"Drama Week" summarizes the main drama news of the week. This week (April 11-17), the highlights included Haru's surprise appearance in the first episode of "Unsolved Cases: Metropolitan Police Department Document Investigator Season 3," starring Kyoka Suzuki, and Yutaka Matsushige's attendance at the press conference for "Kodoku no Gourmet Season 11" held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo). We will cover these in two parts.
On April 14th, the first episode of the TV Asahi drama series "Reborn ~The Last Hero~" (Tuesdays at 9 PM), starring Issei Takahashi, aired, and the appearance of the name of the popular idol group "AKB48" in the drama became a hot topic. The first episode depicted the process of Mitsunori Neo, played by Takahashi, rising to become an IT mogul, and news about the Tokyo Olympics, the COVID-19 pandemic, and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also appeared. After time-traveling to 2012, the name of AKB48 also appeared. AKB48's "Manatsu no Sounds good!" was playing in the city, and Mitsunori showed confusion, realizing that he had time-traveled to 2012, the peak of AKB48's popularity. On social media, comments such as "He knew that 2012 was AKB's peak lol" and "This president must be an otaku" were posted.
On the 15th, Masaki Okada appeared at a special premiere event for the TBS drama series "Takusari Brothers" held in Tokyo. This was his first public appearance since announcing the birth of his first child on January 28th. Okada and Mitsuki Takahata announced their marriage on their respective Instagram accounts on November 19, 2024. On January 28th of this year, they jointly announced that "our family has grown safely." At the event, Yuzuki Noda, who played the young Makoto Takusari (played by Okada), and Takuma Kaneko, who played the young Minoru Takusari (played by Shota Sometani), made a surprise appearance. The two presented Okada and Sometani with portraits they had drawn of them, and Okada gazed at the portraits, expressing his gratitude by saying, "I'm so happy..."
On the 16th, Yutaka Matsushige attended a press conference for the drama series "Kodoku no Gourmet Season 11" (TV Tokyo, Fridays at 12:12 AM) held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo). Matsushige revealed, "We are currently in the middle of filming 'Season 11,' and inflation is terrible. The amount of money spent on food and drink is not outrageously high, but it's about 1.5 times what it was a few years ago. Inogashira Goro is a self-employed individual, and as you can see if you watch the show, I don't think he has a job that earns him that much money (laughs). Can he really spend 4,000 to 5,000 yen on dinner? It's sad that it's so far removed from reality."
On the 16th, it was revealed that Yusuke Iseya will be appearing in the DMM TV original drama "Gedou no Uta SEASON2" (6 episodes in total, released every Thursday). From the third episode, which began streaming on the same day, he plays Kunimatsu, a mysterious character who holds the key to the story. Kunimatsu is a mysterious figure whose background and motives are largely unknown. A still image of him with a defiant expression has also been released, hinting that he will be a new "threat" standing in the way of Kamo and Tora. The drama is based on the manga "Zenaku no Kuzu" and its sequel "Gedou no Uta" by Daisuke Watanabe, which were serialized in "Young King" (Shonen Gahosha) from 2014 to 2023.
On the 16th, the first episode of the TV Asahi drama series "Unsolved Cases: Metropolitan Police Department Document Investigator Season 3" (Thursdays at 9pm), starring Kyoka Suzuki, aired, and Haru, who played the role of the physically strong and passionate detective Tomo Yashiro in "Season 2," made a surprise appearance in the same role. In the last five minutes of the first episode, she rushed to the scene where the new character Hinako Mutsu (Yuna Kuroshima) was being attacked and saved Hinako's life with her signature judo throw. She will also appear in the second episode, airing on the 23rd, where she will be reunited with her colleagues from "Season 1," including Risa Narumi (Suzuki) and Kiyoshige Koga (Kazuki Sawamura). Haru is currently co-starring with Kumiko Aso in the drama "Moonlit Journey - The Answer Lies in Masterpieces -" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10pm), so her appearance in a drama on another network in the same season is unusual.
On the 17th, still images were released from the TV Asahi drama series "The Cheating Husband with 3 Months to Live" (Fridays at 11:15 PM), starring Jin Shirasu and featuring Hinako Sakurai as the heroine, which will begin airing on April 24th. The revenge love suspense drama follows Aoi (Shirasu), who has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor and given a limited time to live, as he discovers the infidelity of his "free-spirited cheating wife," Mizuki (Sakurai), and sets out to take revenge in order to protect the future of his beloved son. The released still images include a wedding photo of the two dressed in a pure white tuxedo and wedding dress, at the height of their happiness as they begin their journey as husband and wife. In addition, a "secret rendezvous" shot of Mizuki on a date with her lover, Kenji Sunayama (Mitsunori Takahashi), in a dimly lit bar, has also been released.
