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The story
The spinoff film series centered on Muroi Shinji from “Bayside Shakedown” (Odoru Daisōsasen) is set to air on terrestrial TV for the first time ever. Ahead of the broadcast, threads on 5ch lit up with talk of how Muroi and Waku’s stories ended in the films, along with praise for star Yanagiba Toshiro’s performance. The discussion also spread to the box office performance of the currently-running sequel film and the long-reported reluctance of cast members, including Oda Yuji, to return for sequels — sparking a broader debate about where the franchise goes from here.
What people said
Onda and Muroi were both absolutely essential.
Apparently Giba-chan (actor Yanagiba Toshiro's nickname) himself begged them to let his character die.
Wait, Onda died too?
Waku-san actually died as well — this franchise is brutal.
What's even fun about it once every core member is gone?
Going out to search for a dog in the snow, getting stranded, and just dying like that — I wanted to smack someone over that!
Watching them again now that I'm older, it actually stings a bit.
Totally get it.
Honestly, Yanagiba Toshiro's acting was insanely good.
So few lines, yet he conveyed so much through expression alone.
That constant undertone of lingering regret he carried.
That one already wrapped up.
A guy whose career dreams got crushed, slinking back alone to his hometown — that's just too sad.
Is the ending really that bleak?
Did they really need to dig up all that old grief?
An AI Waku-san does show up though.
Timeline-wise: he got arrested, got shipped off to the Hiroshima Prefectural Police,
then came back and rose all the way to Commissioner-General's Secretariat Councillor.
At that point the Commissioner-General told him, 'once this dirty work is done, you're one of us' — and he refused.
In the final film he nearly got cut down by the Commissioner-General,
but the Commissioner-General ended up losing power, and Muroi was in some odd post by the end,
so I don't think he was fired — more like he quit.
It wasn't mandatory retirement, he resigned.
Okita arranged for him to go out with some dignity by offering him the Chief position at the Akita Prefectural Police back in his hometown, but Muroi turned it down, and Shinjo took the post instead.
I guess they just didn't know what to do with him once they decided to make a sequel.
I've heard the reception wasn't great.
It's just that the older Bayside Shakedown films made monster box office — I've seen reports that this new one is also off to a pretty solid start.
So people are actually watching it, huh.
He had that nicely worn-down look going on, so it piqued my interest a bit.
Though it still feels more like a 'fine to catch on TV or streaming' kind of movie.
Apparently it's losing to Chiikawa (the hit cute-character anime film).
Well, in that world it was an era where only Todai and Kyodai (University of Tokyo and Kyoto University) counted for anything.
I can't tell if Onda actually died or not.
There was a scene implying his death, but it wasn't shown as directly as Muroi's.
The 'he's still alive' theory seems to be winning out.
There's a line saying Onda has been suffering from aftereffects for 20 years, so he must still be alive.
I'll watch it if it's good.
Though that idiot at Re: #2 already spoiled it for me.
If you've watched all the way through the Bayside Shakedown series, it's good.
Jump in partway and you won't understand a thing.
If they wanted to kill someone off, wouldn't the negotiator or the lawyer have done just as well?
Her daughter's in it too.
Yanagiba-san was all over variety shows playing up his Muroi image for a while.
Oda Yuji also worried he'd end up like Tora-san (the perpetual lead of the long-running 'It's Tough Being a Man' franchise) if he kept it up, so he was reluctant to do sequels for a while.
Now he seems super eager, and a sequel to the new film is basically already set.
Still, the story goes he turned down villain roles specifically to protect Muroi's image, so he clearly has real attachment to the character. That's separate from whether he actually wants to appear in this one, though. Apparently this time too he told the staff it'd be weird for Muroi — who quit the police — to cross the cordon and join the investigation.
Background and Talking Points
The “Bayside Shakedown” franchise began as a TV drama in 1998 and expanded through multiple theatrical films, reaching a turning point with the two-part finale centered on Muroi Shinji. In the thread, while Muroi’s death was depicted unambiguously, whether Detective Waku Heihachiro lived or died was only hinted at through dialogue, leaving room for differing interpretations. The claim that lead cast members like Yanagiba Toshiro and Fukatsu Eri were long hesitant to return for sequels — out of concern about being permanently typecast — has circulated before, and this thread adds that Oda Yuji, too, reportedly hesitated over sequel appearances for a time. For viewers who’ve been following the new films without having seen the earlier entries, this first-ever terrestrial broadcast could be a chance to catch up on the whole series in one go.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5channel (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Good News] Bayside Shakedown’s Muroi Shinji Spinoff Films Get Their First-Ever Terrestrial Broadcast wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”
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