On May 23rd, it was announced that the Wednesday NTV drama 'Cleopatra na Onnatachi' is going to end after just 8 episodes on June 6. Scriptwriter Oishi Shizuka herself revealed it on her blog.

'Cleopatra-' is centered around cosmetic surgery, and stars actor Sato Ryuta. Several actresses, including Inamori Izumi, Kitano Kii, and Yo Kimiko, are also appearing in the drama. However, it had some difficulties appealing towards the viewers, and never managed to escape the single-digit ratings since its weak start with 9.9% on April 18th. The most recent episode (episode 5) on May 16 recorded a rating of 7.6%. Whether that's actually the reason for the short run time is not known.

Oishi posted on her blog, "In life, things never go as planned. However, this doesn't influence the filming at all, and everyone's continuing to work with high motivation."

NTV explained the early discontinuation, "We didn't announce how many episodes we were planning to film in the first place, therefore we won't comment on whether it's a discontinuation or not."

Source: Sanspo