Bull Doctor

Official Website
www.ntv.co.jp/bull

Broadcast
Wednesdays, 10.00 – 10.54 p.m. from 6 July 2011

Station
NTV

Story
A female forensic pathologist who has returned to Japan from the US, reforms Japan’s low rate of judicial autopsies and exposes crimes from a forensics perspective. Career detective Kamatsuda Chika believes that there would be no end if every person who has met an unnatural death is suspected to be a criminal case. However, forensic pathologist Odate Tamami, who has completed training in the system of determining causes of death in the US, is the type that wishes to come face-to-face with the truth. And so, the two of them wage a battle from their very first meeting. Tamami is posted to Joto University’s forensic medicine school, which undertakes autopsies. As soon as she assumes her duties, she has a confrontation with Chika, who is attempting to classify the sudden death of a man while jogging, as death from a heart attack. Tamami refuses to fill in the postmortem certificate, but her fellow colleague, associate professor Nakura Junnosuke who is with the same school, ignores her and writes ‘Death from heart attack’ in the certificate. However, a person is discovered to have met an unnatural death right after that. Tamami, who cannot tolerate Chika’s way of doing things, accompanies her to the scene and forestalls her by issuing instructions … …

Characters
Esumi Makiko as Odate Tamami
She spent the past 2 years and 3 months on a government-sponsored overseas exchange programme in the US, in an effort to introduce a revolutionary system for determining causes of death to Japan. Upon her return to the country, she took up a post as an associate professor of the forensic medicine school at Kokuritsu Joto University’s faculty of medicine. The mother of a 9-year-old boy. New on the job, she objects to police inquests that determine autopsies to be unnecessary in accidents and this stirs trouble. As a consequence, she is called bad news by the police. In her passion for investigating the cause of death, or rather earnestness, she is unable to discern a forensic pathologist’s duty, lacks common sense, is extremely reckless and repeatedly causes childish trouble. She is a woman with strong convictions, who would push her way forward like a bull dozer. But on the other hand, she is lousy at housework, has difficulty raising her son. She is also a housewife with many worries.

Ishihara Satomi as Kamatsuda Chika
A detective at Musashi Police Precinct. Rank: Police Inspector. Although she is a career police officer, she was transferred to the precinct as a sort of demotion. She is in a hurry for achievements but is conspicuous for the fruitlessness of her efforts. Furthermore, as a result of her conflicts with Odate Tamami over almost everything, she gets deep into trouble. She gets tossed about both socially and professionally and starts to have a hellish, stressful time each day. In contrast to her professional problems, housework allows her to unleash her natural talent. Through a strange turn of events (calligraphy class), she begins interacting with Tamami’s son, Kosuke. She is currently dating Nakura Junnosuke, an associate professor at the forensic medicine school, but is deeply troubled that she cannot read his mind.

Inagaki Goro as Nakura Junnosuke
An associate professor of the forensic medicine school at Kokuritsu Joto University’s faculty of medicine. An ultra-realist and a person who fears rocking the boat even though he does not affirm the current, wretched system of determining causes of death. Because he has been calling the shots at the forensic medicine school until Odate Tamami took on her post, her presence is nothing more than a hindrance. Furthermore, he detests the idealistic and reckless Tamami as if she were a serpent, and clashes with her over everything. He is dating Kamatsuda Chika, who has been hinting at marriage, but he treats her cooly and his true intentions cannot be read.

Shida Mirai as Takeda Mia
A first year medical student at Kokuritsu Joto University’s faculty of medicine. The only daughter of Professor Takeda Nobuo. Like her father, whom she respects, she is embarking on the path of a forensic pathologist. She adores Odate Tamami and sympathises with her. Wanting to be of help in the hunt for the truth in cases, she often follows Tamami to many crime scenes without her permission. A hidden, shocking past soon emerges … …

Kohinata Fumiyo as Takeda Nobuo
A professor of the forensic medicine school at Kokuritsu Joto University’s faculty of medicine. He is well respected at academic conferences and is an authority of anatomical science in Japan but does not appear to be a part of the rat race within the university. Although he is a rational thinker, he will always keep an eye on his classes and give them sound advice. He is also tolerant of Odate Tamami’s unreasonable behaviour and gets stuck in the very childish battle between her, Kamatsuda Chika and Nakura Junnosuke. He has a mischievous side and a slight alcohol dependency. He lives with his only daughter, Mia.

Ichikawa Kamejiro as Odate Takahiro
Odate Tamami’s husband. A surgeon. They tend to come and go at different times because of their hectic jobs, but are a happily married couple. Because he understands Tamami’s character and respects her, he allowed her to study abroad for two years. He is keeping a secret from her.

Aoki Ryohei as Odate Kosuke
Odate Tamami’s only son. A third grade elementary student who is overly reliant on his mother. He thinks his mother is a very great doctor.

Click here for pictures from the press conference.

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