Summary: | In childhood, Yuka's sister, Mayu, is ill and confined to bed rest. A rivalry exists between the sisters, each vying for the attention and affection of their mother. After Emili's murder had been discovered, Yuka was tasked with informing the police. The officer to whom Yuka alerted of the murder soon became the object of her affection. When he was transferred, Yuka was devastated. At present day, Mayu pays a visit to Yuka's new flower shop. Yuka learns that Mayu's husband is a public servant for the police. Soon after meeting Mayu's husband, Yuka seduces him and becomes pregnant. Yuka implies to Mayu that she only married a police officer to make Yuka envious. Yuka is contacted by Asako, who wants to meet and discuss the penance Yuka was to pay for Emili's murder. They meet and Yuka proposes trading Asako information about Emili's murder for Asako's husband. Yuka nearly miscarries but later gives Asako the information she knows. ABOUT THE SERIES Japanese master of suspense Kiyoshi Kurosawa's eerie, intense psychological thriller Penance (Shokuzai) unfolds on a sleepy small town playground, when a mysterious stranger approaches a group of young friends, then kidnaps and brutally murders one of the girls. Wracked with grief, the victim's unhinged mother Asako (Kyoko Koizumi) demands that the shaken survivors identify the killer or face a penance of her choosing. Growing up in the shadow of this tragic debt, each of the four girls cultivates a warped survival mechanism - avoidance, desperation, fear, and obsession. A disturbing, sensitively helmed chronicle of post-traumatic stress from a female perspective, Penance offers Kiyoshi Kurosawa's trademark creepy twists as well as a subtle commentary on Japanese society and gender expectations. This gripping long-form serial drama highlights a new facet of renowned auteur Kurosawa (PULSE, CURE, CHARISMA) and features absorbing performances from a stellar line-up of award-winning, up-and-coming young actresses.
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