"Drama Week" summarizes the main drama news of the week. This week (May 23-29), the highlights included the casting of Sei Shiraishi in her first drama appearance since the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）", and Shuri taking on her first leading role in a TV Asahi drama series. This will be covered in two parts.
On May 23rd, it was revealed that Shiraishi Sei will play the heroine who partners with the protagonist played by Ryosuke Yamada in the drama series "One-Dimensional Cutting" (Yomiuri TV/Nippon TV, Sundays at 10:30 PM), which will begin airing on July 5th. Nanase Yu (Yamada), a graduate student studying genetics, believes that his stepsister, Ajisai, who went missing in a torrential downpour, is still alive. One day, his mentor, Professor Iwamizaki Akihiko, asks him to perform DNA testing on a 200-year-old human skeleton unearthed in India. The results show that the DNA of the skeleton is a 100% match with Ajisai's... This will be Shiraishi's first drama appearance since "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）", and she will play Iwamizaki Yui, the niece of Professor Iwamizaki Akihiko, the professor in Nanase's research lab. Yui acts together with Yu to investigate the mystery of the DNA match.
On the 24th, it was revealed that Shuri will star in the July Thursday drama "GATE24" (Thursdays at 9pm) on TV Asahi. This marks Shuri's return to dramas after about a year and a half, and her first leading role in a TV Asahi series. The drama is set in an airport and depicts the activities of a newly formed team called "GATE24 (Global Airport Task Enforcement)" assembled from various government ministries. Shuri plays Mori Machi, a newly appointed customs officer. Although "GATE24" is her first job, she uses her overwhelming observational skills to decipher the truth from "things". She is also very knowledgeable about world cultures, customs, and goods, and is surprisingly well-informed, but what she did before becoming a customs officer remains a mystery.
On the 24th, the 20th episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), starring Taiga Nakano, aired, and Asadora fans reacted to the appearance of Ikuya Naganuma as Junkei Tsutsui. Naganuma is well-known to Asadora drama fans for his role as Yujiro Akatsu, one of the "Salt Brigade" in the 2018 second half serial television drama "Manpuku." The "Salt Brigade" is the collective name for the employees of "Tachibana Salt Industry," which was founded by Manpei (Sakura Ando), the husband of the heroine Fukuko (Sakura Ando). Akatsu was popular for his "great duo" with Fukuko's mother, Suzu (Keiko Matsuzaka). On social media, fans were excited, saying things like, "I thought it was Junkei Tsutsui speaking in native Japanese, but it's Akatsu? It's Akatsu from Manpuku!"
On the 25th, it was revealed that Rena Tanaka and Yudai Furukawa will co-star in the July drama series "Dear Husband ~The Perfect Wife's Lies~" (Yomiuri TV/Nippon TV, Thursdays at 11:59 PM). This will be the first time that the two have starred in a Nippon TV drama series. Tanaka plays Mai Sakai, a successful female CEO, and Furukawa plays her husband, Yuichi, the main Caster of an information program. The wife will expose her rivals' scandals for her husband's sake, monitor his actions with GPS for risk management, and even eavesdrop. Feeling that he has reached his limit living with such a wife, the husband presents her with divorce papers, but she flatly rejects them. However, the next day, the wife suddenly dies mysteriously, but then the wife who was supposed to be dead reappears... The series will air every Thursday at 11:59 PM starting July 2nd. The first episode on the 2nd will air from 12:09 AM.
On the 25th, it was revealed that Ryusei Fukada of "ACEes" will star in "Natsuiro no Kumo ga Koi to Arashi wo Makiokosu," which will air in the July "Oshidora Saturday" slot (TV Asahi, Saturdays at 11 PM). Co-starring with fellow ACEes member Hidaka Ukisho, this coming-of-age home drama/romantic comedy marks Fukada's first solo leading role in a drama series. Natsuki Takemiya (Fukada), a high school senior with terrible grades who is preparing for university entrance exams, is tutored by her sister's boyfriend, Sota Kobayakawa (Ukisho), who attends the same university as her sister. At first, Natsuki finds the overly charming Sota to be an annoying guy, but... It will air every Saturday at 11 PM starting July 11th.
