The 123rd Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2025) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Mikami-sensei
2) Hotspot
3) Tokyo Sarada Bouru

Voters Ranking Top 5

1) Onzoushi ni koi wa muzusugiru

2) Apollo no uta

3) Mikami-sensei

4) Nipponichi no saitei otoko

5) Madoka 26-sai, Kenshuui yattemasu!

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Hotspot
2) Mikami-sensei
3) Tokyo Sarada Bouru

4) Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?

5) Madoka 26-sai, Kenshuui yattemasu!

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Mikami-sensei

2) Hotspot

3) Tokyo Sarada Bouru

4) Nipponichi no saitei otoko

5) Bansan Blues

Source: The Television

The 123rd Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2025) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Ichikawa Mikako - Hotspot 
2) Nao - Tokyo Sarada Bouru
3) Hirose Suzu - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Yoshine Kyoko - Madoka 26-sai, Kenshui yattemasu!
2) Hirose Suzu - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?

3) Ichikawa Mikako - Hotspot

4) Takaishi Akari - Apollo no uta

5) Kawaguchi Haruna - Ensemble

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ichikawa Mikako - Hotspot
Nao - Tokyo Sarada Bouru
3) Hirose Suzu - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?

4) Yoshine Kyoko - Madoka 26-sai, Kenshui yattemasu!

5) Takaishi Akari - Apollo no uta

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ichikawa Mikako - Hotspot

Nao - Tokyo Sarada Bouru

Hirose Suzu - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?

4) Yoshine Kyoko - Madoka 26-sai, Kenshui yattemasu!

5) Renbutsu Misako - Vanilla na mainichi

Source: The Television

The 123rd Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2025) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Kakuta Akihiro - Hotspot

2) Okudaira Daiken - Mikami-sensei

3) Matsuyama Kenichi - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Nishihata Daigo - Onzoushi ni koi wa muzusugiru
2) Matsumura Hokuto - Ensemble
3) Shison Jun - Nipponichi no saitei otoko
4) Kakuta Akihiro - Hotspot
5) Okudaira Daiken - Mikami-sensei

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Kakuta Akihiro - Hotspot
2) Okudaira Daiken - Mikami-sensei
3) Isomura Hayato - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?
4) Matsuyama Kenichi - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?
5) Okada Masaki - Mikami-sensei

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Kakuta Akihiro - Hotspot
2) Matsuyama Kenichi - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?

3) Okudaira Daiken - Mikami-sensei

4) Okada Masaki - Mikami-sensei

Kitamura Kazuki - Mikami-sensei

Source: The Television

The 123rd Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2025) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Shibuya Nagisa - Jigoku no hata made tsureteiku

2) Hiraiwa Kami - Hotspot
3) Suzuki An - Hotspot

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Yamashita Mizuki - Onzoushi ni koi wa muzusugiru
2) Yoshioka Riho - Mikami-sensei
3) Hotta Mayu - Mikami-sensei
4) Tominaga Ai - Nipponichi no saitei otoko
5) Naka Riisa - Omusubi

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Shibuya Nagisa - Jigoku no hata made tsureteiku
2) Hiraiwa Kami - Hotspot

3) Yoshioka Riho - Mikami-sensei

4) Suzuki An - Hotspot
Hotta Mayu - Mikami-sensei

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Tokiwa Takako - Mikami-sensei
2) Shibuya Nagisa - Jigoku no hata made tsureteiku

3) Uchida Rio - Mondai Bukken

4) Hiraiwa Kami - Hotspot

Takiuchi Kumi - Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?

Source: The Television

The 123rd Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2025) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Puppets Can't Control You - ONE OK ROCK (Mikami-sensei)

2) Elf - Ado (Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?)

3) Koe - Hitsujibungaku (119 Emergency Call)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) HEART - King & Prince (Onzoushi ni koi wa muzusugiru)
2) Circus Funk (feat. Chevon) - Katori Shingo (Nipponichi no saitei otoko)
3) Puppets Can't Control You - ONE OK ROCK (Mikami-sensei)
4) Eureka - Hoshino Gen (Madoka 26-sai, Kenshui yattemasu!)
5) Cinema - aiko (Ensemble)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Puppets Can't Control You - ONE OK ROCK (Mikami-sensei)

2) Elf - Ado (Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?)

3) Koe - Hitsujibungaku (119 Emergency Call)
4) Eureka - Hoshino Gen (Madoka 26-sai, Kenshui yattemasu!)
5) Illumination - B'z (Omusubi)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Puppets Can't Control You - ONE OK ROCK (Mikami-sensei)

2) Elf - Ado (Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?)

3) Iris - BUDDiiS (Himitsu ~ THE TOP SECRET ~)

Koe - Hitsujibungaku (119 Emergency Call)

5) Circus Funk (feat. Chevon) - Katori Shingo (Nipponichi no saitei otoko)

Source: The Television

Keeping things platonic: The "strictly business" mixed-gender work partners in Japanese dramas

While Japanese dramas featuring male-female partners at work are commonplace, this article highlights an interesting phenomenon in the Winter 2025 season - there are as many as 5 titles featuring such combinations and 3 of them involve lawyers*:

• "Tokyo Sarada Bouru" - Nao x Matsuda Ryuuhei
• "Mondai Bukken" - Kamikawa Takaya x Uchida Rio
• "Houtei no Dragon" - Kamishiraishi Mone x Takasugi Mahiro *
• "Ensemble" - Kawaguchi Haruna x Matsumura Hokuto *
• "Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?" - Hirose Suzu x Matsuyama Kenichi*

The nature of the relationship between the pairings and the storyline pretty much determine if romance will be in the picture. On one end of the spectrum, "Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?" features the "client" i.e. Komugi who approaches a lawyer Matsukaze to help her in the investigation of her father's arson-murder case. Considering their business-only relationship and that the story has a strong mystery/suspense angle, there is no room for romance to bloom between the characters. On the other hand, "Ensemble" features the leads as colleagues in a budding romantic relationship with a love triangle thrown in from the start due to the appearance of the female lead's ex-boyfriend.

Looking back at the past mixed-gender pairings in the past, while there were some workplace pairs who eventually became lovers onscreen, there were also quite a number of dramas with such pairings that either had no romance or a comparatively faint/hinted romance angle:

• "Keizoku" - Nakatani Miki x Watabe Atsuro
• "Trick" - Nakama Yukie x Abe Hiroshi
• "HERO" - Kimura Takuya x Matsu Takako
• "Galileo" - Fukuyama Masaharu x Shibasaki Kou & Yoshitaka Yuriko
• "SPEC" - Toda Erika x Kase Ryo
• "Legal High" - Sakai Masato x Aragaki Yui
• "Ishiko to Haneo" - Arimura Kasumi x Nakamura Tomoya
• "Unfair" - Shinohara Ryoko x Nagayama Eita
• "Jikou Keisatsu" - Odagiri Jo x Asou Kumiko
• "Strawberry Night" - Takeuchi Yuko x Nishijima Hidetoshi
• "Liar Game" - Toda Erika x Matsuda Shota
• "Kyousou no bannin" - An x Sakaguchi Kentaro
• "RoOT" - Kawai Yumi x Bandou Ryouta
• "Okuto" - Iitoyo Marie x Asaka Koudai
• "Invisible" - Takahashi Issei x Shibasaki Kou
• "Motokare no Yuuigonjou" - Ayase Haruka x Ooizumi Yo
• "Tengoku to Jigoku" - Ayase Haruka x Takahashi Issei

As seen from the list above, a large number of these platonic pairings appeared in investigative/legal/suspense stories. Over time, the stories would show the gradual development of the characters' relationships as they solved cases or dealt with issues together. A reason cited in the media for the inclusion of romance for such mixed-gender pairings was said to be related to the viewing preferences during the "trendy dramas" era i.e. late 1980s to early 1990s. Back then, "squeal-worthy" scenes featuring popular actors and actresses who played characters transitioning from colleagues/buddies/enemies/rivals to lovers were pretty well-received and in demand. As such, it became sort of a standard formula for such relationships to head towards the romance direction rather than keep things strictly professional.

However, as times have evolved, there are more titles these days featuring platonic working relationships for such mixed-gender pairings. While it is perfectly normal for love to blossom when people work together, it is also natural for mutual respect rather than romantic feelings to be developed between such pairings. As such, when such dramas do not add in romance in an "artificial" or "unnatural" manner, they are generally well-received and readily accepted as the norm reflective of current times. 

In recent years, I would say that "Ishiko to Haneo" was one of the more successful examples at eliminating the romance factor from the leads' relationship. Frankly speaking, I didn't expect this initially since there was no indication pre-season that the work buddies would have no romantic feelings for each other. In the end, the female lead ended up with the second male lead rather than her partner at work which was unexpected and somewhat unconventional but I really liked this arrangement.

On the contrary, there have been examples where adding romance when it's unnecessary or illogical can backfire. For example, "Mystery to iu nakare" depicted Ito Sairi's police detective character having feelings for the lead played by Suda Masaki. This went against the nature of their relationship described in the original manga and attracted criticism from viewers.

Personally, I am more inclined towards the notion of keeping things platonic for mixed-gender pairings especially if the drama is not positioned to be a romance-themed one. While I get it that some viewers may like to see their favourite pairings engage in a romantic relationship onscreen, the manner of how this develops is crucial. As such, keeping it naturally-flowing and not forcing things to head towards the romantic genre would be the best. Especially when dealing with stories based on original material like novels and manga, it would be simply reckless and foolish to spoil the relationship dynamics crafted by the original works' authors for no apparent or justifiable reason.

Do share with me your favourite mixed-gender work partners in J-dramas and movies and let me know if I've missed any significant/popular examples from my list above!

Quick Review #110: Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita? - Winter 2025

Title: Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita? / クジャクのダンス、誰が見た？

Rating: 2 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who are fans of the cast and don't mind watching a frustratingly slow and illogical suspense-mystery

* Potential spoilers ahead!

* Disclaimer: I have not read the original manga

Liked:

- I admit that my primary motivation for watching this was Matsuyama Kenichi and as expected, I felt that he did a decent job as Matsukaze. Surprisingly, I enjoyed his interaction with Hirose Suzu as their characters developed a comradeship which somehow evolved to being that of a father-and-daughter dynamic with some funny and heartwarming moments.

- The part when the Endo father-and-son pair were reunited after 22 years was so bittersweet but such a joy to watch because of Sakou Yoshi and Narita Ryo's acting. I also liked their interaction with Kamii (Isomura Hayato) who was a key driver of their hard-to-come-by reunion.

Disliked: 

- I certainly did not expect to give such a low score to this drama because it did start off pretty promisingly - at least up to Ep 2. However, things spiraled downwards really quickly as the subsequent episodes felt like teasers with some miserable bread crumbs dropped along the way but nothing major or significant ever happened. This was further aggravated because of the fact that I was watching this one episode at a time and had to wait an entire week for each new release. If not for the fact that I really wanted to find out what was the truth and for the sake of watching Matsuyama, I would have dropped this around Ep 5 or 6. The pace then picked up considerably, in fact it felt like information overload in Ep 9. And yet, the ending was so underwhelming. How boring to learn the truth in this manner! What was even more damning was that there were so many questions which I felt were not properly addressed or the explanation felt unconvincing. This may have to do with the fact that the manga had not been completed until recently. 

Just to name a number of them:

• Why on earth and how did Haruo even get started to re-investigate the old case and arrive at his conclusion that Kyoko was involved? In order to live as a father with pride and not lie to Komugi anymore?
• The Hayashikawa family murders - even though this case was a key event that set a lot of things going wrongly, what and how it happened felt like an afterthought from how the truth was presented in the last episode.
• Same thing goes for Matsukaze's father Kuze - was that all to it? Nothing to do with the family murders?
• Why did Endo Tomoya not reveal that he was called to go to the scene of the arson when he was arrested? And why did he do that anyway?
• Why did Haruo move the baby to the second floor and hide this fact from his colleagues? The action itself wasn't bad or wrong so I fail to understand why.
• Endo Rikiro could hear the baby's cries from outside the house but didn't hear the commotion between the Hayashikawa couple and Kyoko? Seriously?
• How on earth did Akazawa know nothing about Kyoko's secret life? She set up a company, probably put her baby son in childcare, became pregnant with another man's child and disappeared for a while to give birth! By the time she brought the baby Uta to the Hayashikawa residence, that was 6 months after her birth. That means she must have been living apart from Akazawa for at least a year or so. Wouldn't Akazawa have attempted to see his son during that period and simply let her do what she wanted? And if she was still legally married to Akazawa, what about the birth registration of Uta?
• I didn't quite get how Haruo managed to adopt Uta who was in a welfare home before she was about to be adopted by her money-crazy uncle. If there was a family member or relative, I struggle to understand how Haruo could have adopted Uta legally even with the forged birth papers because he was effectively a stranger. And wouldn't the fact that he was an interested party i.e. one of the investigators of the case make his adoption act seem a bit questionable? The police had no idea on the whereabouts of Uta who was the survivor of such a serious crime?
• Where and how did Kyoko and the lawyer Narukawa link up? Did I miss something?
• What was the reason for that letter Haruo left for Komugi? He foresaw that he was going to be killed for re-investigating the old case and wanted Komugi to expose her birth mother? Seriously?

In view of the above, unless you are going to watch when all the episodes have been released and don't mind the suspense being so half-baked, I would really suggest that you steer clear of this drama.

- Given that there was such a star-studded cast, I felt that the story did not allow them to shine as much as they could. It felt like a total waste of talent other than making everyone look suspicious up to Ep 8 but the ending was such a letdown. What was all that hoo-ha about if there wasn't really a mastermind or big baddie at the end of this journey?

- Nowadays, many dramas do not have a separate credits roll and simply integrate that into the ending scenes of an episode. The problem with doing this with this drama's theme song playing in the background was that the volume was not adjusted properly and often interfered with the scenes when characters were still speaking. The part when the singer was hitting the high-pitched notes simply was jarring to the ears. This really got into the way when viewing the episodes and inevitably caused me to be quite annoyed. That was a pity though because I do like the theme song itself but not when it prevented me from hearing what the characters were saying.

The secrets hidden in the sponsor credits section of TBS Winter 2025 drama "Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?"

Apparently, there is a secret hidden in the sponsor credits section of TBS Winter 2025 drama "Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?"

At the top and bottom of the screen, there were some dots and dashes which resembled the Morse code. After deciphering them, they supposedly contained statements which are now widely seen as clues to solve the mysteries in this drama especially since they correspond to key developments in the respective episodes:

SPOILERS AHEAD! Proceed with caution ~

Ep 1: 私の声に気付いてますか (Have you noticed my voice?) -> not sure whose voice this is referring to though.

Ep 2: 俺はあの時から真実を探してる (I have been searching for the truth since that time) - most likely referring to Komugi Papa i.e. Detective Yamashita Haruo (Lily Franky) who had been re-investigating the murder case from 22 years ago.

Ep 3: 光の中のあの人は何を隠してる (That person in the light is hiding something) - most likely referring to the mysterious man with the backpack and carabiner whose face keeps getting blocked by light.

Ep 4: 真実の鍵は水の中 (The key to the truth is in the water) - the mystery water which Detective Akazawa (Fujimoto Takahiro) was told by his wife (Nishida Naomi) to drink or Someda (Sakai Toshiya) found dead in the water?

While I did notice these symbols on screen since I'm watching the TVer version (not sure if it does appear in the Netflix version though), they never struck me as potential clues especially since I do not know how to decipher the Morse code in the first place. Looks like there is one more thing to pay attention to while watching this drama. 😁

Interestingly, Hirose Suzu was so excited to find out about this when her manager forwarded the article to her and even tagged her co-star Matsuyama Kenichi in her post on X. In response, he "complained" that the staff had hidden yet another thing from the cast and that some "gimmick genius" must have come up with this idea.

Romaji lyrics of "Elf" by Ado - Theme song of TBS Winter 2025 drama "Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?"

Title: Elf

Artist: Ado

Written & Arranged by: Teniwoha

Theme song of TBS Winter 2025 drama "Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?"

hashirinasai hayaku motto hayaku 

kanashimi ni oitsukarenai you ni

sagashinasai akari no tomoru michi wo

sore wa sore wa mabayui deshou

idominasai kimi no utsukushisa ya toutosa wo kizutsukeru mono ni

nemurinasai tsukaretara nemurinasai

shinwa wo motanai ano seiza no you ni

te wo hanashita ato 

kimi wa kizuku darou

yubi no katachi taion

sono nagori ga mune wo sasu

wasuretakoto mo wasureteshimae

kanashimi mo nukumori mo kieteshimae

saredo ima mo mimi ni nokoru wa

kataku saikai wo negau you na

[Sayonara]

Adieu Adieu

Love You And you?

odorinasai dare ni warawaretemo

awayuki wo harau eda no you ni

sakebinasai kokoro kara sakebinasai

koko ni tashika ni itanda to hibikasete

yukiai no sora ni touhanabi ga nijimu

kaerubeki ie wo sagasu

nagai nagai tabiji wo iku nara

takaraka narase sono shinzou wa 

saigo no hitouchi made kimi no mono da

namida namida afureru ga ii

furu shizuku ga kimi no mori wo sodateru darou

sore wa sennen no houmushikku deshita

mugen sae mo kazoe oete

kaibutsu no you na sekai no sumikko de tatakai tsuzukeru hito

kimi wa erufu erufu

(itoshiki) tabi wa tsuzuku

wasuretakoto mo wasureteshimae

kanashimi mo nukumori mo kiechimae

saredo ima mo ima mo mimi ni nokoru wa

kataku saikai wo negau you na

[Sayonara]

Adieu Adieu

Love You And you?

Adieu Adieu

Preview of "Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita?" - Winter 2025

Title: Kujaku no dansu, dare ga mita? / クジャクのダンス、誰が見た？

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 24 January 2025

Timeslot: Fridays at 10pm

Broadcast by: TBS

Original manga by: Asami Rito

Theme Song: "Elf" by Ado

Cast: Hirose Suzu, Matsuyama Kenichi, Morisaki Win, Takiuchi Kumi, Itose Souichi, Nomura Kouta, Seino Asahi, Saitou Yuu, Sakai Toshiya, Sakou Yoshi, Fujimoto Takahiro, Nishida Naomi, Sendou Nobuko, Hara Hideko, Lily Franky & Isomura Hayato