Survey reveals the most satisfying dramas of the winter season

On February 16th, Oricon BiZ published the results of their recent survey that asked 500 men and women about their drama viewing experience among the current winter season shows. NHK drama ‘Itsuka Hi no Ataru Basho de‘ came out on top with a very high satisfaction rate of 67.5%, though it only ranked on 11th place in Oricon’s …


Prime Time Drama Preview – Winter 2013

The upcoming winter season for dramas has already begun (the earliest prime time drama starts on January 8th) and all the important announcements have already been made. During the mid-season it was time for the networks to promote their upcoming dramas as much as they can in order to attract as many viewers as possible for their season premieres.

What happens …


Nakama Yukie to return as an enchantress in new drama ‘Saki’

On November 30th, Fuji TV announced that actress Nakama Yukie will reprise her role as the beautiful, yet scary and malicious ‘Meyer Saki’ from the 2011 winter drama ‘Utsukushii Rinjin‘ (‘Beautiful Neighbor’).

In the upcoming winter season, ‘Meyer Saki’ will be the protagonist in the same-named drama ‘Saki‘. Her goal in ‘Utsukushii Rinjin’ was to deceive a married woman and to …


Eita to star in new Fuji TV drama ‘Saikou no Rikon’

On November 30th, it was announced that Eita is going to star in the upcoming Fuji TV winter 2013 drama ‘Saikou no Rikon‘.

Eita is playing a just-divorced salesman who is still living together with his ex-wife. One day he happens to run into his now-married former girlfriend from his student days and feels attracted to her again. His ex-wife will …


Ichihara Hayato to star in drama adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’

On November 27th, Fuji TV announced that they are going to produce a modern-day adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s final novel ‘The Brothers Karamazov‘ starring actor Ichihara Hayato for the upcoming 2013 winter season.

Simply speaking, the drama is going to follow the lives of three brothers as they become the prime suspects in their father’s murder case. One by one, they …


Eguchi Yosuke to play a gifted chef in new Fuji TV drama ‘dinner’

On November 26th, Fuji TV announced that their Sunday drama for the upcoming winter season is going to be titled ‘dinner‘ and will feature actor Eguchi Yosuke in the starring role as a gifted chef.

The story is set at a super famous Italian restaurant. It depicts all the worries, conflicts and dreams of the restaurant’s chef, the owner and everyone …


Gouriki Ayame to star in next Fuji TV “Getsu 9″ drama

On November 21st, Fuji TV announced that they have selected young actress Gouriki Ayame for the leading role in their upcoming ‘Getsu 9′ (Monday 9:00pm) winter drama titled ‘Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou‘.

Though Gouriki has been appearing in all kind of dramas for seven seasons in a row without rest, this is going to mark her first starring role in …


Mizukawa Asami to star in her first prime time drama ‘Share House no Koibito’

On November 20, it was announced that actress Mizukawa Asami is going to star in the upcoming NTV drama ‘Share House no Koibito‘.

‘Share House no Koibito’ tells the story of ‘Shio’ (Mizukawa), a single female office employee around the age of thirty who decides to move into a shared house in order to escape her loneliness. In the shared house, …


Nagase Tomoya to star in a tailor-made drama again after two years

On November 19th, it was announced that TOKIO’s Nagase Tomoya is going to star in the upcoming NTV drama ‘Nakuna, Hara-chan‘.

‘Nakuna, Hara-chan’ is an original romantic comedy written by Okada Yoshikazu (‘Churasan’) and features Nagase as a sullen and grumbling manga character who suddenly leaps out to the real world and falls in love with the female mangaka that created …


Ito Atsushi and Kiritani Mirei to star in upcoming drama ‘Apoyan ~ Hashiru Kokusai Kuukou’

TBS recently announced what drama they are going to air in their ‘Thursday Drama 9′ time slot in the upcoming 2013 winter season. The title of the new drama is ‘Apoyan ~ Hashiru Kokusai Kuukou‘ and is starring actor Ito Atsushi and actress Kiritani Mirei.

The drama is based Shinno Takeshi’s two novels ‘Apoyan‘ and ‘Koisuru Kuukou Apoyan 2‘. ‘Ayopan’ is …


Suzuki Kyoka to play an abused mother in the upcoming drama ‘Yako Kanransha’

On November 2nd, TBS announced that they will adapt the novel ‘Yako Kanransha‘ (lit. ‘Ferris Wheel at Night’) of best-selling author Minato Kanae (‘Kokuhaku’, ‘Shokuzai’) into a drama series for the upcoming winter season. Actress Suzuki Kyoka will play the protagonist, a housewife, and mother,who is being driven towards a mental breakdown by her abusive daughter and other things.

It’s Minato’s …


Aiba Masaki to star in new medical drama ‘Last Hope’

On October 31st, Fuji TV announced that one of their upcoming winter dramas will be a medical drama titled ‘Last Hope‘ starring Aiba Masaki from the popular group Arashi.

Fuji TV describes ‘Last Hope’ as a human medical suspense drama. The story revolves around a medical team with completely different individuals, whether it’s their age, their gender, their achievements …


More details about Narimiya Hiroki’s character in ‘Aibou season 11′ revealed

In April it was announced that Narimiya Hiroki is going to become the new and third partner of Mizutani Yutaka in the upcoming eleventh season of the popular crime drama series ‘Aibou‘. Today they finally revealed the name and more details about his character.

The new partner for inspector ‘Sugishita Ukyo‘ (Mizutani) is called ‘Kai Toru‘ (Narimiya) and he’s an ambitious …