[caption id="attachment_219600" align="aligncenter" width="317" caption="Left: Mizutani Yutaka, Right: Oikawa Mitsuhiro"][/caption]

It's been announced that actor Oikawa Mitsuhiro will graduate from TV asahi's popular drama series, 'Aibou', after season 10 concludes in March.

'Aibou' is a detective series that began in 2000, centering around a genius inspector named "Sugishita Ukyo' (played by Mizutani Yutaka), who belongs to the "special mission task force" of the Metropolitan Police Department. Oikawa took up the role of 'Kanbe Takeru', Sugishita's second partner in Season 8, which began in October 2009.

According to the general producer, Oikawa's graduation from the drama was decided during the broadcast of season 9; the producer explained that they wanted the viewers to enjoy the fresh feeling given by the series.

At the press conference held on February 7th, Oikawa explained, "When there is an encounter, there is also a separation. �To be frank, the drama would liven up if I graduated, so I agreed to this. These past three years were quite intense. It feels like I'm graduating from school."

Co-star Mizutani expressed, "I hold a faint hope that he might make an appearance again if 'Kanbe Takeru' remains on the police force (in the final episode)." �Mizutani also dropped a hint about his future third partner, "It's better to have someone who is totally unexpected, just like with Micchan's (=Oikawa) time. If I give a tip, the partner will be a male."



Source & Image: Sanspo (1 + 2)