Priceless (TV series)

Priceless: Aru Wake Nedaro, Nnamon! (PRICELE$S〜あるわけねぇだろ、んなもん!〜, lit. PRICELE$S: There's no such thing!) is a Japanese television series which premiered on Fuji TV on October 22, 2012. This television series stars Takuya Kimura as Fumio Kindaichi, a salaryman who gets fired from his company after he was accused of being involved in commercial espionage.[1] Coupled with a series of unfortunate accidents, Fumio suddenly loses everything he has and becomes poor.[1]

Priceless
Poster
Genre	Drama
Directed by	Suzuki Masayuki, Hirano Shin
Starring	Takuya Kimura
Theme music composer	Sato Naoki
Ending theme	Jumpin' Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones)
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of seasons	1
Production
Producers	Makino Tadashi, Murase Ken
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	54 minutes
Production company	Fuji TV
Release
Original network	Fuji TV
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Audio format	Stereophonic
Original release	October 22 – December 24, 2012
External links
official page

Plot

Fumio Kindaichi is a middle management salaryman on good terms with his co-workers. One day, he is suddenly accused of stealing commercial secrets, and is fired by his company. He's even ostracized by his co-workers. Before the end of the day, he has essentially become a homeless and penniless man. Without any idea of how to survive on the streets, he has to settle in for a rough night.

Fumio later learns how to earn some money on the street from two children, brothers, he meets. They lead him to a boarding house that allows him to stay for 500 yen per night. In the struggle to earn this sum of money, Fumoi begins to appreciate the worth of money. He also learns that not all precious things in life can be bought with money.

Despite his predicament, Fumio remains an optimistic person, and does not feel bitter over his sudden dismissal. Instead, he helps the people around him with much enthusiasm, without asking for anything in return.

Cast

• Takuya Kimura as Fumio Kindaichi
• Kiichi Nakai as Kengo Moai
• Karina Nose as Saya Nikaido
• Taisuke Fujigaya as Kotaro Enomoto
• Misako Renbutsu as Yoko Hirose
• Takeshi Masu as Takeshi Fujisawa
• Oshiro Maeda as Kanta Marioka
• Kanau Tanaka as Ryota Marioka
• Atsuo Nakamura as Iwao Oyashiki
• Issey Ogata as Osamu Zaizen
• Mari Natsuki as Ichirin Marioka
• Naohito Fujiki as Toichiro Oyashiki
• Haruna Kojima as Moe Tomizawa (Ep.3-5, 7-10)

Episodes

	Episode title	Romanized title	Translation of title	Broadcast date	Ratings[2]
Ep. 1	はじめての貧乏…五百円稼ぐって難しい	Hajimete no binbō… go hyaku-en kasegu tte muzukashī	First time being poor... It is difficult to earn 500 yen	October 22, 2012	16.9%
Ep. 2	貧乏って弱いの?	Binbō tte yowai no?	Being poor is a weakness?	October 29, 2012	18.8%
Ep. 3	1万円のラーメン	1 Man-en no rāmen	The 10,000 yen ramen	November 5, 2012	15.2%
Ep. 4	最後の一人も堕ちてきた	Saigo no hitori mo ochite kita	The last remaining person has also fallen	November 12, 2012	18.4%
Ep. 5	奇跡の始まり	Kiseki no hajimari	The beginning of a miracle	November 19, 2012	15.7%
Ep. 6	日本一の貧乏社長、誕生!	Nihon'ichi no binbō shachō, tanjō!	Japan's first poor company president appears!	November 26, 2012	18.1%
Ep. 7	大逆転	Dai gyakuten	A large reversal	December 3, 2012	17.2%
Ep. 8	さよなら…そして、ありがとう	Sayonara… soshite, arigatō	Goodbye...and thank you	December 10, 2012	20.1%
Ep. 9	最後の戦い〜それぞれの思い	Saigonotatakai 〜 Sorezore No Omoi	The Final Battle: The difference between each person's belief	December 17, 2012	17.4%
Ep. 10	一部生放送スペシャル 聖なる夜に起こす最後の奇跡	Ichibu namahōsō supesharu seinaru yoru ni okosu saigo no kiseki	Special live broadcast: The last miracle of the holy night.	December 24, 2012	18.7%
Ratings for Kanto region (average rating: 17.71%)[2]

Reception

The first episode of Priceless had the third-highest viewership rating of all Autumn 2012 Japanese television drama debut episodes with a rating of 16.9% in the Kanto region, behind Aibou 11 (with a rating of 19.9%) and Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon (with a rating of 18.6%).[3] This marks the first time that a drama starring actor Takuya Kimura had debuted with a rating of less than 20%.[3] This low viewership rating was attributed to the fact that the drama had to compete with a popular baseball match airing concurrently on another television network, which garnered a rating of 20.1% itself.[3]

International broadcast

It aired in Thailand on Channel 7 beginning April 24, 2015, dubbed as Yodchai Naiyajok . ("ยอดชาย นายยาจก", literally: Super Beggar).[4] In Sri Lanka, it began airing in October 2016 on WakuWaku Japan with English subtitles under the title, Priceless: Is There Such a Thing.

References

1. "Archived copy" キムタク、月９で新境地"極貧男子". Sankei Digital Inc (in Japanese). 2012-08-14. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2012-11-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Show schedule and ratings". Audience Rating Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-11-27.
3. キムタク主演「ＰＲＩＣＥＬＥＳＳ」１６・９％発進　今クール３番手. Sankei Digital Inc (in Japanese). 2012-10-23. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
4. "ละคร Priceless : ยอดชาย นายยาจก". siamzone.com (in Thai). 5 September 2015.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)