Hidetaka Yoshioka plays detective in WOWOW drama

Actor Hidetaka Yoshioka appeared at the completion report meeting for the WOWOW drama "Drama W: Yoru no Dohyo," held in Tokyo on September 1st. Yoshioka plays Taira Shotaro, the detective in charge of a murder case that occurred in 1996, and said of Yojiro Noda, who plays Akutsu Gen, the suspect Taira is pursuing, "I've been thinking about Noda for a long time. I wondered how Noda would play Akutsu."

Yoshioka said that she and Noda filmed together towards the end of the series, and revealed her thoughts that up until then, "I thought about Noda every day, and listened to RADWIMPS songs, and thought, 'Oh, it's this one.' It was almost like I was falling in love. (During filming) I felt like I wanted to see him, but at the same time, I didn't want to see him."

At the event, a message from Noda was read out, in which he wrote, "We played the roles of a detective and a fugitive being pursued, but when we met (during filming) I remember having a strange feeling, like I was finally meeting a comrade in arms." Yoshioka responded with admiration, saying, "That's a wonderful comment," and with a wry smile, "I deeply regret having to say something like that."

Also appearing at the event were Takasugi Mahiro, who plays Oya Keigo, a young detective who teams up with Taira, and director Mori Junichi.

The original work is the mystery novel "Yoru no Dohyo" (Chuokoron-Shinsha) by Akira Ashizawa, which won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel or Short Story Collection. This is a serious social mystery in which detective Taira Shotaro (Yoshioka), who is in charge of a murder case that occurred in 1996, investigates the footsteps of the suspect, Akutsu Gen (Noda), and the reason for the murder, while approaching the "truth" of the case. When the dots of the characters connect around a certain "suspect," an unexpected "dark side of society" comes into focus.

"Drama W: Yoru no Dohyo"(5 episodes in total) will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW Prime and WOWOW On Demand every Sunday at 10pm starting September 14th. The first episode will be broadcast for free.