Drama 1 week:Non appears in NHK drama "After the Earthquake" based on Haruki Murakami's novel Voicing Kaeru-kun

"Drama 1 Week" brings together the most important drama news from the past week. This time (March 15-21), we cover the topics of Non's voice acting in "After the Earthquake," which will be broadcast on NHK's Saturday drama slot (Saturdays at 10pm) from April 5th, and the fact that the serial drama "Fukyouni mo Hodo ga Aru!" starring Abe Sadao, which aired on TBS in January 2024, will be broadcast as a special drama next spring. We will cover these topics in two parts.

On the 15th, it was revealed that additional cast members for the drama series "Someday, Hero" (ABC TV/TV Asahi, Sunday 10:15 pm), which starts on April 6th, will include Yuna Hoshino , who made a name for herself in the special effects drama " Kamen Rider Geats " (2022-23), and Komakine Aoita, known for her work in the Super Sentai series "Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger" (2021-22). Hoshino will play Kimihara Ibuki, a single mother who makes a living through part-time work, and Komakine will play Shibuya Yuki, a leader among the children at a child welfare facility. The drama follows Akayama Seiji, a child welfare facility staff member who has been missing for 20 years, played by Kiritani Kenta, as he confronts huge powers with his former students who have given up hope in the world.

A talk event for TV Tokyo's 60th anniversary special drama "Haretara Iine" was recently held in Tokyo, featuring lead actress Mei Nagano and co-star Kyoko Yoshine. This is the first time Nagano and Yoshine have worked together, and Nagano said, "I love her even more now," while Yoshine commented, "She has such positive energy, and it makes me want to help her. She's so fleeting, and I love her so much," revealing their mutual affection. In the drama, nurse Takahashi Saho (played by Nagano) travels back in time to 1945 during the war, where she faces difficult situations as Yukino Sae, an army nurse working at a field hospital in the Philippines.

On the 16th, it was announced that Maika Sasaki from "=LOVE" will be appearing in the TBS Sunday Theatre "Caster" (Sundays at 9pm) which will start in April. She will play Toyama Saya, a student part-timer working on the news floor, commonly known as "Team C". Toyama's main job is odd jobs, and she usually peacefully does things like copying manuscripts and replenishing consumables. However, when new news comes in or the main newscaster Shindo Soichi (Hiroshi Abe ) takes an unexpected action, the news floor falls into chaos, and Toyama gets caught up in the program staff who are running around in a hurry... That's the role she plays.

It has recently been revealed that Hama Shogo and Mao Ioki will appear in the drama series "MADDER: That Incident, I'm the Sinister" (Kantele/Fuji TV, scheduled to air late Thursday nights), starring Nogizaka46 member Ioki Mao. Hama plays Morino Shinji, a detective from the First Investigation Division who is pursuing a murderer, while Higuchi plays Eto Arata, a classmate of Nakano Akane, played by Ioki. Nakano Akane, a genius high school student, meets Kurokawa Yu (Yamamura Ryuta), a young man believed to be the culprit of a certain murder case, and after causing a small incident at school, it eventually develops into a serial murder case. Starting late April 10, Kantele will air the series every Thursday at 12:15 a.m., while Fuji TV will air the series every Thursday at 2:15 a.m. FOD will be streaming the series one week in advance, immediately after the first episode airs on Kantele.

It has been announced that Non will be providing a voice role in "After the Earthquake," which will be broadcast on NHK's Saturday drama slot (Saturdays at 10 p.m.) from April 5th. Non will play the giant frog character Kaeru-kun in "#4 'The Frog Saves Tokyo'". "After the Earthquake" is a drama series based on a short story by Murakami Haruki, published after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. The setting is changed from 1995 to 2025, depicting the 30 years of "after the earthquake" that continue from "the present." The script was written by Oe Takayoshi, who also wrote the movie "Drive My Car," which was based on another Murakami novel. The drama will be directed by Go Inoue , who has worked on the NHK Asadora drama "Amachan" in the first half of 2013.

The 11th episode of the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sunday 8:00 pm and others), starring Ryusei Yokohama , "Tomimoto, the Horse Mask of Honor," was broadcast on March 16th, with Hamao Noritaka appearing as Ichikawa Monnosuke. Hamao is known for his role as George Karisaki in the Kamen Rider series "Kamen Rider Revise" (2021-22). He also appeared in NHK's "Drama 10 'Ooku'" (2023), written by the same Yoshiko Morishita as " UNBOUND ." The role of Ichikawa Monnosuke played this time is a kabuki actor who is active in a theater together with Tomimoto Toyodayu (Gonosuke, Kanichiro).

It was announced on the 17th that the serial drama "Fukokuni mo Hodo ga Aru!" starring Abe Sadao, which was broadcast on TBS in January 2024, will be broadcast as a special drama next spring. The drama is about a Spartan-style junior high school physical education teacher, Ogawa Ichiro (Abe), who accidentally travels back in time from 1986 (Showa 61) to 2024, making a series of remarks that are "inappropriate" in the Reiwa era and disregard compliance. It will give people in the Reiwa era who are bound by compliance an opportunity to think. The special drama to be broadcast next spring will depict the aftermath of the serial drama. Abe commented, "I'll do my best to show you the various faces of Ogawa Ichiro, running, singing, dancing, knocking, and more! Please look forward to it!"

It was revealed on the 17th that Miyuki Sawashiro , known for her roles as Fujiko Mine in the anime series " Lupin the Third" and Kitaro in "GeGeGe no Kitaro " (season 6), will be appearing as a voice actor in the 10th episode of Fuji TV's "Monday 9" drama " 119 Emergency Call " (Mondays at 9pm), which will be broadcast on March 24th. The story is set in a fire department's communications command center, and Sawashiro will be voicing the "mysterious caller" who is a key character in the story. Sawashiro commented, "Although it's a drama, I was reassured that I was in front of a microphone as usual when recording my lines, and my partner helped me out. I'll be appearing as a mysterious character...! I wonder what kind of role I'll be playing...! I hope everyone enjoys it."

On the 17th, footage of the wrap-up of the drama series " The Hot Spot " (Nippon TV, Sunday 10:30 pm), in which "Tokyo 03" member Akihiro Kakuta plays an alien, was released. After finishing filming, Kakuta said with a smile, "Usually I'm an old man with a worn-out back and knees, but thanks to everyone I was able to do something as an alien with abilities, and I was really happy." Then, "Kakuta! Kakuta!" erupted, and Ichikawa Mikako, Suzuki Anne, and Hiraiwa Kami, who had already wrapped up filming, made a surprise appearance. Kakuta commented huskily, "Were you waiting for me? I'm not crying!", and the set was filled with laughter.