It has been revealed that actors Suruga Taro, Endo Yuya, Takeda Kohei, and Yamaguchi Yoshiyuki will appear in the drama series W-30 "Hustlin' Boy," which will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW from November 1st, starring actor Mamiya Shotaro. Suruga and the others will play full-scale "villains" who live in Ikebukuro. A preview video and main visual featuring the entire cast of villains have also been released.
"Hustlin' Boy" is a new type of crime suspense story about a dull college student who steps into the underworld of Ikebukuro as a "tool dealer" who deals in illegal tools, and how he survives among tricky villains such as yakuza, half-criminals, and Chinese mafia. The original work is a manga of the same name that was serialized in "Weekly Big Comic Spirits" (Shogakukan) in 2018, by writers and authors Kusashita Shinya and Honda Yuki.
The story is as follows: University student Tamotsu Kubota (Mamiya) owes 5.1 million yen on his student loans, which he will have to repay until he is 42 years old, when he enters the workforce. Feeling a sense of crisis, he spends his days working part-time jobs in order to pay it off before graduation. One day, Tamotsu falls victim to a cryptocurrency scam and falls into a new debt of 2 million yen from a consumer credit company. In this desperate situation, he is saved by Ikebukuro tool shop owner Kujo (Tamayama Tetsuji) and counterfeiter Murata (Takehara Pistol).
Kujo helps him recover the 2 million yen from the fraud group. However, when the fraud group attacks him in retaliation, Kujo is arrested after fighting back. When Tamotsu finds out that Kujo has a daughter with a terminal illness and has been running a tool shop to earn money for her treatment, he decides to run the tool shop himself until he is released. While receiving instruction from Kujo in prison, he steps into the underworld of Ikebukuro.
Suruga will play Momose, a junior boss of the Gozu-gumi gang that dominates Ikebukuro. Momose, a habitual stimulant user with a fiery personality, is the first obstacle that Tamotsu faces as a newly hired tool dealer. Endo will play Matsumaru, the boss of the Jinbo-kai gang, which is feared as one of the two biggest yakuza gangs along with the Gozu-gumi. In contrast to the Gozu-gumi, which is made up of a group of militants, he is a business yakuza who makes money from loan sharks and drugs, and is a clever person who acts rationally rather than emotionally.
Takeda will play Tanabe Kengo, a member of the semi-criminal organization Wadiga, whose boss is Akihiro (Maikuma Katsuya). He is a loyal subordinate to Akihiro, and although he can be cunning at times, he is a humorous and lovable character. Yamaguchi will play Kamo, the boss of the Gozu-gumi. He is the perfect example of an old-fashioned yakuza who stands at the top of the strict hierarchical society of the Gozu-gumi and commands his subordinates with overwhelming spirit.
The trailer shows the main character Tamotsu being taught by his senior tool maker Kujo (Tamayama Tetsuji) to "never mix your public and private faces," and then jumping into the underworld of Ikebukuro where a host of villains await him, assuming his "secret" identity as a tool maker.
The main visual also shows Tamotsu holding what could be called the "three sacred treasures" of a tool maker: a tobashi (a mobile phone or SIM card contracted under someone else's or fictitious name), a board (a bank account under someone else's name), and a fake ID, with the main cast including Maikuma and the other villains appearing behind him.
"Hustlin' Boy" consists of 8 episodes. It will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW Prime, WOWOW4K, and WOWOW On Demand every Friday at 11pm starting November 1st. After the first episode is broadcast and streamed, WOWOW On Demand will stream all eight episodes at once.
