Arashi’s Sho Sakurai(櫻井翔）,30, and AKB48’s Yuko Oshima(大島優子）,23, will appear together in a television drama for the first time. In April, TBS plans to air a 3-episode miniseries, and Sakurai and Oshima have been cast in the first episode.

The miniseries, titled “Blackboard ~ Jidai to Tatakatta Kyoushitachi~,” revolves around teachers in different time periods having to deal with the problems of that era. For example, the first episode stars Sakurai as Shirahama, a junior high school teacher who taught his students about “dying for your country” during wartime. After later losing his right arm in the war, he returns to teaching but is burdened and conflicted by what he taught his students in the past.

Oshima will play one of Shirahama’s colleagues, an English teacher. She becomes an eventual love interest for him, though it seems to develop into a love triangle with his older brother’s wife (Rie Miyazawa).
This is the first time that an AKB48 member has appeared in a drama starring an Arashi member. Filming will take place between February and March, but it is said that initially their schedules were so busy there was only one day when they were both available. However, their schedules were later adjusted, and the production team gave up on filming on location (due to the time required just to travel) and instead constructed a nearly 2,000-square-meter set in Yokohama that reportedly cost 100 million yen.

The second episode of “Blackboard ~Jidai to Tatakatta Kyoushitachi~” will star Koichi Sato (佐藤浩市）,51, as a teacher during the 1980s having to deal with school violence. Shida Mirai (志田未来）,18, will play a delinquent student, and Shihori Kanjiya  (貫地谷しおり) ,26, will play another teacher at the school.

TBS plans to broadcast “Blackboard ~Jidai to Tatakatta Kyoushitachi~” over three consecutive nights in April.

Both foreign and Japanese movies and related staras and staffers were invited.”Untouchable” from France won the Sakura Grand Prix and Award for  Best Actor.

Ranma ½

Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣）will play Akane Tendo, and Kento Kaku (賀来賢人） and Natsuna (夏菜) will play the dual male/female sides of the title character Ranma Saotome .

Yui Aragaki

Kento Kaku

Natsuna

Ranma ½ is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi（高橋留美子） . The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood in martial arts. As a result of an accident during a training journey, he is cursed to become a girl when splashed with cold water, but hot water will change him back into a boy.

The story of the TV work is about a young teacher at a junior-high school who suffers from daily common troubles caused by his students ,and how he makes efforts and solve the problems using his ideas and passions. Suzuki is no hero and quite a banal guy but has  unique approaches of education over his students and settles things steadily one by one.  Suzuki’s ideas and thoughts at scenes are explained by his own monologue,which makes this work a unique one with sepcial atmosphere.

Hiroki Hasegawa playing the leading part of Mr. Suzuki the teacher

“Suzuki Sensei” originally is a popular manga work of  Kenji Taketomi having been serialized in a manga magazine “Manga Action” since 2005, and won an excellent manga work award of  Japan Media Arts Festival held by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2007.

“Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de” won this year’s Honya Taisho (本屋大賞/an award voted on by bookstore employees nationwide) and has so far sold 1.4 million copies. The novel is a comical mystery whose main character is Kageyama (Sakurai), a sharp-tongued butler and chauffeur for Hosho Reiko (Kitagawa), the well-bred daughter of an internationally famous corporation.

keiko Kitagawa

However, Kageyama is no ordinary butler. Reiko also happens to be a novice detective, though she lacks in deductive skills. While serving her refined meals, Kageyama listens to the details of her cases and helps her deduce the mysteries while verbally abusing her with “polite” insults.

Sho Sakurai

The series will include even more comedy than the original work. One of the highlights of the show will likely be the disguises that Kageyama wears to accompany Reiko to the crime scenes, keeping an eye on her investigations.

Fuji TV will broadcast the series on Tuesdays at 9:00pm, starting in October.

Yokai Ningen Bem

“Yokai Ningen Bem” was a supernatural adventure series revolving around three heroic monsters named Bem, Bera, and Berro who fight against evil monsters.

Kamenashi will play the leader-like Bem.

While Anne (杏）,25, will play Bera and Fuku Suzuki (鈴木福）,7, will play Berro.

NTV will broadcast the drama series on Saturdays at 9:00pm, beginning in October.

Marumo no okite (Fuji TV) Sunday 21:00,2011-Apr-24 to 2011-Jul-03

“Maru Maru Mori Mori!” is sung by “Marumo no Okite” co-stars Mana Ashida (芦田 愛菜),7, and Fuku Suzuki (鈴木福),7,. The song and its simple dance has become a phenomenon, pushing the CD single as high as #1 on the daily charts and #3 on the weekly charts. It has also remained in the top 10 for the past five weeks.

Ashida is a child actress from Hyogo Prefecture. She became the youngest lead star in Japanese drama history when she starred in the special drama “Sayonara Bokutachi no Youchien(さよならぼくたちのようちえん)”.

The morning drama series, also known as an Asadora (“Morning Drama”), airs Monday through Saturday morning on NHK TV from 8:00 to 8:15, with a rebroadcast the same day from 12:45 to 13:00.

Horikita plays the title character, Dr Ume, who becomes a doctor in Kamata (蒲田）, Tokyo after World War II.

Maki Horikita

Horikita said the theme is one of recovery, and added that it is also relevant to Japan today, which is trying to recover from the devastation of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Diorama of Shochiku Kinema Kamata Studio

Kamata, where most of the drama is set, used to be described as a city that creates fashion trends. It is most likely because the Shochiku Cinema Kamata Studio used to stand where Aroma Square is today, filming more than 1,200 movies in 15 years until it moved to Ofuna in 1936.

Based on Yazawa Ai’s popular fashion-themed manga “Paradise Kiss,” the movie stars Kitagawa Keiko as a high school girl who gets scouted to be a model by a group of fashion design students. The “After School” spin-off will be a comical look at the daily lives of the four characters George (Mukai Osamu), Isabella (Igarashi Shunji), Miwako (Omasa Aya), and Arashi (Kaku Kento). The story will mainly take place in George’s luxurious apartment.

The “Paradise Kiss” movie already finished filming last year, but the spin-off’s cast reunited after four months to reprise their characters.

The drama is being written and directed by Fukuda Yuichi, who also handled the live-action adaptation of Ishihara Makochin’s manga “The 3-Mei-sama.”

Source:<リンク:http://eiga.com/news/20110415/13/>Eiga.com

Rebound is an original script by screenwriter Kazuhiko Yukawa, whose past dramas include Magerarenai Onna and Joou no Kyoushitsu.

Aibu plays Nobuko, the daughter of a tonkatsu shop owner who grew up on tonkatsu and cake. As a result, she weighed 60 kilograms by the time she graduated from elementary school, and at age 20 she weighed 85 kilograms. In order to turn her life around, she quits eating cake and sheds 37 kilograms, leading to her current career as the editor of a fashion magazine.

When she goes to interview the “sweet prince,” a fashionable pastry chef played by Mocomichi Hayami (速水もこみち）,26, she winds up breaking her ban on cake and begins “rebounding” from her diet. She soon finds herself having to decide between her currently slim lifestyle and a delicious romance with the handsome patissier.

The show also features Chiaki Kuriyama (栗山千明）,26, playing Nobuko’s good friend Hitomi.

Zettai Kareshi drama

Aibu and Hayami last co-starred together in the drama series “Zettai Kareshi.”

Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend　絶対彼氏。）was manga series by Yuu Watase, and was adapted into an eleven episode live-action drama series. The series began airing on Fuji TV in 2008. In the live-action version, Riiko Izawa is an office lady in search of a boyfriend, and she ends up in possession of a “robot” known as Night Tenjo, who is programmed to be the perfect boyfriend. However, this creates a love triangle with a distinguished young man at her company who also has feelings for her. Riiko is played by Saki Aibu, Night is played by Mokomichi Hayami, and Soshi Asamoto is played by Hiro Mizushima(水嶋ヒロ）.

The Detective Conan also known as Case Closed is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. The Detective Conan franchise is confirmed to be getting a third live-action drama special, airing on NTV this April.

Two live dramas were directed by Koichi Okamoto.

A first drama, titled “Meitantei Conan: Kudo Shinichi he no Chosenjo” aired on October 2, 2006.
The drama was a prequel of the current storyline that illustrated how Jimmy turned into Conan. The special starred Shun Oguri (小栗旬）as Jimmy Kudo, Tomoka Kurokawa （黒澤友香）as Rachel Moore, and Takanori Jinnai as Richard Moore.

A second drama, titled “Kudo Shinichi no Fukkatsu! Kuro no Soshiki to no Taiketsu” was aired on December 17, 2007. New to the cast were Yu Kashii（香椎由宇） as Shiho Miyano, with Kyoka Shibata　portraying her as Ai, Kuranosuke Sasaku as Gin, Taro Okada as Vodka, and Nao Fujisaki as Conan. It was released on a regular and limited-edition DVD on March 28, 2008.

Although Oguri previously starred in the 2006 and 2008, the new one will feature Junpei Mizobata (溝端淳平）,21, as the protagonist Shinichi Kudo. The female character Ran Mori will be played by actress Shiori Kutsuna (18).

The drama special was produced to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the animated series and its theatrical films. The newest movie, “Meitantei Conan: Chinmoku no 15-fun,” opens on April 16.

SMAP’s Shingo Katori (香取慎吾）,34, will star in Fuji TV’s next “Getsu 9″, Monday night drama series.
The currently untitled series will have Katori playing a marriage agency advisor who prides himself on bringing together countless couples, with his motto of “the man who sells happiness.” Meisa Kuroki (黒木メイサ）,22, and Naohito Fujiki (藤木直人）,38, have also been cast.

Katori is the youngest member of SMAP, a popular idol group from the agency Johnny & Associates. Shingo Katori has acted in several dramas such as Three Peace, and has appeared as a voice actor in such anime series as Akazukin Chacha, in which he voiced the part of the werewolf boy Riiya.

Meisa Kuroki is a Japanese actress, model and singer born in Nago, Okinawa, Japan. She has modeled for the popular Japanese fashion magazine JJ.

Naohito Fujiki is a Japanese actor and singer. He became an actor when he won a casting competition during his college years at Waseda University. Fujiki is also a pop singer and has held many concerts all around Japan.

The screenplay is said to be an original love story. Kuroki plays one of Katori’s clients, though she is “too beautiful” – the agency’s advisors are not used to finding a match for someone like her. Although Katori begins to fall for her, he puts his effort into trying to set her up with the rich and handsome lawyer played by Fujiki.

This is Katori’s fourth time starring in one of Fuji TV’s “Getsu 9″ dramas (Mondays 9:00pm). For Kuroki, this will be her first appearance in that time slot. The series is scheduled to premiere in April.

Takashi Sorimachi (反町隆史）,37,is starring in his first drama series in three years.

Sorimachi is a Japanese actor and singer. He is mostly famous for having portrayed Eikichi Onizuka in the live-action drama adaptation of the popular manga series Great Teacher Onizuka, and the assassin O in Hong Kong action film Fulltime Killer.
Recently, he starred in the movie Otoko-tachi no Yamato.

This time, he will take on the role of a father in “Good Life ~Arigatou, Papa. Sayonara~,” based on a successful South Korean novel. Nana Eikura (榮倉奈々）,22, Haruka Igawa (井川遥）,34, and Tsuyoshi Ihara (伊原剛志）,47, have also been cast.

The basis for the drama is the novel “Kashikogi” by author Cho Chang-in, which has sold 2 million copies in Korea since its publication in 2000. It has already been adapted as a television drama and a stage play in that country. On February 4, Shogakukan is publishing the book in Japan under the title “Good Life.”
Why is “fatherhood” so filled with sorrow? The heartrending story of a father’s love for his child who is ill with leukemia.

Sorimachi plays the part of Daichi Sawamoto, a newspaper reporter who has always prioritized his work over his family. When his wife suddenly leaves him, he finally notices the love he has been receiving from his son. Just as he decides to answer back, it is discovered that his son has leukemia.

Eikura plays a pediatrics specialist.

The popular drama series “3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei” will come to a conclusion this March with a final special episode. The show, which stars Tetsuya Takeda (武田鉄矢）,61, as a junior high school teacher, has had a total of 8 seasons since 1979, with the last one in 2007-2008. This finale will be the drama’s 12th special episode.

Takeda is a Japanese folk singer and actor. He perhaps most known in Japan for his starring role in “3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei” long-running, highly-rated drama.The program, targeted at junior high and high school aged adolescents. Over the show’s 8 seasons, Takeda’s character “Kinpachi-sensei” has guided approximately 240 students to graduation. In several cases, the show helped launch the careers of the young stars playing his students, including Kaori Sugita, Kazuya Kamenashi, and Aya Ueto.

Takeda alos wrote and performed several well-known songs, including the theme song for the 1985 animated movie Doraemon: Nobita’s Little Star Wars (のび太の宇宙小戦争). Takeda’s 1980 song Okuru Kotoba (The Word I Give to You) is often sung or performed at junior high school and high school graduation ceremonies in Japan.

The upcoming episode, tentatively titled “3 Nen B Gumi Kinpachi Sensei Final,” will deal with Kinpachi-sensei’s retirement. Filming starts next week, though the student cast has not yet been reported. TBS plans to broadcast the special at the end of March.