Summer 2011 Dramas

Zenkai Girl
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Mondays, 11 July 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Aragaki Yui, Nishikido Ryo, Hirayama Hiroki, Renbutsu Misako, Sato Jiro, Aoyama Noriko, Arakawa Yoshiyoshi, Takeuchi Riki, Yakushimaru Hiroko
Synopsis: Ayukawa Wakaba (Aragaki Yui) is an ambitious new lawyer at a foreign law firm who aims to become a globe-trotting international lawyer. However, the work she has been assigned by her boss, Sakuragawa Shoko (Yakushimaru Hiroko), is to play babysitter to her 5-year-old daughter, Hinata. Wakaba grudgingly takes care of the girl for the sake of her career advancement even though it is an uphill struggle for her as she dislikes and is unaccustomed to both children and childcare. On the other hand, Yamada Sota (Nishikido Ryo) is a good-natured, sympathetic and gullible chef at a shop which specialises in set menus. He has been raising his son single-handedly after his divorce and lives next door to Wakaba.These two people who are polar opposites encounter each other at nursery school, and repeatedly wage battles even though they are gradually able to relate to each other.
Website: wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/zenkai_girl

Piece Vote ~ Touhyou no Kakera
Date: From 11.58 p.m., Mondays, 4 July 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Hamada Gaku, Taira Airi, Hosoda Yoshihiko, Kaneko Nobuaki, Takayama Yuko, Kakizawa Hayato, Fujiwara Tatsuya, Jinnai Takanori
Synopsis: Wakiya Hide’s (Hamada Gaku) beloved, well-known older brother who is able to do everything, dies suddenly and leaves him, the useless brother behind. His life and his brother’s were different. It has been a life in a “minor role” that would not draw anyone’s attention. With the death of his brother, a man appears and accuses Wakiya of causing his brother’s death. He unexpectedly loses consciousness, and finds himself on a ship called ‘Piece Vote’ when he comes to his senses. Someone calls out, “It’s game time!” and requests that everyone tell him their real thoughts. The passengers confess to involuntary crimes which they had feigned ignorance of. Unbeknownst to the passengers aboard the ship, countless cameras have been installed in its interior, and these images are being transmitted all over Japan. They are on a perilous game which will be decided by the votes of spectators in Japan. Wakiya had no problems or grouses about his life in a minor role. That’s what he had thought … … until he went aboard the ship.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/vote

Zettai Reido ~ Tokushu Hanzai Sennyuu Sousa
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 12 July 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Ueto Aya, Kitaoji Kinya, Miyasako Hiroyuki, Sugimoto Tetta, Kiritani Kenta, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Maruyama Tomomi, Nakahara Takeo, Kitagawa Hiromi, Kimura Ryo
Synopsis: Sakuragi Izumi (Ueto Aya) is transferred from the Special Investigations Division to handle current crimes.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/C-273
Related: Zettai Reido ~ Mikaiketsu Jiken Tokumei Sousa

Kurumi no Heya
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 26 July 2011
Station: NHK
Cast: Matsushita Nao, Takeshita Keiko, Kanie Keizo, Igawa Haruka, Seto Koji, Harada Taizo, Usuda Asami, Nishida Naomi, Eguchi Noriko, Matsuo Satoru, Tokui Yu, Kobayashi Masahiro, Kikawada Masaya
Synopsis: Mitamura Momoko (Matsushita Nao) is the second daughter in a family of six. When her father (Kanie Keizo) is laid off and disappears, problems such as infidelity and debt arise and the family falls apart. Momoko, who is the most sensitive and has a strong sense of responsibility, tries to take charge of the family in place of her father.
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/drama10/kurumi

Last Money ~ Ai no Nedan
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 13 September 2011
Station: NHK
Cast: Ito Hideaki, Takashima Reiko, Nakamaru Yuichi, Matsushige Yutaka, Tanaka Yoji, Tanaka Tetsushi, Tabata Tomoko, Natsuyagi Isao, Ibu Masato, Kakazu Issei
Synopsis: Mukojima Sakutaro (Ito Hideaki) is an assessor for a life insurance company. He investigates all kinds of cases such as murders for insurance money, hospital insurance scams, and payments to false claimants and suicide victims, to determine if payouts should be made. Burdened with a past trauma involving an insurance claim, he begins investigating a woman called Akiko who is suspected of being a marriage swindler … …
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/drama10/money

Team Batista Season 3 ~ Ariadne no Dangan
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 12 July 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Ito Atsushi, Nakamura Toru, Hayashi Ryuzo, Natori Yuko, Omi Toshinori, Riju Go, Nakamura Yasuhi, Yasuda Ken, Fukushi Seiji, Takahashi Katsunori, Konishi Manami, Ichikawa Tomohiro, Kato Ai, Kinoshita Takayuki
Synopsis: A murder occurs inside a new MRI model in connection with the establishment of an Autopsy Imaging Centre at Tojo University Hospital which will help to determine the cause of death through the use of MRIs and CTs on any dead body. While investigating the truth, the pair of Taguchi Kohei and Shiratori Keisuke close in on the dark side of the sloppy autopsy system. Furthermore, Ikaruga Yoshimasa (Takahashi Katsunori), the head of the Metropolitan Police’s Information Office, and Associate Professor Sasai Sumire (Konishi Manami) of the hospital’s forensic medicine department oppose the centre’s establishment.
Website: www.ktv.jp/dangan
Related: Team Batista Season 2 ~ General Rouge no Gaisen

Arakawa Under the Bridge
Date: From 12.55 a.m., Tuesdays, 26 July 2011
Station: TBS
Cast: Hayashi Kento, Kiritani Mirei, Shirota Yu, Katase Nana, Abe Natsumi, Tezuka Toru, Hiranuma Norihisa, Arisaka Kurume, Tokunaga Eri, Suruga Taro, Sueoka Takuto, Mashiko Raito, Kamikawa Takaya, Takashima Masahiro, Asano Kazuyuki, Inoue Waka
Synopsis: –
Website: www.mbs.jp/autb

Shin Keishichou Sousa Ikka 9-gakari Season 3
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 6 July 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Watase Tsunehiko, Inohara Yoshihiko, Tsuda Kanji, Hada Michiko, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Taguchi Hiromasa, Hara Sachie, Nakagoshi Noriko
Synopsis: –
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/9gakari
Related: Shin Keishichou Sousa Ikka 9-gakari Season 2

Bull Doctor
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 6 July 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Esumi Makiko, Ishihara Satomi, Inagaki Goro, Shida Mirai, TOM, Ohno Takuro, Sakura, Ikeda Narushi, Anan Kenji, Ichikawa Kamejiro, Ichige Yoshie, Kohinata Fumiyo
Synopsis: Tamami (Esumi Makiko) is a shrewd forensic pathologist who boldly acts according to her own convictions. She would do whatever it takes to reveal the truth behind the deaths of victims who have no voice, and pays no heed to the objections from those around her. But at home, she has trouble with household chores and communicating with her son, which makes her feel torn between work and family. Chika (Ishihara Satomi) is a career detective who does nothing at the police precinct. She wants success in work as well as marriage, but her life spins around in aimless circles. Even though the two of them face off each other over strange, unnatural deaths and get into conflicts because they are the least compatible, they unravel these mysteries as if they are speaking for the dead.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/bull

Rokudenashi Blues
Date: From 12.59 a.m., Wednesdays, 6 July 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Aoyagi Sho, Omasa Aya, Kitahara Rie, Ozawa Yuta, Akiyama Shintaro, Harukawa Kyosuke, Shirahama Aran, Kenchi, Matsu
Synopsis: During his first year at Teiken High School, Maeda Taison (Aoyagi Sho) had subdued fighting between the boxing club and the cheerleaders with his physical strength and chivalry. In doing so, he became the school’s gang leader. He is counted as one of big four in Tokyo in terms of the strength of his fighting and he has his sights on being a champion in the world of boxing. Yamashita Katsuji (Ozawa Yuta), Sawamura Yoneji (Shirahama Aran) and Taison are bound by strong ties of friendship, and they have fun-filled days with two female classmates, Nanase Chiaki (Omasa Aya) and Imai Kazumi (Kitahara Rie). However, there is no way the full-blooded guys around Taison would ignore his strength, and the greater the strength Taison seeks, the more he finds himself swallowed up in battles. He ends up fighting to believe in the friendships of his buddies and to protect the lovely Chiaki.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/rokudenashi-blues

Kyoto Chiken no Onna Season 7
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Thursdays, 7 July 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Natori Yuko, Terajima Susumu, Masuoka Toru, Watanabe Ikkei, Kanie Keizo
Synopsis: –
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kyoto
Related: Kyoto Chiken no Onna Season 6

Hi wa Mata Noboru
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, 21 July 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Sato Koichi, Miura Haruma, Ikematsu Sousuke, Namioka Kazuki, Takahashi Tsutomu, Minami Keisuke, Tomiura Satoshi, Saito Yuki, Kitamura Tomohiko, YOU, Rokaku Seiji, ARATA, Ishino Mako, Maya Miki, Hashizume Isao
Synopsis: Detective Tono Kazuyuki (Sato Koichi) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s First Investigative Division resigns to take responsibility. However, he gets an appointment letter which he is unprepared for. It is to become an instructor at the police academy! It is a useless role in the classroom involving armchair theories about the many violent criminals. Tono, who has thus far used seemingly unorthodox measures to arrest criminals in investigations he obssessed over, assesses better than anyone else that he is least suited to be an instructor … … Awaiting him at the police academy he goes to as a new instructor are the naive young people of today who are attracted by the stability of being a civil servant and the cool uniform, particularly the trainee, Miyata Eiji (Miura Haruma), who handles everything tactfully. He is smart, good at sports and popular with both genders, but he has neither encountered hardships nor setbacks, and has nimbly made his way through an innocuous life. In fact, Miyata’s way of life is far from the qualities of a police officer who protects the lives and possessions of citizens.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/hiwamatanoboru

Soredemo, Ikite Yuku
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, 7 July 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Eita, Mitsushima Hikari, Kazama Shunsuke, Tanaka Kei, Sato Eriko, Fukuda Mayuko, Murakawa Eri, Kurashina Kana, Ando Sakura, Emoto Akira, Danta Yasunori, Ono Takehiko, Fubuki Jun, Tokito Saburo, Otake Shinobu
Synopsis: In 1996, Fukami Hiroki’s (Eita) younger sister was killed. Hiroki had been asked by his mother to take care of his sister that day, but he had not kept his word. Furthermore, it is determined that the assailant is Hiroki’s friend … … Hiroki’s family breaks up after that and he lives with his father. He still feels guilt-ridden even now. On the other hand, the assailant’s family tries to live in solitude, but they are forced to keep moving as a result of someone’s anonymous tip. 15 years go by and Hiroki encounters a girl whom he should not meet. She is Toyama Futaba (Mitsushima Hikari), his friend’s younger sister … … The two of them, who have been living courageously and trying to find hope, are drawn to each other despite their strange twist of fate … …
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/ikiteyuku

Meitantei Conan Kudo Shinichi e no Chousenjo
Date: From 11.58 p.m., Thursdays, 7 July 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Mizobata Junpei, Kutsuna Shiori, Otsuka Nene, Akimoto Sayaka, Ibu Masato, Jinnai Takanori
Synopsis: Three months before high school sleuth Kudo Shinichi (Mizobata Junpei) is made to drink poison by a mysterious organisation and becomes Edogawa Conan, he receives a succession of written challenges giving him notice of murders. Using his brilliant deductive ability, he untangles affairs and loves to solve the riddle of the impossible murders.
Website: www.ytv.co.jp/conan-drama

Ikemen desu ne
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, 15 July 2011
Station: TBS
Cast: Takimoto Miori, Tamamori Yuta, Fujigaya Taisuke, Yaotome Hikaru, Kojima Haruna, Rokaku Seiji, Yamazaki Shigenori, Shimizu Yutaka, Nose Anna, Katase Nana, Imori Miyuki, Yanagisawa Shingo, Takashima Masanobu, Manda Hisako
Synopsis: (Remake of the Korean hit drama You’re Beautiful which is about the fictitious top idol band A.N.JELL)
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/Ikemen_Desune2011

Jiu Keishichou Tokushuhan Sousa-gakari
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Fridays, 29 July 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Kuroki Meisa, Tabe Mikako, Shirota Yu, Kitamura Yukiya, L, Morooka Michio, Kyo Nobuo, Koyanagishita Yu, Nishimura Kiyotaka, Anami Atsuko, Nagae Yuki, Horiuchi Keiko, Fuwa Mansaku, Yabe Kyosuke, Yajima Kenichi, Ibu Masato
Synopsis: Isaki Motoko (Kuroki Meisa) and Kadokura Misaki (Tabe Mikako) are two female police officers with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT). Motoko knows martial arts like judo and akido, and is a competitive person who lives for knocking her opponents down. She has no interest in love because of her past and detests girls like Misaki. On the other hand, Misaki is a kind-hearted and sentimental person. She tries to understand Motoko even though she is rebuffed by her. These two female police officers with contrasting personalities clash with each other as they track down the mysterious ringleader of a series of vicious crimes.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/jiu

Ouran High School Host Club
Date: From 12.20 a.m., Fridays, 22 July 2011
Station: TBS
Cast: Kawaguchi Haruna, Yamamoto Yusuke, Nakamura Masaya, Ryusei Ryo, Daito Shunsuke, Chiba Yudai, Takagi Shinpei, Takagi Manpei
Synopsis: First is lineage and second is money for the host club at Ouran High School, one of the private and most prestigious schools in Japan which boys and girls from a privileged segment of society attend. The host club is a magnificent play group where well-off girls with too much time on their hands, are entertained by six good looking guys (Yamamoto Yusuke, Daito Shunsuke, Ryusei Ryo, Chiba Yudai, Takagi Shinpei, Takagi Manpei) who are equally free. Fujioka Haruhi (Kawaguchi Haruna) is the only commoner to enter Ouran High School on a scholarship because of her high scholastic standing. One day, Haruhi breaks the host club’s 8 million yen flower vase. Stuck with a debt, she is assigned by Suou Tamaki (Yamamoto Yusuke) to make her host debut in order to pay off her debt. However, it turns out that Haruhi is a girl. Tamaki’s heart thumps hard in reaction to her lovely smile … …
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/ouran2011

Don Quixote
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 9 July 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Matsuda Shota, Takahashi Katsumi, Narumi Riko, Uchida Yuki, Kobayashi Satomi
Synopsis: Strange circumstances result in Shirota Masataka (Matsuda Shota), a child welfare officer at Kyohama Child Counselling Centre, suddenly switching souls with Sabashima Jin (Takahashi Katsumi), the hellish boss of the yakuza organisation Sabashima-gumi who even silences crying children. The two men find themselves in completely different worlds. Masataka had been a faint-hearted young man until then, but the soul swop transforms him into a hero who saves children that have turned to juvenile delinquency in spite of his aversion to them.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/dq

Ningen Konchuki
Date: From 12.00 a.m., Saturdays, 30 July 2011
Station: WOWOW
Cast: Minami, ARATA, Kuse Seika, Tsurumi Shingo, Tezuka Toru, Takito Kenichi, Kitamura Yukiya, Matsunaga Kyoko, Hirosawa So, Kim Sujin, Nakamura Atsuo
Synopsis: Tomura Toshiko (Minami) splendidly transforms according her desires. From an actress to a designer, and then to a novelist … … As if she were like an insect molting over and over again. However, these are not talents of her own, but a perfect mimicry of the talents of the people who have got close to her. Could she be a genius whom god has created, or … …? She is a female described as a femme fatale, and men swarm around her. The two sides of love for others and her eternally recurring self is a human sin which has to repeat itself in a time where justice and evil are inextricably linked.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/drama/konchu

Tempest
Date: From 6.45 p.m., Sundays, 17 July 2011
Station: NHK BS Premium
Cast: Nakama Yukie, Tanihara Shosuke, Tsukamoto Takashi, Takaoka Saki, Gackt, Wakamura Mayumi, Takahashi Kazuya, Kaneko Noboru, Uehara Takako, Kobayashi Sachiko, Katase Rino, Yachigusa Kaoru, Okuda Eiji
Synopsis: In the Ryukyu kindgom (present day Okinawa) during the closing days of the Tokugawa shogunate, there lived a girl called Mazuru (Nakama Yukie) whose destiny was to live as a man. She possessed beauty and talent, but lied about her gender and became an official in the government. She loved the people and Ryukyu and lived courageously. After the King’s death, she was ousted but through a strange turn of events, she is able to use the government as a woman this time.
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/jidaigeki/tempest

Hanazakari Kimitachi e ~ Ikemen Paradise 2011
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 10 July 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Maeda Atsuko, Miura Shohei, Nakamura Aoi, Kiriyama Ren, Yamada Shintaro, Yanagishita Tomo, Tokuyama Hide, Nishii Yukito, Suzuki Katsuhiro, Mitsushima Shinnosuke, Sato Yuki, Yamamoto Ryosuke, Ando Ryu, Miyajima Kusuto, Matsushima Shota, Mamiya Shotaro, Okayama Tomoki, Kanai Sonde, Katono Taiko, Kotani Shotaro, Okazaki Kazuhiro, Kawahara Kazuma, Kurihara Goro, Takami Oozora, Kasai Shige, Asaka Kodai, Horii Arata, Maeda Gouki, Kashiwagi Yuki
Synopsis: –
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/hanakimi

Hanawake no Yonshimai
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 10 July 2011
Station: TBS
Cast: Mizuki Arisa, Kanjiya Shihori, Kawashima Umika, Kato Shigeaki, Miyazaki Yoshiko, Endo Kenichi, Kichise Michiko
Synopsis: The four Hanawa daughters born to a father (Endo Kenichi) popular with women, and a girlish mother (Miyazaki Yoshiko) who has carried on loving him wholeheartedly, all have no luck with men. Among them, Takemi (Mizuki Arisa), the second daughter, is the “problem child” who always gets into such trouble that she is even called the “Hanawa family’s embarrassment”. Well versed in the ways to lead men by their noses, she is a twice divorced mother of three. Her older sister, Fujiko (Kichise Michiko), is a single career woman who works as the editor of a fashion magazine and hates to lose. Sakurako (Kanjiya Shihori), the third sister, is an employee at a wigmaker and is looking for a marriage partner. It is too late for her to pursue her dreams and too early for her to compromise. Their youngest sister, Ume (Kawashima Umika) is a second-year drama student at an arts college. She is a very late bloomer, having grown up in the shadow of her individualistic sisters.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/hanawake

Shitamachi Rocket
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 21 August 2011
Station: WOWOW
Cast: Mikami Hiroshi, Terajima Shinobu, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Ayano Go, Harada Natsuki, Mashima Hidekazu, Furuya Ikko, Mitsuishi Ken, Koichi Mantaro, Mizuno Maki, Watabe Atsuro
Synopsis: Tsukuda Kohei (Mikami Hiroshi) was once in charge of the development of a space rocket. He had resigned from the Agency of Space and Astronautical Science to take responsibility for the failure of the rocket launch and now runs Tsukuda Industries, a small factory in the old downtown district. Meanwhile, Teikoku Heavy Industries announces a project to launch a domestically-made rocket at a press conference. While the project is proceeding smoothly, the project manager Zaizen Michio (Watabe Atsuro), head of the Aerospace Division, receives a shocking report. The patent for the proprietary engine component technology that Teikoku Heavy Industries had gone all out to develop, has already been filed by Tsukuda Industries! The rocket cannot fly without that component so a beleaguered Zaizen offers Tsukuda 2 billion yen for the transfer of that patent. But … …
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/rocket

Barairo no Seisen
Date: From 11.00 p.m., Sundays, 4 September 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Fukiishi Kazue, Ashina Sei, Hasegawa Tomoharu, Watanabe Konomi, Kaname Jun, Inoue Jun, Takizawa Saori, Nakama Risa, Natsuki Mari
Synopsis: 30-year-old Miki Makoto (Fukiishi Kazue) is an ordinary housewife struggling with housework and childrearing, but she has always believed in the importance of managing the household over looking beautiful so that her husband, Atsushi (Hasegawa Tomoharu) can go out to work without any worries. However, his infidelity spurs her to make up her mind to search for her “self” and become beautiful. Choosing the path of an amateur model, she steps into a modelling world that is more rough than she had imagined. Her weapons are her height which has given her an inferiority complex since young, and her extraordinary determination. She keeps having internal conversations with herself as she regains her lost beauty … …
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/barasen

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