A live fan meeting for the popular detective drama "AIBOU Season 24" (starting October 15th, Wednesdays at 9 PM) was held at the TV Asahi headquarters in Tokyo on October 12th, with cast members Yutaka Mizutani and Yasufumi Terawaki, as well as screenwriter Yasuhiro Koshimizu, creator of the "AIBOU" series, taking to the stage. A talk show was held in front of 256 fans, who were selected by lottery from a total of approximately 8,000 applicants, where they shared behind-the-scenes stories about the production.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the "Aibou" series. Looking back on when it first aired in 2000, Mizutani praised it, saying, "I've never read such an interesting detective story before. It was truly wonderful." Koshimizu expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you. You often tell me when I lose confidence (laughs)," which drew laughter from the audience.
When asked how he came up with the idea for the story, which features Mizutani's Sugishita Ukyo and the Metropolitan Police Department's Special Task Force, Koshimizu revealed, "I've always done comedies, so (Aibou) was my first detective story (laughs). I used the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Poirot that I read as reference... I also loved Columbo, so the 'tenacious' feeling that Ukyo has as he corners the culprit came from Columbo. I got the idea from a classic mystery story."
Regarding Kameyama Kaoru, played by Terawaki, he said, "I imagined Kaoru as someone in a similar position to Watson in Sherlock Holmes. Terawaki is an actor who excels at comedy, so I wrote him as a lovable, ordinary person with a hot-blooded personality."
Koshimizu also confessed his passion, saying, "I've been watching Yutaka's 'Vampire' and 'Ambassador Magma' since I was little, so I was really moved to see him act out the script I wrote." Mizutani retorted, "You've never told me that (until now) (lol)!?", which caused big laughs from the audience.
