"Otokomeshi" to be released on Blu-ray & DVD with scenes of Takahata Yuta cut

The Blu-ray & DVD box sets of TV Tokyo Summer 2016 drama "Otokomeshi" starring Namase Katsuhisa will be released on 14 December which consists of 5 discs and 2-hours worth of special footage. In addition, the drama will be re-edited to cut out the footage where Takahata Yuta appeared after he was caught last month for rape and assault. For the special footage, it will contain an unreleased episode which features new dishes such as whole squid grilled in foil, roasted maguro with yuzu and pepper and finely chopped horse mackerel in chazuke. The behind-the-scenes footage was taken during a 44-day filming period. Last but not least, cast members such as Emoto Tokio will introduce their signature Otokomeshi dishes and there will be interviews of the cast and director. Recipes of all the dishes featured will also be put into a booklet included in the Blu-ray and DVD boxes.

Source: Oricon

TV Tokyo to re-shoot scenes in their Summer 2016 drama "Otokomeshi" involving Takahata Yuta

Following news of Takahata Yuta's arrest for alleged rape leading to assault, TV Tokyo sent a fax statement to the media where they announced that they will be re-shooting some scenes in their ongoing Summer 2016 drama "Otokomeshi" which had involved Takahata. The drama's filming had already been wrapped up and 5 episodes had been shown to date. In the upcoming Ep 6 to be shown on 26 August, there will be no replacement actor for Takahata and his scenes will all be cut from the drama. For scenes which cannot be cut, they will be re-shot. Takahata had played the classmate of Emoto Tokio in this drama.

TV Tokyo mentioned in their statement that it was a pity that such a thing happened and said that for the viewers who enjoy this drama, they will reshoot some of the scenes and continue with the broadcast as usual.

Sources: Daily Sports / Oricon

Takahata Atsuko's son Takahata Yuta arrested for rape and assault

Takahata Atsuko's son Takahata Yuta was arrested at 1.40pm on 23 August by Maebashi Police Station on suspicion of rape and assault. Takahata Yuta was staying at a business hotel in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture, in the early hours of 23 August when he called the hotel's staff to bring him amenities such as a toothbrush. When a female staff in her 40s brought the item to his room, Takahata allegedly grabbed her into his room and raped her. During the sexual assault, Takahata was said to have used force against the victim and caused her to sustain injuries such as bruises to her body and right thumb. According to Maebashi Police Station, Takahata was brought in for questioning on a voluntary basis and testified that he could not control his sexual urge upon seeing the female hotel staff but stressed that it was not a premeditated attack. Takahata was in Maebashi for the filming of a movie and said to have been drinking with the staff on the night before the incident.

Takahata Yuta began to enjoy attention as an actor when he appeared in last year's NHK morning drama "Mare" and is due to appear in NTV's 24 Jikan Terebi 39 this weekend as the programme's personalities along with comedy duo Oriental Radio. He also has a role in the drama SP "Moumoku no Yoshinori-sensei ~ Hikari wo ushinatte kokoro ga miete" where he plays a support at the rehabilitation centre which Yoshinori-sensei (Kato Shigeaki) goes to after losing his sight but his name and photo have been removed from the cast chart on the drama SP's official website. In response to news about Takahata's arrest, NTV announced that they will be looking into the possibility of getting another actor to re-film Takahata's part in the drama SP. Takahata was also scheduled to appear in the late night programme "Konya kurabete mimashita" on 23 August but the content of the show will be changed. In addition, Takahata who is supposed to appear in NHK's ongoing Taiga "Sanadamaru" from October onwards, will be replaced. FujiTV's mini drama "Tonari no Shinsengumi" will make adjustments to its next episode to be shown on 25 August. TV Tokyo is currently in discussions on how to handle Takahata's parts in their Summer 2016 drama "Otokomeshi". TBS has removed Takahata's name from the official website of their Summer 2016 drama "Aogeba Totoshi" but won't need to make adjustments to the drama since his appearance was limited to the first three episodes only.

Following news of Takahata's arrest, his Twitter has been switched to private mode and his blog has been deleted. At present, only his Instagram account (up to 4.23pm Japan time) can still be accessed. In the comments section of his Instagram account, many users left comments criticising his actions and scolded him for causing grief and a great inconvenience to his mother.

Takahata's agency released a statement in the same evening about his arrest and acknowledged that they were informed about what happened. The agency expressed deep regret and apologised to the victim and everyone who was inconvenienced and worried by what happened. At the moment, as he is still in police custody, the agency has been unable to contact him so they will try to find out more about the situation and will deal with this issue with utmost sincerity.

In Japan, rape is punishable with a prison sentence of between three years and below 20 years. If the charge is rape leading to assault or death, the prison sentence can range from more than 5 years to life imprisonment. When a prison sentence is longer than 3 years, there will be no suspended sentence. Assuming that the case goes to court, it will be decided by a jury. For a rape case, the indictment is dependent on the victim filing a complaint but for a rape leading to assault or death case, the investigation and trial continues even if the victim decides to drop the case.

Due to intense media attention and public concern over Takahata's case, his name was the No.1 trend topic on Twitter and keywords related to his case hogged the real-time search ranking on Yahoo! JAPAN.

As a result of her son's arrest, Takahata Atsuko has resigned from her hosting job for NHK's afternoon programme "Studio Park kara Konnichiwa" on 23 August where Sakakibara Ikue will take over the position. NHK accepted her resignation but did not go into details on what reason Takahata Atsuko had given. There is also concern over whether her career will be affected as she is seen in many dramas such as "Sanadamaru", variety shows, CMs and will take on a leading role in the stage play "Yukimaroge" to be performed between September and October

Sources: Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports  2 / Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2 / Yomiuri Hochi 1 / Yomiuri Hochi 2 / Sponichi 1 / Sponichi 2 / Sponichi 3

Production press conference of TV Tokyo Summer 2016 drama "Yassan ~ Tsukiji Hatsu! Oishii Jikenbo ~"

The production press conference of TV Tokyo Summer 2016 drama "Yassan ~ Tsukiji Hatsu! Oishii Jikenbo ~" was held at the outdoor rooftop of new Tsukiji facility Uogashi on 13 July which was attended by cast members Ihara Tsuyoshi, Emoto Tasuku, Itaya Yuka, Yamamoto Maika and Satomi Kotaro. The drama which begins its run from 22 July, features Ihara as the lead character Yassan who has no money and place to live but has a strong love for food and teams up with fellow homeless and unemployed Takao (Emoto) to solve cases in the Tsukiji market.

Ihara revealed that he had not been working for the last three months before filming started and went on a diet to reduce his weight from 84.5kg to 76kg. In order to build up his muscles, he will be drinking protein beverages from now on along with his daily exercises of running, weight training and push-ups. During the filming, Ihara does not need to wear make-up and is always dressed in a T-shirt so he's very happy about this since there is little preparation time needed before filming which is done mainly at Tsukiji Market which is due to move in November.

Satomi revealed that he had worked in Tsukiji about 60 years ago so if he had not become an actor, he would have inherited his relative's shop and be troubled over the move to Toyosu by now. As for Emoto, his younger brother Tokio is also starring in a TV Tokyo Summer 2016 drama "Otokomeshi" which is about food too and revealed that they are on good terms and meet up often. As both dramas are shown on the same day, Emoto called upon viewers to watch both dramas so as to support them.

Source: Oricon

Preview of "Otokomeshi" - Summer 2016

Title: Otokomeshi 侠飯
Official website: here
Official Facebook: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 15 July 2016
Timeslot: Fridays 12.12am
Broadcast by: TV Tokyo
Cast: Namase Katsuhisa, Emoto Tokio, Uchida Rio, Takahata Yuta, Miura Masaki, Tozuka Junki, Kinoshita Takayuki (TKO), Kimoto Takehiro (TKO)