Yuji Miyashita

In 1943, as Japan's WWII effort falters, a vice-admiral proposes training squadrons of "volunteer" flyers to crash their armed planes into Allied warships. Yarn follows the lives of kamikaze pilots, as remembered by an aging Kyushu restaurateur who cherishes their memory. Honoring the dead and multiple military anthems may stir the soul of some Japanese, but elsewhere auds will make a one-way trip for exits. Battle scenes are well-executed and script delivers some memorable scenes, but overall competent helming and thesping are powerless over writer-cum-Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishiara's repetitive storytelling. A post-war postscript adds considerable length to an already over-extended narrative. Tech credits are good quality.

The last of the four feature-length follow-up specials to Taiyo ni Hoero! Nanamagari Police Station Investigation Division 1.

The popular heroine of a theater troupe is murdered at the local police station, forcing detectives Iba and Kitahara to team up for the first time and begin their investigation. A veteran and a rookie, they clash at every turn. This is a made-for-tv police drama film set in Shinjuku and aired on December 8, 2000 on Nippon Television.