Don Quixote

Official Website
www.ntv.co.jp/dq

Broadcast
Saturdays, 9.00 – 9.54 p.m. from 9 July 2011

Station
NTV

Story
Shirota Masataka, a new child welfare caseworker who works at a child counselling centre, is happy to have achieved his ambition and goes about his work with a sense of mission. There are reports and consultations on truancy, misdemeanour, domestic violence and abuse. Everyday is a busy day with endless things to do. However, he ends up becoming a burden to everyone including Mizumori Mineko, the head of the centre because he places emphasis on his manual and lacks authority. Meanwhile, Sabashima Jin, the boss of the yakuza organisation Sabashima-gumi who even silences crying children, is told by his leader Iwahara Shuzo that he will fight his rival to be the next leader of the Kyohama Alliance within three months. One day, Shirota receives a report of abuse. Coincidentally Sabashima is also headed for the same residential complex to collect a debt. At that instant, the complex is bathed in a shaft of light, for some reason, and Shirota and Sabashima switch bodies! In a fix, the two men decide to help each other until they are reinstated in the right bodies, so that this will not be discovered by the staff at the child counselling centre as well as Sabashima’s wife, Ayumi, and his subordinate Hyodo Daisuke … … Shirota (Sabashima) has no choice but to go to the house that had reported the abuse. What Shirota and Sabashima discover when they enter the house, is 6-year-old Shun, who has been driven out onto the veranda. His mother denies ill treatment, but … …

Characters
Matsuda Shota as Shirota Masataka
A child welfare caseworker at Kyohama Child Counselling Centre. He is a “herbivorous man” – methodical, fashionable, sensitive and passive. He dislikes meat and fish and loves vegetables. His hobby is rearing lizards. He is passionate about wanting to save as many children as he can, but he tends to follow rules and accepted practices, and often repeats mistakes at work because of his inflexibility. That is why he is thought to be “big-headed” by the people around him. Then one day, he switches bodies with Sabashima Jin through a strange turn of events and his own life suddenly changes.

Takahashi Katsumi as Sabashima Jin
The boss of Sabashima-gumi. A righteous, strong and aggressive “carnivorous man”. However, he has a short temper, is proud and frequently makes mistakes because he does not think deeply. His hobby is dancing the salsa with his wife, Ayumi. He is admired not only by his members but also the townsfolk for his cheerful, big-hearted personality. Sabashima lives in a world without rules and accepted practices, but when he switches bodies with Shirota Masataka, his life undergoes a big change.

Narumi Riko as Matsuura Sachiko
An enigmatic juvenile delinquent who is under the care of Kyohama Child Counselling Centre. While she makes it look like she accommodates her friends around her, she is actually not able to communicate well with people and she has an air of loneliness around her. Mizumori Mineko seems to have a connection with her early life but the details are not clear. She has been living without complete trust for people, but then she encounters Shirota Masataka and Sabashima Jin who evoke the image of Don Quixote, and she changes little by little.

Uchida Yuki as Sabashima Ayumi
Sabashima Jin’s wife. Because she grew up in the working class district, she has a strong sense of duty, and supports and manages Sabashima-gumi behind the scenes. She has a graceful, feminine character, but when angry she is incredibly scary. She loves Sabashima greatly and this overflowing passion for him can sometimes be seen when they dance the salsa. She is keenly aware of her responsibility as the wife of a prospective candidate to take over as the leader of the alliance, but she does not realised that a different person has switched places with her beloved husband.

Kobayashi Satomi as Mizumori Mineko
The head of Kyohama Child Counselling Centre. She is an expert who had overcome numerous difficulties as a child welfare caseworker in the past. However, there is no trace of this history and she brings staff together with her bright and cheerful personality. Her favourite phrase is, “I cannot help it”. She has a past connection with Matsuura Sachiko who is being protected at the child counselling centre. She is always concerned about Sachiko and tries to look after her in some way or other, but she is given the cold shoulder by her.

Click here for pictures from the press conference.

All text copyright © jdramas.wordpress.com.

Advertisement