Asian Drama

Set in modern-day Japan, “House of Ninjas,” tells the story of the Tawara family, the last ninja clan. It had abandoned its roots after an incident in the past, but now the family must take on the greatest crisis in Japanese history, one that threatens to shake the nation to its core.

(Source : Variety)

Episodes: 8

Duration: 55 min.

Aired On: Thursday

Old apartment complexes, rented houses in the suburbs, and cabs running through the cities. These scenes may look ordinary but each has a different story to tell. A daughter who works part-time to support her disabled mother; a woman who has been cut off from her family and continues to work as a cab driver; a granddaughter who lives in a rented house and works at a factory with her grandmother. This is the story of three women, who live far apart from each other and do not know each other's existence until a fateful encounter through a radio program.

A story about the friendship between a 17-year-old high school girl and a 75-year-old lady who met through BL manga.

Adapted from the manga series "Metamorphose no Engawa" (メタモルフォーゼの縁側) by Tsurutani Kaori (鶴谷香央理).

The 17-year-old Yatabe Mineko grew up in a family of seven in a mountain village in northeastern Ibaraki Prefecture. Her father Minoru has gone to Tokyo to work in order to earn extra money. However, her life completely changes when her father does not come back for the New Year. Mineko asks her family to let her go to Tokyo to find him and promises to send money home. In the autumn of 1964, she and two childhood friends Tokiko and Mitsuo are hired to start working at a small factory in Tokyo’s working class neighborhood. After work each day, Mineko searches for her father and gets disheartened at times. Mineko overcomes challenges and starts to lay down roots in Tokyo as she experiences many meetings and farewells amid the laughter and tears with regulars, people of the shopping street, friends, and colleagues. But will she be able to find her father?

20-year-old Hokuto is being detained as a murderer and tells his court-appointed lawyer Takai Soichi to get him the death penalty. Hokuto was actually severely abused by his parents in his childhood and starved of love. He met Kondo Ayako who became his foster mother through child welfare services and learned love for the first time. Released from the darkness of his mind, he started to feel like a new person but he is made sport by bizarre fate and becomes a murderer.

Amano Aki goes with her mother Haruko to her hometown in Kitasanriku during a summer vacation. There, she meets her maternal grandmother, Natsu, for the first time. Natsu is a woman diver aka "ama", and Aki thinks that is just so cool. Aki is a second-year high-school student, and she struggles to keep up with the fast-paced life in Tokyo. Having been confined indoors most of the time, everything she sees in the rural town is exciting to her. But most of all, seeing her grandmother diving under the fierce surf along the coastline, leaves a huge impact on her. "I think I would like to be a diver too..."

In the late 1930's (Show Period 14), two sides in Japan are conflicted between joining Germany and Italy in a military alliance. At this time, Isoroku Yamamoto, who strongly opposed the alliance, is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. The following year, on September 27, Japan, Germany and Italy form the Axis alliance.

Isoroku Yamamoto leads the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The attack's main purpose is to gain an early peace settlement. The surprise military strike appeared successful and caused massive damage, but US aircraft carriers were not damaged in the assault. After the attack, the Axis alliance initially saw advances without any defeats.

By April 18, 1942 (Show Period 17), formations of U.S. B-25B bombers, flown from an U.S. aircraft carrier, attacked the Japanese mainland for the first time. The Japanese military responded by carrying out their Midway operation, but the mission failed, and the Japanese military lost 4 aircraft carriers.

The U.S. army were encouraged by their victory at Midway and proceeded to carry out a landing operation on Guadalcanal. The Japanese and U.S. military fought fiercely. Besides the toll from fighting the U.S. military, the Japanese military suffered from starvation, dehydration and diseases while on Guadalcanal. The Japanese military were nearing collapse on Guadalcanal before Isoroku Yamamoto gave the order to withdraw to save more lives.

After the completion of the withdrawal from Guadalcanal, Isoroku Yamamoto flew on an airplane to make moral boosting visits to soldiers on the front line. His plane would be intercepted by the U.S. military.