i was wondering about the dynamics in M20 between furukaza and how it might differ from subsequent movies (being kazami's first ever appearance). we all know that M20 kazami was almost jarringly ruthless and cruel towards curaçao, and when we see him in ZTT (ultimate moe) and in the main manga (moe and moe again), it makes one wonder what happened to this character, beyond "he has gap moe".
my final impression is that M20 fits nicely as a story that takes place soon after kazami's been appointed as furuya's liaison. i think, taking into account all of kazami's appearances in detco media, kazami can be interpreted as being sensitive to social context, status and hierarchy. i personally can see him riding on the high of his new role and having a cocky phase in which he's over-compensating a bit to match the part (or his image of the part): furuya rei is a member of the highest-ranking agency in the police. he's infiltrating an extremely dangerous organisation and god knows what that entails. as his liaison, kazami too should be able to stomach anything (or so he thinks)
By M22, he's starting to grow disillusioned and skeptical of furuya's ways. perhaps, getting his hands dirty simply doesn't feel the same in practice as it did in theory. perhaps, he didn't think it'd involve that much fucking around with the lives of innocent people. he still obeys because respecting structure is how he has always worked and he has his own convictions about what Public Security is, at the end of the day... He's just not convinced that furuya rei is fully aligned with him on what is just and fair (until the end of M22, when, furuya does redeem himself a bit with haba)
meanwhile, ZTT happens! And kazami slowly goes through all the stage of moe and shoujo manga love interest, from being overly conscious about his boss and how to speak to him, to slowly being power-harrassed led into co-raising a dog with him, visiting him at ungodly early hours, going to play baseball and other games with him...until all the lines blur between private and professional, and furuya-san stops being a perfect being in his eyes, instead becoming a person who judges, gets trapped in basements, is childish about the color red, and will lose his cool about his dog eating ice cream...
And then, M25 rolls around. Personally, I see this as a time where kazami has truly come to be at peace with his own role vis-à-vis furuya, the things they do, their ups and downs, and whether or not he likes everything he does, M25 kazami gives this vibe of someone who's accepted the bond between him and furuya as "ah, well, our hands are both dirty anyway, and the red string of fate will drag us both to hell, so i guess i'll follow him even in death". (Cue in the wedding vows being spoken at the beginning of the movie during their scene) he'll step into furuya's quarantine box and disarm his bomb with his own hands. no questions asked.
In parallel though, kazami has definitely grown to become more and more relaxed and cute in furuya's presence. and the gap moe IS real. hatoyama farm case and his "yatta!" at furuya, the kid heist and his "eeehh! please let me stay!!! i'm dying of curiosity!!!"
Professionally speaking, M25 is where they're at. Ride or die and completely unhinged, but cool about it, and will not address the unhingedness of their bond in any way. In private, or even when they're even slightly aside from others, kazami has grown into the most moe of subordinates. he's spoiled. he's been fed hand-cooked bentous every other morning. furuya just cannot get really mad at him anymore....
And now, we've come to M28...and I wonder what it reserves for us.
PS: the only remaining question i have about M20, is the amount of reliance furuya seems to have on kazami in it (which is more than i'd expect if they were paired up only recently). we see him confirm more than once that he's "counting on" kazami for things. he even reflects at one point that he has to "meet up as soon as possible" with kazami. It does feel like he trusts him and knows him very well already! but hmm, i guess it wasn't jarring to the point of being irreconcilable with the rest. after all, furuya too is a guy who respects structure. i can see him as someone who feels "closer" to a counterpart in the beginning of their professional relationship because of their respective roles. that is the person "assigned" to him. before getting to know that person on a personal level, this person is his "liaison", his partner, his teammate, someone he can trust. and so, he does.
at least, that's one way it would make their whole relationship work chronologically for me!
