The 113rd Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2022) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu -
2) Hatsukoi no akuma
3) Roppongi Class

Voters Ranking Top 5

1) Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu -

2) Teppachi!

3) Shin Shinchoukouki

4) Kyousou no bannin

5) NICE FLIGHT!

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Hatsukoi no akuma
2) Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu -
3) Roppongi Class
4) Mahou no rinobe

5) Yukionna to kani wo kuu

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu -

2) Hatsukoi no akuna

3) Mahou no rinobe

4) Okutou ~ kanjou sousakan Shinno Akari ~

5) Roppongi Class

Source: The Television

The 113rd Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2022) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Arimura Kasumi - Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu -
2) An - Kyousou no bannin
3) Haru - Mahou no rinobe

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) An - Kyousou no bannin
2) Arimura Kasumi - Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu -

3) Nagano Mei - Unicorn ni notte

4) Sugisaki Hana - Prism

5) Kuroshima Yuina - Chimudondon

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Arimura Kasumi - Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu -
2) Nagano Mei - Unicorn ni notte
3) Haru - Mahou no rinobe

4) An - Kyousou no bannin

5) Kuroshima Yuina - Chimudondon

Kuroki Haru - Boku no Neechan

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Arimura Kasumi - Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu -

2) Haru - Mahou no rinobe

3) Kuroki Haru - Boku no Neechan

4) Nimura Sawa - Anata no butsu ga, koko ni

5) Kuroshima Yuina - Chimudondon

Source: The Television

The 113rd Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2022) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Akaso Eiji - Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu? -

2) Saotome Taichi - Roppongi Class

3) Yasuda Ken - Hatsukoi no akuma

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Akaso Eiji - Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu? -
2) Sano Hayato - Teppachi!
3) Nishihata Daigo - Shin Shinchoukouki
4) Nishigaki Sho - Minato Shoji Coin Laundry
5) Saotome Taichi - Roppongi Class

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Saotome Taichi - Roppongi Class
2) Emoto Akira - Shin Shinchoukouki
3) Yasuda Ken - Hatsukoi no akuma
4) Mamiya Shotaro - Mahou no rinobe
5) Bandou Ryota - Unicorn ni notte

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Nishijima Hidetoshi - Unicorn ni notte
2) Akaso Eiji - Ishiko to Haneo - Sonna koto de utaemasu? -

3) Saotome Taichi - Roppongi Class

4) Kagawa Teruyuki - Roppongi Class

5) Yasuda Ken - Hatsukoi no akuma

Source: The Television

Winners of the Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix - Summer 2022

Note that the numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received between 14 and 21 Sep 2022.

Best Drama

1) Shin Shinchoukouki (1,482)

2) Hatsukoi no akuma (1,000)

3) Roppongi Class (766)

4) Kamakuradono no 13 nin (313)

5) Junai Dissonance (243)

Best Leading Actor

1) Nagase Ren - Shin Shinchoukouki (1,485)

2) Hayashi Kento - Hatsukoi no akuma (991)

3) Takeuchi Ryoma - Roppongi Class (670)

4) Oguri Shun - Kamakuradono no 13 nin (308)

5) Shigeoka Daiki - Yukionna to kani wo kuu (233)

Best Leading Actress

1) Arimura Kasumi - Ishiko to Haneo (1,014)

2) Haru - Mahou no rinobe (617)

3) Sugisaki Hana - Prism (562)

4) Kuroshima Yuina - Chimudondon (412)

5) Nagano Mei - Unicorn ni notte (394)

Best Supporting Actor

1) Emoto Tasuku - Hatsukoi no akuma (547)

2) Saotome Taichi - Roppongi Class (502)

3) Hamada Gaku - Shin Shinchoukouki (412)

4) Mitsushima Shinnosuke - Shin Shinchoukouki (310)

5) Yasuda Ken - Hatsukoi no akuma (273)

Best Supporting Actress

1) Yamada Anna - Shin Shinchoukouki (1,033)

2) Matsuoka Mayu - Hatsukoi no akuma (904)

3) Hirate Yurina - Roppongi Class (832)

4) Koike Eiko - Kamakuradono no 13 nin (434)

5) Iriyama Noriko - Yukionna to kani wo kuu (173)

Source: Nikkansports

Quick Review #15: Mahou no rinobe (Summer 2022)

Title: Mahou no rinobe 魔法のリノベ

Season: Summer 2022

Broadcast by: Kansai TV

Rating: 8.5/10

Recommended for: those who like to watch renovation shows and slice-of-life romantic comedies as well as fans of Haru & Mamiya Shotaro

Liked:

- The better-than-expected story: although the format of each episode is the same i.e. solving the problems faced by customers through renovation, the underlying story of Koume, Gennosuke and the people at Marufuku "renovating" their lives and solving the issues they had was presented in a very heartwarming manner that made these characters really endearing and easy to empathise with. I found myself rooting for Koume and Gennosuke in particular which is surprisingly rare for me of late because there were many love stories I watched where I couldn't care less whether the main couple got together or not.

- The acting from the cast especially Haru and Mamiya Shotaro - to be honest, I have not really taken to Haru's acting in love stories so far because I always had a nagging feeling that she hadn't fully immersed herself in these roles and it felt so much like forcing herself to "love" someone on screen. Maybe it has to do with her cool demeanour which can come off as icy at times and somewhat emotionless even though the stories may require her to show the excitement and dizziness of someone in love. However, her collaboration with Mamiya this time felt really natural and the interactions between them flowed so smoothly that it was easy to picture them as a couple in the drama. Mamiya also managed to show the adorable and somewhat pitiful sides of Gennosuke so well that it was hard not to like him despite his "not-so brilliant" track record in his love life.

- The amount of effort put in to showcase the before-and-after changes - usually for such shows, I wouldn't be surprised if the "after" scenes would be presented in drawings or 3D simulations. However, to see the proposed designs come to life and how the customers could improve their lives through renovation (sometimes, they were just minor tweaks only) was very interesting and made the ending credits a must-see in every episode. I wonder how much money they had to spend to make these for every episode?

Disliked: 

- The slight hiccup before the last episode where Koume had to leave Marufuku for a while in order to protect the people there - I felt that it wasn't that much of an issue in the first place and could have been ironed out by talking things through and dealing with the problem directly. Of course, in dramaland, such things don't happen since there must be a conflict to lead to a resolution and ultimately the climax.

- The so-called conflict between Kuranosuke and Arikawa was rather underwhelming. I was expecting something major but it turned out to be quite meh? I get it that Arikawa felt betrayed by Kuranosuke quitting from the company and leaving him to face the music when they screwed up but then, instead of wallowing in self pity and wasting energy on trying to snatch business from Marufuku, there could have been other things Arikawa could do. However, I guess the kind of atmosphere that this drama created didn't allow for overly dramatic or extreme developments so this would have to do given the constraints.

Status update of Summer 2022 dramas - 1 Aug 2022

Now that we are already a month into the Summer 2022 drama season, it's time for a recap of the dramas which I've watched, will continue watching and have already dropped. With this, you will know if I will continue to cover a drama with my episode reflections or will just round up at the end with a quick review. 

To read my past episode reflections posted on Twitter and Facebook, simply search for the hashtags on the Dorama World pages.

What I watched (at least 2 episodes; in order of start date):

1) Old Rookie

2) Unicorn ni notte

3) Teppachi!

4) Okutou 

5) Junai Dissonance

6) Yukionna to kani wo kuu

7) Ishiko to Haneo 

8) Kyousou no bannin

9) Hatsukoi no akuma

10) Mahou no rinobe

Dropped

1) Teppachi! (watched up to Ep 4) 

2) Okutou (watched half of Ep 3) 

In danger of being dropped

1) Unicorn ni notte

2) Kyousou no bannin

Will continue watching but may switch to doing a quick review at the end instead

1) Yukionna to kani wo kuu

2) Old Rookie

3) Junai Dissonance

To continue with episode reflections barring unforeseen circumstances

1) Ishiko to Haneo

2) Hatsukoi no akuma

3) Mahou no rinobe

In the last season, I only finished one drama to the end with episode reflections i.e. "My Family" while I did a quick review for "Koi nante honki de dousuru no". Considering that I've only dropped 2 out of 10 at this stage, it seems that the offerings this season are better in terms of quality and appeal, at least in my opinion.

However, things may change again in the span of an episode or two so it's still too early to tell which drama will make it to the end.

Preview of "Mahou no rinobe" - Summer 2022

Title: Mahou no rinobe 魔法のリノベ (The renovation of magic)

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official LINE: here

Official Twitter: here

O.A. Start Date: 18 Jul 2022

Timeslot: Mondays at 10pm

Broadcast by: Kansai TV

Original manga by: Hoshizaki Maki

Theme song by: Yorushika

Cast: Haru, Mamiya Shotaro, Kaneko Daichi, Yoshino Hokuto, SUMIRE, Honda Chikara, Yamashita Kouhei, Iwakawa Haru, YOU, Kondo Yoshimasa, Harada Taizo & Endo Kenichi