Go Ayano to star in NTV 2017 Spring drama

Ayano Go will be starring in the new NTV Spring 2017 drama "Frankenstein no Koi" (Frankenstein's Love) which will begin its run from April in the Sundays 10.30pm timeslot. The drama which is based on an original script by Oomori Sumio, features Ayano as a monster created by the famous Dr. Frankenstein 100 years ago who has an appearance similar to human beings, eternal life and a gentle heart. He falls in love with a young woman Tsugaru-san but things between them are fraught with difficulties as he has an unspeakable secret as he cannot be touched by human beings. Much as he desires to come into contact with human beings, he is scared of being hurt. Although he wants to love, he is scared of being disliked.

This drama will be his first leading role in a NTV drama and it will also be his first time playing a monster. As there will be scenes where the monster has to transform itself, Ayano will have to put on special makeup which he hopes that the viewers will be able to accept. As for playing a monster in this love story, he doesn't feel strange about it but did express surprise when he first read the script. Even though he will be a monster, he won't be a frightening one but instead will be an adorable one who will meet, know and interact with human beings.


Filming will begin in March.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Yukino Kishii to star in FujiTV drama special

Kishii Yukino will be starring in the new FujiTV drama SP "Juukyuusai" (19 years old) which will be shown at 1.25am on 5 April. The drama is based on the winning work by music university student Aoyama Nanami in the first "Dorama Koshien" contest which had been held three times to date for aspiring scriptwriters in senior high school. Aoyama wrote the script "Juunanasai" (17 years old) when she was a senior high school student. The drama will be directed by Takano Ai who has worked on dramas such as "Hirugao" and "Itsuka kono koi wo omoidashite kitto naite shimau".

The drama describes how the lead character Yoshiko (Kishii) who is an arts university student, behaves in a rebellious way towards her mother Asako who behaves as she pleases and how she falls for a man Aoba (Mashima Hidekazu) who her mother used to love.

Aoyama commented that the story is set at in the suburbs which has a nostalgic feel and hopes that the viewers will enjoy watching how a young person copes with confusion in her life and grows in the process. As for Kishii, she praised Aoyama for being mature beyond her actual age and that the script is hardly anything you would expect from someone who's just 19 so she was very eager to act in this drama after reading the script. The drama should be interesting to viewers of all ages be it those who are about to turn 19 or those already in their 30s or 40s and beyond who can look back fondly to the time when they were 19.

Source: Sanspo

Haru Kuroki to star in new NHK drama

Kuroki Haru will be starring in the upcoming NHK drama "Mi wo tsukushi ryourijou" (Devoted Cookbook) which begins its run from 13 May in the Saturdays 6.05pm timeslot. The drama which consists of 8 episodes, is based on the period novel series set during the Edo era by Takada Kaoru which has sold more than 3 million copies to date and marks Kuroki's first leading role in a NHK drama and a period drama. The script will be written by Fujimoto Yuki who won the Mukoda Kuniko award for her period drama "Chikaemon" last year and will feature a creative Edo dish during the climax of each episode.

In the story set during the Edo period when the 11th shogun Tokugawa Ienari was in power, Kuroki plays the lead character Mio who is an orphan born in Osaka and heads to Edo (Tokyo) with nothing but her cooking skills. After overcoming various difficulties, she becomes a top-notch chef. Kuroki commented that she is impressed with Mio's never-say-die attitude and how she strives to do things well with the utmost sincerity so she hopes to be able to do her best in this drama.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Erina Mano to star in NHK drama

Mano Erina will be starring in the new NHK drama series "Kono yo ni tayasui shigoto wa nai" (There is no easy job in the world) which begins its run from 6 April in the newly set-up timeslot at 11pn on Thursdays. The drama which consists of 8 episodes, is Mano's first leading role in a NHK drama.

Mano plays the 28-year-old lead character Kirinaka Kasumi who realised her childhood dream to become a primary school student. Despite her passion for teaching, Kasumi had to quit because she was overworked and suffers from the burnout syndrome. However, she cannot stop working because she has to support herself so in order to prepare herself for that, she undergoes rehabilitation and meets an unusual employee at Hello Work named Masakado (Asano Atsuko) who introduces a series of strange jobs to her. Even though Kasumi wants to try her best in everything she does and feels uneasy at first about taking on jobs which seem like what anyone else can do, she starts to enjoy the process and becomes aware of the joy from various jobs through her communication with the people she meets. At the same time, she makes a decision about her relationship with her boyfriend (Tsukamoto Takashi) and finds meaning as to what it means to work. Mano commented that she hopes that through this drama, people will be able to realise the importance of working and love for the job and will try her best to play the lead character in this drama.


Source: Oricon

Masaki Aiba to star in FujiTV 2017 Spring drama

Aiba Masaki will be starring in the new FujiTV Spring 2017 drama "Kizoku Tantei" (Detective Noble) which will begin its run from April in the Mondays 9pm timeslot.

The drama which is based on the suspense novels "Kizoku Tantei" and "Kizoku Tantei tai Onna Tantei" by Maya Yutaka, features Aiba as a mysterious man who calls himself a noble but his name, age and background are all unknown and has an interest in solving cases but does not actually do the reasoning himself because he is more keen to talk to the women he meets at the crime scenes. Due to his status as a nobleman, he behaves very gentlemanly towards women and is unafraid of standing up against those in power. With the help of his servants i.e. driver Sato (Takito Kenichi), maid Tanaka (Nakayama Miho) and butler Yamamoto (Matsushige) who helps him to inspect the crime scenes and look for clues, he is able to assist the police in solving their cases with his strong observation power. Co-stars also include Takei Emi who plays Takanori, a newbie police detective at loggerheads with the nobleman while solving the cases, police detective Hanagata (Namase) who works with the nobleman at the orders of his superiors, Igawa Haruka who plays a female detective Kitami who teaches Takanori about detective work and is regarded as her idol and Nakama Yukie whose character details are not known at the moment.

As this drama happens to be the 30th anniversary commemorative work of the Getsuku timeslot, Aiba expressed anticipation and excitement at playing this type of character for the first time although he was also apprehensive about having such wonderful actors play his servants in the drama.

Filming is expected to begin in early March.

Sources: Oricon / Sanspo

Kazuya Kamenashi, Fumino Kimura & Tomohisa Yamashita to star in NTV 2017 Spring drama

Kamenashi Kazuya, Kimura Fumino and Yamashita Tomohisa will be starring in the upcoming NTV Spring 2017 drama "Boku, Unmei no hito desu" (I am your soulmate) which begins its run from April in the Saturdays 10pm timeslot.

The story features Kamenashi as a company employee Masaki Makoto who goes all out to woo the women who he thinks of as his soulmate despite being rejected all the time. When he meets a practical OL (Kimura) named Kogetsu Haruko who doesn't believe in destiny, he confesses his love for her but to no avail because she wants to have a relationship which is safe and fail-proof. Just then, a mysterious man calling himself as God (Yamashita) appears and offers him advice on how to woo his soulmate.

Kamenashi and Yamashita will also be forming the special unit Kame to YamaP to sing the theme song for the drama which marks their first collaboration in 12 years. The duo had worked together in the NTV drama "Nobuta wo Produce" back in 2005 and formed the unit Shuuji to Akira (their character names in the drama) to sing the theme song "Seishun Amigo" which sold 1.626 million copies then.

Kamenashi commented that he is eagerly anticipating working together with the staff and co-stars this time. In particular, he praised Kimura for being a good and charming actress. As for Yamashita, he pledged to work hard at playing his character who is unpredictable and full of mysteries. With regard to the collaboration between them, Kamenashi revealed that he had talked about working together with Yamashita in the past so to be able to do that again now in this format, they are both very happy about it. Yamashita echoed this and said that since the two of them had known each other since they were in junior high school, he believes that they will be able to bring out an unique blend of warmth, danger and security through their work as a special unit this time.

Sources: Nikkansports / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi

Rin Takanashi to star in NTV 2017 Spring drama

Takanashi Rin will be starring in the new Yomiuri TV / NTV Spring 2017 drama "Koi ga heta demo ikitemasu" (Even if I am poor at love, I am surviving) which will begin its run from 6 April in the Thursdays 11.59pm timeslot. This marks her first leading role in a drama series in 4 years.

The drama which is based on the same-titled manga by Fujiwara Akira, features Takanashi as the lead character Chigasaki Misa, a career woman working at a smartphone games company who struggles between the ideals and reality women face when it comes to love. Tanaka Kei plays Ojima Keisuke, a handsome and capable management professional returning from New York who snatches the president's post from her but the two become romantically involved later. Co-stars also include Tsuchimura Kaho who plays Enoda Chihiro, an innocent receptionist good at household chores and Fuchikami Yasushi who plays Hashimoto Tsukasa, Misa's rival at work.

Takanashi commented that she hopes that this drama will be an encouragement to women who are trying their best in work and love while the men will be able to know more about how women think. As such, she hopes to be able to show the comedic and romantic aspects of the drama through her acting. With regard to working with Tanaka, she is also eagerly anticipating how things will turn out between them in the drama. Meanwhile, Tanaka commented that although he has been an actor for 17 years, this is the first time that he is playing someone as perfect as this so he finds this a challenge which is hard to come by.

Sources: Nikkansports / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon / Eiga.com

Ayame Gouriki to star in TV Asahi 2017 Spring drama

Gouriki Ayame will be starring in the new TV Asahi Spring 2017 drama "Joshuu Seven" (Seven Female Prisoners) which will begin its run from April in the Fridays 11.15 timeslot. This original drama written by Nishiogi Yumie features seven female prisoners who had committed various crimes and describes their interaction and interpersonal relationships while behind bars.

Gouriki plays the lead character Kamiwatari Kotone who was a geigi in Kyoto sentenced to five years in prison (the lowest sentence for this crime) for the murder of her fellow geigi while in a drunken stupor. Although all the evidence pointed to Kotone as the murderer, she insisted that she did not do it but to no avail. During her imprisonment, Kotone is bullied by other inmates but doesn't think much of it because she had been used to the tough disciplinary actions by her seniors in the geigi world. Unknown to the others, Kotone has a lot of strength, can easily fight anyone with aikido, pretends to be stupid but is actually very smart, fluent in English and French and has very good hearing. At the end of the drama, the reason why Kotone was framed for the murder will also be revealed.

With regard to her character, Gouriki described her as someone who is quiet but has a somewhat eerie air around her and her wickedness hidden within. As such, she is very excited over how to project the contrasting sides of Kotone through this drama which will show the strengths and frightening side of women through their survival battles behind bars.

Sources: Nikkansports / Oricon

Perfume to star in their first drama as childhood friends

TV Tokyo will air a special drama titled "Pensees" starring the members of Perfume from March 31 to April 1.

While they have made appearances in "Sumire 16-sai!" and the movie "Moteki", this is their first time playing the lead role. It is an original story written by Izumi Kizara who was in charge of "Nobuta wo Produce", "Sexy Voice and Robo", and "Fuji Family".

In "Pensees" A-chan will play an office worker named 'Don-chan', Kashiyuka will play 'Okamido', a girl who is helping out her family business, and Nocchi will play a freeter named 'Noribu'. The three childhood friends purchase a western-style house at a reasonable price in exchange to "take care of Rikimaru". After they move in, they learn they have fallen into a trap.

Source: natalie

Tsuyoshi Ihara to star in FujiTV drama special

Ihara Tsuyoshi will be starring in the FujiTV drama SP "Honoo no Keieisha" (The entrepreneur of flames) which will be shown at 4pm on 19 March. This will be Ihara's first leading role in a FujiTV drama.

The drama SP which is based on the same-titled novel published by Takasugi Ryo in 1986, describes the life of Yatabe Taizo (Ihara) before and after WWII as he grew his small business Okita Gosei Kagaku Kogyo in a small town of Osaka to become the internationally-renowed Nisshoku Kagaku Kogyo. Yatabe was an engineering professor whose company made phthalic anhydride used in the paint for cars and aeroplanes during the war. With his continuous research, guts and strong faith, he overcame many challenges to grow his company while helping his staff to develop their talents. Yatabe was modelled after the founder of Nisshoku i.e. the late Yatagai Taizo.

Co-stars include Shiba Toshio who plays an influential figure Nagata Shigeo in the political and economic world, Toda Naho who plays Yatabe's wife Satoko, Yamaguchi Tomomitsu who plays Sanada Kozo, a shogi player and good friend of Yatabe as well as Ishimaru Kenjiro, Watanabe Dai, Nakamura Yasuhi, Kitami Toshiyuki, Oishi Goro, Uchida Shigeru and Rokkaku Shinji.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Hiroki Hasegawa to star in TBS 2017 Spring drama

Hasegawa Hiroki will be starring in the new TBS Spring 2017 drama "Chiisana Kyojin" (The Little Giant) which will be shown from April in the Sundays 9pm timeslot. This is the first time that Hasegawa is taking on the leading role in a drama for this timeslot.

Hasegawa plays the lead character Kosaka Shinichiro who is a capable detective in Metropolitan Police Department's (MPD) 1st section. Despite so, as he did not pass the advanced level civil servant examination, Kosaka is still viewed to be a strong contender for the position of section chief. However, his career prospects suffer a huge setback when he makes a mistake during an interrogation and gets transferred to a local police station. While investigating relatively smaller cases, Kosaka meets a group of colleagues who still persist in upholding justice through their own ways even if the cases they handle may seem insignificant.

Okada Masaki plays Yamada Haruhiko, a detective in MPD who graduated from the prestigious University of Tokyo and aims to become a section chief so as to have the power to investigate an unresolved case. Although Yamada had been Kosaka's subordinate all the while, with Kosaka's transfer to the local police station, the two of them clash with each other at work. Yasuda Ken plays the role of Watanabe Hisashi who plays Kosaka's new colleague and is in charge of showing him the ropes. Shunputei Shota will play Kosaka's former boss Mikasa Yohei who treated him very well. Other co-stars include Suruga Taro, Tezuka Tooru and Kiba Katsumi.

In this drama based on an original script, it will describe how the internal conflicts within the police force lead to obstructions in investigations and expose the problems in the organisation. Although the drama is a detective story, he hopes that viewers will not have any presumptions before watching it and that it will leave an impression on them. He is also eagerly anticipating how the collaboration between the staff and cast members of various backgrounds will bring about sparks in this drama. As for Okada who is appearing in a TBS drama for the first time, he described his character as someone who is so eager to climb up the ranks and would not hesitate to kick away anyone who stands in his path. Being calm and a man of few words, he hopes to be able to show these traits of his character through his acting even though he has never taken on a character like this before. He is also excited about the clash scenes between Hasegawa's and his characters in this drama.

As for the actors to play Onoda Yoshinobu, the section chief who has a huge impact on Kosaka's career as a police detective and the heroine Mishima Yuri who is a newbie detective, this will be announced at a later date.

Sources: Sponichi / Sanspo / Oricon

Arisa Mizuki to star in FujiTV 2017 Spring drama

Mizuki Arisa will be starring in the upcoming FujiTV Spring 2017 drama "Sakurako-san no ashimoto ni wa shitai ga umatteiru" (There is a dead body buried under the feet of Sakurako-san) which will begin its run from April in the Sundays 9pm timeslot. This will be Mizuki's 30th consecutive drama as the lead over the last 26 years.

The drama is based on Ota Shiori's 2012 same-titled mystery novel submitted on novel submission website Every Star and won the Denshi Shoseki Taisho's mystery category before it was published as a book in February the following year. To date, there are 10 volumes released so far and there is a manga version serialised in Young Ace.

The story features Mizuki as the lead character Kujou Sakurako who is a rich man's daughter and works as an expert who reconstructs bone specimens. She works in her studio at home to reconstruct the specimens of animals as requested by museums. When she was in university, she learnt forensic medicine from her uncle who is a forensic pathologist and professor. With her intelligence and observant powers, she helps to solve various difficult cases. Mizuki expressed anticipation at playing a new type of character in this drama and hopes to be able to show the full impact of Sakurako-san's unique character as per the drama's title.


Filming will begin in early March.

Sources: Sanspo / Sponichi / Oricon

Baka Rhythm to write and star in Yomiuri TV 2017 Spring drama

Comedian Baka Rhythm will be writing and starring in his new Yomiuri TV Spring 2017 drama "Kakuu OL Nikki" (Fictitious OL Diary) which will be shown from April. Following the TV broadcast, Hulu will be showing the drama and include scenes which are not included in the TV version.

The drama is based on a blog written by Baka Rhythm between 2006 and 2009 where he posed as a OL nicknamed Kakuu Masuno (meaning fictitious + Baka's real surname) who supposedly worked in a bank and wrote stories about the daily feelings of a OL from her perspective and the people around "her" such as Maki-chan who has such well-defined abs thanks to her training at the gym that she got mistaken as a staff there, naive junior Sae-chan, meticulous senior Noriko-senpai and her manly senior Komine as they gossiped and complained about various topics. As the stories had such a strong realistic touch and were so compelling, the readers didn't feel like it was something which a man was capable of writing. The entries were later compiled and published into a book.

Of late, Baka Rhythm has been very active as a scriptwriter such as for the dramas "Kuroi Juunin no Onna" and "Sumusumu". To take on the leading role this time is even tougher due to scheduling conflicts and having the memorise the lines. Although he would have wanted to escape by not taking on the role, he feels that he is the only one who knows how to play this character so he will work hard to make the drama interesting.

Source: Oricon

Tetsuji Tamayama, Shosuke Tanihara, and Atsuro Watabe to star in WOWOW & Tokai TV drama

Tamayama Tetsuji, Tanihara Shosuke and Watabe Atsuro will be starring in the new WOWOW & Tokai TV Spring 2017 drama "Hanzai Shoukougun" (Criminal Syndrome) which is the first collaboration between both TV stations.

The drama is based on the three-part "Shoukougun" novel series by writer Nukui Tokuro where "Shissou Shoukougun" (Disappearance Syndrome) and "Yuukai Shoukougun" (Kidnap Syndrome) will form Season 1 while "Satsujin Shoukougun" (Murder Syndrome) will be made into Season 2.

Tamayama plays the role of Muto Takashi who is a former police detective using illegal methods to solve cases which are difficult to handle by the police while Tanihara plays Muto's buddy and a police detective Kaburagi Wataru and Watabe plays Tamaki Keigo who takes charge of the special missions given to Muto. While exploring the lives of these men, the topic of whether revenge is right or wrong is discussed in this suspense drama.

In Season 1, it features the story of how Muto's younger sister was killed by an underaged person and didn't get his due punishment. Although he had the urge to take revenge for his sister, the murderer suddenly committed suicide. Muto realised that this frightening trait in his character which could bring him over the edge and decided to quit being a police detective. One year later, he starts to take on cases from the police assigned by Tamaki which they are not in a convenient position to handle. Season 2 describes how Kaburagi who used to date Muto's sister gets trapped by the consequence of his decision to take revenge and how he and Kaburagi clash over their views about revenge as well as how this leads to a tragic ending for them.

Tamayama who is starring in his first leading role in a terrestrial network in two years since NHK's morning drama "Massan", commented that although the first novel was released more than 20 years ago, the story is something which is also likely to happen in the current era so it feels like a prophecy book to him. As for Tanihara, he cited the test on the morals of those who uphold justice as the key theme of the novel and showcases how people react differently to the same crime and the sadness experienced by various people. Watabe expressed surprise that this story has not been made into a movie or drama to date and found out from Nukui that although he had received offers to do so many times so far, he didn't think that this serious theme would be suitable as a drama. As such, Watabe was impressed with how the TV stations decided to proceed with this story and hopes that it will be a drama which will leave an impression on the viewers.

Season 1 which consists of 8 episodes and features Tamayama as the lead, will be shown from 8 April to 27 May at 11.40pm on Saturdays via Tokai TV while Season 2 which consists of 4 episodes and features Tanihara as the lead, will be shown from 11 June to 2 July at 10pm on Sundays via WOWOW.

Sources: Sanspo / Oricon / Eiga.com

This series looks like it could turn into another "Aibou" and last forever:

Yutaka Matsushige to return in TV Tokyo Spring 2017 drama "Kodoku no Gurume 6"

Matsushige Yutaka will be back in the new TV Tokyo Spring 2017 drama "Kodoku no Gurume Season 6" which will be shown in the Fridays 12.12am timeslot from 7 April. This will be the first time that the drama is shown in the Spring season. The drama which is based on the manga written by Kusumi Masayuki and the late Taniguchi Jiro who passed away on 11 February, has consistently achieved high ratings despite being shown in the midnight timeslot and its most recent installments was Season 5 shown during Autumn 2015 and the New Year SP shown on 2 January this year.

Filming began on 18 February in Tokyo as well as other areas where Inokashira Goro (Matsushige) goes to for his business trips. Matsushige who is a small eater, commented that after doing this drama for 5 years since 2012, his stomach seems to have gotten bigger for him to be able to eat all the delicious food featured in the drama.

In addition, the popular corner "Furatto QUSUMI" featuring Kusumi visiting the actual restaurants featured in the drama will continue in the new season. He will also be involved in the production of the BGM and theme music used in Season 6 besides writing the script.

Sources: Sponichi / Oricon / Eiga.com

Hiroshi Mikami to star in WOWOW drama

Mikami Hiroshi will be starring in the new WOWOW drama "Shachoushitsu no Fuyu - Kyodai Shinbunsha wo toru otoko -" (The winter of the president's office - the man who gets the big news company) which consists of 5 episodes and begins its run from 30 April in the Sundays 10pm timeslot.

The drama which is based on the novel "Shachoushitsu no Fuyu" by Douba Shunichi, describes how a longstanding news company plots to sell itself to a foreign company. The drama's producer Azuma Yasuyuki explained that in this time and age, with the proliferation of smartphones and social media, news no longer needs to be restricted to being consumed in the form of physical newspapers. As such, the future and purpose of newspapers is being questioned now. At the same time, with the birth of US President Trump who attacks the coverage from news companies as fake news, this is the perfect timing to make a drama about a sensational event like this where a news company tries to sell itself to a foreign company.

In the original novel, the lead character is Minami Kousuke, a reporter of Nihon Shinpo but the drama's setting will change the lead to Aoi Souta (Mikami) who is the president of the Japanese entity of United States' large-scale shopping company AMC. Aoi has some traits in his character which are said to remind people of President Trump e.g. using extreme words to fan people's emotions and doing things in a dangerous manner. He will be the person aiming to take over his former employer Nihon Shinpo for his current employer AMC and behaves like a tyrant towards the people who work with him.

The author Douba described Aoi as a very complicated person who has many sides in his character so he's very eager to see how Mikami will play this character in the drama. On the other hand, Mikami commented that Aoi is like Trump in certain ways e.g. his unwavering beliefs and vision and hopes to be able to show the persistence and passion in Aoi through his acting in this drama.

Sources: Oricon / Eiga.com

Masanobu Ando to star in FujiTV drama special

Ando Masanobu will be starring in the new FujiTV drama SP "Streetwise In Wonderland - Jiken no hou ga hotteikenai tantei -" (Streetwise In Wonderland - The case is the one who wouldn't leave the detective alone -) which will be shown at 12.35am on 27 March. This is Ando's first leading role in a FujiTV drama which is written by Ueda Makoto.

Ando plays the lead character Wada in this hard-boiled comedy who is a private detective and takes on any case no matter how trivial it may seem. He and his acquaintances gets embroiled into a big case beyond his imagination and cannot ditch the case even if he doesn't want to get involved. Co-stars include Tozuka Junki who plays an elite police detective and Ito Sairi who plays his client's wife.

For Ando who is playing a detective for the first time, he remarked that the six days of filming went by in a flash and he wished that he could do this again. With regard to this drama, he commented that this will be something unseen before in a nonsensical manner. Even though they tried to put on a straight face while acting, the viewers will find it hard not to giggle while watching the drama.

Source: Oricon

Aoi Wakana to be the lead in new NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

Aoi Wakana was announced to be the lead of the upcoming 97th NHK morning drama "Warotenka" which will consist of 151 episodes and be shown from 2 October 2017 to 31 March 2018 on Mondays to Saturdays at 8am. Filming is expected to begin from the middle of May and end by March next year.

"Warotenka" is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

During the press conference held at NHK's Osaka HQ in the morning and Tokyo HQ in the afternoon, Aoi commented that it felt like a dream for her when she was told that she got the heroine's role. Although she is still very new and inexperienced, she hopes to be able to grow together with the heroine and bring joy to everyone through this drama as the story progresses. The chief producer revealed that out of the young actresses who had remained in the final audition's camera test, any one of them could be the heroine. However, Aoi was picked in the end because they felt that she had contrasting traits such as youth vs. maturity, cuteness vs. strength, smiling face vs. frightening traits which coincided with what the heroine Fujioka represents. In addition, the actresses had to show a one-act comedy skit but nobody laughed at Aoi's impersonation of ETV character Nyanchuu so she thought that she had flopped. When she was told that she was chosen, Aoi was so shocked that she opened her mouth widely and forgot to cover it with her hand. A total of 2,378 people took part in the audition and this was Aoi's third attempt at a NHK morning drama audition.

Aoi made her debut through a CM in 2009 and gained attention after playing the junior high version of Ueno Juri in the movie "Hidamari no Kanojo". Her latest movie was "Survival Family" which is currently showing in cinemas. She will be entering Keio University's Faculty of Policy Management from April this year where she is supposed to attend lessons at its Shonan Fujisawa campus for the next four years but she has to be in Osaka and Kyoto on every weekday for the next ten months so she hasn't decided what to do about her studies and will go ahead to attend the entrance ceremony first. She is already undergoing training in dialect and how to move around in a kimono. Although Aoi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, she has relatives from Shiga and is exposed to the Kansai dialect at home so she feels that she should have no problems in this area.

Sources: Mantan Web / Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports 2 / Sanspo / Sponichi / Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

Ryohei Suzuki to star in NHK drama "Miyazawa Kenji no Shokutaku"

Suzuki Ryohei will be starring in the new NHK drama "Miyazawa Kenji no Shokutaku" (Miyazawa Kenji's dining table) which will begin its run from June in the Saturdays 10pm timeslot.

The drama based on the same-titled manga by Uonome Santa, features Suzuki as young Miyazawa, a poet and author of children's literature, known for his famous works such as "Ginga Tetsudo no Yoru" and "Ame nimo makezu" who had the image of being simple and eccentric but will be painted as a humourous, curious and innocent person. Through his love for food and classical music, the drama will be a touching tale about Miyazawa and the people around him. After leaving his home in Hanamaki, Iwate in the 10th year of the Taisho era (1921), Miyazawa returns home for the first time in 8 months when he makes the croquette he tasted in Tokyo for his family and realises the importance of sharing your happiness with others.

Suzuki said that when he went to do research on Miyazawa, he was surprised by how passionate and sensitive the latter was compared to his typical image. As such, he hopes to be able to show these sides of his character through his acting in this drama. Although the title contains the word "shokutaku", this is more than a gourmet drama and shows how the people in the Tohoku region lived during that time and made delicious dishes from simple ingredients. After he got the offer to act in this drama, Suzuki recalled how he had to return home by evening up to the time he was a senior high school student so as to eat dinner with his family every day as a family rule. Although he felt unhappy about having to return home so early, he can finally appreciate how important that time was for his family.

Filming will begin in early April.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Eiga.com / Oricon

gaijinmark wrote:

This series looks like it could turn into another "Aibou" and last forever: Yutaka Matsushige to return in TV Tokyo Spring 2017 drama "Kodoku no Gurume 6"

That's okay with me!
_________________

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