On March 6th, TV Asahi held a briefing on the April schedule changes at its headquarters (Minato Ward, Tokyo). General producer Takehiro Okawa commented on the reason why the popular detective drama "Tokuso9" (Wednesdays 9pm) will end with the final season airing on April 9th.
The drama is the successor to "Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Investigative Division 9" (2006-2017), which starred the late Tsunehiko Watase. It began airing in April 2018 starring Yoshihiko Inohara. It depicts a group of unique members of the special investigation team taking on difficult cases.
General Producer Okawa commented, "This will be the 20th work since 'The 9th Division.' Inohara was 29 years old when 'The 9th Division' started. I think it is no exaggeration to say that we have been watching the life of an actor named Inohara together with the viewers."
"At the beginning of 'The 9th Division', Asanuma Naoki, played by Inohara, was a regular police officer, but over the course of nearly 20 years, he has gradually built up his career, and this season he will finally be promoted to inspector and become the new squad leader. During the 9th Division, Kano Rintaro, played by Watase, was the inspector and section chief. After such a long time, Naoki has reached that position, and I feel that this means we have really reached a goal," he said.
Regarding the reason for the end, he said, "The story was going to come to an end someday, so I imagined it would end with the 20th installment," and added, "I thought that having Asanuma Naoki become a detective was a good finish line. I want to give it a good send-off."
