Which of the summer dramas that have been airing since July are attracting the most viewers? When ranked by "attention level" (preliminary value), which indicates the degree to which viewers in front of the TV are "glued to the screen," TV Tokyo's "Noh Mask Prosecutor" came in third place in the "individual overall" survey of men and women of all ages, and they tied for first place with TV Asahi's "Shiawase na Kekkon" and "The Great Chase: Metropolitan Police Department SSBC Violent Crimes Unit." However, when narrowing it down to the "core viewing demographic" (men and women aged 13-49), the top three shows in the attention ranking are all replaced. So which shows have captivated the younger demographic?
The data used was a unique indicator of "attention level" published by REVISIO, a company that surveys viewing habits of programs and commercials in 2,000 households in the Kanto region and 600 households in the Kansai region. A dedicated device equipped with a human body recognition sensor constantly measures whether people are looking at the TV screen, and calculates the percentage of people in front of the TV who are paying close attention to the program. The higher the number, the more people were engrossed in the program and unable to take their eyes off it.
This ranking looked at the first episodes of 16 drama series that have been broadcast on commercial broadcasters in the golden time slot (7pm-10pm) or prime time slot (7pm-11pm) since July. NHK dramas that began broadcasting in June were not included.
◇ "Shiawase na Kekkon," a "marriage suspense" story, and "The Big Chase," a detective story with a novel plot.
The top spots for all age groups were tied for first place with TV Asahi's "Shiawase na Kekkon" and "The Great Chase - Metropolitan Police Department SSBC Violent Crimes Division." When broken down by gender, these two shows also took first and second place, but "The Great Chase" took first place for men and "Shiawase na Kekkon" took first place for women, making the results easy to understand in a way.
"Shiawase na Kekkon " is an original script by Shizuka Oishi , whose last year's NHK Taiga drama " To Dear Radiance (Hikaru Kimi e) " became a hot topic. It is a "marriage suspense" story in which lawyer Harada Kotaro ( Sadao Abe) is attracted to and marries mysterious art teacher Suzuki Nerula (Takako Matsu), but Nerula harbors a serious secret. Towards the end of the first episode, a man claiming to be a detective appears before Kotaro, who is enjoying his happy married life, and tells him the shocking truth that Nerula is suspected of murdering her fiancé 15 years ago. With the secret that had been shrouded in mystery now revealed, the drama is likely to have attracted more attention.
"The Great Chase" is a detective story, a specialty of TV Asahi, starring Nao Omori, Masaki Aiba, and Nao Matsushita. The script is written by Yasushi Fukuda, who has produced many hits such as "HERO" and the NHK historical drama "Ryomaden." The setting is unique, as it is set in the "SSBC Violent Crimes Unit," a newly established unit within the Metropolitan Police Department Investigation Support and Analysis Center (SSBC), which is responsible for collecting and analyzing security camera footage, analyzing smartphones and computers, and profiling criminals, and is responsible for violent crimes. This must have seemed fresh to viewers. The brisk development of the story, which introduces the work of SSBC and the relationships between the characters while depicting the investigation process of the case, seems to have been a plus.
Coming in third is "Noh Mask Prosecutor," a legal drama in which Takaya Kamikawa plays the expressionless ace prosecutor, Shuntaro Fuwa. Shuntaro's portrayal of him uncovering the truth of cases without any consideration for the higher-ups at the prosecution or the police organization is thought to have been particularly well-received by older viewers.
However, the rankings changed dramatically for the "core audience" (men and women aged 13-49). "Shiawase na Kekkon" was in fifth place, while "The Great Chase" and "Noh Mask Detective" dropped to tenth place or lower.
◇For those in their 40s and under, "School of love.," "DOPE," and "The 19th medical record "
Taking the top spot instead is Fuji TV's " School of love., " starring Fumino Kimura and depicting the love story between a serious high school teacher and a host who is bad at reading and writing (played by Snow Man's Raul). In second place is TBS' " DOPE, " starring King & Prince's Takahashi Kaito and Tomoya Nakamura , and in third place is TBS' " The 19th medical record ," starring Jun Matsumoto . Perhaps the common thread between these three shows is that they feature both current and former talents affiliated with STARTO ENTERTAINMENT.
The orthodox medical drama " The 19th medical record, ranked relatively highly across all age groups, coming in 5th among "overall individuals" and 3rd among "women." It appears to be fairly well received by people of all ages and genders. It's no joke that it ranked first in household viewer ratings (surveyed by REVISIO, preliminary figures) out of 16 works.
"School of love." and "DOPE" ranked 8th and 11th respectively in the "Overall Individuals" category, clearly showing the difference in perception between generations.
"School of love." is a love story, but one of the settings is the world of hosts, and it is an intense tale in which Ogawa Manami, a high school teacher played by Kimura, was once reported to the police as a "stalker" of a former partner.
"DOPE" is set in the Special Investigations Division of the Narcotics Control Department, which brings together people with special powers born with them, and Takahashi plays a rookie narcotics agent, Saiki Yuto, who has been able to use his "future prediction" ability since the first episode. For both of them, the world of the work was hard to accept for people over 50, but it will be interesting to see how it changes by the final episode. (Text by Sasamoto Hirozai/MANTAN)
