Top 10 Recommendations for TV Dramas Adapted from Higashino Keigo's Novels! Where Do 'Detective Galileo' and 'White Night' Rank? The Champion's Heart-Wrenching Degree Has Yet to Be Surpassed

Japanese mystery novelist Higashino Keigo recently passed away at the age of 68 due to colon cancer. His publisher confirmed the news on the 27th, and the funeral was held quietly by his family. Higashino Keigo won the Naoki Prize for 'The Devotion of Suspect X' and became globally famous with works like 'White Night' and 'The Miracle of the Shop of Second Chances.' Many of his novels have been adapted into TV dramas. This article compiles 10 TV dramas adapted from Higashino Keigo's novels, allowing readers to revisit the most unforgettable crime puzzles and human tragedies from his stories. Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 10: Tsubasa Ishibashi, Yuriko Yoshitaka 'Dangerous Venus' 'Dangerous Venus' is a suspense drama centered around the inheritance dispute of the prestigious Yagami family. Tsubasa Ishibashi plays a veterinarian, Hajime Kojima, who is honest but easily loses his judgment when faced with beautiful women. When his half-brother suddenly disappears, a mysterious woman named Kaede Yagami, claiming to be his sister-in-law, seeks his help, drawing him into the complex web of relationships and conflicts of interest within the Yagami family. Yuriko Yoshitaka's performance as Kaede, whose true intentions are hard to discern, makes the audience guess alongside Hajime whether she is a trustworthy ally or the mastermind behind the entire conspiracy. Some viewers commented, 'Some might find it cliché, but you can't help but keep watching,' and others praised, 'The foreshadowing and payoff are truly up to Higashino Keigo's standard.' Although some viewers felt the pacing in the middle was a bit repetitive, the drama remains compelling with its portrayal of family members each harboring their own secrets, and Yuriko Yoshitaka's performance oscillating between innocence and danger. Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 10: Tsubasa Ishibashi, Yuriko Yoshitaka 'Dangerous Venus' (Image source: IMDb) Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 9: Masami Nagasawa 'The Double' 'The Double' is a science suspense drama combining medical ethics, the mystery of one's origins, and the mother-daughter relationship. Masami Nagasawa plays both Uiko Uiko, a female college student in Hokkaido, and Futaba Kobayashi, the lead singer of a band in Tokyo. The two women grow up in completely different families and environments but look almost identical. As they each investigate the secrets of their births, a reproductive medical research project that was deliberately concealed gradually comes to light. Viewers praised Masami Nagasawa for 'playing both roles exceptionally well, truly portraying two different people,' distinguishing Uiko and Futaba through their clothing, speech, and emotional states. Some viewers described the entire drama as a 'Masami Nagasawa festival,' finding the most interesting aspect to be the story's exploration of how life, motherhood, and family should be defined. Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 9: Masami Nagasawa 'The Double' (Image source: IMDb) Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 8: Mikie Hara 'One Love' 'One Love' begins with a reunion of old college American football teammates. Mikie Hara plays Miharu Hiura, who later appears before her former friends as a man and confesses to being involved in a murder case. The investigation gradually uncovers conflicts surrounding gender identity, marriage, friendship, and social institutions, revealing that this group of old friends, who thought they knew each other well, had never truly understood the pain Miharu endured. Mikie Hara's performance became a focal point of discussion among viewers, with some commenting that 'her movements, posture, and gaze at certain moments truly look like a man, making her incredibly cool,' and others simply calling her 'very cool.' The drama's case design is not simply about identifying the culprit but forces the audience to consider whether there must be a fixed answer to the relationship between gender, body, and self-identity. Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 7: Kyoko Fukada, Takashi Tsukamoto 'Phantom' 'Phantom' is a dark suspense drama centered around a femme fatale, desire, and co-crime. Takashi Tsukamoto plays Masaya Mizuhara, who commits an irrevocable crime during the chaos caused by an earthquake and later meets Kyoko Fukada's character, Miyuki Shinami. Masaya believes they are each other's only support and is willing to remove all obstacles for Miyuki, unaware that he is gradually becoming a tool for her ascent. Some viewers described 'Phantom' as 'full of tension from start to finish, making an hour feel very long, with dense content,' and others believed that Miyuki is no ordinary femme fatale but a 'monster willing to use any means to achieve her ambition.' Kyoko Fukada's calm and beautiful appearance contrasts sharply with her character's ruthless actions, while Takashi Tsukamoto portrays Masaya's psychological transformation from infatuation and submission to gradual fear, keeping the entire drama filled with suffocating anxiety. Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 7: Kyoko Fukada, Takashi Tsukamoto 'Phantom' (Image source: IMDb) Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 6: Mirai Shida, Kazunari Ninomiya 'The Secret' 'The Secret' is cloaked in a fantastical setting of soul swapping but is ultimately a cruel family drama. Kazunari Ninomiya plays Heiji Sugita, whose wife Naoko and daughter Moe were involved in an accident while traveling on an overnight bus, leaving only Moe's body alive, but with Naoko's soul inside. Heiji is forced to face an almost unsolvable problem: the person in front of him has his daughter's appearance but his wife's soul. Should he interact with her as a husband or a father? Mirai Shida had to switch between playing a girl and a mature woman, with viewers exclaiming, 'Mirai Shida's acting is amazing,' believing she convincingly portrayed the high-difficulty role of a mother entering her daughter's body. Kazunari Ninomiya's portrayal of Moe, who is both like his wife and his daughter, from confusion and jealousy to reluctantly letting go, is also heart-wrenching, especially the truth revealed at the end, which has left many viewers debating even years after watching. Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 6: Mirai Shida, Kazunari Ninomiya 'The Secret' (Image source: IMDb) Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 5: Yuya Togashi 'Blade of the Bamboo Grass' 'Blade of the Bamboo Grass' directly confronts the enormous gap between juvenile crime, victims' families, and legal justice. Yuya Togashi plays Shigeki Nagamine, a father raising his daughter alone. After his daughter is tortured and killed by a juvenile, he accidentally obtains the identity and criminal evidence of the perpetrator but discovers that the underage offender may be protected by the law. When the legal system fails to address his grief, this once-ordinary father decides to hunt down the culprit himself, putting the police in a dilemma of whether to stop him or sympathize with him. Yuya Togashi's restrained and heavy performance received much praise, with viewers writing, 'Yuya Togashi's acting is outstanding, it moved my heart,' and others stating that the series fills in details that the movie version couldn't fully explore, allowing viewers to better feel Shigeki's anger and despair. This drama has almost no relaxing moments, and although viewers know that revenge cannot bring his daughter back, they still emotionally follow Shigeki's questioning: when the law provides no answers, what can a father still believe in? Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 5: Yuya Togashi 'Blade of the Bamboo Grass' (Image source: IMDb) Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 4: Hiroshi Abe 'The Newcomer' 'The Newcomer' stars Hiroshi Abe as Keiichiro Kaga, a detective newly transferred to Nihonbashi Ningyocho in Tokyo. When a single woman is murdered in her apartment, Kaga begins visiting residents who had contact with the victim, focusing on a suspicious group in each episode, ranging from a senbei shop to a pottery shop and a watch shop. These people are indeed lying, but their lies often hide not malice but familial love, guilt, and unspoken concern. Some viewers praised the drama for 'gradually unraveling the case's mysteries while maintaining a human touch,' believing that each episode, while advancing the main murder case, also mends different family relationships. Hiroshi Abe's portrayal of Kaga, who seems to appear and disappear like a ghost, always asking detailed questions at the most awkward moments but also silently guarding the difficult-to-voice secrets of those involved, makes this character one of the most successful detective images in Higashino Keigo's adapted works. Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 4: Hiroshi Abe 'The Newcomer' (Image source: IMDb) Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 3: Yasutaka Tsutsui, Sachi Hasegawa 'Detective Galileo' 'Detective Galileo' stars Yasutaka Tsutsui as Ryūzō Kawai, a physicist at Teito University, and Sachi Hasegawa as Detective Kaoru Umi. Facing seemingly supernatural cases such as spontaneous human combustion, soul separation, and remote killing, Kawai insists that all phenomena can be explained scientifically and reconstructs the crime methods through experiments. Yasutaka Tsutsui portrays Kawai as a perfect-looking, highly intelligent, but stubborn and difficult-to-approach science nerd, forming a spark-filled detective duo with the emotionally driven Umi. Viewers generally praised the first season's character combination, with one writing, 'The balance between physics and suspense is excellent, a rare drama,' and another exclaiming, 'Every episode is great, with clever plots and charming characters.' Kawai's signature scene of suddenly finding a solution and scribbling formulas on walls or floors, combined with Yasutaka Tsutsui and Sachi Hasegawa's contrasting interactions, makes this drama a gateway for many viewers to discover Higashino Keigo's works. Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 3: Yasutaka Tsutsui, Sachi Hasegawa 'Detective Galileo' (Image source: IMDb) Higashino Keigo's Novel Adapted TV Drama 2: Kyohei Kiyama, Masaki Suda, Eriko Sato 'Meteor Garden' 'Meteor Garden' tells the story of three siblings, Kōichi, Taisuke, and Shizuna Akebono, who, as children, sneaked out to watch a meteor shower and returned home to find their parents murdered. As adults, they make a living through elaborate scams, with Kōichi writing scripts and Taisuke and Shizuna playing different roles to approach their targets. During a scam operation, they unexpectedly encounter someone possibly connected to their parents' murder, triggering a long-buried revenge plan.