It was revealed on November 13th that the new Thursday drama "Ransom is Kidnapping" (Thursdays 11:59 PM), which will air on Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV in January of next year, will start on January 8th, 2026. On the same day, a video entitled "Kidnapper's Confession of the Crime" was released on TVer.
In "Ransom is Kidnapping," a couple whose child has been kidnapped receives a phone call from the kidnapper. The kidnapper demands the kidnapping of another child in exchange for the ransom. Who is the real culprit? This is the kind of speculative drama that will make you wonder.
The video shows a criminal claiming to be the perpetrator of a kidnapping, which is broadcast on breaking news. The footage, which shows the masked criminal, was created entirely by generative AI, and in a distorted, robotic voice he says, "January 8, 2026. I will kidnap a child."
As a "special clue," a photo of two children is presented, and the culprit says, "This is a childhood photo of an unfortunate couple whose child was kidnapped by me."
To create a sense of tension as if watching actual news footage, announcer Shinobu Nakatani, who serves as the main Caster for the evening news program "Kansai Information Network ten." (Yomiuri TV, Monday to Friday, 3:50 p.m.), will be appearing.
Additionally, a project will be held in which participants will be able to guess who will play the two main actors playing the married couple based on a childhood photo of the couple, created by generative AI, shown in the video. By following the official drama account X and posting with the hashtag "It's Kidnapping," 100 people who answer correctly will be entered into a drawing to win a 10,000 yen Amazon gift card (digital code). The first hint will be released on the official social media platform once the number of favorite subscribers on TVer for the video exceeds 5,000. After that, additional hints will be released as the number of favorite subscribers increases. Applications are open until November 24th.
