History Series / TokusouSaizensen

** Episode 127-128 centered around [[spoiler: the death of Funamura's wife and his first retirement.]]
** Episode 170 featured [[spoiler: Funamura's return, although it comes at the cost of his relationship with his daughter.]]

** Episode 430 saw [[spoiler: Funamura retire for good.]]
** Episode 434 saw [[spoiler: Hoshino's death,]] and the last time the show aired on TV Asahi's 11pm Wednesday slot.

** Creator/HiroshiFujioka temporarily left the show from episodes 53 to 102, with the show explaining he had been seconded to Interpol. Episodes 103 and 104 have him pursuing a New York-based drug-smuggling ring back to Tokyo.

* TVMovie: To commemorate the show moving to TV Asahi's 9pm Thursday evening slot, the show premiered a 90-minute movie. In it, the department faces three separate cases that are oddly interconnected: a series of bombings, a child kidnapping, and a 20-year-old murder. It also featured some new cast members since [[spoiler: Funamura retired for good and Tsugami was killed off.]] This is not counted as Episode 435, as the one after that was counted as such.

* VideoCredits: The TitleSequence is one.
* WhamEpisode: Episode 50 features [[spoiler: the death of Kamishiro's daughter.]]

** Hideaki Nitani was absent, twice, for Episodes 93-96 and 99-109. This was due to a skiing injury during the filming of Episodes 97 and 98, and it was explained in-series as Kamishiro going abroad for business.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Natsuko Kamshiro, Detective Akira Tsugami, Detective Ryuji Hoshino, and Superintendent Daiuske Gamo.]]

* PromotedToOpeningCredits: Takasugi's sister, Mikiko, though her brother left the show long before move happened.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The cast only had two female members overall, and they never shared screentime as regulars. This was temporarily averted when one of them guest-starred late in the series deep into her successor's run.

* FinaleCredits: The ending credits of Episode 508 have the cast [[PowerWalk powerwalking]] in a corridor of the Tokyo MPD headquarters after having received their promotions.

** Vartaion: Episode 277 sees Tachibana and the squad making it look like he was framed in order to take down a corrupt cop ring that's joined hands with [[{{Yakuza}} the ''yakuza'']].

''Tokusou Saizensen'' (Kanji: 特捜最前線, translating roughly as ''Special Investigation: Frontline'') is a Japanese cop show created by the Creator/ToeiCompany that ran for 508 episodes plus one [[ExtraLongEpisode TV special]] from 1977 to 1987. The series was co-produced with Creator/TVAsahi. The show focused on the investigations, as well as the trials and tribulations of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Special Investigation Division, headed by the stalwart Kyosuke Kamishiro (played by ''Series/MightyJack'' star Hideaki Nitani). Their mission was to combat all criminality in Japan ranging from kidnappings, bomb threats, and at times international criminal cases.

* PutOnABus: Detectives Funamura, Yozo Takasugi, Akira Tsugami, Jiro Taki, and Policewoman Mikiko Takasugi (Yozo's sister) all were dropped from the series. However, they would return as guests performers in later episodes.

** Also in Episodes 107 and 136, where a schoolgirl is killed by a serial killer and boy gets kidnapped and drowned before he can get rescued, respectively.
%% ** Thankfully averted in Episodes 227, 499-500, and 506. %% Needs more context.

* FinalSeasonCasting: The show introduced three new detectives, Tokita, Inukai, and Sugi after Funamura's retirement and [[spoiler: Hoshino's death.]]

** Vartaion: Episode 277 sees Tachibana and the squad making it look like he was framed in order to take down a corrupt cop ring that's joined hands with [[{{Yakuza}} The Yakuza]].

** Averted, post-series wise. When the series ended, the producer said that though the show was over, he didn't mind reviving it for a few reunion shows every now and then. Sadly, unlike its rival shows at the time, which did get a few reunions in the 90s and 2000s, ''Tokusou Saizensen'' never did get one.

* ThankingTheViewer: After the credits of the third and final part of the SeriesFinale, in place of the usual [[OnTheNext "next time on Tokusou Saizensen"]], the viewer instead gets a thank-you from Hideaki Nitani and the rest of the cast:

* VacationEpisode: Several. Episodes 200-201 involved the cast travelling to Paris and Rome for a case with Interpol, Episodes 275-276 had them go to Hawaii, and Episodes 407-408 had them visit Belgium.

** Hideaki Nitani was absent, twice, for Episodes 93-96 and 99-109. This was due to a skiing injury during the filimg of Episodes 97 and 98, and it was explained in-series as Kamishiro going abroad for buisness.

* AbsenteeActor:
** Hideaki Nitani was absent, twice, for Episodes 93-96 and 99-109. This was due to a skiing injury during the filimg of Episodes 97 and 98, and it was explained in-series as Kamishiro going abroad for buisness.
** Creator/HiroshiFujioka temporarily left the show from episodes 53 to 102, with the show explaining he had been seconded to Interpol. Episodes 103 and 104 have him pursuing a New York-based drug-smuggling ring back to Tokyo. Fujioka would later have another absence for Episodes 341 to 348.
** Hideji Ōtaki, who played Detective Funamura, was absent for Episodes 129 to 169. As a result, his character was described as having gone into retirement before his return in Episode 170. Funamura later temporarily disappeared from the show for Episodes 397 to 400, before his retirement in Episode 430 and subsequent guest role in Episodes 499 and 500.

* AdultFear:
** A child is kidnapped in Episodes 136-137; Funamura's own daughter and grandson are kidnapped in Episodes 499-500.
** A schoolgirl sadly becomes a victim of a crazed serial killer sniper in Episode 107.
** There's also [[spoiler: the murder of Kamishiro's daughter in Episode 50.]]

''Tokusou Saizensen'' (Kanji: 特捜最前線, translating roughly as ''Special Investigation: Frontline'') is a Japanese cop show created by the Creator/ToeiCompany that ran for 508 episodes plus one [[ExtraLongEpisode TV special]] from 1977 to 1987. The series wa coproduced with Creator/TVAsahi. The show focused on the investigations, as well as the trials and tribulations of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Special Investigation Division, headed by the stalwart Kyosuke Kamishiro (played by ''Series/MightyJack'' star Hideaki Nitani). Their mission was to combat all criminality in Japan ranging from kidnappings, bomb threats, and at times international criminal cases.

* InfantImmortality:
** Very sadly averted in Episode 103, where the son of Sakurai's partner in New York is crippled for life by a hitman sent by a New York drug ring.
** Also averted in Episodes 107 and 136, where a schoolgirl is killed by a serial killer and boy gets kidnapped and drowned before he can get rescued, respectively.
** Thankfully played straight in Episodes 227, 499-500, and 506.

* TheBigGuy: Takasugi and Tachibana. Takasugi, while being a bit rotund, is ordinarily tough and is just as handy taking down suspects. Meanwhile Tachibana is a head taller than most of the cast and is the department's best shot.

** Vartaion: Episode 277 sees Tachibana and the squad making it look like he was framed in order to take down a corrupt cop ring that's joined hands with UseulNotes/TheYakuza.

* ImagineSpot: One of the show's most famous examples happens at the end of Episode 351. [[spoiler: Shigeru Araki returns as Tsugami, who had long since been killed off, just as his former comrades solve his last case.]]

* PromotedToOpeningCredits: Takasugi's sister, Mikiko, though her brother left the show long before move happened.
* PutOnABus: Detectives Funamura, Yozo Takasugi, Akira Tsugami, Jiro Taki, and Policewoman Mikiko Takasugi (Yozo's sister) all were dropped from the series. However, they would return as guests performers in later episodes.

* ThatOneCase: [[spoiler: The murder of his daughter]] for the Kamishiro; his grudge against a New York drug ring for Sakurai.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The cast only had two female members overall, and they never shared screentime as regulars. This was temporarily averted when one of them guest-starred late in the series deep into her successor's run.

* WhamEpisode: Episode 50 features [[spoiler: the death of Kamishiro's daughter.]]

* TheYakuza:

** One episode has Tachibana framed, and he spends the majority of it trying to prove his innocence while dodging the police and his own colleagues.

* NebulousEvilOrganisation: In the SeriesFinale, the department faces against a [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic ultra-right wing]] party calling itself the National Council for the Salvation of Japan, or Nissho-ren for short (an abbreviation of the group's Japanese name). The Nissho-ren has ties to the country's five most powerful ''yakuza'' syndicates while being chock full of [[CorruptPolitician Corrupt Politcians]] and [[CorruptCop Corrupt Cops]] to the point that the East Shinjuku Police Department is [[TheMole riddled with its informants]]. It also supposedly has ties to [[Main/CUlt cults]] and [[Main/TheKlan The Klan]].[[note]]A bit of TruthInTelevision here as Japan's resident right-wingers historically have had good relations and strong ties with the''yakuza'', and they still do even to this day.[[/note]]

* NebulousEvilOrganisation: In the SeriesFinale, the department faces against a [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic ultra-right wing]] the [[Main/YakuZa yakuza]]-associated political party calling itself the National Council for the Salvation of Japan, or Nissho-ren for short (an abbreviation of the group's Japanese name). The Nissho-ren is chock full of [[CorruptPolitician Corrupt Politcians]] and [[CorruptCop Corrupt Cops]] to the point that the East Shinjuku Police Department is [[TheMole riddled with its informants]]. It also supposedly has ties to [[Main/CUlt cults]] and [[Main/TheKlan The Klan]]. A bit of TruthInTelevision here as Japan's resident [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic Right Wing Militia Fanatics]] historically have had good relations and strong ties with the [[Main/YakuZa yakuza]], and they still do even to this day.

** Hideaki Nitani was absent, twice, for Episodes 93-96 and 99-109. This was due to a skiing injury, and was explained in-series as Kamishiro going abroad for buisness. In the interim between absences, the epsiodes he managed to finish, including the one where he was injured on were aired. During the latter absence he was temporarily replaced by one of his colleagues from the Tokyo MPD, Daisuke Mibu, played by Hiroyuki Nagato.

** Hideji Ōtaki, who played Detective Funamura, was absent for Episodes 129 to 169. As a result, his character was described as having one into retirement. Funamura later temporarily disappeared from the show for Episodes 397 to 400, before his retirement in Episode 430 and subsequent guest role in Episodes 499 and 500.
* TheAce: Detective Sakurai, being a crack shot while being a licensed helicopter pilot. TruthInTelevision apparently, as Hiroshi Fujioka got his pilot's license during the show's run.

* CorruptCop: A recurring menace across the series. Several get rooted out as TheMole in a few episodes, while in another, one gets to frame Tachibana.

** Sakurai too has to deal with the fact that his lawyer father is in cahoots with the episode's bad guys in Episode 507.

** Also averted in Episodes 107 and 136, where a schoolgirl is killed by a serial killer and boy gets kidnapped and drowned before the department can get to him while the kidnappers get away with the ransom money, respectively.

* ImagineSpot: One of the show's most famous examples happens at the end of Episode 351. [[spoiler: Shigeru Araki returns as Tsugami, who had long since been killed off.]]

** Hideaki Nitani was absent, twice, for a few shows around the 100-episode mark. This was explained in-series as Kamishiro going on vacation. During this time he was temporarily replaced by one of his colleagues from the Tokyo MPD, Daisuke Mibu, played by Hiroyuki Nagato.

** Hideji Ōtaki, who played Detective Funamura, was absent for Episodes 129 to 169, because he was filming [[Creator/AkiraKurosawa Akira Kurosawa's]] ''Film/{{Kagemusha}}'' at the time. Funamura later temporarily disappeared from the show for Episodes 397 to 400, before his retirement in Episode 430 and subsequent guest role in Episodes 499 and 500.

* FinalSeasonCasting: The show introduced two young detectives, Inukai and Sugi, for the last few episodes, after Funamura's retirement and [[spoiler: Hoshino's death.]]

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Natsuko Kamshiro, Detective Ryuji Hoshino, and Detective Akira Tsugami.]]

** That being said, Episode 351 featured the special guest appearances of three detectives who had long since left the show.

** Hideaki Nitani was absent, twice, for a few shows around the 100-episode mark. This was explained in-series as Kamishiro going on vacation. During this time he was temporarily replaced by one of his colleagues from the Tokyo MPD, Daisuke Mibu.

** Hideaki Otaki, who played Detective Funamura, was absent for Episodes 129 to 169, because he was filming [[Creator/AkiraKurosawa Akira Kurosawa's]] ''Film/{{Kagemusha}}'' at the time. Funamura later temporarily disappeared from the show for Episodes 397 to 400, before his retirement in Episode 430 and subsequent guest spot in Episodes 499 and 500.

* CoolCar: The show was sponsored by Nissan, so the cast and crew had access to the company's top-of-the line cars. Hideaki Nitani was also an official spokesman for the Nissan Cedric, which was used in the later half of the show's run.

* InterpolSpecialAgent: Sakurai becomes one during his first absence.

* CorruptCop: A recurring menace across the series.

** Episodes 29 and 30 also has the department investigating a theft of stolen plutonium.

* ThankingTheViewer: After the credits of the third and final part of the SeriesFinale, in place of the usual [[OnTheNext "next time on Tokusou Saizensen" segment]], the viewer instead gets a thank-you from Hideaki Nitani and the rest of the cast:

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The cast only had two female members overall, and they never shared screentime as regulars. This was temporarily averted when one of them guest-starred late in the series deep into her successor's run, however.

* VideoCredits: The TitleSequence.

''Tokusou Saizensen'' (Kanji: 特捜最前線, translating roughly as ''Special Investigation: Frontline'') is a Japanese cop show created by the Creator/ToeiCompany that ran for 508 episodes plus one [[ExtraLongEpisode TV special]] from 1977 to 1987. The series wa coproduced with Creator/TVAsahi. The show focused on the investigations, as well as the trials and tribulations of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Special Investigation Division, headed by the stalwart Kamshiro Kamio (played by ''Series/MightyJack'' star Hideaki Nitani). Their mission was to combat all criminality in Japan ranging from kidnappings, bomb threats, and at times international criminal cases.

** Hideaki Nitani was absent, twice, for a few shows around the 100-episode mark. This was explained in-series as Kamio going on vacation. During this time he was temporarily replaced by one of his colleagues from the Tokyo MPD, Daisuke Mibu.

** There's also [[spoiler: the murder of Kamio's daughter in Episode 50.]]

* BadassInANiceSuit: Kamio, Tachibana, Sakurai, and later the entire cast when the series winds down.

** Kamio's is corrupt cops. The fact that his mentor was one and his daughter [[spoiler: was killed by one]] doesn't help.

* CorruptCop: A recurring menace across the series. They also serve as Kamio's BerserkButton since his mentor was proven to be one in Episode 1 and [[spoiler: his daughter died at the hands of one in Episode 50]].

* DaChief: Kamio.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: The SeriesFinale. The department takes on a long, agonizing case where they deal with a corrupt political party that their own colleagues and family are involved in, with the department's very existence put into question. In the end, [[spoiler: they successfully prosecute the criminals, and the department is expanded into two separate divisions led by Tachibana and Sakurai, respectively, while Kamio is promoted as overall section chief.]]

** Episode 51 is this for Kamio as [[spoiler: he hunts for his daughter's killer]].

** The last episodes also prove to be personal for both when Sakurai's father and Kamio's protege are revealed to be working for the episode's villains.

** By the time the series ends, Kamio and Tachibana have become this, with their actors approaching their sixties by 1987.

** Another shows up to kill Kamio in the SeriesFinale. [[spoiler: [[TheCavalry The rest of the department arrives to the rescue before he can finish the job.]]]]

* SacrificialLamb: When it's clear that neither he nor the department can find any solid evidence to prosecute the Nissho-ren, Kamio decides to let them kill him and attempts to film the murder as evidence so the investigation can succeed. [[spoiler: Thankfully, his protege, who was in cahoots with the Nissho-ren, turns informant and the department rescues Kamio before he can be killed.]]

* ThatOneCase: [[spoiler: The murder of his daughter]] for the Kamio; his grudge against a New York drug ring for Sakurai.

* WhamEpisode: Episode 50 features [[spoiler: the death of Kamio's daughter.]]

** Another recurring menace in the series, and they get the spotlight in Episodes 50 and 51 where [[spoiler: they have Kamio's daughter murdered.]]

''Tokusou Saizensen'' (Kanji: 特捜最前線, translating roughly as ''Special Investigation: Frontline'') is a Japanese cop show created by the Creator/ToeiCompany that ran for 508 episodes plus one [[ExtraLongEpisode TV special]] from 1977 to 1987 on Creator/TVAsahi. The show focused on the investigations, as well as the trials and tribulations of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Special Investigation Division, headed by the stalwart Kamshiro Kamio (played by ''Series/MightyJack'' star Hideaki Nitani). Their mission was to combat all criminality in Japan ranging from kidnappings, bomb threats, and at times international criminal cases.

During its run the series, while concentrating much on the police work of the show, also ran heavy on the melodrama and the personal lives of its characters. This leads to a lot of episodes where the detectives struggle with procecuting the law correctly and their own personal stakes in the case, as well as having recurring personal character arcs, in the vein of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. Also notable was its wide cast of ''tokusatsu'' alumni, mostly from ''Franchise/KamenRider'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. This has caused fans to nickname it ''Tokusatsu Saizensen''.

During its run the series, while concentrating much on the police work of the show, also ran heavy on the melodrama and the personal lives of its characters. This included a lot of ItsPersonal episodes with certain characters as well as recurring personal character arcs. Also notable was its wide cast of ''tokusatsu'' alumni, mostly from ''Franchise/KamenRider'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. This has caused fans to nickname it ''Tokusatsu Saizensen''.

** The last episode also proves to be personal for both when Sakurai's father and Kamio's protege are revealed to be working for the episode's villains.

During its run the series, while concentrating much on the police work of the show, also ran heavy on the melodrama and the personal lives of its characters. This included a lot of ItsPersonal episodes with certain characters as well as recurring personal character arcs. Also notable was its wide cast of [[Toku tokusatsu]] alumni, mostly from the
''Franchise/KamenRider'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. This has caused fans to nickname it ''Tokusatsu Saizensen''.

During its run the series, while concentrating much on the police work of the show, also ran heavy on the melodrama and the personal lives of its characters. This included a lot of ItsPersonal episodes with certain characters as well as recurring personal character arcs. Also notable was its wide cast of [[Main/Toku tokusatsu]] alumni, mostly from the
''[[Franchise/KamenRider]]'' and ''[[Franchise/SuperSentai]]''. This has caused fans to nickname it ''Tokusatsu Saizensen''.

''Tokusou Saizensen'' (Kanji: 特捜最前線, translating roughly as ''Special Investigation Division: Frontline'') is a Japanese cop show created by the Creator/ToeiCompany that ran for 508 episodes plus one [[ExtraLongEpisode TV special]] from 1977 to 1987 on Creator/TVAsahi. The show focused on the investigations, as well as the trials and tribulations of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Special Investigation Division, headed by the stalwart Kamshiro Kamio (played by ''Series/MightyJack'' star Hideaki Nitani). Their mission was to combat all criminality in Japan ranging from kidnappings, bomb threats, and at times international criminal cases.

During its run the series, while concentrating much on the police work of the show, also ran heavy on the melodrama and the personal lives of its characters. This included a lot of ItsPersonal episodes with certain characters as well as recurring personal character arcs.

* AmoralAttorney: One appears and gets whacked in Episode 50. Sakurai's father also is one, as revealed in Episode 506.