INSPECTOR FURUHATA NINZABURŌ (1994) Answers the Question: "What if Columbo Was Evil?"

I've been a fan of Columbo since childhood, so hearing that there was a series that was "like if Columbo was an ambush predator instead of a persistence hunter" instantly caught my attention. That series is Inspector Furuhata Ninzaburō, a Japanese crime drama from the 90s. The format is similar to Columbo—a "howcatchem" with special guest stars—but with a "Challenge to the Reader"-esque break before the climax where you're encouraged to try and figure out what trick Furuhata will use to corner the culprit. Furuhata also addresses the audience at the start of each episode with spectacularly unhelpful "advice" that hints at the key point of the mystery. "If you wear a blue shirt, black pants, and a purple jacket, please don't wear a red scarf," he informs us, "because you will lose some friends."

Furuhata himself, played by Masakazu Tamura, is memorably and charismatically awful. While Columbo can irritate people, Furuhata seems to actually get a kick out of toying with his prey. He's like if the trickster mentor archetype went around solving crimes, while also torturing his student (the hapless sidekick Imaizumi). I love it. As I was watching, I wrote capsule reviews for each episode of season 1, rating them based on the core Columbo-like components of Murder Quality, Villain Quality, and Gotcha Quality.

Episode 1: Message from the Dead

• Murder Quality: 4/5. This was the Columbo episode 'Try and Catch Me', almost verbatim, except with a manga artist (and her dog).
• Villain Quality: 4/5. Again, similar to Abigail Mitchell from Columbo, but a less sympathetic motive. But her dynamic with Furuhata was great, a nice candlelit battle of wits.
• Gotcha Quality: 2/5. Flimsy; there was a very obvious alternative explanation of the dying message that I was surprised they didn't use instead. Maybe it was too close to the aforementioned Columbo episode.

Episode 2: Moving Corpse

• Murder Quality: 3/5. Guy accidentally murders the security guard he bribed covering up a different homicide. Some leeway for being on the fly. According to Furuhata, a broken watch is instantly suspicious and never actually happens, except later in episode 6 when it does.
• Villain Quality: 5/5. Hamming it up and having a great time, with plenty of tension as he tries to cover his tracks. Apparently Masaaki Sakai played Columbo in the actual Japanese adaptation of Columbo.
• Gotcha Quality: That seems a little thin, Furuhata. But there was an extraordinarily funny one earlier in the episode, so I'll average it to 3/5.

Episode 3: Funny Corpse

• Murder Quality: 2/5. Similar to the Columbo episode 'Lady in Waiting' (woman kills someone close to her with the excuse that it was "self-defense", and she thought he was a burglar!). Except, in 'Lady in Waiting', the scheme doesn't actually work. In this one it does because she's a psychologist and can perfectly predict human behaviour. Um, if you say so.
• Villain Quality: 3/5. Typical Columbo-like villain antics, similar to 'Message from the Dead' but less sympathetic since she's dating a patient.
• Gotcha Quality: 1/5. What the hell did that have to do with anything? 

 Episode 4: Killing Fax

• Murder Quality: 2/5. This is the Columbo episode 'Ransom for a Dead Man' with an additional alibi gimmick involving a fax machine. You may (like me) think the villain's alibi trick is weak for exactly the reason they end up busting it, so they have to introduce Furuhata's stupid boss to justify anyone going along with all this.
• Villain Quality: 2/5. I think the problem here was that the incredibly complicated setup means that the villain barely got any scenes with Furuhata, or lines at all. Great reaction to the gotcha, though.
• Gotcha Quality: 4/5. I mean, lousy episode, but very memorable gotcha. Sort of like Columbo's 'Suitable for Framing'.

 Episode 5: Dirty King

• Murder Quality: 5/5, I loved this one. There were several tricks to figure out, including how the shogi player villain rigged the match he was playing. First episode to use the setup that Furuhata is here on a business trip, and there is a very real deadline before the evidence is destroyed.
• Villain Quality: 4/5. Classic Columbo-style villain, pretentious, top of his field, hoisted by his own petard, etc. Not the most memorable, but definitely some pathos—like the kind of character Robert Culp plays.
• Gotcha Quality: 5/5, IMO the strongest deduction of this batch, but that's partly because I felt sooo smart for figuring it out.

Episode 6: Piano Lesson

• Murder Quality: 2/5. Tasing someone to fake a heart condition on very short notice. That said, there is a good in-universe motivation for going through with the scheme despite its weakness.
• Villain Quality: 5/5. 😳Had a strong presence, great banter with Furuhata, and some pathos at the end.
• Gotcha Quality: 5/5. First example of the recurring bit "killer acts on knowledge XYZ from the time of the murder which has since changed". But it also led to a reveal that was just gut-wrenchingly sad.

 Episode 7: Murder Rehearsal

• Murder Quality: 1/5. "Kill him and pretend it's an accident" again except this time it's BRUTALLY HACKING HIS BOSS TO DEATH IN FRONT OF DOZENS OF WITNESSES AND A CAMERA?? Completely ridiculous on every level.
• Villain Quality: 3/5. Nenji Kobayashi played the role well even if I struggled with the bizarre setup. Plus there's one scene with Furuhata that was really excellent.
• Gotcha Quality: Ignoring the ridiculous idea that anyone would think this wasn't a murder, 3/5, I like the ones with pathos.

Episode 8: Murder on the Limited Express

• Murder Quality: 3/5? Eurgh, what a nasty way to go. I have to give points to this one for something going wrong; I feel like those always tend to be strong reverse-whodunnits and plenty of tension.
• Villain Quality: 4/5. The group I was watching it with thought, "Wow, this guy is the spitting image of Chairman Kaga!" That is because it is Takeshi Kaga. Basically playing his usual archetype (evil version), but it works well for the genre. Bit of an inversion of the usual dynamic; Furuhata doesn't play dumb, nor is he in a position of authority here.
• Gotcha Quality: 2/5. See my note for episode 6, but this one was a bit sillier. Points for delivery, though, the exchange was funny.

Episode 9: Public Broadcast Murder

• Murder Quality: 2/5. Baffling contextless opening about randomly beating a man to death in a field, whose connection to the "phony psychic" plot takes a long time to click.
• Villain Quality: 1/5. Much like his role in Maison Ikkoku, so much of the episode is spent dunking on Ken Ishiguro's character that you just feel bad for the guy. Doesn't interact with Furuhata until the summation.
• Gotcha Quality: 2/5. "Five-minute-mystery" level. The culprit here is so hopelessly outmatched that Furuhata fully comes off like the devil, right up to rubbing salt in the wound at the end.

Episode 10: A Corpse Full of Contradictions

• Murder Quality: 4/5 for the impromptu cold-bloodedness of turning the murder your boss ordered into a murder-suicide.
• Villain Quality: 3/5. The character is written as bland and retreating, but his increasing desperation really came through. Furuhata is in full psychological torture mode here.
• Gotcha Quality: 3/5, a little goofy and of questionable legality.

 Episode 11: Sayonara, DJ

• Murder Quality: 4/5. An alibi trick seen in Columbo's 'The Most Crucial Game' and a million other things. Points for the sheer gumption of doing this in three minutes while the cops are right there protecting you.
• Villain Quality: 5/5. Top-notch rapport and, regrettably, makes smoking look cool. Kaori Momoi steals the show enough that she has a cameo appearance as the same character in creator Kōki Mitani's movie Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald.
• Gotcha Quality: 3/5. Obvious but nicely air-tight.

Episode 12: Last Greetings

• Murder Quality: 3/5. "I was alone in this room on a stakeout" is not an especially ambitious alibi trick, but atmospheric and a strong motive.
• Villain Quality: 3/5. Furuhata is out of his element dealing with his superior, and there is an interesting contrast of morals. Sort of a riff on Zen Kajiwara's numerous gangster flick roles. I would rate this higher if a chunk of the episode wasn't taken up by a LENGTHY product placement sequence for a burger joint.
• Gotcha Quality: 2/5. Under-clued, especially with the apple. However, the challenge to the viewer goof was hilarious.
  

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