Roppongi Class” is recovering rapidly, but… Summer Drama Critics: “Why All of the Dramas Are Disappointing

Many of the summer dramas, which were all said to be dismal failures, have begun to reach their final episodes. While some of them are no longer even talked about due to their near-death ratings, others have made a comeback with “surprisingly interesting” performances. We asked three entertainment journalists to give their overall opinions of these summer dramas.

Interview writer N. Moto: NHK morning dramas have been exciting for better or worse, but this season’s summer dramas have not even been exciting in a bad way. It seems like they will end up being completely overlooked, but if you keep looking at them properly, some of them were not bad at all.

Entertainment editor Fumoto: The best example is “Roppongi Class. When the new strong heroine Hirate-chan (Yurina Hirate) came out, it suddenly became a lot more interesting!

Entertainment reporter Aida: “Roppongi Class” is the only one I watch on time.

The reason why I’m hooked even if it’s not very good.

F-Moto: However, Hirate-chan was good in the first half, mainly portraying a sociopathic character, but when it became necessary to go into a moist romantic mode in the second half, her acting ability was lacking. …… Especially when he confessed “I love you” to Ryoma Takeuchi, it was hard.

N-Moto I understand. There were 13 episodes in total, and it was getting a little sluggish. I was about to give up, but then Teruyuki Kagawa’s scandal came up. In a different way, it made me want to keep watching.

F-Moto: Hirate-chan passed the baton to Teruyuki Kagawa!

N-Moto: Did you watch anything else?　I didn’t watch them on time, but I watched “Kanketsu no Kanten” with Kentaro Sakaguchi and Anzu, and “Ishiko to Habu Otoko – Kono Koto de Sue desu Shikkaku?-(Ishiko to Hadano-Kotodemo Koto de Sue Shitamasu?), both of which were recorded and replayed, but I watched all of them. I can safely enjoy a complete crime story.

ATA: I also watched “Ishiko to Habu Otoko” because I like the handsome puppyish guy, Eiji Akachu. As the title says, “Do you want to sue for such a thing? the case handled is not so interesting that you get hooked, but Kasumi Arimura is a good actor, so you slowly get hooked.

N.: It is also interesting that Kasumi Arimura and Nakamura Rinya’s dialogue becomes more and more perfect as it progresses to the latter half. It’s a lawyer story, but it’s also good in that it doesn’t have too many unlikable people in it, which is a popular element these days. However, I’m not sure what it is, but it’s a good drama, but it’s not very interesting, and that’s what I’m stuck on. ……

Aida: I think the actors are a bit plain. If there had been someone with a big bang on the level of Kim Taku, the drama might have been more exciting.

F-Moto: Mr. Aida loves good looking guys, and I remember when the summer dramas started, he said “Teppachi! was interesting. ……

Aida Oh, yes, that happened. I had forgotten about it. I like Keita Machida, so I found the first episode interesting, but after 2 ……, no, not even 2 episodes, I dropped out after about 1.5 episodes. I dropped out after about episode 1.5. The story and acting were so lousy.

F-Moto: Now that we are used to seeing macho looking guys in Korean dramas, it is quite a hurdle to see a macho drama with Japanese men. I would really like to see Keita Machida in a love story like “Cherry Maho” (i.e., a man can become a wizard if he is a virgin until he is 30 years old).

N Moto: When the summer dramas this season ended, I think I saw a certain trend that just seemed to be an all-out disaster. The ones that failed miserably were those with scriptwriters known for their peculiarities, such as Ai Hashimoto’s “Tutor Traco” and Kento Hayashi & Taiga Nakano’s “Devil of First Love,” and the rest were those starring Johnny’s celebrities.

Aida: There is no need to do these types of works for fixed fans in TV dramas that are seen by a wide range of viewers. There is a certain number of needs for both types of drama, so it is better to broadcast them in drama for distribution.

Fumoto: Yes, perhaps TV dramas are not required to be maniacal. However, what the heck, the world gets excited when there are interesting dramas, so I’ll continue to look forward to the next season ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡