Bayside Shakedown
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Bayside Shakedown (踊る大捜査線 Odoru Daisousasen?) was a cult Japanese Police Drama/Comedy series originally broadcast by the Fuji Television group in 1997. The series was so popular that four movies were made following the end of the TV series, the first in 1998, the second in 2003, and the third and fourth in 2005.
In 1998 and 1999, an English-subtitled version of the series was also broadcast in the United States on the International Channel as "The Spirited Criminal Investigatve Network".
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[edit] Summary
Bayside Shakedown takes place in the fictional Wangan Precinct of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Unlike most police dramas which tend to focus on action and car chases, Bayside Shakedown depicted police work as office politics under a slightly different environment, complete with bureaucratic red tape, lethargic civil servants, bosses more interested in playing golf and saving face than solving crimes, interference from politicians, and conflict between Police Headquarters and the local officers (one of the major themes throughout the series). In fact, like their real world counterparts in Japan, the officers depicted in Bayside Shakedown are not permitted to carry firearms except during major emergencies (which, in the life of the local precinct officer at Wangan, almost never happens) .
The main character of the series is a young detective named Shunsaku Aoshima. Aoshima originally worked as a corporate salesperson, but decided to join the police department out of idealism expecting a life of adventure and excitement. Once inside, he was completely underwhelmed by life on the police force, which he found to be almost the same as corporate life. Throughout the series, he tries to balance his ideals of what police work should be with the bureaucratic reality, often with humorous results.
[edit] Time Line
1997 January - March: TV Drama.
1997 December: Special episode, "BAYSIDE SHAKEDOWN: Year-End Special Alert
1998 June: Extra episode, "BAYSIDE SHAKEDOWN: Wangan Police Station Female Police Officers' Story
1998 October: Special episode, "BAYSIDE SHAKEDOWN: Autumn Campaign for Crime Eradication
1998 October: Bayside Shakedown THE MOVIE
2003 Summer: The Second Movie, The Bayside Shakedown; Save the Rainbow Bridge!.
2005: Two "spin-off" movies were made, the first was titled "Tokyo Subway Panic" based on the character of Mashita as a police negoitator, and the second movie released that year "The Suspect" was based on the character of Mouri.
[edit] Trivia
- The first movie, "Bayside Shakedown THE MOVIE", was a major box office hit in Japan earning 10.1 billion yen (84 million U.S.dollars), and was the fifth best performing film in Japanese box office history. DVD and video sales were also very high.
- Following Bayside Shakedown series, applications to the police force in Japan skyrocketed.
