Winners have been announced for the 8th annual “CONFiDENCE AWARD DRAMA PRIZE”. The awards were handed out to dramas that aired in the Spring 2017 season, 30 dramas were entered into each category with hopes of taking home a prize.  The awards are organized by a subsidiary of Oricon called “oriconME”, and sponsored by the popular weekly business magazine “confidence”. An esteemed and varied panel of judges consisting of university professors, columnists, writers, and consultants determine the winners.

The top award of the night for “Best Drama” went to TBS’ Reverse starring Tatsuya Fujiwara and Erika Toda. Reverse’s producer Junko Arai accepted the award on behalf of the cast. Junko thanked the staff and crew for all their hard work throughout the filming process. Junko also shared that there was a lot of trail and error with the script, which resulted in a lot of rewriting. She was very grateful that Reverse also took hope the prize for “Best Screenwriting”, heavily praising the screenwriters Yukako Shimizu & Satoko Okudera.

Shun Oguri won “Best Leading Actor” for CRISIS “Kouan Kido Sousatai Tokusouhan”. Shun shared that he was thoroughly prepared for this role, heavily training his stamina and body muscle. He also planned ahead when shooting the many action scenes throughout the drama, helping them transition better. He hopes to continue such actions for future projects.

Mikao Tabe won “Best Leading Actress” for  “Tsubaki Bunguten”. Mikao loved playing her character “Amemiya Hatoko”, and how this drama showcased that doing something as simple as writing a letter can bring out so much joy and happiness in people.

The full list of winners can be seen below the jump!

It’s Friday, so it’s Open Post time! Feel free to chat with your fellow readers about whatever you like! Enjoy!

One song from 2017 was certified Platinum this month for selling 250,000 copies: WANIMA’s “Yatte Miyou.”

Ten songs from 2017 were certified Gold this month for selling 100,000 copies: ClariS’s “Hitorigoto”, Che’Nelle’s “Destiny”, SHISHAMO’s “Ashita mo”, Suda Masaki’s “Mitakotomonai Keshiki”, Ken Hirai’s “Nonfiction”, Beverly’s “I need your love”, Moana’s “Dokomademo ~How Far I’ll Go~”, Yonezu Kenshi’s “Peace Sign”, Ariana Grande and John Legend’s “Beauty and the Beast”, and Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You.”

One song was certified Two Million this month for selling 2,000,000 copies: AI’s “Story.”

The front man and vocalist of rock band ONE OK ROCK Taka posted heart warming messages on his official Instagram account in memory of Chester Bennington, lead singer of the American band Linkin Park. Yesterday on July 20th it was tragically revealed that Chester Bennington had committed suicide. He hung himself inside his California home where his body was discovered in the morning by a housekeeper.

Both bands have a history together. Taka was joined by Chester and fellow Linkin Park member Mike Shinoda, who all sat down for a chat together for a special program that was aired on Space Shower TV. Furthermore, ONE OK ROCK was supposed to appear at select dates as a special guest for Linkin Park’s now canceled tour.

In Taka’s Instagram post he shared “No words to express what I’m feeling right now. Cant believe we were supposed to meet in just a few days… You were a inspiration to me and so many others…and the reason we started our band. My thoughts go out to your family, friends, bandmates and loved ones. You will truly be missed. RIP. […] You will always be here in my heart. Thank you for everything Chester.”

This week’s guests were Okuda Tamio, Maeashi from Kis-My-Ft2, SKE48, THE RAMPAGE, Blouson Chiemi, Austin Mahone, and Kuwata Keisuke.

Okuda Tamio – Engine

Maeashi from Kis-My-Ft2 – Special Medley

SKE48 – Igai ni Mango

THE RAMPAGE – Dirty Disco

Blouson Chiemi & Austin Mahone – Dirty Work Blouson Chiemi Remix

Kuwata Keisuke – Oasis to Kajuen / Wakai Hiroba

It has been announced that a live-action Hollywood-produced “One Piece” television series has begun production, Yahoo! Japan reports.

The upcoming series will be overseen by production company Tomorrow ITV Studios (who are also working on the live-action television series for “Cowboy Bebop“) under the supervision of Marty Adelstein, one of the executive producers of popular series “Prison Break“.

This development comes during the celebration of the launch of “One Piece” in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on July 22, 1997, exactly 20 years ago.

Ahead of the release of his new single “OK?“, AAA main vocalist Takahiro Nishijima—Nissy—has released a series of music videos that tell a story chronologically.

Follow Nissy through his journey in Thailand in “17th Kiss” as he experiences love at first sight, by the beach side with disco-inspired summer tune “Koisu Hada“, and round out the end of the night with tropical house song “Ai Tears“—all videos subtitled in English and Thai!

The three music videos will be compiled into a short film “OK? ~Kimi ni Okuru 24-jikan~” for his exhibition “Nissy Entertainment Short Film’OK?’ ~THEATER&EXHIBITION~” which will be shown in Tokyo, Fukuoka and Osaka starting August 10.

In an ongoing investigation of unfair entertainment industry contracts in Japan, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) speculates the root of the problem dates back to over 100 years ago with the film industry.