The Fuji TV drama series "Ramune Monkey" (Wednesdays at 10pm), starring Takashi Sorimachi, Nao Omori and Kenjiro Tsuda, will begin airing on January 14th. The original story and screenplay was written by Ryota Furusawa. The drama is a "youth-recovering human comedy" about the reunion and rebirth of two middle-aged men who were passionate about making kung fu movies together in their junior high school days in 1988, but who now feel stuck in life and think "this isn't how it was supposed to be." The first episode will be extended by 15 minutes.
This is Furusawa's first time appearing in a terrestrial TV drama since the same network's "Confidence Man JP" series. The story is about a trio of people with very different looks and personalities: Sorimachi plays "Yun" (Yuta Yoshii), Omori plays "Chen" (Hajime Fujimaki), and Tsuda plays "Kinpo" (Kisuke Kikuhara). This is Tsuda's first lead role in a terrestrial TV drama series.
The three, who were in the film club together in junior high school, are now 51 years old. One day, they reunite after hearing the news that human bones have been discovered at a construction site in Tanbe City. They have a hazy memory of their advisor, Miyashita Michiru (played by Kiryu Aso), whom they admired 37 years ago. A piece of paper they dig up along with a group photo of the club members has the word "missing" written on it. The three hit the ground running again, investigating the mysterious disappearance...
Fukumoto Riko plays Nishino Hakuba, a waitress at Gandhara Coffee, a coffee shop frequented by the three, and Hamao Noritaka plays Tsurumi, a police officer at Tanbe Police Station.
In the first episode... Yoshii Yuta (Sorimachi), the sales manager at Tazawa Bussan, was doing well both in his personal and professional life, but he was suddenly arrested on suspicion of bribery. He was released but placed on home quarantine. Film director Fujimaki Hajime (Omori) gradually loses work due to his stubbornness and stubbornness, and is removed from his position as director of a drama series that he himself brought in.
One day, the couple, who were at a crossroads in their lives, received a message from someone calling himself "Kinpo." It included a link to a news article titled "Human bones found at construction site. Tanbe City." The sender, Kikuhara Kisuke (Tsuda), ran a small barbershop while also caring for his mother, who had dementia.
Tanbe City, 1988. Yuta "Yun" (Osumi Hideo), a second-year junior high school student who has quit the baseball club, is invited to join by Hajime "Chen" (Aoki Kanade) and Kisuke "Kinpo" (Uchida Koon), who want to start a film club. However, Yun looks down on the two as "otaku" and gets into a fight with Chen. At that moment, substitute teacher Miyashita (Kiryu) happens to pass by and intervenes. Chen and Kinpo are captivated by the action...
Fast forward to the present day. Yuta (Sorimachi) receives an indictment from the court. Hajime (Omori) is struggling to make ends meet. The two men, desperate for survival, visit Kisuke's (Tsuda) barber shop. As soon as they meet again for the first time in 37 years, the atmosphere of those days is brought back to life.
Yuta and his friends visit Tanbe City, where they once lived, and are reminded of a strange memory. Kisuke finds a piece of paper in his house with the word "missing" and a photo of Matilda. The three of them pursue the mystery of Matilda's disappearance...!
