Asian Drama

Adapted from the manga "Fullmetal Alchemist" (鋼の錬金術師) by Arakawa Hiromu (荒川弘).

Adapted from the manga "Fullmetal Alchemist" (鋼の錬金術師) by Arakawa Hiromu (荒川弘).

Sakurazawa Jun is 27 years old and excels in her job, is fashionable, has many hobbies and lives a very fulfilled life. Her life is driven by her primary motto "love is just a waste of time!" and she has no experience in romantic relationships or with men. Before her appears Nagamine Shuma, an incredibly handsome chef in training who knows exactly what women want to hear and feel. He's someone who lives in the moment, lets people come and go, is cool and not serious about love. For some reason, Shuma is intrigued by Jun and decides to approach her...

Television news reports that a young woman has been kidnapped and her belongings sent individually to her family. Zaizen Shota, the CEO of Zaizen Corporation, recalls an eerily similar case from 18 years ago. Then, as an investigator at a private detective agency, a man called Tanioka Soichiro asked him to find his daughter, Tanioka Nanae. In that case, Nanae's kidnapper also sent photos and cuttings from her dress, underwear, and nails to Tanioka.

As a result of Zaizen's tampering in the Tanioka case, a suspect was never caught. Now Zaizen’s beloved daughter Mika goes missing and he too receives pieces of her belongings.

Meanwhile, Zaizen's wife and Mika's mother, the beautiful Yuko, is anxiously holding on to a secret that she cannot tell anyone.

As Zaizen investigates Mika’s disappearance on his own, he begins to learn about Yuko’s past while his life spirals out of control.

In 1995, Takakura Soichiro is a scientist who works on developing a robot. He is also on the verge of completing a plasma battery, following on the wishes of the deceased Matsushita. Matsushita was a friend of Takakura's late father and raise Takakura as his son.

Outside of work, Soichiro Takakura has peaceful days with his cat Pete, his girlfriend, Shiraishi san, and Riko the daughter of Matsushita. He is soon betrayed by his business partner and by his girlfriend, Takakura loses control of his company and the work he has done on the robot and plasma battery.

Takakura then opts to place himself into a "cold sleep" freezing machine, hoping to find a better future. When he wakes up, he discovers that he is in the year 2025.

Adapted from the novel "The Door into Summer" by Robert A. Heinlein.

The 61st NHK Asadora Drama is Asuka. Set in Kyoto in the home of a traditional Japanese candymaker, Asuka is the story of one young girl's dream to one day walk in her father's shoes and become a top candymaker in the male-dominated world of wagashi (Japanese confectionery). Asuka grows to be a healthy, adventurous young girl with a deep curiosity and, a desire to become a candymaker like her father. This NHK drama is one of the best in years with an excellent cast, a well-developed story based on extensive research into the traditional worlds of candy making and the tea ceremony in Kyoto, and beautiful scenery and settings in Kyoto and the surrounding areas.

When Momoko Adachi was in high school, her parents died in an accident. She was left with her 3 younger siblings. To support her family, Momoko Adachi gave up on going to a university and picked up a job at a hardware store. 9 years later, she is now 27-years-old. Her 3 younger siblings are 20, 17, and 14-years-old. Momoko Adachi places her sibling's happiness before anything else. One day, she meets Yoshioka-san at work. She is attracted to Yoshioka-san, who smiles all the time, but he has a secret.

Single mother Umihara Haru was active in the American business community until she was directly headhunted by the CEO of Itsuki Trading, a leading Japanese general trading company, and returned to Japan. She takes up the position of assistant manager of the elite Corporate Planning Department but her direct superior turns out to be the ex-husband whom she divorced 10 years ago. From ramen to rockets, Haru takes on all sorts of problems within Itsuki Trading’s enormous departments and affiliate companies. She proclaims that she wants to enjoy work and does things that defies common wisdom amid an atmosphere of paralysis due to a conservative deputy CEO.

The story is set during the high economic development time of the Showa period. Natsu lost her parents during the war so she moves to the Tokachi region in Hokkaido with her foster father who is a dairy farmer. While growing up, Natsu meets a boy at primary school who draws a very beautiful picture of a horse so she becomes interested in animated movies. Upon graduating from senior high school, Natsu moves to Tokyo and joins the budding animation industry in order to fulfill her dream of becoming an animator.

Minato Shindo has savant syndrome. His memory is amazing, but he has difficulty communicating with other people.

When Minato Shindo was little, he dreamed of becoming a doctor. He met Doctor Akira Shiga and he wanted to become a paediatric surgeon. Akira Shiga was surprised by the 7-year-old's memory of the human organs and he decided to support Minato Shindo in achieving his dream. Eventually, Minato Shindo graduated from medical school and passed the national exam for medical practitioners.

Now, Akira Shiga works as a director at a large hospital. He suggests to Minato Shindo to work in the pediatric surgery department at the hospital where he works.

Saigo Takamori, the hero of the Meiji Restoration, was born to a poor, low-ranking samurai family in the Satsuma domain (present day Kagoshima Prefecture). His simple honesty caught the attention of its charismatic feudal lord of Satsuma, Shimazu Nariakira. Nariakira’s assertion that the love of people is what will enrich and strengthen the nation captivated Saigo who took on Nariakira’s secret mission and eventually became a key person for Satsuma. Not a portrait of him survives today and much of his life is a mystery. He is a man who was twice exiled and thrice married. He overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate with exceptional bravery and action. Although he accomplished the restoration, he lost his life in a fight with the new Meiji government.

Based on the novel "Sego Don" by Hayashi Mariko.

In the spring, when Kashiwazaki Yui and her 3 years old son were coming back home from kindergarten, she let go of her son's hand for a moment and then he was gone. 9 years later, her son appears in front of her again.

When Koichi was nine years old, his father was accused of killing his mother and younger sibling, before committing suicide. In reality, Koichi's father was framed, and Koichi saw the person who killed his family. However, the police didn't believe his testimony, and his relatives called him a liar. He never gave up his story, though, and so grew up with the nickname "Usotsuki" (Liar).

Eventually, Koichi moved overseas and changed his name, becoming a professional swindler. One day, Koichi finally meets his family's killer again. He then returns to Japan to take his revenge.

If actresses Hirosue Ryoko, Igawa Haruka and Saito Yuki chose different paths at the turning point in their lives, what kind of life would they be leading? In this world, Hirosue did not appear in the big 1997 drama hit, Beach Boys, with Sorimachi Takashi and Takenouchi Yutaka and suddenly rise to fame. She is a struggling actress in her mid 30s who gets by on part-time housekeeping work and cannot bear to give up being an actress. Hirosue fantasises about newly married life with a handsome guy and is jealous of successful actress Takeuchi Yuko who is the same age. Although she struggles alone, she works hard at her housekeeping job every day. On the other hand, Igawa did not put out the photo book ‘Good Vibrations’ at that time and has been completely forgotten now after the end of the boom of “soothing” models. She dates actor Fujiki Naohito in an unexpected turn of events. Even though she has a taste of this little happiness, she starts to grow impatient when the relationship fails to progress toward marriage. Igawa impulsively tries to make a transition to acting despite being over 40 but... Saito was afraid to spoil her pure idol image and did not star in Sukeban Deka in 1985. She ended up a one-hit wonder and faded away. To regain her teenage years, she attends university and majors in physics with the aspiration to graduate as a female scientist. She mixes with youth around 20 and joins matchmaking parties, making the most of student life. At night, Saito runs a popular bar that even the actress Kaho patronises.

In June 2015, Kyogoku suddenly woke up after being in a coma for 30 years due to an accident during an investigation. It has been a year since he and the young detective, Mochizuki Ryota of Yokohama Chuo Police Precinct, drove the violent criminal called Kagura as well as the organisation Kyogoku was pursuing 30 years ago to destruction and closed this chapter from the past. Kyogoku and Ryota are still living together in the same place. Although Ryota and Yui have been dating for close to a year, Kyogoku stubbornly refuses to approve their relationship. In this one year, Kyogoku and Ryota have led the police in solving numerous heinous crimes. Ryota has also undergone an unbelievable transformation from a year ago. The investigation methods of the two of them occasionally create trouble. But because their arrest rate and contributions are the highest in the Kanagawa area right now, their maverick, overbearing behaviour is tolerated. They are the “stadium jumper and skinny macho” pair of the Yokohama Chuo district.

Remake of German TV series "The Last Cop" (Der letzte Bulle) [2010].

Tachibana Miyabi is 39-years-old and hasn't had a boyfriend in 5 years. This doesn't bother her though as she is pretty and confident and enjoys her life as a single woman. She is a doctor and runs her own successful dermatology clinic. But at her school reunion, she finds herself being pitied by others for still being single. Afterwards, she attends a gourmet meeting at a restaurant. There, she talks about her school reunion. Seiji, the owner of the restaurant, makes a biting remark that she isn't the type popular with men. She becomes upset by the remark, but finds herself taking his advice to heart. Eventually, she asks Seiji to mentor her on how to catch men to which Seiji agrees. What follows is a series of mishaps and triumphs and adventures as Miyabi does her best to be the 'type' of woman men want.

Sugisaki Momoko used to be a nursery school teacher. Her difficulty smiling leads to communication problems with parents and her contract is terminated in one year. Momoko is picked up by ‘Little Snow’, a home care service for sick children, and makes a fresh start there as a caregiver. When a child has a fever, the caregiver would visit the home and care for the child in place of the parents who simply cannot take time off from work. Momoko encounters all sorts of families at the places she is sent to. With the support of her colleagues and the occasional help of her best friend, Yumika, she starts to face work, romance, family and friendship.

Episodes: 10

Miki Kakuta (Nana Eikura) graudates from a second-rate university and scores a job at the top company in her field. Miki then becomes an OL (Office Lady), but things turn for the worse for Miki. After a few trivial errors she becomes the target of bullying by her co-workers (even endures a fake webpage made about her). Her immediate boss Yukiko Sano (Yoshino Kimura) gives Miki the cold shoulder, co-worker Marika Tachibana (Anne Watanabe) acts as her friend but makes jokes about her behind her back, senior employee Shota Nakahara (Jun Kaname) seems reliable but Miki realizes that she should keep her distance, and her head boss Seichi Kirino (Naohito Fujiki) is absolutely indifferent to her. Through all of this Miki decides to tough it out and not run away from her job.

Set two years after after "Hotaru no Hikari 2" drama series, Hotaru Amemiya learns that her boss and now husband Seichi Takano has dreamed of vacationing in Rome, Italy like in the movie "Roman Holiday". Hotaru then makes plans to go to Rome for their honeymoon. Rome, Italy prepare ... Hotaru Amemiy and Seichi Takano are coming!

Detective Rio Segawa (Nao Matsushita) works at the Oimachi Police Precinct. She chases a criminal for an entire month. Rio finally finds the criminal and goes in hot pursuit, but, during her pursuit, Detective Rio falls down from a gunshot by the criminal. 2 months later, as soon as Detective Rio comes back to the police force, she is ordered to transfer to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Violent Crimes Division. When Detective Rio arrives at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Violent Crimes Division, news of a random street attack arrives. Detectives Kei Teranishi (Yu Yokoyama), Mikiya Iwasaki (Yukiya Kitamura) & Masato Eto (Yoshiyaki Yoza) rushes out before Rio can properly introduce herself. Section head Shoji Koitabashi (Masanobu Katsumura) and Kozo Sugiura (Shigeru Izumiya) are the only men left in the office and they order Rio to go to Ryonan University to pick up someone she will work with. That person is a psychology professor Jun Nagumo (Naohito Fujiki). When Rio arrives at Ryonan University, Jun Nagumo is giving a lecture on human behavioral psychology based on footage when Rio got shot. Nagumo got the images from an acquaintance at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

The story involves Katori playing a successful advisor at a marriage consultation agency that aims to bring together people looking for partners. Kuroki plays one of the agency’s clients, who is “so beautiful” that the manual he uses doesn’t apply to her, while Fujiki plays a rich and handsome lawyer who is also a client. Katori starts to fall for Kuroki, but as a professional, he pairs the two together.

A man who constantly applies the brake in his life, a woman who could do with a brake in her life. It’s in summer of 2005 that the journey of their passionate love begins. Here’s a bright and breezy love story that makes us feel how wonderful it is to fall in love! Since we only have one life to live, why not do what we want and live with someone you love? A morning in early summer. The 25-year old Riichi, an instructor at a driving school, is riding coolly on his motorcycle. Isaki is a 31-year old woman who is learning how to drive there. As luck would have it, they end up meeting each other. Although the two of them had very clear plans for life up to a few years ago, reality isn’t so nice. Riichi has settled for work as a driving instructor to make his living while Isaki has been given charge of a store. Pursued by the bustle of everyday life, they’re living lives where they tend to forget to take a fresh look at things.

The story continues with Michiko still working as a freelance doctor at the Teito University Hospital. Enjoying herself at a horse-race in Hokkaido from an invite by Dr Kanbara Akira, Michiko happens to chance upon a scene at the owners' box. The elegant woman draped in a fur coat, sipping champagne with her handsome younger lover. Her attention is soon diverted to the race, as she cheers on the horse that she had bet on. Suddenly, the said horse veered into the path of another horse, causing a nasty fall. Michiko then overhears the elegant woman, who happens to be the injured horse's owner, lamenting "A hundred million yen horse, euthanised just like that". To which the vet replies, "Even a surgery will result in 100% failure". Michiko then chimes in, "If it was me, I would succeed"... A few weeks later, in the conference at the Teito University Hospital, the Internal Medicine Executive Manager announces that there will be a patient checking into the hospital for treatment on osteosarcoma of the thighbone. The Chief surgeon, Hiruma, and all his staff concur that the best treatment would be to amputate the leg, when a voice pipes up, "I disagree!", that heralds the appearance of Michiko!

No matter how you look at him, Shibata Taketora is just a quiet, ordinary junior high student. He looks so vulnerable that bullies try to rip him off on the streets, but he is actually a police detective and an expert swordsman in kendo. Taketora has a special ability to see the "hands of death" around people whose life is nearing the end. One day, Taketora is assigned on undercover operations. He sneaks into a high school, a maid cafe and a juvenile detention center... With the cooperation from his various friends, he gets to the bottom of the matters

Hina, a student at Nikko High School, goes out one evening with her classmate Beniko. They get split up and Hina ends up in a strange meeting with a man named Ikumi in a game arcade. The next day, Ikumi turns up as the new teacher at her school. Ikumi doesn't seem to recognize Hina but the wheels of fate are slowly moving to reunite them in what is a passionate story of forbidden love. One of the main underlying themes of this drama is death. Another important theme is the struggle Hina and Ikumi have in trying to realize the difference between love and dependence... or is there a difference? Not just a remake of the 1993 version; it takes place at the same school, but with different characters and situations. "This is a hauntingly dark drama...ala 'emotional screwed up' but the storyline is very good."

Iwase Ken and Yoshida Rei have been friends since elementary school. Ken, is obstinate and unskilled in love, but he fell long ago for the lively and cheerful, Rei. But Rei is about to get married to another man. While Ken and other friends from high-school attend the wedding ceremony, a fairy appears and sends Ken back in time, giving him a second chance to win the girl he loves.

A romantic comedy about women in their 30's For everyone who still remembers "Suteki na Kataomoi," "Tokyo Love Story," "101st Proposal," prepare yourselves for even more of those same touching moments again. Breaking the tradition of the main character for a Monday night drama being a woman in her 20's, Esumi Makiko stars as Kyoko Asaoka, a 32-year-old heart surgeon working at a hospital in Tokyo. Men tend to shy away from the tall, well-educated and well-paid Kyoko because they see her as a woman that can do things on her own. The truth of the matter is that Kyoko is just unlucky in love. She is also old-fashioned, and wants to fall in love just like anyone else, but has a hard time showing her real self to men.

Katayama Yoshitaro became a police detective after having followed the will of his father who had been known as a great detective. However, Yoshitaro can never step into murder scenes because he faints whenever he sees blood, and criminals are able to easily slip away because he is afraid of heights. He also has phobias of women and ghosts. Moreover, he hates to doubt people more than anything, so he happens to believe whatever people say. Thus, Yoshitaro has tried, in vain, to quit his job a number of times in the past, but his brother Hiroshi, who loves mystery novels, and his super active sister Harumi always manage to convince him to remain as a detective. One day, hopeless Yoshitaro finds a calico cat that somehow understands what people say and sometimes shows great reasoning power. With the help of strange hints given by this cat, Yoshitaro luckily succeeds in solving the cases. --NTV

Hoshino Tomomi (Nagasaku Hiromi) is a 41 year old housewife with a darling son and a handsome husband, but whose life has become sexless. Hayakawa Kaoru (Ishida Yuriko) is a 41 one year old movie producer who is single, but feels uneasy about her life. Mikami Haruko (Sato Hitomi) is a 41 year old housewife happy with her ordinary husband and two children. These three women were all best friends once during high school, but have since drifted apart. Now, after meeting again at a class reunion, they find themselves drawing closer to one another. But as they draw closer, an incident from their past threatens to destroy their relationship once more; particularly between Tomomi and Kaoru. But before that happens, both Tomomi and Kaoru find themselves in a situation that will turn their worlds upside-down..

Saburo, an ordinary high school student, travels back in time to the Sengoku era (1549). He encounters a young lord who looks exactly like him and is told, “Be my substitute. I’m the eldest son of the Oda family, Oda Nobunaga.” After the young lord leaves, Saburo is mistaken for Nobunaga by a vassal and taken to the castle. He starts to live as Oda Nobunaga from this day. The young samurai of the Oda family, which is merely a minor feudal lord, set out towards the extraordinary dream of unifying the whole country through the power of Saburo.

Saburo, a person from modern times who has no experience killing people, does not understand the willingness of the warlords of the Sengoku era to lay down their lives for their family. It is the same for the vassals too. They have had a hard time understanding Nobunaga’s actions ever since the ill-mannered, wilful Saburo took over. Despite this “generation gap across space and time”, they are soon on the brink of achieving their dream.

Hotaru works for a famous interior design company. It's a glamorous job but Hotaru's private life is totally the opposite of glamorous. She lives alone, and when she isn't working she's mostly lazing about her rented house in training wear. She's not interested in men. In fact, she isn't interested in anything. "I'd rather lay around than fool around," is her motto. Her landlord is a bar owner, and one day his son, who has just separated from his wife, comes to inspect the rental property, not knowing that someone is living there. He is shocked at the mess, but not as shocked as Hotaru. He turns out to be her boss, Takano.

Half a year after Enomoto Kei’s (Ohno Satoshi) disappearance, Serizawa Go (Sato Koichi) and Aoto Junko (Toda Erika) have been going about their regular law practice.

At this point, Serizawa’s client Fujibayashi (Kurobe Susumu), the chairman of a securities company, is bludgeoned to death.

Furthermore, it is Serizawa and Fujibayashi’s niece Ikuko (Kuroki Hitomi) who discover the dead body. Asked about his relationship with Fujibayashi by the detective Kouno (Ukaji Takashi), Serizawa discloses that he was arranging the donation of Fujibayashi’s late wife’s collection of paintings worth an estimated 1 billion yen to an art museum. About a month later, the elderly Asatsuma (Toji Takao) comes to the law firm accompanied by the caretaker of his apartment building Kohiyama (Okada Yoshinori). Asatsuma tells Junko who attends to him that he wishes to find the person who saved his life when he collapsed from a heart attack.

His saviour came to the apartment where he had collapsed, gave him first aid and vanished after calling 119. At the same moment, Serizawa is meeting Ikuko. Although Fujibayashi’s murderer has not been caught, Serizawa would like to proceed with the donation. But Ikuko asks him to halt it. She attests that this was what her uncle had said he wanted the day before he was killed. On another day, Junko is making inquiries with the residents of Asatsuma’s apartment building when a man comes, led by Kohiyama. He is Enomoto. He tells Junko that he has been called to install a new security camera and is taken to Asatsuma’s apartment. After that, Serizawa makes Ikuko have a face to face meeting with Hiramatsu (Sano Shiro), the director of the art museum which was to have been the recipient. The moment Hiramatsu hears that the donation has been called off, his expression hardens. At that moment, Enomoto and Junko meet a famous artist Inaba Toru (Fujiki Naohito) who is working on a piece for an exhibition. Inaba has created a mock amusement park house of mirrors and the work of art has been mounted in it...

Daimon Michiko (Yonekura Ryoko) is a 37-year-old surgeon and is part of a questionable ‘doctor placement service’ that has her wander from hospital to another. She holds a scrupulous compliance when it comes to her working hours, never does any unnecessary chores that don’t require a medical license, and couldn’t care less about the power struggles within the hospitals. Nobody knows how she acquired such a top-level skill that allows her to claim exorbitant sums as reward, but her private life is an even greater mystery to everyone around her. There are rumors that she once had to leave the medical world due to money problems and a medical error, but nobody knows anything for sure… --Tokyohive

During the late Heian era, a youth who did not know his birth parents was raised by the Heike (also known as the Taira), a samurai clan of emerging influence. Taira no Kiyomori (Matsuyama Kenichi) was in truth the illegitimate son of Emperor Shirakawa. With his adoptive father, Tadamori (Nakai Kiichi), he got rid of the pirates in the Seto Insland Sea, and was trained to be a samurai. In a period where the samurai were being discriminated by the aristocrats of the upper echelons of society, Kiyomori, who was adept at winning hearts and minds, controlled the pirates. He worked to reform the aristocracy, persisted with the way of life of the samurai and built up the mighty Taira clan (Nakamura Baijaku, Kamikawa Takaya, Fujimoto Takahiro, Daito Shunsuke). Before long, he rose from a senior courtier of the third rank to become the chief minister and the ruler of Japan.

Asagi Serina is a housewife who loves her husband, Takefumi, to the extent that she would not mind being his shadow. However, his response to her excessive devotion is to attempt to avoid her “burdensome”, “gross” expression of love. With a wife's naivety, she refuses to suspect her husband of infidelity, and initially gets frustrated. One day, with the help of her good friend, Motoko (Ashina Sei), Serina goes out for a meal with the men at the publishing company where Motoko works. The moment a man in the group makes a move on her, it is captured on film by the sleuth, Jinnai Haruki (Kiritani Kenta). Not wanting her husband to see the photograph, Serina starts working at Jinnai's detective agency as an assistant. This ordinary, bumbling housewife grows stronger and improves her self-confidence through the skills she hones. Serina wants to support and help her husband instead of flaunting her new self to him because he is having a hard time. Aware of the problem that happened to her husband because of her over positivity, she sets about trying to solve it. ~ Jdrama Weblog

Tsunoda Miki is a graduate of a second-rate university who manages to find a job at a top-notch company. But after a minor mistake, she becomes the subject of serious bullying by her superiors and other co-workers. Ultimately, she chooses to endure the harassment, not wanting to simply run away from it.

Sayama Michio is a young and callous beautician who will stop at nothing to fulfill his ambition(s). Coming from an impoverished background, he suddenly becomes the darling of the beauty world. He holds women who desire beauty captive and puts on several different faces when dealing with Murase Minako, the female owner of the place that he works at; Hatano Masako, a woman of leisure; and Fukuchi Fujiko, an editor of a weekly magazine to come out tops. He also gets involved with two detectives who are investigating him for a prior incident.

39-year-old Ogata Satoko is a highly capable psychiatrist who is single. She's forthright, a caring older sister and reliable in her job and in private. Her interests are staying in luxurious Japanese inns and watching stand-up comedy videos.

Satoko hasn't had a boyfriend in the past five years. Nevertheless, she derives satisfaction from work and isn't worried about her finances. Among her good friends that she hangs out with are 35-year-old Morimura Nao, her junior who proclaims that she won't marry, and 39-year-old Oikawa Sadao, her peer since high school. Satoko is happily enjoying the single life.

At an alumni reunion as everyone is on the verge of 40, Takeuchi Mizue, her good friend since high school who is now a full-time housewife, rushes Satoko into action. "If you want children, you should marry now" and "It's women's happiness", but both are lost on Satoko, who isn't convinced.

One day, Satoko attempts to cheer up Nao, who is downcast over a shocking incident, and goes to her favourite hot-spring inn. There she coincidentally encounters a breakup between a handsome but somewhat odd man, Okamura Keitaro, and his girlfriend.

Based on the manga of the same name by Mochizuki Minetaro. On the way home from a school trip, a tragic accident traps Aoki Teru's express train in a collapsed tunnel. The only other survivors of the catastrophe are his classmates, Seto Ako and Takahashi Nobuo. Teru resolves to escape to the surface, braving death, danger, and madness. But what awaits them outside is a desolate landscape of utter ruin as far as the eye can see. What could have caused such destruction? A natural disaster? A nuclear catastrophe? A time slip? With mixed emotions of hope and despair, the survivors journey towards Tokyo, encountering other survivors and inevitable chaos throughout their shattered world.