It was revealed on May 12th that actress Hinako Sakurai will appear in the WOWOW drama series "Consultant - The Man Who Writes About Death," starring Kentaro Ito. Sakurai will play Yoshimi Saito, a woman who works at the same company as the protagonist Izaki (Ito) and becomes romantically involved with him.
The drama is a dark suspense series based on Im Sung-soon's novel "The Consultant" (Japanese translation: "Assassination Consultant"). Izaki Yo (played by Ito), an unremarkable man aspiring to be a mystery novelist, is dragged into a mysterious organization called "The Company" and transformed into an assassination consultant specializing in writing "perfect assassination scenarios" that no one will notice. However, he gradually becomes entangled in an overwhelming evil and finds himself with no escape... The drama depicts people being tossed about in the darkness of a capitalist society where even "death" becomes a commodity.
Sakurai plays Yoshimi, who works in accounting at a foreign company where Izaki ostensibly works as a consultant. Yoshimi and Izaki fall in love and their relationship develops, but Izaki is hiding the fact that he is an assassin consultant, and Yoshimi also has a secret... This is the dynamic of their relationship. Sakurai reveals, "There were many moments when I felt my own heart being encroached upon by the depth of the darkness that this seemingly ordinary woman actually harbors."
He added, "I was very happy to be entrusted with a role that is not straightforward. I hope you will join me in watching to see what Izaki, who simply wanted to be recognized as a novelist, lost in exchange for writing, and what is left for him in the end."
It has also been revealed that Hayate Ichinose will play Masato Sugano, a detective in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigation Division. Sugano is a character who suspects that there is something more to the series of "natural deaths" and "suicides" that Izaki has been involved in.
It was also announced that the drama will feature Gamon Kawai as Sadao Tokunaga, the branch manager of the company where Izaki works; Hiroshi Okochi as Masanari Yamamuro, a member of parliament who becomes the victim of Izaki's "perfect assassination scenario" and is the actual target of the assassination; Toshihide Higashine as Takayuki Saegusa, a pastor; Taro Suwa as Atsushi Kato, a dairy farmer; Masanobu Sakata as Kazumasa Enomoto, the department head responsible for restructuring; and Katsumi Kiba as a man known as "the Chairman." A trailer for the drama was also released.
"Continuous Drama W Consultant - The Man Who Writes About Death -" will begin airing and streaming on WOWOW Prime and WOWOW On Demand on June 7th at 10 PM. It will consist of 6 episodes, with the first episode being free to watch and stream.
