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▼ Yo Oizumi Returns as Popular Sapporo Sleuth
- Category:Event
Yo Oizumi once again plays the starring role in “Tantei wa Bar ni Iru 3” (The Last Shot in the Bar), the third film in the detective series directed by Teruyuki Yoshida. The film is currently showing in theaters.
It’s been four years since the second film in the series; there was a chance to shoot a third installment in the series two years ago, but it didn’t work out.
“I wasn’t convinced with the script,” said Oizumi, a Hokkaido native. “So we started fresh.”
Set in the famous Susukino entertainment district of Sapporo, the series follows a goofy private detective who has a weakness for beautiful women but becomes reliable in critical moments. The first film came out in 2011, followed by a sequel two years later.
“The third film is a kind of waypoint,” the actor said. “It must be successful because I want to make more in this series. As the actor playing the lead, I had to have firm opinions on the story.”
In the latest film, the detective investigates a case involving a mysterious and beautiful woman called Mari (Keiko Kitagawa) and gets himself dragged into a dangerous situation. He gets to the heart of the case while showing his humorous side with his sidekick, Takada (Ryuhei Matsuda).
Although it shares certain narrative similarities with the previous two movies, the latest film abounds in stormy elements: The detective has met the heroine once before, and it is implied that he and Takada could part ways. The series is based on the novels by Naomi Azuma, but this new film deviates from the original to create what Oizumi described as a “mostly original” story.
It’s been four years since the second film in the series; there was a chance to shoot a third installment in the series two years ago, but it didn’t work out.
“I wasn’t convinced with the script,” said Oizumi, a Hokkaido native. “So we started fresh.”
Set in the famous Susukino entertainment district of Sapporo, the series follows a goofy private detective who has a weakness for beautiful women but becomes reliable in critical moments. The first film came out in 2011, followed by a sequel two years later.
“The third film is a kind of waypoint,” the actor said. “It must be successful because I want to make more in this series. As the actor playing the lead, I had to have firm opinions on the story.”
In the latest film, the detective investigates a case involving a mysterious and beautiful woman called Mari (Keiko Kitagawa) and gets himself dragged into a dangerous situation. He gets to the heart of the case while showing his humorous side with his sidekick, Takada (Ryuhei Matsuda).
Although it shares certain narrative similarities with the previous two movies, the latest film abounds in stormy elements: The detective has met the heroine once before, and it is implied that he and Takada could part ways. The series is based on the novels by Naomi Azuma, but this new film deviates from the original to create what Oizumi described as a “mostly original” story.
Asked for his favorite scene, Oizumi chose the one in which the heroine shows an unexpected side of herself by asking the detective for help.
The detective makes the audience feel moved and then quickly ends the scene comically — that’s the way with the Tantei series, Oizumi believes.
“I don’t want the story to end up being just cool or sad,” the actor said. “The story ends with a joke; or perhaps it’s an attempt to hide the detective’s awkwardness. That’s the lovable thing about this work.”
Oizumi is known for being a comic with a great knack for talking, best illustrated in “Suiyo Dodesho” (How about Wednesday?), a variety show broadcast by Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co. that gave him his break. At the same time, he has also been acclaimed as an actor: He was awarded the Japan Academy Film Prize for best actor in the first film of the Tantei series.
Which does Oizumi put more importance on, being a comedian or an actor?
He recalled that during his elementary school days, whenever a teacher scolded him they always said the same thing: “Oizumi, stop talking!’”
“There’s nothing more important for me than making people laugh,” he said. “However, I also have an ambition to work in the field of drama and film, which are so different from doing comedy skits.
“It’s hard to balance both. You know, there are still people who start laughing at me when I do something serious,” he added.
The film, in Japanese, is showing at Marunouchi Toei and other cinemas. Please visit
The detective makes the audience feel moved and then quickly ends the scene comically — that’s the way with the Tantei series, Oizumi believes.
“I don’t want the story to end up being just cool or sad,” the actor said. “The story ends with a joke; or perhaps it’s an attempt to hide the detective’s awkwardness. That’s the lovable thing about this work.”
Oizumi is known for being a comic with a great knack for talking, best illustrated in “Suiyo Dodesho” (How about Wednesday?), a variety show broadcast by Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co. that gave him his break. At the same time, he has also been acclaimed as an actor: He was awarded the Japan Academy Film Prize for best actor in the first film of the Tantei series.
Which does Oizumi put more importance on, being a comedian or an actor?
He recalled that during his elementary school days, whenever a teacher scolded him they always said the same thing: “Oizumi, stop talking!’”
“There’s nothing more important for me than making people laugh,” he said. “However, I also have an ambition to work in the field of drama and film, which are so different from doing comedy skits.
“It’s hard to balance both. You know, there are still people who start laughing at me when I do something serious,” he added.
The film, in Japanese, is showing at Marunouchi Toei and other cinemas. Please visit
- December 15, 2017
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