"Drama Week" brings you the latest drama news from the past week. This time (August Getsuku to 15th), we'll be covering the news that Mitsuhiro Oikawa will be starring in the new Sunday drama "Bokutachi-n-Ichi" on Nippon Television, which will start airing in October, and that the fifth season of TV Asahi's popular detective drama series "Emergency Interrogation Room " will be broadcast in the Thursday drama slot in October. We'll be covering these topics in two parts.
On August 13th, a one-shot visual was released for the NHK Asadora drama series "Bakebake, " starring Akari Takaishi , which will begin airing on September 29th in the second half of 2025. The visual features the heroine, Toki Matsuno(Takaishi), and her husband, Lefkada Heaven (Tommy Bastow). Takaishi commented, "The visuals include the former home where Koizumi Setsu and Yakumo actually lived, and the scenery of Matsue, which still retains its atmosphere from that time. As Toki and Heaven, I was able to film while following the same path they took in life. I'm grateful for the generous time I was given."
On the 14th, it was revealed that Sato Ryuta will be starring in "New Tokyo Water Police," which will air in Fuji TV's "Tuesday 9" drama slot (Tuesdays at 9 PM) from October. This will be Sato's first lead role in a terrestrial TV drama series in 12 years, since "Detarame Hero" (Yomiuri TV) in 2013, and it will be the first Japanese drama series to feature the "Water Police" as its theme. The story is set in the Tokyo Water Police Station, which existed until 2008, but has now been revived as a police station. Sato will play Ikari Takuma, a detective and leader of the Tokyo Water Police Station. He leads a unique group of officers on a patrol boat, investigating various crimes that occur on Tokyo's seas and rivers. Kato Shigeaki and Mizuki Yamashita will also appear.
On the 14th, the 99th episode of the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM and other times), starring Mio Imada, aired. In one scene, Takuya Ise , played by Motoki Omori of " Mrs. Green Apple ," sings "Look Up at the Stars in the Night Sky." Social media erupted with comments paying tribute to singer Kyu Sakamoto, who died in a plane crash 40 years ago on August 12th. In the same episode, intimidated by the enthusiasm of Takuya and Eisuke (Todo Hinata), Taka (Takumi Kitamura) accepts a job as stage designer. In front of Nobu (Imada), who brought a gift to the rehearsal studio, Takuya belted out "Look Up at the Stars in the Night Sky" with a beautiful, flowing voice. "Look Up at the Stars in the Night Sky," with lyrics by Eisuke's model, Rokusuke Nagai, and music by Izumi Takumi, the model for Takuya, is widely known for Sakamoto's rendition. On social media, comments such as "Kyu Sakamoto at this timing...I'm at a loss for words. It's like a requiem" were posted one after another.
On the 14th, it was announced that Aoi Okuyama, who has been making waves in Amazon commercials and other media, will be starring in her first drama series, "Scoop no Tamago" (TBS), airing in October. Hinako Shinoda (Okuyama), an editor in charge of a PR magazine, is transferred to "Weekly Sengoku," the weekly magazine she least wanted to be involved with, in her second year at the company. While dealing with various scoops, she struggles to understand the meaning of weekly magazines and find her own answers. Okuyama made her debut in the drama "Giri/Haji" (2019), produced by Netflix and the BBC in the UK. She has also appeared in "Ya Boy Kongming! " (Fuji TV, 2023), where she played a woman who discovers her passion for cooking for herself in an Amazon commercial. "Scoop no Tamago" will begin airing on TBS and other channels at midnight on October 7th, and will air every Tuesday from 12:58 AM on TBS and other channels.
On the 15th, it was announced that the fifth season of the detective drama series " Emergency Interrogation Room " (TV Asahi), starring Yuki Amami , will be broadcast in the Thursday drama slot (Thursdays at 9 PM) in October. It was also announced that the final installment of the series, the movie " Emergency Interrogation Room THE FINAL," will be released on December 26th. In the drama, Kintori unexpectedly "disbanded" in the fourth season, but reunites in the fifth season. Led by Makabe (Amami), the ironclad team of Superintendent Kajiyama Katsutoshi (Tetsushi Tanaka), Tamagaki Matsuo (Tsukaji Muga), Hishimoto Susumu (Denden), and Koishikawa Haruo (Fumiyo Kohinata) will face off against "the strongest suspects in the series' history."
On the 15th, it was announced that Mitsuhiro Oikawa will be starring in the new NTV Sunday drama "Bokutachi-n-Ichi" (Sundays, 10:30 PM), which will begin airing in October. This will be Oikawa's first lead role in a drama series in 21 years, and his first time starring in the primetime slot (7 PM - 11 PM). Oikawa plays Genichi Hatano, a kind-hearted 50-year-old gay man who is looking to buy a house for love. Awkward yet compassionate, Genichi falls in love with a 38-year-old gay middle school teacher, Saku Saku, whom he meets by chance. Then, Hotaru Kusunoki, a 15-year-old girl who often hangs out at Toyoko, appears before the two and offers to buy them for 30 million yen. She offers to pretend to be their parent for the next six months until they graduate from middle school, and the three begin a strange life together...
