RYUSEI NO KIZUNA
SPOILER ALERT. DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO FIND OUT WHO I ****SPECULATE*** THE MURDERER IS.
...if the murderer turns out to be Kashiwabara. That would be so, so sad. Those poor kids would never trust anyone, ever again. But I really don't believe for a second it's Togami, and it's not George, it's no Hagimura, I really do not believe it's Yazaki for even a second. But I do believe that the wives are somehow all implicated in all of this. Some factors that support the idea that Kashiwabara might be the murderer:
- He will retire once the case reaches the statute of limitations. As long as he is in charge of the case, he is safe. All he has to do is avoid any evidence that points in his direction until the case reaches the statute of limitations. And let's face it, his partner isn't exactly the sharpest crayon in the box, so combined with Kashiwabara, who might be manipulating things, he's not likely to find any dirt on him.
- We know he had been to Ariake several times before they we murdered. He loved their Hayashi Rice and saw what a tight family they were. However, he also knew a lot about Yukihiro's and Touko's gambling problems. In short, though, he is one of the few characters who have been in the picture since the very beginning.
- He was the first one on the murder site. He was there before even Hagimura - who presumably received the call - arrived. And then he disappeared for a while and came back later. Why was he there? Even Hagimura was surprised...
- He had recently lost his son and was quite possibly emotionally unstable and even jealous of Ariake Yukihiro and his family.
- He has spent years trying to build the trust of the Ariake children.
- He said he felt like the police were being manipulated when evidence against Togami started popping up. Admittedly, the Ariake children didn't set things up particularly brilliantly, but he still caught on rather quickly.
- Look closely at Kashiwabara's face when Koichi tells him he can come eat Hayashi Rice any time, about 3/4 of the way through episode 9. Doesn't his face seem to say, "you're still talking about Hayashi rice?" - doesn't he seem rather annoyed and unhappy, momentarily, at the mention of Hayashi Rice? Could he be... jealous?
AGAINST Kashiwabara being the murderer:
- Other than potential jealousy, there's no real, apparent reason for Kashi-san to have killed Touko and Yukihiro. We need some sort of motivation that hasn't yet been provided. Was he somehow connected to Yazaki? I don't know...
- The mood that KudoKan built up throughout the entire drama is *not* conducive to this ending. The fairly light-hearted mood would really leave you feeling crushed if the one outsider the Ariakes have come to trust turned out to be the one they should have least been trusting. I would actually cry for poor Koichi, Taisuke and Shizuna.
NONONONONO. I REFUSE. Kashi-san. T___T But really, not enough emphasis has been placed on the relationship between Kashi-san and the children, which makes me feel like it's him even more. And also, sexist bastard, why did he not bother keeping track of Shizuna's whereabouts all these year?
*sigh* I also want time to go back so things can work out between Shizuna and Togami. They were both good people, and it's a shame things had to work out as they did. And I felt really bad as Togami's perfect world came crashing down around him when he realized who Koichi, Taisuke and Shizuna were, and that he had been manipulated by them from the beginning.
MOU. I will buy the novel now.
...if the murderer turns out to be Kashiwabara. That would be so, so sad. Those poor kids would never trust anyone, ever again. But I really don't believe for a second it's Togami, and it's not George, it's no Hagimura, I really do not believe it's Yazaki for even a second. But I do believe that the wives are somehow all implicated in all of this. Some factors that support the idea that Kashiwabara might be the murderer:
- He will retire once the case reaches the statute of limitations. As long as he is in charge of the case, he is safe. All he has to do is avoid any evidence that points in his direction until the case reaches the statute of limitations. And let's face it, his partner isn't exactly the sharpest crayon in the box, so combined with Kashiwabara, who might be manipulating things, he's not likely to find any dirt on him.
- We know he had been to Ariake several times before they we murdered. He loved their Hayashi Rice and saw what a tight family they were. However, he also knew a lot about Yukihiro's and Touko's gambling problems. In short, though, he is one of the few characters who have been in the picture since the very beginning.
- He was the first one on the murder site. He was there before even Hagimura - who presumably received the call - arrived. And then he disappeared for a while and came back later. Why was he there? Even Hagimura was surprised...
- He had recently lost his son and was quite possibly emotionally unstable and even jealous of Ariake Yukihiro and his family.
- He has spent years trying to build the trust of the Ariake children.
- He said he felt like the police were being manipulated when evidence against Togami started popping up. Admittedly, the Ariake children didn't set things up particularly brilliantly, but he still caught on rather quickly.
- Look closely at Kashiwabara's face when Koichi tells him he can come eat Hayashi Rice any time, about 3/4 of the way through episode 9. Doesn't his face seem to say, "you're still talking about Hayashi rice?" - doesn't he seem rather annoyed and unhappy, momentarily, at the mention of Hayashi Rice? Could he be... jealous?
AGAINST Kashiwabara being the murderer:
- Other than potential jealousy, there's no real, apparent reason for Kashi-san to have killed Touko and Yukihiro. We need some sort of motivation that hasn't yet been provided. Was he somehow connected to Yazaki? I don't know...
- The mood that KudoKan built up throughout the entire drama is *not* conducive to this ending. The fairly light-hearted mood would really leave you feeling crushed if the one outsider the Ariakes have come to trust turned out to be the one they should have least been trusting. I would actually cry for poor Koichi, Taisuke and Shizuna.
NONONONONO. I REFUSE. Kashi-san. T___T But really, not enough emphasis has been placed on the relationship between Kashi-san and the children, which makes me feel like it's him even more. And also, sexist bastard, why did he not bother keeping track of Shizuna's whereabouts all these year?
*sigh* I also want time to go back so things can work out between Shizuna and Togami. They were both good people, and it's a shame things had to work out as they did. And I felt really bad as Togami's perfect world came crashing down around him when he realized who Koichi, Taisuke and Shizuna were, and that he had been manipulated by them from the beginning.
MOU. I will buy the novel now.