Winter Drama” Ratings Are No Longer Everything

The winter dramas are always very strong. Last year, “Heaven and Hell: Two Psychos,” scripted by Yoshiko Morishita, became a hot topic, and “The Story of My House,” scripted by Kankuro Kudo, garnered high acclaim. This year also saw the release of “DCU,” a collaboration between Hollywood and TBS’s signature drama slot “Sunday Gekijo,” and the popular original story by Masaki Sugata (28). (Fuji Television), “Not to be Called a Mystery” (Fuji Television), “Fight Song” (TBS), written by Yoshikazu Okada and starring Kaya Kiyohara (20) in her first starring role in a commercial TV drama series, and “The Last Song” (TBS), starring Yugawa (YUGAWA), “The Last Song” (TBS), “The Last Song” (TBS), “The Last Song” (TBS), “The Last Song” (TBS), “The Last Song” (TBS), “The Last Song” (TBS), and “The Last Song” (TBS). The popular series “My Neighbor’s Chikara” (TV Asahi), written by Kazuhiko YUKAWA and starring Matsumoto Jun (38) and Ueto Aya (36), is also in the pipeline.

The table below summarizes the household ratings and core ratings (ratings among men and women aged 13-49) for major winter dramas.

As expected, “DCU” is performing well, ranking first in household viewer ratings and third in core ratings, but drama watcher Masahiro Kitagawa is critical of the drama, saying, “Hiroshi Abe (57, starring) is a waste of money.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a terrorist as the enemy throughout the story. The film is so focused on evil without even depicting the premise of the antagonistic structure that it is hard to get emotionally involved in the story. Each of the characters has a sub-story, and I suppose they are gradually connected and the mystery of the terrorist is solved, but it is too complicated to get into my head. I was personally looking forward to seeing Nakamura Anne (34), who I have been paying attention to since she was a model and has recently been focusing on her acting career, in an important role, but I was also disappointed that she died prematurely in the third episode. ……

Housewife drama watcher Kazumi Yoshii concurred.

She said, “The story is too much about politics and terrorism, perhaps trying to create a sense of scale, and the setting of a diver with handcuffs is not utilized. It would have been better if they had simply depicted the various incidents that occur underwater.

A TBS official said, “We have to make a lot of adjustments even for a single script.” The disadvantages of working with Hollywood seem to be conspicuous so far.

On the other hand, “Not to Mention Mystery” is being described as “the most successful” this season by producers from various stations.

Not only are the viewer ratings up, but the distribution of the program has been extremely strong. The number of views has broken all previous records (13.26 million views as of February 8), and Fuji’s in-house staff is excited. (A producer at a key station).

In addition to successfully incorporating the original story into the drama, the story is simple and the premise is carefully drawn, so even children can enjoy it,” praises the aforementioned Mr. Yoshii.

The story is basically set in one place, such as an interrogation room or a hospital. The story progresses through the exchange of dialogue. The reason why we are attracted to the story even though there are no dramatic developments is because we cast the actors based on their skills, not on their popularity. Masaki Sugata has a great presence, and Sari Ito (27) has a great taste.

Matsuya Onoe (37), who plays a detective, is outstanding. He is a big guy who looks good in detective fashion, and the quality of his facial expressions is amazing. He has completely abandoned the good looking guy (laughs). The kids are laughing hysterically and looking forward to Detective Ogami’s turn.”

Doctor White” (Fuji), in which Minami Hamabe (21) plays “a woman with zero communication skills but genius diagnostic abilities,” is fighting the good fight, with core viewer ratings growing later and coming in fourth place.

Hamabe, who is said to be the best young actress in the industry, plays the lead role, so that alone makes the show worth watching. In terms of content, it is similar to “The Good Doctor” played by Kento Yamazaki. Yamazaki was a doctor with savant syndrome, but Hamabe has mysterious amnesia, and there will be a remarkable development in the future,” said Kitagawa.

Drama production staff at commercial broadcasters point out that the “strangeness of the programming” is also a factor in the strong performance.

Fuji brought its Tuesday night 9:00 p.m. slot to Monday night 10:00 p.m. during last fall’s reorganization. Dr. White” is successfully capturing the viewers of the previous Monday 9 series, “Mystery, Not to Mention”. The move of the broadcast time is a great success. The upcoming Monday 9 series will continue to be topical, with Haruka Ayase (36) in the April airing and Kentaro Sakaguchi (30) and Anne (35) in the July airing, so it is likely that dramas in the Tsuki 10 slot will continue to get good numbers.”

His “wife,” who was like the sun, died in an accident. The family has been frozen in time since then, and the “wife” reincarnated as an elementary school student appears in front of them. (TBS) has not been getting good numbers, but many watchers recommend it as the best of the current season.

Nonfiction writer Masashi Hosoda says, “It has surpassed the original comic book.

Even in the comedic scenes, there is always an underlying sense of loneliness, which is very moving. Of special note is Maida Nono (10), who plays an elementary school student who is the reincarnation of his wife Ishida Yuriko (52). She is that child actress who enthusiastically played Hana Sugisaki’s childhood in NHK’s morning TV series “Ochoyan” in 2008. She has completely erased her native Osaka dialect and is proudly competing with Shinichi Tsutsumi (57). She is truly a “small great actress. It seems to me that it is not Yuriko Ishida who has been reborn, but Haruko Sugimura of yesteryear.

Maida lives in Osaka. Her agency, which wants her to focus on her studies and family time, was initially reluctant to allow her to appear in a drama series produced by a Tokyo-based TV station.

However, after two years of earnest persuasion by the producers, Ms. Maida was finally chosen to appear in the drama because of her own motivation,” said a source at TBS.

It was more than worth it.

The “Fight Song” (TBS) is a good taste of “Sexy Zone” Kikuchi Kazuma (26) is a member of this group.

Kikuchi is a member of TBS, which is known for its “heart-warming” dramas on Tuesdays at 10:00, but this is a romantic drama that adults can also watch in a relaxed manner. The duo of Kiyohara, an orphan who is losing his hearing, and Shoutaro Mamiya (28), a one-hit wonder musician who looks like Kaze Fujii, is great, but Kikuchi, who plays the childhood friend who secretly has a crush on Kiyohara, is the best actor for the role.

My Neighbor’s Chikara” is controversial.

Kazuhiko Youkawa, who has either hit a big home run or struck out, wrote the script and also directed the film. The screwed-up protagonist, played by Matsu Jun, and his shticky wife, Aya Ueto, are charming and interesting. The relationships between the residents, who have all sorts of problems, are modern and interesting to watch.

Kitagawa praised the actors, but the production company staff shook their heads, saying, “The actors are blameless, but Kazuhiko Youkawa’s script and setting are unbelievable.

The main character steps into the private lives of the residents who live in the same apartment building, and it would be a nuisance to have a neighbor like that. It’s just a suspicious person. It also includes social themes such as young carers, but at this stage it’s just ridiculous.”

This production company staff member said, “‘Much ado about nothing!　The poor performance of “Watashi ga Boss ni Narunatta” symbolizes the struggles of this season’s Nittele dramas,” he continued.

It has ended up being just an irritating fantasy work drama from a decade ago. I saw an article that said Mitsuki Takahata (30) is a contributor to Nittele’s hit dramas, but this one is suffering from poor household and core viewership ratings. So far, Takahata has been able to hit, but never hit a home run. Isn’t he too useful?　Speaking of Nittere productions, Saturday’s “Fugitive Doctor F” also has a forced setup and too many unusual characters to be realistic. In the first episode, Nanana Mori (20) suddenly has her arm amputated. …… Perhaps it would be better to return to dramas starring Japanese actors for the Saturday night slot, as before.”

The core ratings for “The True Flag: The True Story,” which has been airing for two consecutive seasons since last fall, have increased later in the year, and is now ranked No. 1.

What was supposed to be a work to enjoy contemplating who the culprit is has turned into a bare-bones drama in which anything goes. Many viewers were dismayed by the appearance of Karina (38), who attacks people with a blowgun,” said Oyama.

NTV was the first station to take the lead in the core measures five years ago, but it is also true that the myth of the core has been shaken.

The free video distribution service “Tver” has been growing, and as of December last year, the service had a total of 270 million subscribers. million views and 24 million viewers. Advertising has also shown unprecedented growth. It has become a substantial market. In fact, core measures are difficult to measure. “Fight Song” is ranked 5th, although it is scripted and casted for young people. On the other hand, “Goonies,” a film from the ’80s that aired on Friday Roadshow, is getting strong numbers. In the core, “True Criminal Flag” is followed by “Not to be Called a Mystery,” but the situation is reversed when the film is distributed.

Even if it struggles in terms of numbers, “Hey Handsome! (Fuji) has recorded 780,000 views, the most ever for a drama produced by Tokai TV. The compass of ratings is becoming a thing of the past. The TV industry is in transition, and dramas are changing as well.

From the March 11, 2022 issue of FRIDAY