Saigo no Yakusoku explained

Genre:Human suspense
Director:Yuichi Satō
Starring:Satoshi Ohno
Sho Sakurai
Masaki Aiba
Kazunari Ninomiya
Jun Matsumoto
Meisa Kuroki
Theme Music Composer:Arashi
Akio Izutsu
Country:Japan
Language:Japanese
Producer:Reiko Nagai
Network:Fuji Television

is a Japanese drama special starring the members of Japanese boy band Arashi in their first drama together in nearly ten years.

Plot

Janitors Satoru Mashiko (Satoshi Ohno) and Haruo Iio (Kazuki Kosakai) are driving towards Energy Bio Corporation for work when motorcycle courier Nozomu Gotō (Jun Matsumoto) passes by them. Gotō goes to deliver a package to Yuriko Niimi (Meisa Kuroki), the daughter of the president of Energy Bio Corporation. Meanwhile, Fuyuko Todoroki (Nene Otsuka) orders a cappuccino from coffee shop employee Akira Tanada (Masaki Aiba). They talk before she has to leave to meet with insurance salesman Yukio Tomizawa (Sho Sakurai) downstairs. As Mashiko and Iio start cleaning, Tanada apologizes for giving security center employee Shūji Yamagiwa (Kazunari Ninomiya) and new security manager Shinichirō Okanaka (Naohito Fujiki) the wrong order.

At 3:00pm, a disguised man with a rifle informs everyone that he and his allies have hijacked the building and set up a bomb that will go off in ninety minutes should President Niimi (Masahiko Tsugawa) not arrive with the ransom. Before she is locked in with Tomizawa, Fuyuko and the rest of the hostages in the fifth floor lobby, Yuriko runs off with Gotō running after her. At the police station, Niimi and chief detective Genji Morozumi (Yukiya Kitamura) keep in contact with a hiding Tanada.

Meanwhile, Yuriko quickly collects company data worth more than the ransom money. She reveals how she believes her father will only come to save his company. In turn, Gotō reveals his own past of how his trusted friend died ten years ago. They cut off the power, which allows most of the hostages to escape the lobby. Okanaka distracts the hijackers to give Yamagiwa the chance to open the B-1 doors on the second floor for the hostages to escape the building after the power returns. Tanada informs the police that the basement doors are open, and Mashiko chooses not escape with Iio.

After the escaped hostages manage to get outside, Gotō tells Yuriko to go while he tries to take down the hijacker chasing after them. The doors close in front of Yuriko, who stops when she hears a gunshot and sees Gotō collapse; the hijackers take her away. Meanwhile, as the only two still trapped in the lobby, Fuyuko reveals to Tomizawa that her father died taking a drug handled by Niimi's company just before she is taken away as well. After administrating a background check, Morozumi finds out that the phone number Tanada has been using belongs to a young man who died ten years ago.

The hijackers take Niimi, who went in the building with the money, to the security room, where Yamagiwa, Okanaka, Yuriko and Fuyuko are tied up. One of the four hijackers in the room informs Niimi that all they want is for him to publicly admit that his company handled lethal medicine that killed their friend and Fuyuko's father. The hijackers reveal themselves to be Mashiko, Tomizawa, Tanada and Gotō. Okanaka knew that there were only a total five hijackers, with Yamagiwa being the fifth one who oversaw the operation.

Although Niimi initially refused to admit that he distributed the drug while knowing the risks, he relents and Yuriko decides to stay by her father's side. Niimi apologizes to her and then confesses to the media. After Okanaka agrees to erase the security data of their kōhai, who helped the five before the switch during the hostages' escape, the five escape through the air vents and into the basement. However, Mashiko realizes that he does not have the car key, only to find that Iio had left it on the car for him. At a distance from the building, the timer reaches zero and the bomb turns out to be an explosive for fireworks instead. Finally able to move forward, Mashiko, Tomizawa, Tanada, Yamagiwa and Gotō readily surrender themselves to the police.

Cast

Guests

Other cast members included Yasuhi Nakamura, Kisuke Īda, Shinji Rokkaku, Takeshi Ōbayashi, and Sayaka Morimoto.

Production

Fuji Television announced on November 11, 2009, that all the members of Arashi would co-star in Saigo no Yakusoku.[2] [3]

Filming

On the 14th day of filming, all five members began filming together.[4] On the 16th day of filming, Ohno and Kitamura filmed the air duct and lift scenes.[5] On the 21st day of filming, it was the last day of filming after two months. According to director and Arashi member Jun Matsumoto, filming ended by the end of 2009.[6] [7]

Music

It was announced on that Arashi themselves would provide the theme song for the drama special.[8] On January 7, 2010, a preview of the song was first aired on Mezamashi TV during an interview with Arashi.

Release

Promotion

From December 28, 2009, to January 3, 2010, posters depicting Arashi with black tape over their mouths were wrapped around the pillars of Omotesandō Station. As a shocking promotional tactic, real ropes were wrapped around the pillars, making it look like the members were bound and gagged.[9] [10]

On January 5, 2010, Arashi appeared at the Fuji Television headquarters in Odaiba with a lighting ceremony to celebrate the then-upcoming drama special. The headquarters were lit with green, purple, yellow, blue and red to encapsulate the representative colors of Aiba, Matsumoto, Ninomiya, Ohno and Sakurai respectively.[11] [12]

Reception

The special received a viewership rating of 19.4% in the Kantō region.[13]

DVD

Released on June 2, 2010, the DVD sold 162,000 copies in its first week, making it both the first drama-related product to have sold over 100,000 copies in the first week and the drama DVD with the highest first week sales recorded in Oricon drama DVD history.[14]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Meisa to play heroine in Arashi's "Saigo no Yakusoku". 2009-11-22. Tokyograph. 2010-01-12.
  2. Web site: 「嵐」のスペシャルドラマ放送決定!!デビュードラマ『Vの嵐』以来、実に10年ぶり5人夢の共演!!. 2009-11-11. Fuji Television. 2010-01-12. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091114043551/http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/fujitv/news/pub_2009/091111varashi.html. 2009-11-14.
  3. Web site: All 5 Arashi members to star in drama special "Saigo no Yakusoku". 2009-11-21. Tokyograph. 2010-01-12.
  4. Web site: Diary 19 of Staff Blog. Japanese. Fuji Television. 2010-01-17. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100114055157/http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/yakusoku/diary19.html?index=2. 2010-01-14.
  5. Web site: Diary 17 of Staff Blog. Japanese. Fuji Television. 2010-01-17. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100114054511/http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/yakusoku/diary17.html?index=2. 2010-01-14.
  6. Web site: Kaneko. Shigeki. http://ameblo.jp/black-genkai/entry-10424611373.html. ja:明けまして. 2010-01-01. Japanese. Ameblo. 2010-01-12.
  7. Jun Style. Nack5. 2010-01-09.
  8. Web site: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/movie/71567/full/. ja:嵐、10年ぶり5人共演ドラマに「5人で1つの楽屋は新鮮」. 2009-12-15. Japanese. Oricon. 2010-01-05.
  9. Web site: http://www.asahi.com/showbiz/nikkan/NIK200912280050.html. ja:嵐が年末年始の表参道駅をジャック. 2009-12-28. Japanese. Asahi Shimbun. 2009-12-29.
  10. Web site: http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/news/20091228-OHT1T00059.htm. ja:初詣で裸の「嵐」がお出迎え…ドキッ!表参道駅に束縛姿ポスター. 2009-12-28. Japanese. Sports Hochi. 2009-12-29. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091230003446/http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/news/20091228-OHT1T00059.htm. 2009-12-30.
  11. Web site: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100105-00000003-oric-ent . ja:嵐、10年ぶり共演ドラマを記念しフジテレビ本社を"嵐色"にライトアップ . 2010-01-05 . Japanese . Yahoo! Japan News . 2010-01-05 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100112193509/http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100105-00000003-oric-ent . January 12, 2010 .
  12. Web site: http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/news/20100105-OHT1T00259.htm. ja:嵐 5色のあかりできずな深めた. 2010-01-05. Japanese. Sports Hochi. 2010-01-05. dead. https://archive.today/20100107095237/http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/news/20100105-OHT1T00259.htm. 2010-01-07.
  13. Web site: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/movie/72336/. ja:嵐、全員共演ドラマ『最後の約束』視聴率19.4%. 2010-01-12. Japanese. Oricon. 2010-01-12.
  14. Web site: 【オリコン】嵐、"歌手" と"俳優"でDVD初週売上2冠. 2010-06-09. Japanese. Oricon. 2010-06-09.