TBS drama VIVANT ends its first season with a September 2023 finale

TBS's Sunday drama VIVANT, led by Masaki Sakai, aired its season one finale on 17 September 2023 after a hit run.

9 Nov 2026, 06:191 min read

This summary was written by AI to complete the context; it is not based on a current source.

VIVANT was a large-scale espionage thriller broadcast on TBS's Sunday evening drama slot (Nichiyō Gekijō) from July 2023. Its final episode aired on 17 September 2023, closing the first season.

The series starred Masaki Sakai as a trading company employee drawn into a dangerous international conspiracy, with Takayuki Yamada, Nana Mori and Dean Fujioka in major roles. Much of it was filmed on location in Mongolia, which gave the story a scale rare for Japanese television. Yuichi Fukuda, known for comedies and a director of the show, was behind the original story.

The production kept plot details tightly secret, and the promotion was minimal. Viewers responded with intense online speculation about the mysterious organisation of the title. Ratings climbed through the run, and the show became one of the most discussed Japanese dramas of the year. The ending left several threads open, which fuelled long-running hopes for a continuation and set the stage for the later announcement of a second season.