The 94th Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2017) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON (FujiTV)
2) Hiyokko (NHK)
3) Kahogo no Kahoko (NTV)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON (FujiTV)
2) Koshoku no Robot (NTV)
3) Kahogo no Kahoko (NTV)
4) Bokutachi ga yarimashita (FujiTV)
5) Uchi no otto wa shigoto ga dekinai (NTV)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Hiyokko (NHK)
2) Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON (FujiTV) / Kahogo no Kahoko (NTV)
4) Hello Harinezumi (TBS)
5) Shimokitazawa Diehard (TV Tokyo)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Hiyokko (NHK)
2) Yasuragi no Sato (TV Asahi)
3) Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON (FujiTV)
4) Kahogo no Kahoko (NTV)
5) Shimokitazawa Diehard (TV Tokyo)

Source: The Television

The 94th Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2017) - Best Leading Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Yamashita Tomohisa - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON
2) Kubota Masataka - Bokutachi ga yarimashita
3) Ishizaka Koji - Yasuragi no Sato

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Yamashita Tomohisa - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON
2) Arioka Daiki - Koshoku Robot
3) Kubota Masataka - Bokutachi ga yarimashita
4) Nishikido Ryo - Uchi no otto wa shigoto ga dekinai
5) Nagase Tomoya - Gomen, Aishiteru

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Yamashita Tomohisa - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON
2) Kubota Masataka - Bokutachi ga yarimashita
3) Eita - Hello Harinezumi
4) Nagase Tomoya - Gomen, Aishiteru / Fukushi Souta - Aishitetatte, Himitsu wa aru
6) Nishijima Hidetoshi - Blanket Cats

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ishizaka Koji - Yasuragi no Sato
2) Yamashita Tomohisa - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON
3) Kubota Masataka - Bokutachi ga yarimashita
4) Eita - Hello Harinezumi / Higashiyama Noriyuki - Keiji Shichinin / Arita Teppei - Wanitokagegisu

Source: The Televison

The 94th Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2017) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Takeuchi Ryoma - Kahogo no Kahoko
2) Morita Go - Hello Harinezumi
3) Asari Yosuke - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Asari Yosuke - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON
2) Arioka Daiki - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON
3) Takeuchi Ryoma - Kahogo no Kahoko
4) Konno Hiroki - Bokutachi ga yarimashita
5) Yabu Kota - Uchi no otto wa shigoto ga dekinai

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Takeuchi Ryoma - Kahogo no Kahoko
2) Morita Go - Hello Harinezumi
3) Sawamura Ikki - Hiyokko
4) Narita Ryo - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON
5) Konno Hiroki - Bokutachi ga yarimashita

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Takeuchi Ryoma - Kahogo no Kahoko
2) Morita Go - Hello Harinezumi
3) Konno Hiroki - Bokutachi ga yarimashita
4) Narita Ryo - Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON / Sawamura Ikki - Hiyokko / Eguchi Yosuke - Kurokawa no Techou / Okuda Eiji - Kurokawa no Techou

Source: The Televison

The 94th Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2017) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Wakai Hiroba - Kuwata Keisuke (Hiyokko)
2) HANABI - Mr.Children (Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON)
3) Family Song - Hoshino Gen (Kahogo no Kahoko)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) HANABI - Mr.Children (Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON)
2) Are You There? - A.Y.T. (Koshoku Robot)
3) Family Song - Hoshino Gen (Kahogo no Kahoko)
4) Kiseki no Hito - Kanjani 8 (Uchi no otto wa shigoto ga dekinai)
5) Bokutachi ga yarimashita - DISH// (Bokutachi ga yarimashita)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Family Song - Hoshino Gen (Kahogo no Kahoko)
2) Wakai Hiroba - Kuwata Keisuke (Hiyokko)
3) Forevermore - Utada Hikaru (Gomen, Aishiteru)
4) HANABI - Mr.Children (Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON)
5) Yumemakase - "SOIL&""PIMP""SESSIONS feat. Yojiro Noda (Hello Harinezumi) / Bokutachi ga yarimashita - DISH// (Bokutachi ga yarimashita)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Wakai Hiroba - Kuwata Keisuke (Hiyokko)
2) Bojou - Nakajima Miyuki (Yasuragi no Sato)
3) Yumemakase - "SOIL&""PIMP""SESSIONS feat. Yojiro Noda (Hello Harinezumi)
4) Family Song - Hoshino Gen (Kahogo no Kahoko) / Forevermore - Utada Hikaru (Gomen, Aishiteru)
6) HANABI - Mr.Children (Code Blue THE THIRD SEASON) / Papa Mama Song - Yusuke Santa Maria, Hirao Nanaka, Kadowaki Mugi, Ishida Nicole, Ando Tamae & Okamoto Kenichi (Ecchan) / TAKE MY HAND - Yoru no honki dansu (Seshiru no Mokuromi)

Source: The Televison

Special screening event & production press conference of TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi"

The special screening event and production press conference of TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi" was held at Tokyo Cinema Club on 10 July which was attended by the director Ohne Hitoshi, producer Han Cheol and cast members Eita, Fukada Kyoko, Morita Go and Yamaguchi Tomoko. The drama begins its run from 14 July in the Fridays 10pm timeslot.

The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Hirokane Kenshi, was serialised in "Shuukan Young Magazine between 1980 and 1989. Although the manga was set in the Showa era, it will be adapted to be set in the modern Heisei era. Eita plays the role of private detective Nanase Goro who works in the investigation agency Akatsuka Tantei Jimusho in Shimoakatsuka in Itabashi Ward of Tokyo where he takes on any case no matter how troublesome or difficult it may be. Goro is a bit of a lecher and a busybody but he is also passionate and sincere. Fukada will be playing the mysterious heroine Shidawara Ranko while Morita will play Goro's partner Kogure Kyuusaku. Yamaguchi will be playing Kaze Kahoru who is the boss of the agency.

Eita who last appeared in a TBS drama back 13 years ago i.e. "Orange Days", said that he and Morita have gotten quite close through the filming of this drama. Although it took time for the shy Morita to warm up to him, Eita said that they have become close enough to talk about anything so he feels very happy to be one of the few people on such terms with Morita. Morita echoed his view and said that he can trust Eita with his secrets and can even accept the idea of living together with his new friend. Director Ohne who is an old friend of Morita, expressed amazement and shock at how Morita warmed up to Eita so quickly especially when he saw Morita laughing heartily on the set.

Eita revealed that there was a scene where he had to dangle from the 9th floor of a building at the instructions of Ohne which led him to "complain" because the scene where he jumped from the building was done against a CG screen instead. However, he pressed on with him and felt like Jackie Chan while doing the dangling scene from the building. In response, Ohne said that he prefers to do the scenes for real rather than waste money on unnecessary CG which will also give a sense of reality to the scenes.

Fukada revealed that while they were in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka for filming, she decided to bring 100 pieces of the local specialty gyoza to the set as a snack and pan-fried them at the residents' hall there before bringing to the set. Although she thought that the director would be pleased with her gesture, he actually "complained" about the gyoza and asked if she made them at home so it made her a bit sad. Upon hearing this, Ohne said that he was actually very happy to have the local gyoza as a snack but admitted that he was surprised because he never had fresh pan-fried gyoza during filming before.

As for Yamaguchi Tomoko, she talked about her first baddie role at the age of 52 in her career so far and most of her scenes are shot indoors at the detective agency. She expressed hope in that this will be a memorable experience to play a baddie and will put in her best effort.

At the end of the event, Eita commented that he hardly gets on his knees for others and suddenly kneeled down in front of everyone to ask for their support of this drama. As there is a scene in the first episode where his character Goro has to get on his knees for the sake of his client, he revealed that he was undecided on whether to do this on stage up to the last minute but decided to go ahead with it without letting anyone know. As such, his co-stars were genuinely surprised by his sudden move.

Sources: Eiga.com / Nikkansports / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

SOIL & "PIMP"SESSIONS & RADWIMPS' Noda Yojiro to sing the theme song for TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi"

SOIL & "PIMP"SESSIONS and RADWIMPS' Noda Yojiro will be forming the unit SOIL & "PIMP"SESSIONS feat. Yojiro Noda and sing the theme song for TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi" which begins its run from 14 July in the Fridays 10pm timeslot. The song titled "Yume Makase" was written specially for the drama with SOIL responsible for the melody and the lyrics and vocals done by Noda. This is the first time that Noda is working with other artistes on a collaboration project. The song's idea is said to originate from the club sounds in London during the early 1990s and has an acid jazz feel. It will be released on 23 August.

The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Hirokane Kenshi, was serialised in "Shuukan Young Magazine between 1980 and 1989. Eita plays the role of private detective Nanase Goro who works in the investigation agency Akatsuka Tantei Jimusho in Shimoakatsuka in Itabashi Ward of Tokyo where he takes on any case no matter how troublesome or difficult it may be. Goro is a bit of a lecher and a busybody but he is also passionate and sincere. Fukada Kyoko will be playing the mysterious heroine Shidawara Ranko while Morita will play Goro's work partner Kogure Kyuusaku. Yamaguchi will be playing Kaze Kahoru who is the boss of the agency.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Sponichi

Oricon's most anticipated Summer 2017 dramas ranking

Oricon conducted a survey on 1,364 people from their teens to 50s where they chose which Summer 2017 they are looking forward to watch. Dramas which were not announced before the start of the survey i.e. 19 June were not included and only dramas from the private networks and NHK were considered in this list.

There are two rankings here i.e. the primetime (7pm to 10pm) and midnight categories (shown after 11pm). Numbers in brackets indicate the overall weighted score in terms of anticipated ratings, leading actor/actress, supporting cast and content which account for 20 marks each. As such, the maximum score a drama can get is 80. The asterisk indicates dramas which are based on novels/manga so those without have original scripts.

Primetime Category

1) Code Blue ~ Doctor Heli Kinkyuu Kyuumei ~ THE THIRD SEASON (77)

2) Iryu Sousa (67)

3) Hello Harinezumi (66)*

4) Bokutachi ga yarimashita (65)*

5) Gomen Aishiteru (61)*

6) Keiji Shichinin 3 (53)

7) Kurokawa no Techou (49)*

8) Aishitetatte, himitsu wa aru (48)

9) Kahogo no Kahoko / Seshiru no Mokuromi* (45)

11) Kanna-san!* / Keishicho Zerogakari ~ Seikatsu Anzenka Nandemo Soudanshitsu ~ SECOND SEASON* / Uchi no otto wa shigoto ga dekinai (44)

14) Keishicho Ikimonogakari* (29)

15) Ecchan* (16)

Midnight Category

1) Shimokitazawa Diehard (52)

2) Nou ni sumaho ga umerareta! (28)

3) Aino Kekkon Soudanjo* (27)

4) Izakaya Fuji* (24)

5) Wanitokagegisu* (20)

6) Maji de koukai shimasu / Saboriiman Kantarou* (12)

Source: Oricon

Preview of "Hello Harinezumi" - Summer 2017

Title: Hello Harinezumi ハロー張りネズミ (Hello Hedgehog)
Official website: here
Official Instagram: here
Official Line: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 14 July 2017
Timeslot: Fridays 10pm
Broadcast by: TBS
Original manga by: Hirokane Kenshi
Music by: SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS
Cast: Eita, Fukada Kyoko, Morita Go, Nakaoka Souichi (Lotti), Katayama Moemi, Aoi Yu, Lily Franky, Yamaguchi Tomoko

Cast members from TBS Summer 2017 dramas to appear in "Sekiguchi Hiroshi no Tokyo Friend Park July 2017 SP"

The cast members from the three TBS Summer 2017 dramas will be appearing as guests in the upcoming "Sekiguchi Hiroshi no Tokyo Friend Park July 2017 Drama Assembly SP" to be shown via TBS on 3 July. A total of 12 actors (4 from each drama) will be participating in the game show which will feature 7 games i.e. "Wall Crash", "Quiz! Body & Brain", "Flash Saurus", "Never Wipe Out", "Hyper Hockey", "Deli Soba" and "Fool On The Hill".

Here is the list of actors who will be appearing on the show:

From "Gomen, Aishiteru" - Nagase Tomoya, Yoshioka Riho, Sakaguchi Kentaro & Ootake Shinobu
From "Kanna-san!" - Watanabe Naomi, Kaname Jun, Kudo Asuka & Saito Yuki
From "Hello Harinezumi" - Eita, Fukada Kyoko, Morita Go & Nakaoka Souichi

Source: Oricon

Supporting cast line-up of TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi" announced

The supporting cast line-up of TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi" starring Eita has been announced.  The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Hirokane Kenshi, was serialised in "Shuukan Young Magazine between 1980 and 1989. Although the manga was set in the Showa era, it will be adapted to be set in the modern Heisei era.

Eita plays the role of private detective Nanase Goro who works in the investigation agency Akatsuka Tantei Jimusho in Shimoakatsuka in Itabashi Ward of Tokyo where he takes on any case no matter how troublesome or difficult it may be. Goro is a bit of a lecher and a busybody but he is also passionate and sincere. Fukada Kyoko will be playing the mysterious heroine Shidawara Ranko while Morita Go will play Goro's partner Kogure Kyuusaku. Yamaguchi Tomoko will be playing Kaze Kahoru who is the boss of the agency.

Ito Atsushi plays Kawada, the president of Kawada Transport who passes the unreasonable requests from clients to Goro and his partners while Fukikoshi Mitsuru plays Nakai, the former secretarial section chief of "Thunder Trading" and has links to the mysterious Ranko. Muro Tsuyoshi will play Isagawa Ryoji who is standing for election in the Gunma Prefectural Council and a leader of civil movements and Kunimura Jun will play Kurita Seiji, a quiet chef working at a Chinese restaurant near Goro's agency and would feed them with unexpected requests from clients.

Source: Oricon

Aoi Yu & Lily Frankie to appear in TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi"

Aoi Yu and Lily Frankie will be joining the cast of TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi" starring Eita which will begin its run from July in the Fridays 10pm timeslot. The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Hirokane Kenshi, was serialised in "Shuukan Young Magazine between 1980 and 1989. Co-stars include Fukada Kyoko, Morita Go and Yamaguchi Tomoko. Although the manga was set in the Showa era, it will be adapted to be set in the modern Heisei era. Eita plays the role of private detective Nanase Goro who works in the investigation agency Akatsuka Tantei Jimusho in Shimoakatsuka in Itabashi Ward of Tokyo where he takes on any case no matter how troublesome or difficult it may be. Goro is a bit of a lecher and a busybody but he is also passionate and sincere.

Aoi plays the role of a mysterious and beautiful psychic Kawai Setsuko who will appear in the middle of the season to solve cases with Goro using her supernatural powers. Aoi commented that as she has many lines in the script, she is nervous about playing this character and hopes that she won't cause any trouble to her co-stars and the staff. In addition, as she is only joining the drama from the halfway mark, there are many things she still doesn't know about her character so she's relying on instructions from the director when it comes to her acting. On the other hand, Lily plays Minami, the owner of a publishing company who is actually an information vendor well-versed in matters of the underworld and helps Goro with his cases. He is also a journalist with a dark side and helps resolve problems quietly for big companies and the rich and famous.

Sources: Sanspo / Sponichi / Oricon / Eiga.com

Eita to star in TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi" as a private detective

Eita will be starring in the new TBS Summer 2017 drama "Hello Harinezumi" (Hello Hedgehog) which will begin its run from July 2017 in the Fridays 10pm timeslot. The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Hirokane Kenshi, was serialised in "Shuukan Young Magazine between 1980 and 1989. Co-stars include Fukada Kyoko, Morita Go and Yamaguchi Tomoko. Although the manga was set in the Showa era, it will be adapted to be set in the modern Heisei era.

Eita plays the role of private detective Nanase Goro who works in the investigation agency Akatsuka Tantei Jimusho in Shimoakatsuka in Itabashi Ward of Tokyo where he takes on any case no matter how troublesome or difficult it may be. Goro is a bit of a lecher and a busybody but he is also passionate and sincere. With regard to his character, Eita commented that he can identify with the silly and lecherous traits in Goro and is very excited about the filming. He hopes to be able to make Goro look cool as well for the younger generation of viewers who are watching this drama. Fukada Kyoko will be playing the mysterious heroine Shidawara Ranko while Morita will play Goro's partner Kogure Kyuusaku. Yamaguchi will be playing Kaze Kahoru who is the boss of the agency.

Sources: Sponichi / Oricon