Naoki Hanzawa
Episode 9
Review by David Cirone
Back to the main event– it’s the final day of the FSA inquiry, and Inspector Kurosaki (Ainosuke Kataoka) is ready for the takedown. He’s got no patience for Hanzawa (Masato Sakai) or his team’s neatly-packaged proposals. He wants a fast answer — either the Iseshima Hotel immediately recoups its heavy financial losses or the FSA has no choice but to brand Tokyo Chuo as negligent and oust Iseshima’s president.
If Hanzawa fails this final hearing, it means victory not only for Kurosaki (who’s taking advantage of his final chance to turn the bank’s conference room into a Jai-Alai fronton for paper reports) but also for executive director Owada (Teruyuki Kagawa), who has set the stage for a coup. Owada uses one of his subordinates to stage a fake dispute over the bank chairman’s judgment. Owada eagerly jumps in to “defend” the chairman’s decision appointing Hanzawa to lead the bank’s response to the FSA inquiry. Surely, the chairman’s knows what he’s doing, bur if things don’t work out, there’s no doubt who will take the blame. If Hanzawa fails, the dominoes fall into place and clear the path for Owada to take to the top seat.
Hanzawa plays his final card — he implores Iseshima Hotel President Yuasa (Taro Suruga) to accept a merger offer from the top American hotel chain, ending the family’s independent control of the hotel but buying them a pat to the future that will solve their debt problems and remove them from FSA scrutiny. Yuasa’s bold move scores Hanzawa the victory he seeks, but Kurosaki isn’t done yet. His team has been staking Hanzawa’s every move, and they trick one of Hanzawa’s eager young assistants into betraying the location of the hidden bank documents that Kurosaki’s been searching for.
Kurosaki’s rage and embarrassment at the hearing propel him to invite Owada and Chairman Nakanowatari (Kinya Kitaoji) to the bank’s basement storage room where Hanzawa has hidden the documents — if Kurosaki can’t take down Tokyo Chuo Bank and the Iseshima Hotel, he can at least destroy Hanzawa’s reputation. Hanzawa once again comes within inches of defeat, but slick sleight-of-hand maneuver puts Kurosaki’s attacks to rest once and for all.
Meanwhile, Kondo (Kenichi Takito) pushes Tamiya Electric’s CEO to testify against Owada in order to save the company from its’s 30 million yen debt. Kondo convinces him to testify in writing that Owada forced him to make an illegal loan to Owada’s mistress. One that signed document is presented to the bank, Owada’s career will be finished and he’ll be banned from the position he attained by stepping on people like Hanzawa’s father.
Owada takes fast action and intercepts Kondo on his way to deliver the CEO’s document to the bank. Owada offers Kondo a deal — hand over that evidence, and Owada will bring Kondo back from his small-town exile to work in the big leagues once again.
COMPANY vs PEOPLE
This episode’s dialogue leans heavily on portraying bankers and company executives as humanists who (should) place the welfare of their employees and customers above profits. When Hanzawa’s idealism is challenged (“Is this how you think the hotel has survived a hundred years?”), the argument really isn’t fair. Hanzawa Naoki is at its best when it focuses on the lead character’s need for validation and revenge, but making every banker and businessman a white knight is a hard sell.
“WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!”
I never expected Kurosaki to triumph, but it was a true joy to watch Kataoka do his Wrath of Khan best to outwit Hanzawa. The range of expressions the actor uses from his final debate to tearing through the boxes of “evidence” is phenomenal.
THE LAST TEMPTATION
Kondo’s surprising decision at the climax of this episode is played with intense turmoil by Takito, accented by some extreme camera angles that bring back the specter of mental illness that dominated his storyline in the first arc. I’m not sure I buy this character’s shifting loyalties at this stage, but Takito sure sells it convincingly.