Influences of Rival Programs’ Paris Olympics Strategies on Must-See Summer 2024 Dramas

With many opportunities for outings such as travel, fireworks festivals, and other events, summer dramas are difficult to watch carefully. Especially this year, with the “Strongest Rival Program,” the Paris Olympics, each station is taking measures, such as “Laughing Matryoshka” (TBS) starting its broadcast on June 28, one month before the Olympics begin.

“Even so, many people watch the Olympics, and overall, the ratings are sluggish. It feels like many works that achieve their highest ratings in the first episode lose momentum afterward. Watching the Olympics in real-time and catching up on dramas via missed broadcasts is the trend this summer,” said a key station producer.

Therefore, TV professionals are using the number of TVer favorites and core viewership ratings (viewership among men and women aged 13-49) as their compass this summer. A broadcast writer analyzes, “The two major powerhouses, Fuji TV’s ‘Getsuku’ and TBS’s ‘Sunday Theater,’ are finally solidifying their dominance.

One of these two powerhouses, the Getsuku drama “The Beginning of the Sea,” which began airing early on July 1, features a strong cast with Ren Meguro (27) from ‘Snow Man’ and Kasumi Arimura (31). It has a standout TVer registration of 1,596,000 people and has also achieved success by ranking second in core viewership ratings.

“The lineup of Meguro, producer Ken Murase, director Hiroki Kazama, and scriptwriter Miku Ubukata is the same as the team behind the social phenomenon ‘Silent.’ Among them, director Kazama is particularly noteworthy. As seen in ‘Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?’ (TV Tokyo), which propelled Eiji Akaso (30) and Keita Machida (34) into stardom, Kazama is undoubtedly the number one director of our time when it comes to capturing the vulnerability and emotional fluctuations of men as ‘endearing beings,'” says drama watcher Mihiro Kawada.

As pointed out by fellow watcher Masahiro Kitagawa, the overwhelming response from middle-aged male viewers, who have been completely charmed by the adorable performance of 7-year-old Sena Izutani, who plays the 6-year-old daughter, Umi, is likely a key factor in the show’s success.

Although it ceded the top spot in TVer registrations, the Sunday Theater drama “Black Pean Season 2” (TBS Network) is the only show to achieve double-digit household ratings, and it also maintains a stable high, holding the number one spot in core viewership ratings.

“They pulled off a large-scale location shoot in Australia and featured Choi Ji-woo (49) as a guest star, making the visuals as rich as a Korean drama. The cast supporting the lead, Kazunari Ninomiya (41), is also impressive, including Ryoma Takeuchi (31), Seiyo Uchino (55), Kotaro Koizumi (46), Shuri (33), and Minami Tanaka (37). This alone makes it worth watching,” says a key station producer.

A common factor among these two powerhouses is that the lead actors are former Johnny’s talents. In TBS’s “Mr. Saionji Does Not Do Housework,” which TV professionals highly recommend, Hokuto Matsumura (29) of SixTONES also makes a strong impression.

“Since the lead, Wakana Matsumoto (40), who is popular among older men, is significantly older, Matsumura’s fans can watch with peace of mind. The fact that they were able to cast Kenjiro Tsuda (53), who has a large female following and is also active as a voice actor, is significant. Although the original work is a romantic comedy, it has been successfully adapted into a story that fits modern Japan,” says a broadcast writer.

In addition to ratings and view counts, what TV professionals are paying close attention to is the reaction on social media. Kawata notes, “Takashi Fujii (52), who plays Matsumoto’s boss, is making an impact.”

“Many people are reminded of ‘We Married as a Job,’ which aired in the same time slot, because of his presence. The protagonist’s struggles with household chores also remind many viewers of ‘My Housekeeper Nagisa-san.’ Both shows evoke memories of those enjoyable dramas, leading to positive evaluations. I think it’s a very clever strategy utilizing the time slot,” he says.

NTV and TV Asahi’s Struggles

The criticism for “Shinjuku Field Hospital” (Fuji TV), written by Kankuro Kudo, includes comments on its slow pace, familiar settings and developments, and the poor English of lead actress Eiko Koike (43).

“The theme of ‘Shinjuku Field Hospital,’ which is ‘treating everyone’s life equally and roughly,’ serves as an effective critique of a society that promotes personal responsibility by suggesting that ‘those who do not take certain actions should naturally not be saved.’ It’s interesting to compare this with ‘Black Pean 2,’ which artistically saves lives by making choices,” says writer Kumao Oyama.

The evaluations from various watchers are positive.

Although the setting of the show is Kabukicho, the main filming location is Yokohama.

“It seems that even Kudo couldn’t take on the impracticality of filming the entire series in Kabukicho,” says an executive from the production company.

Regarding “Laughing Matryoshka,” which features Sho Sakurai (42) successfully portraying a politician who appears impressive on the outside but is empty inside, Ooyama notes that the show’s ratings are improving. However, the production side remains skeptical, stating, “I don’t think viewers can fully immerse themselves due to the overall sense of artificiality.”

“The political supervision is handled by a former TBS Radio reporter who was known as the ‘Parliament Prince’ on ‘Sunday Japon’ for political commentary. After causing some trouble and disappearing from the public eye, he left the company. He is now working as a freelancer, but within TBS, there are voices questioning whether relying on him was a mistake,” says a key station producer.

This season, NTV and TV Asahi are notably struggling. An executive from a production company cites the “backlash from the close ties with the former Johnny’s talent agency” as one factor.

“Perhaps fearing public criticism, they have become hesitant to cast former Johnny’s talents. NTV’s flagship Saturday 9 PM slot, once known as the ‘J slot’ and a designated spot for these talents, now features ‘GO HOME Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Unknown Persons Consultation Room’ starring Fuka Koshiba (27) and Yuko Oshima (35).”

NTV is also facing another issue: the suicide of the author of the popular manga “Sexy Tanaka-san,” which was set to be adapted into a drama.

“With the adaptation of popular source material becoming difficult, NTV has been forced to create original dramas. The previously mentioned ‘GO HOME’ includes participation from the writer of ‘Hanzawa Naoki,’ while ‘Secret Miss Mitsuko’ features new writing from the scriptwriters of ‘Black Pean’ Season 1. However, the numbers are still struggling.”

Meanwhile, TV Asahi, which maintained good relations with the former Johnny’s agency, is avoiding casting former Johnny’s talents in its prime time slots.

A TV Asahi insider remarked:

“For the April season, dramas like the 65th anniversary special ‘Believe—A Bridge to You,’ starring Takuya Kimura (51), which was cast before the sexual misconduct issues came to light, generated buzz. However, for summer dramas, they are filling the schedule with familiar titles like ‘Crime Lab Woman’ and ‘Minami-kun’s Lover!?,’ which are remakes, and taking a break. This is also a sort of Olympic countermeasure.”

Regarding the remake of the popular Korean drama ‘Sky Castle’ (TV Asahi), although Kita-gawa praises the cast, including Nao Matsushita (39), Fumino Kimura (36), and Manami Higa (38), and finds it compelling, the ratings for the first episode, which were in second place, have significantly dropped.

“The richness of the visuals, including the filming locations, costumes, and props, feels starkly inferior compared to the original. It’s not a project that can be casually put together,” says Oyama.

Despite knowing the intentions of each network, we hope viewers can still enjoy some quality works.

From the August 23 & 30, 2024 combined issue of ‘FRIDAY.’