Matori & Kyoken Men in the Back Alleys

The idol asked if a dealer plot could air. Then his hair looked like a toothbrush.

Daigo Nishihata, of the pop group Naniwa Danshi, told Oricon his first thought on the offer was, "Wait, a drug dealer's part?!" His second was, "Can this even go on terrestrial TV?!" The manga is Matori to Kyoken, Men in the Back Alleys, written by Takashi Tajima and drawn by Masashi for Young Champion. Hiroshi Shinagawa, of comedy duo Shinagawa Shoji, took it to MBS and TBS Dramaism. Nishihata plays Kyonosuke Umezawa, a former child star who hit in a yankee movie at 15, got suspended after a drunk fight, ran up illegal-casino debt, and started packing narcotics. Yoshihiko Hosoda is narcotics cop Toru Kurosaki, the "matori" who tells him to become his S, his spy. Osamu Mukai is Akito Katsuragi of the Metropolitan Police drugs and firearms unit, who wants the same body working for the police. Two handlers. One dealer. ,

Shinagawa asked for blond. Nishihata told Kyodo he left the color to the director and the stylist. "My hair really looked like a worn-out toothbrush while we were shooting." He said a man who wants to stay hidden would rather stay dark. He kept the blond. Action drills started a month out. Bruises stacked up at home. Shinagawa told him the line was good. The character is meant to look trained and lose the real fight. Mukai's cop slips into Hiroshima dialect. Nishihata said he panicked in those takes, both as himself and as Umezawa. Between takes, Hosoda lent him a Star Wars pouch. On camera the same man scared him with height, voice, and stare.

Nine late nights, then Netflix kept the alley

MBS listed the slot as January 20, 2026, at 24:59. That is January 21 after midnight, which is how TMDB dates the premiere. Nine episodes, about 24 minutes each. The finale is "The End of the Mad Dogs." Netflix's English card is TV-MA, exclusive SVOD in Japan after the Dramaism window, with the same Roppongi club logline TMDB uses. The UK classifier timed Netflix files around February 1. Orange Spiny Club wrote the opening theme "blur." Gero wrote the ending song. Yoshimoto Kogyo sits in the production credits beside Avex Pictures and MBS. A group idol, a Yoshimoto director, and a cocaine club stabbing after midnight. Tajima watched a cut and said, in Hiroshima dialect, that Nishihata looked cool, then asked why a show this dense was wasting itself at midnight. , , ,

Natalie later caught Nishihata at a press event. He said he got beaten up once a day. Shinagawa said he had gotten good at taking hits. Nishihata asked for more punching-bag parts. Mukai warned viewers the title was already rough and the contents were rougher, and that his cop barely behaves like police. No cited outlet produced a talent-agency veto. The public record is a blond lead, two rival enforcers, and a Netflix exclusive of a nine-episode dealer show the star himself doubted terrestrial would clear. ,