Spring 2012 Dramas

Hanchou ~ Keishichou Azumi-han Season 5
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Mondays, 9 April 2012
Station: TBS
Cast: Sasaki Kuranosuke, Higa Manami, Ozawa Yukiyoshi, Fukushi Seiji, Kato Natsuki, Takashima Reiko, Goda Masashi, Satomi Kotaro, Izumi Pinko (guest star), Kishimoto Kayoko (guest star)
Synopsis: Assistant Inspector Azumi Tsuyoshi (Sasaki Kuranosuke) is transferred to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police which is at the heart of criminal investigations. Azumi was prominent at his precinct, but is completely out of his league among the elite of the police headquarters.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/hancho
Related: Hanchou Season 4

Kagi no Kakatta Heya
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Mondays, 16 April 2012
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Ohno Satoshi, Toda Erika, Sato Koichi, Nounen Rena
Synopsis: Enomoto Kei (Ohno Satoshi), an employee with a big security firm, is an oddity within the company. A crime prevention enthusiast, he spends each day in the supply store of the company building, absorbed in security research, particularly in the areas of keys and locks. He naturally has knowledge of security items including keys and locks and is very familiar with various theories relating to physics, chemistry and architecture. An aloof, calm and collected character with a confidence that there is no lock in this world that he cannot break. Through a strange turn of events, Enomoto is asked by a lawyer, Aoto Junko (Toda Erika), to dig out the truth of a locked room case at a mountain villa which had been classified as a suicide. With his acute insight and power of concentration, he is able to find the clue to crack cases thought to be the perfect crime and break into locked rooms. Junko is a honest, lovable lawyer who acts on instincts and sometimes says absurd things that causes trouble to the people around her. She suspects that Enomoto is a thief by profession because he is well-informed about keys and the construction of locks and has an obsessive knowledge about crime prevention. However, she slowly starts to notice his charm as he goes about solving the case.
Website: wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/kagi

Shichou wa Mukodono
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Mondays, 7 May 2012
Station: BS Asahi
Cast: Watabe Atsuro, Kurotani Tomoka, Ichige Yoshie, Makita Tetsuya, Soda Marie, Matsumoto Runa, Sakai Toshiya, Suzuki Masayuki
Synopsis: Akiyoshi Hiromasa (Watabe Atsuro) is a man who took his wife’s family name and married into her family. He is at the beck and call of his mother-in-law (Ichige Yoshie) and wife Mari (Kurotani Tomoka), also has a hard time with his children, and even gets lectured by loud neighbours everyday. The big difference between Akiyoshi and other fathers is that he is a mayor even though he is a political novice.
Website: www.bs-asahi.co.jp/shichou

Soup Curry
Date: From 2.04 a.m., Mondays, 16 April 2012
Station: TBS
Cast: Morisaki Hiroyuki, Totsugi Shigeyuki, Yasuda Ken, Oizumi Yo, Otoo Takuma, Iriyama Noriko, Tsumiki Miho, Nakajima Hiroko, Minegishi Minami, Watanabe Marina
Synopsis: Five men who went to university together are now around their 40s. One is in charge of ladies’ wear at a department store (Morisaki Hiroyuki), another is a struggling actor (Yasuda Ken), a cram school teacher (Totsugi Shigeyuki), a culinary professional active on television shows (Oizumi Yo), and yet another is an entrepreneur who runs a business for ceremonial occasions (Otoo Takuma). Each leads a different daily life, pursues dreams, respects friends, loves family and sometimes finds himself at the mercy of bright, young, energetic people around him.
Website: www.soupcurry-drama.jp

Legal High
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 17 April 2012
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Sakai Masato, Aragaki Yui, Namase Katsuhisa, Koike Eiko, Satomi Kotaro, Yano Masato, Taguchi Junosuke, Nakamura Aoi (guest star), Fukuda Saki (guest star)
Synopsis: Komikado Kensuke (Sakai Masato) passed the bar exam while studying in the law faculty of a third-rate university and opened a law firm. A person with character defects, he is cranky, caustic, temperamental, cynical, proud and spendthrift; loves money, prestige and women. Because of that, he has the worst reputation within the legal profession. But he has never once lost a case and will do whatever it takes because of his conviction that “winners are right”. The people around him are skeptical of his way of doing things. However, Komikado gradually realises that his vision of justice is a pipe dream, and begins to remember the spirit of fighting and not giving up that he had forgotten. Mayuzumi Machiko (Aragaki Yui) is an earnest rookie lawyer who has a strong sense of justice and is passionate about the socially vulnerable but tactless and inflexible. A strange turn of events result in the two of them working together as colleagues, but the two of them fight like like cat and dog, and clash over almost everything.
Website: wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/legal-high

Kaitakushatachi
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 3 April 2012
Station: NHK
Cast: Mitsushima Hikari, Ishida Takuya, Ayano Go, Yamashita Rio, Arai Hirofumi, Hira Takehiro, Kanai Yuta, Tanaka Tetsushi, Tanaka Misato, Tokunaga Eri, Ashina Sei, Maeda Ai, Nikaido Satoshi, Kinoshita Houka, Kobayashi Katsuya
Synopsis: Four siblings live in northeastern China (former Manchuria). The upbeat eldest sister Hatsu (Mitsushima Hikari), her young brothers Shiro and Kinji (Ishida Takuya, Ayano Go), and sister Tomie (Yamashita Rio), who each have their own dreams, and Hayao (Arai Hirofumi), Hatsu’s husband who supports the siblings, have been living peacefully. However, they are forced to flee from the invading Soviet troops and into a harsh refugee life when a battle is lost. After the war, they return to Japan and face the challenge of developing new land for farming in Nasu, Ibaraki prefecture.
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/program/kaitaku

Hatsukoi
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 22 May 2012
Station: NHK
Cast: Kimura Yoshino, Ihara Tsuyoshi, Aoki Munetaka, Sato Eriko, Hashimoto Ai, Cunning Takeyama, Fujisawa Ema, Nakahara Takeo, Otaka Makoto, Hirata Mitsuru, Kushida Kazuyoshi
Synopsis: Because speech therapist Murakami Midori’s (Kimura Yoshino) first love, Mishima Tadashi (Ihara Tsuyoshi), had broken his promise to come and get her if he became a doctor, she did not want to be reminded of him again. She is saved by Jun (Aoki Munetaka), a younger man and breaks away from the pain of her first love. They marry and live happily. But one day, Midori is diagnosed with liver cancer and told that the surgery will be extremely difficult. Only a doctor from overseas can do that surgery. Mishima appears in front of Midori. She is shaken by this unexpected reunion, but finds the will to live for her family and entrusts her life to Mishima.
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/drama10/hatsukoi

37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku ~ Kenshuui Junjou Monogatari
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 10 April 2012
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Mizukawa Asami, Mimura, Kiriyama Ren, Yaotome Hikaru, Suzuki Kosuke, Saito Takumi, Tanabe Seiichi, Matsudaira Ken
Synopsis: Konno Yuta (Kusanagi Tsuyoshi), a former salaryman, quit working at a food manufacturer because of some incident that spurred him to set himself free from the life of a white-collar worker. He entered a university’s medical faculty at 30 with his sights set on being a doctor, and becomes a houseman at a university hospital’s department of internal medicine at 37. He confronts the baffling, convoluted norms of the university hospital without complaint. “Medical care is a service.” Leveraging on his work experience, Yuta starts a tough struggle to make the “medical care that patients really seek” a reality.
Website: www.ktv.jp/37doctor

Kodomo Keisatsu
Date: From 12.55 a.m., Tuesdays, 17 April 2012
Station: TBS
Cast: Suzuki Fuku, Katsuji Ryo, Honda Miyu, Marius Yo, Kaburagi Kaichi, Aoki Keito, Akimoto Rei, Aizawa Yuga, Kichise Michiko
Synopsis: The middle-aged chief and elite detectives of the Special Investigative Division of Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s Oguro Police Precinct spring into action to capture the evil Yokohama-based organisation Red Venus which has been the agent for many crimes. They have something on the organisation, but are caught in an ingenious trap and end up confined in a warehouse by the harbour. Exposed to a special gas developed independently by Red Venus, the detectives find themselves becoming the size of children. This thus starts a heated battle by the detectives to do whatever it takes to arrest Red Venus so that they can safely go back to being adults.
Website: kodomokeisatsu.com

Answer ~ Keishichou Kenshou Sousakan
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 18 April 2012
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Mizuki Arisa, Tanabe Seiichi, Igarashi Shunji, Tachibana Keita, Mashima Hidekazu, Kazami Shingo, Matsushige Yutaka, Kataoka Tsurutaro
Synopsis: With the progress made in forensic science, the number of cases of arrested criminals proven innocent because of new DNA tests have been increasing. The police always expect to swiftly solve cases. As crime scene detectives try to measure up to those expectations, they occasionally jump to wrong conclusions. Thus, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s First Investigative Division set up the Evidence Verification Section and gave it the important task of validating cases that have been closed within a limited time in order to prevent wrongful convictions from happening as a result of out of control investigators at crime scenes. But its actual job is to correct typographical errors and omissions and stamp investigation reports with the words ‘verification completed’, and then send it over to public prosecutors. The members of the section headed by a veteran detective who worked his way up and has lost passion for his work, are a little idiosyncratic and somewhat difficult. It is merely a titular section meant to call the attention of the public to the fairness of the police. Deputy Inspector Shinkai Akira (Mizuki Arisa), a career elite who has been sidelined as a result of some incident, is assigned to be the new leader of the Evidence Verification Section. A sharp-minded female who gives the impression of an eccentric person, Akira breaks away from the bureaucratic work and genuinely starts to validate evidence, demonstrating her ability to take action and sense of justice in order to rally her disillusioned subordinates. Discovering new facts from small doubts in the reports, she overturns cases that should have been solved and finds the true criminals.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/answer

Cleopatrana Onnatachi
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 18 April 2012
Station: NTV
Cast: Sato Ryuta, Inamori Izumi, Kitano Kii, Ayano Go, Miura Shohei, Yo Kimiko, Miyaji Masako
Synopsis: Taciturn and blunt Kishi Minetaro (Sato Ryuta) is a skilled doctor at a beauty surgery clinic who cannot understand the feelings of women. Originally a specialist in plastic surgery, Kishi ended up resigning from his low-paying job at a university hospital to work at the clinic which pays a monthly salary of 2.5 million yen so that he can repay the 60 million yen debt that his father had incurred because of a woman. Cosmetic surgery is a part of plastic surgery and involves medical procedures, but Kishi thinks that women who tamper with the faces given by their parents are horrible. Furthermore, he is contemptuous of doctors who make money from this. In his mind, they are not doctors. Through his interactions with patients as well as the female clinic staff (Inamori Izumi, Kitano Kii) who have not stopped to question their work in cosmetic surgery, he gets close to the true inner feelings of women and grows as a person.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/cleo

Shin Omiyasan
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Thursdays, 12 April 2012
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Watase Tsunehiko, Kyono Kotomi, Toda Keiko, Nanase Natsumi, Hayashi Yasufumi, Fuwa Bansaku, Katagiri Ryuji
Synopsis: –
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/omiyasan
Related: Omiyasan Season 7

W no Higeki
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, 26 April 2012
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Takei Emi, Kiritani Kenta, Matsushita Yuki, Fukuda Saki, Goriki Ayame, Terada Minori, Nogiwa Yoko, Wakamura Mayumi, Nakamura Shunsuke, Takeda Kohei, Kaneda Akio, Takahashi Issei
Synopsis: Born into an ultrarich family that runs a big conglomerate, doe-eyed Watsuji Mako (Takei Emi) is to take over the family-run business in the future. This destiny was decided since the time of her birth. She grew up like a caged bird, smothered with the affection of family members (Terada Minori, Nogiwa Yoko, Wakamura Mayumi, Nakamura Shunsuke) and the people around her. Amidst this life of luxury which Mako regards as most inconvenient, she secretly yearns to grasp life with her own hands some day … … Kurasawa Satsuki (Takei Emi) is an orphan who has experienced loneliness and poverty on the fringe of the city. She has been very rebellious since she was a child and left the orphanage she grew up in at the same time she graduated from junior high school. Lying and cheating in order to live, she desires wealth and power more than anything else. Her goal in life is to become rich and seek revenge from where she stands at the top of the world. Mako and Satsuki have a fateful meeting and trade places with each other, but this plunges them into a tragedy as the tables are turned. Mako, who is clean and pure like a swan, is toughened up as she leads the life of the black swan. Satsuki, who is consumed by envy and animosity, gets mixed up in the complex relations of the Watsuji clan and an unexpected murder!
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/w-higeki

Papa wa Idol
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, 19 April 2012
Station: TBS
Cast: Nishikido Ryo, Yuka, Kawashima Umika, Imai Yuki, Tani Kanon, Enari Kazuki, Sato Jiro, Takahata Atsuko (guest star), Yashima Norito, Zaizen Naomi
Synopsis: Popular idol Nishikido Ryo (Nishikido Ryo), member of Johnny & Associates’ Kanjani8, suddenly falls in love with an older, ordinary single mother (Yuka) of three children Mei, Hideto, Kana (Kawashima Umika, Imai Yuki, Tani Kanon) and decides to marry her. He does not report this to his management agency after the fact, but he is slapped with the choice of divorcing or dropping out within three months. The marriage of a member of Kanjani8 definitely has to be kept secret from their fans. If the marriage is found out, he will have to give up his career immediately. As Nishikido, now idol, husband and new father, agonises over this dilemma, his bonds with his family and band members grow deeper and he matures as a parent.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/program/papa_idol.html

Kaeru no Oujosama
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, 12 April 2012
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Amami Yuki, Ishida Yuriko, Oshima Yuko, Chiba Yudai, Oshima Yoko, Kikuchi Mika, Tamayama Tetsuji, Katase Nana, Kuno Akiko, Koizumi Kotaro, Fukuhara Miho, Hamada Mari, Kusakari Masao, Kishibe Ittoku
Synopsis: Talk of merging the financially beleaguered Yume City with a neighbouring municipality is underway. Even the music hall which was a symbol of the once flourishing “town of music” has been slated for demolition to make way for a garbage disposal facility. On the other hand, legendary musical star Kurasaka Mio (Amami Yuki) who hails from Yume City finds herself out of luck when she suffers a setback in New York’s Broadway. Asked by her hometown teacher (Kuno Akiko) to make over the chorus group called the ‘Chansons’ which is now in a precarious position along with the music hall, the lofty Mio comes back to Japan. She teaches them to take a step forward and to never give up no matter what happens, but they are repulsed by her drastic teaching methods. On the other hand, Isaka Chuko (Ishida Yuriko), the daughter of the mayor (Kishibe Ittoku) responsible for promoting the merger and a key member of the ‘Chansons’, struggles to rally the group. Chuko comes from a family that has carried on the tradition of Japanese imperial court music. She has a younger husband, Tetsuro (Koizumi Kotaro), and lives modestly but life gets eventful with Mio’s apperance … … Mio the maverick tries to redefine the notion of choral singing and introduce dancing to transform the ‘Chansons’ into a show choir. However, this meets with opposition from the conservative Chuko who tries to uphold traditions. Nevertheless, the bonds between the two of them grow stronger even as they clash with each other in their bid to revive the group’s fortunes.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/princessofthefrog

Ekiben Hitoritabi ~ Tohoku-hen
Date: From 10.30 p.m., Thursdays, 5 April 2012
Station: BS Japan
Cast: Okada Yoshinori, Kato Takako, Yamamoto Hikaru, Haru, Sudo Atsuko
Synopsis: Nakahara Daisuke’s (Okada Yoshinori) love for bentos (boxed lunches) developed into the opening of a bento shop. He has been too busy to go and eat ekiben (boxed meals sold at train stations and on trains) ever since. Then one day, his wife, Yuko (Kato Takako) gives him a rail trip around Japan as a present. He sets off on his trip and journeys with beautiful women (Yamamoto Hikaru, Haru, Sudo Atsuko) he meets while travelling as he consumes ekiben around the country including the famous ‘Fukushima Ajizukushi’, ‘Gyunikudomannaka’ and ‘Hanagasakokeshi’.
Website: www.bs-j.co.jp/newtitle/7001.html

Taburakashi Daikou Joyuugyou Maki
Date: From 11.58 p.m., Thursdays, 5 April 2012
Station: NTV
Cast: Tanimura Mitsuki, Yamamoto Koji, Shirahane Yuri, Miyazaki Yoshiko, Oshinari Shugo, Danta Yasunori
Synopsis: Todo Maki (Tanimura Mitsuki) has continued to pursue her dream of being an actress in Tokyo. However, the troupe she belongs to breaks up and she gets stuck with a debt of 6 million yen. There is nothing else she can do but to audition for OR Corporation, a seedy looking company which contracts stand-in actors for daily life. It is one that stays on the side of the law with the actors filling in for all sorts of people at the request of self-indulgent clients. Maki finds herself playing various roles including new wife on behalf of a bride that finds family relations bothersome, mother who goes for an elementary school parent-teacher meeting in place of a busy company president, and corpse to assist in an investigation into insurance fraud. This reveals unexpected truths and Maki matures as she comes in contact with the subtleties of human interaction.
Website: www.ytv.co.jp/taburakashi

Houkago wa Mystery Totomo ni
Date: From 12.20 a.m., Thursdays, 23 April 2012
Station: TBS
Cast: Kawaguchi Haruna, Hayami Mokomichi, Takashima Masanobu
Synopsis: High school student Kirigamine Ryo (Kawaguchi Haruna) is the vice president of the detective club at Koigakubo Academy, a school on the outskirts of Tokyo’s Kokubunji. Posing as a famous detective, she makes deductions to solve various cases that occur within the school. But because her deductions are flawed, she never solves the cases. She is helped by her biology teacher Ishizaki Hiromi (Hayami Mokomichi), detectives and suspects, as the cases are solved.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/houmisu

Hidamari no Ki
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Fridays, 6 April 2012
Station: BS NHK
Cast: Ichihara Hayato, Narimiya Hiroki, Kurokawa Mei, Tsugawa Masahiko, Nishioka Tokuma, Ikegami Kimiko, Sasano Takashi, Kotegawa Yuko, Otsuka Shinobu, Fueki Yuko
Synopsis: In the chaos of the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, two young men bound by the bonds of firm friendship stand by their convictions as they try to create lives for themselves, walk the path they believed and die in the course of destiny. Ibuya Manjiro (Ichihara Hayato) is a boorish, low-ranking samurai who serves the Hitachifuchu domain. Although Ibuya is skilled, he is terrible at making his way in life because he is honest to a fault. The single-minded Ibuya lives for justice and is loyal to the shogunate which is on the verge of collapse. In contrast to Ibuya, Tezuka Ryoan (Narimiya Hiroki), a fine doctor of Western medicine, is usually an irresponsible womaniser, but a compassionate person who would go all out for his patients … …
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/jidaigeki/hidamari

Mou Ichido Kimi ni Puropozu
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, 20 April 2012
Station: TBS
Cast: Takenouchi Yutaka, Wakui Emi, Yamamoto Yusuke, Kurashina Kana, Ichikawa Yui, Watanabe Tetsu, Matsushita Kohei, Hashimoto Mami, Irie Jingi, Yamano Umi, Hisamatsu Ryuichi, Miura Riki, Mitsuishi Ken, Onodera Akira, Maya Kyoko
Synopsis: Miyamoto Haru (Takenouchi Yutaka) works as a mechanic at a automobile repair shop. For Haru who has loved assembling radio control cars since young, this is his calling. He has chosen to work at the repair shop thrilled by the thought that he can give old cars another new start if he is able to repair them well. He met his wife, Kanako (Wakui Emi), at a park near the library where she works and they married after dating for a year. They are in their fourth year of marriage and have no children, but Haru thinks that he will be happy as long as Kanako is by his side. One day, Kanako suddenly collapses from a brain haemorrhage. Although the surgery is a success, she has completely forgotten the times she spent with Haru. He is given a big shock as he gradually realises that all her memories of the two of them and even his own existence, is gone from her mind. But the lost of a life he had taken for granted, makes Haru rediscover Kanako’s importance to him. Remembering the emotions he felt when he fell in love with her, he resolves to win her over again. However, many difficulties lie ahead of them. Can Haru’s feelings get through to Kanako?
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/propose2012

Toshi Densetsu no Onna
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Fridays, 13 April 2012
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Nagasawa Masami, Mizobata Junpei, Takenaka Naoto, Hirayama Koji, Takuma Takayuki, Rachi Shinji, Akizuki Narumi, Kobayashi Yumi, Shinohara Mai, Ando Tamae, Sugawara Takuma, Tsuji Osamu, Ibu Masato, Utsui Ken
Synopsis: Detective Otonashi Tsukiko (Nagasawa Masami), who belongs to the First Investigative Division’s Tannai team led by Tannai Ichio (Takenaka Naoto), is a geek with Toshi Densetsu mania. She claims that she became a detective to establish proof of Toshi Densetsu and dreams of officially announcing some day that Toshi Densetsu is involved in a case she investigated. When cases happen, she will always consider its associations with the manga. Because of that, the better part of the formal investigation would appear to be wrong. She feigns illness to slip out from work and stealthily proceed with her own investigation based on her theory that Toshi Densetsu is the cause. This angers Tannai every time.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/toshidensetsu

Akko to Bokura ga Ikita Natsu
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 14 April 2012
Station: NHK
Cast: Kawashima Umika, Yanagishita Tomo, Yamada Kenta, Kuroki Tatsuya, Ukaji Takashi, Omi Toshinori, Mitsuishi Ken, Zaizen Naomi
Synopsis: Omiya Yoko (Kawashima Umika) whose nickname is Akko, is the vivacious manager of the her high school’s baseball club. In June of her second year, she is told that she has asopharyngeal cancer when she undergoes a checkup for a neck pain. This comes as a shock to her, but she takes courage from the baseball club members who devote themselves to practice with their sights set on playing at the Koshien Stadium, and decides to have treatment. The captain and the members promise to bring Akko to the Koshien. Akko tolerates the painful treatment in the belief that the day will come when she can return to the field, her spirits kept up by the winning ball that the club will deliver with their victory. The desire to encourage Akko rouses the team members, and they secure a place to make their debut at the stadium in summer. However, the illness ravages her body until she is no longer able to go to the Koshien Stadium … …
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/dodra/dodrasp/index.html#d9

Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 14 April 2012
Station: NTV
Cast: Aiba Masaki, Fujiki Naohito, Okura Tadayoshi, Omasa Aya, Matsuko Deluxe, Omi Toshinori, Ishizaka Koji
Synopsis: Katayama Yoshitaro (Aiba Masaki) is a straightforward, meddlesome person loved by everyone. He also happens to be a hapless detective who gets dizzy when he sees blood, and fears heights as well as women. “I’m not suited to be a detective” he would mutter to himself, and hand in his resignation letter almost everyday. But it was the family rule that “there should be one detective in the family” and the dying wish of his famous detective father that prompted Yoshitaro become a detective. One day, he is sent off to conduct an investigation at a women’s college at the orders of the head of the First Investigative Division. To Yoshitaro, it is an excessively tragic event to be among females. As he staggers about, he encounters an intriguing tortoise-shell cat. It is a cat that understands human speech and occasionally displays exceptional powers of deduction. With the help of the cat, Yoshitaro is able to solve difficult cases and gradually grows into a famous detective.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/mikeneko

Mirai Nikki ~ Another World
Date: From 11.10 p.m., Saturdays, 21 April 2012
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Okada Masaki, Goriki Ayame, Hongo Kanata, Fukuda Mayuko, Kikuchi Fuma, Nakamura Yuri, Tominaga Saori, Hiraga Masaomi, Hiraoka Yuta, Nikaido Fumi, Okada Yoshinori, Miyazaki Yoshiko, Mitsuishi Ken, Sano Shiro
Synopsis: Hoshino Arata (Okada Masaki) is a apathetic university student who feels that hard work alone is useless and that the future cannot be changed. But one day, he obtains a mobile phone journal in which the future is written. In order to change his own terrible future which is found inside, he gets caught up in a game of survival with people who have this same journal of the future including Furusaki Yuno (Goriki Ayame) who has a crush on Arata and always turns up wherever he goes. At first, he simply runs away, but grows up through encounters and separations from friends. He realises the “true identity” of the journal and tries to win to stay in the game. He decides to live according to his own will, and gets the message that there is hope and there is a tomorrow.
Website: wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/mirai-nikki

Shiritsu Bakareya Koukou
Date: From 12.50 a.m., Saturdays, 14 April 2012
Station: NTV
Cast: Morimoto Shintaro, Matsumura Hokuto, Kyomoto Taiga, Tanaka Juri, Lewis Jesse, Kochi Yugo, Shimazaki Haruka, Oba Mina, Nagao Mariya, Kobayashi Marina, Shimada Haruka, Nakamura Mariko
Synopsis: One day, Bakada High School, a school with dumb, delinquent boys, and Daiichi Catteleya Academy, a school with beautiful, well-off girls, are merged to form Bakareya High School. However, Sakuragi Tatsuya (Morimoto Shintaro) who loves Bakada High School in every respect, reacts sharply against Shingyoji Eri (Shimazaki Haruka) who is equally proud of her alma mater, and an uproar ensues … …
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/bakaleya

Kazoku no Uta
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 15 April 2012
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Odagiri Joe, Santamaria Yusuke, Kanjiya Shihori, Muro Tsuyoshi, Nakajima Kento, Sugisaki Hana, Omori Ayane, Fujimoto Kanata, Fuji Tatsuya, Tortoise Matsumot, Otsuka Nene
Synopsis: The sexy, talented and polished Hayakawa Masayoshi (Odagiri Joe) once enjoyed tremendous popularity as a member of the red-hot rock band ‘Under Cloud’, sold millions of records at the pinnacle of his career and topped the rankings for the man that women most want to be hugged by. But ever since a spat with his bandmates caused the band to break up 13 years ago, he has slid into oblivion, forgotten by society. It is because his songs after the split became ego trips. His regular job now is a live 30-min radio show from 5.00 am in the morning and has the occasional fan meeting. That is how his life has has been going, but he has a relatively satisfactory life sticking to his favourite music genre of rock. Even so, he enjoys the path he has taken. Then one day, he gets saddled with family and his selfish thoughts and way of life slowly starts to change. Through this, he also gradually becomes a person who shows compassion to those around him and this even influences his songwriting … …
Website: wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/kazokunouta

Ataru
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 15 April 2012
Station: TBS
Cast: Nakai Masahiro, Kitamura Kazuki, Kuriyama Chiaki, Tamamori Yuta, Riyu Go, Okunuki Kaoru, Shimada Kyusaku, Tanaka Tetsushi, Chihara Seiji, Nakamura Yasuhi, Shonozaki Ken, Mitsumune Kaoru, Nakamura Masaya, Miyoshi Hiromichi, Ichimura Masachika, Murakami Hiroaki, Itaya Yuka (guest star), Lola (guest star), Ikeda Shin (guest star)
Synopsis: Among the people with autism and intellectual disability are savants that exercise amazing talents in certain areas such as memory, music performance, painting, calculation that are beyond that of ordinary humans. Ataru (Nakai Masahiro) is an enigmatic man with the savant syndrome. While he is constantly many steps ahead of people, the problems he has with communicating results in difficulty understanding what he says. His behaviour is also incomprehensible and sometimes sets off panic. Ataru discovers, observes, discerns and infers minute evidence related to crimes which the police do not even notice, and randomly utters words connected to the criminals and causes of incidents that form the key to cracking difficult, unsolved cases. Former detective Ebina Maiko (Kuriyama Chiaki) is the one who assembles these pieces of the puzzle that Ataru presents to her, but because of her limited experience on the field she unravels them through the hints provided by her former superior at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Sawa Shunichi (Kitamura Kazuki).
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/ATARU

Suitei Yuuzai
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 25 March 2012
Network: WOWOW
Cast: Nakamura Toru, Kuroki Hitomi, Mimura, Motokariya Yuika, Terajima Susumu, Matsuo Suzuki, Nakamura Shunsuke, Hakamada Yoshihiko, Aijima Kazuyuki, Kusabue Mitsuko, Ryu Raita, Mitsuishi Ken, Shiba Toshio, Kunimura Jun, Jinnai Takanori (guest star)
Synopsis: Journalist Kayama (Nakamura Toru), who is covering the war zone, gets news that Shinozuka (Kunimura Jun), the criminal serving time for the murder of a young child 12 years ago, was actually falsely accused of crime. At that time, Kayama was reporting on this case and had proceeded to write about Shinozuka being the criminal, but it is proved to be wrong after the passage of 12 years. Shinozuka’s lawyer, Ishihara (Kuroki Hitomi) holds a press conference where she criticises the sloppy investigation by the police and speaks of suing for the 12 years that Shinozuka had lost. However, Shinozuka’s daughter, Miho (Motokariya Yuika) has mixed feelings for her father as he is released from prison now. While the victim’s older sister, Hiroko (Mimura) finds it difficult to accept this reality … …
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/suiteiyuzai/

Tsumi to Batsu ~ A Falsified Romance
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 29 April 2012
Station: WOWOW
Cast: Kora Kengo, Mizukawa Asami, Ito Ayumi, Horibe Keisuke, Nakao Akiyoshi, Hashimoto Ai, Sometani Shota, Asakura Aki, Manda Hisako, Ibu Masato, Tanaka Tetsushi
Synopsis: Tachi Miroku (Kora Kengo), who has dropped out from university and shut himself away in his room, has a bloated pride and hypersensitive inferiority complex. He has a horrifying plan in his mind. It is the murder of Baba Hikaru, a female high school student that controls a schoolgirl prostitution group. “Even if she lives, she will only be a pest who harms others and herself. Would it be a crime to have such pest removed? Pay the price in blood to achieve the objective.” Goaded by the voice inside his head, Miroku finally takes action. However, the unexpected outcome torments him … …
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/tsumitobatsu

Kurohyo 2: Ryu ga Gotoku Ashura-hen
Date: From 12.55 a.m., Sundays, 8 April 2012
Station: TBS
Cast: Saito Takumi, Sato Yuki, Abe Ryohei, Okamoto Rei, Wada Soko, Namioka Kazuki, Ishida Takuya, Hayashi Tsuyoshi, Masato, Takachi Noboru, Osugi Ren
Synopsis: Ukyo Tatsuya (Saito Takumi), who left behind the unprecedented record of ten consecutive wins in the underground fighting circuit called Dragon Heat, headed to Las Vegas by himself to banish his sorrow over the deaths of his older sister and good friend, and made his debut in boxing. Returning to Tokyo for the first time in over a year for his pro debut in Japan, Tatsuya heads to Kamuro-cho where he was born and raised, but what awaits him is the underground fighting gang ‘Ashura’ which acts as if Kamuro-cho is their turf. Tatsuya meets the youngsters of Dragon Heat (Sato Yuki, Yagami Ren, Tomiura Satoshi) who are fighting back, and the nurse Aya (Okamoto Rei) and his destiny changes dramatically once again … …
Website: kurohyo2tv.jp

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