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The story
It was announced on October 13 that in TV Asahi’s detective drama “Aibou” season 25 (premiering October 21), the role of Sugishita Ukyo’s (Mizutani Yutaka) partner will switch from Kameyama Kaoru, played by Terawaki Yasufumi, to Kanbe Takeru, played by Oikawa Mitsuhiro. This marks the series’ fifth partner change overall and its first in five years. Mizutani commented that “the Aibou world is about to write a new chapter.” On 5ch, reactions skewed less toward celebration and more toward speculation about what’s coming next — including hopes that former partners Sorimachi Takashi and Narimiya Hiroki might return, alongside worries about Mizutani’s age and the show’s sheer longevity.
It was revealed on October 13 that in the new season of the hit detective drama “Aibou season 25” (TV Asahi, Wednesdays 9pm), premiering October 21, the “partner” of Sugishita Ukyo — played by Mizutani Yutaka — will be handed over at some point this season from Kameyama Kaoru, played by Terawaki Yasufumi, to Kanbe Takeru, played by Oikawa Mitsuhiro.
Kameyama Kaoru (Terawaki) served as the original partner through the middle of season 7 (2008), then returned as the partner again in season 21 (2022). The hot-blooded, big-hearted Kaoru often clashed with the cool, cerebral Ukyo, but the two became indispensable to each other through case after case. The “golden duo” of Kaoru and Ukyo is now entering its 12th season together in total.
Following the announcement, Mizutani commented: “From Kameyama to Kanbe — this is something only a show with Aibou’s long history could pull off. In fact, it’s the ultimate move that only Aibou could make. Ukyo himself is quietly feeling his heart race at the thought of the Aibou world beginning to write a new chapter.”
Source: mantan-web.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Before that happens… yeah, that's pushing it a bit lol
Isn't doing that twice kind of brutal?
Pu-pu-pi-doo, Mitchy♪
Pu-pu-pi-doo, Sacchii♫ (riffing on the goofy self-naming lyric from Oikawa's own hit song — "Mitchy" is his longtime nickname)
but turns out we're just starting lap two of partners.
Dark Kaito's comeback (the fans' nickname for Narimiya's character, a nod to "Dark Knight") can't be far behind now.
Wait, Mizutani Yutaka is 74?
Guess it's just depicting the reality of an aging society
He's been back for four years though, right? Can't really call that a bad fit
this is probably just a test run for pairings in a spin-off
but nah, Sorimachi's return is definitely on the table now
Even Oikawa's already well past the age Ishihara Yujiro died at (the legendary actor icon who died at 52)
Wouldn't the Kameyama-Kanbe combo be fine on its own?
About the only way to get him involved in cases would be as a private detective.
Well, given how he exited…
If he does come back, it'd probably be as a criminal helping analyze cases from the inside —
like a Hannibal Lecter type.
There's already Sugimoto Tetta's character, who went from criminal all the way up to Deputy Superintendent-General
Since it falls under the jurisdiction of a former National Police Agency deputy chief, it wouldn't be strange for a commander to get sent down from the NPA.
Just set it up as the endgame lineup already.
If they don't wrap this up soon, the show's perpetually mumbling Chief of Detectives is going to die of old age first.
He's a career police bureaucrat, so after 15 years he'd automatically have climbed way up the ranks — having him show up as just a regular field partner doesn't really hold up anymore
Given the era, a lot of the stories are heavy, but the writing is genuinely great.
Wish the writers from that era would come back
"Miss Green" is the episode that made me love Kanbe
Don't tell me he's quitting again?
If they pull the "he's quitting again" card after all this…
Maybe a forced transfer, though that seems easy enough to write around either way.
Or the ultimate move — killing him off in the line of duty — though I doubt it.
Go make a new "Seibu Keisatsu" instead (a classic 1980s Japanese cop action drama).
Nice, I'm in.
"Taiyo ni Hoero!" would be great too (a legendary 1970s–80s detective series).
They're rerunning it on Sunday afternoons where I live right now and it's the best.
The music and the cinematography are way too cool.
Shame Yujiro's not around anymore though.
Well, the writers are probably racking their brains over it right now.
Odds of a comeback are high — as long as he doesn't touch cocaine again, anyway.
I feel like Mizutani said something along those lines too.
Anyway, quit dragging this out and just do a final season or a movie finale already
He did talk about Kameyama's return being like destiny or something, didn't he…
Funny thing, that exact claim popped up in the TV Asahi drama live-thread about a month ago.
Everyone figured it was fake and ignored it, but…
Background and Discussion Points
“Aibou” has aired since 2000, and over the course of this long-running series the role of Sugishita Ukyo’s partner has rotated from Kameyama Kaoru (Terawaki Yasufumi) → Kanbe Takeru (Oikawa Mitsuhiro) → Kanjo Wataru (Narimiya Hiroki) → back to Kameyama Kaoru, making this the fifth changeover. Terawaki served as the original partner through the middle of season 7, then returned in season 21 — putting his combined tenure at 12 seasons. Sorimachi Takashi and Narimiya Hiroki (“Dark Kaito”), both named in the thread, are actors who have also played Sugishita’s partner in the past; since former partners have a track record of returning to the role, there’s a built-in appetite on the boards for speculating about “who’s coming back next.” As for Kanjo, played by Narimiya, the actor stepped away from entertainment work following a 2016 drug incident, which is the backdrop for why speculation about his return keeps resurfacing. Mizutani Yutaka is 74, and the thread showed real fatigue over his age and the show’s sheer longevity — notably, the dominant interest wasn’t the partner swap itself so much as “when is this actually going to end.”
*This article is composed of excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports Breaking News+) thread “[TV Asahi] Aibou: Fifth “partner” handoff in five years confirmed — mid-season switch from “Kaoru” Terawaki Yasufumi to “Takeru” Oikawa Mitsuhiro [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★] (the giant-panda scientific name used as the news-bot poster’s handle, a common 5ch convention).”
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