Actor Shiro Sano will appear in the 15th episode, "Casting," of the popular detective drama "Aibou Season 23" (TV Asahi, Wednesdays at 9 p.m.), which will air on February 12th. This will be his first appearance since playing a suspicious wine critic in the 9th episode of "Season 5," "Murderous Wine Cellar" (aired on December 6th, 2006), and he will be returning to the "AIBO" series with a different character for the first time in about 18 years.
This time, Sano plays Tsuyoshi Okuda, a family member of a victim of an unsolved murder case of a mother and child. The story begins with Ukyo Sugishita (Yutaka Mizutani), who has wandered into a mountain lodge deep in the mountains, playing chess with Okuda.
Okuda, who lives alone in a mountain lodge, has a painful past in which his wife and daughter were stabbed to death by someone at home while he was out 15 years ago on a New Year's Eve night. However, because he had no alibi, he was initially questioned by the police, despite being a family member. Later, the investigation headquarters at the time ruled Okuda out as a suspect, as his DNA did not match the belongings left behind by the perpetrator. The case has yet to result in an arrest of a suspect.
Ukyo visits the mountain villa claiming to have gotten lost, but it appears his purpose was to meet Okuda. He plays chess with Okuda while questioning him, gradually uncovering inconsistencies and trying to delve deeper into the case. However, Okuda, who has been holed up alone in the villa for many years, facing the chessboard, not only remains unwavering no matter what Ukyo tries to do, but also skillfully plays around with Ukyo.
Meanwhile, Kameyama Kaoru (Terawaki Yasufumi), who has been secretly requested by Ukyo, investigates the crime scene to get to the bottom of the matter, but finds that Okuda has set a trap for him, and various dangers await him.
A strategist who even deceives Ukyo. Ukyo and Okuda enter into a fierce battle of wits, likened to chess. The screenplay is by Tokunaga Tomihiko and the director is Anyoji Takumi.
