Kimura Takuya’s Post-Scandal Drama Performs Well, but Industry Warns Against Over-Expectations

Following the old Johnny’s scandal, Takuya Kimura’s first leading drama since then ended with stable high ratings. The TV Asahi drama “Believe – The Bridge to You,” starring Kimura (51), which started on April 25, concluded on the 20th of this month.

 

“The drama, which depicts Kimura’s character, a civil engineering department manager named Riku Kariyama, who escapes from prison and struggles to clear his name after being wrongfully convicted, had a strong start with an average household rating of 11.7% for its first episode, making it the top-rated drama of the season among commercial networks. It maintained a solid second place in ratings throughout the season, proving Kimura’s enduring popularity and acting prowess” (TV magazine writer).

During the previous Johnny’s scandal, Kimura faced backlash for posting “show must go on!” on his SNS after the agency’s press conference, leading to a significant drop in followers. Whether the success of this drama signifies a resurgence of his star status remains to be seen. A drama production producer from a major network reveals:

“The story structure matched recent trends and was ‘more interesting than expected.’ Kimura has often played roles of ‘dependable, cool men,’ but in this drama, with Yuki Amami playing his older wife, he needed to portray a somewhat unreliable husband. Although this was a new type of character for him, he performed it carefully and naturally, and it seemed that his acting depth and range had increased with age.”

Despite the drama’s success, there are still some voices within the industry questioning if it is too early to judge Kimura’s full comeback.

A TV Asahi insider comments.

“This drama was produced with a significant budget, given it was TV Asahi’s 65th-anniversary special. The team behind Kimura’s previous popular drama ‘BG: Personal Bodyguard’ reunited, and the script was written by Yumiko Inoue (63), known for ‘The Great White Tower’ and ‘Emergency Interrogation Room.’ With a star-studded cast including Yuki Amami (56), Takumi Saitoh (42), Ryoma Takeuchi (31), and Maika Yamamoto (26), it garnered top attention even before airing. Given the impressive lineup of staff and actors, high ratings were expected.

The presence of high-profile actors was significantly influenced by Kimura’s reputation among his co-stars. However, despite this, ratings outside the premiere and finale were underwhelming, leading to mediocre overall performance. It’s not solely Kimura’s fault, but if he still had the popularity of the past, the ratings might have been higher. A complete comeback cannot be claimed just yet.”

Despite this, expectations within the industry for Kimura are growing. This winter, a special drama of ‘Grand Maison Tokyo’ (TBS) is scheduled to air, and a film release has also been announced.

“The sequel to the highly popular drama that aired in 2019 on TBS’s ‘Sunday Theater,’ which recorded an average household rating of 12.9% (Kanto region). They are even conducting large-scale filming in Paris, indicating serious effort. However, given it’s been five years since the original, there are concerns about Kimura’s declining popularity and waning viewer interest. Some within the network have expressed doubts, suggesting that it might have been better to gauge the situation with a special drama first. There are skeptical voices about the excessive expectations placed on Kimura by the higher-ups” (entertainment industry insider).

The drama ‘Believe – The Bridge to You’ has served as a stepping stone for Kimura’s comeback but, as mentioned, has not fully restored his previous status. The high expectations for the ‘Grand Maison Tokyo’ sequel add pressure; if it fails, Kimura’s career could be at risk, as noted by the entertainment industry insider.

“There are still strong doubts about how the sexual misconduct issues were handled, so his career remains damaged. While he maintained his presence without a major flop in this series, he must not fail in the next ‘Grand Maison Tokyo.’ With significant production efforts, a major failure could deter other networks from casting him. It’s not impossible that he might not receive drama offers for a while. Whether he will fully recover or disappear from the industry will be determined by his performance.”

The path to a full comeback still appears challenging.