Director Jin Oneda’s “Hints for Winning over Foreign Drama” in “Elpis,” a Breakthrough in the Japanese Drama Industry

The drama series “Elpis – Hope or Disaster” (Fuji Television Network) attracted a great deal of attention last year due to its high viewership ratings within the TV industry. Even now that the final episode has ended, the drama has not let go of its grip on our hearts.

Inspired by a number of false accusation cases that actually occurred, Aya Watanabe, creator of the morning drama “Carnation” (NHK), wrote a challenging script that thrusts a blade at the throats of terrestrial TV stations that have always been subservient to the darkness of power. In order to realize this drama, producer Ayumi Sano, known as a hit maker, left TBS. He moved to Kansai Television in October of last year, and after six years, the drama finally saw the light of day.

In the final episode, a VTR following the true culprit (Eita Nagayama) in a false accusation case was reported as the top news item on the program “News 8,” and viewers went crazy over the dramatic turn of events in which the falsely accused victim was released from prison. On Twitter, the word “Elpis” successfully became the number one trending topic worldwide.

In particular, the scene in which Ena Asakawa (Masami Nagasawa), the anchor of the drama, offers her ex-boyfriend Shoichi Saito (Ryohei Suzuki), who has come to the studio to act as a bargaining chip for Deputy Prime Minister Yuji Daimon (Kazuhiro Yamaji), goose bumps as he tries to solve the false accusation case. Even adult women who do not usually watch dramas are inundated with praise for how cool it is,” said a production company director.

But this is not the only attraction of “Elpis.

The film was shot with top-level Japanese equipment, including the VENICE2 cinema camera, which is the pinnacle of cinema cameras, as well as the same equipment used in the films “Matinee’s End” and “Just by Being Alive, Love. The technical staff includes Mr. Toyotaro Shigemori, who has shot films such as “At the End of the Matinee” and “Just to Live, Love.

The quality of the images is on par with commercials, music videos, and TV dramas. Behind this was director Jin Oneda’s strong desire not to be outdone by foreign dramas.

Speaking of Jin Oneda, he has built his career on late-night dramas such as “Yukemuri Sniper” (2009) and “Moteki” (2010), and won the Japan Academy Award for Best Talking Point for the movie “Moteki” released in 2011. In 2003, he won the Best Director Award at the Japan Academy Prize for the movie “Bakuman. In 2003, he won the Japan Academy Award for Best Director for the film “Bakuman”.

He has directed a number of high-profile productions, including the 2007 historical drama “Idaten: Tokyo Olimpic Story” (NHK).

It has long been talked about that P. Sano, a hit maker, and Mr. Watanabe are working on an exciting project that takes a scalpel to a false accusation case. However, Mr. Onde, who has long wanted to do a drama scripted by Aya Watanabe, will be taking the megaphone.

Moreover, when it was discovered that the main character was Masami Nagasawa, who won the Japan Academy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her collaboration with Mr. Onde on “Moteki,” there was a shock within the industry.

However, while the casting of Masami Nagasawa and Ryohei Suzuki was easily decided, the casting for the role of Takuro Kishimoto, a new director, was difficult. Various young actors’ names came up, but Watanabe would not budge. Then, the name of an actor surfaced.

Mr. Daikon happened to see Goh Atsushi Maeda appearing on the program “A Syudio +” (TBS), and was immediately inspired to contact Mr. Watanabe. After watching the program, Mr. Watanabe replied, “This is the man! Mr. Watanabe, who had seen the program, replied, “This is the man!” and Mr. Watanabe suddenly cast Gohatsu Maeda as Kishimoto.

The deciding factor was his unusual “eye power. His reputation in the industry is now soaring as a result of his selection for this film.

Despite being a socially-conscious drama, “Elpis” is not heavy-handed. Rather, it is a pop drama, which is a result of Maeda Go Atsushi’s acting ability.

Even now, after finishing its broadcast on December 26, the drama “Elpis” is showing a new expansion.

Toward the end of the program, Sano P updated his Twitter page to report that the “False accusation is made” fair is currently being held at the Hiroshima Tsutaya bookstore. I hope it will spread throughout Japan. I hope it spreads nationwide,’ he tweeted. Sano P’s passion for the exoneration case seems to have no end.

The drama “Elpis” caused a stir in the Japanese drama world. How will this drama change the drama industry in Japan? We will have to wait and see.