Alisa Miyuki heads up the cast of TV version of Hideo Gosha's "Onimasa"

by Chris MaGee

I know there are a lot of fans of Hideo Gosha's 1982 yakuza film "Onimasa" out there. I kn ow that here at the Poiw-Wow our own Matt Hardstaff is a big fan. "Onimasa" tells the tale of a yakuza boss' (played by screen legend Tatsuya Nakadai) rise to power in Shikoku during the first half of the 20th-century. His story is seen through the eyes of his adopted daughter, Matsue (played by Masako Natsume). Based on the novel "Kiryuin Hanako no Shogai" by author Tomiko Miyao, "Onimasa" was a big hit at the Japanese box office and was submitted to represent Japan in the Best Foreign Language Film race at the 55th annual Academy Awards. Now Tokyograph has word of "Onimasa" being adapted to the small screen.

This new drama, which will retain the title of Miyao's original novel, "Kiryuin Hanako no Shogai", will air on TV Asahi this summer and star Alisa Mizuki (above left) as Matsue, while her yakuza boss father will be portrayed by "Fighting Elegy" and "3 Seconds Before Explosion" star Hideki Takahasi. This will be the second time that "Kiryuin Hanako no Shogai" has been brought to the small screen. "Kiryuin Hanako no Shogai" was adapted into a television mini-series for Japanese TV in the late 1980's.