July Dorama SPJoshi Ana Icchokusen! Station: TV Tokyo
Date: 2 July 2007, 5.30 pm
Cast: Chiaki Sato, Misako Yasuda, Ryosuke Miura, Michiko Shimizu
Official site:
Idol Chiaki Sato stars in this comedy as Miki, a rough and crude woman who struggles as she enters training to become an announcer. Along with several other aspiring women (mostly played by idols), she struggles to attain her goal.
Hissatsu Shigotonin SP 2007 Station: TV Asahi
Date: 7 July 2007, 9.00 pm
Cast: Masahiro Matsuoka (TOKIO), Noriyuki Higashiyama (Shonentai), Tadayoshi Ohkura (Kanjani8), Makoto Fujita, Emi Wakui, Asami Mizukawa, Mari Hoshino
Official site:
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/hissatsu/
It was announced that TOKIO's Masahiro Matsuoka will be in "Hissatsu Shigotonin Special" starring Makoto Fujita and co-starring Noriyuki Higashiyama of Shonentai and Tadayoshi Ohkura of Kanjani8. The Shigotonin series started back in 1972 and has many different incarnations as TV series, movies and TV specials. The story is basically about men who go undercover and assassinate bad guys in the Edo period. Higashiyama will play a swordsman. Matsuoka will play an artist who uses a brush to drip poison into his victims' mouth as they are sleeping. Ohkura will play a dollmaker who uses the dolls to kill people, such as using a toy snake to choke his victim. This 2007 special will be the first Hissatsu drama in 15 years. Filming began on February 3rd in Kyoto.
Okaasan, Boku ga Umarete Gomenasai Station: Fuji TV
Date: 13 July 2007, 9.00 pm
Cast: Masako Mori, Naoki Watanabe, Eiichiro Funakoshi, Saki Fukuda
Official site:
Singer Masako Mori will act in her first lead drama role in 22 years. The special episode "Okaasan, Boku ga Umarete Gomenasai" will air as part of Fuji TV's "Kinyo Prestige" drama slot (Friday 9:00pm) on July 13. In it, Mori will play the mother of a young boy with cerebral palsy.
The drama is inspired by a true story. In 1978, Mori sang a song on television composed by Minoru Endo. It was adapted from a poem written by a young boy who suffered from cerebral palsy and died three years earlier at the age of 15. He had been a big fan of Mori.
A book about the boy's life was published around that time. It was eventually read by producer Tadayuki Hazama, who decided that he wanted to make it into a drama but was unable to find an actress to play the part of the mother. As fate would have it, Mori made her return to acting in this year's "Dondo Bare" as the mother of the main character, and Hazama immediately offered her the role.
The rest of the main cast includes Naoki Watanabe as the young boy, Eiichiro Funakoshi as the father, and Saki Fukuda as an acquaintance of the boy.
Shimane no BengoshiStation: Fuji TV
Date: 14 July 2007, 9.00 pm
Cast: Yukie Nakama, Teruyuki Kagawa, Norito Yashima, Meiko Kaji, Naoto Takenaka, Kanako Higuchi
Official site:
http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/shimane/index2.html
Based on the manga of the same name, and set in the prefecture of Shimane which purportedly has the fewest lawyers in Japan (36), Yukie plays Yamazaki Mizuho who comes to the prefecture to be its 37th lawyer. She is a dignified beauty with a strong sense of justice, and travels around by bicycle to help her clients.
Hou no Niwa (Garden of Law) Station: Fuji TV
Date: 27 July 2007
Cast: Yasuko Matsuyuki, Tomomitsu Yamaguchi, Eisaku Yoshida, Tomoko Fujita, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Maiko Kikuchi
Official site:
Actress Yasuko Matsuyuki has been selected to star in her first television drama since 2004. She will play the role of a public prosecutor in "Hou no Niwa," adapted from a manga by Seiki Tabara and Shigeru Noda.
The story concerns a prosecutor (Matsuyuki), a lawyer (Tomomitsu Yamaguchi), and a judge (Eisaku Yoshida) who once studied law together, and were even involved in a love triangle. They later meet again in the courtroom, where both the trial and their emotions unfold.
Fuji TV will broadcast the special on July 27.
Long Wedding RoadStation: TBS
Date: 30 July, 9.00 pm
Cast: Ryoko Hirosue, Masaru Nagai, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kiyoshi Nishikawa, Masaaki Sakai, Yoko Akino
Official site:
http://www.tbs.co.jp/long_wedding/
Ryoko Hirosue stars as a divorced mother from Osaka who earns a living as a long distance truck driver in this comedy. A fateful meeting with a divorced doctor (Masaru Nagai) from Tokyo, results in a marriage between the two divorcees. A clash soon results due to differences in values between the two sides.
credit to: whitedove aka tia@cari.com.my & wiki.d-addicts.com