The first episode of the TBS Sunday drama "GIFT," starring actor Shinichi Tsutsumi, aired on April 12th, and some viewers reacted to the appearance of Yu Miyazaki.
The drama is set in the world of wheelchair rugby, a parasport, and tells the story of Fumito Gotetsu (played by Tsutsumi), a genius astrophysicist, who finds answers to difficult problems facing a weak team, while learning the importance of friends and family. Yuki Yamada and Kasumi Arimura also appear in the drama.
The first episode, titled "Who is this guy!? A crazy scholar appears!", was broadcast with an extended 25-minute runtime.
Magazine reporter Hitoka Kiriyama (Arimura) is assigned by her boss to write a series about wheelchair rugby, a sport she knows nothing about, and goes to the weak team "Blaze Bulls." There, she finds a group of members who are the complete opposite of those on a strong team, all disorganized and lacking cohesion. Furthermore, there is the clearly out-of-place astrophysicist Fumito Gotetsu (Tsutsumi), who declares to the Bulls, "You have a mountain of problems!" The team's ace player, Ryo Miyashita (Yamada), challenges Gotetsu to a match... An unprecedented encounter sets destiny in motion...
Miyazaki was born on November 20, 2000, making her 25 years old. Last year, she received high praise for her role as a drum-playing heroine in "Glass Heart," starring Takeru Satoh, which was streamed on Netflix. "GIFT" is her first appearance in a Sunday drama series, and she plays Sakura Munakata, a postdoctoral researcher engaged in astrophysics research at the university where Gotetsu works.
In the first episode, Sakura is told by Gotetsu that her research "will never be proven." Moreover, when her research is disproven in a public setting, such as a presentation, Sakura's eyes behind her glasses become filled with tears, and those around her whisper that Gotetsu has "drowned Sakura in darkness."
On social media, viewers reacted to Miyazaki with comments such as, "She's the drummer from Glass Heart!", "It's Miyazaki Yu from Glass Heart!", and "Is the girl who was first brought to tears by Gotetsu the drummer from Glass Heart??". There were also comments like, "Miyazaki Yu is in the Sunday drama 'GIFT'!! Takeru Satoh said in Glass Heart that she's a girl who's going to become famous from here on out."
