If you're into political or corporate thrillers with intrigue, conspiracies, action and backstabbing, then maybe new Japanese show Vivant is for you, and it's finally been made available to watch around the world.
While it's not a Netflix show, this new program is now available to watch on the streaming service around the world, after it released in its native country earlier in the year.
So if you've seen Vivant on the Netflix home page, or have heard someone talking about it, you might be wondering what it is? And it's a fair question, as unlike most Netflix shows, the streamer hasn't mentioned it much.
Here, then, is everything you need to know about Vivant including what it's about, who's in it and when it originally came out.
Vivant release date
The drama Vivant was released on Netflix on Sunday, December 17, with all ten episodes released at once as is the norm on the streamer.
In its native country of Japan, Vivant was released much earlier in the year. It debuted on Sunday, July 16, and new episodes came out weekly until Sunday, September 17.
Vivant trailer
There are quite a few trailers for Vivant online, with the production company TBS releasing trailers for each episode. Unfortunately, they lack English subtitles, but you can get an idea of the tone of the show from them. Here's the one for the debut episode:
Vivant plot
Vivant follows Yûsuke Nogi, a bumbling businessman from Japan. He's sent to the Balkans, to investigate why a payment for a solar energy project is ten times higher than it should be, and to collect the excess money for his company.
However while on this quest, he finds himself wrapped up in a larger conspiracy full of corporate embezzling, disappearing people and misadventures in the desert that could cost Nogi his life.
Vivant cast
The lead character of Vivant is Yûsuke Nogi, played by Msato Sakai. Sakai is a Japanese actor who's mainly played in films and shows from the country including Climbers High, Jaji no futari and Hanzawa Naoki.
Playing second-fiddle to Nogi is Kaoru Yuzuki, who quickly gets wrapped up in Nogi's adventure from the first episode. She's played by Fumi Nikaidô, who again is known for Japanese movies including Themis and Why Don't You Play In Hell.
Other important characters include Hiroshi Abe (Godzilla 2000, Downtown Rocket), Megumi Hayashibara (Paprika, Neon Genesis Evangelion), Kazunari Ninomiya (Letts from Iwo Jima, Gantz) and Kôji Yakusho (13 Assassins, Babel).
How to watch Vivant
As mentioned before, you can watch Vivant by logging into Netflix. Outside of Japan, the show is available on the streamer in many different regions.
Don't worry — unlike for the above trailer, there are English subtitles, though it's not dubbed. Some of the show is actually in English, so you won't need it for that.
There are 10 episodes, and most are around an hour long though the first is 90 minutes in length.
