Trick (2000 TV series)

Trick is a comedic Japanese TV/movie series (three seasons and three films) as well as associated meta-fiction novels and comic books, about a magician and a physicist who debunk fraudulent spiritualists. It stars Hiroshi Abe and Yukie Nakama.

Synopsis

Although 23 year old Naoko Yamada (Yukie Nakama) considers herself a beautiful and talented magician, she is continously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late. One day as she is searching through the newspaper for a new job, she comes across an ad of a physics professor, Jiro Ueda (Hiroshi Abe), a non-believer of all things magical, offering money to anyone who can prove to him that magic is real. Desperately needing the money, Naoko accepts the challenge, which is how she comes to meet Professor Ueda. Falling prey to her simple magic tricks, Ueda is impressed, and enlists Naoko to help him uncover the tricks behind a local cult. Their hilarious antics, along with those of the not-so-secretly-bald police officer Yabe, leads them onto further mysteries, all with tricks needing to be solved in sort of an "X-Files" meets "Scooby-Doo" type of investigative drama.

Chemistry

Often, the plots involve lots of macguffins and pales in comparison to the lead characters themselves (to the point where many plot holes are never explained). The chemistry between them is often sighted as the reason behind the popularity of the series. In addition, both characters are by most standards unbalanced and crazy, and social outcasts in many respects (though Ueda does have some fame as an author and professor) and their differences with a crazy world, in a way, bond them together. A subtle hint of love is suggested every once in a while, but usually the two are poking fun at each other in half-hearted hatred.

Running gags

One of the running gags in the characters' love-hate relationship is that they are both sexually inadequate; Yamada has a flat chest, and Ueda's anatomy is too large, and each constantly reminds the other of their shameful physical and virginal state.

Throughout the first movie and second series, Ueda calls Yamada "YOU" in English. Another trademark of Ueda around this time was his tendency to yell out in English, "Jump!" and either preternaturally dissapear, or perhaps more humorously, not.

In the third series, Ueda's utterance "Uooh!" becomes very commedic and pronounced. Usually he says it when something bad happens.

Ueda is a proud man, and puts on airs of being fearless. He often spouts, "どんと来い!" (donto koi equivilent to "bring it on!" in English). However, Ueda, while a big man, constantly faints. Though at times he can be roused to action and becomes a fierce fighter. In the third series, his more brave moments are often preceeded by the heavily accented English phrase, "Why don't you do your best?" Which is one of his book titles, as is donto koi.

Ueda often starts his apperance in each episode by using a magic trick, which Yamada easily figures out.

Ueda's car door breaks off at one point, and he carries it over his shoulder quite often. Interstingly, his car also follows him at one point in the second movie. This is never explained. In fact many of the more mystical aspects of Ueda and Yamada are never explained or even noticed by the main characters.

Yamada has to practice smiling. She has no friends, save Ueda. She laughs in an unnatural way "Kehehehe" and is sometimes smacked by others when she laughs at her own cleverness.

Yamada's landlady is constantly hounding her for money, and not easily tricked. She is assisted by the strange foreigner from India, who eventual marries the landlady and has two children with her. The slightly racist depiction of the Indian may be the low point of the series, but everyone in the series is an idiot in some way, so it balances out.

Yamada's mother is constantly scheming to make money, and loves Ueda like a son, which infuriates Yamada.

Yamada (and sometimes others) constantly misreads kanji and Ueda has to correct her.

Yamada often hits and disables Ueda. Detective Yabe often punches his assistants for saying things that annoy him.

Detective Yabe's assistant changes from a dullard to a genius in the third series, who constantly spouts, "I graduated from Tokyo University!" The new assistant is smacked as much as the first.

Another constant gag concerns detective Yabe's hair, which is a wig. Many puns are made when someone says a word like that sounds like "hair" and Yabe grabs his head and says "It's natural!"