NHK’s Morning Dramas: “Too Glaring Off-Shoots” of Heroines of Past Drama Series

NHK’s “Serial TV Novels” are said to be the gateway to success for young actresses. The show has a large fixed audience, and the exposure it provides every morning for about six months has a tremendous effect, with thousands of people auditioning each time for the chance to be the heroine.

Mei Nagano (23)
Half, Aoi. (April ’18-)
October 30 and November 6, ’20 issue

Selected out of approximately 2,400 applicants for the heroine role, leading to her breakthrough.

Haru, 31, turned down offers of supporting roles and kept auditioning for the lead role. The selection process is a contest of merit. The selection process is a game of merit, and there was even an upset in which the lead role went to the unheralded Non (29) instead of Umika Kawashima (28), who was favored by the agency,” said a source involved in the entertainment industry.

The current film, “Soar! Haruka Fukuhara (24), the lead actress, was also unsuccessful on three occasions. In addition, recently there has been an increase in the number of actresses who have played supporting roles before being selected to play the lead role.

Kasumi Arimura (29) was unsuccessful in her audition for “Amachan,” but was chosen for the lead role in “Hiyokko” after playing the daughter of Kyoko Koizumi (56), the main character’s mother in the film. Kaya Kiyohara (20) also played the lead role in “Okaeri Monet” five and a half years after making her acting debut in “Asa no Arrived.” (TV station insider)

There are as many Cinderella stories in morning dramas as there are heroines.

Yuna KUROSHIMA (25)
Chimu Dongdan (’22 Apr-)
July 3, ’20 issue

Her name recognition has skyrocketed with the first morning drama set in Okinawa in 10 years!

Kuroshima is such a dog lover that he writes a series of articles about dogs for a fashion magazine. On this day, she was enjoying her daily walk with “Kohada,” a shelter dog.

Kasumi Arimura (29)
Hiyokko (’17 Apr-)
February 28, ’20 issue

No audition was held for “Hiyokko,” and Arimura was chosen as the heroine by nomination from the scriptwriter. The movie “Love Like a Bouquet,” which was being filmed that day, was a blockbuster hit, grossing 3.8 billion yen at the box office!

Haru (31)
Asa no kitaeru (’15 Sep-)
July 29, ’22, August 5, ’22 issue

Filming for the drama “Magical Renovation” (Fuji TV), Haru plays a scene in which he and his co-star Shoutarou Mamiya (29) cross paths. Haru apologized, saying “I’m sorry! Haru apologized and everyone around her laughed.

Mone Kamishiraishi (24)
Come Come Everybody (’21 Nov-)
February 25, 2010 issue

Former Toho Cinderella is well-liked on any set as she never stops smiling at the staff even under the cold January weather.

Kaya Kiyohara (20)
Welcome Back Monet (’21 May-)
January 28, 2010 issue

Location scene from “Fight Song” (TBS), which was Kiyohara’s first drama starring in a commercial TV program after making her acting debut in the morning drama.’ In addition to filming the morning drama, she was busy in 2009 with the release of five movies in which she appeared.

Hana Sugisaki (25)
Ocho-yan (from Nov. ’20)
Sep. 24, ’21 issue

Starring in the drama “Koi desu! 〜(Nippon Television Network Corporation). She took on the difficult role of a visually impaired high school girl. When she appeared in the morning drama, she was praised for her earnest acting and natural Kansai dialect.

Suzu Hirose (24)
Natsuzora (’19 Apr-)
Dec. 4, ’20 issue

In early November ’20, Hirose leaves the scene after filming a drama in Shibuya Ward. She starred in “Natsuzora”, her 100th morning drama and the last in the Heisei era and the first in Reiwa. The fact that the filming period lasted one year and three months due to a change in working methods was also a topic of discussion.

Erika Toda (34)
Scarlett (’19 Sep-’19)
April 19, ’19

She has played the heroine of the morning drama with her solid ability for 22 years of performing career.

I could hear her voice from outside saying, “Ah-ha-ha! and laughing so hard you could almost hear her voice outside. In late March 2007, Toda was enjoying a meal at a galette restaurant in Tokyo with an acquaintance. In the morning drama series that she took on as the lead in September of the same year, she played a wide range of ages, from the heroine’s 15 years old to her late 40s.

Kyoko Yoshine (25)
BEPPINSAN (’16 Oct-)
Apr. 5, ’19 issue

She made her morning drama debut in “Hanako to Anne” starring Yuriko Yoshitaka (34), which aired in the first half of ’14. After appearing in one movie and four TV dramas, she won the heroine’s title two years later.

Non Non (29)
Amachan (’13 Apr-)
September 27, ’19 issue

At around 9 p.m., NON skips through the Shimokitazawa restaurant district on her way to a dinner meeting with the “Amachan family”. She has grown up to be an actress with a strong acting talent.

From “FRIDAY” October 21, 2022 issue