The real battle begins now! The Sunday Theater drama 'VIVANT' has finally entered its second half.
And from here on, there is no mercy. Five members of the Special Class are imprisoned in Shaki Castle, a natural fortress. Enduring harsh torture, they face an imminent deadline for poisoning.
Yusuke Nogi (Masato Sakai), belonging to the unofficial organization directly under the Self-Defense Forces called the "Special Class," proceeds with a rescue operation with his brother-in-law Nokoru (Kazunari Ninomiya) and others. However, the only path to Shaki Castle is blocked by Orko Village, which monitors Xinshi... Meanwhile, in "China's Special Class" known as "Xinshi," Liu Minxuan (Kanji: 劉銘軒 / Sakai / Triple Role) forces a secret meeting with Mamoru Nozaki (Hiroshi Abe) of the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Division, Foreign Affairs Section 4. Furthermore, ominous movements begin in Japan.
Unheard secret talks, the sudden emergence of a girl's name, and new obstacles blocking the rescue. Along with the main episode, "After VIVANT" restarts too! We look back at the stormy Episode 19 along with viewer reactions.
Is it all for promotion... Is Liu friend or foe?
"I want to talk one-on-one."
Liu confronts Nozaki again. He once operated as Nozaki's agent while also being a member of Xinshi.
He removes the guard from the interrogation room and leans close to Nozaki, saying, "I will protect you with my life. So please rest assured." Han Linsing (Kanji: 樊林杏 / Kyoko Miyashita), the person in charge watching from another room, lets slip her true feelings.
Continuing with "Of course, I will protect Drum too," Nozaki reacts faintly. Is he really on their side, or is this just to extract information? Then Liu casually picks up a chain. Torture?! ...No, he wraps it around the door handle, blocking surveillance cameras, microphones, and speakers.
The monitor goes black, and Han rushes to send subordinates. Amidst the loud noise of tools cutting the chain, Liu does not stop talking to Nozaki. He won't let even the viewers hear the crucial parts! Speculation accelerates among viewers: "Are Nozaki and Liu coordinating plans?" "Something is definitely going on between them."
When the door finally opens, Liu says with confidence, "He will tell me everything." He seems like an ally, but when alone with Han, things change. In exchange for extracting tent information, he demanded the post of head of the nuclear fusion team.
Then Liu, along with Nozaki and Nozaki's agent Drum (Tomoe Drum), heads to the mansion of Tairan Guliwa (Milza Aghabayli), an information broker who has long surrounded Elisha Mammadov (Manaf Dadaşov), a nuclear fusion researcher.
Appearing outside the car window is a massive structure resembling the Arc de Triomphe. Behind it stands a mosque. Even Han, accompanying them, looks exasperated, saying, "Isn't it ridiculous?" This is far beyond a "mansion"! The behind-the-scenes details are introduced in "V_Log#18" of 'VIVANT-Adventure Log-' (TVer). Beyond strict security, the whereabouts of Elisha's daughter, Prisha, emerge.
According to Tairan, two-year-old Prisha (Riku Nojima) was kidnapped by an old "Samurai" with a sword and a young "Samurai." At that moment, Drum shows an expression as if realizing something.
"Mr. Nozaki, it's your turn. Please speak." The name Nozaki utters is...!?
Kurosu's Brother Makes a Surprise Appearance!?
At Shaki Castle, torture continues against the Special Class members by Han's subordinate, Shu Haoran (Kanji: 周浩然 / Linlin). However, no one breaks silence. For Mitsugi Wada (Yusuke Hirayama), fingers have been cut off... Viewers express concern for his safety. After receiving Shu's suggestion that "This is the only way," Han contacts the Japanese side.
The scene shifts to the home of Shun Kurosu (Tori Matsuzaka) in Ena City, Gifu Prefecture. June 7th, 21:00 Japan time.
The intercom rings, and a family voice comes from deep inside the house: "Wait a minute, Tsubasa, I can't leave right now." It seems Kurosu's younger brother, Tsubasa (Takumi Nishigaki), appears at the entrance. Just as he tries to receive a package, he is held at gunpoint and it seems hopeless! Han ordered Japanese operatives to kidnap the families of the five Special Class members. But in the next instant, Tsubasa disarms the opponent with blinding speed.
"You shouldn't make a sound either."
Could this brother... be different!?
The surprise elicits exclamations like "I screamed when he appeared" and "And he's strong lol."
Special Operations Group units appear one after another and suppress the operatives. Their movements are overwhelmingly faster than text can describe; this is a scene worth rewatching in the main episode. The family had already evacuated. The Special Operations Group provides security, and nearby, personnel in protective suits and Ground Self-Defense Force vehicles are mobilized under the guise of responding to a novel virus infection to move them to a safe location.
Actually, before executing the plan, Han contacted "Suzuki," assuming information would reach Public Security. The responder was not Suzuki Sho (Kenta Uchino), a Public Security officer and Xinshi operative himself, but AI Suzuki created by Hayato, the Special Class supercomputer-AI (voice: Minami Takayama). Unable to contact the kidnapping unit, an irritated Han calls again. AI Suzuki calmly reports, "They may have been taken to a JSDF special detention facility." Suzuki himself is also there.
Satomi Sakurai (Midori Kimura), the Supreme Commander of the Special Class who grasped the entire situation, summons not Nogi, but his alternate personality F (Sakai / Dual Role).
"If you were in Han's position instead of Mr. Nogi, how would you act?"
Viewers buzzed with comments like "Did Commander Sakurai know about F's existence?" and "As expected of the Commander."
Xinshi targets even families unrelated to the mission. What is F's ruthless answer, anticipating what lies ahead?
Straight Talk! Nokoru's Impressive Negotiation with Orko Village
To open the path to Shaki Castle, Nokoru (Kazunari Ninomiya), famous Thai businessman Chokky Teapanit (Ohm-Tanapak / Voice: Akari Kito), and Romal (Shahriyar Abilov), agent of Special Class member Kumiko Tashiro (Rei Yamada), head to Orko Village.
June 7th, 14:00 local time.
Facing Village Chief Isaac (Parviz Mammadzada), Nokoru presents stacks of cash. Ten times the $3,000 annual payment Xinshi makes to each household, offering $300,000 per house. That totals $15 million for 50 houses. Furthermore, Nokoru reveals they are heading to rescue the captured Japanese people in Shaki Castle. To a surprised Chokky, he says, "In situations like this, straight talk is best."
However, fear of Xinshi runs deep. The village chief's wife, Aika (Sevda Omarova), secretly phones Shaki Castle. The call is immediately detected by Ota Riho (Sumire Hanaoka), the genius hacker known as "Blue Walker." Monitoring communications near the ancient castle on the border with Shotaro Tojo (Gaku Hamada) of the Cyber Crime Countermeasures Division and Filza (Gulnar Yunusova), Tashiro's agent, Ota cuts off the transmission and identifies the number. Cyber warfare is thorough.
Nokoru appeals to Isaac: "Don't you want to reclaim your pride with your own hands?" Isaac, having made up his mind, promises to persuade the villagers.
Later, when Nogi expresses surprise upon hearing that $15 million was used, Nokoru says, "I learned from the Gobi incident. Humans ultimately move for money." And then, "What moves hearts in the end is pride." Viewers focus on Nokoru's "serious negotiation," commenting "Nokoru's negotiation skills are reliable."
These words come after reflecting on his best friend Gobi (Toru Baba) who betrayed him in Season 1. Speaking of which, during the live broadcast of TBS Radio's 'VIVANT Villain Conference Room' following the main episode, Gobi had written an "apology letter" to Nokoru before Episode 19 aired. But after the broadcast, he sulks slightly, asking, "Isn't it terrible?"
Meanwhile, Nogi tasks Tashiro's agent Natick (Ruslan Huseynov) with installing a device to control Orko Village's communication network and setting up another trap at checkpoints along the road. "It's no exaggeration to say this operation depends on this," says Nogi. Where will these "preparations" pay off later?
At 18:00 local time, Isaac begins persuading the villagers. But the meeting continues past 19:00. During this time, an order arrives from Shaki Castle to cafeteria owner Gazimov (Gurban Ahmadov): "Add 30 servings starting tomorrow." The longer it takes, the more critical the situation becomes. Will they gain the cooperation of all villagers?
By the way, this episode also features a luxurious lineup of new voice actors for the Japanese audio track. Norio Wakamoto voices Tairan, Kazuhiro Yamaji voices Isaac, Megumi Ogata voices Aika, Tomoaki Morikawa voices Romal, and Daisuke Namikawa voices Natick.
Eventually, the rescue team takes their respective positions. Before the operation starts, Nogi and Nokoru shake hands firmly. At 23:50 local time, sniper Nokoru and Tengger (Taro Ei / Voice: Junya Enoki) of "PMSC Y2K," a private military company established by Tent (the dismantled international terrorist organization), take high ground. All preparations are complete.
Finally to Shaki Castle! Focus on the Rescue Operation's Outcome and Sniper Nokoru's True Skills
Episode 20 sees the rescue from Shaki Castle moving toward resolution. We asked producer Kazutaka Iida about the behind-the-scenes filming of Episode 19 and highlights of the story that will start moving significantly from here.
The second half, consisting of six episodes, has seen the rescue operation finally begin. From here on, many scenes will feature the Azerbaijan shoot conducted from late August to late October last year, so we recommend watching alongside 'VIVANT-Adventure Log-' for a more immersive experience.
The climax of Episode 19 is undoubtedly the scene where Nokoru persuades the village chief. While dubbed in the broadcast, on set, Japanese, Thai, and Azerbaijani languages mingled. Witnessing Ninomiya-san's ability to instantly and accurately grasp the nuances of dialogue and distance with his counterpart amidst this chaos was impressive. Village Chief Isaac is played by Parviz Mammadzada, a famous actor in Azerbaijan. Like other cast members, he was selected through local auditions. The acting exchange between top-tier actors from Japan and Azerbaijan was a supreme moment.
Furthermore, the dubbing by voice actors in Episode 19 became a topic. Looking at VIVANT's viewer demographics, we see an increase in younger layers, C-layer (ages 4-12) and T-layer (ages 13-19). By using dubbing, children who cannot yet read can watch without burden, which likely explains these numbers.
On a separate note, before producing Season 2, the director spoke about the importance of dubbing. During location scouting, staff in Azerbaijan mentioned, "I watched VIVANT Season 1 on streaming, but couldn't finish reading all the English subtitles." The director believes, "Japanese can be understood by shape, but foreign languages cannot, so dubbing is indispensable for going global." Unlike foreign language dubbing, the director devised the method of simultaneous interpretation devices and incorporated it into the drama to allow a wider audience to enjoy it. The numbers show some tangible results. Moreover, the voice actors participating are incredible talents! Regardless of line volume, everyone agreed enthusiastically, assembling an Avengers-like team here too! Please continue to look forward to it!
Now, today's broadcast sees the infiltration into Shaki Castle and the rescue moving toward resolution. However, it won't be easy; numerous difficulties await. We hope you cheer for the rescue team. Also, to the actors playing the Xinshi villains, thank you for committing to evil! Please hold on a little longer until you get beaten (lol). Additionally, keep an eye out for Sniper Nokoru showing his true skills! Tonight at 9 PM, the story advances significantly.
Liu's true intentions and the mystery of "Prisha" remain unseen. Midnight, June 8th local time. "Go!" Two vans drive into the dark tunnel ahead on Nogi's signal. With Nogi's resolve staked, the operation truly begins here.
