Drama Season: Fall 2021
It's time (actually, it's even late, since some of these have already started). From last season I managed to watch maybe... 3 dramas? And I don't think this fall will be much different, but still! Let's make thie usual list. Mayba one day I'll have the time to go back to all the unwatched dramas (I probably won't).
Wadake no Otokotachi
Preview
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Fridays, 22 October 2021
Station: TV Asahi
Scriptwriter: Oishi Shizuka (Ano Toki Kisu Shite Okeba, Koisuru Hahatachi, Dairenai)
Cast: Aiba Masaki, Sasaki Kuranosuke, Danta Yasunori, Koike Eiko, Ishikawa Ren, Komakine Ryusuke, Okabe Takashi, Miyazawa Miho, Yunho
Synopsis: The company that 37-year-old Wada Yu (Aiba Masaki) worked at for the past 15 years suddenly went bankrupt due to the COVID-19 outbreak. He now makes a living as a deliveryman for a delivery service. While making deliveries one day, he is unexpectedly reunited with his grandfather Kan (Danta Yasunori) after 20 years. His stepfather Shuhei (Sasaki Kuranosuke), who happened to be present, proposes that the three of them live together. Yu’s late mother Rie (Koike Eiko) remarried Shuhei when Yu was 10 years old. But as a general producer at a TV station, Shuhei was busy day and night. Yu had to handle most of the things at home and grew up to be good at all housework. Father and son have actually been estranged since Yu moved out after graduating from university and getting a job. As the three men begin living under the same roof, Yu continues with his delivery job and takes charge of all the household chores. One day, at a university friend’s recommendation, Yu begins to work as a reporter for an online news site...
No explanations needed. Just Aiba Masaki.
(and his Sexy Dad).
Super Rich
Preview
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, 14 October 2021
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: Mizoi Eiichi Davis (Iyasaretai Otoko, Kansatsui Asagao Season 1)
Cast: Eguchi Noriko, Akaso Eiji, Machida Keita, Kanno Rio, Itagaki Mizuki, Kashima Riku, Nonomura Hanano, Kayashima Mizuki, Yamoto Yuma, Shida Mirai, Nakamura Yuri, Totsugi Shigeyuki, Miho Jun, Furuta Arata, Matsushima Nanako
Synopsis: Hyoga Mamoru (Eguchi Noriko), the CEO of an e-book start-up called Three Star Books, lives only for work. Born into a wealthy family, she has never experienced financial difficulties. Mamoru believes that money can solve anything and works hard every day to make more profit. While she is recognised for her entrepreneurship, she has built an emotional wall due to her loneliness and sadness over the deaths of her parents when she was a child. She has been starved of love despite having all the money. The only person she trusts is Ichinose Ryo (Totsugi Shigeyuki) whom she met during her university days. They started Three Star Books and still work together. The start-up is her life but she starts to face a series of crises that rock the company’s management as she works on growing the business. Mamoru has a shocking encounter with Haruno Yu (Akaso Eiji), a vocational school student who applied to be an intern at Three Star Books in a bid to change his life. He has a loving family, that includes his parents (Miho Jun) and a younger sister Mako (Kayashima Mizuki), but their financial situation has not been good for many years. Like the warmth of spring, Yu’s smile and friendliness begins to thaw Mamoru’s heart which is frozen like ice because she has been so swamped with work.
Not me screaming nonstop since they revealed that both Akaso Eiji and Machida Keita would be in this.
Listen, I'm so excited that I was THIS close to put them before Aiba.
(the drama seems good, too).
Kieta Hatsukoi
Preview
Date: From 11.30 p.m., Saturdays, 9 October 2021
Network: TV Asahi
Scriptwriter: Kuroiwa Tsutomu (Tokyo MER, Unsung Cinderella, Grand Maison Tokyo)
Cast: Michieda Shunsuke, Meguro Ren, Fukumoto Riko, Suzuki Jin, Tanabe Seiichi
Synopsis: Aoki (Michieda Shunsuke) is a cheerful and lively high school student with a crush on his female classmate Hashimoto (Fukumoto Riko) who sits next to him. One day, he borrows an eraser from her but gets a big shock after noticing the name of a male classmate “Ida-kun ♡” (Meguro Ren) has been written on the eraser. He wonders if this will act like a charm that will make love come true when the name of the love interest is written. A flustered Aoki accidentally drops the eraser. But it is picked up by Ida who sees “Ida-kun ♡” written on it and gets the wrong idea that Aoki might like him. Although Aoki wants to set things right with Ida, he is also not at liberty to reveal Hashimoto’s feelings. His first impulse is to lie that the eraser belongs to him. Despite his best intentions, that mere remark creates a further misunderstanding which leads to an unexpected romance and friendship.
People on twitter are going CRAZY over this.
I just hope that every BL (is this even classified ad BL? I know nothing, I'm just assuming things) drama from now on will just take on the legacy of Cherry Magic.
Saiai
Preview
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, 15 October 2021
Station: TBS
Scriptwriters: Okudera Sawako (Kawa no Hotori de, Watashi Teiji de Kaerimasu, Reverse), Shimizu Yukako (Kanojo wa Kirei datta, Watashi Teiji de Kaerimasu, Reverse)
Cast: Yoshitaka Yuriko, Matsushita Kohei, Tanaka Minami, Sakuma Yui, Takahashi Fumiya, Okuno Eita, Yakushimaru Hiroko (guest star), Mitsuishi Ken, Sakou Yoshi, Tsuda Kenjiro, Oikawa Mitsuhiro, Iura Arata
Synopsis: Sanada Rio (Yoshitaka Yuriko) assumed the position of President of Sanada Wellness, an affiliate of Sanada Holdings that her mother Azusa (Yakushimaru Hiroko) runs, after studying pharmacy at a Tokyo university. She becomes the focus of public attention when she is chosen as a CEO in her 30s who is changing the world. Back in 2006, there was a missing persons case at some rural town where Rio spent her youth. 15 years later, someone connected to this case appears before her, setting the case that should have been sealed off along with the memories at that time in motion again. Rio finds herself a material witness in a string of murder cases in the present that is tied to the disappearance in the past. A detective Miyazaki Daiki (Matsushita Kohei) who is her first love pursues the truth while a lawyer Kase Kenichiro (Iura Arata) tries to protect her by all means.
I think the last time I watched a nice suspence drama was... spring? This actually seems nice, I just need Yoshitaka Yuriko to play a character I don't end up to hate (because I'm pretty sure her character is the reason I can't bring myself to finish Kikenna Venus).
Avalanche
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Mondays, 18 October 2021
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriters: -
Cast: Ayano Go, Fukushi Sota, Chiba Yudai, Takahashi Maryjun, Tanaka Yoji, Riju Go, Hotta Akane, Watabe Atsuro (guest star), Kimura Yoshino
Synopsis: Habu Seiichi (Ayano Go) is a member of an outlaw group, Avalanche. Moral hazard has long runs rampant not only among bureaucrats and the people with wealth and power in big corporations but also the general public in the country. How will this crazy and mysterious group sweep the entire country and change it?
I don't trust Ayano Go but I also love him deeply, so I'm destined to suffer. If it gets subbed, I would like to try it, in the hope it's not boring.
Wadake no Otokotachi
Preview
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Fridays, 22 October 2021
Station: TV Asahi
Scriptwriter: Oishi Shizuka (Ano Toki Kisu Shite Okeba, Koisuru Hahatachi, Dairenai)
Cast: Aiba Masaki, Sasaki Kuranosuke, Danta Yasunori, Koike Eiko, Ishikawa Ren, Komakine Ryusuke, Okabe Takashi, Miyazawa Miho, Yunho
Synopsis: The company that 37-year-old Wada Yu (Aiba Masaki) worked at for the past 15 years suddenly went bankrupt due to the COVID-19 outbreak. He now makes a living as a deliveryman for a delivery service. While making deliveries one day, he is unexpectedly reunited with his grandfather Kan (Danta Yasunori) after 20 years. His stepfather Shuhei (Sasaki Kuranosuke), who happened to be present, proposes that the three of them live together. Yu’s late mother Rie (Koike Eiko) remarried Shuhei when Yu was 10 years old. But as a general producer at a TV station, Shuhei was busy day and night. Yu had to handle most of the things at home and grew up to be good at all housework. Father and son have actually been estranged since Yu moved out after graduating from university and getting a job. As the three men begin living under the same roof, Yu continues with his delivery job and takes charge of all the household chores. One day, at a university friend’s recommendation, Yu begins to work as a reporter for an online news site...
No explanations needed. Just Aiba Masaki.
(and his Sexy Dad).
Super Rich
Preview
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, 14 October 2021
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: Mizoi Eiichi Davis (Iyasaretai Otoko, Kansatsui Asagao Season 1)
Cast: Eguchi Noriko, Akaso Eiji, Machida Keita, Kanno Rio, Itagaki Mizuki, Kashima Riku, Nonomura Hanano, Kayashima Mizuki, Yamoto Yuma, Shida Mirai, Nakamura Yuri, Totsugi Shigeyuki, Miho Jun, Furuta Arata, Matsushima Nanako
Synopsis: Hyoga Mamoru (Eguchi Noriko), the CEO of an e-book start-up called Three Star Books, lives only for work. Born into a wealthy family, she has never experienced financial difficulties. Mamoru believes that money can solve anything and works hard every day to make more profit. While she is recognised for her entrepreneurship, she has built an emotional wall due to her loneliness and sadness over the deaths of her parents when she was a child. She has been starved of love despite having all the money. The only person she trusts is Ichinose Ryo (Totsugi Shigeyuki) whom she met during her university days. They started Three Star Books and still work together. The start-up is her life but she starts to face a series of crises that rock the company’s management as she works on growing the business. Mamoru has a shocking encounter with Haruno Yu (Akaso Eiji), a vocational school student who applied to be an intern at Three Star Books in a bid to change his life. He has a loving family, that includes his parents (Miho Jun) and a younger sister Mako (Kayashima Mizuki), but their financial situation has not been good for many years. Like the warmth of spring, Yu’s smile and friendliness begins to thaw Mamoru’s heart which is frozen like ice because she has been so swamped with work.
Not me screaming nonstop since they revealed that both Akaso Eiji and Machida Keita would be in this.
Listen, I'm so excited that I was THIS close to put them before Aiba.
(the drama seems good, too).
Kieta Hatsukoi
Preview
Date: From 11.30 p.m., Saturdays, 9 October 2021
Network: TV Asahi
Scriptwriter: Kuroiwa Tsutomu (Tokyo MER, Unsung Cinderella, Grand Maison Tokyo)
Cast: Michieda Shunsuke, Meguro Ren, Fukumoto Riko, Suzuki Jin, Tanabe Seiichi
Synopsis: Aoki (Michieda Shunsuke) is a cheerful and lively high school student with a crush on his female classmate Hashimoto (Fukumoto Riko) who sits next to him. One day, he borrows an eraser from her but gets a big shock after noticing the name of a male classmate “Ida-kun ♡” (Meguro Ren) has been written on the eraser. He wonders if this will act like a charm that will make love come true when the name of the love interest is written. A flustered Aoki accidentally drops the eraser. But it is picked up by Ida who sees “Ida-kun ♡” written on it and gets the wrong idea that Aoki might like him. Although Aoki wants to set things right with Ida, he is also not at liberty to reveal Hashimoto’s feelings. His first impulse is to lie that the eraser belongs to him. Despite his best intentions, that mere remark creates a further misunderstanding which leads to an unexpected romance and friendship.
People on twitter are going CRAZY over this.
I just hope that every BL (is this even classified ad BL? I know nothing, I'm just assuming things) drama from now on will just take on the legacy of Cherry Magic.
Saiai
Preview
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, 15 October 2021
Station: TBS
Scriptwriters: Okudera Sawako (Kawa no Hotori de, Watashi Teiji de Kaerimasu, Reverse), Shimizu Yukako (Kanojo wa Kirei datta, Watashi Teiji de Kaerimasu, Reverse)
Cast: Yoshitaka Yuriko, Matsushita Kohei, Tanaka Minami, Sakuma Yui, Takahashi Fumiya, Okuno Eita, Yakushimaru Hiroko (guest star), Mitsuishi Ken, Sakou Yoshi, Tsuda Kenjiro, Oikawa Mitsuhiro, Iura Arata
Synopsis: Sanada Rio (Yoshitaka Yuriko) assumed the position of President of Sanada Wellness, an affiliate of Sanada Holdings that her mother Azusa (Yakushimaru Hiroko) runs, after studying pharmacy at a Tokyo university. She becomes the focus of public attention when she is chosen as a CEO in her 30s who is changing the world. Back in 2006, there was a missing persons case at some rural town where Rio spent her youth. 15 years later, someone connected to this case appears before her, setting the case that should have been sealed off along with the memories at that time in motion again. Rio finds herself a material witness in a string of murder cases in the present that is tied to the disappearance in the past. A detective Miyazaki Daiki (Matsushita Kohei) who is her first love pursues the truth while a lawyer Kase Kenichiro (Iura Arata) tries to protect her by all means.
I think the last time I watched a nice suspence drama was... spring? This actually seems nice, I just need Yoshitaka Yuriko to play a character I don't end up to hate (because I'm pretty sure her character is the reason I can't bring myself to finish Kikenna Venus).
Avalanche
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Mondays, 18 October 2021
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriters: -
Cast: Ayano Go, Fukushi Sota, Chiba Yudai, Takahashi Maryjun, Tanaka Yoji, Riju Go, Hotta Akane, Watabe Atsuro (guest star), Kimura Yoshino
Synopsis: Habu Seiichi (Ayano Go) is a member of an outlaw group, Avalanche. Moral hazard has long runs rampant not only among bureaucrats and the people with wealth and power in big corporations but also the general public in the country. How will this crazy and mysterious group sweep the entire country and change it?
I don't trust Ayano Go but I also love him deeply, so I'm destined to suffer. If it gets subbed, I would like to try it, in the hope it's not boring.