Hit Japanese dramas now within reach via PH cable
Credit to Author: THE MANILA TIMES| Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2020 12:12:19 +0000
Japanese entertainment channel GEM, a joint venture of Sony Pictures Television and Japan’s Nippon TV, welcomes 2020 with exciting additions to its lineup of popular and sought-after Japanese programs.
For the month of January, two new medical dramas and a compelling romance drama are bound to make viewers fall in love with new characters and turn their weeknights into date nights.
‘A Lone Scalpel’
The first medical drama is the much talked-about “A Lone Scalpel,” starring former actor-singer Hideaki Takizawa in a very challenging role of a US-educated Japanese surgeon working at a rural hospital in the 1980s, an era when internal organ transplant had not yet been legalized in Japan. The story revolves around Takizawa’s character, Tetsuhiko Toma, and his journey to performing an unprecedented surgery that will challenge the medical taboos of Japan in the 1980s.
Takizawa admits that it’s his first time to portray a doctor in “A Lone Scalpel.”
“I feel the pressure to work hard when presented with this new challenge but, at the same time, I’m happy to receive this opportunity,” he shared.
A former member of duo Tackey and Tsubasa, Takizawa has exited showbiz to take on management roles, currently serving as the Vice President of Johnny & Associates as well as President of Johnny’s Island. “A Lone Scalpel” is his last piece of work as an actor.
“A Lone Scalpel” airs every Monday and Tuesday at 9 p.m.
‘Top Knife’
Another ongoing medical drama airing on the same week as Japan is “Top Knife,” which stars movie/TV/theater actress Yuki Amami, who has won multiple awards such as the 2004 and 2005 Television Drama Academy Awards for Best Actress, 2001 Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actress, and the 1997 Japan Academy Awards for Rookie of the Year.
In “Top Knife,” Amami plays Yoko Miyama, a genius neurosurgeon who is torn between her commitment to saving her patients’ lives and the guilt of abandoning her own family.
“It’s been some time since I worked with Koji Hayashi , the scriptwriter, and Kyouji Otsuka, the director. I’m very happy and I look forward to it very much… I hope I can fully convey the charm behind Hayashi’s script and Otsuka’s directing to everyone,” Amami said in an interview.
Based on the novel “Top Knife” by Koji Hayashi, Top Knife airs every Monday at 10 p.m.
‘Us Forever’
Also on GEM is “Us Forever,” a beautiful love story between an emotionally torn man and a young girl burdened by familial obligations. “Us Forever,” airing the same week as Japan, features the tandem of singer-actor Taisuke Fujigaya, a member of Johnny & Associates’ boy band Kis-My-Ft2, and former-model-turned-actress Nao, who is a recipient of the Best Supporting Actress award from Television Drama Academy Award.
“My character, Sakurako Motohashi, comes across as a woman facing struggles which she cannot overcome on her own…This is a love story between two people working towards recovery, and I hope viewers may find a ripple of hope spreading in their hearts as they watch the drama.”
Catch “Us Forever,” airing every Wednesday at 9 p.m., as well as “A Lone Scalpel” and “Top Knife” which comprise GEM’s new weeknight dramas this January.