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Japanese TV series or program From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naoki Hanzawa (Japanese: 半沢直樹, Hepburn: Hanzawa Naoki) is a 2013 and 2020 Japanese television series by Japanese broadcaster TBS based on the Hanzawa Naoki series of novels by Jun Ikeido .[1] It follows the story of Naoki Hanzawa, a banker working for the largest bank in Japan, Tokyo Chuo Bank. He faces numerous obstacles from upper management as he climbs his way up the ranks. The show explores the toxic workplace culture in Japan in term of scapegoating; bullying and unfair seniority within the company's hierarchy. The show received consistently high ratings: the final episode of Season 1 reached 42.2% of viewers in the Kanto area, the highest figure for a drama in the Heisei Era.[2][3]
Naoki Hanzawa | |
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Written by | Jun Ikeido Yatsu Hiroyuki |
Directed by | Fukuzawa Katsuo Takayoshi Tanazawa |
Starring |
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Theme music composer | Takayuki Hattori |
Composer | Takayuki Hattori |
Country of origin | Japan |
Original language | Japanese |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 20 |
Production | |
Running time | 46–92 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | TBS |
Release | July 7, 2013 – September 27, 2020 |
The show's popularity in viewer polls achieved the highest rating in three decades of Japanese television drama.[4][5][6][7]
Following its success as the most-watched series in Japan, Hanzawa Naoki made was broadcast overseas in Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as Jamaica[8] and the Marshall Islands.[8] It was also distributed by Japan Foundation in some Latin American countries[9] such as Mexico[8][10][11] and Paraguay,[8][12] dubbed in Spanish. In Brazil, the series are dubbed in Portuguese and aired via Band TV starts 19 January 2024.
A second season was announced in 2019, scheduled for the spring of 2020.[13] Due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the series broadcast and filming was postponed.[14] The second season premiered in Japan beginning in July 2020 and consisted of 10 episodes.[15]
Naoki Hanzawa (Masato Sakai) joins the Sangyo Chuo Bank (one of the predecessors of Tokyo Chuo Bank before its merger with Tokyo Daiichi Bank) and becomes Chief of the Loans Division at the Osaka Nishi branch. In a flashback, it is revealed that his father, a factory owner, committed suicide after the bank refused to extend the loan. Hanzawa swears revenge against the Sangyo Chuo Bank bank by climbing through ranks and controls it.
When he proposes a loan for a struggling but promising screw manufacturer, he is forced by branch manager Asano (Kanji Ishimaru) to grant an unsecured loan of 500 million yen to Nishi Osaka Steel, despite the lack of proper financial investigation, to meet the target loan set by the head office. However, Nishi Osaka Steel goes bankrupt, and both president Mitsuru Higashida (Takashi Ukaji) and the 500 million yen loan disappear. Asano shifts the blame to Hanzawa and orders him to recover the amount or face termination. Hanzawa promises that if he manages to recover the money, Asano must kneel and apologize to him.
Hanzawa joins forces with Kiyohiko Takeshita (Hidekazu Akai), whose business was lost as collateral damage from Nishi Osaka Steel's bankruptcy. The two discover that the entire event was a scheme set up by Asano and Higashida who turned out to be childhood friends. It is revealed that Osaka Steel is purposely bankrupted by Higashida to defraud 500 millions yen from the bank and Asano helped Higashida after being bribed 50 millions yen to pay back his loss in a stock scheme went wrong. Racing against time and the Taxation Office investigation, Naoki is able to recover the entire 500 million yen for the bank from Higashida's bank account from the New York Trust Bank, leaving Higashida's empty-handed and he is arrested later on. Hanzawa wishes to expose Asano to the media, but out of sympathy for his wife and family he instead leverages his evidence against Asano, ensuring that his subordinates can be promoted to positions of their choice. Asano formally apologizes to Hanzawa and states that he did all of this because he lost too much from his failed stock investment. Asano then kneels before Hanzawa to apologize to him as promise. Subsequently, Hanzawa is promoted to deputy Manager of the 2nd Operations Department at banks' Tokyo Headquarters while Asano is transferred to be the manager of the bank branch in the Philippine, much to his dismay as he will be forced to be away from his family.
One year later, Hanzawa is placed in charge of investigating Iseshima Hotel, which borrowed 20 billion yen from Tokyo Chuo Bank. The hotel suffered a loss of 12 billion yen, and with an FSA (Financial Services Agency) inspection coming up, the bank may potentially have to provide a loan loss provision of 150 billion yen should Iseshima Hotel be labelled bankrupt. Hanzawa discovers that Director Owada (Teruyuki Kagawa) was at the forefront of providing the loan to Iseshima Hotel, even though there was substantial evidence showing that the hotel was not in a good financial position. Kondo (Kenichi Takito), a friend of Hanzawa who works at Tamiya Electric, discovers that Owada was also behind an indirect loan to Laffite, a fashion company owned by Owada's wife. Hanzawa puts this evidence against Owada in front of a board of directors meeting and further exposes that Owada did this to oust the Chairman so he can take his position. Seeking personal revenge for his father's death, Hanzawa forces Owada to kneel down before him and apologize for his actions in front of all the board members, despite his supervisor and the Chairman's disapproval. During the final scene, Chairman Nakanowatari formally terminates Owada's employment while Hanzawa is "exiled" from the bank to Tokyo Central Securities.
Episode subtitle | Broadcast date | Ratings[16] | |
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Ep. 1 | Double Payback! A new hero arises to stand up against the evil superior!! Can the 500 million yen be recovered? War among the wives at the company housing, Promotion? Friendship? | July 7, 2013 | 19.4% |
Ep. 2 | Avoid being framed by the superior! Double payback for his actions! | July 14, 2013 | 21.8% |
Ep. 3 | Double payback for this superior! Saving a subordinate who is in trouble!? A traitor appears | July 28, 2013 | 22.9% |
Ep. 4 | It is 10 times the payback! Betrayal between superior and subordinate | August 4, 2013 | 27.6% |
Ep. 5 | Hanzawa's transfer…!? To fight to the death! | August 11, 2013 | 29.0% |
Ep. 6 | 500 million to 1.2 billion! Double payback in Tokyo too? Hanzawa's battle with his nemesis!! | August 25, 2013 | 29.0% |
Ep. 7 | Hanzawa kneels to beg! He faces a tough situation | September 1, 2013 | 30.0% |
Ep. 8 | A tough rival appears! Losing will result in transfer | September 8, 2013 | 32.9% |
Ep. 9 | The final showdown! ~Survive the FSA inspection or be transferred!! | September 15, 2013 | 35.9% |
Ep. 10 | 100 times the payback! Who will be kneeling in the end! ~A shocking end!! Friendship? Betrayal? | September 22, 2013 | 42.2% |