Tantei Monogatari
1979-1980 Japanese TV series
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Tantei Monogatari (探偵物語), or Detective Story, is an action Japanese TV series starring Yūsaku Matsuda that was originally broadcast on Nippon TV in 27 forty-five-minute episodes from September 18, 1979 to April 1, 1980. The show had various directors including Toru Murakawa, Kiyoshi Nishimura, Yukihiro Sawada and Yasuharu Hasebe.[1][2]
Yasuharu Hasebe
Toru Murakawa
Mikio Narita
Michihiro Yamanishi
Osamu Shigematsu
Hiroshi Shimizu
Tetsuo Nose
Tetsuro Maeda
Saburo Shoji
Hyoe Enoki
| Tantei Monogatari | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Keiichi Ozawa Yasuharu Hasebe Toru Murakawa |
| Starring | Yūsaku Matsuda Mikio Narita Michihiro Yamanishi Osamu Shigematsu Hiroshi Shimizu Tetsuo Nose Tetsuro Maeda Saburo Shoji Hyoe Enoki |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original language | Japanese |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nippon TV |
| Release | September 18, 1979 – April 1, 1980 |
Plot
Shunsaku Kudō sets up office in a rundown building as a private detective after spending five years as a cop in San Francisco where he became familiar with firearms. Kudō was originally envisioned as a standard hard-boiled type but star Yūsaku Matsuda looked too much like a rebel so the character ended up riding a Vespa scooter, smoking Camel cigarettes and dressing in a black or white suit and sunglasses. Also living in the building are two young girls (American actress Nancy Cheney and Kahori Takeda) who fuss over the detective.[1][3]
Cast
- Yūsaku Matsuda as Shunsaku Kudo
- Mikio Narita as Detective Hattori
- Mitsuko Baisho as Masako
- Michihiro Yamanishi as Detective Matsumoto
- Nancy Cheney as Nancy
- Kahori Takeda as Kahori
- Tetsuo Nose as Tattoo Guy (first generation)
- Hiroshi Shimizu as Iizuka, the owner of the antique shop and the gunsmith
- Osamu Shigematsu as Dandy
- Yukiko Tachibana
- Ryoko Watanabe
- Hiromi Hirata
- Tetsuro Maeda as Tattoo Guy (second generation)
- Saburo Shoji as Saburo, the pimp
- Hyoe Enoki as Yamazaki, the informant
Reception
Tantei Monogatari with its easy-going humorous style earned high ratings while on the air and later acquired a cult following. Nippon TV published a book about the show titled Yomigaere! Tantei Monogatari (Come Back! Detective Story) in 1994 and Toei Video later released the whole series.[3] Toei also released the entire series as a boxed set of Blu-ray discs in 2015.[4]