Kubota Masataka & Sugisaki Hana to reprise their roles from "N no tame ni" & "Yakou Kanransha" in TBS Spring 2017 drama "Reverse"

Kubota Masataka and Sugisaki Hana will be reprising their roles from previous TBS dramas based on Minato Kanae's novels in the ongoing TBS Spring 2017 drama "Reverse". Kubota will be playing Naruse Shinji again from the Autumn 2014 drama "N no Tame Ni" while Sugisaki will be playing Endo Ayaka from the Winter 2013 drama "Yakou Kanransha" where their characters' will appear alongside the characters in "Reverse". In the case of Naruse Shinji, he will be a regular customer at the bakery where Ochi Mihoko (Toda Erika) works at and he will be speaking the Sanuki dialect for the first time in a long while. On the other hand, Sugisaki will meet Fukase Kazuhisa (Fujiwara Tatsuya) at the company where he pays a visit to.

When Kubota got the offer, he was very excited about meeting the staff who also worked on "N no tame ni" with him. However, when he started acting, he got really nervous especially when it came to speaking in the Sanuki dialect. As for Sugisaki who played a teenager suffering from a huge change in temperament due to bullying at school in "Yakou Kanransha", she was eager to see how her role Ayaka would become now that she is an adult but she wasn't sure how she should act. When she started filming, the feeling came back naturally to her and she enjoyed the experience very much.

Sources: Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2 / Oricon / Nikkansports

Kaku Kento & Eikura Nana expecting their first child to be born this summer

Eikura Nana is currently pregnant with her first child as reported on 14 March. According to insiders, Eikura who is married to actor Kaku Kento, is said to be more than 5 months' pregnant and due to give birth in summer this year.

Rumours of Eikura's pregnancy have been swirling around since January as it was noticed that she was wearing baggy clothing and large coats most of the time in the ongoing NTV Winter 2017 drama "Tokyo Tarareba Musume". When she appeared on NTV's information programme "ZIP!" on 18 January to promote the drama, she suddenly starting coughing and left her seat but never returned even till the end of the segment thus causing concern and speculation about her condition. According to insiders, some staff members of the drama already knew of her pregnancy back in December last year thus they had planned the filming accordingly to accommodate her condition. Filming of the drama is expected to end on 18 March but Eikura is said to be continuing with her other work activities and will begin her maternity break slightly later.

Kaku and Eikura met on the set of TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no Tame Ni" and began dating since the summer of the following year before they got married last August.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi

Kaku Kento & Eikura Nana announce their marriage

Kaku Kento and Eikura Nana announced their marriage through their respective agencies on 8 August. There are no plans yet for a wedding and Eikura is not pregnant at the moment so she will continue with her acting career as usual. The couple met while working in the TBS drama "N no tame ni" in 2014 and started dating last summer. The two of them went to a ward office yesterday to submit their marriage application. Kaku commented that he believes that he will lead a bright and happy life with his wife while Eikura commented that she believes that her husband will be the one to overcome all challenges ahead in life and said that she is very happy now.

Kaku's statement:
I, Kaku Kento, have gotten married to Eikura Nana.

We met through the drama "N no tame ni" and have dated for about one year. With the thought of being able to spend a bright and happy life with her, we got married.

Although we are still immature, we hope to continue improving in our work with the advice and assistance of everyone we work with. It would be great if we can continue to receive the warm support of everyone going forward.

Eikura's statement:
I, Eikura Nana, have registered my marriage to Kaku Kento on 7 August and would like to announce it here.

We met during the filming of the drama "N no tame ni" and started dating last summer. After a year of spending time together, we started to have the intention of becoming a family thus leading to our marriage registration.

I feel happy that from now on, no matter whatever happens in future, we can overcome it together.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us to us. Although we are still immature, we will try to improve in future. It would be great if you can continue to support us warmly.

Source: Oricon

Eikura Nana & Kaku Kento rumoured to be dating

Eikura Nana and Kaku Kento are said to be dating as reported on 2 March. The two of them met while working on the TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no tame ni" and started off as friends but started dating since last spring. They were also said to have gone overseas for a trip with other friends during Eikura's birthday on 12 February.

Rumours of Eikura and Kaku being spotted together started surfacing on the Internet since last summer when they were said to have gone on dates to Universal Studios Japan and restaurants in places such as Shimo Kitazawa and Naka Meguro.

When asked about the dating rumour, both actors' agencies denied that they were an item and that they are just good friends.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon

Special Feature - TV Stations' Merchandise Shops ~ Part 2: TBS

Following the first report on FujiTV's shop at Tokyo Station, here comes the next feature on TBS. Compared to the other TV stations' shops which tend to sell the "in-season" goods, there is a fair mix of merchandise from older and new dramas' which is good news to fans especially if the goods from past seasons' dramas are difficult to find. In addition, there is a more balanced mix of merchandise from dramas, variety programmes and anime as compared to other shops which tend to be from one particular programme or genre. On the other hand, due to the limited shop space, you will notice that the number of items per title is rather small which can't be helped. It's a delicate balance between shop space and variety and extensiveness of the product range so each TV station has their own way of deciding what's more attractive to customers but it may or may not suit your own needs. If you can't find what you want here, you can choose to head to TBS' headquarters in Akasaka or try your luck on their website's store.

First of all, let's take a look at the "in-season" dramas i.e. Autumn 2014. When I was there in Dec, it was towards the end of the autumn dramas so the top level of the shelf was reserved primarily for them. Ever since the success of the Baegashi Manju from "Hanzawa Naoki", it seems like every other TV station is bent on doing the same to replicate the success of that. Of course, because "Hanzawa Naoki" was a TBS drama, the TV station will continue to produce manju for the dramas in the hope that that success will come again. However, "Hanzawa Naoki" was a rare hit in this era of low ratings which led to the high demand for its manju. Honestly, I don't think the manju will sell like hot cakes unless the drama is a runaway success. Having said that, it doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't buy the manju. When I tried the Baegashi Manju in spring 2014, it tasted quite ordinary to me so I suppose people bought it for the sake of the drama's popularity rather than for its taste. It's a nice memento to buy back if you like the drama but don't expect too much of the taste. "Gomen ne Seishun" seems to be the hotly-promoted drama in the Autumn season with a pretty extensive range of manju, towels, plastic folders, stationery bags and handphone accessories. I don't know if you can still find these by this time though. Comparatively, "N no tame ni" only had two items i.e. the novel by Minato Kanae and handphone accessories on display.

As for the "older" dramas, "SPEC" and "Mozu" have a wider range of items available such as stationery and accessories compared to the other titles. However, the items from "SPEC" aren't entirely from the drama series but from the movies. I bought a plastic folder from the "SPEC" series which had pictures of Toda Erika and Kase Ryo. As for "Mozu", due to the fact that there's a movie version to be made, that is probably why you can still see the drama's items in the store. However, for items which bore pictures other than the drama's logo, you will notice that the image of Nishijima Hidetoshi is printed there rather than those of his co-stars Kagawa Teruyuki and Maki Yoko. This speaks volumes of his popularity and the fact that his face could probably attract female fans to buy those items. One interesting item I found from the older dramas was the prepacked curry from "Kazokugari" which I suppose should be a pun on its name and herb rouge tea from the same drama. TBS seems to be quite keen on developing food items for its drama merchandise.

If you are looking for items from the following dramas which I've not mentioned above, you may also wish to give this shop a visit. Just note that by this time or when you visit, the range of items may have changed again though:
- Roosevelt Game
- S Saigo no Keisatsukan
- Pintokona
- Clover (movie)

The 83rd Drama Academy Awards (Autumn 2014)

Best Drama
1) N no Tame Ni
2) Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu
3) Gomen ne Seishun!

Best Leading Actor
1) Okada Junichi (Gunshi Kanbee)
2) Oguri Shun (Nobunaga Concerto)
3) Nishikido Ryo (Gomen ne Seishun!)

Best Leading Actress
1) Ayase Haruka (Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu)
2) Eikura Nana (N no Tame Ni)
3) Yonekura Ryoko (Doctor X)

Best Supporting Actor
1) Kubota Masataka (N no Tame Ni)
2) Fukushi Sota (Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu)
3) Takenaka Naoto (Gunshi Kanbee)

Best Supporting Actress
1) Mitsushima Hikari (Gomen ne Seishun!)
2) Shibasaki Kou (Nobunaga Concerto)
3) Kimura Yoshino (First Class)

Best Theme Song
1) Silly - Ieiri Leo (N no Tame Ni)
2) Ashiato ~ Be Strong - Mr.Children (Nobunaga Concerto)
3) Itta Janai ka - Kanjani 8 (Gomen ne Seishun!)

Best Script: Kudo Kankuro (Gomen ne Seishun!)

Best Directing: N no Tame Ni

The Television Special Award: Baka Rhythm (Suteki na Sentakushi)

Top 10 bestselling novels of 2014 (Oricon)

Note that figures in brackets indicate the number of copies sold between 2 December 2013 and 24 November 2014. Titles in bold indicate those which were made into movies or dramas thus reflecting the positive impact on book sales brought about by such adaptations:

1) Eien no Zero - Hyakuta Naoki (1,463,702)

2) Shirayuki Hime Satsujin Jiken - Minato Kanae (856,332)

3) Koufuku na Seikatsu - Hyakuta Naoki (800,847)

4) Masquerade Hotel - Higashino Keigo (796,346)

5) Shitamachi Rocket - Ikeido Jun (772,114)

6) Kaizoku to Yobareta Otoko Part 1 - Hyakuta Naoki (718,870)

7) Masquerade Eve - Higashino Keigo (716,928)

8) Shippu Rondo - Higashino Keigo (664,640)

9) N no tame ni - Minato Kanae (634,737)

10) Kaizoku to Yobareta Otoko Part 2 - Hyakuta Naoki (631,732)

Source: Oricon

Romaji lyrics of "Silly" by Ieiri Leo (Theme Song of "N no tame ni")

Title: Silly
Artiste: Ieiri Leo
Lyrics: Ieiri Leo
Melody: Nishio Yoshihiko

muzukashii koto ga oosugiru ai
kyou mo kawarazu furi tsuzuiteiru ame ga
toiki no sukima de namae wo yobare
aenai hi no kodoku kaki kesarerunda
Rainy day oh Rainy day
kishimu hadou ni nomarete

Oh It's so silly
nani ka wo motome tashikame takute kyou wo ikiteru
Oh It's so silly
damaseru no nara genjitsu nante hitsuyo janai
nogarerarenai kanashimi ni Oh It's so silly

tsuyogari kakushita namida no ato ni
kizukanai soburi hada wo kasaneru yoru wa
asai nemuri kuri kaeshi nagara mo
tonari no omomi wo tashikamete irunda
Rainy day oh Rainy day
otona ni narikire nakute

Oh It's so silly
sukui wo motome mitasaretakute kyou wo ikiteru
Oh It's so silly
yurusareru nara kono ai dake wo dakishimetai
nogarerarenai itami demo Oh It's so silly

imi no nai nani mo nai ashita wa
mitenai wakaranai furi de
nigedashiteru So Silly
furueru tsumi no nai sore wo ushinaeba ii
yugamu kimochi wa anata ga hoshii

Oh It's so silly
nani ka wo motome tashikame takute kyou wo ikiteru
Oh It's so silly
damaseru no nara genjitsu nante hitsuyo janai
nogarerarenai kanashimi ni
kizu mo ima dewa itoshikute
Oh It's so silly

Production press conference of TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no tame ni"

The production press conference of TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no tame ni" was held on 11 November in Tokyo which was attended by the cast members Eikura Nana, Kubota Masataka, Miura Tomokazu, Koide Eisuke, Kaku Kento, Konishi Manami and Tokui Yoshimi. The drama which begins its run from 17 October in the Fridays 10pm timeslot, is based on Minato Kanae's novel and is set in an island in the Seto Inland Sea and Tokyo where a group of people with the initial N in their names get embroiled into a murder case involving a celebrity couple.

The cast had been to Shodo Island in September for 2 weeks of filming. Eikura commented that the island is so beautiful that she went to buy a 65-inch TV recently so that she can enjoy the scenery when the drama begins its run. However, the filming schedule in Okinawa from 13th Oct has been disrupted due to the impending arrival of a typhoon.

Source: Sanspo

Preview of "N no tame ni" - Autumn 2014

Title: N no tame ni Nのために(For the sake of N)
Official website: here
O.A. Start Date: October 2014
Timeslot: Fridays 10pm
Broadcast: TBS
Original novel by: Minato Kanae
Cast: Eikura Nana, Kubota Masataka, Kaku Kento, Koide Keisuke, Hara Hideko, Shibamoto Yuki, Moro Morooka, Miho Jun, Hayama Shono, Mitsuishi Ken, Yamamoto Mirai, Orimoto Shunkichi, Tokui Yoshimi, Konishi Manami, Miura Tomokazu

Shooting of "N no tame ni" at Shodo Island

The crew and cast of upcoming TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no tame ni" went to Shodo Island in the Seto Inland Sea for shooting lasting two weeks since the beginning of September. The drama which is based on the same titled novel by Minato Kanae, features a group of people with the initial N in their names whose lives were affected for the last 15 years due to the murders of a celebrity couple. The shooting done at Shodo featured the lives of Nozomi (Eikura Nana) and Shinji (Kubota Masataka) when they were still high school students and living on the island.

The open filming at the Ikeda no Saijiki, an open-air theatre, featured 200 of the island's residents as extras. Minato was also there to pay a visit to the cast and crew where she also praised Eikura for being suitable to show the strengths and weakness of her character Nozomi. On the other hand, Eikura also expressed joy at meeting Minato and vowed to work hard in this drama.

Source: Sanspo

Konishi Manami & Tokui Yoshimi to play a married couple in TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no tame ni"

Konishi Manami and comedian Tokui Yoshimi will be playing a married couple in the upcoming TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no tame ni" which begins its run from October in the Fridays 10pm timeslot. The drama which is based on Minato Kanae's novel and features Eikura Nana as the lead, talks about how a group of people with N as the initials of their names are affected by the murders of a married couple with the surname Noguchi over a span of 15 years. Konishi plays the role of the wife who appears as a happy housewife but has an affair with Nishizaki (Koide Keisuke) while Tokui plays the husband who is deeply affected by his wife's betrayal. Later, the couple are found murdered which leads to the beginning of the hunt for which N had committed a crime for the sake of which N.

Konishi commented that she never imagined playing a married couple with Tokui before and was pleasantly surprised that the filming went well and it was an enjoyable experience. As for Tokui who has not been seen in a drama for the past three years, he commented that it was great that he could do a different style of acting this time and he enjoyed the experience very much.

Source: Sanspo

Eikura Nana to star in TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no tame ni"

Eikura Nana will be starring in the new TBS Autumn 2014 drama "N no tame ni" (For the sake of N) which is due to be shown from October in the Fridays 10pm timeslot. The drama which is based on the same-titled novel by popular writer Minato Kanae, is a pure love mystery that will span over 15 years. Eikura plays the role of Nozomi, one of the individuals with a name beginning with N, who happened to be at the crime scene of a murder involving a rich celebrity couple. Through the lives of these people initialed N spanning over 15 years, the truth behind the murders is also revealed.

Nozomi was 17 years old and in the second year of junior high when the murder took place and her life underwent an upheaval after that. She had been born and raised on an island in the Setouchi Inland Sea but was thrown out of her house with her mother after her father brought his lover back home. From a rich man's daughter, Nozomi was thrown into the depths of poverty and had to take care of her mother who became mentally unstable as a result of her husband's infidelity. Later, she moved to Tokyo and the drama will depict her life all the way up till she is 32 years old.

This is the first time that Eikura is participating in a drama based on Minato's works and she commented that she finished the original novel in just one day and was impressed by the complicated human relationships involving the characters. As such, she is thrilled to be able to take on the role of Nozomi and is eagerly awaiting the start of the filming at the end of this month.

Source: Sanspo