Actor Marika Matsumoto attended the awards ceremony for the short drama competition "Mynavi Showdra Awards 2025" held in Tokyo on April 16. Matsumoto, who played a crazy entertainment manager in the short drama "Is This Face Right?" that began streaming in March, made the audience laugh with a self-deprecating joke, saying, "If I'm going to use a self-deprecating word, I guess it's another crazy role," and then spoke about the appeal of short dramas, which have been rapidly increasing in number in recent years, as "powerful content."
Looking back on the filming, he said, "I was conscious of things like the distance and the angle of view. (Because it's a short work) it's rare to have to make such calculations as adding some kind of impact to create an audience, so it was a very interesting experience," describing his experience as a short drama.
Regarding the crazy characters that are his specialty, he said, "It's quite difficult unless you can connect with (the character's) feelings on a deep level," and added, "The filming period was tight at only two days, but I talked (about the role) with the director on the phone until the morning, and put my all into it."
The "Mynavi Showdrama Awards" is a vertical short video contest that aims to bring together creators who want to make dramas and actors who want to appear in dramas. This year marks the second time it has been held. Anyone over the age of 13 with a TikTok account can apply, and 3,711 works were submitted during the entry period from October 16 last year to January 31 this year.
The Newcomer Award went to idol group "STU48" and "Futaba Taxi Short Drama" by Fukuoka taxi company Futaba Kotsu, the ABEMA Award went to creative team "Coyane's World", the Material Short Drama PR Award went to short drama account "Gutto SubtitLe", the Creator Award went to short drama accounts "Osaka's Stickman Suzuki", "Maybe This is How It Feels Drama", and "Every Day We Are Shy", the Mynavi Award went to "Every Day We Are Shy", and the Grand Prize went to the unit "Hoshi no Yotsuya 3-chome Theater" from entertainment production company "Ota Pro".
Also attending as guests on the day were actor Masanobu Takashima, former TV writer and CEO of "Startup Factory" Osamu Suzuki, and model Natsuki Abe. The event was hosted by freelance announcer Kasumi Mori, who is also active as an actor.
