Sho Sakurai, who was criticized as a “disqualified anchor” at one time but ended up doing no damage, has a clear difference with Matsujun⁉

On November 27, NTV’s president held a regular press conference in Tokyo, where the station’s executives discussed the use of talents from the former Johnny’s office (now SMILE-UP.), which has been rocked by the sexual assault scandal involving the late Mr. Kitagawa Johnny’s. According to various sports newspapers and other media, Executive Director Hiroyuki Fukuda has decided not to cast new talent from the former Johnny’s office.

According to various sports papers, Hiroyuki Fukuda, the executive director of the station, stated that the station is not casting any new talents from the former Johnny’s office. He then commented on the upcoming January TV drama “XXX Occupation,” a sequel to the January TV drama “Daihyoin Sukyo” starring Sho Sakurai (41) of Arashi fame, “It’s not that we used him because it’s a sequel. It means that it was already decided.

When the sequel was announced, Sakurai commented, “I was very surprised because I did not expect to hear about it only one year after the last film.

In the previous film, a large hospital was taken over by a mysterious armed group wearing demon masks, and the main character, Musashi, played by Sakurai, confronts the criminals in order to save the hostages. As the story progresses, hidden truths are revealed one after another, and the cast members playing the roles of demons are also revealed, creating a buzz on the Internet.

Nevertheless, the average household rating for all 10 episodes was 7.1% (Video Research, Kanto region, same below), with episode 9 at 4.2% because the WBC game against Japan was broadcast in the background. In addition, Sakurai’s body language did not seem suited for action, despite the fact that it was an action movie, and this was also a topic of discussion.

Furthermore, Sakurai has been the anchor of the station’s news program “news zero” since October 2006, and although he was criticized for not making any comments when the program dealt with Mr. Janney and his office, he has shown no sign of dropping out of the program at all.

As for “130 Million People’s Show Channel” featuring Sakurai, which aired as the successor to the station’s Arashi program “Arashi ni Shyagare,” some sports papers recently reported that the program will end in March. ……

The “SHOW Channel” will probably end, but a new program will be prepared just for leverage. This year, a movie version of the drama “Nemesis,” in which Mr. Sakurai starred with Suzu Hirose (25), was also broadcast. Mr. Sakurai’s father is a former bureaucrat and his sister is a Nippon TV employee, so he is treated as a “super VIP” within the bureau, even without his relationship with the office.

The old Johnny’s’s’s policy of “no new castings” is not true on the surface. Mr. Sakurai has been the anchor for both the summer and winter Olympics since the Beijing Olympics in 2008, except for the Tokyo Olympics in 2009, and he is said to have an unofficial offer for the Paris Olympics next year. Even if the activities of “Arashi” remain on hiatus, there will be no disadvantage for him,” said a person related to Nippon TV.

Meanwhile, Matsumoto Jun (40) of “Arashi” is starring in NHK’s historical drama “Dousuru Ieyasu,” which has reached its climax, but the ratings are reportedly struggling. In addition, in such an important year, his agency has suffered a terrible setback, and a scandal has befallen him as well.

Matsumoto is a better actor than Sakurai because he is starring in a major TV drama. However, his reputation in the industry plummeted when “Shukan Bunshun” reported his tyrannical behavior on the set of the Taiga. It seems unlikely that he will be offered the lead role for some time.

Perhaps aware of this, he has suggested to those around him that he would like to switch to the producer business, saying, “I would like to work behind the scenes. However, there is a difference between directing and producing performances by Arashi and Johnny’s, which he knows all about, and producing live performances and productions for outside companies. Matsujun, who was once said to be a favorite of Janney and Julie and had a strong presence in the office among the members of Arashi, has now fallen into a tight spot.

Sakurai and Matsujun are now completely divided. Kazunari Ninomiya (40), also of Arashi, is independent from Johnny’s and has declared that he will continue to be a member of Arashi when it resumes its activities.

Will Sakurai and Matsujun take the same form as Ninomiya, or will they sign an agency contract with a new company whose name was publicly solicited from fans? The future of the company is being watched closely.

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