Laughing Matryoshka

Toshiya Suzuki has known Ichiro Seike, a popular politician, since high school. Suzuki recognized that Seike had the potential to be a politician since then. And now, as his secretary, he is devoted to making Seike a prime minister. They look like a perfect match. But for reporter Kanae Michiue, something feels off about their relationship, including the fact that Suzuki's name is not revealed in Seike's autobiography, a mystery that seems to be related to the secretary's past.{{Cite web |date=3 May 2024 |title=水川あさみ、新聞記者役でTBS金曜ドラマ主演 櫻井翔が政治家役に初挑戦、玉山鉄二は謎めいた秘書に |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2325460/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503044255/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2325460/full/ |archive-date=3 May 2024 |access-date=3 May 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}} She begins to investigate them and notices the mysterious deaths surrounding Seike's rise in politics. Her own father's death is somehow connected.{{Cite web |date=3 May 2024 |title=水川あさみ「笑うマトリョーシカ」新聞記者役で主演　若き人気政治家に櫻井翔、秘書に玉山鉄二 |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/202405020000809.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503044136/https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/202405020000809.html |archive-date=3 May 2024 |access-date=3 May 2024 |website=Nikkan Sports |language=Japanese}}

== Cast ==

• Asami Mizukawa as Tōto Shinbun reporter Kanae Michiue
• Sho Sakurai as Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Ichiro Seike
• {{ill|Yuzu Aoki|ja|青木柚}} as Seike (in University){{Cite web |date=14 June 2024 |title=笑うマトリョーシカ |url=https://natalie.mu/eiga/drama/69 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614062412/https://natalie.mu/eiga/drama/69 |archive-date=14 June 2024 |access-date=14 June 2024 |website=Natalie Eiga |language=Japanese}}
• Tetsuji Tamayama Seike's former classmate,{{Cite web |date=28 June 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』キャスト11人を紹介 水川あさみ×玉山鉄二×櫻井翔を囲む豪華な顔ぶれ |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2333470/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628152831/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2333470/full/ |archive-date=28 June 2024 |access-date=28 June 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}} and current secretary, Toshiya Suzuki
• {{ill|Nishiyama Jun|ja|西山潤}} as Suzuki (in University)

• {{ill|Masei Nakayama|ja|中山麻聖}} as Kazunori Sakamoto, Seike's office secretary
• Akira Otaka as Prime Minister Habu Masafumi
• Kenichi Yajima as Ikuo Morohashi Minister of Foreign Affairs
• {{ill|Shigemitsu Ogi|ja|小木茂光}} as Kazuhiro Takechi, representative from Ehime.{{Cite web |title=Chart |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706223832/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/ |archive-date=6 July 2024 |access-date=6 July 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka |language=Japanese}} Seike had been his private secretary, and replaced him when he died.
• {{ill|Tomiyuki Kunihiro|ja|国広富之}} as Norinaga Fujita, Takechi's former policy manager
• {{ill|Mutsuo Yoshioka|ja|吉岡睦雄}} as Togashi, a former secretary in Morohashi's staff{{Cite web |title=#9 2024.8.23 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ep9.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906212835/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ep9.html |archive-date=6 September 2024 |access-date=6 September 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official page |language=Japanese}}

• Mariko Tsutsui as Kaori Michiue,Michiue's mother, owner of Rinka Restaurant
• {{ill|Ikkei Watanabe|ja|渡辺いっけい}} as Kanetaka Michiue, Michiue's father
• Masato Wada as Kentaro Hatade, Michiue's ex-husband
• {{ill|Yurito Mori|ja|森優理斗}} as Yūki Hatade, Michiue and Hatade's son

• {{ill|Katō Masaya|ja|加藤雅也}} as Yoshitaka Wadajima, Seike's father (as revealed in Seike's autobiography), also a politician
• Saki Takaoka as a mysterious woman.{{Cite web |date=24 May 2024 |title=高岡早紀＆丸山智己＆曽田陵介、水川あさみ主演「笑うマトリョーシカ」に出演 |url=https://www.cinemacafe.net/article/2024/05/24/91746.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240530052718/https://www.cinemacafe.net/article/2024/05/24/91746.html |archive-date=30 May 2024 |access-date=30 May 2024 |website=Cinema Cafe |language=Japanese}} She is Seike's mother, Hiroko Seike{{Cite web |title=Chart |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240720015604/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/ |archive-date=20 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=TBS Warau Mattryoshka |language=Japanese}}
• {{ill|Rin Mizushima|ja|水嶋凜}} as young Hiroko (ep 9){{Cite web |date=24 August 2024 |title=【笑うマトリョーシカ】9話は浩子（高岡早紀）の無実と中国人の生きづらさに迫る！ |url=https://dorama9.com/waraumatryoshka-story9/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907003408/https://dorama9.com/waraumatryoshka-story9/ |archive-date=7 September 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Dorama 9 |language=Japanese}}{{Cite Instagram |user=rin___mizushima |postid=C_C76LrSwEC |date=24 August 2024 |title=TBS 7月期金曜ドラマ「笑うマトリョーシカ」の8月23日に放送された第9話に若い頃の清家浩子役として出演させて頂きました。 |language=Japanese |access-date=7 August 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240907004554/https://www.instagram.com/rin___mizushima/p/C_C76LrSwEC/?img_index=1 |archive-date=7 September 2024 }}
• {{ill|Kenjiro Nashimoto|ja|梨本謙次郎}} as Yoshikazu Seike, Hiroko Seike's ex-husband and Ichiro's stepfather{{Cite web |title=梨本　謙次郎 ナシモト　ケンジロウ |url=https://tver.jp/talents/t02bba1 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240720021925/https://tver.jp/talents/t02bba1 |archive-date=20 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=TVer |language=Japanese}}
• Masami Horiuchi as Masashige Komatsu, Hiroko's current husband and former Psychiatrist. (ep. 9 & 10){{Cite web |title=浩子の夫 小松政重 |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/komatsu.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907013508/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/komatsu.html |archive-date=7 September 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official site |language=Japanese}}

• {{ill|Tatsurō Kawano|ja|河野達郎}} as Suzuki's father
• Sei Matobu{{Cite web |date=18 July 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』真飛聖が“第2の謎の女”役で出演　「私自身も楽しみながら日々撮影」 |url=https://realsound.jp/movie/2024/07/post-1723107.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720005509/https://realsound.jp/movie/2024/07/post-1723107.html |archive-date=20 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=Real Sound |language=Japanese}} introduced in episode 4 as a mysterious woman who gazes at the back of Michiue as she leaves the hospital where Suzuki is revealed later to be his wife{{Cite web |title=Chart |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240817033140/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/ |archive-date=17 August 2024 |access-date=17 August 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official site |language=Japanese}}

• {{ill|Tomomi Maruyama|ja|丸山智己}} as Takashi Yamanaka,{{Cite web |title=笑うマトリョーシカ Cast & Staff |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/caststaff/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607223916/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/caststaff/ |archive-date=7 June 2024 |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official site |language=Japanese}} a senior reporter
• Ryōsuke Sota as Naoki Aoyama, a junior reporter

• {{ill|Momoko Tanabe|ja|田辺桃子}} as "Mieko", Seike's University era girlfriend{{Cite web |date=28 June 2024 |title=田辺桃子が『笑うマトリョーシカ』出演決定！櫻井翔演じる人気政治家・清家の元恋人役【コメントあり |url=https://www.tvlife.jp/drama/711623 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628200147/https://www.tvlife.jp/drama/711623 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |access-date=28 June 2024 |website=TV Life |language=Japanese}} The name is a pseudonym used in Seike's book. She went by the name of Miwako Miyoshi in her school years, but her true name, Arisa Manaka, was revealed in a script she had written, which named her as author.{{Cite web |title=Cast & staff |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/caststaff/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240720021027/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/caststaff/ |archive-date=20 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka |language=Japanese}} Revealed as Reiko Tadokoro, a helper in Hiroko and her current husband's home (ep 9 & 10) in their current era
• {{ill|Dai Watanabe|ja|渡辺大}} as Koichi Sasaki Suzuki and Seike's former classmate, and political supporter, chef and owner of the restaurant where Seike and Michiue meet to talk.
• {{ill|Noritaka Hamao|ja|濱尾ノリタカ}} as Sasaki (in University)
• {{ill|Toshihide Tonisaku|ja|東根作寿英}} as Kiyohiko Isshiki, Fukuin's principal

• Sakuya as Rinrin,{{Cite web |date=7 June 2024 |title=TBS 7月クール毎週金曜夜22時放送 「笑うマトリョーシカ」 |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/C75h8sDyWYD/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240608014538/https://www.instagram.com/p/C75h8sDyWYD/ |archive-date=8 June 2024 |access-date=8 June 2024 |website=Sakuya's Instagram |language=Japanese}} part-time worker at Rinka

• {{ill|Misa Wada|ja|和田光沙}} as Reiko Tadokoro, a helper in Hiroko and her current husband's home, revealed to be Arisa Manaka after undergoing plastic surgery{{Cite web |title=ヘルパー 田所礼子 |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/tadokoro.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907020444/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/chart/tadokoro.html |archive-date=7 September 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka Official site |language=Japanese}}{{Cite Instagram |user=wada.misa |postid=C_Sq6JAyGsX/?img_index=2 |date=30 August 2024 |title=この後22:00〜放送です‼️📺 TBSドラマ『#笑うマトリョーシカ』 ラプュタのバルスに匹敵する破壊力とは…⁉️ 更なる真相に迫る第10話❗️ |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Sq6JAyGsX/?img_index=2 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/wada.misa/3446005378251778839_3446005372723717211 |archive-date=7 September 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Misa Wada's Instagram page |language=Japanese}}

As the drama opens, new Cabinet's recently appointed Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Ichiro Seike, a young politician, candidate to be the next Prime Minister, gives a press conference {{Cite web |date=7 June 2024 |title=水川あさみ主演『笑うマトリョーシカ』場面写真&本編映像が公開 櫻井翔“大臣”の初入閣会見シーンに注目 |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2330512/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608041302/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2330512/full/ |archive-date=8 June 2024 |access-date=8 June 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}} Yoshitaka Wadajima, Chief Cabinet Secretary who gave a support speech when Seike first ran for office, was Seike's father, fact unknown for years, until revealed in Seike's autobiography, died of cancer the year before. They never lived together..{{Cite web |date=31 May 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』新キャスト5人発表 水川あさみ×玉山鉄二×櫻井翔を囲む豪華な顔ぶれ |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2329482/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602232344/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2329482/full/ |archive-date=2 June 2024 |access-date=2 June 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}}

Tōto Shinbun reporter, Kanae Michue, went to Seike's hometown to learn more about this charismatic politician. Nothing seems to be as sunny as his disposition. When Michue goes to his alma-mater, she learns that Seike's image there is far from the reliable image he has today. She also learns about Toshiya Suzuki, his former mentor and current secretary. It is surprising that Seike never mentions him in his autobiography. Another person of interest is Koichi Sasaki, Seike and Suzuki's former classmate. Sasaki is chairman of Seike's Supporters' Association. Chef by trade, as his father, he owns "Haruyoshi", a restaurant in his hometown of Matsuyama. However, it seems that there is more to the person than meets the eye.

Michiue's parents divorced 5 years before. Michiue's mother, Kaori, runs the family restaurant. She is very supportive of her daughter, who struggles to balance work and family time. Michiue is also divorced. She and Kentaro Hatade separated after an incident from a scoop involved her family. They decided to divorce to protect their only child, an elementary school aged boy. Hatade has custody of their son, but is still in contact with Michiue.

Michiue receives a sudden call from her father, Kanetaka, of whom she was distanced. Kanetaka, a major newspaper's social affairs reporter, had been investigating a bribery case, known as the "BG stock case".{{Cite web |date=19 July 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』前半のジェットコースター展開に追いつけ！道上香苗、闘いの記録 |url=https://topics.tbs.co.jp/article/detail/?id=20559 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719214810/https://topics.tbs.co.jp/article/detail/?id=20559 |archive-date=19 July 2024 |access-date=19 July 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshika |language=Japanese}} Time had passed since. Kanetaka retook the story and wanted advice from Michiue. While on the phone, Kanetaka is killed in a freak traffic accident.{{Cite web |title=Story #1 2024. 6.28 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607223851/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-date=7 June 2024 |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official site |language=Japanese}}{{Cite web |date=7 June 2024 |title=初回放送は6月28日（金）に決定！場面写真も初解禁！水川あさみ主演・金曜ドラマ『笑うマトリョーシカ』 |url=https://topics.tbs.co.jp/article/detail/?id=20415 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240607234234mp_/https://topics.tbs.co.jp/article/detail/?id=20415 |archive-date=7 June 2024 |access-date=7 June 2024 |website=TBS Topics |language=Japanese}} Michiue starts investigating fatal accidents that seem related to Seike's rise to power. One of those may be her own father's.{{Cite web |date=7 June 2024 |title=櫻井翔が初の政治家役に！水川あさみ主演ドラマ『笑うマトリョーシカ』の場面写真公開 |url=https://www.thefirsttimes.jp/news/0000434672/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608035453/https://www.thefirsttimes.jp/news/0000434672/ |archive-date=8 June 2024 |access-date=8 June 2024 |website=The First Times |language=Japanese}}

Michiue tries in vain to talk to Suzuki regarding the BG case and the link to her father's death. She takes the chance when an opportunity to talk to Seike opens, confronting Suzuki during the interview. Later, Michiue receives a call from Seike. They talk about their lives. Michiue had received the (incomplete) belongings found in her late father's car, among which were keys to a bank safe, and some notebooks, which, shortly after Michiue examined them, were stolen. The notebooks had information about the BG case, in which Suzuki's father was allegedly involved. Michiue's suspicions about Suzuki grow, and become strengthened by words that Seike told her after their meeting: "From now on, keep your eyes on me too" (just like with her son), making her think Seike may have been manipulated by Suzuki, and could be in danger.{{Cite web |date=28 June 2024 |title=#2 2024.7.5 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628144719/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-date=28 June 2024 |access-date=28 June 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official site |language=Japanese}} During one of their one-on-one meetings, Seike receives a call informing him that Suzuki had an accident, while Michiue learns that Aoyama, a junior colleague, was in that incident. Both are in the hospital.

Michiue tries to gather more information, but is met with resistance from Seike's office, threatening to stop all meetings with him.{{Cite web |date=12 July 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』清家の元恋人に「衝撃の事実」が… 橋本Pが予告 |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2335879/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720023136/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2335879/full/ |archive-date=20 July 2024 |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}} Michiue notices a strange similarity between Suzuki and so-called "Hitler Mentalist" Erik Jan Hanussen: besides having influence on their respective person, their ages coincided. Hanussen was 43 when he died, Suzuki was 43 at the time of what could have been a fatal accident. As she continues investigating who Seike really is, and if any of the incidents are related to Suzuki, Michiue thinks about "Mieko", Seike's girlfriend in university. Could she be involved? This makes her focus shift from Suzuki to "Mieko". At the same time, Suzuki, still in the hospital, reminisces about "Mieko" and how, for him, she became a crutch in Seike's road into politics.{{Cite web |title=Story #3 2024.7.12 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706223709/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-date=6 July 2024 |access-date=6 July 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka |language=Japanese}}{{Cite web |date=5 July 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』再び衝撃展開 元恋人が黒幕? ネット戦慄「豹変ぶりにゾッとした」 |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2335075/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240707023837/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2335075/full/ |archive-date=7 July 2024 |access-date=7 July 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}}

Michiue continues prodding into the "Mieko mystery". She discovers from a former Seike classmate, and confirms from Fujita, Takechi's former policy manager, that the woman's name is Miwako Miyoshi, and that her dream was to be a screenwriter. The classmate also tells her that Miwako applied for a competition with a script modeled after Seike, called "The Last Laughing Matryoshka", details of which Miwako had told Suzuki.{{Cite web |date=12 July 2024 |title=「笑うマトリョーシカ」タイトル回収に視聴者ざわつく「鳥肌」「込められた意味が怖い」 |url=https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4325382 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713010238/https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4325382 |archive-date=13 July 2024 |access-date=13 July 2024 |website=Model Press |language=Japanese}} Michiue goes to the University where Miwako was supposed to have studied in, only to learn that no one under that name registered there.{{Cite web |date=12 July 2024 |title=「笑うマトリョーシカ」高岡早紀、田辺桃子と同一人物か「3話で辻褄が合った」「謎が増えるばかり」の声 |url=https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4325452 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713010306/https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4325452 |archive-date=13 July 2024 |access-date=12 July 2024 |website=Model Press |language=Japanese}} Michiue then goes to Suzuki and, with his help, gets ahold of the script, finding out that the author was not Miwako, but "Arisa Manaka", prompting Michiue to think it could be a false name.{{Cite web |title=#4 2024.7.19 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712220353/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-date=12 July 2024 |access-date=12 July 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka |language=Japanese}}

With her sights set in the Seike/Mieko case, Michiue's journalistic work begins to falter, forcing the newspaper to pressure her, so she quits to become a freelance journalist and concentrate on her task. Seike calls her and, in the few moments they are alone, he tells her he will not contact her again, that he is doing it for her sake, that as she is watching out for him, so is he watching out for her. As he is driven away, he turns to see a still wondering Michiue standing on the sidewalk.{{Cite web |date=12 July 2024 |title=「笑うマトリョーシカ」清家（櫻井翔）が乗り込んだ車ナンバーに反響「粋な小ネタ」「束の間のほっこり」 |url=https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4325431 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713030117/https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4325431 |archive-date=13 July 2024 |access-date=13 July 2024 |website=Model Press |language=Japanese}}

Michiue goes to Miwako/Manaka's family home and learns important facts about her. With all the information that Michiue has shared with Suzuki, he starts having flashbacks to when he and Seike were in university. About him and Seike, them and Miwako... and of them and Hiroko, Seike's mother, a mysterious (and probably dangerous) person that Michiue saw at her mother's restaurant, and of whom Suzuki has hidden the fact that he knows.{{Cite web |title=#5 2024.7.26 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719223738/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-date=19 July 2024 |access-date=19 July 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka |language=Japanese}}

Something keeps bothering Michiue, as she continues to investigate Hiroko, whose presence seems to overshadow Seike's political dream. With the probability that Hiroko may have orchestrated the deaths of her ex-husband, Yoshikazu Seike, as well as Councilor Takechi, and the apparent certainty that she controls Seike, Michiue is sure that he must not be allowed to have power. And what Michiue discovers after following Hiroko gives definition to Seike's words.{{Cite web |title=#6 2024.8.2 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729231239/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ |archive-date=29 July 2024 |access-date=29 July 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka |language=Japanese}}

Seike is appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary. His and Suzuki's wish continues to see light. But unexpectedly, Seike calls Suzuki into his office and fires him.{{Cite web |date=2 August 2024 |title=「笑うマトリョーシカ」清家（櫻井翔）＆鈴木（玉山鉄二）、ハグの対比が話題「関係性の変化が感じられる」「俊哉くん呼びがフラグだった」 |url=https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4342516 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811052141/https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4342516 |archive-date=11 August 2024 |access-date=11 August 2024 |website=Model Press |language=Japanese}} Feeling betrayed, and facing the reality that Seike used him, Suzuki goes to Michiue and helps her keep uncovering the truth on Hiroko. Suzuki uses the information Michiue has in an attempt to clear the image of his father, whose identity was revealed in a magazine. Noticing the news about the Secretary of the former Foreign Minister, they decide to visit his widow, who tells them that he didn't commit suicide as reported, but was killed.{{Cite web |date=10 August 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』櫻井翔×青木柚＆玉山鉄二×西山潤、“2人で1人”の驚くべき演技の一致 |url=https://realsound.jp/movie/2024/08/post-1745237.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811050651/https://realsound.jp/movie/2024/08/post-1745237.html |archive-date=11 August 2024 |access-date=11 August 2024 |website=Real Sound |language=Japanese}} As more and more information arises, including about the intimate relationship Suzuki had with Hiroko, Michiue goes on the road to search for her, when she finds Seike in one of his public meetings. Michiue asks him about his firing Suzuki. Seike takes Michiue's hands and pulls her to him, and whispers "I didn't do it because I wanted to".{{Cite web |date=9 August 2024 |title=「笑うマトリョーシカ」清家（櫻井翔）の一言で視聴者翻弄「まだ裏がありそう」「戦ってるようにも見える」 |url=https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4347960 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811052048/https://mdpr.jp/drama/detail/4347960 |archive-date=11 August 2024 |access-date=11 August 2024 |website=Model Press |language=Japanese}}

Yamanaka, Michiue's former colleague and current boss, finds information about the time Hiroko was working as a hostess in Ginza. Michiue finds herself being followed, and, as she tries to flee, she runs into Hiroko. Michiue tries to confront her about the deaths, but Hiroko counters with a comment about Michiue's son's safety, previous to leaving. The man with whom Hiroko leaves is the same that had been following Michiue. Michiue later goes to Sasaki's shop, where she learns that Seike will return to his hometown to give a lecture. She also receives a message from him saying "Please, don't be reckless".{{Cite web |title=#8 2024. 8.16 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ep8.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906212936/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ep8.html |archive-date=6 September 2024 |access-date=6 September 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official site |language=Japanese}}{{Cite web |date=16 August 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』第8話 道上の前に浩子が姿を現した |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2340417/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906230010/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2340417/full/ |archive-date=6 September 2024 |access-date=6 September 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}} Information is also learned about Seike's grandmother, Hiroko's mother. She was a Chinese woman that had a relationship with a Japanese man, whom she didn't have contact from after Hiroko's birth. It is thought that her constant use of the word "revenge" permeated in both Hiroko's and Seike's early childhood.{{Cite web |date=17 August 2024 |title=【笑うマトリョーシカ】8話・復讐が浩子の目的！櫻井翔の表情に震えるラスト！ |url=https://dorama9.com/waraumatryoshka-episode8/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906225816/https://dorama9.com/waraumatryoshka-episode8/ |archive-date=6 September 2024 |access-date=6 September 2024 |website=Dorama 9 |language=Japanese}}

With Suzuki's help, the journalist team find out the whereabouts of Togashi, a former secretary during the disappearance of Morohashi. They assume that it was Togashi who covered up Morohashi's involvement in the BG stock incident. Michiue meets Hiroko again, and this time they talk about Hiroko's past with a Chinese mother and how in afected her. They continue to talk about other things, including the reference to a tape that has information from the BG case, and that Hiroko is holding to. In a meeting, Seike proposes a new "prime ministerial election system" in which the prime minister is chosen by direct vote of the people. Michiue thinks this could be seen as a stepping stone for Seike.{{Cite web |date=23 August 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』第9話 清家が新たに"ある提案"をする |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2341406/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907045336/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2341406/full/ |archive-date=7 September 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}}

Michiue begins to think differently about Hiroko, as her words reveal that she is estranged from Seike. Michiue now has another problem in her hands. If Hiroko wasn't the one who had sent Suzuki the paper that Seike had written about Hitler and Hanussen, who did? She returned to Hiroko's house to talk to her husband,{{Cite web |title=#10 2024.8.30 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ep10.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906212940/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ep10.html |archive-date=6 September 2024 |access-date=6 September 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official site |language=Japanese}} while a mysterious woman appears to overhear their conversation (and the one with Hiroko, before). It is their helper, Reiko Tadokoro. Michiue begins suspecting Tadokoro is involved... and she is! Turns out that Tadokoro is in reality Arisa Manaka, the woman who Seike had a relationship in their college era. If Manaka was at Hiroko's house, that could mean that she probably was still trying to find a way to get close to Seike, or finding ways to continue influencing him, even if not by his side.{{Cite web |date=24 August 2024 |title=【笑うマトリョーシカ】9話は浩子（高岡早紀）の無実と中国人の生きづらさに迫る！ |url=https://dorama9.com/waraumatryoshka-story9/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907003408/https://dorama9.com/waraumatryoshka-story9/ |archive-date=7 September 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Dorama 9 |language=Japanese}}

Just as facts continue to be revealed one after another, Michiue receives a sudden proposal from Seike: he tells her "Stay by my side" (said in a form that could be seen as romantic). Michiue thinks that by being by his side, she can find out who is Seike's Hanussen, she decides to accept the proposal. Not only has he asked for opinions from Michiue every time they meet, he reacts to them and puts them into his own words. This has happened since the first time they met. Michiue feela a certain sense of fulfillment. Yamanaka urges Michiue to disclose the evidence of those involved in the BG case as soon as possible and to oust them, but Michiue thinks that if she antagonizes the government, she will be taken off as Seike's assistant, and that worries her.{{Cite web |title=#11 2024.9.6 FRI. ONAIR |url=https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ep11.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906230818/https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/story/ep11.html |archive-date=6 September 2024 |access-date=6 September 2024 |website=TBS Warau Matryoshka official site |language=Japanese}}

Michiue continues to think about the words that Seike has told her ("Please look at me", ""I won't see you anymore", "As you see out me, so do I", and now, "Stay by my side"). What is their true meaning? Seike knows that he needs people around him that "feed him" information, but he has to be careful in the way he gets to them. It started with his grandmother, his mother, his father, Suzuki, Manaka... and now Michiue. He needs Michiue to be by his side as a guide, but also as part of the press, to share to the public his political activities. But he has to act carefully not to alienate Michiue, making her think he's playing with her skills as a reporter and taking advantage of that. He does care for her, but not in a romantic way. He knows that she could be in danger if she gets too close to the truth (just as Takechi, Suzuki and Kanetaka did), and relays the message in very subtle ways, by using those words.{{Cite web |date=6 September 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』「僕を見ていてくださいね」の意味は？最後に伏線回収！ |url=https://dorama9.com/waraumatryoshka-bokuwomiteite/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907055902/https://dorama9.com/waraumatryoshka-bokuwomiteite/ |archive-date=7 September 2024 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=Dorama 9 |language=Japanese}}

Theme song, "Sunshade", lyrics by singer-songwriter {{ill|Yuuka (singer-songwriter)|lt=Yuuka|ja|由薫}} and music by One Ok Rock's Toru, is sung by its lyricist.{{Cite web |date=22 June 2024 |title=来週スタート！金曜ドラマ『笑うマトリョーシカ』メインビジュアルが解禁＆主題歌は由薫「Sunshade」に決定！ |url=https://www.talent-databank.co.jp/special/topics/14875/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240621223616/https://www.talent-databank.co.jp/special/topics/14875/ |archive-date=21 June 2024 |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=Talent Data Bank |language=Japanese}}{{Cite web |date=22 June 2024 |title=『笑うマトリョーシカ』メインビジュアル解禁 主題歌は由薫が歌う「Sunshade」 |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2332936/full/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621225301/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2332936/full/ |archive-date=21 June 2024 |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=Oricon |language=Japanese}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.tbs.co.jp/waraumatryoshka_tbs/ Laughing Matryoshka official site]

Category:Works about politics

Category:Kin'yō Dorama

Category:Television shows based on Japanese novels

Category:TBS Television (Japan) dramas