It has been announced that the drama series "Reunion: Silent Truth" (TV Asahi, Tuesdays 9pm) starring actor Takeuchi Ryoma will begin airing in January 2026. Takeuchi, who is currently playing the role of Ebiwara Katsuo, a "fossil man" with Showa-era values, in the drama "Jaa, Anta ga Tsukutte Miro yo It" (TBS, Tuesdays 10pm), will star in this drama for two consecutive seasons. A departure from romantic comedies, this is a heartbreaking human love mystery in which he plays a detective whose heart wavers when his first love becomes a suspect in a murder case.
The film is based on Yokoseki Dai's novel "Reunion" (Kodansha), which won the 56th Edogawa Rampo Prize in 2010. Inoue Mao will play Iwamoto Makiko, the first love of the protagonist Tobina Junichi, played by Takeuchi. This will be Inoue's first appearance in a TV Asahi drama in about 16 years, since "Drama SP: The Fir Tree Remains" (2010). This will be his first time acting alongside Takeuchi.
The story begins 23 years ago, when Junichi, then a sixth-grader, and three of his close classmates buried a gun used in a crime under the cherry blossoms at school, sharing a secret. Time passes, and Junichi, now a detective, is assigned to investigate a murder case. He unexpectedly reunites with Makiko Iwamoto, one of the friends with whom he shared a secret 23 years ago and his first love, as both a detective and a suspect. It is also revealed that the murder weapon used in the crime was the gun he had buried long ago. The "sin that was supposed to have been buried 23 years ago" transcends time and changes the lives of his classmates.
Regarding his co-starring with Inoue, Takeuchi said, "I like communicating with the people around me, so I can intuitively tell who it's okay to get closer to even if it's our first time meeting, and who it's not. When I first met Inoue, I had the intuition that 'Oh, maybe it's okay. He might be a kind person!' and I was happy."
He revealed that the setting of the original work was modeled after his hometown of Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and commented, "The location for this shoot is a place I often visited when I was in middle and high school. It's a place filled with many good and painful memories from my adolescence, and it's emotional to think that I can naturally channel the emotions I felt at the time into the role!"
He appealed to viewers, saying, "I hope that the reunion of us classmates will connect with the nostalgic feelings deep in your hearts, the emotions that cannot be expressed in words. Please watch to see the characters struggle with their own weaknesses."
The script is written by Atsuko Hashibe, who is renowned for her sensitive portrayal of psychology in socially conscious human dramas such as "Freeter, Ie o Kau" (Fuji TV, 2010) and "Mokomi: She's a Little Weird, But..." (TV Asahi, 2021), which won the Mukoda Kuniko Award. The film will be directed by Yoshihiro Fukagawa, who has also directed the films "Byakuyako" (2011) and the "God's Memo Pad" series (2011, 2014).
