Hibana: Spark

Hibana: Spark (火花) is a television series adaptation of the novel Spark by Naoki Matayoshi. It premiered worldwide on Netflix on June 2, 2016. The story follows an aspiring stand-up comedian Tokunaga (Kento Hayashi), who embarks on an apprenticeship with Kamiya (Kazuki Namioka), a seasoned manzai artist.

Cast

 * Kento Hayashi as Tokunaga
 * Kazuki Namioka as Kamiya
 * Mugi Kadowaki as Maki
 * Masao Yoshii (Inoshita Yoshii) as Yamashita
 * Hideaki Murata (Toro salmon) as Ōbayashi
 * Nahana as Erika Nishida
 * Sayaka Yamamoto as waitress
 * Eri Tokunaga as Ayumi
 * Maryjun Takahashi as Yurie
 * Rina Takeda
 * Shugo Oshinari as Sasamoto
 * Kyūsaku Shimada
 * Shōta Sometani as Ogata
 * Tomorowo Taguchi as Hyuga
 * Kaoru Kobayashi as Watanabe
 * Hiro Honda as VIP guest

Reception
David Cirone of J-Generation criticized the slow pacing of the first half of the series, but said "even with its rough edges, Hibana shines with the power of its two leads [Hayashi and Namioka]." Maggie Lee of Variety called the series "a profoundly reflective and achingly tender look at Japan's vibrant yet cutthroat comedy scene". Elissa Loi of Stuff complimented the show for "steering away from the usual predictable Japanese tropes".

Theme song
Okamoto's - "Brother" (released June 1, 2016)

Soundtrack album
Netflix Original Drama Hibana -Spark- Soundtrack (released February 26, 2017 by Yoshimoto Music Ltd.)