Asian Drama

Arakawa Ao lives happily on his own and hardly ever leaves Shimokitazawa, where he works at a vintage clothing shop, goes to occasional concerts and hangs out at his favorite bar. Then, he gets an unusual request to appear in an independent film.

Shibusawa Eiichi was born in 1840 to a farmer’s family. He grew up helping his family with work, which was to manufacture and sell indigo production and also silk farming. He left his hometown at the age of 23 and began working for the government. He later traveled to Paris and learned about banking. Upon his return to Japan, he helped build up the first modern bank in Japan. He eventually became a founder or supporter to about 500 companies and was involved with about 600 public services, including education for women.

Natsume Seiichi runs a flower shop. He is single and has peaceful days working with flowers, which he enjoys. Meanwhile, Kiho runs a ramen restaurant near the flower shop. The ramen restaurant was left to her from her father, but the restaurant is about to close down for good.

Hagoromo is a university student. She has a mysterious special ability which allows her to travel back in time when she gets soaking wet. She lives with her older brother Junnosuke and her father Shingo at a love hotel, which her father runs. Her brother Junnosuke runs a private detective office out of a room in the love hotel. He isn't particularly good at his job and he always asks Hagoromo to go back in time to find out the truth.

Nagatsu Ryoko, who belongs to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, is found dead in the mountain. One month ago, she discovered a Buddha statue at a mountain shrine. Her death seems accidental, caused by Ryoko slipping, but Itomura Satoshi determines that her death was not accidental.

Can a young relationship survive the challenges of family, their fishing village and redevelopment?

Set in Asakusa, along the Sumida river amongst all the multi-tenanted residential and commercial buildings, there is a company by the name of "Ookawabata Tanteisha". It is a small private investigators' agency, run by 3 people. Muraki, who is the licensed investigator; the "Director", who has ties with the underworld; and Megumi, the candid and bubbly pretty receptionist. Their customers are from all walks of life, and some come with the strangest requests, and yet none are turned away. In the course of their investigations, they come in contact with the people related to the clients, and they end up trying to resolve their relationship problems.

Through the introduction of his friend Danma Ryuji, Onizuka Eikichi, the former legendary bike gang member, visits Meishu Academy to tend to the trees in the garden as a part-time gardener. Learning that Yoshikawa Noboru, a student in teacher Fuyutsuki Azusa’s class is being bullied by Uehara Kyoko and other classmates, Onizuka befriends and saves Yoshikawa. Seeing Onizuka’s unprecedented but visceral, powerful response to problem solving, the school’s president and principal, Sakurai Yoshiko, overrides resistance from her vice principal Uchiyamada Hiroshi and makes Onizuka a teacher. Onizuka goes on to tackle many issues as the teacher in charge of the most problematic class, Class 2-4.

Joe Yabuki is an aimless young man who runs away from an orphanage with no money and no place to stay. He runs into a former boxing trainer, Danpei, who still has a strong passion for boxing. Danpei watches Joe fight and regains his desire to train future boxers. Joe, however, does not have any interest in boxing until he ends up in a juvenile prison where he meets Rikiishi, a former boxing prodigy. They quickly develop a rivalry, and a newfound interest in boxing overcomes everybody in prison, including Joe.

The story begins with the disappearance of a school bus and four high school girls. Still unsolved three years later, the case gets revived when one of the girls reappears. Odagiri plays a sharp national investigator searching for the truth behind the incident, which leads back to a seemingly peaceful town.

After being forced to resign from her publishing company job when her magazine goes out of circulation, office worker Haname Jinchoge is given the name of her real father-Noburo Jinchoge when her mother falls into a coma after nearly drowning in a pond while searching for kappa. Unsure if Noburo is her father, Haname decides to visit him but tells him that she is a distant relative, he happens to be the shopkeeper at an odd antiquities shop called Light Bulb Co., working for her father is a punk rocker named Gas.

Haname becomes fascinated with the various oddities and charm of Light Bulb Co., and discovers that she, like her father has a knack for selling things so she decides to become a shopkeeper herself. Customers are hard to come by, but she listens to her dad's strange advice-like filling a sink full of water whilst running errands makes life exciting. One day her father offers to sell her the key to the family warehouse for 1 million yen to fund his next trip, which she excitedly agrees to without thinking. However, when she discovers a shocking fact about Light Bulb Co. she chucks the key away in disgust. Later she realizes that she's been stubborn not telling Noburo he was her dad, but by the time she runs back to meet him he's already gone. Eventually Haname with the support of gas.