Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Ooizumi Yo to appear in TBS drama SP "LEADERS II"

Ooizumi Yo will be appearing in the TBS drama SP "LEADERS II" starring Sato Koichi which will be shown at 9pm on 26 March. The drama SP is the sequel to the earlier SP "LEADERS" shown in 2014 set around WWII that described how the lead character Aichi Saichiro (Sato) spent much of his lifetime trying to develop domestically-produced cars. In the sequel, the focus of the story will be on how Aichi Jidosha tries to sell its domestically-produced cars to overseas markets. Aichi Saichiro will work with the people in the sales and production department who are at loggerheads but united in their goal to sell Japanese-made cars to the world. Appearing in the new SP for the first time include Uchino Seiyo who play Yamazaki Wataru, the manager of the first showroom under Aichi Jidosha and Yamazaki Tsutomu who plays Oshima Isokichi from Oshima Press Kogyo and the future chairman of Kyoaikai. Other co-stars include Yoshida Eisaku, Hagiwara Masato, Takahashi Kazuya, Hida Yasuhito, Enari Kazuki, Maeda Atsuko, Suda Kunihiro, Jinbo Satoshi, Yamaguchi Tomoko and Hashizume Isao who participated in the previous SP.

Ooizumi plays the role of Kikuma Takejirou who works in Wakaba Jidosha which buys technology from the United States and produces cars. Upon seeing how passionate Aichi is about producing domestically-made cars with their own technology, he jumps ship to work at Aichi Jidosha and plays an instrumental role in the company's success. However, the inflation which comes after the war causes cracks between the ex-Wakaba alumni and those who have been in Aichi all this while.

With regard to his character, Ooziumi described Kikuma as someone who gave Aichi Jidosha a hard time and forced them into a corner at times. Being able to work with such a star-studded cast and highly-motivated staff, he felt honoured as an actor who could participate in this drama SP.

Before the drama SP is shown, the director's cut of the original SP will be shown at 7pm on 20 March.

Sources: Oricon / Eiga.com

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