In the drama ‘VIVANT’ Season 2, Mamoru Nozaki is connected to a storyline set against the backdrop of China.
The action has become more intense, but Chinese viewers and people staying locally are also examining the realism of the language, organizations, and city depictions.
This is also why a small notation in a character chart should not be read as information confirming survival.
3-Line Summary
1. Nozaki is a key figure in the storyline set in China
2. The official character chart was updated on October 5
3. Survival cannot be definitively concluded from the character chart alone
The China Setting Surrounding Mamoru Nozaki
Mamoru Nozaki is an investigator in the 4th Foreign Affairs Division of the Public Security Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department, played by actor Hiroshi Abe. An Asahi Shimbun GLOBE+ report said that, as Season 2 uses real-world China as its setting, scenes in which Nozaki encounters the Chinese-affiliated intelligence organization ‘Xinxi’ in the series also became a topic of discussion in China.
Videos explaining the series and videos related to Season 2 were uploaded to the Chinese video site Bilibili, and some videos were reportedly viewed hundreds of thousands of times or tens of thousands of times or more. Local viewers are enjoying the storyline through subtitles and comments displayed on screen, while also actively expressing opinions about the Chinese used in the drama and its background setting.
Interviewees with experience staying locally pointed out that the name ‘Xinxi’ comes from a Chinese word meaning “information,” and that if it were an organization dealing with intelligence activities, the Ministry of State Security would be a closer designation than the public security authorities. These are viewer opinions criticizing the series’ setting, not facts demonstrating the existence or activities of an actual organization.
Questions That Arise When Choosing a Real Country
Using real-world China as the central setting, rather than a fictional country like the Republic of Balka in Season 1, changed the viewing experience. Chinese colleagues quoted in the report questioned the filming locations for scenes presented as “Beijing streets” and the appearance of the organization’s office. The gestures of the Chinese characters and the Chinese pronunciation of the Japanese actors were also cited as factors affecting immersion.
This reaction does not mean that the series’ broad storyline is factual. Rather, it shows that the more strongly fictional a spy drama is, the more strictly its detailed depictions are scrutinized when it uses the real names of countries, cities, and institutions. The setup in which Nozaki confronts a Chinese intelligence organization expands the scale of the story, but it has also become a device that prompts viewers to examine the credibility of the setting.
The Updated Character Chart and Wada’s Status
Following Episode 9, which aired on October 4, TBS released the latest character relationship chart on the 5th. According to a Sponichi Annex report published on Yahoo News, amid a storyline in which a rescue operation unfolds for the 5 Bekan agents captured by Xinxi, the notation for Mitsugu Wada did not have “deceased” added to it.
However, this notation is not an announcement confirming Wada’s survival. The online reactions introduced in the article reflected viewers’ expectation that “he must be alive since there is no ‘deceased’ notation,” but the subsequent development cannot be determined solely from a notation that is absent from the chart. What is clearer in this scene is that the threat facing the characters, including Nozaki, remains at the center of the story.
References
Tags #VIVANT #Vivant #VIVANTSeason2 #Nozaki #MamoruNozaki #HiroshiAbe #Xinxi #Xinxi #Bekan #TBSDrama #JapaneseDrama #CharacterRelationshipChart