The 1st Dorama World Awards 2016 - Winners in the Best Drama category

Finally, here is the last category to be announced i.e. Best Drama!

In terms of the voting pattern, it does look like the dramas shown later in the year had a slight advantage initially probably because it is human nature to remember something which happened nearer in time. As such, it took some time before the dramas from Winter 2016 and Spring 2016 to start amassing votes from their supporters. In addition, none of the dramas from the top 5 came from the summer which seems to suggest that the offerings in that season did not really impress the voters.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the top 5 dramas of 2016 as voted by you!

At No.5, we have two dramas i.e. 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi and Juuhan Shuttai! which were tied at 72 points. Coincidentally, both dramas were shown during the spring season where the former was the ratings winner while the latter was a favourite among critics and picked up some awards.

Juuhan Shuttai! actually looked like a promising bet for the top spot at the beginning of the voting period and was giving No.3 a run for its money as they kept switching places. However, the drama failed to get many votes compared to the others in the top 5 from the second week onwards thus it had to settle for No.5.

As for 99.9, it didn't really make an impression at first until the number of votes started to pick up in the second week. It was rather late by then to climb further upwards but still managed to squeeze into the top 5.

No. 3 Nigeru wa haji daga yaku ni tatsu - 74 points

NigeHaji actually had a blazing start and looked like the sure-win for this category as seen by the many guesses which placed their bet on this title. However, it had a similar issue like Juuhan Shuttai! where the votes sort of dried up towards the end. Coupled with the phenomenal influx of votes for No.1 in the second week of the voting period,  the gap was too big to be closed so NigeHaji ended up being ranked No.3.

At first, nobody probably expected NigeHaji to become the much-talked-about hit of the year because its first episode's rating was just 10.2% but it was more than doubled to 20.8% by the time it finished its run. This goes to show that hit dramas can slowly build up their momentum even if they do not start off strong.

Personally, I don't quite like such romance comedies based on manga as they usually tend to be quite fluffy and unrealistic so I wasn't keen on this drama in the first place. Nonetheless, I did watch the digest versions which TBS put up generously on their YouTube channel and think that it is not as bad as I thought. Despite so, given the nature of the genre, this is probably something which won't go down well with me.

No.2 Kaitou Yamaneko - 90 points

In the first few days of the voting, this drama hardly made an impression but its supporters turned out in full force suddenly in the middle of the voting period and helped it grab the top spot easily. As such, it looked almost certain that Kaitou Yamaneko was going to beat NigeHaji which was seen as the hot favourite. However, the eventual No.1 rose up the ranks so quickly in the second week and earned so many points that it was not possible for this drama to overcome the deficit.
As I've not watched this drama, I am not in a position to comment on it but it will be nice to hear from you guys why you voted for this.

And the title of Best Drama goes to Doctor X 4 ~ Gekai Daimon Michiko ~ with 172 points!

As seen from the strong support by the voters, it's pretty obvious that Doctor X is such a huge favourite that it had beaten the most-talked about drama this autumn i.e. NigeHaji. As Daimon's catchphrase puts it, she never fails so it's not surprising that the drama is the No.1 in terms of ratings and has received pretty good reviews. Support for the drama was slow at first but just like what happened in the Best Actress and Best Theme Song categories, the votes for the drama in this category came in fast and furious that it just swept all the supposed sure-wins off the No.1 spots.

And for those who are interested to know which dramas I voted for, they all did not make it to the top 5 but here is the list:

No.1 Boku no Yabai Tsuma

No.2 Kaseifu no Mitazono

No.3 Chef ~ Mitsuboshi no Kyuushoku ~

No.4 Naomi to Kanako

I think I have said enough about how much I liked Boku no Yabai Tsuma in my earlier posts but just to put it in a nutshell, the story's twists and turns and great acting from the cast made this the most memorable work I watched in 2016. Kaseifu no Mitazono had an interesting story and great acting from Mabo although I would have preferred it not to have an ending like Kazoku Game where you still did not know the background of the lead character. Chef was a feel-good drama with a positive message which was accentuated by Amami Yuki's charismatic performance. Last but not least, Naomi to Kanako was generally good for its suspense element despite the loopholes in its story but it was still better than I expected.

Now that all winners have been announced, I would like to thank all of you for your participation and support in this event. Whether the winners were who or what you chose, I hope that you had fun in the process. Keep watching the dramas in 2017 and we'll pick our favourites again at the end of the year!

The 1st Dorama World Awards 2016 - Winners in the Best Leading Actor category

The voting situation for the Best Leading Actor category was rather unpredictable as a number of actors took turns to hog the top spot so it was difficult to tell who might win the title until the last few days. It seemed that supporters were taking turns to vote in tandem so there were days when there was a concentration of votes for one actor before another wave of votes for a different actor came in the next day. As such, unlike what happened in the best leading actress where the winner was literally unbeatable, the competition here seemed comparatively more intense as there was no clear winner until the end.

Without further ado, here is the list of the top 5 winners in this category!

No.5 Matsuoka Masahiro - Kaseifu no Mitazono (38 points)

This drama was the last I watched in 2016 and it really exceeded my expectations in more ways than one. To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much from the story and wanted to watch this just for the sake of Mabo. If you know the Mabo in TOKIO and seen his dramas in this past, you would never have thought that he could pull this off because he always has a very masculine and cool image. I admit that I doubted him too. However, he looked so convincing as Mitazono not just in terms of appearance (he has such nice-looking legs and a great figure!) but also in terms of mannerisms and way of speech. Mitazono spoke in such a refined manner which didn't seem too out of place as Mabo had immersed himself fully into the role. Of course, his ability to switch between serious and comedic modes was pretty impressive. Barring the fact that his face just doesn't cut it as a woman, I thought that he had gone through a pretty convincing transformation for the sake of this drama.

Mabo didn't start off as a strong contender for the top 5 at first so I wasn't expecting him to make it into the list. However, for those who voted for him, I gather that they must have waited till they finished the drama so that's why the votes were concentrated in the second week of the voting period. And yes, he was my top pick among all the leading actors in 2016!

No.4 Ohno Satoshi - Sekai ichi muzukashii koi (39 points) 

Similarly in Ohno's case, the votes for him came in at a pretty slow pace at first before there was a surge in the second week. As such, I also thought at one point that he might not make it to the top 5 but he managed to squeeze in to grab No.4 with just one point more than Mabo.

As I've only watched one episode of this drama, I can't really tell how well he did. However, since this is Ohno's first romantic comedy, I thought that it will be a refreshing change in his acting career so this could be why he has won the favour of those who voted for him.

No.3 Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko (85 points)

Kamenashi looked like he was about to grab the No.1 spot when there was a huge inflow of votes for him in the middle of the voting period. However, the eventual No.1 and No.2 turned the tables in the last few days thus making it a two-way fight in the end.

I haven't watched this drama so I am not in a position to comment on his performance. For those who have voted for him, perhaps you can let me know what you liked about his acting here?

No.2 Matsumoto Jun - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi (101 points)

Matsujun started off pretty strong at the beginning of the voting period and had a steady flow of votes unlike most of his competitors in this category. However, No.1 pulled ahead in the last minute thus pushing Matsujun down to No.2 on the last day. If Matsujun had received a few more votes then, the final outcome might have been different.

Likewise, I haven't watched this drama yet so I can't comment on how he performed. Much has been said in the media about how conscientious and hardworking he was when acting in this drama so I guess his effort did pay off in the end by contributing to the good ratings and generally favourable comments about this drama.

And here we have the final winner: Abe Hiroshi - Sniffer Kyuukaku Sousakan with 115 points!

Actually, Abe started off very strongly in the first few days of the voting but somehow lost steam in the middle when Kamenashi and Matsumoto surged ahead and took turns hogging the top spot. However, Abe's supporters launched a remarkable comeback towards the end and managed to bridge the huge gap in points before winning the title.

I haven't started watching this drama yet but I've always enjoyed Abe's works. As such, I will leave it to his supporters to tell me why you chose to vote for him.

Just saying though, if I had watched this drama before the voting period ended, I might have voted for him as well since Abe rarely disappoints. ^__^

And for those who are interested to know who else I voted for besides Mabo, there is only one other actor who I ranked as No.2:

Ito Hideaki - Boku no Yabai Tsuma

Although Ito didn't make it to the top 5, I thought he put up a very different and interesting performance in this drama partly due to his good chemistry with his co-star Kimura Yoshino. For a long while, Ito had been projecting this passionate, rash and righteous image thanks to the success of his Umizaru series. Then again, you are sometimes a victim of your own success because it was getting so difficult for him to produce equally memorable like Senzaki Daisuke to show the world that he can act. However, in this drama, his character who thought that he was smart, ended up being twirled around his scheming wife's little finger so it was a refreshing change to see him being reduced to such a pitiful state. Towards the end of the drama when the story made him become a bit wiser to his wife's true nature, the "intellectual battle" between him and Kimura was rather interesting to watch too. Frankly speaking, if his co-star was not that powerful, it might not have brought out the best from Ito but I thought that he still put up a fairly decent performance here.

Please feel free to share your comments about the winners here or via the Facebook page!

The 1st Dorama World Awards 2016 - Winners in the Best Theme Song category

Much as I would like to provide the music videos for all the winning theme songs in this post, not all of them especially those from Johnny's Jimusho artists are available online. Many fans may have uploaded "unofficial" versions of the PVs but I would like to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to them so if you need to find the songs, there's always Google which you can use. ^__^

Without further ado, here are the winners in the Best Theme Song category:

No.5: Echo by UNICORN (Juuhan Shuttai!) - 29 points

For those who are unfamiliar with UNICORN, they are a rock band who made their debut in 1987 and disbanded in 1993 before coming back together in 2009 with some changes in members over the years. This song was included in the band's 13th album released on 10 August 2016.

Although the drama did not fare so well in terms of ratings (average rating of 8.0%), it had garnered accolades such as Best Drama in the 4th Confidence Award and Best Script and Best Directing in the Tokyo Drama Award 2016.

No. 4: Daylight by Arashi (99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi) - 38 points

Besides this song, there was another song from Arashi i.e. I Seek which was the theme for "Sekai ichi muzukashii koi" and I actually voted for that instead of this. Both songs were released as Arashi's 49th single on 18 May 2016. Voting for this song actually started off rather slowly until it picked up in the second week. 

To be honest, I was a bit surprised that the Arashi songs didn't do that well considering their strong fanbase but I guess the timing of the drama's broadcast also had a part to play especially when you consider that the top 2 songs were from dramas in the last season of 2016.

No.3: Unlock by KAT-TUN (Kaito Yamaneko) - 40 points

This song is KAT-TUN's last single as a four-member group before Taguchi Junnosuke left on 31 March last year. Coincidentally, this also happens to be KAT-TUN's last single before they started their self-imposed "recharging" period from 1 May. Voting for this song was concentrated within a period of a few days and all the votes received placed this as the No.1 choice.

No.2: Koi by Hoshino Gen (Nigeru wa haji daga yaku ni tatsu) - 140 points

Going by the guesses received, it seemed like many people had thought that this song would win the title. As such, this led to only one person guessing the No.1 song correctly. 

Actually, from the start, this song from Hoshino Gen was leading by a huge margin until a surge of votes in the second week for the No.1 song contributed to a tug-of-war between both titles. As such, the point different between both songs was only a single-digit.

This song was released as Hoshino's 9th single on 5 October and became such a big hit, thanks to the drama's popularity and the accompanying Koi dance. Although this was not my No.1 choice, I voted for this and placed it as No.3 in my list.

No.1: 99 by Superfly (Doctor X 4 Gekai Daimon Michiko) - 149 points

Does this come as a surprise to you? Many people actually thought that Koi would grab this title (even I thought so too) but it seems like the Doctor X fans managed to prevail in the end by pushing this theme song from Superfly to the top. Initially, there were not that many votes for this song but there was a huge surge in the second week thus leading to the No.1 and No.2 songs switching places almost every day. 

This song was Superfly's 22nd single that was first released on iTunes Store on 13 October and sold as a single on 23 November. To date, Superfly has sung the theme songs for all four seasons of Doctor X and this single also contains the three theme songs for the previous seasons as the coupling tracks.

In case you are wondering which songs I chose, here they are:

No.1 Suna no Tou by THE YELLOW MONKEY (Suna no Tou)

No.2 Ai! Wanna be with you by TOKIO (Kaseifu no Mitazono)

No.3 Koi by Hoshino Gen (Nigeru wa haji daga yaku ni tatsu)

No.4 I Seek by Arashi (Sekai ichi muzukashii koi)

No.5 Smile for Me by Matsutoya Yumi (Chef ~ Mitsuboshi no Kyuushoku ~)

So how do you feel about the winners in the category? Please feel free to share your comments in this post or via the Facebook fanpage!

Top 30 dramas with the highest single-episode ranking in 2016 (Video Research)

The following is the list of top 30 dramas and SPs shown between 28 December 2015 and 25 December 2016 with the highest single-episode rating as announced by Video Research. Numbers in brackets indicate the ratings for that particular episode:

1) Asa ga kita [last episode] - 2 April 2016 (27.0%)

2) Toto Nee-chan - 17 August 2016 (25.9%)

3) Doctor X 4 Gekai Daimon Michiko - 27 October 2016 (24.3%)

4) Beppin-san - 7 December 2016 (22.1%)

5) Doctor X Gekai Daimon Michiko SP - 3 July 2016 (22.0%)

6) Nigeru wa haji daga yaku ni tatsu [last episode] - 20 December 2016 (20.8%)

7) 24 Jikan Terebi Drama SP Moumoku no Yoshinori-sensei Hikari wo ushinatte kokoro ga mieta - 27 August 2016 (20.5%)

8) Sanadamaru - 17 January 2016 (20.1%)

9) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi - 24 April 2016 & 19 June 2016 (19.1%)

10) Specialist - 14 January 2016 (17.1%)

11) Aibou season 14 Ganjitsu SP - 1 January 2016 (16.7%)

12) Sekai ichi muzukashii koi [last episode] - 15 June 2016 (16.0%)

13) Aibou season 15 [first episode] - 12 October 2016 (15.5%)

14) Kaitou Yamaneko - 16 January 2016 (14.3%)

15) Keishicho Sousa Ikka Kyuugakari [first episode] - 6 April 2016 (13.9%)

16) Kasouken no Onna - 24 November 2016 (13.7%)

17) Kasouken no Onna Shogatsu SP - 3 January 2016 (13.6%)

18) Jimi ni sugoi! Kouetsu Girl Kouno Etsuko - 9 November 2016 & 30 November 2016  / Suna no Tou ~ Shirisugita Rinjin ~ [last episode] - 16 December 2016 (13.2%)

20) Doyou Wide Gekijou Jiken 17 - 4 June 2016 / IQ246 Karei naru Jikenbo - 16 October 2016 (13.1%)

22) Ie uru onna [last episode] - 19 September 2016 / Wataru sekken wa oni bakari - 19 September 2016 (13.0%)

24) Good Partner - 21 April 2016 (12.9%)

25) Yo ni mo kimyou na monogatari Spring 2016 SP - 28 May 2016 (12.8%)

26) Omiya-san SP - 13 February 2016 (12.7%)

27) Keishicho Sousa Ikkacho [last episode] - 23 June 2016 (12.3%)

28) Izu Kaigan Satsujin Route - 6 February 2016 / Kansakan Hanyuu Souichi Doku Habu to yobareru otoko - 5 March 2016 / Tensai Bakabon Kazoku no Kizuna - 11 March / Aogeba Totoshi [last episode] - 11 September (12.2%)

Source: Sponichi

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) 365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki - AKB48 (Asa ga kita)
2) Ashita e no Tegami - Teshima Aoi (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)
3) Motto - aiko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) UNLOCK - KAT-TUN (Kaitou Yamaneko)
2) 365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki - AKB48 (Asa ga kita)
3) Ashita e no Tegami - Teshima Aoi (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)
4) Gravity - Kis-My-Ft2 (MARS ~ Tada, kimi wo aishiteru ~)
5) Motto - aiko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ashita e no Tegami - Teshima Aoi (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)
2) 365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki - AKB48 (Asa ga kita)
3) Motto - aiko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai)
4) No more - EXILE ATSUSHI + AI (Naomi to Kanako)
5) UNLOCK - KAT-TUN (Kaitou Yamaneko) / I want u to love me - Alexandros (Onna Kudoki Meshi Season 2)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) 365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki - AKB48 (Asa ga kita)
2) Ashita e no Tegami - Teshima Aoi (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)
3) Koigokoro - MACO (Tokyo Sentimental)
4) Motto - aiko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai)
5) UNLOCK - KAT-TUN (Kaitou Yamaneko) / No more - EXILE ATSUSHI + AI (Naomi to Kanako) / Kokoro no mama ni - Shimatani Hitomi (Itooshikute) / Friends - Rebecca (MARS ~ Tada, kimi wo aishiteru ~) / Kimi ga ii - Softly (Onna kudoki meshi Season 2)

Source: The Televison

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

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Takahata Atsuko - Naomi to Kanako
2) Miyazaki Aoi - Asa ga kita
3) Ueno Juri - Kazoku no Katachi

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Ueno Juri - Kazoku no Katachi
2) Hirose Suzu - Kaitou Yamaneko
3) Takahata Mitsuki - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
4) Minami Kaho - Specialist
5) Miyazaki Aoi - Asa ga kita

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Takahata Atsuko - Naomi to Kanako
2) Miyazaki Aoi - Asa ga kita
3) Takahata Mitsuki - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
4) Yoshida Yo - Naomi to Kanako
5) Uchida Yuki - Naomi to Kanako / Matsui Reina - Niche-sensei

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Takahata Atsuko - Naomi to Kanako
2) Naka Riisa - Nigeru Onna
3) Takahata Mitsuki - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
4) Yoshida Yo - Naomi to Kanako
5) Miyazaki Aoi - Asa ga kita / Uchida Yuki - Naomi to Kanako

Source: The Televison

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita
2) Dean Fujioka - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Dean Fujioka - Asa ga kita

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kubota Masataka - Rinshou Hanzai Gakusha Himura Hideo no Suiri
2) Narimiya Hiroki - Kaitou Yamaneko
3) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita
4) Nishijima Takahiro - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
5) Nishida Toshiyuki - Kazoku no Katachi

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita
2) Dean Fujioka - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Dean Fujioka - Asa ga kita
4) Takahashi Issei - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
5) Kubota Masataka - Rinshou Hanzai Gakusha Himura Hideo no Suiri / Sakaguchi Kentaro - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau / Yamazaki Ikusaburo - Otousan to yobasete

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita
2) Dean Fujioka - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Dean Fujioka - Asa ga kita
4) Kondo Masaomi - Asa ga kita
5) Emoto Tasuku - Asa ga kita

Source: The Televison

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

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Koura Kengo - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
2) Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko
3) Katori Shingo - Kazoku no Katachi

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko
2) Katori Shingo - Kazoku no Katachi
3) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Specialist
4) Kubota Masataka - MARS ~ Tada, Kimi wo aishiteru ~
5) Fujigaya Taisuke - MARS ~ Tada, Kimi wo aishiteru ~

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Koura Kengo - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
2) Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko
3) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Specialist
4) Nagase Tomoya - Fragile
5) Endo Kenichi - Otousan to yobasete

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Nagase Tomoya - Fragile
2) Yoshida Kotaro - Tokyo Sentimental
3) Watabe Atsuro - Otousan to yobasete
4) Katori Shingo - Kazoku no Katachi / Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Specialist / Endo Kenichi - Otousan to yobasete

Source: The Televison

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

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Asa ga kita (NHK)
2) Naomi to Kanako (FujiTV)
3) Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau (FujiTV)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kazoku no Katachi (TBS)
2) Kaitou Yamaneko (NTV)
3) Rinshou Hanzai Gakusha Himura Hideo no Suiri (NTV)
4) MARS ~ Tada, Kimi wo aishiteru ~ (NTV)
5) Specialist (TV Asahi)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Asa ga kita (NHK)
2) Naomi to Kanako (FujiTV)
3) Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau (FujiTV)
4) Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (TBS)
5) Specialist (TV Asahi)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Asa ga kita (NHK)
2) Naomi to Kanako (FujiTV)
3) Tokyo Sentimental (TV Tokyo)
4) Chikaemon (NHK)
5) Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau (FujiTV) / Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (TBS)

Source: The Television

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

Preview of "Kaitou Yamaneko" - Winter 2016

Title: Kaitou Yamaneko 怪盗山猫 (Yamaneko The Phantom Thief)
Official website: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 16 January 2016
Timeslot: Saturdays 9pm
Broadcast by: NTV
Original manga by: Kaminaga Manabu
Cast: Kamenashi Kazuya, Narimiya Hiroki, Hirose Suzu, Nanao, Kitamura Yukiya, Otsuka Nene, Sasaki Kuranosuke

Kamenashi Kazuya, Narimiya Hiroki & Hirose Suzu to team up in NTV Winter 2016 drama "Kaitou Yamaneko"

Kamenashi Kazuya, Narimiya Hiroki and Suzuki Suzu will be teaming up in the new NTV Winter 2016 drama "Kaitou Yamaneko" which begins its run from 16 January 2016 in the Saturdays 9pm timeslot. The drama which is based on the mystery novel series "Kaitou Tantei Yamaneko" by Kaminaga Manabu, features Kamenashi as an elusive thief nicknamed Yamaneko who steals from the evil and exposes their bad doings at the end. Narimiya will play a magazine reporter named Katsumura Hideo who has been investigating the cases committed by Yamaneko and ends up being drawn into his criminal trio when the latter orders him to write stories about his "heroic deeds". Hirose will play the role of Takasugi Mao, a genius hacker who uses her talent to help her father commit crimes.

Narimiya commented that he is usually the one being interviewed by reporters so he has learnt a trick or two from them which he can use in his role this time. He also expressed anticipation at sparks flying between him and Kamenashi who he described as very mysterious and serious about his work. As for Hirose, he praised her for being fully immersed in her acting and looks forward to the three of them working well together on set.

Hirose said that she had played many characters of young girls who are cheerful but this time, her role is someone who's an introvert that hardly fits the usual image of senior high school girls. As for the character setting of her being a hacker, Hirose admitted that she didn't even know what the word means until she checked it out on the Internet. With regard to working with Kamenashi and Narimiya, she expressed her admiration for them and looks forward to "stealing" their acting skills through this drama.

Co-stars also include Sasaki Kuranosuke and Nanao, the police officers who try to catch Yamaneko, Otsuka Nene who plays a mysterious woman helping Yamaneko and Kitamura Yukiya who is a news announcer.

Source: Sanspo