Drama season - Summer 2019

Boku wa Mada Kimi o Aisanai Koto ga Dekiru

Preview
Date: From 15 July 2019 (updated on Mondays)
Station: Fuji on Demand
Scriptwriters: Arai Yuka (Kimi wa Petto (2017), Watashi no Uchi ni wa Nanimo Nai, Tokyo Sentimental), Koga Fumie (Kimi wa Petto (2017), Itazurana Kiss 2 (2014))
Cast: Adachi Rika, Shirasu Jin, Asaka Kodai, Matsumoto Kiyo, Sakuma Yu, Nagano Munenori, Saori, Nakamura Kumi, Hirokawa Mitsunori, Kato Kazuko
Synopsis: Mitari Yo (Adachi Rika) is a career woman who works for a shoe maker. She finds her work rewarding and has successfully advanced in her career. But she keeps having her heart broken and her romantic life has not gone very well lately. Ishida Ren (Shirasu Jin) works for a developer and is Yo’s best friend. An ex-classmate from both high school and university days, he understands her the best and is the only person she pours her heart out to. On Yo’s 29th birthday, the two friends place a wager to give 300,000 yen as a congratulatory gift to the one who is the first to get married by the last day they are 30. Although they declare that it is impossible for them to fall in love with each other, this wager as well as advances by Ren’s junior in the company and Yo’s reunion with her ex-boyfriend Mizusawa Ryusei (Asaka Kodai) lead to gradual changes in the relationship of the two best friends.

I didn't notice at first, but this is the remake of a Korean drama I wantched a few years ago (The time we were not in love) which had SO MUCH POTENTIAL to be a good romantic drama, but ended up disapponting me (I have talked about it - in Italian - HERE). So I hope that the Japanese version will be better, because the potential is there. I mean, childhood friends realizing they love each other? Yes thank you.
I fear that, since it's not aired on a "normal" TV channel, it will be hard having raws and subs, but let's hope.


Heaven? Gokuraku Restaurant

Preview
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 9 July 2019
Station: TBS
Scriptwriter: Yoshida Erika (Hana Nochi Hare, Dansui)
Cast: Ishihara Satomi, Fukushi Sota, Shison Jun, Taguchi Hiromasa, Uchida Chika, Oshige Wataru, Matsumoto Shishimaru, Katsumura Masanobu, Yashiba Toshihiro, Ueda Haruka, Tachi Hiroshi, Danta Yasunori, Kishibe Ittoku
Synopsis: Iga Kan (Fukushi Sota) has been working at a French restaurant. He is serious and inflexible. Because he cannot even smile for the sake of customer service, both his colleagues and customers have a low opinion of him. However, a mysterious woman named Kurosu Kanako (Ishihara Satomi), who has a high regard for him, shows up. She scouts Iga for the French restaurant that she is going to open soon. “My staff need to have originality. You’ll certainly be a good service guy,” she tells him. Iga is moved by her words and decides to work at her restaurant. But this restaurant is located in a cemetery far from train stations, shopping districts and even residential areas. In addition, the employees that Kanako has assembled are all novices – Kawai Taichi (Shison Jun), a former trainee hairdresser; Tsutsumi Keitaro (Katsumura Masanobu), a manager of a beef bowl shop for five years; Yamagata Shigeomi (Kishibe Ittoku), a retired banker who is a qualified sommelier – with no prior experience with the exception of Ozawa Yukio (Danta Yasunori), a talented chef who has had the misfortune of working in restaurants that all subsequently closed down. Why has Kanako brought them together and will the restaurant be able to open without incident?

Am I putting it in my list just because of Satomi?
Absolutely yes.


Gisou Furin

Date: From 10.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 10 July 2019
Station: NTV
Scriptwriter: Eto Rin (Survival Wedding, Nodame Cantabile Series)
Cast: Anne, Miyazawa Hio, Nakama Yukie, Seto Toshiki, Tahihara Shosuke, Megumi, Tanaka Michiko, Natsuko, Izawa Hiroshi, Asaka Mayumi
Synopsis: Hama Shoko (Anne) is a temporary employee in her 30s. She is single, lives with her parents (Izawa Hiroshi, Asaka Mayumi) and has grown weary of looking for a marriage partner. One day, she meets Banno Joe (Miyazawa Hio), a charming, handsome younger man on an plane as she sets off a solo trip. The two of them end up having a meal together at the destination. However, Shoko ends up lying to him that she is already married, wanting to pretend that she is someone’s woman instead of a spinster. She gets an unexpected chance at romance with this “married” tag when he proposes that she have a fling with him during this trip. Shoko learns the joy of romance for the first time through this “limited-time romance”. Although she tells herself that this is an affair to Joe and not pure love, she gradually falls too deep. Can this happiness be called true happiness?

I hate the poster, somehow it gives me a bad feeling.
Anyway, the usual stuff about woman-in-her-30s-who-panics-because-she-can't-find-a-husband, but if it's done well I enjoy it so... what can I do. The fake affair thing seems fun.


Lupin no Musume

Preview
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, 11 July 2019
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: Tokunaga Yuichi (Strawberry Night Saga, Good Doctor, Keiji Yugami)
Cast: Fukada Kyoko, Seto Koji, Ozawa Maju, Kurihara Rui, Donguri, Fujioka Hiroshi (guest star), Kato Ryo, Onuki Yusuke, Sato Honami, Shida Masayuki, Marcia, Maro Akaji, Watabe Atsuro
Synopsis: Mikumo Hana (Fukada Kyoko) is the daughter of the big thief Lupin (Watabe Atsuro). Although she is more talented at stealing than anyone else in the family (Ozawa Maju, Kurihara Rui, Donguri, Maro Akaji), she declines to take over the family business and works as a librarian in order to live an ordinary life. Hana is seriously dating Sakuraba Kazuma (Seto Koji) who works at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Third Division which specalises in catching thieves. One day, Kazuma brings Hana home and she panics when she learns for the first time that he comes from a family of police officers. His parents Norikazu (Shida Masayuki) and Misako (Marcia) are opposed their marriage simply because Hana is not a member of the police force. Their long-cherished wish is to produce a detective with the First Investigation Division, and they will agree to his marriage on condition that he moves to the Division. So Kazuma hopes to distinguish himself by arresting Lupin’s family which is famous even within the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department even though no one knows who they are.

At first, I smelled a total bullshit-drama, but after watching the CM, I thought that it could be a fun bullshit-drama.


Coffee & Vanilla

Preview
Date: From 12.59 a.m., Fridays, 5 July 2019
Station: TBS
Scriptwriter: Shimoda Yuko (Bungaku Shojo)
Cast: Fukuhara Haruka, Sakurada Dori, Kuroba Mario, Ogoe Yuki, Hama Shogo, Kita Noa
Synopsis: 20-year-old Shiragi Risa (Fukuhara Haruka) has just come up to Tokyo from her hometown in Kyushu to attend university. She is popular and treated like someone beyond the reach of the people around her. But she actually has no experience in love. Risa dreams of a tantalisingly sweet romance. One day, while she is having a problem with someone persistently hitting on her, a good-looking man (Sakurada Dori) in a suit shows up. He smartly rescues her and they end up going for a meal so that she can also thank him. This man is Fukami Hiroto, a businessman and they start to date. At first, Risa is estactic with her boyfriend but his hidden past, presence of a rival CEO, Akutsu Takaaki (Kuroba Mario), and love rivals Yoshiki Tsubasa (Ogoe Yuki) and Ichiyanagi Yuki (Hama Shogo), makes their love bitter sweet.

Classic shoujo manga, yes.


Nagi no Oitoma

Preview
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, 19 July 2019
Station: TBS
Scriptwriter: Oshima Satomi (Boukyaku no Sachiko Series, Anata ni wa Kaeru Ie ga Aru, Machi Kouba no Onna)
Cast: Kuroki Haru, Takahashi Issei, Nakamura Tomoya, Ichikawa Mikako, Takiuchi Kumi, Otsuka Chihiro, Fujimoto Izumi, Mizutani Kaho, Karata Erika, Shiratori Tamaki, Nakata Kurumi, Tani Kyosuke, Tamoto Soran, Katahira Nagisa, Yoshida Yo, Mita Yoshiko
Synopsis: 28-year-old Oshima Nagi (Kuroki Haru) works for a home appliance manufacturer in Tokyo. She conforms to her surroundings as she constantly gauges people’s moods. Because of that, her goal is to pass each day without incident. However, as a result of reading too much into situations and pushing herself too hard, she collapses from hyperventilation. One day, Nagi’s boyfriend Gamon Shinji (Takahashi Issei) says something that breaks her heart. This prompts her to reexamine her life, and she makes the decision to change it. She resigns from her company, cancels the contract for the apartment she is living in and also stops communicating with everyone including Shinji. She plans to reset her life in order to be happy and let her naturally curly hair, which she has a hang-up about, grow out as is.

This could be the only quality drama I write in this list XD I like the theme, I like Kuroki Haru, but mostly I like Takahashi Issei aka the man with the sweetest smile ever (after Aiba, of course).


Voice 110 Kinkyuu Shireishitsu

Date: From 10.00 p.m., Saturdays, 13 July 2019
Station: NTV
Scriptwriter: Hamada Shuya (Zettai Reido Season 3, Yake ni Ben no Tatsu Bengoshi ga Gakkou de Hoeru, Chef)
Cast: Karasawa Toshiaki, Maki Yoko, Masuda Takahisa, Kimura Yuichi, Ishibashi Natsumi, Tamura Kentaro, Yasui Junpei, Koichi Mantaro, Yahagi Honoka, YOU, Kikuchi Momoko, Yoshikawa Ai (guest star)
Synopsis: Higuchi Shogo (Karasawa Toshiaki) is a detective of the First Investigative Division. His wife Miki (Kikuchi Momoko) was struck in the head with a blunt object and murdered in brutal fashion. Right before she was killed, she had called the emergency command centre to ask for help as she tried to run away. But at that time, the centre did not have the capability to pinpoint her location. It called her back instead and this sound alerted the killer to where she was. Higuchi, who was pursuing a fugitive in another case, only learnt this devastating truth after everything had ended. The police was certain that the suspect Sagara Takuya was his wife’s murderer from the clothes found at Sagara’s house and he was tried. However, Tachibana Hikari (Maki Yoko), the police officer who received the emergency call, testified that the voice she heard at the time of the incident, was not his. She added that there was a faint clacking sound and asserts that the killer is someone else. As a result, Sagara was released and the case was never solved. Three years later, Higuchi has become a different man after his wife’s death, and transferred to work at a police box. Meanwhile, Hikari becomes the head of the emergency command centre. When Higuchi learns about this, he barges into the centre, demanding to know why she said that she could hear things no one else could. Hikari asks if he would believe her if she told the truth. At that moment, a call comes in from someone who says she has been kidnapped … …!

Oh look, something not about love.
It's the remake of a Korean drama that had very good ratings and response in Korea, but I didn't watch it because it's a bit rough/violent. I'll try this version and see if it doesn't bother me.


Soshite, Ikiru

Preview
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 4 August 2019
Network: WOWOW
Scriptwriter: Okada Yoshikazu (Hiyokko Series, Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni, Kibougaoka no Hitobito)
Cast: Arimura Kasumi, Sakaguchi Kentaro, Ji-young, Okayama Amane, Hagiwara Masato, Mitsuishi Ken, Minami Kaho
Synopsis: Ikuta Toko’s (Arimura Kasumi) parents died in a traffic accident when she was three years old. She was adopted by her father’s older brother who runs a barber shop in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, and grew up happily. Toko was sometimes active as an idol and eventually aspired to become an actress. Then when she turned 19, Toko decided to try for an audition that was being held in Tokyo. However, on 11 March 2011, the day before her performance, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. That autumn, Toko participates in volunteer activities in Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture together with a Korean coworker Han Yuri (Ji-young) at the cafe. This is where she meets Shimizu Kiyotaka (Sakaguchi Kentaro), a Tokyo University student who is a executive committee member of a student volunteer group. Kiyotaka runs operations on the ground quietly and systematically, but Toko feels something is off about his smile for some reason. She has no way of knowing his own cruel fate. As Toko and Kiyotaka spend time together in Kesennuma, they begin to develop special feelings for each other.

Aaaaand yes, more romance. I told you.
I feel like these two do a lot of stuff together, but it's actually not true. I hope to shake the horrible feeling I got from this couple in Narratage XD