Akai shisen

This was a two hour TV special starring Momoe Yamaguchi and Tomokazu Miura in what would be their final appearance together on screen.

Ryoko (Momoe Yamaguchi) is a dancer at a club. She has a mother in Erimo Hokkaido who she writes about a fictitious life she's living in Tokyo as a ballerina. She's actually working at a disco to send money to her mother. One night she meets Eto, a dirty old man who touches her legs. Eto is not only dirty to her, but he's dirty with money also. He's climbed to be a wealthy entrepreneur by swindling money from others. The same night she also meets Akio (Tomokazu Miura) who storms into her club, and demands Eto to give back the 10 million yen he's swindled off of him. Eto brushes Akio off. Enraged, Akio punches Eto and swears he would get back the money even if he has to kill him. Later that night, Akio goes to Eto's office and steals 10 million yen, but is chased by the police. He ends up by Ryoko's apartment, and jumps into her room seeking refuge. Ryoko recognizes Akio from the club. Akio notices Ryoko is from Erimo. He confesses to her that he's also from Erimo. Listening to Ryoko's story, Akio realize that she wants to go home to Erimo, but can't because of all the lies she's been telling her mother. Akio encourages Ryoko to go home, and Ryoko tells him she would go home to Erimo only if he would go with her. They decide to leave for Erimo on the first flight back there in the morning. Together they decide to bring the money back to Eto's office, but when they get there, they find Eto dead stabbed in the back with a scissor. Akio becomes a suspect to Eto's murder because of the threat he's made to him at the club. Akio promises to Ryoko that he would find the true culprit in time before the first flight back to Erimo. It's now race against time for Akio and Ryoko. They must find Eto's murderer before the flight.

The TV special which was made just prior to their marriage was meant to be a farewell to their fans. They had a successful career together on other "Akai" series dramas. Their fans have seen both of them mature on screen, especially Yamaguchi who's been starring in this series since she was 17. The premise of this story is bit artificial, and lacks believability, but the original viewers were only there to see the two together. The two are like Chen Shao Lin and Lin Chin Sha in Taiwanese movie who were a great pair acting together. Their chemistry can be seen in this made for TV drama as well. All star cast of supporting actors rounds up this drama. A classic that will be remembered for long time to come.