Mamoru Nozaki (Hiroshi Abe) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Bureau, Foreign Affairs Division 4, has carried a "unique failure" for five years. Ryu Minsyuan, the subordinate he thought he had let die, has appeared with a face identical to Yusuke Nogi (Masato Sakai), a member of the "Beppan," an unofficial organization under the direct control of the Self-Defense Forces!
"After VIVANT" looks back at the Sunday Theater drama VIVANT, currently airing every Sunday at 9:00 PM on TBS, along with viewer reactions and theories.
In Episode 16, while Ryu's true identity is revealed, Nogi and his team attempt to decipher the true intentions of Nozaki, who has infiltrated the "Chinese Beppan" known as "Xinxi."
A man with the same face as Nogi, an "AI Nogi" indistinguishable from the real person, and a location indicated by two different clues. The story that began five years ago is finally connecting into a single line in the present.
We spoke with Producer Kazutaka Iida about the behind-the-scenes stories and the reactions to Episode 16.
The Identity of the "Beloved Junior"
Yutaro Sano (Yajuro Bando), Director of the Public Security Bureau, begins to speak about Nozaki's undercover investigation. The story goes back five years to when Nozaki was stationed at the Japanese Embassy in China.
Working under Nozaki were agents Cho Keishi (Mitsuo Takahashi) and Ryu. The "beloved junior" Nozaki mentioned in the first season was this Ryu. And Ryu is played by Masato Sakai, showing his third face following Nogi and F! After the broadcast, viewers expressed surprise at his presence, calling him a "powerful character." Furthermore, his emotional outburst toward Nozaki, shouting "Don't lie to me!", garnered attention for Sakai's ability to distinguish his roles, with fans commenting it was "chilling" and "chameleon-like," as he seemed like a completely different person from Nogi or his other persona, F.
Ryu had feelings for Nozaki. After Ryu obtained valuable information and went on a solo infiltration, he was captured. Nozaki attempted a rescue by hiring mercenaries, but shortly after, he received a photo of what appeared to be Ryu's body. That was the "unique failure" Nozaki had spoken of.
However, Ryu was alive... as a member of the multinational private intelligence agency "Xinxi."
Facing Nozaki for the first time in five years, Ryu looks back on the days he endured torture. While talking about the moment he prepared for death, he asks playfully:
"Now, here is a question. How did I survive this situation?"
Nozaki casts his eyes down and starts laughing as if he realized something. How did Ryu survive?
The Reason Nozaki Kept Chasing Beppan
After losing Ryu and returning to Japan, Cho appeared before Nozaki and revealed that Han Linxin (Kyoko Miyashita) was the head of "Xinxi," handing him a photo. Pictured there was researcher Elisha Mammadov (Manaf Dadaşov).
Elisha is the person said to have succeeded in inventing technology to sustain nuclear fusion. If put into practical use, it could drastically change the world's energy situation. Here, the Beppan supercomputer AI Hayato (voiced by Minami Takayama) appears in the guise of the scientist "Doc" from the movie Back to the Future to explain "nuclear fusion." Despite the heavy information, Hayato's role-playing was in full swing again.
Elisha was said to have died seven years ago after deleting his data. However, the materials Sano provided to Beppan showed him three months after his body was supposedly found. Furthermore, according to Cho, Han contacted Elisha more than 10 times in six months. Meanwhile, she was also investigating an international terrorist organization active in Central Asia. That organization was "Tent," led by Nogi's father, Nogoon Beki (Koji Yakusho). Viewers were shocked, saying, "So this is where it connects to Tent!" "Tent" has now linked to a new mystery surrounding nuclear fusion.
To protect Japan's national interests and investigate the reality of Xinxi, the Public Security Bureau ordered Nozaki to go undercover. Nozaki approached Han by pretending to be a "traitor." Han then asked for information on "Beppan." Since then, Nozaki had been tracking traces of Beppan and waiting for a member to appear while investigating "Tent." That's when Nogi arrived. The mystery of why a Public Security powerhouse had been stationed in the Republic of Balka for two years since the first season was finally resolved here!
Meanwhile, the current Nogi and his team are tracking the person who installed Xinxi surveillance cameras inside the Public Security Bureau. While no clues are found, Nogi reveals "AI Nogi," created by AI Hayato. On the screen, a perfect likeness of Nogi is having a video call with his girlfriend, Kaoru Yuzuki (Fumi Nikaido). However, the real Nogi is not there. The level of precision is something you should see for yourself in the main story.
Following Nogi and F, now comes "AI Nogi." Incidentally, Takaya Sakoda, who played the Tent monitor (collaborator) Takumi Yamamoto and appears on the TBS Radio show VIVANT Villain Meeting Room, had proposed a "Yamamoto Quintuplet Theory." However, there is still only one Yamamoto. Nogi is already on his third!
How will this technology be used in the "plan" Nogi has already set in motion?
The Answer Nogi and Ryu Reached. The Correct Answer is...
Nozaki may have intentionally let himself be caught on overseas surveillance cameras, thinking that the power of Beppan would eventually be needed. Following Nogi's reading of the situation, Sano makes a decision.
Five Beppan members, including Shun Kurosu (Tori Matsuzaka), are captured by Xinxi. The clues to their location were hidden in the 126 million yen and 160 million yen transferred from Nozaki to Shota Tojo (Gaku Hamada) of the Metropolitan Police Cybercrime Division. Staring at the two amounts, Nogi mutters "π" (Pi). When the amounts are multiplied by Pi, the coordinates of a certain location in the Republic of Gorbado emerge.
The word "π" that Nozaki left for the Balka police officer Chingis (Barslkhagva Batbold) in the previous episode connected here. Viewers were excited, saying, "The theories were right!" That large sum of money was not a reward, but a code to reveal the location of the Beppan members.
Meanwhile, Ryu was also tracking Nozaki's movements through a different route.
"Today, here is the second question. First, please watch this video."
Ryu shows a video of five people with hoods over their heads being loaded onto a truck surrounded by many soldiers. Furthermore, he notices that Nozaki went to the same restaurant for three consecutive days and went to the restroom at exactly 7:00 PM every day. Beyond the restroom window was an electronic bulletin board displaying global gold prices. Checking past footage, what was hidden there was... "Shaki Castle"!
Nogi from the "π" code hidden in the transfer amounts. Ryu from the electronic bulletin board. Two people with the same face reached the same answer in completely different places!
However, because Ryu saw through Nozaki's objective, the five Beppan members were moved from Shaki Castle. The code reached Nogi. But the rescue operation has suddenly entered an unpredictable phase...
Nogi, F, and Ryu Played by Masato Sakai! Producer Iida Talks About the Reaction to Episode 16 and Behind-the-Scenes
Episode 16 revealed that Sakai plays three roles. We asked Producer Kazutaka Iida about the behind-the-scenes stories and reactions.
I think the highlight of Episode 16 was definitely Mr. Sakai appearing as Ryu Minsyuan. In Episode 7 of the first season, there was a line in the conversation between Nogi and Nozaki on the plane saying, "He looks a lot like you," but looking at the SNS reactions, I had the impression that only about half the people actually thought Mr. Sakai would play the role. And when it was revealed that Ryu was alive, I was watching the SNS reactions with the director and staff in the editing room, and I was surprised by the volume of the response. I believe "Ryu Minsyuan" entered the trends in no time. I think the impact of the character Ryu, created by Mr. Sakai, was just that big.
I watched Mr. Sakai's acting up close as he created Nogi, F, and the third character Ryu during filming. Nogi and F give the impression of standing firmly on the ground and catching prey with a wide field of vision, but Ryu feels like a ferocious bird floating in the air and then suddenly diving to catch prey all at once. Since he is playing these roles differently, I feel it is no ordinary task. I remember there were times during filming when he played Nogi in the morning and then filmed Ryu's scenes in the afternoon.
However, Mr. Sakai's energy never wanes. As Ryu, Mr. Sakai was even more light-footed, toying with Nozaki. This is also a wish of mine, but if Nogi, F, and Ryu were to appear on the same screen at the same time, it might be a first-in-drama-history moment (laughs). Mr. Sakai would probably get mad at me (sweat).
Now, Episode 16 was an episode like a thick pipe connecting the past and the present, with the catchphrase "The story of VIVANT began five years ago." And Episode 17, airing today, is perhaps the most emotional episode in the second season. The relationships between characters—Nogi and Nokoru, Nogi and Kaoru, Nozaki and Ryu, and the Beppan members like Kurosu waiting for rescue—are depicted closely, and it is a fateful episode where emotions are laid bare. I hope you look forward to it.
Nozaki's "undercover investigation" that began five years ago connected Beppan, Xinxi, and Tent, and continued to the present. "Why don't you just admit it?"... How will Nozaki answer Ryu's questioning?
