NIPPON TV UNVEILS TWO NEW SCRIPTED FORMATS
AVAILABLE AT SERIES MANIA "THE RIGHT TO JUDGE" AND "ESCAPE"

Top-level executives for scripted series and global strategy to attend the
Series Mania Forum for the first time to accelerate international expansion

TOKYO, JAPAN - March 2, 2026 - Nippon TV, Japan's leading multiplatform entertainment powerhouse, announced today that it will once again be attending the Series Mania Forum and will be offering two new scripted formats for the first time. The first title, The Right to Judge (10 x 60'), is a suspenseful thriller that has over 44 million views with the original Japanese version on Nippon TV. The second title, Escape (10 x 60'), a nonstop suspense story, follows a runaway heiress and her kidnapper.

Additionally announced today and marking the company's fifth consecutive appearance as the only Japanese company to continually exhibit at the Forum since 2021, this year's delegation will include Shinji Enari, the Head of Studio Strategy, who is responsible for the development and greenlighting of scripted series at Nippon TV, and Masanori Kobayashi, the Head of Global Strategy Headquarters, who will both be attending for the first time to explore new opportunities for the international expansion of Nippon TV's scripted series.

Shinji Enari, Head of Studio Strategy, said: "Nippon TV has a proven track record of bringing dynamic stories to global audiences through scripted formats and co-productions. Building on the success of award-winning titles like Mother, we are proud to introduce the new formats, The Right to Judge and Escape."

Masanori Kobayashi, Head of Global Strategy Headquarters, said: "We look forward to exploring new opportunities to grow our scripted series internationally. Series Mania Forum is the perfect venue to engage with top industry players and foster new global partnerships."

Nippon TV's flagship title for this year's Forum is the suspenseful thriller The Right to Judge. The original series, which aired on Nippon TV in 2025, achieved significant success, becoming Nippon TV's highest-viewed drama series on the national VOD service with over 44 million views.

The story follows former elementary schoolmates who reunite 22 years after graduation to unearth a time capsule, only to find a yearbook where the faces of a circle of bullies have been violently blacked out. Members of the group begin to die in ways that meticulously mirror the innocent "When I Grow Up" drawings they created as children. To stop the chain of murders, the former class leader, who was the lead bully, forms an uneasy alliance with a successful female journalist he once tormented. Together, they must work to find the killer while confronting the dark sins of their shared past. The series features a dual-timeline structure, alternating between the present and the characters' childhoods, and its gripping mystery that challenges viewers to uncover the killer.

Also making its international debut is Escape, a high-octane human suspense story that blends intrigue, travel, and self-discovery, with romance. The drama follows a sheltered heiress to a pharmaceutical empire who, after being kidnapped on her 20th birthday, chooses to flee with her captor rather than return to her controlling father. She hides a secret ability to see people's hidden emotions as "colors" when she touches them and is terrified by the cold, dark colors she perceives in her father. Under the relentless eyes of their pursuers, their relationship transforms from "kidnapper and hostage" into a deep, emotional bond. Along the way, the journey forces her to confront the cruel truth about her own birth that had been kept hidden from her.

ABOUT NIPPON TV
Nippon TV is Japan's leading multiplatform entertainment powerhouse, as well as owner of streaming giant Hulu in Japan. Nearly 90% of its content IP is fully owned by Nippon TV and the company has been active in bringing its content to the international market in the form of anime, ready-made programs, formats, and through co-production partnerships. Their scripted format Mother is recognized as the format with the most number of adaptations in the world by an Asian series, with local versions produced in South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, Thailand, China, France, Spain, Mongolia, The Philippines, Greece, and Saudi Arabia.
The company has also recently announced Nippon TV LA Business Office, the co-development and sales headquarters for US/LatAm, dedicated to unscripted formats.
Nippon TV Website⼁LinkedIn ⼁Nippon TV LA Business Office ⼁Gyokuro Studio