Horikita Maki & Yamamoto Koji expecting their first child

Horikita Maki announced through her agency on 20 June that she is currently pregnant with her first child and due to give birth in January next year. Rumours of her pregnancy first surfaced in the 21 June issue of "Josei Jishin" where she was caught seeing a famous gynecologist in early June. As such, in response to the report, her agency confirmed the news but called upon the media not to disturb Horikita at the moment as she is in the early stage of her pregnancy.

Horikita got married to actor Yamamoto Koji in August last year and has always expressed her wish to be a mother soon. Soon after the filming for NTV Winter 2016 drama "Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka ~" wrapped up in March 2016, Horikita has been taking time off work to prepare for pregnancy. At present, she can only be seen in CMs from three companies and rumours of her planning a retirement from showbiz were rife as she did not renew the contracts for more than 10 CM deals which she had been holding. There are also no plans for her to appear in any dramas, movies or stage plays for now.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Haru - Asa ga kita
2) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Hirosue Ryoko - Naomi to Kanako

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Haru - Asa ga kita
2) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Hirosue Ryoko - Naomi to Kanako
4) Horikita Maki - Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka
5) Ayase Haruka - Watashi wo hanasanai de

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Haru - Asa ga kita
2) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Arimura Kasumi - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
4) Hirosue Ryoko - Naomi to Kanako
5) Ayase Haruka - Watashi wo hanasanai de

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Haru - Asa ga kita
2) Hirosue Ryoko - Naomi to Kanako
3) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
4) Arimura Kasumi - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
5) Kiritani Mirei - Sumi ka Sumire

Source: The Televison

Winners of the 19th Nikkansports Dorama Grand Prix (Winter 2016)

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received:

Best Drama
1) Kaitou Yamaneko - NTV (503)
2) Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai - TBS (353)
3) Asa ga kita - NHK (299)
4) Specialist - TV Asahi (223)
5) Sanadamaru - NHK (156)

Best Leading Actor
1) Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko (544)
2) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita (373)
3) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Specialist (222)
4) Nagase Tomoya - Fragile (184)
5) Sakai Masato - Sanadamaru (167)

Best Leading Actress
1) Haru - Asa ga kita (572)
2) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (542)
3) Ueno Juri - Kazoku no Katachi (166)
4) Horikita Maki - Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka (156)
5) Arimura Kasumi - Itsuka kono koi wo omoidashite kitto naite shimau (151)

Best Supporting Actor
1) Narimiya Hiroki - Kaitou Yamaneko (351)
2) Dean Fujioka - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (305)
3) Dean Fujioka - Asa ga kita (263)
4) Kusakari Masao - Sanadamaru (227)
5) Sasaki Kuranosuke - Kaitou Yamaneko / Nishida Toshiyuki - Kazoku no Katachi (122)

Best Supporting Actress
1) Hirose Suzu - Kaitou Yamaneko (395)
2) Nonami Maho - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (195)
3) Minami Kaho - Specialist (181)
4) Koshida Fuuka - Asa ga kita (129)
5) Nagasawa Masami - Sanadamaru (101)

Source: Nikkansports

Most Anticipated Winter 2016 drama ranking (Confidence)

This survey was done via the Internet and involved 1,364 respondents nationwide. The total scores in brackets are tabulated based on anticipation levels in four areas i.e. ratings, the leads, the supporting cast and the story. Dramas with original novels/manga are indicated in blue. If you would like to see the breakdown of the scores, please visit here which are presented in the same order as I outlined above. There are two categories i.e. the primetime and late night dramas.

Interestingly, although "Watashi wo Hanasanai de" and "Specialist 4" are tied for 1st place in terms of total score, the latter scored lower for the ratings, leads and supporting cast aspects but got a better score for the story despite the fact that the former has a bestselling novel to back it up. Seems like the viewers are quite confident about the story in the "Specialist" series.

As for the late night dramas, Kiritani Mirei's "Sumi ka Sumire" got the top spot. It was mentioned in the article that this drama got a higher proportion of men looking forward to this drama compared to the others and cited the expectation of wanting to see if Kiritani can pull off the role of a woman who becomes 45 years younger than her actual age as a key factor.

Primetime dramas (from 8pm to before 11pm)
1) Watashi wo Hanasanai de - TBS / Specialist 4 - TV Asahi (65)
3) Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau - FujiTV (58)
4) Fragile - FujiTV (50)
5) Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka ~ - NTV / Rinshou Hanzai Gakusha  Himura Hideo no Suiri - NTV (49)
7) Kazoku no Katachi - TBS / Otousan to yobasete - FujiTV / Naomi to Kanako - FujiTV (47)
10) Kaitou Yamaneko - NTV (46)
11) Keishicho Zero Kakari ~ Seikatsu Anzenka Nandemo Soudanshitsu ~ - TV Tokyo (36)
12) Dame na watashi ni  koishite kudasai - TBS (34)
13) Chikaemon - NHK (26)
14) Nigeru Onna - NHK (23)
15) Itooshikute - NHK (20)

Late night dramas (from 11pm onwards)
1) Sumi ka Sumire - TV Asahi (46)
2) Akutotachi wa Senri wo hashiru - TBS (39)
3) Tokyo Sentimental - TV Tokyo (34)
4) Kasa wo motanai aritachi - FujiTV (25)
5) Money no Tenshi - NTV (10)

DAIGO & Kitagawa Keiko announce their marriage on 11 January

DAIGO and Kitagawa Keiko announced via their official websites and blogs on 11 January that they had submitted their marriage application on the same day. The couple met while filming the Winter 2011 drama "LADY ~ Saigo no Hanzai Profile ~" and their relationship came to light in 2014. DAIGO was said to have proposed to Kitagawa after finishing his 100km marathon for NTV's "24 Jikan Terebi" charity event last August.

In Kitagawa's statement, she mentioned that as she is turning 30 this year, getting married marks the beginning of a new phase in life for her. She also expressed her thanks to everyone around her and pledged to become an even better person and actor from now on. As for DAIGO, he revealed that he already had plans to make the announcement personally after filing the marriage application so he is happy to achieve that (rather than letting the news leak beforehand). He expressed his hope that they will be able to build a happy family together and support each other in their work and private lives. DAIGO ended his announcement by thanking everyone who has been supportive of them and asked for their continued support in future.

DAIGO will be seen in the upcoming NTV Winter 2016 drama "Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka ~" starting from 13 January while Kitagawa's new movie "No You na Mono No You na Mono" is due to be screened in cinemas from 16 January.

Source: Oricon 1 /  Oricon 2

Preview of "Higanbana - Keishicho Sousa Nanaka" - Winter 2016

Title: Higanbana - Keishicho Sousa Nanaka ヒガンバナ　警視庁捜査七課 (Higanbana - Metropolitan Police Department 7th Investigative Division)
Official website: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 13 January 2016
Timeslot: Wednesdays 10pm
Broadcast by: NTV
Theme Song: Saigo no Sayonara by JY
Opening Theme: RADIO by JY
Cast: Horikita Maki, Dan Rei, Jiyoung, Takanashi Rin, YOU, DAIGO, Takahashi Keiko, Ichikawa Tomohiro, Kimoto Takehiro (TKO), Hirayama Hiroyuki, Sano Shiro, Daichi Mao

Production press conference of NTV Winter 2016 drama "Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka"

The production press conference of NTV Winter 2016 drama "Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka" was held at a studio in Kanagawa Prefecture on 4 Jan which was attended by the cast members Horikita Maki, Dan Rei, Jiyoung, Takanashi Rin, YOU and Daichi Mao. The drama which will begin its run from 13 Jan in the Wednesdays 10pm timeslot, started from a drama SP in October 2014 and features Horikita as a police detective with a special power working in the unofficial 7th division which is a all-female team specialising in helping female victims and dealing with female criminals. In the drama series, it will be explained how Horikita's character came to acquire that power while the team continues to work on various cases.

Horikita and Takanashi appeared in the New Year's Eve special of "Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya arahende!" as their characters in this drama and commented that it was a very stressful experience for them since there were no NGs allowed and there were many lines to remember.

Source: Sponichi