Ami Suzuki - Oishii Ginza

Singer and actress Ami Suzuki will star in a TV Asahi drama special titled “Oishii Depachika,” it was announced on Wednesday. This is only her second lead role in a drama, with the first being NHK’s “Fukaku Mogure” in 2000.

The drama is based on the manga “Oishii Ginza” by Ikuko Sakagawa, which has been serialized in Office YOU since August 2001. The story is set in a Ginza “depachika” – a term referring to the food section of a department store, located in the basement – where Suzuki plays a seller struggling to keep her place in the store.

Kazuhiko Nishimura plays a manager at the department store, and Mansaku Fuwa plays a pig farm owner.

TV Asahi has also announced a promotional tie-in with its shopping site, which will sell two original dishes that appear in the drama after the show is broadcast. “Oishii Depachika” airs on January 4 at 11:30pm.

Ai Takabe - Guren Onna

Ai Takabe will star in a television drama for the first time this winter, in TV Tokyo’s comedy series “Cosplay Yurei Guren Onna.”

The drama is based on the novel of the same name by Nobuyuki Joko. Takabe plays a high school teacher who has no friends due to her gloomy personality. Trying to find a reason for living, she spends her nights dressing up as the “guren-onna,” a fictional ghost, and terrifying other people. However, she begins running into actual ghosts.

Takabe’s makeup for the part of the “guren-onna” is said to take four hours to apply.

The series premieres on January 11, airing every Friday night at 12:12am.

1 Litre no Namida - Japanese Drama

Details

* Title: １リットルの涙
* Title (romaji): 1 Litre no Namida
* Also known as: Ichi Rittoru no Namida / One Litre of Tears / A Diary with Tears
* Genre: School, romance, family, human
* Broadcast network: Fuji TV
* Related TV shows: Tears of Happiness

Renzoku

* Episodes: 11
* Viewership ratings: 15.31
* Broadcast period: 2005-Oct-11 to 2005-Dec-20
* Air time: Tuesday 21:00
* Ending theme song: Only Human by K
* Insert songs: Konayuki and 3/9 by Remioromen
* Drama OST: Ichi Rittoru no Namida OST

Synopsis

15-year-old Ikeuchi Aya was an ordinary girl, the daughter of a family who works at a tofu shop, and a soon-to-be high schooler. However, odd things have been happening to Aya lately. She has been falling down often and walks strange. Her mother, Shioka, takes Aya to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar degeneration - a terrible disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat. A cruel disease, as it does not affect the mind in the least. How will Aya react when told about her disease? And how will Aya live from now on?

Cast

* Sawajiri Erika as Ikeuchi Aya (15-20)
* Yakushimaru Hiroko as Ikeuchi Shioka (40-51)
* Nishikido Ryo as Asou Haruto (15-20)
* Jinnai Takanori as Ikeuchi Mizuo (45-56)
* Narumi Riko as Ikeuchi Ako (13-18)
* Fujiki Naohito as Mizuno Hiroshi (33-44)
* Koide Saori as Sugiura Mari (15-18)
* Sanada Yuma as Ikeuchi Hiroki (11-16)
* Miyoshi Ai as Ikeuchi Rika (5-10)
* Matsuyama Kenichi as Kawamoto Yuji (17)
* Matsumoto Kana as Matsumura Saki (15-18)
* Mizutani Momosuke as Onda Kohei (15-18)
* Hashizume Ryo as Nakahara Keita (15-18)
* Katsuno Hiroshi as Asou Yoshifumi (50-55)
* Oonishi Asae as Oikawa Asumi (16-17)
* Hamaoka Maya (浜丘麻矢) as Oikawa Kikue
* Kato Kazuko as Fujimura Madoka
* Tonesaku Toshihide as Takano Kiichi
* Sato Shigeyuki as Nishino (homeroom teacher)
* Aoi
* Kawahara Makoto
* Endo Yuya
* Hoshino Natsuko
* Sato Yuki as Asou Keisuke
* Umoto Yuki (兎本有紀)
* Kawaguchi Shouhei
* Kurita Yoko
* Nakada Yuya
* Okumura Tomofumi
* Wagatsuma Miwako

Production Credits

* Original work: Kito Aya (木藤亜也)
* Screenwriters: Egashira Michiru, Oshima Satomi, Yokota Rie
* Producer: Kashikawa Satoko
* Director: Murakami Masanori
* Music: Ueda Susumu (上田益)

Episode Titles

* Ep 01: The beginning of my youth
* Ep 02: 15 years old, sickness that steals up
* Ep 03: Why did the illness chose me?
* Ep 04: Solitude of two people
* Ep 05: A handicapped person's notebook
* Ep 06: Heartless glances
* Ep 07: The place where I am
* Ep 08: 1 litre of tears
* Ep 09: I live now
* Ep 10: Love letter
* Ep 11: Faraway, to a place where there are no tears left to cry

0 Goshitsu no Kyaku - Japanese Drama

Details

* Title: 0号室の客
* Title (romaji): 0 Goshitsu no Kyaku
* Also known as: Guest in Room 0
* Tagline: HOTEL POINT
* Broadcast network: Fuji TV
* Genre: Varies
* Broadcast period: 2009-Oct-23 to 2010-Mar-26
* Air time: Friday 25:05
* Theme song: Tokei Jikake no Umbrella by Arashi

Overall Synopsis

Fuji-TV reserves the late-night time period to be used for experimental projects, giving up-and-coming young screenwriters, producers and directors a place to develop their skills and televise their works. This time around several Johnny's Jimusho idols will participate in a television mini-drama project on Fuji TV. Titled "0 Goshitsu no Kyaku," the show will consist of six stories, each lasting for a month. The weekly episodes will be 15 minutes long.

Set in a city hotel called Point, where there is a strange "Room 0" that can reveal one's "grade" as a human being. Various guests with different circumstances visit the room, hoping to determine their own worth. -Tokyograph

Cast

* Yokoyama Yu as the hotel manager

First Story

* Title: 憧れの男
* Title (romaji): Akogare no Otoko
* Episodes: 4
* Broadcast period: 2009-Oct-23 to 2009-Nov-13