Who is Arashi's Best Detective?

How many of you remember the time about one year ago when nearly all Japanese dramas had something to do with detectives and solving crimes? I know there are still some detective dramas around but not as many as there were at that time. Of course, such a period didn't pass the Jpop Arashi members. Four of the five members acted in detective dramas and I wondered - which of them was the best detective?



Have fun reading my conclusions based on their dramas Nazotoki wa Dinner no ato de (Sakurai Sho), Kagi no kakatta heya (Ohno Satoshi), Mikeneko Holmes no suiri (Aiba Masaki) and “Lucky 7” (Matsumoto Jun).

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Nazotoki wa Dinner no ato de (Sakurai Sho as Butler Kageyama)



At first glance, this competent butler does not look like one who solves crime. However, having a lady who works for the police under a useless boss, he has no other choice than to investigate as well to save his mistress from the shame that falls on her with another unsolved case. Kageyama has been always at the crime scene to make sure his lady is not in danger. Due to his amazing ability to even discover the tiniest detail, he can draw conclusions that finally lead him to the culprit while his lady as well as her boss are still working out unreasonable theories. However, since he doesn't want to shame his mistress, he waits until she asks (some might call it “beg”) him to help her.

This is the time of Kageyama's big show. He explains his theory in a logical and understandable way so that catching the culprit is an easy thing. Unfortunately, he tends to be quite blunt while talking about his findings, upsetting his lady with his harsh accusations of her being not the sharpest tool in the box. Still, the result stands and the culprits are caught.

The good points of Kageyama are that he has strong powers of observation. He can draw lines between the most insignificant looking details and make the right conclusions to find the culprit. However, he needs to work on his personality as he likes to show off his intelligence. With his sharp tongue (that only comes out when he is talking about his findings) he can be really harsh and it might be a good idea to remind him that he needs to take care of what he says to his lady (maybe he wouldn't have been fired several times then)...




Kagi no Kakatta Heya (Ohno Satoshi as Enomoto Kei)



Enomoto Kei works at a security company and is in charge of helping people who lost their keys and need someone to pick their locks in order to get into their flat again. He is obsessed with locked rooms and can spend hours if not days trying to open a lock. Of course, he is the best person to ask for help in locked room cases. Aoto Junko and Serizawa Gou are lawyers who work on cases where people have been killed in locked rooms and Aoto brings Enomoto into their team.


Since Enomoto is so obsessed with opening locks, he doesn't rest until he finds out how the murderer killed his victim and whether he needed to open the locked room for his crime or not. With his broad knowledge, power of observation, and amazing ability to draw conclusions, he never fails to find the real culprit.

However, Enomoto lacks emotions. After he finds out how the crime was committed, he doesn't care if the culprit is caught or not. As soon as he unlocks the door, the case has ended for him, he is happy and doesn't care about it anymore. This might be a bit unsatisfying for the one who got killed...




Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri (Aiba Masaki as Katayama Yoshitarou)



Katayama is a helpless detective at the police station in Toyko. He comes across a cat that is able to understand humans and has a great power of deduction. Although Katayama cannot see blood without fainting nor can he properly talk to women, he always ends up being the one who has to deal with cases of murder.
Without the help of that cat and his colleagues as well as his siblings, Katayama would never find the culprit even if the culprit were standing right in front of him. This is due to his huge belief in humans. He does not want to believe that someone who smiles nicely at him is able to commit a crime. This is his biggest weakness as well as his biggest strength.


Being able to believe in humans until the very last minute is something just a few people are able to do and it shows that trust is something that is not easily obtained. However, not being able to accept that some people are not worth this trust brings your despair as well as not contributing to the capture of the culprit.

Katayama is very strong on the emotional side, but has no ability to draw conclusions and ends up being depressed because he is no real use as a detective. However, due to his quite lovable personality he has his friends, colleagues and the cat to help him out.

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Lucky 7 (Matsumoto Jun as Tokita Shuntaro)



Taking the job as a private detective merely because he had been jobless and was happy to be able to present his parents a job, Shuntaro quickly comes to like it. Although in the beginning he has problems to work in a team, he slowly learns to depend on his team members and they learn to work with him as well.


Regarding his abilities as a detective, Shuntaro still has to learn a lot. He is always very determined to help the people that ask for his help and this becomes his strength and weakness at the same time. He doesn't give up until he finds the truth no matter how long it takes or what troubles he has to undergo. At the same time, Shuntaro acts quite rushed, without thinking things through properly what sometimes results in the culprit getting alerted, endangering the whole operation.
Still, with the help of his team, Shuntaro is able to find out the truth and present it to the people that asked for it.



So who is the best detective then?

It's probably quite obvious that there are two types of detectives being portrayed here.
Enomoto and Kageyama work alone and have a great power of deduction. They draw the right conclusions that lead them to the culprit in no time. However, they lack emotions and the sense of working with other people.
Katayama and Shuntaro on the other hand are both very emotional persons with the strong will to help people in their distress. However, they would never be able to find the right culprit without the help of their team and friends.

So there are different perspectives under which you can decide for the best detective:

The perspective of the victim:
If I'd be killed, I definitely want Kageyama to be in charge of solving my case. He would find the culprit and make sure he gets the right sentence. Enomoto Kei might be able to find my murderer, but he wouldn't care if he gets delivered to the police or not. Katayama and Shuntaro would try their very best to find the murderer, but it might take them time...

The perspective of the family member of the victim:
I'd probably like Shuntaro to help me out if a family member gets killed. He might take his time to find who is the culprit, but he'll always tell me that he is giving his best and I'd feel better about the whole investigation for sure. Katayama would not be the best option because I'm a girl and he is not able to properly talk to women, so it'd be kind of weird. As for Kageyama...he might solve the crime fast, but I don't really like someone telling that I am too stupid to find it out by myself. And Enomoto...well, as mentioned above, I'd love to see the culprit getting his sentence.

The perspective of the Arashi fangirl (that I definitely am)
It is quite obvious that the best outcome would be achieved if they all work together, which just shows that Arashi needs to work as a group and not a single individual ;)

And what about Nino?



It's a shame that he never really got a role as a detective, because I think it would actually suit him. But maybe he might finally get the ultimate detective role of being very smart AND emotional!
Director-san, onegai, give Nino such a role!!!! (or give him a role of the culprit that is being punished by Kageyama, Enomoto, Katayama and Shuntaro *coughcough*)

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So, minna, those are my thought on Arashi's roles in detective dramas.
What do you think? Who is the best detective for you?

And if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, you should go and watch the dramas. They are really enjoyable!