Aoi Miyazaki to appear in a commercial TV drama series for the first time in 13 years in October's "A Little Esper"

It has been announced that actress Aoi Miyazaki will be appearing in the October TV Asahi drama series "A Little Esper" (Tuesdays at 9pm, starting October 21st). This will be Miyazaki's first appearance in a commercial TV drama series in about 13 years, since "Going My Home" (Kansai TV/Fuji TV) which aired in 2012. In this work, she will play the mysterious wife of lead actor Yo Oizumi.

The drama is an original work by Akiko Nogi, the hit maker behind such hits as "Unnatural" (TBS, 2018) and "MIU404" (TBS, 2020). After being fired from his company, Bunta (Oizumi), a struggling salaryman, is given a new job where he is given the task of saving the world as a "slight psychic." He ends up living with a "stranger" in company housing, but is bound by the mysterious rule that "you must not fall in love with people." It's a sci-fi romance.

Miyazaki plays Shiki, a mysterious woman who ends up living with Bunta in company housing. Perhaps due to memory loss, Shiki believes Bunta is her real husband, and although Bunta is confused, he follows the president's instructions and lives with them as a married couple. Miyazaki introduces the character, saying, "She doesn't control Bunta... but she does have a bit of a handle on him. But I think she's a very cute woman with a bit of a naive side."

She and Oizumi played brother and sister in the 2018 drama special "Big Brother and Little Sister" (TBS), but this time they play a married couple. "I met him the other day for the first time in about seven years, and we talked about the projects we worked on together back then and how he's changed in those seven years. He's a really amazing person, and even if he's not doing anything, he's funny just by being there, so I think we'll be able to spend every day laughing during the filming period," she said.

She added, "It's been a long time since I've worked with Oizumi-san and others, so I can't wait to see what kind of acting will unfold in the space where we're all gathered together. I'll do my best to enjoy myself so that the audience can properly experience what we've created while enjoying this set, including the atmosphere. I hope you'll look forward to it."

Oizumi commented, "Last time, Aoi was the younger sister and I was the useless older brother, but this time, there are a lot of things that happen, but we are basically a married couple. I feel like I've gotten older, but Aoi hasn't changed at all...she's really beautiful. All of my co-stars, including Aoi, are talented and very funny, so I hope we can all have fun together and create an interesting production."