On the 20th was the promotion event for the Fuji TV dorama "Majo Saiban" with actor Ikuta Toma (24) in the leading role. The itself dorama will start on the 25th.

It's a suspense dorama with the "quasi-jury system" that is officially going to be implemented in Japan on May 21 as the general theme. Ikuta plays a young man who subsists on part-time work and gets appointed as one of the jurors. "This dorama is more fascinating than just nice. The quasi-jury system is going to start in Japan without considering objections to it any longer, so what now is still fiction won't be fiction anymore very soon." Ikuta commented with a tense expression. Two months before the start of the filming, they also went to actual trials in order to practice what it really feels like. "We attend 4-5 trials about accidents, fraud, drugs, etc. and I really wasn't able to decide who's guilty and who's innocent." He revealed.

Actress Kato Ai (26) also has a regular role in the dorama and cut her hair short to almost 30cm in order to match her role. However, she was a bit disappointed by the lack of response from the people around here. "Ikuta-san didn't notice it at all. Isn't the hair of a woman like her life? Every day feels so lonely now." She said with a bitter smile. Without understanding the female psychology, Ikuta just highly praised her. "Kato-san is a caring and wonderful woman." Also appearing are Higa Manami (22), Ishida Yuriko (39) and others.

Written by: jyoyu.blogspot.com / Source: Sanspo
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Readers of TVnavi magazine have cast their votes for 2008's Drama of the Year, and on Saturday it was announced that the winner is the TBS suspense series "Maou" that starred Ohno Satoshi and Ikuta Toma. Ohno also was named Best Actor for his role in that series.

Miyazaki Aoi was voted Best Actress for "Atsuhime." Best Supporting Actor and Actress went to Eita and Ueno Juri, who both appeared in Fuji TV's "Last Friends." In the Best Newcomer category, Yamada Ryosuke ("One-Pound Gospel," "Scrap Teacher") and Higa Manami ("Code Blue") received the most votes.

Source: Tokyograph

Popular young actor Ikuta Toma has a solo starring role in a drama series for the first time. The show, titled "Majo Saiban," will be the first drama to tackle the issue of Japan's new "saiban-in" (lay judge) system.

This May, Japan is reintroducing the jury system, which was previously abolished in 1943. Since then, only judges have decide the outcome of criminal cases, but under the new system, cases will be decided by a combination of judges and lottery-selected citizens.

In "Majo Saiban," Ikuta plays a typical part-timer with little interest in social issues. However, he is unexpectedly chosen as a juror in the trial of a suspected female murderer. While the mystery surrounding the case unfolds, an unknown group is secretly attempting to bribe the jury.

Actress Kato Ai plays a housewife who is also selected as a juror, while Higa Manami (picture) plays Ikuta's girlfriend, a newspaper reporter. Ishida Yuriko takes on the role of the accused.

Fuji TV will air "Majo Saiban" on Saturday nights at 11:10pm. The series starts on April 25, about a month before the actual jury system goes into effect.

Source: Tokyograph