Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix 2014 - Best Drama

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received:

1) Shinigami-kun - TV Asahi (487)

2) Zeni no Sensou - FujiTV (461)

3) HERO 2 - FujiTV (270)

4) Second Love - TV Asahi (261)

5) Ouroboros - TBS (125)

6) Gomen ne Seishun! - TBS (120)

7) Massan - NHK (113)

8) Gunshi Kanbee - NHK (101)

9) Doctor X - TV Asahi (86)

10) Roosevelt Game - TBS (69)

Source: Nikkansports

Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix 2014 - Best Leading Actor

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received:

1) Ohno Satoshi - Shinigami-kun (492)

2) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Zeni no Sensou (446)

3) Kimura Takuya - HERO 2 (283)

4) Kamenashi Kazuya - Second Love (263)

5) Okada Junichi - Gunshi Kanbee (156)

6) Ikuta Toma - Ouroboros (122)

7) Nishikido Ryo - Gomen ne Seishun! (117)

8) Tamayama Tetsuji - Massan (107)

9) Mizutani Yutaka - Aibou season 13 (75)

10) Karasawa Toshiaki - Roosevelt Game (65)

Source: Nikkansports

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)

Nikkansports Dorama Grand Prix - Spring 2014

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received:

Best Drama
1) Shinigami-kun (853)
2) Roosevelt Game (144)
3) Gunshi Kanbee (132)
4) Hanasaki Mai ga damatte inai (129)
5) BORDER (116)


Best Leading Actor
1) Ohno Satoshi - Shinigami-kun (873)
2) Okada Junichi - Gunshi Kanbee (209)
3) Oguri Shun - BORDER (167)
4) Nishijima Hidetoshi - MOZU (161)
5) Karasawa Toshiaki - Roosevelt Game (152)

Best Leading Actress
1) An - Hanasaki Mai ga damatte inai (487)
2) Ueno Juri - Arisu no Toge (351)
3) Yoshitaka Yuriko - Hanako to Anne (307)
4) Koizumi Kyoko - Zoku Saigo kara nibanme no Koi (256)
5) Nakatani Miki - Gunshi Kanbee (214)

Best Supporting Actor
1) Suda Masaki - Shinigami-kun (576)
2) Kamikawa Takaya - Hanasaki Mai ga damatte inai (206)
3) Shibata Kyohei - Gunshi Kanbee (126)
4) Eguchi Yosuke - Roosevelt Game (85)
5) Miura Tomokazu - Gokuaku Ganbo (72)

Best Supporting Actress
1) Kiritani Mirei - Shinigami-kun (609)
2) Nakama Yukie - Hanako to Anne (205)
3) Kiritani Mirei - Gunshi Kanbee (134)
4) Maki Yoko - MOZU (121)
5) Dan Rei - Roosevelt Game (85)

Source: Nikkansports

Top 10 highest-rated single episode ratings for dramas shown in the first half of 2014 (Oricon)

1) Gochisousan - NHK - 13 March 2014 (Episode 136) - 25.3%

2) Hanako to Anne - NHK - 9 May 2014 / 26 May 2014 (Episodes 35 and 49) - 24.8%

3) Aibou New Year SP & Aibou season 12 2-hour finale SP - TV Asahi - 1st Jan 2014 / 19 Mar 2014 - 19.6%

4) Gunshi Kanbee - NHK - 5 Jan 2014 - Episode 1 - 18.9%
S Saigo no Keisatsukan - TBS - 12 Jan 2014 - Episode 1 - 18.9%

6) Hanasaki Mai ga damatte inai - NTV - 18 Jun 2014 - Final Episode - 18.3%

7) Roosevelt Game - TBS - 22 Jun 2014 - Final Episode - 17.6%

8) Kaseifu wa Mita! - TV Asahi - 2 Mar 2014 - 17.4%

9) BORDER - TV Asahi - 22 May 2014 - Episode 7 - 16.7%

10) Kinkyuu Toshirabeshitsu - TV Asahi - 23 Jan 2014 - Episode 3 - 16.1%
Specialist 2 - TV Asahi - 8 Mar 2014 - 16.1%

Source: Oricon

Preview of "Roosevelt Game" - Spring 2014

Title: Roosevelt Game ルーズヴェルト・ゲーム
Official website: here
Official Facebook page: here
Official Twitter page: here
Broadcast by: TBS
O.A. Start Date: 27 April 2014
Timeslot: Sundays 9pm
Original novel by: Ikeido Jun
Cast: Karasawa Toshiaki, Dan Rei, Ishimaru Kanji, Rokkaku Seiji, Tezuka Toru, Kojima Kazuya, Yamamoto Akira, Takahashi Kazuya, Kosuda Yasuto, Wada Masato, Makita Sports, Hirose Alice, Mine Ryuta, Tatekawa Danshun, Eguchi Yosuke, Yamazaki Tsutomu

Karasawa Toshiaki & Eguchi Yosuke reunite in TBS Spring 2014 drama "Roosevelt Game"

Karasawa Toshiaki will be starring in the upcoming TBS Spring 2014 drama "Roosevelt Game" based on "Hanzawa Naoki" author Ikeido Jun's novel which will be shown in the same timeslot (Sundays 9pm) from April onwards. The production staff behind "Roosevelt Game" will be the same as "Hanzawa Naoki" in a bid to recreate the success of the latter in terms of ratings.

Karasawa will play the role of Hosokawa Mitsuru who is suddenly selected to be the president of a precision parts manufacturer on the brink of bankruptcy by the founder of the company played by Yamazaki Tsutomu. In a bid to restructure the company, Hosokawa decides to dismiss their corporate professional baseball team despite its longstanding fame and good results thus pitting him against his biggest rival i.e. the managing director who rose through the ranks played by Eguchi Yosuke. This marks Karasawa's and Eguchi's reunion for the first time in 10 years since they last worked in the drama "Shiroi Kyoto".

Co-stars include Dan Rei who plays Hosokawa's secretary that supports him in his restructuring efforts, Ishimaru Kanji who plays the baseball team's director cum general affairs department's director and Tatekawa Danshun who plays the president of a rival company.

Source: Sanspo 1 / Sanspo 2