Tamayama Tetsuji, Tanihara Shosuke & Watabe Atsuro to star in new WOWOW & Tokai TV drama "Hanzai Shoukougun"

Tamayama Tetsuji, Tanihara Shosuke and Watabe Atsuro will be starring in the new WOWOW & Tokai TV Spring 2017 drama "Hanzai Shoukougun" (Criminal Syndrome) which is the first collaboration between both TV stations. The drama is based on the three-part "Shoukougun" novel series by writer Nukui Tokuro where "Shissou Shoukougun" (Disappearance Syndrome) and "Yuukai Shoukougun" (Kidnap Syndrome) will form Season 1 while "Satsujin Shoukougun" (Murder Syndrome) will be made into Season 2.

Tamayama plays the role of Muto Takashi who is a former police detective using illegal methods to solve cases which are difficult to handle by the police while Tanihara plays Muto's buddy and a police detective Kaburagi Wataru and Watabe plays Tamaki Keigo who takes charge of the special missions given to Muto. While exploring the lives of these men, the topic of whether revenge is right or wrong is discussed in this suspense drama.

In Season 1, it features the story of how Muto's younger sister was killed by an underaged person and didn't get his due punishment. Although he had the urge to take revenge for his sister, the murderer suddenly committed suicide. Muto realised that this frightening trait in his character which could bring him over the edge and decided to quit being a police detective. One year later, he starts to take on cases from the police assigned by Tamaki which they are not in a convenient position to handle. Season 2 describes how Kaburagi who used to date Muto's sister gets trapped by the consequence of his decision to take revenge and how he and Kaburagi clash over their views about revenge as well as how this leads to a tragic ending for them.

Tamayama who is starring in his first leading role in a terrestrial network in two years since NHK's morning drama "Massan", commented that although the first novel was released more than 20 years ago, the story is something which is also likely to happen in the current era so it feels like a prophecy book to him. As for Tanihara, he cited the test on the morals of those who uphold justice as the key theme of the novel and showcases how people react differently to the same crime and the sadness experienced by various people. Watabe expressed surprise that this story has not been made into a movie or drama to date and found out from Nukui that although he had received offers to do so many times so far, he didn't think that this serious theme would be suitable as a drama. As such, Watabe was impressed with how the TV stations decided to proceed with this story and hopes that it will be a drama which will leave an impression on the viewers.

Season 1 which consists of 8 episodes and features Tamayama as the lead, will be shown from 8 April to 27 May at 11.40pm on Saturdays via Tokai TV while Season 2 which consists of 4 episodes and features Tanihara as the lead, will be shown from 11 June to 2 July at 10pm on Sundays via WOWOW.

Sources: Sanspo / Oricon / Eiga.com