VIVANT to go on hiatus for 2 episodes starting next week — 5ch: “I just assumed it’d run until next year”

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The story

Near the end of episode 18 (season 2, episode 8) of TBS’s Sunday Theater drama “VIVANT,” which aired on the 13th, lead actor Masato Sakai appeared in a video message announcing that the show would go on a two-episode hiatus starting next week to make way for Asian Games coverage. Sakai also touched on the finale, saying, “The final episode airs November 8th — six more to go.” On the 5ch Geinou/Sports News+ board, reactions were mixed, with threads full of surprise at the show having fewer episodes than expected, speculation about a sequel movie, and complaints about the slow pace of the story.

At the end of “VIVANT,” Masato Sakai drops a shocking announcement — “I can’t take it”: a storm of anguished cries on X — also touches on the finale

Episode 18 (season 2, episode 8) of TBS’s Sunday Theater drama “VIVANT” (Sundays at 9 p.m.) aired on the 13th.

At the end of the show, lead actor Masato Sakai appeared in a video message announcing that the program would be pre-empted for two episodes starting next week due to Asian Games broadcasts.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:50
They said this was a two-cour series (roughly six months of episodes), but that's not many episodes for that.
8AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:55
Re: #2
Ratings were probably lower than expected, so they switched to the movie cash-grab strategy for the ending.
18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:56
Re: #2
That's because they're doing the continuation as a movie.
87AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:28
Re: #2
And here I was expecting something on the level of 'The White Tower' (a classic, densely plotted Japanese drama).
3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:51
I just assumed it would run until next year.
4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:53
Well, Midoriko's still around.
Though Denny lost.
5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:53
Honestly it's just boring, so I might drop it.
6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:53
I assumed this episode would get all the way through the rescue operation.
16AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:56
Re: #6
Same here.
Even if they didn't finish the whole operation, I figured they'd at least get to the reunion with Kurosu.
It's moving way too slowly — genuinely irritating.
Come on, not right before the hiatus.
56AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:13
Re: #6
Same here.

And I thought the second half would be about crushing Shinshi.
9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:55
They started throwing in unnecessary voice actors and weird illustrated characters, and it suddenly felt cheap.
Today another odd voice actor showed up too.
Totally killed the mood.
14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:55
I dropped out two episodes ago.
It was just too boring.
15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:56
I'm excited now, but for a different reason.

This episode broke through into full-blown chuunibyou light-novel territory — a real ●-work, right? (chuunibyou: slang for over-the-top, edgy teenage delusions of grandeur; the ● marks a word the poster self-censored)
19AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:56
We don't need the Asian Games soccer coverage.
I don't want to watch that ball-kicking crap, just air VIVANT already.
58AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:14
Re: #19
I feel like they said the soccer broadcast was on Wednesday.
20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:56
Lol there are people here who said they dropped the show but keep showing up anyway.
23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:58
Re: #20
They're probably still watching every week because they can't help being curious, lol.
21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:57
The voice actors' voices stick out like a sore thumb.
Maybe because people were calling it a '24' ripoff, they even brought in a Jack Bauer type — that was garbage too.
Is this a comedy skit or what?
24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:58
The rescue wraps up in the finale, you know?
30AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:00
Re: #24
I'm seriously starting to feel like they'll drag it out that long.
Three more episodes for the rescue arc.
Three episodes for the escape arc.
Then Beki comes back to life at the end and it becomes a movie.
26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:59
I'm worried about Midoriko's health…
36AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:03
Reasons this is failing:

AI Hayato (voice acting)
The 'okama' dubbing (voice acting) (okama: Japanese slang for an effeminate/drag-style character, used here disparagingly)
51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:10
Re: #36
More than that, there's a lot less depiction of the Special Unit's superhuman abilities compared to season 1, which makes it boring.
38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:05
Is a movie adaptation coming?
44AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:08
Re: #38
At this pace, won't the conflict with Shinshi go completely unresolved by the finale?
Shinshi will probably get intel on Nokoru after he waltzes in there, and then Tent and Shinshi will end up in a full-blown clash anyway.
42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:07
This week was seriously not entertaining.
46AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:08
Re: #42
There hasn't been a single good episode this season, has there?
59AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:15
To begin with, isn't it way too convenient that five supposedly flawless Special Unit members all got kidnapped together?
And then 'Special Unit is abandoning them, so let's all band together and save them' — that's just something else.
62AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:16
Re: #59
Lol you clearly weren't watching properly.
66AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:18
It kind of feels like a super-expensive version of one of those Sunday-morning kids' tokusatsu shows TV Asahi runs (´・ω・`)
Or maybe more like that old TBS show 'Ando Lloyd.'
It's so divorced from reality it feels like something an adult wrote with full-on chuunibyou energy.

I never felt this way with 'Hanzawa Naoki,' but VIVANT gives me secondhand embarrassment.
70AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:20
Re: #66
The tokusatsu shows are better, honestly — they at least have a highlight moment every episode.
Even 'MER,' which also gets called Super Sentai-esque and whose own production team openly calls it a hero show, is way better than this.
68AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:19
The teaser made it sound like this episode would wrap up the first half, so I was watching thinking the rescue would succeed and the second half would kick off in October. But then — huh, only 20 minutes left, are they going to make it? 10 minutes left… wait, this is where it ends?! Left me feeling pretty unsatisfied…
84AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:26
Re: #68
Seriously, that was not a good stopping point at all.
71AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:20
Today's ratings are probably going to be huge.
74AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:22
Re: #71
Going by the minute-by-minute ratings (T-VAL), it'll probably be down from last time.
77AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:22
How many people is that now who 'died' but actually didn't?
And I figured Nozaki would be weakened and compliant, but that's not how it's going, is it?
78AnonymousSep 13, 2026 23:23
Re: #77
It's just Otokojuku style, I guess. (a nod to the absurdly over-the-top manga 'Sakigake!! Otokojuku,' known for ridiculous not-dead-after-all twists)

Background and points of debate

“VIVANT” is a popular entry in TBS’s Sunday Theater lineup, and season 2 has drawn just as much attention as the original. The hiatus announcement, however, brought a wave of reactions along the lines of “that’s fewer episodes than I expected.” Opinions in the thread split over the show’s pacing: some viewers see it as careful, deliberate storytelling, while many others feel the rescue operation and the reunion with Kurosu are dragging on too long. Several posts speculated the story would wrap up with a theatrical film, but that’s purely fan speculation — the article itself makes no mention of any sequel or movie in production. The hiatus itself is due to Asian Games coverage, and the finale is confirmed within the show to air on November 8th.

※This article was compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[TV] “VIVANT” — At the end of the show, Masato Sakai drops a shocking announcement, “I can’t take it”: a storm of anguished cries on X… Also touches on the finale: “November 8th is the final episode. Six more to go.”.”

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