Absolute Zero (2010)

Zettai Reido (絶対零度; Absolute Zero) is a Japanese police procedural television drama. The first season, subtitled Mikaiketsu Jiken Tokumei Sōsa (未解決事件特命捜査; lit. "Special Cold Case Investigation"), was set in a fictional version of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department division that specializes in investigating cold cases, which is based on an actual division established in Japan in 2009. The first season aired from April 13 to June 22, 2010 on Fuji TV's Kakku time-slot. It premiered to an 18% rating. A special two-hour-long episode which served as conclusion to the first series was aired on July 8, 2011.

Season two of Zettai Reido, subtitled Tokushu Hanzai Sennyū Sōsa (特殊犯罪潜入捜査; lit. "Special Undercover Crime Investigation") takes place a year after the events of the special episode, after Sakuragi and her fellow detectives have been transferred to the undercover investigation division which deals with current crimes. The second season aired from July 12 to September 20, 2011 on Fuji TV's Kakku time-slot. It premiered to a 15.4% rating and ended with a season-high rating of 16.3%. The last leg of the second season featured guest star appearances by Yūsuke Santamaria and You Yokoyama.

Season three of Zettai Reido, subtitled Mizen Hanzai Sennyū Sōsa (未然犯罪潜入捜査; lit. "Pre-emptive Undercover Crime Investigation") takes place when Izumi suddenly disappeared during a special mission (leading to the disbandment of the Special Crimes Investigation Unit following her disappearance). Norito Izawa, who was the ace of Pre-Crime Investigation Team" (known as "Mihan"), a secret experimental unit led by career police officer Sadaharu Todo. Their mission was to prevent future crimes before they occurred, acting on intelligence regarding dangerous individuals identified. The third season aired from July 9 to September 10, 2018 on Fuji TV's Getsuku time-slot. It premiered to a 10.6% rating and ended with a rating of 10.8%. The season four also uses the same subtitle, and aired from January 6 to March 16, 2020. It premiered to a 10.6% rating and ended with a rating of 9.7%.

Season five of Zettai Reido, subtitled Jōhō Hanzai Kinkyū Sōsa (情報犯罪緊急捜査; lit. "Cybercrime Emergency Investigation") aired from October 6 to December 15, 2025 on Fuji TV's Getsuku time-slot. It premiered to a 6.5% rating and ended with a rating of 5.2%.

The opening and ending themes for season one and two are performed by rock duo Love Psychedelico, while the ending theme for season three and four are performed by Leo Ieiri.

Series synopsis

Izumi Sakuragi (Aya Ueto) is an energetic rookie detective assigned to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's special investigations office. This newly established division uses DNA analysis and the latest in forensics science to investigate unresolved cases and cases suspected to involve missing persons.

Cast and characters

Season 1 and Season 2

Aya Ueto as Izumi Sakuragi, a rookie detective with the special investigations office. Due to her inexperience, she is nicknamed Kame (カメ; turtle).

Hiroyuki Miyasako as Keigo Tsukamoto, a police sergeant who is often partnered with Sakuragi.

Sayaka Yamaguchi as Ryōko Takamine, the special investigations office's resident criminal profiler.

Tomomi Maruyama as Yūki Fukazawa, a police inspector with the special investigations office. In season two, he is promoted to the position of Chief Investigator of the eighth section. In season five, he was transferred to the first investigation office.

Hiromi Kitagawa as Sae Ōmori, the crime lab chief and main technician.

Ryo Kimura as Shō Takebayashi, the crime lab technician in charge of computer forensics.

Takeo Nakahara as Shintarō Shiraishi, a detective with the special investigations office.

Tetta Sugimoto as Takumi Kurata, a senior detective with the special investigations office.

Kin'ya Kitaōji as Hideo Nagashima, the Director General of the special investigations office.

Akira Nagata as Yukinari Michio (Season 2)

Keisuke Minami as Tōru Akiyama (Season 2)

Megumi Saito as Tomomi Mitsui, a staff with the special investigation office.

Kenta Kiritani as Shinjirō Takigawa, a detective with the special undercover crime investigations office and Sakuragi's partner.

Takashika Kobayashi as Ryōhei Isomura, a detective with the special undercover crime investigations office. (Season 2)

Rie Minemura as Megumi Inohara, a staff with the special investigation office. (Season 2)

Season 3 and Season 4

Ikki Sawamura as Norito Izawa, a police sergeant and a former elite detective from the Public Security Bureau who was transferred to the pre-crime investigation office. While outwardly appearing carefree and nonchalant, he harbors a hidden side that deeply loathes criminals. He also takes command of operations in the field. In season four, he was promoted as the leader of the team.

You Yokoyama as Toru Yamauchi, a police sergeant with the pre-crime investigation office. Due to his quiet and blunt personality, he is nicknamed Usagi (ウサギ; Rabbit). In season five, he was transferred to the first investigation office and promoted to the position as inspector.

Tsubasa Honda as Yui Odagiri, a detective with martial arts skills

Tokio Emoto as Minami Hikotaro

Mitsuru Hirata as Kaoru Tamura, a veteran police sergeant who was moved between the different divisions within the police. Through his experience, he has acquired various skills.

Atsushi Ito as Sadaharu Todo

Yuki Morinaga as Takumi Yoshioka, a police sergeant with the pre-crime investigation office. (Season 4)

Miki Mizuno as Akari Kosaka, a Ministry of Justice official and chief of pre-crime investigation office. (Season 4)

Akira Emoto as Sosuke Kagami, a world-renewed white-hat hacker with a track record of arresting the world's most notorious cracker. (Season 4)

Magy as Seiji Hayakawa, a police sergeant with the first investigation office.

Michiko Tanaka as Mai Itakura, a detective with the first investigation office who has the feelings with Minami. At the end of season 3, she is married to Minami and retire from the police. (Season 3)

Soshina as Shun Kadota, a police sergeant with the first investigation office. (Season 4)

Shuhei Uesugi as Toshiya Kitami, a Ministry of Justice official. (Season 4)

Manabu Hamada as Masato Sonezaki, chief of Public Security Bureau. (Season 4)

Mahiro Takasugi as Hiroki Shinoda (his real name was Ayumu Mizushima), a sports photographer. (Season 4)

Season 5

Yasuko Sawaguchi as Nami Ninomiya, a police sergeant with the information-related crime special task force.

Yuina Kuroshima as Sae Shimizu, an investigator with the information-related crime special task force who was previously worked as a system engineer.

Hayate Ichinose as Mutsurō Minakata, a police sergeant with the information-related crime special task force.

Azusa Babazono as Tomoyo Tanabe, a police sergeant with the information-related crime special task force who possesses a wide network of contacts.

Satoshi Kaneda as Kei Kakegawa, a police sergeant with the information-related crime special task force.

Yohei Matsukado as Hiroshi Hayami, chief of the information-related crime special task force.

Ken Yasuda as Shinjirō Sashō, the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary

Yuka Itaya as Kyōko Kiritani, the first female Prime Minister of Japan

Maya Miura as Mika Sakai, a detective from the first investigation office.

Ayana Shiramoto as Kana Kiritani, Kyōko's only daughter

Episodes

Season 1 (2010–11)

Season 2 (2011)

Season 3 (2018)

Season 4 (2020)

Season 5 (2025)

Ratings

Awards

See also

The Enigma Files, UK / BBC Two, 1980

Cold Squad, CAN / CTV, 1998

Waking the Dead, UK / BBC One, 2000

New Tricks, UK / BBC One, 2003

Cold Case, USA / CBS, 2003

Signal, South Korea / tvN, 2016

Signal, Japan / Fuji TV, 2018

References

External links

Zettai Reido: Mikaiketsu Jiken Tokumei Sōsa official website

Zettai Reido: Tokushu Hanzai Sennyū Sōsa official website

Zettai Reido: Tokushu Hanzai Sennyū Sōsa Staff Blog

Zettai Reido: Mikaiketsu Jiken Tokumei Sōsa at IMDb

Zettai Reido: Tokushu Hanzai Sennyū Sōsa at IMDb