Aoshima-kun is mean：Kikuchi Fuma appears in the final episode, surprised by his best friend Watanabe Shota's appearance: "It was the first time I've seen him talk so fluently with a woman."

It has been revealed that Kikuchi Fuma will appear in the final episode (to be broadcast on September 14th) of the TV drama series "Aoshima-kun is Mean" (TV Asahi, Saturday 11pm), co-starring popular group "Snow Man" member Watanabe Shota and actor Nakamura Anne. This will be the first time in about a year that Watanabe and Kikuchi, who are best friends, have worked together since last year's drama "Fake Marriage" (Kantele).

Kikuchi will star in the next drama in the same time slot after "Aoshima-kun is Mean", "The Reason We Fall in Love". Knowing Watanabe's shy true nature, Kikuchi expressed his surprise, saying, "I thought the atmosphere between him and Nakamura Anne was very natural. It was the first time I'd seen him talking so fluently with a woman (laughs). There's a side of Watanabe that you can only see on this set."

Both works have the common theme of "office love," and Kikuchi said enthusiastically, "I've been given a wonderful baton in this way, and I hope to make it into my own drama while receiving private advice from my 'office love senior' (Watanabe)!"

When asked by Kikuchi how to overcome embarrassment in an office romance, Watanabe dismissed it, saying, "I was really nervous for the first week, so there's nothing I can give you advice on (laughs)." He also expressed concern about Kikuchi, who plays the silent protagonist Kurosawa Tomoya, who doesn't show his emotions in "The Reason We Fall in Love," saying, "I'm a little worried when I heard that he's 'banning ad-libs and laughter.' If Fuma can't ad-lib, he'll have a fit (laughs)!"

The drama is a live-action adaptation of a popular web manga (written by Yoshii Yuu) that has been viewed more than 130 million times. The story depicts the romance between Yukino (Nakamura), who has been keeping herself away from romance, and Aoshima (Watanabe), a popular co-worker who is nine years younger than her and has no interest in romance. The total number of views of the catch-up streams up to the latest episode 8 has exceeded 18.27 million (according to Video Research, measurement period: July 7th to September 9th). Every episode has been ranked number one on TVer's overall ranking, making it a hot topic.