I haven't watched a Japanese drama in a long while. Let's see what's going on over there.
A young woman is standing on a rugged cliff next to the sea. She screams something but the crashing waves drown out her voice. Or maybe she's just really pissed at the ocean right now. When her cell phone starts to vibrate, Mako (played by Takei Emi) darts back to her chauffeur-driven car. It's her mother calling from the fancy Eastern Hotel. The party is about to start and Mom wants to know where her daughter is. Interestingly Mako lies and claims she's at the library instead of off yelling at Neptune.
In the banquet hall Grandpa Watsuji Yohei is on stage addressing the party goers who are here to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Watsuji Pharmaceuticals. Mako is just arriving when she's stopped in the lobby by Dr. Mazaki, played by Takahashi Issei. He's here to deliver Grandpa's medicine and also hopes Mako will be able to convince Grandpa to have his heart checked out.
Back to the party. Grandpa's brother, Watsuji Shigeru (played by Kaneda Akio) is trying to get his son, Watsuji Takuo (played by Takeda Kohei), a transfer to a different department within the company. Grandpa quickly puts the kibosh on that idea, not trusting Takuo to do any real work out of the old man's sight. Grandpa then orders Mako to come to his room and I immediately get a creep vibe.
Meanwhile, somewhere else, there's a woman who looks just like Mako. This would be Kurasawa Satsuki, played by the same actress. Satsuki appears to make her living at the world's oldest profession. When her customer starts to leave without paying, she tries to stop him. The old coot dares to rough her up. Satsuki follows him. When next we see the john, he's laying in a dark alley way with a stab wound to the gut. Well, that's what you get when you stiff a hooker.
We're told this is April 22nd.
Back at her rundown apartment, Satsuki receives a phone call on her cell, yet when she answers it the caller hangs up without a word. She goes to wash the john's blood off her hand.
At a cabaret dancers are practicing their routine. Satsuki is mopping the floor as the club owner who will NOT SHUT UP tries to talk our little murderess into becoming a performer as well.
The john's body has been found and Detective Yumisaka Keiichiro (played by Kiritani Kenta) is investigating. The victim's wallet was left behind and identifies the dead guy as Kenichi Hidaka, a junior high school teacher (and pervert). Uh-oh, also in the wallet is a membership card to the cabaret club where Satsuki works. You're not a very smart murderer, Satsuki, to leave such an important clue behind.
Yumisaka goes to the club and asks for Satsuki. What, did she leave her name behind? "I did this! Signed, Satsuki." written in blood? How did he know to bring Satsuki down to the station for questioning? Oh, there was a witness who saw her with the victim. Still, there's no concrete evidence proving she's the one who killed the john so Satsuki gets to walk.
She returns back to the cabaret where the other dancers are trying to convince her to join them on the stage. Satsuki refuses, raising her arm up shoulder height and saying she can't raise it any higher due to a childhood accident. (Like they couldn't choreograph a dance that didn't require her hand to go up over her head.)
Satsuki gets another call only this time instead of hanging up the caller speaks. It's Mako and she's offering to be Satsuki's alibi for April 22nd.
Anyway, Satsuki ditches her tail (Yumisaka) and heads to the Shangri La Hotel to meet with her mysterious caller. The next day the police as well as the Cat Lady who runs the cabaret are all looking for Satsuki. About a day passes when Cat Lady comes to the club and is relieved to see Satsuki is back mopping the floor.
Or is that Satsuki?
Of course it isn't. It's Mako pretending to be Satsuki and she's doing a terrible job of it as she regales the dancers with a synopsis of the Liza Minelli movie Cabaret. Cat Lady invites "Satsuki" over to her place. Cat Lady may be fooled but Cat isn't and hisses at "Satsuki."
Yumisaka and his partner are questioning Satsuki's landlady. She tells the cops how Satsuki was finally able to pay her rent on April 23. The landlady still has the money and Yumisaka orders the bills to be sent to the lab.
The dancers are all having their pictures taken when "Satsuki" arrives for work. The photographer insists the cleaning girl also get up on stage and pose. "Satsuki" can now miraculously lift her arm up over her head. C'mon, Cat Lady - how many more clues do you need?
Yumisaka returns to the club. Now he's got an arrest warrant for "Satsuki." One of the bills she used to pay the rent with had the john's fingerprint on it. "Satsuki" calmly replies she has an alibi for April 22nd. She was at Lake Hamana all day long. She directs the cops to a magazine which did a pictorial on the light show at the lake. In one of the pictures printed in the magazine you can see Satsuki/Mako in the crowd. Yumisaka's partner verifies the picture was taken on April 22nd.
Once again "Satsuki" gets to walk.
Mako returns to the Shangri La to assure the real Satsuki that she's been cleared of the murder charges. Now it's time for Satsuki to return the favor and trade identities with Mako.
After some basic training from the original, the new "Mako" arrives at the family's palace. The music and the scenery make me think of Harry Potter arriving at Hogwarts.
At the same time "Satsuki" is arriving back at her hovel. Well you're the one who wanted this, Mako, so you've gotta live with it.
Grandpa comes into "Mako's" room and starts stroking her hair. Creep vibe! My skin is crawling!
Yumisaka is still keeping an eye on "Satsuki." (Smack on head - I only now just realized Kiritani Kenta played the young medical student from JIN. I kept thinking he looked familiar.)
The next morning at breakfast "Mako" struggles with having no table manners. Eww, Grandpa's groping her knee under the table. Later, she overhears Shigeru and Takuo talking and the young man venting that one day he's going to kill Grandpa. When they notice "Mako" standing nearby, Shigeru asks her if she's thought any more about what he asked her the other day. "Mako" understandably has no idea what he's talking about but is able to wiggle herself off the hook for now.
Grandpa Creep talks to "Mako" about how she's the only one he can trust. He's planning on updating his will and loudly wonders who he should leave all the billions of yen to. This catches the attention of Satsuki's greedy side. She was always going on about money.
Back at the cabaret, Mido gives "Satsuki" a swirly because she's heard the cleaning girl has been bad-mouthing the cabaret dancers.
Mako arranges to have another meeting with Satsuki out on the rugged cliffs from the episode opener. Satsuki thinks the other woman wants her life back since Mako has had a taste of the poor life. Not at all, it turns out. Mako wants to continue their deception. I guess if I had to choose between swirlies and Grandpa Creep I would also choose the toilet.
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