Akai shôgeki
This is the second of "Akai" series drama featuring Momoe Yamaguchi, and Tomokazu Miura. Tomoko (Momoe Yamaguchi) is a 17 year old high school student. She's an Olympic grade short distance runner. She practices every day to win the gold. One morning while practicing, she meets Hideo (Tomokazu Miura) . He's a detective, and a former runner himself. He gives Tomoko few advise. Tomoko's father Gosuke is an entrepreneur with not so good of a reputation. This night, his past is about to catch up to him. Hideo was staking out Gosuke to prevent assassination attempt on him. In the heat of the moment, Hideo shoots Tomoko by accident. Tomoko becomes paraplegic due to her injury, but Tomoko was already falling in love with Hideo. This series was popular in the '70s, and occasionally still finds air time on reruns attesting to its lasting popularity. The plot is somewhat over melodramatic, and people in the story are very pessimistic. This is similar to old school Korean drama in that everything in the story is geared to be a tear jerker. Momoe Yamaguchi and Tomokazu Miura is great in this drama. They are stunningly beautiful, and you get to see the side of Yamaguchi not seen elsewhere. Together, they really carry the story. One of the better Japanese drama from the '70s, the program is recommended for viewing.
