea of pairing Itami up with somebody who irks him. ^_^
ETA 12/1/12: Originally posted last night to close out Nationa Blog Posting Month, but because I was sleepy and messed up the post, I took it down to revise, and just posted it again today.
Aibou (English translation: Partners) is a Japanese detective drama--I love watching most J-dramas, detective/mystery shows in particular, and Aibou is my absolute favorite out of all of them! To summarize:
Inspector Sugishita Ukyo (played by Mizutani Yutaka) and his partner(s) have been demoted to the Special Missions office, which is where the Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department sends its losers and troublemakers in the hopes that they'll quit (out of boredom, since they're given no official duties, although being paid to do nothing doesn't sound too bad to me). Ukyo is supposed to be the head of Special Missions, but it's usually a department of one, since no one has stayed longer than a few months and some people don't even last a whole day--until Kameyama Kaoru (Terawaki Yasufumi) comes along. Kaoru is cheerful and good-hearted, but impulsive and hot-tempered in contrast to Ukyo's much more reserved personality and Sherlock Holmes-like methods of logic and deductive reasoning. Minus Holmes's arrogance I should add; he is almost always pleasant and outwardly polite, even when he's being treated rudely, but despite his mild demeanor, he is doggedly persistent at seeking out the truth--which is the one thing that he and Kaoru share. Neither of them will back off from an investigation even when ordered to by the top brass, who are usually more concerned with advancing their own ambitions and protecting the MPD's public image than in achieving justice for the victims. This idealistic stubbornness is probably why they ended up being demoted to Special Missions.
Despite being complete opposites in personality, the two get along surprisingly well. While Kaoru isn't Ukyo's equal in intellect, he's a loyal partner and often a chance remark from him will spark a sudden insight in Ukyo that will help them solve the case. Ukyo seems to keep an emotional distance from people and doesn't appear to have any close friends other than his ex-wife Tamaki (they are amicably divorced, and he frequently hangs out at the bar she runs). Kaoru draws Ukyo out of his shell a bit and the two of them become friends as well as partners, and Kaoru's girlfriend (and eventual wife) Miwako becomes friends with Ukyo and Tamaki as well. (Not that they ever really talk about their friendship or explicitly refer to it as such, but the bond between them is obvious.) It's quite interesting, and I think significant, that Kaoru immediately calls Ukyo by his given name when they first meet--which is actually quite rude, since Ukyo is his superior in rank, aside from the just having met part. Kaoru doesn't seem intend any rudeness, though; it just seems to be part of his more friendly and open nature. (Though he doesn't call any of the other detectives by their given names.) Ukyo is taken aback at first, but doesn't object, and eventually seems to be comfortable with being called "Ukyo-san," although he always properly addresses Kaoru as "Kameyama-kun."
Before being demoted, Kaoru used to work in Investigative Division One (the department that handles homicides). His former partner Itami (Kawahara Kazuhisa) still works there, now partnered with Detectives Miura and Serizawa (an older detective and a young rookie, respectively). I affectionately refer to them as the Three Stooges, since they often come into humorous conflict with Special Missions. Despite having no official duties, Ukyo and Kaoru blithely investigate whichever cases catch Ukyo's interest, and the Division One detectives don't hesitate to voice their objections when Special Missions interferes with their cases. Well, mostly it's Itami who seems to take their presence as a personal insult--Miura's objections seem to be almost perfunctory, without much heat; and Serizawa often accidentally(?) lets information slip to Kaoru and Ukyo, even though that usually earns him a whack upside the head from Itami for running off at the mouth. (My sister was much amused and dubbed it "the Gibbs slap," since Gibbs on NCIS often whacks Tony in almost exactly the same way.) Personally, I think that Serizawa does it accidentally-on-purpose so that Special Missions can help them solve the case, since it seems like he should have learned his lesson by now from all the Gibbs-slapping if it really was an accident.
The reason behind Itami's grudge? Probably partly pride as detective, not wanting someone else messing with his case. And a large part of it seems to be some sort of ongoing rivalry with Kaoru--the two of them always exchange childish insults when they run into each other. Still, beneath all the bickering and insults, there seems to be a friendship of sorts between Kaoru and Itami (though neither would ever admit it), and over the years, we increasingly see Itami becoming frustrated with the restrictions placed upon him by the top brass (for example, being told to back off an investigation where a big-shot politician is a suspect)--restrictions that Ukyo freely ignores, which I suspect is what really pisses Itami off. (There's a complicated story behind why Ukyo isn't simply fired for insubordination, involving the protection of a high-ranking police official.) Beneath Itami's abrasive personality is a decent guy and an honest cop, and I've grown almost as fond of him as I am of the main characters. Also, I like the way he gets creative with his insults, using courtesy so exaggerated that it's obviously meant to be sarcastic by addressing Ukyo as "Keibu-dono" ("Sir Inspector").
In Season 7, actor Terawaki left the show, which means that Kaoru departed Special Missions for reasons that would be spoilery to give away. That leaves Ukyo alone again, until Inspector Kanbe Takeru (Oikawa Mitsuhiro) is assigned to Special Missions at the end of Season 7 (although he isn't a regular character until Season 8). However, Ukyo is standoffish and cold to Kanbe, keeping him at arm's length, and is a bit harsh with him at times, although his cutting remarks are still cloaked in outward politeness--it's obvious that Ukyo misses Kaoru, even if he won't admit it, and he won't welcome anyone trying to take Kaoru's place. Kanbe is also a very different type of character from Kaoru, which I thought was a wiser and more interesting choice them simply adding another Kaoru-type. He's much less impulsive and tends to follow the rules more, and has a much cooler demeanor--both "cool" as in not hot-headed, and "cool" as in handsome and stylish. Kanbe has to work hard to earn Ukyo's respect--a very slow and grudging process, encouraged somewhat by Tamaki, who seems a little worried about Ukyo being alone after Kaoru left, and so apparently wants him to accept Kanbe as his new partner.
I've only been able to watch up through Season 8, but apparently Kanbe leaves and Ukyo gets another new partner, Kai Tooru (Narimiya Hiroki) in Season 11, currently airing in Japan now. A Japanese friend told me that Narimiya is considered to be a young and trendy actor, and he has a fan community on LJ, so I'm hoping that will boost interest in Aibou in English-speaking fandom so that maybe people will start writing Aibou fanfic! The show does kinda have that bromance cop-vibe going, so you would think that the slash fans would be all over it. True, it hasn't been officially licensed in English, aside from airing subtitled on a few Asian-language TV stations in the US, but hasn't stopped manga and anime fans from tracking down fan-translations for favorite shows. Maybe it's just that Mizutani isn't young and pretty enough for the usual yaoi crowd? (Although I think Oikawa qualifies, and Narimiya certainly does.) I should add that I don't actually ship Ukyo with any of the guys, partly because he and Tamaki still seem to care about each other, and because also Kaoru has such a solid relationship with Miwako, whom I love. But I definitely love the friendship vibe between those two guys, so gen fic would be welcome, and I would not be averse to reading slash fic if someone wanted to convince me of a ship, as long as they didn't bash Tamaki or Miwako. (There's a period in which Kaoru and Miwako temporarily broke up, I think in Season 3 or 4, so slash fic could be set in that period without infidelity. Or just go the AU "they broke up but remained friends" route.) Kanbe is single (at least in Season 8), so no problem shipping him with anyone.
There is a canonical gay character on the show, I should mention: Ohkouchi Haruki (Satoshi Jinbo), a much-feared investigator, whom I think comes from the administrative branch of the MPD. Everyone fears his stern and menacing demeanor, but he turns out to be a decent guy beneath that facade. Kaoru and Ukyo meet him during the investigation of an apparent murder-suicide between a married detective and a hostess, presumed to be his mistress.
(It seems to be expected that men need to get married to advance up the career ladder, whether in politics, private companies, and apparently the police force in Japan. I'm not sure why--to conform to social norms? To prove oneself reliable and trustworthy by being a family man? Although Ohkouchi is single and seems to have advanced pretty far, but perhaps he is an exception? Maybe people just think that no woman would want to marry such a scary guy? Nobody seems to suspect that he's gay.)
Unfortunately, Ohkouchi is only a supporting character, so he doesn't appear in every episode, and we don't learn anything more about his personal life (as far as I've seen, anyway), which is too bad. He's really interesting and I'd like to know more about him--a perfect candidate for fanfiction, I suppose!
I wish I could post some video links, but the official website does not seem to have any episodes available for online streaming. CD Japan has the dvd sets for sale, but they're very expensive, have no English subtitles, and are Region 2 only. I'm sure there are fansubs out on the web somewhere, and there are a number of short clips and trailers on You Tube if you just want to sample the show. Argh, I really wish there was a quick and easy (and legal) way to share the show with you guys, because it is just so awesome and I'd love to get more people interested in it!
Especially because of the aforementioned plotbunnies--they all seem to be focused on Itami, for some reason. Someday I'd like to explore Kaoru and Itami's past when they were partnered together. I also got bitten by a Haru crossover plotbunny in which Itami was one of Kikuchi's one-night-stands years ago before the gay scandal (in my fanon-verse, Kikuchi's dad was a detective with the MPD, which means Itami would have crossed paths with Papa Kikuchi at some point, and boy, wouldn't that be awkward!). But the plotbunny currently eating my brain is a Itami/Kanbe fic in which Itami goes to a gay bar and runs into Kanbe, much to his shock and horror (because he hates Special Missions on principle, although Kanbe has never really done anything in particular to offend him). I feel comfortable making Itami gay because we've never seen a wife or girlfriend, and he's probably single, since Serizawa makes a remark about Itami not having any plans on Christmas Eve, considered a romantic holiday in Japan. (Basically implying that Itami can't get a date, for which he receives another Gibbs-slap!) Kanbe does have an ex-girlfriend, but could be bisexual. I don't know, I just enjoy the idea of pairing Itami up with somebody who irks him. ^_^
ETA 12/1/12: Originally posted last night to close out Nationa Blog Posting Month, but because I was sleepy and messed up the post, I took it down to revise, and just posted it again today.