I still can’t decide…! The reason why the search for the fifth “sidekick” of “Sidekick” has been difficult
Takashi Sorimachi, the fourth “sidekick” of “Sidekick,” will graduate from the serial drama “Sidekick” (TV Asahi) after the last episode of “season 20. (Photo: Kyodo News) Since the announcement that Takashi Sorimachi will graduate from the drama series “Partners” (TV Asahi) after the last episode of “season 20,” there have been a number of reports predicting a “fifth partner. Specifically, the names of former SMAP Goro Inagaki and Yutaka Takenouchi have been mentioned, but all of them are still in the realm of speculation.
Inagaki’s name was mentioned as a candidate for “Partners” even before the breakup of SMAP, but he never appeared. Inagaki-san’s name was mentioned as a candidate for “Sidekick” even before SMAP broke up, but he never appeared on the show. It is often said that the requirements for a sidekick are “not to have an opinion on Yutaka Mizutani, the lead actor,” and “to play a supporting role,” but it’s not that Inagaki is assertive or selfish. Rather, Yutaka seems to be more reserved in the environment surrounding him.
On the other hand, Mr. Takenouchi quit the agency because he wanted to create a masterpiece as an actor, so I doubt he will appear in “Partners” as a supporting actor now.
Since “Sidekick” is repeatedly rebroadcast, the producers are said to be taking the rights of the rebroadcast into consideration. Inevitably, it is becoming difficult for actors belonging to agencies that have a large say in the show to appear.
Go Morita, who was reported by some sources to have left the Johnny’s office, has become an “independent” actor, but so far there is no talk of him being officially nominated as a candidate for “buddy.
In addition, the timing of Sorimachi’s graduation announcement has also had an impact on the difficulty in finding the fifth “sidekick”.
The graduation of Mitsuhiro Oikawa, the second generation, and Hiroki Narimiya, the third generation, were both announced just before “Partners” came to an end. In the past, the new partners were revealed in the new year, but the timing of Sorimachi’s graduation announcement was too early, in late November.
The fact that Mr. Sorimachi’s departure was irregular this time strongly reflects his intentions. There is talk of him quitting acting and going after the world record for bass fishing, but he still intends to continue acting. Rather, like Mr. Takenouchi, who was his senior at his agency, he feels strongly that he wants to create a masterpiece and bloom once more.
This is also the reason why he will be starring in the WOWOW original drama “Young Men of Today” scheduled to air in the spring of 2010. The graduation was the result of Mr. Mizutani warmly sending him off, taking into consideration Mr. Sorimachi’s affection for him.
However, it is said that the upper management of TV Asahi is getting impatient with the fact that the candidates for the fifth partner have not been finalized. The reason for this is that there is no guarantee that Mizutani will continue to play the lead role in “Partners” in the future.
The show airs from October every year until March the following year. At the age of 69, Mizutani is shifting his focus to film directing and is planning to release his third film, “Taiyo to Bolero,” in 2010.
It’s true that Yutaka wants to focus on directing films, but he is a compassionate person and I don’t think he will abandon his partner. It is true that Yutaka wants to focus on directing a film, but he is a compassionate person and I don’t think he will abandon the series. The current season is still airing, and I think that after a while, Yutaka-san will start looking for his next partner.
(TV station insider) It seems that the only thing left for the “Partners” fans to do is to wait quietly for the announcement of the fifth generation.
Photo: Kyodo News