Ao no SP: Gakko nai Keisatsu Shimada Ryuhei (2021)

You're under arrest!

Ao no SP: Gakko nai Keisatsu Shimada Ryuhei, which translates literally as Blue SP: School Police, Ryuhei Shimada, is a Kansai TV co-production that aired in 2021 as part of its “Tuesday 9pm drama lineup” as well as on its affiliate channel, Fuji TV. K Factory is the other production house involved in co-producing this drama which is given the title of School Cop on Netflix for worldwide distribution.

The drama is adapted from the book, School Police, written by Mitsugu Sasaki. The screenplay is co-written by Tetsuya Oishi (Iryu Sousa series), Junpei Yamaoka, and Soichiro Kojima while Masahiro Kunimoto, Takeshi Shirakawa, and Takashi Takahashi serve as co-directors. The score is composed by the prolific Kanno Yugo (Nihon Chinbotsu: Kibo no Hito, Hyochakusha, Koi wa Deep ni). The Japanese 4-member piano-rock band, SHE’s provides the upbeat theme song, Oikaze.

Based on the premise of local law enforcement introducing the school police system in public junior high schools on a trial basis. Ryuhei Shimada, a detective from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Investigation Division 1, volunteers as the first school cop for this initiative where he becomes assigned to Akamine Middle School.

What I Liked

The story provides a balance between episodic procedurals that focus on students and teachers - usually involving trouble with the law - and the overarching mystery of why an experienced Division 1 detective would volunteer for this school police program. The storytelling is mostly lighthearted but does get somewhat serious and emotive, particularly towards the second half, with a mix of satire and bits of social commentary infused into the plot.

What I initially thought would involve mainly the garden variety kind of school problems eventually morphed into more serious issues such as sexual harassments and assaults, racism and authority abuse. Even GL is briefly addressed in one of the episodes. The unexpected presence of wide-ranging themes certainly keeps the plot interesting and thought-provoking to a certain extent.

This drama is headlined by Fujiwara Tatsuya who plays the titular role of Shimada Ryuhei to perfection. Out of the box and slightly unhinged, this school cop employs a variety of unorthodox and most likely illegal methods of investigating and solving crimes. I do not completely disagree with his approach which turns out to be effective and efficient most of the time. My second time seeing the actor, there is an appealing uniqueness to his portrayal that embodies entirely the concept of the anti-hero, which his character truly represents within the context of the story. And he’s absolutely fun to watch.

There is no question that the production is clearly moderately budgeted, and that the technical execution is nothing to write home about. Nonetheless, the production design appears decently rendered while the one aspect that impresses me the most is the action choreography. The fight sequences depicted in several episodes are quite stunning and feature some pretty slick moves by the ML. They may not look as polished as bigger budget dramas but I appreciate the raw edge of the physicality involved which adds to the sense of realism.

What Fell Short

The individual cases presented are very quickly resolved while the disturbing nature of certain issues are generally glossed over without further in-depth exploration. I suppose this is more of a personal wish to observe the issues being fleshed out because the episodic format rarely allows sufficient time and space to let the sub-plots breathe and expand.

Aside from the ML, Maki Yoko plays the FL homeroom teacher, Asamura Ryoko. I thought her performance was somewhat lacking in terms of her articulation of the characterization. There are brief flashes of emotional intentisy here and there but overall she appears rather subdued.

Final Thoughts

School Cop is a light and easy watch that’s entertaining, provocative and well paced with a compelling performance by Fujiwara Tatsuya. At only 10 episodes and available subbed on Netflix, this is one production that’s well worth the binge.

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In term of story, the drama probably is not the most original but the problems faced by the students are quite relatable to what is happening now in real life. As what we might expect, Shimada will be the hero in every situation but I think there are times that Shimada's preparedness is too exaggerated and unrealistic. Fujiwara Tatsuya played Shimada really well, his delivery of Shimada's no-nonsense approach and harsh comments is my main highlight of this drama. Maki Youko as Ms. Asamura unfortunately had her role diminished in the later half of the drama and you don't get much impression on her as we move towards the ending, overshadowed by Katsumi Takahashi who plays the headmaster.

In general, the drama is quite interesting especially when the main plot starts to be unveiled, but it could better if the "weekly cases" is more complicated. Also, I think there is one certain episode that can be omitted where there is no case at all and we ended up with a weak story about parenting issue. If you decide to watch, be ready to enjoy Shimada's antics and by the end of the drama maybe you will also start to question "Do we really need the school police?"

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