Fugou Keiji – 9 [A golden key can open any door]

Another week, another episode of Fugou Keiji! This week we confront Shigemaru, Daisuke pulls a Christopher Nolan and Modern Crimes finally get their time to shine. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Once again I have to say that Fugou Keiji could have done so much more. Whether it be playing up the serious drama with HEUSC or taking away Daisuke’s money. Show us how he has grown since the series started, show us what he can do without his technology. Have him grow to be self-sufficient like Kato, etc. Yes this takes away from the “Batman” or rich boy power fantasy Fugou Keiji started as. But the series itself has already moved away from that when it became more of a serious crime drama. However I am not here to be a debby-downer, because regardless of what more it could have done, I really enjoyed Fugou Keiji this week. From the consistent Batman references to the Modern Crimes shenanigans, everything was just a lot of fun, and I won’t complain about what we got.

Take the lift from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight for instance, where Daisuke uses everyone’s phones. Its clearly an homage, using the phones to map the city and find Shigemaru. But where The Dark Knight used it as a commentary on government surveillance and a test of Fox’s character, Fugou Keiji makes an AR gag out of it by having people spin around. It doesn’t have the same narrative weight to it of course. Its a lighter version of the same thing for a lighter show and I enjoyed the reference. Had Fugou Keiji taken itself more seriously, I don’t think it would have worked near as well, as it would only be compared even more to Nolan’s. I think Fugou Keiji could have pulled it off, but it would have been tough to face that comparison.

Beyond that, I also really enjoyed the hi-jinks of the Modern Crimes department. Seeing them escape the First Division watchers in their own way, clowning around and forcing him to hold a model ship. Holding up an antenna, fucking around in a kebab truck, joking about boats and hobbies. It was silly, but it was silly with a purpose and it wasn’t over the top either. It was comedy built out of the situation. And knowing they were working towards a serious goal the whole time, tracking down Cho’s receiver (called it) gave it something tangible to lean on. On top of that it also showed that, for all of Daisuke’s money and fancy gadgets, they can accomplish the same things through good old hard work and determination. Its part of why I think Fugou Keiji should have taken Daisuke’s money, so he could join in with their methods.

Similarly, seeing the First Division arrest and then come together to help Kato was great. Realizing he wasn’t against Takei, the whole bit where they found Kato’s letter of resignation in his desk, etc. It’s nice to pay back the multiple episodes of resentment between Kato and them, to really close that thread. And it didn’t come out of left field either, as we always knew that Takei thought highly of Kato, so this doesn’t come as a surprise. Between that and the bit with Cho, it goes a long way to showing that these are good people. That, for all their petty antics with Kato, they aren’t the enemy here nor do they agree with their departments handling of the Kambe case. This isn’t a systemic issue across all cops, its just the leadership.

And on top of all that, we come to the set piece on the boat, which was a grand little fight. Fugou Keiji isn’t an action set piece series by any means, there are no big sakuga cuts to be found here. But the big scene with Daisuke fighting the Russian atop the storage containers made a good showing of it. Finally stripping Daisuke of some of his tech, throwing him up against a superior opponent, knocking each other around a bit with hand-to-hand. Its exactly what you would want/expect from a Batman/Bond film, but in animated form. And with 2 episodes left it really feels like Fugou Keiji is gearing up for a full on, legitimate ending. None of this “Watch the next season” or “Read the manga” bullshit. A legitimate ending! And I cant wait!

So all in all, how was Fugou Keiji this week? For all its lost potential, for all the ways it could be more, at its core I am still enjoying it. The jokes/silly bits hit more often than they miss and the mystery is solid enough to keep me engaged. Yes, there could be more. Fugou Keiji could make better use of its characters, tell a better drama or story. But for all those issues there is still a baseline level of entertainment to be found. Fugou Keiji prioritizes the fun before anything else, and while that holds it back from being great, it does keep it being good. At least for me anyways. See you next week for our penultimate episode!