Hiroki Hasegawa to star in FujiTV Special

Hasegawa Hiroki will be starring in the new FujiTV drama SP "Yuukai Mystery Chou Kessaku Norizuki Rintarou Ichi no Higeki" (Kidnap Mystery Super Masterpiece Norizuki Rintarou The Tragedy of One) which will be shown at 9pm on 23 September.

The drama SP which is based on the 1991 novel by popular mystery writer Norizuki Rintarou, features Hasegawa as Norizuki who is a struggling mystery writer. Being well-versed in criminology and armed with his sharp deduction powers, Rintarou is often asked to help his father who is a detective at the Metropolitan Police Department's 1st Division, to solve difficult cases. Although Rintarou is usually gentlemanly, sociable and optimistic, he changes into a demanding and strict person when it comes to solving cases. Just then, he gets embroiled into a case where the suspect actually makes use of him to become an alibi. Although the time setting of the novel was 25 years ago, the drama SP will be set in the modern era.

Okuda Eiji plays Norizuki Sadao, the father of Rintarou while Watanabe Eri plays Ogasawara Hanayo, the housekeeper of the Norizuki household for the past 22 years. Ihara Tsuyoshi plays Yamakura Shiro who is a director of a real estate company whose son was supposedly to be kidnapped but someone else was taken instead so he is tasked to transport the ransom to the kidnappers. Other co-stars include Tomita Yasuko, Yada Akiko and Moro Morooka.

Source: Oricon

Fumi Nikaidou to star in NTV drama special

Nikaidou Fumi will be taking on her first leading role in a drama when she appears in the NTV drama SP "Gappa Sensei!" which will be shown on 23 September at 9pm. The world "Gappa" is a word in the Ishikawa dialect which means "ganbare" (work hard) as the heroine Muramoto Aiko comes from Ishikawa Prefecture.

The drama which is based an episode in the 2010 book "Minna de tonda" describing how a class of students get together to create a miracle during an inter-class jumping rope competition, features Nikaidou as Muramoto who was raised in the suburbs and becomes a primary school teacher in the city where she has to deal with her students and their parents with her cheerful and hardworking personality. On the first day of school, she accidentally blurts out the word "Gappa" during her self-introduction to her class thus earning her the nickname of "Gappa Sensei". This also happens to be Nikaidou's first attempt at playing a teacher to which she expressed anticipation and joy because she had always wanted to take on a teacher's role. She also hopes that this drama will be one which can be enjoyed by the entire family and looks forward to working hard with her co-stars and staff to put up a good performance.

Co-stars include Sakaguchi Kentaro who plays Saeki Ryuji, Muramoto's childhood friend and is a freeter, Ohno Takuro who plays Muramoto's elder brother Makoto, Abe Sadao who plays Osawa Katsuo, the father of one of her students and Kishimoto Kayoko who plays Muramoto's mother Noriko.

Filming started in early September.

Sources: Mantan Web / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

"Fuben na Benriya" to have TV Tokyo Special

TV Tokyo will be broadcasting the drama SP sequel of "Fuben na Benriya" (The inconvenient convenience store) which was first shown in Spring 2015 as a full series written and directed by Hokkaido-based creator Suzui Takayuki. The drama SP titled "Fuben na Benriya 2016 Hatsuyuki" (The inconvenient convenience store 2016 First snow) is expected to be shown at the end of this year or during the New Year holidays.

"Fuben na Benriya" features Okada Masaki as Takeyama Jun who is a scriptwriter with a wild imagination and poor common sense and lives at a nameless town in Hokkaido. Along with Matsui Hideo (Suzuki Kosuke) who owns a handyman business and Umemoto Soichi (Endo Kenichi) who is a former prison officer and has been divorced thrice to date, the three men will return in the drama SP with a new heroine. In addition, the short film produced by the three actors in the drama will be shown during the 11th Sapporo International Short Films Festival 2016 taking place between 10 Oct and 16 Oct before the drama SP is broadcast.

In the 2015 drama series, the cast and crew broke a Guinness record when they made 2,036 snowmen within an hour. At the end of the drama, Takeyama had quit the convenience business and left Hokkaido. The drama SP will be set 18 months later in the autumn when Takeyama returns to Hokkaido and meets his old friends. Co-stars include Triendl Reina and Tanaka Yoji who also appeared in the original drama series.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Haru to star in new NHK drama

Haru will be starring in the new NHK drama "Okaasan, Musume wo yamete ii desuka?" (Mother, can I quit being your daughter?) which will begin its run from 13 January in the Fridays 10pm timeslot. She will be caught in a love triangle with her mother played by Saito Yuki and the daughter's boyfriend who is played by Yagira Yuuya. Terawaki Yasufumi will be playing Haru's father in the drama.

The drama which consists of 8 episodes, is written by Inoue Yumiko and describes how the mother Akiko and daughter Mizuki are like best friends and lovers. The nature of their relationship does bother Mizuki's father Koji but he is too busy with work to do anything about it. Just then, when the family is planning to build a new house, they meet Matsushima who is assigned to be in charge of their construction project. At first, both Akiko and Mizuki hit it off with Matsushima which leads Akiko to encourage Mizuki to date him. However, once Mizuki starts going out with Matsushima, she realises how she had been tightly controlled by her mother all this while and attempts to break free from this unhealthy relationsip between them. When Akiko realises what is going on, she resorts to extreme measures i.e. seducing Matsushima in order to get her beloved daughter back.

Haru commented that the theme of a mother-and-daughter relationship is something which everyone can relate to and she is eagerly anticipating to work with her co-stars. In the drama, her character will change gradually so she hopes to be able to do the same through the filming.

Sources: Sanspo / Oricon

Spin-off Special of NHK morning drama "Toto Nee-chan" to be shown in November

The spin-off drama SP of NHK morning drama "Toto Nee-chan" will be shown on 19 November at 7pm via BS Premium. The drama SP which is titled "Toto Nee-chan Mou Hitotsu no Monogatari Fukusuke Ningyo no Himitsu" (Another Story The Secret of the Fukusuke doll), will be set in the pre-war era at the food catering shop "Moritaya" and focus on the family of Morita Soukichi (Pierre Taki), Teruyo (Hiraiwa Kami), their eldest daughter Tomie (Kawaei Rina) and her husband Hasegawa (Hamano Kenta).

After the war, Hasegawa and Tomie return to the Morita household with their son Matsukichi and catch up with one another about their current situations. However, Tomie seems to be troubled over something as she had heard from Mariko (Sagara Itsuki) that she had seen someone resembling Hasegawa in Ginza. As such, Tomie is wondering if Hasegawa has cheated on her and tries to find out the truth. In the end, she ends up stumbling upon the secret behind Moritaya's guardian god "Fukusuke Ningyo" and the past of the late Matsu (Akino Yoko). Co-stars also include Ando Tamae, Niizuma Seiko, Kondo Koen and Sugisaki Hana.

The script of the drama SP will be written by Okazaki Satoko and reviewed by Nishida Masafumi who is the scriptwriter of "Toto Nee-chan".

Source: Oricon

Ryohei Suzuki to star in NTV, WOWOW and Hulu drama "Zenigata Keibu"

Suzuki Ryohei will be starring in the new drama "Zenigata Keibu" which features the police inspector Zenigata Koichi from "Lupin The Third" as the lead. In this new drama to be shown next year, NTV will produce and show the first drama series followed by WOWOW and Hulu with their respective sequels with differing storylines. This is the first time that the three companies are working together to produce a drama and in this format.

Although Zenigata always fails to capture Lupin in "Lupin The Third", the drama series will show him as a stubborn man with a strong sense of justice and an excellent police detective who is warmhearted. Suzuki commented that he does feel the pressure about playing such a famous character and would always check with the director if he is doing OK. Besides Suzuki, Maeda Atsuko will playing a young police detective named Sakuraba Natsuki and Miura Takahiro will be playing her colleague Kunkida Shintaro who work together with Zenigata to solve cases.

Sources: Oricon / Eiga.com

"Tokyo Sentimental" to return as Special

TV Tokyo's Winter 2016 drama "Tokyo Sentimental" will be back as a drama SP to be shown either at the end of this year or beginning of next year.

The drama series which featured Yoshida Kotaro as a thrice-divorced wagashi master who falls for different women in every episode but to be rejected by them every time, began as a drama SP in late 2014. In this latest SP, the heroine will be played by Takahata Mitsuki while Katagiri Jin who had appeared in the drama series, will be reprising his role as an old friend of Yoshida's character Takuzo. In addition, the drama SP will feature Takuzo's first wife and son as he has to meet his son's future wife during a meal. However, things do not end well as he gets into an argument with his future daughter-in-law's aunt but this marks the beginning of a new romance for him.

Source: Nikkansports

Miyu Honda to star in TV Asahi Special

Honda Miyu will be starring in the TV Asahi drama SP "Tantei Shoujo Arisa no Jikenbo" which is due to be shown this winter. This will make her the youngest lead actress in TV Asahi's golden timeslot history. The drama which is based on the same-titled novel by mystery writer Higashigawa Tokuya, features Honda as the genius detective Ayaragi Arisa who has great observation and reasoning powers despite being just a primary school student.

Honda had appeared in many dramas and movies to date and is also active as a figure skater along with her elder brother and sister. With regard to her character in this drama, Honda revealed that she has never worn such a frilly dress before and is very happy about it. She hopes that the viewers will like this drama after watching this. Due to the fact that she is playing the lead for the first time, she has to memorise a huge amount of lines and use difficult words which she had never heard before. Despite so, she is a fan of the original novel and is very happy to play the role of Arisa.

Co-stars include Natori Yuko who plays Okuno Tomomi, the housekeeper at the mansion on a deserted island where Arisa visits with her aunt (Okouchi Nanako), Tanaka Kei who plays a city council member, Terada Minori who plays a lawyer, Takasugi Mizuho who plays a management consultant, Jinbo Satoshi who plays a former chef and Iwaki Koichi. The story talks about how Arisa and her aunt goes on a vacation at the mansion where the latter is subsequently found dead. In the storm enveloping the island, the guests and staff staying there are unable to communicate with the outside world nor leave the island as a series of murders continue to happen.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Oricon

Mana Ashida, Rio Suzuki, Miyu Honda. What is in the water in Japan that keeps producing these great kid actresses??

Anonymous wrote:

Well,Long love letter is the first science fiction drama I watched. Therefore, it take me a while to get used http://www.comparateur-mutuelle-assurance-sante.com to it. I prefer Love stories. The two stars are the only thing that kept me watching! Again, this might not be for everyone...

hello!! just want to say that the drama in japan is so rellistic that mamy teenager thinks that it is real!!
nice day!!

Shinichi Tsutsumi and Kyoko Koizumi to star in NTV Winter drama

Tsutsumi Shinichi and Koizumi Kyoko will be appearing in the new NTV Winter 2017 drama "Super Salaryman Saenai-shi" (Super Salaryman Mr. Saenai) which will begin its run from January 2017 in the Saturdays 9pm timeslot. This is the first time that Tsutsumi is acting in a NTV drama which is written and directed by Fukuda Yuichi who is known for his works such as the "Yuusha Yoshihiko" series.

The drama which is based on the manga "Chuunen Superman Saenai-shi" by the late Fujiko F Fujio, features Tsutsumi in the role of Saenai, a 52-year-old ordinary salaryman who holds a middle management role in his company and has a fierce wife Enko (Koizumi). One day, a strange old man gives Saenai a super suit which will enable him to transform into a super hero who can maintain peace. Although Saenai keeps rejecting the old man's offer, he has no choice but to accept it when Enko forces him to deliver their daughter's bento to school before her lunch break. Due to the powers of this suit, Saenai goes to solve various cases even during office hours whenever he senses something happening.

When Tsutsumi tried wearing the super hero suit he is to don in the drama, he was quite amused by how he looked. Koizumi revealed that it was Fukuda who offered the role to her and she is looking forward to working with Tsutsumi again since it's been a while since their last collaboration. As for having to play a fierce wife, Koizumi joked that this must be a casting mistake as she doesn't think that she is someone like that.

Details of the supporting cast will be announced at a later date,

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo

Etushi Toyokawa and Rie Miyazawa to star in NHK drama Special

Toyokawa Etsushi and Miyazawa Rie will be starring in the new NHK drama SP "Souseki Monmon" (Souseki in distress) which will be shown on 10 December at 7.30pm.

The drama features Toyokawa in the role of writer Nasume Souseki who had written many classics such as "Wagahai wa neko de aru", "Bocchan", "Sanshirou", "Sorekara", "Kokoro" and "Meian" and describes the 29 days of distress he spent in Kyoto during 1915 at the recommendation of his artist friend Tsuda Seifuu who suggested that Natsume recuperate there when he was suffering from nervous prostration and gastric ulcer. During his stay at the ryokan Kita no Daiga, he met Taga (Miyazawa), the talented and beautiful young mistress of the teahouse Daitomo in Gion, Kyoto. That year, Natsume was 48 and Taga was 36. However, Taga was a very sought-after woman by many men who wanted to fight for her affection. Natsume asked Taga out for a date to see the plum blossoms but she did not show up. Angered by this rejection, Natsume rode a rickshaw to Kyoto and stuffed himself at a western restaurant which aggravated his gastric ulcer condition. Upon seeing this, Seifuu then contacted Natsume's wife Kyoko (Akiyama Natsuko) to come to Kyoto. One year later, Natsume died at the age of 49 and a haiku hinting about a woman i.e. Taga was found in his diary and letters.

As this year is Natsume Souseki's 100th death anniversary, there have been many dramas and movies about the writer this year. In this drama SP, the theme is about Natsume's last romance (possibly). The drama SP will be written by Fujimoto Yuki while the director will be Minamoto Takashi who had won the ATP Award Grand Prix.

Source: Oricon

Keeping with the boy/girl/boy/girl pattern started with "Atsu Hime' back in 2008, Kou is the lead in next years taiga, so:

Ryohei Suzuki to be the lead in 2018 NHK Taiga drama "Segodon"

Suzuki Ryohei was announced to be the lead in the upcoming 2018 NHK Taiga drama "Segodon" during a press conference held on 2 November at NHK's headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo. Also present at the event were the original novel's author Hayashi Mariko and scriptwriter Nakazono Miho.

"Segodon" is based on the same-titled novel by Hayashi which is currently being serialised in the literature magazine "Hon no Tabibito" and describes the life of Saigo Takamori who was regarded as a hero during the Meiji Restoration. He had also gone through 2 island exiles and 3 marriages and fought the new Meiji government even though he was one of those responsible for establishing it.

As this is Suzuki's first appearance in a NHK Taiga especially since he is the lead this time, he admitted that although he is happy about the offer, he is also feeling the responsibility and pressure of being able to play a historical figure's life. To an actor, this is a hard-to-come-by chance. To date, many actors who are more senior than him have played Saigo but he hopes to develop his own style of playing this character while getting ideas from others' performances. He hopes to make this drama an energetic and passionate production which will live up to the longstanding tradition of the Taiga drama's history. Last but not least, he wishes that viewers will be able to feel refreshed for the week ahead after watching Saigo's story on Sunday nights.

Hayashi said that she had received the offer to dramatise her novel even though the story is not completed yet and expressed her joy about this. As she is writing about Saigo in a way which nobody else had done before, she is well aware that there may be criticism over her potrayal of him but she is confident that this side of Saigo will still be well-received when her book is realised. On the other hand, Nakazono commented that the story will contain various types of love such as the teacher-student love between Shimazu Nariakira and Saigo, family love, romance and boys' love i.e. bromance. Upon hearing the term "boys' love", Hayashi chipped in to say that Nakazono had told Suzuki to build up his body so that he can go topless anytime in the drama when the need arises so she's quite looking forward to such scenes. Nakazono added on to say that there will be action scenes too on top of these which led Suzuki to remark with a weak smile that this is the first time he had heard of such plans.

As Saigo was known to be a man with a big build, a reporter asked Suzuki if he plans to increase his weight to around 100kg so as to look convincing. With regard to this, Suzuki said that this will be discussed with the producer and director so at the moment, he can't comment on that yet. Nonetheless, he hopes to immerse himself fully into the role and make viewers have the feeling that they are seeing the real Saigo on their TV screens.

Suzuki graduated from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and was active as a model before he made his acting debut in 2006. He was featured as the heroine's (Yoshitaka Yuriko) husband in the NHK 2014 morning drama "Hanako to Anne" and well-known for his willingness and ability to change his body for his acting projects such as putting on 15kg and reducing his fat percentage for the 2013 movie "HK / Hentai Kamen", reducing his weight by 20kg for the 2015 TBS drama "Tennou no Ryouriban" and increasing his weight by 30kg for the 2015 movie "Ore Monogatari".

Filming begins in the summer of 2017 and the drama which consists of 50 episodes, is due to be shown from January 2018. Next year will be the 140th death anniversary of Saigo and the year of the broadcast will be the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration.


Sources: Sponichi / Oricon / Eiga.com

"Fukigen na Kajitsu" to return as drama special in January 2017

TV Asahi Spring 2016 drama "Fukigen na Kajitsu" will be back as a drama SP in January 2017 with the title "Fukigen na Kajitsu ~ Sannenme no Uwaki ~" (The Fruit of Displeasure - The third year's infidelity). The original cast lineup of Kuriyama Chiaki, Ichihara Hayato, Takanashi Rin, Inagaki Goro, Hashimoto Manami and Rokkaku Seiji will be appearing in the SP which is set three years after the ending of the drama where the three ladies vowed not to get involved in extramarital affairs again.

In the original drama series based on Hayashi Mariko's novel, Kuriyama played a married woman Mayako who was unsatisfied with her husband Kouichi (Inagaki) and began an affair with a music critic Michihiko (Ichihara). Although they later got married, she was aghast to find that Michihiko is actually a mommy's boy. Meanwhile, her buddy Kumi was involved in an affair with Kouichi and they got together with Kumi putting up a good fight against his mother Ayako (Manda Hisako). As for their buddy Reiko (Hashimoto) who was having affairs with other men, she reconciled with her husband Shigeru (Rokkaku) at the end. However, Mayako, Kumi and Reiko start to get bored with their lives and start to dabble in forbidden love again. Mayako who dislikes Michihiko's lack of masculine chivalry, gets attracted to a wild-looking and muscular farmer. Due to Mayako and Kouichi's reunion which suggests a likelihood of them reconciling, Kumi's jealousy soars to new heights. At the same time, Michihiko who is teaching part-time at a music university, gets involved with his student under the pretext of career guidance.

Kuriyama commented that the drama SP will still contain the elements of romance and friendship just like the drama series and the cast and staff will work together to make the SP even better for the viewers to enjoy. Inagaki also expressed joy about the drama SP and said that although his character is quite detestable, he also likes it very much so he is looking forward playing Kouichi again this time.

Sources: Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports 2 / Sanspo / Oricon

Michitaka Tsutsui and Riko Narumi to star in new FujiTV drama

Tsutsui Michitaka will be starring in the new FujiTV drama series "Retake" which will be shown from 3 December in the Saturdays 11.40pm timeslot. This is his first drama appearance in 7 years since the NHK drama "Saisei no Machi" shown in August 2009.

The drama is a science fiction story featuring Tsutsui in the role of Shintani Shinji who graduated from University of Tokyo and is a civil servant working in the Ministry of Justice. However, due to his involvement in a molesting case although he was subsequently let off without an indictment, his wife walks out on him and he is assigned to work as the section chief of the family register supervision department. In this department he has to deal with people called the time travellers who come from the future and help them begin their lives in a designated area where they will be monitored and protected by the government without exposing their identities. Narumi Riko will play his subordinate Nasuno Kaoru who is young enough to be his daughter while Asano Atsuko will play Masako Powell who works part-time in the same department. Junji will play the role of Yanai Kenji who is the younger brother of Shintani's ex-wife Saeko and works as a police detective, Ono Nonoka will play the secretary of the Minister of Justice named Onishi Fumiko and Kinoshita Houka will play the parliamentary secretary of the Minister of Justice named Kunisaki Shuzo.

Tsutsui commented that his character Shintani is a person who probably wishes to return to his past to change what happened but while interacting with the people of the present and future, his thinking slowly changes. As such, he thinks that this is an interesting thing which the viewers can look forward to seeing. He also expressed anticipation at working with Narumi who he has always liked as an actress and thinks that she will not be restricted to norms during the filming. In response, Narumi commented that although the setting of the story is a bit strange, she thinks that she will enjoy the filming.

Sources: Sanspo / Oricon

Tomokazu Miura to star in TV Asahi 2017 Winter drama

Miura Tomokazu will be starring in the new TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~" (A family on the search for jobs ~ It will surely go well ~) which will be shown from January 2017 in the Thursdays 9pm timeslot. This is the first time that Miura is starring in a TV Asahi drama and his first leading role in a drama in 17 years.

The story features Tomikawa Yosuke (Miura) who is the HR director of a big company, leads an ordinary life with his wife Mizuki (Kuroki Hitomi) who is a Japanese language teacher at a private junior high school, his elder daughter Shiori (Atusko Maeda) who works at a jewellery manufacturer and Hikaru (Asuka Kudo) who is about to graduate from university. However, things start to spiral out of control when Yosuke is retrenched by his company, Shiori quits due to sexual harrassment issues at her workplace and Hikaru cannot find a permanent job yet. This causes the family to be looking for employment at the same time which makes them rethink the meaning of work and what kind of future they want for themselves.

Miura who usually plays serious and stern characters in dramas, commented that viewers will probably have a different impression of his character this time so he hopes to deviate from their usual impression of him in a good way. In this era where lifetime employment is no longer a given, the theme may be serious for the viewers who can identify with the struggles of Yosuke but Miura hopes that they will enjoy the humour that's presented in the story. As for Kuroki, she had played a married couple with Miura as voice actors in the Japanese version of the 2004 movie "Mr. Incredible" so she thinks that they will be able to manage just find in the drama.

Maeda commented that she can identify with Shiori's internal struggle of pretending in front of her family that her work is going fine even though she may have problems so she hopes to be able to show the conflicting feelings Shiori experiences through her acting. As for Kudo, he revealed that he is the eldest son among 5 siblings so he has always wanted to have an elder brother or sister. To his surprise, he found out that Maeda who plays his elder sister, is actually the same age as him. Kudo commented that through this drama, he hopes that the viewers can realise and think about the importance of human relationships and family ties.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Takaya Kamikawa & Yuika Motokariya to star TV Asahi drama special

Kamikawa Takaya and Motokariya Yuika will be working together in the upcoming TV Asahi drama SP "Kenji no Honkai" (A prosecutor's long-cherished desire) which will be shown at 9pm on 3 December. The drama is the third adaptation based on the popular novel series "Sakata Sadato" by Yuzuki Yuuko. The first SP "Saigo no Shounin" was shown in January 2015 while the second SP "Kenji no Shimei" was shown in January this year. Kamikawa continues to play the role of Sakata Sadato together with his new partner Kato Shiori (Motokariya) who is an admin officer at the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office.

This time, Sakata and Shoji Mao (Matsushita Yuki) who are both prosecutors at Yonezaki District Public Prosecutors Office will be sent to the Tokyo office to investigate a bribery case involving Ookouchi Sadakazu (Terada Minori) who also appeared in the last SP. In addition, the truth hidden by Sadato's father Yousei (Nakahara Takeo) who died in prison will come to light.

Kawakami said that he has always treated each of his projects as his last and put in his full effort so he does not expect a sequel to be made when the project ends. As such, whenever he gets an offer to play the same character again, he is filled with emotions and joy. With regard to this latest drama SP, Kawakmi commented that it will be a good mystery drama to watch, be it for those who have watched the first two SPs and those who are watching this for the first time. As TV Asahi has the tendency to "upgrade" drama SPs which have at least three installments to become full series e.g. "Aibou", Kamikawa expressed his wish for a Sakata Sadato series to materialise if given the chance to do so.

Filming was done at Kyoto during this summer which was a first for Motokariya who found many interesting and new things there as if she was in a different country. She also met up with her best friend Kanjiya Shihori who was also in Kyoto for another filming and went out for meals with her.

Sources: Sanspo / Oricon

Ikki Sawamura and Ryoko Hirosue to star in TV Tokyo drama special

Sawamura Ikki and Hirosue Ryoko will be playing a divorced couple in the upcoming TV Tokyo drama SP "Dame Otouchan, Hero ni naru! Gakeppuchi Ninjou Koukokuman Funtouki" which will be shown at 9pm on 29 December. This will be the first time in 15 years that they are acting together since FujiTV's Summer 2001 drama "Dekichatta Kekkon".

The drama is based on Ogiwara Hiroshi's novel "Nakayoshi Kojima-gumi" and its script written by Okada Yoshikazu. It features Sawamura as the lead character Sugiyama Toshifumi who works in a small advertising agency on the verge of bankruptcy. Just then, the president of his company Ishii (Kosakai Kazuki) comes to him with an assignment to improve the image of a gang named Kojima-gumi. To make things worse, Kojima-gumi sends one of its members Kawada Kaoru (Sugimoto Tetta) to be stationed at the company and keep an eye on them. At the same time, Sugiyama is having problems with his ex-wife Ishihara Sachiko (Hirosue) and daughter Sanae (Suzuki Rio). In order to regain his pride as a father and keep his company from going under, Sugiyama rises to the challenge. Co-stars also include Usuda Asami who plays Inokuma Erika, an employee in the advertising agency known for her stubborness and sarcasm, Emoto Tokio who plays Murasaki also working in the agency but calls himself a musician and has no motivation to work, Ibu Masato who plays the leader of Kojima-gumi and Uesugi Shuhei who plays Nishiwaki Katsuya, a member of Kojima-gumi.


Source: Oricon

Ayako Imoto to star in NHK drama special

Imoto Ayako will be starring in the new drama SP "Anata ni drop kick wo" (Giving you a drop kick) which will be shown at 10pm on 17 March next year. This will be her first leading role in a NHK drama.

The drama which is based on the winning script by Nakatani Noriko in the 40th Sousaku Terebi Dorama Taisho, features Imoto as the heroine Akiko who has to bear with a lot of unfair treatment from the people around her such as being dumped by her fiance. When she meets Momo, a female pro wrestler who is of the same age as her, Akiko realises that she has to regain her life and live confidently and sets out to make changes in her life. The role Momo will be played by former wrestler Yasukawa Act while Akiko's former fiance will be played by Takahashi Mitsuomi.

Source: Oricon

Mone Kamishiraishi to star in TBS 2017 Winter drama

Kamishiraishi Mone will be starring in the upcoming TBS/MBS Winter 2017 drama "Hokusai to meshi sae areba" (As long as I have my food and Hokusai) which will be beginning its run from January next year. The drama will begin its run via MBS from 22 January in the Sundays 12.50am timeslot while it will start via TBS from 24 January in the Tuesdays 1.28am timeslot. Before the drama series begins, a SP titled "Hokusai to meshi sae areba Joukyou Shinkyo meshi keikakuhen" will be shown via MBS and TBS respectively at 12.50am on 15 January and at 1.28am on 17 January. This will be Kamishiraishi's first leading role in a drama after she just made her debut as a singer in October and she was the voice actor playing the heroine in this year's hit anime movie "Kimi no na wa".

The drama is bsaed on the same-titled manga by Suzuki Sanami which is unique in that there will be no eating scenes even though this is a gourmet drama. Kamishiraishi will be playing the lead character Yamada Ayako who is a poor arts student nicknamed Bun. She moves to Tokyo for her university students and makes creative dishes at her new home in Kita Senju. Bun has a soft toy which she nicknames as Hokusai because it resembles a rabbit. Being shy and having a vivid imagination, Bun goes to great effort to cook her meals which are delicious and healthy despite her being tight on finances and busy with her studies.

The producer Moriya Takeshi revealed that he was attracted to Kamishiraishi's acting after watching "Chihayafuru" and decided to offer her the role of Bun after they spent two years planning for this drama. Kamishiraishi commented that she is happy to be able to play such a lovely and frank girl and hopes that the drama will warm everyone's hearts and make them hungry at the same time. In order to prepare for the filming, Kamishiraishi went through training under a Japanese cuisine chef and learnt a lot of things such as how to hold the knife and use it. As for the biggest selling point of this drama, Kamishiraishi who also likes to cook, cited the part when Bun explains her recipe while cooking which will provide ideas to the viewers on how to make delicious meals quickly.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Oricon / Eiga.com
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Sousuke Ikematsu to star in TV Tokyo 2017 Winter drama

Ikematsu Sousuke will be starring in the TV Tokyo Winter 2017 drama "Gin to Kin" (Silver and Gold) which will begin its run from January in the Saturdays 12.20am timeslot. The drama which is based on the same-titled manga by Fukumoto Nobuyuki, features Ikematsu as the lead character Morita Tetsuo who finds that nothing is working out for him and becomes addicted to gambling. He meets an underworld fixer Hirai Ginji who values money over everything and learns from him on how to cheat many greedy and evil gentlemen of large amounts of money and destroy them mentally in the process.

Ikematsu said that he felt overwhelmed by the power from the original manga and hopes that the long time devoted to this drama (12 episodes of 30 minutes each) will allow viewers to find out who Morita Tetsuo is, what he is disappointed in, who he meets, what he is thinking and what he is up against. Fukumoto revealed that this manga is the first among his works other than the mahjong manga which had won critical praise and he has met fans who say that the manga is their No.1 favourite. Besides having Ikematsu play the role of Morita and another actor playing the role of Hirai which will be announced at a later date, Fukumoto said that he is thankful for them appearing in this drama and glad that this miracle has come to him.

Filming began from early November.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon