Masaki Okada, Tori Matsuzaka, and Yuya Yagira to star in NTV 2016 Spring drama

Okada Masaki will be taking on the leading role in the upcoming NTV Spring 2016 drama "Yutori desu ga nani ka" (So what if I've had a relaxed education) which will begin its run from April in the Sundays 10.30pm timeslot. The drama which is written by Kudo Kankuro, features Okada, Matsuzaka Tori and Yagira Yuya as three young men in their late 20s who are the first generation that had gone through the "yutori (relaxed) education system" and depicts their struggles in the competitive society.

The yutori education system started in 2002 where there were various reforms such as introducing a 5-day school week and reduction in lesson hours in a bid to reduce the academic pressure on students. People who are now in their late 20s are termed as the first batch of students who had gone through the yutori system and the three actors (Okada - 26 years old, Matsuzaka - 27 and Yagira - 25) are all part of this generation.

Okada plays Sakama Masakazu, a salaryman who has been working at the same food manufacturing company for seven years since he graduated but finds himself being transferred to various departments until he ends up at an izakaya chain owned by his company. He comes from a family which manages a brewery and lives with his mother, elder brother, sister-in-law and younger sister. Matsuzaka plays Yamaji Kazutoyo who is a teacher at a primary school and finds himself stuck between his school management's expectations and complaints from parents. He is caught in a fix when a female university student who has come to become an intern at his school suddenly confesses her love for him. Yagira plays Michigami Maribu who was called a genius and made it to a top-notch junior high school as the top student but for some reason, failed to make it to university and is always job-hopping. He has a wife who is older than him and a newborn daughter to support while trying for the 11th time to make it to university.

Okada expressed joy at being able to work with Matsuzaka and Yagira who are about the same age as him and that he was invited to participate in another Kudo Kankuro work this time. Kudo who is making his first attempt at writing a societal drama, hopes to showcase the dilemma faced by these characters who went through a relatively relaxed education system but finds that the real society awaiting them after graduation is less relaxed and forgiving towards them than they had thought.

Source: Sponichi

Rena Matsui to star in Spring drama

Former SKE48 member Matsui Rena has landed her first lead role in a drama titled "Kanagawa-ken Atsugi-shi Laundry Chigasaki" which will start in March.

An original work by Iizuka Ken, the drama takes place at an eccentric coin laundry in Atsugi city of Kanagawa prefecture. Matsui will play the role of a 25 year old woman who works part-time at the coin laundry. Besides Matsui, the drama will star Takito Kenichi, Kakuta Akihito, Yamada Maho, Kishii Yukino, Miura Shunsuke, and Bengaru.

Source: natalie

Baka Rhythm 's 4-part drama special to be shown on FujiTV

Comedian, actor, and scriptwriter Baka Rhythm has written a 4-part drama SP titled "Sakurazaka Kinpen Monogatari" (Story of the sakura slope's vicinity) which will be shown via FujiTV on 4 consecutive nights from 7 March to 10 March at 11pm. The story features people riding in 4 cars which are stuck in a massive traffic jam that causes desirable and undesirable effects on their lives.

The first part features Harada Taizo, Kashiwagi Yuki, Hakamada Yoshihiko while Part 2 features Ichihara Hayato, Katsuji Ryo and Namase Katsuhisa. Yamamoto Koji, Okura Koji, Nadagi Takeshi, Yamazaki Shigenori and Nomaguchi Toru will appear in Part 3 while Part 4 will star Kawaguchi Haruna and Nakamura Aoi.

Source: Sanspo

Suda Masaki to appear in Spring 2016 FujiTV drama

Suda Masaki will be appearing in the FujiTV Spring 2016 Gekku "Love Song" which begins its run from April in the Mondays 9pm timeslot. The drama which stars Fukuyama Masaharu and Fujiwara Sakura, will be Suda's first appearance in a Gekku in 5 years since he last participated in the Winter 2011 drama "Taisetsu na koto wa subete kimi ga oshiete kureta".

He plays the role of Amano Soraichi who is a childhood friend of Sakura (Fujiwara) and has been in love with her all this while. Suda who has always admired Fukuyama, expressed his excitement at being able to work with him this time and will do his best to play the role of Soraichi.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi

Hideaki Ito and Yoshino Kimura to play husband and wife in FujiTV 2016 Spring drama

Ito Hideaki and Kimura Yoshino will be playing a married couple in the upcoming FujiTV & Kansai TV Spring 2016 drama "Boku no Yabai Tsuma" (My Dangerous Wife) which will begin its run from April in the Tuesdays 10pm timeslot. The drama written by Kuroiwa Tsutomu who had previously written scripts for adapted dramas such as "Strawberry Night" and "Youkoso, Wagaya e", is a psychological suspense story involving a married couple and how difficult and interesting it is for them to stay together forever. This will be the third time that Ito and Kimura are working together after the 2007 movie "Sukiyaki Western Django" and the 2014 WOWOW drama "Zainin no Uso".

Mochizuki Kohei (Ito) got married to his wife Maria (Kimura) who is a rich man's daughter and eventually left his salaryman job at an advertising firm to operate a cafe. Despite having married Maria out of love, he finds married life with her stifling now because she would keep her true thoughts to herself and be overly considerate towards him thus making him feel as if she's trying to control him. Kohei's increasing frustration leads him to hatch a murder plot with his lover Kitazato Anna (Aibu Saki) to kill his wife. However, before he can do anything, his wife is kidnapped thus upsetting his plans. To his horror, he gradually finds that Maria has a hidden side which he has not known all along and this in turn causes his life to be turned upside down.

Co-stars include Sato Ryuta who plays a police detective suspecting Kohei of being involved in the kidnapping, Asaka Kodai who plays a newbie police detective, Mashima Hidekazu who plays a mysterious man assisting Maria, Kimura Midoriko & Takahashi Issei who play a married couple obsessed with spying on what goes on in the Mochizuki family and Miyasago Hiroyuki who plays Kohei's ex brother-in-law and a private detective who wants to find the truth behind the kidnapping.

Source: Oricon

Atsuko Maeda to star in TBS late night drama

Maeda Atsuko will be starring in the TBS late night drama "Busujima Yuriko no Sekirara Nikki" (The naked diary of Busujima Yuriko) which will begin its run from 20 April in the Wednesdays 12.10am timeslot.

The drama which is Maeda's first leading role in a TBS production, features her as the heroine Busujima Yuriko who is a reporter in charge of following a big-shot politician around and has a very liberal attitude towards romance. When Yuriko was a child, her father's betrayal made her unable to trust men. As such, whenever she wants to have a boyfriend, she will always make sure that she is seeing at least two men at one time. She has a long-time boyfriend played by Watanabe Daichi who she can dump anytime and he knows that she's also involved with other men at the same time. Although Yuriko does not want to get involved with a married man, she finds herself increasingly drawn to another reporter played by Arai Hirofumi who is from a rival news agency and already married. As a result of this relationship, this creates an unexpected ending for Yuriko.

As there are many kissing and intimate scenes in the drama, Maeda was worried about censorship issues but also decided that it was interesting to break free of her idol image through this drama. Especially since Yuriko has a very different character from her, Maeda hopes to have a good time playing this character.

Co-stars also include Kataoka Tsurutaro, the politician who Yuriko is in-charge of reporting on, Yamazaki Ginnojo who is also a politician and Hashizume Jun who plays a politician secretary.

Source: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Oricon

Yusuke Santa Maria to star in FujiTV 2016 Spring drama

Yusuke Santa Maria will be taking on the leading role in the upcoming FujiTV Spring 2016 drama "Hi no Kona" (Sparks of Fire) which will begin its run from 2 April in the Saturdays 11.40pm timeslot. This is his first leading role in a drama in 9 years since the 2007 FujiTV drama "Konshuu, Tsuma ga uwaki shimasu" (This week, my wife is cheating on me).

"Hi no Kona" is based on the same-titled novel by Shizukui Shusuke and features Santa Maria as a man named Takeuchi Shingo who was named as the suspect in the murder case of a family and on his way to death roll when he suddenly finds himself acquitted. 2 years later, Takeuchi who has become a helper for the elderly, moves to the house beside Kajima Isao's (Ibu Masato) family and tries to befriend them with his smile and thoughtful gestures. At the same time, strange things start happening around the Kajima family. Even though Isao's daughter-in-law Yukimi (Yuka) views him with suspicion, the rest of her family including her husband (Okura Koji), mother-in-law (Asaka Mayumi) and daughter Madoka (Shono Rin) all view Takeuchi as a good guy. Unknown to the family, Kajima was the judge who had acquitted Takeuchi. As Isao's daughter grows increasingly isolated from her family who believes Takeuchi wholeheartedly, she tries to find out who he really is and what motive he has for getting close to her family. Sakoda Takaya plays Seki Konosuke, the lawyer who had defended Takeuchi in court during the trial while Kinami Haruka plays Sasaki Kotone whose family operates a Japanese restaurant and Sato Ryuta plays Ikemoto Toru, the elder brother of the victim in the murder case who wants to expose Takeuchi's true colours.

Santa Maria commented that it has been too long since he last had a leading role so he has forgotten how it feels like to be one. Despite the huge number of lines he has to memorise this time, he is all set to go and will try his best to portray his character who's cool like a blue flame in this drama.

Source: Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

Shigeyuki Totsugi to star in TV Tokyo 2016 Spring drama

Totsugi Shigeyuki will be taking on the leading role in the upcoming TV Tokyo Spring 2016 drama "Hiru no Sentozake" (The sake at the public bath during the afternoon) which will be the first drama to be shown in the TV station's newly established drama timeslot at 12.20am on Saturdays from 9 April. The drama is based on the essays from Kusumi Masayuki who is the author of TV Tokyo's hit series "Kodoku no Gurume" and describes the somewhat "guilty yet thrilling feeling" of visiting the public bath and having a drink in broad daylight on a weekday afternoon. The drama will be shot on location at public baths and restaurants serving alcohol in Tokyo which were selected by the staff who searched for these places themselves.

Totsugi plays the lead character Utsumi Takayuki who is working as in the sales department of an advertising firm and is always at the bottom of his team when it comes to sales figures. His only enjoyment in life is to sneak away to visit public baths during the weekday afternoons and have a beer after that. Although he feels bad about doing this during working hours, the temptation to do that is always too strong so he ends up making excuses to explain his whereabouts during such indulgence outings. Totsugi commented that the biggest challenge for him in this drama is to go around showing his buttocks on screen every week and that he had been ordered by the director not to use bath towels to cover himself up so this is a first time experience for him.

Co-stars include Yagi Akiko who plays Utsumi's boss, Emoto Tokio who plays the top salesperson in Utsumi's team and Hirota Aika who plays an OL in the general affairs department. There will be guest stars in every episode.

Source: Oricon

Kenichi Endo and Masaki Suda in 2-part "Tamiou" Special

Endo Kenichi and Suda Masaki will be making a return as father-and-son in the two-part SP of TV Asahi's drama series "Tamiou" which will be shown in April at 11.15pm. The first part showing on 15 April will be based on the novel by Ikeido Jun where there will be multiple exchanges of souls thus leading to a huge confusion in the 2nd Muto Cabinet but the portion about the aftermath will be based on an original script. The second part to be shown on 22 April will be a spin-off featuring the past of Takahashi Issei's character Kaibara Mohei who is the secretary of the prime minister Muto Taizan played by Endo.

Ikeido was surprised when TV Asahi approached him about the SPs but still gave approval to use his novel and combine it with the original script. Besides Endo, Suda and Takahashi, the original cast from the drama series will appear in the SPs along with new additions such as Okura Koji, Kadowaki Mugi and Aibu Saki.

Endo commented that he felt that he had already given his all in the drama series and was surprised to be approached again for the SPs. However, after hearing about the viewers' feedback and requests for a sequel, he decided to take on the role again and vowed to make it even more interesting this time. As for Suda, he had been hoping to do this drama again and is thankful for the love that viewers have showered on them. He pledged to put in his best for the role even though he knows that it will be another physically demanding filming process this time.

Source: Oricon

Mana Ashida and Charlotte Kate Fox star in FujiTV 2016 Spring drama

Ashida Mana and Charlotte Kate Fox will be the joint leads in the upcoming FujiTV Spring 2016 drama "OUR HOUSE" which will begin its run from April in the Sundays 9pm timeslot.

The drama which is written by Nojima Shinji, features Ashida as the second eldest daughter in the family named Sakurako who takes care of things at home after her mother passed away six months ago. To her horror, her father Ban Souta who is a saxophone player (Yamamoto Koji), brings his newly-wed wife Alice (Fox) back from the US after his business trip despite not having dated her for a single day. This leads Sakurako to make plans to chase Alice out of their family. The children of the Ban family will be played by Kato Seishiro who is the eldest son, Terada Kokoro as the third son while newcomer Matsuda Serika who is said to be highly regarded by Nojima, plays the youngest daughter. Matsuda is a special student in the pioneer batch of child actors undergoing training in the actors' school Polar Star which is managed by Nojima who praised her for being a 4-year-old version of former actress Sakurai Sachiko. Co-stars also include Hamada Tatsuomi and Igarashi Hinata.

Among the cast members, some of them have worked together in the past such as Yamamoto and Ashida who acted in the NTV Spring 2010 drama "Mother" while Yamamoto's first signature role was in Nojima's drama "Hitotsu Yane no Shita" 19 years ago. On the other hand, Ashida last worked with Terada in the NTV drama "Ashita, Mama ga inai" 2 years ago.

Source: Nikkansports / Sanspo

Seiichi Tanabe to star in NHK drama "Saigo no Resutoran"

Tanabe Seiichi will be starring in the new NHK drama "Saigo no Resutoran" (The Last Restaurant) which will be shown from 26 April in the Tuesdays 11.15pm timeslot.

The drama which is based on the manga by Toei Michihiko, features Tanabe as a genius chef Sonoba Shinogu who has to handle the demanding orders from various historical figures who travel from the past to the present. There will be 8 episodes featuring a different historical figures such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Oda Nobunaga (Takenaka Naoto), Hijikata Toshizo, Cleopatra, Napoleon (Takeda Tetsuya), Sakamoto Ryoma and Joan of Arc (Reina Triendl).

As this is the first time that Tanabe is playing a chef, he is very excited about this character and hopes that those who like history and food will be able to enjoy this drama. Co-stars include Kinami Haruka, Suzuki Kosuke, Ishiguro Hideo, Fukuda Mayuko, Ozawa Maju and Yamamura Momiji.

Sources: Sponichi / Oricon

Dean Fujioka to star in NHK drama Special

Dean Fujioka will be starring in the upcoming NHK drama SP "Kensou no Machi, Shizuka na Umi" (The noisy street, the silent sea) which is due to be shown this year. The story is written by photographer Fujiwara Shinnya and describes the reunion between a father and his son after they have not met for 30 years. This will be the first leading role in a NHK drama for Fujioka along with Terao Akira who plays his father.

Fujioka plays the role of a cameraman while Terao plays a psychiatrist who participates in volunteer activities to help children who have no place to go to on the streets of Osaka at night. Fujioka's character then hides his own identity to get close to his father under the pretext of wanting to find out more about his volunteering activities. 30 years ago, the father had left his family while his son was still young and his wife died later without anyone by her side on her deathbed. The father and son then embark on a journey of repentance towards his wife and mother respectively and while interacting with a young girl grappling with loneliness, finds new meaning in their lives.

Co-stars include Wada Masato, Ichikawa Yui, Nakamura Yuri, Mizuhashi Kenji, Mikura Mana, Kubota Sayu and Kimura Midoriko.

Source: Oricon

Kyoko Yoshine to play heroine in next NHK morning drama "Beppin-san"

Yoshine Kyoko was announced to be the next heroine for the upcoming NHK morning drama "Beppin-san" (Beauty) which will begin its run from 3 October in the Mondays to Fridays 8am timeslot. She was picked out of 2,261 candidates through an audition to play the lead character Bandou Sumire who set up the first shop in Japan specialising in the sale of children's clothing. Bandou's character is modeled on the late Banno Atsuko who set up the children's clothing brand familiar.

Yoshine had prior experience acting in a NHK morning drama when she played the daughter of the heroine's best friend in 2014's "Hanako to Anne". However, despite having gone for auditions for the heroine role for three other morning dramas to date i.e. "Mare", "Asa ga kita" and "Toto Nee-chan", she failed to get past the first round twice. This time, she was told on 5 April that she had to go to Osaka for the final audition but was pleasantly surprised when it was announced that she had been selected to play the heroine and was to attend the announcement press conference the following day. Yoshine admitted that she didn't think that she could get the role especially since she only made her debut three years ago and that she might have needed more experience under her belt. As part of the audition, she had to undergo a sewing test. Since her late grandmother was a dressmaking teacher, Yoshine had confidence in her skills but was so nervous that she could not put the thread through the needle for about 3 minutes initially.

During the announcement press conference held at NHK Osaka on 6 April, Yoshine said that she was diagnosed with the Guillain-Barre syndrome when she was 14 which affected her mobility and caused her to take a year off school for the treatment. Since then, she has developed a new perspective towards life and thinks that it is important for her to convey her feelings especially of gratitude and being apologetic to others. She also recounted that after she recovered, she has become so good at running that she got No.1 during a long-distance race in school.

Filming will begin from May in places such as Osaka and Kobe.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo

Yo ni mo Kimyou na Monogatari" Special to return in late May

FujiTV will be showing "Yo ni mo Kimyou na Monogatari" Spring SP on 28 May at 9pm which will feature Nishijima Hidetoshi, Kubotaka Masataka, Matsushige Yutaka and Takahashi Issei in its cast lineup.

Nishijima will be starring in the story "Kayoi no Guntai" (Commuting Army) which is based on the same-titled novel by Tsutsui Yasutaka. This is his first leading role in a drama since his first son was born at the end of April and his first appearance in the "Yo ni mo Kimyou na Monogatari" series in 12 years. Nishijima plays the role of a company employee who is told to commute to the army instead of to the office and take part in battles between 9am and 5pm. He gradually starts to enjoy this arrangement but a shocking thing happens in the end. Filming of the battle scenes were done in Susono City, Shizuoka, which Nishijma felt were quite elaborate even though they only took up a small portion of the airtime.

As for Kubotaka, he is acting in the series for the first time. He will appear in the story "Yume miru kikai" (The dreaming machine) based on the same-titled manga by Morohoshi Daijiro where he plays a young man who aspires to become a manga artist but with limited success. When his mother collapses suddenly, he comes to realise that she was a machine. Along with his girlfriend played by Ishibashi Anna, he discovers more shocking truths.

Matsushige and Takahashi will be joint-leads in the story "Quiz no Ossan" (The Quiz Middle-aged Man) where the latter plays a man who wins a prize of answering quiz questions for one whole year after taking part in a TV quiz show. As such, he ends up living with a mysterious middle-aged man (Matsushige) who would bombard him with quiz questions every day.

Source: Sanspo / Modelpress

Nozomi Sasaki to star in drama Special

Sasaki Nozomi will be appearing in one of the segments in the upcoming drama SP "Yo ni mo Kimyou na Monogatari Spring 2016" which is due to be shown on 28 May. The story titled "Bijinzei" (Beauty Tax) is set in a fictional world where beautiful people are to pay the 20% beauty tax for the advantages they get through their looks. Sasaki plays a beautiful woman who does not want to pay the tax yet enjoys the "honour" of being a certified beauty recognised by the government.

Sasaki had been ranked in the top 100 beautiful faces of the world ranking by TC Candler for six years in a row thus was chosen to play this character. When offered the role, Sasaki commented that she found the script very interesting but she is not too keen on the idea of being taxed for being beautiful.

Sources: Sanspo / Sponichi

Mei Nagano to star in TV Tokyo 2016 Summer drama

Nagano Mei will be starring in her first leading role in a drama when she appears in the upcoming TV Tokyo Summer 2016 drama "Koe Koi" (Voice Love) which begins its run from July in the Fridays 12.52am timeslot. The drama is based on the same-titled popular manga which has been downloaded 12 million times via the app "comico".

Nagano plays the heroine Yoshioka Yuiko who receives a call from her class committee chairman Matsubara-kun as she is down with flu early in the new school semester. Through the phone, Nagano is attracted to Matsubara-kun's voice despite not having met him yet. However, the next day when she goes to school, she is shocked to see him wearing a paper bag and wonders why while being increasingly drawn to him.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi

Haru to star in Fuji TV 2016 Summer drama

Haru will be starring in her first leading role in a private network drama when she appears in the FujiTV Summer 2016 drama "ON Ijou Hanzai Sousakan Toudou Hinako" (ON Abnormal crimes investigator Toudou Hinako) which will be shown from July in the Tuesdays 10pm timeslot. The drama which is based on the novel series "ON Ryouki Hanzai Sousahan Toudou Hinako" by Naito Ryo, features Haru as a newbie police detective Toudou Hinako who has an amazing memory that allows her to draw the crime scenes in great detail and tries to solve some bizarre cases that come her way. She is seen as a weirdo by others because she eats everything with shichimi and shows an extraordinary amount of interest in murderers while trying to hide her emotional trauma with a cheerful facade. Unknown to others, the shichimi bottle is a memento left behind by her late mother which has the words "Susume, Hina-chan" (go ahead Hina-chan). Through working on the cases, it also causes some changes to her life.

Filming starts in the beginning of June.

Haru has been busy since she finished her morning drama "Asa ga kita" and can be seen in "Sekai ichi muzukashii koi" now. She will also embark on a national tour with Uchino Seiyo as they are the leads in a stage play. With regard to her tight schedule, Haru commented that she will try her best in her first leading role and first attempt at playing a police detective and thinks that it will be a tough but fun experience.

Sources: Sanspo / Sponichi

Cast announcement of 2017 NHK Taiga drama "Onna Joushu Naotora"

The cast announcement press conference of 2017 NHK Taiga drama "Onna Joushu Naotora" (The female castle lord Naotora) was held on 26 May which was attended by the lead Shibasaki Kou, Sugimoto Tetta, Zaizen Naomi, Maeda Gin, Kobayashi Kaoru, Miura Haruma, Takahashi Issei, Yagira Yuya, Kanjiya Shihori and Muro Tsuyoshi. The drama will be written by Morishita Yoshiko who was responsible for the NHK morning drama "Gochisousan" while the narrator will be Nakamura Baijaku.

The drama features Shibasaki as the only daughter of the Ii family in the present-day Shizuoka Prefecture during the Warring States era who was given a male name Naotora despite her gender. Naotora's parents will be played by Sugimoto and Zaizen while her fiance will be played by Miura who appeared as a child actor in the Taiga "MUSASHI" in 2003 and "Komyo ga Tsuji" in 2006. Yagira who makes his first appearance in a Taiga drama, will be playing the head of a bandit group who is a newly-created character that didn't exist in history. As for Takahashi, he had been seen in four previous Taiga dramas i.e. "Genroku Ryouran" in 1999, "Shinsengumi!" in 2004, "Fuurin Kazan" in 2007 and "Gunshi Kanbee" in 2014.

Other actors in the cast include Ukaji Takashi, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Kariya Shunsuke, Denden and Kakei Toshio.

Sources: NHK / Oricon / My Navi

Emi Takei and Hideaki Takizawa to star in TBS 2016 Summer drama

Takei Emi and Takizawa Hideaki will be working together for the first time in the upcoming TBS Summer 2016 drama "Seiseisuru hodo, Aishiteru" (Loving you without reservations) which will begin its run from July in the Tuesdays 10pm timeslot.

The drama which is based on the same-titled manga by Kitagawa Miyuki, features Takei as the heroine Kurihara Mia who works in the PR department of a company and meets the vice-president of her company Miyoshi Kairi unknowingly when he helps her during a business trip. Later, when Kairi is sent to Mia's department for training, she is assigned to be his mentor. Despite the fact that Kairi is already married, the two of them come to fall for each other as they work together. Co-stars include Nakamura Aoi who plays Miyazawa Ryo, Kairi's rival in love and a capable salesperson from a competitor, Mizusawa Erena who plays Mia's housemate Masaki Akari and an employee of a publisher, Triendl Reina who is also Mia's housemate and a model named Miyama Chiaki who has a possessive streak when it comes to love and Takahashi Mitsuomi who plays Mia's ex-boyfriend.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi / Oricon

Hiroshi Mikami to star in NTV 2016 Summer drama

Mikami Hiroshi will be starring in the NTV Summer 2016 drama "Isan Sozoku Bengoshi Kakizaki Shinichi" (Inheritance lawyer Kakizaki Shinichi) which will begin its run from 7 July in the Thursdays 11.59pm timeslot. This will be his first appearance in a late night drama and he plays the role of Kakizaki, an unconventional lawyer specialising in inheritance cases featured in each episode. Mikami commented that his character is someone who doesn't quite fit in with the world and does things without caring about logic, morals or rules as long as everything is done with the wishes of his dead clients in mind.

Co-stars include Morikawa Aoi who plays a newbie lawyer and Kakizaki's junior, Sakai Wakana and Toyohara Kosuke. Filming begins in early June.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi
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