“Plastic Beauty,” Netflix‘s upcoming Japanese drama set inside the country’s fast-growing cosmetic surgery industry, will premiere Sept. 17, the streamer announced alongside 23 additional cast members joining stars Mayu Matsuoka and Riisa Naka.
Yuki Saito, who previously directed “Unmet: A Neurosurgeon’s Diary,” helms the series from a script by Junya Ikegami (“The Queen of Villains”). Netflix and the creative team spent months researching Japan’s cosmetic surgery world firsthand ahead of production. That research extended to the makeup department, where special effects artist Amazing JIRO (“Straight to Hell”) led a team that crafted a distinct “before,” “downtime” and “after” progression for every patient character featured across the cast.
The series unfolds against Japan’s ongoing debate over beauty standards – a culture growing more open to diverse appearances even as its cosmetic surgery sector remains one of its fastest-growing industries. That tension plays out through two doctors with opposing views on transformation: Fumi Numata, a gifted physician forced out of her hospital after an emergency operation, and Rin Tohyama, a celebrity surgeon who sees beauty as a source of healing. When Fumi takes a job at Rin’s clinic planning to expose its darker side, their standoff drives the series, with the story more interested in what pushes people toward transformation than in the surgeries themselves.
