Singapore  – Asian entertainment channel GEM is set to break new ground with the simulcast of Guard Center 24, as it marks the first time in history that international audiences can watch a Japanese drama at the same time as it is telecast in Japan.  The 1-episode special drama produced by Nippon TV will premiere in Asia on 16 September first and exclusively on GEM.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity for fans of Japanese entertainment to get access to premium Japanese programmes at the same time as it airs in Japan.  The decision to simulcast Guard Center 24 reinforces our strategy to bring quality Japanese programming to viewers in this part of the world, faster than ever before,” said Virginia Lim, Senior Vice President & Head of Content, Production & Marketing, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.

Set against the backdrop of a private security company, the action-suspense drama features Kento Nakajima (member of idol group Sexy Zone); Takaya Kamikawa (Angel Heart, Hanasaki Mai Speaks Out); and Chiaki Kuriyama (Battle Royale, Kill Bill) as part of its star-studded cast.

More thrilling action abounds with two other top-billed Japanese dramas also premiering in September – Ms. Sadistic Detective and The Last Cop. Ms. Sadistic Detective stars prolific young actress Mikako Tabe and idol group Kanjani Eight member Tadayoshi Okura as crime-fighting partners.  Comedy ensues when the former sheds her usual good-girl image to play a detective obsessed with sadism and torture, often at the expense of her nice-guy partner.

The Last Cop takes a different spin on the buddy cop theme and features Toshiaki Karasawa and Masataka Kubota respectively as a brash, bossy detective freshly awakened from a 30-year coma and his stickler-for-the-rules partner, with the pair often at odds with each other due to their opposite personalities.