Asian Drama

A legal drama about a former manager of entertainment agency who became a paralegal of a clumsy rookie lawyer.

Episodes: 11

Duration: 58 min.

Aired On: Friday

Watanabe Tatsuya, the falsely accused newspaper reporter decides to run for State Governor to change Tokyo. The Democratic Liberal Party Headquarters, which wants to clear its name in the next gubernatorial election, recommends political commentator Kawamoto Eita as an official candidate.

Meanwhile, Saki, the daughter of Ujihara Takumi, the president of Hamashio Construction, a major general contractor, is kidnapped. The culprit's request is to cancel the land reclamation project in Tokyo Bay, which is being promoted by Hamashio Construction under the leadership of Suzuki Ichiro, the secretary-general of the Democratic Liberal Party. Kenichi becomes a negotiator with the criminal, in order to make a hostage exchange to save Saki. Who is the culprit of the kidnapping case and what is its purpose?

(Source: DramaOtaku)

Episodes: 5

Hongo Kanata stars as a scammer who is trying to infiltrate a family by pretending to be a tutor, but ends up getting wrapped up in the family’s “criminal” activities.

Oga Toichi, the Director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigation Division, is often called “King” for persisting in having his own way and ignoring opinions from people around him. Despite this, Toichi has the determination to solve cases. He calmly identifies the psychology and weakness of people. His only hobby? Doing card magic.

Koshobu Tsutomu is smart enough to have passed his bar exam at the age of 20. He also graduated at the top of the law department at Tokyo University. He had his choice of prestigious job opportunities, but he chose to work at the Fair Trade Commission. The commission is commonly called the Guardian of the Market. There, Koshobu Tsutomu works for the 6th examination team. One day, Shirokuma Kaede joins the 6th examination team. Shirokuma Kaede is a detective. While chasing a criminal, she failed to catch the criminal that was right in front of her eyes. She was then ordered to transfer to the Fair Trade Commission. Even though Koshobu Tsutomu and Shirokuma Kaede have totally different personalities, they team up to tackle difficult cases.

Adapted from the novel "Kyousou no Bannin" (競争の番人) by Shinkawa Hotate (新川帆立).

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Matsuda Anna is a dedicated journalist who doggedly pursues the truth about a government corruption scandal even as powerful enemies seek to neutralize her reporting.

Kei Watanabe is a 5th grade elementary school student. He has inherited the hunter's blood to hunt yokai. To save the world from being destroyed, Kei Watanabe challenges a war against the yokai.

Shin Karino is an unpopular manga writer and he is single. He lives in an apartment complex that has a rule forbidding children from living there. One day, Shin Karino's doorbell rings. When he opens his apartment door, he sees a small boy. The boy is 5-year-old Kotaro Sato. Kotaro Sato tells Shin Karino that he moved into the neighborhood. Shin Karino makes a weird face, because of the rule of his apartment complex. Kotaro Sato says that he lives by himself. At first, Shin Karino is annoyed by Kotaro Sato, but residents of the apartment building, including Shin Karino, become attached to Kotaro Sato.

Adapted from the manga series "Kotaro wa 1-ri Kurashi" (コタローは1人暮らし) by Tsumura Mami (津村マミ).

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.

A strange horror comedy that takes place in a share house where Meguro Mio and monsters [Youkai] live.

Mio Meguro is a timid person. She is afraid of being hated by others and this causes her to refrain from saying what she really wants to say. She doesn't have any specific things she wants to do. She got a job and eventually dated a man from her workplace work. Mio Meguro wanted to marry the man, but he turns out to be a bad guy. Because of him, she becomes penniless and unemployed. Her life descends into a bottomless pit. Mio Meguro then happens to get a sharehouse, where the mysterious creatures known as yokai live. The yokai try to solve her problems in radical ways.

A strange horror comedy that takes place in a share house where Meguro Mio and monsters [Youkai] live.

Mio Meguro is a timid person. She is afraid of being hated by others and this causes her to refrain from saying what she really wants to say. She doesn't have any specific things she wants to do. She got a job and eventually dated a man from her workplace work. Mio Meguro wanted to marry the man, but he turns out to be a bad guy. Because of him, she becomes penniless and unemployed. Her life descends into a bottomless pit. Mio Meguro then happens to get a sharehouse, where the mysterious creatures known as yokai live. The yokai try to solve her problems in radical ways.

The Mobile Investigative Unit (known as "MIU") of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department attempts to solve cases within 24 hours.

Detective Shima Kazumi is selected as a new member of MIU. He is intelligent, with excellent observation and communication skills. Yet, he does not trust other people. He is unable to find a partner in MIU and is ordered to partner with Police Officer Ibuki Ai, who works at a police substation. Ibuki applied for MIU, but he failed. He is in excellent physical condition, but he lacks knowledge and experience as a detective. Shima learns about Ibuki's background and he becomes more nervous. Finally, Shima has his first meeting with Ibuki.

Mei was a legendary witch and also part of a legendary brave group. The brave group defeated Satan, as it tried to engulf the world with its dark power. Satan was sealed off and the world became peaceful again.

Now, Mei is a housewife and she struggles to raise her baby child. Her days are otherwise peaceful and ordinary, but Mei hears that Satan has been unsealed and is revived.

Tanaka Nozomu is one of the three high school students. People call her "Baka" ("Idiot"). She isn't timid and she can't read between the lines. Her friends are Kikuchi Akane and Saginomiya Shiori . Akane enjoys anime and manga. Shiori is extremely smart, but her emotions have dried up. These three girls are also classmates. Their homeroom teacher is Sawatari Masataka.

It was a pre-destined love and marriage for Sonoko and Tetsuo. They tied the knot and became husband and wife no questions asked. All is well then. Well, perhaps not. Each holds a secret that even the bonds of matrimony cannot untie. Sonoko does not know that Tetsuo makes sex dolls or Dutch wives. Sonoko has a secret too. She is about to tell Tetsuo what she has been hiding. Their marriage is already sexless. Will they make it?

One day, Nobuo Harada starts work as a Japanese language teacher at a high school. He is gay and dresses like a woman. He sympathizes with the lives and worries of his students.

A few months before a law is enacted that requires the recording of all police interrogations, police officers gather at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and they receive instruction on how to treat suspects better. They observe, Yukiko Makabe (Yuki Amami) from the special interrogation team Kintori interrogate a suspect who does not show any signs of remorse. Yukiko Makabe uses sharp words and shows a lack of respect towards the suspect. Due to her behavior, Councilor Reiko Kikuchi orders Yukiko Makabe to train newcomers.

Around this time, Yuta Nomoto, who received a 12 year sentence, escapes while being transferred to prison. He breaks into a house and takes a housewife as a hostage.

Dangerous hacker group “Phantom 20” is known internationally. They begin an attack on Hikari Bank in Japan. Kenjiro Namikoshi is the chief of the criminal investigation section at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. He leads the investigation into the group. Kenjiro Namikoshi thinks of Kogoro Akechi who holds vast knowledge on hacking and leads BD team hacker group. To ask him for advisor help on the investigation, Kenjiro Namikoshi sends Yoshio Kobayashi.

Kazumasa and Kaoruko are in a troubled marriage and have agreed to divorce once their daughter's elementary school entrance exams are over. However, just before they are to rehearse for the family oral interview, they are informed of their daughter drowning in a pool. Rushing to the hospital, Kazumasa and Kaoruko are met with a heartbreaking situation.

Adapted from the novel "Ningyo no Nemuru Ie" by Higashino Keigo.

Young Public Prosecutor Okino Keiichiro is assigned to the department of Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office which deals with violent cases. He is thrilled to work with Mogami Takeshi whom he admires. One day, an elderly money lender is killed and Matsukura Shigeo is identified as a suspect. He borrowed money from the victim. In his past, Shigeo testified in a female middle school murder case. Takeshi is aware of the heavy grief carried by the deceased girl's family and he tries his best to prove Shigeo's guilt.

Transport company president Akamatsu doubts that poor maintenance a trailer truck's wheel-separation accident and asks customer strategy head Sawada at manufacturer Hope Cars to investigate. Meanwhile, Izaki at Hope Bank's head branch sales division has doubts about Hope Car's business plans and embarks on an independent investigation. They both discover that this corporate powerhouse has been hiding vehicle recalls.

Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself the widower of Yaichi’s estranged gay twin, Ryoji.

Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji’s past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in. What follows is an unprecedented andheartbreaking look at the state of a largely still-closeted Japanese gay culture: how it’s been affected by the West, and how the next generation can change the preconceptions about it and prejudices against it.

A story-a-week episodic medical mystery that treats the theme of reality changing when faced with imminent death. Mystery and exhilarating human drama unfold against the backdrop of the “unnatural death institute”, or “UDI”. For example, the body of a young man is brought into the UDI lab one day; his cause of death attributed to ischemic heart disease in which blood fails to be conveyed to the heart. But the victim’s parents are puzzled by the freak nature of their son’s death and turn to medical coroner Mikoto, to find out why. Together with her lab technician partner, Yuko Shoji, and rookie medical recorder, Rokuro, they examine the body for a possible drug poisoning and then learn that another female colleague of the deceased man has just died suddenly.

Snack bar owner and her regular patron tell 11 different stories about the worst day in the lives of people in their neighborhood of Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. One of those instances involve a Tokyo politician being kidnapped during an S&M session. ~~ 11 screenwriters contribute 11 different stories with different casts under the theme of “The worst day of their life.”

Makoto Masaki and Haruko Kogetsu are both 29 years old and single. Since they were children, they have passed each other at various places like on the beach and shrines. Yet, the two are not aware of each other at all. One day, a man appears in front of Makoto Masaki and introduces himself as God. He tells Makoto Masaki about his destined soul mate and that she works next door. When he faces Haruko Kogetsu, he tells her "I'm your destiny."

Maki Maki, Sebuki Suzume, Beppu Tsukasa and Iemori Yutaka happen to meet and form a quartet. They even begin to live together in Karuizawa during the winter, but there is a big hidden secret.

Maki, who has a negative personality and barely gives her opinions, plays the lead violin in the quartet. She has family and only goes to Karuizawa on the weekends for performances. Suzume, who is unemployed, plays the cello, while Yutaka plays the viola in the quartet. The leader of the quartet and the one providing his grandfather's villa as a base for them is Tsukasa. He plays the second violin in the quartet and comes from a musical family. A man of many secrets, he also works at a donut company.

Sakisaka Kento is a lawyer with an outstanding career. He seems cool and handsome, but he is a zealous person who will confront things that are unreasonable and wrong head-on. There are times when he values the words of a single person and not a lawyer. Sakisaka is regarded as the ace of the law firm, but his only weak point is a lawyer at the same firm who also happens to be his ex-wife Natsume Yoshie. He has been raising their daughter Mizuki as a single father since their divorce. A stylish lawyer who holds her head high, Yoshie is down-to-earth and a perfectionist. These two rival lawyers often have well-reasoned legal arguments regarding the cases of their clients. However, when they wander off topic, they will call each other “papa” and “mama” the moment they lose their cool and start quarreling like a couple.

Episodes: 9

Duration: 42 min.

Aired On: Thursday

Emiri Yoshii (Emi Takei) begins work at a general trading company. Due to her family's failure in business, she had to give up her dream of earning a MBA in America. Now, she hopes to become an executive of a company. Emiri is sent to the general affairs department at the trading company. She freaks out when she learns that lower level employees have to wear uniforms and she has to deal with everything from changing light bulbs to ordering business cards. Nonetheless, she works hard to pay off her family's debt.

Emiri then finds herself in the crosshair of coworkers. Senior female employees are perturbed that she doesn't drink coffee with them and skips their gatherings.

Meanwhile, the male employees like working with her, but only when they need an attractive women for matters like entertaining clients. The male employees do not give her serious work.

Emiri, who appears popular among the male employees, soon becomes an outcast among the senior female employees. She becomes fed up with her situation and takes action.

In 2013, Ko Osawa (Sho Sakurai) works as sous-chef at a first-class hotel. He cooks French cuisine. His job at the hotel requires him to cook for hundreds of customers, but Ko Osawa prefers to cook for a single customer. One day, he happens to see a pamphlet inquiring about a chef available to work at a diplomat office. Ko ends up taking the job and quits his job at the hotel. 2 years later, Ko now works as the chef at the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam. Ko then takes part in a cook-off against the chef at the French Embassy.

"Kaiki Renai Sakusen" follows three women and depicts their persona lives, work lives and their fight against a monster. Natsumi (Kumiko Aso) is 36-years-old. She dreamed of becoming a cafe owner and saved money to achieve her dream, but she was swindled out of her money. She now works at the cafe where she dreamed of becoming the owner. Akiko (Maki Sakai) is 39-years-old. She works as a music teacher and awaits for the perfect man. Fuyu (Tamaki Ogawa) is 38-years-old. She thinks of herself as an actress.

Elite researcher Suenaga Takuya, his department rival Hashimoto Atsushi, and Manager Nishina Toshiki plot to kill Amemiya Yasuko, the CEO’s secretary and a shared mistress, whose pregnancy threatens to destroy their futures. However, their plan unravels when a mysterious 4th individual becomes involved, and the 3 men become the targets of wrath instead.

Biblia Second-hand Bookstore has been quietly open for business in some corner of Kamakura. Its owner is Shinokawa Shioriko, a young, pretty but introverted girl who is extremely shy around strangers and cannot interact well with people she meets for the first time. However, when it comes to knowledge of old books, no one can to compare to her. Talking about books makes Shioriko forget her shyness. In fact, she becomes eloquent and passionate. She unravels the mysteries and secrets associated with many old books with her vast knowledge and keen eye.

Adapted from the novel series "The Biblia Antiquarian Bookstore Case Files" (ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖) by Mikami En (三上延).

11 mysteries, 11 actors. Japan's favorite mystery author, the world of Higashino Keigo comes to life on screen through an assortment of short stories.

For every episode, there will be a different lead actor and story, it's themes varying from mystery to comedy to horror to human drama. Nakai Kiichi is the navigator as he takes you on a journey through each episode, seasoned with Higashino's authentic spices, failing your assumptions with vivid story composition and an even bigger betrayal before the finale. It's a weekly drama that will keep you hungry from episode to episode, like a special holiday event each and every time.

Domoto Akari is a rookie attorney, so-called "Hokaben," a hot lawyer just out of the oven. Sugisaki Tadashi is her boss at the big law firm, but he has lost his passion for work, and is as cool as ice. These two meet as the only two attorneys at the Pro Bono (For Public Good) section, which the firm created to fulfill their social service obligation.

The law will protect the weak-rookie attorney Akari still believes in the idealistic dream.

The law will not protect the weak, and it can even be a weapon to kill people-experienced Sugisaki has seen the limit of the law. Clients after clients looking for saviors come to them for help, but the realities in front of them are too harsh to face. Will they give up or will they face the reality and fight?

Tamako, an elite lawyer with a promising future, works for a reputable law firm. She is recently given an opportunity to take a case involving a young child who has been bullied at a local elementary school. Fully aware of the difficulties uncovering the truth in cases involving schools, Tamako is reluctant to proceed with her new client. Tamako is romantically involved with one of her colleagues, Naoyuki, and is hoping to further develop their relationship. However, Tamako's seemingly happy life comes to a sudden halt when she learns the news of an accident involving a young female high school student named Asuka. Asuka had apparently fallen from a classroom window on campus and suffered serious injuries. Tamako takes a strong interest in Asuka's case and immediately launches her own private investigation.

Aoyama Saori, working as an office lady at an MNC, gets into trouble with a drunkard on a train. She's saved by Yamada Tsuyoshi. As a form of appreciation, she sends him Hermes teacups. Having no experience with the opposite sex, Tsuyoshi decides to ask for help on the Aladdin Channel BBS on how to interact with Saori.

(Source: TVDb)

Adapted from the novel "Densha Otoko" (電車男) by Nakano Hitori (中野独人). ~~ Based on a real online conversation on the Japanese forum 2channel.

Episodes: 11

Duration: 45 min.

Aired On: Thursday

Ratings: 7.5