Archive for 'Drama' Category
“Suzuki Sensei” won the best TV Drama Award of NAB AWARDS 2011
NAB(The National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan ) (http://www.nab.or.jp/index.php?What%20is%20NAB%3F) announced the winners of NAB Awards 2011 on this Sep.15th. “Suzuki Sensei” (/鈴木先生, A Teacher Suzuki) (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/suzukisensei/) aired this April-June won the Best TV Drama Award of NAB Awards this year.
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. 
(5 投票, 平均値/最大値: 5.00 / 5)
Loading...Keiko Kitagawa, Sho Sakurai to star in “Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de” drama series
“Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de,” a bestselling novel published last year by author Higashigawa Tokuya, is being turned into a Fuji TV drama series this fall. The show will star Arashi member Sho Sakurai(櫻井翔）,29, and actress keiko Kitagawa (北川景子）,24,.
“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.
(3 投票, 平均値/最大値: 5.00 / 5)Loading...KAT-TUN’s Kamenashi to star in “Yokai Ningen Bem” live-action series
KAT-TUN’s Kazuya Kamenashi(亀梨和也）,25, has been chosen to star in a television drama adaptation of the classic 1968 anime series “Yokai Ningen Bem” (“Humanoid Monster Bem”). This is the first time that the anime will be adapted as a live-action work..
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.
(3 投票, 平均値/最大値: 5.00 / 5)Loading...“Maru Maru Mori Mori” tops Recochoku rankings
Mobile download site Recochoku has released a partial ranking for the first half of 2011. The popular song “Maru Maru Mori Mori!,” which is the theme song of the hit drama series “Marumo no Okite (マルモのおきて),” achieved the unprecedented feat of taking #1 in seven different categories.
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)”. 
(3 投票, 平均値/最大値: 5.00 / 5)Loading...Maki Horikita to play doctor in Asadora
Actress Maki Horikita (堀北真希）, 22, will play a doctor an NHK drama to air. The drama, which starts next April 2, is titled “Ume-chan sensei（梅ちゃん先生）”.
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.
(3 投票, 平均値/最大値: 5.00 / 5)Loading...The mountain gate of Eisho-ji Temple restored for the first time in 88 years
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The monks of Eisho-ji hosting the ceremony at the newly rebuilt mountain gate
The map of Eisho-ji temple and its area in Kawamura
The three main parts of "Mito-kohmon", the central old man is Mitsukuni Tokugawa or Mito-kohmon, and the other two are his reliable strong retainers
(7 投票, 平均値/最大値: 5.00 / 5)Loading...Paradise Kiss gets spin-off mobile drama
Before the live-action “Paradise Kiss” movie is released on June 4, a spin-off drama titled “Paradise Kiss: After School” will be made available through the mobile content service “LISMO Drama!” The 4-episode series will be released on Fridays starting on May 6, gearing up for the movie’s premiere.
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
(1 投票, 平均値/最大値: 5.00 / 5)Loading...Saki Aibu, Mocomichi Hayami co-stars in drama “Rebound”
Saki Aibu (相武紗季）,25. has the lead role in an drama series called “Rebound,” airing spring on Wednesday nights at 10:00pm. The show will use special makeup to make Aibu’s character appear to be as heavy as 85 kilograms in weight.
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）.
(まだ評価されていません)Loading...Junpei Mizobata to play Shinichi Kudo in new Detective Conan drama special
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.
(まだ評価されていません)Loading...Shingo Katori to star in next Monday night drama with Meisa Kuroki, Naohito Fujiki
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.
(まだ評価されていません)Loading...Takashi Sorimachi to play loving father in Kashikogi drama
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.
(まだ評価されていません)Loading...Tetsuya Takeda’s Kinpachi-sensei to retire with special drama in March
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.
(まだ評価されていません)Loading...Takuya Kimura to star in Antarctic research expedition team’s drama
TBS has announced that Takuya Kimura (木村拓哉）,38, will star in a new drama series next fall, tentatively titled “Nankyoku Tairiku ~Kami no Ryouiki ni Idonda Otoko to Inu no Monogatari~.” The show is being produced in commemoration of TBS’s 60th anniversary, and it is said that it will have the biggest budget of any TBS drama series in history.
The series will focus on Japan’s first Antarctic research expedition team, which consisted of 11 members and 19 Sakhalin Huskies. The team stayed at the Showa Base in Antarctica for over a year until 1958 when a second team came to take over, but extreme weather conditions forced the teams to completely retreat from the base, unfortunately leaving behind 15 of the Huskies. When one of the dog handlers returned in 1959 with a third team, it was discovered that two of the dogs, Taro and Jiro, had somehow managed to survive.
That expedition team was also the subject of the 1983 film “Nankyoku Monogatari,” starring Ken Takakura (高倉健）,79,. That movie earned approximately 11 billion yen, making it the second highest grossing live-action Japanese film in history after “Odoru Daisousasen: The Movie 2.”
The drama will not be a remake of the film. Instead, it will be an original script inspired by the book “Nankyoku Ettoutai Taro Jiro no Shinjitsu” by Taiichi Kitamura.
Kimura plays the researcher Takeshi Kuramochi, the vice-leader of the team. His rival, the head weather observer Himuro, will be played by Masato Sakai (37). Teruyuki Kagawa (45) is playing the team leader, while Kyohei Shibata (59) is playing the overall person in charge of the expedition. Other team members will be played by Yusuke Yamamoto (23), Susumu Terajima (47), and Naoto Ogata (43).
Filming will start in February and last more than half a year. Scenes will be shot in Hokkaido, though TBS is also considering doing some filming in Antarctica. The series will begin airing in October in the Sunday 9:00pm time slot.
Hollywood's Eight Below is a remake of Nankyoku Monogatari
In February 1958, the Second Cross-Winter Expedition for the Japanese Antarctic Surveying Team rode on the icebreaker The Sōya to take over from the 11-man First Cross-Winter Expedition. Due to the extreme weather conditions in Antarctica, Sōya could not get near enough to the Shouwa Base and they decided not to proceed with the stay-over.
The First Cross-Winter Expedition retreated by helicopter, but they had to leave 15 Sakhalin Huskies at the unmanned Shouwa Base. The dogs were left chained at the base, as the team thought that they would be returning, but they did not due to fuel shortages. The team was worried about the dogs, as the weather was extremely cold and only one week of food was available.
Nearly a year later, on 14 January 1959, Kitagawa, one of the dog handlers in the first expedition, returned with the Third Cross-Winter Expedition, wanting to bury his beloved dogs. To everyone’s surprise, they were greeted warmly at the base by two dogs, Taro and Jiro, brothers who were born in Antarctica.
It is still unknown how and why the brothers survived, because an average husky can only live in such conditions for about one month.
(まだ評価されていません)Loading...Hiroki Narimiya cast as Yutaka Ozaki in biographical drama
Yutaka Ozaki
The life of singer-songwriter Yutaka Ozaki(尾崎豊）is being dramatized for television for the first time. Hiroki Narimiya (成宮寛貴),28, will play the role of Ozaki as part of a special drama and documentary project by digital broadcasting station BS Japan.
Ozakiis one of the most iconic singer/songwriters of Japan. Debuting in 1983 with “15 no yoru,” he won the hearts of Japanese teenagers who could relate to his realistic lyrics about love, rebellion, and growing up. He died an untimely death on April 25, 1992 of heart failure, most likely brought on by an overdose. Since then, his songs have been covered many times by the popular artists of today.
To commemorate BS Japan’s 10th anniversary, the station is producing a mini-drama, tentatively titled “Kaze no Shonen ~ Ozaki Yutaka Eien no Densetsu.” The show will be a portrayal of Ozaki’s life, using an original screenplay based on a book by Akira Sudo, who was Ozaki’s producer.
Narumiya debuted in 2000 in the play “Horobikaketa Jinrui, Sono Ai no Honshitsu to wa (Perishing Humankind, What is the Essence of Its Love?).” He was chosen for the part of Kane out of the 3000 actors who auditioned. In February 2001, Narumiya made his movie debut in “Oboreru Sakana”, a Toei production. In 2002, he appeared as Noda in the television drama, “Gokusen.” With his life-sized performance in this role, Hiroki won both serious acclaim and popularity.
Narumiya has received many offers to model overseas for high-fashion brands, which fits in his plans to pursue work outside Japan as both a model and actor.
The drama will cover Ozaki’s life from the age of 16, when he first met Sudo through an artist audition. The show is expected to air on TV Tokyo in late March.
(まだ評価されていません)Loading...Visual-kei band Versailles appears in first TV drama “Onegai Kanaete Versailles”
The visual-kei band Versailles will act in a television show for the first time. “Onegai Kanaete Versailles” is a late-night mini-drama that will air in a 5-minute time slot on MBS (local station in Nagoya) and tvk (local station in Yokohama), starting in January 2011.
Versailles (known as Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet- in the United States) is a Japanese metal band formed in 2007. It is composed of several notable figures in the visual kei scene. Versailles’ key characteristics are their rococo-esque costumes, dueling guitar sounds and heavy but melodic arrangements.
The TV show stars Rina Koike (17) as a poor but pure girl named Rina Fukurokoujo. One day a group of “princes” (played by Versailles) appear before her to grant her every wish, no matter how unreasonable. There will be an element of comedy in their various missions, including one where they must serve as babysitters.
Versailles will provide the show’s theme song “Philia,” which they plan to release as a single on March 16.
“Onegai Kanaete Versailles” will air on MBS on Monday nights at 2:20am, starting January 17. tvk will broadcast the show on Friday nights at 12:30am, starting January 21.
(1 投票, 平均値/最大値: 5.00 / 5)Loading...