DVD/Series: 交渉人- The Negotiator

Tuesday, August 26, 2008



If you like SVU or Criminal Intent, you'll probably like The Negotiator, an eight episode Japanese series aired earlier this year, that stars Yonekura Ryoko (Usagi Reiko) as part of the metropolitan police department's special investigation team.

Here's a description from wiki.d-addicts.com:

In a modern society in which violent crimes are on the rise, there is a team that tries to resolve cases without bloodshed. It is the metropolitan police's special team, known by the abbreviation SIT (Special Investigation Team). The SIT doesn't get into action after a case but heads to the site just as a crime is being committed. They are on the front-line of risky missions, facing off against criminals; tenaciously conducting negotiations with criminals. As a result of the rigid police hierarchy that can curb the conduct of negotiators, the SIT is also a male-dominated society controlled with strict discipline. There is one female negotiator, Usagi Reiko, who bravely fights at the frontline. She is isolated in the male world of the SIT but courageously fights against crime as well as her organization.
While the series has some good hostage/negotiation stories (and some great characters) what really kind of sucks you in is the relationship between Usagi and a death row inmate and how that connection relates to SIT, and what - if anything - she'll find out about that past (and telling you anything else would be a definite spoiler).

If you're interested, check out more here.