Netflix announces slate of unscripted Japanese dating, comedy shows
By Bryan Ke
Netflix has unveiled a slate of five upcoming Japanese dating and comedy shows as it continues to push for more unscripted content from Japan.
Key details: The streaming giant announced the series at its Asia-Pacific (APAC) Unscripted Showcase event in Seoul on Wednesday. The shows include “Love Village (Season 2),” “Last One Standing (Season 2),” “Lighthouse,” “Love Like a K-Drama” and “Is She the Wolf?”
Why it matters: Speaking at the event, Dai Ota, a content manager at Netflix Japan, noted the importance of unscripted content for the streaming giant’s plans in the country, emphasizing that around 70% of Japan’s primetime linear programming is reality, variety and dating shows.
Ota shared that Netflix also has more than 15 other unscripted projects currently in development in Japan.
“We want to elevate the unscripted category with great production values and storytelling from Japan’s most innovative creative voices,” Ota declared.
About the upcoming shows: “Lighthouse,” which will be released on Aug. 22, follows musician-actor Gen Hoshino and comedian Masayasu Wakabayashi as they share their fears and insecurities with each other and their viewers.
The dating show “Is She the Wolf?” will be released on Sept. 3 and follows five men and women as they try to avoid the fake dater, or the “wolf,” among them.
The second season of comedy reality show “Last One Standing” is scheduled for release on Oct. 10, followed by “Love Like a K-Drama” on Nov. 28. According to Ota, the former has been “described as the ‘Squid Game’ of unscripted comedy” and features “Japanese comedians competing to improvise funny stories in their own words, while they play roles in a serious drama series.”
Meanwhile, “Love Like a K-Drama” is “an innovative hybrid where K-Drama romance meets acting competition.” In the show, four Korean actors and four Japanese actresses are “paired up to try and land lead roles in six K-dramas.”
“Love Village” Season 2, a dating show where contestants aged 35 to 60 must live in a house in a suburban neighborhood and “try to find love in a tranquil and idyllic setting,” is still awaiting a release date.
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