Japanese entertainment company, Starto Entertainment, announced it is launching a vertical short-form drama brand called Esu Dora (S DRAMA or エスドラ). According to their X (formerly Twitter) post on February 23rd, 2026, the “esu” (or ‘s’) in the name refers to Starto Entertainment’s special short drama series, which can only be watched on its YouTube channel. These will be completely free episodes that can be viewed “anytime, anywhere.” A representative from Starto Entertainment confirmed there will be no geographic restrictions of the content on YouTube, allowing viewers to watch from any country that YouTube is available in.
Esu Dora (S DRAMA) will launch the first of four different series on April 1st at 5PM JST with Memory Acquirer (記憶買収人) starring Koichi Domoto as Chrono. Produced by Michihito Fujii and his production company Babel Label, the drama announced the guest stars for its three episodes, each featuring someone new from April to May. Described as a mystery thriller, Memory Acquirer sounds right in line with the previous work of series director, Gota Yonekura. He made his feature film debut with the 2025 high-tech thriller movie, Candlestick.
Memory Acquirer (記憶買収人) Guest Stars
- Episode 1: Taiki Shinozuka (timelesz)
- Episode 2: Junki Tozuka
- Episode 3: Shunsuke Daito
The next installment in the vertical drama line-up is a blend of horror and fantasy. Subete no Utsukushii Monster (すべての美しいモンスター), stars Shori Sato of timelesz and will launch in June. Following that, A.B.C-Z’s Ryosuke Hashimoto is set to play a prince in the love comedy, Koiseyo, Onzoshi (恋せよ、御曹司), premiering in July. Lastly, debuting in August, Chat Boy stars Ae! Group’s Yoshinori Masakado with label mate Travis Japan’s Noel Kawashima as his co-star.
Starto Entertainment launched in October 2023 to oversee the groups and individuals formerly under Johnny & Associates. The company originally rebranded as SMILE-UP, which later focused on compensating the victims of Johnny & Associates while Starto Entertainment would handle talent and other operations.
The decision to enter the vertical drama market, which comprises of vertical ratio bite-size episodes that last anywhere from a minute to a couple of minutes, is a step in a new direction and signals further departure from Johnny & Associates. Previously, online fans felt the company had a reputation of being strict with copyright over its content and talent’s likeness. When it launched a YouTube brand channel in 2018, longtime fans were finally able to react directly to official posts of their favorite group’s music videos and miscellaneous content.
While the drama series will go up on the official YouTube channel, there will be additional promotional content posted on the official X, TikTok, and Instagram accounts. The official LINE account will feature a sea otter mascot called Esu Dorakko (エスドラっこ).
Source: Sanspo, Official Esu Dora X Account, Official YouTube, Official TikTok, Official Instagram
