In the last season, we had "Petero no Souretsu" and "Kazoku Gari". In this season, we have "N no Tame ni" (For N). It's a suspense/mystery drama involving the death of a husband and a wife, and people around them. It's not clear who really killed them or how those people who were at the crime scene are connected. A retired policeman (played by Miura Tomokazu), who has known some of those people from 15 years ago, tries to solve the puzzle.
The drama is based on the novel with the same title written by Kanae Minato. Many of her novels were turned into movies and TV dramas such as "Confession," "Kita no Kanaria Tachi," "The Snow White Murder Case," "Shokuzai," "Yakou Kanransha."
(Spoiler)
In 2004, on the 48th floor of a condominium, Noguchi Takahiro (played by Tokui Yoshimi) and his wife Noguchi Naoko (played by Konishi Manami) were murdered. At the crime scene were 3 men and 1 woman, Nishizaki Masato (Koide Keisuke), Naruse Shinji (Tsubota Masataka), Andou Nozomi (Kaku Kento) and Sugishita Nozomi (Eikura Nana). Nishizaki Masato was arrested on that spot.
Nishizaki admitted the murder by saying "I killed Noguchi Takahiro (the husband). I was in a relationship with Noguchi Naoko (the wife) for the past 6 months. Takahiro stabbed her, and I beat him out of fury."
In 2014, Takano Shigeru (played by Miura Tomokazu) is a retired policeman who has been investigating the case on his own. He explains...
Soon after the murder, Nishizaki told his attorney "Everything was for N. That's what we did."
(Takano explains further:) They committed a crime. Those 4 individuals who said they had happened be there at the crime scene are connected for a long time.
Long before the murder, 15 years ago in summer 1999, an incident took place on a quiet island on the Seto Inland Sea. It was small incident, but it was enough to disturb the residents on the island.
Everything started there. (Takano's explanation ends here).
In 1999, Sugishita Nozomi (a high school student), her younger brother, and her mom wait for her father to come home from a business trip. He comes home with a woman, and tells his family to get out of his house. Their furniture and belongings are all packed and left outside the house.
Nozomi's father, Sugishita Susumu (played by Mitsuishi Ken) declares that he is going to live in the house with his mistress. He worked hard for the past 17 years for the family, and now he wants to do what he wants to do. He is going to live as he likes, so Nozomi, her brother and mother should live as they like, too.
Nozomi and her brother strongly resist to the father. Takano, the policeman on the island, even comes to check the scene. The father says his wife told him he should do what he likes. The mother tells the policeman that they're fine as her husband arranged a house for them, even though the policeman tells them it's not right.
The three go to the house. It's a small, old and shabby house on a mountain completely different from their previous house, a big white house facing the ocean.
Nozomi complains to her mother, but the mother tells Nozomi that the father has his own plan, and he must have a reason for doing this. She also says that the father will soon come to them to apologize, so they should wait for him.
A month passed.
Nozomi and her brother gave up the idea of going back to their old house. The family was rich and had a good life, but Nozomi thinks it was like a dream and what she's facing now is the reality.
Nozomi, her mother and brother are living on the money deposited by the father; 100,000 yen (about 1,000 us dollars) per month.
Nozomi's mother can't face the reality. She tries to buy expensive cosmetics on trust. She could do it (paying after getting items) before, but now the store owner insists she pays up front. The mother doesn't listen to the owner, so the owner calls the police. Nozomi is called also. She hurries to the store to apologize and take her mother back home.
One night, Nozomi finds her wallet empty. She checks the family bank book, and finds that the 100,000 yen deposited recently by her father is withdrawn. She asks her mother what she did with the money. The mother answers she bought cosmetics. On her dresser are expensive cosmetics. Nozomi checks the sales slip. Those cosmetics cost 99,309 yen.
Nozomi asks the mother why she did it and how they are going to buy food. The mother answers people will help them. People gave them fish and vegetables as gifts. Nozomi tells her people did that because of the father, that they will not give them anything if the father is not with them.
Nozomi tries to return the cosmetics, but her mother stops her. She tells Nozomi that if she turns ugly, the father may not come back to get them. She also tells her that he is deceived by that woman, and will soon realizes she is better than the woman.
Next day, Nozomi and her brother go to a newspaper delivery office to ask for a job. They get the job, but the mother comes and tells the manager not to hire them as they aren't pinched for money.
Nozomi goes to her old house to see her father and ask for money, but he was out on a business trip. His mistress tells Nozomi to apologize for breaking her dresser on the day Nozomi moved out. She insists Nozomi get down on her knees and beg her for food.
Nozomi first refuses, but for her younger brother she begs for food.
At home, Nozomi serves the food cooked by her father's mistress. She doesn't say she got on her knees to get it. She just says the mistress gave her. Her brother refuses to eat, but Nozomi tells him it's better than being starved to death. The brother starts to eat saying "It's delicious. Why is that woman good at cooking?" He sobs and continues to eat.
Nozomi promises her brother not to give their debit card and bank book to the mother. Right after their father deposits the money, they'll withdraw the money and buy food. She declares they must do whatever to survive.
Back to 2014. Nishizaki Masato gets out of a prison 10 years after the murder incident. Takano, the retired policeman stops him to ask him questions.
Takano shows Nishizaki a photo of Naruse Shinji. Nishizaki tells him he doesn't know him personally. He also tells Takano that Naruse is the one who called the police. Takano then asks him about Sugishita Nozomi. Nishizaki says he knew Nozomi as his neighbor at his apartment.
Takano tells Nishizaki... "Before Naruse and Nishizaki moved to Tokyo, they were at a crime scene on the island where they lived. This is the second time they are at a crime scene. They are my old acquaintances and I've been looking for them. "
Back to 1999. Nozomi's father's mistress tells Nozomi to have her mother sign a divorce paper. Nozomi kneels down and begs for food.
Nozomi's father deposits money. Nozomi and her brother withdraw the money immediately and go to a grocery store. Naruse Shinji is curious about Nozomi and watches her and her brother's actions.
Nozomi and her brother go home with groceries. Their mother asks them for money to buy a new coat. Nozomi tells her that the one she bought last year is still fine.
Nozomi's brother asks his mother to face the reality. He tells the mother that Nozomi begged and got their food from his father's mistress. If Nozomi didn't do that, they had been starved to death.
The mother throws up and breaks down sobbing.
Nozomi's brother is admitted to a high school on the mainland. They go to see their father. The father promises to pay for his school. He tells Nozomi that she doesn't need to go to college, although that's what she wants to do.
The following year in 2000.
Nozomi and Naruse Shinji are classmates in their high school. They are seniors. Nozomi sits behind Shinji. They talk about Japanese chess games.
One day after school, Nozomi asks Shinji to carry rice for her. Since her brother left for the mainland to go to high school, Nozomi cannot carry a heavy bag of rice.
When they get home with a lot of groceries, her mother was about to buy a jewelry necklace worth 390,000 yen from a home-visit sales person. Nozomi asks the sales person to leave as they don't have money to buy jewelry. The sales person gets upset as he came because Nozomi's mother had called the store.
Nozomi tells Shinji that her mother is like that twice or three times a month. Nozomi takes Shinji to an observation deck where they can see the beautiful Seto Inland Sea and its islands. They play Japanese chess. It's mostly Shinji who shows her how to win.
Shinji asks Nozomi why she plays the chess even though she admits she's not so good at that. She answers it may be good for her future. She'll be on a luxury cruise ship and plays a chess against an Arab oil king, who bets his oil well on the game.
Takano, the policeman stops by and asks Nozomi how her mother has been. She answers she's fine.
After Takano leaves, Nozomi asks Shinji not to tell about her mother to anyone. She doesn't want people to have pity on her. Shinji agrees.
In their classroom, Nozomi and Shinji play a chess even during a class. Nozomi wants to keep sitting behind Shinji as she can study English during a math class. She wants to master English in order to meet a rich Arab. "Are you serious?" asks Shinji. Nozomi answers "If I don't have a big ambition, I'll be swallowed by this rotten reality." She asks Shinji what his ambitions are. He answers he doesn't have any.
Nozomi goes on to say "I want to see all the way there. I hate to end my life in a small world, doing nothing but telling myself I'm happy. I want to go to college, getting a scholarship or whatever. I want to live in the whole wide world."
"Lets talk about our ambitions. Let's talk about what we're going to do," and Nozomi starts to write down her and Shinji's ambitions.
Shinji's parents run a fancy Japanese restaurant. However, the business is going downhill together with the shipbuilding industries on the island. A hotel on the mainland was going to take over the business, but somehow the plan changed and they want to build a pachinko parlor on the restaurant site.
Shinji's father doesn't want to sell the restaurant, but with the declining business, he is forced to sell.
Nozomi wakes up in the middle of the night by a noise from the kitchen. Her mother was deep-frying oysters, which her dad told his mistress "batter is damp and tastes awful." She tells Nozomi her dad is coming home soon, and she's cooking for him.
Nozomi receives a message from Shinji on the phone. He asks to add his ambition to their list. His ambition is to leave the island after he graduates from high school, and go to college on the mainland.
They decide to meet and go to the balcony of Shinji's parents' restaurant. It is like a small stage, and Nozomi starts to make a speech. "I, Sugishita Nozomi, am going to live proudly by myself. I'm not going to depend on anybody. I'll get what I want through my own effort. Until the very end, I'm going to aim high. I swear I'm going to fight strategically with all my might by any means.
Making a speech in front of a crowd was one of her ambitions. Though there was no crowd, she thanks Shinji for giving her a chance for a speech.
Back again to 2014.
Takano, the retired policeman asks Nishizaki who just got out of prison "There was another person at the scene, wasn't it?" "Andou Nozomu (played by Kaku Kento). Nishizaki answers "He also lived in my apartment building, although we never really associated with each other."
"Mr. Andou, Ms. Sugishita and you all testified that you guys happened to be there at the same time" says Takano. "Isn't it amazing? I went to see a married woman and Sugishita and Andou happened to be visiting there." answers Nishizaki.
(Takano) "There Mr. Naruse who was Ms. Sugihita's class mate from high school happened to come."
(Nishizaki) "He was delivering something. It was his part-time job."
(Takano) "You didn't kill, did you? In the trial, the verdict was based on your confession, but you're not the murderer, are you?"
(Takano) "You told your attorney, 'Everything was for N. That's what we did.' What is N?"
(Nishizaki) "It's an initial. Noguchi Naoko. She was killed by her husband because of me."
(Takano) "What is 'we?' You and who else?"
(Nishizaki) "What do you want to know?"
(Takano) "Why you said you killed. What those people who were there hid and for whom? I want to know these. That's why I came to see you."
(Nishizaki) " Have you ever felt that there's no meaning in life if a particular woman doesn't exist?"
Sugishita Nozomi's narration follows:
"Young people these days only think about themselves." Every time I hear that sentence, I think that's wrong.
That time, everybody there thought about somebody else.
Each person had a person to cherish, and thought of that person.
For somebody other than themselves. Yes, everything was for N...
(My reaction)
I'm so sorry for Nozomi who had to go through all the trouble at her young age. She's only a high school kid. I'm sorry that she has such people as her father and mother. At the same time, I'm glad that she's so strong, and has a friend beside her. I hope she'll use her strength to achieve her goal, and will not go into the wrong direction (for illegal activities, etc.).
The murder of a husband and wife is very intriguing. I want to know what happened, and how those people are related.
Good acting by Miura Tomokazu as somebody who connects the dots.
I'm definitely watching this drama closely.
