"Drama 1 Week" brings you the latest drama news from the past week. This time (January 24th to 30th), the student cast for the October drama series "Our Hakone Ekiden" was revealed, and a popular former idol appeared in the TBS Sunday Theatre drama "Reboot." This article covers these topics in two parts.
On January 25th, the second episode of TBS's Sunday Theatre "Reboot" (Sundays at 9 PM), starring Suzuki Ryohei, aired, generating much buzz due to the appearance of a popular former idol. In the episode, Hayase becomes suspicious of his accomplice, Ichika Kogo (Erika Toda), and tails her. He then witnesses Ichika visiting her sister, who is suffering from a terminal illness, and realizes that she is trying to save her sister's life. Ichika's younger sister, Ayaka, is played by Yoda Yuki, who graduated from Nogizaka46 last February. Social media users commented, "This is Yoda-chan's first appearance in five years since "Sunday Theatre Japan Sinks!"," "Yoda-chan and Erika Toda really look alike. It's not strange that they're sisters," and "Yoda-chan is so good at acting fragile."
On the 26th, the English title of the 2026 NHK Taiga drama "Toyotomi Brothers!" (General TV, Sundays at 8:00 PM and other times), starring Taiga Nakano, was decided to be "BROTHERS IN ARMS," and the visuals for the overseas release were also released. The English title is an idiomatic phrase meaning "comrades in arms," and also expresses the fact that Hidenaga and Hideyoshi are "warrior brothers." The visuals for the overseas release were shot on the same studio set as the battlefield scenes from the fourth episode, "Okehazama!". In contrast to the key visual featuring the brothers' beaming smiles, the visuals for the overseas release highlight the brothers' determination to survive the Warring States period. In addition to NHK World Premium, "Toyotomi Brothers!" will be distributed on overseas streaming platforms such as Taiwan's LINE TV, Hami Video, and MOD. It has also been decided that the series will be broadcast on the US cable TV channel NGN.
On the 27th, five student cast members were revealed for the October drama series "Our Hakone Ekiden" (Nippon TV, broadcast time slot to be determined), starring Oizumi Yo. Of the 18 student cast members, five were announced this time: Kobayashi Toranosuke, Oku Tomoya, Shoji Kohei, Ikeda Masashi, and Nishino Ryo. Kobayashi will play Aoba Hayato, captain of the Meisei Gakuin University track and field team, Oku will play Yano Keizu, the team's manager, Shoji will play Inomata Takeru, a second-year student at Musashino Agricultural University, Ikeda will play Nogi Keisuke, a first-year student at Keisei University, and Nishino will play Amagi Makoto, a third-year student at Musashi Chuo University. The remaining student cast members were announced over three consecutive days starting from the 28th.
On the 27th, the 82nd episode of the NHK morning drama "Bakeke" (General TV, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM and other times), starring Akari Takaishi, aired, revealing the past of Nishikori (Ryo Yoshizawa), an English teacher at Matsue Junior High School. In the episode, Prefectural Governor Eto (Shiro Sano) summons Nishikori and tells him that Shoda (Shogo Hama) has turned down the job of replacing Nishikori as English teacher. When asked about Shoda, Nishikori confessed, "He passed all subjects on the exam that everyone was saying he would fail, obtained a teaching license, and qualified to graduate from the Imperial University. On the other hand, I was told I was a rock solid candidate, but I unexpectedly failed. I was unable to obtain either a teaching license or a graduation from the Imperial University." NS commented, "This is a surprising coming-out," and "This is going to be a complicated development."
On the 27th, Erika Toda attended "Next on Netflix 2026," an event to announce Netflix's new lineup, held in Tokyo. Toda, who stars as Kazuko Hosoki in the Netflix series "You're Going to Hell" (released April 27th), which depicts the turbulent life of fortune teller Kazuko Hosoki, who passed away in 2021, appeared in a luxurious chair as the venue went dark. When asked how she felt when she received the offer to play Kazuko Hosoki, she said, "I wondered what had happened (laughs). Not only was her physique, but her age, and the fact that she was a woman who looked nothing like me, I never thought I'd be the one to play her. I was just nervous."
