<figure id="attachment_327934" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-327934" style="width: 2226px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0a4e2d81"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/23800c74df0701c51196813cfd371e32.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-327934" class="wp-caption-text">Top right: &#8220;Shikkou!&#8221;, Ito&#8217;s (left) first starring role in the Golden Belt. Top left: &#8220;VIVANT&#8221;, in which the strategy of not revealing the storyline in advance was successful. Bottom right: &#8220;Cinderella in midsummer&#8221;, a Gekkan 9 film with a young cast including Mori. Bottom left: Meguro set a new record for the number of views of &#8220;SILENT&#8221; that were missed.</figcaption></figure>
 The film features a large cast of leading actors, including Masato Sakai (49), Hiroshi Abe (59), and Koji Yakusho (67), and was written and directed by Katsuo Fukuzawa (59), a senior executive in expert status at TBS, who worked on &#8220;Hanzawa Naoki&#8221; and other works. Moreover, &#8220;the Mongolian desert location shooting is said to be completely CG-free,&#8221; according to a staff member at the production company.
 Given such a sense of scale, it is no surprise that Sunday Gekijo&#8217;s &#8220;VIVANT&#8221; is fast becoming the leader in household and core viewer ratings (ratings among men and women aged 13-49).
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 A producer from a rival station also commented, &#8220;The picture production is on the level of a movie. I wonder how much they spend on the production of each episode. I would like to ask what TBS bases its judgment of success on.
 A TBS employee laughed bitterly.
 The production cost of a Sunday drama is usually 40-50 million yen per episode, but &#8216;VIVANT&#8217; is probably several times that amount. To be honest, our expectations were so high that we were surprised that the production did not generate as much money as we had expected. The numbers are growing, and the first distribution of &#8220;VIVANT&#8221; has been viewed approximately 4 million times, so it is a relief.
 One of the productions that faced up to the midsummer season, a time that makes TV people weep, was &#8220;Cinderella in Midsummer,&#8221; starring Nana Mori (21).
 I doubt very much if Fuji Television, Tsuki 9, summer, the sea, and youth romance, all too straightforward projects, will be accepted by today&#8217;s viewers. &#8230;&#8230;
 As drama watcher Masahiro Kitagawa pointed out, the household viewership ratings were in the low 5-6% range. The director of a production company suggests an unexpected way to enjoy the show.
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The director of the production company suggests an unexpected enjoyment: &#8220;I think they were aiming for the &#8220;Beach Boys&#8221; of yesteryear, the hit Gekkan 9 series starring Takashi Sorimachi (49), Yutaka Takenouchi (52), and Ryoko Hirosue (43), but Mori, Shotaro Mamiya (30), and the others were too much for the show. The script was written by Sayaka Ichihigashi, who just won the Young Scenario Award last year. However, the core viewership ratings are so-so and the number of registered TVer favorites exceeds 1,090,000. Like the winter drama &#8220;Daihyoin Sukyaku&#8221; (NTV ), it has become a&#8220;SNS tskkomi&#8221;drama in which viewers enjoy the unbelievable direction and dynamic development of the drama and share it on the web.
 The drama &#8220;Trillion Game&#8221; (TBS), which started second in the core viewer ratings, features the young, talented and good-looking &#8220;strongest prince&#8221; Ren Meguro (26), Yuto Sano (25) and Mio Imada (26) from Snow Man.
 In addition to the casting, the show&#8217;s themes of &#8220;starting a business,&#8221; &#8220;making money,&#8221; and &#8220;cheat (cheating),&#8221; which are of interest to young people, have led to high core viewer ratings,&#8221; said writer Kumao Oyama.
 However, as the director of the production company fears, the numbers have been declining, &#8220;The story is based on a comic book, and the plot, such as becoming the number one host in order to complete a mission to sell 20 million yen worth of flowers, is so far-fetched that it has divided people into different groups.
 The director of a production company fears that &#8220;the numbers are falling.&#8221; &#8220;Imada, a beautiful and greedy daughter of the president; Riko Fukumoto (22), a new employee who is suddenly made president; Akari Akase (22), the secretary of Koji Yoshikawa (58), a kowamote investor and somehow dressed in a sailor suit with glasses; and Seira Yasui (19), who is in the game production department. It is hard to keep up with the story, but the casting of many hot young actresses is a highlight of the film,&#8221; said Kitagawa.
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<h2>Relationship between Johnny&#8217;s and Dramas</h2>
 Another drama Kitagawa recommends is &#8220;18/40 &#8211; Futari nara yume mo koi mo&#8221; (TBS), which is also related to actresses.
 I was worried about whether Haruka Fukuhara (24) and Kyoko Fukada (40) would get along, but this is quite interesting. I&#8217;m very curious about Fukuhara&#8217;s future after giving birth, and how that is portrayed may help counter the declining birthrate. Don&#8217;t forget to check out Nagasawa Trees (17) and Arashi Rina (19), two phenomenally beautiful girls who are the focus of the industry.&#8221;
 One thing that stands out among this season&#8217;s productions is the appearance of big-name actors in supporting roles, such as Yakusho in &#8220;VIVANT. One of the most powerful shining examples is &#8220;Shikkou! 〜(TV Asahi).
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 He was Yuji Oda from all angles. Oda was a bit more &#8220;asymmetrical&#8221; due to the script and direction, but he was still a good actor.
 The problem is that he eats up the lead actress, Sairi Ito (29), although he has an outstanding presence in the film.
 The presence of a big name in a film raises its prestige,&#8221; said Oyama. But it also has the advantage of keeping the fee low because he is not the leading actor. This time, perhaps they paid too much attention to Oda, but they did not delve deeply into the problem of poverty on the side of the executioner. In the first place, it was unreasonable to involve a dog in the story of the executioner.
 Another feature of this season&#8217;s programs is the conspicuous appearance of Japanese talents who are in the middle of the sex abuse issue, such as Meguro in the aforementioned &#8220;Trillion Game,&#8221; Toma Ikuta (38) in &#8220;Inspector Daimajin&#8221; (TV Asahi), and Fuma Kikuchi (28) of &#8220;Sexy Zone&#8221; in &#8220;Uso Kekkon&#8221; (Fuji).
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 Oyama says, &#8220;I think this is a result of the TV station&#8217;s internal opinion that it is not the content of the program but the performers who have core fans that determines the number of views of the missed broadcasts.
 According to broadcaster Prin Aida, &#8220;Japanese celebrities are being shunned as news program MCs, but there are still many who appreciate them as drama performers.
 Hokuto Matsumura (28) of &#8220;SixTONES,&#8221; who stars in &#8220;Knockin&#8217; on Locked Doors&#8221; (TV Asahi), is a hot name in the industry, having been cast in the TV Asahi drama &#8220;Come Come Everybody&#8221; and Makoto Shinkai&#8217;s &#8220;Suzume no Togome&#8221; (Suzume&#8217;s Door). Matsumura has a strong image of coolness, but when he appears in variety shows as part of the drama&#8217;s promotion, he enlivens the programs with his unique word sense and twisted character. His unique word sense and twisted character make the show lively, and the old lady viewers are completely captivated by him.
 Eiji Akaso (29), who gained fans all over the world through his work on the TV show &#8220;I Can Become a Wizard If I&#8217;m a Virgin Until I&#8217;m 30&#8221; (TV Tokyo), plays the lead role in &#8220;Kocchi o muyo yo, Mukai kun&#8221; (Nippon TV).
 The story is about a man who has not been able to get a girlfriend for 10 years, but the point is that he is bound by his &#8221; masculinity,&#8221; even though he looks soft. It deals with a theme similar to that of the popular movie &#8220;Barbie,&#8221; and is well worth a watch,&#8221; said Oyama.
 A senior executive from a private TV network mentioned &#8220;Hayabusa Fire Brigade&#8221; (TV Asahi) as a film that should be seen.
 Hayabusa Fire Brigade&#8221; was TV Asahi&#8217;s third most-watched drama series of all time, with 2.56 million views in its first week, and trended on social networking sites. Above all, it is wonderful that the lead actor, Nakamura Rinya (36), does not feel the effects of his loss of marriage.
 Mr. Kitagawa recommends &#8220;The Best Teacher: 1 Year Later, I Was ■surrendered by a Student&#8221; (Nippon TV).
 The story is about a teacher, Mayu Matsuoka (28), who was killed by a student on her graduation day, who time leaps back one year and intervenes in the troubled student and family in the second round of her life with a bang. We have a great cast of actresses playing the students, including Mana Ashida (19) and Ami Toma (16).&#8221;
 Whether you choose the drama based on the project or the charm of the cast, Reiwa is the place to share your thoughts and comments. It is not too late to start enjoying the summer dramas.
<figure id="attachment_327931" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-327931" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d0ef3d83"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/8a91516364358438778d93dc03945536.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-327931" class="wp-caption-text"> Last year, he played the leading role in the morning drama &#8220;Soar! and this season&#8217;s &#8220;18/40&#8221; is his first starring role in a golden-band drama.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_327930" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-327930" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0ca46af0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/b71d58d0d0abc8ce9e289b16be6b1ba2.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-327930" class="wp-caption-text"> Akachu (left) also starred in a prime-time drama for the first time in &#8220;Kocchi muite yo mukai kun&#8221;. Rejuvenation of the main cast is progressing.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_327932" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-327932" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7dcadb18"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/08/8594ffd760599ba327c25cd8ca07d741.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-327932" class="wp-caption-text"> Ashida shows off her exceptional talent in &#8220;The Best Teacher,&#8221; in which young breakout candidates such as Yumia Fujisaki (left, 15) and Toma (right) are all cast.</figcaption></figure>
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 From the September 1, 2023 issue of FRIDAY

 Takero Yui (Ito, Oda, Sakai) Yusuke Kondo (Meguro, Mori, Fukuhara, Ashida, Fujisaki, Toma) Kumataro Arai (Akachu)

 Summer dramas" are in full swing this summer... If you haven't watched them yet, it's not too late! If you haven't seen them yet, it's not too late! We'll also give you a behind-the-scenes look at what's going on behind the scenes! What drama watchers are paying attention to...!

VIVANT”, “Cinderella in Midsummer”, “Sicko! …The inside story of “Summer Drama” stage is revealed!

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