AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo

{{about|the Japanese television series|the robotic pet|AIBO}} {{Expand Japanese|topic=cult|相棒|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = Aibou logo.svg | image_class = skin-invert | image_size = 200 | caption = The logo for Seasons 1-7 | alt_name = Partners | genre = detective fiction | developer = | writer = | director = | creative_director = | presenter = | starring = Yutaka Mizutani | judges = | voices = | narrator = | theme_music_composer = | open_theme = *''Rendez-Vu'' by Basement Jaxx (Pilots) *''Aibou Opening Theme'' by Yoshihiro Ike (Season 4-present) | end_theme = *''Promised You'' by Zard (Pilots) | composer = Yoshihiro Ike | country = Japan | language = Japanese | num_seasons = 24 | num_episodes = 450 | list_episodes = | executive_producer = | producer = | editor = | location = | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = | company = {{ubl|TV Asahi|Toei Company}} | network = ANN (TV Asahi) | first_aired = {{Start date|2000|6|3}} | last_aired = present | related = }} {{Nihongo|'''''AIBOU'''''|相棒|Aibō|Partners}} is a Japanese television detective series that first aired on TV Asahi on June 3, 2000. It has been adapted into six films: ''AIBOU: The Movie'' (2008), ''AIBOU: CSI Files'' (2009),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jfdb.jp/en/title/2092|title=Partners: Csi Files}}</ref> ''AIBOU: The Movie II'' (2010), ''AIBOU: X-DAY'' (2013), ''AIBOU: The Movie III'' (2014) and ''AIBOU: The Movie IV'' (2017).

The drama features {{Nihongo|Ukyō Sugishita|杉下右京}} , a police inspector assigned to the fictional {{Nihongo|Special Missions Unit|特命係|Tokumei-gakari}} of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and his partners as {{Nihongo|Kaoru Kameyama|亀山薫}} from 2000 to 2009 and again from 2022 onward, {{Nihongo|Takeru Kambe|神戸尊}} from 2009 to 2012, {{Nihongo|Tōru Kai|甲斐享}} from 2012 to 2015, and {{Nihongo|Wataru Kaburagi|冠城亘}} from 2015 to 2022. In Season 15 Episode 3, Roland appears as a host.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://filmarks.com/dramas/1071/2287/spoiler|title=ドラマ『相棒 Season 15』の感想・レビュー[562件] | Filmarks}}</ref>

''AIBOU'' is also broadcast with English subtitles in Hawaii by the television station KIKU under the name '''''Partners''''',<ref>{{cite web|title=Partners 10 |url=http://kikutv.com/partners-2/ |work=kikutv.com |access-date=May 8, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513010754/http://kikutv.com/partners-2/ |archive-date=May 13, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://kikutv.com/partners-13/ | title=Partners 13| date=2019-01-04}}</ref> and in Los Angeles by the station Japan Hollywood Network (before UTB 18.1) under the official English name '''''AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo'''''.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/ips/Abc/ |title = Tv asahi Buyer's Catalogue}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://drama-max.com/2014/03/utb-los-angeles-premieres-record-setting-japanese-drama-hanzawa-naoki/ | title=UTB Los Angeles premieres record-setting Japanese drama Hanzawa Naoki| date=2014-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://jhollywoodnet.com/en/ |title = Home}}</ref>

==Seasons== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Season !! Episodes !! Debut !! Ending |- |align="center"| '''Pre-Season''' |align="center"| 3 |align="center"| June 3, 2000 |align="center"| November 10, 2001 |- |align="center"| '''1''' |align="center"| 12 |align="center"| October 9, 2002 |align="center"| December 25, 2002 |- |align="center"| '''2''' |align="center"| 21 |align="center"| October 8, 2003 |align="center"| March 17, 2004 |- |align="center"| '''3''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 13, 2004 |align="center"| March 23, 2005 |- |align="center"| '''4''' |align="center"| 21 |align="center"| October 10, 2005 |align="center"| March 15, 2006 |- |align="center"| '''5''' |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| October 11, 2006 |align="center"| March 13, 2007 |-

|align="center"| '''6''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 24, 2007 |align="center"| March 19, 2008 |- |align="center"| '''7''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 22, 2008 |align="center"| March 18, 2009 |- |align="center"| '''8''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 14, 2009 |align="center"| March 10, 2010 |- |align="center"| '''9''' |align="center"| 18 |align="center"| October 20, 2010 |align="center"| March 9, 2011 |- |align="center"| '''10''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 19, 2011 |align="center"| March 21, 2012 |- |- |align="center"| '''11''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 10, 2012 |align="center"| March 20, 2013 |- |- |align="center"| '''12''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 16, 2013 |align="center"| March 19, 2014 |- |- |align="center"| '''13''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 15, 2014 |align="center"| March 18, 2015 |- |- |align="center"| '''14''' |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| October 14, 2015 |align="center"| March 16, 2016 |- |- |align="center"| '''15''' |align="center"| 18 |align="center"| October 12, 2016 |align="center"| March 22, 2017 |- |- |align="center"| '''16''' |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| October 18, 2017 |align="center"| March 14, 2018 |- |- |align="center"| '''17''' |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| October 17, 2018 |align="center"| March 20, 2019 |- |- |align="center"| '''18''' |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| October 9, 2019 |align="center"| March 18, 2020 |- |align="center"| '''19''' |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| October 14, 2020 |align="center"| March 17, 2021 |- |align="center"| '''20''' |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| October 13, 2021 |align="center"| March 23, 2022 |- |align="center"| '''21''' |align="center"| 21 |align="center"| October 12, 2022 |align="center"| March 15, 2023 |- |align="center"| '''22''' |align="center"| 20 |align="center"| October 18, 2023 |align="center"| March 13, 2024 |- |align="center"| '''23''' |align="center"| 19 |align="center"| October 16, 2024 |align="center"| March 12, 2025 |- |align="center"| '''24''' |align="center"| |align="center"| October 15, 2025 |align="center"| |}

==Films== * "AIBOU: The Movie" (2008) directed by Seiji Izumi * "AIBOU: The Movie II" (2010) directed by Seiji Izumi * "AIBOU: The Movie III" (2014) directed by Seiji Izumi * "AIBOU: The Movie IV" (2017) directed by Hajime Hashimoto

===Spin-off series=== * "AIBOU Series: Yonezawa Mamoru no Jikenbo" (2009) directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, It stars Seiji Rokkaku.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2018/05/05/kiji/20180505s00041000115000c.html|title=六角精児、16年間レギュラー「相棒」降板したワケ水谷豊から「気持ちわかる」と|publisher=Sponichi|language=ja|access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>

==Cast== * Yutaka Mizutani as Ukyo Sugishita * Yasufumi Terawaki as Kaoru Kameyama * Mitsuhiro Oikawa as Takeru Kanbe * Hiroki Narimiya as Toru Kai * Takashi Sorimachi as Wataru Kaburagi * Saya Takagi (Ikue Masudo) as Tamaki Miyabe * Anju Suzuki as Sachiko Tsukimoto * Yoko Moriguchi as Mari Koide * Sawa Suzuki as Michiko Kameyama née Okudera * Sei Matobu as Etsuko Usui * Kazuhisa Kawahara as Kenichi Itami * Atsushi Yamanishi as Rokuro Kakuta * Kōji Ishizaka as Mineaki Kai * Ryosuke Otani as Shinsuke Miura * Ittoku Kishibe as Koken Onoda * Yosuke Asari as Toshio Aoki * Yukie Nakama as Miyako Yashiro * Yukiko Shinohara as Reon Izumo * Ryo Ono as Teruo Nakazono * Satoshi Jinbo as Haruki Okochi * Takaaki Enoki as Yahiko Kusakabe * Ryuji Katagiri as Kanji Uchimura * Seiji Rokkaku as Mamoru Yonezawa * Takashi Yamanaka as Keiji Serizawa

==Video game== A Nintendo DS game called ''Aibou DS'' was published by Tecmo in March 5, 2009.

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links ==  * {{official website|http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/aibou/}} {{in lang|ja}} * [http://www.tecmo.co.jp/product/aibou_ds/ Official video game website (Japanese)] * {{IMDb title|1441480}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aibo}} Category:2000 Japanese television series debuts Category:Japanese drama television series Category:TV Asahi television dramas Category:Detective television series Category:Television shows set in Tokyo Category:Works by Takeharu Sakurai Category:Fictional portrayals of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Category:Japanese detective television drama series