Ikebukuro West Gate Park (池袋ウエストゲートパーク, Ikebukuro Uesuto Gēto Pāku) is a Japanese television drama by screenwriter Kankurō Kudō. Based on a novel by Ira Ishida, it initially aired on the Tokyo Broadcasting System during the summer of 2000, and was directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. The success of the television series would launch a manga adaptation the following year. In a break from traditional Japanese programming, the series used edgy graphics and scene breaks to highlight a story involving themes drawn from the underbelly of modern Japanese society: hip-hop youth gang warfare, juvenile delinquency, prostitution, drug abuse, the Yakuza, rape and murder.
Notable among the cast are Tokio lead singer Tomoya Nagase, film star Ken Watanabe, and future stars Koyuki, Satoshi Tsumabuki, and Tomohisa Yamashita of Johnny's Jimusho idol group NEWS. The series is also credited for raising the profile of actor Yōsuke Kubozuka.
Contents
Synopsis
Twenty-one-year-old Makoto, the former #1 waru of Ikebukuro in his high school years, hangs out at the bowling alley and in the eponymous park (池袋西口公園 (Ikebukuro Nishiguchi-koen)) of the series with best friend Masa on a repetitive nightly basis. Their world starts to change as Shun, Rika, and Hikaru enter their lives after chance meetings in the park. Soon after, Rika is found raped and murdered in a love hotel, bringing unwanted police attention and a new detective to Ikebukuro on the trail of a serial rapist. After being suspected, arrested, and detained by the police in classic Japanese style (beatings, coerced confessions), Makoto is released and vows to find justice for Rika. Enlisting the help of Takashi, an old school friend, and his gang, the G-Boys, Makoto starts his search and gains a reputation for getting problems solved in the underworld of Ikebukuro - much to the consternation of Yokoyama and the police. Things then begin to spiral out of control in Ikebukuro, as not everything is what it seems to be...
Characters
Makoto Majima
Main character and primary protagonist of I.W.G.P., Makoto is a 20-year-old former waru without an obvious direction in his life at the start of the series. He commonly complains that things are "mendokusai" (bothersome). He earns spending money through petty theft and by hustling people at the bowling alley where he, Masa, and later the G-Boys hang out; he wins a BMW from Yokoyama in this fashion. During the day, he helps out at his mother's fruit shop; at night, he hangs out on the streets of Ikebukuro. After Rika is found murdered, Makoto's actions earn him a reputation as the "mover and shaker of Ikebukuro" by both the police and the underworld. Running gags involving his character include: his love of yakisoba covered in mayonnaise, bowling, and his uncooperative erection during his interactions with the women of the series.
Masa
Makoto's best friend. Masa works at the bowling alley with Kaoru. Unlike Makoto, Masa eventually joins the G-Boys in order to retaliate against the Black Angels for their apparent murder of Shun.
Rika Nakamura
Makoto's girlfriend. Rika typically dressed in ganguro style. She and Hikaru first meets Makoto and crew when the girls notice Shun drawing in the park, then join them for a night on the town. After meeting Makoto, Rika breaks things off with her sugar daddy. During one of their nightly adventures, Rika and Makoto sneak off to a love hotel. Soon after, Rika is called out by the serial rapist, and later found murdered.
Hikaru Shibusawa
Rika's best friend. Her psychological issues underlie the dramatic action of the series, and form the critical plot that brings the series to its climax.
Takashi Ando
Eccentric schoolmate of Makoto and "King" of the G-Boys, an "Oriental-style Asian Gang" (per their business card) based out of a van-conversion who identify with the color yellow. Son of a senile sentō owner, he dates an older woman named "Jessie" who is fluent in Russian. While highly violent and skilled in close quarters combat, he does not allow drug use or sales within his gang. He constantly pesters Makoto to join the G-Boys, but continues to support Makoto's missions despite his rejection.
Main cast
Tomoya Nagase – Makoto Majima
Ai Kato – Hikaru Shibusawa
Yōsuke Kubozuka – Takashi, G-Boys King
Tomohisa Yamashita – Shun Mizuno
Ryuta Sato – Masa
Koyuki – Kana Matsui
Satoshi Tsumabuki – Fujio Saitou
Issei Takahashi – Kazunori Morinaga
Aiko Morishita – Ritsuko Majima
Ken Watanabe – Detective Yokoyama
Sadao Abe – Hamaguchi
Kazuhiro Nishijima – Kyoichi Ozaki
Kenji Sakaguchi – Yamai (Doberman)
Kitaro – Yoshioka
Shin Yazawa – Chiaki
Wakana Sakai – Rika
Episodes
The series is comprised by 11 episodes and 1 special, with the names of the episodes formed by a play on words of the number of episode, such as Strawberry (Ichigo) for the first, Carrot (Ninjin) for the second, Mandarin Orange (Mikan) for the third, and so forth. The special also received such type of name, being it "Soup".
Awards
Ikebukuro West Gate Park won 7 Television Drama Academy Prize (Best Drama, Ensemble Cast, Opening sequence, Supporting Actor, Theme Song, Scriptwriter, and Director) from Japanese TV listings-Magazine The Television in 2000.