"Drama Week" summarizes the main drama news of the week. This week (March 7-13), the highlights included Hiroyuki Isobe of "[Alexandros]" making his first appearance in an NHK Taiga drama, and Ai Mikami and Juri Kosaka , who play the heroines, appearing at a preview screening of the NHK Asadora"Kaze,Kaoru, " which starts on March 30. This will be covered in two parts.
On March 7th, the drama "Where Are You Now? ~I Tried Putting a GPS Tracker on My Favorite Idol~," starring former Nogizaka46 member Hina Higuchi, premiered on TV Asahi's drama slot "Dora Dora Daisakusen" (Saturdays at 12:30 AM). Regarding her role as an idol fan, Higuchi commented, "I was also formerly a member of the idol group Nogizaka46, so I was very aware of the importance of having people who support me and cheer me on. Although it's a role, now that I'm the one supporting someone, I feel even more grateful for the support I received back then. I acted while thinking about and projecting my feelings onto the fans."
On the 8th, it was revealed that Hiroyuki Isobe of "[Alexandros]" will appear as Chosokabe Motochika in the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.). This will be Isobe's first appearance in a Taiga drama. Chosokabe Motochika was a warlord from Tosa (present-day Kochi Prefecture) during the Sengoku period. He was allied with Nobunaga, but eventually became a powerful daimyo in Shikoku and came into conflict with the Oda clan. Hidenaga and Hideyoshi would later fight against Motochika. Isobe revealed his feelings, saying, "When I found out that I would be playing Chosokabe Motochika, to be honest, it reminded me of when I jumped out of a Cessna plane for skydiving, and the altitude was so high (4000 meters) that I didn't feel very scared. It doesn't feel real, you know?"
In addition, it was announced that Ryosuke Mikata and Kanata Irei will be making their first appearances in a Taiga drama in "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）". Mikata will play Fujihide Mitsubuchi, a retainer who served the shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, and Irei will play Naotsune Endo, a senior retainer of Nagamasa Asai. Furthermore, it was revealed that Masato Wada will play Sokyu Imai, a wealthy merchant of Sakai, Maggie will play Sokyu Tsuda, a wealthy merchant of Sakai and tea master, Ryohei Abe will play Tomomichi Ishinari, a senior retainer of the Miyoshi clan, which boasted great power in the Kinki region and was one of the Miyoshi Three, and Mansaku Ikeuchi will play Kageakira Asakura, a member of the Asakura clan, a Sengoku daimyo of Echizen, and a cousin of Yoshikage. This will be Maggie's first appearance in a Taiga drama in 27 years, since "Genroku Ryoran" (1999).
On the 8th, after the broadcast of the 7th episode of the TBS Sunday drama "Reboot" (Sundays at 9pm) starring Ryohei Suzuki, the relationship chart on the official website was updated. A certain character made a "return." In that episode, Machi (Suzuka Ueno) was detained by the police, but lawyer Kaieda (Yoshi Sakou), who was thought to have disappeared, reappeared and played a part in Machi's release. After the broadcast, Kaieda's entry was restored to the relationship chart. A description was also added that read, "He was framed by Hayase and Ichika for embezzling 1 billion yen, but it was revealed that Gido was the real culprit, and he narrowly escaped with his life. However, because he had embezzled tens of millions of yen from the organization, he pledges his loyalty to Goroku." Comments on social media included, "I was surprised by his unexpected reappearance!" and "It's hilarious that Kaieda is back on the relationship chart."
On the 9th, Ai Mikami attended a preview screening of the NHK morning drama series " Kaze,Kaoru " (NHK General, Monday-Saturday 8am, etc.), in which she co-stars with Juri Kosaka, held at the NHK Broadcasting Center in Asadora, Tokyo. Mikami said that since taking on the role of Rin Ichinose, "my gratitude towards medical professionals has deepened even more," and spoke about her own transformation, saying, "I've come to realize that it's an incredible thing to work in a situation where not a single mistake is allowed, and to think about what nursing is and what is right as a human being in that kind of tension. My respect for them has increased even more, and I've come to think that I must portray that resolve to the fullest."
Juri Kosaka also attended the preview screening of " Kaze,Kaoru ." Regarding the footage from the first week, she smiled and said, "I cried when I saw the finished footage. It made me realize again that it's finally starting, and I was suddenly struck by the realization that I'm a part of the work that so many people have been involved in creating this one piece, from the music and theme song to the narration. I'm really looking forward to everyone seeing it." She added, "Recently, I've been told a lot that my facial expression has changed. I wasn't aware of it myself, so it was a strange feeling. I think it's a part of me that has changed as I've been playing Naomi, so I was happy about that." The drama will start on March 30th.
On the 10th, it was revealed that Hikari Ishida will star in the April drama series "The House Where the Demon Woman Lives" (Chukyo TV/Nippon TV, Wednesdays at 12:24 AM). This will be Ishida's first starring role in a Nippon TV drama in about 30 years, since "Natural: The Whereabouts of Love" (Yomiuri TV). She will play a "demon woman" who, as an online "identification team," drives numerous targets into online outrage. During the day, Akari Hoshino (Ishida) wears the mask of a perfectly ordinary housewife, but secretly she indulges in the "pleasure of vigilante justice" based on a twisted sense of justice. One day, she receives a DM from a mysterious person calling themselves "Hiiragi" saying, "There is someone I want you to make into an online firestorm"... This is a psycho-horror suspense story.
