Key ratings highlights for NHK morning drama "Manpuku"

Although I have not been posting anything about drama ratings in recent years, I think that it's only right for me to share these key highlights in Manpuku's ratings for the past 6 months especially as it is the very first morning drama which I managed to complete in real time. Be prepared for more Manpuku-related posts in the days to come especially my review of this drama!

- Manpuku started airing from 1 October 2018 and ended its run on 30 March 2019 with 151 episodes.

- The average rating for the Kanto region was 21.4% while it was 19.5% in the Kansai region. Compared to the drama preceding it i.e. Hanbun Aoi which got an average of 21.1% in the Kanto region, Manpuku did better.

- The first episode registered a rating of 23.8% and 20.4% in the Kanto and Kansai regions respectively. This was the highest debut episode rating so far in the asadora history.

- The last episode got an average rating of 22.1% and 22.4% in the Kanto and Kansai regions respectively. Figures of the Kanto region for the last week were 22.7% -> 22.0% -> 21.8% -> 20.6% -> 21.3% -> 22.1%.

- The highest single episode rating for the Kanto region was the first episode while for the Kansai region, it was the last episode.

- Here are the average ratings for the five dramas preceding Manpuku (first figure is for Kanto while the second figure is for Kansai):
"Hanbun, Aoi" - 21.1% / 19.3%
"Warotenka" - 20.1% /  19.6%
"Hiyokko" - 20.4% / 20.3%
"Beppin-san" - 20.3% / 20.2%
"Toto Nee-chan" - 22.8% /  20.4%

- Ever since "Asa ga kita" in 2015, this is the 7th consecutive asadora which has registered an average rating of above 20%. Manpuku's average rating was higher than the 6 dramas preceding it, with the sole exceptions being "Toto Nee-chan" (22.8%) and "Asa ga kita" (23.5%).

- The ratings trend: Manpuku started off very well in its first episode and maintained an average rating of above 20% up till the 13th week before the New Year break. The only episodes when it went below 20% was on 4th and 5th January i.e. straight after the New Year break. It returned to the 20s region from the 15th week all the way to the end of its run.

Sources: Oricon / Sponichi

The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Unnatural (TBS)
2) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II (TBS)
3) Warotenka (NHK)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II (TBS)
2) Unnatural (TBS)
3) Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~ (NTV)
4) Kuragehime (FujiTV)
5) BG ~ Shinpen Keigonin ~ (TV Asahi)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Unnatural (TBS)
2) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II (TBS)
3) anone (NTV)
4) Warotenka (NHK)
5) Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru (FujiTV)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Unnatural (TBS)
2) 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II (TBS)
3) Warotenka (NHK)
4) anone (NTV)
5) BG ~ Shinpen Keigonin ~ (TV Asahi)

Source: The Television

The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural
2) Hirose Suzu - anone
3) Fukada Kyoko - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural
2) Ayase Haruka - Seirei no Moribito ~ Saishusho ~
3) Fukada Kyoko - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru
4) Yoshine Kyoko - Kuragehime
5) Aoi Wakana - Warotenka

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural
2) Hirose Suzu - anone
3) Fukada Kyoko - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru
4) Yoshine Kyoko - Kuragehime / Yoshioka Riho - Kimi ga kokoro ni sumitsuita

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural
2) Aoi Wakana - Warotenka
3) Hirose Suzu - anone / Fukada Kyoko - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru / Yoshine Kyoko - Kuragehime

Source: The Television

The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Iura Arata - Unnatural
2) Kagawa Teruyuki - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II
3) Seto Koji - Kuragehime

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kagawa Teruyuki - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II
2) Iura Arata - Unnatural
3) Seto Koji - Kuragehime
4) Kubota Masataka - Unnatural
5) Kotaki Nozomu - Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Iura Arata - Unnatural
2) Mukai Osamu - Kimi ga kokoro ni sumitsuita
3) Matsuyama Kenichi - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru
4) Kubota Masataka - Unnatural / Kitamura Takumi - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Iura Arata - Unnatural
2) Takahashi Issei - Warotenka
3) Hamada Gaku - Warotenka
4) Seto Koji - Kuragehime
5) Kitamura Takumi - Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru

Source: The Televison

The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Kimura Fumino - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II
2) Tanaka Yuko - anone
3) Kadowaki Mugi - Todome no Kiss

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kimura Fumino - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II
2) Ichikawa Mikako - Unnatural
3) Haru - Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~
4) Kadowaki Mugi - Todome no Kiss
5) Babazono Azusa - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Tanaka Yuko - anone
2) Ichikawa Mikako - Unnatural
3) Kadowaki Mugi - Todome no Kiss
4) Hirose Arisu - Warotenka
5) Haru - Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Tanaka Yuko - anone
2) Kadowaki Mugi - Todome no Kiss
3) Hirose Arisu - Warotenka / Haru - Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~ / Kimura Fumino - 99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II

Source: The Televison

The 96th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2018) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Lemon - Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural)
2) Find The Answer - Arashi (99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II)
3) Ashita wa doko kara - Matsu Takako (Warotenka)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Find The Answer - Arashi (99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II)
2) Lemon - Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural)
3) Mae wo muke - Hey! Say! JUMP (Momikeshite Fuyu ~ Wagaya no mondai nakatta koto ni ~)
4) Sayonara Elegy - Suda Masaki (Todome no Kiss)
5) A New Day - Beverly (Kuragehime)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Lemon - Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural)
2) here comes my love - Mr.Children (Tonari no kazoku wa aoku mieru)
3) Sayonara Elegy - Suda Masaki (Todome no Kiss)
4) Find The Answer - Arashi (99.9 Keiji Senmon Bengoshi Season II)
5) Masquerade - Toshi (MASKMEN)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ashita wa doko kara - Matsu Takako (Warotenka)
2) Lemon - Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural) / Sans toi, ma mie - Takimoto Miori (Koshiji Fubuki Monogatari)
4) Gomibako kara, Blues - Takehara Pistol (Byplayers 2)
5) Sayonara, Elegy - Suda Masaki (Todome no Kiss) / Ichikabachika - Re:versed (Kakegurui)

Source: The Televison

Winners of Nikkansports Dorama Grand Prix (Winter 2018)

There were 2,144 valid votes for this round of voting between 8th and 15th March where the top 5 for each category in each season would then be eligible as nominees for the annual awards.The numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received for the drama and/or actor/actress:

Handover ceremony for NHK morning dramas "Warotenka" and "Hanbun, Aoi"

The handover ceremony for NHK morning dramas "Warotenka" and "Hanbun, Aoi" was held on 15 March at its HQ in Shibuya, Tokyo, which was attended by the dramas' leads Aoi Wakana and Nagano Mei. "Warotenka" will end its run on 31 March while "Hanbun, Aoi" starts from 2 April.

Filming wraps up for NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

The filming for NHK morning drama "Warotenka" was completed on 27 February where the wrap-up ceremony was held at NHK Osaka. The lead actress Aoi Wakana was presented with bouquets of flowers from her co-stars such as Hamada Gaku and Tokunaga Eri as she shook hands and hugged her co-stars with tears in her eyes. Aoi commented that she had mixed feelings about the end of the filming as it had been a long 10 months filled with happy and tough moments. In the past three days, as she watched her co-stars wrap up their filming one by one, that was probably the most difficult period for her to say goodbye to them.

The last episode of "Warotenka" will be shown on 31 March.

Sources: Oricon / Cinema Cafe

Narita Ryo to play Aoi Wakana & Matsuzaka Toori's only son Shunya in NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

Narita Ryo will be playing Shunya, the only son of Ten (Aoi Wakana) and Kitamura Tokichi (Matsuzaka Toori) in the ongoing NHK morning drama "Warotenka". Shunya goes to America for further studies in revue and musicals by relying on his grandmother Tsueko (Suzuki Kyoka) who lives in California. Upon his return to Japan, he plans to get involved in the management of Kitamura Shoten but clashes with his parents and Fuuta (Hamada Gaku) over old and new management styles before he gradually grows to become a credible heir to the business.

Preview of "Warotenka" (NHK morning drama)

Title: Warotenka わろてんか (Please laugh)
Official website: here
Official blog: here
Official Facebook: here
Official Instagram: here
Official Twitter: here
O.A. Start Date: 2 October 2017
Timeslot: Mondays to Saturdays at 8am
Broadcast by: NHK
Theme song: "Ashita wa doko kara" by Matsu Takako
Narrator: Ono Fumie (NHK announcer)
Cast: Aoi Wakana, Matsuzaka Toori, Hamada Gaku, Takahashi Issei, Endo Kenichi, Suzuki Honami, Takeshita Keiko, Chiba Yuudai, Hotta Mayu, Tokunaga Eri, Suzuki Kyoka, Okamoto Rei, Hirose Arisu, Ono Takuro, Maeno Tomoya, Fujii Takashi, Edamoto Moe, Hyoudou Daiki, Uchiba Katsunori

Handover ceremony for NHK morning dramas "Hiyokko" and "Warotenka"

The handover ceremony for NHK morning dramas "Hiyokko" and "Warotenka" was held at NHK Osaka on 15 Sep which was attended by the current drama's heroine Arimura Kasumi and the upcoming drama's heroine Aoi Wakana. During the ceremony, the two actresses exchanged presents where Arimura presented Aoi with pork katsu sandwiches from Suzufuritei and a transistor radio as the heroine in "Hiyokko" had worked in a factory making such radios. Arimura commented that she wouldn't be telling Aoi to "work hard" since she believes that the latter is already putting in her best effort but she would still advise her to take care of herself during the long filming period. Arimura also praised Aoi for being very mature despite her young age of 19 years old and expressed her support for Aoi.

On the other hand, Aoi presented Arimura with a fan bearing the design of a bird of paradise and a hand towel. Aoi expressed her thanks to Arimura for working so hard as the lead of "Hiyokko" and also pledged to do the same with the staff and cast of "Warotenka" and smile till the end of the filming.

"Warotenka" will begin its run from 2 October.

Source: Oricon

Screening event & press conference of NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

The screening event and press conference of new NHK morning drama "Warotenka" was held on 6 September at the TV station's HQ in Tokyo which was attended by cast members Aoi Wakana, Matsuzaka Toori and child actor Arai Miyu. The drama will begin its run from 2 October at 8am from Mondays to Saturdays.

The drama is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi (Matsuzaka)who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

As the story will begin with the childhood days of Ten, Arai will appear in the first week's 6 episodes while Aoi will only appear from the end of the 6th episode. Aoi praised her young co-star for being very cute and has a charming smile and hopes that viewers will find her and Arai convincing as the adult and child versions of the same character. Matsuzaka remarked that amid the laughter in the story, there is a lot of warmth and gentleness so he hopes that the viewers will support the drama and find it interesting and energising when they watch it in the morning.

Although filming begun three months ago, Aoi said that she feels her inadequacy every day and hopes to be able to catch up in the remaining 10 months with the help of everyone around her. Especially since the schedule is rather tight, she was thankful that the story's comedic elements have helped to make the filming process even more enjoyable. However, she "complained" that Matsuzaka always makes funny faces at her or plays tricks whenever the camera doesn't show his face so she has learnt to keep a straight face through his antics which in turn made Matsuzaka burst out laughing. In response, Matsuzaka said that he just wants to make the atmosphere lively by making people laugh.

Sources: Eiga.com / Oricon

Matsu Takako to sing the theme song for new NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

Matsu Takako will be singing the theme song for the new NHK morning drama "Warotenka" which is scheduled to begin its run from 2 October. The song titled "Ashita wa doko kara" was written and composed by Matsu and this will be her first theme song for a NHK drama. Matsu expressed her joy at being able to write and sing the theme song for the drama and hopes that the viewers will be encouraged and feel happy whenever they hear the song being played during the drama's broadcast.

The drama which stars Aoi Wakana as the lead, is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi (Matsuzaka Toori)who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

Sources: Nikkansports / Yomiuri Hochi

Supporting cast line-up announced for new NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

The supporting cast line-up for new NHK morning "Warotenka" starring Aoi Wakana was announced during a press conference at NHK Osaka on 16 June which was attended by Aoi, Matsuzaka Toori, Suzuki Kyoka, Hirose Arisu, Ohno Takuro, Maeno Tomoya and Fujii Takashi. The drama will begin its run from 2 October at 8am on Mondays to Saturdays where the Osaka arc will follow the Kyoto arc from week 4 (23 October onwards). Filming for the Osaka arc will begin in early July.

The drama is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten (Aoi) who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi (Matsuzaka)who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

Suzuki will be playing the role of Kitamura Tsueko who is Fujiyoshi's mother and Ten's mother-in-law. After her husband passed away, she had to take on the family's rice dealing business while being troubled over her son's passion for comedy. When Ten enters the Kitamura family, Tsueko is bent on being harsh and demanding towards Ten thus making the latter's life very different. With regard to her character, Suzuki said that this is the first time that she is playing a mother-in-law and to make things worse, Tsueko is very calculating and very much a miser. However, she also sees this as an interesting trait in Tsueko's character although her young daughter-in-law will probably not feel the same way. As such, she will try her best to play this character especially since she had not appeared in a morning drama after being the heroine in the 1991 work "Kimi no na wa".

As for the other characters, Hirose will play Ririko, Ten's rival in love while Ohno will play a comedian modelled after Yokoyama Entatsu and Maeno will play his comedic duo partner Kiisu. Fujii will play Manjoume Kichizo, a struggling comedian who is reputed to be not funny at all. The child actors featured in the childhood arc of the story will feature Arai Miu, Suzuki Fuku and Maeda Oushiro.

Sources: Nikkansports / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi / Oricon

Filming begins for new NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

The filming for new NHK morning drama "Warotenka" starring Aoi Wakana began on 19 May followed by a press conference attended by Aoi and Matsuzaka Toori at the Shochiku Studio in Kyoto on 25 May. The drama is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi (Matsuzaka)who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

Matsuzaka who is appearing in his second morning drama to date, appeared in a strange-looking costume which was said to be the norm for comedians in that era. The last time he filmed "Ume-chan Sensei" was in Tokyo so filming in Osaka is an entirely different and refreshing experience for him. Nonetheless, as he had worked with some of the staff members before in "Ume-chan Sensei" and "Gunshi Kanbee", it also felt like a reunion for him when he came to the set for the filming.

Aoi commented that she usually has short hair but having to put on a long-haired wig and dress in such gorgeous and luxurious clothes made her very excited. Although they haven't completed many scenes yet, being all dressed up like this helped her ease into the momentum of the filming. She also revealed that she came down with flu on the first day of the filming probably due to her nervousness and promised to take care of herself better so that she can stay healthy during the filming period.

Filming is expected to continue in Shiga and Kyoto until 27 May before moving to NHK Osaka from 29 May. The drama will begin its run from 2 October at 8am from Mondays to Saturdays.

Sources: Oricon 1 / Sanspo /  Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi / Oricon 2

Cast announcement press conference of new NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

The cast announcement press conference of new NHK morning drama "Warotenka" starring Aoi Wakana was held at NHK Osaka's HQ on 20 April which was attended by Aoi, Matsuzaka Toori, Endo Kenichi, Suzuki Honami, Takeshita Keiko, Takahashi Issei, Chiba Yuudai, Hamada Gaku, Tokunaga Eri and Hotta Mayu. The drama will begin its run from 2 October in the Mondays to Saturdays 8am timeslot.

"Warotenka" is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten (Aoi) who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

Matsuzaka plays Ten's husband Kitamura Fujiyoshi while Hamada plays Takei Fuuta who is Ten's cousin and is in love with her. Matsuzaka who last appeared in a NHK morning drama 5 years ago, remarked that he wants to use his experience accumulated from then to be used in the filming of "Warotenka" and support Aoi during the 10-month filming period. Matsuzaka also revealed that when he first heard about Hamada and Takahashi appearing in this drama, he was thinking "again?!" because the three of them have worked together many times and are good friends.

On the other hand, Hamada who is appearing in a morning drama for the first time, said that he's very nervous about this and feels a sense of responsibility in delivering pleasant and wonderful mornings to the viewers through this drama. Takahashi plays a young entrepreneur Inou Shiori who is supposed to be Ten's marriage partner but later becomes a supportive figure to Ten and Fujiyoshi who get involved in show business when he realises that Ten is in love with Fujiyoshi.

Endo who plays Ten's father Gihee, revealed that he was told straight in the face that his face was not suitable to be seen in the morning when he was rejected during a morning drama audition back then in his early 20s. It has been 7 years since his last appearance in a morning drama and he wondered if it is fine for him to be appearing in the morning especially since his character is described as a guy who has fierce and big eyes and looks very fierce. Endo also joked that even though he has never appeared in a TV programme with comedy duo Tunnels, he has played the husbands of their wives in real life. Back in 2010, he played a married couple with Yasuda Narumi who is Kinashi Noritake's wife and this time, he will be the husband of Suzuki who is Ishibashi Takaaki's wife.

Suzuki will play Ten's mother Shizu while Takeshita will play Ten's grandmother Hatsu. Chiba plays Ten's elder brother Shinichi and Hotta plays her younger sister Rin. Tokunaga plays Ten's maid Toki in the Fujioka household.

The producer Goto Takahisa commented that for the sake of the female viewers, they decided to have three types of men around the heroine to cater to different tastes i.e. Takahashi to play Prince Charming, Matsuzaka to be the romanticist while Hamada will be a passionate man. In response to this, Takeshita joked that Takahashi gets her vote for being the No.1 favourite as her character is someone who likes handsome men.

Sources: Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports 2  / Sponichi 1 / Sponichi 2 / Oricon

Aoi Wakana announced to be the lead of new NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

Aoi Wakana was announced to be the lead of the upcoming 97th NHK morning drama "Warotenka" which will consist of 151 episodes and be shown from 2 October 2017 to 31 March 2018 on Mondays to Saturdays at 8am. Filming is expected to begin from the middle of May and end by March next year.

"Warotenka" is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

During the press conference held at NHK's Osaka HQ in the morning and Tokyo HQ in the afternoon, Aoi commented that it felt like a dream for her when she was told that she got the heroine's role. Although she is still very new and inexperienced, she hopes to be able to grow together with the heroine and bring joy to everyone through this drama as the story progresses. The chief producer revealed that out of the young actresses who had remained in the final audition's camera test, any one of them could be the heroine. However, Aoi was picked in the end because they felt that she had contrasting traits such as youth vs. maturity, cuteness vs. strength, smiling face vs. frightening traits which coincided with what the heroine Fujioka represents. In addition, the actresses had to show a one-act comedy skit but nobody laughed at Aoi's impersonation of ETV character Nyanchuu so she thought that she had flopped. When she was told that she was chosen, Aoi was so shocked that she opened her mouth widely and forgot to cover it with her hand. A total of 2,378 people took part in the audition and this was Aoi's third attempt at a NHK morning drama audition.

Aoi made her debut through a CM in 2009 and gained attention after playing the junior high version of Ueno Juri in the movie "Hidamari no Kanojo". Her latest movie was "Survival Family" which is currently showing in cinemas. She will be entering Keio University's Faculty of Policy Management from April this year where she is supposed to attend lessons at its Shonan Fujisawa campus for the next four years but she has to be in Osaka and Kyoto on every weekday for the next ten months so she hasn't decided what to do about her studies and will go ahead to attend the entrance ceremony first. She is already undergoing training in dialect and how to move around in a kimono. Although Aoi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, she has relatives from Shiga and is exposed to the Kansai dialect at home so she feels that she should have no problems in this area.

Sources: Mantan Web / Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports 2 / Sanspo / Sponichi / Oricon 1 / Oricon 2

Production press conference of new NHK morning drama "Warotenka"

The production press conference of new NHK morning drama "Warotenka" was at NHK Osaka held on 10 November which was attended by the producer Goto Takahisa and the scriptwriter Yoshida Tomoko who had written dramas such as "Gakkou no Kaidan" and "Bijou ka Yajuu" and movies such as "Bokura ga ita", "Kanojo wa uso wo aishisugiteru" and "Hot Road".

The drama which will be the 97th production in the morning drama history, will begin its run from 2 October 2017 and consists of 151 episodes. Filming will begin in mid May next year.

"Warotenka" is set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modelled on Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female show promoter. Fujioka was born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Fujiyoshi who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business at Osaka. When they fall in love, Fujioka goes against her parents' wishes to marry Kitamura who is a big lover of comedy. Subsequently, after her husband's family goes bust, she unwittingly becomes the owner of a vaudeville theater with her husband. This then leads to her becoming the first person in Japan to make comedy into a business and transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

Auditions to choose the actress to play the heroine will begin from the end of this month and the decision will be made by January or February next year. It is expected that the formal announcement will be made next March. The heroine's life described in the drama will be from the age of 17 to her 50s.

Sources: Oricon / Sanspo