New dramas showing on Waku Waku Japan from October 2017

Sorry for posting this rather late but here are the new dramas showing on Waku Waku Japan from this month including some in-season offerings. Note that all dates and times are based on Singapore's timezone so please check the Waku Waku Japan website for the other regions where the TV channel is also shown in:

Top 10 bestselling Japanese movies in the first half of 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the exact or estimated box office takings which is represented with an asterix:

1) Meitantei Conan Kara kurenai no love letter (JPY 6.87bn)

2) Eiga Doraemon Nobita no nankyoku kachikochi daibouken (JPY 4.43bn)

3) Eiga Youkai Watch Soratobu kujira to double sekai no daibouken da nyan! (JPY 3.26bn)

4) Gekijouban Sword Art Online Ordinal Scale (JPY 2.5bn ~ JPY 2.6bn)*

5) Kaizoku to yobareta otoko (JPY 2.37bn)

6) 22 Nenme no Kokuhaku - Watashi ga satsujinhan desu - (JPY 2.34bn)* as of 23 July 2017

7) Hirugao (JPY 2.23bn)* as of 23 July 2017

8) Aibou - Gekijouban IV - Shuto Crisis Hitojichi wa 50-man nin! Tokumeigakari Saigo no ketsudan / Teiichi no Kuni (JPY 1.92bn)

10) Boku wa ashita, kinou no kimi to deeto suru (JPY 1.85bn)

In terms of the overall top 10 bestselling movies ranking, only the top 2 movies in this list made it to be ranked at No.3 and No.7 respectively. This seems to show that the Japanese box office is still pretty much dominated by Hollywood films and there is a considerable gap to overcome with the No.1 film "Beauty and the Beast" chalking up takings almost double of what the Conan movie got i.e. JPY 12.5bn vs. JPY 6.87bn.

Source: Cinema Today

Top 10 summer movies' box office ranking between 1 June 2017 and 23 July 2017 (Oricon)

Oricon compiled the box office figures for the summer movies shown between 1 June 2017 and 23 July 2017 and came up with the top 10 bestselling movies' ranking as below. Numbers in brackets indicate the accumulated box office takings up to 23 July and the release dates of the movies are indicated after this:

1) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (JPY 4.84bn) - 1 July

2) 22 Nenme no Kokuhaku - Watashi ga satsujinhan desu - (JPY 2.345 bn) - 10 June

3) Hirugao (JPY 2.236bn) - 10 June

4) Shinobi no Kuni (JPY 1.787bn) - 1 July

5) Gintama (JPY 1.708bn) - 14 July

6) Mary to Majo no Hana (JPY 1.543bn) - 8 July

7) Gekijouban Pocket Monster Kimi ni kimeta! (JPY 1.229bn) - 15 July

8) Cars Crossroad (JPY 800m) - 15 July

9) Despicable Me 3 (JPY 751m) - 21 July

10) Ani ni aisaresugite komattemasu (JPY 740m) - 30 June

Source: Oricon

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 8th & 9th July 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (365)

2) Mary to Majo no Hana (363)

3) Shinobi no Kuni (332)

4) Ani ni aisaresugite komattemasu (251)

5) 22 Nenme no Kokuhaku Watashi ga satsujinhan desu (328)

6) John Wick: Chapter 2 (138)

7) Sore ike! Anpanman Buruburu no takarasagashi daibouken! (196)

8) Hirugao (312)

9) Beauty and the Beast (372)

10) Life (150)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 1st & 2nd July 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (365)

2) Shinobi no Kuni (331)

3) Ani ni aisaresugite komattemasu (251)

4) 22 Nenme no Kokuhaku Watashi ga satsujinhan desu (328)

5) Beauty and the Beast (372)

6) Hirugao (312)

7) Sore ike! Anpanman Buruburu no takarasagashi daibouken! (196)

8) Kodomotsukai (250)

9) Hacksaw Ridge (253)

10) Gekijouban Free! Timeless Medley Yakusoku (59)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 24th & 25th June 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) 22 Nenme no Kokuhaku Watashi ga satsujinhan desu (328)

2) Beauty and the Beast (372)

3) Hirugao (312)

4) Hacksaw Ridge (252)

5) Kodomotsukai (250)

6) Gekijouban Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Hoshi wo yobu shoujo (59)

7) Itsumata, Kimi to Herijunzailai (189)

8) Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2202 Ai no senshitachi Dai Nisho Hasshin Hen (20)

9) King Arthur (326)

10) Hanaikusa (353)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 17th & 18th June 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) 22 Nenme no Kokuhaku Watashi ga satsujinhan desu (328)

2) Beauty and the Beast (372)

3) Hirugao (312)

4) Kodomotsukai (250)

5) Gekijouban Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Hoshi wo yobu shoujo (59)

6) King Arthur (326)

7) Hanaikusa (353)

8) Chotto ima kara shigoto yametekuru (285)

9) LOGAN (359)

10) Meitantei Conan Karakurenai no Love Letter (354)

Source: Eiga.com

First-day-screening event of new movie "Hirugao"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Hirugao" was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills on 10 June which was attended by the director Nishitani Hiroki and cast members Ueto Aya, Saito Takumi, Ito Ayumi and Hirayama Hiroyuki. The movie continues three years after the end of the drama version where housewife Sasamoto Sawa (Ueto) and high school teacher Kitano Yuichiro (Saito) were forced to end their affair by his wife Noriko (Ito). After her divorce, Sawa lives alone at a seaside town and unexpectedly meets Yuichiro again when he visits the town for work. This reignites their feelings for each other and they resume their affair before Noriko gets wind of it again.

Ueto commented that with the movie's release, this also marks the end of their promotional campaign so she had been feeling quite sad about this since the morning of the event. Saito echoed her view that he felt sad about letting go of this movie as well since they had been involved with this project for a pretty long period of time.

When asked about what "Hirugao" means to them, Ito said that it was the first time that she experienced this unusual take on extramarital affairs as depicted in the story. Ueto then followed up by praising Ito for being such a wonderful actress to the extent of controlling how blood flows in her body. During acting, it is difficult to let the emotions take control to the extent of making a person burn red with rage and having her veins pop up but Ito was able to do that with ease. Meanwhile, Saito said that being involved in "Hirugao" was a life-changing experience and he thanked everyone especially Ueto for working together to produce such a wonderful production despite the heavy theme. Upon hearing this, Ueto started crying and said that it was pressurising for them to be taking on such a controversial theme but the love and feelings experienced by Sawa made Ueto think about the theme seriously every day so she was especially sad to say goodbye to this character.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Oricon / Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 10th & 11th June 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) 22 Nenme no Kokuhaku Watashi ga satsujinhan desu (328)

2) Hirugao (312)

3) Beauty and the Beast (372)

4) LOGAN (359)

5) Hanaikusa (353)

6) Chotto ima kara shigoto yametekuru (285)

7) KING OF PRISM PRIDE the HERO (56)

8) Meitantei Conan Karakurenai no Love Letter (354)

9) Kazoku wa tsurai yo 2 (327)

10) Peach Girl (302)

Source: Eiga.com

"Hirugao" side story to be published in latest issue of "an.an"

In conjunction with the impending launch of the movie, the side story of "Hirugao" will be published in the 7 June issue of "an.an" which describes what happened during the three years since the drama ended to the time when the movie starts. In the drama version, Sasamoto Sawa (Ueto Aya) and Kitano Yuichi (Saito Takumi) were forced to break up by his wife Noriko (Ito Ayumi) which led to them not seeing each other for three years. At the beginning of the movie, Sawa and Yuichi bump into each other again at the town where she has lived in since her divorce. Takigawa Rikako (Kichise Michiko) will also appear in the side story which was written by Inoue Yumiko who wrote the scripts for both the drama and movie versions.

The movie version of "Hirugao" will be shown in cinemas from 10 June.

Source: Eiga.com

Completion screening event & fan meeting of new movie "Hirugao"

The completion screening event and fan meeting of new movie "Hirugao" was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills on 11 May which was attended by the director Nishitani Hiroshi and cast members Ueto Aya, Saito Takumi, Ito Ayumi and Hirayama Hiroyuki. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 10 June.

The film is set at 3 years after the end of the drama where Kinoshita Sawa (Ueto) and Kitano Yuichiro (Saito) meet by chance at a seaside town and begin their forbidden love affair again. Ito plays Kitano's wife Noriko while Hirayama plays the owner of the restaurant where Sawa works at.

When asked if there was any memorable incident during the filming, Saito revealed that they opened a "temporary shop" named Barber Ueto where he was responsible for doing the hairdos of the female staff members while Ueto did the make-up for them. Ueto explained that due to the tight filming schedule, the staff members did not have much time to sleep thus affecting their complexion and their fringes being long enough to cover their eyes. As such, they decided to hold this impromptu doll-up session for them. However, Saito said that all he knew was to apply curls on both the men and women so everyone ended up looking like THE ALFEE's Takamizawa Toshihiko.

Everyone also took turns to relate how Saito was very nice to everyone. For example, Ueto who was with Saito during their trip to Italy for the international premiere of the movie, asked him to buy her a pair of earrings when they were filming a TV programme. Saito thought that it was not nice to reject her request since they were filming and he assumed that the programme's budget would take care of the cost of the earrings but found out that it was the contrary so he had to pay out of his own pocket. Nonetheless, he was pleased that Ueto liked the earrings very much so he didn't mind having to pay for it.

Ueto revealed that she had already given her all during the drama and didn't expect that there would be a sequel even though she had been approached several times to do it. However, she wasn't in the right mode to play Sawa again and the timing wasn't suitable for her so it took about 3 years before the sequel finally materialised. On the first day of filming where they had to shoot a scene of Sawa attending Kitano's presentation, the moment she heard his voice made her slide into the role seamlessly. As such, she expressed thanks to the production staff who never gave up despite these factors and persevered with making this movie.

During the fan meeting, 500 people were selected to take part in this on the condition that they posted the photos they took onto social media platforms. As such, the fans could take an unlimited amount of photos of the cast who appeared with beaming smiles. In the Q & A session from fans, the cast were asked if they were doing anything which they felt that they had to stop doing but couldn't resist doing. Ueto said that she is so obsessed with shopping on the Internet and would spend about 2 hours in bed doing that after tucking her child to bed. She also revealed that Saito bought a cute elephant ring online which he admitted sheepishly that it only cost him 523 yen.

Sources: Eiga.com 1 / Eiga.com 2 / Oricon 1 /  Oricon 2

"Hirugao" holds world premiere at the 19th Il Far East Film Festival in Italy

The movie "Hirugao" starring Ueto Aya and Saito Takumi held its world premiere at the 19th Il Far East Film Festival at Udine, Italy on 24 April as it is taking part in the film festival's competition category. Besides the leads, the director Nishitani Hiroshi also attended the screening to meet the 1200-strong audience. Before the screening, more than 600 people gathered outside the theatre.

Ueto greeted the audience in Italian and said that she was very happy to be at the screening and hoped that the forbidden love depicted in the movie will make a deep impression in the audience's hearts. Due to the differences in Italian and Japanese culture, she was especially eager to find out how the audience would react to the movie's theme. Saito who was attending this film festival for the second time (the previous time was in 2016 for the movie Koudaike no Hitobito), spoke in Italian as well and expressed his joy to be able to return to this film festival and thanked everyone for coming. After the screening, there was a standing ovation of more than 5 minutes and the actors were swarmed by fans who wanted to take photos with them and get their signatures. The following day after the screening, the cast travelled to Venice for the PR shooting of the movie where they rode a water taxi and explored the colourful streets of the city.

The movie will be shown in Japan from 10 June and continues three years after the end of the drama series. The winner of the Grand Prix will be announced on 30 April.

Sources: Sanspo / Eiga.com

Ueto Aya & Saito Takumi to be back in the movie version of "Hirugao"

Ueto Aya who gave birth to her first daughter in August last year, will be making her return to acting through the movie version of "Hirugao" along with Saito Takumi. The movie which is due to be shown in cinemas during early summer next year, continues from where the original drama series ended in September 2014 where Ueto and Saito's characters Sawa and Kitano were forced to go their separate ways after an extramarital affair. Due to the overwhelming response asking for a sequel after the drama ended its run, it was decided that the movie version will be made but the timing was delayed till now due to the schedules of the cast and Ueto's pregnancy.


The movie is set at 3 years after the end of the drama where Sawa and Kitano meet by chance at a seaside town and begin their forbidden love affair again. Filming began from 24 September in the suburbs of Tokyo. Ueto commented that "Hirugao" had a special meaning to her since it was the drama which gave her a new perspective thus she will work hard to make this as one of her signature works. As for Saito, the drama was also memorable to him since it was regarded the one which boosted his popularity and gave him the label of sexy actor. As such, he hopes to find a new way to play Kitano in the movie which is said to have a shocking and sad ending.

Co-stars in the movie include Ito Ayumi who plays Kitano's wife and a new addition Hirayama Hiroyuki who is the owner of the restaurant where Sawa works at. The filming is expected to end in early November.

Sources: Sanspo / Oricon

Review of "Hirugao ~ Heijitsu Gogo Sanji no Koibitotachi" (Summer 2014)

In the past, the summer season was usually the most neglected or should I say, the least interesting in terms of the drama offerings from the Big 4 i.e. FujiTV, TBS, NTV and TV Asahi. Traditionally, it's been said that TV stations tend to focus a lot on the spring offerings because that marks the beginning of the fiscal year for most companies in Japan so if they get off to a good start in spring, it should bring better things ahead. As for autumn and winter, the general feel is that since the weather is colder, people tend to stay indoors and that helps to boost the viewership to a certain extent. This theory doesn't seem so true these days because you can do a lot more things at home e.g. surf the Internet or watch DVDs or cable TV rather than stick to the usual offerings on TV. Besides, a lot of people actually record the shows to watch later or use on demand services these days to watch on the go. Summer is seen as a season when most TV stations tend to slack off a bit because there are the summer holidays where students, children and families go out on vacations and there are lots of summer festivals going on. People tend not to be at home during the warm summer months or so it was believed to be. However, I think this way of looking at the seasonal offerings is somewhat not so relevant in this era as there can be lousy and half-hearted type of dramas in any season now. And if this old theory still holds true, "Hanzawa Naoki" would have never made it as the ratings king in the summer of 2013. I think "Hirugao" probably can be considered another unexpected success because it too was shown during the hot summer season, saw its ratings go consistently over the 15% level in its last four episodes and got lots of people including celebrities talking about it as the plot heated up.

Perhaps FujiTV didn't expect this to be a big hit after all. Before the season started, I would say that this drama probably didn't get a lot of attention because FujiTV was more focused on promoting "Hero 2" rather than its other offerings. Besides, a drama about people having extramarital affairs isn't new at all because there had been countless dramas like this in the past. Even if it was not the central theme of the story, infidelity subplots were quite common too. No doubt there was some pre-season anticipation about Ueto Aya shedding her usual pure and innocent image to take on the role of a straying housewife, Kichise Michiko being sexy as usual and a temptress this time to lure Ueto into the dark and exciting world of adultery and the two male leads Saito Takumi and Kitamura Kazuki being very popular with the female viewers, there still was something quite lacking in the whole package which I couldn't really place my finger on. However, when you do get started, you will find that it's not really as simple as it seems on the surface.

Before beginning with my review, let me give a summary of the story. As usual, the disclaimers first - if you do not wish to know the story, please skip this review as there will be many spoilers ahead.

Sasamoto Sawa (Ueto Aya) has been married for 5 years to Shunsuke (Suzuki Kosuke) and works part-time at a supermarket near her house. Although marriage life has been generally smoothsailing for Sawa, she feels that there is something lacking and craves some excitement deep inside. Her husband is more concerned with caring for his looks and pet hamsters rather than focus on Sawa, In addition, the fact that the couple have not been intimate for some time suggests that there is something not quite right about their marriage and Sawa wonders if this is due to her lacking in feminine appeal.

One day, Sawa steals a bright red lipstick from her workplace out of impulse and happens to be seen by Takigawa Rikako (Kichise Michiko) who has just moved to Sawa's neighbourhood. That same afternoon. Rikako's car is vandalised by a senior high school student at the carpark near the supermarket thus resulting in both her and Sawa being called to the police for the investigation. This causes Rikako and Sawa to be bound by mutual secrets i.e. Rikako's affair with a younger man and Sawa's shoplifting. In addition, Sawa meets Kitano Yuichiro (Saito Takumi), the form teacher of the high school student involved in the case and the two of them strike up an unlikely friendship which gradually escalates into mutual attraction for each other. Despite Sawa's initial reluctance to go down the path of Rikako who tells her that having an affair can actually be beneficial to the marriage, she finds herself sinking further into the romance with Kitano who is also married to Noriko, an assistant professor older than him and is more concerned with her research rather than taking care of the household.

On the other hand, Rikako who is living an envious life of a housewife living in a big house with a successful husband and two daughters, is leading a double life. She sleeps around with strangers in a bid to regain confidence and seek affirmation of her womanly charm from other men as her husband keeps putting her down as a woman with no brains who he married for the sake of her looks. During a party which her husband hosts for his colleagues and working partners, Rikako meets an artist named Kato Osamu (Kitamura Kazuki) and becomes attracted to him because he seems to be able to see through her true self and the loneliness she is feeling while playing the perfect wife role. Even though she always claims to be emotionally detached from the men that she had slept with, Rikako becomes so absorbed with Kato to the point where she is willing to give up the good life and her daughters and even become a bar hostess so  to be with a poor artist like Kato.

Personally, I think what's very interesting about this story are the unexpected twists and turns. Unlike most stories about people having affairs where you can get the drift of the story very quickly, this story doesn't stick to a traditional formula or preach about what's right or wrong. For example, no doubt that Rikako had a reason of her own to seek "external excitement", the fact that she had to desert her own children for the sake of her happiness was relatively downplayed rather than being blamed entirely for her selfishness. At the same time, it seemed that Rikako was such a player that her relationship with Kato was probably going to be not much different. In fact, she even went out of the way to seduce him even though he did not take her seriously at first. However, the relationship between them became such an intense thing until he was willing to sacrifice his future just to make sure that there is no turning back for her when she went back to her family in the end. This was somewhat not in line with his seemingly aloof attitude towards her since he looked as if he was less besotted with her than vice versa.

On the other hand, in Sawa's case, I was sort of expecting that her relationship with Kitano might last a bit longer although a happy ending might be pretty impossible in Asian society since adultery is still pretty much frowned on. However, things went downwards really quickly for them after their mini "elope-adventure". In particular, I was expecting that Noriko would not tolerate her husband's pining for another woman and not take him back but it turned out that she was so bent on keeping Kitano that she went to extremes. Conversely, Sawa's husband Shunsuke seemed more like someone who would hold on to her for the sake of his pride but he unexpectedly gave in after seeing how Sawa reacted when she almost burnt down their apartment. As such, I think that this defying of expectations was what really kept the viewers hooked throughout the season because you've got to keep watching the drama in order to know what will happen to the lead characters.

Besides the engaging story, the acting by the cast was also something worth checking out. Ueto Aya showed a different side of her usual bubbly onscreen image where she had to play a plain housewife who was struggling with her boring life, a not-so-loving husband and a nosy mother-in-law. Sawa's emotional struggles to fight against her desire for an exciting romance and what's right morally was conveyed in such a compelling way that the viewers can see for themselves how she felt. On the other hand, Rikako's inner world was probably not described in such great detail because of the lack of monologues but inferences can be made from the actions she took throughout the course of the story. The male leads too were not described at great length so it was a bit difficult to judge how much they loved Sawa and Rikako.

Among the supporting characters, I felt that Noriko's role played by Ito Ayumi was the most compelling to watch. Noriko started off with being friends with Sawa and later found that she was seeing her own husband so the feeling of betrayal swept over her to the extent that she did drastic things to the people around her and herself. One of the best scenes was when she caught Sawa and her husband in a library and the tension during the face-off scene made such a huge impression. Even after realising that her husband's heart was already not with her, Noriko didn't want to let her husband have his way and even resorted to legal means to stop them from being together. Perhaps different people might have varying opinions on this but personally, I thought that it was pretty meaningless to cling on to a person who stopped loving you but I guess for Noriko, she probably doesn't see it this way because marriage to her is for life and she won't just settle for a divorce easily.

The theme song deserves some special mention here too because I thought that it was such a clever pick to coincide with the drama's genre. The song "Tanin no Kankei" was actually first released in 1973 by Kanai Katsuko and was the No.31 song in the Oricon annual ranking then. Hitoto Yo did a remake of this song in her 2012 cover album of hits in the Showa era but the version used for this drama was a new one specially made with SOIL& "PIMP" SESSIONS who were picked by Hitoto herself. The jazzy tune of the song with the really suggestive lyrics clicked with the "scandalous" theme of extramarital affairs and Hitoto's rendition of the song meant that it was easy to remember even after hearing it just for the first time during the ending credits which was another piece of work full of visual impact with its use of nudity or seemingly so with body paints of vibrant colours. I liked the fact that there was some thought in picking a suitable song for the drama and that efforts had been made to the ending credits section unlike most dramas which tend to be rather boring of late.

And my ratings for this drama...

Story: 9.5 out of 10 (The unpredictable nature of the story created much excitement for viewers so that they could stay tuned right to the end. And that's precisely what's lacking in many dramas in recent years. )

Acting: 9 out of 10 (The ladies i.e. Ueto, Kichise and Ito all did well in their roles but the guys seemed under-explored so there was hardly anything to like or dislike about them especially Saito Takumi whose character's fate ended in such a disappointing manner.)

Theme song/BGM: 9 out of 10 (Nice BGM during critical scenes plus the catchy theme song which is hard to forget)

Visual effects / Scenery: 8 out 10 (There was some slow motion shots used to highlight the intensity of the emotions felt by the characters e.g. when Sawa almost burnt down the house and when she was in the forest with Kitano. The tension in the air was hard to miss and made the scenes more memorable.)

Teamwork / Chemistry: 7 out of 10 (Although Ueto and Saito are a nice combination to watch, I felt that Saito's character was too one-dimensional so it always felt that we knew how Sawa felt about him but his level of involvement in the relationship seemed unknown. Similar problem between Kichise and Kitamura where his side of the story is relatively unexplored. As such, the chemistry seemed to have suffered a bit. Contrary to this, the ladies seemed to enjoy better chemistry among themselves.)

Total: 42.5 out of 50

Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix 2014 - Best Supporting Actor

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes:

1) Watabe Atsuro - Zeni no Sensou (442)

2) Suda Masaki - Shinigami-kun (325)

3) Oguri Shun - Ouroboros (264)

4) Tsutsumi Shinichi - Massan (163)

5) Matsushige Yutaka - HERO 2 (156)

6) Fukushi Sota - Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu (128)

7) Saito Takumi - Hirugao (123)

8) Namase Katsuhisa - Second Love (119)

9) Takashima Masanobu - DOCTORS 3 (106)

10) Endo Kenichi - Doctor X (70)

Source: Nikkansports

Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix 2014 - Best Supporting Actress

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received:

1) Kimura Fumino - Zeni no Sensou (370)

2) Kiritani Mirei - Shinigami-kun (325)

3) Fukada Kyoko - Second Love (241)

4) Nakama Yukie - Hanako to Anne (226)

5) Kitagawa Keiko - HERO 2 (199)

6) Yoshida Yo - HERO 2 (182)

7) Mitsushima Hikari - Gomen ne Seishun! (178)

8) Oshima Yuko - Zeni no Sensou (166)

9) Kichise Michiko - Hirugao (67)

10) Maki Youko - MOZU (63)

Source: Nikkansports

Romaji lyrics of "Tanin no Kankei" by Hitoto Yo feat. SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS (Theme song of "Hirugao ~ Heijutsu Gogo Sanji no Koibitotachi")

Title: Tanin no Kankei
Artist: Hitoto Yo feat. SOIL&"PIMP"SESSIONS
Lyrics: Arima Mieko
Melody: Kawaguchi Shin

au toki ni wa itsudemo tanin no futari
yuube wa yuube soshite konya wa konya
kusuguru you na yubi de
hokuro no kazu mo ichi kara kazoe naoshite
souyo hajimete no kao de otagai ni
mata mo moeru no

aishita ato otagai tanin no futari
anata wa anata soshite atashi wa atashi
otonadoushi no koi wa kotori no you ni
itsudemo jiyuu de itai wa
soshite aishiau toki ni nani mo kamo
ubai au no yo

au toki ni wa itsudemo tanin no futari
kimama to kimama soshite otona to otona
au tabi itsumo chigau kuchizuke wo shite
odoroki  au sono kibun
souyo hajimete no kao de otagai ni
mata mo moeru no

aishita ato otagai tanin no futari
otoko to onna soshite hitori to hitori
anata wa atashi no koto wasurete ii wa
mayotte kite mo ii no yo
watashi nando demo kitto hiki modosu
modoshite miseru

Production press conference of FujiTV Summer 2014 drama "Hirugao"

The production press conference of FujiTV Summer 2014 drama "Hirugao" was held at Cinema Mediage on 15 July which was attended by the cast members Ueto Aya, Kichise Michiko, Saito Takumi and Kitamura Kazuki. The drama will begin its run from 17th July in the Thursdays 10pm timeslot and features Ueto Aya as an ordinary housewife who has an affair with a high school teacher played by Saito after an incident.

As she is playing a straying wife for the first time, Ueto revealed that when she watched the drama's first episode with her husband i.e. EXILE's leader HIRO, he was making comments jokingly like how she didn't look like a middle-aged woman. Nonetheless, she expressed thanks to him for supporting her in her work. On the other hand, Kichise who got married to a 10-year-older entrepreneur in 2010, said that her husband had seen her play a straying wife character before so he didn't react in any special way this time.

Source: Sanspo

Preview of "Hirugao ~ Heijitsu Gogo Sanji no Koibitotachi" - Summer 2014

Title: Hirugao ~ Hejitsu Gogo Sanji no Koibitotachi 昼顔~平日午後３時の恋人たち (Afternoon Face ~ The Weekday 3pm Lovers)
Official website: here
O.A. Start Date: 17 July 2014
Timeslot: Thursdays 10pm
Broadcast by: FujiTV
Scriptwriter: Inoue Yumiko
Theme song: to be announced
Cast: Ueto Aya, Kichise Michiko, Saito Takumi, Ito Ayumi, Kinami Haruka, Kinoshita Houka, Fuchikami Yasushi, Suzuki Kosuke, Takahata Atsuko, Kitamura Kazuki

Ueto Aya to play a straying wife in the FujiTV summer 2014 drama "Hirugao ~ Heijitsu Gogo Sanji no Koibito"

Ueto Aya will take on the role of a straying wife in the new FujiTV summer 2014 drama "Hirugao ~ Heijitsu Gogo Sanji no Koibitotachi" (Afternoon Face ~ The Weekday 3pm Lovers) which begins its run from July in the Thursdays 10pm timeslot. The script will be written by Inoue Yumiko and the producer will be Nishitani Hiroshi who are working together for the first time since their last collaboration in "Shiroi Kyoto". The term "hirugao" is a term coined to describe married women who have affairs after sending their husbands off to work in the morning.

Ueto plays the role of Sasamoto Sawa, who has a part-time job at a supermarket but has the habit of shoplifting from her employer. Unfortunately, she is caught in the act by a rich man's wife Takigawa Rikako (Kichise Michiko) who is having an affair with an artist Kato Osamu (Kitamura Kazuki) behind her husband's back. Due to her interaction with Rikako, Sawa later develops a forbidden affair with senior high school teacher Kitano Yuichiro played by Saito Takumi. Co-stars also include Ito Ayumi, Kinami Haruka, Kinoshita Houka, Suzuki Kosuke and Takahata Atsuko.

Source: Sponichi / Chunichi