"Drama 1 Week" brings you the latest drama news from the past week. This week (August 30th to September 5th) we're featuring the hot topics of Kotone Furukawa's appearance in the NHK morning drama series "Anpan ," her first in five years, and Snow Man's Ren Meguro , who will be making his first appearance on the TBS Sunday Asadora in the October series "The Royal Family." We'll cover these topics in two parts.
On September 3rd, it was announced that Maeda Koki and Mizusawa Rintaro will be co-starring in the October drama series "Oishii Divorce Notification" (Chukyo TV/NTV, Wednesdays at 12:24 AM). This will be Maeda's second consecutive lead role in the drama series, following the currently airing "Kanzen Furin" (NTV, Tuesdays at 12:24 AM), while Mizusawa will be starring in his first terrestrial drama series. Partners in both their personal and professional lives, lawyer Otokita Hajime (Maeda) and detective Iseya Kai (Mizusawa), are working on divorce cases. The two struggle to deal with eccentric characters, including a "vile, famous TV host" who keeps attacking junior female announcers, and a "fickle woman" who betrays her same-sex lover and chooses to marry someone of the opposite sex. Ultimately, the couple even receive a "divorce request from the dead"... a human legal drama.
On the 3rd, it was revealed that Sakurada Hiyori and Hayato Sano will be co-starring in the new NTV Wednesday drama "ESCAPE: It Was Supposed to be Kidnapping" (Wednesdays at 10pm), which will air in October. This will be the first time for both actors to star in a prime-time drama on a major commercial broadcaster. Yagami Yui (Sakurada), the only daughter of the president of one of Japan's leading companies, Yagami Pharmaceuticals, is kidnapped by Hayashida Daisuke (Sano) and his men on the day of her 20th birthday party. However, the plan fails miserably. As Daisuke stands there, stunned, Yui for some reason says, "Run away with me!" and the strange escape of the "hostage and kidnapper" begins... and so it goes.
On the 3rd, it was announced that Snow Man's Ren Meguro will be appearing in the October TBS Sunday Theatre drama "The Royal Family" (Sundays at 9pm). This will be Meguro's first Sunday Theatre appearance. He will be playing an important role that holds the key to the story, but no details have been revealed and will only be revealed in the drama itself. A visual of him wearing glasses has also been released, but it is a look we have never seen before as an idol or in the roles he has played in previous works. The drama stars Satoshi Tsumabuki as tax accountant Kurisu Eiji. Kurisu experiences setbacks in his career as a tax accountant after a certain incident and loses hope. Meanwhile, his life begins to change dramatically when he meets horse owner Sanno Kozo (Koichi Sato ).
On the 3rd, it was revealed that Furukawa Kotone will be appearing in the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " (General TV, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM and others), starring Mio Imada This will be Furukawa's first appearance in a Asadora in five years, since "Yell" in the first half of 2020. Furukawa will play Nakao Hoshiko, a student at the small tea ceremony class that Nobu (Imada) runs in his home tea room. Her character is someone who quickly becomes captivated by the charms of Anpanman. Furukawa commented, "I never thought I'd be able to appear in this show, which I've loved and watched for so long... and especially since I've been given such an important role that colors the story's ending, I'm overwhelmed with emotion."
On the 3rd, the cast of the NTV Saturday drama "Good Things and Bad Things" (starting October 11th, Saturdays at 9 PM) was announced, revealing that Shotaro Mamiya and Yuko Araki will be co-starring. The drama is a mystery surrounding the suspicious death of an elementary school classmate. Mamiya plays Takagi Masaru, a 2003 graduate of Class 1, Year 6, at Takasato Elementary School, where he was known as "King" and a leader in his class. He is currently the third-generation president of his family's Takagi Painting Company. Araki plays Saruhashi Sonoko, a transfer student who came to Takasato Elementary School in the sixth grade and was nicknamed "Do-ko." She currently works as a reporter for "Weekly Apollo" and also serves as a poster girl for the company as the "extremely beautiful reporter."
On the 4th, it was announced that Ko Shibasaki will be starring in the six-episode ABEMA original drama, "Scandal Eve," which will begin streaming on November 19th at 10 PM. This will be Shibasaki's first lead role in a drama in five years. Just as F, the star of the talent agency "Rafale," has landed a lead role in a terrestrial TV drama, the agency's representative, Ioka Saki (Shibasaki), hears from a weekly magazine that an article about F's "adultery scandal" will be published. The article was written by Hirata Kanade (Kawaguchi Haruna), a reporter for Weekly Buncho, who has exposed the scandals of many celebrities. With 72 hours left until the article is released, a fierce battle between the agency and the weekly magazine begins.
On the 5th, it was announced that So Matsushima of "timeless" will be co-starring with Shirasu Jin in the drama "Papa to Chichi no Uchigohan," which will begin airing on TV Asahi's Oshidora Saturday slot (Saturdays at 11pm) on October 4th. This will be Matsushima's first lead role in a terrestrial TV drama series, with Matsushima playing Sengoku Satoshi, a short-tempered, quick-tempered, delinquent-type judo therapist, and Shirasu playing Harumi Masahiro, a kind-hearted manga editor. Both are single fathers living together and struggling to raise their children. Sengoku's daughter Airi will be played by child actor Tanahashi Nono, and Harumi's son Seiichiro will be played by child actor Sakura. Nono and Sakura were selected through auditions.
On the 5th, it was revealed that Nakama Yukie will play a married couple with Kitamura Yukiya in the new drama "When I Was Young, God Was There," which will begin airing on Fuji TV's "Thursday Theatre" slot (Getsuku at 10 PM) on October 9th. This will be Kitamura's first time starring in a prime-time terrestrial drama. The drama is an entirely original work by popular screenwriter Okada Yoshikazu, and is a home comedy about three families living in a three-story retro apartment building. It humorously depicts the lives of Ogura Wataru (Kitamura) and his wife Ann (Nakama), who have two children and live on the third floor. The story begins 19 years ago, when an incident led the Ogura couple to make a promise to divorce when their child turned 20.
On the 5th, it was announced that the third film in the popular series "TOKYO MER: Running Emergency Room," starring Ryohei Suzuki, will be released. Suzuki expressed his excitement about the sequel, saying, "I'm proud to be able to once again show everyone their unchanging performance as they strive for the ideal of 'zero deaths.'" "TOKYO MER: Running Emergency Room" is a full-scale medical drama about a new team of emergency medical professionals called "TOKYO MER," established by order of the Tokyo governor. The series aired on TBS's "Sunday Theater" slot (Sundays at 9:00 PM) in July 2021. The first film, released in April 2023, grossed approximately 4.53 billion yen. The second film was released on August 1st.
