More than a few critics have taken exception to the Korean TV drama boom that has swept Japan in the past few years, saying that many of the plots were lifted almost directly from Japanese TV dramas of the 1970s, especially the "Red" serials that always starred idol Momoe Yamaguchi and which invariably involved "pure love," somebody dying tragically, and hints of incest.
On Wednesday at 9 p.m., TBS will present the first episode of a three-part remake of "Red Suspicion," one of Yamaguchi's most famous dramas, first broadcast in 1975-76.
Satomi Ishihara plays Sachiko, a high-school student whose father, Shigeru (Takanori Jinnai), is a radiologist. Shigeru's sister from Okinawa comes to Tokyo to visit her brother for the first time in many years, but for some strange reason Sachiko is prevented from seeing her. Instead, Sachiko goes to her father's laboratory and is exposed to a huge amount of radiation during an accident. She is saved by Mitsuo (Tatsuya Fujiwara), who falls in love with her. Later, she develops leukemia and starts to suspect that maybe Shigeru is not her real father.