The 93rd Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2017) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Koike Eiko - Haha ni naru
2) Toda Erika - Reverse
3) Naka Riisa - Anata no koto wa sorehodo

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Nakayama Miho - Kizoku Tantei
2) Toda Erika - Reverse
3) Kimura Fumino - Boku, Unmei no hito desu
4) Takei Emi - Kizoku Tantei
5) Koike Eiko - Haha ni naru

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Koike Eiko - Haha ni naru
2) Toda Erika - Reverse
3) Naka Riisa - Anata no koto wa sorehodo
4) Araki Yuuko - CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan
5) Kimura Fumino - Boku, Unmei no hito desu

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Koike Eiko - Haha ni naru
2) Naka Riisa - Anata no koto wa sorehodo
3) Toda Erika - Reverse / Kimura Fumino - Boku, Unmei no hito desu / Nikaidou Fumi - Frankenstein no Koi

Source: The Televison

The 93rd Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2017) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Haru - Anata no koto wa sorehodo
2) Sawajiri Erika - Haha ni naru
3) Amami Yuki - Kinkyuu Torishirabeshitsu 2

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Sawajiri Erika - Haha ni naru
2) Amami Yuki - Kinkyuu Torishirabeshitsu 2
3) Kuroki Haru - Mi wo tsukushi ryourijou
4) Haru - Anata no koto wa sorehodo
5) Kiritani Mirei - Hito wa mitame ga 100 percent

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Haru - Anata no koto wa sorehodo
2) Sawajiri Erika - Haha ni naru
3) Amami Yuki - Kinkyuu Torishirabeshitsu 2
4) Kuroki Haru - Mi wo tsukushi ryourijou
5) Takanashi Rin - Koi ga heta demo ikitemasu

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Haru - Anata no koto wa sorehodo
2) Sawajiri Erika - Haha ni naru
3) Amami Yuki - Kinkyuu Torishirabeshitsu 2 / Kuroki Haru - Mi wo tsukushi ryourijou / Tabe Mikako - Tsubaki Bunguten Kamakura Daishoya Monogatari

Source: The Television

The 93rd Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2017) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Reverse (TBS)
2) CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan (FujiTV)
3) Kizoku Tantei (FujiTV)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kizoku Tantei (FujiTV)
2) Reverse (TBS)
3) Boku, Unmei no hito desu (NTV)
4) Frankenstein no Koi (NTV)
5) Haha ni naru (NTV)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Reverse (TBS)
2) CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan (FujiTV)
3) Chiisana Kyojin (TBS)
4) Anata no koto wa sorehodo (TBS)
5) Haha ni naru (NTV)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan (FujiTV)
2) Chiisana Kyojin (TBS)
3) Anata no koto wa sorehodo (TBS)
4) Reverse (TBS) / Frankenstein no Koi (NTV)

Source: The Television

Winners of Nikkansports Sports Drama Grand Prix (Spring 2017)

There were 2,930 valid responses for this voting and numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received for the drama or actor/actress:

Best Drama
1) Boku, Unmei no hito desu (1166)
2) Kizoku Tantei (703)
3) Reverse (203)
4) Chiisana Kyojin (125)
5) Hiyokko (107)

Best Leading Actor
1) Kamenashi Kazuya - Boku, Unmei no hito desu (1,025)
2) Aiba Masaki - Kizoku Tantei (726)
3) Fujiwara Tatsuya - Reverse (281)
4) Hasegawa Hiroki - Chiisana Kyojin (183)
5) Oguri Shun - CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan (167)

Best Leading Actress
1) Sawajiri Erika - Haha ni naru (609)
2) Arimura Kasumi - Hiyokko (455)
3) Amami Yuki - Kinkyuu Torishirabeshitsu 2 (437)
4) Haru - Anata no koto wa sorehodo (313)
5) Shibasaki Kou - Onna Joshu Naotora (284)

Best Supporting Actor
1) Yamashita Tomohisa - Boku, Unmei no hito desu (1,020)
2) Takito Kenichi - Kizoku Tantei (330)
3) Namase Katsuhisa - Kizoku Tantei (184)
4) Mitsushima Shinnosuke - Boku, Unmei no hito desu (174)
5) Tamamori Yuuta - Reverse (150)

Best Supporting Actress
1) Kimura Fumino - Boku, Unmei no hito desu (904)
2) Nakayama Miho - Kizoku Tantei (327)
3) Takei Emi - Kizoku Tantei (206)
4) Nanao - Boku, Unmei no hito desu (179)
5) Toda Erika - Reverse (149)

Source: Nikkansports

Winners of the 8th Confidence Award Dorama Prize (Spring 2017)

Here are the winners of the 8th Confidence Award Drama Prize for the Spring 2017 season:

Best Drama: Reverse

Best Leading Actor: Oguri Shun (CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan)

Best Leading Actress: Tabe Mikako (Tsubaki Bunguten Kamakura Daishoya Monogatari)

Best Supporting Actor: Higashide Masahiro (Anata no koto wa sorehodo)

Best Supporting Actress: Koike Eiko (Haha ni naru)

Best Script: Okudera Satoko & Shimizu Yukako (Reverse)

Best Newcomer: Araki Yuuko (CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan / Hyakumanen no onnatachi)

Source: Confidence Award Drama Prize

Top 10 Spring 2017 dramas with the highest satisfaction rating up to 2 May 2017 (Oricon)

Oricon conducts a survey on a pool of 690 monitor researchers nationwide after the broadcast of each drama episode where the respondents are asked to rate the episodes based on criteria such as the drama itself, lead actors/actresses, supporting cast, image quality, lines, music, artistic direction, story direction, time spent watching the episode, how much it is talked about on Twitter. The maximum points achievable is 100 and the results in brackets below indicate the average score based on the episodes shown up to 2 May 2017:

1) CRISIS Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan (87.8)

2) Kodoku no Gurume Season 6 (87.3)

3) Kinkyuu Torishirabeshitsu 2 (84.5)

4) Reverse (82.7)

5) Boku, Unmei no hito desu (81)

6) Chiisana Kyojin (69.3)

7) Tsuribaka Nisshi Season 2 Shinnyuu Shain Hamasaki Densuke (69)

8) Haha ni naru (66.7)

9) Frankenstein no Koi (63.5)

10) Onna Joushu Naotora (61.5)

Source: Oricon

Preview of "Haha ni naru" - Spring 2017

Title: Haha ni naru 母になる (Being a mother)
Official website: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 12 April 2017
Timeslot: Wednesdays 10pm
Broadcast by: NTV
Theme song: "Just You and I" by Amuro Namie
Cast: Sawajiri Erika, Fujiki Naohito, Nakajima Yuto, Michieda Shunsuke (Kansai Johnny's Jrs), Takahashi Maryjun, Fujisawa Haruka, Mochizuki Ayumu, Asano Kazuyuki, Itaya Yuka, Fubuki Jun, Koike Eiko

Production press conference of NTV Spring 2017 drama "Haha ni naru"

The production press conference of NTV Spring 2017 drama "Haha ni naru" was held on 1 April which was attended by Sawajiri Erika, Fujiki Naohito, Koike Eiko, Hey! Say! JUMP's Nakajima Yuto, Itaya Yuka and Kansai Johnny's Jrs' Michieda Shunsuke. The drama which begins its run from 12 April, features Sawajiri as the lead character Kashiwazaki Yui whose son was kidnapped at the age of three on the way home from nursery just because she failed to pay attention for a brief moment. This led to the divorce from her husband (Fujiki) and Kashiwazaki has been living on her own since then. 9 years later, she gets reunited with her son (Michieda) who has now turned 13 years old and needs to deal with how to interact with her son again and regain the lost years and her broken family. Koike Eiko plays Kadokura Asako, the woman who had kidnapped Kashiwazaki's son and taken care of him as a mother for the last nine years and Itaya Yuka who plays Nishihara Risako, Kashiwazaki's friend who has been supporting all this time while her son was missing. Nakajima plays a child welfare officer.

As she is playing a difficult role this time, Sawajiri said that she did not try to think too much before the filming and tried to act as she felt from the script so that it would appear natural. On the other hand, Nakajima and Michieda who are from the same agency, are acting together for the first time. However, as they are quite unfamiliar with each other, Nakajima commented that Michieda seemed too nervous when they were talking so he hopes that they can become closer and the latter can relax a bit more as the filming progresses. For Michieda who is acting in his first drama and has landed the role of playing Sawajiri's and Fujiki's son, he said that he didn't know how to cry on screen and sought advice from his senior Nakajima who told him to think of his saddest memory to date.

During the event, the cast was asked to introduce an item related to their mothers which was especially memorable to them. Sawajiri brought a teddy bear named Habu-chan which was what her mother gave to her father when they got married and she has been holding on to this since she was a child. Michieda showed an apron from his mother while Itaya introduced the mother-and-child handbook given by her mother and Nakajima cited the photo of a bouquet of flowers given by his mother when his first movie featuring him as the lead was released. Koike showed a flower shear and Fujiki who was the last to speak, revealed that the baked cheese cake made by his mother was especially delicious and memorable to him especially after he moved out from his family home. In fact, he just had it before the press conference and said that it tasted as good as usual.

It was also announced during the press conference that Amuro Namie will be singing the theme song "Just You and I" for the drama.　

Sources: Sponichi / Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

Fujiki Naohito to play Sawajiri Erika's ex-husband in NTV Spring 2017 drama "Haha ni naru"

Fujiki Naohito will be playing Sawajiri Erika's ex-husband in the upcoming NTV Spring 2017 drama "Haha ni naru" which will begin its run from April in the Wednesdays 10pm timeslot. The drama features Sawajiri as the lead character Kashiwazaki Yui whose son was kidnapped at the age of three on the way home from nursery just because she failed to pay attention for a brief moment. This led to the breakdown of her marriage and Kashiwazaki has been living on her own since then. 9 years later, she gets reunited with her son who has now turned 13 years old and needs to deal with how to interact with her son again and regain the lost years and her broken family. Co-stars include Koike Eiko who plays Kadokura Asako, the woman who had kidnapped Kashiwazaki's son and taken care of him as a mother for the last nine years and Itaya Yuka who plays Nishihara Risako, Kashiwazaki's friend who has been supporting all this time while her son was missing.

Fujiki will play the role of Yui's ex-husband Yoichi who had separated from her after their son went missing. Although Yoichi used to be an associate professor specialising in the research of artificial intelligence at an university, he became a hikkikomori (social withdrawal staying at home) since his son's disappearance.

The first day of Fujiki's filming was for the scene where the Kashiwazakis first met 16 years ago at a bookstore where Yoichi was ordering a book from Yui who worked there. Fujiki and Sawajiri last worked together in the drama "Ichi litre no namide" about 12 years ago and he remarked that she has always been very mature beyond her age and is doing well to take on the challenge of such a difficult role. As they are playing a married couple this time, he will try his best to match up to her and do a good job. On the other hand, Sawajiri revealed that they didn't really get to chat much when they worked together 12 years ago but she feels that Fujiki has always had a knowledgeable and learned image so the role of Yoichi is a perfect match for him. As for filming the scene from 16 years ago, Sawajiri was more worried about whether she would look like she was 21 years old since that was the age of Yui at that time.

Co-stars in this drama also include Fubuki Jun who plays Rie, Yoichi's mother, Asano Kazuyuki who plays Nishihara Taiji, Yoichi's fellow researcher and professor at the university as well as Takahashi Maryjun, Fujisawa Haruka and Mochizuki Ayumu.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi / Oricon

Sawajiri Erika to star in new NTV Spring 2017 drama "Haha ni naru"

Sawajiri Erika will be starring in the upcoming NTV Spring 2017 drama "Haha ni naru" (Being a mother) which will begin its run from April in the Wednesdays 10pm timeslot. The drama features Sawajiri as the lead character Kashiwazaki Yui whose son was kidnapped at the age of three on the way home from nursery just because she failed to pay attention for a brief moment. This led to the breakdown of her marriage and Kashiwazaki has been living on her own since then. 9 years later, she gets reunited with her son who has now turned 13 years old and needs to deal with how to interact with her son again and regain the lost years and her broken family. Co-stars include Koike Eiko who plays Kadokura Asako, the woman who had kidnapped Kashiwazaki's son and taken care of him as a mother for the last nine years and Itaya Yuka who plays Nishihara Risako, Kashiwazaki's friend who has been supporting all this time while her son was missing.

Sawajiri commented that although she finds this story refreshing and interesting, it is very difficult for her to be playing a mother since she has no experience in real life. However, the producer assured her that she will manage fine because her character Kashiwazaki has to learn how to be a mother from scratch after the reunion with her son anyway. Although being a mother is probably the biggest issue for a woman in her lifetime, Sawajiri felt that women learn how to become mothers through child-rearing and hopes to convey the warmth of family through this drama. As for working with Koike for the first time and with Itaya again, Sawajiri commented that she feels relaxed working with them and hopes to do a good job. Koike and Itaya both echoed the view that they are looking forward to working with one another through this drama.

Filming begins at the end of February.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi / Oricon