Quick Review #80: Kokuhaku (movie)

Title: Kokuhaku / 告白

Rating: 6 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to watch a short suspense thriller in an extreme condition and are fans of Yang Ik-june

Liked:

- Thanks to the fact that the movie was just 73 minutes long, the story moved on pretty speedily after the 30-minute mark and culminated in a rather unexpected ending. The thriller parts i.e. the psychological and physical aspects really kept me on the edge of my seat despite the story being set in one place and featured only the two male leads with a long dead female lead who appeared in flashbacks.

- Yang was definitely the scene stealer in this film with his portrayal of Ji-yong who was alternating between the "normal" and "extreme" states for most of the film. The fury, craziness and sorrow blended into his character was really brilliant.

Disliked: 

- You have to be a bit patient in the beginning because the first 30 minutes or so was comparatively bland and slow-moving compared to the rest of the movie. It can be really easy to give up on this movie if you can't bear with this part.

- While the twist in Ikuta's character Asai was interesting to see, it did feel as if the change was too little and too late. As such, there was not really much Ikuta could do for most of the film to stand out other than be pushed to the brink both physically and psychologically by his co-star.

- Likewise for Nao, she hardly got the chance to say anything as the dead female lead Sayuri which I felt was a pity and I would have wanted to see more of her acting.

Nominees of the 49th Hochi Movie Awards (2024)

Here are the nominees of the 49th Hochi Movie Awards (2024) as announced on 12 November 2024. The numbers in brackets refer to the number of nominees in that category and the list is in the Japanese alphabetical order. Winners will be revealed in late November:

Best Japanese Movie (15)

PERFECT DAYS

Karaoke iko!

Yoake no subete

52 hertz no kujiratachi

Missing

An no koto

Kakushigoto

Hebi no michi

Samurai Time Slipper

Last Mile

Boku ga ikiteru, futatsu no sekai

Goman to zenryou

11 nin no zokugun

Aimitagai

Shoutai

Best Director (14)

Irie Yu - An no koto

Wim Wenders - PERFECT DAYS

Okuyama Hiroshi - Boku no ohisama

Katayama Shinzo - Ame no naka no yokujou

Kusano Shogo - Aimitagai

Shiraishi Kazuya - 11 nin no zokugun / Gobangiri

Sekine Kousai - Kakushigoto

Tsukahara Ayuko - Last Mile

Narushima Izuru - 52 hertz no kujiratachi

Hagiwara Kentaro - Goman to zenryou / Blue Period

Fujii Michihito - Shoutai / Seishun 18 x 2 Kimi e to tsuzuku michi

Mitani Koki - Suomi no hanashi wo shiyou

Miyake Sho - Yoake no subete

Yoshida Keisuke - Missing

Best Leading Actor (13)

Ayano Go - Karaoke iko!

Ikematsu Sousuke - Honshin

Nakano Taiga - 11 nin no zokugun

Narita Ryo - Ame no naka no yokujou

Hiraizumi Sei - Ashita wo tsuzuru shashinkan

Fujigaya Taisuke - Goman to zenryou

Matsumura Hokuto - Yoake no subete

Yakusho Koji - PERFECT DAYS / Hakkenden

Yamaguchi Makiya - Samurai Time Slipper

Yamazaki Kento - Golden Kamuy / Kingdom Daishogun no kikan

Yamada Takayuki - 11 nin no zokugun

Yokohama Ryuusei - Shoutai

Yoshizaqa Ryo - Boku ga ikiteru, futatsu no sekai

Best Leading Actress (13)

An - Kakushigoto

Ishihara Satomi - Missing

Eguchi Noriko - Amarokku / Okaasan ga issho / Ai ni ranbou

Kamishiraishi Mone - Yoake no subete

Kawai Yumi - An no koto / Namibia no sabaku

Kiyohara Kaya - Seishun 18 x 2 Kimi e to tsuzuku michi

Kusabue Mitsuko - 90-sai. Nani ga medetai

Kuroki Haru - Aimitagai

Shibasaki Kou - Hebi no michi

Sugisaki Hana - 52 hertz no kujiratachi / Ichiko / Kuchinai sakura

Nao - Goman to zenryou / Sensei no shiroi uso

Nagasawa Masami - Suomi no hanashi wo shiyou

Mitsushima Hikari - Last Mile

Best Supporting Actor (13)

Aoki Munetaka - Missing / Hebi no michi

Ikematsu Sousuke - Boku no ohisama / Baby Walkure Nice Days

Okada Masaki - Last Mile / Angry Squad Koumuin to 7 nin no sagishi

Okuda Eiji - Kakushigoto

Shison Jun - 52 hertz no kujiratachi

Nakamura Tomoya - Missing / Last Mile

Fuji Tatsuya - Ooinaru fuzai

Matsumura Hokuto - Dear Family

Mitsuishi Ken - Yoake no subete / Dear Family

Yasuda Ken - Kuchinai sakura

Yamada Takayuki - Shoutai

Yoshizawa Ryo - Kingdom Daishogun no kikan

Wakaba Ryuuya - Ichiko / Boku no ohisama

Best Supporting Actress (14)

Kawai Aoba - Kakushigoto / An no koto / Route 29

Kawaei Rina - Hen na ie / Dear Family / Angry Squad Koumuin to 7 nin no sagishi

Kuroki Haru - Gold Boy / Seishun 18 x 2 Kimi e to tsuzuku michi / Hakkenden

Sakura Yuno - Samurai Time Slipper

Takaishi Akari - Shinmai kisha Torokko Watashi ga yaraneba dare ga yaru!

Nakamura Yuri - Ichiko / Amarokku / Onihei Hankacho Kettou

Nishida Naomi - Ienai himitsu / Goman to zenryou / Aimitagai

Fujima Sawako - Yoake no subete / 90-sai. Nani ga medetai / Chacha / Aimitagai

Furukawa Kotone - Ienai himitsu / Cloud

Maeda Bibari - Goman to zenryou

Miyoshi Ayaka - Honshin / Sensei no shiroi uso

Yamada Anna - Golden Kamuy / Shoutai

Yoshioka Riho - Shoutai

Yoshine Kyoko - Karaoke iko!

Best Newcomer (8)

Kubozuka Airu - Happiness / Koi wo shiranai bokutachi wa

Koshiyama Keitatsu - Boku no ohisama

Saito Jun - Karaoke iko! / Karakai jouzu no Takagi-san / Muroi Shinji Yaburezarumono / Muroi Shinji Ikitsuzukerumono

Shiramoto Ayana - Hako Otoko

Nakasu Touma - Kakushigoto

Nakanishi Kiara - Boku no ohisama

Hamura Jinsei - Gold Boy

Hayase Ikoi - Ikoku Nikki / Ano ko wa daare?

Quick Review #79: Chinmoku no Parade (movie)

Title: Chinmoku no Parade / 沈黙のパレード

Rating: 6 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who are fans of the Galileo series and want to see the lead trio back in action but don't mind a somewhat underwhelming suspense story

Liked:

- If you are a fan of the Galileo series and would like to see the leads Fukuyama Masaharu, Shibasaki Kou and Kitamura Kazuki back in action again, you should be satisfied with this movie which retained the usual formula in past installments to a certain extent.

- Since it had been some years from the first Galileo drama series, it was natural to see some progression and development in the characters from then to now. As such, there were notably more emotional scenes this time especially for Kitamura. While I was surprised to see such a vulnerable side to Kusanagi (Kitamura) in the movie, I was also impressed by the subtlety in Kitamura's acting as he didn't go too overboard when conveying the outpouring feelings of his character. Shibasaki's character Utsumi also showed a newfound stability and maturity as she no longer "hovered" around Yukawa (Fukuyama) cluelessly and could hold her own as a more experienced police officer now compared to when she first started out. Even Yukawa who used to be quite "emotionally detached" and a tad harsh at times, had a softer feel and felt much more "human-like" than before.

Disliked: 

- Despite my point above about this movie being quite standard Galileo fare, there were still some adjustments such as the famous scene when Yukawa always had to scribble lots of mathematical calculations on any surface for his deductions - this was omitted. Perhaps it was because the characters had "grown" over the entire series of dramas and movies so that kind of "dramatic scene" no longer fitted the current vibe in this movie. While I don't mind this kind of change to fit the characters' current state of mind and/or situations, these missing elements might not go down so well with longtime fans who enjoy watching them.

Likewise, because Yukawa is no longer emotionless, Utsumi has become so mellow and mature while Kusanagi is not cheeky and frivolous this time, it can be a bit of a turnoff for existing fans of the series if they are watching this for some nostalgia from the good old days. To be honest, the fun interactions between the three of them was something I used to enjoy but the atmosphere this time was a bit too heavy for that.

- The story or rather the truth behind the case was easy to guess from the start. If you have watched enough suspense/mystery stories to date and saw how the build-up to the murder was done, it would have been an obvious giveaway on what to expect. As such, I didn't enjoy the suspense element because I knew what was coming and that was very anti-climatic as a suspense story.

* NOTE: Do watch the credits till the end for the footage from past installments in the Galileo series. Great for a nostalgic walk down memory lane!

Behind the scenes of "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" - Oricon's interview with scriptwriter Nogi Akiko and director Tsukahara Ayuko

Oricon recently did an interview with Nogi Akiko and Tsukahara Ayuko, the scriptwriter and director of TBS Autumn 2024 drama "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" where you can find out more about how the drama came about, the pre-filming preparation work needed and the challenges in making it. While TBS is well-known for putting in a lot of effort and splurging on its signature Sundays 9pm timeslot dramas e.g. last year's "VIVANT" with its star-studded cast and long-term overseas filming in Mongolia, this year's "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" offers an entirely different set of challenges primarily because of the following reasons:

- the story shuttles between two timelines in Hashima and Tokyo spanning 70 years

- Hashima's infrastructure and buildings are left in a state of ruins after the mines were closed, the inhabitants moved out of the island and the effects caused by natural wear and tear thanks to the harsh weather 

- access to most of the island being restricted since some buildings have already collapsed or are about to. In fact, you cannot go to Hashima at will and must go through designated tour companies to book the boat trips.

As there is no other means of transportation to the island other than by sea, unfavourable weather conditions can make it impossible for the tourist ferry to get to the pier for landing at times. If you are taking the sightseeing ferry to Hashima, you won't get a refund on your ticket if it so happens that the weather prevents a landing on the day of your visit. It's been estimated that landings are only possible on less than 160 days of the year so certain months of the year have a lower-than-average landing probability. Given these limitations, on-location shooting is out of the question. Even if tourists can get onto the island, access is restricted to a designated area so you can't go around freely due to the danger of potentially collapsing structures or do any restoration works to them for the filming.

Here are the highlights from the interview and how the production crew managed to work around these limitations and challenges to bring this drama to life:

* This is the first drama series featuring Hashima.

* Research for the script began about one year ago in summer 2023. As Tsukahara and one of the producers Arai Junko were busy with other works, it was not possible for them to participate in this phase. However, Nogi didn't want to write the script without adequate research yet there was a limit to how much she could do on her own. Thus, she got the help of director Hayashi Satoshi who is from Nagasaki Prefecture to conduct the research. His presence was a great help to her as Nogi had to interview past residents of Hashima in Nagasaki who were mostly in their 80s and only spoke the Nagasaki dialect. For an outsider like Nogi to do the interviews would have been extremely difficult so without Hayashi, this drama would not have materalised.

* Nogi first visited Hashima before it was designated as a World Heritage site while on a private trip. That was when the island had not been made into a tourist spot and the Gunkanjima Museum was not even built so the only thing she could do then was just land on the island and wasn't allowed to go anywhere else.

The second time she visited the island was with Arai and they got to hear more about Hashima from the guide who was a former resident on the island. That was when she first got the idea for this drama. Since the residents lived under such harsh and unthinkable conditions back then without even a water supply, she wondered how their lives would come across to the people living in this era.

* The buildings on Hashima are in a bad condition where some can be described as just standing blocks of crumbling concrete. In order to replicate the sights of Hashima in the past, it was important to find a place which bore resemblance to the old Hashima for the CG works to be done. However, Tsukahara remarked that it was impossible to find such a place in current-day Japan where about 5,000 people lived in an area size amounting to Shinjuku Station. As such, no matter where they chose as the filming location, it would still be inadequate. She also revealed that as she looked at the scripts where each scene's location was mentioned, she would think to herself that she could not do the filming at the designated places such as the shrine at the top of the island. One other challenge was that Hashima had no greenery at all in the 1950s but it was not possible to find a remote island in present-day Japan where there was not a single tree around. The artistic department would always worry about how to come up with the sets every time they got the new scripts but thanks to the teamwork of everyone, they are clearing each challenge as it comes.

* Hashima was "split" into 15 pieces for the aerial shooting done by drones and put together onto a round-shaped island through CG just like how you would do with Lego bricks. As for the filming of scenes on the island itself, they did not search for a single island to do that and instead went to different places such as the streets and pier so that they could piece together everything to look like they were all filmed on the same island.

* The challenge this time was how to do the CG in a manner that was reasonable in terms of costs and speedy enough. In most situations, the main filming would be done against a green screen before CG was applied but this would cost a lot and be very time-consuming. For a 10-episode drama, doing this was simply not feasible. 

This time, they chose to do the CG based on the real dimensions of Hashima first and then do the filming at different places based on the specified camera angles so that everything could be fitted together quickly and easily. This method is hardly used in the TV industry now so hopefully, this might be something that could become more common in time to come. The issue would then be how to do the filming efficiently since they had to move around to multiple places.

* During the course of the research, Nogi mentioned that the love that former residents had for Hashima was very evident. In addition, despite shouldering the responsibility of literally powering Japan through their work in the coal mining industry and taking pride in what they did, these ex-residents had to deal with the discrimination against them because of their jobs and hide the fact that they came from Hashima even decades after they left the island. As such, these themes are important things which she hoped that the drama could convey to the viewers.

* The drama is based on the collective stories of the former residents so there is actually no single actual person who the lead character was modelled on. The story is ultimately fictitious but still based at an actual place with historical events happening in the background.

Winners of the Tokyo Drama Award 2024

Here are the winners of the Tokyo Drama Award 2024 as announced on 28 October 2024:

* YouTube Livestream (no subs): here

Drama Series Category

Grand Prix: VIVANT (TBS)

Excellence Awards:

* Fune wo amu, watashi, jisho tsukurimasu ~ (NHK)

* Tsubame wa modotte konai (NHK)

* Futekisetsu nimo hodo ga aru (TBS)

* Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki (Kansai TV)

Best Single Drama / Drama SP Category

Grand Prix: Deaf Voice Houtei no shuwa tsuuyakushi (NHK)

Excellence Awards:

* Mikaiketsu Jiken File.10 Shimoyama Jiken (NHK)

* Shinnyuushatachi no bansan (NTV)

* Black Jack (TV Asahi)

* Ikitoshi ikeru mono (TV Tokyo)

* PICU Shouni shuuchuu chiryoushitsu SP 2024 (FujiTV)

Individual Awards & Theme Song Categories

Best Leading Actor: Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Deaf Voice Houtei no shuwa tsuuyakushi (NHK)

Best Leading Actress: Ishibashi Shizuka - Tsubame wa modottekonai (NHK)

Best Supporting Actor: Wakaba Ryuuya - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki (Kansai TV)

Best Supporting Actress: Uchida Yuki - Tsubame wa modottekonai (NHK)

Best Script: Kudo Kankuro - Futekisetsu nimo hodo ga aru! (TBS)

Best Directing: Kaneko Fuminori - Futekisetsu nimo hodo ga aru! (TBS)

Best Theme Song: "Nidone" by Creepy Nuts - Futekisetsu nimo hodo ga aru! (TBS)

Source: Tokyo Drama Award

Preview of "Gezanmeshi" - Autumn 2024

Title: Gezanmeshi / 下山メシ

Official website: here

Official X: here

Official Instagram: here

O.A. Start Date: 14 November 2024

Timeslot: Thursdays at 12.30am

Broadcast by: TV Tokyo

Original book by: Nishino Toshiko

Cast: Shida Mirai

Quick Review #78: Shrink ~ Seishinkai Yowai ~ - Summer 2024

Title: Shrink ~ Seishinkai Yowai ~ / シュリンク ~ 精神科医弱井 ~

Rating: 7 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to watch a short mental health-themed drama with a soft touch and/or are fans of Nakamura Tomoya

* Currently showing on Amazon Prime Video (subject to geographical restrictions)

Liked:

- Stories about mental health issues can sometimes be a bit emotionally-charged especially in the past which inevitably paints people with such conditions in a rather negative light. This drama did not go down that path and instead tried to reinforce the message that anyone can come down with a mental health issue just like any other physical ailments and that there is more help available than you know about and think of. The whole atmosphere of the drama including the soft colours in clinic seemed to be aimed at putting people at ease while balancing out the more emotional scenes when the patients had their outbursts and breakdowns.

One of the lines in the drama was especially worth considering - do you want to live in a country where there are many people who seek help for mental health issues but with a low suicide rate vs. one where there are seemingly lesser people with mental health issues but with a high suicide rate? Sometimes, not talking about something doesn't mean that it doesn't exist so I thought that this question was quite applicable in many situations and makes us reconsider if what we are seeing on the surface is reflective of reality. 

And the point about no issue is too small and that you don't have to wait till something becomes very serious before seeking help - hopefully, this helps in lowering the hurdle to seeking psychiatric or psychological help as soon as possible.

- Nakamura Tomoya was a very reassuring presence on screen as the slightly unusual and a bit eccentric psychiatrist Yowai (pun on his surname which means weak). And I am sure, his voice will put you at ease as well, regardless of whether you are his fan or not.

Disliked: 

- The length of the drama is a double-edged sword. It is easy to get started with watching this because there are only three episodes. However, the drama ended before I knew it and there were so many questions about the main storyline which were thrown at the viewers but not answered as yet. Given that there should be more material from the manga that could be used, I would expect that there would be a sequel to tell the story in its entirety. The thing is, this drama was made by NHK, not Amazon Prime Video so it is difficult to tell if and when a sequel will be made. As such, the feeling of dissatisfaction loomed over me when I finished the drama - too little and definitely not enough.

- Other than Nakamura who took centrestage in this story, the other key characters played by Tsuchiya Tao, Igeta Hiroe, Sakai Wakana, Miura Takahiro and Takezai Terunosuke felt quite flat and one-dimensional due to the lack of airtime for their development. Hopefully, this would be something that could be resolved with a sequel.

Preview of "Hustlin Boy" - Autumn 2024

Title: Hustlin Boy / ハスリンボーイ

Official website: here

O.A. Start Date: 1 November 2024

Timeslot: Fridays at 11pm

Broadcast by: WOWOW

Original manga by: Kusaka Shinya & Honda Yuki

Cast: Mamiya Shotaro, Maiguma Katsuya, Yokota Mayu, Takehara Pistol, Suruga Taro, Endo Yuuya, Takeda Kouhei, Yamaguchi Yoshiyuki, Goto Takenori, Ichinose Hayate and Tamayama Tetsuji

Preview of "Grand Maison Tokyo Special" (Drama SP)

Title: Grand Maison Tokyo Special / グランメゾン東京スペシャル

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Date: 29 December 2024 at 9pm

Broadcast by: TBS

Cast: Kimura Takuya, Suzuki Kyoka, Tamamori Yuuta, Kanichiro, Asakura Aki, Yoshitani Ayako, Kubota Masataka, Kitamura Kazuki, Onoe Kikunosuke, Tominaga Ai, Nakamura An, Oikawa Mitsuhiro & Sawamura Ikki

Preview of "ACMA: GAME World End" (Drama SP)

Title: ACMA: GAME World End / アクマゲーム　ワールドエンド

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Date: 25 October 2024 at 9pm

Broadcast by: NTV

Original manga by: Meeb & Megumi Koji

Cast: Mamiya Shotaro, Tanaka Juri, Furukawa Kotone, Ryuusei Ryo, Arashi Rina, Ozawa Yukiyoshi & Kikkawa Koji

Quick Review #77: Missing (movie)

Title: Missing / ミッシング

Rating: 7 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to watch a documentary-style story with realistic and raw emotions and/or are fans of Ishihara Satomi

* Currently showing on Netflix (subject to geographical restrictions)

Liked:

- Stories about parents grappling with the aftermath of their children being the victims of crime aren't new so what made this quite different was its singular focus on displaying the raw emotions felt by the parents and those around them as time went by rather than finding out what happened or what was the outcome. From the initial shock and panic to that of denial, anger, despair before trying to cope with the situation while getting on with life, this movie was certainly not meant to entertain but a realistic depiction of the emotions felt by the characters who were related and unrelated to the child. This somehow helped the movie become easier to relate to even if you aren't a parent or haven't gone through a similar experience of loss.

- Ishihara Satomi was definitely the highlight of the movie as the story focused a lot on her emotions. Perhaps in the traditional sense, a mother should be entirely devoted to her child and make sure that the child's well-being is her utmost priority. That being said, a mother is still a human being who deserves to take a break from time to time because if she's not well in any way, it will affect her ability to take care of her child. The issue in this movie was that, just because she went for her idol's concert for a couple of hours and asked her younger brother to take care of her daughter briefly, this decision indirectly led to the disappearance of her child. Stuck in an endless spiral of self-blame, self-doubt, the what-ifs and consumed by the anger she unleashed on the people around her, Ishihara's acting managed to show the spectrum of emotions felt by the mother although it may seem a bit hysterical at times and certainly not too pleasant to watch.

Disliked: 

- The lack of a cause and resolution in the story may not go down well with some viewers who want answers so this no doubt makes this story feel incomplete. In reality, a lot of child disappearance cases actually have no outcome and parents are stuck in a forever abyss of not knowing what happened to their children. And since the movie's focus was on the things that happened after the child went missing, it was understandable although I would have preferred a more complete story.

- Due to the overly heavy focus on the mother in the story, the other characters in the story did not get enough attention. I thought that the scenes showing the father's (Aoki Munetaka) emotions under his calm facade were very good but they were too little. As for the reporter played by Nakamura Tomoya, it wasn't very clear why he was so focused on helping the family or the reason why he was troubled over the gap between what he was supposed to do and what he wanted to do. There could be more exploration of these "side characters" to give a bit more insight on the whys about their actions and thoughts.

Preview of "Tamiou R" - Autumn 2024

Title: Tamiou R / 民王R

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 22 October 2024

Timeslot: Tuesdays at 9pm

Broadcast by: TV Asahi

Original novel by: Ikeido Jun

Theme Song: "Kocchi muite hoi" by asmi

Cast: Endo Kenichi, Oohashi Kazuya, Ano, Santoki Souma, Yamauchi Takaya & Kaneda Akio

Preview of "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" - Autumn 2024

Title: Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo / 海に眠るダイヤモンド

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 20 October 2024

Timeslot: Sundays at 9pm

Broadcast by: TBS

Cast: Kamiki Ryuunosuke, Saito Takumi, Sugisaki Hana, Ikeda Elaiza, Shimizu Hiroya, Tsuchiya Tao, Miyamoto Nobuko, Nakajima Tomoko, Kunimura Jun, Yamamoto Mirai, Sawamura Ikki, Sada Masashi, Watanabe Kenkichi, Ooshita Hiroto, Abe Ryohei, Omi Toshinori, Miho Jun, Sakou Yoshi, Miyazaki Tomu, Naitou Shuichiro, Nishigaki Takumi, Mamehara Issei, Kataoka Rin & Anzai Seira etc.

Preview of "My Diary" - Autumn 2024

Title: My Diary / マイダイアリー

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official LINE: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 20 October 2024

Timeslot: Sundays at 10.15pm

Broadcast by: ABC TV / TV Asahi

Theme Song: "Kusege" by Saucy Dog

Cast: Kiyohara Kaya, Sano Hayato, Yoshikawa Ai, Mikami Ai & Mochizuki Ayumu

U-NEXT - the uprising competitor against Netflix in Japan's VOD market and how it goes against the tide

If you have read my previous analysis about Japan's VOD market, you would have known that the highly competitive SVOD segment is dominated mainly by the top 3 i.e. Netflix, U-NEXT and Amazon Prime Video which accounted for close to 50% of the market share in 2023. As announced on 17 October 2024, Netflix is continuing to grow its membership base in the Asia Pacific region including Japan as it added another 2.28 million members in the last quarter since June 2024. Considering that this figure accounted for close to 45% of its new membership worldwide (5.07 million new members globally), it is clear that the APAC region offers a lot of growth opportunities for Netflix.

On the other hand, U-NEXT is pursuing a different kind of strategy as compared to its international competitor. The platform which operates only in Japan, provides a variety of content distributed from global companies like Warner Bros, Discovery, NBC Universal and Paramount Global on top of domestic titles from TBS, TV Tokyo and NHK etc. as well as streaming of sporting events. However, despite its wide range of sourced content, it actually doesn't dabble in original Japanese productions like Netflix,  Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.

NIKKEI Trend did an analysis on U-NEXT to examine its strategy which seems to be working as the platform overtook Amazon Prime Video to become the current No.2 in Japan and is edging closer to the Netflix which has been dominating the No.1 spot for years. While we may not be able to access U-NEXT from outside Japan now, it might be worth looking into how they managed to do this despite their limitations. 

What I found quite interesting was how they adjusted their strategy to fit their size and limitations rather than try to match what the richer and bigger players are doing. Quantity of content is indeed a huge differentiator especially if users need to choose just one streaming platform to pay for so it makes sense to be a generalist rather than a specialist. 

As to whether their rise will in turn cannibalise the market shares of other players or help to grow the pie further, it is still early to predict. At least for now, given that their focus is still the domestic market and that it will be costly to globalise because you need to have things like subtitles and different languages for the platform, I think that getting access to U-NEXT is still out of the question for those located outside of Japan in the foreseeable future.

* U-NEXT's paid membership numbers are going up and reached 4,339,000 people as of May 2024 compared to 2,925,000 at the end of 2023. This huge jump was partly due to the integration of Paravi in 2023. Revenue from the content streaming business had also increased by 19% to reach JPY 85.1 billion in the financial year ended August 2023.

* At present, it is said that there are as many as 360,000 titles on the platform which encompasses Japanese and foreign dramas and movies, anime, stage plays, musicals etc. While some titles may not have high viewership numbers, they are still kept in the lineup so as to grow the size of the catalogue. This is a strategy which U-NEXT had come up with since they do not have any original content. 

* During the COVID-19 pandemic, streaming services had become more attractive to consumers. Thanks to the range of its offerings, U-NEXT managed to attract more members because many of them had been in search of specific titles or content that they wanted to watch and found them on the portal.

* In order to make this "quantity is king" strategy possible, U-NEXT internalised the archive management process which includes recording of metadata, encoding and management of data stock. This has allowed them to control costs while being able to keep increasing the amount of content it provides to members.

* U-NEXT initially had a weakness of providing the least number of Japanese and foreign dramas as compared to its competitors. However, the situation started to change since 2021 when it started providing exclusive access to HBO dramas such as "Game of Thrones" and merged with Paravi in 2023. Paravi had been the platform to go for TBS and TV Tokyo dramas and variety programmes. Not only did they manage to get new members through these moves, it had also helped them to "recapture" former users who had been unhappy with its lacking range of content.

* One other benefit from the integration with Paravi was the boost in brand awareness. At the end of each programme's TV broadcast, there would be a short clip mentioning that past episodes can be viewed on U-NEXT. This allowed U-NEXT to reach people who they were unable to target through digital marketing and make the viewers be more aware of its presence.

* While free platforms like TVer boasts of high viewership numbers i.e. as many as 40 million unique browsers in a month, drama archives on the platform tend to be limited to the first three episodes plus the latest episode only. As such, TVer actually becomes the window leading to U-NEXT in a way as consumers look for the full series on the latter after sampling it on TVer.

* As to why U-NEXT doesn't make its own dramas and movies, it admitted that even though they may have the desire to do so, they are comparatively weaker when it comes to money. As such, rather than spend money on in-house productions, the company has made a conscious choice to build up its offerings through acquiring content from outside.

* In the meantime, U-NEXT had formed production teams working on creating original novels and manga in 2020 and 2022 respectively. One of their original novels "Danchi no futari" has been made into a NHK BS drama airing since September 2024. 

The reason why they have chosen to do so is that they are still unable to invest on a continuous basis on production of dramas and movies like their richer competitors. Since the publishing culture is strong in Japan, they decided it would be best to build their presence from scratch by working on original content in this manner.

* U-NEXT is also looking into improving its live content such as adding sports and music shows. In 2023 alone, there were 2,888 live sports broadcasts and 160 live music shows released on the platform. It has also entered into a 7-year partnership contract with the English Premier League since July 2024 so the U-NEXT Soccer Pack was launched in August this year for those who want to watch these live matches. The reason for this move was said to be the high interest in soccer content and that there are regular matches being played thus allowing U-NEXT to retain users.

* Thanks to the tourism boom in Japan, there is also strong interest from accommodation facilities like hotels which want to provide U-NEXT access to their guests.

* U-NEXT is known for its high retention rate when it comes to its paid membership. Although its monthly subscription is on the high side i.e. JPY 2,189, the membership allows full access to electronic books and magazines and earning of points which can be used within U-NEXT.

* While faced with strong competition from the bigger foreign platforms, U-NEXT intends to focus on its strengths and aim for the next milestone of 5 million users. This is expected to help them proceed to the next stage and do more beyond what is currently in place.

Quick Review #76: Angel Flight Kokusai reikyuu soukanshi - Spring 2023

Title: Angel Flight Kokusai reikyuu soukanshi / エンジェルフライト 国際霊柩送還士

Rating: 8 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to watch moving stories about life and death issues but not with a heavy touch or draggy pace and want to see some great acting from the cast

* Currently showing on Amazon Prime Video (subject to geographical restrictions)

Liked:

- While stories about those working in the funeral industry aren't new, this drama had a different angle by expanding the scale beyond borders since the staff in Angel Hearse handled the transportation and treatment of the deceased who had either passed away overseas or foreigners who died in Japan. Despite the short length of the drama with just 6 episodes, the story was still comprehensive and had a sound structure with a good pace and not being too draggy. While the theme is about life and death, the good thing was that the drama had a light touch at times but was still packed lots of emotions. 

- The acting from the cast was both entertaining and memorable at the same time but it would have been better if the supporting cast got a bit more airtime. Special mention goes to Yonekura Ryoko and Matsumoto Honoka who were especially brilliant in their emotional scenes and had a nice onscreen chemistry to watch. While Yonekura usually took on roles which had strong characters or were very confident, she managed to show a more vulnerable side this time which gave her acting a softer touch. On the other hand, Matsumoto's acting displayed a form of resilience and silent strength underneath the gentle façade that her character projected.

Disliked: 

- The drama's length also turned out to be its biggest weak point because there was just not enough time to cover the background stories of everyone in Angel Hearse other than for Nami (Yonekura) and Rinko (Matsumoto). From the little hints dropped in the drama, it looks like there is a lot of room to explore. And since the big question of what happened to Nami's ex-boyfriend Yukito was not answered, it seems to suggest that there should be a sequel coming up in future. What this means though is that the drama feels unfinished so the satisfaction derived from watching this was somewhat reduced.

Preview of "D & D ~ Isha to keiji no sousasen ~" - Autumn 2024

Title: D & D ~ Isha to keiji no sousasen ~ / D＆D ~ 医者と刑事の捜査線 ~

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 18 October 2024

Timeslot: Fridays at 9pm 

Broadcast by: TV Tokyo

Cast: Fujiki Naohito, Hayami Akari, Maeda Kentaro, Ootsuka Nene & Terajima Susumu

A look into Japan's domestic VOD market and its market share changes in recent years

Thanks to the continuous increase in the number of video-on-demand (VOD) service providers in Japan and beyond as well as the pandemic over the last few years, these have changed the viewing habits of content consumers from being tied to watching live broadcasts at designated timings to that of doing the same at your own time and pace. With the dizzying range of providers out there in the market, there is a lot of content, sometimes too much to choose from as consumers pick the platforms whose offerings suit their preferences and budgets. 

In Japan, there are 4 main categories of VOD providers as mentioned below. Note that the list of providers quoted as examples is not exhaustive:

- AVOD (Advertising Video On Demand): Generally free access to videos in return for watching ads served before the video starts and during the screening duration

E.g. YouTube

- SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand): Access to an unlimited number of videos for a fixed monthly subscription fee

E.g. ABEMA Premium, Amazon Prime Video, DAZN, DMM TV, d Anime Store, FOD Premium, Hulu, Lemino (previously named dTV), Netflix, Paravi, TELASA, U-NEXT, Anime Houdai and Disney+ etc.

- TVOD (Transactional Video On Demand): Pay-per-video but access with a viewing period limit as compared to EST so the rate is usually cheaper

E.g. ABEMA Store, Amazon Prime Video, DMM Douga, FOD Premium, Google Play, GYAO! Store, Hulu Store, iTunes Store, J:COM On Demand, Lemino, Paravi, Rakuten TV, TELASA, U-NEXT and Hikari TV Video Service etc.

- EST (Electronic Sell-through): Pay-per-video but without a viewing period limit; tends to be more expensive than TVOD

E.g. Amazon Prime Video, DMM.com, Google Play, iTunes Store, Lemino, Rakuten TV and Hikari TV Video Service etc.

GEM Standard, a platform which provides information about the entertainment business through paid content such as rankings and analysis reports, has been sharing free excerpts of its data about the market share movements in the Japanese VOD scene over the past few years. For the purpose of this analysis, I will be focusing on the SVOD market only since the data from GEM Standard is primarily based on the subscription income which the SVOD providers reportedly earn and does not include advertisement income that the platforms earned.

Here are some of the key highlights where you can observe how the market has grown and changed as well as how the platforms are faring against one another in this competitive industry:

1) The overall VOD market size i.e. SVOD, TVOD and EST combined has been growing since 2019 but the percentage of this increase is getting smaller. (Source)

Comparing 2020 to 2019, the reported market size was about JPY 387.7 billion which was 32.5% higher than the previous year. This was largely attributed to the pandemic which began in 2020 thus leading to a spike in the demand for at-home entertainment as people stayed home most of the time due to lockdowns and social distancing. Subsequently, the growth percentages narrowed where 2021 was 19% higher, 2022 went up by 15% while 2023's growth slowed to a single digit of 8.2%.

As for the market value on a yearly basis, the subscription income was reported to have reached JPY 574 billion in 2023 and expected to hit JPY 737.1 billion by 2028.

2019: JPY 292.5 billion

2020: JPY 387.7 billion

2021: JPY 461.4 billion

2022: JPY 530.3 billion

2023: JPY 574.0 billion

The slowdown in growth could be due to a variety of factors other than increased competition such as the reopening of countries post-pandemic, increased international travel as well as uncertain or worsening economic conditions which will lead to people cutting back on expenditure for entertainment. While the market is still growing, the quantum of growth is no doubt decreasing so it will be essential to attract existing users of other platforms to "jump ship" besides trying to expand the industry.

2) Netflix is the market leader since 2019 but its market share is gradually eroded as the number of competitors increases and their offerings improve. (Source)

Netflix is the undisputed king of the SVOD market segment as seen from its domination of the No.1 slot for 4 consecutive years since 2019. Considering that the platform only entered the Japanese market on 1 September 2015, it had only taken them less than 4 years to achieve this.

However, as the competition gets stiffer and their competitors evolve and improve, the size of Netflix's leading position is somewhat affected although the amount of decrease is still less than one percent for now. It remains to be seen if the competition can step up its game and lure more new users into the market and/or attract existing Netflix users to sign up for their services.

3) U-NEXT has surged to become the No.2 in the market by overtaking Amazon Prime Video.

As seen in the figures shown in the table, while 2022 was a mixed bag with 7 out of the 13 featured platforms in the table seeing a drop in their market shares, 2023 was a sea of red as only 4 out of 13 platforms increased their market shares. (DMM TV and Others not included)

While Amazon Prime Video was a distant second compared to Netflix which had almost double of its market share back in 2021, U-NEXT had taken over Amazon's runner-up position in 2022 and 2023 to become the new No.2. This is despite the fact that Amazon had also increased its market share in 2023 but not as much as U-NEXT. The gap between No.1 and No.2 in the SVOD market has also narrowed with just 6.7% separating the two positions. 

4) The market remains dominated by a few platforms only with the rest of the pie split among many competitors.

The number of platforms with more than 10% in market share remains limited to the top 3 or i.e. Netflix, U-NEXT and Amazon Prime Video. The only exception was DAZN which saw a temporary increase in 2022 probably due to major sporting events like the Qatar World Cup but it dropped below 10% in the following year as a result of dropping the most market share of 1.7%.

The changes in the top 3's combined market share i.e. 46.6% in 2021, 46.7% in 2022 and 49.6% in 2023 also show the following:

* The Top 3's dominance in the market has strengthened to close to 50% last year 

* The spread of the Top 3's market shares is getting more even compared to 1 being much more dominant over the other two prior to 2023

* The rest of the competitors are fighting for a smaller share of what remains outside the top 3's membership bases now

What's also worth noting is that those which are above 5% in terms of market share but still haven't been able to threaten the Top 3's positions yet i.e. DAZN, Disney+ and Hulu tend to focus on niche areas such as sports or in-house productions as the core of its content offerings. Will this mean a relook into their content strategies to expand "outwards" for varied content sources or will they continue focusing on their strengths and in-house productions going forward so as to distinguish their exclusivity from those which aim to "have it all"?

As content consumers, we are really spoiled for choice these days - in fact a bit more than I need at times especially when not everything I want is on the same platform. Especially when seeking Japanese content, the biggest frustration I experience is that even on an international platform, the content restriction means that you cannot access the full Japanese catalogue if your IP address is not in Japan. And don't get me started on the hoax masked as "international release" which can sometimes be a delayed release outside Japan or worse still, not available in most countries. Last but not least, most of the platforms featured in this analysis are actually "domestic platforms" so users outside of Japan won't be able to access them anyway. 

It doesn't make sense to subscribe to so many platforms not just because of cost concerns but also due to the limited time we have to spend on watching these shows. As such. it is interesting to see how consumers make more strategic choices going forward rather than pay for more platforms than they actually need. While our choices may or may not be necessarily affected by which platform is the market leader, these market movements provide interesting insights on how planned and unplanned events happening to consumers and the world at large can have an impact on our choices and possibly shape the type of content we can get on our chosen platform(s).

Preview of "Watashi no takaramono" - Autumn 2024

Title: Watashi no takaramono / わたしの宝物

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 17 October 2024

Timeslot: Thursdays at 10pm

Broadcast by: FujiTV

Theme Song: "Ashita" by Noda Emi

Cast: Matsumoto Wakana, Tanaka Kei, Fukazawa Tatsuya, Satou Honami, Tsunematsu Yuri, Takigawa Yumi & Kitamura Kazuki

Preview of "The Travel Nurse 2" - Autumn 2024

Title: The Travel Nurse 2 / ザ・トラベルナース 2

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 17 October 2024

Timeslot: Thursdays at 9pm

Broadcast by: TV Asahi

Theme Song: "Nakuna Glory Moon" by Saito Kazuyoshi

Cast: Okada Masaki, Nakai Kiichi, Yamazaki Ikusaburo, Morita Misato, Noro Kayo, Iketani Nobue, Kim Hyun-yul, Adachi Yumi, Asada Miyoko & Terajima Shinobu

Preview of "Aibou Season 23" - Autumn 2024

Title: Aibou Season 23 / 相棒 Season 23

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official LINE: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 16 October 2024

Timeslot: Wednesdays at 9pm

Broadcast by: TV Asahi

Cast: Mizutani Yutaka, Terawaki Yasufumi, Moriguchi Yoko, Suzuki Sawa, Kawahara Kazuhisa, Yamanaka Takashi, Shinohara Yukiko, Yamanishi Atsushi, Tanaka Ryuuzou, Matsushima Ryouta, Jinbo Satoshi, Ono Ryo, Katagiri Ryuuji, Sugimoto Tetta, Nakama Yukie & Ishizaka Koji etc.

Preview of "Monster" - Autumn 2024

Title: Monster / モンスター

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 14 October 2024

Timeslot: Mondays at 10pm

Broadcast by: Kansai TV

Theme Song: "FOREVER" by Chanmina

Opening theme song: "Shadow" by I don't like Mondays

Cast: Shuri, Jesse, Uno Shohei, Otozuki Kei, Nakagawa Tsubasa, YOU & Furuta Arata

Preview of "Houkago Karute" - Autumn 2024

Title: Houkago Karute / 放課後カルテ

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 12 October 2024

Timeslot: Saturdays at 9pm

Broadcast by: NTV

Original manga by: Hinase Mayu

Theme Song: "Donna chiisana" by wacci

Cast: Matsushita Kouhei, Morikawa Aoi, Horan Chiaki, Kato Chihiro, Takano Akira, Rokkaku Shinji, Hiraoka Yuuta, Yoshizawa Hisashi & Tanabe Seiichi

Quick Review #75: 1122 Ii fuufu - Spring 2024

Title: 1122 Ii fuufu / 1122 いいふうふ (1122: For a Happy Marriage)

Rating: 8 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to watch stories about married couples who try to repair their marriages but without hysteria and/or those who are fans of the leads Takahata Mitsuki & Okada Masaki

* Currently showing on Amazon Prime Video (subject to geographical restrictions)

Liked:

- While the overall flow of the story was predictable since this topic of marriages with issues is hardly new, the way this drama handled this theme was quite comfortable to watch since there was hardly any hysteria even in confrontational scenes. On the contrary, the silent and somewhat subdued handling of these scenes came across more powerfully than a full-blown outburst as words and facial expressions turned out to be more damaging and impactful. In a way, this felt more natural and believable as things which could happen in real life between married couples.

The two main couples featured in this drama had vastly different problems yet similar in a way because they all experienced issues due to a communication breakdown. It is easy to say that you should speak your mind but the closer you are to someone, the more difficult it can be to say what you think and feel. Moreover, the worry about how the other party will receive and react to your message will probably prevent people from taking the plunge to be frank. As such, even for people who aren't married, they can probably empathise and feel for the characters since we all would have encountered similar problems in our interpersonal relationships.

The dialogue between the characters is also worthy of mention as it flowed naturally without feeling like it's stuffed with quotable quotes or things that people would not say in real life. It can get preachy if lots of lofty ideals are packed into the dialogue as well-meaning but unneeded advice.

- The acting from Takahata and Okada was superb. Not only did they look good as a couple, their great chemistry as a couple who had issues with their sex lives and tried to repair their marriage was so engaging to watch. Fans of the two of them will be delighted to see how pretty and handsome they looked in the drama - kudos to the styling team. And since the lead couple Ichiko and Otoya had their lovey-dovey and comical moments along with the seriousness of the story, it was great to a fine balance struck between these varying aspects of their characters' lives. I especially liked their interaction after their characters submitted their marriage application - so sweet!

On the other hand, Nishino Nanase and Koura Kengo's pairing might be quite gloomy to watch due to the state of the marriage and family situation but I thought that their subdued acting was something that could grow on the audience with time.

There were also quite a number of surprise cameos of which I liked Narita Ryo's role the most. He had such good rapport with Takahata even though it was just 2 scenes in the entire drama.

- The theme song by Spitz was such a perfect fit for the drama - gives off a warm and fuzzy feel like the winter sunshine while the title (literally means the song of repair) and lyrics reflected a key message in the story. Marriage is not really a goal in a relationship. It is just a milestone after which you still have to keep working on, putting in effort and doing repeated repairs in order to keep it going. The moment you take things for granted and expect everything to still work while not putting in effort, everything will just fall apart whether you mean for it to happen or not. I guess this doesn't just apply to marriage but all types of relationships in general.

Disliked: 

- The last two episodes of the drama felt a bit awkward and rushed because there was so many developments crammed within until it felt like I was getting giddy with the twists and turns. As such, I felt that these episodes deviated quite a bit in terms of style as compared to the earlier ones which took things slow and logically. I also wondered if it was due to the desire to fit the original manga's material within a single drama so the scriptwriter had to speed up in the concluding episodes.

- The premise of the drama may be quite eye-catching at first because of the "officially recognised affair" setting in the lead couple's marriage but developments after that may seem a bit predictable for those who are looking for an unconventional tale. I also thought that there could have been more information about Mitsuki and Shiro's relationship because knowing their dating days and how their marriage soured could give a clearer picture. As things stood in the drama, it felt like most of the blame was on Shiro though. Likewise, I also wondered how Otoya and Mitsuki got together but this was not featured in the drama. In a nutshell, the story feels somewhat incomplete due to these missing bits.

Preview of "Bunt Man" - Autumn 2024

Title: Bunt Man / バントマン

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 12 October 2024

Timeslot: Saturdays at 11.40pm

Broadcast by: Tokai TV

Theme Song: "Shougai HERO" by Suzuki Nobuyuki

Cast: Suzuki Nobuyuki, Kurashina Kana, Hirahara Tetsu, Akutsu Nichika, Ishikawa Ruka, Wada Masanari, Kumagai Mami, Asaka Mayumi, Moro Morooka & Bandou Juuzaburo

Preview of "Watashitachi ga koisuru riyuu" - Autumn 2024

Title: Watashitachi ga koisuru riyuu / 私たちが恋する理由

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 12 October 2024

Timeslot: Saturdays at 11pm

Broadcast by: TV Asahi

Original manga by: ma2

Theme Song: "because" by timelesz

Cast: Kikuchi Fuuma, Kumada Rinka, Shimekake Ryuuya, Saito Nagisa, Kaku Sou & Yamazaki Hirona

The gradual blurring of boundaries in Japanese drama seasons - its causes and potential implications

For those who may not be aware or familiar with the Japanese drama broadcast schedule, the year is broadly divided into 4 quarters of 3 months each based on seasons:

January to March - Winter

April to June - Spring

July to September - Summer

October to December - Autumn

As such, the start date is usually taken to be the determining factor as to which season the drama in question falls under. However, this classification method is becoming more of a challenge to apply and the boundaries being increasingly blurred as the start dates of dramas are getting spread out more so than ever as seen in more examples of dramas supposedly being classified under one season but having start and end dates falling outside of the three-month period. 

If you have been following this blog for some time, you may have wondered about the classification of such "outliers". Just to clarify, my basis of classification is mainly based on start dates following the above-mentioned boundaries but there have been some instances when the TV stations pegged outliers under specific seasons so I tried to follow accordingly e.g. a drama begins on 30 Jun but is classified as a Summer drama. As for those which did not start in the first month of the respective seasons i.e. January, April, July and October, I would have tagged them accordingly based on their respective start dates. This happens quite often for NHK and WOWOW dramas which usually do not last an entire three months and they typically do not follow this 3-month system practised by the private TV stations. Nowadays, I also apply this classification for the OTT dramas from Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video since their start dates are varied and do not follow the seasons.

This article from News Post Seven looks into this trend of staggered start dates for new dramas from the key TV stations by examining the causes for the phenomenon and the potential implications. It begins with introducing an unusual example observed in the Summer 2024 and Autumn 2024 seasons where one drama ended and one drama started on the same day and at the same time.

This happened on 6 October 2024 at 10.30pm when TV Asahi's Summer drama "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" starring Ikuta Erika aired its finale and NTV's Autumn drama "Wakakusa Monogatari - Koisuru shimai to koisenu watashi -" starring Hotta Mayu started its run. The reason why this happened was said to be due to the Paris Olympics broadcast and TBS' Sundays 9pm timeslot.

Usually, Summer dramas are supposed to wrap up in September but "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" delayed its start by more than a month as compared to its competitors in the same season i.e. 18 August. Its timeslot of Sundays 10pm was actually used for the live broadcast of Olympics events on 4 August while other TV stations did the same at the same time on 28 July and 11 August. TVer was also doing almost-full coverage for the events live at the same time during the Summer drama season. This would have affected the real-time ratings of the drama broadcasts across the board so the delayed start was said to be meant to mitigate the effects of these "distractors".

At the same time, TBS ' signature timeslot at Sundays 9pm tends to have "extended" episodes which would eat into TV Asahi's potential viewership for the Sundays 10pm timeslot. Looking at this summer's "Black Pean Season 2" starring Ninomiya Kazunari, 4 out of 10 episodes were extended beyond 10pm. As such, to avoid this strong competition as much as possible, it was also seen to be why TV Asahi chose to start their drama much later in the season.

In fact, TV Asahi seems to be intent on avoiding overlapping with TBS on Sunday nights because not only did they arrange for their Autumn 2024 offering "My Diary" starring Kiyohara Kaya starting from 20 October, they also pushed back the start time of this drama's timeslot by 15 minutes to 10.15pm. While TV Asahi's official reason for the change in timing was attributed to their new programme "Udo Times" showing from 8.56pm to 10.15pm, the move was still seen as a tactic to avoid clashing with the highly popular TBS Sundays 9pm timeslot and gather as much real-time ratings as possible.

The situation with TV Asahi and NTV would also not have happened if not for TV Asahi pushing back the finale of "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" by 30 minutes for the 90-min extended first episode of "Udo Times" on the same evening. As such, what was initially meant to be a partial overlap became a direct clash between both dramas on 6 October 2024. In case you are wondering, as at this point of writing this post, the rating for "Wakakusa Monogatari" is still unknown while "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" got 3.1% for its finale - so we don't know yet who was the victor on that night.

 

Although there are as many as 16 different timeslots in the golden/primetime timebelt (7pm to 11pm) among the key TV stations, none of them actually overlap with one another which is believed to be a unspoken mutual understanding among the TV stations to avoid competing with other dramas in the same timeslot and get higher real-time ratings. From this autumn though, FujiTV and TV Asahi will be vying for viewership in the Tuesdays 9pm timeslot. 

 

The situation that happened this time certainly isn't unique to the two TV stations in question and very likely to happen again. All the key stations are making decisions on broadcast dates to suit their individual programming strategies while grappling with the fact that real time ratings are lower than before across the board due to the change in viewing preferences from real-time viewing to recordings and on-demand viewing. As such, the issue of overlapping timeslots for real-time broadcasts actually would not matter that much if viewers are watching their favourite dramas at their own time. In my case, I pay attention to the schedule for the sake of knowing when to keep a lookout for the latest episode to be released/updated on the portals I use. While TVer usually does have "live broadcast" of the key stations in the evenings, I don't bother tuning in live because the timings usually don't work for me.

In the face of such "delayed" and "ad-hoc" viewing habits, it has become more important than ever for the TV stations to secure real-time ratings. As seen from the trend of staggering start dates and timings, it is obvious that the TV stations are trying their best to get higher ratings over their competitors since this will affect their advertising revenue. On streaming platforms, you usually don't see the ads unless it operates like YouTube where your viewing experience is interrupted from time to time with paid ads. 

Based on TVer's feature page for Autumn 2024 dramas, you can see that the start dates for this season range from 1 October to as late as 4 November. Obviously, if a drama starts later in the season, it will end late or even "eat into the next season" if it cannot finish within the three-month period. Unless it's a planned schedule where a drama stretches over 2 seasons such as "Anata no ban desu" or "Aibou", the staggering of start dates will no doubt have a ripple effect on subsequent works or the competing shows in the same timeslot. If the reason for the change is mostly due to one-off or exceptional events like the Olympics, prior planning can be done to mitigate the impact of lower ratings. However, for ad-hoc stuff or unexpected events like extended news reporting for natural disasters, how to adapt the programming to fit in these "disruptors" will be a great test to all TV stations.

As what the article pointed out, the start dates and timeslots of the dramas probably don't matter as much to the viewers these days than to the key private TV stations. For one, NHK and WOWOW have all along been dishing out dramas on irregular schedules as compared to the other key TV stations although I would say that this may be more related to most of their dramas being shorter than half a season rather than a calculated move to avoid competition. And beside, their business model doesn't rely on advertisement income and real-time ratings. To them, timeslots aren't probably not as big a consideration when it comes to the programming schedule. 

As for OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, what's most critical for them is the release date. And since most, if not all of the things they produce are released at one go, the timeslot is not an issue since people watch the shows at their own convenience anyway. However, Disney+ tends to like the practice of releasing shows on a weekly basis so they might have more to consider in this regard i.e. the day of the week when a new episode is uploaded on top of the release date.

One other thing to consider will be the drama awards and ratings ranking. As it is right now, "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" was left out of some ratings ranking tables for the Summer 2024 season which I saw online because of its unusual start and end dates. In addition, it was not listed as a nominee for voting in the Summer 2024 season for The 121st Drama Academy Awards because it had not finished its run by the time the voting exercise started and ended. Does that mean that this drama will be considered in the Autumn 2024 pool even though it had only 1 episode shown in October? So for a drama which starts in the final days of the current year and runs mostly in the next year, will it be considered a current year or next year's drama?

What's obvious now is that as the boundaries between the seasonal dramas get increasingly blurred, there may come a day when determining which season the drama falls under becomes difficult to judge. From the perspective of the viewer, will this have an impact on your choice of dramas to watch? Or will it be a non-issue after all? As for the TV stations, while timeslots will be critical in determining advertisement income, perhaps the more critical thing is to make sure that your shows are so good that people will be inclined to watch it in real-time even if the timing may be very inconvenient.

Quick Review #74: The Legend & Butterfly (movie)

Title: The Legend & Butterfly / レジェンド&バタフライ

Rating: 6 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to see a fictitious love story featuring historical figures and/or are fans of Kimura Takuya and Ayase Haruka

*Currently showing on Amazon Prime Video (subject to geographical restrictions)

Liked:

- Given that there is very little information about Nouhime and her marriage with Oda Nobunaga, the story was no doubt more fictitious than factual. On the other hand, this allowed the scriptwriter to have more leeway in fleshing out Nouhime and be more "adventurous" in crafting the love story. While the focus of the movie was ultimately their love story over more than 3 decades, their lives were no doubt intertwined with the historical events especially Oda's attempt at unifying Japan so there had to be scenes featuring the key events of the Sengoku era. 

The good thing was that these historical scenes did not overwhelm the main plot so I liked the fine balance between both aspects of the story. Although the historical inaccuracies or fictitious parts in the love story e.g. Oda and Nouhime were depicted to have "divorced" for 7 years in the movie might not go down well with some people especially those who are very familiar with their history, I think that the movie still stayed on course to deliver what it intended.

- It was obvious that a lot of money and effort was put into the set and costume design so the movie was a visual feast on the whole. Some scenes did look a bit more CG-style than the others though.

- The later part or should I say the last hour or so of the movie was where you would see the best emotional acting from Kimura and Ayase in the entire story.

Disliked: 

- The problem with a story spanning decades of someone's life is that, can the actor/actress pull off the look from young to old? Would it have been better to get a younger or older actor to "share" the role? The issue here is, Oda and Nouhime were said to have gotten married at the young ages of 16 and 15, or at the very least, as teenagers. Obviously, it was a stretch to see Kimura act "young" and behave like that as the teenage Oda. On the other hand, Ayase's look as Nouhime from young to old hardly saw much transition (at most the clothes and her makeup) so it was difficult to reconcile the age Nouhime was supposedly at with how she looked onscreen. I thought this was quite difficult for the viewer to get immersed into the story because of the mismatch in looks and age.

Perhaps this was also why that I found myself enjoying their acting more towards the end of the movie when their real ages and looks finally aligned with what they were supposed to be at in the story.

- While the movie had a stream of capable actors in the sidelines, I felt that they were not given the room to show their full potential. In particular, Ito Hideaki and Nakatani Miki's roles were supposedly important but then this didn't show through in the movie. Given that I had read about Nakatani's preparations for this role in her book, I found it difficult to understand how it could be that she only appeared so few times in this movie. Perhaps it was the post-editing that left out a lot of their scenes but still, it just felt like a waste of talent to me.

- I don't know if anyone had the same thought as me but the "diversion" in the final stage of the movie simply reminded me of a mash-up of the movies "Titanic" and "Pirates of the Carribean". While I get the intention of these scenes were meant to show the "what ifs" when there was a fairytale ending, I just thought that the style of this narrative was so different from the rest of the film and felt so out-of-place.