Preview of "Fuben na Benriya" (Drama SP)

Title: Fuben na Benriya 不便な便利屋 (The inconvenient convenience house)
Official website: here
O.A. Date: 30 December 2016, 11.40pm
Broadcast by: TV Tokyo
Opening theme: The Place Has No Name by Straightener
Closing theme: Yukikaze by Spitz
Cast: Okada Masaki, Endo Kenichi, Suzuki Kosuke, Triendl Reina, Morisaki Hiroyuki, Iitoyo Marie, Takiguchi Yukihiro, Yasuda Ken, Totsugi Shigeyuki, Ooizumi Yo, Otoo Takuma, Tanaka Yoji

Iitoyo Marie to play the heroine in TV Tokyo drama SP "Fuben na Benriya 2016 Hatsuyuki"

Iitoyo Marie will be playing the heroine in the upcoming TV Tokyo drama SP "Fuben na Benriya 2016 Hatsuyuki" which will be shown either at the end of this year or early next year. She takes on the role of Kiritani Kozue who is a nurse. Other than Iitoyo, Takiguchi Yukihiro will be playing Kuwano Kenjiro who is a new member of the city government's regional revitalisation section.

The drama SP continues from the popular series "Fuben na Benriya" starring Takeyama Jun (Okada Masaki) who is a scriptwriter, Matsui Hideo (Suzuki Kousuke) who is the owner of the convenience business i.e. benriya and Umemoto Souichi (Endo Kenichi) who is a thrice-divorced former prison officer. The story starts from Takeyama returning to Hokkaido after a breakup which affects him so much that he can't work where he is asked by the city government to write the script for a short film to boost the town's profile. Coincidentally, the film titled "Yuki Onna" (Snow Woman) stars Kozue who looks identical to Takeyama's ex-girlfriend.

Iitoyo who is participating in the series for the first time, commented that as part of the story was not scripted and dependent on ad-libs by the cast, she was quite scared about the filming. However, she was advised by the director that it was fine to go overboard so she came to experience the filming during which she had become close to her co-stars and the staff. Being the heroine in the short film and playing the horror character Yuki Onna for the first time, she viewed this as a challenge and sought inspiration from the horror films which she had watched recently.

The short film "Yuki Onna" will be featured at the 11th Sapporo International Short Films Festival.

Source: Eiga.com

"Fuben na Benriya" returns as a drama SP on TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo will be broadcasting the drama SP sequel of "Fuben na Benriya" (The inconvenient convenience store) which was first shown in Spring 2015 as a full series written and directed by Hokkaido-based creator Suzui Takayuki. The drama SP titled "Fuben na Benriya 2016 Hatsuyuki" (The inconvenient convenience store 2016 First snow) is expected to be shown at the end of this year or during the New Year holidays.

"Fuben na Benriya" features Okada Masaki as Takeyama Jun who is a scriptwriter with a wild imagination and poor common sense and lives at a nameless town in Hokkaido. Along with Matsui Hideo (Suzuki Kosuke) who owns a handyman business and Umemoto Soichi (Endo Kenichi) who is a former prison officer and has been divorced thrice to date, the three men will return in the drama SP with a new heroine. In addition, the short film produced by the three actors in the drama will be shown during the 11th Sapporo International Short Films Festival 2016 taking place between 10 Oct and 16 Oct before the drama SP is broadcast.

In the 2015 drama series, the cast and crew broke a Guinness record when they made 2,036 snowmen within an hour. At the end of the drama, Takeyama had quit the convenience business and left Hokkaido. The drama SP will be set 18 months later in the autumn when Takeyama returns to Hokkaido and meets his old friends. Co-stars include Triendl Reina and Tanaka Yoji who also appeared in the original drama series.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon