The 115th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2023) - Best Drama

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Brush up life
2) Oooku Season 1
3) Wana no sensou

Voters Ranking Top 5

1) Maiagare!

2) Brush up life

3) Suki suki wanwan!

4) Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu

5) Wana no sensou

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Brush up life
2) Wana no sensou
3) Oooku Season 1
4) 100 mankai ieba yokatta

5) Maiagare!

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Brush up life

2) Oooku Season 1

3) Wana no sensou

4) 6 byoukan no kiseki ~ Hanabishi Mochizuki Seitaro no yuuutsu ~

5) Keishichou Outsider

Source: The Television

The 115th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2023) - Best Leading Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Ando Sakura - Brush up life
2) Tominaga Ai - Oooku Season 1
3) Inoue Mao - 100 mankai ieba yokatta

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Ando Sakura - Brush up life
2) Fukuhara Haruka - Maiagare!

3) Hirose Suzu - Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu

4) Inoue Mao - 100 mankai ieba yokatta

5) Tominaga Ai - Oooku Season 1

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Ando Sakura - Brush up life
2) Inoue Mao - 100 mankai ieba yokatta
3) Tominaga Ai - Oooku Season 1

4) Kitagawa Keiko - Themis no Kyoushitsu ~ Legal seishun hakusho ~

5) Fukuhara Haruka - Maiagare!

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Ando Sakura - Brush up life

2) Tominaga Ai - Oooku Season 1

3) Inoue Mao - 100 mankai ieba yokatta

4) Kadowaki Mugi - Reversal Orchestra

5) Kita Kana - Tokyo no yuki otoko

Source: The Television

The 115th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2023) - Best Supporting Actor

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Tanaka Kei - Reversal Orchestra

2) Matsuyama Kenichi - 100 mankai ieba yokatta

3) Sometani Shota - Brush up life

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Akaso Eiji - Maiagare!
2) Nagase Ren - Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu
3) Ukisho Hidaka - Suki suki wanwan!
4) Sugino Yosuke - Wana no sensou
5) Kikuchi Fuuma - Daibyouin senkyo

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Sometani Shota - Brush up life
2) Matsuyama Kenichi - 100 mankai ieba yokatta
3) Tanaka Kei - Reversal Orchestra
4) Terawaki Yasufumi - Aibou season 21
5) Akaso Eiji - Maiagare!

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Tanaka Kei - Reversal Orchestra
2) Matsuyama Kenichi - 100 mankai ieba yokatta

3) Sato Takeru - 100 mankai ieba yokatta

4) Hamada Gaku - Keishicho Outsider

5) Suzuki Nobuyuki - Ninja ni kekkon wa muzukashii

Source: The Television

The 115th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2023) - Best Supporting Actress

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) Kaho - Brush up life

2) Nagasaku Hiromi - Maiagare!
3) Kinami Haruka - Brush up life

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) Takahata Atsuko - Maiagare!
2) Nagasaku Hiromi - Maiagare!
3) Kaho - Brush up life
4) Kuwabata Rie - Maiagare!
5) Matsumoto Wakana - Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) Kaho - Brush up life
2) Kinami Haruka - Brush up life
3) Igawa Haruka - Wana no sensou
4) Yamashita Mizuki - Maiagare!
5) Matsumoto Honoka - Liaison - Kodomo no kokoro shinryoujo -

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) Nagasaku Hiromi - Maiagare!
2) Saito Yuki - Oooku Season 1

3) Katahira Nagisa - Wana no sensou

4) Ono Karin - Wana no sensou

5) Yamashita Mizuki - Maiagare!

Source: The Television

The 115th Drama Academy Awards (Winter 2023) - Best Theme Song

Overall Ranking Top 3

1) I love you by back number (Maiagare!)

2) BETTING by Katori Shingo x SEVENTEEN (Wana no sensou)

3) Hoshizukiyo by YU-KA (Hoshi furu yoru ni)

Voters Ranking Top 5
1) I love you by back number (Maiagare!)
2) We are young by King & Prince (Suki suki wanwan!)
3) Life goes on by King & Prince (Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu)
4) BETTING by Katori Shingo x SEVENTEEN (Wana no sensou)
5) Rinjuu Love by Macaroni Enpitsu (100 mankai ieba yokatta)

TV Reporters Ranking Top 5
1) BETTING by Katori Shingo x SEVENTEEN (Wana no sensou)

2) I love you by back number (Maiagare!)

3) Rinjuu Love by Macaroni Enpitsu (100 mankai ieba yokatta)
4) Tanpopo by Ikuta Rira (Oooku Season 1)
5) Algernon by Yorushika (Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu)

Judges Ranking Top 5
1) I love you by back number (Maiagare!)

2) BETTING by Katori Shingo x SEVENTEEN (Wana no sensou)

3) Hoshizukiyo by YU-KA (Hoshi furu yoru ni)

4) Life goes on by King & Prince (Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu)

5) Akatoki Reload by aiko (Ninja ni kekkon wa muzukashii)

Source: The Television

Winners of the 26th Nikkansports Dorama Grand Prix (Spring 2022 - Winter 2023)

The voting exercise was conducted online between 30 March and 6 April 2023 where respondents chose from dramas shown between April 2022 and March 2023 for the 5 categories. A total of 74,832 votes were received with the most voters in terms of age group (in descending order) were those in their 40s, 50s, 30s, 20s, more than 60 and teens.

The total number of votes received are represented in brackets as follows:

Best Drama

1) Kurosagi (39,549)

2) Suki suki wanwan! (11,182)

3) Reversal Orchestra (3,315)

4) Shin Shinchoukouki (3,310)

5) 100 mankai ieba yokatta (2,720)

6) Shoujiki Fudousan (2,399)

7) Kindaichi shonen no jinkenbo (2,174)

8) My Family (1,780)

9) silent (1,641)

10) Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu (1,295)

Best Leading Actor

1) Hirano Sho - Kurosagi (39,968)

2) Kishi Yuuta - Suki suki wanwan (11,350)

3) Nagase Ren - Shin shinchoukouki (4,472)

4) Yamashita Tomohisa - Shoujiki Fudousan (2,634)

5) Oguri Shun - Kamakuradono no 13 nin (2,577)

6) Michieda Shunsuke - Kindaichi shonen no jikenbo (2,329)

7) Ninomiya Kazunari - My Family (2,268)

8) Hayashi Kento - Hatsukoi no akuma (1,649)

9) Yamada Ryosuke - Ore no kawaii wa mou sugu shouhikigen!? / Shinainaru boku e satsui wo komete (1,628)

10) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Wana no sensou (1,401)

Best Leading Actress

1) Ando Sakura - Brush up life (19,559)

2) Hirose Suzu - Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu (6,389)

3) Nagasawa Masami - Elpis - Kibou, arui wa wazawai - (6,289)

4) Inoue Mao - 100 mankai ieba yokatta (6,175)

5) Kadowaki Mugi - Reversal Orchestra (5,360)

6) Sugisaki Hana - Prism (4,128)

7) Kawaguchi Haruna - silent (3,871)

8) Yoshitaka Yuriko - Hoshi furu yoru ni (3,707)

9) Kuroshima Yuina - Chimudondon (2,799)

10) Arimura Kasumi - Ishiko to Haneo - sonna koto de utaemasuka? - (2,177)

Best Supporting Actor

1) Miura Tomokazu - Kurosagi (33,490)

2) Nagase Ren - Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu (8,958)

3) Ukisho Hidaka - Suki suki wanwan (8,041)

4) Tanaka Kei - Jisoku kanou na koi desuka? / Reversal Orchestra (5,021)

5) Sato Takeru - 100 mankai ieba yokatta (3,889)

6) Meguro Ren - Maiagare! / silent (2,562)

7) Ichihara Hayato - Shoujiki Fudousan (2,456)

8) Hamada Gaku - My Family / Shin shinchoukouki (2,210)

9) Oideyasu Oda - Suki suki wanwan (1,342)

10) Yamamoto Koji - Kamakuradono no 13 nin / Kurosagi (1,336)

Best Supporting Actress

1) Kuroshima Yuina - Kurosagi (32,367)

2) Nakamura Yuri - Kurosagi (6,172)

3) Tabe Mikako - My Family (3,863)

4) Koike Eiko - Kamakura dono no 13 nin / Kyousou no bannin (3,707)

5) Kaho - silent (3,174)

6) Fukuhara Haruka - Shoujiki Fudousan (2,937)

7) Matsumoto Wakana - Tantei Romance / Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu (2,824)

8) Shim Eunkyung - 100 mankai ieba yokatta (2,454)

9) Takiuchi Kumi - Reversal Orchestra (2,309)

10) Hirate Yurina - Roppongi Class (2,307)

Winners of the Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix - Winter 2023

Here are the winners of the Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix for the Winter 2023 season. Numbers in brackets indicate the number of votes received:

Best Drama

1) Suki suki wanwan! - NTV (5239)

2) Reversal Orchestra - NTV (2538)

3) Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu - TBS (2099)

4) 100 mankai ieba yokatta - TBS (1835)

5) Wana no sensou - FujiTV (1062)

Best Leading Actor

1) Kishi Yuuta - Suki suki wanwan! (5995)

2) Kusanagi Tsuyoshi - Wana no sensou (2675)

3) Sakurai Sho - Daibyouin senkyo (1210)

4) Matsumoto Jun - Dousuru Ieyasu (664)

5) Takahashi Issei - 6 byoukan no kiseki (531)

Best Leading Actress

1) Kadowaki Mugi - Reversal Orchestra (3175)

2) Ando Sakura - Brush up life (3075)

3) Hirose Suzu - Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu (2567)

4) Inoue Mao - 100 mankai ieba yokatta (2421)

5) Yoshitaka Yuriko - Hoshi furu yoru ni (1013)

Best Supporting Actor

1) Tanaka Kei - Reversal Orchestra (2987)

2) Ukisho Hidaka - Suki suki wanwan! (2780)

3) Nagase Ren - Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu (2430)

4) Sato Takeru - 100 mankai ieba yokatta (2137)

5) Oideyasu Oda - Suki suki wanwan! (711)

Best Supporting Actress

1) Takiuchi Kumi - Reversal Orchestra (1251)

2) Natsuki Mari - Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu (1138)

3) Tsunematsu Yuri - Reversal Orchestra (881)

4) Matsumoto Wakana - Tantei Romance / Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu (850)

5) Shim Eun-kyung - 100 mankai ieba yokatta (844)

Source: Nikkansports

Thoughts about "Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu" Ep 1 - Winter 2023

Conclusion: This felt like a modern remake of 1996's "Long Vacation".

The key settings and developments so far felt almost identical as per the points I outlined below:

1) Soramame (Hirose Suzu) was dumped by her fiancé who had a new girlfriend and only found out what happened after she came to Tokyo to finalise plans for their wedding just weeks ahead vs. Minami (Yamaguchi Tomoko) who probably had it worse because she was dumped on her wedding day and her fiancé took away all her money.

2) Oto (Nagase Ren) aspires to be a composer but is struggling because his works seem to lack the power to move people emotionally vs. Sena who failed to get into graduate school and could only make ends meet as a piano teacher,.

3) Soramame and Oto end up living under the same roof due to her having no money and cannot go back to her hometown to face her grandmother and family after breaking up with her fiance vs. Minami losing all her money to her fiance and Sena having no choice but to let her stay in the same apartment at her persistence

4) Sena was in an unrequited relationship with his junior Ryoko (Matsu Takako) while at present, what is known is that Oto seems unable to date or unwilling to date anyone due to some unknown reason.

5) The underlying theme of taking a "vacation" from life in the meantime before trying to do something or pursuing one's dreams seems to be the same in both dramas. Soramame and Oto look likely to be seeking comfort in each other's company while staying under the same roof. Likewise for Sena and Minami helped to heal each other's wounds while living together before they could take steps to realise what they wanted in life.

Well, given that both dramas are written by the same scriptwriter Kitagawa Eriko, I'm not so surprised but to have that many similarities, it felt as if she was copying chunks of successful elements from her past hit. And since "Long Vacation" was such a hit back then, it may be unfair to compare this drama with that. Then again, what was novel and refreshing back in 1996 doesn't feel quite the same in 2023.

Perhaps for those who haven't watched Kitagawa's past works or "Long Vacation" in particular, you may not be so bothered by these similarities. However, to see some really cliched settings and hear lines which you typically won't hear from young people these days, these just makes this drama feel really dated and old fashioned. I'm not sure if this is an indication of things to come but I cringe at the idea of having to sit through such a cliched story for another 2+ months.

Then again, I also feel that it might be a pity to give up so quickly especially since the cast turned out to be better than I thought.

It's my first time watching Nagase Ren in action and I was pleasantly surprised by his subdued acting as the unusually calm Oto who only shows a bit of his true self and feelings when he's with Soramame. As such, I'm intrigued by how his character will develop and what kind of painful past Oto might have which led him to behave as he is now. Likewise for Hirose Suzu, although it was a bit challenging to hear Soramame talk in a mix of 2 dialects (she did explain why she spoke like that), I liked her chemistry with Nagase and to be honest, they do look like a really cute and compatible couple. Even for the supporting characters shown so far - Makiko (Matsumoto Wakana), Kyoko (Natsuki Mari) i.e. their landlord and Sousuke (Kawakami Yohei) i.e. Kyoko's son, they all look pretty interesting to explore further. And Endo Kenichi hasn't even appeared yet.

The problem is, if the story proves too much to stomach, I probably cannot force myself to stay on watching this just for the cast. As such, the next 2 episodes or so will probably be the deciding factor for me as to whether this drama is for keeps or to be dropped.

Preview of "Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu" - Winter 2023

Title: Yuugure ni, te wo tsunagu 夕暮れに、手をつなぐ

Official website: here

Official Instagram: here

Official TikTok: here

Official Twitter: here

O.A. Start Date: 17 January 2023

Timeslot: Tuesdays 10pm

Broadcast by: TBS

Theme Song: "Algernon" by Yorushika

Cast: Hirose Suzu, Nagase Ren, Tanabe Momoko, Kuroba Mario, Ihara Rikka, Kawakami Yohei, Uchida Rio, Sakurai Kaito, Matsumoto Wakana, Kayashima Narumi, Sakou Yoshi, Endo Kenichi & Natsuki Mari