On July 10th, it was announced that Miyazaki Aoi, Abe Hiroshi, and Yamaguchi Tomoko will be starring in an upcoming Fuji TV fall drama whose title has yet to be announced.

This drama is certainly going to be on everyone's minds after today's headlines, since it features three huge and amazing stars. While Abe is still familiar among drama viewers, Miyazaki hasn't been appearing in a commercial network drama since 'Shiawase no Shippo' (TBS) in 2002. Her last starring role on TV in general was in the 2008 taiga drama 'Atsuhime' on the public network NHK. Yamaguchi's last serial drama appearance even dates back to 'Long Vacation' (Fuji TV) in 1996.

The directing and the script will be handled by world renowned movie director Koreeda Hirokazu ('Kiseki', 'Air Doll').

The story of this fall drama will revolve around a 40-year-old company employee (Abe) and his wife (Yamaguchi). Together they face various all too familiar family problems which are said to make viewers both cry and laugh together with the characters. This home drama atmosphere will be spiced up by a mysterious beauty (Miyazaki) whom the protagonist happens to meet one day. For some reason she's begins to probe into matters related to his family, manipulates him without his knowledge and sometimes blurts out some crucial hints that will help solving the puzzle that she is.

Not much else is known about this drama yet, but the producer described Miyazaki's role as follows: "She's a puzzling, beautiful and strong woman who doesn't seem to be affected by the hustle and bustle of the urban jungle at all. Her beauty is both refined and graceful. When I was talking with director Koreeda about the casting of this role, we only were able to think of Miyazaki."

Miyazaki herself commented, "The characters in Koreeda's works are always so full of live. He's a fantastic director and I'm happy to be a part of his new project."

She continued, "It makes me nervous to film together with two such big seniors. I'll treasure the time we'll be able to live together as part of this drama and will make sure to enjoy the months of filming ahead of us."

Abe is looking forward to it as well. He said, "Miyazaki's acting is very refined and I can't wait to work together with her."

Fuji TV is planning to air this drama every Tuesday at 10:00 pm. The first episode is scheduled to be broadcast sometime in October. More details such as the drama's title are most liked going to be revealed within the coming weeks.

Source: Sanspo (1,2)