J!-ENT
Asian Entertainment News and Pop Culture

“In a recent article on Japan Times, Philip Brasor wrote, “Pre-premiere hype is important for Japanese TV drama series since their broadcast runs tend to be limited to 13 weeks. They don’t have time to build an audience the way more open-ended series do in the West. As many people as possible have to tune in right from the start.”

“Fuji TV’s “Change” (Monday, 9 p.m.) has it easier than most since it stars Takuya Kimura, the most bankable actor in Japan. The opening episodes of all his series since 1998 have ranked at the top of the ratings charts. More significantly, the news that Kimura, who tends to play strong silent types in glamorous professions, was going to take on the role of a nerdy public schoolteacher elevated to the position of Japan’s youngest prime minister, made the series more topical since it seemed he would be playing against type.”

“But around March, rumors started circulating that the show wouldn’t be ready by mid-April, when all the other spring drama series would start. Some weekly magazines speculated that the delay was due to unfinished scripts, while others thought the producers wanted to avoid a head-to-head confrontation with “Gokusen,” a Nihon TV series that was also a guaranteed ratings winner even though it was scheduled for a different night.”

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JapanToday reported, “Actress Rosa Kato, 22, on Sunday campaigned for Fuji TV’s Monday night drama “CHANGE” in which she co-stars with SMAP heartthrob Takuya Kimura, 35, who plays a school teacher-turned prime minister.”

“Riding in a vehicle designed to look like an election campaign van, Kato toured the Daiba area on behalf of the TV drama. “The campaign van was higher than I expected. I felt like I was really running for office,” Kato said.”

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In the latest Televiews column by Wm. Penn for the Daily Yomiuri, Penn wrote, “This week: the winners, the losers and the question marks on the horizon. TV viewers have voted with their remotes and chosen four winners from the spring season private network drama lineup. Meanwhile, the vast majority of spring offerings battle the single-digit ratings demons with scripts that are not really up to the challenge.”

“At present, the big winner is Gokusen III (Saturdays, 9 p.m., NTV) holding firm with Video Research Co. ratings of 25.1 percent, which is about as high as one can realistically hope to get anymore. Viewers have seen it all before–twice–but still can’t resist watching ratings queen Yukie Nakama vanquish her foes and turn her motley crew of students into happy high school grads.”

“The only challenge to Nakama’s supremacy comes from Takuya Kimura’s Change, which debuted with 23.8 percent ratings last week. That seems a little low for a Kimura extravaganza, but those figures should increase. Eri Fukatsu and Hiroshi Abe gave excellent performances and did most of the heavy lifting in Episode 1 as the script called for Kimura’s character to do little more than look disillusioned and disinterested.”

“But by Week 2, the Kimura sparkle returned as Asakura, dubbed the “kokkai oji” (the new young prince of the Diet), settles into his new job. He asks his savvy political secretary (Fukatsu) to explain everything to him in terms a fifth-year primary school student (and the rest of us) can understand, making the fast-moving script informative, clever and easy to follow.”

“By next week, Asakura should be taking over the prime ministership. The party elders, realizing his potential as a political panda who can enthrall the media, have decided the country can run on auto-pilot for three months. They’ll install Asakura, reestablish the party’s popularity with the electorate and then retake the position and power themselves in 90 days. But will Asakura really be such a pliable, political puppet?”

“The current public mood and political atmosphere are being skillfully conveyed in Change. With a fantastic supporting cast giving it their all, Episode 2 was a joy to watch and the first four-star effort I’ve seen in a long time.”

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JapanToday.com reported, “Fuji TV is hoping for big things from its new drama, “Change,” which stars SMAP idol Kimutaku (Takuya Kimura) as a school teacher who reluctantly becomes prime minister, and a theme song by Madonna. According to TV rating agency Video Research, the first episode, which aired Monday night, attracted an audience rating of 23.8%, slightly below the 26.4% of NTV’s new drama “Gokusen” which started on April 19.”

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In a recent Televiews column by Wm. Penn for the Daily Yomiuri, Penn writes about upcoming dramas including Kimura Takuya’s “Change”.

Penn wrote, “Get ready. Change (Fuji, 9 p.m.) is coming Monday. It has taken a while, but Takuya Kimura is finally on his way to save the day for Japan.”

T”he quest for a quality political drama seems to have caused some production delays that pushed the series debut back three weeks. There have been media reports of grumbling at the network and worries that the late start will affect the timing of the summer series set for the Monday, 9 p.m. slot.”

“Can’t quite see what the problem is myself. Until the private networks create more dramas that really excite viewers, staggering the start of each new season may be one of their best strategies for keeping the public interested in TV.”

“Most of this April’s offerings have already bored or alienated viewers, so it is nice to have something new to look forward to in May.”

“Fuji has not yet revealed how many weeks Change will run, but if it should preempt a few of the between-season, special marathon, 180-minute, triple talento, super-duper, silly noise extravaganzas, will anyone really miss them? So bring on the Change already.”

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JapanToday.com reported, “There is a lot of buzz generating ahead of SMAP idol Takuya Kimura’s upcoming TV drama in which he plays the prime minister of Japan. The 35-year-old appeared at a press conference this week to promote “CHANGE,” in which he plays a teacher who becomes prime minister.”

Kimura said, “My understanding about politics is about the same level as ordinary people. But I hope that, through this drama, more people will feel familiar with politics.”

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