Naoki Hanzawa – Episode 8 (Review)

Reviews TV/Film

Naoki Hanzawa
Episode 8

Review by David Cirone

Hanzawa Naoki Episode 8 Review

After forcing Hanzawa (Masato Sakai) to beg for a delay, Tokyo Chuo bank’s executive director Owada (Teruyuki Kagawa) leaves him on the floor without a second glance.

Hanzawa and newly installed Iseshima Hotel President Yuasa (Taro Suruga) waste no time comparing notes. The IT company that the hotel relied on is going bankrupt, jeopardizing the hotel’s chances of financial recovery, and it turns out that Hane (Mitsuko Baisho) — Yuasa’s rival for control of the hotel – was behind that recommendation from the start. Hanzawa assures Yuasa that they’ve got some fight left in them and readies himself for the FSA’s next hearing.

Hanzawa Naoki Episode 8 Review

Savoring his apparent victory over Hanzawa, FSA inspector Kurosaki (Ainosuke Kataoka) scatters Hanzawa’s restructuring plan across the room and taunts his opponent with a new challenge: recover the 11 billion yen that the hotel invested in the IT company or surrender the hotel to Hane’s control. That means a win for Owada, too, and that’s the last thing Hanzawa is prepared to accept.

Owada begins to suspect that Hanzawa will be more irritating to him than expected, and takes steps to remove him from the Iseshima Hotel assignment. The bank will test Hanzawa in a mock inspection to see if he’s up to the challenge. The bank executives – fearful of the massive loss in both money and credibility – agree to Owada’s plan, but Hanzawa deduces its true meaning. Bold moves like this set Owada up to be the hero who saves the bank, clearing his way to taking over as Chairman of Tokyo Chuo.

Hanzawa Naoki Episode 8 Review

Owada-loyalist Fukuyama is appointed to face off against Hanzawa to grill him in the trial — and you know he’s a villain because he adjusts his glasses every time he has a good one-liner about how he’s going to win (an affectation eerily similar to Captain Kuro in One Piece). To ramp up the tension even more, Fukuyama’s wife is already being set up as a VIP in the “banker’s wives” social circle, freezing out Hanzawa’s wife Hana. The ladies even have a good laugh at the news that Hanzawa is sure to be replaced by the openly ambitious Fukuyama. Doesn’t every character in this story know by now that Hana (Aya Ueto) is the wrong person to mess with? Some people have to learn the hard way.

Hana tries to make her husband see the bright side: if Fukuyama takes over the hotel investigation, he can let go of all that stress he’s been carrying around. She implores him to be honest with her about why he’s so obsessed with winning this conflict with Owada, but he just can’t let himself open up to her. Hana doesn’t give up so easily and goes to seek answers from Hanzawa’s mother in his hometown.

Hanzawa Naoki Episode 8 Review

The mock investigation session begins, and Fukuyama has already worked behind the scenes to set Hanzawa up for failure. Owada strides in at the last minute to take his chair at the head of the proceedings. Everything is stacked up for Hanzawa’s imminent public failure.

Armed with his leather-bound tablet (loaded with plenty of incriminating charts), Fukuyama goes in for the kill immediately, but Hanzawa cuts him down by defining business leadership based on character rather than figures on a spreadsheet. It’s a brutal and merciless speech, and Hanzawa takes the opportunity to openly accuse bank management of colluding with Hane to sabotage the hotel.

Hanzawa Naoki Episode 8 Review

Disappointed in Fukuyama, Owada fumes at the defeat. Having passed the mock inspection, Hanzawa warns everyone in the room to stay out of his way so he can get back to saving the hotel and the bank and all their jobs. Mic drop.

Meanwhile, Kondo (Kenichi Takito) has done some digging at his own company assignment and discovers that Tamiya Electric’s been hiding a loan they received from Tokyo Chuo and never used – it was instead given out as a hidden loan to a salon unrelated to the company. When he follows the salon’s owner to her home, Kondo realizes that she’s not shacked up with Tamiya Electric’s president – instead, she walks straight through Owada’s front door.

Hanzawa Naoki Episode 8 Review

DOUBLE PAYBACK
The bank executives mock Hanzawa’s trademark “double payback” phrase behind his back, and maybe the walls have ears. Hanzawa makes a point of shamelessly spitting that threat back in their faces.

THE SCREW
Ueto is burdened with a rather overt monologue about the plastic screws of Hanzawa’s family business representing the skill and craftsmanship of Japanese people, and the value of something (or someone) that might seem insignificant but proves its worth by being hardened under pressure. As much as the actress invests herself in this speech, the metaphor feels as sincere as a soap commercial.

Hanzawa Naoki Episode 8 Review

TKO
This episode feels like the weakest of the series. Fukuyama never really presents a threat, no matter how many characters drop dialogue about the ethics of “people vs. numbers”. Fukuyama’s nowhere near a match for Sakai’s white-hot intensity, and after the mock session is over, Hanzawa’s back to exactly where we left him last episode — preparing to face off against the craft Kurosaki. If you skipped this episode and jumped straight to the next, you would not have missed very much substance.