“This is an unprecedented opportunity for fans of Japanese entertainment to get access to premium Japanese programmes at the same time as it airs in Japan. The decision to simulcast Guard Center 24 is reinforces our strategy to bring quality Japanese programming to viewers in this part of the world, faster than ever before,” said Virginia Lim, Senior Vice President & Head of Content, Production & Marketing, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.
Set against the backdrop of a private security company, the action-suspense drama features Kento Nakajima (member of idol group Sexy Zone); Takaya Kamikawa (Angel Heart, Hanasaki Mai Speaks Out); and Chiaki Kuriyama (Battle Royale, Kill Bill) as part of its star-studded cast.
Amidst the dramatic cases encountered by emergency responders at this security company, the series spotlights Nakajima’s character as a newly hired responder who finds he must hit the ground running in order to serve and protect the company’s clients.
More thrilling action abounds with two other top-billed Japanese dramas also premiering in September –Ms. Sadistic Detective and The Last Cop. Premiering on 19 September and airing every Monday and Tuesday at 9pm, Ms. Sadistic Detective stars prolific young actress Mikako Tabe and idol group Kanjani Eight member Tadayoshi Okura as crime-fighting partners. Comedy ensues when the former sheds her usual good-girl image to play a detective obsessed with sadism and torture, often at the expense of her nice-guy partner.
The Last Cop takes a different spin on the buddy cop theme and features Toshiaki Karasawa and Masataka Kubota respectively as a brash, bossy detective freshly awakened from a 30-year coma and his stickler-for-the-rules partner, with the pair often at odds with each other due to their opposite personalities. The series will premiere on 21 September and airs every Wednesday and Thursday at 9pm.
Guard Center 24 premieres on 16 September at 8pm at the same time as Japan, first and exclusively on GEM (Singtel TV Channel 519).
Ms. Sadistic Detective premieres on 19 September and airs every Monday and Tuesday at 9pm. The Last Cop will begin on 21 September and air every Wednesday and Thursday at 9pm.