Entertainment Feb. 18, 2009 - 05:08AM JST ( 6 )

TOKYO —

Actress Ryoko Yonekura is back as detective Reiko Usanagi in TV Asahi’s drama special “The Negotiator” to be shown on Feb 28 at 9 p.m. Yonekura, 33, starred in a special for the drama back in January last year, in which she played the lone female member of a special investigation team.

This time she is called back into action as kidnappings take place simultaneously in five separate locations and a ransom of over 10 billion yen is demanded. Yonekura’s Usanagi takes a bullet in the opening sequence which took two days to film and involved 200 extras and a dozen police cars.

The scene is reminiscent of one which late actor Yusaku Matsuda played in popular crime drama “Taiyo ni hoero!” or “Bark at the Sun,” when his character - the “jeans detective” - died.

Yonekura said she did her best and tried not to be shy about her character’s writhing in pain. “It was my first time to play someone getting shot, and there were many other things I hadn’t done before. I had a great time on set,” she said.

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