Seibu Keisatsu

Seibu Keisatsu
Super Z (スーパーZ) from the series.
Starring	Tetsuya Watari, Ishihara Yūjirō, Akiji Kobayashi, Hiroshi Tachi, Akira Terao, Tomokazu Miura
Country of origin	Japan
No. of seasons	3 TV series, 1 Special
Production
Running time	54 minutes
Release
Original network	TV Asahi
Original release	October 10, 1979 – October 22, 1984 (Series) October 31, 2004 (TV Special)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Seibu Keisatsu (西部警察, Police: Western Division) is a television drama series produced by Ishihara Promotions (石原プロモーション, ishihara puromōshon) and broadcast on TV Asahi.

Plot

The series portrays the Western Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Division's Detective Chief Daimon, played by Tetsuya Watari and his subordinates, dubbed the Daimon Force (大門軍団, Daimon Gundan), and their superior, Section Chief Kogure, played by Yujiro Ishihara, as they fight against heinous criminals.

With its flashy, over-the-top explosion scenes, and car stunts, this series gained a reputation as a macho drama. It is representative of the police & detective dramas of the 1980s.

Series

• TV Series Seibu Keisatsu (10/14/1979 - 4/18/1982)
• TV Series Seibu Keisatsu Part-II (5/30/1982 - 3/20/1983)
• TV Series Seibu Keisatsu Part-III (4/3/1983 - 10/22/1984)
• TV Special Seibu Keisatsu Special (10/31/2004)

Statistics

During the 5-year course of the show, a total of 236 episodes were filmed, with roughly 4,680 cars being destroyed during the course of filming, 4.8 tons of explosives being used as well as close to 320 buildings destroyed.

Vehicles

Nissan provided a wide variety of vehicles for the show, most notably for use as police vehicles as well as villain vehicles. The majority of the patrol cars in the show are a mix of Nissan Laurel, Gloria, Cedric as well as Skyline sedans. For vehicle wrecking scenes the 230 and 330 model Cedrics, Glorias and Laurels were mainly used; as the filming staff had strict orders not to damage any of the 430 model Cedric marked patrol cars.

The series also had several notable cars used by the main heroes, including RS Machines 1 to 3, all of which were based on the Nissan Skyline DR30 Turbo RS; as well as Machine-X, a modified Nissan Skyline 2000 TURBO GT-E (HGC211) used primarily by Chief Daimon. There was also Super-Z; a modified Nissan 260Z 2by2 with gull-wing doors, turbocharger, nitrous, computers, and also quad 20mm guns mounted on the hood. More noteworthy vehicles include a 1980 Nissan Safari which was also heavily modified with a radar camera, computer and also a water cannon with a water pressure so high it was shown to be able to filp a car; and lastly a 1980 Nissan Gazelle convertible, which was Section Chief Kogure's personal vehicle. Being a motorcycle cop from the beginning of the series Eiji Hatomura (played by Hiroshi Tachi) used modified Suzuki motorcycles; in particularly a GSX1100 Katana, which was his character's favourite bike in the series.

Almost all of the special vehicles are as of today, preserved inside the Ishihara Yujiro Memorial Hall. The Safari is now in a Nissan museum.

File:NISSAN GAZELLE SEIBU POLICE 01.JPG

Kogure's Nissan Gazelle. Seen next to it is the Super-Z.

File:1981 Nissan Safari 4WD VRG160 Seibu Keisatsu.jpg

The specially modified Nissan Safari from the show.

External links

• Article on Seibu Keisatsu
• Official Site (Remake) (Japanese)
• Official Site (Japanese)
• Seibu Keisatsu at IMDb