JOKER GAME (ジョーカー・ゲーム)

Is that how you act when you receive an order, punk?

This is for our motherland.

If you die, be content. Don't let death stop you!

Sir...

Sir, if I may, it seems foolish to be content

with dying in what amounts to a training exercise!

Besides...

I don't think these men are fit to be scouts.

What "amounts to" a training exercise?

Tobisaki!

Are you, a soldier who swore allegiance to the army,

saying that your superior officer's orders are "foolish"?!

No, sir, I'm not! I just—

You "just" nothing!

Stop complaining and move out!

Grab him!

Violence against a superior officer! Refusing orders!

Are you the one they called "untrainable?"

Any plans for after you quit the army?

Good question.

Maybe I'll move to Manchuria

and become a roving bandit.

If you feel up to it, come take my exam.

As the embers of world war smoldered

in autumn of 1937,

the Imperial Army

Greater East Asia Cultural Society

Greater East Asia Cultural Society

established a clandestine spy training agency.

The histories, names, and even ages

of the elite men who pass its rigorous application process

are all treated as top-secret information.

They easily complete training exercises that push them

to their physical and mental limits.

Under the command of founder Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki,

they operate worldwide, within the shadows.

And so a brand-new intelligence agency was created.

Its name is "D-Agency."

Somebody call the police!

Episode 12 - XX (Double Cross)

Call the police!

What's going on?

He's dead?

"I've lost all hope. I want to die."

Was he killed?

The target I was watching died.

It was an inexcusable failure.

Greater East Asia Cultural Society

1939, Spring

The deceased is a German man named Karl Schneider.

Publicly, he was a writer for Berlin Allgemeine,

but was a suspected double agent for Germany and the Soviet Union.

This program is a work of fiction. The characters, organizations, locations, laws, names, etc. being portrayed are unrelated to actual events.

On the day of the incident, Schneider bought flowers from a street vendor

and headed for the apartment of his lover, Nogami Yuriko, a theater performer.

They met about a year ago

through a friend of Nogami's and began dating.

Schneider furnished the apartment in question for Yuriko.

Nogami was out that day,

but just after 3 PM, she returned with her friend

and fellow performer, Yasuhara Miyoko.

According to the report,

they'd arranged to go eat cake together.

As far as Schneider's death goes, the police ruled it a suicide

and will not be investigating further.

How likely is it that Schneider realized you were watching him,

decided he had no chance of escape, and killed himself?

Schneider was a top-class spy.

The thought of him choosing death

seems rather unnatural to me.

However, the suicide note's a problem.

How do you explain it?

The handwriting analysis said he wrote it himself.

In short, Odagiri,

you believe someone killed Schneider,

and the note was forged?

Given that he was a double agent,

it wouldn't have been odd for either Germany or the Soviets to go after him.

All I'm saying is that we need to consider the possibility.

But your contributions have already given us

enough information to reject the idea.

You heard screaming a moment after

the woman and her friend came home.

No one exited through that door before then.

What was the target's cause of death?

Asphyxiation from cyanide poisoning.

The same compound was found on the glass of wine he'd been drinking from.

You're saying that when Schneider died,

you didn't notice anything at all?

This Schneider...

He was fluent in English, wasn't he?

Is that from him testing the pen?

Maybe.

But it also looks like two crosses side by side.

In English, "double-cross" means "to betray."

Someone betrayed Schneider...

Or he betrayed them.

What do you think?

Whatever the case, we have to take control of his spy network.

Kaminaga, investigate everyone who went to Schneider's house again.

Hatano, double-check the actual suicide note.

Miyoshi, check the latest developments at the German and Soviet embassies.

Amari, investigate any native

English speakers who lived near Schneider.

Tazaki, look into the wine import channels...

Fukumoto...

What do you want me to do?

Investigate the woman who was at the scene.

The woman?

But she...

Nogami Yuriko had an airtight alibi.

Shinjuku Akakaze Circle

At the time I suspect Schneider died,

she was in a dress rehearsal with her theater company.

According to witness testimonies,

she was never off the stage for more than five minutes.

I leave tomorrow.

We may never meet again.

Knowing that, will you still wait for me?

I will.

I'll forever be here, waiting for your return.

So please, come back...

I loved him with all my heart.

So much that I want them to live the life they truly want.

I will disappear quietly.

Even if a future

of darkness and solitude awaits.

It will

still be proof that I lived!

Great show!

Today's performance was amazing!

Miyoko-san, you've really got a flair for this.

Thank you.

Yuriko-san was the real star, though.

In spite of what happened...

She was just splendid.

Tokyo Flower Girl

I wonder if Yuriko-san's all right....

Excuse me, sir?

Is anything the matter?

Oh, no.

Yasuhara-san's quite popular, isn't she?

Look at all these flowers for her.

Oh, yes, thank you.

Congratulations to Yasuhara Miyoko

It's just talent, I suppose.

Miyoko-san's gotten better and better...

These days, she's our marquee actress.

Are those flowers for Yasuhara-san, too?

What a calming scent.

Yes,

they're Miyoko-san's favorite flower.

To be honest, after some time,

a nearby florist takes Miyoko-san's flowers off our hands.