Starman ~ Kono Hoshi no Koi
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, July 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Hirosue Ryoko, Fukushi Sota, Koike Eiko, Arimura Kasumi, Ishii Masanori, Yamada Yuki, Honda Daisuke, Muramatsu Toshifumi, Moto Fuyuki, Kuroda Hiroyuki, Igarashi Hinata, Onishi Ryusei, Yoshiyuki Kazuko, Kunimura Jun
Synopsis: Uno Sawako (Hirosue Ryoko) is a strong-minded single mother of three boys. Her husband left because of her unrefined ways. One day, she happens to encounter a younger man (Fukushi Sota) who is on the brink of death. She instantly falls for him and saves him. However, he has lost his memory. So Sawako gives him the name Hoshio and decides to let him live together as the father of her children. This is the beginning a rather unusual pseudo family life … …
Website: -

Gekiryuu ~ Watashi o Oboeteimasuka?
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 25 June 2013
Station: NHK
Cast: Tanaka Rena, Kiritani Kenta, Tomosaka Rie, Kuninaka Ryoko, Yamamoto Koji
Synopsis: An email message from a girl who had gone missing on a school excursion 20 years ago leads five former classmates to meet again and get embroiled in a baffling incident: 35-year-old Misumi Keiko (Tanaka Rena), an editor who was suddenly laid off from the literary department of the publishing company where she works; Midobara Takako (Kuninaka Ryoko), once adored by guys when she was a junior high school student and now a housewife involved in sex for money; Akiyoshi Miya (Tomosaka Rie), a musician facing a setback; Higashihagi Koji (Kiritani Kenta) who has become a detective but is content with being a sergeant forever; and Sabajima Yutaka (Yamamoto Koji), a divorced bank employee.
Website: -

Shin Keishichou Sousa Ikka 9 Gakari Season 5
Date: From 9.00 p.m. Wednesdays, July 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Watase Tsunehiko, Inohara Yoshihiko, Hada Michiko, Nakagoshi Noriko, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Tsuda Kanji, Taguchi Hiromasa, Hara Sachie
Synopsis: -
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/9gakari

Shomuni 2013
Date: From 10.00 p.m. Wednesdays, July 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Esumi Makiko, Becky, Ando Sakura, Honda Tsubasa, Mori Kana, Horiuchi Keiko
Synopsis: 10 years ago, the General Affairs Section 2 aka Shomuni was the department where employees branded by the company as useless trash were banished. However, there were those who enjoyed life in the dimly-lit room of the section. Tsuboi Chinatsu (Esumi Makiko) and five other females. They did as they desired which ended up helping the company as a result. Then Shomuni was done away and Chinatsu was not heard of … … 10 years later, Japan has been in a long recession and corporate restructuring. Naturally, it is the same at Manpo Company too … … One day, Chinatsu suddenly returns to Manpo. Meanwhile, a new Shomuni is restored by the Human Resource Department.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/shomu2

Woman^*NEW*
Date: From 10.00 p.m. Wednesdays, July 2013
Station: NTV
Cast: Mitsushima Hikari, Suzuki Rio, Tanaka Yuko, Kobayashi Kaoru, Nikaido Fumi, Tanimura Mitsuki, Usuda Asami, Takahashi Issei
Synopsis: Aoyagi Koharu (Mitsushima Hikari) is one of some 1 million single mothers in Japan. Her husband died in a freak accident, lives bravely for the sake of their two beloved children Nozomi (Suzuki Rio) and Riku despite the family’s poverty. One day, she is reunited with her mother Uesugi Sachi (Tanaka Yuko) whom she last met 10 years ago. Sachi divorced her husband and abandoned Koharu for love after a chance reunion with Kentaro (Kobayashi Kaoru), the man she liked from way back. Now she learns that she has two grandchildren … …
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/201307sui-dra

Kyoto Chiken no Onna Season 9^*NEW*
Date: From 8.00 p.m. Thursdays, July 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Natori Yuko, Osugi Ren
Synopsis: -
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kyoto

Doctors Season 2 ~ Saikyo no Meii^*NEW*
Date: From 9.00 p.m. Thursdays, July 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Sawamura Ikki, Takashima Masanobu, Higa Manami, Ito Ran, Nogiwa Yoko
Synopsis: Surgeon Sagara Kosuke (Sawamura Ikki) changed the mentalities of the doctors and nurses at Dogami General Hospital with a mixture of severity and cajoling. Before that, the hospital appeared to be a hopeless case. All the director and administrator thought of was its finances while the doctors did not care about patients. But Sagara is not the typical medical hero who is a stifling, hot-blooded, good person. He would stop at nothing to improve the hospital for patients and adjust his strategies according to the challenges and parties involved … … Now the problem of the hospital’s next successor rapidly surfaces and intensifies the antagonism between Sagara and Moriyama Takashi (Takashima Masanobu).
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/doctors
Related: Doctors Season 1 ~ Saikyou no Meii

Pintokona
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, July 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Tamamori Yuta, Nakayama Yuma, Kawashima Umika, Matsumura Hokuto, Jesse, Yoshikura Aoi, Yamamoto Koji, Takashima Masahiro (guest star), Maeda Nori, Enoki Takaaki, Enami Kyoko, Kishitani Goro
Synopsis: High school student Kawamura Kyonosuke (Tamamori Yuta) is the handsome son of the prominent kabuki family, the Kajimaya, and should have taken over the world of kabuki. But while Kyonosuke is very popular with fans, he lacks the all-important motivation and even cuts corners on stage. His rival Sawayama Ichiya (Nakayama Yuma) was born in a family outside kabuki but set his sights on rising to great heights and works hard to become a popular actor. Kyonosuke starts to change his mind when he makes the acquaintance of fellow schoolmate Chiba Ayame (Kawashima Umika) who has a genuine love for kabuki. However, he soon finds Ichiya competing for Ayame’s affections too.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/pintokona

Oh, My Dad!^*UPDATED*
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, July 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Oda Yuji, Maeda Atsuko, Narimiya Hiroki, Tanaka Kanau
Synopsis: 42-year-old scientist Shinkai Genichi (Oda Yuji) was once in the international spotlight during his student days. Unable to forget that period of glory, he focused on research and neglected the family but kept meeting setbacks. Now his wife has run off, he is also unemployed, has no money for rent, and even loses the house. All he has left is their 5-year-old son Kota (Tanaka Kanau). But the simple Genichi continues to pursue his dream as he raises Kota.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/1307_thu10

Machiisha Jumbo
Date: From 11.58 p.m. Thursdays, 4 July 2013
Station: NTV
Cast: Maki Daisuke, Kutsuna Shiori, Yoshida Yo, Fueki Yoko, Omi Toshinori
Synopsis: Baba Kohei, director of the local clinic Baba Hospital in a small port town, suddenly dies and his daughter Asuka (Kutsuna Shiori), a nurse of one year, searches around for his successor. Then Tsuruta Masayoshi (Maki Daisuke) suddenly shows up. He used to work with her father at Baba Hospital but left the town because of some trouble 12 years ago. Now he is here with Baba’s IOU for the 100 million yen he loaned and assumes the position of clinic director on this pretext. Asuka, who adored Tsuruta in the past, is shocked by the complete change in his behaviour now that they are reunited after 12 years as well as resents his high-handedness. Although he clashes with her and the townspeople, Asuka gradually sees with her own eyes that he is a genuine doctor who not only considers a patient’s position more than anyone else, but also diagnoses and treats illnesses that other doctors have a hard time detecting.
Website: www.ytv.co.jp/machiisha

Akuryo Byoto
Date: From 12.58 a.m., Fridays, July 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Kaho
Synopsis: Ogami Runa (Kaho), a nurse with the ability to sense the paranormal since young, has been working at Kumakwa Hospital on the edge of town. Bizarre phenomenon keep happening to the nurses and patients around her. She finds herself in a corner when suspected as the cause of this disaster.
Website: -

Yoidore Kotoji
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Fridays, 21 June 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Takenaka Naoto, Higa Manami, Kamiji Yusuke, Tsugawa Masahiko, Honda Hirotaro
Synopsis: Akame Kotoji (Takenaka Naoto), who made the acquaintance of the paper merchant (Tsugawa Masahiko) through the uproar over the stolen lances, settles down at a tenement house in Edo that he owns with the intention of spending the rest of his days quietly. However, because of the incident over the lances, Tajiri Tojiro (Honda Hirotaro) the chief vassal of the Mitsushima family, one of the domains that fell victim to Akame, hates Akame and is bent on revenge. A wandering samurai Sudo Heihachiro is sent in as the assassin. Believing Tajiri’s words that he will be employed as the Mitsushima domain’s fencing instructor if he defeats Akame, Sudo carries an infant to attack Akame. At the end of the fierce fight, Akame beats Sudo but does not know what to do with the infant left behind. He is helped by the residents of at the tenement houses. Another person who supports the dispirited Akame is Oryo, a lady-in-waiting at the mansion of the Mizushima family which is a vassal to the shogun. Oryo, who intends to gain her own independence as a poet, and Akame gradually become close. While Akame deals with love and child rearing for the first time in his life, he begins to find meaning in life … …
Website: -
Related: Oyari Haishaku ~ Yoidore Kotoji Tomegaki

Keibuho Yabe Kenzo Season 2^*NEW*
Date: From 11.15 p.m. Fridays, July 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Namase Katsuhisa, Ikeda Tetsuhiro, Kyo Nobuo, Hatakeyama Rina, Owada Shinya, Aijima Kazuyuki, Satoi Kenta
Synopsis: -
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/yabe
Related: Keibuho Yabe Kenzo Season 2

Limit
Date: From 12.12 a.m., Saturdays, July 2013
Station: TV Tokyo
Cast: Sakuraba Nanami, Tsuchiya Tao, Kudo Ayano, Yamashita Rio　
Synopsis: Second-year high school student Konno Mizuki (Sakuraba Nanami) belongs to the main clique in her class. One day, while the class sets off for a camp, the bus they are riding in plunges off a cliff in the mountains. Only five students including Mizuki survive the accident but are stranded at the bottom of the cliff and no one comes to the rescue. Raw emotions come to the fore in the face of this extreme situation. The five scatter instead of sticking together to survive.
Website: www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/limit

Saito-san Season 2
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, July 2013
Station: NTV
Cast: Mizuki Arisa
Synopsis: The righteous Saito Masako (Mizuki Arisa) boldly confronted those who ignored the rules of society regardless of who they were when her son Junichi was in kindergarten. Now Junichi is a fourth-grade elementary school student and the Saitos live in a new neighbourhood.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/saito-san2

Nanatsu no Kaigi
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 13 July 2013
Station: NHK
Cast: Higashiyama Noriyuki, Ishibashi Ryo, Yoshida Kotaro, Mashima Hidekazu, Yamazaki Shigenori, Horibe Keisuke, Nomaguci Toru, Ryu Raita, Toda Naho, Yajima Kenichi, Nukumizu Yoichi, Komoto Masahiro, Murakawa Eri, Yui Ryoko, Nagatsuka Kyozo
Synopsis: An ordinary, mild-mannered sales department manager Harashima Manji (Higashiyama Noriyuki) of a small-medium enterprise which is a subcontractor to a major electronics manufacturer, arrives at the shocking truth behind a recall made by his predecessor after a harassment incident and baffling personnel change. He blows the whistle on the recall despite conflict and finds himself battling evil.
Website: -

Meoto Zenzai
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 24 August 2013
Station: NHK
Cast: Moriyama Mirai, Ono Machiko, Hino Shohei, Negishi Toshie, Aoki Munetaka, Tabata Tomoko, Daito Shunsuke, Sato Eriko, Hirata Mitsuru, Kusakari Masao, Aso Yumi, Kishibe Ittoku
Synopsis: Choko (Ono Machiko), the daughter of Tanekichi (Hino Shohei), a poor tempura shop owner who is hounded by bill collectors everyday, and his wife Otatsu (Negishi Toshie), is a spirited young woman who hates poverty. Going against her parents objections, she enters a teahouse as domestic help. Before long, she and her colleague Kinpachi (Sato Eriko) overcome a harsh life of obscurity. Choko is a hit at parties and becomes a popular geisha. Then she meets Ryukichi (Moriyama Mirai). Choko falls in love with him and this is the start of the vicissitudes of her life. Ryukichi’s habitual dissipation earns him scorn as well as disgust, and his crusty father Hanbei (Kishibe Ittoku), the owner of the cosmetics wholesaler ‘Koreyasu’, disowns him. Ryukichi entices Choko and elopes with her. Choko abandons the path of a geisha, prepared to live for love. The two of them have no place or livelihood but Choko is happy, thinking that she will make a man of him but … …
Website: -

Double Tone ~ Futari no Yumi
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Saturdays, 29 June 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Nakagoshi Noriko, Kurotani Tomoka, Yoshizawa Hisashi, Tomochika, Shimada Kyusaku, Moro Morooka
Synopsis: A single career woman Nakano Yumi (Nakagoshi Noriko) and a housewife Tamura Yumi (Kurotani Tomoka), who are completely unrelated, see each other every night in their dreams and realise that they are sharing their memories. Before long, their destinies start to become intertwined. Startling situations occur in quick succession, and they are seized with a fear beyond words.
Website: -

Hanzawa Naoki
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 7 July 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Sakai Masato, Kagawa Teruyuki, Ueto Aya, Oikawa Mitsuhiro, Kataoka Ainosuke, Takito Kenichi, Yamazaki Naoko, Nakajima Yuto, Miyakawa Ichirota, Morita Junpei, Hida Yasuhito, Ukaji Takashi, Danmitsu, Akai Hidekazu, Ishimaru Kanji, Kitaoji Kinya (guest star)
Synopsis: The unconventional Hanzawa Naoki (Sakai Masato) joined Tokyo Chuo Bank during the heady bubble era. It was said that if one entered a bank, he would be set for life and bank employees were the elite. The head of the Loans Division of the Osaka Nishi branch, Hanzawa is half-forced to follow the instructions of branch manager Asano and completes a 500 million yen financing agreement with Nishi Osaka Steel. Furthermore, it is an unsecured loan. However, the seemingly healthy company instead has an enormous debt. It is discovered that the accounts were rigged to hide this. Three months after the loan, Nishi Osaka Steel abruptly goes belly up. As a result, Hanzawa and the others are cheated of 500 million yen. Obsessed with advancing his career, Asano schemes to pin all the blame on Hanzawa. However, Hanzawa, who has been summoned to the head office for an internal probe regarding the fiasco, rejects this outright and vows to recover the 500 million yen. This is because it is the only way for him to survive as a banker … …
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/hanzawa_naoki

Castella
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, July 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Endo Kenichi, Nishida Naomi, Oyagi Kaito, Imai Masayuki, Kaneko Ken, Sasaki Sumie
Synopsis: In Nagasaki in the 1950s, fortunes suddenly change for the wealthy Sano family which is a timber merchant. With its business on the rocks, the family moves from their luxurious mansion to a tenement house. Masashi (Oyagi Kaito), a fifth grade elementary school student, worries that he may have to give up his favourite violin which he has been learning to play. However, his father Masato (Endo Kenichi), mother Kiyoko and grandmother En stay positive. Masashi learns from the hardiness of the adults and strives towards the path of music while surrounded by the love of his family.
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/nagasaki/casteilla

Furueru Ushi
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 16 June 2013
Station: WOWOW
Cast: Mikami Hiroshi, Fukuishi Kazue, Kobayashi Kaoru, Hirayama Hiroyuki, Kimura Fumino, Nukumizu Yoichi, Endo Kaname, Tanaka Kotaro, Shiraishi Miho, Ryu Raita, Onodera Akira, Sano Shiro, Furuta Arata
Synopsis: Tagawa Shinichi (Mikami Hiroshi) of the Unsolved Cases Unit of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigative Division has doubts about the unsolved robbery-murder at the pub in front of Nakano Station 5 years ago, and starts investigating. A masked man robbed staff of money and killed a vet and a person related to the underworld. The criminal profile during the initial investigation was that of a foreigner after money. The victims were not acquainted. Each of them was waiting alone for their partners. Repeated inquiries leads Tagawa to a meat processing company called Meat Box. Furthermore, right after the case, there was an intruder in the house of the murdered vet and it is discovered that two computers were stolen. Was the criminal’s target not money but the murder of the two men? As the investigation progresses, Tagawa is reunited with Tsuruta Masumi (Fukuishi Kazue), a reporter of a news site. She is also investigating Meat Box, which is notorious for its influence behind the scenes, for food product mis-labelling.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/furueruushi

Pan to Soup to Nekobiyori
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 21 July 2013
Station: WOWOW
Cast: Kobayashi Satomi, Kana, Motai Masako, Mitsuishi Ken, Shiomi Sansei, Minami, Ichikawa Miwako, Kase Ryo, Kishi Keiko 　　
Synopsis: Akiko (Kobayashi Satomi), who has always lived with her mother, decides to take over the cafeteria her mother had run following her mother’s sudden death and an unreasonable internal transfer at the publishing company where she works. Akiko remodels the cafeteria to her tastes. The new place is a small shop with a simple menu of bread and soup. There is just her and a helper Shima-chan (Kana). One day, a cat appears and starts living with Akiko. Then there are the people of the local shopping district who joyfully take care of her … …
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/pantosoup

Anata ni Nita Dareka
Date: August 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Osugi Ren, Motokariya Yuika, Enami Kyoko, Sasano Takashi, Yamamoto Koji, Nakagoshi Noriko, Cunning Takeyama, Yamamoto Gaku, Takuma Takayuki, Okunuki Kaoru, Tokunaga Eri, Izumi Pinko
Synopsis: -
Website: -

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Date: From 9.00 p.m., 18 May 2013
Cast: Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Minami Kaho, Ashina Sei, Hiraoka Yuta, Satoi Kenta, Saito Takumi, Osugi Ren, Enami Kyoko, Konno Mahiru, Nakamaru Shinsho
Synopsis: A man is released from Shiga Chuo Prison. His name is Takuma Yoshito (Kusanagi Tsuyoshi). 10 years ago he was arrested and prosecuted for attempted murder. He received a 15-year prison sentence, but the comatose victim suddenly woke up and gave a statement that Takuma was not the attacker. It is proven that he was wrongfully convicted and he gets out of prison with his name cleared. Takakura Kiichiro (Osugi Ren), the assistant commissioner of the Kyoto Prefetural Police appears before Takuma. He reinstates Takuma, who had been with the Kyoto Prefetural Police’s Public Relations Department at the time of the incident, to the police force, in the Special Investigation Section he has created. It is an office which requires little work despite its grand name. In truth, Takuma is a specialist who understands criminal psychology. All information regarding the criminals serving time including modus operandi, techniques used, reasons for turning to crime as well as psychological tendencies are imprinted in his memory. He is, so to speak, a person savvy in crime. Takuma is partnered with Anegakoji Chinami (Minami Kaho), a middle-aged female detective formerly of the First Investigative Division. Chinami is the hot-blooded type who stands by victims and hates criminals, the total opposite of Takuma. She came to the Special Investigation Section under the impression that she would be able to have more freedom in criminal investigations but is shocked by the reality. Furthermore, she is constantly irritated by Takuma’s peculiarities. The other members of the team are Matsubara Yuiko (Ashina Sei) of the Second Investigative Division, Horikawa Kohei (Hiraoka Yuta) of the Security Division and Inokuma Sachio (Satoi Kenta) of the Crime Lab. At that moment, Chinami brings four unsolved murder cases at the First Investigative Division to the Special Investigation Section. The murders appear to be completely unrelated but Takuma discovers a law … …
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/specialist

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Official Website
www.ktv.jp/kasuka

Broadcast
Tuesdays, 10.00 – 10.54 p.m. from 9 April 2013

Station
Fuji TV

Story
Kamiyama Akira is posted to Ohara Minami Junior High School and moves into the same apartment building as one of his colleagues. However, there is a problem with Akira’s new home. It is haunted by a ghost. According to school rumours, the ghost was a former teacher who worked at their school. She did not get along well with her students, had mental problems and died in school. Akira does not bat an eye at this story. That night, a female ghost appears in front of Akira. However, he remains cool and drives off the ghost. In fact, Akira is able to see and talk to ghosts. That attracts ghosts longing for human company and annoys him. However, this ghost named Akane, a ghost bound to the apartment, brazenly appears before him in an attempt to get his attention. On the other hand, Aida Takuto, a student in Akira’s form class, Class 3/2, has not been attending school. Akira hears from assistant form teacher Kawai Chiho that after Takuto has had a tendency of being absent from school after his grandfather’s death. However, Akira has no interest in getting deeply involved in students’ problems. When Akira returns home, Akane has brought her friends Yoshioka and Megumi. From their conversation, Akira learns that Akane was a teacher in her lifetime. At that moment, he is notified that Takuto is in police custody because of shoplifting. He tries to talk to Takuto’s mother but she excuses herself because of work. The next day when Akira and Chiho report to the new vice principal Kirisawa Izumi, she announces that she will personally take charge of this issue. Her words about not being able to entrust this to a teacher who cannot face students, strikes close to his heart. When Akira gets home, Akane wrecks havoc trying to go out. She is worried that Takuto will take the wrong path. Akira scoffs and informs her that a teacher will only stand to lose … …

Characters
Katori Shingo as Kamiyama Akira
A social studies teacher at Ohara Minami Junior High School and form teacher of Class 3/2. He has been teaching for 12 years but a past problem has led him to avoid becoming deeply involved in the personal problems of students and the school, and to maintain a certain distance. A quiet and cool-headed person with the ability to sense the supernatural which have lost their way. He hates ghosts. They are gloomy, melancholy, selfish, appear in photos that hold pleasant memories and stay in people’s houses even though they do not pay rent. He thinks the world must not let ghosts get carried away. They should brush them off or sprinkle salt. But one day he encounters a ghost called Akane who lives in the apartment he moves into when he takes his posting. At first, he is indifferent to her, but slowly opens his heart to Akane who is more human than the other ghosts he has interacted with so far.

Anne as Akane
A ghost who lives in Kamiyama Akira’s apartment 304. She died at the age of 25 and was a teacher in her lifetime. Besides that, she has completely forgotten how and when she died. She is usually dressed in white and hides her face with her hair but is actually a rather pretty. Because she remembers being a teacher, she has the convictions of an educator but frequently quarrels with Akira because their way of thinking is on opposite extremes. However, she gives him advice and gradually has an influence on him.

Maeda Atsuko as Kawai Chiho
A Japanese language teacher at Ohara Minami Junior High School and form teacher of Class 3/2. Ohara Minami Junior High School’s most popular teacher. She is an ideal teacher who devote herself wholeheartedly to the work she is assigned and will even give advice on student problems. But this is actually a front because she has no ideals about her profession. She feels sympathy for Kamiyama Akira who indicates that he has no intention to get deeply involved in the students.

Sato Jiro as Yoshioka-san
A middle-aged, friendly wandering ghost who loiters around the neighbourhood of Ohara Minami Junior High School. Akane’s only friend. It appears that he died in a traffic accident a long time ago. He seems to have influence in ghostly relationships in the neighbourhood and gives all sorts of spiritual advice.

Takashima Masahiro as Iwana Seiji
A physical education teacher at Ohara Minami Junior High School and form teacher of Class 3/3. A teacher who is regarded by students and parents as a person to watch out for because of his willingness of mete punishment if it is necessary. However, he believes it is a teacher’s duty to scold for bad things and he is consistent in his stance. He is the odd one out even in the staff room. Young teachers and a portion of female students keep their distance from him as much as they can.

Maya Miki as Kirisawa Izumi
Ohara Minami Junior High School’s vice principal. She looks down on the unreliable principal and virtually runs the whole school. Because of her experience working as a lawyer, she was posted to the school as a civilian vice principal. She puts all her energy into recent problems of bullying and relationships with parents. “Never interfere in students’ family matters”, “Do the best to settle trouble with parents in a short time” come first. Once trouble occurs, she will swiftly conclude the matter in a business-like manner.

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Shin Keishichou Sousa Ikka 9-Gakari Season 5
Date: Wednesdays, 9.00 p.m. July 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Watase Tsunehiko, Inohara Yoshihiko

Shomuni
Date: Wednesdays, 10.00 p.m. July 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Esumi Makiko

Kyoto Chiken no Onna Season 8
Date: Thursdays, 8.00 p.m. July 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Natori Yuko, Osugi Ren

TBA
Date: Fridays, 10.00 p.m. July 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Kanno Miho

TBA
Date: Sundays, 9.00 p.m. July 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Sakai Masato

Galileo Season 2^*UPDATED*
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Mondays, 15 April 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Fukuyama Masaharu, Yoshitaka Yuriko, Sawabe Yu, Kitamura Kazuki, Watanabe Ikkei, Shibasaki Kou (guest star), Yoshikura Aoi, Onozuka Hayato, Tamoto Soran, Imai Takafumi, Aizawa Rina, Osawa Takao (guest star), Kawaguchi Haruna (guest star), Miyamoto Taisei (guest star), Hizuki Hana (guest star), Oshima Yuko (guest star), Tanabe Seiichi (guest star), Kiritani Mirei (guest star), Kiritani Kenta (guest star), Natsukawa Yui (guest star)
Synopsis: Genius Teito University physicist Yukawa Manabu (Fukuyama Masaharu) is good looking, excels at sports and has a brilliant mind but dislikes children and is an argumentative person whom the people around him call “eccentric Galileo”. Yukawa’s capable new partner, detective Kishitani Misa (Yoshitaka Yuriko) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigative Division, has a strong personality and commanding attitude.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/galileo
Related: Galileo Season 1

Houkago Groove
Date: From 12.20 a.m., Tuesdays, 23 April 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Takanashi Rin, Yo Kimiko, Okayama Amane, Shimizu Hiroya, Kusano Ini, Dennis, Hagiwara Minori, Uehara Miku, Koizumi Aoi, Owada Shinya
Synopsis: Kiryu Makoto (Takanashi Rin) is a young junior high school teacher in charge of physical education. She joined a bike gang and dropped out in her second year of high school. But after that, she straightened herself out. She went on to university from part-time high school and became a teacher. Her philosophy is that if a teacher (adult) is taken for granted, everything is over. Armed with her outstanding athletic ability, she mentors students. However, the compulsory course she ends up teaching is dance which is the only thing she dreads. She makes every effort so that this secret will not be exposed to her students, but … …
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/groove_neo

Kamo, Kyoto e Iku ~ Shinise Ryokan no Okami Nikki
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 9 April 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Matsushita Nao, Shiina Kippei, Wakamura Mayumi, Horiuchi Keiko, Daito Shunsuke, Takasugi Ko, Koyanagi Yu, Maruyama Tomomi, Kusumi Kaoru, Okamoto Azusa, Sano Gaku, Sayako, Yagi Nanaka, Sasano Takashi, Ibu Masato, Ichige Yoshie, Matsudaira Ken (guest star), Katase Rino
Synopsis: Ueba Kamo (Matsushita Nao), a graduate of Tokyo University and career bureaucrat at the Ministry of Finance, is a “super” elite. She abhors the fact that her odd name originates from Kamogawa River. The sudden death of her mother who had been the proprietress of the famous Kyoto ryokan Uebaya suddenly transforms her into the new proprietress and she comes under pressure to run the ryokan. Furthermore, it is mired in debt. Although it irks Kamo that she has to let go of the freedom and success she has worked so hard for and take over the family business, she believes that with her brains, a makeover of the ryokan is a simple matter. She gets busy with the business of being a proprietress which she knows nothing about. The reputation of the ryokan that her mother built, plunges sharply. Furthermore, its employees hate her. Even so, she persists and tides through it with her inflated sense of self and energy. At that moment, Kinugawa Shuhei (Shiina Kippei) from a foreign consultancy appears. This rather devious, shrewd Kyoto native has idiosyncrasies but is impossible to hate. While they claw at each other’s throats, cheat and sabotage each other, an odd friendship is gradually formed and they face the challenge of rebuilding the ryokan together.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/kamokyo

Kasukana Kanojo
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 9 April 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Katori Shingo, Anne, Maeda Atsuko, Kitayama Hiromitsu, Morimoto Shintaro, Jinguji Yuta, Iwahashi Genki, Takashima Masahiro, Maya Miki
Synopsis: Kamiyama Akira (Katori Shingo) is a quiet and cool-headed junior high school mathematics teacher with the ability to sense the supernatural which have lost their way. He hates ghosts. They are gloomy, melancholy, selfish, appear in photos that hold pleasant memories and stay in people’s houses even though they do not pay rent. He thinks the world must not let ghosts get carried away. They should brush them off or sprinkle salt. But one day, he encounters a strange ghost. A female ghost called Akane (Anne) who is clumsy, meddlesome and does not know how to swim with the tide. Kamiyama has no interest in his profession. But his encounter with Akane leads him to develop a passion for teaching and tackle problems like bullying which occur in school.
Website: www.ktv.jp/kasuka

Daini Gakushou
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 16 April 2013
Station: NHK
Cast: Hada Michiko, Itaya Yuka, Tanihara Shosuke, Tanaka Kei, Kadowaki Mugi, Kuze Seika, Kubota Maki, Ogo Suzuka, Arai Moe, Shirakawa Yumi, Kushida Kazuyoshi
Synopsis: Shirase Mari (Hada Michiko) and Endo Natsumi (Itaya Yuka) were violinists in an orchestra. They pursued their dreams together and had a friendly rivalry. Then Natsumi’s pregnancy put her out of action. She married Endo Kazuto (Tanihara Shosuke) and built a happy family. Kazuto was a cellist in the same orchestra but retired from the orchestra with Natsumi and has been working at a travel company. On the other hand, Mari won the position of soloist and is now shining on stage as the orchestra’s concert master. The two of them were out of contact for 17 years but meet again by coincidence. They are each envious of the other’s circumstances. Mari’s feelings for Natsumi’s husband are rekindled while Natsumi is envious of Mari’s success and glory. Kazuto’s feelings for the orchestra and Mari are reawakened because of the reunion between the two women.
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/drama10/dainigakushou

Iryu Sousa Season 3
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 17 April 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Kamikawa Takaya, Saito Yuki, Yashima Norito, Okada Yoshinori, Masana Bokuzo, Mashima Hidekazu, Namioka Kazuki, Komoto Masahiro, Nishimura Masahiko, Miyake Yuji
Synopsis: -
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/iryu
Related: Iryu Sousa Season 2

Kazoku Game
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 17 April 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Sakurai Sho, Kamiki Ryunosuke, Kutsuna Shiori, Uragami Seishu, Itao Itsuji, Suzuki Honami
Synopsis: Yoshimoto Koya (Sakurai Sho) is a weird, mysterious and unconventional home tutor who is sent to the Numata family in order to improve the grades of their second son Shigeyuki (Uragami Seishu), a junior high school student who refuses to go to school after moving up to the third year and stays at home. Labelled a dropout in comparison to his outstanding older brother Shinichi (Kamiki Ryunosuke), a second year high school student who excels at both studies and sports, Shigeyuki can barely advance to high school and is even bullied. He is a problem child. Successive home tutors that his parents (Itao Itsuji, Suzuki Honami) found gave up on him. What Yoshimoto, his sixth tutor, teaches is more than studies. This scary, inscrutable home tutor has a big influence not only on the second son but the whole dysfunctional family, and gradually transforms them.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/kazoku-game

Kumo no Kaidan
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 17 April 2013
Station: NTV
Cast: Hasegawa Hiroki, Inamori Izumi, Kimura Fumino, Hagiwara Masato, Aoyagi Sho, Yuki Mio, Hankai Kazuaki, Kimura Midoriko, Kaga Mariko, Takigawa Yumi, Otomo Kohei, Naito Takashi
Synopsis: On an underpopulated island on the Izu chain of islands, Aikawa Saburo (Hasegawa Hiroki) a clerk at a clinic troubled by a shortage of doctors, is invited by the clinic’s director to try his hand at operating on a patient with appendicitis under his supervision. While Aikawa knows that it is illegal to do so without a doctor’s license, he makes remarkable progress in learning various medical treatments because of his manual dexterity, earnestness and quick wit. The even islanders start calling him “young doctor”. Despite his discomfort, he tells himself that it is okay if it does not get out of the island and as long as he can help people. Suzuki Akiko (Inamori Izumi), the nurse at the clinic loves Aikawa and is determined to support him. But an encounter with Tasaka Akiko (Kimura Fumino), the daughter a Tokyo hospital director (Naito Takashi) changes their destinies. Aikawa wavers between the two Akikos.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/kumonokaidan

Meshibana Keiji Tachibana
Date: From 11.58 p.m., Wednesdays, 10 April 2013
Station: TV Tokyo
Cast: Sato Jiro, Suzuki Mirai, Nukumizu Yoichi, Umegaki Yoshiaki
Synopsis: Tachibana (Sato Jiro), a middle-aged detective of Josai Police Precinct, displays an unbelievably profound knowledge and experience of Japanese B-gourmet like stand-up soba, packet ramen and beef bowl.
Website: www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/official/meshibana

Keiji 110 kg
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Thursdays, 25 April 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Ishizuka Hidehiko, Nakamura Shunsuke, Hoshino Mari, Ishimaru Kenjiro, Jinnai Sho, Inoue Waka, Takeshita Keiko (guest star), Takahata Atsuko
Synopsis: Hanazawa Taro (Ishizuka Hidehiko) is a policeman at one of the police boxes in Kyoto City. He gives directions to tourists without being asked, picks up “lost children” even though they are not crying, forcibly carry the small packages of the elderly. At a glance, he appears to be a meddlesome patrol officer. But how does he know tourists have lost their way, perceive that children have strayed or sense that the packages of old people are heavy? Behind this is a keen insight and people-watching skills that detects the kind of difficulties someone is in. This talent is discovered by Nishikori Reiko (Takahata Atsuko), the first female chief of Kyoto Prefectural Police’s First Investigative Division, and Hanazawa is suddenly transformed from a rookie police officer at a police box to a detective to the chief of the First Investigative Division.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/110kg

Doubles ~ Futari no Keiji
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, 18 April 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Ito Hideaki, Sakaguchi Kenji, Natsuna, Uchida Yuki, Kondo Yoshimasa, Muroi Shigeru, Sugimoto Tetta, Hiraizumi Sei, Hashizume Isao, Yamaguchi Daichi, Hayashi Tantan, Hasegawa Tomoharu, Horibe Keisuke, Isaka Shunya, Kazami Shingo
Synopsis: Shinjuku Central Police Precinct is said to be the country’s busiest and toughest due to the frequency of a wide variety of violent crimes including murders, robberies, rapes, abductions, hostage-takings in the jurisdiction. In order to deal with the crimes, a new Special Investigations Team has been set up under Shinjuku Central Police Precinct’s Criminal Affairs Division. It is a unit which has assembled the best detectives within the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. However, the team is called “Zero Section” because it was formed with the help of the police chief whose favourite phrase is “Reexamine everything from ground zero.” On the other hand, there are also rumours that it was only created so the police chief can show the outside world that the police is making an effort. Therefore, the expectations are zero … … Detectives Yamashita Shunsuke (Ito Hideaki) and Tashiro Keiichi (Sakaguchi Kenji) are assigned to the Special Investigations Team. Yamashita is initially pleased with the words “the best and brightest”, but feels conflicted when he hears the reality that every precinct had refused to let go of their outstanding people. Yamashita and Tashiro have opposing opinions on many things but they are united in their belief in justice. While they may argue, they eventually cooperate and take on difficult cases.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/doubles

Sennyuu Tantei Tokage
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, 18 April 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Matsuda Shota, Matsuoka Masahiro, Renbutsu Misako, Mimura, Yamamoto Ryosuke, Kimijima Asaya, Kimino Yuma, Mitsuishi Ken, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Endo Kennichi, Ito Shiro
Synopsis: Tokage (Matsuda Shota), a former Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department First Investigative Division detective, is uncooperative and does not trust others. He is shunned by the people around him, but is recognised for the number of difficult cases he has cracked with his extraordinary photographic memory and devastating physical ability. However, he made a fatal error in one case and his only partner lost his life. Although he miraculously survived, he took responsibility and resigned from his post as detective. He has been working as an investigator at a detective agency but due to the pressure from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department which wants to increase its arrest rate for crimes, he ends up returning to investigation as an undercover investigator for unsolved cases. Tokage is assisted by the tough and cute Mochizuki Kaori (Renbutsu Misako). Brought up as the daughter of a high-class family, entered the detective agency for a reason and has been training under Tokage but her toughness means that she often rescues Tokage. With Kaori’s help, Tokage identifies criminals with his astounding memory. On the other hand, Tokage’s rival is First Investigative Division detective Terajima Shuji (Matsuoka Masahiro) who is the complete opposite of Tokage. A kind-hearted, popular person, he has a strong sense of rivalry with Tokage due to the loss of a trusted superior in the past because of Tokage.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/tantei_tokage

Last Cinderella
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, 11 April 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Shinohara Ryoko, Miura Haruma, Otsuka Nene, Iijima Naoko, Nanao, Hashimoto Satoshi, NAOTO, Takizawa Saori, Hirata Kaoru, Nogawa Yumiko, Fujiki Naohito, Endo Shozo, Yamamoto Yusuke (guest star), Maeda Beverly (guest star)
Synopsis: 39-year-old Toyama Sakura (Shinohara Ryoko), a stylist and assistant manager of a salon, is very devoted to her work. However, she is indifferent to fashion and has no sexual charms. She has not had a boyfriend or sex in 10 years and is scared of love. Because of a hormone imbalance, she sees one, two strands of beard growing when she looks at the mirror one day. Realising that she is turning masculine, she sets her mind on becoming a woman in love. Saeki Hiroto (Miura Haruma) is a handsome, young BMX rider who meets Sakura at a party and gets attracted to her. Then, there is Tachibana Rintaro (Fujiki Naohito) with whom Sakura can talk about anything and whose relationship transcends the bounds of gender.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/Last_Cinderella

Detarame Hero
Date: From 11.58 p.m., Thursdays, 4 April 2013
Station: NTV
Cast: Sato Ryuta, Tsukamoto Takashi, Motokariya Yuika, Hara Mikie, Akimoto Rei, Kohinata Fumiyo
Synopsis: Good-for-nothing lowlife Kuzumi Kenta (Sato Ryuta) does not have a steady job, hates trouble, pesters women for money and leads a life of indifference. One day, he learns that his elder sister, who is his only immediate family but has been out of touch for more than 10 years, died in a traffic accident. She was a single mother and left behind a son Daichi, a third grade elementary school student. Daichi is all alone in this world but Kenta adopts Daichi for the insurance money. However, contrary to what he thinks, there is almost no cash left after the accident that his sister caused is compensated. He grudgingly brings Daichi home. When he tastes one of the strange sugar drops that Daichi has through an unexpected turn of events, he notices that he gains superhuman physical ability and heightened senses for just 10 minutes. Learning about this, Kenta’s good friend Tanba Shuji (Tsukamoto Takashi), who is a police officer, forcibly turns him into a “hero” kitted out in tights and goggles, and makes him solve cases in order to perform feats of his own. On the other hand, Kenta schemes to make money with the mysterious drops but … …
Website: www.ytv.co.jp/hero

Tsuma wa, Kunoichi
Date: From 8.00 p.m. Fridays, 5 April 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Ichikawa Somegoro, Takimoto Miori, Wakamura Mayumi, Horibe Keisuke, Wada Soko
Synopsis: It is the late Edo period. Futaboshi Hikoma (Ichikawa Somegoro), the Hirado domain’s astronomer, is an eccentric who likes stargazing more than eating. A beautiful bride, Orie (Takimoto Miori), comes to him through an introduction by his superior. Hikoma vows to himself to cherish her in his lifetime, but his new wife disappears in less than a month. In truth, Orie is a female ninja that the shogunate has sent because of its suspicions about the domain’s illegal trading and activities. Not knowing this, Hikoma goes to Edo in search of his wife. Although Hikoma and Orie are drawn to each other, they are not allowed to meet … …
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/jidaigeki/kunoichi

Ooka Echizen
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Fridays, 30 March 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Higashiyama Noriyuki, Katsumura Masanobu, Kuninaka Ryoko, Hira Takehiro, Terajima Susumu, Harada Natsuki, Emoto Tokio, Matsubara Chieko, Kato Takeshi, Tsugawa Masahiko
Synopsis: Ooka Echizen (Higashiyama Noriyuki) was an Edo magistrate who supported the Kyoho Reforms advanced by the eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune (Hira Takehiro). Other than administrating the the town of Edo, Ooka also had a seat on the judicial council, managed local government affairs as well as temples and shrines. He punished evil that brought suffering to the common people, making judicial decisions with humanity and fairness that came to be known as “Ooka Sabaki”.
Website: -

Take Five ~ Oretachi wa Ai o Nusumeru ka
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, 19 April 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Karasawa Toshiaki, Matsuyuki Yasuko, Matsuzaka Tori, Rokkaku Seiji, Irie Jingi, Chiba Yudai, Eda Yuka, Fukuda Ayano, Eda Yuka, Abe Shinnosuke, Suruga Taro, Denden, JUJU, Baisho Mitsuko, Inagaki Goro, Kuroki Meisa (guest star), Yuzuki Reon, Ouki Kaname, Ryu Masaki, Kurenai Yuzuru, Asumi Rio, Matsumura Hokuto, Shiga Kotaro (guest star)
Synopsis: Homura Masayoshi (Karasawa Toshiaki) is a psychology professor at one of the universities in Tokyo. He is extremely popular among students for his witty speeches at his lectures on love psychology. However, there is another side of Homura which no one knows. He and his father were actually members of Take Five, once called the greatest gang of theives in history, which hit on bad fellows for large sums of money. But 20 years ago, an incident led the members to wind up Take Five and retire. Then one day, Homura finds a suspicious-looking brown envelope on his desk after a lecture. It contains a photograph of Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous portrait of Lucrezia Borgia. A homeless lady (Baisho Mitsuko) is staring at him when he glances out of the window. Sensing that she is the owner of the envelope, Homura calls out to her. She says the painting in the photograph is in a secure facility of Tohto Bank. Moreover, she behaves as if she knows that he is a robber. This incident leads to the regrouping of Take Five (Karasawa Toshiaki, Inagaki Goro, Matsuzaka Tori, Rokkaku Seiji) and the addition of a new member, Hioka Tamotsu (Irie Jingi) … …
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/TAKE-FIVE

Otenki Oneesan
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Fridays, 12 April 2013
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Takei Emi, Okura Tadayoshi, Sasaki Nozomi, Fueki Yuko, Maruyama Tomomi, Danmitsu, Naito Risa, Nomura Masumi, Takachi Noburu, Sasaki Kuranosuke
Synopsis: Abe Haruko (Takei Emi) is a genius weather forecaster who obtained her certification at the age of 11. Haruko, who is a weather caster on a morning programme, has earned the nickname “explosive low-pressure girl” for her surly attitude and is met with hostility from the programme’s staff and casters. On the other hand, she uses her vast knowledge of the weather including geology and astronomy to solve cases from a viewpoint that differs from the police and thoroughly corner criminals. Rookie detective Aoki Gota (Okura Tadayoshi) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigative Division gets partnered with Haruko. He is the complete opposite of Haruko. But it is precisely because of this pairing that truth comes into view and pulls them towards unexpected reality. Haruko also unleashes Gota’s surprisingly special ability as a detective … …
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/otenki

Vampire Heaven
Date: From 1.52 a.m., Saturdays, 13 April 2013
Station: TV Tokyo
Cast: Omasa Aya, Honda Tsubasa, Hiraoka Yuta, Eguchi Noriko, Sasai Eisuke, Tomiura Satoshi, Okamoto Anri
Synopsis: Good friends Sakurako (Omasa Aya) and Komachi (Honda Tsubasa) are vampires of great beauty. Komachi saved Sakurako who was courted by the vampire earl and the two of them were banished to the human world for violating a taboo of the vampire world. In the human world, they encounter a man called Hayato (Hiraoka Yuta). Sakurako falls in love with him in a heartbeat. However, the more a vampire likes its partner, the more it desires the partner’s blood. Sakurako notices that when she plays music, her bloodsucking tendencies are strangely dispelled. So she strums the guitar and thinks of her loved one. Komachi worriedly watches Sakurako. But Hayato gradually starts to develop an interest in Komachi … …
Website: www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/official/vampire

Minna ESPer dayo!
Date: From 12.12 a.m., Saturdays, 13 April 2013
Station: TV Tokyo
Cast: Sometani Shota, Kaho, Mano Erina, Yasuda Ken, Kagurazaka Megumi, Makita Sports, Fukami Motoki, Nakao Akiyoshi, Emoto Tokio, Takeda Kohei, Arai Eri
Synopsis: An ordinary high school student Kamogawa Yoshiro (Sometani Shota) is suddenly able to read people’s minds one day. At the same time, ESPers with special abilities are born one after another in the town. Their abilities include telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, telegnosis. These ESPers attempt to look at the underpants of female high school students, read the minds of girls they like and waste their abilities. But before long, they get involved in a battle with a force that is using supernatural power for evil ends.
Website: www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/esper

35-sai no Koukousei
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 13 April 2013
Station: NTV
Cast: Yonekura Ryoko, Mizobata Junpei, Katase Nana, Masu Takeshi, Tonesaku Toshihide, Aiba Hiroki, Ikushima Sho, Yokoyama Megumi, Enoki Takaaki, Katono Taikou, Kitayama Shiori, Kojima Fujiko, Shinkawa Yua, Suda Masaki, Takasugi Mahiro, Nishii Yukito, Nomura Shuhei, Hirose Alice, Fujiwara Reiko, Mizuno Erina, Miyazaki Karen, Morikawa Aoi, Yamazaki Kento
Synopsis: It is the new school term and one transfer student comes to join third-year high school girls at a full-day high school. She appears to lead an ordinary high school high school life; wearing regular school uniform, doing school work and also participating in physical education. Even so, she is a world apart from her 17-year-old classmates. In the morning, she arrives at school in a luxury foreign car, at lunch break she takes a puff in the smoking room for teaching staff and after school she drains a can of beer. This female high school student Baba Ayako (Yonekura Ryoko) is 35. She has returned to school after 18 years but the reason why she is redoing high school again at this age is not known. Shrouded in mystery and a loner, she hates turning a blind eye and laying blame on others. Ayako crushes the darkness of bullying and truancy which runs rampant in schools of today with her daring behaviour, and changes the students as well as the school precisely because she is not a parent, teacher but just a fellow student who has had a taste of the real world.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/35jk

Goen Hunter
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 13 April 2013
Station: NHK
Cast: Mizuki Arisa, MATSU, Otsuka Nene, Imoto Ayako, Kyono Kotomi, Nakajima Hiroko, Saiki Shigeru, Asaji Yoko, Terawaki Yasufumi
Synopsis: Hasumi Rika (Mizuki Arisa), a permanent employee of a medium-sized mail order company, is around 40. The supervisor in charge of the customer centre, she is called the “customer centre fortress” within the company. Her father has passed away and because her younger sister married first, she lives in the family home with her mother. She has always thought to herself that it is her part to look after her mother Tomoko (Asaji Yoko) in her old age. One day, Tomoko declares that she is remarrying and the situation suddenly changes. Rika signs up at a marriage hunting website because she is worried about her mother, but gradually gets into the “marriage hunting market” and becomes involved in it. At first, she makes light of it, thinking that a person like herself will be able to find a good partner immediately. But she sees with her own eyes the marriage hunting situation of a female around 40 and is made to realise her own value on the “marriage hunting market”. However, her competitive spirit and the encouragement of fellow marriage hunters makes her continue marriage hunting. As Rika does so, she learns what kind of person she is, what she truly wants and what really matters in life. Just as she is starting to look once again at the marriage and future that she wishes for … …
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/dodra/goen

Sodom no Ringo ~ Lot o Koroshita Onnatachi
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Saturdays, 23 March 2013
Station: WOWOW
Cast: Terajima Shinobu, Kimura Fumino, Mizobata Junpei, Maya Kyoko, Okuda Eiji, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Murakami Jun, Nukumizu Yoichi, Doguchi Yoriko, Hamada Mari, Ishibashi Anna, Nomura Shuhei, Tayama Ryosei, Oshinari Shugo, Tokui Yu, Uchida Shungiku, Ayata Toshiki, Muramatsu Toshifumi, Watanabe Makiko
Synopsis: The editor Shitara Mari (Kimura Fumino) is shocked to hear that Miwa Yoshio (Oshinari Shugo), the boyfriend she split up with over a quarrel, has committed suicide. She also learns that there was another woman at his funeral. That woman’s name is Miyajima Megumi (Terajima Shinobu). Bothered about Megumi who had promised marriage after meeting Yoshio through an online dating site, Mari poses as a male (Okuda Eiji) and registers with the website. She successfully makes contact and when she goes to Yoshio’s apartment, she sees Megumi being taken away by the police. Megumi exudes a distinct air. As Mari attends Megumi’s trial, she gets completely absorbed in her. In order to find out her motive, Mari travels to the island where Megumi was born with the investigative reporter Kitano Kengo (Mizobata Junpei). Megumi’s home was a community where the descendants of clandestine Christians lived during the Tokugawa period. According to Megumi’s classmate, she had been the “island’s prettiest girl” while in her teens (Ishibashi Anna). Mari and Kengo are surprised by the information. It is hard to imagine from Megumi’s present looks. And so, they search for the reason for the twist in her fate. Then, Mari finds a painting in a church on the island. It is of two nude women waiting on an old man. Dreadful misgivings surface from that … …
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/sodom

Machigawarechatta Otoko
Date: From 11.10 p.m., Saturdays, 13 April 2013
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Furuta Arata, Nakamaru Yuichi, Toda Naho, Sato Megumi, Kimura Ryo, Mikura Kana, Kaneda Akio, Okochi Hiroshi, Ishida Eri
Synopsis: Sawaki Yujiro (Furuta Arata) is a compassionate, mediocre petty thief who keeps failing because of his sentimentality. He and his underling Yasu (Nakamaru Yuichi) sneak into Sushi Masa in the old district of Kuramae but they are tragically discovered and viciously beaten until they black out. Contrary to expectations that they have come to the end of their rope, what is in store for the two of them when they come round is a welcome tempest. The people at Sushi Masa have completely mistaken Sawaki for their master chef Teru (Furuta Arata) who stormed out of the shop 10 years ago, due to his uncanny resemblance to Teru. Sawaki and Yasu weather the situation and try to flee. However, their innate goodness become the obstacle … …
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/wrongman

Tenshi wa Mop o Motte
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Saturdays, 4 May 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Kitano Kii, Owada Kensuke, Noguchi Goro, Nakayama Shinobu
Synopsis: All sorts of incidents occur at travel agency where new employee Kajimoto Daisuke (Owada Kensuke) works. Documents get lost, a female employee falls … … Kiriko (Kitano Kii), a professional cleaner, appears at the agency to solve these bizarre incidents. With her colourful outfits and angelic, cute appearance, Kiriko seems scarcely like a cleaner. She cleans up not just the office but also the worries and difficulties of society.
Website: www4.nhk.or.jp/p-yorudrama

Shima no Sensei
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 25 May 2013
Station: NHK
Cast: Nakama Yukie, Iura Arata, Tanaka Misato, Aoyama Noriko, Fujimoto Takahiro, Kunihiro Tomiyuki, Hidari Tokie, Daichi Yasuo, Ishizaka Koji
Synopsis: Children and students from Tokyo and Osaka with problems such as bullying and truancy in urban schools come to study at a small elementary and middle school on a remote island. These children who live with host families number no more than a dozen. They grow up surrounded by the kindness and warmth of the islanders, feel wanted in this world and begin to grasp at life again. Natsumura Chihiro (Nakama Yukie), who works as a teacher in the school, also experienced life on this island during her junior high school years when she was anguished over her relationship with her biological mother. As Chihiro attempts to solve her students’ problems together, she also encourages them to make a fresh start in life, but … …
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/dodra/shimasen

Otousan wa Nido Shinu
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Saturdays, 1 June 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Minamisawa Nao, Endo Kenichi, Aso Yumi, Masaki Reiya, Uehara Takuya, Yasuda Ken, Tanaka Yoji, Sasano Takeshi, Watanabe Ikkei, Kimura Midoriko
Synopsis: The father (Endo Kenichi) of 20-year-old Osawa Maiko (Minamisawa Nao) suddenly dies while on a business trip to Hokkaido. However, she has little to no memories of her father who was hardly at home so much so that it feels like it is about a distant relative when she hears the news of his death. She thinks of her father, a sales manager of a major confectionery company, as a man who lives only for his work but he has a side that the family does not know. His secrets, which are revealed one after another as they keep vigil at the venue for the funeral service, surprises Maiko and the surviving family members (Aso Yumi, Masaki Reiya).
Website: www4.nhk.or.jp/p-yorudrama

Mayonaka no Panya-san
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 28 April 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Takizawa Hideaki, Kiriyama Akito, Tsuchiya Tao, Ito Ayumi, Rokkaku Seiji, Maeda Aki, Muro Tsuyoshi, Tomosaka Rie
Synopsis: Kurebayashi Yosuke (Takizawa Hideaki) is the owner of Boulangerie Kurebayashi, a mysterious bakery located in some nook in Tokyo that only opens in the middle of the night. It is a bread shop that saves people who simply have difficulty living. This is because bread is always equally tasty to everyone even if they are without a warm table and family. Six months ago, Yosuke suddenly went from high-flying salaryman to owner and apprentice of this newly started bakery. He seems unskilled but looks happy learning to make bread. It is not just that. He looks happy being a baker. But what started him on this path?
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/drama/mayopan

Kogure Shashinkan
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 31 March 2013
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Kamiki Ryunosuke, Narumi Riko, Matsushita Yuki, Ishiguro Ken, Horii Arata, Sasano Takashi, Tanaka Misato, Lily
Synopsis: Hanabishi Eiichi (Kamiki Ryunosuke) is a second-year high school student who moves to a house that was a former photo studio without refurbishing the building on a whim of his father (Ishiguro Ken). One day, Eiichi passes by what appears to be a ghost in front of the house and an uproar ensues, but he later learns that “it” is a female high school student from the neighbourhood. The girl hands over something as she complains about Eiichi. It is a photograph developed at Kogure Photo Studio which she had obtained through unexpected circumstances. In fact, this photograph of a female’s crying face can only be described as ghost photography. More and more of such photographs are brought in. The Hanabishi family, friends and the real estate agent (Narumi Riko) who brokered the sale and purchase of the photo studio all get involved, and Eiichi sets out to solve this mystery.The hidden pasts each of these people are connected to the present … …
Website: -

Soratobu Kouhoushitsu
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 14 April 2013
Station: TBS
Cast: Aragaki Yui, Ayano Go, Mizuno Miki, Kaname Jun, Takahashi Tsutomu, Muro Tsuyoshi, Kiriyama Ren, Shibukawa Kiyoshi, Mikura Mana, Maeno Tomoya, Okawa Ai, Kiritani Kenta (guest star), Abe Joji, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Namase Katsuhisa, Shibata Kohei, Sano Shiro (guest star)
Synopsis: The beautiful Inaba Rika (Aragaki Yui) is a director at Teito TV Network and a highly-regarded up-and-comer. It has been her dream to be a reporter ever since she was a child. She believes in the style of holding out a microphone and cracking at her interviewees to the point that they get angry. Her mission is to uncover the hidden side of society. She might have a sense of duty and passion but often gets into trouble with interviewees because of her overly aggressive interviews. In her fifth year at the network, she is transferred against her will to be the co-director of an evening information programme. She is put in charge of a special feature on uniformed personnel and ordered to interview the Self Defence Forces. First Lieutenant Sorai Daisuke (Ayano Go) became a fighter pilot but injured his foot in an accident and had his childhood dream of sitting in the Blue Impulse shattered. He was assigned to a department which he was unprepared for, the Air Staff Office’s Public Relations Department. Ever since the accident, he has never once shown his feelings. However, Daisuke’s superior Sagisaka (Shibata Kohei) saw through his “benign, mild” facade and placed Rika in his care even though the people around him said he was still not ready for it. It chafes at Rika to have her dream destroyed and she psyches herself for a comeback as a reporter by getting a scoop. With that in mind, she is constantly provocative in her speech and conduct towards the members of the Public Relations Department, especially Daisuke. And she says something to Daisuke that she never should … …
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/soratobu-tbs

Haitatsusaretai Watashitachi
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 12 May 2013
Station: WOWOW
Cast: Tsukamoto Takashi, Kuriyama Chiaki, Hasegawa Kyoko, Horibe Keisuke, Emoto Tasuku, Suda Eito, Nishioka Tokuma, Arimori Narimi, Ishiguro Ken, Sato Jiro, Kurotani Tomoka, Kyono Kotomi, Kaito Ken, Daichi Yasuo, Nakao Akiyoshi, Yanagishita Tomo, Nakamura Ikuji, Negishi Toshie
Synopsis: 32-year-old Sawano Hajime (Tsukamoto Takashi) is blessed with a wife Masami (Hasegawa Kyoko) and 6-year-old son Teru but he suffers from depression. He loses his job, has no dreams or desire to live. His relationship with Masami also starts to get strained and he cannot build bonds with Teru. One day, with the intention of committing suicide, he visits an abandoned building that was a former movie theatre. He picks up seven letters that were dumped there 7 years ago. Deciding to deliver those letters to countdown his life, he first passes a letter to Yu (Kuriyama Chiaki) who runs a hair salon. It is from her mother who had abandoned a young Yu and her father … … Through meetings and partings with the people at the delivery addresses, he encounters various human dramas … …
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/haitatsu

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Official Website
www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/haitatsu

Broadcast
Sundays, 10.00 – 11.00 p.m. from 12 May 2013

Station
WOWOW

Story
32-year-old Sawano Hajime is blessed with a wife Masami and 6-year-old son Teru but he suffers from depression. He loses his job, has no dreams or desire to live. His relationship with Masami also starts to get strained and he cannot build bonds with Teru. One day, with the intention of committing suicide, he visits an abandoned building that was a former movie theatre. He picks up seven letters that were dumped there 7 years ago. Deciding to deliver those letters to countdown his life, he first passes a letter to Okae Yu who runs a hair salon. It is from her mother who had abandoned a young Yu and her father … … Through meetings and partings with the people at the delivery addresses, he encounters various human dramas … …

Characters
Tsukamoto Takashi as Sawano Hajime
He almost never goes out of the house because of depression and is unemployed. In the past, his ambition was to be a journalist and he was full of determination. After he ran overseas, he became a travel agency tour guide.

Hasegawa Kyoko as Sawano Masami
Sawano Hajime’s wife. She has felt emotionally trapped ever since her husband became depressed, and is also harsh on their son Teru. She feels that she is the cause of Hajime’s depression.

Kuriyama Chiaki as Okae Yu
A hairdresser. Her father has just passed away and she is strongly affected by her mother Misono who suddenly left home 15 years ago when she was a child. She now has a hairdressing salon at home. She cannot understand the actions of Sawano Hajime, and follows him around.

Emoto Tasuku as Gunkan
A fellow sufferer of depression who has the same psychiatrist as Suwano Hajime. They become acquainted at the hospital. He displays symptoms when he goes to office, but is in extremely good spirits if he does not go.

Nishioka Tokuma as Sawano Hajime’s father
A former teacher. He is a strict man. His son is his pride although he does not tell him that.

Click here for photos from press conference.

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Broadcast
From 9.00 p.m., 11 May 2013

Air Doctor
Story: Kirihara Toru (Oguri Shun) is onboard a plane bound for Hawaii when a cabin attendant makes an announcement asking if there is a doctor among the passengers. One of the passengers is suffering from a tightness in his chest. Kirihara immediately stands up and tells the cabin attendant “I am a doctor …” After palpating the passenger, he diagnoses mild arrhythmia and succeeds in stabilising him. People cheer. However, Kirihara is not a real doctor. Meanwhile, that passenger is in pain again and he decides on an emergency operation. But the passengers present are all imposters too … …
Cast: Oguri Shun, Aijima Kazuyuki, Haa Mikie

Fujimi no Otto
Story: Soejima Mie (Dan Rei), who has been married for 10 years, is extremely tired of married life with her husband Keisuke (Omi Toshinori). One night, she feigns a robbery and murders her husband with a spanner. After that, Mie makes it looks as if she received a phone call from Keisuke while at lunch with fellow housewives to create the perfect alibi and goes home brimming with confidence. However, her husband’s body has disappeared even though it should be in the living room. When a bewildered Mie turns around, Keisuke is standing there with a bland expression. He does not seem to recall that he was killed by Mie. “He’s a tough man to not have been died despite being hit in that way.” Mie murders Keisuke again, but no matter how many times she does so, he keeps coming back to life. She gradually grows fearful of him … …
Cast: Dan Rei, Omi Toshinori

Sekiyu ga Deta
Story: Because of the drastic reduction of global oil production, prices of commodities have risen steeply, the domestic unemployment rate is the worst since the end of World War II and Japan is in an age of hyper-recession. One day, Yumoto Yoshihiro (Maruyama Ryuhei) is on the way home from visiting a job placement office when he feels the urge to urinate. He rushes into a toilet but unfortunately it is off limits. He hastily makes a dash for the bushes nearby and takes the opportunity to urinate on a fire thought to have been left by a homeless man. Instead of extinguishing the fire, it burns more intensely. Feeling something abnormal about his own urine, Yumoto gets a check at a hospital. The doctor who sees the test results reels as he tells Yumoto, “This is oil …” Yumoto is shocked. This has been reported and Yumoto is taken away by men identifying themselves as staff of the national research institute. Yumoto manages to escape and arrives at a village in the mountains … …
Cast: Maruyama Ryuhei, Arimura Kasumi

Ju-web
Story: Yoshida Misaki (Sasaki Nozomi) is an office lady who keeps getting scolded by her superior who always blames and humiliates her for being incapable in front of her colleagues. Yamashita Toru (Tanaka Kotaro) of the Sales Department has been secretly carrying out an office romance with Misaki, but lately, he has become cold toward her. Neither work nor love is going well for Misaki. One night, when she is deleting junk emails on her computer, she notices that she has received an email with a strange title. The source is “web” and the title is “To you, the one troubled by your obnoxious boss, A curse on your behalf.” Misaki clicks it against her better judgement … …
Cast: Sasaki Nozomi, Tanaka Kotaro

Kaidan no Hanako
Story: Aikawa Hideki (Tokui Yoshimi) is in charge of the day-shift at the staff room during the summer break at Wakaba Minami Elementary School. A phone call comes in. The caller is Odani Chisako (Omasa Aya), a university student who had been coming for teaching practice until two months ago. Chisako says that she wants to come to the school to take something she left behind after the training. She soon arrives at the staff room, but Aikawa who thinks that he had locked the main gate, worries about intruders in the school since Chisako could enter the staff room. And so, he and Chisako go round to check. As they patrol the school grounds, the two of them begin to talke about the story of “Hanako-san’s Stairs” which has spread around the school but … …
Cast: Tokui Yoshimi, Omasa Aya

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Official Website
www.nhk.or.jp/drama10/dainigakushou

Broadcast
Tuesdays, 10.00 – 10.48 p.m. from 16 April 2013

Station
NHK

Story
Shirase Mari’s temporary return to Japan for a concert stirs Endo Natsumi’s memories of the past. 16 years ago, the two of them had been violinists in the Tokyo National Symphony Orchestra and competed to be the soloist. They were good friends who pursued their dreams together, and yet have not met since that day. Natsumi gave up the violin because of her pregnancy and retired from the orchestra with her husband Kazuto who was a cellist in the same orchestra. As a result, Mari won the position of soloist. 17 years later, Natsumi lives with Kazuto and their daughter Reina. Although she is happy now, she is shaken by memories of the day she lost her friend. The two of them meet again by coincidence and return to being good friends. However, they are envious of each other’s circumstances. Mari’s feelings for Natsumi’s husband are rekindled while Natsumi is envious of Mari’s success and glory as the Chicago Orchestra’s concert master. Furthermore, Kazuto also starts to long for the world of music which he has distanced himself from … …

Characters
Hada Michiko as Shirase Mari
A former violinist. She has returned from being the Chicago Orchestra’s concert master to the Tokyo National Symphony Orchestra. She meets the Endos again. It is a happy yet miserably painful reunion and her feelings for Kazuto are heightened.

Itaya Yuka as Endo Natsumi
A former violinist. Because Shirase Mari helped her in the music college’s entrance exam, they became good friends. Both of them fought to be the soloist in the same orchestra, but she retired after she got pregnant. She has built a happy family as a wife and mother. In spite of this, a reunion with Mari who has succeeded in the world of music makes her feel envious.

Tanihara Shosuke as Endo Kazuto
Endo Natsumi’s husband. He was also a cellist in the same orchestra but retired with Natsumi and now works at a travel company. He loves his wife and daughter Reina, but meeting Shirase Mari again rekindles his longing for her and the world of music.

Kadowaki Mugi as Endo Reina
The 16-year-old daughter of Endo Natsumi and Kazuto. Because her mother is wary of setbacks, Reina attends a regular high school while continuing to learn the violin, but her talent is discovered by Shirase Mari, who is her idol.

Tanaka Kei as Kusaka Ryoko
The stage manager of the Tokyo National Symphony Orchestra. He works behind the scenes. He remembers the music Endo Natsumi played 16 years ago, and takes pride in being Shirase Mari’s manager?

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

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• Aji Ichimonme I

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Following Japanese dramas requires a stout heart and unceasing optimism, especially in the last few years. There have been season after season where much of the dramas aired were dreadfully mediocre or shamelessly rehashed with tweaks in formula or the casting frustratingly bad, and that temptation to tune out of Japanese dramas altogether would surge. But each time that happened and I held out a little longer, a gem would suddenly pop up to reward that perseverance. There haven’t been many but the good feeling that comes with watching these few can get so intoxicating that it makes riding through the dry spell easier.

Winter was an anomaly with the unexpected number of well-written and acted dramas like Saikou no Rikon and Tonbi. Then spring came along and all the good feeling and hope that I had that the good run will continue, pretty much went up in smoke. This season must be the laziest that the networks have ever been. The first indication is the incredible number of detective dramas in the lineup, probably about half of those being aired. Networks love to fall back on this genre because they usually bring in decent to good television ratings. But all of us know that few ever get the basics consistently right besides WOWOW.

The other tact is to fall back on past successes with sequels or remakes which Fuji TV looks set to do in the next couple of quarters: Galileo in spring, Kyuumei Byoto 24 Hours (Eguchi Yosuke has unfortunately been unceremoniously dumped for Tokito Saburo) in summer and Legal High in fall. Different factions within the network appear to be divided about whether they should place their future in the hands of stars who made their name in trendy dramas in the 1990s like Yamaguchi Tomoko, Eguchi Yosuke or Suzuki Honami or in a new generation of up-and-comers since the ratings in Going My Home, Dinner and Kazoku Game have not been stellar. I guess the network itself can’t see beyond its own nose.

The second sign is if a drama sounds bad on paper, it will probably be bad on screen. It is foolhardy to hope that it would turn out otherwise. Yet I did. I can’t help feeling sorry for the stars, who even with their limited range have seen better roles in dramas that I have fond memories of like Yasha or Eiji Psychometrer, or prevent the flood of nostalgia for a time when dramas were boldly imaginative and evoked a different mood, and characters captured my heart despite their ordinariness.

Soratobu Kouhoushitsu
Soratobu Kouhoushitsu (PR in the Sky) tells the story of TV director Inaba Rika and former Air Self-Defence Force fighter pilot Sorai Daisuke – two people whose dreams came to an abrupt end in different ways. A highly-regarded up-and-comer, Rika’s overly aggressive methods of pursuing news stories led her to follow the wife of a suspect in a police case around every day until the woman had a nervous breakdown from the strain. Although the man was arrested, he was never charged. This episode upended Rika’s standing within the TV network and she was transferred against her will to be the co-director of an evening information programme. Rika blames bad luck for this. While she may have gone overboard in her actions, she was only doing her job.

Lieutenant Sorai Daisuke became a fighter pilot but injured his leg in a freak traffic accident and had his dream of flying the Blue Impulse shattered when he was stripped of his pilot’s license. After his rehabilitation, he was assigned to the Air Staff Office’s Public Relations Department. A year has passed since the accident but he remains a shadow of his former self and passively accepts his fate.

The two meet when Rika is put in charge of a special feature on uniformed personnel and ordered to interview the Self Defence Forces. Sorai’s boss Sagisaka Shoji places Rika in his care in the hope that the interactions will jolt Sorai back to life even though the people around him say Sorai is not ready to handle a difficult person like her. Rika, on the other hand, is concerned only with getting a scoop on the Air Self-Defence Force to take back to the news bureau. One day, she unwittingly sends Sorai into a rage with her careless comment that a fighter plane is a machine used to kill people when he suggests that she feature fighter pilots on her programme. Nevertheless, they slowly let down their guard and overcome their initial antagonism to find themselves gradually attracted to each other.

Soratobu Kouhoushitsu is about overcoming obstacles so cliches are inevitable and we know how the story will go. And yet it is somewhat touching to watch the interactions between Sorai and Rika, and how this starts to awaken something in each of them, if the inadequacies of Ayano Go and Aragaki Yui as actors are overlooked. Rika is hit with the realisation that she has been so obsessed with getting scoops and looking at things from her perspective that she became insensitive to her subjects while Sorai emerges from the haze of stupor he has been in and becomes motivated to educate Rika about the Air Self-Defence Force. The assignments involving the Air Self-Defence Force that Rika undertakes have so far been boring and the many supporting characters do not leave much of an impression except Shibata Kohei’s Sagisaka. I like his dignified air but roll my eyes at the rather ridiculous hand gestures and mannerisms of his character. The scriptwriter has also spared the audience from the much of the platitudes that characterise dramas like this.

Soratobu Kouhoushitsu is also a vehicle for the Air Self-Defence Force to inform the public, correct misconceptions as well as exercise soft power much like how Umizaru made the Japan Coast Guard so cool. I have a soft spot for dramas that profile a profession and I like how they have chosen to focus on public relations for the military which I think is an area that many have very vague ideas about.

Take Five ~ Oretachi wa Ai o Nusumeru ka
Take Five ~ Oretachi wa Ai o Nusumeru ka (Take Five ~ Can We Steal Love?) follows the exploits of Take Five, a legendary gang of thieves which only steals from the bad. Homura Masayoshi is a popular, straight-laced university professor of love psychology who has many quips about love; his favourite being, “Theft makes people miserable. But if you want to steal, you need love.” Masayoshi once belonged to Take Five with his father. But 20 years ago, the death of a police officer during the theft of a painting and arrest of one of the members, led Take Five to disband and retire.

One day, Masayoshi finds an envelope with a photograph of Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous portrait of Lucrezia Borgia inside. It was left on his desk by a (rather well-groomed) homeless woman, who claims the painting is in a secure facility at Tohto Bank and behaves as if she knows that he is a robber. Despite his misgivings, Masayoshi gets carried away by an impulse to confirm whether the painting there. However, the woman’s information turns out to be bogus and Masayoshi instead encounters Niimi Haruto, a thief who has also sneaked into the safe.

Detective Sasahara Rui suspects intruders when she learns that there is an unusual situation at Tohto Bank, and tries to arrest them. Rui detests the act of thievery because it claimed the life of her father when she and her sister Sae were young. This hatred motivated her to become a police officer and she expects Sae to follow in her footsteps. To her dismay, Sae shows more interest in love psychology lectures than studying for the national civil service exam. So Rui takes it upon herself to visit the university and warn Sae’s professor who is none other than Masayoshi. A stunned Masayoshi immediately realises Rui is the daughter of that police officer who died 20 years ago from the watch that she wears.

At that moment, a scandal breaks out with the bankruptcy of Tohto Bank’s H-Trust. Learning that the bank hid the trust’s inevitable bankruptcy from the public, Masayoshi decides to revive Take Five (actually Take Four until Inagaki Goro’s character joins in episode 3), setting in motion a collision course with Rui who is still hung up about the break-in.

I really want to like Take Five because the casting of Karasawa Toshiaki and Matsuyuki Yasuko (not so for the rest of the actors) is too good to resist but my heart has not been snared. A drama about heists and the greatest gang of thieves in history conjures images of an entertaining, fast-paced, slick caper of thieves who have criminal specialties. TBS clearly does not have the budget for this or the right scriptwriter and production team since Take Five comes across as a cheesy, cheap production. I shudder to think what it will be like when Take Five meet rival gang, Team Five!

The second generation may be a rag-tag bunch but this does not excuse the writing or the many references to love shoehorned into Karasawa’s lines to explain all human motivation. Masayoshi also makes a lot of blunders along the way from letting Haruto know his true identity during their first encounter to arranging a rendezvous out in plain sight with the rest of the members after hacking into Tohto Bank’s network. As alumnus and new leader, he dents the aura of that gang of legend.

I was hoping that the story would up the ante with the inclusion of a detective who seeks Tohto Bank’s data in Take Five’s midst, although Inagaki Goro is hardly the person to count on for a stellar performance to hope for much. However, it appears that cop and thieves are going to get along swimmingly … … With good actors like Karasawa and Matsuyuki, it is a shame that this drama is going to be mediocre.

Sennyuu Sousa Tokage
Sennyuu Sousa Tokage (Undercover Lizard) is about Oribe Toru, a former Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department First Investigative Division detective turned private investigator who possesses extraordinary photographic memory and devastating physical ability. Toru’s nickname is Tokage because he is able to slip into any place like a lizard for investigations while others say he ditches his colleagues in the same way that a lizard sheds its tail and flees danger.

Tokage resigned from the police force in disgrace after a fatal error caused the death of his partner two years ago, but that doesn’t deter his former boss from enlisting him to work undercover as part of an unprecedented secret experiment to turn around the division’s decline in arrest rates through the introduction of civilian investigators. Tokage’s former colleagues are naturally opposed to his involvement.

Tokage’s first mission is to infiltrate a ferry where a transaction in children’s organs will take place by impersonating the secretary of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare as one of the 100 participants on an orphanage’s goodwill tour. It appears that the criminal intends to join this goodwill tour to kidnap a child who will make a suitable donor for the Minister’s sick daughter and the secretary is to hand over 50 million yen in cash in exchange. Tokage needs to identify and save this child, catch the criminal red-handed and destroy the organ trafficking business.

Mochizuki Kaori is assigned by Yanagida Masahiko, the head of the private investigation agency, to assist Tokage. Kaori has become an investigator to search for someone important to her. Although she is a rookie, Yanagida reasons that she will be an asset to Tokage because she used to work in a bank and is a fan of detective novels especially Sherlock Holmes.

When the elite First Investigative Division has to outsource sleuthing to civilians to stem the falling arrest rate after the resignation of what would seem its only ace detective, this probably does not bode well. So it is no surprise that Sennyuu Sousa Tokage is woefully bad and cliched all round with an earnest, idealistic, cute newbie who believes feelings can save people to gradually thaw the cool, suave, stoic (and maybe misunderstood) superhero investigator. Stoic means Matsuda Shota only needs to project one expression. Little can be expected of Matsuoka Masahiro who cannot act, Mimura looks sour most of the time, while the veteran actors simply go to waste.

In what is supposed to be the climax of the episode, Tokage runs right into line of fire as he races to save the day but miraculously escapes unscathed. If that is what an ace does, what about the rest of the police force? On the other hand, the Minister who apparently has been aware of his suitability as an organ donor for his daughter but refuses on the grounds that he will not be able to perform his ministerial duties, is persuaded by the police reassess his priorities. How is that for irony?

Doubles ~ Futari no Keiji
Airing in the same time slot on Thursdays is Doubles ~ Futari no Keiji (Doubles ~ Two Detectives). Ito Hideaki and Sakaguchi Kenji star as detectives Yamashita Shunsuke and Tashiro Keiichi, who have opposing opinions on many things but are united in their hatred of evil and belief in justice. They find themselves suddenly transferred to Shinjuku Central Police Precinct’s Special Investigations Team, a newly established unit to deal with the high incidence of violent crimes in Shinjuku, and end up becoming partners. There are rumours that the team is called “Zero Section” because it is merely a public relations exercise by the police chief to show the outside world that the police is making an effort. Its existence is also barely tolerated by the people within the police organisation, including the head of the Criminal Affairs Division who only wants an auxiliary unit and will not tolerate any unsanctioned activities.

Three successive powerful bomb attacks have taken place in abandoned warehouses and factories in Shinjuku but there is no connection between the locations that were targeted, and no motives or clues tied to the criminal. The only pattern the police has found is that a bomb would go off every three days. While making inquiries, Yamashita sees a magazine article and realises that there is a close connection between the location of the bombings, which was perceived to be indiscriminate until now, and ramen shop rankings.

Following this clue, Yamashita and Tashiro encounter a suspicious-looking man with a tattoo on his wrist inside a disused building near the fourth ramen shop. Another team arrests a suspect called Kudo Masaki who is allegedly responsible for a remote-controlled computer virus that sent an email to the police with the promise to make up for the recent failed bomb blast; information only the criminal would know. However, the police is later forced to release Kudo when it emerges that he may also be a victim of this computer virus. Then, Yamashita and Tashiro find out that there is another man with the same tattoo and ample motive. He is Nakagawa Kazuyuki, the son of a man who was wrongfully convicted for murder, spent 17 years in prison and died before his name could be cleared of the crime.

Meanwhile, at a press conference held to appease Kudo who has demanded a public apology from the police for the mistaken arrest, Yamashita and Tashiro see the same tattoo on his wrist. But when they confront him about his true identity in the corridor after the press conference, he reveals a belt of explosives strapped around his waist and threatens to blow himself up.

Doubles is an attempt at a brawny version of the long-running Aibou with Ito and Sakaguchi as buff, masculine eye candy. There’s even a shower scene for fans. Both actors are not particularly known for their acting prowess but it is the poorly written plot, dialogue and characters that makes the drama hilariously bad, and squanders any emotional impact it sought to make with the story of vengeance to right a wrong. Not only does there seem to be little point in the ramen connection, but the story falls to bits from the moment the precinct is evacuated and Yamashita and Tashiro are left to coax Kudo not to blow himself up before the bomb disposal squad arrives.

Can this dud truly be the work of scriptwriter Ozaki Masaya who has written some really awesome stuff?

Last Cinderella
Last Cinderalla is about Toyama Sakura, a hair stylist on the verge of 40 who is very devoted to her work and customers. However, she is indifferent to fashion despite the nature of her job and behaves like a middle-aged man. One morning, a horrified Sakura sees a strand of beard growing when she looks at the mirror and nicks herself in the process of trying to pull it out. To make matters worse, on that same day, Sakura’s peer Tachibana Rintaro arrives at the hair salon to be its new manager even though she has been the assistant manager for eight years. Sakura has never got along well with Rintaro but has no choice in this matter. Things sink to a new low when she discovers that he has also moved next door to her in the same apartment building. Although they always end up arguing, Sakura can talk about anything with Rintaro and this makes a regular customer Ogami Chiyoko jealous.

Chiyoko, who is in love with Rintaro, orders someone to snag Sakura so that she will not be in her way and orchestrates their first meeting at a matchmaking party. He is Saeki Hiroto, a handsome, young BMX rider and ladies man. Sakura gets herself so drunk at the matchmaking party that she has no recollection of the events the night before when she wakes up in bed next to Hiroto. Hiroto claims that he took Sakura to bed because she said that she wanted to sleep with him. Going a step further, he lies that he likes her and asks that they date. Although Sakura is flattered, their 15-year age gap bothers her and she is scared of love. Telling him that it will not work out, she suggests that he hit on other older women if that is his taste. This aggravates Hiroto who had thought Sakura would be an easy target.

Last Cinderella focuses on the insecurities of being a woman around 40; popular and familiar territory that has been revisited annually by the different networks recent years. The most recent being the dull Kekkon Shinai but even that seemed more palatable than Last Cinderella. This time, the main character Sakura has forgotten about her gender as she devoted herself to her career, but is rudely awaken one day by evidence that she is turning male. The discovery of beard on her chin spurs her to make a resolution to find love with a good man before 40.

I find the drama offensive and insulting not just in its portrayal of women but also in the way it is written. The contrast between it and Saikou no Rikon, the drama in the same time slot the previous season is very stark. There is no subtlety, everything has to be exaggerated from the characters to the scenarios, so in the end it is caricatures and set-pieces that is served up each episode. Sakura is annoying and dreadfully immature beyond all measure, but it somehow feels like the character has got her wires crossed because it feels like a part of her conflicts with the other. It does not help that Shinohara Ryoko overacts so badly. Miura Haruma, on the other hand, goes through the motions. In any case, Hiroto is not an interesting character who shows any depth, or perhaps this is due to Miura’s very limited range. A Sakura and Hiroto pairing will fizzle if that is what the writer has in mind. Then there is Rintaro who has a barbed tongue and spews more misogynistic comments than is decent or deserved when Sakura is around. He seems to enjoy bickering and ordering her around but looks like he might have a soft, marshmallow centre beneath that prickly demeanour. To represent the married and divorced around 40 are Sakura’s friends housewife Takenouchi Miki who is frustrated by her difficult mother-in-law and the lack of sex with her husband, and man-eater Hasegawa Shima who has an insatiable appetite for sex.

The scenes in the drama are written and executed in such a ham-fisted manner that makes it grating to watch. It is as if everything has to be spelt out for the audience in case we are so obtuse that we cannot perceive a character’s personality or emotions. Sakura has a soft heart and cannot stand to see people in trouble so minutes are spent showing her run after a stray customer’s ball in the rain and give a dressing down to a young man who took the seat she had vacated for a woman with a young child in a bus. Shima and Miki’s husband attempted to sleep together and when they realise their connection through Miki, they have to be behave so suspiciously to the point of crawling beneath the dining table in order to show their guilt.

There is little to like about Last Cinderella besides Fujiki Naohito’s scruffy look and I’m scandalised that it seems to be getting better ratings than Saikou no Rikon. There is no better way to get rid of the bitter taste than rummage through my drama stash for a great romantic comedy.

Galileo Season 2
Fuji TV, said to be the network most sorely in need of a winner after suffering a bad drubbing in the ratings games the past few seasons, has dusted off Galileo and brought it back after seven years. Yukawa Manabu finds a conceited, impertinent rookie detective Kishitani Misa thrust his way by Utsumi Kaoru who is leaving for a training stint in the US. The first supernatural mystery he is enticed to investigate is the incomprehensible death of a cult follower who plunged from the fifth floor of a building while the cult’s founder Renzaki Shiko, played by a debonair Osawa Takao, was performing a ritual called “sounen” to cleanse him of evil. Renzaki never laid a finger on the follower but claims that he caused the man’s death because his power was too strong. Oddly enough, the eyeballs of the deceased were clouded.

Yukawa and Misa visit the cult’s base deep in the mountains where the self-sufficient community lives without a care for money or success. When Renzaki offers to purify their souls with “sounen”, the warmth that touches them brings Misa to tears and makes her ready to believe in his power. In contrast, Yukawa is convinced that there is a reason for this phenomena and quickly figures it out after Misa gathers the information that he needs.

Meanwhile, Renzaki’s wife and two executives of the cult exult in their growing wealth as the cult’s membership grows following a magazine’s article on the “sounen” that claimed the life of the traitor. However, the next day, Yukawa destroys the glorious future they envisioned for themselves when he proves that Renzaki’s power is really just microwave energy emitted by concealed devices that Sayoko had modified from medical equipment. She may have kept Renzaki in the dark because she thought that it would be more persuasive if he believed in his own powers, but Yukawa is convinced that this would probably not have escaped Renzaki’s notice.

While I loved the movie Yougisha X no Kenshin, it certainly doesn’t extend to the drama which has the same old elements as the first season that I didn’t like: dull main characters, a combination with no chemistry, lack of character growth for Utsumi and bland episodes. What worked for Yougisha X no Kenshin was the way the human emotions and motivations of a woman who killed her ex-husband and the high school teacher who helped her to cover up the crime were explored as well as great acting from Tsutsumi Shinichi and Matsuyuki Yasuko who upstaged the leads Fukuyama Masaharu and Shibasaki Kou (not that the latter two would have offered any competition). Galileo could very well pass off as a sophisticated educational programme on supernatural phenomenon. The change in female leads also does not make anything better except swop boring for irritating. That said, it is the probably the most watchable detective drama this season and Osawa’s layered performance which showed glimpses of Renzaki’s vulnerability and conflict elevates the episode above average.

Numerous review rankings show that an overwhelming number of Japanese viewers are giving the drama the thumbs down because “Season 1 was better; bring back Shibasaki Kou, we don’t like Yoshitaka Yuriko; the stories are boring; the quality and scale of production has gone down; the media is creating the hype”. But ratings are what counts even if TV watching habits have changed. The drama seems to have answered Fuji TV’s prayers with viewership ratings surpassing 20% for three consecutive weeks which is a rarity in the context of Japanese dramas these days. That can only lead to the expectation that the network will be serving up more Galileo in the future.

Lady Joker
Lady Joker, the sequel to the rather awesome Marks no Yama (the first three episodes were nail bitingly good), kicks off with the delivery of a suspicious-looking audio CD to Shiroyama Kyosuke, the company president of Hinode Beer, the industry’s top brewer. Shiroyama is shaken by the contents which pin the company down for its discrimination against burakumin, the descendants of outcasts in Japan’s feudal society (those who did “tainted” work like butchery which involved the killing of and use of animal corpses) more than 40 years ago. The CD was sent by Hatano Hiroyuki who had laid hands on a letter by a former employee Okamura Seiji through a corporate extortionist posing as a newspaper reporter. Hatano’s son Tadayuki recently died in a traffic accident after failing to secure a job with Hinode Beer. The reporter attributes this to discrimination because Okamura is actually the older brother of Hatano’s father-in-law Monoi Seizo.

Meanwhile Monoi, the owner of a small pharmacy; Handa Shuhei, a detective who hates the police organisation; Nunokawa Junichi, a truck driver with a special needs child; Matsudo Yokichi, a lathe operator; and Ko Katsumi, a credit association employee who are buddies who met at the horse race track, set a plan in motion. Nunokawa has thought of stealing large sums of money from a big corporation and Monoi decides that they should target the closely connected Hinode Beer.

Detective Goda Yuichiro investigates a report that Shiroyama failed to return home. When he rushes to his residence, he finds a written memo saying, “The company president is in our custody”. But Shiroyama is soon released. The criminal group that calls itself Lady Joker hints that it will tamper with 3.5 kilolitres of beer and demands 2 billion yen from Shiroyama who reluctantly goes along with their demands because of the photos of his niece and Tadayuki that were slipped into his jacket pocket before his release, while making a show of cooperating with the police … …

When I started out watching Lady Joker, I was under the impression that it was a detective drama like Marks no Yama but while the two dramas have the same protagonist, Lady Joker is on a grander and more ambitious scale straddling varied genres and themes. Reportedly inspired by the Glico-Morinaga case in the 1980s that was never solved, the drama is more about the why rather than the who as it portrays corruption, discrimination, morality, death and revenge with characters in different spheres of society: business, politics, the underworld, law and enforcement, media and the underclass.

The good and bad guys in this drama are painted in shades of grey. The kidnappers who call themselves Lady Joker are either outsiders or hail from the lower levels of society. Monoi is a descendant of the burakumin, Handa is a non-career detective who has no hope of career advancement unlike Goda, Nunokawa has a disabled daughter nicknamed Lady, and Ko is an ethnic Korean. Goda knows Handa is involved and his frustration with the police’s paralysis propels him to take things into his own hands. But with no evidence incriminating Lady Joker, all he can do is to watch on helplessly even when Handa personally admits to him that he is Lady Joker. Lady Joker outwits the police and also gets revenge and money against corporate Japan. It is a significant victory for all especially Handa who has trumped the elite.

I have mixed feelings about Lady Joker. While the story is intriguing and the acting is generally good, it is complicated, uneven in some parts and unwieldy because of the many characters and threads to bring together. Do not expect the kind of tension and exhilaration in Marks no Yama. I would choose to watch a WOWOW detective drama anytime over one from the other networks but it might have been better had they been more circumspect in the type of material to adapt to screen.

Kumo no Kaidan
Kumo no Kaidan tells the story of Aikawa Saburo, a clerk at a clinic troubled by a shortage of doctors, on Mikotojima, an island with less than 500 inhabitants. He is reluctantly thrust into the role of doctor when Muraki Eiji, the island’s only doctor and the clinic’s director, gets him to try his hand at operating on a patient with appendicitis under his supervision. While Saburo knows that it is illegal to do so without a doctor’s license, he makes remarkable progress in learning various medical treatments. The clinic staff are opposed to Saburo practicing medicine without a license. However, the nurse Suzuki Akiko is the only one who feels that this cannot be helped given the situation facing the island and is determined to support Saburo because she loves him.

One night, while the island is hit by a strong typhoon, an emergency case is brought to the cliinc. The patient is Tasaka Akiko, the daughter of a Tokyo hospital director who has come to the island with friends for leisure. However, Muraki is away from the island and even an emergency medical helicopter would not come to the island in this weather. Suzuki Akiko is quick to diagnose her condition as ectopic pregnancy. If Saburo does nothing, she will lose her life. But if he does and the surgery is a failure, he and the nurses assisting him will be in big trouble because they abetted him. Saburo operates on her but she starts haemorrhaging. Although she pulls through, Saburo is disturbed and horrified by what he has done. He does not yet realise that this encounter will unexpectedly change the destinies of himself and the two Akikos.

Mistaking Saburo for a doctor, Tasaka Akiko is impressed with his sincerity when he keeps apologising to her. She also starts demanding his attention as she recovers from the surgery. Suzuki Akiko whom Saburo has started having a relationship with, is sensitive to the fact that Akiko is attracted to Saburo. Then, she suggests that her father offer Saburo a job at the family’s hospital … …

Kumo no Kaidan is a gripping story about human desire and motivation that is the one bright spot out of the dramas I’ve watched this season. Adapted from the novel of the same name, it is well-scripted and has had assured directing and compelling performances so far. I wasn’t intending to watch the drama as I didn’t think I was in the mood for a story that can only be a slow downward spiral of tragedy for the main characters or watching more of Kimura Fumino whose star appears to be rising given the meaty roles she has been getting in a number of dramas.

The drama starts out fairly innocuously as we see Muraki gradually involve Saburo more and more in the duties of a doctor. This is illegal since Saburo, has no license to practice medicine. It is a fact that everyone at the clinic is aware of but Muraki rationalises his decision by asserting that he needs to cultivate Saburo because no proper young doctor would want to come to this island. Muraki also has had a tendency of binge drinking and shirking his duties of late. Although Saburo shows reluctance and uneasiness, he does not resist the role thrust upon him and even seems to relish the challenge. Everything would be fine if Saburo remains on Mikotojima. In fact, the thought that he might leave one day doesn’t seem to occur to anyone even though he is not a native of the island.

Saburo’s background and character is an enigma. He came to Mikotojima from Tokyo one and a half years ago. Nobody knows what brought him here. All that is apparent is that he comes from a poor family, his highest educational qualification is high school and he is passionate about making ships in bottles. He seems modest, mild-mannered and pliable but is that who he truly is? For some inexplicable reason, he is first drawn to Tasaka Akiko whom he senses is about to take her own life as she stands alone at a remote pier. It will be interesting to see how Hasegawa Hiroki portrays his character’s transformation from island doctor to surgeon at a prominent Tokyo hospital and prospective son-in-law to the Tasakas as he tries to keep the inconvenient truth at bay.

Minna ESPer dayo!
Minna ESPer dayo! (Everybody has ESP!) chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Kamogawa Yoshiro, a mediocre high school student with no discernible talent who is in love with the pretty transfer student in his class Asami Sae, but still cannot summon the courage to talk to her. One day, Yoshiro is suddenly able to read people’s minds and learns that the social studies teacher Hayashi has designs on Sae. Yoshiro decides to use his supernatural ability to protect her. Furthermore, he gets excited about using this to save the world too when he discovers that he is not the only one with ESP. However, this enthusiasm quickly deflates when he realises that the person who possesses special powers is Teru-san, the proprietor of the cafe he regularly patronises. Teru-san has erotic thoughts all the time and only uses his telekinetic ability to satisfy his desires.

Other ESPers are born one after another in this small town. Yoshiro’s childhood friend Hirano Miyuki is also telepathic but tries to shut her mind off from the voices of the people around her; basketball player Enomoto Yosuke can teleport but his clothes do not come along with him; and schoolmate Yabe Naoya is clairvoyant. These ESPers get carried away using the supernatural abilities to look at the underpants of female high school students, read the minds of girls they like and other less than heroic purposes. But before long, they get involved in a battle with a force that is using supernatural power for evil ends.

Minna ESPer dayo! is racy, rowdy, off-the-wall and trashy. The premise is intriguing and all the more entertaining with the cast gamely throwing themselves into their performances. But depending on how you like your dramas, it is as hilarious as it is tasteless since much of the first few episodes are spent obsessing over panties, sex and virginity. With nothing much else happening, it gets tiresome and repetitive waiting for the ESPers to do something other than that with their supernatural powers.

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