Preview of "Soshite dare mo inakunatta" (Drama SP)

Title: Soshite dare mo inakunatta そして誰もいなくなった (And then there was none)
Official website: here
O.A. Dates: 25th & 26th March 2017 at 9pm
Broadcast by: TV Asahi
Original novel by: Agatha Christie
Cast: Nakama Yukie, Mukai Osamu, Yanagiba Toshiro, Daichi Mao, Kunimura Jun, Fuji Mariko, Yo Kimiko, Hashizume Isao, Tsugawa Masahiko, Watase Tsunehiko, Arakawa Yoshiyoshi, Sawamura Ikki

Watase Tsunehiko passes away due to multiple organ failure

Watase Tsunehiko passed away in a Tokyo hospital at 11.18pm on 14 March due to multiple organ failure. He was 72 years old. According to the fax statement released by Watase's agency on 16 March, Watase's funeral and farewell ceremony will be attended by his immediate family members only as per his wishes. He leaves behind his wife Iho, a son and a daughter and his elder brother is actor Watari Tetsuya.

Watase was admitted to hospital for pneumonia in June 2015 during the filming of a drama and complained about feeling unwell in the autumn of the same year. After going through a checkup, he was diagnosed with a tumour in his gallbladder. He returned to work from December the same year while undergoing treatment and being admitted to hospital for short stays. While filming TV Asahi drama "Keishicho Sousa Ikka Kyuugakari" last year, he was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer but did not tell his co-stars and staff members at all except for a few who knew about his condition. Watase used to drink heavily but had abstained from alcohol since he was diagnosed with cancer. He was scheduled to make an appearance on 2 March at the completion press conference of TV Asahi drama SP "Soshite dare mo inakunatta" showing on 25th and 26th March but was absent with the reason of scheduling conflicts.

Watase was expelled from the law faculty of Waseda University and worked at the PR centre of advertising firm Dentsu. While his elder brother Wataru became a youth star of Nikkatsu movies, Watase had no interest in showbiz then and it was only until 1969 when he signed a contract with Toei to become an actor and made his debut the following year. Since then, he had appeared in many movies and dramas and won awards such as the Blue Ribbon, Nippon Academy and Kinema Junpo. In recent years, Watase was more active in TV dramas.

Watase was previously married to the late actress Ohara Reiko between 1973 and 1978 before he married his current wife Iho who used to be a OL. His last appearances on screen together with his brother was in the 2011 TBS drama SP "Kikyou" and in 2013 TBS drama "Nishimura Kyotaro Suspense Totsugawa Keibu Series 50th commemorative work Kieta Tanker" where Watase was the lead and Watari was the guest star.

In the statement released by Watase's agency, he was planning to participate in the filming of the latest installment of "Keishicho Sousa Ikka Kyuugakari season 12" which is scheduled to begin in February. The drama is scheduled to begin its run from April. However, he had been hospitalised due to pneumothorax in his left lung around mid February. Nonetheless, he recovered well enough to take part in the drama's scheduling meeting on 13 March but his condition suddenly took a turn for the worse in the night of 14 March and passed away due to multiple organ failure brought about by septicemia.


With regard to his younger brother's sudden demise, Watari released a statement through his agency where he mentioned that he was mentally prepared for the worst when Watase told him about his stage IV cancer and that he only had about a year left to live. However, he is still at a loss for words when faced with the passing of his younger brother especially when he recalls the time they spent together since childhood to now.

Meanwhile, V6's Inohara Yoshihiko who has also appeared in the "Keishicho Sousa Ikka Kyuugakari" series together with Watase since 2006, released his comments about the passing of his co-star. Inohara referred to Watase as his colleague and respected teacher and that there were so many memories between them so he can't find the right words to describe his feelings now. In the drama series, Inohara plays Watase's colleague and his daughter's (Nakagoshi Noriko) boyfriend. According to insiders, the first two episodes of the drama had been filmed without Watase who was hospitalised during the same period. TV Asahi has also confirmed that the 12th installment will be broadcast as planned from next month in the Wednesdays 9pm timeslot.


Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi 1 / Yomiuri Hochi 2 / Oricon

Production press conference of TV Asahi drama SP "Soshite daremo inakunatta"

The production press conference of TV Asahi drama SP "Soshite daremo inakunatta" was held on 2 March which was attended by the director Izumi Seiji and cast members Nakama Yukie, Sawamura Ikki, Mukai Osamu, Daichi Mao, Tsugawa Masahiko, Yanagiba Toshiro, Kunimura Jun, Hashizume Isao, Yo Kimiko, Arakawa Yoshiyoshi and Fuji Mariko. The two-part drama SP based on Agatha Christie's novel "And then there were none"will be shown at 9pm on 25 and 26 March.

The mystery story depicts how 10 people at a hotel on an isolated island were killed one by one and the 10 bodies were discovered later. Nakama Yukie plays the role of a former swimmer Shiramine Ryo who is a home tutor rumoured to have caused the death of her student in a swimming pool 5 years ago. Co-stars include Watase Tsunehiko, Tsugawa Masahiko, Yo Kimiko, Yanagiba Toshiro, Daichi Mao, Mukai Osamu and Kunimura Jun who play the guests at the hotel while Hashizume Isao and Fuji Mariko will play the butler and his wife respectively. Sawamura and Arakawa will play the police detectives investigating the mass murders.

Nakama revealed that when she played Sadako in the 2000 movie "Ring 0 Birthday", her character was beaten up badly and killed before being disposed of in a well. This is the first time that she plays a "murdered" character in a drama. Although everyone had their own issues because of the murder scenes such as extreme coldness and pain, she felt that the way her character was murdered was probably the worst so she hoped that viewers will find out for themselves through the drama SP. Nakama also commented that she felt the negative mental impact on herself as her character was driven into a corner and had bad dreams. To encourage Nakama to get over this, Tsugawa said in jest that whenever he appeared in a drama or movie, he would always end up dead so he was already used to it.

Watase who is battling gallbladder cancer, was absent from the event due to scheduling conflicts but his co-stars had a lot of praise for him. Tsugawa revealed that Watase's presence was a huge boost to their morale on the set and everyone was thankful to him for sparing a thought for them even though they should be the ones doing so. Mukai also commented that Watase always arrived at the filming earlier than the rest of the cast which in turn prompted everyone to bring forward their arrival times.

Mukai who is also being "murdered" on screen for the first time, commented that there are ten different murder methods in the story so this will be worth checking out because they all have specific meanings. In response, Yo "complained" that her murder method was the "coldest" and wished that her character could have died in another way.

Arakawa and Sawamura met the rest of the cast for the first time during the press conference since they play police detectives investigating the case after the murders had taken place. Arakawa commented that he was scared when he met the "victims" for the first time while Sawamura said that he felt as if he was meeting their "ghosts" after solving the case in the drama.

Sources: Oricon / Sponichi

Sawamura Ikki & Arakawa Yoshiyoshi to appear in new TV Asahi drama SP "Soshite dare mo inakunatta"

Sawamura Ikki and Arakawa Yoshiyoshi will appear in the new TV Asahi drama SP "Soshite dare mo inakunatta" starring Nakama Yukie which will be shown at 9pm on 25th and 26th March. The mystery story depicts how 10 people at a hotel on an isolated island were killed one by one and the 10 bodies were discovered later. Nakama Yukie plays the role of a former swimmer Shiramine Ryo who is a home tutor rumoured to have caused the death of her student in a swimming pool 5 years ago. Co-stars include Watase Tsunehiko, Tsugawa Masahiko, Yo Kimiko, Yanagiba Toshiro, Daichi Mao, Mukai Osamu and Kunimura Jun who play the guests at the hotel while Hashizume Isao and Fuji Mariko will play the butler and his wife respectively.

Sawamura plays the role of a detective from the 1st section of Metropolitan Police Department who is very observant and doesn't miss out anything. Arakawa plays a lieutenant from the Hachijojima Higashi Police Station who is sent to investigate the case as the island where the murders took place are under its jurisdiction.

Sawamura commented that their characters in the drama don't really get along with each other but he really enjoyed bickering with Arakawa on screen. In response, Arakawa pointed out that the director said that the balance between their characters made the drama even more interesting so he was glad that things turned out well in the end.

Source: Nikkansports

Nakama Yukie to star in new TV Asahi 2-part drama SP "Soshite dare mo inakunatta"

Nakama Yukie will be starring in the new TV Asahi 2-part drama SP "Soshite dare mo inakunatta" based on Agatha Christie's 1939 work "And then there were none" which will be the first adaptation of this in Japan. The drama SP will be shown over two consecutive nights this spring. The mystery story depicts how 10 people at a hotel on an isolated island were killed one by one and the 10 bodies were discovered later.

Nakama Yukie plays the role of a former swimmer Shiramine Ryo who is a home tutor rumoured to have caused the death of her student in a swimming pool 5 years ago. She commented that she was very excited about the filming. However, it was difficult to show the fear and guilt felt by her character as the others died one after another and she had to grapple with the thought of knowing that she might be next and face up to her sin. As such, it was a brand new challenge for her in this drama SP. In addition, although she had played Sadako in the 2000 movie "Ring 0 Birthday" where she was "beaten to death" and thrown into a well, this will actually be the first time in a drama that Nakama plays a character who will be murdered.

Co-stars include Watase Tsunehiko, Tsugawa Masahiko, Yo Kimiko, Yanagiba Toshiro, Daichi Mao, Mukai Osamu and Kunimura Jun who play the guests at the hotel while Hashizume Isao and Fuji Mariko will play the butler and his wife respectively.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Sponichi / Oricon