Kuro-chan "Despite Himself"? Secrets of Content & Promotion Revealed in Paravi's "Kuro-chan's Love"

CX (Customer Experience) continues to evolve daily.
How can Dentsu Inc.'s creative team contribute to the CX domain, now demanded in every scenario?

To explore this potential, 'Monthly CX' is a series where members of Dentsu Inc.'s CX specialist unit, 'CXCC' (Customer Experience Creative Center), share insights on CX and creativity ( For more on Monthly CX, click here ).

This installment introduces the production case study of the original series "Kuro-chan's Love ~After All, It's Love~" (hereafter, Kuro-chan's Love), which premiered on the video streaming service "Paravi" in March 2023.

*Kuro-chan's Love is currently streaming all 5 episodes on U-NEXT.

This drama depicts the life story of comedian Kuro-chan from the comedy duo Yasuda Circus. How did the project originate? What considerations were made during production? We spoke with the drama's planner, Haru Omi, and producer, Nanako Yamada.

[Profile: Haru Omi]
Dentsu Inc.
Customer Experience Creative Center
CM Planner / Copywriter
After working in sales at Hakuhodo Products, he joined Dentsu Inc. as a second-time new graduate. His motto is "I want to create interesting things..." He has worked on projects including Shogakukan's "Aoashi" web drama CM series (all 11 episodes) "April Kickoff," and Nissin Foods Chicken Ramen TV CMs "Cabbage Salad Eating Song" and "Tipa's Insanely Delicious!" Major awards include: CCN Grand Prize, BOVA Grand Prix, Consumer-Selected Advertising Contest Grand Prix, Yomiuri Advertising Grand Prix, Fuji Sankei Advertising Grand Prix, Bunka Broadcasting Radio CM Contest Grand Prix, and 6th All-Japan Hide-and-Seek Championship Winner. Received the ATP Award TV Grand Prix Encouragement Prize for the drama "Kuro-chan's Love" she planned.

[Profile of Nanako Yamada]
Dentsu Inc.
Media Services / Radio,TV Division
Producer
After joining Dentsu Inc., she spent four years working on TV commercial-related projects. In 2021, she was seconded to Premium Platform Japan Inc., which operates the video streaming service Paravi. She was responsible for promoting streaming content and Paravi's service branding, aiming to increase new Paravi memberships.
She planned communications utilizing various media, including managing and creating content for official SNS accounts (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube), producing TV commercials, outdoor advertising, ad trucks, and event sampling.
In 2023, as producer for the Paravi original drama "Kuro-chan's Love ~After All, It's Love~," I oversaw everything from content creation to promotion.
 

Content that resonates with the times, conceived precisely because I love comedy

Monthly CX: Could you briefly explain what kind of drama "Kuro-chan's Love" was?

Hara: It's a drama depicting the life story of Kuro-chan from Yasuda Circus, known for his impactful character, which gained attention on social media. We cast actor Shuhei Nomura as Kuro-chan and dramatized episodes from his student days through his early days as a young comedian, focusing on his love life. The drama fully conveys Kuro-chan's impactful, almost-too-good-to-be-true real-life anecdotes, like "He walked to school barefoot to toughen himself up during his student days." The series, consisting of 5 episodes, was released in March 2023.
  
Monthly CX: What led to the creation of this project?
 
Hara: It started when we submitted a proposal to Paravi's open call for new program ideas (variety, drama, information, sports—any genre). Paravi faced the challenge of creating content that would become a hot topic to reach new target audiences and increase membership. So, together with my colleague Shota Suzuki, we proposed dramatizing Kuro-chan to Paravi, and it was accepted. For this project, I was also in charge of content production and promotion.

Monthly CX: I see. What was the reasoning behind choosing Kuro-chan, such a unique figure, as the protagonist?
 
Hara: First and foremost, I absolutely love comedy. But watching recent TV and media, I felt we're in an era where the public is just as interested in comedians' personal lives and life stories as they are in their actual comedy routines. For example, Naoki Matayoshi from PEACE wrote "Spark" depicting a comedian's life, and documentaries about comedians winning comedy award competitions are being broadcast. Amidst this high-context humor where people enjoy not just the material but the personalities too, I wondered whose life would make an interesting drama? That's when Kuro-chan came to mind.

Kuro-chan is an immensely popular comedian, especially among teens and twentysomethings on social media. I thought that if we could make a drama about him, we could reach the young demographic watching online video streaming services.

Monthly CX: It's definitely a recent trend to enjoy not just the comedy itself, but also the comedian's personality and way of life. It was also striking how many edgy episodes were included in this drama.

Yamada: That's right. It was a bold theme—"Kuro-chan's life dramatized as a handsome, full-scale drama"—but I think this drama came together precisely because all the cast members embraced it and enjoyed the process. The director, producers, screenwriter, and entire production staff worked as one team, discussing what was best while having fun moving forward. That was key.

The first step to generating buzz is creating a gap

Monthly CX: What aspects did you focus on regarding the drama's content?

Hara: We focused on portraying Kuro-chan as cool. His appeal lies in his raw instincts and doing bizarre things no ordinary person would ever do. Yet at his core, he has an unwavering axis—a kind of coolness where he acts logically based on his own aesthetics and philosophy. We wanted to convey that strongly in the drama.

Monthly CX: I heard you spent over 30 hours researching for the drama script.

Hara: Yes. While it's one style to make such dramas entertainingly fictional, "Kuro-chan's Love" insisted on real stories. We interviewed not just him, but his comedy partner, junior comedians, close friends in the entertainment industry, his manager, and even past girlfriends.

We desperately gathered episodes, even digging up things the person himself had forgotten by asking those around him. Among these, the interview with Kuro-chan's ex-girlfriend was particularly memorable. She shared this intense anecdote: "Kuro-chan used a tree branch to brush his teeth" (laughs).

Yamada: We meticulously categorized the vast amount of material gathered during interviews into sections like "Romance" and "School Days," organizing each episode in detail within Excel spreadsheets. It was painstaking work, but I believe dedicating that time to these details is precisely why we were able to create such compelling content.

Monthly CX: What did you focus on regarding the drama's direction?

Hara: I was very conscious of the "Kuro-chan, but..." kind of gap. Considering Kuro-chan's character, we could have made it a cheap, laughable drama. But I wanted it to be a serious drama "Kuro-chan, but...", with an incredibly luxurious cast including Shuhei Nomura "Kuro-chan, but...". That gap was personally very important to me, and I felt it was necessary for it to become a talking point in the world.

Monthly CX: It was incredibly surprising to see Mr. Nomura cast as Kuro-chan, and it definitely created a huge impact out there.

Hara: Thank you. In comedy, we often use the term "tension and release." I hoped that gap would spark reactions like, "Why is such a handsome guy playing Kuro-chan?!" Then Kuro-chan would retort, "But I look just like him!" and the public would respond again... creating this chain of great reactions.

Amidst fierce competition in drama content, being able to consider the public reaction outside the work itself—to spark even a little interest—might have been a strength unique to me, coming from the advertising industry.

Consistent messaging from production to promotion

Monthly CX: How have user reactions been since "Kuro-chan's Love" started streaming?

Hara: I believe it was received very favorably. Episode 1 is available for free on YouTube, and the comments there are overwhelmingly positive. A particularly notable comment was, "Nomura-san's acting is so good, he really started to look like Kuro-chan."

Monthly CX: How has the response been on Paravi?
 
Yamada: The internal reaction at Paravi was also quite positive. "Kuro-chan's Love" became a widely recognized work, and it was praised not only for the content itself but also for raising awareness of the Paravi service. Furthermore, one of the achievements was that this drama reached a new demographic: male comedy fans who previously had little connection with Paravi.

Hara: We were delighted to receive the Encouragement Award at the ATP TV Grand Prix, a contest for production companies, as it meant the drama's content itself was properly recognized.

Monthly CX: Mr. Hara, who handled not only content production but also promotion, must have had a very tough time, I imagine.
 
Hara: Since I was involved in both the creation and expansion aspects, there was a tremendous amount to consider and advance, so it was indeed demanding. That said, handling everything from content production to communication strategy consistently allowed us to unify the worldview between the drama and the promotion, which was very positive.

Monthly CX: The main visual for the promotion was very striking.

Hara: Thank you. Just like the drama itself, we aimed for the main visual and preview footage to feel professional and not cheap. We worked closely with the art director to ensure the main visual instantly conveyed an "this looks amazing" vibe. For other promotions, we also deployed ad trucks and, inspired by Kuro-chan, created nine different 6-second bumper ads (YouTube ads that play for 6 seconds).

[Shuhei Nomura] "Kuro-chan's Love ~After All, It's Love~" CM Compilation [All 9 Types]
*Click the image to watch the video

Monthly CX: Being involved in both creating the drama content and making the ads to promote it is a job only someone like you, Hara-san, could handle.

Hara: I'm glad to hear you say that. It was challenging at times, but there are differences in production and workflow between commercials and programs. For someone like me who only knew commercials, it was a huge learning experience. Above all, seeing my name credited on the first page of a drama script is an irreplaceable treasure for life.

A new CX that moves customers' hearts and minds, unconstrained by conventional methods

Monthly CX: What do you think are the key CX points in this content?

Hara: Fundamentally, I think CX is about using any method that moves customers' hearts and bodies. What felt CX-like this time was challenging a new approach: creating a drama to solve Paravi's challenge of acquiring new members.

Monthly CX: And the drama itself wasn't formulaic either; it included various new challenges.

Hara: Yes. I also think the overall program structure was effective. Beyond the drama segments, we included studio segments featuring Kuro-chan and cast members. They broke down the drama's content while adding commentary like "That part was creepy!" or "I totally related to that!" This two-part format created a kind of guide for how users could enjoy the content – that kind of direction could also be considered CX-oriented.

Yamada: From an advertising production perspective, the TV industry's quick thinking and pace were sometimes surprising. But I think Mr. Hara's approach—submitting around 100 visual and title concepts for discussion—was seen as refreshing by the TV industry folks.

Monthly CX: Finally, could each of you share your favorite scene?

Hara: I love Kuro-chan's first kiss scene. He misunderstands that "kissing is about blowing breath," so he tries to blow air while kissing (laughs). There are also many other shocking scenes that probably don't happen in most people's lives.

I also like the studio part where Kuro-chan gets teary-eyed after watching the drama. While it might be funny to watch as an outsider, I think seeing his past brought up sentimental feelings for him. Through Kuro-chan's reactions, I felt like I was reliving his life.

Yamada: My favorite scene is in Episode 1 when Kuro-chan, played by Nomura-san, sees inside the heroine's mouth (played by Ihara Rikka-san) and his legs shake so much he can't stand. During filming, it was so funny that everyone on set burst out laughing (laughs). In that moment, everyone present genuinely felt, "This drama is going to be great!" It's a truly memorable scene. I really want everyone to see it!

(Editor's Note)

This time, we heard about the production of the original series "Kuro-chan's Love ~After All, It's Love~," which premiered on the video streaming service Paravi in March 2023.

We felt the immense potential for creators, honed through advertising communication production, to leverage their knowledge and experience on content production sets to create new forms of entertainment.

This interview was conducted in collaboration with 'CX Creative Studio note' ( For more on CX Creative Studio note, click here ). We are also working with Dentsu Digital Inc.'s CX Creative Team, not just the Dentsu CXCC team, to collect and introduce a wider range of case studies. If you're interested, please check that out as well.

If you have any requests for future topics or case studies, please send a message to the Monthly CX Editorial Department via the contact page below. Thank you for your continued readership.

Monthly CX Editorial Department
Dentsu Inc. CXCC: Koike, Oda, Takakusagi, Kanasaka, Okumura, Otani