If I remember correctly, at the end of the movie, after azuma kills the crime boss, the rookie takes his place. How is this plausible? Was the rookie a mole? Did he progressively become corrupt? At what point in the movie did he have the opportunity and time to embed himself into the criminal underworld? I can understand the whole greek tragedy cycle of violence thing, but in the context of the rookie's character, it just seems innapropriate.
shareWell to my mind it seems more probable that the rookie was a mole from the beginning but i get the feeling it was intended to be the bad influence of Akuma that swerved him in that direction.
'Cuiusvis hominis est errare; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.'
No thats not what happened... The boss's assistant who was always by his side took his place... The rookie took the place of Kitanos "best friend" the one who was killed and made as if he comitted suicide... The rookie was a mole all the time and so was Kitano's "best friend"...
shareI think it is more likely that the new crime boss (Shinkai?) approached the rookie as he would be looking for a replacement for Iwaki? and that is why the rookie said he would be the crime boss's mole and added "I'm not stupid". implying that he learnt form what happened to Azuma that it is not good to go up against the crime boss.
shareWell, we don't know how much time has passed by since Azuma's death, so it could've easily been a few years afterward for all we know.
Certainly hanging around Azuma would warp any rookie into something other than a normal policeman. He could equally have been a mole but I think it's simply a case that the Rookie didn't have many morals in the first place.
I don't think the rookie was a mole in any way. It seems as if he's entering the new crime boss' office for the first time judging by their demeanor and conversation.
I believe that after Iwaki and Azuma died, the rookie moved up into Iwaki's position and so he became the new guy to target. Unlike Azuma or Iwaki though, he was glad to play along and accept a bribe. I believe these were all new circumstances though at the end of the film.