The drama series "A Little Esper" (TV Asahi, Tuesdays at 9pm) starring Oizumi Yo and written by Akiko Nogi will begin airing on October 21st. The regular cast members have been announced every week since September 2nd, and on September 30th it was revealed that Masaki Okada will be appearing as the seventh and final member. A poster featuring the entire cast has also been released, along with another poster visual featuring the word "Esper" in large letters on a cool black-and-white photo.
The new series is based on an original screenplay by hitmaker Nogi, known for works such as "Unnatural" and "MIU404." The story follows Bunta (Oizumi), a salaryman at rock bottom who has been fired from his job and divorced from his wife. He passes the entrance exam for the mysterious company "Nonamare" and becomes a "little psychic" to save the world. The cast also includes Aoi Miyazaki as Shiki, a mysterious woman who lives with Bunta in company housing; Dean Fujioka as Sakurasuke, Bunta's fellow psychic; Atsuko Takahata Atsuko as Enjaku; Uno Shohei as Hanzo; and Takumi Kitamura as the mysterious university student Ichimatsu.
Okada will play Kizashi, the president of Nonamare, the man who turned Bunta, Ousuke, Enjaku, and Hanzo into slightly esper-like characters. Kizashi is a mysterious character who gives Bunta and his friends a mysterious mission to save the world, as well as imposing an absurd and incomprehensible rule on them: "Never fall in love with anyone."
Okada commented, "It's rare to see a drama with such a stellar cast, so I thought it would be a truly luxurious experience to be able to watch everyone's acting battle, and I was really happy."
Regarding Cho, he said, "I've never played a character that's so speechless before (laughs)! So I hope the viewers will enjoy the drama itself, and also think a lot about the character of Cho that I'm playing. From about the middle of the series, there are a lot of twists and turns that will make you want to rewatch from the first episode, so I hope you'll pay attention to Cho."
He also sent a message to viewers, saying, "I think my theme is 'choice,' so I'm playing the character of Cho, who is based on the theme of 'choices in life.' I'm putting so much passion into this drama that I think that by the time the final episode is over, people will think, 'Ah, so that's what it meant.' I hope everyone will watch this drama without missing a single episode."
The drama will also be distributed worldwide on Netflix, starting at midnight after its broadcast in Japan and overseas (in over 190 countries and regions).
