Attention time vs. real-time ratings - a new way of tracking actual interest and popularity of Japanese dramas

As we are already aware, real-time ratings are no longer the "sole go-to standard" when it comes to determining whether a TV drama is considered popular or a hit in terms of viewership. Not only is this due to the variety of entertainment sources we get these days and changing content consumption habits from real-time viewing to on-demand which fits individual schedules, the phenomenon of "nagarami" (ながら見) is also an important factor that is not reflected in traditional real-time ratings tracking. 

I'm sure many of us would have done this before - fiddling with our phones, doing something else such as eating or doing household chores while supposedly "watching TV". I admit that I do that quite a lot and sometimes have to backtrack when I miss important information along the way during the times when I get distracted from the TV screen. This happens quite a lot especially for variety shows where I don't keep my eyes glued on what's happening and just listens to the dialogue while looking up only if something catches my attention. 

What this essentially means is that we are dividing our attention between the TV screen and whatever we are doing at the same time. As such, a TV show may see high viewership ratings but we are unable to judge if viewers are turning it on for the sake of having some background noise in the house or a habitual thing to do for some who turn on the TV as soon as they reach home. Considering that most if not all of us would pay full attention to something only if it truly interests us, the nagarami impact is a very important measure of viewer interest that has often gone unnoticed or not factored in during discussions of real-time or on-demand viewership.

The thing is, under traditional ratings monitoring, simply turning on the TV, choosing to let the TV show run in the background but actually not watching this is sufficient to create the false impression that a particular TV show is "popular".  As such, REVISIO's technology to measure "eyeball time" or rather attention time is an interesting product which may be the way to go in time to come so as to give more context and meaning in the measurement of genuine interest and popularity of a TV show.

REVISIO's tracking system involves the attachment of a human sensor attached to the top of the TV screen which allows the identification of viewership data in households that can be attributed to individuals. Under traditional monitoring which tracks selection of shows via remote controls, it does not offer granular data on who (gender and age group), how many people in the household and for long they are watching the show. As such, even if the TV is set on a particular channel at a specific time, there is no information on who chose that, who was watching it and for how long. On the other hand, REVISIO allows tracking by the second and can even identify who is watching what and for how long. If the person in the household is simply sitting in front of the TV screen but his or her eyes are not watching the show, it will not be counted as viewership time. Since only pre-registered individuals in the household concerned will only be tracked, guests who visit the household won't be counted in the data. 

The level of detail in the data allows the pin-pointing of which scenes, for how long was the viewer watching the show, who (gender, age group etc.) was watching what thus giving content creators and producers a better idea of what caught the viewers' interest and helps in shaping future production efforts. Advertisers can also get a better idea on the viewership numbers and plan their advertising budgets and plans accordingly. As for how the system determines what the viewer was watching, there is a sound recognition system which allows the identification of the TV show based on the audio. And unlike traditional tracking, this system enables the tracking of viewership not only on real-time broadcasts but also viewing through connected TVs to platforms like TVer, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. 

At the moment, REVISIO's website states that they have 2,000 households in the Kanto region and 600 in the Kansai region participating in the viewership monitoring which is expected to expand further. In contrast, Video Research has the following number of households participating in its viewership monitoring on a nationwide basis:

- Kanto region = 2,700 

- Kansai region = 1,200

- Nagoya = 600

- Kitakyushu and Sapporo = 400 each

- Sendai, Hiroshima, Shizuoka, Nagano, Fukushima, Niigata, Okayama / Kagawa, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Kanazawa, Yamagata, Iwate, Tottori / Shimane, Ehime, Toyama, Yamaguchi, Akita, Aomori, Oita, Okinawa, Kochi, Miyazaki, Yamanashi, Fukui, Saga & Tokushima = 200 each

In order to get a better understanding of how both monitoring systems come up with vastly different results in terms of viewer interest and popularity, there have been some articles in the media discussing these differences. 

For example, FRIDAY had an article analysing the first-episode real-time ratings of Summer 2024 dramas vs. the individual attention percentage data from REVISIO. The table above shows the top 15 titles based on REVISIO's data but the top 2 in terms of individual attention percentage were nowhere near the top 20 in terms of real-time ratings. Coincidentally or not, the top 2 were late-night dramas so it is to be expected that real-time ratings will definitely be much lower than primetime broadcasts. However, if people bother to stay up for the live broadcast or record the show for later viewing, it seems to suggest that there is a conscious effort made to watch the title. Perhaps this makes it understandable as to why the viewers paid more undivided attention while watching it. 

In contrast, "Black Pean Season 2" may have secured the highest debut rating on real-time but the actual amount of time that people spent "looking" at the TV screen was just 66.4% and that's more than 15% lesser than the No.1 title "Anata no fukushuu, jikkyou shimasu!". "Umi no hajimari" may have gathered quite a bit of traction online in terms of being discussed on social media or its on-demand viewership numbers on TVer but REVISIO's data shows that actual attention time seems to be on the low side i.e. outside of the top 10. What this seems to suggest is that a drama may have high real-time ratings but whether viewers are actually devoting their attention to the TV or doing something else at the same time is something that needs to be looked into further.

The table also shows the individual attention percentage broken down into gender groups where some dramas had a much higher percentage in one gender group while some were roughly about the same. For example, the No.1 on REVISIO's table saw a 90.0% attention percentage in male viewers vs. 56.3% in female viewers but "Mountain Doctor" saw the reverse where 72.4% of female viewers paid attention to the show vs. 62.3% from male viewers. The most lopsided example in the table above should be "Kabe ni naritai otaku no atashi" which saw a high attention percentage of 93.5% in male viewers but a paltry 8.3% in female viewers. Given such trends, advertisers and content producers can then see who the core viewers are and adjust their offerings accordingly for the catchment target.

Looking at figures from another season i.e. Autumn 2024 published on MyNavi News, the table above shows REVISIO's data for the finale vs. the real-time ratings and the attention percentage for the first episode of these dramas. While the top 2 in terms of real-time ratings i.e. "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" and "The Travel Nurse" are also in the top 10 in terms of attention percentage, NHK's "3000-man" and "Sora wataru kyoushitsu" actually managed to hold the attention of the viewers much longer despite single-digit ratings below 5%. In a way, the low ratings are somewhat expected since you need to be a subscriber to access NHK's shows real-time compared to the other TV stations but there is another option for people to watch NHK's dramas on TVer nowadays anyway. 

Another interesting thing to note is how some dramas managed to hold the attention of their viewers from start to finish vs. those which became more engaging later and those which made viewers lose interest. "3000-man" was tops in terms of its attention percentage for its first and final episodes while "Sora wataru kyoushitsu" surged from No.15 for its first episode to No.2 for its finale. In contrast, "Wakakusa Monogatari" slipped from No.3 for its first episode to No.17 by the time it ended.

In terms of the gender preferences, the top 3 most attention-grabbing dramas for male viewers were "3000-man", "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" and "Tamiou R" while the ladies preferred "3000-man", "Sora wataru kyoushitsu" and "Lion no kakurega". This seems to suggest that "3000-man" is a crowd favourite across the board just like "Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo" which saw a small difference of 0.3% only between both genders.

It will probably take a longer time of monitoring and comparison of the results from both measurement systems to gain a more meaningful conclusion and observe any prevalent trends. However, given the data which has been shared thus far, it does show that there is indeed a difference between just turning on the TV and actually watching the show. While I think REVISIO's system has the potential of taking out the nagarami factor out of the measurement of a drama's actual popularity and interest level, their sample size is still somewhat small and restricted in terms of geographical reach. As such, it will be worth paying attention to how these differences will play out in future and shape the consensus on what it truly means to be a hit drama - is it going to be real-time ratings, on-demand viewership or actual attention percentage, a mix of these parameters or one aspect going to be weighted more than the others?

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.

The 121st Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2024) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
2) Tora ni tsubasa
3) Shinjuku Yasen Byouin

Voters Ranking Top 5

1) Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai

2) Umi no hajimari

3) Black Pean Season 2

4) Billion x School

5) Hidamari ga kikoeru

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
2) Tora ni tsubasa
3) Shinjuku Yasen Byouin

4) Kazoku dakara aishitan janakute, aishita no ga kazoku datta

5) Otto no katei wo kowasu made

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Shinjuku Yasen Byouin

2) Tora ni tsubasa

3) Ano ko no kodomo

4) Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai

5) Classmate no joshi, zenin suki deshita

Source: The Television

The 121st Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2024) - Best Leading Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Meguro Ren - Umi no hajimari

2) Nakano Taiga - Shinjuku Yasen Byouin

3) Ninomiya Kazunari - Black Pean Season 2

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Meguro Ren - Umi no hajimari
2) Ninomiya Kazunari - Black Pean Season 2
3) Yamada Ryosuke - Billion x School
4) Watanabe Shota - Aoshima-kun wa ijiwaru
5) Narita Ryo - Furitsumore kodoku na shi yo

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Meguro Ren - Umi no hajimari
2) Nakano Taiga - Shinjuku Yasen Byouin
3) Ninomiya Kazunari - Black Pean Season 2
4) Narita Ryo - Furitsumore kodoku na shi yo

5) Yamada Ryosuke - Billion x School

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Nakano Taiga - Shinjuku Yasen Byouin
2) Meguro Ren - Umi no hajimari

3) Yamada Ryosuke - Billion x School

4) Takahashi Fumiya - Densetsu no head Sho

Ninomiya Kazunari - Black Pean Season 2

Source: The Television

The 121st Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2024) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Ito Sairi - Tora ni tsubasa
2) Matsumoto Wakana - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
3) Koike Eiko - Shinjuku Yasen Byouin

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Matsumoto Wakana - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
2) Ito Sairi - Tora ni tsubasa

3) Nakamura An - Aoshima-kun wa ijiwaru

4) Koshiba Fuuka - GO HOME ~ Keishicho mimoto fumeinin soudanshitsu ~

5) Koike Eiko - Shinjuku Yasen Byouin

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ito Sairi - Tora ni tsubasa
2) Matsumoto Wakana - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
3) Matsumoto Marika - Otto no katei wo kowasu made

4) Kawai Yumi - Kazoku dakara aishitan janakute, aishita no ga kazoku datta

5) Matsushita Nao - Sky Castle

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Koike Eiko - Shinjuku Yasen Byouin

2) Ito Sairi - Tora ni tsubasa

3) Kawai Yumi - Kazoku dakara aishitan janakute, aishita no ga kazoku datta

4) Matsumoto Wakana - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai

5) Sakurada Hiyori - Ano ko no kodomo

Source: The Television

The 121st Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2024) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Matsumura Hokuto - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai

2) Sakurai Sho - Warau Matoryoushika

3) Ikematsu Sousuke - Umi no hajimari

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Matsumura Hokuto - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
2) Ikematsu Sousuke - Umi no hajimari
3) Abe Ryouhei - GO HOME ~ Keishicho mimoto fumeinin soudanshitsu ~
4) Takeuchi Ryoma - Black Pean Season 2
5) Mukai Koji - Mountain Doctor

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Matsumura Hokuto - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
2) Sakurai Sho - Warau Matoryoushika
3) Nomura Kouta - Otto no katei wo kowasu made
4) Ikematsu Sousuke - Umi no hajimari
5) Tozuka Junki - Tora ni tsubasa

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Hosoda Kanata - Ano ko no kodomo
2) Sakurai Sho - Warau Matoryoushika

3) Matsuyama Kenichi - Tora ni tsubasa

Yoshida Aoi - Kazoku dakara aishitan janakute, aishita no ga kazoku datta

5) Ikematsu Sousuke - Umi no hajimari

Source: The Television

The 121st Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2024) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Doi Shiori - Tora ni tsubasa

2) Arimura Kasumi - Umi no hajimari
3) Ishida Yuriko - Tora ni tsubasa

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kurata Ema - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
2) Izutani Rana - Umi no hajimari
3) Arimura Kasumi - Umi no hajimari
4) Kinami Haruka - Billion x School
5) Ooshima Yuuko - GO HOME ~ Keishicho mimoto fumeinin soudanshitsu ~

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Arimura Kasumi - Umi no hajimari
2) Doi Shiori - Tora ni tsubasa

3) Kurata Ema - Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai
4) Koyuki - Sky Castle
Ootake Shinobu - Umi no hajimari

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ishida Yuriko - Tora ni tsubasa
2) Doi Shiori - Tora ni tsubasa

3) Kayashima Mizuki - Ano ko no kodomo

Izutani Rana - Umi no hajimari

Hashimoto Ai - Shinjuku Yasen Byouin

Source: The Television

The 121st Drama Academy Awards (Summer 2024) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Sayounara mata itsuka - Yonezu Kenshi (Tora ni tsubasa)

2) Atarashii koibitotachi ni - back number (Umi no hajimari)

3) Zarame - Aimyon (Furitsumore kodoku na shi yo)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) strawberry - BUMP OF CHICKEN (Saionji-san wa kaji wo shinai)
2) Atarashii koibitotachi ni - back number (Umi no hajimari)
3) Kimi wa boku no mono - Snow Man (Aoshima-kun wa ijiwaru)
4) Sayounara mata itsuka - Yonezu Kenshi (Tora ni tsubasa)
5) Sono saki ni aru mono - Oda Kazumasa (Black Pean Season 2)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Sayounara mata itsuka - Yonezu Kenshi (Tora ni tsubasa)

2) Atarashii koibitotachi ni - back number (Umi no hajimari)

3) Zarame - Aimyon (Furitsumore kodoku na shi yo)
4) Koukyuu French yori anata to tsukuru shinya no French toast ga suki - SARM (Otto no katei wo kowasu made)
5) Koi no bugiugi night - Southern All Stars (Shinjuku Yasen Byouin)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Sayounara mata itsuka - Yonezu Kenshi (Tora ni tsubasa)

2) Atarashii koibitotachi ni - back number (Umi no hajimari)

Wasurete kudasai - Yorushika (GO HOME ~ Keishicho mimoto fumeinin soudanshitsu ~)

Charade - Superfly (Maruhi no Mitsuko-san)

5) Ruru - Ado (Billion x School)

Source: The Television

Quick Review #78: Shrink ~ Seishinkai Yowai ~ - Summer 2024

Title: Shrink ~ Seishinkai Yowai ~ / シュリンク ~ 精神科医弱井 ~

Rating: 7 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who want to watch a short mental health-themed drama with a soft touch and/or are fans of Nakamura Tomoya

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

Liked:

- Stories about mental health issues can sometimes be a bit emotionally-charged especially in the past which inevitably paints people with such conditions in a rather negative light. This drama did not go down that path and instead tried to reinforce the message that anyone can come down with a mental health issue just like any other physical ailments and that there is more help available than you know about and think of. The whole atmosphere of the drama including the soft colours in clinic seemed to be aimed at putting people at ease while balancing out the more emotional scenes when the patients had their outbursts and breakdowns.

One of the lines in the drama was especially worth considering - do you want to live in a country where there are many people who seek help for mental health issues but with a low suicide rate vs. one where there are seemingly lesser people with mental health issues but with a high suicide rate? Sometimes, not talking about something doesn't mean that it doesn't exist so I thought that this question was quite applicable in many situations and makes us reconsider if what we are seeing on the surface is reflective of reality. 

And the point about no issue is too small and that you don't have to wait till something becomes very serious before seeking help - hopefully, this helps in lowering the hurdle to seeking psychiatric or psychological help as soon as possible.

- Nakamura Tomoya was a very reassuring presence on screen as the slightly unusual and a bit eccentric psychiatrist Yowai (pun on his surname which means weak). And I am sure, his voice will put you at ease as well, regardless of whether you are his fan or not.

Disliked: 

- The length of the drama is a double-edged sword. It is easy to get started with watching this because there are only three episodes. However, the drama ended before I knew it and there were so many questions about the main storyline which were thrown at the viewers but not answered as yet. Given that there should be more material from the manga that could be used, I would expect that there would be a sequel to tell the story in its entirety. The thing is, this drama was made by NHK, not Amazon Prime Video so it is difficult to tell if and when a sequel will be made. As such, the feeling of dissatisfaction loomed over me when I finished the drama - too little and definitely not enough.

- Other than Nakamura who took centrestage in this story, the other key characters played by Tsuchiya Tao, Igeta Hiroe, Sakai Wakana, Miura Takahiro and Takezai Terunosuke felt quite flat and one-dimensional due to the lack of airtime for their development. Hopefully, this would be something that could be resolved with a sequel.

The gradual blurring of boundaries in Japanese drama seasons - its causes and potential implications

For those who may not be aware or familiar with the Japanese drama broadcast schedule, the year is broadly divided into 4 quarters of 3 months each based on seasons:

January to March - Winter

April to June - Spring

July to September - Summer

October to December - Autumn

As such, the start date is usually taken to be the determining factor as to which season the drama in question falls under. However, this classification method is becoming more of a challenge to apply and the boundaries being increasingly blurred as the start dates of dramas are getting spread out more so than ever as seen in more examples of dramas supposedly being classified under one season but having start and end dates falling outside of the three-month period. 

If you have been following this blog for some time, you may have wondered about the classification of such "outliers". Just to clarify, my basis of classification is mainly based on start dates following the above-mentioned boundaries but there have been some instances when the TV stations pegged outliers under specific seasons so I tried to follow accordingly e.g. a drama begins on 30 Jun but is classified as a Summer drama. As for those which did not start in the first month of the respective seasons i.e. January, April, July and October, I would have tagged them accordingly based on their respective start dates. This happens quite often for NHK and WOWOW dramas which usually do not last an entire three months and they typically do not follow this 3-month system practised by the private TV stations. Nowadays, I also apply this classification for the OTT dramas from Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video since their start dates are varied and do not follow the seasons.

This article from News Post Seven looks into this trend of staggered start dates for new dramas from the key TV stations by examining the causes for the phenomenon and the potential implications. It begins with introducing an unusual example observed in the Summer 2024 and Autumn 2024 seasons where one drama ended and one drama started on the same day and at the same time.

This happened on 6 October 2024 at 10.30pm when TV Asahi's Summer drama "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" starring Ikuta Erika aired its finale and NTV's Autumn drama "Wakakusa Monogatari - Koisuru shimai to koisenu watashi -" starring Hotta Mayu started its run. The reason why this happened was said to be due to the Paris Olympics broadcast and TBS' Sundays 9pm timeslot.

Usually, Summer dramas are supposed to wrap up in September but "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" delayed its start by more than a month as compared to its competitors in the same season i.e. 18 August. Its timeslot of Sundays 10pm was actually used for the live broadcast of Olympics events on 4 August while other TV stations did the same at the same time on 28 July and 11 August. TVer was also doing almost-full coverage for the events live at the same time during the Summer drama season. This would have affected the real-time ratings of the drama broadcasts across the board so the delayed start was said to be meant to mitigate the effects of these "distractors".

At the same time, TBS ' signature timeslot at Sundays 9pm tends to have "extended" episodes which would eat into TV Asahi's potential viewership for the Sundays 10pm timeslot. Looking at this summer's "Black Pean Season 2" starring Ninomiya Kazunari, 4 out of 10 episodes were extended beyond 10pm. As such, to avoid this strong competition as much as possible, it was also seen to be why TV Asahi chose to start their drama much later in the season.

In fact, TV Asahi seems to be intent on avoiding overlapping with TBS on Sunday nights because not only did they arrange for their Autumn 2024 offering "My Diary" starring Kiyohara Kaya starting from 20 October, they also pushed back the start time of this drama's timeslot by 15 minutes to 10.15pm. While TV Asahi's official reason for the change in timing was attributed to their new programme "Udo Times" showing from 8.56pm to 10.15pm, the move was still seen as a tactic to avoid clashing with the highly popular TBS Sundays 9pm timeslot and gather as much real-time ratings as possible.

The situation with TV Asahi and NTV would also not have happened if not for TV Asahi pushing back the finale of "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" by 30 minutes for the 90-min extended first episode of "Udo Times" on the same evening. As such, what was initially meant to be a partial overlap became a direct clash between both dramas on 6 October 2024. In case you are wondering, as at this point of writing this post, the rating for "Wakakusa Monogatari" is still unknown while "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" got 3.1% for its finale - so we don't know yet who was the victor on that night.

 

Although there are as many as 16 different timeslots in the golden/primetime timebelt (7pm to 11pm) among the key TV stations, none of them actually overlap with one another which is believed to be a unspoken mutual understanding among the TV stations to avoid competing with other dramas in the same timeslot and get higher real-time ratings. From this autumn though, FujiTV and TV Asahi will be vying for viewership in the Tuesdays 9pm timeslot. 

 

The situation that happened this time certainly isn't unique to the two TV stations in question and very likely to happen again. All the key stations are making decisions on broadcast dates to suit their individual programming strategies while grappling with the fact that real time ratings are lower than before across the board due to the change in viewing preferences from real-time viewing to recordings and on-demand viewing. As such, the issue of overlapping timeslots for real-time broadcasts actually would not matter that much if viewers are watching their favourite dramas at their own time. In my case, I pay attention to the schedule for the sake of knowing when to keep a lookout for the latest episode to be released/updated on the portals I use. While TVer usually does have "live broadcast" of the key stations in the evenings, I don't bother tuning in live because the timings usually don't work for me.

In the face of such "delayed" and "ad-hoc" viewing habits, it has become more important than ever for the TV stations to secure real-time ratings. As seen from the trend of staggering start dates and timings, it is obvious that the TV stations are trying their best to get higher ratings over their competitors since this will affect their advertising revenue. On streaming platforms, you usually don't see the ads unless it operates like YouTube where your viewing experience is interrupted from time to time with paid ads. 

Based on TVer's feature page for Autumn 2024 dramas, you can see that the start dates for this season range from 1 October to as late as 4 November. Obviously, if a drama starts later in the season, it will end late or even "eat into the next season" if it cannot finish within the three-month period. Unless it's a planned schedule where a drama stretches over 2 seasons such as "Anata no ban desu" or "Aibou", the staggering of start dates will no doubt have a ripple effect on subsequent works or the competing shows in the same timeslot. If the reason for the change is mostly due to one-off or exceptional events like the Olympics, prior planning can be done to mitigate the impact of lower ratings. However, for ad-hoc stuff or unexpected events like extended news reporting for natural disasters, how to adapt the programming to fit in these "disruptors" will be a great test to all TV stations.

As what the article pointed out, the start dates and timeslots of the dramas probably don't matter as much to the viewers these days than to the key private TV stations. For one, NHK and WOWOW have all along been dishing out dramas on irregular schedules as compared to the other key TV stations although I would say that this may be more related to most of their dramas being shorter than half a season rather than a calculated move to avoid competition. And beside, their business model doesn't rely on advertisement income and real-time ratings. To them, timeslots aren't probably not as big a consideration when it comes to the programming schedule. 

As for OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, what's most critical for them is the release date. And since most, if not all of the things they produce are released at one go, the timeslot is not an issue since people watch the shows at their own convenience anyway. However, Disney+ tends to like the practice of releasing shows on a weekly basis so they might have more to consider in this regard i.e. the day of the week when a new episode is uploaded on top of the release date.

One other thing to consider will be the drama awards and ratings ranking. As it is right now, "Subarashikikana, Sensei!" was left out of some ratings ranking tables for the Summer 2024 season which I saw online because of its unusual start and end dates. In addition, it was not listed as a nominee for voting in the Summer 2024 season for The 121st Drama Academy Awards because it had not finished its run by the time the voting exercise started and ended. Does that mean that this drama will be considered in the Autumn 2024 pool even though it had only 1 episode shown in October? So for a drama which starts in the final days of the current year and runs mostly in the next year, will it be considered a current year or next year's drama?

What's obvious now is that as the boundaries between the seasonal dramas get increasingly blurred, there may come a day when determining which season the drama falls under becomes difficult to judge. From the perspective of the viewer, will this have an impact on your choice of dramas to watch? Or will it be a non-issue after all? As for the TV stations, while timeslots will be critical in determining advertisement income, perhaps the more critical thing is to make sure that your shows are so good that people will be inclined to watch it in real-time even if the timing may be very inconvenient.

Cross-border collaborations are the way to go? - About the trend of Korean actors appearing in Japanese dramas and movies

Came across this article from FRIDAY Digital which offers some theories as to why TBS has been adding Korean actors to their dramas of late and if this really helps to boost the international appeal and ratings of their productions.

Here are the key observations they made in this article:

* In "Black Pean Season 2" which recently ended its run, not only did they have Choi Ji-woo appear as a guest in the first episode, Kim Mu-jun also appeared as a regular cast member in the drama. Choi was the female lead in the Korean drama "Winter Sonata" which was a major hit in Japan 20 years ago so she is well-known in Japan. Kim made his debut in the 2020 Web drama "New Learn" and is an upcoming actor who had won the newcomer award in MBC Drama Awards 2023.

"Black Pean Season 2" had the highest average rating in the Summer 2024 season with all episodes but the 4th on 28 July 2024 having double-digit ratings.

* Likewise in the Winter 2024 season, TBS drama "Eye Love You" starred Nikaidou Fumi as the lead with Korean actor Chae Jong Hyeop being her love interest. It was reported that his popularity in Japan soared thanks to this drama that his fan event held in Tokyo during the drama's run attracted 32,885 applicants for 850 slots.

* On the other hand, TBS' mega hit "VIVANT" from Summer 2023 may have done brilliantly in Japan but failed to do well after its international release on Netflix since December 2023. This was said to be the catalyst for TBS rethinking its strategy to make its dramas more "appealing" to the international audience i.e. by resorting to incorporating Korean actors into their dramas' cast lineup. 

* As it is right now, popular content on Netflix tends to be dominated by Korean titles even in the Japanese market. While "Black Pean 2" may have been a constant on Netflix's Japan Top 10, it hasn't achieved the same kind of attention in South Korea yet. If more familiar Korean names will appear in Japan's dramas, it is hoped that there will be a Japanese drama which will attract a lot of attention in other markets including South Korea.

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Actually, the trend of getting Korean actors to appear in Japanese dramas is hardly anything new. My guess is that this article is highlighting TBS as an example because they had more examples within a year so it gave the impression as if they were doing this a lot more than their competitors.

Back in 2006, TBS produced the drama "Rondo" which starred Choi in her first appearance in a J-drama alongside with Takenouchi Yutaka. Given this prior collaboration and that Choi had a new movie to be shown in Japan from August 2024, it probably made a lot of business sense for her to do a guest appearance in "Black Pean 2". As for Kim Mu-jun who played her son in the drama and became a regular fixture in the cast, I can't say for sure how big his role was since I only watched one episode of the drama but it certainly didn't look like a major supporting role. And I honestly doubt that the success of "Black Pean Season 2" would be attributed more to Kim than in "Eye Love You" where Chae was the male lead.

As for the point made about "VIVANT" being a flop in the international market, I must say in its defence that the title didn't seem to be "pushed" that aggressively at least from the promotional emails I got from Netflix when it was first released internationally on the platform. If people didn't even know about the presence of this title through such promotional emails or the recommendations on Netflix itself, people aren't going to watch it. If you are talking about algorithms on such OTT platforms which determines what content they are pushing to their subscribers, then it makes little sense for them not to push "VIVANT" to me because I watch more J-content than K-content on Netflix as a whole. Besides, I also think that "VIVANT" is a pretty unconventional J-drama in many ways so it may not be so palatable to the international audience or those who are used to the usual J-drama style and genres.

In the past, there were quite a number of Korean actors and idols who had appeared in J-dramas made by other TV stations and movies. Especially when the Korean Wave was really big in Japan, there were some really top-level actors who were featured in the lineups to the extent that there were complaints over this influx. As you can see, FujiTV actually stands out a bit more than the others in this list of past productions featuring Korean stars:

- EXO's Kai in WOWOW 2018 drama "Haru ga kita"

- SHINee's Taemin in Amazon Prime Video 2017 drama "Final Life - Ashita, kimi ga kietemo -"

- N.Flying's Kim Jae-hyun in NTV 2021 drama "Kimi to sekai ga owaru hi ni"

- Shin Eun-kyung in 2019 movie "Shinbun Kisha", 2020 TV Asahi drama "Shichinin no hisho" and TBS 2023 drama "100 mankai ieba yokatta" etc.

- Kara's Jiyoung in 2018 movie "Reon", 2019 movie "Tokyo Ghoul S", 2015 TV Asahi drama "Tamiou" etc.

- Lee Byung-hun in 2007 FujiTV drama "HERO" and 2011 FujiTV drama "Gaikoukan Kuroda Kousaku"

- Song Seung-heon in 2010 movie "Ghost Mouichido dakishimetai"

- So Ji-sub in 2008 movie "Gegege no Kitaro Sennen noroiuta"

- Lee Junki in 2007 movie "Hatsuyuki no koi Virgin Snow"

- Jae-joong in 2010 FujiTV drama "Sunao ni narenakute"

- Lee Hong-gi in 2011 MBS drama "Muscle Girl!"

- Kim Tae-hee in 2011 FujiTV drama "Boku to star no 99 nichi"

- 2PM's Taec-yeon in 2011 FujiTV drama "Boku to star no 99 nichi"

At present, it does look like there are more cross-border collaborations between both countries especially in the post-COVID era. These are just some examples which are in the making or about to be shown between Japan and South Korea as cited in this article. Interestingly, these are all made by OTT networks - first title by COUPANG PLAY while the other two are from Netflix. As such, it does seem like OTT platforms may be a key driving force for such collaborations in time to come vs. local TV stations in both countries:

* Ai no ato ni kuru mono  / What Comes After Love - Sakaguchi Kentaro & Lee Se-young

* Kono koi, tsuuyaku dekimasuka? - Fukushi Souta & Go Youn-jung

* Romantic Anonymous - Oguri Shun & Han Hyo-joo

Personally, if my favourite actor/actress appears in an international or non-domestic production, it may spur me to check it out for a quick glance especially if it's just a cameo - little time investment is required on my part. If he/she takes on the lead role or a significant supporting role, it may tempt me to stay on for longer. However, if the story just doesn't interest me or my liking for that actor/actress is not strong enough, chances are, I won't bother taking a look. As such, using favourite actors/actresses as a bait may not be as effective as what people think unless there's some compelling reason for viewers to bite the bait and all elements in the production can attract people to stay on.

To me, the cast is like the first impression or façade of a production. It will definitely catch my attention and make me want to find out more about the title if the lineup is appealing. However, if the synopsis doesn't have something which hooks me or the work just doesn't click with me even after watching a bit of the movie or the first episode of a series, I doubt that I will stick around to the end.

As for these cross-border collaborations, if there is a good reason for doing that e.g. the story calls for an international romance or the story is set in such a way that you need people from different countries coming together, I'm all for it. However, if the arrangement is so forced or awkward such as having a foreigner play a local who can't even speak the local language like a native, then it's probably best not to head down that path and end up not achieving the desired effect.

Quick Review #70: Mountain Doctor - Summer 2024

Title: Mountain Doctor / マウンテンドクター

Rating: 6 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who are interested in watching a medical drama set against the backdrop of breathtaking scenery on mountains

Liked:

- The most eye-catching element of this drama has got to be the magnificent aerial shots of beautiful scenery on the Northern Alps (stretching across multiple prefectures) mainly in the Nagano Prefecture area. At the same time, since the key characters actually climbed the mountains for the filming, this helped to make the shots look more realistic and more engaging to watch as a viewer rather than just using stock images or CG to pass off for the real thing.

- The first episode started in a slightly unexpected way - most if not all the time, the lead character usually goes somewhere for further studies or to pursue his dream at the end of the story. However, in this drama, this kind of standard development happened right at the beginning when Miyamoto (Sugino Yosuke) headed off for training to become a mountain doctor at the end of Ep 1. To add on to the surprise factor, Emori (Oomori Nao) was left out of MMT on purpose because of a lawsuit and medical dispute with a patient's family. Under normal circumstances, the mentor would have been around in the newly set-up MMT to put the lead character through some tough training but to have the mentor absent and the newbie to be the "leader" from the start made me look forward to seeing more surprises from the story.

- Sugino Yosuke was able to show the "transition" of his character convincingly over the course of the story. From being someone who was made to join MMT begrudgingly at first to taking the initiative to go overseas for training, he really appeared as a "matured" version by the time he returned to his hospital after getting the necessary certification. However, being armed with knowledge didn't mean that he would be able to handle any situation that came his way or apply what he learned accordingly. As such, I quite liked the few episodes after Ep 1 where he slowly lost his confidence and was humbled into the realisation that he was still far from a full-fledged mountain doctor.

Disliked: 

- While the story appeared pretty promising at first with some unconventional settings e.g. the mystery over Emori's deep disdain and "hatred" for mountains despite being a qualified mountain doctor, things started to get pretty predictable from the mid-point onwards. For example, the appearance of adversaries trying to get MMT dissolved or the idea of having doctors go into the mountains to provide on-site medical care being seen as something that's unrealistic and dangerous were developments which I had expected to pop up at some time. It would have been better if the adversaries had a stronger justification to block the MMT's work (the reason just seemed awfully petty and ridiculous at one point) or that the dilemma over ensuring the medical staff's safety while saving others didn't get so drawn out and draggy.

I also didn't like the part where someone of a certain status in society could get away with no repercussions for posting untruths on her social media account especially the part about offering condolences to Emori when he hadn't even passed away. I thought it would have been good to address this inappropriate action but I wonder if the scriptwriter forgot about this for some reason or perhaps a related scene was edited out?

- While the other cast members did reasonably well in their characters, I couldn't help but feel that some of them were under-utilised and didn't have much room to shine. I would have loved to see more of Oomori and him interacting more with Sugino. As for Mukai Koji, I was assuming that he would be more involved with the mountains e.g. as a rescue team member who interacts with MMT but turns out that he was pretty much confined to his yakitori restaurant for the entire drama.
Since the drama kept talking about mountain hiking in winter being more dangerous in summer, perhaps this is a hint that the drama may return for a sequel or at least a SP so there is a likelihood that these characters can be fleshed out more in time to come.

Quick Review #69: Warau Matoryoushika - Summer 2024

Title: Warau Matoryoushika / 笑うマトリョーシカ

Rating: 9 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who like a good suspense drama which will keep you guessing right till the end and are fans of the cast especially Mizukawa Asami and Sakurai Sho

WARNING: Potential spoilers ahead!

Liked:

- It's been a while since I encountered a drama where time flew by so fast -  each episode ended in no time because it was so engaging and there was so much to see and think about. The one-week wait for the next episode was so "painful" but this is precisely what a drama series should be able to achieve or else people wouldn't return for the next episode. In this sense, credit goes to the scriptwriter and/or the original novelist who were really skillful at maintaining the viewers' interest and kept people coming back for more. 

While I have not read the original novel, it appears that there were some parts which differed slightly from the novel based on social media posts. And since those who had read the novel seemed largely positive about this drama, it seems to suggest that the crew and cast did a good job with this adaptation.

- Some parts of the story touched on pretty touchy and controversial issues like discrimination, sidelining of underprivileged groups or the minority, psychological control and manipulation of supposedly weak-minded people which would typically be seen in dramas from WOWOW or Netflix. As such, for TBS to do this was somewhat unusual but a pleasant surprise for me. Since the story didn't try too hard to preach or take an obvious side, there was room for viewers to consider the issues and form their own views on these topics.

- While Sakurai Sho did not have a lot of airtime in the middle of the story (perhaps linked to his on-site reporting of the Paris Olympics for NTV?), he really delivered a fantastic performance as Seike Ichiro. The true self hidden behind that smiling face sent shivers down my spine and you definitely have to check out the two showdown/confrontation scenes he had with Suzuki Toshiya (Tamayama Tetsuji) slightly past the midway mark and Michiue Kanae (Mizukawa) in the finale which were especially brilliant. 

From the beginning, I had the theory that Seike could not have been manipulated by the people around him and would do a total reversal by the end because that would be the most exciting outcome contrary to everything happening as expected. This was despite the story leading everyone into believing that he was being controlled by the people closest to him with ill intentions. As such, the final revelation wasn't a surprise to me at all but the way he talked about his planned revenge on all those who tried to manipulate was so chilling as if he was totally detached from the situation and looking it from outside.

For those who have doubts about Sakurai's acting, I have to admit that the level of satisfaction I get from watching him can vary and that's coming from a longtime Arashi fan who you may think would be biased towards him to begin with. Even so, I still cannot say that every performance he had put up over the years was top-notch. Personally, I've always thought that he excelled at playing roles with dual personalities or with a slightly more serious touch especially the kind/good persona hiding the dark self so it's not surprising that my top 3 favourites of his roles to date would be "Tengoku ni ichiban chikai otoko", "Kazoku Game" and now, this drama. 

While I don't think that Sakurai can't do other genres at all, there are indeed some limitations which do prevent people from thinking of him as a versatile actor and his image gets in the way at times. Nonetheless, I thought that "Daibyouin Senkyo" was a welcome change and a good attempt to do something different since it allowed him to do some action scenes despite his lack of an athletic image to date (you would known why if you had watched "VS Arashi"). Unfortunately, the second series was kinda disappointing because the novelty from the first series couldn't be replicated in the sequel. This time though, I'm glad to say that Sakurai managed to hit jackpot with Seike so he should really consider doing more serious roles in future, if possible or at least those which doesn't make him try too hard to fit the role. And not always having to take on the lead role would be a good direction to take as seen from this example.

- Mizukawa really carried the story well as Michiue on both the professional and personal fronts. While I do feel that Michiue's actions at times were too reckless and put people around her at risk unnecessarily, I can also see her character's conviction to seeking the truth and justice. Likewise, she also managed to show Michiue's struggle of how to balance work with family commitments in a convincing manner.

The chemistry she had with Sakurai was also evident here since they played a married couple before in the "Pikanchi" movies. There was this unmistakable tension between their characters which had some suggestion of romantic sparks at times (deliberate misleading in the plot though). However, the multi-level complexity displayed in the story reflected the complicated relationship between Seike and Michiue in the story because it was hard to set a clear definition for them - neither friends nor enemies. As such, it was such a joy to watch their onscreen interaction in this drama.

Disliked: 

- One thing I didn't quite like was how quick and short the Seike backstory was presented. It was like over in no time in the final episode which consisted mainly of a monologue by Seike to explain how he came to realise that everyone was using him for their selfish goals and he plotted to turn the tables on them. I would have wanted to see more of him showing how he felt and the conflicting emotions he had as he wondered why he was doing this and what kind of outcome was he ultimately after. A bit too little and too late.

- Getting Takaoka Saki to play Sakurai Sho's mother was something of a double-edged sword. In reality, Takaoka is just 10 years older than Sakurai so for her to play his mother did bother me a little as compared to those who may not know this fact. Then again, the story depicted Hiroko as a woman who looked very beautiful and youthful despite being in her 60s so in that sense, Takaoka definitely fits the bill in terms of appearance. Just that fact gets into the way of fiction in this case.

- Although the storyline shifted to 5 years later at the end, there was hardly any noticeable difference especially when it comes to the appearance of the characters. Perhaps more needs to be done to make the distinction more apparent?

Preview of "Oichi fushigi gatari" - Summer 2024

Title: Oichi fushigi gatari / おいち不思議がたり

Official website: here

O.A. Start Date: 1 September 2024

Timeslot: Sundays at 6.45pm

Broadcast by: NHK

Original novel by: Asano Atsuko

Total number of episodes: 8

Cast: Aoi Wakana, Kudo Asuka, Hayama Shono, Zaizen naomi, Takashima Masahiro, Tamaki Hiroshi etc. 

Guest lineup: Enoki Takaaki, Abe Shinnosuke, Omi Toshinori, Masu Takeshi, Hirano Kinari, Ginpuncho & Suga Kenta

Preview of "Chaser Game W2 Utsukushiki tennyotachi" - Summer 2024

Title: Chaser Game W2 Utsukushiki tennyotachi / チェイサーゲームW2 美しき天女たち

Official website: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 19 September 2024

Timeslot: Thursdays at 12.30am

Broadcast by: TV Tokyo

Original manga by: Matsuyama Hiroshi

Cast: Sugai Yuka, Nakamura Yurika, Chise, Kikuchi Himena, Hanayanagi Nozomi, Hoshino Nao & Kurotani Tomoka

Preview of "Tetsuota Michiko, 2 man kilo ~ Chichibu hen ~" - Summer 2024

Title: Tetsuota Michiko, 2 man kilo ~ Chichibu hen ~ / 鉄オタ道子、２万キロ～秩父編～

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 5 September 2024

Timeslot: Thursdays at 12.30am

Broadcast by: TV Tokyo

Cast: Tamashiro Tina, Kurihara Rui & Rokkaku Seiji (voice)

Preview of "Watashi no shitai wo sagashite kudasai" - Summer 2024

Title: Watashi no shitai wo sagashite kudasai / 私の死体を探してください。

Official website: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 3 September 2024 

Timeslot: Tuesdays at 12.30am

Broadcast by: TV Tokyo

Original novel by: Hoshizuki Wataru

Theme Song: "Uka" by VESPERBELL

Cast: Ito Atsushi, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Tsunematsu Yuri, Kaname Jun, Katase Rino, Motomiya Yasukaze, Irei Himena, Hirasawa Kokoro, Hayasaka Miu, Shirai Mimi & Kamata Raiju

Quick Review #67: Renai Battle Royale - Summer 2024

Title: Renai Battle Royale / 恋愛バトルロワイアル (Chastity High)

Rating: 7 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who like school romance stories with a suspense angle and/or are fans of the cast

Liked:

- While stories about school rules banning romance or dating in schools aren't exactly new, this drama had a slightly different and updated take on this issue with the students in both camps (pro and against the rule) policing and guarding against each other. As such, the so-called "battle" was more about the battle of wits between the students rather than the school management/teachers vs. the students although you can still say that the students who are in favour of this rule were the proxies for the adults who put this rule into place. 

Up to episode 6, there was quite a number of scenes about the battle of wits between the students so this should satisfy those looking for a school romance story which is balanced with some suspense. And since the drama is set in current times where smartphone and social media use is the norm, it adds a modern technological angle to the story with spying and counter-spying being done through mobile phones. Last but not least, I liked that the story did not try to force a happily-ever-after ending because reality doesn't always work out as you wish and what is good for some people may not be what the majority wants or society deems as acceptable.

- The good-looking student cast members included quite a number of up-and-coming young actors and their performances were generally decent. Personally, I felt that Mikami Ai, Toyoda Yudai, Honda Kyoya and Osaki Ichika stood out more than the rest. 

Mikami had the advantage of being the lead so had ample room to develop her character and the spectrum of emotions which the lead character Ichika went through. Just this year alone, I have watched at least 3 or 4 works featuring her (some were older ones) so her performance this time has convinced me that she is versatile and has the potential to do even better in future. 

While Toyoda, Honda and Osaki had supporting roles, they were able to show the emotions of their characters very well despite the limitations in terms of airtime. I really liked Toyoda's chemistry with Hoshi Moeka in this drama while Honda was such a joy to watch and very endearing on screen. Osaki had a difficult role and the emotional outburst in the early part of the drama compared to the later part when she had come to terms with what she went through was pretty impressive. 

As for the adults, I thought that Hoshi and Asaka Koudai were more outstanding while the others were either at their usual standard or had limited room to stand out.

Disliked: 

- To be honest, I felt that the title was a mismatch for the content in this drama. It may be true that there was a battle of wits between the two camps of students and/or with the school management but the story ultimately involved more than that. Besides the romance and suspense, the ending part of the drama also discussed issues like privacy, respect for human rights, using the wrong method to do something supposedly right. As such, perhaps the neither-here-nor-there and inaccurate title could be a turn-off for people who don't know or bother finding out what the drama may be about because it doesn't really reflect the true essence of the story.

- The pairing of Mikami with Miyase Ryubi felt off to me, not just in the appearance department. In terms of age, Mikami is 4 years older than Miyase in real life and the latter having a babyface made the age gap look even more obvious. Coupled with the fact that Miyase's character didn't come across as very appealing to me, I thought that the lead couple lacked a "draw" that would make me look forward to seeing them end up together or want to root for them.

Quick Review #57: Jimenshitachi - Summer 2024

Title: Jimenshitachi / 地面師たち

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who like white-collar crime stories based on real cases presented in a sleek way with nail-biting moments and/or are fans of the cast members

Liked:

- Much as the story may seem far-fetched and incredulous at certain points, the fact that the original novel inspired by an actual land fraud case in 2017 actually added much credibility and reality to the plot. On hindsight, many fraud cases could have been seen through but when people are caught in the midst of a scam and various factors come into play, it can be difficult for people to think straight. As such, stories of this nature can serve as a timely reminder for everyone especially in this era when there are scams of all sorts happening around us. With just 7 episodes, the pacing of the storytelling was well-managed with hardly any draggy moments and also provided a nice balance of nail-biting moments threatening to expose the scam. 

- It's been a while since I was impressed with the BGM and sound effects of a work. Kudos goes to Ishino Takkyu this time for the BGM which was spot-on in accentuating the atmosphere and tension of the scenes. Sound effects deserve special mention especially during the more violent and gory scenes. You actually don't get to see what happened but the sound effects were so realistic and compelling enough to make me grimace and cringe through my imagination because it was as good as seeing the bloody violence unfold in front of me. I felt that this left a deeper impression on me as compared to seeing the gore dished up on screen.

- The acting was simply superb especially the interaction between Toyokawa Etsushi and Ayano Go which felt like an evenly-matched ball game with a never-ending rally. The supporting cast lineup was charismatic and they delivered memorable performances. Unfortunately, if there is ever a sequel, the cast lineup would pretty much see an overhaul because of the high body count towards the end of the story.

Disliked: 

- Illogical loopholes in the stories of dramas and movies are aplenty but I get it that in this drama, it was probably meant to show that despite how far-fetched this scam was, it was still successful due to greed, complacency, urge to succeed, lack of compliance and checks. The thing is, some parts were just too ridiculous to be true and failed to convince me. For example, the owner of the house is in a taxi heading towards her house on a straight road and she is definitely not more than 1km away from her gate. Yet, she fails to see a bunch of people coming out of her supposedly locked house and two men trying to close her wooden gate frantically before she alights from the taxi. When she reaches her gate and sees that it was unlocked with a new lock that she had never seen before dangling there, why wouldn't she feel alarmed about it? Seriously? Was she looking elsewhere while in the taxi or had poor eyesight?

- Insensitivity or harmless humour? To be honest, using the name Sekiyo House in an obvious reference to Sekisui House which was the victim in the 2017 land fraud case could be seen as either being insensitive to the victim or the creators of this drama/novel engaging in harmless fun. I wasn't so bothered by this but when Pierre Taki's character criticised Kitamura Kazuki's character in jest for being addicted to drugs, I thought that this was inappropriate. Especially when you consider that Taki himself was convicted for cocaine possession and consumption offences and left a trail of mess for those who worked with him, I wonder if those who were affected adversely by his actions back then and had to deal with the aftermath would still be able to laugh at these joking remarks. Whether these were part of the script or ad-libs from Taki, I wasn't that amused by these jokes which appeared more than once in this drama. No wonder there was criticism towards Taki as to how he could have the cheek to say such lines after what he did.

First impression of TV Asahi Summer 2024 drama "Sky Castle" and the inevitable comparisons with its Korean predecessor in terms of money and settings

While I initially had no intention to watch yet another Japanese remake of a Korean drama, curiosity got the better of me in the end. For now, I think I won't proceed to watch the rest of this drama.

If you had watched the Korean version before just like me, what I can say is that it will be extremely hard not to make comparisons between both versions and not end up being frustrated with various things.

To begin with, allow me to lay out the key facts and differences between both versions from the settings and money angles.

For those who are not familiar with the Korean version, this article in the Korea Times by American professor Emanuel Pastreich is a very detailed analysis of the K-drama and helps you understand the societal setting, the obsession over education excellence and status in South Korea as well as the significance of the title and name of the upscale residential estate featured in this drama.

However, to transplant the Korean setting wholesale into Japan felt like a misfit to me right from the start. While I do not deny both countries do place a lot of value on educational qualifications and the pursuit of entry into so-called brand name universities or top schools, the level of intensity and obsession in this aspect does come across quite differently in Japan especially in recent years. South Korea talks a lot about entering the SKY universities as a huge reflection of status and achievement and that will lead to landing jobs in the conglomerates where they are assured of high salaries and career success. A long time ago, many Japanese dramas were singing a similar tune as well as they kept talking about entering Todai i.e. University of Tokyo as the epitome of success in life but the sentiment has somewhat shifted in recent years even though the focus on academic excellence hasn't gone away completely.

What's more, the Japanese version even adjusted the age setting of the kids from senior high to junior high which could be due to the primary fact the actresses playing the mothers don't look that old to have kids of that age group. Those in the Korean version didn't look old as well but the sense of urgency and desperation would be elevated for parents if you are talking about senior high school students rather than junior high kids. However, by reducing the ages of the kids in the remake, it made me wonder if there was any compelling need for the parents to get so uptight at this stage and shell out that kind of money i.e. JPY 30m for a year to engage an exam coordinator to ensure that their children could get into the desired senior high school. Especially when you consider the financial situation of these families, things don't make sense (oh well, let's not forget this is fiction after all).

In the Korean version, the husbands were namely neurosurgeons, a law professor-cum-former prosecutor and an orthopedics surgeon. Using average annual salary data found online as a rough guide, the average salaries of these professions are (without taking into consideration seniority and type of workplace):

Neurosurgeon = KRW 257m (about JPY 28.5m)

Law Professor = KRW 124m (about JPY 13.8m)

Orthopedic surgeon = KRW 232m (about JPY 25.7m)

In the Japanese version, the husbands are all neurosurgeons which means the average annual salary is around JPY 15m (not considering seniority and type of workplace). And not to mention, these husbands aren't even holding managerial posts in the hospital nor are professors in an university hospital. Now, if the exam coordinator is asking for double your annual salary just to ensure that your kid gets into the desired senior high school which supposedly means that it's straight entry to the top medical university, do you still think this is a good deal or simply too much to bear? And that is why one of the wives played by Matsushita Nao had to beg her mother-in-law for the money because this would not have been possible to be paid out of her husband's salary. 

Now still on the topic of money...

In terms of budget, Sky Castle being set in a top-class residential estate for the rich and influential would definitely boast of posh-looking houses with expensive-looking furnishings and decor as well as the characters clad in designer wear and driving sleek cars. It was reported before that the production budget of Sky Castle's Korean version was KRW 7.5 billion won which would be about JPY 753m based on the average exchange rate to JPY in 2018. Based on the current rate (with a weaker JPY), it would be around JPY 832m. 

In Japan, the average budget for a single episode of a private network drama is said to be around JPY 30m. Assuming that the Japanese version would have up to 10 episodes (max), this would come up to JPY 300m at most. So...TV Asahi definitely looks like they have to replicate the same extravagance and luxurious feel with just half the money. It is thus no wonder that there has been criticism after the first episode's OA that the set design, the clothes and accessories worn by the cast and the houses featured in the Japanese version of Sky Castle do not look as expensive as the Korean version - which I think is perfectly understandable. If they had the budget like "Hana Yori Dango" to replicate the rich lifestyles, this would have been a different ball game.

Coming to the number of episodes, the Korean version had 20 episodes of 60 mins each on average to develop the whole story. What I saw in the first episode was truly a jumbled mess. If the Japanese version must squeeze everything into half the number of episodes (maybe even less) with about 45 mins per episode, it is a tall order to expect TV Asahi to still maintain the logicality and completeness of the storyline within this time constraint. Unfortunately, this means that something has to go and these missing pockets of information will probably get on your nerves especially if you already know the full story from the Korean version.

I certainly think that if you have no prior knowledge of the Korean version, chances are that you might enjoy this drama far more than if you already know what's coming up. The issue is, sometimes copying and pasting something from a different country with different social issues, norms, cultures and practices is not the way to go. What works in South Korea may not be a winning formula in Japan. Remember "Itaewon Class" vs. "Roppongi Class"? 

Remakes are not always bad, it's how you do it and adapt to your target audience that will determine whether it will be successful. The way it looks right now, my biggest bugbear is with the fragmented story. I can ignore the sets and costumes etc. not looking as expensive as they should but I'm sorry, the story is simply a no-go for me this time.