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For some reason, I started thinking about this Japanese murder mystery series that I had watched a few English-subbed episodes of back in the early 2000s (1999-2006? Not sure), and now I really want to find out what the show was called so I can rewatch some of the episodes. It was a Fuji TV series that aired on KTSF (a San Francisco Bay Area TV station with mostly Asian programming). I think it aired late Saturday nights when I was watching it.

I don't remember too many details, but the one memory that I am fairly certain of is the conclusion of one of the episodes. The murderer turned out to be the uncle (or perhaps father or some other male relative) of one of the female(?) guest characters. The niece was dying of some sort of kidney (or perhaps liver) problem and needed a transplant, and this led to the uncle murdering someone. I think the person who was murdered had either refused to donate one of his kidneys to the niece, or was murdered so that his kidney could go to the niece. In the end, when the murderer got caught, he committed suicide so that she could have his kidney and live. (I think the murderer had already donated one kidney and couldn't donate another without dying.)

I emailed KTSF for a list of Fuji TV programming in the early 2000s and they responded with this:

Below are the titles that Fuji TV had aired from May 2002 to December 2005 on KTSF. Our records/listings show Fuji TV only for the programs that aired before May 2002):

May to December 2002 – Chura-San, Toshiie To Matsu, Silly Go Lucky, Married at 20, Hypnosis, Kochira Daisan Shakaibu, KOCHIRA NO.3, KINPACHI SENSEI

2003 - GONNA GO CRAZY! FUNKY DOG, MUSASHI, KOCHIRA HON-IKEGAMI-SHO, PROJECT X, SAKURA

2004 - KAI, IKEGAMI-SHO, KIKI IPPATSU SOS, SHINSENGUMI, THE SONG OF A SUGAR CANE FIELD, KOGAN e IRASSHAI, NOUNAI ESTE IQ SUPRI, DISCOVERY IN JAPAN, KOI SEYO OTOME

2005 - NUMBER ONE, WAKABA, YOSHITSUNE, KIKAIDA, KEIJI DETECTIVE, ATARASHII KAZA, EGAONO HOSOKU

I had trouble finding a few of these (perhaps the Romanizations of the titles were not consistent), and none of the ones that I did find seemed to match the series I'm trying to remember. There are a few detective shows listed, but none of them felt right when I read the description. Some of them also had dozens of episodes and I also didn't want to go through them one by one to see if I could find the plot I described above.

Here are some other details that I remember (of course, this was a while ago and my memory is fuzzy, so these details may be incorrect):

  • Each episode was an independent story, there was not much continuation from episode to episode.
  • I'm pretty sure the detective was male.
  • The show had a fairly serious feel to it, I don't remember there being any comedy or funny moments.
  • The show aired fairly late on KTSF (around midnight Pacific time on Saturday nights) and I think the episodes were either 60 or 90 minutes long.
  • It was not animated (this I am 100% certain about).

I will try to post more details as I recall them. If anybody can help me identify this series, that would be great! I think the best way to confirm that the series is the one I'm thinking of is if someone can find the particular episode I described above.

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I can't find a specific episode which may link to the one you mention. But this show looks like a good candidate:

Furuhata Ninzaburō

Its Wikipedia page gives a good description, and feels like it could be it:

Plot patterns

Furuhata opens each episode with a humorous monologue that, at first, appears to be a non-sequitur, but really contains a hint or clue relevant to the following mystery. Then the opening credits appear.

The viewers witness the ingenious murder and watch as the killer covers up the crime (usually by staging the murder as an accident). The murder is then discovered, and Furuhata is usually called in by the police to investigate; but sometimes he just coincidentally happens to be nearby when the crime is discovered. The murderer hangs around the scene of the crime to misdirect the investigation by throwing in several red herrings.

Despite the killer's interference, Furuhata spends the episode trying to spot the real evidence and determining exactly how the crime was committed. Furuhata does this by obnoxiously hanging around his chief suspect (much to the exasperation of the criminal, of course). Just before the final act, Furuhata "breaks the fourth wall" and challenges the audience to guess:

A) what tiny slip-up the killer made which let Furuhata know who the killer was.

B) what clue(s) Furuhata spotted which led him to figure out how the crime was committed.

C) what ingenious trap Furuhata will use to get the killer to confess his / her crime.

In the final act, Furuhata cleverly ensnares the killer using a trap (C); then explains A, B

The charm of the story is that while the audience already knows the killer's identity from the episode's outset - it's still up to the viewer to follow along with Furuhata's investigation and spot the clues which will lead to the solving of the crime.

It started airing in 1996 according to this page, so it fits really well with your time frame.

Also, episodes could vary from 50 minutes, to some really long 95 min specials.

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    Thanks for looking into this! This seems promising, but.. I'm not sure. 1996 seems a bit too early, but it's possible that the episodes released around 1999 could match though. Also, I looked up some episodes but I haven't been able to find one that remotely resembles the one I described in my original post. I wish my memory were better :( Commented Oct 20, 2017 at 22:02
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    I understand. But it seems that the last episodes were released in 2006. Maybe if you watch a couple of episodes you could recognize the characters? Well, good luck! :) Commented Oct 21, 2017 at 12:32

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