Asian Addicts Anonymous

You can tell the end of a drama is coming with the way things start to wrap up. Well…in the case of some dramas, they don’t wrap up well at all and you get a crappy resolution, but this one seems to be going at a decent pace to get us to the final episode, so hopefully we get a good ending.

We open with the death of a well-known boxing trainer. His autopsy reveals that he didn’t die from jumping off a roof and committing suicide, but rather from blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Thus, the team are setting out to investigate. Of course, Kishimori believes this is a job for Tokage. Yamane quietly asks if this is because Kishimori thinks that Spider is involved. Kishimori keeps mum on this.

Meanwhile, Tokage undergoes boxing training as he will be going undercover as a newly hired trainer from the US. Kaori then notices that Sota is depressed. What’s wrong? He broke his father’s watch. Yanagida says they will try to find a watch repairmen to fix it. Kaori then asks what her cover will be. Tokage says he will be doing this mission solo. Ah, come on, she can be a trainer’s assistant, right? No. She looks at the TV. How about a ring girl. Riiight. Tokage has her walk around and asks Yanagida what he thinks. The old man stifles a laugh and says the matter isn’t up to him.

We cut to a press conference at Masuko Gym. Kubozuka who was trained by the deceased Komori announces that he will still do the title match in two weeks in honor of his trainer who was like a father and his son who will be watching his match for the first time ever. We then see Kaori is undercover this time as a sports reporter. She gets flak for asking how the relationship was between trainer and fighter. Everyone knows their relationship is good. The conference comes to an end and the other reporters manage to block and exclude Kaori. LOL. Training then commences and Kubozuka is NOT happy with “mac” as he has only one trainer and that was Kimori. Masuko tells Tokage not to worry as he will surely grow on the boxer. After trading some words about how Kubozuka’s new style is getting him closer to losing, the two enter the ring and Tokage gets a nice punch to the gut. He springs back up and says it’s only been 3 minutes and the boxer should keep coming. This impresses Kabuzuka as it reminds him of his beloved Komori. A flash goes off and the boxer winces which catches Tokage’s attention. Enter Kaori. She apologizes for her rude question earlier and promises they will love her article about overcoming the shadow of his trainer’s death to earn a victory for his son. Kabuzuka thanks her for his son Kentaro and then tells her not to use a flash as it distracts him and Tokage looks even more suspicious.

At police HQ, Makihara is given Komori’s mail when Terashima comes in and places files on her desk. This is all evidence that the Spider is real. There have been celebrity scandals linked to blackmail and selling of information. Makihara tells him she is trying to solve the trainer case and Terashima says he is certain the Spider is involved in such a high profile match. He asks for Makihara’s help and she replies that doing this won’t bring Modegi back.

Tokage goes for a cookout at Kubozuka’s. Kentaro is adorable…his acting isn’t…it’s rather bad, but he is only a kid. Tokage questions Masuko about why Komori killed himself with the big match coming up and his relationship being so close with Kubozuka’s. Masuko replies that Komori was afraid of losing. Isn’t Masuko? No as it is inevitable. The only thing you can do is be there for him when he finally loses as no one can win forever. Tokage then sneaks into the gym and goes through the documents. Looks like the gym is having financial difficulty and it was known that Komori and Masuko disagreed on money and training. This is definitely a motive for murder.

Kaori reports all of this at the regular meeting with the police. Makihara also reveals a letter from Saito, a fellow boxer at Masuko’s gym, who requested Komori spend more time with him and less time with Kubozuka. This could also be more motive for murder. Yamane rushes off to investigate more of the Spider connection and Kaori uses this time alone with Makihara to tell her about Modegi’s broken watch and Sota’s unhappiness. Can Makihara go visit the boy? Makihara refuses as the boy chose Tokage over her and she leaves. Kaori asks Makihara’s brother if she did something wrong. No, it’s just a sore subject. Kaori then hands over a charm she bought for Terashima’s protection. She asks Makihara’s brother to give it to Terashima next time. Masato smiles and calls her naïve. Why? For believing in a charm or for something else? Makihara passes through a park and recalls a date she had with Modegi and Sota. The little boy was very chummy with her and constantly called her onee-san. On their way to the zoo, he asked to ride the boat with Makihara instead of his father. This makes her tear up.

Kubozuka and Tokage are training. When they finish training, Kubozuka tells Saito to get ready, and complains when the younger man is slow. Masuko then complains about how the boy is a two-bit punk without the drive of Kubozuka. He then gets a call and rushes out of the gym. Saito went for a run and ends up outside the gym on a bench near where Kubozuka is practicing. Thugs come up and bug him and Saito is surprised the other boxer remains unphased by it all. Meanwhile, Masuko meets with a woman who says she saw everything and even has pictures. Masuko hands her money to keep her quiet and she promises to be in touch again. Tokage has overheard this all. At the Kubozuka house, they are celebrating Kentaro’s birthday and when Mrs. Kubozuka says she has a present from Komori, this surprises Kubozuka and makes him look rather uncomfortable. He then promises his son he will win with a KO.

Tokage is doing is ritual soy milk routine when he notices one of the stickers is missing. He then recalls his father talking about blind spots when Tokage couldn’t find what he was searching for. His father finds it for him and says that once you are aware of blind spots, finding things becomes easier. However, you will never truly ever know what is in a person’s heart. True. The flashback ends and Tokage takes off his shoe to find the missing sticker. You know he’s realized more than that with reference to “blind” spot.

At the gym we learn that Kubozuka wears out a new pair of shoes for every match. Wow. Tokage listens to this as does Kaori. The police then come in to arrest Saito for assaulting the goons from the other day. Saito insists this is all bull and asks Kubozuka to confirm his story, but the other boxer is surprised and totally confused—he didn’t see anything the day before. Say what?

At the station, Yamane reports that a missing politician seems to be connected with the Spider since two years before. Kishimori surprises him by saying Terashima has already delivered the info. Haha. Yamane is a step behind. He goes to interrogate Saito when  Terashima comes in asking to join the investigation since he is certain it has to do with Spider. Yamane agrees to this and then tells Terashima to come to him first with any news of the politician instead of Kishimori. Suspicious. Terashima the gets interrupted when Tokage comes to pay Saito a visit. He gets information from the young man and this confirms what he’s been suspecting. He then tells Saito that there is no way possible for him to win against Kubozuka.

Terashima stops and asks the departing Tokage why he is there. Tokage replies he is on a case. Terashima asks if he will report the truth. Is there a reason why he wouldn’t? If he doesn’t trust him, then Terashima shouldn’t talk to him. Terashima then asks why Tokage wishes to investigate Spider—is there something he’s hiding about Modegi’s death? Tokage replies that it would take heat off Terashima if he was involved. What does that mean? Isn’t it Terashima who has the criminal connections? Tokage leaves and Terashima turns to find Makihara. The two go to the roof where she confesses that Modegi was aware of a mole, but he didn’t tell her any more info than that. Perhaps that is why she’s been so happy to put all the blame on Tokage. Terashima says now is the time for Makihara to decide who she trusts.

At HQ, Tokage reveals he is certain Kubozuka suffers from an eye disease that could make him go blind. It’s a hazard for boxers and once they are diagnosed, they must retire. This is why the boxer is keeping it a secret. This is his last chance to show how good he is to his son. That’s why he joined forces with Masuko. The gym owner meets with the blackmailer for the last envelope and she requests that he pull Kubozuka from the match to make his opponent the winner. Of course, Masuko doesn’t like this. The woman walks away and then calls up Saito inciting him to act out against Kubozuka who ruined his boxing career. Terashima follows Saito while Tokage bugs the woman.

So the boys meet outside a building and listen in on the conversation where they are convincing the young boxer to get his revenge. Terashima is shocked to learn that his underground informant Shinozaki is the one telling the boy to do so. Why? Shinozaki tells Saito he offended someone important and that person wants the opponent to win, not Kubozuka. Terashima flashes back to Shinozaki telling him that he was nearly run out of town thanks to trying to get information for the cop. Tokage asks what next and Terashima says they put tails on both men and see if that will lead them back to the Spider.

The night before the big match, Tokage confronts Kubozuka and Masuko about the disease which they both deny. Tokage vows that he will not stand silent and will stop Kubozuka from fighting. This leads Masuko to follow him and push him off a bridge. This was an elaborate setup and Tokage falls onto a gym mat. He then complains it was much to thin as he puts his hand on his aching back. Kaori says it was the thickest she could find and asks if he is all right. Tokage doesn’t reply and just gets up and walks off. Even though Masuko took the bait, something still isn’t right about Komori’s death.

The day of the match, Makihara pays a visit to Sota. She gives him a watch that Modegi had given her. It is identical to the broken one. This makes Sota very happy. He then tells her how his father told him that she could be his new mother someday. Wow. This makes Makihara tear up. This was the incentive she needed. She goes back to the station and starts helping Terashima with his investigation into the Spider.

At the gym, Kubozuka asks after Tokage and Masuko clams up and just says he’s gone. The boxer then notices his shoes are ruined. He can’t fight in unfamiliar shoes. This makes him rush home to unlock the place where he kept the last pair of shoes Komori gave him. This, of course, is observed by our lizard detective who always manages to find ways into ceilings.

At the match, Kaori meets up with Makihara and Terashima who thanks her for the charm. This makes her happy. They don’t have time to talk as they must busily search for the missing Saito who lost his tail. Terashima puts in a call to Yamane who says he’s tailing Shinozaki, but in reality, Shinozaki is in the car with him. So Yamane is the mole. Who’d’ve thunk it? Shinozaki doesn’t look to happy with the situation, but oh well.

The fight starts with Kubozuka doing well. However, when Saito flashes a laser in his bad eye, he takes some hard punches. Tokage locates Saito and Terashima rushes up to stop him. Kubozuka almost loses the fight, but thanks to Masuko’s and his son’s encouragement, he manages to overcome and win. So…the boxer was the one who killed Komori. The trainer wanted to announces his problem and force him into retirement against Kubozuka’s wishes as he wanted his last match for his son. This made him lose control and hit Komori. He didn’t mean to kill the man, but he ended up dying. Masuko witnessed this and staged the suicide. It was Kubozuka’s grand plan to turn himself in for the murder after the fight, which he does.

You got to love how most of the criminals aren’t necessarily bad people. They are generally good people who get caught up and do bad things. You really feel badly for the boxer even though he’s a murder. Anywho. Terashima calls up Shinozaki to meet with his boss. Shinozaki is reluctant to do this, but gives him a piece of paper telling the cop to meet him there. Yamane watches from the shadows during this exchange. Terashima goes to the meeting spot and finds Tokage. What is going on?

End episode. What an ending.