The 97th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2018) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Ossans Love (TV Asahi)
2) Black Pean (TBS)
3) Anata niwa kaeru ie ga aru (TBS)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Black Pean (TBS)
2) Ossans Love (TV Asahi)
3) Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~ (TBS)
4) Monte Cristo Haku - Karei naru Fukushuu - (FujiTV)
5) Confidence Man JP (FujiTV)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ossans Love (TV Asahi)
2) Anata niwa kaeru ie ga aru (TBS)
3) Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~ (TBS)
4) Black Pean (TBS)
5) Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan (KTV/FujiTV)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ossans Love (TV Asahi)
2) Black Pean (TBS)
3) Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan (KTV/FujiTV)
4) Confidence Man JP (FujiTV)
5)  Anata niwa kaeru ie ga aru (TBS)

Source: The Television

The 97th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2018) - Best Leading Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Tanaka Kei - Ossans Love
2) Ninomiya Kazunari - Black Pean
3) Dean Fujioka - Monte Cristo Haku - Karei naru Fukushuu -

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Ninomiya Kazunari - Black Pean
2) Tanaka Kei - Ossans Love
3) Dean Fujioka - Monte Cristo Haku - Karei naru Fukushuu -
4) Iwata Takanori - Gakebuchi Hotel!
5) Sakaguchi Kentaro - Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Tanaka Kei - Ossans Love
2) Ninomiya Kazunari - Black Pean
3) Sakaguchi Kentaro - Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan
4) Dean Fujioka - Monte Cristo Haku - Karei naru Fukushuu -
5) Ikematsu Sousuke - Miyamoto kara kimi e

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Tanaka Kei - Ossans Love
2) Ninomiya Kazunari - Black Pean
3) Sakaguchi Kentaro - Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan / Dean Fujioka - Monte Cristo Haku - Karei naru Fukushuu -
5) Matsushige Yutaka - Kodoku no Gurume Season 7

Source: The Televison

The 97th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2018) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Yoshida Kotaro - Ossans Love
2) Hayashi Kento - Ossans Love
3) Takeuchi Ryoma - Black Pean

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Hayashi Kento - Ossans Love
2) Takeuchi Ryoma - Black Pean
3) Hirano Sho - Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~
4) Uchino Seiyo - Black Pean
5) Koizumi Kotaro - Black Pean

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Yoshida Kotaro - Ossans Love
2) Hirano Sho - Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~
3) Yusuke Santa Maria - Anata niwa kaeru ie ga aru
4) Hayashi Kento - Ossans Love
5) Nakagawa Taishi - Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Yoshida Kotaro - Ossans Love
2) Kitamura Kazuki - Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan
3) Hayashi Kento - Ossans Love / Yasuda Ken - Seigi no Se
4) Takeuchi Ryoma - Black Pean / Sato Ryuta - Yake ni ben no tatsu bengoshi ga gakkou de hoeru

Source: The Televison

The 97th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2018) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Kimura Tae - Anata niwa kaeru ie ga aru
2) Aoi Wakana - Black Pean
3) Uchida Rio - Ossans Love

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Aoi Wakana - Black Pean
2) Uchida Rio - Ossans Love
3) Ootsuka Nene - Ossans Love / Imada Mio - Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~
5) Kato Ayako - Black Pean

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Kimura Tae - Anata niwa kaeru ie ga aru
2) Imada Mio - Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~
3) Uchida Rio - Ossans Love / Iitoyo Marie - Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~
5) Aoi Wakana - Black Pean

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Kimura Tae - Anata niwa kaeru ie ga aru
2) Kichise Michiko - Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan
3) Imada Mio - Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~ / Suzuki Kyoka - Mikaiketsu no Onna Keishicho Bunsho Sousakan / Toda Erika - Gakebuchi Hotel!

Source: The Televison

The 97th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2018) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Kono michi wo - Oda Kazumasa (Black Pean)
2) Revival - Sukima Switch (Ossans Love)
3) Cinderella Girl - King & Prince (Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kono michi wo - Oda Kazumasa (Black Pean)
2) Revival - Sukima Switch (Ossans Love)
3) Cinderella Girl - King & Prince (Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~)
4) Echo - Dean Fujioka (Monte Cristo Haku - Karei naru Fukushuu -)
5) Hatsukoi - Utada Hikaru (Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Cinderella Girl - King & Prince (Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~)
2) Hatsukoi - Utada Hikaru (Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~)
3) Fall - Superfly (Anata niwa kaeru ie ga aru)
4) Don't Leave Me - BTS (Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan)
5) Kono michi wo - Oda Kazumasa (Black Pean)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Cinderella Girl - King & Prince (Hana nochi hare ~ Hanadan Next Season ~)
2) Kono michi wo - Oda Kazumasa (Black Pean)
3) Revival - Sukima Switch (Ossans Love)
4) Body Feels EXIT (from AL [Finally]) - Amuro Namie (Miss Devil Jinji no Akuma Tsubaki Mako) / Crazy Rays - V6 (Tokusou 9) / Kakumei - MOROHA (Miyamoto kara kimi e)

Source: The Televison

Top 10 Spring 2018 dramas with the highest satisfaction rating for its first episode (Oricon)

Oricon conducted a survey on 690 of its members comprising of men and women from their teens to 50s living in 18 prefectures where they gave points according to the amount of satisfaction they felt about the first episodes of Spring 2018 dramas in 5 aspects i.e. the amount of minutes they had watched, the leading actor/actress, the supporting cast, content and how much the drama is being talked about. The full score is 100 points i.e. 20 points for each aspect.

Here are the top 10 dramas with the highest scores displayed in the brackets:

Oricon's most anticipated Spring 2018 dramas ranking

Oricon conducted a survey on 1,364 people from their teens to 50s between 6 March and 12 March where they chose which Spring 2018 they are looking forward to watch. Dramas which were not announced by the TV stations before 6 March were not included in this survey and only dramas from the private networks and NHK were considered as candidates in this list.

There are two rankings here i.e. the primetime (7pm to 10pm) and midnight categories (shown after 11pm). Numbers in brackets indicate the overall weighted score in terms of anticipated ratings, leading actor/actress, supporting cast and content which account for 20 marks each. As such, the maximum score a drama can get is 80. The asterisk indicates dramas which are based on novels/manga.

Cast & character mapping between Korean and Japanese versions of "Signal"

For those who may be interested in knowing who plays which character in the Japanese remake of Korean drama "Signal", this is the list with the actors' names in brackets based on the descriptions of the characters and information announced so far with the Korean version preceding the Japanese version. After looking at this list, how do you feel about the casting decisions and has it affected your willingness to watch the Japanese version in any way?

Preview of "Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan" - Spring 2018

Title: Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan シグナル　長期未解決事件捜査班 (Signal Investigation unit for long term unresolved cases)
Official website: here
Official Instagram: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 10 April 2018
Timeslot: Tuesdays 9pm
Broadcast by: Kansai TV / FujiTV
Original drama by: tvN
Theme Song: "Don't Leave Me" by BTS
Cast: Sakaguchi Kentaro, Kitamura Kazuki, Kichise Michiko, Kimura Yuichi, Ikeda Tetsuhiro, Aono Kaede, Kamio Fuju, Komoto Masahiro, Watabe Atsuro

Supporting cast line-up of Kansai TV Spring 2018 drama "Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan" announced

The supporting cast line-up of Kansai TV Spring 2018 drama "Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan" starring Sakaguchi Kentaro had been announced. The drama is a remake of the original Korean series from tvN which was inspired by the Hwaseong serial murders and starred Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo and Cho Jin-woong.

Sakaguchi plays the lead character Saegusa Kento, a police officer who manages to connect to another police officer living in the past through a disposed walkie talkie and the two of them work together to crack unresolved cases. Saegusa works at Josai Police Station and learnt criminal profiling on his own. When he was a child, there was a kidnap-cum-murder case involving his classmate and his elder brother committed suicide due to a past case. This led Saegusa to be scarred emotionally and he has a deep distrust for the police even though he became a police officer to find the truth behind his brother's death.

Sakaguchi Kentaro to star in the Japanese remake of hit Korean drama series "Signal"

Sakaguchi Kentaro will be starring in the Japanese remake of hit Korean drama series "Signal" which will be shown via Kansai TV / FujiTV from April 2018 in the Tuesdays 9pm timeslot. The Japanese version titled "Signal Chouki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sousahan" (Signal Investigation unit for long term unresolved cases) marks Sakaguchi's first leading role in a drama series in his 9-year acting career. The original Korean drama from tvN was inspired by the Hwaseong serial murders and starred Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo and Cho Jin-woong.

Sakaguchi plays the lead character Saegusa Kento, a police officer who manages to connect to another police officer living in the past through a disposed walkie talkie and the two of them work together to crack unresolved cases. Saegusa works at Josai Police Station and learnt criminal profiling on his own. When he was a child, there was a kidnap-cum-murder case involving his classmate and his elder brother committed suicide due to a past case. This led Saegusa to be scarred emotionally and he has a deep distrust for the police even though he became a police officer to find the truth behind his brother's death.