Inoue Mao to star in new Kansai TV / FujiTV Autumn 2017 drama "Ashita no Yakusoku"

Inoue Mao will be starring in the new Kansai TV / FujiTV Autumn 2017 drama "Ashita no Yakusoku" (Tomorrow's Promise) which will begin its run from October 2017 in the Tuesdays 9pm timeslot. This will be her first appearance in a drama series since her 2015 NHK Taiga drama "Hana Moyu" and her transfer to a new agency at the end of last year.

The original story features Inoue as the 29-year-old lead character Aizawa Hinata who works as a counsellor at Tsubakigaoka Senior High School and aims to be the last adult who the students can depend on other than their parents and teachers. However, while devoting herself to the pyschological care of her students who are struggling with problems in school or at home, she is troubled by her own relationship with her hysterical and emotional mother who intervenes too much into her life. Just then, Hinata gets a confession of love from a male student who had been skipping school and was being counselled by her but is shocked to find out on the following day that he died under mysterious circumstances. While trying to find out the truth behind this case, she comes face-to-face with the darkness of human beings and discovers what is most important about living and how a parent-and-child relationship should really be like.

Inoue commented that the problems in the school are a reflection of the times and she hoped that this drama will be a source of support to those who have similar problems in their lives. As she had always wanted to act in something which depicts the relationship between a parent and a child, she was very glad to receive the offer for this drama and felt a strong sense of responsibility to tackle such a delicate and difficult theme. In particular, she found her character Hinata to be very difficult to play because she dishes out advice to the students as a counselor but cannot stand firm against her meddling mother in her private life.

Sources: Oricon / Sponichi / Sanspo