Seibu Keisatsu

*Seibu Keisatsu*
Seibu Keisatsu
	Replica of Super Z (スーパーZ)
Directed by	Keiichi Ozawa; Yasuharu Hasebe; Toru Murakawa
Starring	Tetsuya Watari; Hiroshi Tachi; Tomokazu Miura; Akira Terao; Akiji Kobayashi; Jūkei Fujioka; Shunsuke Kariya; Takayuki Godai; Yūko Kotegawa; Yujiro Ishihara;
Narrated by	Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Country of origin	Japan
No. of seasons	3 TV series, 1 Special
No. of episodes	238
Production
Running time	54 minutes
Original release
Network	TV Asahi
Release	October 10, 1979 –; October 22, 1984

Seibu Keisatsu (西部警察, Western Police) is a Japanese television drama series produced by Ishihara Promotions (石原プロモーション, ishihara puromōshon) and broadcast on TV Asahi.^[2]

Plot

The series portrays the Western Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Division's Sergeant Keisuke Daimon, played by Tetsuya Watari and his subordinates, dubbed the Daimon Force (大門軍団, Daimon Gundan), and their superior, Section Chief Kogure, played by Yujiro Ishihara, as they fight against Tokyo's underworld.^[3]

With its flashy, over-the-top explosion scenes, and car stunts, this series gained a reputation as a macho drama. It is representative of the police & detective dramas of the 1980s.

Series

Seibu Keisatsu (10/14/1979 – 4/18/1982)
Seibu Keisatsu Part II (5/30/1982 – 3/20/1983)
Seibu Keisatsu Part III (4/3/1983 – 10/22/1984)
Seibu Keisatsu Special (10/31/2004)

Cast

^[4]

Tetsuya Watari : Keisuke Daimon
Akiji Kobayashi : Chotaro Minami
Akira Terao : Takeshi Matsuda(Riki)
Hiroshi Tachi : Soutaro Tatsumi(Tatsu) / Eiji Hatomura(Hato)
Tomokazu Miura : Goro Okita
Yoshizumi Ishihara : Jun Godai
Toshio Shiba : Shinnosuke Yamagata
Shunsuke Kariya : Koji Genda
Shōbun Inoue : Gentarō Hama (Part2 ep.1-35)
Eiken Shōji : Takeshi Ninomiya
Jūkei Fujioka : Daisaku Tani
Ryuta Mine : Ippei Hirao
Yuko Kotegawa : Akiko Daimon
Yujiro Ishihara : Chief Kenzo Kogure

Statistics

During the 5-year course of the show, a total of 236 episodes were filmed, with roughly 4,680 vehicles of all types being destroyed during the course of filming, 4.8 tons of explosives being used as well as close to 320 buildings destroyed. Surprisingly, no deaths were recorded, though there were six injured staff and crew members. The average viewer rating was at 14.5% in the Kanto Area.

Vehicles

Daimon Force

Nissan provided a wide variety of vehicles for the show, most notably for use as police vehicles as well as villain vehicles. The majority of the patrol cars in the show are a mix of Nissan Laurel, Gloria, Cedric as well as Skyline sedans. For vehicle wrecking scenes the 230 and 330 model Cedrics, Glorias and Laurels were mainly used; as the filming staff had strict orders not to damage any of the 430 model Cedric marked patrol cars.

The series also had several notable cars used by the main heroes, including RS Machines 1 to 3, all of which were based on the Nissan Skyline DR30 Turbo RS; as well as Machine-X, a modified Nissan Skyline 2000 TURBO GT-E (HGC211) used primarily by Chief Daimon. There was also Super-Z: a modified Nissan 280ZX 2+2 with gull-wing doors, turbocharger, nitrous, computers, and also quad 20mm guns mounted on the hood. More noteworthy vehicles include a 1980 Nissan Safari which was also heavily modified with a radar camera, computer and also a water cannon with a water pressure so high it was shown to be able to flip a car; three modified Nissan Skylines, dubbed RS vehicles (all modified for special use by the Daimon Force) and a 1980 Nissan Gazelle convertible, which was Section Chief Kogure's personal vehicle. Being a motorcycle cop from the beginning of the series Eiji Hatomura (played by Hiroshi Tachi) used modified Suzuki motorcycles; in particular a GSX1100 Katana, which was his character's favourite bike in the series.

Almost all of the special vehicles are as of today, preserved by Ishihara Promotion.

Daimon Force automobiles

Kogure's Nissan Gazelle, modified to a convertible
Daimon's Machine X, a modified Nissan Skyline (C211) 2000 Turbo GT-E
Nissan Safari, equipped with water cannons
Daimon's Super Z, a modified Nissan Fairlady Z (S130) / 280ZX
Machine RS-1, a modified Nissan Skyline (R30) 2000 Turbo RS
Machine RS-2, a modified Nissan Skyline (R30) 2000 Turbo RS
Machine RS-3, a modified Nissan Skyline (R30) 2000 RS

Hatomura's motorcycles

Black Katana, a modified Suzuki GSX-1000S Katana
Katana-R, a café racer-modified GSX-1000S Katana

Antagonists

The series' antagonists used a wide variety of vehicles, some of the most notable including:

a massive armored car, the TU-89 355 Ladybird used in episode 1 and 2 of Part I by a hired right-wing mercenary and his henchmen aiming for a national coup d'etat and revenge against Daimon
an illegally-modified Mercury Cougar used by bank robbers in episode 45 of Part I
a stolen Ford Torino, used in episode 47 of Part I
a hijacked Hiroshima Electric Railway 750 tram in episode 18 of Part II
a Hamana Lake pleasure boat used in episode 11 of Part II by gold smugglers
an Isuzu Elf in episode 26 of Part II
a disguised Nissan Cedric van used by jewel smugglers in Episode 39
a fishing boat used in episode 19 of Part III by weapons smugglers
a fake Super Z used by a rival of Daimon's in episode 14 of Part III
a train carrying the MX-83, a tactical ballistic missile used in episode 23 of Part III with the specific use of destroying a ship carrying exiled African politicians
a tanker truck made by Hino Motors in episode 30 of Part III
a hijacked Nissan Diesel tour bus used in episode 39 of Part III

References

^ "伝説の刑事ドラマ「西部警察」で渡哲也が見せた男の生きざま". 芸能情報ホミニス. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
^ "西部警察とは". kotobank. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "西部警察". ファミリー劇場. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
^ "西部警察". 石原プロモーション. Retrieved January 2, 2020.

External links

[1] "伝説の刑事ドラマ「西部警察」で渡哲也が見せた男の生きざま". 芸能情報ホミニス. Retrieved January 2, 2020.

[2] "西部警察とは". kotobank. Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[3] "西部警察". ファミリー劇場. Retrieved January 2, 2020.

[4] "西部警察". 石原プロモーション. Retrieved January 2, 2020.

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