Kudo Asuka to star in FujiTV TWO Winter 2018 drama "The Black Company"

Kudo Asuka will be starring in the new FujiTV TWO Winter 2018 drama "The Black Company" which will begin its run from February next year (timeslot undecided). The story which is based on the same-titled novel by Egami Gou, features Kudo as the lead character Nagano Gouta who aspires to be a musician but hasn't made much progress in this area while making ends meet as a part-timer in a convenience store. When he loses his job suddenly, he is faced with the prospect of a bleak future. By chance, he enters a hamburger shop named Yanky Burger and is making comments about their products when the president of the company offers him a job as permanent employee. Little does he know that this is the beginning of his nightmare as he goes through a demanding training and faces problems like power harassment and long working hours. This will be Kudo's first leading role in a drama series.

Kudo commented that this is the second time he is playing a young man working in a "black" company after the movie "Chotto ima kara shigoto yametekuru". When he heard about the theme of this drama, he felt that the story described the feelings of those who are working in such a detailed and realistic manner. As such, he hoped that the viewers will be able to see hope in the future after watching how these young people cope with their worries and struggles in the drama and is looking forward to working with the staff and cast.

Co-stars include Okayama Amane who used to be a hikkikomori and enters the company with Gouta, MEGUMI who plays a cold-hearted area manager, Murakami Nijirou who plays a regular customer at the hamburger shop and is a well-known online celebrity and Hayami Mokomichi who plays the president of the company, loves Ferraris and brainwashes his employees to do his bidding.  Onoue Hiroyuki, Fukami Motoki and Takahashi Hitomi will also be acting in this drama.

Sources: Sanspo / Oricon