The third episode of the popular detective drama "AIBOU Season 24" (TV Asahi, Wednesdays at 9pm), "Police Officer B," aired on October 29th, and the unexpected development that saw the birth of a new "partner" became a hot topic.
◇The following contains spoilers.
In "AIBOU," Ukyo Sugishita (Yutaka Mizutani), a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Special Investigation Unit, uses his genius mind to solve difficult cases with his "partner." Since the show began airing in 2000, four partners have been created: Kameyama Kaoru (Yasufumi Terawaki), Kobe Takeru (Mitsuhiro Oikawa), Kai Toru (Hiroki Narimiya), and Kanjo Wataru (Takashi Sorimachi). In season 21, the original partner, Kaoru, returns to the Special Investigation Unit, marking the 11th season of the "golden duo" with Kaoru.
In the third episode, Takada Hajime (Kato Seishiro), an "unregistered child" once saved by the Special Task Force, appears as a detective at Kojimachi Central Police Station. He investigates the murder of a female former detective at Yotsuya East Police Station together with the Special Task Force. Towards the end of the episode, Takada, working in tandem with Tsurugai Hajime (Hosogai Kei) of the Metropolitan Police Department's General Affairs Division, saves the victim's fiance, who has become desperate. Tsurugai's achievements are recognized and he is transferred to the same Criminal Investigation Division at Kojimachi Central Police Station as Takada.
At the end of the episode, Ukyo and Kaoru are having drinks at the small restaurant "Kotemari." The proprietress, Koide Mari (Moriguchi Yoko), asks about the two, "Do you think they could become the next Sugishita-san and Kameyama-san?" Kaoru responds, "Don't you think they could make good partners, Ukyo-san?" Ukyo nods with a smile and says, "I think they could."
In response to this development, viewers on social media posted a stream of comments such as, "Is this the birth of a new partner in Aibou!!" "The birth of a new partner duo, Takada and Tsurugi," and "Takada and Tsurugi work in perfect harmony to apprehend the culprit! This feels like the beginning of a new partnership!"
Additionally, the scene where Takada and Tsurugi worked together seemed like an homage to Ukyo and Kaoru from "AIBOU pre-season" (2000-2001), so long-time fans were delighted, with comments such as "This is an homage to the episode where Kame-chan was taken hostage," "The hostage scene was a self-homage to the pre-season, which made me grin," "The homage to the pre-season made me exclaim 'Wow!'," "The way they secured him was a repeat of the pre-season, which made my heart pound," and "I think today's 'Police Officer B' was a reward episode for long-time AIBOU fans."
