The Tragedy of W

“W no Higeki” is an adaptation of a novel by Natsuki Shizuko, which was first published in 1982. It was first dramatized for TV in 1983; turned into a theatrical movie in 1984, then got two separate drama adaptations in 2001 and 2010. In the original W no Higeki book, the main character is a foreigner who has no blood link to the titular W (originally Wada) family; she's just the English teacher and friend of the heiress. Because of this, all film and TV adaptations turned the heroine(s) into Japanese characters, with slight variations in plot. The original title was based on Ellery Queen's 1930s Tragedy of... books which ran from X to Z (translated into Japanese as ...no Higeki respectively). The new version of the story will have Takei playing two different characters. One is Mako, the daughter of the Watsuji (W) family, owners of a major business conglomerate. She has always lived in comfort, and as a result, she yearns to finally grasp life with her own hands. The other character is Satsuki, a show pub dancer who lives a solitary and destitute life in a corner of the city and who desires money and power. The drama appears to follow the concept of two women who exchange lives, leading to various tragic events for both of them. --Tokyograph