Asian Addicts Anonymous

All the secrets will be revealed! So…what’s your guess on the Spider’s true identity? You have until the end of this post to figure it out.

We open the final episode with Terashima doubting that Shinozaki is really the Spider. Shinozaki says that information is king and guessing by Terashima’s cell, he’s got a close friendship with Makihara. If Shinozaki were to kidnap her, then Terashima would do everything he said, wouldn’t he? Shinozaki then says that the Anzai gangs are the strongest and he controls them all with his information network.

Shinozaki then goes over to Tokage. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and a gun earlier. This is an important question, so Tokage better think hard and answer otherwise Sota will be in danger. Terashima is livid, they should not bring a child into this. Tokage does answer the question, though. The items were given to him by Yanagida. He has no idea as to why. Now Tokage wants answers. Two years ago was Modegi really in that crate? Terashima is surprised by this question. Does Tokage think Modegi is alive and a spy? Tokage thinks there is a good chance that Modegi would have turned if Sota was at risk.

Tokage then leans in close to Shinozaki and says that if it will save his life, then he’ll change sides, too. The police already believe he’s the spy, so he has nothing to lose. If Terashima joins them as well, then the pair will be unstoppable. Terashima refuses this and Tokage curses his “fake sense of justice.” He then tells Shinozaki that he’s his man. Shinozaki pulls a knife and cuts Tokage’s ropes. All the guns are raised and pointed at the freed man. Shinozaki then lays the knife at Tokage’s feet and orders him to kill Terashima as a test of loyalty. Tokage picks up the knife and Terashima asks if this is what he really wants. Tokage reminds Terashima about the horrible things they said about him cutting his tail and escaping to save himself. He then stabs downward and Terashima screams. This is such a SPEED moment. I remember Keanu Reeves’s character saying he would shoot the hostage and take them out of the equation and he ended up shooting his partner in the leg to make him useless as a hostage and a shield.

Meanwhile, Yanagida, Kaori, and Makihara wait together wondering what is going on and just who the mole is. Makihara then says she is also wondering if Modegi might be alive and she recalls Kishimori’s words about not being 100% that Modegi did die back then. Makihara can’t believe he’d become a spy, but he would have wanted to live. Yanagida points out that neither answer is a good one.

Tokage is in the car with Shinozaki who is eager to put the younger man’s abilities to use. He wishes for Tokage to erase his past. What does that mean? Tokage is to hack the police computers and erase every reference to Shinozaki so the man can hide in peace. Tokage then asks for his answer. Shinozaki then explains that Modegi wished to turn to save his life, so Shinozaki killed him before he was dumped into the sea. Interesting.

At the station, Yamane apologizes for the kidnapping and says that despite that, they must continue. Tokage may already know the identity of the spider…or perhaps Terashima was the spy all along. We then cut to Tokage breaking into the station and hacking the computer while Terashima lies unconscious at the warehouse surrounded by men with guns. Yeah, I highly doubt Tokage killed him. Tokage then calls up Kaori and asks after Sota. The boy is sleeping in Tokage’s bed. Tokage then says that the Spider is now targeting the little boy. Tokage then says he has one request of Kaori. What is it? We don’t know yet as we cut back to the warehouse where Terashima lies. While Tokage goes in to rescue Terashima, Shinozaki watches closely as the files about him are being removed.

Tokage apologizes for stabbing Terashima and helps the man out. He then calls up Kaori who has finished deleting the last of the files while Makihara guards the door. She is relieved to hear that both Tokage and Terashima are safe. When Tokage hangs up, Terashima says he really doesn’t know Oribe all that well. Tokage says there is no way he could ever betray Terashima like that, but if he didn’t play the part then the same thing that happened two years ago would happen again. Terashima asks why Tokage never talked about what happened if it bothers him so much. Tokage pulls the getaway van over and says that he failed to save Modegi while he himself lived. That is why he wanted to find the truth himself. However, he is glad to have Terashima’s help. Tokage then changes the wording and says that its more like he helped Terashima.

At HQ, Sota is unhappy that he can’t go outside. His lunch is already packed as well. Yanagida says this is because Tokage will be returning soon and Kaori says she made Sota’s favorite so they can all eat together. When she comes back upstairs with silverware, the boy has grabbed his lunch and run away. This immediately freaks Kaori and Yanagida out. They rush out in time to see mophead abducting Sota. The two give chase and Kaori apologizes for turning her back for a moment. They catch up to the car, but there is no one in it. They take to the crowded street and begin trailing mophead only to lose him again.

As Terashima gets out of the hospital, Shinozaki calls Tokage and says that since he rescued Terashima, Shinozaki had Sota kidnapped. The two rush back to HQ where Kishimori awaits. They explain the identity of the Spider and that Yamane is more than likely the real spy. They then reveal that mophead, aka Kurosawa, has abducted Sota. Yanagida requests a police search of the area to find both Sota and Kishimori’s daughter. Kishimori cannot do something like that as it would draw too much attention. Then how? Kishimori says they have no choice but to use Tokage. He then tells Tokage that rescuing Sota and his daughter comes first before capturing the Spider.

As Kishimori goes to leave, Tokage says that the Spider is already aware of Kishimori. What does he mean? Shinozaki was very suspicious about the fact that Tokage carried a gun. Did Tokage reveal the truth? No, but it doesn’t change the fact that Kishimori is on the Spider’s radar. Tokage warns the older man to be careful as Kishimori may need to shoot Shinozaki himself. Kishimori says like with anyone who has children, he will do anything he can to protect them. Since they are in the same boat, they need to work together.

At the station, Makihara tells Terashima the charges against him have been dropped. Terashima says that she was right in the end—Tokage saved him. Has she heard about Modegi? Yes, and she can accept that because she is a police officer and must accept all truths. Meanwhile, Yamane is at the station when he gets a call from Shinozaki asking him to check on something.

Kaori is out walking the area where they lost Sota asking if people have seen Kurosawa. She then sees Tokage and rushes up to him apologizing for not finding any clues. Tokage says it is Shinozaki who needs to apologize, not Kaori. The girl is not placated—how can she call herself a detective if she can’t save Sota? Tokage recalls one of their first meetings and how Kaori said she believed feelings can save lives. Tokage then tells her to prove it and walks away.

At the station, Miyama comes up to Makihara and Terashima and says they have received an anonymous tip. Meanwhile, Yamane is in his car talking to Shinozaki revealing he knows who gave Tokage that gun. Of course, Yamane isn’t willing to reveal it for nothing, but before he can state his demands, Terashima barges in and Yamane is forced to hang up. Looks like the anonymous tip was about Yamane! They have enough evidence in his car and on his laptop to prove that he’s the spy working for Spider. Yamane denies all of this and says he’s been framed. Right. Well…he probably has in some respects. Just as Yamane screams that he knows nothing, Kishimori comes in and demands to know where his daughter is.

As Kishimori is walking back to his office, he gets a call from Kurosawa who puts Airi on the phone to beg her father to help her. The angry Sota tells Kurosawa to stop bullying the onee-san. Awww. Shinozaki then takes the phone. Does Kishimori understand the situation? Kishimori asks for his daughter to be spared. Shinozaki says there is a way out…what is it? Tokage meets with Terashima on the roof, but I don’t know what they were talking about, but both look deadly serious. We then cut to Kaori who is running out of hope when she happens to spot Kurosawa in the crowd. She gets hit by a bicycle and limps after him. She manages to see which building he enters, though. Lucky.

Kishimori meets with Yanagidan and tells him the Spider’s demands. Stop all investigations about the Spider and hand over Yamane in return for the hostages’ lives. Tokage then calls and Yanagida hands over the phone to Kishimori who asks Tokage to come in as he has a request. Tokage then says they found the Spider’s hiding place only to find Kurosawa and Shinozaki gone. The children were not there either, however, they found Sota’s watch.

Kishimori heads over to the building as well. Is he hoping to find something that Tokage missed? Kishimori looks around and demands to know if anyone is there. Tokage and Terashima then come out. They’ve been waiting. Weren’t they supposed to be on their way to his office? They ask why he is there and Tokage says that he never told Kishimori where the building was. There is only one explanation—Kishimori met the Spider there. So Kishimori was the informant all along. The younger men then ask for the truth from Kishimori—didn’t he say he’d do anything to save Airi?

Kishimori tells Tokage that tomorrow is the announcement of the next chief of police. Kishimori says that is now trivial in comparison to the life of his daughter. Ever since he joined the force, he was told he was commissioner material and he started to believe that as well. Organized crime, corrupt business…they need to be exposed. He got the information all from Shinozaki. Then as their relationship progressed, Shinozaki got more and more demanding and used Kishimori’s weakness about his father-in-law against him.

Kishimori then says the Spider wanted more info about police investigations and was very curious about both Terashima and Tokage. He was particularly curious when Modegi and Tokage teamed up. Terashima asks i f Modegi’s death was all Kishimori’s doing then. Kishimori can’t deny that. It was his life or Modegi’s and Tokage’s. It was supposed to end there, but then the unthinkable happened—Tokage survived. This worried Kishimori until he realized Tokage’s guilt over his survival, plus everyone thought Tokage was the real spy. Tokage then asks was Kishimori hired him. Kishimori yells that it was because he was afraid of Tokage. This way he keeps an eye on Tokage and learns what he knows. Tokage says he never knew anything to begin with.

Then Terashima started using Shinozaki for information without knowing the man was the Spider. This put Kishimori in a difficult position. One one hand Terashima reopened the Modegi investigation and on the other hand Tokage was getting closer and closer to the truth. Tokage then wonders why Kishimori didn’t stop things with the framing of Terashima and asked him to kill Spider. Because Kishimori was tired. He wanted out and his family safe. Thus, he was hoping Tokage could take out Shinozaki. Shortly after that, Airi was taken. Kishimori wishes to truly end things know and resign. He knows an apology is not enough for his sins, but it is all he can do. He bows deeply and apologizes and begs them to save both Airi and Sota. He even gets down on his knees and begs.

Tokage kneels beside the man and tells him that he has one more thing to tell them. Kishimori asserts that he has told them everything. Tokage says that Kishimori is still in the spider’s web. Terashima then takes out a briefcase and asks how the Spider planned to kill them. Inside is an explosive. Makihara then enters with a beaten up Shinozaki and Kurosawa and she talks about how the bomb was to destroy anybody who knew the Spider’s true identity. Quite the reversal. Yamane then says that Kishimori set him up as the spy and Shinozaki whines about Kishimori destroying everything.

Kishimori shoves Yamane aside and grabs Shinozaki by the collar. Where is his daughter? Where? Tokage tells him to cut it out as Airi and Sota have already been rescued. They did what they needed to do as per Kishimori’s request. Kishimori smiles through his tears and says he hired a brilliant detective. Kurosawa and Shinozaki are hauled away along with Kishimori who gets to see his daughter. He immediately hugs her and apologizes saying he will be going away from a while. When Airi asks where, Kishimori is silent. Kishimori is taken away and Kaori stops Airi from following. Tokage tells the young girl that her father is finally free from the spider’s web and can start his life once more.

We end with the men apologizing to Yamane for the interrogation, but they had to make it look real to convince Kishimori. Yamane says he understands this, but his stomach pains got even worse. He then complains that Kishimori was his only chance at a promotion. He walks away whining and Makihara apologizes for suspecting Tokage all this time and tells him to call on her if he ever needs help with Sota. Terashima then turns and invites Tokage to come back to the force. Tokage says that sounds weird coming from him. Kaori looks sad until Tokage refuses to come back as he already has a partner. Makihara laughs that he has been dumped and Terashima says it hurts.

At HQ, our team prays in front of the soy milk box hoping that it is finally what Sota wants. It is! He has is Soy Ranger gun. We then cut to Tokage on his motorcycle recalling another scene with his father. The boy was dispirited as a friend gave him a black eye. His father comforted him saying we all get second chances. End episode. End series.

Even though it’s finished…it still feels unfinished somehow or rather very anticlimactic. It wasn’t a bad series at all, but I am a bit disappointed that Renbutsu Misako stayed firmly in sidekick supporting role. Sure, her character was integral to the storyline in getting Tokage to open up once more, but at the same time…she didn’t play that big of a part in most of the series, which is a shame as she is a great actress. I am also a bit confused now by all the flashbacks with Oribe’s father. Were they really just to help supplement the cases and showcase Tokage’s abilities? It seemed like there should have been more to that story point.