Asian Drama

The drama tells the story of Yamaguchi Yoshiko, a Japanese woman born and raised in China during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. She debuts as the Chinese singer and actress Li Xianglan (Ri Kouran in Japanese), in the hopes that her efforts will work towards the benefit of both Japan and China. Hiding her true nationality, however, she slowly discovers herself becoming a puppet of the Japanese military's propaganda efforts in Manchuria, starring in "national policy" films that humiliate the Chinese people. But billed as the "star of Greater East Asia," her popularity soars across borders to Japan, where she holds a concert that draws thousands to the Nihon Gekijou Theatre and leads to a riot that injures several people. Based on her autobiography, this is the story of her personal struggle amidst military strife between her two homelands.

A hilarious story about a couple who get married because they felt they belong but then they find out their differences in Narita Airport, divorce and... what happens to them next?

Drama series depicts the love and marriage of two 30 something couples.

Hamasaki Mitsuo is an ordinary salaryman who works at a company that installs automatic vending machines. Because he has recently been transferred to do sales which he is not good at, every day is unbearably stressful. However, what pains him the most is his relationship with Yuka, his wife of two years. In any case, he and Yuka are completely unsuited. To put it kindly, she is big-hearted. To put it negatively, she is not the type who worries about details. He does not even know whether he loves her...

One day, Hamasaki happens to meet Uehara Akari, his ex-girlfriend from university days. Akari, who used to live with Hamasaki, has faint memories of him. Newly married to Uehara Ryo, an assistant at an arts college, she has recently moved to Hamasaki’s neighbourhood and opened an aromatheraphy massage business at home. Hamasaki is for some reason in high spirits over this chance reunion, but...

Ten years have passed since Eriko moved to Tokyo to become an actress. She works mostly as a waitress there. Eriko then learns that her estranged older sister has passed away. Eriko goes back to her hometown to attend to her sister's funeral. Without giving much thought, Eriko declares that she will take care of her older sister's 10-year-old son. She also learns that her older sister worked as a "nakiya" - a hired person who attends funerals and mourns for the deceased.

Mizuguchi Saki is an outstanding fashion magazine editor who grew up in a modern and liberal family. She meets Obara Koichi who is the ace of the Air Rescue Wing of the Air Self Defence Force. He grew up in a strict military family and is the classic straight-laced guy. Although Saki and Koichi are polar opposites, the two of them quickly get married without dating, believing that they would start a happy life as newly weds after a lavish wedding ceremony. However, as they begin living together in the same house, their differences in lifestyles and values result in differences in opinions and huge fights. Saki and Koichi soon decide to get a divorce. But the couple have difficulty breaking the news of their decision to their families, colleagues and friends who celebrated their marriage and looked forward to the future. They thus start activities behind the scenes to prepare for their divorce.

When Suzuki Yori was a child, he swore that he would become a celebrity with his childhood friends Shizuku and Subaru. Later, Yori moved away and became separated from his two childhood friends. He grew up as a plain-looking guy with glasses in the countryside. However, when he founds out that Shizuku had become a popular model and Subaru a popular actor, he transferred to his friends' high school on impulse to also follow his dream. There he meets Shizuku again and decided to become her manager to support her behind the scenes. However, when Shizuku was participating in a lingerie photoshoot, he helps her out and entered the entertainment, when he captivates the public as the Mysterious Boy.

This pure love story follows Iori, a third-year university student who is the heir to a large corporation, as he experiences his first love after meeting a café regular named Kaho, who is fresh out of a troubled marriage.

(Source: Japanese = natalie.mu)

Adapted from the web manga series "Rikon Koya" (離婚後夜).

Episodes: 10

Duration: 24 min.

Airs On: Sunday

Kie is a full-time housewife who has lived a life like fresh water. However, one day, her husband's affair was suddenly discovered, and she left with a divorce notice and lost communication. Kie, who was shocked and angry, found the room of her husband's affair partner and boarded, but it was not the woman of the affair partner... but a young man, Kenta who was his boyfriend. It was discovered that Kenta was having an affair with her...

Takeuchi Miharu (Maya Miki) is a capable lawyer with a law firm in Nagoya who gets to handle a divorce case assigned by their head Mizuno Toyohiko (Tachi Hiroshi). Gohara Naoki (Yoshizawa Hisashi), the president of the company, wants to divorce his wife Nobue (Kone Hana) who left their 5-year-old son behind and moved out. Nobue does not want to give up her child. The case seems to complicate Miharu because she had experienced divorce too and was deprived of custody of her daughter Kanae, who she has not seen in 10 years. She hesitantly starts working on the case but gradually gets absorbed in it.

While she is the husband’s attorney, the solution she offers reflects Nobue’s feelings. This offends the client company and the law firm’s advisory contract is terminated. She resigned.

Nobue arrives with the twin sisters. She believes they can count on Miharu who identified with her own divorce issues. Miharu does all in her power to try to pull the twins’ broken family together. She got convinced to start a divorce counselling centre. On the day of the opening of ‘Takeuchi Harumi Divorce Counselling Centre’, a young lady stares at the signboard of the centre with a surly expression. She is Miharu’s daughter, Kanae (Taketomi Seika), who is now an adult.

Noriko Shimubara lives in Toyokawa with her father, mother and younger sister. To escape from her unhappy relationship with her parents, Noriko constantly logs on to Haikyo.com, a BBS where she meets other high school girls like her. One of these girls, Ueno54, induces Noriko to run away from her house. Noriko does so and in Tokyo she meets a young woman called Kumiko, her BBS friend, who runs a "family circle program", where she takes in young girls who are unhappy with their lives and gives them new personalities and families - Noriko joins it and her younger sister Yuka does so eventually. But the circle grows darker after some horrifying events, and it spreads larger and larger under the unfeeling control of Kumiko.

Onodera Yuriko (Yakushimaru Hiroko) sets off for Sweden where her husband, Major General Onodera Makoto (Kagawa Teruyuki), is stationed as a military attache in Stockholm during World War II. Called the “god of intelligence”, Makoto is an intelligence officer of...

Shoji Taishi is a new third-generation lawmaker who comes from a family of politicians and had a sheltered upbringing. The womanising and not particularly intelligent Taishi and his actress wife, Kurosawa Yui, who got her big break through a drama series, have been married for five years.

They act like a happily married couple for the sake of their work and public image, but their marriage has already broken down. Taishi and Yui barely have a conversation except when live streaming on social media and do not even see each other at home. Although they have grown disenchanted in their marriage, they cannot get divorced immediately due to pressure from their families and endorsement deals. The couple have no choice but to unite with the unshakeable goal of breaking up.

Shiino Tomoyo has stood by her friend Mariko through years of abuse, abandonment, and depression. However horrific her circumstances, their friendship has been the one reassuring constant in Mariko’s life—and Tomoyo’s too. That is, until Tomoyo is utterly blindsided by news of Mariko’s death. In life, Tomoyo felt powerless to help her best friend out of the darkness that ultimately drove her over the edge. Now, Tomoyo is determined to liberate Mariko’s ashes for one final journey together to set free her dear, broken Mariko.

Adapted from the manga series "My Broken Mariko” (マイ・ブロークン・マリコ) by Hirako Waka (平庫ワカ).

Collection of short films by director Tetsuya Mariko.

Hannari Girori no Yoriko-san

In the previous series, Takako Mamiya was an elite lawyer who handled public relations cases. She quit her job at a prestigious law firm to establish her own office. She confidently walked into her new office only to find that her former firm had interfered and taken all her lawyers and staff. They even took away her clients. Takako reluctantly started to handle low-paying divorce cases. Through her cases, though, Takako came face to face with "human drama" and matured greatly. She is now the most sought after lawyer in town. Takako's firm has become well-known, and she handles domestic as well as public relations cases. One day, Takako takes on a troubling case about compensation and damages. The opposing lawyer is Eri Saeki, an ex-prosecutor who is now an ace divorce lawyer. Eri is persistent and courageous when it comes to law. What is the "truth" the two lawyers discover when their case is over? Friendly faces working at the Takako Mamiya Law Firm are Daisuke Honda, a college student studying for the bar exam, Toshifumi Yanagida, the only other lawyer in the firm, and Kizaburo Inoue, a paralegal who hasn't passed the bar exam yet, but has a rich knowledge of court precedents and shows excellent documentation skills. New faces at the firm include paralegal Tsuyako Komukai and receptionist Aki Ogata who has no interest in law. Adding spice to Takako's private life are Tatsuya Mikami, editor of a popular women's magazine, and Tamotsu Ohba, the owner of the firm's favorite place to unwind after hours.

Takako Mamiya is a lawyer who quits her job at a prestigious law firm, and establishes her own office. She confidently sets out to build her business, but soon her former firm is putting up obstacles and interfering, causing Takako's employees and clients to drift away. She finally puts together a new staff consisting of a college student who knows little about the law, a girl who applied for the job in hopes of meeting a rich guy, a hard-nosed lawyer, and a paralegal who hasn't passed the bar exam yet. Takako reluctantly handles divorce cases with her incompetent crew. For an elite lawyer like her, divorce cases are the most boring and unrewarding cases that exist. Through clashing with her employees and clients, Takako soon becomes a very mature and tough lawyer. "Divorce Lawyer" also tells the story of how difficult it is to judge love and relationships in legal terms. Fuji TV

Takako Mamiya is a lawyer who quits her job at a prestigious law firm, and establishes her own office. She confidently sets out to build her business, but soon her former firm is putting up obstacles and interfering, causing Takako's employees and clients to drift away. She finally puts together a new staff consisting of a college student who knows little about the law, a girl who applied for the job in hopes of meeting a rich guy, a hard-nosed lawyer, and a paralegal who hasn't passed the bar exam yet. Takako reluctantly handles divorce cases with her incompetent crew. For an elite lawyer like her, divorce cases are the most boring and unrewarding cases that exist. Through clashing with her employees and clients, Takako soon becomes a very mature and tough lawyer. "Divorce Lawyer" also tells the story of how difficult it is to judge love and relationships in legal terms. Fuji TV

Masataka works as a freelance writer. He has been married to Yukie for the past 7 years. Yukie works as a school teacher. Masataka and Yuki are not in love with each other. They just haven't gotten divorced. Meanwhile, Masataka is having an affair with a young woman who delivers newspapers. This leads to a shocking situation.

Masataka works as a freelance writer. He has been married to Yukie for the past 7 years. Yukie works as a school teacher. Masataka and Yuki are not in love with each other. They just haven't gotten divorced. Meanwhile, Masataka is having an affair with a young woman who delivers newspapers. This leads to a shocking situation.

Based on a novel by Minatota Kido

Hitotsubashi Kiriko is sinking into a pit of sorrow when her one and only best friend whom she lived with for three years, dies of illness. Living on a pension and working part-time is not easy, and the thought of having solitary death terrifies her.

One day, she was fascinated by the statement of an arrested person she saw on TV which inspires her to commit crime so she could live in prison. And so, Kiriko's "Life in Prison" plan began. As Kiriko proceeds with her crime plan, she finds new experiences and encounters.

Hitotsubashi Kiriko is sinking into a pit of sorrow when her one and only best friend whom she lived with for three years, dies of illness. Living on a pension and working part-time is not easy, and the thought of having solitary death terrifies her.

One day, she was fascinated by the statement of an arrested person she saw on TV which inspires her to commit crime so she could live in prison. And so, Kiriko's "Life in Prison" plan began. As Kiriko proceeds with her crime plan, she finds new experiences and encounters.

Sayama Miyabi is a talented salesperson working at Celeste Real Estate. After being dumped by her boyfriend on their 6th anniversary, she decides to focus more on her career rather than romance. By chance, she meets Donose Tsukasa, a high-spec company president who is looking for a marriage without emotional attachment. Seeing how Miyabi prioritizes work, he proposes the idea of a business marriage to her.

Despite feeling bewildered by the sudden proposal, the two, who share common interests, decide to move in together. The sole condition of this marriage is that if either one of them develops romantic feelings, they must divorce immediately! However, the days leading up to marriage are filled with an ideal lifestyle and continuous excitement… Even if they fall in love, they mustn’t let it be known! What will happen to the business marriage...!?

(Source: Drama-Otaku)

Adapted from the manga "Business Marriage" (ビジネス結婚) written and illustrated by Kirato Ruka (キラト瑠香).

Episodes: 10

Airs On: Friday

Episodes: 10

Aired On: Saturday

Duration: 29 min.

Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Yuki Rio, the daughter of an old, prestigious family in Kyoto with over 1,000 years of history, enters into an arranged marriage at the age of 16 with a man she’s never met. Her husband is Takamine Masatomo, a handsome CEO in the IT industry. Every year on her birthday, she would receive 50 million yen, making their relationship one based solely on money. One day, after ten years had passed with no contact, Rio decided to move to Tokyo. She asks her husband, whom she’s meeting for the first time, for a divorce. On the other hand, Takamine finds himself unexpectedly attracted to Rio and doesn’t want a divorce. Thus begins a romantic battle between a wife who wants a divorce and a husband who refuses to let her go.

Episodes: 8

Aired On: Thursday

Duration: 24 min.

Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Komukai Riko is a young single woman and works for an event planning company. She is considered average in regards to her personality and appearance. One day, her co-worker mentions person of a mass production model. Komukai Riko asks herself if she could be such a person for a mass production model and she answers her question affirmatively. Around this time, she happens to see plastic model Zaku at a neighborhood store. Zaku is a robot from TV anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. She becomes interested in plastic models and challenges herself to make her first plastic model.

In this tale of bravery and honor among the roving gamblers of old Japan, the heroic Jirocho, Boss of the Tokaido is called upon to help a young yakuza named Eijiro after he runs afoul of the new samurai officials who have taken over his hometown. Expertly portrayed by Kitaoji Kinya (son of the all-time great star Ichikawa Utaemon), this young man stands up for the townspeople and puts his life on the line. Jirocho, played by superstar Nakamura Kinnosuke, a boss known for his honor and valor soon finds himself involved in the feud which will only end in a brutal showdown.

Yuriko Busujima is a political journalist who cannot live without romance. Yuriko does not trust any men and has a policy to "have more than two boyfriends at the same time", which developed from her childhood experience of her father...

Komukai Riko is the family's second daughter, with an elder sister who is sturdy and a younger sister who is more free-spirited. Riko was working briefly in Tokyo when she returned to her parent's residence after her grandfather died.

While rummaging through her stuff on the roof where the family has gathered for the first time in four years, Riko comes across a half-completed plastic model. Riko was guided by Yassan to the Yajima model shop where her grandfather used to go, and she decided to make her first plastic model.

Riko, feeling that she knows a little more about her grandfather and family, resolves to spend the summer at her parent's house so she can do what her grandfather regrets.

(Source: Japanese = Natalie.mu)

Episodes: 10

Duration: 30 min.

Airs On: Friday