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The story
Fuji TV’s hit medical drama “ER 24 Hours” (Kyuumei Byoutou 24-ji) is being revived after 13 years, with Eguchi Yosuke and Matsushima Nanako reuniting for the first time since a 2010 special — their first pairing in 16 years. The new series premieres October 12 in the show’s first-ever Monday 9pm (“Getsu9”) slot. On 5channel’s Entertainment & Sports News+ board, reactions ranged from criticism of networks leaning on past hits, to comparisons with the recent flop of similar projects like GTO, to calls for sequels to other franchises like The White Tower and Team Medical Dragon.
It was revealed on the 25th that actor Eguchi Yosuke (58) and actress Matsushima Nanako (52), who play emergency doctors, will star in Fuji TV’s “ER 24 Hours,” reviving the beloved series after 13 years. Running since 1999, this sixth installment of the drama series airs from October 12 in the show’s first-ever Monday 9pm (“Getsu9”) slot. The two leads reunite for the first time since a 2010 special — their first collaboration in 16 years — bringing fresh emotion to the network’s flagship medical drama.
Across the franchise, ten installments have aired including specials. Returning for the first time in 16 years since the 2010 special to play the series’ solitary genius protagonist, emergency physician Shindo Issei, Eguchi said with resolve: “Putting the scrubs back on reminds me it’s really starting — it focuses my mind.”
The “ER 24 Hours” franchise, which began as a regular series in 1999, depicts the struggles and triumphs of emergency doctors like Shindo and Kojima Kaede — the latter played by Matsushima, who grows from a first-installment resident into a seasoned physician. The pair delivered powerful performances portraying their characters’ earnest dedication to patients and life-or-death situations, alongside tense treatment scenes. Beyond the human drama, the series tackled social issues like staff shortages, medical errors, and disaster response, striking a chord with viewers — one season achieved a peak average household rating of 20.2% (Video Research, Kanto region).
Source: sanspo.com / Original article here
What people said
Feels like this'll keep going into next January too
This whole revival trend
But GTO flopped so hard…
Won't it end with Eguchi getting cancer and everyone rallying to save him?
It's in my top 5 sequels I wanted to see
But they'll probably botch the script and it'll bomb anyway
Hollywood does the same thing
It's pathetic in a way, sure
But young actors and production staff just don't have the pull…
Though I've got no idea who'd even play him now
Sakaguchi Kenji's back after recovering from his illness after all
Probably next spring season
Like HERO
She'd play the head nurse role lol
What's gonna happen to the reruns of 'Lunch no Joou'……
What's gonna happen to the reruns of 'Lunch no Joou'!!
Tokyo Love Story
and a sequel to 101st Marriage Proposal, I bet
That's a Showa-era old geezer's wish
That's airing right now
Aren't all the actors on this show kind of tall?
That's the third series, the earthquake arc
As a last resort, rerunning old dramas in primetime would definitely pull better ratings
A White Tower rerun would be great
Background and Key Points
Some background for non-Japanese readers: “Getsu9” (Monday 9pm) is Fuji TV’s most storied drama slot, the home of era-defining hits like “Tokyo Love Story” — a poster even jokes about wanting that show revived (52). That “ER 24 Hours,” a medical procedural, is filling that slot for the first time in its six-installment, 26-year history is itself the news; it signals Fuji is repurposing its flagship real estate rather than launching original romance fare. The 20.2% peak rating cited dates from Japanese primetime’s stronger era, before streaming fragmented audiences, which is why a revival is seen as a safer bet than new material.
The thread didn’t split over whether Eguchi and Matsushima are good casting — nobody contested that — it split over what the revival itself signals. One camp (28) shrugged that recycling proven IP is standard practice everywhere, Hollywood included; another (39) read it as an admission that Fuji has given up on attracting any audience but older, loyal viewers, with GTO’s recent failure (14, 38, 45) cited as the cautionary precedent.
What outside readers likely miss is post 61’s aside about Fuji TV “paying for its past misdeeds” — a reference to the network’s advertiser boycotts and reputational collapse following a 2024 scandal, which is the real subtext behind why Fuji is leaning on 25-year-old franchises rather than betting on new writers or talent. The thread treats that context as common knowledge and never spells it out, but it’s the actual reason skepticism here runs deeper than ordinary “sequel fatigue.”
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “[Fuji] Eguchi Yosuke & Matsushima Nanako to Double-Star in Fuji TV’s ‘ER 24 Hours,’ First Ever ‘Getsu9’ Slot, Reviving After 13 Years [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]“.
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