In 17th-century Japan, kabuki theatre banished women from the stage, leading to the emergence of the onnagata, actors responsible for embodying female characters. Their white makeup and painted lips, and their graceful gestural precision have been influential beyond their borders (David Bowie acknowledged them as a reference for his stellar aura), and even today they are one of the discipline's most prized elements. This is how Kokuho is presented, a melodrama that firmly expands from the sixties to 2014, and which is guided by the tumultuous relationship between two onnagata who are raised as brothers. One, Kikuo, son of a yakuza murdered by his rivals; the other, Shunsuke, the firstborn son of Hanjiro, a celebrated kabuki actor. When the latter decides to name Kikuo as his successor to the detriment of his own son, scandal and jealousy irremediably erode the bond between the protagonists.