A Japanese remake of The Kidnapping Day K-drama drops in July – stars Saitoh Takumi and Nagao Yuno

J-drama remake of The Kidnapping Day announced

Now, I have to say up front, I am not a fan of remakes of popular dramas. Whether that is American, Japanese or Israeli dramas being remade as a Korean series, or a Korean drama being remade as an American or Thai show.

I mean, come on, be more innovative and imaginative, and don’t re-tell stories millions of us already know the end to. Even if you are going to retell them with a bit of a twist.

It’s not surprising then that many remakes all over the world, are nowhere near as successful as the original property and, in some cases are absolute flops.

That being said, as a big fan of the 2023 ENA drama The Kidnapping Day, I sincerely hope its just-announced Japanese remake is a big success as the plot in that series was wonderfully-written, so its writer deserves all the success they can get from their work.

The Kidnapping Day Japanese remake

The Japanese remake of The Kidnapping Day Korean drama has apparently been in the works for a while as it began filming in May, and is scheduled to premiere on July 8 on TV Asahi in Japan.

Wow, unlike the Chinese and sometimes the Koreans, the Japanese don’t mess about when it comes to getting that drama dropped, do they?

It is being directed by Fukagawa Yoshihiro (Akahige), with Ushio Kentaro, writer of the smash-hit series Hanzawa Naoki writing the scripts.

The upcoming J-drama stars Saitoh Takumi, who was superb in State of Emergency, and is playing the lead role performed by Yoon Kye Sang in the Korean original, and with 8-year-old Nagao Yuno (JK to Roppouzensho) taking the role played by Yuna.

It follows the unlikely collaboration between a clumsy kidnapper and an 11-year-old genius girl who, after her bungled kidnapping, it turns out her parents can’t pay the ransom. They’ve been murdered.

Interestingly, Nagao Yuno starring in the role, means the child in the Japanese version is younger than her Korean counterpart, as Yuna was 11 when the K-drama came out.

The Japanese remake of The Kidnapping Day (aka 유괴의 날) is the second one announced, as a British adaptation is also currently in the works.

Let’s see then how this one pans out.