Maō

Maō (魔王?)
Genre	Drama Suspense
Created by	Park Chan Hong Kim Ji Woo Lee Duk Kwun
Written by	Yōichi Maekawa Masafumi Nishida
Directed by	Arata Katō Toshio Tsuboi Tsuyoshi Katayama
Starring	Satoshi Ohno Toma Ikuta Ryoko Kobayashi
Theme music composer	Hydrant
Opening theme	truth by Arashi
Composer(s)	Hiroyuki Sawano
Country of origin	Japan
Language(s)	Japanese
No. of episodes	11
Production
Executive producer(s)	Masanao Takahashi Ryōsuke Watanabe
Running time	approx. 49 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	TBS
Picture format	NTSC (480i)
Audio format	Surround
Original run	July 4, 2008 – September 12, 2008
Chronology
Followed by	Ryūsei no Kizuna
Related shows	Ma Wang
External links
Website

Maō (魔王, lit. The Devil^?), is a Japanese remake of the Korean suspense drama series titled Ma Wang (마왕) which aired on KBS 2TV in 2007. The drama stars Satoshi Ohno of Arashi and Toma Ikuta, both under the talent agency Johnny & Associates.

Synopsis

Ryo Naruse (Satoshi Ohno) is a two-faced lawyer: on the surface, he is a kind-hearted soul, representing the poor and earning the nickname "The Angel Lawyer" from the press; but unbeknownst to anyone else, he is also a "devil," meticulously plotting the perfect revenge against those responsible for his younger brother's death. Naoto Serizawa (Toma Ikuta) is a gung-ho detective whose overzealous methods mask a dark past which he is trying to overcome. When a family acquaintance of Serizawa's is murdered, Serizawa is thrust in the middle of a multiple-homicide case which stirs up memories of a dark event from his past.

Opening theme song

The theme song for this series is "Truth" by Arashi, a popular Japanese boy band which Satoshi Ohno is the leader of. In a preview of "Truth" promotional video on TBS morning entertainment news program 2jichaō, Ohno explains that the meaning of the song is very close to the content and feel of the whole drama. Arashi displayed their dancing in the promotional video of "Truth" with Ohno as the lead. It was revealed in Maō's official blog (written by the staffs / producers and posted at their official site) Ohno diligently practiced the intricate dance move in between takes because of his busy schedule.

Cast

Primary cast

• Satoshi Ohno as Ryo Naruse
• Toma Ikuta as Naoto Serizawa
• Ryoko Kobayashi as Shiori Sakita
• Kei Tanaka as Hitoshi Kasai
• Shugo Oshinari as Mitsuru Souda
• Tomohiro Waki as Yosuke Ishimoto
• Misa Uehara as Kaoru Takatsuka
• Mai Shinohara as Eri Nishina
• Yutaka Shimizu as Keita Yamano
• Kisuke Iida as Kanrikan Ishihara
• Toshihide Tonesaku as Takashi Kurata
• Michiko Kichise as Mari Serizawa
• Hitori Gekidan as Noriyoshi Serizawa
• Yuji Miyake as Hiromichi Nakanishi
• Koji Ishizaka as Eisaku Serizawa
• Toshi Takeuchi as Hideo Manaka

Secondary cast

• Hiroki Kouno as young Ryo Naruse
• Haruki Kimura as young Naoto Serizawa
• Kayano Masuyama as young Shiori Sakita
• Yuto Uemura as young Hitoshi Kasai
• Haruo Honma as young Mitsuru Souda
• Ryunoshin Nakamura as young Yosuke Ishimoto

Guest appearances

• Kazunari Ninomiya as Masayoshi Kumada (episode 1)
• Mayumi Asaka as Yoshimi Manaka (episodes 1, 2, 4)
• Tetsuo Morishita as Takahiro Kumada (episodes 1, 2)
• Kitaro as Kunio Hayashi (episodes 1, 2)
• Kaoru Okunuki as Tae Shintani (episodes 2-4)
• Momoka Oono as Sora Shintani (episodes 2-5, 7)
• Naomasa Musaka as Takahiro Ikehata (episodes 4-7)
• Yuka as Makiko Naruse (episodes 4-7)
• Outa Tanino as the real Ryo Naruse (episode 5)
• Kyusaku Shimada as Oosumi Kazuma (episodes 5-7, 9)

Episodes

Episode	Subtitle
01	The vengeful demon who threw away love - the grieving devil
02	A treacherous snare... Parent and child torn apart
03	One's true face is exposed, revenge for the sake of love
04	Targeted devil, the gates of hell have opened
05	An advance murder notice...!? Receiving a red envelope from the devil
06	Tell me... who the real perpetrator is!!
07	The false siblings... A kind lie that invites death
08	The end to an impermissible love... For revenge, once more
09	I am the real perpetrator. The tragedy of a man who knew too much.
10	The crumbling of a household... The last card is death!!
11	The final showdown. A bond severed by death!!

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Weekly ratings (Japanese)