"Akai Unmei" (literally "red fate") was the third of the "Akai (red) Series" of melodramas. It was broadcast on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) from 23 April to 29 October 1976. Like several other melodramas in the "Akai Series", it starred Ken Utsui and Momoe Yamaguchi as a father and daughter, although in each series they played different people. There is a list of major cast members below.
On the 26th September 1959, the Isewan Typhoon, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, caused devastating loss of life. In the confusion after the typhoon, two girls were separated from their parents. Seventeen years later, Nobuto Yoshino (Ken Utsui), a prosecutor, and Eiji Shimazaki (Rentaro Mikuni), a convicted murderer, track down their respective daughters, who have been brought up in the same institution. However, in the confusion of a fire, the records of the two girls are mixed.
Nobuto Yoshino and Eiji Shimazaki both lost contact with their daughters in the Isewan Typhoon. Now they meet them again, but the two are mixed up.
Shimazaki confesses to Naoko about the crime. Naoko continues to tell the police that her father is innocent.
Yumiko's memory of her former life and name Setsuko begins to return.
Shimazaki confesses to the crime for the sake of Naoko.
After Naoko saves Yumiko's son from a traffic accident, Yumiko recollects the three moles on Naoko's arm.
Naoko tries to pay Miyako for defending her father, but Miyako refuses.
Yumiko identifies her daughter Izumi (Momoe) from a pattern of three moles on her arm.
Naoko begins to experience rejection from her neighbours and baseball club for being the daughter of a murderer.
Nobuto meets his wife Setsuko, now remarried, for the first time in seventeen years.
Nobuto introduces Izumi to Setsuko/Yumiko. Yumiko visits Shimazaki in prison. As she talks to the two fathers and the head of the institute, Yumiko realizes the two girls' identity has been mistaken.
Naoko and Shunsuke grow closer, and Izumi becomes jealous and begs Naoko to leave Shunsuke alone.
Yumiko tells Nobuto that Naoko is his and Yumiko's daughter, not Shimazaki's. Nobuto asks her not to tell anyone, since Naoko has helped Shimazaki reform.
Shuzo Otake tells Eiji that the girl he thinks is his daughter is actually Nobuto's daughter.
The song Shimazaki sings in his prison cell is "Ikoku no Oka" by Tadashi Yoshida.
Shimazaki finds out that Naoko is Nobuto's daughter and becomes suspicious.
Otake urges Nobuto to get married to help his wife get over her past marriage to him. Nobuto asks Miyako to marry him.
Shimazaki denies the crime and says that Nobuto has made it all up.
It turns out that the person that Shimazaki hit after the car accident may not have been the same person who died after a brawl. A man came to a hospital describing an attack by a person resembling Shimazaki, but then ran away before paying his bills. Nobuto's superior and colleagues start to pressure him about the case.
Naoko and Shunsuke grow closer. Izumi becomes more and more hostile to Naoko.
Shimazaki tells Naoko of his time in Russian captivity in Siberia after he was captured in China at the end of the second world war.
The song Naoko (Momoe) sings is "Nanatsu No Ko", a famous Japanese children's song about crows.
Nobuto has a copy of a book called "Fed to the Teeth" by Leonard Spigelgass on his bookshelf.
Shunsuke tries to find out more about why Shimazaki killed his father eighteen years ago. Shimazaki tells him that he had a good reason to kill his father and does not regret it. He becomes more and more angry, ending up in a fight with his father, Nobuto.
Shimazaki's trial draws to a conclusion, with Shimazaki protesting his innocence.
Shimazaki is found innocent due to insufficient proof. The prosecutors decide to continue to pursue him for the crime. Nobuto is taken off the case.
Shimazaki meets Izumi (his real daughter) for the first time. She runs off. Tensions continue between Izumi, Shunsuke, and Naoko.
The episode ends with Naoko leaving on a train to Chiba.
Nobuto's father finds out that Izumi is not his real granddaughter from Otake.
Shimazaki and Naoko head off to Chiba, where Shimazaki has found work as a fisherman. Shimazaki and Naoko start living in a hut.
As Nobuto's father lies dying, Nobuto introduces Naoko to him as his granddaughter.
Naoko is very shocked.
Shimazaki turns up at the funeral and creates a stir.
Naoko moves into Nobuto's house.
Shimazaki turns up at Nobuto's house and other places repeatedly, trying to break in, . Izumi has him arrested. Shimazaki also turns up at Otake's house.
Yamamura quits her job and goes to Germany.
Naoko leaves Nobuto's house to go back to Shimazaki.
Naoko decides to return to Shimazaki. Shimazaki starts making inappropriate advances to her and trying to get her a job as a hostess. Nobuto is experiencing more and more problems at work due to his family relationships. Shimazaki tells the newspapers.
Izumi is yet again upset about her father and brother's kindness to Naoko. She is hit by a car. Nobuto gives her blood at the hospital.
More trouble continues between Shimazaki, Nobuto's boss, a journalist from a magazine, a co-worker at Shimazaki's new job, and so on and so on.
Shimazaki explains that Shunsuke's real father was one of the officers who deserted him and his friends in Manchuria at the end of the war. Shimazaki writes an anonymous letter to the newspaper about Nobuto hitting him. Nobuto decides to leave his job in order to try to reform Shimazaki and recompense him for his sufferings in Siberia.
Naoko and Shimazaki find jobs elsewhere. Nobuto refuses to take a job with a law firm so that he can reform Shimazaki. Izumi overhears an argument between Nobuto and Otake about Yumiko. Izumi mistakenly announces herself to Yumiko as her daughter. Otake gets angry with Yumiko. Yumiko leaves and starts to think she prefers Nobuto. Nobuto convinces her to return. The episode ends with Nobuto seeing Naoko at work in a restaurant.
Shimazaki's plot to kill the officers who fled Manchuria while he and his comrades went to Siberia becomes clearer. Nobuto seeks clarification from one of the officers. Izumi creates trouble at the Otake household. Otaku asks Yumiko to divorce him. The episode ends with Otake falling from scaffolding at at construction site.
Otake is in hospital. Naoko urges Yumiko not to leave Otake and her children. Naoko's mother (Shimazaki's wife) Kayo Yoshimoto appears, for the first time in the series. Shimazaki tries to drive her away. Kayo comes to Nobuto's house. She realizes that Izumi, not Naoko, is her real daughter. Otake dies, and Yumiko decides to go back to Nagoya with her children. Shimazaki tries to kill one of the officers from Manchuria with a short sword. He remembers Naoko's voice and hesitates, giving Nobuto time to stop him.
Shimazaki is still planning to kill the officers and hides the sword in his apartment. Kayo hires a private detective. The private detective finds out the truth. He tries to blackmail Nobuto. Izumi decides to go to Nagoya to see Yumiko but then changes her mind. Izumi finds out that Nobuto is not her father.
Shimazaki plans to kill the former officer from Manchuria, Kono, now an old man, who now runs a shady organization calling itself "Far East Financial Research". Nobuto warns Kono. Kono offers Shimazaki a bundle of money to give up, but he refuses. He also makes a tape of Shimazaki threatening his life.
Izumi is in shock after realizing that she is Shimazaki's daughter. Kayo appears at Nobuto's house and refuses to leave. The housekeeper complains to Kayo about Izumi's behaviour towards Naoko. Izumi overhears and flees the house.
Izumi tries to commit suicide by jumping from a roof. In their efforts to save her, Nobuto cuts his hand and Shunsuke breaks his leg.
In an attempt to prevent Shimazaki from killing Kono, Kono's gangsters take Naoko as insurance, with Naoko's agreement. Shimazaki and Nobuto confront the gangsters. Izumi offers herself as a hostage in Naoko's place. Finally, Shimazaki agrees to be held captive by the gangsters until his trial for the death of the driver.
Izumi asks Nobuto to stay at his house so that she can look after Shunsuke. She devotes herself to looking after him.
Yumiko's brother-in-law comes to see Nobuto and tells him that Otake Construction is in trouble and about to go bankrupt. They have sold the house in Nagoya where Yumiko lives. Nobuto sells his house and gives the money to Otake. At the end of the episode he is living in a small apartment.
Ever-emotional Izumi nurses Shunsuke back to health. After Shunsuke gets better, Izumi moves to her mother's and starts working in Kayo's restaurant. Kuni, the housekeeper, tries to get Shunsuke and Naoko back together. Naoko urges Izumi to love Shunsuke instead of her.
Nobuto goes to Yumiko's house but refuses to meet her and says their relationship is ended. A comrade of Shimazaki's from Siberia turns up after hearing about his first attempt to kill the farmer, to try to dissuade him from further violence. Nobuto and the comrade go off to look for Shimazaki.
Shimazaki is released by the gangsters. He is supposed to appear in court, but instead goes to a lecture given by Kono. He tries to kill Kono with a kitchen nife. Nobuto steps in his way and gets stabbed in the belly. At Shimazaki's second trial, Nobuto makes a speech apologizing to Shimazaki for how he was treated during and after the war. Shimazaki is moved to confess to the crime. The series ends with Naoko (Momoe) and Nobuto eating a meal in Nobuto's small apartment. Nobuto finally recognizes her as "Izumi", his daughter.
| Role | Role in Japanese |
Actor | Actor in Japanese |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nobuto Yoshino |
| Ken Utsui |
|
Prosecutor. Actual father of Momoe's character. |
| Naoko Shimazaki |
| Momoe Yamaguchi |
|
In a case of mistaken identity, she thinks that she is the daughter of Eiji Shimazaki. In fact, Nobuto is her father. |
| Yumiko Otake |
| Kyoko Kishida |
|
Former wife of Naoto, she lost her memory and remarried Shuzo Otake. Actual mother of Momoe's character. |
| Izumi Yoshino |
| Yoko Akino |
|
Daughter of Eiji Shimazaki. In a case of mistaken identity, she is taken in by Nobuto as his daughter. |
| Shuzo Otake |
| Gin Maeda |
|
Head of a construction company. Husband of Yumiko, who was formerly married to Nobuto. |
| Shunsuke Yoshino |
| Yutaka Nanjo |
|
Nobuto's adopted son. |
| Hiroshi Inuzuka |
|
Nobuto's assistant. | ||
| Eiji Shimazaki |
| Rentaro Mikuni |
|
Father of Naoko, he has been in prison for seventeen years for murder. |
| 吉野剛造 | Takashi Shimura |
|
Nobuto's father, who also lives with him. | |
| Miyako Yamamura |
| Ineko Arima |
|
Female lawyer who defends Eiji Shimazaki. In love with Nobuto. |
| Ryo Ikebe |
|
Nobuto's immediate superior in the prosecutor's office. | ||
| Yamaguchi |
| |||
| Narrator | Genzo Wakayama |
|
More information on the "Akai Series" (literally "Red Series") of melodramas.