Ryohei Suzuki and Erika Toda Share a Sweet Moment on a Bridge

The relationship between the two, which piques curiosity

In early May, in a certain downtown area of Tokyo, a man and woman were happily chatting on a bridge over the Sumida River. They were actors Ryohei Suzuki (42) and Erika Toda (36).

Toda took a cream puff out of a paper bag she was holding. She handed one to Suzuki, then took one herself. The two slowly savored the cream puffs while gazing at the Sumida River.

As popular actors, one might think they were discussing acting during the daytime but actually, this was a shoot for a TBS drama scheduled to air next season or later.

“Originally, the broadcast was planned for the July season, but it was postponed to October or later. However, since the filming schedule had been set quite far in advance and couldn’t be changed at this point, shooting continued. Therefore, the drama’s title and content have not yet been announced, and we still don’t know the relationship between Suzuki and Toda’s characters,” said a person involved in commercial drama production.

On social media, there have been posts spotting Suzuki and Ren Nagase (26) from “King & Prince” at the filming site, and many hoped for a July broadcast, but why was it postponed?

“The ‘Tokyo Sports Web’ article published on March 4 reported that the postponement was due to a clash with Suzuki’s starring drama. The movie version of ‘TOKYO MER – Running Emergency Room: Nankai Mission’ will be released on August 1. As a result, since the movie and drama lead roles overlapped, the drama originally scheduled for July was pushed back to October or later to adjust. Tokyo Sports also mentioned it may be pushed to the January season next year,” said the same production insider.

When is the official announcement?

“TOKYO MER” is a medical drama set in Tokyo that depicts the activities of paramedics rushing to the scenes of major accidents, disasters, and incidents. Suzuki plays Kota Kitami, the dedicated team doctor of the professional emergency medical team “TOKYO MER” (Tokyo Mobile Emergency Room), who is admired like a superhero by the young doctors. The drama achieved an average viewer rating of 13.6%, and the theatrical version released in April 2023 was a huge hit, grossing 4.53 billion yen. The upcoming movie scheduled for release in August is also generating a lot of buzz, with promotional events already underway.

In contrast, Suzuki’s role in this new work appears, judging from the location shoots, to be a very urbane and gentle-mannered adult man.

Meanwhile, Toda’s appearance in a commercial TV drama is her first in four years since the July 2021 drama “Hakozume: Tatakau! Koban Joshi” (NTV).

“She married Tori Matsuzaka (36) in 2020, and their first child was born in May 2023. Her husband Matsuzaka starred in the TBS Sunday Theater ‘Mikami Sensei’ earlier this year. It seems she started preparing for this drama after Matsuzaka’s drama ended. Going forward, for balancing family, child-rearing, and work, she may take turns appearing in films and dramas with her husband, similar to the couple Masato Sakai (51) and Miho Kanno (47),” said a TV magazine writer.

TBS PR was asked about the timing of the official announcement and broadcast start date but did not respond by the deadline.

In any case, it will be a little while before we can watch the drama featuring the two actors. When officially announced, it will surely become a major topic.

 

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