<figure id="attachment_242482" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1417px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-242482"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9205fae4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/05/47ae48939de4ed4720d40b1b70b7824d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-242482" class="wp-caption-text">Takuya Kimura&#8217;s drama &#8220;10 Counts to the Future&#8221; was a flop.</figcaption></figure>
There is something wrong with two &#8220;ratings men&#8221;.
One is actor Takuya Kimura. One is actor Takuya Kimura, whose drama &#8220;10 Counts to the Future&#8221; (TV Asahi) has already been flopping.
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In this coming-of-age story set in a high school boxing club, Kimura plays Shogo Kirisawa, a man who has lost hope for life. When he is appointed coach of the boxing club, he steps forward to face the future.
Kimura is best known for his roles in the dramas &#8220;Long Vacation&#8221; (&#8217;96), &#8220;Love Generation&#8221; (&#8217;97), and the &#8220;HERO (1997), and the &#8220;Hero&#8221; series, to name but a few. He is also a reigning superstar in the film industry, with blockbuster hits such as &#8220;A Samurai&#8217;s Moment&#8221; and the &#8220;Masquerade&#8221; series.
However, the average household rating for the first episode of this film (April 14) was 11.8%. The second episode averaged 10.5%, and the April 28 episode finally dropped to a single-digit rating of 9.9% for the first time.
It is said that now is not the time to measure by household viewership ratings. Although this is certainly understandable, Kimura&#8217;s lowest rating to date was for the TBS drama &#8220;Ando Lloyd: A.I. Knows LOVE? Knows LOVE?&#8221; aired on TBS in 2001, with an average rating of 12.8% for all episodes. The ninth episode recorded 10.3%, but managed to avoid falling into the &#8220;single digits.
The fact remains that &#8220;10 Counts to the Future&#8221; has broken the record for the lowest rating in Kimura&#8217;s career. A TV insider said
 The average rating for all episodes of the drama may also fall below that of &#8220;Ando Lloyd. Usually, serial dramas tend to have good first-run numbers, so unless there is a big surprise, it is difficult for viewers to come back.
 Moreover, Mr. Kimura was involved in the planning of this drama from the planning stage, and although he initially envisioned the main character to be a hot-blooded character, he advised that the character should have a &#8220;Ura&#8221; in order to give him a human touch. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s hard to make the excuse that the story is bad,&#8221; he points out.
He also pointed out, &#8220;I used to think, &#8216;What is the point of acting?
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In the drama series &#8220;Kyobo&#8221; aired by Fuji Television in 2008 and 2009, he played the role of a cool-headed instructor and impressed the audience with his versatility as an actor. Kimura himself has been actively involved in the public&#8217;s interest. Kimura himself seems to be actively trying to break the public image of &#8220;Kimura Tak,&#8221; and he seems to be boldly taking up the challenge in this Teresa drama as well.
 He seems to be boldly taking on new challenges in this drama. &#8220;So even if the numbers are not good for him, he feels fulfilled. The atmosphere of the filming team is also good. It seems as if everyone in the cast and crew is watching Kimura&#8217;s back.
says a manager at an entertainment company involved in the drama. In the sense that Takuya Kimura expresses what he likes without being bound by household viewer ratings, this drama may actually be healthy.
Another actor who has been freed from the &#8220;curse&#8221; of ratings is actor Masato Sakai.
Speaking of Sakai, he stars in &#8220;Hanzawa Naoki,&#8221; which is known as a &#8220;haunted drama. Series 1, which aired in 2001, recorded an average rating of 29.0%. The instantaneous highest rating for the final episode reached a whopping 46.7%. The sequel aired in 2008 also averaged 24.7% for all episodes.
 Until the broadcast, there were no expectations for &#8216;Hanzawa Naoki,&#8217; but when it opened, it was an extra-large hit. But when it opened, it was an extraordinarily big hit, so you never know what will happen.
 It is even said that Sakai-san himself was the most surprised.&#8221; The &#8220;good versus evil&#8221; storyline probably suited the atmosphere of the times,&#8221; said a source close to the TV station.
Sakai, like Kimutaku, has become a &#8220;ratings contractor&#8221; in the TV industry, but the NTV special drama &#8220;The Man Who Can&#8217;t Be Duped,&#8221; broadcast on March 26, flopped with an average viewer rating of 6.7%.
According to some reports, NTV had invested an unprecedented 100 million yen in the production of the drama, and had planned to make it into a serial drama next year.
 I have heard that the fact that it did not perform well may result in a blank slate. There have been many comments on the Internet that the drama is an imitation of Fuji Television&#8217;s &#8220;Confidence Man JP,&#8221; and it is said that Sakai&#8217;s side has also rejected the idea.
(Sports newspaper reporter) However, there is a view that Sakai has been relieved of the burden of being the &#8220;ratings man. He has never been the type to obsess over viewership ratings and be tense. He and his wife, Miho Kanno, have two children together.
 In recent years, he has been prioritizing time with his children. Perhaps this has made his life a little easier,&#8221; says a reporter for a sports newspaper.
(a reporter for the same sports newspaper).
In the TV environment, the impact of viewer ratings cannot be measured in terms of a single number. Therefore, there may be no need to be happy or sad about the numbers being released. (Viewership ratings are from Video Research, Kanto region)

 Ippei Hara

 Two "ratings men" are in a different situation. One is actor Takuya Kimura. One is actor Takuya Kimura, whose drama "Mirai e no 10 k count" (TV Asahi) has already been experiencing low viewer ratings. In this coming-of-age story set in a high school boxing club, Kimura plays the role of a young man who is forced to fight against the boxing team of his high school.

Takuya Kimura and Masato Sakai have a different story… Freeing themselves from the “ratings man” due to low drama ratings.

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