It has been revealed that actress Hana Sugisaki will star in the NTV Wednesday drama "Winter Something, Spring Something," which will air in January 2026. The drama will be the first prime-time directorial work written by director Rikiya Imaizumi, who has worked on "Love is Hard" and "Undercurrent."
When Sugisaki appeared in "Hana Sugisaki's Shooting Break" (2023, WOWOW), Director Imaizumi directed the second episode and directed and wrote the script for the third episode. In this work, the protagonist, Tsuchida Fumina, a novelist played by Sugisaki, has a boyfriend, but due to various past romantic experiences, she has at some point avoided "falling in love properly" and "facing someone properly." In order to seriously face her current boyfriend, Fumina looks back on her past relationships.
In this work, in addition to depicting how the main character, Fumina, deals with her current love life, the film will also carefully depict the time she has spent with each person, from her school boyfriend to her current partner, and the romantic feelings she had at each stage. The cast of her previous partners will be announced in the future.
After reading Director Imaishi's original script, Ms. Sugisaki commented, "It's a work that depicts only small moments," and Director Imaishi also commented, "The words 'something' or 'something' don't have much meaning in themselves, but I feel like they can express how seriously one is saying a word, or whether one is afraid to put it into words."
"Something About Winter, Something About Spring" will be broadcast on Nippon Television every Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. starting January 14, 2026.
◇Comment from Hana Sugisaki
-What were your thoughts after reading Director Imaizumi Rikiya's script?
To put it simply, it's a story in which nothing particularly major happens, and the characters don't really grow, but there is compassion and sadness in the pauses that flow between casual people, and in the small emotional nuances.
The film depicts only the small moments that are sure to unfold between scenes, the kind of moments that don't really add up to drama. The gentleness of Director Imaizumi's characteristically detailed perspective relaxed my muscles, and I exhaled deeply.
--What kind of person is the main character, Tsuchida Fumina? How would you like to play her?
Ayana is a person who lives seriously, struggling and thinking repeatedly about the fact that she distances herself from falling in love.
Fumina's actions may be far removed from empathy, but I'm drawn to her sensitivity to the deep loneliness she feels when faced with the finiteness of time and the fact that partings are always parted with every encounter.
I would like to just be there so that people can see Fumina as a real person.
-What do you like about this work?
In this tense era where even a single misstep is unacceptable, it feels like there are high hurdles to having one's own will and expressing one's feelings. I find courage in the characters who, despite their worries, failures and regrets, try to find their own answers.
-Please give a message to our viewers.
I am thrilled to be able to do a serial drama with this cast. People who fall in love, people who don't. People who don't really understand love, or don't want to. People who are still searching for who they are. There are as many different ways of living as there are people.
I hope to create a work in which viewers can find themselves, their families, or their friends in the diverse characters. We want to put our hearts into the work, while also making it easy for people to relax and enjoy the show.
◇Comment from Director Rikiya Imaizumi
-What kind of work is "Something about Winter, Something about Spring"?
Falling in love with someone, expressing your feelings, and dating can sometimes lead to a definitive breakup, and you may never see that person again. On the other hand, even if you're attracted to each other, if you can maintain a reasonable distance, you can get along well for a long time. So, isn't it better not to get into a romantic relationship with someone you really care about, someone you like, so that you don't lose touch? I've been thinking a lot about the distance between people over the past few years, and I feel like that's one of the major themes of this drama.
This is undoubtedly a romance drama, but I hope to portray the unspeakable worries and conflicts that haven't been explored much in previous dramas or movies.
I wanted to write something that would make someone ask me, "Why are you worried about something like that?" I hope this work can be enjoyed by people who have a hard time finding someone they like, people who think that the mere idea of a "romance story" is too difficult, and people who don't even know what it means to "like" something.
--Please tell us about the title.
I believe that words can have a variety of expressions, such as weight, lightness, or softness, depending on the sound they have and the arrangement of the letters. This time, I was looking for words that have as little gravity as possible. Words like "something" or "something like that" don't have much meaning in themselves, but I feel they can express how seriously someone is uttering a word, or whether they are afraid to put it into words. Also, this work is almost entirely a dialogue play, and I had been thinking for a long time about a title that would symbolize the various conversations that take place between winter and spring, and I arrived at this word.
-What are you looking forward to about playing the lead role?
Having worked with Sugisaki on a drama before, I have the impression that she is a very sensitive, earnest, and interesting person. Fumina is someone who is vague about what she is worried about, and there are parts of her that even I, the scriptwriter, don't understand, so I think it would be a very difficult role to play, but with Sugisaki, I think we could worry, think, and enjoy those parts together and create a good piece of work. It is a great honor and very encouraging to be able to create this drama with Sugisaki's way of thinking and the charm of her voice and body.
-Please give a message to our viewers.
The main character, Tsuchida Fumina, may not be a character that everyone will like, but I wrote the script believing that there would definitely be people who would think, "I really relate to Fumina," or "The story depicts the worries and pain that I thought maybe only I experienced."
The more you think about love, the more confused you become, the harder it is to breathe, and it's something that you don't really need to do, but I would be happy if people like that could see Fumina and realize that it's okay to be the way you are, and that they're not alone.
I usually work mainly on movies, but one day Sugisaki-san told me, "Imaizumi-san, your dramas are also really good." In the living room, in your apartment, in the break room at your part-time job, or on the TV in the corner of the ceiling of your favorite diner, this story can be shared in any place you like, through the medium of a "television drama" that many people can watch at the same time. I'm also grateful for this opportunity to have been given with an original script, and I hope that this work will make people laugh, even just a little. Please look forward to it.
