"Drama Week" summarizes the main drama news of the week. This week (April 25th to May 1st), the biggest topic of discussion was the first-ever overseas remake of "Long Vacation," a hugely popular Fuji TV Getsuku drama that aired in 1996. This will be covered in two parts.
On April 26th, actor So Kaku , who plays Todo Takatora in the NHK Taiga drama " BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!） " (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), appeared at the "Zaiji Hachiman Shrine Wisteria Festival" held in Kora Town, Shiga Prefecture. Kora Town is said to be Takatora's birthplace, and a victory cry was raised as the signal to start the parade of the Ise-Tsu Takatora Corps and the Kora Armor Corps. Takatora, as played by Kakyu, made his first appearance in the Battle of Anegawa, depicted in episode 15, "The Great Battle of Anegawa" (aired April 19th). At the talk show that day, he also revealed a behind-the-scenes story that the armor he wore in the Battle of Anegawa was "too small." He further reflected, "Although the Battle of Anegawa was filmed in a studio, I was able to see the actual location, so I was able to imagine the size of the battlefield and act accordingly, which made it very easy!"
On the 26th, a talk show for " BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" was held in Nagoya, featuring Emma Miyazawa , who plays Tomo, the older sister of Koichiro (Taiga Nakano) and Fujikichiro (Sosuke Ikematsu), and Shusaku Kamikawa, who plays Tomo's husband, Yasuke. Miyazawa and Kamikawa spoke about the challenges of playing a family whose status changes from farmers to samurai, how they approached the setting of suddenly appearing as a married couple, and the trust they had on set. Miyazawa confessed, "I'm acting with a fresh feeling, as if I never imagined something like this would happen to me in my life."
On the 28th, it was revealed that "Long Vacation," the hugely popular Getsuku drama starring Takuya Kimura and Tomoko Yamaguchi, which recorded a peak household viewership rating of 43.8% (according to Video Research, Kanto region), will be remade overseas for the first time. Produced by MakerVille, a subsidiary of major Hong Kong media company PCCW Media, the remake will be broadcast and distributed on various platforms, including ViuTV, also under the group's umbrella. "Long Vacation" is a love story that begins when Minami Hayama (Yamaguchi), whose fiancé runs away on their wedding day, ends up moving in with Hidetoshi Sena (Kimura), an aspiring pianist who was his roommate. In the Hong Kong remake, "悠長假期 (Hong Kong version)," Hidetoshi Sena will be played by Edan Lui, a member of the popular Hong Kong boy group "MIRROR," and Minami Hayama will be played by popular talent and model Ali Lee.
On the 28th, it was revealed that Kento Kento Nakajima is taking on two roles in NHK's Drama 10 "Convenience Store Brothers: Tenderness Mojiko Kogane Village Branch" (NHK General, Tuesdays at 10pm), which premiered that same day. Nakajima plays not only the protagonist, the "pheromone store manager" Mitsuhiko Shiwa, but also his older brother, the "wild jack-of-all-trades" Nihiko Shiwa. A two-shot visual of Nakajima in his contrasting roles as brothers was also released. Nihiko always arrives in a pickup truck, buys a huge amount of bento boxes and food, and eats it all up in the eat-in corner. He is a mysterious man who wears green overalls with the "jack-of-all-trades" logo on the back.
On the 28th, the fourth episode of the Tuesday drama "Toki Sude ni Osushi!?" (TBS, Tuesdays at 10pm), starring Hiromi Nagasaku, aired, and Shiori Doi. The two had previously co-starred in the NHK Asadora drama "The Tiger and Her Wings" (broadcast in 2024), and fans of the Asadora expressed their delight. In "The Tiger and Her Wings," Matsuyama played Toichiro Katsuraba, a judge and senior of the protagonist Torako (Sairi Ito), while Doi played Yone Yamada, a lawyer who cross-dresses and is Torako's classmate. In the fourth episode, Mio suddenly shows up at Oedo's house and leaves her pet dog with Kamiya without giving him a choice. Social media was abuzz with comments such as, "I never thought that Katsuraba and Yone from The Tiger and Her Wings would play ex-husband and wife in the Reiwa era."
