Tantei Monogatari
# Tantei Monogatari

Tantei Monogatari (探偵物語), or Detective Story, is an action Japanese TV series starring Yūsaku Matsuda that was originally broadcast on Nippon TV in 27 forty-five-minute episodes from September 18, 1979 to April 1, 1980. The show had various directors including Toru Murakawa, Kiyoshi Nishimura, Yukihiro Sawada and Yasuharu Hasebe.

## Plot

Shunsaku Kudō sets up office in a rundown building as a private detective after spending five years as a cop in San Francisco where he became familiar with firearms. Kudō was originally envisioned as a standard hard-boiled type but star Yūsaku Matsuda looked too much like a rebel so the character ended up riding a Vespa scooter, smoking Camel cigarettes and dressing in a black or white suit and sunglasses. Also living in the building are two young girls (American actress Nancy Cheney and Kahori Takeda) who fuss over the detective.

## Cast

* Yūsaku Matsuda as Shunsaku Kudo
* Mikio Narita as Chief Detective Hattori
* Mitsuko Baisho as Masako
* Michihiro Yamanishi as Detective Matsumoto
* Nancy Cheney as Nancy
* Kahori Takeda as Kahori
* Tetsuo Nose as Tattoo Guy
* Hiroshi Shimizu as Iizuka
* Osamu Shigematsu
* Yukiko Tachibana
* Ryoko Watanabe
* Hiromi Hirata

## Reception

Tantei Monogatari with its easy-going humorous style earned high ratings while on the air and later acquired a cult following. Nippon TV published a book about the show titled Yomigaere! Tantei Monogatari (Come Back! Detective Story) in 1994 and Toei Video later released the whole series. Toei also released the entire series as a boxed set of Blu-ray discs in 2015.

