NTV Reboots ‘Hotspot’ in January with Bakarhythm as Scriptwriter

The staff of “Brush Up Life” have come together.

Bakarhythm (49) is drawing attention with his script for the January 2025 drama “Hotspot” (on NTV).

The story takes place in Yamanashi Prefecture, in a peaceful town at the foot of Mount Fuji. The protagonist is 41-year-old single mother, Kiyomi Endo. One day, while rushing home on her bicycle, she narrowly avoids a traffic accident and is saved by an “extraterrestrial life form”. This is where the story begins, with Kiyomi portrayed by Mikako Ichikawa (46), marking her first lead role in a commercial television drama. Supporting roles are played by actresses such as Kaho (33), Maki Sakai (54), Anne Suzuki (37), and Kami Hiraiwa (45).

“It’s no surprise that this is generating buzz. When you think of NTV and Bakarhythm, there’s the 2023 January series ‘Brush Up Life,’ starring Sakura Ando (38), which won numerous awards such as the ATP TV Grand Prix, Broadcasting Culture Fund Awards, and the Hashida Awards, with Bakarhythm himself winning the scriptwriting award at the Tokyo Drama Awards.

The spin-off series was also a huge hit. The same staff has gathered here. The setting of this drama is just as uniquely imaginative as their previous work. Like the last time, there’s a lineup of distinctive actresses, and expectations are high,” says a television magazine writer.

This is the fourth collaboration between Bakarhythm and NTV as a drama scriptwriter. Their first was the irregularly aired “Drama Talk Variety Show” Go-Sankomade (2018-2019), which aired five times.

“Masaharu Fukuyama (55) provided the theme song and was the executive producer, while Bakarhythm wrote the script for the show that followed the process of creating a drama. Additionally, he wrote scripts for the morning info segments on ZIP! in 2018 and 2019, such as Ikutake’s Morning and Midoriyama’s Morning. NTV’s upper management had been highly evaluating his talents as a scriptwriter since then.

Afterward, they had him regularly appear on the music program Best Artist, where he even showcased his skills in drawing when artists arrived on stage. The network was doing everything it could to hold on to him, making sure that no other networks would snatch him up,” says an NTV drama production insider.

Nippon TV: Unstoppable Outflow of Talent

TV Asahi, which has secured a stable audience base among older viewers, and TBS, with its popular series like “Sunday Theater” and “Friday Dramas” that create buzz every season, continue to lead in terms of content. Additionally, compared to Fuji TV, which produces many excellent shows through its affiliated Kansai Television (KTV) and Tokai Television, NTV’s dramas still seem to be lagging behind. Despite this, it is said that NTV will not let go of the scriptwriter of “Brush Up Life,” which has been well-received by both viewers and critics and has performed exceptionally well in terms of distribution. The reason for this is as follows:

“In reality, NTV is struggling to stop the outflow of talent. Ken Murase, a former NTV employee who produced Fuji TV’s ‘Silent,’ which became a social phenomenon in the October 2022 season, originally worked at NTV. His representative work from his NTV days is ’14-Year-Old Mother’ starring Mirai Shida. Recently, Nobuo Mizuta, a drama director and NTV employee known for directing works like ‘Mother’ starring Mana Ashida (20) and Machiko Ono (43), ‘Woman’ starring Hikari Mitsushima (39), and ‘Yutori Desu Ga Nani Ka,’ transferred to the talent agency Amuse after retiring.

Although it was due to retirement, his departure was a significant blow for the younger drama team members who had hoped that he would continue making dramas at NTV. They lost a charismatic figure who they had looked up to and from whom they sought guidance, making his departure a considerable loss for the NTV drama team” (Drama producer).

With such challenges, NTV’s last hope rests on Bakalizm. Whether he will become the savior of NTV’s drama department remains to be seen. Regardless, “Hotspot” is sure to become a major topic of conversation in the January 2025 season.