The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Unnatural (TBS)
2) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II (TBS)
3) Warotenka (NHK)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II (TBS)
2) Unnatural (TBS)
3) Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~ (NTV)
4) Kuragehime (FujiTV)
5) BG ~ Shinpen Keigonin ~ (TV Asahi)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Unnatural (TBS)
2) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II (TBS)
3) anone (NTV)
4) Warotenka (NHK)
5) Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru (FujiTV)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Unnatural (TBS)
2) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II (TBS)
3) Warotenka (NHK)
4) anone (NTV)
5) BG ~ Shinpen Keigonin ~ (TV Asahi)

Source: The Television

The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural
2) Hirose Suzu - anone
3) Fukada Kyoko - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural
2) Ayase Haruka - Seirei no Moribito ~ Saishusho ~
3) Fukada Kyoko - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru
4) Yoshine Kyoko - Kuragehime
5) Aoi Wakana - Warotenka

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural
2) Hirose Suzu - anone
3) Fukada Kyoko - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru
4) Yoshine Kyoko - Kuragehime / Yoshioka Riho - Kimi ga kokoro ni sumitsuita

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural
2) Aoi Wakana - Warotenka
3) Hirose Suzu - anone / Fukada Kyoko - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru / Yoshine Kyoko - Kuragehime

Source: The Television

The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Iura Arata - Unnatural
2) Kagawa Teruyuki - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II
3) Seto Koji - Kuragehime

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kagawa Teruyuki - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II
2) Iura Arata - Unnatural
3) Seto Koji - Kuragehime
4) Kubota Masataka - Unnatural
5) Kotaki Nozomu - Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Iura Arata - Unnatural
2) Mukai Osamu - Kimi ga kokoro ni sumitsuita
3) Matsuyama Kenichi - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru
4) Kubota Masataka - Unnatural / Kitamura Takumi - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Iura Arata - Unnatural
2) Takahashi Issei - Warotenka
3) Hamada Gaku - Warotenka
4) Seto Koji - Kuragehime
5) Kitamura Takumi - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru

Source: The Televison

The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Lemon - Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural)
2) Find The Answer - Arashi (99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II)
3) Ashita wa doko kara - Matsu Takako (Warotenka)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Find The Answer - Arashi (99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II)
2) Lemon - Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural)
3) Mae wo muke - Hey! Say! JUMP (Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~)
4) Sayonara Elegy - Suda Masaki (Todome no Kiss)
5) A New Day - Beverly (Kuragehime)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Lemon - Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural)
2) here comes my love - Mr.Children (Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru)
3) Sayonara Elegy - Suda Masaki (Todome no Kiss)
4) Find The Answer - Arashi (99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II)
5) Masquerade - Toshi (MASKMEN)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ashita wa doko kara - Matsu Takako (Warotenka)
2) Lemon - Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural) / Sans toi, ma mie - Takimoto Miori (Koshiji Fubuki Monogatari)
4) Gomibako kara, Blues - Takehara Pistol (Byplayers 2)
5) Sayonara, Elegy - Suda Masaki (Todome no Kiss) / Ichikabachika - Re:versed (Kakegurui)

Source: The Televison

Top 10 ikemen heartthrobs from the Winter 2018 drama season (Modelpress)

Modelpress conducted a survey on its readers between 16 February and 23 February to find out who they regarded as their favourite ikemen heartthrob from the Winter 2018 drama season. There were 16,927 responses received and the top 10 list is as follows:

1) Seto Koji (Kuragehime)

2) Iura Arata (Unnatural)

3) Kubota Masataka (Unnatural)

4) Matsumoto Jun (99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi SEASON II)

5) Yamazaki Kento (Todome no Kiss)

6) Kitamura Takumi (Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru)

7) Yamada Yuki (Holiday Love)

8) Kamenashi Kazuya (FINAL CUT)

9) Yamada Ryosuke (Momikeshite Fuyu)

10) Kimura Takuya (BG ~ Shinpen Keigonin ~)

Source: Modelpress

FujiTV's "Set Design no Himitsu Ten 2 ~ Getsuku Dorama 30 nen no Kiseki ~"

FujiTV will be holding a free exhibition titled "Set Design no Himitsu Ten 2 ~ Getsuku Dorama 30 nen no Kiseki ~" (The secrets of set design 2 ~ The 30-year tracks of Getsuku Dramas) at Housou Library (Broadcast Library / 放送ライブラリー) in Yokohama from 10am to 5pm between 23 February and 8 April. This exhibition is meant to showcase its set designs and art works created for its Getsuku (Mondays 9pm) dramas over the past 30 years after the first exhibition with a similar theme about various types of TV programmes was held last year and received rave reviews. As this year is the 30th anniversary of the Getsuku timeslot, the exhibits will be exclusively from the 126 dramas shown in this timeslot including the ongoing "Kuragehime" this season. Besides the actual sets used in the dramas, props, costumes, scripts, models, image drawings, rough sketches etc. will be displayed along with the explanations by the art designers.

Some of the dramas featured in the history section include (not exhaustive list though):
- Love Generation (1997)
- Saiyuuki (2006)
- Nodame Cantabile (2006)
- HERO 2 (2014)

The following dramas will have special feature corners:
- Kizoku Tantei (2017)
- Code Blue 3 (2017)
- Minshuu no Teki (2017)
- Kuragehime (2018)

For more details, please refer to the official announcement below (in Japanese only).

Source: FujiTV

Production press conference of FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime"

The production press conference of FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime" was held on 11 January which was attended by cast members Yoshine Kyoko, Seto Koji, Kudo Asuka, Kaname Jun and Kitaoji Kinya. The drama begins its run from 15 January in the Mondays 9pm timeslot. The story features Yoshine as the 20-year-old lead character Kurashita Tsukimi who is an otaku and hardcore lover of jellyfish after she was brought to the aquarium by her late mother when she was a child. Although she doesn't think that she will ever have any luck in romance due to her thick spectacles and nerdy appearance, she suddenly finds herself caught in a love triangle with two brothers after moving from Kagoshima to Tokyo to pursue her dream of being an illustrator. This leads her to discover a new way of living and a new side to herself. Her love interests will be Koibuchi Kuranosuke (Seto), the younger brother who looks gorgeous when he dresses as a woman and is actually a playboy and Shuu (Kudo), the elder brother who is the secretary of his politician father and a virgin with limited experience in dealing with women.

Koyuki to play Yoshine Kyoko's mother in FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime"

Koyuki will be playing Yoshine Kyoko's mother in the upcoming FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime" which will begin its run from 15 January in the Mondays 9pm timeslot. Koyuki's role will be Miyuki who is the mother of the heroine Kurashita Tsukimi (Yoshine) and started her daughter's fascination with jellyfish when she brought the young Tsukimi to an aquarium. After promising her daughter that she will make a wedding dress like a jellyfish for her, Miyuki passed away due to an illness.

Source: Sponichi

Preview of "Kuragehime" - Winter 2018

Title: Kuragehime 海月姫 (Princess Jellyfish)
Official website: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 15 January 2018
Timeslot: Mondays 9pm
Broadcast by: FujiTV
Original novel by: Higashimura Akiko
Theme song: "A New Day" by Beverly
Opening theme: "Go sign wa 1 coin" by Cafeteria Funsui Kouen
Cast: Yoshine Kyoko, Seto Koji, Kudo Asuka, Kinami Haruka, Matsui Rena, Uchida Rio, Tomiyama Eriko, Izumi Rika, Yasui Junpei, Kaname Jun, Tokoshima Yoshiko & Kitaoji Kinya

Beverly to sing the theme song for FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime"

Beverly who is from the Philippines and made her debut in May 2017, will be singing the theme song for FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime" starring Yoshine Kyoko which will begin its run from January in the Mondays 9pm timeslot. This will be her first attempt at singing a theme song for a Getsuku drama but her 5th drama theme song to date even though she debuted less than a year ago. The ballad titled "A New Day" is based on the theme of love and will be released as a single on 28 February.

Sources: Sanspo / Sponichi

Kitaoji Kinya to appear in FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime"

Kitaoji Kinya will be appearing in the FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime" starring Yoshine Kyoko. Having been an actor for 52 years and appearing in more than 100 dramas to date, this is his first appearance in a Getsuku drama and a romance comedy. The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Higashimura Akiko which was made into an anime in 2010 and a real-life movie starring Nounen Rena, Suda Masaki and Hasegawa Hiroki in 2014.

Kudo Asuka to appear in new FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime"

Kudo Asuka will be appearing in the new FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime" starring Yoshine Kyoko which will begin its run from January in the Mondays 9pm timeslot. The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Higashimura Akiko which was made into an anime in 2010 and a real-life movie starring Nounen Rena, Suda Masaki and Hasegawa Hiroki in 2014.

The story features Yoshine as the 20-year-old lead character Kurashita Tsukimi who is an otaku and hardcore lover of jellyfish after she was brought to the aquarium by her late mother when she was a child. Although she doesn't think that she will ever have any luck in romance due to her thick spectacles and nerdy appearance, she suddenly finds herself caught in a love triangle with two brothers after moving from Kagoshima to Tokyo to pursue her dream of being an illustrator. This leads her to discover a new way of living and a new side to herself. Her love interests will be Koibuchi Kuranosuke (Seto Koji), the younger brother who looks gorgeous when he dresses as a woman and is actually a playboy and Shuu, the elder brother who is the secretary of his politician father and a virgin with limited experience in dealing with women. The age difference between Kuranosuke and Shuu will be adjusted to just one year in the drama as compared to the setting in the manga due to the 3-year age gap between Seto and Kudo (Seto is 29 while Kudo is 26).

Seto Koji to appear in FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime" as a cross-dressing man

Seto Koji will be appearing in the upcoming FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime" starring Yoshine Kyoko which will begin its run from January in the Mondays 9pm timeslot. The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Higashimura Akiko which was made into an anime in 2010 and a real-life movie starring Nounen Rena, Suda Masaki and Hasegawa Hiroki in 2014. The manga had just ended its run recently on 13 November.

Yoshine Kyoko to star in new FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime"

Yoshine Kyoko will be starring in the new FujiTV Winter 2018 drama "Kuragehime" (Princess Jellyfish) which will begin its run from January 2018 in the Mondays 9pm timeslot. This will be her 10th drama to date. The drama is based on the same-titled manga by Higashimura Akiko which was made into an anime in 2010 and a real-life movie starring Nounen Rena, Suda Masaki and Hasegawa Hiroki in 2014. The manga had just ended its run recently on 13 November.