The 124th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2025) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori
2) Zoku zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi
3) Taigan no kaji

Voters Ranking Top 5

1) Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori

2) Damemane

3) Musashino Rondo

4) Caster

5) Parallel Fuufu

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori
2) Zoku zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi
3) Anata wo ubatta sono hi kara

4) Shiawase wa tabete nete mate

5) Taigan no kaji

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Taigan no kaji

Zoku zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi

3) Shiawase wa tabete nete mate

4) Angel Flight

Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori

Source: The Television

The 124th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2025) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Yoshine Kyoko - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori
2) Koizumi Kyoko - Zoku zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi
3) Kitagawa Keiko - Anata wo ubatta sono hi kara

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Yoshine Kyoko - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori
2) Kawaei Rina - Damemane!

3) Kitagawa Keiko - Anata wo ubatta sono hi kara

4) Matsumoto Wakana - Dr. Ashura

5) Ihara Rikka - Parallel Fuufu

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Yoshine Kyoko - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori
2) Kitagawa Keiko - Anata wo ubatta sono hi kara
3) Koizumi Kyoko - Zoku zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi

4) Sakurai Yuki - Shiawase wa tabete nete mate

5) Matsushita Yuki - Dear My Baby

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Koizumi Kyoko - Zoku zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi

2) Tabe Mikako - Taigan no kaji

3) Kitagawa Keiko - Anata wo ubatta sono hi kara

4) Sakurai Yuki - Shiawase wa tabete nete mate

Yoshine Kyoko - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori

Source: The Television

The 124th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2025) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Honda Kyoya - Nami urarakani, Meoto biyori

2) Dean Fujioka - Taigan no kaji

3) Miyazawa Hio - Shiawase wa tabete nete mate

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Honda Kyoya - Nami urarakani, Meoto biyori
2) Yamada Ryosuke - Damemane
3) Miyama Ryoki - Ignite
4) Michieda Shunsuke - Caster
5) Sano Masaya - Dr. Ashura

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Honda Kyoya - Nami urarakani, Meoto biyori
2) Miyazawa Hio - Shiawase wa tabete nete mate
3) Takahashi Mitsuomi - Otto yo, shindekurenai ka
4) Mochizuki Ayumu - Koi wa yami
Shiono Akihisa - Mamono

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Dean Fujioka - Taigan no kaji
2) Honda Kyoya - Nami urarakani, Meoto biyori

3) Miyazawa Hio - Shiawase wa tabete nete mate

4) Ichinose Wataru - Taigan no kaji

Takahashi Mitsuomi - Otto yo, shindekurenai ka

Source: The Television

The 124th Drama Academy Awards (Spring 2025) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Yamamoto Maika - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori

2) Eguchi Noriko - Taigan no kaji ~ kore ga, watashi no ikiru michi! ~
3) Kaga Mariko - Shiawase wa tabete nete mate

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Yamamoto Maika - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori
2) Wakui Emi - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori
3) Kichise Michiko - Damemane! 
4) Kamishiraishi Moka - Ignite
5) Tomita Miu - Damemane!

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Uchida Yuki - Zoku zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi
2) Yamamoto Maika - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori

3) Eguchi Noriko - Taigan no kaji ~ kore ga, watashi no ikiru michi! ~

4) Kaga Mariko - Shiawase wa tabete nete mate
5) Kita Kana - Mamono

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Kaga Mariko - Shiawase wa tabete nete mate
2) Eguchi Noriko - Taigan no kaji ~ kore ga, watashi no ikiru michi! ~

3) Yamamoto Maika - Nami uraraka ni, Meoto biyori

4) Matsumoto Honoka - Angel Flight

5) Uchida Yuki - Zoku zoku Saigo kara nibanme no koi

Source: The Television

Quick Review #134: Taigan no kaji - Spring 2025

Title: Taigan no kaji / 対岸の家事　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 7 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who want to watch a meaningful story about respecting one another's life choices and lifestyles with a heartwarming vibe but do not mind it for being a tad slow at times

* Potential spoilers ahead!

Liked:

- The drama stayed true to its central theme of showing understanding for people in different circumstances and one another's life choices and lifestyles. As such, the vibe of the story was thoughtful and meaningful yet it didn't prescribe a single solution to the problems featured nor push one school of thought over the other. I think this approach would resonate well with a wide audience regardless of your life situation and the feeling of being understood and heard made it enjoyable to watch this. And it was good that the drama did not try to push for a happily-ever-after and expected ending especially the part when Nakatani (Dean Fujioka) wanted to have time to think about when he was ready to forgive his mother.

- The casting was quite unconventional in the sense that Tabe Mikako was paired with Ichinose Wataru while Dean Fujioka played a couple with Shimabukuro Hiroko. While their acting was good and brought out the signature traits of their characters, I found Eguchi Noriko's character to stand out more as she managed to display the struggles and vulnerabilities of a working mother very well. 

Disliked: 

- The side plot which dragged on for a few episodes i.e. the threats against Shiho (Tabe) for being a housewife was terrible and totally redundant. I get that the issue featured was important in a sense but the mis-directed anger towards Shiho for nothing was hardly convincing. The so-called resolution to the situation was even more ridiculous.

- As a former SPEED fan during their heydays, much as I was surprised to see Hiroko act in this drama, the amount of airtime she had was simply too little and hardly satisfying even though the character had the potential to be quite interesting.

- To be honest, the story lost steam in the second half and I was getting a tad bored with the slowness especially when they spent so much time on the threats made towards Shiho. If the drama had dragged on for another episode or two, I might have given up before the finale.

Interview of Ichinose Wataru for his role in TBS Spring 2025 drama "Taigan no kaji"

Oricon News did an interview with Ichinose Wataru who is currently starring in the TBS Spring 2025 drama "Taigan no kaji" where he plays Tabe Mikako's husband Torao. While the following is not a complete translation of that, there were some interesting points he made about his preparation for and his thoughts about his character:

• Ichinose always had the impression that the TBS Tuesday timeslot is usually meant for stories focusing on female characters. Given that he usually plays the baddie or fierce-looking people, he didn't think that he would be someone who viewers for this kind of timeslot would accept readily. And he was really surprised to be offered the role of Tabe's husband in this drama.

• He was personally very happy and grateful when he knew that Akeno Kaeruko, the author of the original manga, liked his character Seki Torataro in the "HiGH & LOW" series so much that she chose to name his character in this story as Torao.

• Usually, he prepares for his roles by immersing himself into them but this time, he chose to approach it differently by imagining himself in various situations. For example, how would he have felt about quitting kick-boxing to become the manager of a izakaya restaurant? What would it be like to marry someone like Shiho (Tabe)? 

• The staff requested Ichinose that his acting should show how much he loves Shiho and their daughter Ichigo.

• As Ichinose's father had passed away when he was 5 years old, he didn't really have a father figure to look up to when he was growing up and his mother had to work to support the family. As such, his interactions with adult men as a child were largely restricted to his judo and boxing instructors who had a scary image. In order to prepare for the role this time, his reference figures were the late Nishida Toshiyuki and Kiritani Kenta. He felt that Nishida's acting had warmth just like how Torao is while Kiritani is someone who is a family man, fun to be with and treats children really gently.

• He praised his co-star Tabe for being a wonderful person who has a great smile. As Tabe is very experienced, even if Ichinose messes up his lines, she would be very forgiving and is someone who he can depend on. 

• As for the child actor who plays Ichigo, Ichinose revealed that he tries to play with her during the filming breaks so that they can become more comfortable with each other. He had learned balloon art due to the influence of a relative in the past and decided to practice it again for the sake of her. Initially, he could only make simple things like dogs with the balloons but gradually, he was able to do more complicated pieces which he gave to her as presents. Even though filming hasn't wrapped up yet, he's already feeling sad that he won't be able to see her again. Especially since kids grow up very quickly, he thinks that she might not even remember him several years down the road.

• Since he did quite a number of balloon art pieces for practice, he also gave them away to the children at a nursery near his home which they were very happy about. He said that it was interesting to observe a change in the reactions of the kids as the quality of his works improved.

• He hopes that everyone would be able to see new viewpoints through this drama. Instead of just focusing on how tough it may be for housewives, the drama also shines a spotlight on Torao's struggles at work as well as how difficult it is for working mums to strike a balance. With this understanding for one another, he hopes that it will provide a starting point for people to resolve their differences and issues.

Highlights from TBS DRAMA COLLECTION 2025 Spring

The TBS DRAMA COLLECTION 2025 Spring event was held on 29 March 2025 which was streamed online and featured key cast members from the three upcoming dramas starting in April 2025.

Team "Taigan no kaji" (Colour theme: Pink & White) - Tabe Mikako, Eguchi Noriko, Dean Fujioka & Ichinose Wataru

Team "Ignite" (Colour Theme: Red) - Mamiya Shotaro, Nakamura Tooru, Kamishiraishi Moka & Miyama Ryoki

Team "Caster" (Colour Theme: Black) - Abe Hiroshi, Nagano Mei, Michieda Shunsuke & Okabe Takashi

There was a Q & A session where the cast members were asked 2 questions and if all 12 of their answers matched, they would get a luxurious fruit gift set sent to their filming studios. Here are the answers to the questions asked.

On the first day of filming, do you:

A - approach others proactively to talk?

B - wait for others to come and talk to you?

A- Eguchi Noriko, Ichinose Wataru, Abe Hiroshi, Michieda Shunsuke, Nagano Mei, Mamiya Shotaro, Kamishiraishi Moka, Nakamura Tooru and Miyama Ryoki (The "IGNITE" team chose the same answer)

B - Tabe Mikako, Dean Fujioka and Okabe Takashi 

What type of clothes will you wear to the filming location?

A - Comfort is the most important so anything which you can easily change out of

B - Being fashionable is the most important so you will put in effort to choose something nice and presentable

A - Eguchi Noriko, Ichinose Wataru, Dean Fujioka, Tabe Mikako, Okabe Takashi, Abe Hiroshi, Nagano Mei, Michieda Shunsuke, Kamishiraishi Moka, Mamiya Shotaro and Miyama Ryoki (The "Taigan no Kaji" team chose the same answer)

B - Nakamura Tooru (Actually, Michieda chose B at first because he saw the options wrongly so he changed his answer to A in the end. As for Nakamura, he said that since he drives to the filming location on his own most of the time, he makes sure that he isn't dressed too shabbily in case he needs to go shopping for things and people see him but doesn't go to the extent of being fashionable.)

Unfortunately, they did not manage to give the same answers until the end.

Towards the end of the event, when Ichinose was asked to perform a leg split in response to a question about their routines on the filming set, he accidentally tore his pants. He then had to leave the stage for a short while and came back with a black shirt covering his pants as he made his exit when the event wrapped up.

Preview of "Taigan no kaji ~ Kore ga, watashi no ikirumichi! ~" - Spring 2025

Title: Taigan no kaji ~ Kore ga, watashi no ikirumichi! ~ / 対岸の家事～これが、私の生きる道！～

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official X: here

O.A. Start Date: 1 April 2025

Timeslot: Tuesdays at 10pm

Broadcast by: TBS

Original novel by: Akeno Kaeruko

Cast: Tabe Mikako, Eguchi Noriko, Dean Fujioka, Ichinose Wataru, Shimabukuro Hiroko, Tanabe Momoko, Matsumoto Leo, Kawanishi Kenshiro, Nagai Kana, Kotobuki Shouma, Yoshitama Honoka, Igarashi Mio, Nakai Tomo, Hagiwara Mamoru & Nishino Nagisa