Yuki Amami is next… “Avalanche”, “Elpis”, “War of the Trap”, “Tsuki 9”, “Tsuki 10” Drama’s Kantele slot attracting more attention than “Tsuki 9”.
The “Trap War” (Fuji TV), a monthly drama series starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, has received a great response. The “unpredictable ending,” which deceives and traps even the viewers, has once again generated a huge response.
This drama is the third in the “War Series” starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, following “Sen no Senso” and “Uso no Senso. The main character, Toru Washizu (Kusanagi), has taken revenge on the criminal who seriously injured his son and the politician who covered up the incident. However, Washizu also falls into the dark side of power, making this film a truly unpredictable entertainment.
Kusanagi, in order to play the role of Washizu, who has fallen into darkness and is on the verge of death, was clad in a black blouson from his casual attire, and he was fully immersed in the role from the moment he entered the scene.
During the performance, he performed far more enthusiastically than in rehearsals. Producer Hideyuki Kawanishi could not hide his surprise, saying, “She always exceeded the staff’s imagination.
Yosuke Sugino, who played the role of Masato Ebisawa, Washizu’s private secretary, was impressed by Kusanagi’s performance.
He recalls, “Kusanagi’s energy and aura changed, and I was pulled along with him.
I was pulled along with him,” he recalls.
In 2008, he won the Japan Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for the movie “Midnight Swan. Perhaps it was Kusanagi’s performance in this film, in which he mastered the art of creating roles that are “100% possessed,” that took the film itself to another dimension.
However, this film is experiencing a birth pangs not seen in the previous two films.
The project for “War of Traps” began its preparation with the completion of the previous film, “Uso no Senso” (War of Lies). We had already decided from the beginning that it would be a revenge drama set in the political world, where the weak stand up to the strong and powerful, and that the ending would trap the viewers in a trap,” said a producer from the production company.
However, something unexpected happened to the film. When the lead actor, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, left Johnny’s, for various reasons, the project ran into a deadlock, and it took six years before it could be broadcast.
However, it was not only this work that suffered from the birth pains. The much-talked-about “Elpis: Hope or Disaster,” which aired during the previous season, has also been in danger of being cancelled several times.
Elpis” was originally conceived as an “unsolved false accusation” case in 2004, but was abandoned. Producer Ayumi Sano, who worked on the project, left TBS after being transferred to the overseas division.
However, Sano P moved to Kansai Television, which highly evaluated the project, and six years later, his persistence bore fruit and the project was realized. It became a memorable work for Masami Nagasawa, who readily agreed to appear in the show after reading the script and kept waiting for it.
Since “Avalanche” aired in the October 2009 season, Fuji TV’s Monday 10 o’clock slot, which had long aired variety shows, was switched to a “drama” slot. Go Ayano plays the lead role in this challenging project directed by Michito Fujii, who swept the Japan Academy Awards with his film “Newspaper Reporter.
The film exposes the “evil” that cannot be dealt with by law or justice, and exposes it to the world by broadcasting it live to the entire world. In the final episode, Avalanche crushes the ambitions of a giant villain who is trying to create a Japanese version of the CIA, and the epic story is truly worthy of theatrical picaresque entertainment.
The film-like technique of filming the same scene in a series of shots from dozens of different angles was also a challenge to dramas distributed worldwide, including Netflix,” said the director of the production company.
(Director of a production company) The same DNA has been carried over to “Elpis,” which makes full use of a cinema camera to achieve a visual quality that rivals that of dramas distributed worldwide, and it is no exaggeration to say that the “Tsuki 10” brand produced by Kansai Television is now at the cutting edge of Japanese drama productions. The “Geki 10” brand produced by Kansai Television is now at the forefront of Japanese drama production.
As a result of these efforts, three dramas, including “Informer,” produced by Kansai Television and distributed immediately after the broadcast, “Trap War” and “Elpis,” which was distributed after the broadcast period, were ranked in the top 10 on Netflix’s viewing ranking at the same time. Kantele Drama” is likely to be the eye of the typhoon in the future,” said the aforementioned director.
The “Monthly 10” drama “Rationally Impossible – Detective Ryoko Kamisuiryu’s Unraveling” will start on April 17.
Yuki Amami is said to be a star in every drama she stars in. He has also starred in the “Inspector Asagao” series (Fuji TV), “Hakozume: Fight! (NTV), will join forces with Nemoto Nonji, the creator of the Gekkan 9 drama series “Inspector Morning Glory” (Fuji TV) and “Hakodume: Fight!
Text: Ukon Shima (Broadcaster, Video Producer)
He is involved in program production in a wide range of genres, including variety, news, and sports programs. He has also planned and published many books on female TV announcers, idols, and the TV industry. While working on documentary programs, he became interested in history and recently published "Ieyasu was dead in Sekigahara" (Takeshobo Shinsho). She is also publishing the e-book series "Ibun Chakurezuregusa.
PHOTO: Yasuko Sakaguchi