Japan is still waiting for its squid game.
Despite having more than twice the population and a much larger economy than its Asian neighbor South Korea, the Japanese TV industry has yet to produce high-end TV drama that travels far beyond its borders. While Japanese cinema is still admired – see Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar success drive my car – there are very few small screen shows of the island.
“We’re quite a big country economically and we have a relatively large internal market, so most producers don’t have to leave the country,” said Ayumi Sano, producer of local hits like My sweet exes and Quartetspeaking with The Hollywood Reporter through a translator. “As a result, most Japanese shows are only made with the local audience in mind.”
@Kansai TV
To some extent, so does Sano’s latest drama Elpis. The investigative crime thriller covers two very Japanese topics: the experiences of female reporters in Japan’s male-dominated newsrooms, and a series of real-life scandals involving false convictions that shook the country. The plot, inspired by real events, follows Ena Asakawa (Masami Nagasawa), a TV journalist who investigates a national conspiracy in which the police force confessions to close open murder cases.
“I wanted to show the Japanese public this very real issue of forced confessions, this dark side of our justice system,” Sano says, “and also show female characters who have started talking back. Hopefully this will enable Japanese women to do the same.” to do.”
@F.-DIDES-360-MEDIAS
But the event series, which premieres on Kansai TV in Japan on Monday, October 24, has global ambitions. Nagasawas Elpis opponent is drive my car breakout Toko Miura, and the series had its world premiere last week on the international TV market MIPCOM, the first Japanese show to do so.
“It is a great honor for us to be here in Cannes,” said Miura. “I hope this will catch the attention of an audience outside of Japan.”
“We have really high quality dramas in Japan that should travel, but right now the focus is [from Asia] is all on Korean shows,” says Sano. “Hopefully we can change that.”
