New WOWOW drama "Haru ga Kita" to be shown in January 2018

The new WOWOW drama "Haru ga Kita" starring Korean idol group EXO's member Kai will be shown in January 2018. The drama's which was completed in May this year, is the first WOWOW production featuring a non-Japanese actor as the lead.

The drama is based on the same-titled short story in the last book "Tonari no Onna" written by Mukoda Kuniko who passed away in 1981 and features on human nature, love and the subtleties of the heart. The theme of the drama will focus on the regeneration of the family and deviate from the original story with newly-added developments. Kai will be playing the role of Lee Ji-won, a cameraman from South Korea who meets Kishigawa Naoko, a 31-year-old single lady who works as a saleswoman at the lingerie department of a departmental store. Due to Ji-won's presence, Naoko's family slowly goes through a change which leads to the exposure of secrets which the family members are hiding from one another. This ultimately leads to the breakdown of the family and a sad romance between Naoko and Ji-won. The heroine Naoko will be played by Kurashina Kana while her father Shuji and mother Sue will be played by Sano Shiro and Takahata Atsuko. Naoko's younger sister Junko will be played by Furuhata Seika.

Source: Oricon

Mizuki Yamamoto to star in Amazon Prime drama

Yamamoto Mizuki will be starring in the new Amazon Prime Video drama "Tokyo Alice" which is based on the same-titled manga by Chiya Toriko. The drama which consists of 12 episodes, will be shown exclusively via Amazon Prime Video. Filming began on 29 May.

The story describes how 4 women who are around the age of 30 live in a sharehouse at Daikanyama, Tokyo, and how they try to pursue their own happiness in love and work. Yamamoto plays the lead character Arisugawa Fuu who spends most of her salary on fashion and has little luck in love. Although she has a cute appearance, she has an otaku personality. Co-stars include Triendl Rena who plays a budding manga artist Hada Mizuho, Takahashi Maryjun who plays a cool psychiatrist Sakuragawa Rio and Asahina Aya who plays a rich man's daughter Enjoji Sayuri and works at an art gallery in Ginza.

Yamamoto said that she feels a sense of familiarity with her character since the two of them are about the same age and have a lot in common. As she had little experience acting with actresses around her age, she is enjoying the experience this time especially since there are many scenes where the four of them gather together.

The main theme song "Koi wa adventure" will be sung by singer-songwriter chay who is also a model of "CanCam" and it was included in her album "chayTEA" which was released on 14 June. Two other songs from the same album i.e. "You" and "Koi no hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen ni" will be used as the ending theme songs.

Sources: Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2 / Oricon / Eiga.com

gaijinmark wrote:

Mizuki Yamamoto to star in Amazon Prime drama Yamamoto Mizuki will be starring in the new Amazon Prime Video drama "Tokyo Alice" which is based on the same-titled manga by Chiya Toriko. The drama which consists of 12 episodes, will be shown exclusively via Amazon Prime Video. Filming began on 29 May. The story describes how 4 women who are around the age of 30 live in a sharehouse at Daikanyama, Tokyo, and how they try to pursue their own happiness in love and work. Yamamoto plays the lead character Arisugawa Fuu who spends most of her salary on fashion and has little luck in love. Although she has a cute appearance, she has an otaku personality. Co-stars include Triendl Rena who plays a budding manga artist Hada Mizuho, Takahashi Maryjun who plays a cool psychiatrist Sakuragawa Rio and Asahina Aya who plays a rich man's daughter Enjoji Sayuri and works at an art gallery in Ginza. Yamamoto said that she feels a sense of familiarity with her character since the two of them are about the same age and have a lot in common. As she had little experience acting with actresses around her age, she is enjoying the experience this time especially since there are many scenes where the four of them gather together. The main theme song "Koi wa adventure" will be sung by singer-songwriter chay who is also a model of "CanCam" and it was included in her album "chayTEA" which was released on 14 June. Two other songs from the same album i.e. "You" and "Koi no hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen ni" will be used as the ending theme songs. Sources: Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2 / Oricon / Eiga.com

Thanks Mark! I didn't realize Amazon was producing Japanese TV shows also. The show sounds like Tokyo Tarareba Musume. I've heard very positive and very middling things about that one.

Shuri to star in FujiTV 2017 Fall drama

Shuri will be starring in the upcoming FujiTV CS Autumn 2017 drama "Ayamachi Scramble" (Mistake Scramble) which will be shown from 19 November in the Sundays 11.30pm timeslot. There will be a total of 5 episodes lasting 30 minutes each.

The love comedy describes how the lead character Risa (Shuri) has always been interested in her colleague played by Wakaba Ryuya but she suddenly starts to imagine how it would be if he had an affair with a married woman (Hashimoto Manami) who she just met the day before even though there is nothing like that happening in reality. Her wild imagination gets her into serious trouble as she keeps making mistakes due to her exaggerated fantasy.

As this is Shuri's first leading role and her first attempt at a love comedy, she admitted that she never thought that such a day would come. Nonetheless, she hopes to be able to convey the overly-straightforward side of Risa and how she hides her true self while trying to peer into the dark sides of other people and hopes that the viewers will enjoy watching this.

The drama's theme song "Yuuwaku Party" will be sung by 4-member band Shiggy Jr while the movie version of the drama will be shown for a week only from 28 October at Shinjuku's K's cinema.

Shuri is the only child of Mizutani Yutaka and Ito Ran and had been seen recently in dramas such as NHK's morning drama "Toto Nee-chan" and TBS Spring 2017 drama "Reverse".

Sources: Sponichi / Sanspo

gaijinmark wrote:

Shuri to star in FujiTV 2017 Fall drama Shuri is the only child of Mizutani Yutaka

Does that mean there will be a scene where she holds up her index finger and says, "Hitotsu dake" ?
_________________

"They're real and they're spectacular"

Marie Iitoyo to star in FujiTV drama special

Iitoyo Marie will be starring in the new FujiTV drama SP "Aoi Tori Nante" which will be shown via CS FujiTV TWO in October. The story is based on the winning script by 17-year-old Kuribayashi Yuko who won the 4th Dorama Koushien competition which is held to discover promising scriptwriters who are currently senior high school students. Filming began on 3 August and Kuribayashi will also be the director of this drama SP.

Iitoyo plays a senior high school student Asadera Karea who is troubled over her feelings for her boyfriend set during the last summer of her high school days. By a strange stroke of fate, Karea happens to meet Sekiya Kouichi (Sugino Yousuke), the scholar of their school, when they send a blue bird to the vet. Nakamura Yurika will play Yoshii Nazuna who is in love with Sekiya while Makita Sports will play a street musician who is a key person in this story.

Iitoyo said that as she had only graduated from senior high school in spring last year, she found it interesting to be acting in a drama written by someone in the same age group and expressed her joy at being able to take part in this project. Although she had acted in love stories before, this is the first time she has acted in one written by a senior high school student so the lines are filled with a sense of pureness, innocence and frankness which she found to be rather refreshing. Iitoyo also reflected on her meeting with Kuribayashi who she described as someone who has strong feelings for her work so she hopes to be able to support Kuribayashi in conveying the drama's theme to the viewers.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Sanspo / Oricon

Nana Seino to play Tetsuko Kuroyanagi in TV Asahi afternoon drama "Totto-chan!"

Seino Nana will be taking on the leading role in upcoming TV Asahi afternoon drama "Totto-chan!" which will begin its run from October in the weekdays 12.30pm timeslot. She will be playing the role of Kuroyanagi Tetsuko from the time she was 15 years old.

This will be the afternoon timeslot's second offering that will be written by Oishi Shizuka and includes portions from the book "Madogiwa no Totto-chan" written by Kuroyanagi herself. Matsushita Nao will playing her mother Chou while her father Moritsuna will be played by Yamamoto Koji. Co-stars also include Takada Junji who plays Chou's uncle Inoue Hiroshi, Yagi Akiko who plays Chou's aunt and Hiroshi's wife, Sato B-saku who plays Chou's father and Komura Hiro who plays Chou's mother. Ozawa Yukiyoshi plays Shiina-san who is a cafe owner and rents an apartment to Chou and Moritsuna when they first got married while Takaoka Saki plays Ito Hanako whose husband was the first international architect in Japan and lives as a painter now. Takenaka Naoto plays Kobayashi Sousaku who was the principal of Tomoe Gakuen and had a great influence on Kuroyanagi's life. Ouki Kaname and Kurosaka Mami will also be part of the cast. Shirota Yu will be playing international pianist Yusuke Carl Kellner who had a romantic relationship with Kuroyanagi.

The story begins 4 years before Kuroyanagi was born in 1933 when Chou and Moritsuna meet for the first time and how they go through the tough days during the war and after it as a star is born into their family. Chou aspired to be an opera singer and was attending music school when she met the talented violinist Moritsuna. The childhood version of Kuroyanagi will be played by child actor Toyoshima Hana.

Seino appeared in Kuroyanagi's image and paid a visit to the latter while she was doing the recording of her daily variety programme "Tetsuko no Heya". Kuroyanagi praised Seino for being a spitting image of her while wearing Kuroyanagi's clothes and the mushroom-style wig. Kuroyanagi commented that there are many incidents which happened before her birth that will be featured in the drama so she feels that it will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for her when she watches this drama. As such, she is eager for the drama to start and even lent her clothes to the drama's production team. In addition, Kuroyanagi commented that her life had not been entirely smooth-sailing due to various sad happenings but she was lucky to have her mother who respected her freedom and gave her the space to grow and do the things she wanted even though she felt that she probably was a difficult child. She hopes that the positive vibes from her story will cheer on everyone who is watching the drama.

Seino commented that she was nervous about having to play Kuroyanagi but hopes to be able to show the tomboyish, cute, frank and elegant sides of the latter through her acting. She also revealed that it was such a coincidence that she could fit into Kuroyanagi's clothes and shoes worn during her 20s so it sort of felt fated that she was to take on this role.

Filming of this drama is already in progress.

Sources: Sanspo / Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

Yuta Tamamori, Keiichiro Koyama, and Yuki Furukawa to star in TV Asahi 2017 Fall drama

Tamamori Yuta, Koyama Keiichiro and Furukawa Yuki will be starring in the upcoming TV Asahi Autumn 2017 drama "Juuyou Sankounin Tantei" (Important witness detective) which will begin its run from October in the Fridays 11.15pm timeslot. The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Kinuta Murako which is currently being serialised in "Gekkan Flowers". This will be the first time that the three actors are working together in the same drama.

Tamamori plays the lead character Maneki Kei who is a model. By a strange stroke of fate, he always becomes the first person to discover the body at a murder crime scene and is constantly seen as a suspect due to the uncanny coincidence. Koyama plays Suou Itsuki while Furukawa plays Simon Touma who are also models and join Kei in solving these murder cases in a comedic and straightforward way.

Tamamori commented that as he is playing a model this time, there is a need to pay more attention to his appearance as compared to his past roles. He hopes that the three of them will work well together for the viewers to support them in their quest for the truth behind the murder cases. As for Koyama, it has been 5 years since he last acted in a drama series so he's excited about this drama which he views as a challenge to himself. Meanwhile, Furukawa commented that he doesn't see anything similar between him and his character Simon so it is very challenging for him especially since Simon is a model with a good figure but he himself has no muscles to speak of. As such, he plans to head to gym to do training so as to look convincing for this character and hopes to show his progress as an actor through this drama.

Reflecting on the trio's first meeting, Tamamori remarked that he could tell right away that Furukawa is shy in front of strangers like him so it naturally became Koyama's duty to liven things up. Koyama expressed his wish for the three of them to become closer over time so that they can show off good teamwork during the filming.

Sources: Oricon / Sanspo / Nikkansports

gaijinmark wrote:

Nana Seino to play Tetsuko Kuroyanagi in TV Asahi afternoon drama "Totto-chan!"

Hikari Mitsushima pretty much covered this last year in "Totto Terebi". I'm sure Seino will have her performance compared with Mitsushima's, good luck with that.
_________________

"They're real and they're spectacular"

Dean Fujioka and Emi Takei to co-star in NTV Fall 2017 drama

Dean Fujioka and Takei Emi will be joint leads in the new NTV Autumn 2017 drama "Ima kara anata wo kyouhaku shimasu" (I will threaten you from now on) which will begin its run from October in the Sundays 10.30pm timeslot. The drama which is based on the same-titled novel by Fujiishi Namiya, will be Fujioka's first leading role in a private network drama series.

The story features Fujioka as Kanji Senkawa who is great at investigating cases and solving them using his intimidating techniques to force criminals into a corner. On the other hand, Takei plays Mio Kanesaka who is a kind university student from a rich family and will do anything to help anyone that is in trouble. The two will come together to solve various cases which the police have engaged Senkawa to handle.

Source: Eiga.com

Takaya Kamikawa to star in TV Tokyo drama special

Kamikawa Takaya will be starring in the new TV Tokyo drama SP "Temisu no Tsurugi" (Themis' Sword) which will be shown this autumn. The drama which is based on the same-titled novel by Nakayama Shichiri, features Kamikawa as a detective Watase who tries to find the truth behind a case over the span of more than 20 years so he will be acting as this character from his 20s to 50s.

Kamikawa commented that it was interesting to act in a story like this where there are many mysteries scattered around as his character tries to link the dots to arrive at the truth. In addition, the story shows the various sides of human nature and what is exactly justice. Last but not least, he had to show how Watase struggled with an emotional wound which never healed despite the passage of time.

The drama's scriptwriter will be Ban Kazuhiko while the director will be Hoshi Mamoru.

Source: Oricon

ashley juggs wrote:

Does that mean there will be a scene where she holds up her index finger and says, "Hitotsu dake" ?

No, but her father will for another 20 or so episodes.

Yutaka Mizutani and Takashi Sorimachi to return for "Aibou 16"

Mizutani Yutaka and Sorimachi Takashi will be back to reprise their roles in the upcoming TV Asahi Autumn 2017 drama "Aibou season16" which will begin its run from October in the Wednesdays 9pm timeslot. The drama series started in 2000 and has an average rating of 16.2% for its 286 episodes aired to date. The last season's (18 episodes) had an average rating of 15.2%. Filming for the new season began in early August. In conjunction with the launch of the latest installment, there will be some special PR videos which will contain footage from the filming, behind-the-scenes and interviews of the cast. These will be made available on the drama's official website from 11 August.

Mizutani commented that he never imagined that the series would reach its 16th season just as how you can never predict what happens in life. As for the reason why the series has lasted this long, he said that he can't speak of a single reason but attributes it to the producers, directors and the viewers who saw various possibilities and potential in Sugishita Ukyo (his character). As such, he is never sick of playing this character as he thinks that there are more things to be uncovered from Ukyo. With regard to working with Sorimachi for the third year, Mizutani said that their characters clashed in season 15 so it will be worth checking out how their relationship will develop in the new installment. On the other hand, Sorimachi expressed his joy about being able to take on the Aibou series again and anticipated that there might be a change between his character's relationship with Ukyo.

Co-stars in the new season include Kawahara Kazuhisa, Yamanaka Takashi, Yamanishi Atsushi, Suzuki Anju, Ishizaka Koji, Oosugi Ren, Enoki Takaaki, Nakama Yukie and Asari Yousuke.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

gaijinmark wrote:

Yutaka Mizutani and Takashi Sorimachi to return for "Aibou 16"

I'm glad for Sorimachi, maybe they should make him a permanent partner.
_________________

玉木宏、藤木直人、佐藤健

blog

Satomi Kobayashi and Yuko Oshima to star in WOWOW and Hulu drama

Kobayashi Satomi and Oshima Yuko will be starring in the new WOWOW & Hulu drama "Cote d' Azur Number 10" which will be shown from November 2017. WOWOW will be showing 5 episodes while Hulu will show the remaining 4 episodes. Each episode will be 30 minutes-long and feature the two of them playing different characters every time such as friends who meet at another friend's funeral, a pair of private detectives, a social dance teacher and student and a guitar player and regular customer at a bar.

When Kobayashi first heard that she has to play different characters in each of the 9 episodes, she thought that it was going to be really tough. However, when the filming actually began, the interesting story overcame her worries especially since she is the type to react accordingly to the atmosphere on set rather than think beforehand how she should act. As such, she had no issues easing into the production process which values the ideas of the staff and the natural flow of things on the set. As for working with Oshima, Kobayashi said that she is looking forward to their collaboration and praised her for being more frank and flexible than she thought. Kobayashi commented that Oshima is actually the type who works hard behind the scenes and it was refreshing to work with her even though Kobayashi has worked as an actress for a longer time.

On the other hand, Oshima said that she also thought that it would be very challenging to take on this drama with such a tight filming schedule. However, with the help of Kobayashi's sharpness and warmth as well as the production team's unique way of doing things, she found that she could relax and fit well into the filming and enjoy the process.

Source: Oricon

Miki Maya to star in Tokai TV/FujiTV 2017 Fall drama

Maya Miki will be starring in the new Tokai TV & FujiTV Autumn 2017 drama "Sakura no Oyakodon" (Sakura's oyakodon) which will begin its run from 7 October in the Saturdays 11.40pm timeslot. This marks her first leading role in a Tokai TV drama and her first leading role in a drama in 5 years since 2012's TV Asahi drama "Sousachizu no Onna".

The original story features Maya as the lead character Tsukumo Sakura who owns a secondhand bookstore. Legend has it that she will cook free oyakodon for anyone who is hungry and has nowhere to go to so that they can face up to their problems and try to move on. Actually, Sakura had a 17-year-old son who died 16 years ago due to being involved in an incident which then led to her suffering huge emotional trauma and the divorce with her husband. She raised her daughter Kyoko single-handedly and firmly believes that people who are hungry tend to think of the worst and go on the wrong path. That is why she decided to carve out a space at the back of her bookstore and offer oyakodon for anyone who comes without questioning their backgrounds or circumstances. With the appearance of a young girl Ninomiya Asami, this happens to bring back Sakura's bad memories of the past and forces her to face up to her own trauma.

Maya who is currently the daily host for TBS morning programme "Vivit", expressed her concern about whether she would be able to juggle both the filming and the live morning show but said that she was very happy to be offered the role. As she had played mostly strong and cool women in the past, she thought that this role had come at the right time as she had talked about many social programmes on "Vivit" which will be essential in helping her to sound more convincing when she says the lines in the drama. With regard to her character, Sakura is someone who has stopped moving on in her life and many people are like her who hide their internal struggles as they go through each day. As such, she hopes that they will feel consoled when they watch the drama on Saturday nights as if they are given a bowl of delicious oyakodon to comfort their souls.

Source: Oricon

Koichi Sato and Yosuke Eguchi to star in new WOWOW drama

Sato Koichi and Eguchi Yosuke will be starring in the new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubute ~ Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otoko tachi ~" which will begin its run from November in the Sundays 10pm timeslot. The drama which consists of 8 episodes, is based on the non-fiction book by Kiyotake Hidetoshi. This will be the first direct collaboration between both actors even though they have been friends for about 30 years and had appeared in various works together in the past.

The story is based on a true case which happened in 2001 and involved the defrauding of secret funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The investigation officers faced an uphill task of venturing into the sacred territory of the country and had to fight the forces within the organisation to uncover the truth in this case caused by the "three evil men" i.e. high-ranking officers in the ministry. Sato will be playing Kizaki Mutsuhito who is involved in the investigation while his superior Saimi Teruaki will be played by Eguchi.

Sato said that he will try his best in this drama so as to match up to the aspirations and passion of the production crew who had chosen to take on such a difficult project. He also commented that the Japanese tend to forget major incidents after some time which shouldn't be the case because important lessons are forgotten at the same time. As such, it is timely to refresh people's memories of this case which did take place in Japan and stir public conversation and interest in this topic through the drama. On the other hand, Eguchi said that he felt that it was meaningful for them to take on such taboo topics in this drama and that he hoped that everyone could see how the police detectives had thrown a stone towards the dark side of this country and exposed what the public should know about.

Sources: Oricon / Sanspo / Eiga.com

Itsuji Itao to star in TV Tokyo 2017 Fall drama

Itao Itsuji will be starring in the new TV Tokyo Autumn 2017 drama "Fringeman Aijin no tsukurikata oshiemasu" (Fringeman I will teach you how to get a lover) which will begin its run from October in the Fridays 12.20am timeslot.

The drama is based on the same-titled manga "Fringeman" by Aoki U-hei and features Itao as the lead character Ibuse Masumi who is nicknamed as the lover professor and teaches hopeless married men how to get a lover and have an affair. At a mahjong parlour located at the fringe of the city, three men Tasai, Mitsushima and Ango want to seek a breakthrough in their dry and boring marriage lives and desire to have a forbidden affair. They meet Ibuse who started having lovers at the age of 22 and boasts of the record of having as many as 11 lovers at one time where the latter starts to coach them on the techniques of having extramarital affairs and find lovers. He makes the trio stick to his four rules and gives them various tough missions to clear in order to achieve their goals.

Itao commented that he was amazed by TV Tokyo's courage in doing such a project about the how-tos in having an affair despite the recent spate of extramarital affair scandals and the generally unforgiving stance towards these. Although the story sounds silly and far-fetched, it gets more interesting as they become more serious and pour more passion into the production of the drama. Rather than try to be comical about this, he will put on his serious face to teach his students which he believes will be interesting to the viewers. Itao himself got married to a OL who is 8 years younger than him in 1998 and has a daughter. He stressed that although he's mischievous, affairs are a no-no for him because he's not the type to be meticulous and careful about two-timing women and cannot cope with the stress of doing so.

Sources: Eiga.com / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Kana Kurashina to star in NHK drama Special

Kurashina Kana will be starring in the new NHK BS Premium drama SP from Hyogo titled "Attamaru Utopia" (Warming Up Utopia) which will be shown at 10pm on 24 January 2018. The drama is set at Kinosaki Onsen located in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, which is featured in the short story "Kinosaki nite"by Shiga Naoya where there is a line saying that there is hardly any difference between living and dying despite the impression that they are at two ends of the spectrum. The drama will also feature the Kinosaki Onsen Kaidan Matsuri which is a horror event held at Toyooka in September.

The story talks about three women who find it tough to survive in the modern society and try to find a place where they can belong to. Kurashina plays the role of Takamiya Iori who was born and raised in Kobe and experienced the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake when she was 8 years old. She used to dream of being a novelist when she was in senior high school and gave up somehow along the way to become a bank employee. However, she could not stay long in her job and later moves to Toyooka where she attends a boarding school to undergo training as a bag maker. Hori Haruna plays Shirotono Ren who is a senior high school student and the only daughter of a family who manages a ryokan in Kinosaki Onsen while Ayaka Wilson plays Lala who works at Kinosaki International Art Centre after moving to Japan with her famous dancer husband. Watabe Gota will play Katsuoka Yuuto who is the only son of a fishmonger family and is Ren's boyfriend.

The producer Kyota Mitsuhiro explained that Shiga's novel talked about the concept of life and death actually being the same thing just that they are on different sides which is similar to how people and their loved ones may be affected by disasters at any time. As Kurashina herself went through a similar experience when her hometown was affected by the Kumamoto earthquake last year, they offered the role to her so that she could use her own feelings to convey Iori's thoughts at the same time. Kurashima commented that she had also tried to find the answer of where she could belong to through playing Iori and expressed her thanks for being able to participate in this drama.

Source: Oricon

Kengo Koura to star in WOWOW drama

Koura Kengo will be starring in the new WOWOW drama "Bye Bye, Black Bird" which will be shown next year in the Saturdays 10pm timeslot. The story is based on the same-titled novel by Isaka Kotaro and this will be the first drama adaptation of Isaka's works although there have been movie adaptations like "Golden Slumber", "Juuryoku Piero" and "Grasshopper" in the past.

Koura plays the lead character Hoshino who dates every woman he manages to attract and is currently dating 5 women at the same time. He is also deep in debt. Wanting to reset his life and get out of debt, he gets attracted to the proposal from a mysterious organisation which will bring him to somewhere on a bus but sets the condition that he has to break up with his 5 girlfriends. While on the journey of doing so, he is accompanied by Mayumi, a 3m-tall and 200kg woman tasked to keep an eye on Hoshino who will be played by Shirota Yu.

Koura described his character Hoshino as someone who is actually a good person and honest but unwittingly becomes a player and dates 5 women at the same time. On the other hand, Shirota described his character Mayumi as the first and last female character he would probably play and pledged to put in his all for this role.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo

Tae Kimura to star in NTV 2017 Fall drama

Kimura Tae will be starring in the new NTV Autumn 2017 drama "Black Revenge" which will begin its run from 5 October in the Thursdays 11.59pm timeslot. This will be her first leading role in a private network drama and the story will be written under the direction of journalist Nakamura Ryutaro who used to be the ace reporter of Shuukan Bunshun.

Kimura will be playing a capable report writer Saori who works for a weekly magazine on a contract basis. Her husband is driven to commit suicide due to a baseless scandal so Saori tries to find the culprits who are responsible for this and take revenge for her late husband. Co-stars include Sato Jiro, Horii Arata, Okano Maya, Nakamura Eriko and Suzuki Sawa.

Kimura who is well-known for her unfortunate characters in the past, said that this is the first time she is playing such a role where her fury, weakness and sadness have to be expressed openly even though her characters to date tend to be more restrained. She also revealed that Saori has a signature line at the end of each episode i.e. "hone no zui made enjoushinasai" which means "you should go up in flames and burn until the marrow of your bones". As such, she called upon viewers to check out how Saori goes about trying to achieve her goal and say this signature line to her enemies.

In order to prepare for the role, Kimura cut her hair by 25cm and will be wearing dark-coloured clothes with bright red lipstick as shown in the newly released image photo. A special video before the drama's broadcast will be shown via the drama's official website, Twitter and Instagram pages from 7 September.

Sources: Oricon 1 / Oricon 2


_________________