is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series by Mamora Gōda. It won the 11th Grand Prize for manga at the

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...

in 2007. It was adapted into a live-action television drama in 2010.

Synopsis

New prison guard Naoki Oikawa gets assigned to the death row section. He strikes a friendship with Watase Mitsuru, who, rather conveniently (contrast with

Freeze Me , or ''Freezer'', is a 2000 Japanese rape and revenge thriller film by director Takashi Ishii. This film stars Harumi Inoue as Chihiro, a rape victim who tries to live a normal life, only to be visited several years later by her three rapists in ...

), far from being a sadist, a sociopathic killer or rapist, dangerous to society or even particularly cruel, is actually quite a sympathetic character, someone that, unable to get justice from the system, killed the man that murdered his parents. The fact that he did not target defenceless and innocent victims for no good reason, but rather had a motive that could be understood, allows the guard to put himself in his shoes and understand his reasons and point of view, and provides a contrast between the unfairness of his circumstances, his undeserved fate, and the fact that system had failed to vindicate his parents, leaving him with no other alternative besides being cast in the role of the powerless victim. Gradually Naoki begins to wonder about the necessity of the death penalty and the meanings of such concepts as repentance and forgiveness.

Television series

Cast

* Atsushi Itō – Naoki Oikawa (22) * Arata – Mitsuru Watase (22) *

Yuu Kashii , known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress and model. She studied at Mejiro University, where she majored in English. History Personal life She married actor Joe Odagiri, who is exactly 11 years her senior, on February 16, 2008, the birthd ...

– Asami Sawasaki (Oikawa's girlfriend) (22) *

Haruka Kinami is a Japanese actress who is affiliated with Horipro. Biography In 2001, Kinami was chosen to be the Japanese High School Baseball Championship PR schoolgirl during high school. In the same year, she won the Grand Prix at the Horipro New Star A ...

– Kana Mochizuki (19) *

Akira Emoto is a Japanese actor. Career In 1999, he won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Dr. Akagi''. He also won the award for best supporting actor at the 7th Hochi Film Award for ''Dotonbori River'' and '' Hearts and Flo ...

– Keizukuri Hukahori (59) *

Sansei Shiomi is a Japanese actor. Career Born in Kyoto Prefecture, Shiomi went to Doshisha University. He joined the theater troupe En in 1978 and soon also began appearing in film and television, mostly as a character actor. He won a Japan Movie Critics Aw ...

– Yuzo Wakaboyashi (62) *

Mitsuki Tanimura is a Japanese actress. Biography Tanimura was born in Sakai, Osaka. She starred in Akihiko Shiota's ''Canary'' and Norio Tsuruta's ''Orochi''. She has also appeared in films such as Takashi Miike's '' God's Puzzle'', Junji Sakamoto's '' Str ...

– Yoshioka Koharu *

Youichi Nukumizu Please don't delete this article because this actor or actress is new and will play/is playing a lead, supporting or breakthrough role in the tokusatsu series "Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger" and will continue their career an ...

– Toshikazu Seko *

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

– Toshiyuki Tanizaki * Masahiro Toda – Kazuaki Satonaka *

Yasuyuki Maekawa Please don't delete this article because this actor or actress is new and will play/is playing a lead, supporting or breakthrough role in the tokusatsu series "Kamen Rider Build" and will continue their career and make more roles, either lead or su ...

– Ryo Goto *

Ren Oosugi Ren or REN may refer to: Abbreviations * Orenburg Tsentralny Airport, IATA code REN, civil airport in Russia * Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), Portuguese company * Renanthera, abbreviated as Ren, orchid genus * Ringer equivalence number ( ...

– Seido Oikawa (Oikawa's father) *

Yoshie Ichige Yoshie is both a Japanese surname and a Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: ; Family name *, Japanese professional wrestler ; Given name *, Japanese tenor singer *, Japanese actress and singer *, Japanese popular pop singer- ...

– Sawako Oikawa (Oikawa's mother) * Akiko Aizuki – Takako Toma

Guest

Shido Nakamura Shido may refer to: *A 'slight' or minor penalty in judo *Ali Shido Abdi, senior Somali politician and elder *Shido Fuyuki, a character in the Japanese manga and anime series ''GetBackers'' *Shido, Kagawa, a former town located in Ōkawa District, ...

– Tadashishi Kouzai (ep1) *

Naomasa Musaka Naomasa (written: 直政, 直正, 直方, 尚正 or 尚政) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' * ...

– Akira Ishimine (ep1) * Koji Ohkura – Katsuhiro Hoshiyama (ep1-2) *

Yuri Nakamura is a Japanese actress and former singer. Her real name is or Woori Song (). Biography Nakamura's father was a third-generation Japanese man and her mother was Korean and held citizenship in both South Korea and Japan. Nakamura, like many other ...

– Taeko Kuramoti (ep2) *

Mitsuru Hirata is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 7th Hochi Film Award and the award for best supporting actor at the 4th Yokohama Film Festival for ''Fall Guy''. Filmography Films *''Fall Guy'' (1982), Yasu *''Theater of Life'' (198 ...

– Takeshi Sasano (ep3) *

Mari Hamada is a Japanese heavy metal and pop rock singer. Since her debut in 1983, Hamada has been known as the "Heavy Metal Queen" of Japan. Throughout her career, she has released 25 singles and 23 studio albums. Biography Early history Mari Hama ...

– Victim's parents (ep3) *

Yumiko Shaku is a Japanese actress, model and former gravure idol. She is represented by Tommy's Artist Company. Roles TV Dramas *2019: ''Kamen Rider Zi-O'' (Yuko Kitajima/ Another Kiva; Episode 35-36, 2019) *2014: '' Lost Days no Himitsu'' (Fuji Telev ...

– Yuko Nishida (ep4-5) *

Kanji Tsuda is a Japanese actor. Career Tsuda appeared in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's ''Tokyo Sonata''. He co-starred in Sion Sono's ''Guilty of Romance'' with Megumi Kagurazaka. Filmography Film * '' Sonatine'' (1993) * ''119'' (1994) * ''Kids Return'' (1996) * ...

– Sako Nishi (ep4-5,7) *

Yuki Imai is a Japanese actor. Biography When he was three years old, Imai was taken to a theater company since he said that he " antedto be on television", and began his career. He was called after singing the Marimokkori is a character popularized i ...

– Shinya Hukuda (ep4-5) *

Hiromasa Taguchi Hiromasa (written: 博正, 宏昌, 弘昌, 弘将, 浩正, 大将 or 太将) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese composer and music producer *, Japanese f ...

– Kengo Hukuda (ep5) *

Ryo Ishibashi is a Japanese people, Japanese actor and lead singer of the Japanese rock band ARB (band), ARB. He is known around the world for his roles in the Japanese horror films ''Suicide Club (film), Suicide Club'' and ''Audition (1999 film), Audition.'' ...

– Eichiro Akashi (ep6) * Minoru Tanaka – Takashi Touzyou (ep6) *

Kotaro Shiga Kotaro, Kōtarō or Koutarou (written: , , , , , , , , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese scientist and inventor *, Japanese photography critic an ...

– Chief Justice (ep6) * Mashima Hidekazu – Kento Yamamoto (ep7) * Saki Matsuda – Miyoko Yoshikawa (ep7) * Yojin Hino – President of shipping company (ep7) *

Rei Okamoto is Japanese model and actress who stars as Mia Amagishi in '' Threads of Destiny''. She also appears in the NHK Asadora , colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in th ...

– Kazuko Funaki (ep7) *

Mayuko Nishiyama Mayuko (written: , , , , or ) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese actress and voice actress *, Japanese synchronized swimmer and coach *, Japanese actress *, Japanese actress and model *, Japanese ...

– (ep8)

Episode information

References

External links

TV drama official website
at

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

2004 manga 2010 Japanese television series debuts 2010 Japanese television series endings Futabasha manga Japanese television dramas based on manga Seinen manga TV Tokyo original programming {{manga-stub