The Red Chapter is the second instalment of Thrill ! The Black Chapter and The Red Chapter, an NHK drama. The four episodes were broadcast between February 22 and March 15, 2017. Detective Togawa (Keisuke Koide) from the Metropolitan Police Department teams up with young Hitomi Nakano (Nana Komatsu) to solve intriguing murder cases.
Hitomi is not a detective, she is a clerk in the general affairs section of the police. Her job is to check the receipts sent by agents. She makes sure the taxpayers’ money is properly used. Inquiring to the point of being nosy, she often ‘borrows’ the small black notebook on which Togawa writes down the details of his investigations. Smart Hitomi thinks fast and she knows all the tricks of the trade because her own father, who abandoned her when she was a teen, was a thief and a mighty conman.
Though a film like Maniac Hero and a few scenes from Kurosaki Kun are testimonies of her talent for comedy The Red Chapter offers much much more. Funny situations and dialogues, making faces, wacky attitudes, Hitomi, on top of being smart and inquiring , is definitely not your average ‘detective’. It’s as if Nana Komatsu was given the green light to use her sense of humour and playful side to the max in order to impersonate a truly offbeat character.
It is just a drama but her perf makes one think she could do wonders in a full fledged comedy. Highly recommended and a must-watch for her fans. Below you will get galleries of quality video captures and a low res* subbed version of episode one. *352×288
N.K. International 