Why Murotsuyoshi’s “My Lawyer is a handful” got me hooked on Friday nights, even though I was told it would be an uphill battle.

Our Lawyer is a Handful” (Fuji TV), starring Muro Tsuyoshi (47) and with Hirate Yurina (22) as the heroine, is doing well, ranking first among the five Fuji TV dramas in the GP series with an average household viewer rating of 6.6% as of December 4. It is now ranked second among all dramas, although it is behind only “Ippanai Hana” in the number of subscribers to its Tver favorite list. It is now ahead of the Gekkan 9 drama “One Day: Seiyoru Yoru no Karafutsu”.

This is a “nurturing legal entertainment” in which Tsutomu Kuramae (Muro), a former entertainment manager, changes his job to become a paralegal and struggles with the genius lawyer Amano An (Hirate), who passed the bar exam at the youngest age ever. The show has gained a reputation for “becoming more addictive with each episode,” due to his rampant antics, which could be called “Muro Theater,” in which it is hard to tell where the script and ad-libs come from, and Hirate’s clumsy behavior as a working adult who is as good as a baby, despite being a genius lawyer.

In episode 4, it is revealed that Anzu cannot even remember the names of her fellow lawyers and staff at the office. She is quite a clunker, as Kuramae is advised to write down their names and characteristics in a memo and remember them. Hirate has had many opportunities to play genius characters in the past, so when I first learned of the casting, I honestly thought, ‘Here we go again. However, many people have said that Anne, who plays such a flawless Hirate, is “kawaii” (cute).

It is a standard buddy drama that two people who are completely incompatible at first gradually deepen their relationship both at work and in their personal relationships, but even so, I couldn’t take my eyes off them as they grew closer together.

(Drama writer) “And the occasional parodies of past dramas that are interspersed with small jokes also seem to be a source of enjoyment for the viewers.

In the 8th episode aired on the 1st, there was a scene in which Kuramae shouted, “It’s W Asano! and Anzu was stunned. The fact that Anzu, who is about the same age as Kuramae’s daughter, has no clue about the little jokes that Kuramae happily makes is a “given” that viewers can relate to. Incidentally, the older of the Sano sisters, Atsuko Sano, was played by Yuko Asano.

Although “Uchi-ben” is so popular among viewers, the Fuji Television Friday night 9:00 p.m. broadcast is a new drama slot starting in October. It will be the first revival of “Uchi-ben” since “Haruyokoi,” which ended in 1969, some 54 years ago. When the production of “Uchiben” was announced as the first of these, many actually questioned its success.

The “Friday night 9:00 p.m.” time slot is lined with long-running programs that have been running for more than 20 years, such as Nippon TV’s “Friday Road Show,” TBS’ “Masahiro Nakai’s Friday Smile Tatakashe,” and TV Asahi’s “Music Station. In particular, “Kinro” sometimes exceeds 10% in viewer rating when airing popular works such as Ghibli productions, and it is said that TBS’s drama slot from 10:00 pm is suffering due to this.

In addition, newer slots often face an uphill battle because drama productions are not easily watched unless viewers are in the habit of watching them. Fuji TV’s Wednesday 10:00 p.m. for “Paripi Komei” and TV Asahi’s Sunday 10:00 p.m. for “Even If I Forget You” have both been sluggish, partly due to their back-up programs. The fact that they brought Mr. Muro, who is not a big name, to star in the first film in the new slot also led to whispers that there were no actors willing to accept the lead role,” said a TV station insider.

However, it seems that the seemingly unbeatable time slot turned out to be a “hole.

However, the seemingly unbeatable time slot turned out to be a “hole” as a result. “Long-running programs line up in this time slot, and viewers tend to tune in to fixed programs, but two programs in particular, ‘Kinsuma’ and ‘MSTE,’ have seen a marked decline in viewership in recent years. Uchi-ben” fit in well with this trend, partly because it is a complete episode and the content is easy to understand, making it easy for viewers to “join in the middle of the show,” but also because the taste of the work is easy to enjoy.

The Fuji Television “Friday 9” drama series are off to a good start with “Uchiha-ben,” and “In-Hospital Police” starring Kenta Kiritani will start in January, but will they be able to ride this wave?

FRIDAY Digital is looking forward to receiving information and tips from you. Please send your information to the following information form or to the official X.

Information form: https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/tips

Official X: https://twitter.com/FRIDAY_twit