For Your Private Eyes Only Part 3: Domain of Murder

A deadbeat dad tries to make things right in the worst way possible.  A private detective has to figure out his motivations and stop a crazy man in our next thrilling installment for May.  Enjoy the good old fashioned gumshoe detectiving in:

Background:
Released By: Central Park Media
Length: 50 minutes
Year of Production: 1992
Language: Sub and Dub both included, Dub reviewed
Available on Netflix: Yes

I bought Domain of Murder at the anime convention Anime Punch years ago based solely on the title.  The Japanese title of this work is even better though.  It was originally called "Hello Hedgehog: File 170 The Domain of Murder."  Hello Hedgehog is the name of the manga this is based on, but even still it sounds ridiculous.  Just recently I got Michael Sinterniklaas, the voice of the lead and ADR director, to autograph my copy.  He was thrilled someone knew about this relatively obscure title.

The Detective:
This week's flatfoot is Goro Nanase.  He is a member of a small private investigation firm known as Akatsuka.  He and another entry level grunt decide who gets the worst cases by playing rock-paper-scissors.  Goro has no special abilities, powers, or sassy talking animal sidekicks.  He does everything like a real-life detective, such as examining evidence and walking around talking to people.  Crazy right?

Just the facts please

Story:
The story opens on a snowy day in the city of Niigata.  The police are at a crime scene where a 20-30 year old woman died due to blood loss from a gunshot wound.  The police find a picture on the woman's body of her with a shady looking man.  The same man shot a yakuza a few days earlier.  The police use the photo to make a wanted poster they send all over the country.

Creepy mustache and State Trooper glasses, nice look

  In Tokyo, woman with a small child in tow sees the poster and immediately panics.  She runs to the nearest detective agency to explain her freak-out to a nongovernmental professional.  The mother explains her name is Mrs. Toyama and the man on the poster is her husband Tsuyoshi who has been missing for 3 years.  Mr. Toyama had been on a road trip with his 2 children that ended in the death of his daughter.  Afterwards he sank into a deep depression and eventually disappeared 6 months later. 

Nothing funny about this

Mrs. Toyama wants Goro to find her husband before the police so she can talk to him about why he left and what he has been dealing with.  Goro takes the first train to Niigata and starts pounding the pavement.  He starts off at the local police station to look at the evidence and get the basics.  As the officers tell it, Toyama stole a gun from a yakuza at the bar Snack Roman where his girlfriend worked.  He then uses the gun to kill the yakuza, flees with his girl, and eventually shoots the girl as well.  Goro then talks to Toyama's former coworkers at a food processing plant.  They tell Goro that Toyama was very secretive and worked as a temp so there was never a background check. 

Standard water cooler gossip, dead gangsters and whatnot 

The next logical stop is to check out Snack Roman, the bar where the gangster was shot.  Goro chats up the owner/hostess but gets thrown out on his ass when she realizes he wants to know about the crime.  Not to be deterred, Goro follows her to a pachinko parlor and pays for her to gamble.  A little flattery, sycophancy and a lot of booze later and not only is she telling him about the murder, but she is also offering him some drunken sex at her apartment.  He decides to take her up on her offer.  After all, he doesn't want to be rude.    

This is where we'll be making a decision we'll regret tomorrow

Just as they are about to open the door to the manager's love nest, Goro notices movement inside.  He sneaks inside all stealthy-like and wallops the intruder upside the head.  A brief struggle and the intruder surrenders.  He reveals himself as a member of the Tokyo police who grew up with Toyama and is trying to find him.  Manager finally decides to tell her version of the gangster shooting.  There was no struggle.  The yakuza was showing of his gun and Toyama took it.  The Yakuza mocked him for being a man unable to kill.  Then Toyama proved him wrong.

Boy is his face red........

The manager then tells the guys about how she slept with Toyama once and he told her about the day his daughter died.  While they were driving on their trip a rock slide caused the family sedan to careen off a cliff.  The three managed to jump out at the last minute and grab a hold of a small tree, with the two kids clinging to dad.  The tree started to give way and Toyama realized that for any of them to survive, one of his children would have to be sacrificed.  Before he knew it he kicked his daughter to her death.

Still nothing funny about a dead little girl

Goro and the Tokyo Cop head from the the manager's place to the scene where the hostess died.  On the way they debate the situation Toyama found himself in, coming to the conclusion that legally he was in the clear but personally he could not accept his decision.  The two of them can't figure out the odd trajectory of the bullet that killed the hostess.  It entered at her shoulder and struck her pelvic bone.  They figure out through a reenactment Toyama would have had to shoot from above her, probably after she slipped and hung from the cliff.  Her plight reminded him of his daughter and caused him to freak out and shoot her.

More fun than a Civil War reenactment at least

Satisfied that they learned everything they could in Niigata, the two men board a train back to Tokyo, assuming Toyama will contact his family eventually.  While on the train the hostess calls Goro and tells him she just remembered Toyama saying it was unfair that his son survived the car accident, so he was probably going to kill his only remaining child.  Seems like she could have mentioned this a whole lot earlier.  Sure enough, Toyama shows up at his son's daycare and picks up his boy Keita.

If I'd never seen this man I'd be comfortable giving him a child

Mrs. Toyama calls the daycare to say she'll be a bit late picking up Keita and is informed her estranged husband picked up the child hours ago.  The other PI from Goro's office meets the cop and detective at the station with an SUV so they can move with all due haste.  They reach Mrs. Toyama, fill her in and assemble the full might of the Tokyo Police Force for a man hunt.  While searching the boy's room, they discover Keita fondness for a certain amusement park.  Goro is confident Toyama will want to do one, last, nice thing for Keita before killing him and himself, so they stake out the park. 

Voted "Best Place for a Murder-Suicide" in Crime Monthly

Toyama and Keita finally show up.  Goro's team leaps into action, bugging Toyama's clothes and calling in the police team's sniper squad.  Mrs. Toyama insists that the police not cuff her husband in front of Keita.  While the cops argue with the crazed mother Mr. Toyama and Keita get on a Ferris Wheel and the bug allows the detectives to overhear that the madman is planning to jump when they reach the top.

Mother told you amusement parks were dangerous

The sniper team is unable to get a clear shot at Mr. Toyama, so Tokyo Cop guy takes over.  He asks Mrs. Toyama for permission to shoot, both of them knowing he has an obstructed shot and might kill her son.  She reluctantly agrees.

"I TOLD you to keep the door closed while the ride was in motion"

He shoots successfully and Toyama falls to his death.  The son believes his dad turned into a bird and flew away to be with his sister.  There is a touching scene of Toyama reuniting with the daughter he killed who clearly forgives his actions.

Still not joking about the dead little girl

The ending scenes show the officially widowed Mrs. Toyama and Keita getting back to their normal lives.  Keita is comforted by the fact that his sister is no longer alone and Mrs. Toyama is just glad to have some closure to the drama of the past 4 years.  The End.

As touching an ending as you can expect from attempted child murder

Why watch?
1. Unique Style - This show has a couple unique stylistic elements.  The first is the attention to details.  The animators spend a lot of time showing mundane actions that might be glossed over in other titles which adds to the realism of the show.  There are some very detailed prop drawings.  The second is the love of extreme reaction closeups which is used to ratchet up the emotional tension of the show.

They spent a lot of time showing Goro taking off that shoe

That kid has a lot of fun toys

She's shocked by how close that camera got!

  2. Realism - I love how down to earth this show is.  Now fancy cars, gadgets, superpowers, or illegal search and seizure.  It is all done by the book.  Sometimes it is nice to see a show that could have been done just as easily as a Live Action film.

You might need some CG for Goro's hair

Should you be watching?
Despite the ridiculous name this is a great title.  Michael Sinterniklaas is proud of this title for good reason.  If you're a fan of Law and Order or other crime shows you need to give this a try.  A very solid title and worth your time.  The only downside is the death of the little girl.  That part is sad and depressing each time they bring it up, particularly in the flashback where the show her father dropping her to her death.  Otherwise we're all good on this title.