The popular drama series ‘Gokusen’ is getting a movie version this summer. After three highly-rated seasons, the film will be the last time that lead actress Yukie Nakama plays the role of the teacher Yankumi. The third season of ‘Gokusen’ aired last spring and ended with a successful 22.8% average rating. The movie takes place …
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Fuji TV’s live-action ‘Zettai Kareshi’ series is coming back for a special episode. Based on the manga by Yuu Watase, the series originally aired from April to June 2008. The special, titled ‘Zettai Kareshi ~Kanzen Muketsu no Koibito Robot~,’ is set after the end of the series. Mocomichi Hayami will reprise his role as the …
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Young actress Maki Horikita will star in a two-part drama special on Fuji TV titled ‘Chance! Kanojo ga Seikou Shita Riyuu,’ described as a comical success story. The show will also feature Hitori Gekidan and Meisa Kuroki. Horikita plays a 22-year-old who struggles to find a job, finally landing one at a travel company. Kuroki …
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NTV has announced another special episode for the ‘Gokusen’ drama franchise. The show’s third season aired this past spring, and the upcoming episode will be a ‘graduation special’ featuring the same characters. Yukie Nakama will of course star in the show, with Yuya Takaki, Haruma Miura, and Hideo Ishiguro among the returning cast. The two …
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Fuji TV revealed in October that it is producing a special documentary drama titled ‘Kamiji Yusuke Monogatari,’ based on the life of rising male idol Yusuke Kamiji. The lead actor playing Kamiji has now been decided. 19-year-old Yuki Yoshida, a second-year student at a university in the Shiga prefecture, was chosen by audition for the …
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Fuji TV has announced a broadcast date for its ‘Code Blue’ drama special. The episode is scheduled to air on January 10 at 9:00pm. The special is a continuation of the ‘Code Blue’ drama series from this past summer, which starred Tomohisa Yamashita, Erika Toda, Yui Aragaki, and Yosuke Asari as four young doctors training …
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Popular talento Yusuke Kamiji, part of the trio Shuchishin, will be featured in a special program on Fuji TV next year. The show is part documentary, part drama, and is based on his autobiographical essay ‘Kamiji Yusuke Monogatari’ that was published in August. The majority of the program will focus on Kamiji’s days in middle …
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This fall, WOWOW will broadcast a drama special titled ‘Tengoku no Soup,’ based on a book by writer Michiko Matsuda. Matsuda, who generally writes nonfiction, is also known as the first wife of the late actor Yusaku Matsuda. ‘Tengoku no Soup’ follows an OL (Ryoko Kuninaka) who has to take care of her sick mother, …
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TV Asahi is producing a drama special about the life of Yoshiko Kawashima, a Manchu princess who became a spy for the Kwantung Army and was eventually executed by the Chinese government (Wikipedia link here). Her story was partly responsible for the coining of the phrase ‘danso no reijin’ (‘beauty in male attire’), referring to …
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In celebration of Sanshin Day, March 4, I’m featuring a Ryūkyū Koten Ongaku (Ryūkyū classical music) song called “Kajadifū Bushi (かぎやで風節).” It has a bit of history for myself as the first song I learned on uta-sanshin from Katsumi Shinsato-sensei some fifteen years ago and I’ve been playing it ever since. Here’s a little background …
