Several years ago, the production company that used to be headed by the late heartthrob Yujiro Ishihara staged a contest to find the "Yujiro Ishihara of the 21st Century." Among the aspiring young actors who entered the contest was Kotaro Koizumi, whose politician father was not yet prime minister. Kotaro didn't win.
Later, of course, his father won big, and thus Kotaro won big, too, riding his father's coattails into an acting career. Monday night on TBS at 9 p.m., Kotaro takes his first leading role in a dramatic production. The drama is a contemporary remake of the 1956 hit movie "Kurutta Kajitsu (Crazy Fruit)," which starred, of all people, Yujiro Ishihara. However, before you start thinking that the guy who won the contest was robbed, bear in mind that Kotaro will not be playing the part that Yujiro played.
Based on a novel by Yujiro's older brother Shintaro, "Kurutta Kajitsu 2002" is the second remake of an Ishihara brothers movie to appear on TBS this season (the other is the series "Taiyo no Kisetsu"). The story involves two brothers who are totally the opposite of each other in terms of temperament, and Kotaro plays Shintaro, who, remember, is currently the governor of Tokyo.