Asian Drama

Some 400,000,000 years after an advanced human civilization was destroyed by aliens, 12 direct descendants of the civilization's warriors (called "Sazers") have their powers awakened and form four tribes: Flame, Wind, Earth and Water. Each Sazer is based on a Zodiac sign represented in an animal totem or spirit representation. At first, they wage war on each other, but after learning the truth of their ancestry and their reason for awakening, the Gransazer tribes unite to protect Earth from the Warp Monarch, an alliance of various alien species, from once again extinguishing all life on the planet.

The 35th NHK Taiga Drama is Hideyoshi, the story of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle. He is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the restriction that only members of the samurai class could bear arms. Hideyoshi is regarded as Japan's second "great unifier".

The drama won 11th Television Drama Academy Awards (1996-Dec-20) for best drama.