Ren Meguro was confronted with “two paths” in “Trillion Game”: “You’re too bad at acting” and “You don’t look good as a yo-kai.

As July drama series reached their final episodes one after another, “Trillion Game” (TBS) also came to an end on the 15th. The rating for the 10th and final episode was 5.9% (Video Research, Kanto region). The average rating for all episodes was 5.5%, slightly lower than the previous lowest rating of 5.6% for “The Man with God’s Tongue” in the TBS Friday 10:00 slot, and breaking the worst record.

The original work is currently serialized in “Big Comics Superior” and is a popular work with a total of over 1.5 million copies sold. In addition to this, Meguro Ren, who gained attention for her role in “silent” (Fuji TV), was cast in the lead role, and it was even said that the ratings would reach double digits.Some said that the work itself was not critically acclaimed, but rather that it lost out to the supporting programs such as Ghibli and the World Cup basketball tournament. However, the performance of Meguro Ren, the lead actress, was highly controversial.

Trillion Dollar Game” is the story of two opposites, Hal, a selfish man who is willing to do anything criminal to achieve his goal, and Gaku, a timid geek with top-notch computer skills, who become buddies and start their own businesses to make a trillion dollars from scratch. Meguro plays Hal, and the theme song “Dangerholic” sung by “Snow Man” has become a big hit, selling 870,000 copies, but some say that “the role doesn’t suit him” and “his acting is too bad.

Meguro played the role of a young man who has lost his hearing and has stopped speaking in “silent,” one of his best-known works. In addition, he played the role of a cool young man who has lost his hearing and stopped speaking in the morning drama “Soar! (NHK Sogo), a cool elite pilot candidate, and a ruthless army captain in the movie “My Happy Marriage,” which became a box-office hit earning 2.7 billion yen when he starred alone for the first time in March, were rather cool and wordy roles. This time, Hal is the complete opposite: a cheerful, high-tension character.

In addition, he may be somewhat uncomfortable with his dialogue and overacting, which are unique to the original comic book. In fact, many people who have read the original have praised the “high level of reproduction. However, personally, I can’t deny that there is a sense of being somewhat forced (laughs).

(Laughs)” (ibid.) Perhaps the image of the taciturn Meguro in “silent” was a bit difficult to accept for those who had an image of him. However, there are those who say that the cool and taciturn image attached to Meguro has not necessarily had a negative impact on his acting range.

Even the great star Kim Taku has been called ‘Kim Taku no matter what he plays’ for many years. Like him, Meguro is a top idol before he is an actor, and he needs to continue to shine in fields other than acting, such as variety and music. What is required of him in dramas and movies is a sense of presence rather than high acting ability,” said a source from a production company.

Is Meguro really aiming to become a star on the high street like Kimura? In an appearance on a TV program on January 21, Meguro cut off his collar, which he had been growing for the role, and appeared on the show. His next work is attracting a lot of attention.