It has recently been revealed that actor Kenichi Matsuyama will be starring in the drama series "The Uncertain Courtroom of Themis," which will air on NHK's "Drama 10" slot (General TV, Tuesdays at 10 p.m.) starting on January 6, 2026. He will play the lead role of Kiyoharu Ando, a courtroom drama about a judge with a developmental disorder who struggles with his own unique characteristics while taking on complex cases.
The drama is a live-action adaptation of the unique legal mystery by Naoshima Sho. The original novel depicts the tense courtroom battles and sometimes incoherent conversations between a judge with a developmental disability, court staff, prosecutors, and lawyers as they all clash in search of the truth, in a comical way.
The drama's script was written by Hamada Hideya, who has also written the Fuji TV series "Ichikei no Karasu" and the "Absolute Zero" series, and the chief director is Yoshikawa Hisataka, who worked on "Drama 10: Sora Wataru Kyoushitsu."
Matsuyama plays the protagonist, Ando Kiyoharu, an assistant judge for special cases who has been transferred to the First Branch of the Maebashi District Court. Diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) as a child, he learned how to communicate and behave in a "normal" manner based on his doctor's advice. Unable to fit into society due to his developmental disorder, Ando became a judge because the law is the only rule that remains constant regardless of individual characteristics. He believed that studying law would allow him to become a part of society. However, he was afraid of interacting with others due to his uncontrollable impulses, which led him to speak without considering the situation and act impulsively. However, he truly wanted to understand other people's feelings and integrate into society.
Matsuyama says, "Ando is a very distinctive character, as he is very sensitive in capturing and absorbing a lot of information from everyday, trivial things, but at the same time, he has difficulty adapting to communication templates. I felt that this work portrayed, with a very warm and gentle perspective, the kind of influence such a person has on those around him."
"Ando chose to be a judge as a job that would allow him to make use of his characteristics, but that is only one part of his characteristics; the other parts are still unknown. I am looking forward to seeing how those unknown parts will change as he interacts with various people, or whether they will change at all," he said. "As I continued reading the script, I began to think that although there are many differences in our characteristics, what is the difference between Ando and me as people with sensibilities?Everyone has their ups and downs, but I think that underneath those are various emotional scars.I hope that by empathizing with Ando's sharp and detailed sensibilities together with everyone involved in this program, we can understand how great those scars were and create a work that will lead to new discoveries and realizations about human beings."
