The 20th Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix for the 2016 fiscal year - Best Leading Actor

Note that the 2016 fiscal year includes the Spring 2016, Summer 2016, Autumn 2016 and Winter 2017 seasons. Numbers presented below are in the following order: number of votes from women / number of votes from men / grand total. To see a breakdown of the votes by age groups, please visit the link provided at the end of this post.

Nikkansports is announcing the winners of one category daily so I will post the results progressively as they become available:

Top 10 for the best leading actor category:

1) Ohno Satoshi - Sekai ichi muzukashii koi (1647 + 77 = 1,724)

2) Matsumoto Jun - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi (882 + 87 = 969)

3) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Uso no Sensou (223 + 92 = 315)

4) Kimura Takuya - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (204 + 71 = 275)

5) Sakai Masato - Sanadamaru (61 + 170 = 231)

6) Mizutani Yutaka - Aibou season 15 (22 + 113 = 135)

7) Tsutsumi Shinichi - Super Salaryman Saenai-shi (33 + 66 = 99)

8) Miura Tomokazu - Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~ (9 + 39 = 48)

9) Matsuoka Masahiro - Kaseifu no Mitazono (21 + 22 = 43)

10) Terao Akira - Aogeba Totoshi (9 + 32 = 41)

Source: Nikkansports

Winners of the Winter 2017 Nikkansports Dorama Grand Prix

In case you are wondering why Nikkansports has announced the winners even though the season has not ended, the polling was done via Nikkansports.com, Entame Premium, Nikkan Geinou and Nikkan Point Club between 6 and 13 March. They will be doing the annual voting for the full-year awards in the end of this month.

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received out of 1,238 valid votes.

Best Drama
1) A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (251)
2) Uso no Sensou (159)
3) Onna Joshu Naotora (92)
4) Beppin-san (85)
5) Aibou season 15 (84)

Best Leading Actor
1) Kimura Takuya - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (276)
2) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Uso no Sensou (222)
3) Mizutani Yutaka - Aibou season 15 (142)
4) Tsutsumi Shinichi - Salaryman Saenai-shi (130)
5) Miura Tomokazu - Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~ (80)

Best Leading Actress
1) Shibasaki Kou - Onna Joshu Naotora (209)
2) Ayase Haruka - Seirei no Moribito Kanashiki Hakkaigami (144)
3) Yoshine Kyoko - Beppin-san (138)
4) Sawaguchi Yasuko - Kasouken no Onna (137)
5) Yoshitaka Yuriko - Tokyo Tarareba Musume (131)

Best Supporting Actor
1) Matsuyama Kenichi - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (148)
2) Sorimachi Takashi - Aibou season 15 (90)
3) Takahashi Issei - Onna Joshu Naotora (74)
4) Asano Tadanobu - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (64)
5) Suzuki Ryohei - Tokyo Tarareba Musume (54)

Best Supporting Actress
1) Kimura Fumino - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (170)
2) Koizumi Kyoko - Super Salaryman Saenai-shi (83)
3) Takeuchi Yuko - A LIFE ~ Itoshiki Hito ~ (72)
4) Oshima Yuko - Tokyo Tarareba Musume (62)
5) Yamamoto Mizuki - Uso no Sensou (56)

Source: Nikkansports

Preview of "Shuukatsu Kazoku - Kitto, umaku iku -" - Winter 2017

Title: Shuukatsu Kazoku - Kitto, umaku iku - 就活家族 - きっと、うまくいく - (A family on the search for jobs ~ It will surely go well ~)
Official website: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 12 January 2017
Timeslot: Thursdays 9pm
Broadcast by: TV Asahi
Theme song: "Hareta hi ni, sora wo miagete" by Hayashibe Satoshi
Cast: Miura Tomokazu, Kuroki Hitomi, Maeda Atsuko, Kudo Asuka, Kimura Tae, Watanabe Dai, Arai Hirofumi, Yajima Kenichi, Yamamoto Mirai, Nakagawa Chika

Production press conference of TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~"

The production press conference of TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~" was held on 4 January which was attended by cast members Miura Tomokazu, Kuroki Hitomi, Maeda Atsuko and Kudo Asuka. The drama which begins its run from 12 January in the Thursdays 9pm timeslot, features Miura as the lead character Tomikawa Yosuke, the HR director of a big company, leads an ordinary life with his wife Mizuki (Kuroki Hitomi) who is a Japanese language teacher at a private junior high school, his elder daughter Shiori who works at a jewellery manufacturer and Hikaru who is about to graduate from university. However, things start to spiral out of control when Yosuke is retrenched by his company, Shiori quits due to sexual harrassment issues at her workplace and Hikaru cannot find a permanent job yet. This causes the family to be looking for employment at the same time which makes them rethink the meaning of work and what kind of future they want for themselves.

The drama's filming began in mid November and the footage up to episode 3 was finished when one of its cast members Narimiya Hiroki suddenly announced his retirement from showbiz on 9 December. As a result, Watanabe Dai took on his role at the last minute. With regard to this development, Miura commented that thanks to everyone's hard work, it had not affected the filming progress. The general producer Uchiyama Satoko revealed that Narimiya had filmed about 4 scenes but they managed to redo those scenes and have finished up to episode 6 by now. When asked if there was any kissing scene between her and Narimiya as they played lovers in the drama, Maeda revealed that the story had not developed to that stage yet then so the kissing scene will be filmed with Watanabe instead.

As for taking on his first leading role in 17 years, Miura commented that he was honoured to be given such an opportunity even though he's already in his mid 60s and isn't as strong as he was 17 years ago. However, since the script is very interesting, he decided to try his best in the end even if it is tough on him physically. When asked about his 37-year-long marriage to Yamaguchi Momoe, Miura said that they have become like air to each other where they will need each other to live on. As for how he spent his New Year holidays, he revealed that he had caught a cold while cleaning his house and yet still did not recover even when he abstained from alcohol during this period. Meanwhile, Kuroki revealed that she spent the holidays with her family and also played golf.

When asked about their goals for the new year, Maeda answered that she wants to be healthy since she was having a fever as high as 38 degrees Celsius when they were shooting the poster. This made Miura tease her for being like an old woman to wish for something like this even though Maeda is still so young. As for her character Shiori, Maeda said that she tends to rely too much on her parents but she hopes that the viewers would not dislike her for that.

Sources: Oricon / Nikkansports / Sanspo

Supporting cast lineup for TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~" announced

The supporting cast lineup for TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~" was announced. The drama which will be shown from 12 January 2017 in the Thursdays 9pm timeslot, features Tomikawa Yosuke (Miura Tomokazu) who is the HR director of a big company, leads an ordinary life with his wife Mizuki (Kuroki Hitomi) who is a Japanese language teacher at a private junior high school, his elder daughter Shiori (Maeda Atsuko) who works at a jewellery manufacturer and Hikaru (Kudo Asuka) who is about to graduate from university. However, things start to spiral out of control when Yosuke is retrenched by his company, Shiori quits due to sexual harassment issues at her workplace and Hikaru cannot find a permanent job yet. This causes the family to be looking for employment at the same time which makes them rethink the meaning of work and what kind of future they want for themselves.

Kimura Tae will be playing Kawamura Yuko, a former subordinate of Yosuke who tries to seduce him in a bid to avoid being retrenched by the company. Watanabe Dai will play Makabe Yuto who is the senior of Shiori and lends a listening ear to her when she is troubled over sexual harassment at the workplace. Arai Hirofumi will be Kunihara Kota who is the principal of a school coaching people in seeking employment who helps Hikaru while Danta Yasunori will be Amaya Goro who was also retrenched from work and has to pretend to go to work as usual and spend the entire day in the park. Kimura Midoriko will play Natsuno Kumi who plays Yosuke's former senior high school classmate while Yamamoto Mirai will be Nakahara Ayako who is Shiori's new boss and gets involved in a love triangle with the latter and Yuto.

Source: Oricon

Hayashibe Satoshi to sing the theme and insert songs for TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~"

Hayashibe Satoshi will be singing the theme and insert songs for the upcoming TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku" starring Miura Tomokazu which will begin its run from 12 January 2017 in the Thursdays 9pm timeslot. The theme song titled "Hareta hi ni, sora wo miagete" (Looking up at the sky on a fine day) is a medium-tempo ballad which will be released as a single on 15 February 2017 while the insert song will be a cover version of the Carpenters' "Rainy Days and Mondays".

Hayashibe's debut single "Aitai" was a hit which sold close to 100,000 copies and had won the newcomer's award at the 58th Japan Record Award which earned him the nickname of the prince of songs which make people cry. This is the first time that Hayashibe is singing a theme song for a drama. Hayashibe commented that the song whose lyrics he had written personally, has the message of reminding people to be conscious of the little things around them which are important and make them happy.

Hayashibe paid a visit to the filming set of the drama in December where he met the lead Miura for the first time. Miura praised him for having a beautiful voice and creating such a touching song with a clear and direct message.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo

TV Asahi announces measures for its dramas in response to Narimiya Hiroki's retirement announcement

In response to Narimiya Hiroki's sudden retirement announcement today, TV Asahi revealed its plans for the dramas which he appeared in or is about to appear in. For the upcoming Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku" which stars Miura Tomokazu as the lead, Narimiya was due to appear as Miura's daughter's (Maeda Atsuko) colleague and boyfriend. Following reports of Narimiya's alleged drug scandal, his agency had asked the TV station to suspend his involvement with the drama but TV Asahi decided to hold off the decision for the time being as they still believed in his innocence. However, with his retirement already announced, he will no longer be appearing in the drama. It is understood that Narimiya had already participated in the filming for four episodes to date so it remains to be seen if there will be a replacement actor for his character or the character will be removed from the story.

As for Narimiya's appearances in "Aibou" seasons 11 to 13 which were shown between 2012 and 2015, the rerun of season 11 due to begin from 12 December will be replaced by "Kasoken no Onna". With regard to other reruns planned after 12 December, the TV station will make a decision later on.

Source: Daily Sports

Miura Tomokazu to star in new TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~"

Miura Tomokazu will be starring in the new TV Asahi Winter 2017 drama "Shuukatsu Kazoku ~ Kitto, umaku iku ~" (A family on the search for jobs ~ It will surely go well ~) which will be shown from January 2017 in the Thursdays 9pm timeslot. This is the first time that Miura is starring in a TV Asahi drama and his first leading role in a drama in 17 years.

The story features Tomikawa Yosuke (Miura) who is the HR director of a big company, leads an ordinary life with his wife Mizuki (Kuroki Hitomi) who is a Japanese language teacher at a private junior high school, his elder daughter Shiori who works at a jewellery manufacturer and Hikaru who is about to graduate from university. However, things start to spiral out of control when Yosuke is retrenched by his company, Shiori quits due to sexual harrassment issues at her workplace and Hikaru cannot find a permanent job yet. This causes the family to be looking for employment at the same time which makes them rethink the meaning of work and what kind of future they want for themselves.

Miura who usually plays serious and stern characters in dramas, commented that viewers will probably have a different impression of his character this time so he hopes to deviate from their usual impression of him in a good way. In this era where lifetime employment is no longer a given, the theme may be serious for the viewers who can identify with the struggles of Yosuke but Miura hopes that they will enjoy the humour that's presented in the story. As for Kuroki, she had played a married couple with Miura as voice actors in the Japanese version of the 2004 movie "Mr. Incredible" so she thinks that they will be able to manage just find in the drama.

Maeda commented that she can identify with Shiori's internal struggle of pretending in front of her family that her work is going fine even though she may have problems so she hopes to be able to show the conflicting feelings Shiori experiences through her acting. As for Kudo, he revealed that he is the eldest son among 5 siblings so he has always wanted to have an elder brother or sister. To his surprise, he found out that Maeda who plays his elder sister, is actually the same age as him. Kudo commented that through this drama, he hopes that the viewers can realise and think about the importance of human relationships and family ties.

Sources: Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon