The criteria for success - Comparing the top 10 Japanese drama titles in terms of real-time ratings and TVer viewership from Winter 2023 to Summer 2024

In the past decade or so, much has been discussed about how TV real-time ratings alone no longer reflect the true extent of a Japanese drama's success or popularity now. Gone are the days when a drama could get double-digit real-time ratings with ease and that blockbuster hits were those looking upwards from 25%. Nowadays, anything above 10% is a rarity while single-digits even for primetime dramas would hardly raise eyebrows. Reasons for these trends are aplenty including a greater variety of mediums to watch dramas on including international OTT platforms and viewers can also go to on-demand streaming platforms to catch up on shows so there is less of a need to watch something in a designated timeslot.

To get an understanding of the differences in viewing patterns and volumes when it comes to real-time ratings and on-demand platform viewership, this analysis takes data from Video Research's (VR) household real-time ratings for the Kanto region and TVer's quarterly release of its top 20 most-viewed shows on its portal. The reasons why these two sources were chosen are that VR's data has been the go-to standard for audience measurement of TV and radio shows while TVer is a free portal owned jointly by the 5 key TV networks and provides titles from all of them. 7 seasons' worth of data from Winter 2023 to the recently concluded Summer 2024 were used for the purpose of this analysis.

Let's begin by looking at some interesting observations over the 7 seasons in question:

- "VIVANT" was the only drama in the 7 seasons which took top place in terms of real-time ratings and on-demand views. 

There were also some unusual examples like "Brush up life" which got No.10 in terms of real-time ratings but was No.1 for on-demand views, "Sayonara Maestro" which was No.1 on TV but No.10 on TVer and "Anata ga shitekure nakutemo" which was No.1 on TVer but nowhere to be seen in the real-time top 10 ranking for the season.

What this suggests is that what works well in terms of attracting viewers to tune in real-time may not be the same for on-demand platforms. 

- Nowadays, even if a drama does not get a double-digit average rating for the entire season, there is still a likelihood for it to be the No.1 drama of that season if the competition isn't stiff. Examples would be "Keishicho Outsider" (9.49%) and "Gekokujou Kyuuji" (9.63%). Coincidentally or not, these two dramas were shown during the colder seasons i.e. Winter 2023 and Autumn 2023 which were said to be "good seasons" for TV dramas since people tended to stay home more when it was cold. 

And the summer season which was usually seen as a "dumping ground" for dramas since people would be out holidaying during the summer vacation, saw "VIVANT" buck the trend by being the highest rated in these 7 seasons with 14.26%.

Goes to show that weather or the season is no longer a key determinant of a drama's success in terms of real-time ratings?

- To make it to the top 10 dramas of the season in terms of real-time ratings, the average qualifying score is 7.24% which was what most top 5 dramas of the season would exceed. However, in actual fact, out of the 70 dramas in this analysis, 42 actually didn't cross this bar. The most extreme example would be the Autumn 2023 where only the top 2 exceeded this figure.

In addition, the gap between the No.1 and No.10 dramas were around the 5% mark with the least difference seen in Winter 2023 - "Keishicho Outsider" vs. "Brush up life" (3.26%) and the most difference in Summer 2023 - "VIVANT" vs. "CODE" (9.12%).

What this suggests is that the margin between the dramas outside the top 3 tends to be very small but their gaps with the top contenders is comparatively wider.

- In terms of views on TVer, the average "passing mark" to make it to the top 10 is about 24 million views for the entire season. However, depending on the competitive landscape for that season, the number of views needed to become No.1 differed greatly. 

"Brush up life" managed to get No.1 with 30.72 million views while "Futekisetsu nimo hodo ga aru!" got its title with 33.42 million views. However, "Destiny" easily got the same position with just 28.84 million views. 

On the other hand, "Anata ga shitekure nakutemo" and "VIVANT" got No.1 with 54.81 million views, "Ichiban suki na hana" got 40.26 million views but "Umi no hajimari" was far ahead of its competition with a whooping 71.48 million views. This was more than double of the second-placed "Otto no katei wo kowasu made" at 32.58 million views!

As for the cut-off point on the lower end of the ranking, it took "Reversal Orchestra" just 12.88 million views to enter the top 10 but "Kururi" and "Minami-kun no koibito" needed more than 18 million views to scrape through since most of the top 10 titles for their respective seasons were above 20 million views.

And here are the details for the 7 seasons who are interested:

While it may be difficult to quantify and set a standard criteria to determine a drama's success in terms of TV ratings and on-demand views for now, it is no longer possible for content producers like TV stations to ignore the latter market and be hung up over real-time ratings only. Some dramas may have fared poorly on TV but still gained a lot of attention through their great numbers on on-demand platforms or being talked about online. As seen from the enormous number of views for some of the blockbuster hits in these seasons, it suggests that more consumers/viewers are making a conscious choice to watch what they want at their own convenience rather than be tied down by a fixed timeslot. And since there are more measurement metrics nowadays to judge whether a drama has performed well, it is probably time for the media as well to focus less on making a hoo-ha whenever a title expected to do well e.g. with a star-studded cast or big-time actor/actress as the lead suffers from poor real-time ratings.

Times have changed so the way we look at success has to evolve as well.

Quick Review #75: 1122 Ii fuufu - Spring 2024

Title: 1122 Ii fuufu / 1122 いいふうふ (1122: For a Happy Marriage)

Rating: 8 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to watch stories about married couples who try to repair their marriages but without hysteria and/or those who are fans of the leads Takahata Mitsuki & Okada Masaki

* Currently showing on Amazon Prime Video (subject to geographical restrictions)

Liked:

- While the overall flow of the story was predictable since this topic of marriages with issues is hardly new, the way this drama handled this theme was quite comfortable to watch since there was hardly any hysteria even in confrontational scenes. On the contrary, the silent and somewhat subdued handling of these scenes came across more powerfully than a full-blown outburst as words and facial expressions turned out to be more damaging and impactful. In a way, this felt more natural and believable as things which could happen in real life between married couples.

The two main couples featured in this drama had vastly different problems yet similar in a way because they all experienced issues due to a communication breakdown. It is easy to say that you should speak your mind but the closer you are to someone, the more difficult it can be to say what you think and feel. Moreover, the worry about how the other party will receive and react to your message will probably prevent people from taking the plunge to be frank. As such, even for people who aren't married, they can probably empathise and feel for the characters since we all would have encountered similar problems in our interpersonal relationships.

The dialogue between the characters is also worthy of mention as it flowed naturally without feeling like it's stuffed with quotable quotes or things that people would not say in real life. It can get preachy if lots of lofty ideals are packed into the dialogue as well-meaning but unneeded advice.

- The acting from Takahata and Okada was superb. Not only did they look good as a couple, their great chemistry as a couple who had issues with their sex lives and tried to repair their marriage was so engaging to watch. Fans of the two of them will be delighted to see how pretty and handsome they looked in the drama - kudos to the styling team. And since the lead couple Ichiko and Otoya had their lovey-dovey and comical moments along with the seriousness of the story, it was great to a fine balance struck between these varying aspects of their characters' lives. I especially liked their interaction after their characters submitted their marriage application - so sweet!

On the other hand, Nishino Nanase and Koura Kengo's pairing might be quite gloomy to watch due to the state of the marriage and family situation but I thought that their subdued acting was something that could grow on the audience with time.

There were also quite a number of surprise cameos of which I liked Narita Ryo's role the most. He had such good rapport with Takahata even though it was just 2 scenes in the entire drama.

- The theme song by Spitz was such a perfect fit for the drama - gives off a warm and fuzzy feel like the winter sunshine while the title (literally means the song of repair) and lyrics reflected a key message in the story. Marriage is not really a goal in a relationship. It is just a milestone after which you still have to keep working on, putting in effort and doing repeated repairs in order to keep it going. The moment you take things for granted and expect everything to still work while not putting in effort, everything will just fall apart whether you mean for it to happen or not. I guess this doesn't just apply to marriage but all types of relationships in general.

Disliked: 

- The last two episodes of the drama felt a bit awkward and rushed because there was so many developments crammed within until it felt like I was getting giddy with the twists and turns. As such, I felt that these episodes deviated quite a bit in terms of style as compared to the earlier ones which took things slow and logically. I also wondered if it was due to the desire to fit the original manga's material within a single drama so the scriptwriter had to speed up in the concluding episodes.

- The premise of the drama may be quite eye-catching at first because of the "officially recognised affair" setting in the lead couple's marriage but developments after that may seem a bit predictable for those who are looking for an unconventional tale. I also thought that there could have been more information about Mitsuki and Shiro's relationship because knowing their dating days and how their marriage soured could give a clearer picture. As things stood in the drama, it felt like most of the blame was on Shiro though. Likewise, I also wondered how Otoya and Mitsuki got together but this was not featured in the drama. In a nutshell, the story feels somewhat incomplete due to these missing bits.

The 120th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2024) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
2) Anti Hero
3) Tsubame wa kaettekonai

Voters Ranking Top 5

1) Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki

2) Tokyo Tower

3) Anti Hero

4) Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~

5) Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
2) Anti Hero
3) Kyuugou 95
4) Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~

5) Kanzo wo ubawareta tsuma

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki

2) Anti Hero

3) Tsubame wa kaettekonai

4) Kisetsu no nai machi

5) Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

Source: The Television

The 120th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2024) - Best Leading Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Hasegawa Hiroki - Anti Hero

2) Kimura Takuya - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

3) Nagase Ren - Tokyo Tower

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Nagase Ren - Tokyo Tower
2) Hasegawa Hiroki - Anti Hero
3) Kimura Takuya - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -
4) Yamashita Tomohisa - Blue Moment
5) Kyomoto Taiga - Omukae Shibuya-kun

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Hasegawa Hiroki - Anti Hero
2) Takahashi Kaito - Kyuugou 95
3) Nagase Ren - Tokyo Tower
4) Yoshida Kotaro - Oi Handsome!! 2

5) Kimura Takuya - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Hasegawa Hiroki - Anti Hero
2) Kimura Takuya - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

3) Nomaguchi Tooru - VR Ojisan no hatsukoi

4) Kurokawa Souya - Karakai jouzu no Takagi-san

5) Ikematsu Sousuke - Kisetsu no nai machi

Source: The Television

The 120th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2024) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Sugisaki Hana - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
2) Nukumi Meru - Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~
3) Ishibashi Shizuka - Tsubame wa kaettekonai

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Sugisaki Hana - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
2) Nukumi Meru - Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~

3) Imada Mio - Hanasaki Mai ga damattenai

4) Kawaguchi Haruna - 9 Border

5) Ishihara Satomi - Destiny

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Sugisaki Hana - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
2) Nukumi Meru - Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~
3) Ishihara Satomi - Destiny

4) Ihara Rikka - Kanzo wo ubawareta tsuma

5) Kawaguchi Haruna - 9 Border

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Sugisaki Hana - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki

2) Ishibashi Shizuka - Tsubame wa kaettekonai

3) Nukumi Meru - Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~

4) Tsukishima Rui - Karakai jouzu no Takagi-san

5) Imada Mio - Hanasaki Mai ga damattenai

Source: The Television

The 120th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2024) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Wakaba Ryuuya - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki

2) Nomura Mansai - Anti Hero

3) Kitamura Takumi - Anti Hero

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Wakaba Ryuuya - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
2) Matsuda Genta - Tokyo Tower
3) Seto Koji - Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~
4) Tanaka Juri - Akuma Game
5) Takeuchi Ryoma - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Wakaba Ryuuya - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
2) Chiba Yuudai - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
3) Matsuda Genta - Tokyo Tower
4) Seto Koji - Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~
5) Nomura Mansai - Anti Hero

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Wakaba Ryuuya - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
2) Nomura Mansai - Anti Hero

3) Okayama Amane - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki

4) Takeuchi Ryoma - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

5) Kitamura Takumi - Anti Hero

Source: The Television

The 120th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2024) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Hotta Mayu - Anti Hero

2) Igeta Hiroe - VR Ojisan no hatsukoi
3) Amami Yuki - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Itaya Yuka - Tokyo Tower
2) Kichise Michiko - Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki
3) Amami Yuki - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -
4) Hotta Mayu - Anti Hero
5) MEGUMI - Tokyo Tower

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Hotta Mayu - Anti Hero
2) MEGUMI - Tokyo Tower

3) Itaya Yuka - Tokyo Tower
4) Amami Yuki - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -
5) Uchida Yuki - Tsubame wa kaettekonai

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Hotta Mayu - Anti Hero
2) Igeta Hiroe - VR Ojisan no hatsukoi

3) Miura Touko - Kisetsu no nai machi

4) Kurasawa Anna - VR Ojisan no hatsukoi

5) Amami Yuki - Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -

Source: The Television

The 120th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2024) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Ai ni iku no ni by Aimyon (Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki)

2) hanabata by milet (Anti Hero)

3) I wonder by Da-iCE (Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) halfmoon by King & Prince (Tokyo Tower)
2) Ai ni iku no ni by Aimyon (Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki)
3) I wonder by Da-iCE (Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~)
4) hanabata by milet (Anti Hero)
5) Sweetest Tune by Travis Japan (Tokyo Tower)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ai ni iku no ni by Aimyon (Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki)

2) hanabata by milet (Anti Hero)

3) I wonder by Da-iCE (Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~)
4) Ningen toshite by Shiina Ringo (Destiny)
5) moooove!! by King & Prince (Kyuugou 95)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ai ni iku no ni by Aimyon (Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki)

2) hanabata by milet (Anti Hero)

3) I wonder by Da-iCE (Kururi ~ Dare ga watashi to koi wo shita? ~)

4) Heartbeat by C & K (VR Ojisan no hatsukoi)

5) 366 nichi (Official Duet Version) by HY (366 nichi)

Source: The Television

Quick Review #61: Fukurou to yobareta otoko - Spring 2024

Title: Fukurou to yobareta otoko / フクロウと呼ばれた男

Rating: 3 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to see a political suspense drama but will be OK with no conclusion and answers OR are fans of Tanaka Min

Liked:

- This is ultimately Tanaka Min's show. No questions about it. He was brilliant as the fixer who stays in the background with a sharp eye and doesn't draw attention to himself just like the owl in the night. However, the downside to this was that he had such strong screen presence with his subdued charisma that even the supporting cast which can be considered star-studded really paled in comparison to him. And it was so boring in that sense because there was hardly anyone who could give him a run for his money. 

A match is only interesting if both players are of similar standards and keeps the rally going. If it's so one-sided, it's good for the dominant player but it just doesn't seem to elevate the whole production.

Disliked: 

- The concept of featuring the behind-the-scenes fixer rather than the politicians who pull the strings in the country was refreshing and had potential to be a very engaging story. However, execution and presentation were the problems here again and a drama series cannot be considered successful if it fails to "hook" the viewers to have the urge to watch the next episode. It took me way longer than expected to finish the series (just 10 episodes) because after each episode, I would just click the "X" button to close it rather than "next episode" to continue watching it. Each episode never really ended on a cliffhanger or suspenseful point to "lure" me to check out the next episode and it was quite painful from the midpoint to even watch one episode in a single sitting. No doubt things sped up considerably, that was in Ep 10 and it was already too little and too late for me. 

I understood from an interview by Variety with David Shin, the showrunner, that this drama was meant to be a multi-season series like "Alice in Borderland" by Netflix. However, the fundamental question boils down to, if this is the quality of Season 1, why would I bother checking out future seasons? While I can take it that Season 1 may just be the introduction or the beginning to the end (the ending promises better things to come), I don't think I would want to wait for months or even years for the next season to be out since Season 1 was only released in April 2024. By then, I would have clean forgotten about what I watched in Season 1 and certainly have no intention to refresh my memory by re-watching it. 

- As I mentioned above, Tanaka Min's dominance, whether by accident or by design, was a double-edged sword. What cannot be denied though is that his dominance was largely perpetuated by the storyline. While the story was positioned as a political suspense drama, a huge part of the airtime dealt with the fixer's family problems i.e. his children. This was where stereotypes of such rich and influential families were replicated here without much surprise - a father who is too busy with his life outside the family and has frosty or distant relationships with his offspring, the good-for-nothing eldest son who wants to earn the praise and love of the father but keeps fumbling, a capable daughter who probably can't be the leader of her generation because of gender or marriage issues, a second or younger son who turns out to be more like the father but is the rebel in the family or at odds with the father and a youngest child who either is the pet of the father or an outlier compared to the older siblings. And because of this, everything became so predictable and there was hardly any novelty along the way. If you are expecting some classic or very emotionally-charged family clashes like what you see in dramas such as "Karei naru ichizoku", you won't find it here because this family hardly speaks about how they truly feel to one another and emotions are subdued to the point that it feels that everyone cowers in front of the father even though the father doesn't actually do things like shout at them to shut up or threaten to do anything to them. While I don't appreciate grand dramatic outbursts, the non-action and quietness of these family scenes were draggy and sleep-inducing.

In the political arena arc, things were also bland and moved at a snail speed. Suspense was hardly noticeable because the adversary was already out there in the open from Ep 1 and frankly speaking, the villain was no match at all for Tanaka Min in terms of screen presence.

- The excessive nudity in sex scenes seems to be the norm these days in dramas on non-TV station platforms like Netflix and Disney+ where censorship rules is more relaxed. As I mentioned before in an earlier review, if such scenes do not value-add to the story, I find them extremely redundant and unnecessary for the cast to do. Nowadays, not only are actresses baring it all, even the actors go beyond baring their butts. Which makes me wonder, why were they made to do that for no reason? Sacrificing for the arts? Simply baffling!

Quick Review #55: Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki - Spring 2024

Title: Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki / アンメット　ある脳外科医の日記

Rating: 9 /10 

Recommended for: 

Those who would like to watch a down-to-earth and natural medical-cum-humanity drama without the frills and exaggeration and are fans of the cast

* Spoilers ahead!

Liked:

- Unlike a lot of medical dramas which tend to play up the dramatic factor by projecting the medical personnel as super beings who can save the day regardless of whatever serious or complicated illness they are dealing with, this drama bucked the trend by delivering the medical aspect of the story in a very down-to-earth and as a-matter-of-fact manner. For the surgical scenes which were supposed to be the "climax" or had more tension built up, there was hardly any overly dramatic BGM nor exaggerated antics by the cast to show the "superior capabilities" of the medical personnel. The complicated neurological conditions were explained so well and easy to understand even for a layman. This was extremely unusual because medical dramas tend to bombard the viewers with so much jargon and overly-complicated terms that sometimes make me wonder if these illnesses were cooked up from nowhere just to make the doctors seem like super heroes who can cure anyone. The effort put in by the production crew really shone through in making this story feel more realistic as a workplace drama set in a neurology department of a hospital and keeping the viewers in mind by explaining the medical conditions properly and clearly.

- Since the story did not require the cast to over-act, it was so comfortable to watch them fit into the shoes of their characters so nicely. Besides Sugisaki Hana and Wakaba Ryuuya taking centrestage in driving the story with their superb work, I was particularly impressed with Chiba Yuudai and Kichise Michiko's performances this time which was way more natural than any of their acting I saw in the past. Iura Arata was as good as usual while the romance story between Okayama Amane's and Ikuta Erika's characters turned out to be more interesting to watch than expected.

- The sizzling chemistry between Sugisaki Hana and Wakaba Ryuuya made the lead couple such a joy to watch. One good thing that worked to their advantage was how well the love story of Miyabi and Sanpei was crafted with proper layering and tying up the loose ends so well with one scene in the finale. On the other hand, you also cannot deny that they did really well in conveying the emotions by relying on facial expressions most of the time since there was hardly any skinship or intimate scenes. Towards the end of the season when rumours of them being romantically involved started surfacing, it may probably affect how you see their onscreen interaction but I guess it's also fun to look out for signs of whether it was love for real or reel for them.

Disliked: 

- Given that the manga had yet to finish its run by the time the drama concluded (it was finished this month), I can understand why the drama did not have a very conclusive ending. At the very least, the most important question of whether Miyabi regained her memory was answered so I'm glad that this was properly addressed. Ideally, there should have been a "happily-ever-after" showing what happens to the key characters after the ending but that probably will only come through in a SP (if it ever happens) since there probably won't be enough new material for a full sequel. On the other hand, I'm also not too keen for a sequel in case it does not match up to the quality of this drama.

Quick Review #48: Anti Hero - Spring 2024

Title: Anti Hero / アンチヒーロー

Rating: 8.5 /10 

Recommended for: 

For those who like legal/courtroom dramas with a strong humanity angle and are fans of the cast

*Do not read on if you do not wish to know the spoilers!

Liked:

- While the first couple of episodes felt like the overall direction was shrouded in mist and it was not easy to see where the story was heading towards, the pace of the developments sped up considerably from then. I have to admit though, I stopped watching for a while after Ep 3 because I felt that it was yet another legal/courtroom drama like others and there was no hook factor for me to go on watching. As the revelations after that came fast and furious with numerous twists and turns along with equally unexpected cameos - the most talked-about probably being Fukiishi Kazue who has not acted ever since she got married to Fukuyama Masaharu and she played a pivotal role this time, not a guest star who only appeared for a few inconsequential scenes. As such, I would rate this drama very highly in terms of it being engaging and compelling to watch but you do have to be patient in the beginning before the good stuff is served.

- This drama is quite unlike other legal/courtroom dramas where the protagonist is usually a hero figure who saves the weak and bullied to overcome unfairness created by wealth, status, power and position in society. This made it quite refreshing to watch and would set viewers thinking about many questions, sometimes very difficult to have a definitive answer to. The central figure in this drama i.e. Akizumi can be said to be controversial and uses questionable tactics at times to achieve his aims. While he would be considered to be more on the good side, it is indeed difficult to classify him as a true-blue hero. Besides him, even the other characters may not be considered as fully good or bad just as how life is like when black and white isn't so clear-cut too. Even though many dramas would emphasize the message that the law is supposed to treat everyone fairly and that it metes out appropriate punishment to those who are guilty, I think that many stories also do not say it as it is happening in real-life i.e. that the world is not always a better place especially when there are injustices caused by the application of law in a wrong way. It is an uncomfortable fact that is sometimes glossed over or merely hinted at so for this drama to point it out so frankly and not be politically correct about praising the legal system, I thought that this was a very unusual take on this topic and enhanced the uniqueness of this drama.

- The acting was really impressive across the board this time. While there were some who really didn't get to shine until the very end because of the way the story was designed e.g. Kimura Yoshino, there were some surprises and noteworthy performances such as Kitamura Takumi and Hotta Mayu whose acting had a newfound level of maturity (perhaps because their characters were lawyers who had a little bit of experience and they were thrown into the deep end early into the game to "grow up" quickly) or Ogata Naoto who only appeared in small pockets of airtime here and there but was able to show a full spectrum of emotions especially when his character Shimizu's story was revealed. Hasegawa Hiroki managed to carry the show well with his portrayal of Akizumi and the cross-exchanges with his co-stars especially Nomura Mansai and Kitamura were actually quite interesting to watch.

Disliked: 

- While I was generally satisfied with the story, the only issue which I had was how "obvious" or rather how stupid the baddies in the story always had to bring about their own downfalls by being too complacent and wanting to rub salt into injury for their enemies/rivals just when they thought that they had the upperhand. It happened so many times that it was becoming predictable and as the viewer, that was a sure sign that the tables would be overturned soon. Well, it is not difficult to see that such stories would probably try to make sure that the evil will have their due punishments but to have a blatant hint or pre-warning that it's coming, that just kind of spoils the fun. Not to mention how it always irritated the hell out of me to see the baddies gloating for that fleeting moment of "I think I already won" and suffer a crushing defeat later. The gratification of beating the bad guys shouldn't be diminished by an obvious warning - I know it's coming and I don't need to be told about that beforehand in such a way.

- This may be just me but whenever I see Nomura Mansai in a drama or movie, his acting style as a Kyogen stage actor seems a bit of a mismatch with TV. While I understood that Datehara was a not-so-typical prosecutor and that he was a narcistic person who only thought of his own interests but still masked his self-love and selfish actions as for the sake of his loved ones, I thought that Nomura's acting was still a bit over-the-top at times. I have to say though, I do think he acts well but somehow it's a bit too "big" for TV dramas in terms of expressiveness and scale of emotion projection.

I've read before that stage actors tend to have different ways of projecting their voices and are "bigger" or more expressive in their body languages as compared to those who appear more on TV and in movies. This is so that the audience can see their performances well regardless of where they sit in the performing venue. As such, when you put that expanded way of performing on stage within the constraints of TV dramas and movies where cameras can do close-ups and "expand" these actions and expressions to look even bigger, the stage play style of acting then looks exaggerated as a result. For those who may find stage actors like Nomura acting in a way quite different from their peers who mainly appear in TV dramas and movies, this could be the reason. 

Some actors do manage to tone down or adjust their approaches depending on the genre e.g. Nakamura Shido does a pretty good job at this. Fujiwara Tatsuya who had a lot of stage play experience in his younger days, did come across as pretty overwhelming to me back then but has also toned down quite a bit to make his acting less "in-your-face" in dramas and movies. As such, if the characters in question call for a more exaggerated or dramatic way of acting, this difference in scale of expression might not be so much of an issue. However, in Datehara's case, he was always animated and exaggerated so there wasn't any tone-down moment that could offer some respite.

Preview of "Game no na wa yuukai" - Spring 2024

Title: Game no na wa yuukai / ゲームの名は誘拐

Official website: here

O.A. Start Date: 9 Jun 2024

Timeslot: Sundays at 10pm

Broadcast by: WOWOW

Total number of episodes: 4

Original novel by: Higashino Keigo

Cast: Kamenashi Kazuya, Mikami Ai & Watabe Atsuro etc.

Preview of "Enjiya Re:act" - Spring 2024

Title: Enjiya Re:act / 演じ屋 Re:act

Official website: here

O.A. Start Date: 24 May 2024

Timeslot: Fridays at 11pm

Broadcast by: WOWOW

Total number of episodes: 7

Cast: Nao, Isomura Hayato, Miura Takahiro, Omi Toshinori, Nakagoshi Noriko, Nakao Masaki, Kasahara Shinji, Kurauchi Hideki, Aoyama Noriko, Nagase Yuzuna, Imai Kosuke, Mikawa Yuugo, Tate Gouta, Sotohara Nene, Kamichii, Yuge Tomohisa, Hakamada Yoshihiko, Aihara Mika & Kondo Koen

Preview of "Machinami terasu yatsura" - Spring 2024

Title: Machinami terasu yatsura  / 街並み照らすヤツら

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 27 April 2024

Timeslot: Saturdays at 10pm

Broadcast by: NTV

Cast: Morimoto Shintaro, Morikawa Aoi, Tsukishima Rui, Minagawa Sarutoki, Hamano Kenta, Sota Ryosuke, Hagiwara Mamoru, Funakoshi Eiichiro, Yoshikawa Ai & Uno Shohei

Preview of "Double Cheat Itsuwari no keisatsukan" - Spring 2024

Title: Double Cheat Itsuwari no keisatsukan Season 1 / ダブルチート　偽りの警察官 Season 1

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 26 April 2024

Timeslot: Fridays at 8pm

Broadcast by: TV Tokyo

Theme Song: "Shiro to kuro" by ACIDMAN

Cast: Mukai Osamu, Uchida Rio, Arakawa Yoshiyoshi, Yuki Kousei, Kamikawa Shusaku, Matsumoto Wakana, Hashimoto Jun, Kajihara Zen & Ito Atsushi

Preview of "Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi -" - Spring 2024

Title: Believe - Kimi ni kakeru hashi - / Believe - 君にかける橋 -

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 25 April 2024

Timeslot: Thursdays at 9pm

Broadcast by: TV Asahi

Theme Song: "I'll be there" by MAN WITH A MISSION

Cast: Kimura Takuya, Takeuchi Ryoma, Yamamoto Maika, Ichinose Hayate, Kitaoji Kinya, Kamikawa Takaya, Saito Takumi, Kohinata Fumiyo & Amami Yuki

Preview of "Blue Moment" - Spring 2024

Title: Blue Moment / ブルーモーメント

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 24 April 2024

Timeslot: Wednesdays at 10pm

Broadcast by: FujiTV

Original manga by: Ozawa Kana

Theme Song: "Legendary" by Bon Jovi

Insert Song: "Perfect Storm" by Yamashita Tomohisa (feat. TAEHYUN of TOMORROW X TOGETHER)

Cast: Yamashita Tomohisa, Deguchi Natsuki, Mizukami Koushi, Okada Dai, Nimura Sawa, Watanabe Keisuke, Tamada Shiori, Kaho, Hiraiwa Kami, Otoo Takuma, Honda Tsubasa, Maya Miki & Tachi Hiroshi

Preview of "Tokyo Tower" - Spring 2024

Title: Tokyo Tower / 東京タワー

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 20 April 2024

Timeslot: Saturdays at 11pm

Broadcast by: TV Asahi

Original novel by: Ekuni Kaori

Theme Song: "halfmoon" by King & Prince

Cast: Nagase Ren, Itaya Yuka, Matsuda Genta, MEGUMI, Nagase Riko, Naenano, Ikeda Akana, Oideyasu Oda, Komoto Masahiro & YOU

Preview of "JK to roppouzensho" - Spring 2024

Title: JK to roppouzensho / JKと六法全書

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 19 April 2024

Timeslot: Fridays at 11.15pm

Broadcast by: TV Asahi

Theme Song: "Damasarenai kara ne" by Riria

Cast: Kouzawa Sara, Daito Shunsuke, Hyuga Wataru, Higashino Ayaka, Yamato Nao, Usui Moene, Morita Shuri, Hanada Yurine, Tomonaga Anji, Yamato, Date Satoru, Yukihira Aika, Nagao Yuno, Emoto Akira & Kuroki Hitomi

Preview of "9 Border" - Spring 2024

Title: 9 (Nine) Border / 9 (ナイン) ボーダー

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 19 April 2024

Timeslot: Fridays at 10pm

Broadcast by: TBS

Cast: Kawaguchi Haruna, Kinami Haruka, Hata Mei, Inowaki Kai, Kido Taisei, Yamanaka Sou, Ito Shunsuke, Uchida Chika, Iwaya Kenji, Yanai Yumena, Okumura Kae, Yazaki Hiroshi, Hyoudou Takumi, YOU & Matsushita Kouhei