TBS to do a rerun of "Watashi wo hanasanaide" to commemorate Kazuo Ishiguro's Nobel Prize win

TBS will be doing a rerun of Winter 2016 drama "Watashi wo hanasanaide" starring Ayase Haruka, Miura Haruma and Mizukawa Asami in order to commemorate the winning of the Nobel Prize in Literature by Kazuo Ishiguro who wrote the novel "Never Let Me Go" which the drama was based on. This also happened to be first drama adaptation of Ishiguro's novels.

Have a say in who or what is the best in The Dorama World Awards 2016! (UPDATED)

As the year nears its end, there are various rankings and survey results released to crown the best and most popular in the year. Since this year is the 10th anniversary of Dorama World, I wanted to do something different to commemorate the occasion and organise some activities to engage the readers in a fun way. The 10th anniversary game held earlier this year was a new initiative which I hope you had fun participating in.

As such, to mark the end of 2016, here is an event where you can choose the best in the dorama scene for the past year through the inaugural Dorama World Awards 2016. Here are the details on the voting process:

- Voting begins from 15 December 2016 (Thursday) 12 midnight GMT +8 and ends on 31 December 2016 (Saturday) 11.59pm GMT+8. Please ensure that you send your answers within this period.

- Please key in your name or put an unique nickname so that I can identify you. Note that this is a mandatory field for the form to be accepted. Each person should vote only once. Responses with the name Anonymous will not be accepted as I wish to prevent mass voting for the same drama or individual which can affect the results.
This is essentially not a popularity voting as we are trying to find out which dramas and actors/actresses are most favoured for having done well in the past year.

- For each of the 7 categories, you may select up to 5 people/dramas but please rank them in order of preference as the higher-ranked choices will be given more points. Of course, if you don't have that many choices for the category concerned, you can just key in the number of choices you have in mind. Answers should be keyed in such a format:
1) A
2) B
3) C
4) D
5) E
Please vote in all 7 categories with at least one answer in each category.

- Voting is to be done through the Google Form hosted below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdz18EqiEYVywzm-rDnhRwg-Aav6UIhMVt_28jlqoQd_9WJNA/viewform
Please do not post your responses on the Facebook fan page, Twitter page nor comments section of this post owing to the fact that we are having a prediction of results game after the voting has concluded.

- For the last category of Drama Couple, it is restricted to the actors and actresses whose characters were involved in a romantic relationship in the drama concerned. However, whether they actually end up together in the drama does not matter.

- For leading and supporting actors and actresses, we will follow the classification as per how Japan does for these dramas. In most cases, there is only one lead in the drama so everyone else in the cast would be supporting actors and actresses. A classic example would be "Boku no Yabai Tsuma" where Ito Hideaki was the lead actor but Kimura Yoshino who played his wife was classified as a supporting actress. Likewise for "Suki na hito ga iru koto", Kiritani Mirei was the sole lead so everyone else would be considered as part of the supporting cast. As such, please kindly take note of this and vote for the right person in the corresponding category.

- All dramas series aired within 2016, be it on the private networks, NHK (Taiga or morning dramas also OK) or WOWOW, would be eligible to be selected in this voting exercise. However, drama SPs and dramas on portals like Hulu and Netflix should be excluded.

After the voting exercise has concluded, I will post a list of the top 5 in each category for the second phase of this event i.e. the guess-the-winner game! From the shortlisted top 5, you can then choose which drama or who you think would be the winner in each category. 5 readers of the blog who get the most answers correct will stand to win a prize!

More details on the voting process and form will be released in January 2017.

For a start, you may wish to browse through the tags "Winter 2016", "Spring 2016", "Summer 2016" and "Autumn 2016" to refresh your memory on which dramas had been shown during the entire year.

I really hope that everyone can participate in this event and make this a success. Looking forward to receiving your responses and have a say in crowning the best of 2016!

UPDATE: I would really like to seek your cooperation in the following so as to make the voting process work more smoothly:

- Please indicate the name of the actor/actress and the name of the drama for the acting categories. Just entering the name of the actor/actress will make it impossible for me to determine which role in which drama you are voting for especially if the actor/actress concerned had appeared in multiple productions this year. An example would be Dean Fujioka in the supporting actor category. There are three dramas he appeared in this year i.e. NHK's Asa ga kuru and TBS' Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai and IQ 246 ~ Karei naru Jikenbo~ so without a specific reference to the drama he appeared in, I will have to omit that vote.

- For the couple category, the sole criteria is that the characters would have had a romantic relationship in the drama concerned. However, some of the votes received so far tend not to be of this nature so I can't include them e.g. Katsumura Masanobu & Yonekura Ryoko in Doctor X 4. As far as I'm aware, there's no romantic link between their characters but please correct me if I'm wrong. Likewise, if you are voting for Yamazaki Kento & Kiritani Mirei or Miura Shohei & Kiritani Mirei in Suki na hito ga iru koto, both pairings would be valid due to the romantic relationship rule even though the latter did not end up together. In addition, I would like to see the names of the actors/actresses and not the names of the characters they play as this would require me to take the additional step of searching for the name of the drama where they appeared in.

- Last but not least, for the theme song category, it can be the main theme or insert song which you are voting for. However, I've received a vote for the name of the producer who makes the BGM which would not qualify for this category. Likewise, if you just put down the name of the song without reference to a drama, I would have to search for the name of the drama when tabulating the votes. Please help me in making this easier by putting down the name of the song, the artist and the drama where this comes from.

So far, there's quite a wide pool of candidates who have received votes but it looks like those "more recent" dramas are doing better because people probably have a deeper impression of them. As such, those shown during Winter 2016 and Spring 2016 have paled in comparison in terms of their performance to date. Do take your time to consider your choices and use up all the available votes rather than just choose one when filling up the voting form.

Please keep those votes coming and feel free to share this post to your friends via Facebook, Twitter or other social media platforms!

Takahata Mitsuki & Sakaguchi Kentaro deny dating rumours

Takahata Mitsuki and Sakaguchi Kentaro are rumoured to be dating as reported on 29 November. The two of them worked together in two dramas this year i.e. NHK's morning drama "Toto Nee-chan" and FujiTV Winter 2016's "Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau" and were said to have started dating at least six months ago.

When asked about the news, Takahata's agency denied that they are an item and said that they are merely friends. Sakaguchi's agency also echoed the same and stated that she is just one of his close friends.

Sources: Nikkansports 1 / Nikkansports 2 / Oricon

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi to star in new FujiTV / Kansai TV Winter 2017 drama "Uso no Sensou"

Kusanagi Tsuyoshi will be starring in the new FujiTV / Kansai TV Winter 2017 drama "Uso no Sensou" (The war of lies) which will be shown in January next year in the Tuesdays 9pm timeslot. Filming is set to begin from the middle of next month to March 2017 and this is Kusanagi's first solo project since the disbanding of SMAP on 31 Dec.

"Uso no Sensou" is the second installment in the revenge series following the first part "Zeni no Sensou" also featuring Kusanagi which was shown in winter this year and achieved an average rating of 13.4%. It was said that the offer for this drama was made before SMAP's disband announcement in August this year. The same crew will be responsible for the new drama which is an original story featuring Kusanagi in the lead role of Ichinose Koichi who is a fraudster out for revenge as his father killed his mother and younger brother before committing suicide when he was 9 years old. However, the truth was that this was an engineered murder and Koichi had seen the culprit. Despite so, the police did not believe his words and let the real murderer get off scott free. 30 years later, he meets the murderer overseas and pledges to take revenge for all those who were responsible for his family's death. He will also be caught in a love triangle with his female fraudster partner and a doctor who is the daughter of a large company's president who happens to be one of the people he wants to take revenge on.

With regard to playing a fraudster, Kusanagi commented that he is the type not good at lying as it will show on his face so he thinks that this is a chance for him to get better at lying. Of course, not all lies are bad as some are made with good intentions. As this is a story about taking revenge, he hopes that viewers will be able to get some stress relief through this fast-paced drama where the evil gets punished.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Yomiuri Hochi

Review of "Naomi to Kanako" (Winter 2016)

To be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot from this drama although the premise did pique my interest initially. I've always been keen on the investigative / thriller / suspense-type of stories so this story of a pair of best friends conspiring to kill the husband of one of them seemed quite interesting in the sense that the viewers are kept on tenterhooks just to see if justice will catch up with them. To my surprise, the drama turned out to be better than I thought although it also had its flaws here and there.

Before I begin with the summary of the storyline, please be reminded that there will be spoilers ahead so you may wish to skip this review if you don't wish to know what's going to happen.

The lead character Oda Naomi (Hirosue Ryoko) is a career woman working in the institutional sales department of Aoi Departmental Store. As Naomi has a curator's licence, she had joined Aoi because she wanted to work in its affiliated art museum. However, as Naomi is so good at her sales job, her transfer application has not been accepted thus she is frustrated at work. When Naomi was a child, she witnessed how her father was violent towards her mother which led her to leave her hometown in Niigata as soon as she could. As such, Naomi has very strong feelings against abusive men.

Hattori Kanako (Uchida Yuki) who is Naomi's best friend during their university days, is married to an elite salaryman Tatsuro (Sato Ryuta) and appears to be leading a very happy life. However, the truth is that Tatsuro has been abusive towards Kanako and she does not dare to leave him for fear that he might harm the people around her. Since Tatsuro flares up at the smallest thing and sometimes for no reason, Kanako lives on tenterhooks and can't even talk to Naomi about it. At the same time, Tatsuro's elder sister Yoko (Yoshida Yo) also thinks little of Kanako and has no qualms criticising Kanako in front of her brother who already thinks that his wife is having it easy at home as a housewife while he slogs in the bank and faces immense pressure.

When Naomi finds out about Kanako's plight, she is furious and worried and asks the latter to get divorced immediately because she sees this as the only way out for Kanako. Likewise for Naomi's mother, she only became free and happy when her husband passed away. However, Kanako refuses to do so for fear that Tatsuro will hurt the people around her even if she manages to escape from his clutches. While feeling frustrated with her inability to help Kanako, Naomi happens to meet a Chinese woman Li Akemi (Takahata Atsuko) through work and also bumps into Lin Ryuki (Sato Ryuta) who looks exactly like Tatsuro. Through interacting with Li, Naomi comes up with the plan of killing Tatsuro so as to save Kanako and make use of Lin to cover up for them. However, Kanako doesn't want to go through with the plan initially as she doesn't think that they will succeed.

The last straw for Kanako comes when Tatsuro's abusive behaviour escalates and he even forces himself on her. She finally agrees to Naomi's suggestion and the two of them plan how to go about executing their plan. They also arrange to meet Lin and get him to pose as Tatsuro to leave the country with Tatsuro's passport so as to give the impression that he has fled due to a bogus embezzlement case involving Naomi's client who has dementia. While making preparations, Naomi has to fend off the suspicious looks from Li who seems to be able to read her mind and know what she's up to.

Things do not go according to plan for the buddies as issues crop up time and again. Nonetheless, they manage to pull things off in each time and heave a sigh of relief as they look forward to the happy days ahead. However, happiness is short-lived as Tatsuro's colleagues, Yoko, the police and even Li suspect that things are fishy and start investigations into Tatsuro's disappearance. Naomi and Kanako try their best to deflect the mounting suspicion towards them especially from Yoko who refuses to believe that her brother would commit a crime and disappear just like that. Just when the situation is slowly getting out of control, Lin returns to Japan because he has fallen in love with Kanako who showered him with kindness which further jeopardises the buddies' position. Naomi and Kananko are at their wits' end as Yoko finds out the truth so they have to seek help from Li who make arrangements for them to skip town...

Although this drama is based on a novel, there are some key differences in the drama version:
- Naomi is the younger sister in her family but in the drama, she is the elder sister. As the elder sister, the drama describes how she feels guilty about not being able to protect her mother and younger sister from her father's abuse and leaving them to fend for themselves when she left home for university. In addition, she has mixed feelings when seeing that her younger sister is able to get married and have kids but she is so badly traumatised by the domestic violence that she seems to have little faith in love and marriage.
- Naomi's father was still alive in the novel but had already passed away in the drama.
- Yoko was Tatsuro's younger sister in the novel but she became the elder sister in the drama. Perhaps this change in the setting could explain why Yoko had such an overbearing air and was very assertive when she was investigating what happened to Tatsuro.
- Although the drama hinted at romantic feelings between Lin and Kanako, there was no such development in the novel. If Lin had not returned for Kanako, the situation might not have deteriorated so quickly for the buddies. On the other hand, if he had not returned, he might not have helped the women to run away in the last episode.
- In the novel, Naomi and Yoko were not acquainted but in the drama, Yoko met Naomi during the party held at Kanako's place and even worked together later though this was largely due to Yoko's insistence.
- Yoko set up a bug at Naomi's place in the drama but the bug was actually placed at Kanako's place in the novel. I thought it was a bit odd that Naomi let down her guard too much and she could have chased Yoko away for trespassing.
- In the drama, Yoko came to know about Tatsuro's abusive character when she was attacked by his former girlfriend after he disappeared. In the novel, Yoko was already aware of Tatsuro's behaviour before he got married to Kanako as his former girlfriend wanted to report him to the police for domestic violence. Yoko became aware of Tatsuro's abuse towards Kanako when she saw the bruises on Kanako's body during a family onsen trip.

Personally, I felt that the story was rather weak and unbelievable at some parts which really seemed too far-fetched and unrealistic:

- The method used to kill Tatsuro was too risky as he could have easily woken up at the slightest sound. I found it odd that the ladies did not put him to sleep using drugs before strangling him. Perhaps they could have used some other method which didn't require so much energy and effort?

- The venue where they killed Tatsuro was rather odd. By killing Tatsuro at home, they risked being seen by neighbours, security personnel and caught on CCTV. And it sure proved to be a huge reason leading to their scheme being exposed in the end. I'm surprised that they did not do anything to hide their identities like wearing masks or hats or glasses and didn't think about the security cameras on the highways as they made their way to the place to dump the corpse.

- The fabricated case against Tatsuro was full of too many loopholes given his status as an experienced bank employee so it was no wonder that Yoko and Tatsuro's colleague sensed something fishy.

- Naomi and Kanako were too eager to celebrate the success of their scheme that they went out to have a nice Sunday brunch and enjoy Kanako's new-found freedom. That was too careless of them and Kanako should have put up the pretense a bit longer to deflect the suspicion away from herself.

- Naomi going to meet Lin just outside the bank after he withdrew money from the ATMs was extremely foolish. Wouldn't she know that there are security cameras at banks and ATM lobbies? Couldn't she have gone to meet him at a place where she won't be caught on camera?

- Naomi and Kanako knew very well that Yoko and the police were hot on their heels and waited till it was dawn before making their escape. I thought that was really stupid because they might have been able to escape overseas if they left in the middle of the night after Yoko confronted Kanako.

Despite the loopholes in the story, I thought that what kept me engaged was how well the story was presented. There was a lot of scenes where the dialogue was worded in such a way that it built up sufficient tension to keep me on the edge of my seat and kept me interested to watch one episode after another. For example, here is the scene where Li gave Naomi the idea that the only way out for Kanako was to get rid of Tatsuro which I thought had a very good tempo and was witty at the same time. To put things in perspective, this was when Naomi and Li were having lunch together and Naomi was telling the latter how she has a friend i.e. Kanako who is suffering from DV from her husband but she can't seem to help Kanako:

Naomi: What if your husband was someone who inflicted violence on you?
Li: I would get back at him and will not let it rest like that.
Naomi: But a woman cannot match a man's strength...
Li: If you can't handle him on your own, get your parents and brothers to do it for you.
Naomi: If your family can't save you?
Li: Get your friends to save you. Isn't that what friendship is for?
Naomi: Friends?
Li: When you are in trouble and your friend can't lend a helping hand, why would you still be friends with that person?
Naomi goes silent which leads Li to ask what is wrong with her.
Naomi: Actually, I have a friend from my university days who is suffering from domestic violence inflicted by her husband...
Li: Kill him.
Naomi: Eh?
Li: That man has no value to continue living. A man who beats a woman should just be killed.
Naomi: But the police will arrest us...
Li: Then think of a way where you won't be caught. Tactics and lies to protect your own life are all considered as justified self-defence.
Naomi: I wish I can be as strong as President Li.
Li: You are the strongest Japanese woman who I've met so far but you just don't have the courage to use your strength.

With each unexpected turn in the story, it brings the two leading ladies closer to disaster. As I've pointed out earlier, Naomi and Kanako were actually too careless in their planning and execution of their scheme which led to these mistakes coming back to haunt them later. For example, they underestimated the persistence of Yoko who tried to find out the truth. They were also not observant to the fact that Lin had developed feelings for Kanako due to her kindness which was a key factor in their downward spiral. Just when I thought that they were doomed to be exposed, they were still able to survive by the closest margin. Honestly, I wasn't thinking that they will escape from the arms of justice but the way the story was crafted, it was meant to make the viewers sympathise with them for what they did and hope that they will be able to get away scot-free somehow. As such, it became a natural thing for me to wish that they might be able to get their freedom somehow.

The last episode was very intense as the ladies tried to leave Japan since the police and Yoko were about to close in on them. Although the drama did not specify whether they were able to get away in the end, the smiling faces in the very last scene seemed to be suggesting that they may succeed. However, if you think logically, there was no way that they could get out. The plane could be barred from taking off even after they managed to board it. Even if they did board the plane and made it to Shanghai, they could still be nabbed by the police over in China. As such, unless they had managed to get to China and left the airport, there was little chance that they might be able to attain the freedom they desired. That got me wondering if there was really a need for them to depart from Narita or Haneda where the police could get to them very quickly. Couldn't they have resorted to taking a ferry to another country or taken a flight from a smaller airport in another city? Then again, if they had been successful in leaving through another exit point, the last episode would not have been as exciting. I guess logic doesn't always work well in dramaland.

Despite the plot which was criticised for the loopholes, I thought that the cast's acting were instrumental in keeping the viewers engaged from the start to the end other than how the story was presented. Among the cast members, I think Takahata Atsuko definitely takes the cake for leaving the strongest impact on me personally. As she played a Chinese woman who manages a company in Japan, her spoken Japanese was somewhat in bits and pieces but still very comprehensible. Due to the way she spoke, it sometimes came across as comical but at times, there was this unspeakable sense of fear she inspired due to her ability to observe and see through what Naomi and Kanako were up to. However, she would not expose them directly and instead left remarks which made the female leads wonder how much she knew and that kept them on tenterhooks for a long time since they didn't know if Li was their friend or foe. This emotional tug of war between her and them was a key highlight in the cast's interaction.

As for the female leads, Hirosue definitely had a meatier role at the beginning because she was the one who initiated the murder scheme and appeared to be more aggressive and proactive than her friend. However, Uchida proved to have a stronger screen presence later as it became apparent that she had toughened up considerably in terms of her emotional state once she made up her mind to break free from her abusive husband. In fact, Kanako appeared calmer than Naomi at times when the law was catching up with them. As such, the relationship dynamics between them were quite interesting in the sense that the person who appeared tougher on the outside was actually quite vulnerable while the one who seemed to need more care and concern was able to take the lead when it mattered. In that way, it won't be so boring to see Naomi lead Kanako all the way and that made their relationship more balanced than it seemed.

Yoshida Yo nailed it as the persistent sister Yoko who was probably seen as the "baddie" standing in the way of Naomi and Kanako's pursuit of "happiness". Much as I don't think that most viewers will like her for that, I have to admit that Yoshida did well enough to blend into her character and made Yoko stand out in a strong manner. I haven't watched much of Yoshida's past works other than the last HERO movie and she was pretty negligible there but this drama has sort of thrust her into the limelight as a competent supporting actress who could steal the limelight from the leads anytime. In my opinion, the best scenes from her were probably when Yoko confronted Kanako about Tatsuro's murder and forced the latter to commit suicide as repentance for her deeds and when Yoko screamed in desperation at the airport as she thought that Naomi and Kanako were going to get away scot-free. I thought those two scenes were pretty intense but Yoshida didn't go too overboard with her emotions and left a deep impression on me.

Sato Ryuta didn't feature very prominently after Tatsuro died and Lin went back to China but he did leave his mark in the beginning and end of the story. My impression of Sato was largely restricted to the honest and goofy roles he used to play so seeing him change into that scary and abusive Tatsuro was an eye-opener. Comparatively, Lin was pretty forgettable in the beginning but he came back to make an impact later as a potentially-troublesome stalker for Kanako and yet helped the ladies to run away in the end instead of creating more trouble. I thought this drama was a good change in Sato's acting career so that he can go beyond the honest guy and goofy roles in future.

And my ratings for this drama...

Story: 9 out of 10 (Other than the loopholes I highlighted, I think that the presentation of the story and the directing made this into a better production than I expected. At the very least, it kept me on edge so many times and convinced me to keep going on watching each episode just to see how things would turn out. And that's an important achievement because if viewers lose interest halfway, they won't bother checking out the entire series and keep watching.)

Acting: 9.5 out of 10 (The actresses generally did much better here with Takahata Atsuko being fantastic with her portrayal of Li. Sato Ryuta also showed that he can do something different this time.)

Theme song/BGM: 7 out of 10 (In terms of the BGM used in the drama, I thought that it matched the story quite well but the theme song didn't leave much of an impression on me since it was played very briefly towards the end of each episode.)

Visual effects / Scenery: 7 out 10 (There was some nice scenery featured when the ladies went on their little trip and while they were out searching for a place to dump the husband's body.)

Teamwork / Chemistry: 9.5 out of 10 (Among the characters, they interacted very well and helped to push up the tension felt by the viewers e.g. the friendship between Naomi and Kanako, when Naomi and Li were talking and the latter seemed to hint that she knew everything, when Yoko was trying to sound Naomi out for why she was behaving strangely, the showdown between Kanako and Yoko or when Tatsuro was being abusive towards Kanako. In some dramas, the lack of chemistry between actors can sometimes turn viewers off so the cast here should be credited with helping to make this drama a lot more watchable than it could have been.)

Total: 42 out of 50

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) 365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki - AKB48 (Asa ga kita)
2) Ashita e no Tegami - Teshima Aoi (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)
3) Motto - aiko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) UNLOCK - KAT-TUN (Kaitou Yamaneko)
2) 365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki - AKB48 (Asa ga kita)
3) Ashita e no Tegami - Teshima Aoi (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)
4) Gravity - Kis-My-Ft2 (MARS ~ Tada, kimi wo aishiteru ~)
5) Motto - aiko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ashita e no Tegami - Teshima Aoi (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)
2) 365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki - AKB48 (Asa ga kita)
3) Motto - aiko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai)
4) No more - EXILE ATSUSHI + AI (Naomi to Kanako)
5) UNLOCK - KAT-TUN (Kaitou Yamaneko) / I want u to love me - Alexandros (Onna Kudoki Meshi Season 2)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) 365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki - AKB48 (Asa ga kita)
2) Ashita e no Tegami - Teshima Aoi (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)
3) Koigokoro - MACO (Tokyo Sentimental)
4) Motto - aiko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai)
5) UNLOCK - KAT-TUN (Kaitou Yamaneko) / No more - EXILE ATSUSHI + AI (Naomi to Kanako) / Kokoro no mama ni - Shimatani Hitomi (Itooshikute) / Friends - Rebecca (MARS ~ Tada, kimi wo aishiteru ~) / Kimi ga ii - Softly (Onna kudoki meshi Season 2)

Source: The Televison

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Takahata Atsuko - Naomi to Kanako
2) Miyazaki Aoi - Asa ga kita
3) Ueno Juri - Kazoku no Katachi

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Ueno Juri - Kazoku no Katachi
2) Hirose Suzu - Kaitou Yamaneko
3) Takahata Mitsuki - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
4) Minami Kaho - Specialist
5) Miyazaki Aoi - Asa ga kita

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Takahata Atsuko - Naomi to Kanako
2) Miyazaki Aoi - Asa ga kita
3) Takahata Mitsuki - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
4) Yoshida Yo - Naomi to Kanako
5) Uchida Yuki - Naomi to Kanako / Matsui Reina - Niche-sensei

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Takahata Atsuko - Naomi to Kanako
2) Naka Riisa - Nigeru Onna
3) Takahata Mitsuki - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
4) Yoshida Yo - Naomi to Kanako
5) Miyazaki Aoi - Asa ga kita / Uchida Yuki - Naomi to Kanako

Source: The Televison

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita
2) Dean Fujioka - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Dean Fujioka - Asa ga kita

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kubota Masataka - Rinshou Hanzai Gakusha Himura Hideo no Suiri
2) Narimiya Hiroki - Kaitou Yamaneko
3) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita
4) Nishijima Takahiro - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
5) Nishida Toshiyuki - Kazoku no Katachi

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita
2) Dean Fujioka - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Dean Fujioka - Asa ga kita
4) Takahashi Issei - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
5) Kubota Masataka - Rinshou Hanzai Gakusha Himura Hideo no Suiri / Sakaguchi Kentaro - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau / Yamazaki Ikusaburo - Otousan to yobasete

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita
2) Dean Fujioka - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Dean Fujioka - Asa ga kita
4) Kondo Masaomi - Asa ga kita
5) Emoto Tasuku - Asa ga kita

Source: The Televison

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Haru - Asa ga kita
2) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Hirosue Ryoko - Naomi to Kanako

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Haru - Asa ga kita
2) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Hirosue Ryoko - Naomi to Kanako
4) Horikita Maki - Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka
5) Ayase Haruka - Watashi wo hanasanai de

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Haru - Asa ga kita
2) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
3) Arimura Kasumi - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
4) Hirosue Ryoko - Naomi to Kanako
5) Ayase Haruka - Watashi wo hanasanai de

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Haru - Asa ga kita
2) Hirosue Ryoko - Naomi to Kanako
3) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai
4) Arimura Kasumi - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
5) Kiritani Mirei - Sumi ka Sumire

Source: The Televison

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Leading Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Koura Kengo - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
2) Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko
3) Katori Shingo - Kazoku no Katachi

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko
2) Katori Shingo - Kazoku no Katachi
3) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Specialist
4) Kubota Masataka - MARS ~ Tada, Kimi wo aishiteru ~
5) Fujigaya Taisuke - MARS ~ Tada, Kimi wo aishiteru ~

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Koura Kengo - Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau
2) Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko
3) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Specialist
4) Nagase Tomoya - Fragile
5) Endo Kenichi - Otousan to yobasete

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Nagase Tomoya - Fragile
2) Yoshida Kotaro - Tokyo Sentimental
3) Watabe Atsuro - Otousan to yobasete
4) Katori Shingo - Kazoku no Katachi / Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Specialist / Endo Kenichi - Otousan to yobasete

Source: The Televison

The 88th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2016) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3
1) Asa ga kita (NHK)
2) Naomi to Kanako (FujiTV)
3) Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau (FujiTV)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Kazoku no Katachi (TBS)
2) Kaitou Yamaneko (NTV)
3) Rinshou Hanzai Gakusha Himura Hideo no Suiri (NTV)
4) MARS ~ Tada, Kimi wo aishiteru ~ (NTV)
5) Specialist (TV Asahi)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Asa ga kita (NHK)
2) Naomi to Kanako (FujiTV)
3) Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau (FujiTV)
4) Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (TBS)
5) Specialist (TV Asahi)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Asa ga kita (NHK)
2) Naomi to Kanako (FujiTV)
3) Tokyo Sentimental (TV Tokyo)
4) Chikaemon (NHK)
5) Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau (FujiTV) / Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (TBS)

Source: The Television

The 3rd Confidence Award for Dramas - Winter 2016

Best Drama: Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau (FujiTV)

Best Leading Actor: Nagase Tomoya (Fragile)

Best Leading Actress: N.A.
Apparently, the judges couldn't decide on who among the three actresses to choose as the winner so they decided to forgo this award. The three who remained in the final round of selection were Hirosue Ryoko (Naomi to Kanako), Kiritani Mirei (Sumi ka Sumire) and Fukada Kyoko (Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai).

Best Supporting Actor: Sato Ryuta (Naomi to Kanako)

Best Supporting Actress: Naka Riisa (Nigeru Onna)

Best Script: Sakamoto Yuji (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)

Best Newcomer: Nishijima Takahiro (Itsuka kono koi wo omoi dashite kitto naite shimau)

Source: Confidence Award

Winners of the 19th Nikkansports Dorama Grand Prix (Winter 2016)

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received:

Best Drama
1) Kaitou Yamaneko - NTV (503)
2) Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai - TBS (353)
3) Asa ga kita - NHK (299)
4) Specialist - TV Asahi (223)
5) Sanadamaru - NHK (156)

Best Leading Actor
1) Kamenashi Kazuya - Kaitou Yamaneko (544)
2) Tamaki Hiroshi - Asa ga kita (373)
3) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Specialist (222)
4) Nagase Tomoya - Fragile (184)
5) Sakai Masato - Sanadamaru (167)

Best Leading Actress
1) Haru - Asa ga kita (572)
2) Fukada Kyoko - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (542)
3) Ueno Juri - Kazoku no Katachi (166)
4) Horikita Maki - Higanbana ~ Keishicho Sousa Nanaka (156)
5) Arimura Kasumi - Itsuka kono koi wo omoidashite kitto naite shimau (151)

Best Supporting Actor
1) Narimiya Hiroki - Kaitou Yamaneko (351)
2) Dean Fujioka - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (305)
3) Dean Fujioka - Asa ga kita (263)
4) Kusakari Masao - Sanadamaru (227)
5) Sasaki Kuranosuke - Kaitou Yamaneko / Nishida Toshiyuki - Kazoku no Katachi (122)

Best Supporting Actress
1) Hirose Suzu - Kaitou Yamaneko (395)
2) Nonami Maho - Dame na watashi ni koishite kudasai (195)
3) Minami Kaho - Specialist (181)
4) Koshida Fuuka - Asa ga kita (129)
5) Nagasawa Masami - Sanadamaru (101)

Source: Nikkansports

Otomo Kohei to be guest star in episode 5 of TBS Winter 2016 drama "Watashi wo hanasanai de"

 Otomo Kohei will be making a guest appearance in the 5th episode of TBS Winter 2016 drama "Watashi wo hanasanai de" which is to be shown on 12 February. He will play a former rockabilly singer who is the owner of a second-hand clothes shop and the first person to treat Kyoko (Ayase Haruka) and Tomohiko (Miura Haruma) kindly since they left Youkou Gakuen to live at the Cottage. This will be Otomo's first drama appearance since he turned 60 this year.

When asked to describe his character, Otomo said that the identity of being a rockabilly singer was meant to reflect his character's inability to fit in with the norms of society and he was regarded as somewhat like an outcast which in turn enabled him to view others with no prejudice. Upon knowing that Kyoko and Tomohiko are different from him, he is able to regain his composure and treat them in a normal way.

As for his impression of the two actors, Otomo who had not met Miura before, said that the latter is a very serious person so he wanted to liven up the atmosphere by cracking jokes. He was thankful for the fact that Miura responded quite favourably to the jokes. As for Ayase, he had met her before by chance in the past and was particularly struck by how innocent she could be. During that encounter, Otomo had told her about him being of the same age as her mother and revealed that he used to be part of a band named Hotdog. To his surprise, Ayase called her mother immediately in front of him and asked the latter if she knew about Otomo's band which surprised him greatly.

Source: Cinema Cafe

Kawaguchi Haruna to play Chiba Yudai's wife in TBS Winter 2016 drama "Kazoku no Katachi"

Kawaguchi Haruna will be playing Chiba Yudai's wife in the TBS Winter 2016 drama "Kazoku no Katachi" and make her first appearance from the 4th episode to be shown on 7 February. In the drama, Chiba plays Irie Haruto, the junior of Katori Shingo's character at a stationery manufacturer, and has been hiding the fact that he is already married to Akane (Kawaguchi). Due to an undisclosed reason, the couple has yet to hold a wedding ceremony. In episode 5, they will be holding a wedding which was shot at a church in Tokyo on 2 February.

Kawaguchi commented that as this is the first time she is acting in a wedding scene and dressed in a long bridal gown, she was quite emotional about it and hope that she will be able to do the same when she gets married for real. As she only joined the filming halfway as a guest star, Kawaguchi revealed that she felt relaxed about it especially with Katori taking the effort to care for everyone on the set. With regard to her collaboration with Chiba who she has worked with many times to date, she praised Chiba for being very cute but she would prefer a man with a wilder feel when it comes to her ideal guy.

Source: Cinema Cafe

Completion screening event of WOWOW drama "Megabank Saishu Kessen"

The completion screening event of new WOWOW drama "Megabank Saishu Kessen" was held on 4 February which was attended by the cast Shiina Kippei, Kiritani Kenta, Ishibashi Ryo, Ogawa Tamaki and Otozuki Kei. The drama which will begin its run from 14 February in the Sundays 10pm timeslot, is based on the novel by Hatano Sho.

Shiina plays the role of a skillful dealer who works in a megabank that finds itself saddled with huge debts due to the fall of Japan's national bonds and teams up with Kiritani's character who is a member of the general affairs department to complete the largest merger deal to date.

During the event, there was a small celebration for Kiritani who celebrated his 36th birthday on the same day. A cake bearing a sketch of him was brought onto stage and the audience popped crackers for him. Kiritani admitted that he did see the words "surprise" and "cake" on the rundown sheet and wondered if it was for him but he didn't know about the crackers so was pleasantly surprised.

Source: Oricon

Insert song of "Watashi wo hanasanai de" to be released via online streaming

The insert song "Never Let Me Go" featured in the ongoing TBS Winter 2016 drama "Watashi wo hanasanai de" has been released via online streaming portals as of 29 January. The song sung by Julie Shortreed, is an original composition with lyrics written by Shortreed herself and was featured in the first episode where the child actors of Kyoko (Ayase Haruka) and Tomohiko (Miura Haruma) were dancing to the music in an empty classroom. Following the broadcast, the TV station was swarmed with queries about the song thus leading to the release via online streaming.

Shortreed is a singer who has a Canadian father and Japanese mother and has been a model, composer and singer ever since she came to Tokyo to work. She began her music career officially from 2010 and has been heard in various CM songs. Her most recent works were her songs in the movie "Umimachi diary" and the anime "Tokyo Ghoul".

Source: Oricon

Completion screening event of new WOWOW drama "Kinbika"

The completion screening event of new WOWOW drama "Kinbika" was held on 27 Januiary which was attended by the cast members Nakai Kiichi, Yusuke Santa Maria and Pierre Taki. The drama which begins its run from 13 February in the Saturdays 10pm timeslot and is based on the novel by Naoki Award winner Asada Jiro, features Nakai as a former gangster who had served a 13-year sentence in jail but finds himself being abandoned by his gang. Yusuke Santa Maria is a former secretary to a politician who used him as a scapegoat when news of his bribery case came to light thus leading to him losing his marriage and family while Taki is a former Self Defence Forces officer who staged a rebellion against the government. Through the introduction of a former police officer, the three of them come together to form an unlikely alliance in order to survive in the harsh times.

As the 2011 WOWOW drama "Shitamachi Rocket" became a huge hit last year when it was remade by TBS, Yusuke Santa Maria was asked who he would like to have to play the three leads if "Kinbika" is to be remade by a private network. He joked that he would prefer for the cast to remain unchanged but if he really had to choose someone else, he would like to have Cocorico's Tanaka Naoki do it. Upon hearing that, Taki also joked that he wanted Shoei to play his character. While suppressing his laughter, Nakai said that although he was initially glad about the choice of his co-stars, it seemed like they didn't feel the same way. As such, he jokingly suggested that his close friend Sato Koichi can play his character if there is a remake in future.

Source: Sponichi

Production press conference of FujiTV Winter 2016 drama "Otousan to yobasete"

The production press conference of FujiTV Winter 2016 drama "Otousan to yobasete" was held on 17 January which was attended by cast members Endo Kenichi, Watabe Atsuro, Wakui Emi, Renbutsu Misako, Shinkawa Yua, Nakamura Tomoya and Nakamura An. The drama which began its run from 19 January in the Tuesdays 10pm timeslot, features Endo as a 51-year-old single man who wants to marry his girlfriend 28 years his junior (Renbutsu) and faces strong opposition from her father (Watabe) who is of the same age as him.

Endo revealed that this was the first time he had to say "aishiteru" in a drama especially considering that he was never required to do so in his 30-odd year career. Even when he married his wife, he did not say this to her so he found it quite amusing since he tends to say rather "violent lines" often like "bukkoroshiteyaru" (I will kill you) when acting. He also revealed that there will be a scene where he dances naked and he recalled that while filming the scene, he became quite self-conscious about it when the make-up artist and Watabe teased him but overall, it was a fun scene to do. As for Renbutsu, she said that it has been an enjoyable filming so far and she feels that she can understand her character very well since she also likes older men in real life. In real life, Endo and Renbutsu have a 30-year age gap but both remarked that they can hardly feel it and praised each other for being cute and easy to work with.

When asked about their views on May-November relationships, Watabe commented that from his viewpoint as a 47-year-old man, he can't say for sure if such relationships will work in real life but thinks that he can't help but be conscious of the age difference despite the fact that there should be no restrictions in love. He doesn't think that a relationship like what is depicted in the drama is likely to happen in real life.

Watabe and Endo last worked together in the movie "Gaiji Keisatsu" in 2012 and have been in many dramas and movies together so far. Endo commented that Watabe has natural masculine charm and has good points which he doesn't thus making him a very interesting person to be with. Watabe also praised his co-star who he had been working together with for a long time and expressed his joy about their collaboration this time.

Source: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Sponichi 1 / Sponichi 2

Prayer and offering of thanks ceremony for TV Tokyo Winter 2016 drama "Tokyo Sentimental"

The prayer and offering of thanks ceremony for TV Tokyo Winter 2016 drama "Tokyo Sentimental" was held recently at Atago Shrine in Tokyo which was attended by the lead Yoshida Kotaro. The drama which began its run from 15 January in the Fridays 12.12am timeslot, features Yoshida as the lead character who is a thrice-divorced wagashi master looking for love. Yoshida commented that he hopes his prayer for high ratings will be answered and everyone in the cast and crew will work hard to make a drama which will be loved by viewers. As Yoshida announced his marriage to his wife on New Year's Day, he also commented that although he is done with seeking freedom in love now, his character will continue the journey to do so in the drama.

Source: Nikkansports