"3 Nen A Kumi: Ima kara Mina-san wa, Hitojichi Desu" drama, episode four recap

 Air Dates: January 6th to March 10, 2019  Sundays at 10:30 pm on NTV   

Average rating: 11.5%

Director: Naoko Komuro and Yuma Suzuki    Writer: Shogo Muto

Also goes by the title of 'Mr Hiiragi's Homeroom'

Main Cast:

Masaki Suda as Ibuki Hiiragi.... the slightly warped homeroom teacher

The Students, thirty in all so just listing a few of them

Mei Nagano as Sakura Kayano.... homeroom class president

Moka Kamishiraishi as Reina Kageyama.... committed suicide in September

Rina Kawaei as Kaho Usumi

Haruka Fukuhara as Suzune Minakoshi

Mio Imada as Yuzuki Suwa

Ryota Katayose as Hayato Kai

Jin Suzuki as Kaito Satomi

Tsuyoshi Furukawa as Ken Sunaga

Kaito Mifune as Ren Nakao.... Hiiragi's first victim

The rest:

Kippei Shiina as Makoto Gunji.... detective who is leading the case

Yoshihiko Hosoda as Ryoichi Miyagi.... Gunji's partner

Kohei Otomo as Toru Igarashi.... superior of the two above detectives

Bengal as Koichi Ichimura.... principal of Kaio high school

Akane Hotte as Mizuki Morisaki.... teacher who had a crush on Hiiragi

Seiichi Tanabe as Yamato Takechi... annoying teacher who is also an author

Kenichi Yajima as Takahiko Sagara

 Whew, this may be the biggest cast ever for a regular drama as there's twenty more students and a few other teachers. The show began on the date of March 1st and by what was told to us in the first episode the events take place until March 10th, the day the students were(are?) supposed to graduate....

 Seems almost everything that was viewed and recapped in the first three episodes has gone for naught as the developments have changed so drastically. At the end of the first episode the first killing took place who was the male student Ren, his murder was because the class couldn't come up with the right answer of why Reina had killed herself. That's a poser which hasn't been fully answered yet but it eventually will, if you read the previous recaps you know what I'm talking about. Nice cliffhanger to end off the third episode as the class was yet once again unable to answer a question from Hiiragi correctly which was who had edited the fake video that showed Reina doping.
 The culprit who took the video was exposed, that was the male student Satomi who had a crush on Reina and seems so many others did too. She had rebuffed his advances which was such a blow to Satomi that he made the fake video though he didn't know what he would do with it but he also confessed he had no part in editing the video. So who did remains a mystery to start this recap off but first it's back to the cliffhanger which carried over to this episode. Hiiragi had vowed to kill five students if the class couldn't answer the question, they were unable to do so Hiiragi marched Satomi along with four others to the art room where they would meet their fate.
 But there was no deadly fate awaiting them as with the help of Ren(!) Hiiragi drugged the students and set off a bomb in the art room. It wasn't a powerful bomb but one to make everyone think that the students had perished in the explosion. When they arose who should be in front of them but Ren who they all thought had been killed in the first show. That stabbing had been a fake as Hiiragi had planted a blood tube on Ren's body which led everyone to presume he was dead. Ren has also been Hiiragi's 'plant' for sending the police messages, they figured the texts were coming from a traitor but they were sent to find out what plans the police and especially Gunji may have.

 Hope I don't have any spoilers for the next recap as this turned out to be almost a two part episode and may reveal tidbits from episode five. Ren explained the whole situation to his classmates, though at first he disliked Hiiragi immensely he's now on his side and has done everything willingly. Most of the reasons aren't revealed until the next show but Ren had told his mates Hiiragi doesn't want to harm anyone and all of his intentions are pure as he just wants to solve the suicide of Reina. And as we'll learn in the shows past the fifth one was it really a suicide as to Hiiragi she may have been.... murdered!
 Every show has one or two of the students in the spotlight, for this one it's Kai who seems to be such a smart aleck who generally hates most of the class and Hiiragi. But deep down he's really not a bad person as we'll be learning but he's had such pressures at home which no student knew of. His mother had been in an accident, she's been bedridden for months and many be paralyzed permanently. He also had a pair of younger siblings who he's had to take care of and has been tutoring them. May not be going in the exact order of events as Kai didn't tell the class of all of his troubles for a while or should I say they were spaced out here and there.
 As you can above in the screenshots the police chief Igarashi who has been Hiiragi's 'ally' tells him he can no longer operate in that manner and that Hiiragi is on his own. That's another mini mystery to add to the huge list, why would a police chief be helping Hiiragi out holding hostages? Perhaps Iragashi also felt that Reina's death may have been a bit shady but there's a more pressing concern for the class as Hiiragi announced that the next batch of killing would total.... ten students! The question of who edited the fake video of Reina is still hanging in the air along with a few other minor ones involving her. If those aren't answered fully then ten will die and during the discussion is when Kai's background was revealed.

 Iragashi did do one last thing for Hiiragi before he told him he could no longer help him. It was a major piece of help as he got Gunji transferred off the case and seemed if any detective could bring Hiiragi down it would be him but we will see him often working on the case though he wasn't allowed to. But then again felt as though Hiiragi did want Gunji on the case, he was the type of person who would investigate Reina's death fully. During their discussion in the classroom about Reina's edited video it was Kai of all people who stood up and took the blame for doing it. Hiiragi deep down knew he wasn't responsible for the video but left the classroom to let his students get to the bottom of the confession.
 Kai had been doing many odd jobs to bring money into his household but it wasn't nearly enough. He wouldn't do 'illegal' activities but when one arose the temptation was too great to pass up. There was a group of students at the Kaio high school who were loosely affiliated with a gang called Berumuzu. What that name means is that they were a bunch of hoodlums but weren't connected at all to the Yakuza or at least until they were possibly recruited by them.
 The leader of Berumuzu wanted to meet Reina, Kai realized nothing good could come out of it but when he was offered 200,000 yen he jumped at the offer. All he had to do was escort Reina to an abandoned warehouse so the Berumuzu leader could meet her, of course Kai knew that it could be a setup but there was no way he could pass up that sum of money. Kai was able to convince Reina to accompany him to the warehouse and told her someone just wanted to meet her.
 But shortly after is when things went haywire as the group of students arrived in an SUV and told Kai they were taking Reina to meet the head of the Berumuzu gang. Kai grasped the situation immediately and tried to prevent the possible 'kidnapping' from taking place. He grabbed a pole and began swinging it at the small group while yelling out to Reina to RUN!. That she did and somehow Kai was able to escape the melee without getting hurt. Many in the class had thought at the time that Kai was a hero but he confessed he wasn't, if it wasn't for his selfish acts Reina would never have been put in danger.

But what that also means is that Kai had nothing to do with the video being edited nor did he have any evidence of who may have done it. So the students are back to square one and time is running out to find the answer to the question which has now been going on for almost two episodes. After his very open confession to his classmates Kai needed to disappear for a while and ended up in the art room where ran into Hiiragi who was both impressed and disappointed with his actions.
 Yes, Kai did save Reina but he did put her in such peril with his greed though in his defense Kai really needed money to support his family. Just as Hiiragi began his praising he suddenly keeled over in severe pain and Kai had no clue what was going on. We viewers really didn't either but since the first show we've seen Hiiragi in his private office taking pills, we knew something was wrong but it was never revealed. It wasn't in this show as we are getting somewhat close to the end but his illness will be explained fully in the next recap.
 Hiiragi quickly regained his composure and escorted Kai back to the classroom where the other 22 students were. Ren and the other five had been ordered to stay hidden in the art room as Hiiragi doesn't want anyone to know yet that the students are alive, if the students knew that they may not cooperate with him in the future. But class rep Sakura has had an inkling that at least some of the students are alive as she heard some voices from the art room but has kept that discovery a secret.
 Unknown to the students Hiiragi turned on his phone when he entered the room, at the other end listening was Gunji though he's still off the case. With no answer to the ever ending question of 'Who edited Reina's video?' Hiiragi announced that it's time for ten students to die. Of course that wasn't going to happen but he wanted Gunji to think that he's been killing students, with his announcement the students tore into a panic and flew around the classroom. But that panic quickly subsided as Kai told his teacher not to blame the innocent students, why don't they have a one on one duel to see if anyone dies or not. There's some screenshots of the melee above.

 Last segment for the post, as I've mentioned before will have no more than five for any recap. The challenge from Kai was that if he could beat Hiiragi in a fight he would have to let the students leave the school. If Kai lost he told Hiiragi he would willingly be the next victim if it would save the others. Hiirai doesn't look it but he's such a fierce fighter as he's proven to the class, there's really no way Kai should have a chance against him.
 Usually not but Kai knows that Hiiragi is in severe pain, if he can hold off his teacher long enough perhaps he'll have a chance. Didn't appear that way in the beginning as Kai was no match for Hiiragi who was pummeling his student badly but not enough to do permanent damage. Just as it seemed Kai was down for the count the moment he was hoping for took place as Hiiragi's pain became so intense he fell over unable to move and Kai quickly jumped on him throwing punch after punch.
 Even though Hiiragi seemed to be down and out that wasn't the case as he caught a second wind and turned the tables on Kai and really put a beating on him which ended the fight. But Hiiragi really didn't want to hurt any of his students and sat next to Kai as he asked him to please help in the future, will add that Hiiragi had also taken quite a beating during the skirmish. But besides talking to Kai Hiiragi also pleaded to the rest of the students to help with the mystery of Reina's 'suicide'. The students were dumbfounded at the events and didn't know what to think, meanwhile Gunji had heard everything that took place in the classroom. He still wants to capture Hiiragi and save the students but is having second thoughts about Hiiragi's motives, he also learned then that no students were dead.
 So didn't the other students in the classroom as Hiiragi and Kai explained to the class exactly what had happened, next episode is when there will be a reunion of all of the students. One more item before this recap finishes and it has to deal with the Berumuzu criminal group. Kai had told Hiiragi that the mastermind of the group was an older man but he only knew him by the name of 'K' but it eventually came out that the man's name was Kishi who could be found at a local club. Gunji heard everything and rushed to the scene which is where I'll end this. We do meet the evil man but most of the action take place in the next episode so will pick the story in the following recap.

 We do see more of Mio as Suwa than most students in the episodes but not enough to date though she is the focus of the next episode. This is one of the more interesting Japanese series I've viewed in a while and can't believe how much the storylines have changed, thought I could keep the recaps a tad shorter but couldn't because of that. Next post has the recap for episode five, here's many more screenshots and they do help you follow the story better.