Bayside Shakedown” Sequel Report… Yuji Oda and Toshiro Yanagiba, who got their break as “Uncle”, change their mind to OK the project.

There have been a series of reports that the filming of the sequel, the fifth film in the “Odoru Daisousasen” movie series, will be cranked in February ’24.

The film is a movie version of the drama series of the same name (Fuji Television) that began airing in 1997. The setting is a fictional police station in Odaiba, Tokyo, Fuji Television’s home turf. It is a classic detective drama that depicts an incident and the arrest of the culprit by the police officer who is the main character.

It was a drama that was distinctly different from previous detective dramas in that it depicted the tactics between the main police department and the local police department, the power struggle within the department, and the conflict between the elite police bureaucrats and the detectives in charge. One of the selling points of the drama was the conflict and tactics between “Detective Shunsaku Aoshima,” played by Yuji Oda (56), a former successful salesman who quit his job to become a police officer, and “Shinji Muroi,” played by Toshiro Yanagiba (62), a deputy director-general of the National Police Agency.

The first episode of this unique detective drama had low viewer ratings. Thereafter, the ratings continued to rise steadily, and after the broadcast ended, a special edition and an extra episode were produced. The drama was even made into a movie,” said a TV magazine reporter.

Four movies have been produced since “Odoru Daisousasen The Movie” was released in 1998, and “Odoru Daisousasen The Movie 2: Blockade the Rainbow Bridge! was the highest grossing Japanese live-action film of all time, grossing 17.35 billion yen, a record that has yet to be broken.

If the sequel is cranked in February, it should be released by the end of next year. It has been 11 years since “Odoru Daisousasen the Final: A New Hope” (released on September 7, 2012).

Still, why wasn’t a sequel made, even though many fans had hoped for one?

When asked about his best-known work, everyone mentions “Odoru Daisousasen” (Bayside Shakedown),” said Mr. Oda. That’s how strong the image of “Detective Aoshima” is. I heard that Mr. Oda was concerned that his image would become entrenched. I think this is the reason why the production side did not give the OK for a sequel production when we approached them about it.

Oda was also known to be very particular about the production process of the films in which he appeared.

He was very sharp at the time,” said an employee of a film distribution company. He was very passionate about his work, but when he was not satisfied with the direction or the script, he would stop filming. He sometimes clashed with staff members, and some of them even said, ‘I don’t want to work with Mr. Oda.

Oda has become much more rounded now that he has passed the age of 50.