Wingman：The live-action drama will star Fujioka Makino, who says, "I want to return to my boyhood feelings." The heroine will be Kato Konatsu, and the director will be a leading figure in special effects action films.

It was revealed on September 10th that actor Fujioka Makino will play the lead role in "Wingman," a live-action drama adaptation of Masakazu Katsura's popular manga.

The drama is scheduled to air on TV Tokyo's "Drama Choose!" time slot (Tuesdays at 12:30am) from October 22nd. Fujioka's first lead role was in the same network's drama "Cool Clumsy Boys," which aired last year, but this will be his first lead role in a terrestrial drama series.

"Wingman" is the serialized debut work of Katsura, who is known for "Video Girl Ai" and "I"s," and is a manga of the same name that was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha) from 1983 to 1985. The story is about a high school student and special effects otaku, Hirono Kenta, who gets his hands on a "Dream Notebook" that makes whatever he writes come true, and gains the power to transform into his own hero, "Wingman," for five minutes.

Fujioka, who plays the main character Kenta, commented, "One of my biggest dreams in my acting career was to play the lead role in a terrestrial TV drama, so I was very happy to receive the offer. I felt a sense of responsibility and pressure to play Hirono Kenta from "Wingman," which revolutionized "Weekly Shonen Jump" in the 1980s, but I approached the filming with a strong determination to live up to the expectations. I love special effects and practice action scenes every day wearing costumes I made myself. It was a fresh experience to play such a Kenta, and I had a lot of fun, and I was able to return to my boyhood feelings and act."

"I think this is a work that can be enjoyed by fans of the original work, special effects fans, and people who have never seen special effects before. Please enjoy this wonderful drama that has action, emotion, and youth."

It was also revealed that Kato Konatsu will play the heroine, Aoi, a mysterious girl who comes to the three-dimensional (Earth) world from the other-dimensional world of Podrimus. It was also announced that Sakamoto Koichi, a leading figure in special effects action, will serve as director and action director.

Director Sakamoto, who was a junior high school student when the original manga was serialized, commented with joy, "I've directed many heroes up until now, but I never thought I'd be directing 'Wingman'! I still can't hide my surprise (laughs)."

"The original manga has many fans, so there is a lot of pressure in adapting it into a live-action version. However, this time, under the direction of Mr. Katsura, we were able to create a 'Wingman' for the modern era, from script development to design, modeling production and auditions. The cast is also a wonderful group of talented people who recreate the image of the original while breathing new charm into it. I think it's a new type of work that has never been seen before, with a wonderful fusion of youth drama and special effects action. I hope that many people, from fans of the original manga to those who are unfamiliar with the original, will watch Kenta and Aoi grow up!"

The opening theme will be "chang［e］" by rock band BLUE ENCOUNT.

In addition to TV Tokyo, DMM TV will be offering exclusive unlimited viewing and simultaneous streaming, with the first episode being released one week early on October 16th.