"Drama Week" summarizes the main drama news of the week. This week (April 11-17), the highlights included Erika Toda's appearance at the event celebrating the release of the Netflix series "You're Going to Hell," and Kentaro Ito and Kanichiro co-starring in "My Boyfriend and I Will Break Up in 100 Days," which starts on May 26. We will cover these topics in two parts.
On April 11th, Ryota Miyadate of "Snow Man" made a surprise appearance at the advance screening of the second episode of his starring drama "If I Fell in Love with a Terminator" (Saturdays at 11 PM) held at TV Asahi's headquarters (Minato Ward, Tokyo), along with Asami Usuda, who plays the heroine. When Miyadate asked, "What did you all think?", a huge round of applause erupted, and he smiled, saying, "That's the best thing to hear." The first episode ranked first in the TVer drama rankings, and Miyadate, who is starring in a drama series for the first time, said, "I'm relieved to have received such a great response, ranking first. However, it's only the second episode, so I hope that many more people will spread the word so that everyone can enjoy it even more."
On the 12th, Nakatani and Sakamoto from "Mayurika" made a guest appearance in the first episode of the drama series "Error" (ABC TV/TV Asahi, Sundays at 10:15 PM), which premiered that same day. The drama stars Mei Hata and Shida Mirai in dual leading roles. Nakatani played the neighbor of Osako Mio (Shida) in the apartment building where she lived. Sakamoto provided the voice for a podcast that appears in the drama. Nakatani and Hata say they are "friends." Nakatani said, "It was the first time I'd seen (Hata) working. I'd only ever seen her eating (laughs)." On the other hand, Hata praised Nakatani's acting, saying, "It was really good!"
On the 13th, the 11th episode of the NHK Asadora drama series "Kaze,Kaoru " (NHK General, Monday-Saturday 8am and other times), starring Ai Mikami and Juri Kosaka , aired, and Tsurutaro Kataoka made his first appearance as Kaishu Katsu. Kaishu Katsu is an old acquaintance of Usaburo Shimizu (played by Yajuro Bando), and occasionally drops by to Mizuho-ya, the shop Usaburo runs in Nihonbashi. On social media, comments included: "A big name suddenly appeared," "Tsurutaro-san has too much presence lol," "My excitement level went through the roof this morning!", "It's a feast for the eyes to see Yajuro Bando and Tsurutaro Kataoka together on screen!", "He seems like no ordinary person," "His presence is amazing," and "It felt like a historical drama."
On the 13th, the first episode of Fuji TV's Monday Getsuku drama "Saba-kan, Uchuu e Iku" (Canned Mackerel Goes to Space), starring Takumi Kitamura , aired, and Kitamura's performance as the protagonist, Shunichi Asano, a rookie high school teacher, became a hot topic among viewers. Asano, who has been assigned to Wakasa Fisheries High School, learns that a large number of large jellyfish have appeared in the harbor and are causing problems. He calls on his students to "think about it together"...and so the story unfolds. On social media, viewers were excited, saying things like, "The story is moving fast, I can't wait to see what happens next. Takumi Kitamura is perfect as a rookie teacher," and "Not only the students, but Teacher Asano is also still nobody, and he's fumbling his way through it, trying his best, but he makes mistakes, but it's refreshing to see him realize that and move forward."
On the 14th, it was revealed that Kentaro Ito and Kanichiro will co-star in the drama series "100 Days Until We Break Up" (MBS, TBS, etc.), which will begin airing on May 26th. They will play the role of an "ideal same-sex couple" who have already broken up. An interview they gave about the partnership oath system for sexual minorities went viral on social media for being "cute," and the same-sex couple Kasuga Yuma (Ito) and Hasegawa Itsuki (Kanichiro) attracted public attention. The two then receive a request to be featured in a documentary that will film their cohabitation for 100 days, and Yuma accepts out of a desire to "spread understanding of homosexuality"...and so the story unfolds.
On the 14th, the 12th episode of "Kaze,Kaoru" aired, and viewers' attention was drawn to Kenjiro Shimada, nicknamed "Shimaken," played by Masaya Sano of "AAe! group." Rin (played by Mikami) has started working at "Mizuho-ya," a shop that sells foreign books and imported goods. One day, a French customer comes in, and when Rin is having trouble dealing with him, Shimada appears and guides the customer in French. On social media, comments included "A quirky handsome guy has arrived!", "He's even more eccentric than I imagined", "He has a great presence", "He's an interesting man... I'm drawn in...", "Mysterious", "A handsome guy who seems like he'd be a pain, he's the best", and "His slightly fast speaking style is cute, it shows his otaku side."
On the 14th, Erika Toda appeared at an event in Tokyo to commemorate the release of the Netflix series "You're Going to Hell." The series depicts the turbulent life of fortune teller Kazuko Hosoki, who passed away in 2021, and Toda stars as Hosoki. Regarding playing Hosoki, who was also known as the "Empress," Toda confessed, "I was really intimidated by how heavy the responsibility was." She continued, "It was a role that I continued to experiment with right up until the end of filming. Director Tomoyuki Takimoto gave me a lot of direction and helped me create the image of Kazuko in this drama, and I am truly grateful to him. It was a six-month period in which I was strongly encouraged again and again." The series will be exclusively streamed worldwide on Netflix starting April 27th.
