Quick Review #123: Strawberry Night (movie)

Title: Strawberry Night / ストロベリーナイト　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 3 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who are fans of the "Strawberry Night" series and the late Takeuchi Yuko, want to see the sizzling onscreen romance of Takeuchi & Oosawa Takao but don't mind the lacklustre suspense

* Potential spoilers ahead!

Liked:

- Fans of the "Strawberry Night" series and Takeuchi would probably like this, even just for the nostalgia since this movie was from 12 years ago.

- My only motivation for watching this was Oosawa so in this sense, I was pretty satisfied to see his acting as a yakuza head who was deeply attracted to a police officer he should have steered clear of and the amount of airtime he had. The icing on the cake was the sizzling onscreen romance of his character with Takeuchi's Himekawa although that was meant to end in tragedy from the start.

Disliked: 

- Perhaps due to the onscreen romance being too eye-catching, I found the suspense element of the story pretty underwhelming in comparison. Not only was it not difficult to deduce what had happened, the way how things developed especially the parts that didn't make much sense during Himekawa's solo investigation operation made it difficult for me to immerse fully into the story. 

- While much had been talked about in the past about the so-called love triangle between the characters of Takeuchi, Oosawa and Nishijima Hidetoshi, it was obvious that Kikuta never stood a chance. If it had been that Kikuta did matter to Himekawa in the romantic sense, perhaps that would have made the romance part even more exciting to watch.

Quick Review #122: Shinkansen Daibakuha (movie)

Title: Shinkansen Daibakuha / 新幹線大爆破　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 3 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who are in the mood for a Shinkansen version of the Hollywood classic "SPEED" and/or want to catch glimpses of your favourite actors in the cast

* Potential spoilers ahead!

* Currently showing on Netflix

Liked:

- If you liked the Hollywood movie "SPEED" which featured Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock stuck on a bus which couldn't stop due to a bomb planted on it, this movie can be likened to a Shinkansen version of that film with even more lives at stake with the speed limit raised even higher. Since JR provided filming support, the reality factor was heightened and thus helped to accentuate the tension and intensity needed for such a movie.

Disliked: 

- The positioning of this movie was a big issue. I don't know whether to classify this as a remake, sequel or refresh of the first movie in 1975 but there were a lot of references to the case in that movie. It may come across bewildering to people who are unaware of this link or have never watched that movie. To have them keep harping on that while assuming that viewers are in the know - I thought that was a bad move and didn't allow me to enjoy the movie on its own.

- The story was also very flat in that the ultimate motive for the bombing was somewhat "childish" and "trivial". I had also read comments from viewers about how this was comparatively small-scale and hard to empathize with vs. what was the motive in the first movie i.e. a thinly-veiled criticism towards the societal problems brought about by the period of high economic growth in Japan at that time. It also didn't help that because there were so many characters in this movie, there simply wasn't enough time to delve further into their personal circumstances, mentality or motivations behind their actions. As such, it was really difficult to identify with the criminals' motives.

- The information overload and technicalities involved in this movie was rather hard to stomach. To begin with, the number of characters and their positions, the places which the Shinkansen moved to and past as well as other trains involved in the rescue process were a lot to take in and the captions and subtitles flew by so fast that I had to rewind many times to read them. And when they got started with using the technical terms in the control centre, I pretty much lost track of the plot and decided not to try to make sense of how they were trying to manipulate the other trains to save the Shinkansen in question. Unless you are in the know, I think it's hard not to feel alienated by the amount of technical information overload here.

- While the cast did boast quite a number of credible actors including Non who hasn't been seen in many big productions ever since her dispute with her old agency, I think the movie just didn't offer these actors enough room to work with and that was a big pity.

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.

Quick Review #121: Wara no tate (movie)

Title: Wara no tate / 藁の盾　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 3 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who like action films by Miike Takashi and/or are fans of Oosawa Takao and Fujiwara Tatsuya

* Potential spoilers ahead!

* I remember having watched this before in the cinema when it showed in Singapore 12 years ago but I didn't write a review back then.

Liked:

- If you are a fan of Oosawa and Fujiwara, chances are, you would be quite pleased to see them in this movie. I have been on a Oosawa-high after watching the "Kingdom" movie series so this film came at a perfect time for me because he had a lot of scenes as the lead and looked so good. As for Fujiwara, he had a meaty and difficult role and as usual, you can count on him to deliver a credible performance.

Disliked: 

- I think I've mentioned this before but perhaps, Miike Takashi's films just don't go down well with me. Those who like his style might think otherwise though. 

The biggest issue I find this time (even though this was my second time watching it) was how flat the story was. Perhaps this was why I didn't want to write a review back then even though I made the effort to watch this in the cinema for the sake of Oosawa and Fujiwara.

So much attention was put on the nationwide manhunt for a psychopath killer who was being escorted to Tokyo for questioning and to be honest, the action scenes were pretty good. However, the story did not give much insight into the characters who felt very one-dimensional and forgettable. It also did not delve as deep into the moral dilemma of duty vs. conscience & justice as implied in the PR captions What's more, the ending was kind of sloppy even though I liked the fact that Oosawa's character survived.

- I feel that female characters in such movies can be portrayed quite stereotypically and positioned as more of an afterthought so it wasn't surprising to see Matsushima's character having not much room for development. It was a pity though because she did undergo an image change for this role but it just didn't leave much of an impact and felt rather insignificant.

Quick Review #120: Gekijou (movie)

Title: Gekijou / 劇場　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 7 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who like bittersweet stories and are fans of Yamazaki Kento & Matsuoka Mayu

* Potential spoilers ahead!

* Disclaimer: I have not read the original novel.

* Currently available on Amazon Prime (subject to geographical location)

Liked:

- The acting of the two leads is definitely the highlight of this movie. Yamazaki deviated from his usual youthful and largely positive screen image to play this unkept, lethargic and jaded character Nagata who leeched onto his girlfriend Saki played by Matsuoka. Honestly speaking, this couple didn't have any lovey-dovey scenes or even shared a kiss so there was hardly anything romantic about their relationship. Even so, it was easy to see from their acting how their mutual attraction was hard to pull apart despite both having a negative influence on each other. 

As Nagata tends to keep his emotions bottled up, Yamazaki had to do a lot of monologue to explain his thinking and actions but often in a toned-down and somewhat emotionless manner. I thought that he managed to show Nagata's state of mind pretty well through this movie although his fans might miss seeing his face and a more positive vibe here (hair covering most of his face, walking with a slouch at times and looking listless). On the other hand, Saki was very expressive and showed her emotions on her face at first but as she gradually withdrew inwards in fear of making Nagata unhappy and wanting to preserve their relationship, it was painful to see her change. Matsuoka did so well in conveying this transition and I really liked her scenes in the ending moments of this movie.

- The love story itself may have been quite predictable in the sense that there was no way this couple could have a happy ending because of the toxicity in their relationship. As such, if you liked "La La Land", you might feel satisfied with the ending here. 

While it may be easy to see Saki as the sole victim, I think it did work both ways for them. She was unable to stand up for herself so that allowed Nagata to take liberties with her and gradually make her clam up and not speak her mind. Likewise, Nagata may have appeared as a shameless leech at times but deep down, he probably minds this fact more so than anyone else and blamed Saki for being too soft on him yet being too caring at times which put unseen pressure on him. It was painful to see how much they were tormenting each other yet not letting go because they were stuck to each other like magnet opposites.

Disliked: 

- The length of this movie could have been shortened to fit within 2 hours and the pace made much faster. While things started off pretty quickly, it slowed down so much from the point Nagata started living with Saki right till the end. I'm sure the audience would have understood how painful and toxic their relationship became so I wondered if it was necessary to prolong our suffering by seeing their interactions dragged out like this. Especially in the parts when Nagata was being a total jerk, it really made me quite annoyed and I had the urge to fast forward through those scenes.

The never-to-be-shown-again dramas - Possible reasons for the inability to do re-runs of some old dramas on TV

While TV stations do air re-runs of their past dramas especially the old hits from time to time in non-primetime slots, there is actually a pool of yesteryear dramas which are buried deep in the archives and never to see the light of day again for some reason.  Of course, with the entry of OTT platforms and the presence of DVD rental services, some of these titles may actually be available for viewing, just that they aren't aired on TV. However, there are some which have completely vanished i.e. no OTT presence, not available on rental and never released on VHS nor DVD. 

Based on various sources, I have compiled a list of such dramas and the possible reasons explaining why they had been "banished" from appearing on TV again. While this list is not exhaustive, this selection might help you to understand why some of your favourites never get a rerun or why you just cannot find an old drama anywhere. Do share your list of want-to-see-but-never-shown-again or cannot-be-found-anywhere dramas with me too!

• Note that some of the reasons are suggested or inferred based on circumstances but they may not be the true or full reason as to why a drama never got to be re-run on TV or released commercially.
• All entries mentioned here are in order of the year of broadcast.

Broadly speaking, there are three main reasons which can cause dramas to be ineligible or unsuitable for re-runs on TV:

1) The cast getting into trouble with the law or having scandals: If the actor/actress concerned didn't play a significant character, there is a chance of seeing an edited version for reruns and online releases. However, if the character is too important to be edited out or that any editing will spoil the drama, chances are, a straightforward ban on the rerun is easier to execute.

In the list below, other than "Miseinen", "Seija no koshin", "Mare" and "Monte Cristo Haku", I had watched the rest before. Personally, I would love to see "Love Revolution" again because I really liked that drama but I guess it's very difficult since the female lead, second male lead and a key supporting character were all involved in various scandals and crimes. "N no tame ni" was also a great suspense drama and for those who want to see how Kaku Kento and Eikura Nana played a couple on screen back then (probably the first and last time ever on TV since they are married now).

- "Hitotsu yane no shita" (FujiTV - 1993 and 1997)

• Ishida Issei was arrested in 2001 for possession of banned drugs and caught in an extramarital affair scandal which led to the self-imposed suspension of his career.
• Sakai Noriko was arrested in 2009 after going on the run for possession and use of stimulants. She was given a suspended jail term.

- "Miseinen" (NTV - 1995)

• Ishida Issei was arrested in 2001 for possession of banned drugs and caught in an extramarital affair scandal which led to the self-imposed suspension of his career.
• Sakai Noriko was arrested in 2009 after going on the run for possession and use of stimulants. She was given a suspended jail term.
• Kitahara Masaki was arrested in 2018 for drink-driving.

- "Seija no koshin" (NTV - 1998)

• As the drama was based on the Mito assault and rape case of intellectually disabled people uncovered in 1996, the violence and rape scenes caused NTV to be flooded with complaints. This led to a sponsor exodus as some either terminated their deals while some asked for their company names to be removed from the credits.
• Ishida Issei was arrested in 2001 for possession of banned drugs and caught in an extramarital affair scandal which led to the self-imposed suspension of his career.
• Sakai Noriko was arrested in 2009 after going on the run for possession and use of stimulants. She was given a suspended jail term.
• Hirosue Ryoko was recently in the news for causing an traffic accident and arrested for assaulting a nurse.

- "Food Fight" (NTV - 2000)

• A junior high school student in Aichi Prefecture choked on bread in 2002 when he and his classmates mimicked the speed-eating contest in the drama, slipped into a coma and passed away three months later. All plans to release the VHS and DVD versions as well as online streaming were cancelled. The other TV stations also cancelled their programmes related to speed eating contests for the time being as a result.
• Ishida Issei was arrested in 2001 for possession of banned drugs and caught in an extramarital affair scandal which led to the self-imposed suspension of his career.
• Haga Kenji was sentenced to 6 years in prison in 2013 due to fraud involving unlisted shares and attempted extortion.

- "Yamato Nadeshiko" (FujiTV - 2000)

• Oshio Manabu was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison due to the use of MDMA and abandonment of his female companion who reacted adversely to the drug and was left to die when he ran away instead of calling an ambulance.
• Currently available on Netflix (subject to location)

- "Love Revolution" (FujiTV - 2001)

• Same reason as above for Oshio Manabu.
• Esumi Makiko was embroiled in 2 controversies before she quit showbiz in 2017. She was exposed for not having paid her premiums for the national pension scheme in March 2004 despite being the government's image character since November 2003. In July 2014, she suddenly posted on her blog that she had been bullied by fellow mothers of her children's friends but one of those accused of this went to "Josei Seven" and exposed her for lying. The truth was that the things she did to several people became known so the group of mothers distanced themselves from her instead of isolating and bullying her for no reason as she claimed. 2 weeks after this, Shuukan Bunshun reported how Esumi had ordered her former manager to leave graffiti with the words "stupid son" on the residence of Nagashima Kazushige in late 2012 because the child and her child who attended the same kindergarten were on bad terms. Esumi denied this allegation while Nagashima said then that he doesn't even have a son because he only has twin daughters.
• Yamamoto Keiichi was arrested in 2006 for drinking with and having non-consensual sex with a minor.

- "Legal High" (FujiTV - 2012 & 2013)

• Taguchi Junnosuke was arrested in 2019 for violating the marijuana control act and subsequently given a suspended sentence.

- "N no tame ni" (TBS - 2014)

• Koide Keisuke - drinking alcohol with an underaged girl
• Tokui Yoshimi - failure to report income i.e. tax evasion
• However, this drama is said to be available for viewing on various streaming platforms and rental services in Japan.

- "Mare" (NHK - 2015)

• Takahata Yuuta was arrested for sexual violence towards a female hotel employee in 2016 (not charged in the end and resumed his acting career in 2019)
• Shimizu Fumika who quit showbiz in 2017 to join the religious group Koufuku no Kagaku and became an actress starring exclusively in their works under the name Sengen Yoshiko. It is said that re-runs of her works are not allowed in order to avoid being seen as promoting the religious group concerned.
• While this drama is available for viewing on NHK On Demand like other morning dramas, it has not been re-run on TV to date.

- "Monte Cristo Haku" (FujiTV - 2018)

• Arai Hirofumi convicted of forced sexual intercourse and sentenced to 4 years in prison. As he was a key character in the story, editing out his scenes was deemed impossible.
• Said to be available for viewing on TSUTAYA DISCAS

2) Controversial / inappropriate themes and scenes: In general, the reasons why these dramas were "banned" had a lot to do with controversial themes related to violence, sex, homosexuality, suicide, self-harm, discrimination, violation of law as well as perceived association with or actual links to real-life criminal cases or negative incidents. 

As society evolved over the decades, what was considered still acceptable to be portrayed on TV back then may not be so now since there is a lot more awareness and understanding towards such issues. Of course, adhering to compliance standards and new social norms can also be the reason for the change in opinions towards these titles.

While it can get really uncomfortable to watch some of these titles, I am still hoping for the day to be able to rewatch "Lipstick" and "Psychometrer Eiji" (for the sake of seeing Mabo, Inocchi and Kohara Yuki). I still remember being quite haunted and shocked by "Ningen Shikaku" and "Life". Honestly speaking, I thought "Hanadan" was still OK in terms of the bullying - it was malicious but really not as extreme as compared to some of the radical stuff mentioned in this category.

- "101 kaime no proposal" (FujiTV - 1991)

• The signature scene where Tatsuro (Takeda Tetsuya) dashed onto the road and a dump car stopped just inches away from him so as to show his devotion and propose to Kaoru (Asano Atsuko). This kind of dramatic act was common in the dramas of the early Heisei era but would be considered unrealistic in this era. The action of dashing in front of moving cars is also a violation of traffic laws. 
• In fact, the shooting of this scene was a near-miss as the driver applied the brakes late and stopped at a spot further than intended. As such, when Takeda spoke his line which came out in the Hakata-dialect rather than standard Japanese, it was said to be a reflection of the fear he experienced due to this near-miss with the truck.

- "Mou dare mo aisanai" (FujiTV - 1991)

• The victim count was high in this crime-suspense drama with very violent and gory depictions such as the murder of a character and throwing her severed head at a rubbish dump, shooting the victim until he vomited blood in an elaborate fashion, stabbing someone and throwing the murder weapon into a river.
• It was re-run for the first time in more than 30 years since its OA but the violent scenes were all removed in this edition.

- "Koukou Kyoushi" (TBS - 1993 and 2003)

• The story dealt with controversial and sensational topics such as romance between a teacher and student, incest, homosexuality, rape and suicide thus attracting a lot of complaints especially from parents.

- "Ienakiko" (NTV - 1994)

• The bullying and violent scenes involving the heroine Suzu (Adachi Yumi)
• The concern about fanning discrimination towards children from less privileged families

- "Ningen Shikkaku" (TBS - 1994)

• As the drama dealt with serious and controversial themes like bullying, physical punishment, child abuse and suicide, it was said to have "inspired" the suicide of a male junior high student during the broadcast period as he was suffering from being bullied at school. 
• Kase Taishuu was arrested in 2008 for possession of stimulants and marijuana.

- "Aishiteiru to itte kure" (TBS - 1995)

• There was a scene where Koji (Toyokawa Etsushi) slapped Hiroko's face (Tokiwa Takako) with great force during an argument after they started dating. This would be seen as a case of domestic violence between a dating couple in this era.
• There was a special edition aired in 2020 but the article didn't mention if this scene in question was taken out.

- "Owaranai natsu" (NTV - 1995)

• It was pointed out by viewers that the drama plagiarized the manga "Hot Road" and the media reported extensively on this issue. After the drama finished its run, there was a formal apology issued to the author and publisher. All plans to release the novel version, do reruns and release in video format were canceled.

- "Psychometrer Eiji" (NTV - 1997)

• Ep 5 from the first series was singled out for being too radical thus banned from being shown again. The story depicted how a young boy had a twin brother who was in a coma and how the latter's spirit possessed him to commit a massacre.

- "Gift" (FujiTV - 1997)

• The teen caught for the murder of a female teacher at Tochigi in 1998 testified that he was impressed by how cool the lead character of this drama played by Kimura Takuya was when he was using his butterfly knife. This led to the media attributing the teen's action as being influenced by this drama so the rerun which was going on at that time was stopped immediately.
• Other teen crimes that happened subsequently were also attributed to this drama so the planned sale in VHS format was canceled. It was only till 2019 when the DVD and Blu-ray versions were released for sale.

- "Lipstick" (FujiTV - 1999)

• The controversial themes such as crime, rape, mental abuse and violent scenes in the drama set in a juvenile home attracted lots of attention and criticism back then.
• Ishida Issei was arrested in 2001 for possession of banned drugs and caught in an extramarital affair scandal which led to the self-imposed suspension of his career.
• Hirosue Ryoko was recently in the news for causing an traffic accident and arrested for assaulting a nurse.

- "Densetsu no kyoushi" (NTV - 2000)

• The story dealt with serious and controversial themes such as bullying, youth crime and sex.
• The sexual scandals involving the leads Nakai Masahiro and Matsumoto Hitoshi
• It was also reported that some cast members did not give clearance for a rerun.

- "Hana Yori Dango" (TBS - 2005 & 2008)

• The bullying scenes involving the heroine Tsukushi (Inoue Mao)

- "Joou no kyoushitsu" (NTV - 2005)

• The drama attracted lots of complaints from the start due to the depiction of harsh treatment of students from the teacher played by Amami Yuki until sponsors had to remove their names from the credits section. 
• There were also lines deemed to be discriminatory towards women.

- "Top Caster" (FujiTV - 2006)

• Ep 3 featured a story about how a popular fortune teller was exposed by the news programme for being a fraudster. At that time, there was a famous fortune teller Hosoki Kazuko who protested against this for insinuating that the character was her and the portrayal was demeaning of her.

- "Life" (FujiTV - 2007)

• Due to the drama featuring the heroine being subjected to endless, malicious and violent bullying and the complicated human relationships in the classroom, FujiTV received more than 2,000 complaints from viewers about this drama being inappropriate for children and encouraging bullying. 
• The BPO also received about 55 similar complaints.

3) Licensing issues / Difficulty in getting approval from all parties involved for the re-run: These are what have been nicknamed as unable to air due to "otona no jijou" i.e. adult circumstances due to social restrictions, practices and organisational reasons that are hard to explain. For original stories, the issue is usually with those who have the right to decide whether to do a rerun so it can be the production side, the broadcaster and the cast and their agencies who may say no. 

On the other hand, disputes with the original material's authors also come into play when it determines whether something gets ever shown again. Perhaps the most classic example would be "Umizaru" because the author openly fell out with FujiTV over the broadcaster's unauthorised and disrespectful actions towards him.

As for the restrictions imposed by agencies especially the old Johnny's Jimusho, I wonder how true it can be these days under STARTO because so many had left after the scandal and if the new agency still has that much of an influence on the broadcasters. However, on an individual basis such as what happened in Tokiwa Takako's case, preventing unsavoury content from hurting the status and image of an actor now is perfectly understandable.

You will also notice that some of these reasons haven't been verified so they were just speculations based on the circumstances.

Other than the last two in this list and "Akuma no KISS", I've watched the rest. Thankfully for OTT, there are some titles which are appearing there but I guess "Umizaru" is sealed forever at the bottom of the sea unless anything magical happens one day.

- "Akuma no KISS" (FujiTV - 1993)

• As there was a scene where Tokiwa Takako appeared nude on screen with her chest bared (this was before she became a famous actress), her agency blocked the re-run of this drama to protect her image.

- "Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo 1" (NTV - 1995)

• Ep 5 was pointed out for allegedly plagiarising the novel "Senseijutsu satsujin jiken". While the proper authorisation was obtained later, this episode was taken out for future reruns of the drama series.

- "Bokura no yuuki ~ Miman City" (NTV - 1997)

• The plot which describes how a lethal virus dropped into Chiba Prefecture due to an artificial satellite's collision with a meteor, is said to bring to mind the COVID pandemic.
• The drama featured quite a number of ex-Johnny's Jimusho artists.

- "Umizaru" series (FujiTV - 2004 to 2012 ~ 1 drama and 4 movies)

• The original manga's author refused to give FujiTV authorisation anymore in 2012 due to the TV station showing up unannounced to interview him and producing a Umizaru-related book without his approval. While he accepted the apology from FujiTV's then-news reporting department director in 2015, he declared on Twitter in Nov 2017 that there will be no broadcasts or streaming of the Umizaru works forever.

- "Ryuusei no kizuna" (TBS - 2008)

• Was actually re-run on TV several times from 2010 to 2014
• The old Johnny's Jimusho used to have restrictions on the use of images and portraits on artists who left the agency. Even though the company had gone through a major change in terms of structure and name, it was believed that this might still be an issue since Nishikido Ryo had left in 2019 while Ninomiya Kazunari has his own agency now (but he's still working with STARTO as ARASHI).
• This was a joint project with other production companies so agreement from all parties is needed before TBS can do a re-run.
• The scenes depicting how underaged individuals had unrestricted access to an adult video shop were deemed as potentially inappropriate for the current era.
• Currently available for viewing on various streaming platforms and rental services.

- "Hagane no onna Season 2" (TV Asahi - 2011)

• The original's author did not agree to a scene in Ep 2 which featured a student with Asperger syndrome whose right to remain in school was decided by a majority vote and removed mention of herself as the author in the credits section as revealed on her official website.

- "In Hand" (TBS - 2019)

• Similar issue as per above - Yamashita Tomohisa left Johnny's Jimusho
• Re-run in 2019 within Shizuoka and Aomori only
• Said to be available for viewing on TSUTAYA DISCAS

ARASHI's announcement about their final concert tour in spring 2026 and ending group activities as ARASHI for good

ARASHI has spoken...at long last!

On their official social media accounts today, the group has finally confirmed its plans going forward. While it may not be exactly what fans would like to see, I personally am very glad that there is closure coming our way rather than keep wondering what's going to happen. Ideally, I would have loved to see them in action but I guess being outside of Japan and not a member of their fanclub would mean that this is impossible...UNLESS they do an Asian tour and I manage to get tickets.

Since their statements are in Japanese and English, you may wish to read that directly on these platforms:

X / Facebook / Instagram 

For the benefit of those who want to get a quick update on the key points in the long statement, here is the summary:

• The group has always regretted not being able to perform in public in the last year before they went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic almost four and a half years ago.

• They will be doing a final concert tour as ARASHI next spring i.e. 2026.

• The group will end all activities as ARASHI after this tour wraps up. As such, their fan club will close officially in May 2026.

• The members had been discussing the topic of working together as a group again over the last 18 months. However, they were unable to reach a consensus or arrive at an easy conclusion since their individual circumstances had changed during this period. Nonetheless, they still want to be able to express their gratitude to fans for the last time which they couldn't do so previously. They didn't think that it was possible for them to resume group activities for the tour only and to go back on an indefinite hiatus again after that.

• Priority for the concert tickets will be given to current fan club members. As such, new applications for membership will be suspended for the time being.

• More details on the concert tour will be shared once confirmed.

• Until the concert tour starts in 2026, the group will continue to deliver as much content as possible for the fan club members in the year ahead starting from the middle of June 2025.

Quick Review #119: Kingdom IV Daishogun no kikan (movie)

Title: Kingdom IV Daishogun no kikan / キングダム IV　大将軍の帰還　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who have watched the first three movies and/or are fans of Ouki / Oosawa Takao

* Potential spoilers ahead!

* Disclaimer: I have not read the original manga.

* Currently available on Netflix (subject to geographical location)

Liked:

- If you are a fan of Ouki / Oosawa Takao, this movie feels like it's a tribute dedicated to him and way long overdue because he didn't get much airtime in Parts 1 and 2. The sub title also reflects the emphasis on this character i.e. Ouki's return to the battlefield despite being "retired" for a while and his subsequent "return" to the capital city after the fierce battle at Bayo. Not only did Oosawa get to display his physical prowess and fighting skills of Ouki in this installment (apparently, the battle scenes of Ouki vs. Houken took 5 to 6 days to film according to Oosawa himself in an interview), the softer parts in this character such as the strength of his firm beliefs, his astute judgement as to who was a worthy king to serve, wittiness and humour right till the end and his tenderness reserved for one woman only all made Ouki such a legendary and charismatic character. No wonder Oosawa won the best supporting actor award for his performance in this movie at the Nippon Academy Awards this year!

On one hand, although I am sad to see the demise of Ouki, I actually am happy at the same time. Since the PR slogan of this movie claims that it's the finale in the series (although the story is far from finished), that means Oosawa doesn't have to put on weight and lose weight again in a short period of time for this role again. As to how much longer the Kingdom series will last or when the next sequel is coming, it probably won't affect Oosawa since Ouki will only appear in flashbacks. I cannot imagine how tough it must have been for him to do this 4 times during the past few years when he filmed this movie and acted in other productions at the same time such as "Chinmoku no kantai".

- In order to accentuate Ouki's greatness, I think Kikkawa Koji's Houken provided a great contrast in terms of the nerve-wrecking fighting scenes between both generals, screen presence and the subtle emotions they showed. While Houken had the physical wounds to show for his defeat at Ouki's hands 9 years ago, the emotional damage that Houken dealt to Ouki by killing Kyou may have been unseen but was equally, if not deeper. Although there was no "outburst" so as to speak, the simmering emotions underneath their facades were very evident and compelling.

- As compared to Oosawa who dominated much of this installment, Yamazaki Kento "suffered" a lot more because he was so badly beaten up by Houken and didn't have much room to show off his fighting skills this time. However, Shin's growth in terms of his character and maturity as a leader was unmistakable as he learnt a lot from observing a great general like Ouki and practical experience on the battlefield. In this regard, I thought Yamazaki made up for the lack of action and supplemented it with the emotional growth of Shin.

- Although I was concerned that this movie might end at a middle-of-nowhere juncture before the next installment comes along (if there is one), I think it was good that the story stopped at a good point where those who survived reinforced their resolutions and beliefs to realise their dreams and those who supposedly won step back to prepare for the next battles while mindful that this is not the end. Otherwise, it would have been terrible to have a cliffhanger ending that hardly matched the PR slogan of this being the end (tentative) of the movie series.

Disliked: 

- While Araki Yuuko's Kyou may be the key female character in this part, the tough side of her character didn't resonate so much with me unlike the first three parts where the ladies showed a fine balance of toughness and tenderness and were very attractive (not just looks but the aura they displayed). However, Kyou's softer feminine side especially while in front of Ouki and when she revealed how she was the one who "proposed" to him were really endearing and cute to watch. I have no idea if Araki was a match for the character's image in the original manga or what was the exact age difference between Kyou and Ouki (online research tells me a variety of answers between 10+ and 20+) so it kind of bothered me a bit to see Araki put together with Oosawa. As such, it might have been good to have Ouki's perspective on why he liked Kyou enough to take her proposal seriously because I doubt he would have been a man who would be casual on who he would pick as worthy enough to be his wife. 

- Same grouse as in Part 3 - some characters were still under-utilized and very much flash-and-go. Oguri Shun's character looks like he's here to stay for a while but where did Yamada Yuuki go? And will there be someone to rival Houken in time to come because I cannot imagine Shin matching up to him in terms of strength as yet. And Hashimoto Kanna's Ten...is anything going to happen anytime soon? Or else I have the feeling that she's hanging around but nothing really ever happens with her character. And Tamaki Hiroshi is supposed to be some brilliant military advisor so his moment to shine is yet to come. The somehow-looking-evil chancellor played by Sato Koichi also needs some airtime to prove his worth. Welcome back, Nagasawa Masami but two scenes is hardly enough. 

- Come to think of it, why do the ladies in the military or who did fighting scenes dress like Western gladiators with quite a lot of skin exposure (not concerned about getting injured on your limbs?) while the guys seem to be covered all up in their armours (well, except for Ouki who showed off arms and allow glimpses of his pumped up chest)? And don't get me started on the feathers around Oguri's neck...so distracting! Is it also a common trait for the commanders to stand out with colours, long hair or even permed hair in that era?

Quick Review #118: Kingdom III Unmei no honoo (movie)

Title: Kingdom III Unmei no honou / キングダム III　運命の炎　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 7 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who have watched the first two movies and/or are fans of the cast especially Oosawa Takao, Yoshizawa Ryo and An

* Potential spoilers ahead!

* Disclaimer: I have not read the original manga.

* Currently available on Netflix (subject to geographical location)

Liked:

- Finally! For those who want to see more of Ouki / Oosawa Takao, it had been such a long wait because he finally appeared more and spoke a lot more in this movie. While he hasn't really shown his physical skills on the battlefield yet, the Ouki in Part 3 was portrayed as someone who is a shrewd strategist and good at deploying his men and leading them in the mental sense. In addition, he finally looked like a human with emotions brewing within despite his nonchalant calmness on the surface. As such, if you like Oosawa Takao, you will probably be pretty satisfied with this installment. From the size of his image on the poster, I think that was a telling sign of the significance of his role in this part as well.

- While Yoshizawa Ryo kind of faded into the background in Part 2, this installment finally explained the reason for his motivation to unify China and thrust him back into the limelight. From the pattern so far, it looks like there will be a central female character featured in each installment - Part 1: Nagasawa Masami's Youtanwa and Part 2: Seino Nana's Kyoukai. That was probably why in the first half of Part 3, An's role Shika and her influence on Eisei were featured very prominently, albeit short. I don't know the age setting of Shika and Eisei at this point in time but I thought Yoshizawa and An had very good chemistry in those few scenes and showed the strong bond between their characters with a tinge of romantic vibe (just my feeling though). Just too bad that it was a tragic ending for them.

- In the second half of Part 3, Seino Nana's return as Kyoukai and her strengthening relationship and comradeship with Shin (Yamazaki Kento) was definitely the highlight. Both of them also showed an improvement in their fighting skills and movements here. 

Disliked: 

- While I liked the portions of Part 3 which tried to fill in the blanks and develop the characters more by showing their background stories or their inner thoughts, the Bayo battle was kind of unbelievable and somewhat tiring to watch towards the end. This was because Shin's squad Hishintai was largely made up of peasants and for the small team of 100 to be able to take on a massive troop of supposedly trained soldiers, it felt really impossible. I get it that Shin definitely had to overcome this seemingly insurmountable barrier in order to head for greater achievements but still, the realist in me didn't quite like how the situation panned out.

- I wonder if at least half of the Japanese entertainment industry showed up for this movie but I'm truly amazed by the number of actors and lineup introduced so far. The problem is, with so many characters and just a 2hr+ movie to work with, it is inevitable that most of them hardly get a chance to shine or show what they are capable of. For example, Sato Koichi and Tamaki Hiroshi appeared since Part 2 but to be honest, they just looked like superficial villains at the moment since there was hardly any explanation and insight into their actions so far. Likewise, the fleeting shots of new characters played by Yamada Yuuki, Kikkawa Koji, Yamamoto Koji or Oguri Shun felt like a teaser which I'm not sure whether it may lead to anything significant in Part 4 and beyond.

- It annoys me to a certain extent to have to switch between the subtitle languages at times because the furigana is sometimes missing from the names in Kanji flashed on the screen and in the Japanese subtitles when a character appears for the first time. If I want to know how that name is pronounced, I have to return to the English version so it causes a bit of time loss for me and impedes my momentum in watching the film. Given the number of characters in this series and their mind-boggling positions/titles, knowing how their names are pronounced at least helps me distinguish between them. I could have stuck to the English subs throughout but I was also bothered by some translation issues here and there so I would have rather watched the movie with the Japanese subs.

Quick Review #117: Kingdom II Harukanaru daichi e (movie)

Title: Kingdom II Harukanaru daichi e / キングダム II　遥かなる大地へ　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 8 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who have watched the first movie and want to know what happened next and/or are fans of the cast especially Yamazaki Kento, Seino Nana and Oosawa Takao

* Potential spoilers ahead!

* Disclaimer: I have not read the original manga.

* Currently available on Netflix (subject to geographical location)

Liked:

- Compared to the first movie, this sequel clearly had lots more going on despite the fact that the battle technically only lasted a couple of days. However, the scale of the battle scenes, majestic landscape shots in line with the sub title as well as the obvious growth in Shin's character and physical skills made this more interesting to watch. The thing is, you probably need to watch the first movie to see the key differences and improvements. While there was a summary in the beginning to refresh your memory of Part 1, I think that might not make much sense if you are jumping straight into Part 2.

- Considering the fact that Part 2 was shot in Japan and China over a long period of time and had to be scaled down due to the shooting period coinciding with the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021, I would give a high score to this movie for the effort alone. While CG could probably account for the aerial shots of large armies, there would probably still be a need to gather many extras to play the soldiers on both sides along with horses and chariots. It could not have been easy to film in such locations too where the weather conditions should be pretty tough. The fighting sequences were definitely more refined than Part 1 especially Yamazaki Kento who seemed much more skillful as Shin in the span of 6 months (based on the movie's storyline) and Seino Nana (if she did all those scenes herself) was truly brilliant.

- Although Yamazaki didn't stand out too much in Part 1 compared to Yoshizawa Ryo, he definitely led Part 2 well with marked improvements in the action scenes and Shin evolving to be someone who started to think more rather than act rashly. The hidden star of Part 2 is actually Seino though. It would not be an understatement to say that her character Kyoukai stood out more than anyone else and I hope to see her again in the future installments of this series.

Disliked: 

- I have to admit, I started to watch "Kingdom" solely for the sake of Oosawa Takao. It was very disappointing to see that he finally appeared in Part 2 with only 30 mins left to the end. Much as I think he still left an impact on the story as well as in Shin who realised his inadequacies and needed to learn to become a great general, I simply didn't get enough Ouki in this movie. 

I also wondered - why is that the rest of the generals were all covered up in their armour suits but Ouki was showing off his chest and arm muscles like that? While I don't mind seeing a beefed up Oosawa, I just felt odd that Ouki stood out in such a manner. And his hairstyle somehow seemed to be a bit too long for a general and would get in the way during battle. Oh well, maybe that's how the manga designed him to be.

- Likewise, some of the characters who stood out in Part 1 such as Nagasawa Masami only appeared in the summary section. Yoshizawa as the King stayed in the palace all the time so there was hardly any action from him. Hashimoto Kanna also "stayed home" but I imagine that Ten will become a military strategy advisor in time to come (as proclaimed at the end of Part II) since she's not really built physically for the warfare. I'm not sure if these characters (except Eisei) will be featured more prominently in Parts III and IV but given the endless stream of new characters popping up, I'm concerned that they might not get a chance to shine again.

- Frankly speaking, since I do not know the manga's storyline, I do not know what to expect. If the story stays true to history, then this will be a journey where the Qin kingdom (pronounced as Shin in Japanese) had to conquer all the remaining states. Part II only covers Wei (Gi) so it will be a long way till the end before Eisei achieves his goal of unifying China. It remains to be seen if future installments are all about the conquests or would feature more in terms of battle of wits plus Shin's development to become a great figure one day.

Quick Review #116: Kingdom I (movie)

Title: Kingdom I / キングダム I　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 7 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who like historical-action films, fans of the cast or the original manga

* Potential spoilers ahead!

* Disclaimer: I have not read the original manga.

* For the sake of easy reference, I have added a number to the title here to differentiate this from the sequels in the Kingdom real-life movie series.

* Currently available on Netflix (subject to geographical location)

Liked:

- While I may not have read the original manga, the fact that the story was based on the Warring States era in Chinese history helped to maintain a certain level of reality amid the fictitious elements that may come across as a bit exaggerated and far-fetched. For those who know about this turbulent period in Chinese history, be it a little or a lot, this pre-knowledge will almost certainly come in useful to understand the historical setting of the movie. As such, I was able to "get into" the story easily thanks to this prior knowledge I had about that era.

- As per a blockbuster production, there were so many cast members - many of whom should be pretty familiar and well-known faces even to international audiences. To be honest, Yamazaki Kento may be the lead but due to the fact that Shin had just barely evolved from a rash young man free from the shackles of being a slave to one fighting for a cause, it will probably take some time in the subsequent sequels for him to develop into a charismatic character in his journey to become a great general. In contrast, Yoshizawa Ryo probably had a bit more room in this movie to go deeper into the emotions of his characters since he played two characters of vastly different circumstances.

On the other hand, the supporting characters stood out way more despite limited screen time for some. For one, Oosawa Takao's acting as Ouki left such a strong impact on me, not just in terms of how he bulked up to project that menacing look with a lot of screen presence but also his aura as a military leader and his ability to make Ouki look like a fine blend of evil and righteousness. 

Likewise, Nagasawa Masami's acting as Youtanwa was so eye-catching because of how she appeared credible as a leader of the Mountain Tribe and looked so charismatic. Her costume looked a bit too Western and out of place though in that era since it resembled more of something you might see in Western movies about European gladiators.

- The action sequences were better than I expected. Given that there was an element of fantasy in this historical story, I was a bit concerned about how the action scenes may seem comical and unrealistic if the characters all looked like they had supernatural powers. Fortunately, the action scenes were largely sleek and smooth to watch especially those where Yamazaki and Yoshizawa appeared in. That could be due to the fact that Shin and Hyou self-trained with the "wooden swords" and became skilled swordsmen through years of hard work. In contrast, there were scenes from people like Ouki who used his weapon and strength to send people literally flying - this might seem a bit too fantastical to some.

Disliked: 

- Given that this movie functioned more like an introduction to the Kingdom series and had a lot of background explaining to do, there wasn't really much room for story developments that could surprise or wow the audience. As we already know by now, there are already 4 movies to date in the series so it's a given that Shin won't die no matter what happens and Eisei will live to unite China one day. In this sense, the predictability might be a bit boring for some but it's still necessary to sit through this for the sake of making sense of the sequels ahead. 

Third-party Investigation Committee's Report on the Nakai Masahiro sexual violence case & FujiTV's role in it - Part 5: Events leading up to A's resignation

In this installment, here is a look at the key events that happened and actions taken by various parties in the lead-up to A's resignation including how the settlement was reached:

A's hospitalisation

• After A was hospitalised, she was continuously tormented by flashbacks of the incident that resulted in her worsening physical and mental conditions. In her messages to F, she conveyed her worry about her income and how she needed to think about how to deal with Nakai going forward.
• Although A was to have been discharged at the end of July 2023, her self-harm attempt just before that caused the discharge to be postponed. Her physical condition worsened and symptoms such as fever, pain, rashes and photosensitivity appeared.
• A was transferred to the psychiatric ward in late July 2023 and had a change in her attending physician whose diagnosis of A was that she was suffering from PTSD. A was instructed not to watch TV and advised to seek trauma treatment. Communication between A and F was then changed from the new doctor D to F.
• In order for A to concentrate on her treatment and not worry about her income, F sought approval from CX to continue paying A her full salary and treat her home recuperation as remote work. This was not the first example of such a treatment for employees.
• H told F that CX would respect A's wishes if A decided to launch a lawsuit against Nakai.
• When F sent a message to A about CX's decision, A felt uneasy and uncertain about this as it was odd for the company to continue paying her salary in full despite her not working.
• On 22 August 2023, A submitted her PTSD diagnosis with her doctor's recommendation that she should recuperate until end September to H through F. 
• Although her doctor had suggested that A should go out with friends to take her mind off things and aid in the recuperation process, A expressed her wish to F that she wanted to return to work from the last week of August.

The reporting to the senior management and subsequent actions

• G and E suddenly called on Ohta Tooru in his office on 21 August 2023 to inform him about the incident between Nakai and A. Ohta had apparently been told by G before in July 2023 that this was a dispute between a man and a woman but only realised the severity of the matter as a case of sexual violence during this August meeting. He called then-president Minato on the spot and headed to Minato's office together with E and G immediately to report on this matter.
• Despite the fact that Minato was told that this was a case of A being the victim of sexual violence inflicted by Nakai and that A was suicidal and suffering physically and mentally as a result, the individuals gathered in Minato's office expressed doubt over why the two of them had met outside of working hours in private and why A had gone to Nakai's apartment in the first place. 
• The investigation committee pointed out that this exchange reflected clearly the lack of understanding towards sexual violence and low level of human rights awareness by those present at this meeting.

• The four individuals gathered in Minato's office came to the conclusion that they would ensure:

1. A's wellbeing and her interests would be the top priority, 
2. Her return to work in the most natural and comfortable way should be ensured
3. Upon A's return to work, the engagement of Nakai in CX's programmes should be ceased in a way that should not raise suspicion
4. In order to prevent the situation from being publicly known, information was only to be shared between Minato, Ohta, G, E, F and doctors C and D.

• However, Minato was not told that H was already in the know and was the contact person with A. As such, H was not aware that such an agreement was reached by the senior management.
• During the hearing with the testimony, Minato commented that this approach was designed to prevent A's suicide as they were most concerned about history repeating itself as per what happened in the "Terrace House" case and " they wouldn't be able to bear that kind of responsibility" if anything happened to A.
• In Ohta's hearing, he said that the wait-and-see approach towards Nakai's programmes stemmed from the thinking that any speculation over an abrupt end to these shows could put A's life in danger so they strived to do this in a "natural manner". 

• On 2 to 3 occasions in early September 2023, Minato, Ohta and G discussed how to handle this matter. However, the trio did not report this incident to CX's compliance department and did not even discuss whether they should be doing so.
• Despite the case involving Nakai and A being a serious matter which could jeopardise the organisation, the trio did not seek professional advice from experts regarding compliance and human rights issues nor report this to other directors, auditors nor the board of directors.
• Whatever had been decided between the trio was neither conveyed to F nor A. If F and the company doctor C were allowed to participate in these meetings, the trio would have gotten a clear understanding on the severity of the sexual violence case and taken appropriate actions. 
• The investigation committee also hit out at the biased nature of these decision makers - all male and middle-aged who assumed that whatever happened in Nakai's apartment was just a private dispute between a man and woman. As such, the failure to include other perspectives and engage in sufficient discussion on the matter was a key factor leading to CX's eventual poor handling of the incident.
• CX's narrow focus on preventing A's suicide also reflected the management's lack of awareness and consideration of the severity of this matter.

• B was concerned that the issue between Nakai and A would lead to a likelihood of Nakai's programmes being affected and him having to quit from showbiz especially after A's hospitalisation was extended. As such, he went ahead to discuss the matter with his superiors between late August and early September 2023 without Nakai's knowledge.
• B told his superiors verbally about what happened and that Nakai had approached him for help to resolve this in mid July 2025. However, B failed to reveal that he had been instructed to deliver solatium money to A or the BBQ gathering on 31 May 2023 which was held days before the sexual violence incident happened. 
• B testified to the investigation committee that he didn't think that these things had a relation to the incident so he chose not to report these to his superiors.
• In return, B's boss G did not ask any questions to clarify the facts of the report and simply told him not to tell anyone else about this. B told the committee that he understood this to be an instruction not to mess up the programming schedule by letting this incident be widely known. As for whether Nakai would get to continue with his programmes, B understood this to be something which he would leave to G to decide and handle.

• At the time when the senior management were informed of the incident, the only regular programme which Nakai had with CX was "Dareka to Nakai". However, there was an announcement made just on 13 July to the advertising firms that this show would be in the programming calendar from October 2023 and they were already in the "all-fix" stage where advertising slots were being sold. As such, Minato, Ohta and G decided that it would be best not to touch the show for now. 
• In addition, the trio "speculated on their own" that if they were to do anything to that show, it would trigger a negative reaction by A if the public tried to guess what happened to lead to such a move. And they were fearful that if Nakai's hardcore fans came to know about what happened, that would unleash a torrent of personal attacks on A which could potentially endanger her life.
• The trio also did not conduct a hearing with Nakai himself because they assumed that Nakai would know that CX would eventually hear about this case through B when he approached B for help.
• The trio did not consider at all whether to speak to A directly on how she felt about Nakai's continuation with his programme and simply made the decision to continue with the show based on their skewed assumptions of the situation.
• Ohta said during the hearing with the committee that even if they thought that this incident should be handled by a third party committee, it would have been in vain if it led to the death of someone once the matter got out into the open. Likewise, while G admitted to the committee that there was not enough thought put into the decision to maintain Nakai's show, he acknowledged that the trio should have taken the step to conduct an investigation into Nakai and hold a hearing with him.

A's discharge and inability to return to work

• A was discharged from the hospital in early September 2023 and continued recuperating at home while on medication and going for follow-up appointments.
• In a bid to return to work from October, she attended a meeting of the announcers' department remotely on 22 September. Despite her intention, her condition was erratic so it became difficult for her to return to work as planned.
• She resumed meeting CX's corporate doctor for the first time on 19 December 2023 and continued seeing the doctor on a monthly basis after that.
• During the consultation in December, A expressed her inability to imagine returning to work and seeing Nakai or even just his poster displayed in CX on a daily basis especially since she would be reminded of what happened. As such, she stressed how important it was for her not to see Nakai as a key part of her recovery process.
  
• Meanwhile, CX had been getting other announcers to fill in for A's programmes while she was on medical leave. However, when it became apparent that she couldn't return in time for the new programming schedule from October 2023, they had to take her off all of her shows except for one. The management feared that A would lose the drive to return to work if she lost her position in all of her shows and decided to keep just one to assure her that she had a place to return to and maintained her profile on that programme's website.
• As CX expected that A would react negatively to this decision, they got F to contact A over video calls between late September and early October 2023 to explain the decision. While A was in tears and protested about being "robbed of everything she had", she had no choice but to accept CX's decision in the end.
• However, seeing that she lost her shows while Nakai continued to appear in his and had his poster displayed prominently in CX's premises, A was extremely disappointed and felt that it would be difficult to return to 
• CX. Seeing how A reacted in the video calls, F was very concerned about A and worried that this would push A to the brink of collapse thus F was also very stressed about this situation.
• The committee pointed out that F was not trained to handle communications with a subordinate suffering from PTSD so it was natural that F would be stressed by this situation. Moreover, F herself was also an announcer and understood fully what it meant to an announcer to lose her position in a show. Despite having support from the corporate doctor, F was usually left alone to deliver bad news to or engage with A so this went beyond the reasonable scope of her managerial duties and further reflected CX's inappropriate handling of this matter.

A's Instagram post in October 2023

• In October 2023, A posted a picture of herself lying on a bed while hospitalised on her Instagram account and wrote about her feelings at that time. This post attracted a variety of responses, both positive and negative, and was even reported in Internet articles. It also attracted speculation and led to an influx of queries to CX.
• Due to concerns about criticism, slander and negative perceptions towards A and her condition, CX assembled a social media team from the PR, programming and compliance departments to come up with measures. However, this team was unaware of the case concerned even at this stage.
• It was decided that F should talk to A about not posting anything to the public. When F tried to find out why A posted the photo on Instagram and explain that this would be detrimental to her eventual return to work, A replied in tears and questioned if the company was trying to take away her connection with society.
• After consulting the doctors, they decided that allowing A to continue with her posting on social media if she wished would actually be to her benefit. As such, the management did not impose restrictions on A's social media postings as A continued to post selfies and talked about her condition and feelings on Instagram. A told the corporate doctor that these Instagram posts were a form of stress relief and helped her to feel as if she was still connected with society.

The settlement

• On 10 November 2023, A's lawyer sent a contents certification document to Nakai regarding the incident.
• Nakai contacted B via SMS at 5.12pm on the same day about this and asked to meet the latter urgently. He also asked B to introduce a lawyer to him.
• B could only think of lawyer K who had appeared in CX's programmes and passed K's contact details to Nakai before asking K to take on Nakai's case. 
• Nakai visited the law firm and engaged K to be his lawyer on the same day. He then sent a thank you message to B for the introduction.
• K was Minato's go-to-person for legal advice when producing programmes when the latter was still in the variety show department and was on-call 24 hours for any issues raised by the production staff at the variety centre. While CX and K never entered into a proper and formal client-lawyer relationship, CX paid K a monthly sum of legal advice fees. K had also appeared in the same CX shows as A and Nakai before.
• For Nakai to hire K as his lawyer, there was a clear conflict of interest between CX and Nakai because the TV station had a duty of care towards its employee A, Nakai had inflicted sexual violence towards A and it already knew about this incident. Moreover, K was paid by CX for legal advisory work.
• While K did his due diligence by asking B if it was OK for him to represent Nakai, B stated that he was asking for the favour in place of FujiTV. In the absence of a written approval from CX, K took it to mean that this request was done with the approval of the head of the programming department. However, B denied to the committee that he ever told K this.
• K asked A's lawyer to confirm if A was OK with him representing Nakai. While A did not object to this, she was unhappy about this development because she saw this as the variety department, K and Nakai being on the same side. She also felt that CX had clearly chosen to take Nakai's side instead of hers.
• When F heard about this development much later, she was in shock because that represented a deviation of what she thought the company should do i.e. protect A's interests. 
• In this sense, B's introduction of K to Nakai dealt a second blow to A.
• After multiple negotiations between A's lawyer and K, the settlement between A and Nakai was reached on 7 January 2024. Both parties were subjected to a confidentiality agreement which forbade them from talking about the incident and the settlement.
• Just before the settlement was to be reached, B told his superiors in December 2023 that the matter would be settled soon.

Allowing Nakai to continue with his show and its subsequent demise

• On 21 December 2023, CX conducted a briefing to advertising companies about their programming from April 2024. 
• About 2 weeks before this briefing, Minato, Ohta and G got together to decide on the fate of "Matsumo to Nakai" (former name of "Dareka to Nakai"). They came to the conclusion that since A was unable to return to work as yet, ending this signature show which featured two big stars in less than a year would attract speculation and affect A as well so the show was to continue as normal.
• However, Nakai's co-host Matsumoto Hitoshi was exposed for a sex-related scandal in a "Shuukan Bunshun" report published on 27 December 2023. This led to Matsumoto announcing an indefinite hiatus from work on 8 January 2024.
• It was decided on 9 January that the show would proceed with a changed name "Dareka to Nakai" and a new host chosen to replace Matsumoto. The announcement regarding this was made on 4 February.
• Due to the frenzy over handling Matsumoto's departure, Minato, Ohta and G never revisited the issue of whether to take Nakai off this show. Besides, CX wanted to keep the show going on until Matsumoto returned as per the intention of his agency.
• After Nakai's incident with A first came to light late last year, it was announced that the show would end in March 2025. However, subsequent developments and revelations brought forward the demise of the show which was finally confirmed on 22 January.

A's resignation

• On 28 March 2024, F got together with A's doctors to discuss how to support A's return to work. Since it would be difficult for her to do live shows immediately, they felt that it would be better for her to start off by doing things like narrations for the time being.
• When A met the corporate doctor on 30 April 2024, she did not give any indication that she had the intention to quit.
• However, A's condition worsened over the period of May to June the same year and she started going for trauma treatment from June. While she started to get better, she finally decided on resigning from CX.
• On 4 July 2024, A sent an email to F about her intention and met her superiors in the presence of the corporate doctor on 10 July to discuss this face-to-face.
• F said that she was surprised by this decision especially since they had already begun steps to prepare for her return to work.
• However, A expressed her fury during that meeting especially towards B and the variety department for allowing Nakai to continue appearing in CX shows as if nothing had happened while she was unable to return to her job as an announcer. And since there was no guarantee that she wouldn't come into contact with Nakai at the TV station, there was no way she could return to work in CX.
• Even when the report on A's decision was made known to senior management, G did not respond in any particular way.
• During a subsequent meeting with A along with the doctors, G offered to let A switch to another department but her mind was already made up about leaving CX. A also expressed her wish to break off any further contact with Nakai and never have to see him again when she agreed to the settlement but that didn't mean that she had forgiven him for what he did.
• Although Minato accepted A's decision to quit, he was not informed by those who had met A of what A had said about the variety department and Nakai as well as her indignation towards CX's treatment of Nakai.
• Due to the processing time and adjustment of the announcement timing when announcers leave the company, A's resignation only became official in August. 
• A told CX that she already had plans to go overseas and wanted the resignation to be finalised before her trip. She also cited the example of how other CX employees who resigned around the same period as her already had their resignations processed. As such, she felt that CX was trying to silence her by delaying her resignation.
• Before her last day, A went to greet the staff of her shows and even met Minato. However, Minato assumed that A didn't know about him being aware of the incident and kept talking about unrelated things during their meeting. 
• A finally left CX on 31 August 2024.
• B informed Nakai via SMS on 9 September 2024 that A had quit. In response, Nakai said that he was glad and relieved that the matter had come to a close and thanked B for his help. B replied that he was glad to be of assistance and expressed his willingness to be of service again if anything came up in future.

• As the decision to put "Dareka to Nakai" on hold was made with the assumption that A would return to work one day, the situation changed due to A's resignation.
• In view of this, it was decided in August 2024 that the programme would end before April 2025. 
• B was informed of this around 20 November but the reason for the decision due to Nakai's incident was not made known to him.
• When B told Nakai about this the following day, the latter asked B if this was because of his incident but B just said that it was a collective decision made by the company.
• In the meantime, once-off and special programmes continued to feature Nakai because other departments such as the sports department were not aware of what happened. As such, senior management who were in the know could not give orders to stop these decisions despite the internal understanding to cut Nakai out from CX's programming in a natural manner.