<figure id="attachment_425332" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1783px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-425332"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="73a43a5f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/05/ae95ae3ad90b3fca0217c82d87b36788.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-425332" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kei Tanaka, who has made various blunders before, seems to be in serious trouble this time (March 2019).</span></figcaption></figure>
<h3><b>Nagano seems likely to go on a hiatus from activities</b></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mei Nagano (25) and Kei Tanaka (40) were reported by weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun (Bungeishunju) to be involved in an affair. Both of their agencies denied the relationship and the alleged decisive LINE message exchanges reported by the magazine, but the impact is severe.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sponsors who had contracts with Nagano swiftly removed related videos and images from their official sites. She withdrew from the upcoming NHK Taiga drama &#8220;Toyotomi Brothers!&#8221; scheduled for next year, and her role as a personality on Nippon Broadcasting System&#8217;s &#8220;Mei Nagano’s All Night Nippon X&#8221; ended after only two months. Although she has finished filming the TBS Sunday drama &#8220;Caster,&#8221; which is still airing, and her starring film &#8220;Kakukaku Shikajika&#8221; is out, her acting career seems forced into hiatus.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Meanwhile, Tanaka has also had videos and images removed by sponsors he worked with. However, his lead role in the play &#8220;Cheerful Ghost&#8221; continues at Tokyo’s Theatre Creation until May 29, with regional performances planned until next month.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A showbiz reporter noted, </span><b>&#8220;Erika Karata (27) was driven into hiatus after her affair was revealed in Bunshun in January 2020, while her partner Masahiro Higashide (37) continued working and was criticized heavily. Given Nagano’s current forced hiatus, Tanaka will likely have to self-restrain his activities, or neither the public nor related parties will accept it.&#8221;</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tanaka has been with his current agency since age 15 but struggled for recognition until his breakthrough role as Soichi Haruta in the popular TV Asahi drama series &#8220;Ossan&#8217;s Love&#8221; from 2018.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Haruta, a real estate employee with a straightforward and somewhat absent-minded personality, became a beloved character called &#8220;Harutan.&#8221; The leaked LINE messages between Tanaka and Nagano reportedly showed a purity unexpected for adults, resembling Tanaka’s &#8220;Harutan&#8221; character. Despite being married with children, Tanaka showed no guilt over the affair.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Ossan&#8217;s Love&#8221; aired its third season in January 2024, but Tanaka’s blunders with co-stars on the show have also drawn attention.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Alleged affair with an actress"></div>
<h3><b>The relationships with co-stars are in a complicated state</b></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2018, a cheating scandal arose when Tanaka Kei was reported holding hands with Rio Uchida (33). During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when gatherings were taboo, it was reported that Hidekazu Majima (48) hosted an intimate birthday party for Tanaka in his workroom. Normally, the agencies involved would be reluctant to have their talents work together with Tanaka, but last year a new season was still broadcast. (Entertainment reporter)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then, with the cheating scandal involving Mei Nagano, many fans hoped for a sequel to the “Ossan’s Love” series. However, Ryota Maki, who plays Haruta’s partner in the series, is Kento Hayashi (34), a senior at Nagano’s agency. The relationships between Tanaka and the co-stars have become quite complicated. Is a sequel even possible?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Entertainment journalist Kazuhiko Futa explained:</span></p>
<p><b>“There are basically no NG (no-go) rules between agencies, so conflicts don’t usually happen. The agencies of Nagano and Hayashi have good relations with all other agencies, but since they manage many talents, any conflict would affect work somewhere. Tanaka’s agency is in a similar situation. Ultimately, it comes down to whether the actors get along with each other.”</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, the decision about a sequel will depend on the production side. As for Tanaka’s future, he predicts:</span></p>
<p><b>“Tanaka has many rivals of the same age, and because of the reports, his work is expected to decrease. When he became popular with ‘Ossan’s Love,’ his agency aggressively booked many jobs for him. If they had been more selective, it would have been better, but as a result, it unfortunately shortened his career lifespan as an actor.”</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The real-life “Ossan’s Love” with Nagano has become a fatal blow to Tanaka.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Thinking back to this time... A collection of 2 shots of Kei Tanaka &amp; Mei Nagano"></div>
<figure id="attachment_425333" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2954px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-425333"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3dea2004"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/05/5145955294b016c1142e66e46e4d1a77.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-425333" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the awards ceremony for the 46th Hochi Film Awards held in December 2021, Nagano won Best Actress for her roles in Hell’s Flower Garden and And Then, the Baton Was Passed.</span></figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_425334" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2432px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-425334"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="80115bae"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/05/1bf89db8f43f7fec66a79b292206a7aa.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-425334" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There was a touching moment when Tanaka made a surprise appearance, causing Nagano to shed tears. She commented, &#8220;I was moved and cried because my father came&#8221; (at the 46th Hochi Film Awards).</span></figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_425335" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1260px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-425335"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="30eac1eb"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/05/0a20504c6c6661f40d9f132b18c0d32c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-425335" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the 43rd Elan d’Or Awards in 2019, both Nagano and Tanaka won the Newcomer Award—Nagano for Half, Blue and Tanaka for Ossan’s Love.</span></figcaption></figure>


 Takao Kawakami (1st), Kazuhiko Nakamura (2nd-4th)

 Kei Tanaka and Mei Nagano's alleged affair has begun to affect their work. In particular, Tanaka has been involved in a number of "mess-ups" with his co-stars in the past in the "Osan Zurabu" series that led to his breakthrough, and this time, too, he has been ......

Kei Tanaka’s Drama Sequel in Doubt Amid Co-Star Tensions

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