On August 13th, Aiba Masaki of the popular group Arashi appeared at the "Great Thanksgiving Event" for the TV drama series "The Great Chase: Metropolitan Police Department SSBC Violent Crimes Unit" (TV Asahi, Wednesdays at 9pm) at Roppongi Hills Arena (Minato Ward, Tokyo). The event was held in response to the drama's popularity, and the cast appeared in yukata robes in front of over 700 fans. Aiba waved in response to the cheers, and said with a smile, "I'm always wearing a suit (in the drama) so it's cool."
At a press conference held after the event, when asked about the reactions of the other members of Arashi, he smiled and said, "I heard through (Omori) Nao that Matsumoto Jun had seen it (laughs)." This season, "Broadcasting Station Occupy" (Nippon TV, Saturday 9pm) starring Sakurai Sho and "The 19th medical record" (TBS, Sunday 9pm) starring Matsumoto are airing. He said, "The other day when I met Sakurai-kun, we had that kind of conversation, like, 'How far have you gone?' We encourage each other as we go along. Matsujun is a teacher, so he's inspiring."
The drama stars Aiba, Omori, and Nao Matsushita. It is an original detective drama set in the newly established "SSBC Violent Crimes Division" at the Metropolitan Police Department's Criminal Investigation Support and Analysis Center (SSBC), which is responsible for collecting and analyzing security camera footage and analyzing smartphones and computers. Aiba, Omori, Matsushita, Ito Atsushi, Ken Mitsuishi, Kenichi Endo, and Koichi Sato also attended the event.
