Crime and Punishment: A Falsified Romance

Crime and Punishment: A Falsified Romance (罪と罰 A Falsified Romance) is a Japanese seinen manga written and illustrated by Naoyuki Ochiai. A modern adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, it is about Miroku Tachi, a hikikomori who decides to kill the leader of a student prostitution ring and take her money. The manga was serialized in Futabasha's manga magazine Manga Action from January 23, 2007 to March 15, 2011 and was collected into ten tankōbon volumes. The manga was licensed in North America by JManga and was one of its release titles. In 2012, the manga was adapted into a live-action drama by WOWOW with six episodes.

Manga
The manga is an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment by Naoyuki Ochiai. It was serialized in Futabasha's manga magazine Manga Action from January 23, 2007 to March 15, 2011 and was collected into ten tankōbon volumes. The manga was licensed in North America by JManga and was one of its release titles when the website launched on August 17, 2011. JManga published the first five volumes before becoming defunct. The manga was also published in France by Delcourt (under the title Syndrome 1866), in Taiwan by Ever Glory Publishing and in Italy by Goen.

Live-action drama
In 2012, the manga was adapted into a live-action drama with six episodes airing from April 29 to June 3 on WOWOW. The drama was directed by Manabu Aso, with the screenplay by Yumiko Kamiyama and Tadasuke Fujimoto, and music by Kōji Endō.

Cast

 * Kengo Kora – Miroku Tachi
 * Asami Mizukawa – Echika Ameya
 * Ayumi Ito – Yoshino Tachi
 * Keisuke Horibe – Kikuo Ameya
 * Ai Hashimoto – Hikaru Baba
 * Akiyoshi Nakao – Masamichi Yazumi
 * Shōta Sometani – Haruka Mikoshiba
 * Aki Asakura – Akemi Nakagami
 * Asuka Ono – Risa Shimazu
 * Hisako Manda – Yoshimi Tachi
 * Tetsushi Tanaka – Kai Sudo
 * Masatō Ibu – Kurodo Goi

Reception
Ed Chavez of Otaku USA called the series a "manga reader's manga" due to the lack of common tropes such as moe or fan service, and its realism-influenced art. Chavez found the characters and visual presentation to challenge him, with the protagonist's duality making him come back to read more. However, referring to the poor sales of Naoki Urasawa's Monster, he doubted that the American market was "interested in dramas of this caliber".

The manga was part of the selection list for "Best Manga Series 2010" at the 18th Anime & Manga Grand Prix.