Aibou TV Season 5 Episode 18 - The Qualification for Murder(殺人の資格)

Subtitle: The Qualification for Murder(殺人の資格)

 Hiroko, the manager of a gay bar Beard and Rose and... (髭と薔薇と…), has developed a crush on a fūzoku writer(風俗ライター) Michiaki Shibaki(芝木 倫明). Hiroko even moved to the same apartment as Shibaki's residence. One day, Hiroko noticed Shibaki act strangely after Shibaki received an envelope. Shortly afterwards, Shibaki was clearly agitated talking on his cellphone to an unknown caller. Hiroko asks Sergeant Kaoru to help him find out what is wrong with Shibaki.

The situation becomes more serious after Hiroko observes Shibaki at a busy crosswalk, preparing to stab a man in broad daylight around 8:15 AM. Disaster is narrowly averted after Hiroko starts screaming, making Shibaki hesitate, allowing his target to walk away none the wiser.

Hiroko then leads the sergeant to Shibaki's room, where they find the video tape that had been sent to him. They take a look at the video and is shocked by its contents.

Characters appearing/mentioned in the story

Noriaki Shibaki(芝木 倫明) - Fūzoku writer(風俗ライター) and former newspaper journalist. He wrote articles about politics at Teito Newspaper until 10 years ago. He wrote an article accusing Yoshinori Tanoue(田ノ上 義紀) of bribing the ruling political party. As a result of this article, the Keishichō interrogated Tanoue, eventually leading to Tanoue's suicide. Shortly afterwards, multiple evidence proving Tanoue's innocence came to light, Shibaki was reprimanded and transferred to another department in the Teito Newspaper. Against the newspaper staff's advice, Shibaki visited and apologized to Tanoue's surviving family. The surviving wife declined to accept Shibaki's apology and called him a murderer. Unable to bear this rejection, Shibaki resigned from Teito Newspaper the next day.

Hiromu Tanoue(田ﾉ上 啓) - Yoshinori's 21 year old son. He was 11 at the time when his father committed suicide. His mother passed away an year ago, and moved to Tokyo shortly afterwards.

Yoshinori Tanoue(田ノ上 義紀) - An employee of a state-owned construction company. Shibaki wrote a newspaper article accusing him of bribing the ruling political party ten years ago. Members of the Keishichō investigating financial crimes interrogated Tanoue, who declared his innocence for over a week. On 2/27, ten days after the questioning started, Tanoue committed suicide in a hotel near the Keishichō.

Gōken Iba(伊庭 剛憲) - Security guard, former chief of the second division at the Keishichō(Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department) and Inspector Ukyō's boss a long time ago. He led the investigation into the bribery case based on Shibaki's article, but resigned from his position after Tanoue committed suicide and evidence of Tanoue's innocence came to light.

Yasuo Ōkubo(大久保 康雄) - Reporter at the Teito Newspaper who explains what happened ten years ago to the Tokumeigakari pair and Miwako.

Fumio Yasuda(安田 富美代) - Shibaki's landlord. The police and the courts were investigating her for lending money at an illegally high interest rate. She supposedly was killed on 2/17 at 1 PM.

Hiroko (ヒロコ) - Manager of a gay bar Beard and Rose and... (髭と薔薇と…) who is infatuated with Noriaki Shibaki(芝木 倫明) and is worried about Shibaki's recent odd behavior.