[Faithful Reader]

"11:00 PM-12:00 AM"
Written by: Shûkei Nagasaka
Directed by: Kosuke Suzuki
Original Air Date: March 26, 2021

Start the Clock: As Genba races to the docks, Miyu eludes the evildoers. They eventually start firing, which concerns Andre as their plan will not work without Miyu being alive. Victor assures him that Genba is on his way no matter what.

Rumors of Urara’s death continue to be exaggerated and Yohei wants her to come clean. She emphasizes that she will once Miyu is safe and calls Yohei out for being willing to sacrifice the daughter of a public figure.

As Rikka looks lovingly at a picture of her family, Genji asks Itsuki for an update. She tries to throw him off the scent, but the marine police call with Miyu in custody. Genji verifies her identity, and she relays that they must stop Genba who is unaware of her safety. Genji fills in the blanks and orders Miyu brought back in and tries to reach Genba while ordering a troop to the area.

Genba arrives at the dock and as he assesses the situation, almost immediately gets a call from Andre. They direct him to the exchange point. Genba wants to hear from Miyu first in order to trust them and they counter with the knowledge of Urara being alive.

As Nanjo reports that the troop is out along with backup, Genba calls Itsuki. He is certain there is a traitor at CTU. She asks if it could be from the Urara Asakura delegation, but the phrasing Andre used strongly implied it came from CTU. Itsuki reads off the shortlist of those who knew and Genba tasks her with finding out who the spy is. She walks off but not before Genji gets a suspicious look.

Magoroku gets an urgent call to turn on the news and finds that the press knows Urara is alive. She immediately confronts Yohei who claims that they already had a strong inkling of such. She is too pissed off to handle him and rushes off to do a conference with the media.

Itsuki tells Andre that Miyu has been taken into custody and is on her way back to CTU. Also, there are two task forces heading their way. Andre is ready to cut his losses and run, but Andre asks Itsuki to call Genba and say that Miyu is dead. This will lure him out but if it does not work, Itsuki will be on thin ice.

Itsuki calls Genba with the news and he is distraught. As he collects himself, he sees a nearby truck.

Victor plans for a direct assault from Genba, knowing how one who lost his daughter feels. What they do not expect is Genba to come charging in on a truck and firing with guns in both hands. The Hayashi family tries to retreat with Andre holding things down while Victor gets away, but Genba distracts long enough to shoot Andre. He confronts Victor but has run out of bullets. After Victor fires a gun out of his hand, he makes a lunge for another weapon and shoots Victor.

Nanjo informs Rikka about Miyu.

23:29:00 As Urara addresses the press, Magoroku approached Yohei. Astonishingly, Magoroku agrees with Yohei’s decision to leak the news, insofar as it let them get the information out. Also, Urara wants to talk to Yohei after the conference is over. Magoroku notes that their relationship is not dead and Yohei might be able to save it.

News reaches Genji of Genba’s success, though somehow this news came without the revelation of Miyu being safe or Itsuki being a spy. Everyone is elated, including Rikka who happened to be wandering by.

Itsuki is in the server room deleting data, placing a bomb and shooting a guard who happens to be walking by. She calls a contact and asks for an extraction before being found by Rikka. The two talk, though Itsuki is eager to end the conversation. Rikka outright asks if there is anything between Itsuki and Genba. Not only does Itsuki say there are none, but she will also transfer shortly after all is said and done. Rikka notices the blood and tries to exit, but Itsuki also takes note and holds Rikka at gunpoint.

23:39:41 Genba goes to the marine police to claim Miyu’s body and is met with confusion then confirmation that she is not there. He calls Genji to ask about the body and Genji says Miyu is on her way back to CTU. Genba realizes that Itsuki is the spy, but Genji needs more evidence, though he does see the Itsuki is not at her desk.

Rikka sits bound and gagged while Itsuki finishes her work. Genba calls tech support for footage of Akechi from that morning. It has been deleted along with the backups. Thankfully, Genba has the code for the Top-Secret backups.

Yohei completely blows his saving roll in talking to Urara first by asking to delay the conversation then saying that he leaked the information for her. Urara gives him her pity, telling him he is unfit to be her husband and asks him to leave.

Genba gets the footage which shows Itsuki slaying Akechi.

23:48:56 Genba gets the footage to Genji who orders Itsuki taken into custody, though they have to find her first.

Having set the bomb for ten minutes, Itsuki is on the line with her contact. A rendezvous point is set but she has to get rid of all evidence, at which point she looks menacingly at Rikka.

Nanjo questions Genji about Itsuki but the evidence is damning. The manhunt for Itsuki is on but she eludes/shoots her way out, making her way to the garage to escape but is stopped by Genba. He is ready to shoot her, but she says she is working for an authority beyond the Hayashi’s. Plus, he was responsible for some of the deaths, too. Genji and Nanjo talk him of the ledge, especially since Miyu is back at CTU.

23:54:40 Genba and Miyu are reunited, though Genba wants to get Rikka so that the family can walk out together. Over news footage that Genba saved Urara, Genba tries to find Rikka but soon finds Itsuki’s trail. He deactivates the bomb only to find her shot. The bomb reactivates with eight seconds left as Genba picks up his wife and makes his way out. Miyu is shaken by the explosion as we see Rikka and Genba’s bodies in the rubble.

00:00:00

In a post credit sequence, we see Genba regain consciousness.

iMagic: Genba openly asks Andre where he got the phone number. Andre brushes it off, but the real reason is because the plot demanded it.

Stormtrooper Accuracy: The plan to get Miyu to reveal herself? Shout at her to come out.

Dunder Mifflin: Itsuki knows all the nooks and crannies from which to make secret calls in CTU.

Peter Griffin Moment: After hearing the news of Genba’s victory, Rikka asks Mylo where Itsuki is and Mylo does not see her but guesses she is in the rest room.

[REDATED] it!: That guttural scream we saw in the opening moments of the series? Nowhere to be found.

The Cubbies: Nanjo gets the task forces ready and tells Rikka the good news.

I’m Not a Spy: Calling CTU to get information? Good. Calling the specific person who is a spy, but you are unaware of that? Less good.

Five Minute Rule: Miyu does not know exactly where she was being held, but CTU decides to search the area of the dock she was found in.

Amnesia Bait: Rikka is bound and gagged close enough to a phone that, if she were able to free herself even partially, the jig would be up.

24-Gate: Being told to turn on the news, Magoroku knows exactly which channel to use. Also, Urara is able to get a conference with the press at a moment’s notice.

THAT kind of topless: Genba single handedly (and completely bloodlessly) takes down the Hayashi gang.

Day Player of the Week: The marine cop who talks to Genba at the station placates him politely even going so far as to call dispatch and make sure there were no other bodies found.

One More Time: “Mago, say something.” “Sorry, but can you leave me out of this?”
Yohei needing some help but getting none.

Hour Time: “Let’s … go home together.” The culmination of the series is a dark one. Whereas the original series would end with Rikka’s equivalent dead, here there is a bomb (!) and Genba might very well be in dire straits as well.

There is a lot leading up to that moment, including Genba combing CTU looking for Rikka and that turning into a hunt of a different kind. Itsuki placed Rikka as though she was just sitting in a chair, but we get a big clue as to what happened when Rikka does not respond. The camera work is great and as odd as it is to praise someone for playing a corpse, Tae Kimura does it well. Really, she sells the scene with Itsuki earlier as the two complete their reconciliation. For someone who did not really have all that much to do in the final act of the series, she did what she could and then some.

Chiaki Kuriyama deserves a lot of credit for Itsuki as well. There are two different characters in there and you can see the difference between the two while not betraying who she is. It is a fine line to walk but it is done with success. The biggest problem is that if she was a spy all along, why didn’t she sit on her hands back at the breakfast meeting? If she does, Urara is killed and Genba is framed. The script tries to cover this up by saying that there is a higher up, but it does not really track. That was the biggest offender but given her role in CTU, there were a lot of times she could have had success but did not for reasons not explained to the viewer.

Nanjo really has nothing to do in this episode. He does some things around the office, but you could eliminate him from the script and not have too much to change. Genji has some good moments when he finds out about Itsuki initially and when he tells Nanjo. The conversation is filled with rage as he tells Nanjo that she is a traitor.

That takes care of everyone at CTU except Genba, who kicks major ass in the top of this episode. He is cornered into a fight, but he wins that fight, even taking out the boss in the end. It is a great action sequence and a nice mirror to the suspenseful sequences we will get later. His ass kicking follows to CTU where he comes oh so close to a win. He has a scene with Miyu and comes real close to disarming the bomb. The one two punch of Rikka and that bomb is harsh. Thankfully, there is a post credits scene but that last shot was poetic. Oddly enough, it might have worked on its own.

The Asakura plot had an ending as well. Everything played out well here as well, though the soul of it was Yohei. Magoroku was right that their marriage may not be over, but Yohei blew it. Several times. Magoroku was right in that the right words would save their family, but Yohei actively went against that information, instead throwing it in Urara’s face that she in the candidate based on honesty. Urara throws that right back at him, disgusted with his demeanor for the day. Yukie Nakama owns the scene and plays it as a strong Prime Minister.

A fantastic though not perfect ending all around.

[Faithful Reader]

24-Japan
Series Overview

Start the Clock: As the day began, CTU got word that Prime Minister Candidate, the first woman to do so, Urara Asakura, was the target of an assassination. Genba Shido was put in charge of the investigation. Things got testy when Genba’s daughter, Miyu ran away, leaving Genba’s wife, Rikka, to find her.

For her part, Urara finds out that there is some shady business involving her family. She was unaware, but her son might have committed a murder, voluntarily or otherwise. She eventually decides to come clean at a breakfast meeting that morning.

Genba makes progress towards the assassination though Rikka and Miyu are kidnapped by the assassins. The near-do-wells use that as leverage to blame Genba for the attempt on Urara.

But Genba is able to foil that plot, eventually rescuing his family. Unfortunately, he got himself in a large amount of trouble in order to do so. Thankfully, Urara realizes that Genba was part of a mission she ordered years ago. The two meet and they realize that the family Genba killed in that mission is not as dead as they thought.

While Genba is invetigating that lead, the safe house that Rikka and Miyu is hit which gives Rikka a momentary bout of amnesia and Miyu reconnects with an unlikely ally.

Urara gets the truth out while Genba finds Victor Hayashi, the person whom the entire point of the mission was to kill. As the polls close with a probable victory for Urara, Genba exacts his revenge on the Hayashi clan. The victory is short lived as one of Genba’s trusted colleagues turns out to be a mole, one who shot Rikka before being apprehended.

Favorite iMagic: From 7:00 AM -8:00 AM: All the ‘Find my iPhone’ app tells me is that it is in the building. They’ve got a GPS that works down to the millimeter!

Favorite Stormtrooper Accuracy: From 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Alexi Hayashi manages to book a room not only in in the same hotel but on the same floor as Urara and does not try to do her in when she is pretty much down the hall from him. Is anyone trying anymore?

Favorite Dunder Mifflin: From 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Got to admire the professionalism in the office. The first female candidate for Prime Minister and the most favored to win comes to CTU and no one bats an eye or fangoobers.

Favorite Money Shot: Specifically skipping the first episode which is too obvious a target, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM has two figures that will play big roles as the season transitions; Andre Hiyashi roughly two thirds through his conversation with the villainous Tamizo but new Captain Midoroku Obata CTU first Division Squad A gets one as she steps into CTU with an icy glare.

Favorite Food Glorious Food: From 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Holy crow do Rikka and Miyu get an amazing spread of food at the safe house. If I went to a restaurant and ordered it, I would be paying at least fifty dollars! Someone spared no expense at getting a first-class lunch.

Favorite Peter Griffin Moment: From 8:00 AM -9:00 AM: For the first time in a long day, Genba takes a power nap. For like half a minute. It proves to be detrimental as his captive Rouri takes the moment to attempt an escape.

Favorite [REDATED] it!: From 4:00 AM -5:00 AM: As Genji chews out Genba, he mentions being hit by the tranquilizer dart which causes Genba to chuckle, a fact that does not go unnoticed and infuriates Genji. Later, Genba will officially ask Genji to talk to Eifuku and it will tear Genji up to give that permission.

Favorite The Cubbies: From 3:00 AM – 4:00 AM: Nanjo never tells Itsuki that he called for the internal investigation, but it takes her all of five seconds to figure it out. Honorable mention to 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM where Genji is entirely out of line with his questioning, but Nanjo takes it on the chin.

Favorite I’m Not a Spy: From 6:00 AM – 7:00 AM: Itsuki has a ‘What’s a containment breach?’ moment when Mylo tells her that going from 20% to 98% of recovering lost data in moments is too good to be true.

Favorite Five Minute Rule: From 1:00 AM – 2:00 AM: Miyu decides that it is a good idea to attack the driver of the van they are in. She also tries to claim that some cops who have pulled someone over on the street are already on the case.

Favorite Amnesia Bait: From 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Ever the adult, Rikka apologizes for getting so personal with Itsuki during the questioning.

Favorite 24-Gate: From 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM: As Yohei tells a staff member at the school that he and Urara are a power couple, she calls him over about his shenanigans.

Favorite Let’s Up the Rating: From 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM: The only thing missing from Noboru giving Urara a massage is a seventies porn soundtrack.

Favorite THAT kind of topless: From 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: A car is about as close quarters combat as you can get and Genba still kicks ass.

Favorite Day Player of the Week: From 12:00 AM – 1:00 AM: Either Kenshi Takemoto or Tomohiro Furuya swho both sell air traffic controllers who loses a plane.

Favorite Employee of the Month: From 5:00 AM – 6:00 AM: Mylo takes one look at Akechi and knows how to speed things up. Then he decides to look at a corpse for some reason. And is not revolted.

Favorite One More Time: From 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: “Get the big shot in front of you to put in a good word.”
Old, retired mentor with connections Eiji telling Genba how to find a ‘Get out of Jail Free” card.

Hour Time: "Event occur in real time." Making an adaptation is always risky. A close adaptation does not lend itself to much artistic flair or interest to old audiences while a more liberal approach that is almost a completely different series is a little off putting.

It was clear from early on that while a lot of the structure overall would be mirroring the U.S. version, there were clues that there would be some detours. At the outset, we start at the end of the series with Genba finding out Rikka is dead and smashing through the gates. Fans of the original know what it is, and it is an exciting sequence for new viewers.

A lot of the derivations involve characters staying past their time in the U.S. version. Mylo is probably the biggest example, but the addition of Yohei’s mother is another change. The former worked while the later did not and a lot of the flaws of the U.S. version are present as well. The main difference is the actors, though they do save what could otherwise be a bad scene, more or less. Mylo got to have a deeper story, breaking up the tension as the day progressed, as did Ken to a lesser extent as his counterpart was pretty much gone by the time they went to jail. It helps that there is a good five more minutes of runtime in the modern Japanese market than twenty years ago on network American television. There are no huge changes but the ones that are there serve to enhance the story. The amnesia subplot is still weak but highly elevated by the acting. The budget is smaller here but at times it works whether intentionally or not such as the climatic twenty-third hour explosion being smaller and indoors plays a lot more realistic.

The overall assassination plot worked well as was the one big plot running the entire season. The tension as high at times and things got suspenseful. As the season went on and Urara shared more scenes with Genba, they popped together as an onscreen pair. The Miyu and Rikka plots were a bit hit and miss though they had the biggest burden of having to burn an episode here and there putting the showcase on the acting. The Urara political side of things worked well even with the gender flip which several characters leaned into and had fun with.

The DNA of the series is pure 24. The split screens, the ticking clock, it is all there. The music is spot on, with themes coming to prominence, especially in the final hour as Itsuki becomes ‘Luna.’ These are all surface level things, but it works as a franchise and the case is able to hit it out of the park.

Hiyori Sakurada’s Miyu Shido is not really able to elevate the material. Too often, when a scene falls flat, it is her scene. She mistakes confusion for drowsiness and is too disinterested. Granted, it is a long day, but too often the scenes with her were better when she was surrounded by stronger actors.

Terri Baur was the weak link in the U.S. version overall, where the writers pretty much ran out of material for her and regulated her to sitting around CTU for three episodes. Thankfully, Tae Kimura is simply amazing. She has chemistry with everyone, even when she is taken hostage. The amnesia scenes could have been a failure but she manages to keep things interesting and engaging with the audience. She is a joy to watch.

Nanjo peaked early on as far as an overall character is concerned. A side effect of Mylo staying on longer than before is a lot of what Nanjo would do was handed to Mylo. He was mainly support after the first act of the series though he would be supportive of Genba, having his back when things looked grim. Hiroyuki Ikeuchi played the stalwart soldier helping out when he could, eventually saving Rikka.

It took a while for George Mason to become the asshole boss to Jack Bauer but 24 Japan kept bringing in more antagonists as the day wore on. Shiro Sano and the rest of the cast gave separations between Genji and the rest. He is not met favorably initially but is eventually won over. He does bad things as the day goes on, but they are necessary and the only time we see him lose it is in the end when Itsuki is revealed to be a spy. There are several times where he crosses the line but eventually gets back on your good side.

Itsuki Mizuishi is mainly there to be support and reveal things about Genba’s relationship with Rikka, but Chaiki Kuriyama never breaks the professionalism until the very end. The transformation is striking and there is a difference between her working with a colleague and a civilian. For the vast majority, she is a strong second to Genba.

The supports to Urara are a great pair of contrasts with Denden playing the slimy Joshu and Toshiki Ayata playing the reserved Magoroku Osada. The latter is the heart behind Urara’s soul knowing politics and being very calm in the face of danger. As Yohei, Michitaka Tsutsui just does not survive the gender swap. He does not have that sneakiness required of a Lady Macbeth role. Their relationship is doomed and while it does work with the two being on different pages, Tsutsui’s end does not work.

Yujkie Nakama owns the role of Urara Asakura. She will never be mistaken for Dennis Haysbert and se does not try to either. She makes the role her own and we saw that early on in the parking garage and later when she puts the pieces together. She has a different energy to her but is no less firm. Her speeches work as does her moments as a mother along with being a candidate. Her being on the screen was always great to see.

Later seasons of 24 would feature Jack Bauer showing his age, but the thirty-six-year-old Kiefer Sutehrland when he started was different than the fifty-four-year-old Toshiaki Karasawa. That aspect of his character was brought in much earlier and he was the central character of the series. He was the one who had to make the wrong decision for the right reasons. Several times he has to go off book, but he always leaves a trail to show why he is doing his actions. As much as the action sequences were on point, so were the quieter moments when he would put things together. He was a more established actor than Sutherland was at that point, but he was great as the series lead.

The series is not required watch and some things are better while others are worse than the original and while I came close to not doing this watch twice, I did wind up enjoying the series and would recommend it, if you have a day to spare.