Looks like the taiga still has a life into 2016:

Masato Sakai to play the lead in 2016 NHK taiga drama

Sakai Masato will be playing the lead role Sanada Nobushige (also known as Sanada Yukimura) in the upcoming NHK 2016 Taiga titled "Sanadamaru". The scriptwriter will be Mitani Koki.

Although this is the third time that Sakai is appearing in a Taiga, this will be his first leading role. Sakai commented that although much of Sanada's 49-year-life was shrouded in mystery, he is looking forward to seeing how Mitani will "fill in the blanks" and show a new side to this well-known historical character. On the other hand, NHK denied that Sakai was chosen due to his runaway hit last year i.e. "Hanzawa Naoki" but rather for his ability to take on the tough leading role in a Taiga for a year and his close relationship with Mitani.

Source: Sanspo

gaijinmark wrote:

Looks like the taiga still has a life into 2016: Masato Sakai to play the lead in 2016 NHK taiga drama

Finally someone who can act to lead a taiga! Hopefully he'll get some solid co-stars as well.
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玉木宏、藤木直人、佐藤健

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Kenichi Matsuyama and Fumi Nikaido to star in TBS special 'Tooi Yakusoku - Hoshi ni natta Kodomotachi'


Matsuyama Kenichi and Nikaido Fumi will star in the TBS drama SP "Tooi Yakusoku ~ Hoshi ni natta kodomotachi ~" (A far promise ~ the children who became stars" which will be shown on 25 August at 9pm. The drama SP is based on a novel and picture by Masuda Shoichi about the war orphans struggling to survive against the cold and hunger while housed in the refugee quarters at Manchuria. Matsuyama will play the role of a lieutenant who tries to protect the orphans there while Nikaido plays a primary school teacher. At the beginning of the SP will be a documentary shot on location in Changchun, China, which used to be the capital of Manchuria. Co-stars include Fukada Kyoko, Shiina Kippei, Kato Seishiro and Yamada Mochika.

Source: Sanspo

The reason I mention this is Fumi Nikaido. She's very good. I saw her in was 'Mother' where she played Tanaka's daughter from her second marriage who falsely accused Shun Oguri of groping her on the train which led to the accident that caused Oguri's death. She was in the movie 'My Man' which won at the recent Moscow film festival. She was in New York last week for 'Japan Cuts' their Japanese film festival and did this short interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6qlm_f2hYU

Ayase Haruka to be the lead of NTV Autumn 2014 drama "Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu"

Ayase Haruka will be the lead in the upcoming NTV Autumn 2014 drama "Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu" (I'm taking a break from work today) which is scheduled to start from October in the Wednesdays 10pm timeslot. The drama which is based on the same-titled manga, features Ayase as a plain OL named Aoishi Hanae who has never had a boyfriend and is a virgin at 30 but suddenly finds herself experiencing romance and sex for the first time when she has a one-night stand with a handsome university student who is 9 years younger than her. Just when she is making preparations to cohabit with her new boyfriend, the CEO of a food company takes a sudden interest in Hanae and even proposes to her.

Source: Sponichi

Ayase Haruka to star in 2016 NHK Taiga fantasy drama "Seirei no Mamoribito"

Ayase Haruka will be starring in the 2016 NHK Taiga fantasy drama "Seirei no Mamoribito" (The Guardian of Spirits) as announced during the press conference held on 28 July. The drama is based on a 10-volume fantasy novel by Uehashi Nahoko published in 1996 which had sold 3.7 million copies to date and will be shot entirely in 4K format. In conjunction with NHK's 90th anniversary, this drama will be shown over 22 episodes in three years starting from spring 2016.

Ayase plays the role of Barusa, a lonely female bodyguard who co-exists with spirits and embarks on an adventure with the prince Chagumu in this drama. She remarked during the press conference that she is very happy to work with NHK again after their collaboration in "Yae no Sakura" although she also admitted about being worried over the longer O.A. period this time. Although there will be many action scenes in this fantasy drama, she also hopes to show the human side of things in the story to the viewers.

Source: Sponichi / Nikkansports

Ikuta Toma & Oguri Shun to team up again in TBS Winter 2015 drama "Ouroboros"

Ikuta Toma and Oguri Shun will work together again in the upcoming TBS Winter 2015 drama "Ouroboros" (timeslot undecided) which will be shown from January next year. The drama which is based on the manga by Kanzaki Yuya that had sold 1.2 million copies to date, is the first real-life adaptation production and the title means ancient symbols of a snake and dragon which bite their tails to form a circle that represents "death and rebirth" as well as "destroy & create".

Ikuta and Oguri who are close friends and had last worked together in the 2007 FujiTV drama "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e ~ Ikemen Paradise", will be playing childhood friends Ryuzaki Ikuo and Danno Tatsuya respectively this time. Ikuo and Tatsuya who grew up together in an orphanage, chose entirely different paths in life where Ikuo is a clumsy and seemingly ordinary police detective who actually has the best arrest rate and is extremely fit. However, Tatsuya uses his good looks and cleverness to rise to the top of an yakuza organisation but secretly helps his buddy Ikuo to handle his cases. In addition, the two of them strive to find out the truth about the murder of their beloved Yuko-sensei who took good care of them at the orphanage 15 years ago. Back then, they had testified to the police that they saw the murderer but the case was written off by a police officer who they remembered was wearing a gold watch at that time. While trying to find the police officer concerned, they become unlikely allies who seek to punish evil when justice cannot be upheld by the law.

Filming is due to begin at the end of November.

Source: Sanspo

Looks like the fanboys won another won. It was a real struggle to finish the original "First Class" and it still has my vote for worst drama of 2014.


Erika Sawajiri to return in "First Class" sequel this Fall

Sawajiri Erika's Spring 2014 drama "First Class" will be making its return in just three months since it ended in June with its sequel due to be shown in the Autumn 2014 drama. The FujiTV drama will also enjoy an elevation in status from late night on Saturday to primetime at 10pm on Wednesdays.

The sequel "First Class 2" will feature Yoshinari Chinami (Sawajiri) who has become a new designer at a fashion brand but the people who will attempt to stop her climb to the top will be changed. Nonetheless, cast members from the first series including Sasaki Nozomi, Nanao and Itaya Yuka will make appearances in the new drama although details have not been finalised. Sawajiri expressed her happiness at being able to work on this drama again and revealed that her character will also become an evil woman in order to overcome her enemies who will be even more malicious and powerful than those in the original series.

Source: Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2

Riisa Naka to star in drama "Yube no Curry, Ashita no Pan"


Naka Riisa will be starring in her first leading role since she got married to Nakao Akiyoshi and became a mother in October last year when she appears in the NHK BS premium drama "Yube no Curry, Ashita no Pan" (Last Night's Curry, Tomorrow's Bread" which consists of 7 episodes and will be shown from October in the Sundays 10pm timeslot. She plays the role of Tetsuko who lost her husband to cancer and is living with her father-in-law played by Kaga Takeshi. While keeping the grief of their loss deep within themselves, they come to meet some people with various problems and this unwittingly helps them to get over the sorrow they have. Co-stars include Mizobata Junpei, Mimura and Katagiri Hairi.

The drama which is based on the same-titled novel by Kizara Izumi, was published in April this year and chosen as the No.2 novel in the "Honya Taisho". Kizawa is the joint pen-name of two scriptwriters who are married to each other and they had written scripts such as "Nobuta wo Produce" in the past. This novel is their debut work.

Source: Sponichi

Mitsuhiro Oikawa and Meisa Kuroki together in WOWOW drama "AKKA"

Oikawa Mitsuhiro and Kuroki Meisa will be working together in the new WOWOW drama "Akka" (Evil Currency) which consists of 5 episodes and will be shown from November. The drama which is based on the finance suspense novel by Shimada Masahiko, features Oikawa as Nonomiya Fuyuhiko, a mysterious tycoon who tries to destroy the Japanese economy through the use of counterfeit currency and Kuroki as Miyazono Erika, a police detective who tries to stop his plan.

This is Oikawa's first leading role in a drama in 10 years since 2004's TV Asahi drama "Mystery Minzoku Gakusha Yagumo Itsuki". Although he plays good characters most of the time, Oikawa is happy about playing a dark hero this time which is a good form of stress relief. He also praised Kuroki who he is working for the first time, for being a very cheerful person who can switch to becoming a cool beauty quickly which is a trait he deeply admires. As for Kuroki, she commented that her character this time will be a tough one to play so she has to work extra hard on portraying the character.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi

xploring wrote:

Ayase Haruka to be the lead of NTV Autumn 2014 drama "Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu"

junny will be glad to hear this:

Tamaki Hiroshi and Fukushi Sota added to "Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu"

Additional cast members for the TV drama 'Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu' have been revealed. The role of 'Tanokura Yuto' will be played by Fukushi Sota and 'Asao Yu' by Tamaki Hiroshi.

Tanokura is a college student who works for the same company as the protagonist 'Aoishi Hanae' (played by Ayase Haruka). Whereas Asao is the CEO of a company located in the same building as Hanae's company. The drama is scheduled to air on NTV every Wednesday at 10:00 pm starting in October.

'Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu' is based on a manga series by Fujimura Mari. It's a love story about 'Aoishi Hanae', a woman in her 30's whose never had a boyfriend in her life until she begins dating 21-year-old college student 'Tanokura Yuto'.

Source: Comic natalie

gaijinmark wrote:

junny will be glad to hear this: Tamaki Hiroshi and Fukushi Sota added to "Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu"

Not if he doesn't get the girl! And it looks like he won't Also, the plot sounds suspiciously like Last Cinderella, which was a terrible drama.

Someone give Tamaki a lead role that is not stupid, onegai!
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玉木宏、藤木直人、佐藤健

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Nao Matsushita and Satomi Ishihara to play sisters in Fuji TV Fall drama "Dear Sister"

Matsushita Nao and Ishihara Satomi will be playing sisters in the upcoming FujiTV Autumn 2014 drama "Dear Sister" which will begin its run from October in the Thursdays 10pm timeslot. This is the first time that they are working together and the scriptwriter of this drama is Nakatani Mayumi who had previously worked on "Last Cinderella".

Matsushita plays the role of the 29-year-old elder sister Fukazawa Hazuki who is meticulous, great at her studies but somewhat naive and not too good with seeking attention. She hopes to marry her boyfriend who is her colleague at the ward office. In addition, she holds a grudge against her younger sister who hogged their mother's love and attention when they were kids. On the other hand, Ishihara plays the 27-year-old younger sister Misaki who's lousy at her studies but is good at seeking attention and acting like a spoiled child. After graduating from high school, Misaki left home without a word and suddenly ends up at Hazuki's place without warning.

As the age setting of their characters are the same as their real ages and Matsushita has a younger sister while Ishihara has an elder brother, they both commented that it's easier for them to get into their roles due to the similarities with their real lives. Matsushita also praised Ishihara for being a cute sister while Ishihara commented that she feels slightly nervous in front of Matsushita because the latter is very beautiful.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi

Kyoko Fukada and Shinobu Terajima to star in TBS Fall drama

Fukada Kyoko and Terajima Shinobu will be working together in the TBS Autumn 2014 drama "Onna wa sore wo yurusanai" (A woman can't forgive that) which will begin its run from 21 October in the Tuesdays 10pm timeslot. This is the first private network for Terajima in six years and the first lawyer role for Fukada.

Fukada plays the role of Iwasaki Rei, a "paper" lawyer who can't bear to stand in court after she messed up her first court appearance and can't get over that traumatic experience. On the other hand, Terajima plays a capable lawyer Ebisawa Rinka who lived a celebrity lifestyle and would do anything to win her cases but ends up having her licence to practise law suspended due to the use of questionable methods for a case. The two lawyers then team up to handle cases related to women issues e.g. maternity harrassment and marriage fraud despite their completely opposite personalities.

Source: Nikkansports

Kyoko Koizumi essay's to be adapted into drama "Tatakau Onna"

Koizumi Kyoko's essay "Tatakau Onna Pants-hen" (The Fighting Woman - the underwear part) will be made into a 5-episode drama by FujiTV and shown via CS FujiTV NEXT from 17 October at 11pm on Fridays. The essay written by Koizumi was published on culture magazine "Mayonaka" in January 2009 and talks about how Koizumi's life has changed over the years through the description of the underwear choices she has made since she was a child up to being in her 40s. The 5 episodes will feature her life when she was a primary school student, junior high student, in her 20s, 30s and reaching 42 years old. Kadowaki Mugi will play the role of an lingerie shop owner while different actresses will play the leads in each episode. Half of the airtime will be taken up by the drama while the other 30 mins will be a girls-talk section featuring Kadowaki, YOU, Tomochika and Eri about underwear.

Koizumi commented that it was surprising to know that the producers were interested in her essay which she considered too short to be worthy material to be made into a drama. As such, she will be looking forward to see how her essay will be presented on screen.

The theme song "Tatakau Onna" will be sung by singing unit Charan Porantan made up of two sisters who just made their major debut in July this year.

Source: Sanspo

This is what got my attention: Half of the airtime will be taken up by the drama while the other 30 mins will be a girls-talk section featuring Kadowaki, YOU, Tomochika and Eri about underwear.

Can't wait to hear what goofy YOU has to say about underwear!

"Nurse no Oshigoto" to return as special for the first time in 12 years

FujiTV will be showing a 2-part drama SP of "Nurse no Oshigoto" for the first time in 12 years on 31 Oct and 1 Nov. Original cast members Mizuki Arisa who played the newbie nurse Asakura Izumi and Matsushita Yuki who played her senior Ozaki Shoko will be back to reprise their roles in the SPs. The first part titled "Ritou-hen" will feature Izumi operating the Takasugi clinic on an island called Shikine with her husband Kentaro (Fujiki Naohito) where Shoko happens to go there for a holiday. The second part titled "Saikai-hen" will show Izumi being roped in as a nurse to work at Wakabakai General Hospital where Shoko is the matron.

Source: Sponichi

Masato Sakai and Yuki Aragaki return in "Legal High" Special

Sakai Masato and Aragaki Yui will be back in the new "Legal High" SP which is due to be shown at 9pm on 22 November. This time, Komikado (Sakai) and Mayuzumi (Aragaki) will be taking a case involving medical errors allegedly committed at a major general hospital where the wife of a male patient who died there is suing the hospital for compensation and Komikado is representing the hospital. His rival will be a lawyer called Kujo Kazuma who is out to seek a huge compensation from the hospital. Co-stars in the new SP include regulars such as Namase Katsuhisa, Koike Keiko and Taguchi Junnosuke while new members in the cast lineup will be announced at a later date.

Source: Sanspo

Yoko Maki and Masahiro Higashide team up in Fuji TV Winter drama

Maki Yoko will be starring in the upcoming FujiTV Winter comedy drama "Mondai no aru Resutoran" (The Problematic Restaurant) which is due to be shown from January 2015 in the Thursdays 10pm. She will play the role of a former OL named Tamako who manages a restaurant operated by women and fights against a rival restaurant operated by men only. The chef of the rival restaurant will be played by Higashide Masashiro.

Maki commented that Tamako is not just a capable woman who is good at work but also has a soft side. On the other hand, Higashide concluded that his character is a "bad" guy and he hopes to be able to bring out this side of his character through his acting.

Source: Sanspo

Maki Horikita to star in TBS 2015 Winter drama

Horikita Maki will be starring in the TBS Winter 2015 drama "Masshiro" which begins its run from January 2015 at 10pm on Tuesdays. She will play the role of a nurse named Arimura Juri who works at a celebrity hospital which specialises in treating the rich and famous for huge fees. As such, Juri dreams of meeting a rich man after entering this hospital as a nurse but she also has to come to terms with the internal struggles with her colleagues played by Shida Mirai, Takanashi Rin, Mizuno Miki and Kimura Tae. In the nurse department, nurses are graded according to the work they do and their ranks are represented by the pearls attached to their nurse caps.

Due to the fact that Juri is a new nurse, she has no pearls to her cap. Her colleagues Matsuoka Nana (Shida) who has a sharp tongue and Wada Kinuko (Takanashi) who is unafraid to take the initiative in relationships are also nurses with no pearls. At the top of the department is the matron Tanojima Kokoro (Kimura) who goes by the principle that whatever happens in the hospital should not be revealed to anyone outside. Any nurse who goes against this will have to leave the hospital. Mizuno will play the surgical nurse Iwabuchi Megumi who is a loner in the department and is always at loggerheads with Tanojima.

Yagira Yuya will play the role of an elite doctor Nakano Kotaro who came back from the US. Although he is initially at odds with Juri at the beginning, they develop a close relationship as time goes by. Last but not least, Ishiguro Ken will play the vice director of the hospital and is rumoured to be romantically involved with the nurses including Iwabuchi.

Source: Sponichi

Kazuya Kamenashi and Kyoko Fukuda to star in Asahi TV 2015 Winter drama

KAT-TUN's Kamenashi Kazuya and Fukada Kyoko will be working together in the upcoming TV Asahi Winter 2015 drama "Second Love" which begins its run from January in the Fridays 11.15pm timeslot. The drama which will be written by Oishi Shizuka who is famous for her hit drama "Second Virgin", will be about the scandalous relationships among adults.

Kamenashi who is taking on his first leading role in a TV Asahi drama, will play a contemporary dancer in his 20s who is struggling with the gap between his ideals and reality. On the other hand, Fukada plays a senior high school teacher in her 30s who is involved in an extramarital affair with her married colleague. Kamenashi's character will woo Fukada's character aggressively and the two of them will be embroiled in an intense love affair while grappling with their own problems.

Filming begins next month.

Source: Sponichi

Hidetoshi Nishijima and Teruyuki Kagawa to star in TBS 2015 Winter drama

Nishijima Hidetoshi and Kagawa Teruyuki will be working together in the upcoming TBS Winter 2015 drama "Ryusei Wagon" (Shooting Star Wagon" based on Naoki Award winner Shigematsu Kiyoshi's bestselling novel.

The drama which will be shown from Jan in the Sundays 9pm timeslot, features Nishijima as the 43-year-old son who is retrenched and loses all hope in life when a mysterious wagon appears in front of him. Upon getting onto the wagon, he is transported back in time to the past where he meets his father (Kagawa) at the same age as him now who is down with terminal cancer. Through the interaction with his father, the son takes a fresh look at family ties, Kagawa will also appear in the present day as a 73-year-old bedridden old man who cannot get along with his son. Co-stars include Igawa Haruka who play Nishijima's wife who has been neglected by him all this while thus leading to the breakdown of their marriage and Yoshioka Hidetaka.

Source: Sponichi
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