gaijinmark wrote:

Hikari Mitsushima to star in new drama 'Woman' NTV has announced a new summer drama about a single mother with two children, titled 'Woman' (tentative), starring actress Mitsushima Hikari. The drama is another original story written by Sakamoto Yuji, the creator of popular dramas such as 'Mother' and 'Saikou no Rikon'. 'Aoyagi Koharu' (Mitsushima) loses her husband in an unforeseen accident and is left with their two children and not much money. Her beloved children give her the strength to keep on living and to challenge all difficulties head-on. Koharu's own mother will be played by actress Tanaka Yuko, and actor Kobayashi Kaoru will play her father. Moreover, the supporting cast is going to feature the two actresses Nikaido Fumi andTanimura Mitsuki. Child actress Suzuki Rio was cast in the role of Koharu's oldest daughter. She already impressed as the young 'Yae' in the current NHK taiga drama 'Yae no Sakura'. The child actor for the role of her younger brother has yet to be decided. NTV is going to air 'Woman' every Wednesday at 10:00 pm starting in July. Source: Mantan-Web But wait, there's more: Actor Oguri Shun will be appearing in the upcoming NTV drama 'Woman' starring Mitsushima Hikari. It's the first time for Mitsushima and Oguri to work together. Oguri's character, Shin, used to be a venturesome mountain climber and traveled the world to find new challenges. He settled down after meeting Koharu and got married, having two children and leading to Shin's decision to stop mountain climbing. He found himself a more mundane and less dangerous job - only to fall victim to a whim of fate and losing his life in an unexpected accident. The first episode of 'Woman' will air on July 3. Source: Mainichi

Same here. Most anticipated drama next season. Along with Tachi Hiroshi's drama.

xploring wrote:

Yamashita Tomohisa, Karina and Toda Erika to be in love triangle in summer gekku "Summer Nude" Yamashita Tomohisa, Karina and Toda Erika will be embroiled in a love triangle in the upcoming FujiTV gekku "Summer Nude" which is due to begin its run in July. This is the fourth gekku drama for Yamashita and he also has prior working experience with his leading ladies i.e. 3rd time working with Karina since 2002's "Long Love Letter ~ Hyoryu Kyoshitsu" and 4th time working with Toda since the "Code Blue" series. Yamashita plays Mikuri Asahi, a cameraman struggling to make ends meet, who happens to take a photo of when chef Chiyohara Natsuki (Karina) is dumped by her boyfriend even though they are about to get married. Being still affected by the sudden departure of his girlfriend three years ago, Asahi and Natsuki start to get closer to each other due to their similar problems but the appearance of Taniyama Nanae (Toda), a junior of Asahi since senior high school who has been holding a torch for him, makes things become complicated between the three of them. There will be an open set constructed at a beach in the Kanto region which serves as the seaside restaurant where Natsuki works in. At the same time, Yamashita is also going through training in order to look the part of a cameraman. Source: Sanspo

As if Toda weren't enough to bring in the fanboys:

Masami Nagasawa to appear in 'Summer Nude'

Nagasawa Masami will make an appearance in next "Getsu 9" drama "SUMMER NUDE", which will star Yamashita Tomohisa.

This will mark the first time in 6 years for Nagasawa to co-star with Yamashita since they last appeared together in "Proposal Daisakusen" aired in 2007.

As reported previously, "SUMMER NUDE" will be set at a beach hut. The protagonist "Mikuriya Asahi" (Yamashita) is a cameraman who can't forget his ex-girlfriend who suddenly left him. The drama depicts a love triangle between Asahi, and two women "Chiyohara Natsuki" (played by Karina), a chef whose fiance left her right before their marriage, and "Taniyama Hanae" (played by Toda Erika) who has been in love with Asahi for 10 years since high school.

In the drama, Nagasawa will play Asahi's former love "Kasumi".

Yoshitaka Yuriko chosen as lead of first half of 2014's NHK morning drama "Hanako to Anne"

NHK held a press conference on 25 June at its headquarters in Shibuya where it announced that Yoshitaka Yuriko is going to be the lead for "Hanako to Anne", its morning drama for the first half of 2014. The script of the drama will be written by Nakazono Miho.

Yoshitaka will play the role of Muraoka Hanako, the Japanese translator of Anne of Green Gables, in the drama which depicts her turbulent life during the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods. Muraoka was actually born to a poor family in Yamanashi Prefecture before she attended school with the rich and royalty and later became a translator after the war. When told that she had been selected for the role, Yoshitaka admitted that she was worried that she might not be good enough to do it and said that she was very nervous at the beginning of the press conference. The media asked Yoshitaka why she thought that she was unsuitable and she replied that her face probably doesn't suit the image of morning dramas. However, her grandmother is a big fan of the morning dramas so she felt that it would be a good thing to do for her grandmother.

Source: Nikkansports

Igawa Haruka & Saito Takumi to star in NHK drama "Garasu no Ie"

Igawa Haruka will be taking on her first leading role in a drama when she appears in NHK's new drama "Garasu no Ie" (Glass House) which begins its run from 3 September at 10pm on Tuesdays and consists of 9 episodes. The drama which is written by Ooishi Shizuka who was known for her hit drama "Second Virgin", will feature Igawa and Saito Takumi in a forbidden relationship as Saito plays Igawa's stepson. Igawa's character is Tamaki Rei who lost her parents due to a plane crash when she was a child and happened to meet Shibusawa, a widower who had lost his wife through the same accident when she revisited the crash site in her mid 30s. After marrying Shibusawa, Rei then finds herself attracted to his son Hitoshi (Saito) who works in the Ministry of Finance.

Source: Sanspo

Jun Matsumoto to star in NHK drama for the first time

On July 14, it was announced that popular Arashi member Matsumoto Jun will star in the NHK drama "Hajimari no Uta" that will begin airing on September 23.

Though Matsumoto, as a member of Arashi, has served as the host for NHK's Kohaku Uta Gassen for 3 consecutive years, this is actually the first time for him to have a leading in a drama on NHK. This is also the first time in 15 years for him to appear on an NHK drama since his last one aired back in 1998 which was even before he made CD debut as Arashi.

The motif of the drama is "Furusato" which was the song made for the special corner in 2010's Kohaku Uta Gassen. Arashi members sang it on the Kohaku not only in 2010, but also in 2011, and in 2012.

The song was written by Koyama Kundo, and it expresses the nobility of hometown. The song has also been chosen as the compulsory song in the NHK National School Music Contest for this year (for Elementary School division). As this year will be the 80th anniversary year for the music contest, the drama adaptation has been planned.

In the drama, Matsumoto plays a young man named "Wataru" who left his hometown to Tokyo. Wataru once had a dream to be a teacher, but he could not make it come true, and became a freelance photographer for a travel magazine. The drama starts where Wataru returns to his hometown after he is given an order to take photographs in there.

By meeting with the local elementary school kids who are aiming to participate in the choir competition, his ex-girlfriend (played by Eikura Nana) who is an elementary school teacher, his old classmates, and family, he eventually regains his old dream to be a teacher.

Source: Sanspo

^ Matsumoto Jun AND Eikura Nana? Big fat pass. Still scarred by their mere existence in dramas.

Who the heck comes up with these pairings?
_________________

junny wrote:

^ Matsumoto Jun AND Eikura Nana? Big fat pass. Still scarred by their mere existence in dramas.

LOL.

Atsuko Maeda to star in upcoming NHK period drama

Former AKB48 member Maeda Atsuko will be starring in NHK's new period drama entitled "Asaki Yumemishi ~Yaoya Oshichi Ibun" which will start airing in September.

Though Maeda has appeared in NHK Taiga drama "Ryomaden" previously, this would be her very first period drama as the lead star.

The drama will be based on "Yaoya Oshichi no Houka Jiken (lit. Yaoya Oshichi's arson case)" that has been handed down. It's a story about "Oshichi", a daughter of the greengrocer in Edo period. Oshichi falls in love with a page at a temple where she evacuated to after the great fire. After she goes back to her home, she commits arson because she thought she would be able to go back and live at the temple with him again if there was another fire. She is, however, burned at the stake for her crime.

For the drama, a new setting will be added so that Oshichi's crime ends up being a false accusation, and it will depict Oshichi as someone who becomes a criminal on her own initiative in order to save her first love "Kichiza."

The temple page, and Oshichi's lover "Kichiza" will be played by Ikematsu Sosuke, whom Maeda has previously co-stared with in movie "Moshi Koukou Yakyu no Joshi Manager ga Drucker no Management wo Yondara" and TV drama "Q10". Other cast members include Nakamura Masatoshi, Takeshita Keiko, and Hiraoka Yuta.

Maeda commented, "Oshichi is a girl who is honest with herself, so I hope I can express her earnest heart straight. I would like young people who don't know about 'Yaoya Oshichi' to watch it."

"Asaki Yumemishi ~Yaoya Oshichi Ibun" will begin airing on September 19th on NHK (every Thursday at 8:00 pm).

Source: Cinematoday


It looks like Atusko Maeda is this years Mana Ashida. The question now is, who is next years Atsuko Maeda?

Ryo Nishikido to star as fake fortune teller in Fall drama

Kanjani8's Nishikido Ryo will star in a new Fuji TV drama titled "Yorozu Uranai Dokoro Onmyouya e Youkoso" (tentative).

The drama is based on the best-selling "Onmyouya" (lit. 'Yin-Yang Shop') novel series by writer Amano Shoko. Nishikido plays a fortuneteller who appears to be a yiny-yang master, but he doesn't possess any psychic powers and never directly tells someone's future.

Instead, he makes use of his past experience as a host and is able to to find out the root of his customers' troubles through the art of conversation alone. All the customers are suspicious of him at first because of his frivolous atmosphere. However, his advice actually helps them with their various problems and they end up being extremely grateful about having gone to his shop.

Fuji TV will show Nishikido as a fake yet warmhearted fortuneteller every Tuesday at 10:00 pm starting in October.

Source: Sanspo

Nagase Tomoya & Gouriki Ayame to co-star in autumn 2013 drama "Kurokochi"

TOKIO's Nagase Tomoya and Gouriki Ayame will be working together for the first time in the TBS autumn 2013 drama "Kurokochi" which will begin its run from October in the Fridays 10pm timeslot. The drama which is based on the same-titled manga by Richard Wu and will consist of 10 episodes, features Nagase as Kurokochi Keita, an assistant inspector in the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Criminal Department 2nd section who believes that the true criminal behind the JPY 300m robbery case in December 1968 which had passed its statute of limitations in 1975 is still out there and attempts to find whoever this is. He does not care about resorting to controversial ways to solve his cases including blackmailing politicians and demanding huge amounts of money. With the intelligence he gets, Kurokochi is able to solve many cold cases. On the other hand, Gouriki plays the role of Seike Mashiro, his colleague who's serious about her work and has a sterling record as compared to Kurokochi.

Filming will begin in September.

http://doramaworld.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/nagase-tomoya-gouriki-ayame-to-co-star.html

Matsushita Nao to star in FujiTV drama SP "Shikatsushi ~ Joou no Houigaku ~"

Matsushita Nao will be taking on the lead role in the upcoming FujiTV drama SP "Shikatsushi ~ Joou no Houigaku ~" (Corpse resuscitator ~ The Queen's forensic science) which will be shown on 27 September at 9pm and is based on the manga by Morino Aki. This is the first time that Matsushita is acting in a medical drama and she plays Kiriyama Yuki, an assistant professor in forensix science at an university's faculty of medicine, who's great at finding the true cause of unnatural deaths. On the other hand, she has a reputation of being a weirdo with her messy hair, going without makeup and behaving more like a man than a woman. Co-stars include Yokoyama Yu who plays the role of Inukai Hajime, a research student working under Kiriyama and Matsushige Yutaka who plays Murakami Mamoru, the police detective who is at odds with Kiriyama. Filming began in early August.


Takeuchi Yuko to star in NTV autumn 2013 drama "Danda Rin - Roudou Kijun Kantokukan"

Takeuchi Yuko will take on her first leading role in a NTV drama when she appears in the upcoming autumn 2013 drama "Danda Rin - Roudou Kijun Kantokukan" (Danda Rin - The Labour Standards Inspector) which begins its run from October 2013 at 10pm on Wednesdays. In preparation for her role, Takeuchi cut her long hair by more than 30cm for the first time in 12 years.

The drama which is based on the manga by Tondani Takashi and Suzuki Masakazu, depicts the tough situation faced by Danda Rin (Takeuchi) who tries to protect the working class by fighting against companies which flout labour laws.


Horikita Maki to star in FujiTV autumn 2013 drama "Miss Pilot"

Horikita Maki will be starring in the FujiTV autumn 2013 drama "Miss Pilot" which begins its run from October at 9pm on Tuesdays. She plays the heroine Tezuka Haru, the daughter of a family which owns an izakaya, who is innocent, naive and too frank for her own good thus making it impossible for her to find a job. One day, she comes across a ANA job advertisement for pilots and unexpectedly scraps through despite the tough requirements. This then marks the start to Haru's difficult journey to become a female pilot.

At present, there are slightly more than 20 female pilots among the 2,500 pilots hired by ANA. In order to boost the reality factor of the training, ANA will be offering full support to the cast and crew who will be able to film at places which are usually out-of-bounds to the public. The cast will also be wearing real ANA uniforms during the filming which are specially order-made for them.

Filming will begin in early September.

http://doramaworld.blogspot.com.au/

Haruna Kawaguchi to star in prime-time fall drama

Kawaguchi Haruna will play the starring in the upcoming TBS fall drama 'Otto no Kanojo'.

It's Kawaguchi's first lead role in a prime time drama, which is a fantasy-comedy based on a novel by Kakiya Miu with the script written by Egashira Michiru ('Gokusen'). The story is about Yamagishi Hoshimi (Kawaguchi), an only child who lost her father at an young age and was raised only by her mother, who works as a temporary worker at a large company. Her boss Komatsubara Mugitaro - played by Tanabe Seiichi - supports her a lot with her goal to become a regular employee soon.

Mugitaro's wife Hishiko - played by Suzuki Sawa - believes that her husband is having an affair with Hoshimi due to his high interest in her and decides to meet her personally. At this moment, Hoshimi and Hishiko collide and happen to swap bodies. After the first confusion, they decide to continue to live the lives of each other for the moment. Mugitaro doesn't know about this strange occurrence and is more than bewildered about the completely different reactions from his "girlfriend" and his wife. Mugitaro and Hishiko's son is played by popular child actor Suzuki Fuku.

TBS plans to air 'Otto no Kanojo' every Thursday at 9:00 pm starting in October.

Shiina Kippei to star in TBS autumn 2013 drama "Keiji no Manazashi"

Shiina Kippei will play a leading role in a drama for the first time in 14 years through the TBS autumn 2013 drama "Keiji no Manazashi" (A detective's look) which will begin its run from October at 8pm on Mondays. It will also be his first leading role in a TBS drama after he played the main character in FujiTV's 1999 drama "Renai Sagishi" (Love Trickster).

"Keiji no Manazashi" is based on the same-titled novel by suspense writer Yakumaru Gaku which features Shiina switching career paths to become a newbie police detective in his 40s after quitting as a legal officer at the juvenile detention centre. To date, Shiina had played many police detective roles and his most recent role was as Kazamatsuri in "Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato De" which had a strong comical touch. This time, his role Natsume will be a gentle man who tries to solve cases with a softer approach.

Co-stars include Kaname Jun, Kitamura Yukiya and Matsushige Yutaka.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi





"Doctor X ~ Gekkai Ookado Michiko" to be back this autumn

The hit TV Asahi drama "Doctor X ~ Gekkai Ookado Michiko" starring Yonekura Ryoko will be back this autumn in the same Thursdays 9pm timeslot. Yonekura will reprise her role as Ookado Michiko, the freelance surgeon who is unafraid to challenge rules and conventions. This time, she will be working at Teito Medical University's affiliated hospital's HQ as compared to the 3rd branch she was working at in the drama series last year.

Filming began on 19 August at a racecourse where Ookado (Yonekura) was featured having fun at the races although the shooting took place in extremely sweltering conditions,

Source: Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2



Hashimoto Ai & Koura Kengo pair up in new NHK drama "Hard Nut!"

Hashimoto Ai and Koura Kengo will be starring in the new NHK drama "Hard Nut" which will begin its run from late October in the Sundays 10pm timeslot. This is the first leading role in a drama for Hashimoto while this is the second time she is working with Koura since their collaboration in WOWOW's "Tsumi to Batsu A Falsified Romance" last year.

Hashimoto plays the role of Nanba Kurumi, a mathematics student in the famous Touto University who lacks communication skills and is seen as a weirdo by those around her. However, with her genius-like flashes of inspiration and her mathematics knowledge, she ends up solving many difficult cases e.g. terrorist bombings, murders and corporate extortion. As for the reason why she studies mathematics, it will also be explained in the drama. On the other hand, Koura plays a police detective Handa Tatsuhiko who works at the Hatsune Police Station and is known as a skilled marksman but his social life is shrouded in mystery. Co-stars also include Yajima Kenichi, Namioka Kazuki and Katsumura Masanobu.

Source: Oricon




"Chibi Maruko-chan" back as a drama series with 3rd generation Maruko-chan Shinta Maki

FujiTV will be producing a new series to its "Chibi Maruko-chan" real-life drama adaptation for the first time in five and a half years which will be shown this autumn at 6pm on Sundays. The new drama which will feature a mix of stories from the manga and newly-created stories, will feature 8-year-old Shinta Maki as the 3rd generation Maruko after Morisako Ei in 2006 and Ito Ayaka in 2007. With regard to her first leading role in a drama, Shinta commented that she is very happy especially since she is a big fan of the Maruko-chan anime.

Source: Sanspo




Kimura Takuya & Shibasaki Kou reunite in the TBS autumn 2013 drama "Ando Roid ~ A.I. know LOVE? ~"

Kimura Takuya and Shibasaki Kou will be working together again in the TBS autumn 2013 drama "Ando Roid ~ A.I. know LOVE? ~" since their last collaboration "GOOD LUCK!" in 2003. The drama which will begin its run from October, will take over from current ratings winner "Hanzawa Naoki" in the same timeslot i.e. Sundays 9pm.

Kimura will play two roles in this drama where one is that of a genius physicist Matsushima Reiji who gets murdered by an unknown person and another is that of an android named Ando Roid who gets sent from the future in 100 years later to the present in order to protect Reiji's fiancee Ando Asahi (Shibasaki) who works in a IT company and somehow is targeted by the killer too. Asahi has a strong dislike for Ando Roid while the latter is supposed to be emotionless but the two slowly develop feelings for each other.

Source: Sanspo

http://doramaworld.blogspot.com.au/

xploring wrote:

"Doctor X ~ Gekkai Ookado Michiko" to be back this autumn The hit TV Asahi drama "Doctor X ~ Gekkai Ookado Michiko" starring Yonekura Ryoko will be back this autumn in the same Thursdays 9pm timeslot. Yonekura will reprise her role as Ookado Michiko, the freelance surgeon who is unafraid to challenge rules and conventions. This time, she will be working at Teito Medical University's affiliated hospital's HQ as compared to the 3rd branch she was working at in the drama series last year. Filming began on 19 August at a racecourse where Ookado (Yonekura) was featured having fun at the races although the shooting took place in extremely sweltering conditions, Source: Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2

Yay!

Shota Matsuda to star in next 'Getsu 9' drama

Matsuda Shota will star in the next 'Getsu 9' drama titled "Umi no Ue no Shinryojo", which will begin broadcasting in October. This will mark his first time starring in a 'Getsu 9' drama.

The drama is set in a floating medical clinic, "Kaishinmaru", that travels around the islands in the Seto inland sea. Though "Kaishinmaru" is fictitious, it uses "Saiseimaru", a real boat clinic in the Seto inland sea, as its motif.

In the drama, Matsuda will play a young doctor named "Sezaki Kota" who works on the boat clinic. Though Kota is a distinguished doctor, he easily falls in love with women. Every island he visits for medical treatments, he falls in love with a local woman. Kota tackles the medical problems that the woman has, while involving people around him. However, he is always turned down, and eventually continues on to travel to the next island. It is said that each episode will feature a different woman who Kota will fall in love with.

There will also be a nurse who works on the boat clinic along with Kota as his partner played by Takei Emi. It's her first time playing the heroine of a 'Getsu 9' drama. The nurse Takei plays is an unyielding woman who hates unreasonable things.

Matsuda commentedt, "I am really looking forward to play a comical doctor, since it's a funny role. While filming at the islands, I hope all the cast members and the staff members could be like family."

"Umi no Ue no Shinryojo" will be aired every Monday at 9:00 pm on Fuji TV.

Source: Sanspo

xploring wrote:

Kimura Takuya & Shibasaki Kou reunite in the TBS autumn 2013 drama "Ando Roid ~ A.I. know LOVE? ~"

More cast news on this one:

Yuko Oshima to appear as Kimtaku's sister in 'Ando Roid'

AKB48's Oshima Yuko will be appearing in the upcoming TBS drama 'Ando Lloyd ~A.I. knows LOVE?~'.

'Ando Lloyd' is a love story that takes place in a world between 2013 and 2113 that is linked with a "time cable." The drama stars SMAP's Kimura Takuya as a genius physicist named 'Matsushima Reiji' and a mysterious android from the future. It will also star actress Shibasaki Kou as Reiji's fiancee 'Ando Asahi'.

Oshima will play 'Matsushima Nanase', Reiji's younger sister who is also a physicist and associate professor. She expressed, "I am very honored and happy to co-star with Kimura-san and Shibasaki-san." Although she has an older brother herself, she commented, "I think this will be the first and last time in my life that I will have a handsome, genius older brother, so I want to cherish this opportunity."

Aside from Oshima, it was also revealed that Kiritani Kenta, Honda Tsubasa, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Johnny's Jr.'s Jesse, Yamamoto Mizuki, Hiraoka Yuta, Natori Yuko, and Endo Kenichi have been added to the cast.

Honda, who will play an android from the future named 'Sapuri', stated, "Since this is my first android role, I am both excited and nervous. I hope to express Sapuri in my own way."

Yamamoto will play 'Kuriyama Kaoru', Reiji's lab assistant. "For a long time, I've loved dramas with unique worldviews like 'SPEC' and 'ATARU', so I'm very happy that I get to be a part of this drama," she said.

'Ando Lloyd ~A.I. knows LOVE?~' will air on TBS' "Nichiyou Gekijou" time slot starting in October.

Source: Mantan Web

xploring wrote:

Horikita Maki to star in FujiTV autumn 2013 drama "Miss Pilot" Horikita Maki will be starring in the FujiTV autumn 2013 drama "Miss Pilot" which begins its run from October at 9pm on Tuesdays. She plays the heroine Tezuka Haru, the daughter of a family which owns an izakaya, who is innocent, naive and too frank for her own good thus making it impossible for her to find a job. One day, she comes across a ANA job advertisement for pilots and unexpectedly scraps through despite the tough requirements. This then marks the start to Haru's difficult journey to become a female pilot. At present, there are slightly more than 20 female pilots among the 2,500 pilots hired by ANA. In order to boost the reality factor of the training, ANA will be offering full support to the cast and crew who will be able to film at places which are usually out-of-bounds to the public. The cast will also be wearing real ANA uniforms during the filming which are specially order-made for them. Filming will begin in early September. http://doramaworld.blogspot.com.au/

Co-stars announced for the FujiTV autumn 2013 drama "Miss Pilot"

The co-stars for FujiTV's autumn 2013 drama "Miss Pilot" starring Horikita Maki have been revealed. Aibu Saki will play the role of Oda Chisato who is a classmate of Tezuka Haru (Horikita) during the pilot training and a rival in terms of work due to her great performance. Saito Takumi will be Kunikida Konosuke who is a strict but kind instructor while Sakuraba Nanami will play Abeno Suzu who is a newbie ground staff. Nanao will be Suzuki Noriko, Suzu's senior who holds a torch for Kunikida and Iwaki Koichi will be Shinozaki Kazutoyo, the overall-in-charge of pilots. Other actors in the lineup also include Mamiya Shotaro, Koyanagi Yu, Fujii Ryusei (Kansai Johnny's Jrs), Shonozaki Ken and Fujisawa Ema. "Miss Pilot" will begin its run from October in the Tuesdays 9pm timeslot.

Source: Sanspo

Ono Machiko to be the lead in FujITV drama SP "Hasegawa Machiko Monogatari ~ Sazae-san ga umareta hi"

Ono Machiko will be playing the role of Hasegawa Machiko who was well-known as the author of popular manga "Sazae-san", in the FujiTV drama "Hasegawa Machiko Monogatari ~ Sazae-san ga umareta hi". The drama SP will be a celebration work to mark the 45th anniversary of "Sazae-san" and is due to be shown in November.

Ono commented that she felt an affinity to Hasegawa since they both share the same first names and that she is happy to act in this SP which talks about Hasegawa's life before, during and after the war and how she came to produce "Sazae-san". This is not the first time that Ono is playing a real-life person but she still fears doing it Nonetheless, she hopes to use her own mode to take up the challenge of playing Hasegawa.

Filming begins in mid September.

Source: Sponichi


Tokiwa Takako works with Kitagawa Eriko again in the TBS drama SP "Tsuki ni inoru Pierrot"

Tokiwa Takako who last worked with scriptwriter Kitagawa Eriko in her previous hit dramas like 1995's "Aishiteiru to itte kure" and 2000's Beautiful Life", will be working together again for the first time in three years through the TBS drama SP "Tsuki ni inoru Pierrot" which will be shown on 5 October at 2pm. The story is set in Gifu Prefecture i.e. Kitagawa's hometown where Tokiwa plays the character Tamai Shizuru, a 41-year-old single woman who lives in her hometown in Gifu with her grandmother and mother. Due to a random incident, she starts to exchange phone messages with Tobuse Wataru (Tanihara Shosuke) who lives in Tokyo and they start to become close friends despite not having met before. Tokiwa revealed that Kitagawa had written a letter to her, "challenging" her to see if she can play the role of Shizuru well which Tokiwa felt that was a great way of getting her interested in the role.

Filming began on 11 August in Tokyo and shifted to Gifu after that.

Shizuru's grandmother Sakura will be played by Yachigusa Kaoru while Shizuru's mother Tokie will be played by Negishi Toshie. Takuma Takayuki will play Tanizawa Yuto, Shizuru's former classmate and the director of a hospital while Takahashi Yumiko will play Ikeba Megumi, Shizuru's former classmate and a single mother.

Source: Oricon



Kamenashi Kazuya, Tamaki Koji & Tabe Mikako to star in NTV autumn 2013 drama "Tokyo Bandwagon ~ Shitamachi Daikazoku Monogatari"

Kamenashi Kazuya, Tamaki Koji and Tabe Mikako will be starring in the NTV autumn 2013 drama "Tokyo Bandwagon ~ Shitamachi Daizoku Monogatari" which will begin its run from October at 9pm on Sundays. This is the first time in 8 years since Tamaki last appeared in a drama and he will be playing the unconventional father Ganato of the lead character Ao (Kamenashi). The drama is based on the novel series by Shouji Yukiya and features a four-generation family operating a cafe and used books store which uses its weird family rules to resolve various unusual cases. Ganato who is actually a legendary rocker, likes to appear out of nowhere and says eccentric things with a pet phrase "LOVE dane". On the other hand, Tabe will be playing the role of Makino Suzumi, the heroine who is in love with Ao.

The ending theme song of the drama titled "Searchlight" will be sung by Tamaki and is due to be released on 27 November.

Other co-stars include Hiraizumi Sei who plays Hotta Kanichi, the grandfather of the family and Ganato's father, Kaga Mariko as the grandmother who has become a ghost and will be the narrator in the drama, Mimura as Aiko who is the elder sister of Ao and a single mother, Kaneko Nobuaki as Kon, Aoi's elder brother and a free writer who coops himself at home and Taira Airi who plays Ami, the wife of Kon who used to be a cabin attendant.

Source: Oricon




Tanaka Kei gets his first leading role in a drama through "No Con Kid Bokura no Game Shi"

Tanaka Kei will get his first leading role in a drama through the TV Tokyo autumn 2013 drama "No Con Kid Bokura no Game Shi" (No Con Kid Our Game History). The drama features how a trio of three youngsters grew up with video games from the 1980s to 2013 and how it affects their lives in terms of studies, love and career. Tanaka plays the role of Watanabe Reiji as a 15-year-old teenager back in 1983 whose father operated a video games centre "Game Centre Watanabe" which was extremely popular with students and salarymen. Reiji's classmate Kido also frequented the game centre but Reiji himself had no interest in games. Until the day when a mysterious beautiful teenager Takano came to the game centre and played games, Reiji then started dabbling in the video games and even challenged Kido to a competition. Tanaka will play Reiji all the way till he's 45 years old so he commented that it will be interesting to viewers to see how the trio will develop and change as they grow older.

The word "No Con" actually comes from the "No Continue" one-coin game machines popular between 1983 to the mid 90s. The production crew went to secure rights to mention the actual game names in the drama which will definitely be nostalgic to viewers in their 30s and above.

The drama will be shown from 4 October at 12.52am on Fridays via TV Tokyo and TV Osaka.

Source: Eiga.com

EXILE's AKIRA & Nakama Yukie to star in FujiTV autumn 2013 drama "Honey Trap"

EXILE member AKIRA and Nakama Yukie will be teaming up as husband and wife in the upcoming FujiTV autumn 2013 drama "Honey Trap" which begins its run from October in the Saturdays 11.10pm timeslot. The drama is a suspense story featuring AKIRA as an elite salaryman Miyama Yuichi who is on the rise in a trading company and involved in a new business that the company is going to undertake. However, information about the new business is leaked and Miyama is suspected of being the traitor thus gets suspended from work as a result. In order to restore his reputation and affluent life, he will try to find out who was responsible for plight. Nakama will play the role of Miyama Natsumi who tries to support her husband through this tough period.

Co-stars include Takashima Masanobu who plays the director of an international trademarks agency and is bent on investigating if Miyama was the company traitor, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki and Uchiyama Rina who play Takashima's subordinates as well as Ozawa Yukiyoshi who is a headhunter from a rival company.

Source: Sanspo

http://doramaworld.blogspot.com.au/

AAA's Nishijima Takahiro to star in NHK drama

AAA's main vocalist Nishijima Takahiro will be starring in NHK's new drama 'Taiyou no Wana' which premieres on November 30th. This will be his first lead role in a NHK drama.

An original story by Oshima Satomi, "Taiyou no Wana" is a love suspense drama set at a home appliance company in Nagoya. One day, major home appliance maker Meio Electrics receives a warning letter from Zestar Research Company in America. They accuse Meio of patent infringement with solar panels, and demand a large compensation and licensing fees. Nishijima plays Hasegawa of the Intellectual Property Department, who is suspected of being a corporate spy. This unexpected occurrence happens when he has just started his married life with wife Aoi (played by Ito Ayumi).

Zestar Research Company, also called "Patent Troll", is a patent mafia that is controlled by a mysterious man named Sawada (Tsukamoto Takashi). On the other hand, Hama (Omi Toshinori), who runs a lawsuit prevention service in the company, is reprimanded and insulted from his superior Muraoka (Ibu Masato). He ultimately beats Muraoka in the head and buries him in the mountains. This incident causes a fierce diplomacy that risks the "love" and "pride" of the characters.

The drama will also star Misaki Ayame, Patrick Harlan, Nakahara Takeo, Ishida Hikari, and Yoshida Eisaku.

Source: Oricon