It has been revealed that actor Ryohei Suzuki will be starring in the TBS Sunday Theatre series "Reboot" (Sundays at 9pm) in January 2026. Suzuki will take on the dual role of a man who alternates between good and evil, while Erika Toda, making her Sunday Theatre debut, will play the mysterious certified public accountant who helps the protagonist.
Suzuki will be starring in his third Sunday Theatre production, following "TOKYO MER: Running Emergency Room" (2021) and "Gekokujo Baseball Player" (2023). The first protagonist he plays in this production is Hayase Riku, a gentle and kind-hearted pastry chef who runs Hayase Pastry Shop with his wife, son, and mother. However, two and a half years ago, his wife Natsumi disappeared. The story begins when a detective appears before Hayase, announcing that his wife's body has been found. Before he has time to indulge in his grief, Hayase is framed for his wife's murder based on evidence he has no recollection of and is arrested.
Another main character who appears at Hayase's store is Detective Gido Ayumu of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigative Division, a corrupt detective with ties to underworld organizations. With fabricated evidence and a guilt all but certain, Hayase decides to find his wife's murderer himself and prove his innocence. To do so, he abandons his beloved family and past and takes on the face of Gido, a "reboot."
Toda plays Ichika Kogo, a certified public accountant and former colleague of Natsumi, who helps Hayase change his appearance, but her true intentions are shrouded in mystery.
The script will be written by Tsutomu Kuroiwa, who has worked on "Grand Maison Tokyo" (2019), "TOKYO MER: The Running Emergency Room," and "The Last Man: The Blind Investigator."
◇Comment from Ryohei Suzuki
What if one day you suddenly had to live with someone else's face? And what if you were faced with the extreme situation of being ruined if you were found out? When I first read this story, I was so captivated by it that I couldn't stop turning the pages. From the first episode to the last, there are surprising developments waiting for you in every episode. Please look forward to it.
In this film, I play two main characters. Pastry chef Hayase Riku is a man of conviction who will return to his beloved family no matter the cost. Meanwhile, Gido Ayumu is a mysterious and corrupt detective who pursues Hayase. Not only these two, but every character in this story is hiding some kind of lie. It is no exaggeration to say that they are all liars.
For me, the biggest challenge in this work was facing the question, "What is acting?" At the same time, it was also a time to face the very idea of "the profession of acting." How to become another person, common mistakes, and that feeling of assimilation with a role. The "acting things" that I have experienced as an actor are also scattered throughout this work.
"Reboot" is a suspense story that unfolds under extreme circumstances, but it is also a "family story that is typical of Sunday Theatre." I hope that you will watch it on Sunday nights, feeling excited by the twists and turns that come with each episode, while at the same time feeling your heart warmed by the family ties.
◇Comment from Erika Toda
The more I received the script and read it, the more excited I became as a viewer, as I couldn't imagine what would happen next. In this work, I play Kogo Ichika, a mysterious certified public accountant who is covered in lies. Not only Ichika, but all the characters are lying, and one of the biggest attractions of the show is that you don't know what is the truth and what is a lie until the very end.
I tried to achieve a perfect balance in my performance to express the "lies" that color the theme of this work, "reboot." I hope that viewers will pay attention to even the slightest changes in the characters' expressions and decipher the truth of the story.
◇Comment from Tsutomu Kuroiwa
Suzuki Ryohei and Toda Erika are two of Japan's greatest actors and treasures. I wrote the script believing that these two would be able to bring this story to life. In the end, they delivered performances that far exceeded my expectations. It was overwhelming. Anyone who watches this drama will witness the incredible power of actors. The passion they exude, the emotions they harbor. You'll be amazed along the way by how meticulously calculated their acting was. And by the end, you'll be simply moved and overwhelmed. A "reboot." I hope many people will experience this emotion.
◇ Comment from Producer Keigo Higashinaka
This work began with scriptwriter Kuroiwa and the other members of the team saying, "We can't wait until the week after the broadcast. Let's create a drama that people can enjoy by letting their imaginations run wild in the meantime." As times change and the ways of enjoying dramas become more diverse, we want to once again deliver the passion that can only be portrayed in a television drama. This "story of extreme love" was born from these repeated discussions.
The protagonist has only one wish: to protect his family. To achieve this, he changes his face and risks his life in pursuit of the truth. Through this, I wanted to fully portray the shock of how much love can move a person, and the love and hope that exists within people, which we cannot help but empathize with. Behind the setting of changing one's face lies the questions of "what is oneself?" and "what does it mean to love?"
Will a person lose or find their true self in an extreme situation? I felt that Suzuki Ryohei was the only one I could entrust with this unprecedented role. His attitude of pouring his soul into the role truly shows that he is an "extreme actor." Toda Erika's role is also a woman who requires both sensitivity and strength. It's a role that could only come together with her expressiveness, and I couldn't imagine anyone else playing her. Therefore, I began writing the script specifically for the two actors, and the story unfolded rapidly from there. The overwhelming drama and emotional surge created by Kuroiwa's script were absorbed by all the cast and staff, leaving out every word. I'm confident that this will be a work that will make you believe in the "power of caring for loved ones" as everyone, including the characters yet to be announced, acts "for love." Please look forward to it.
