Asian Drama

Tezuka Osamu’s beloved manga, Black Jack, is being remade into another Jdrama, this time starring Issei Takahashi. Manga synopsis: Many of the tales feature Black Jack undertaking altruistic acts, seldom receiving acknowledgment. He frequently heals the impoverished and downtrodden without charge or imparts lessons in humility to the arrogant. Some narratives conclude with a virtuous individual enduring adversity, often facing unavoidable demise, in order to rescue others.

Mochizuki Seitaro was full of enthusiasm as a pyrotechnist, but 1 year later (after the season one finale), his enthusiasm for his work has gone away. He hardly goes out, and he lives like a recluse. His fireworks store, which has been passed down for generations in his family, is still open but in danger of going out of business.

Meanwhile, Mizumori Hikari works part-time as a pyrotechnist at a different fireworks store. In the midst of all this, for the first time in a while - a quarrel breaks out between Wataru and Seitaro. Then, a mysterious woman, Fumiko Noguchi, suddenly visits the shop and not only asks to become Seitaro's apprentice but also suddenly proposes to him. Seitaro, Hikari, Fumika, and Wataru will live under one roof.

(Source: natalie.mu, AsianWiki)

Episodes: 10

Duration: 30 min.

Aired On: Saturday

This drama focuses on the fireworks industry, which is suffering from a decline in events due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Mochizuki Fireworks Store" is a fireworks store that has been running for generations. Mochizuki Kou is the fourth generation owner who passes away at the age of 80, leaving his son Seitaro alone and at a loss for words. Few months later, Kou, who was supposed to be dead, appears in front of Seitaro as if he is still alive. This is a heartwarming fantasy, depicting the mysterious daily life of the father and son fireworks masters.

This drama focuses on the fireworks industry, which is suffering from a decline in events due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Mochizuki Fireworks Store" is a fireworks store that has been running for generations. Mochizuki Kou is the fourth generation owner who passes away at the age of 80, leaving his son Seitaro alone and at a loss for words. Few months later, Kou, who was supposed to be dead, appears in front of Seitaro as if he is still alive. This is a heartwarming fantasy, depicting the mysterious daily life of the father and son fireworks masters.

Shimura Takafumi is a detective, who works under an obsessive level belief that criminals must be punished. He will resort to any means to arrest criminals. Due to his excessive behavior, he has been demoted to a special investigation team that works on unsolved cases. He is ordered to work with Kiriko.

Kiriko is known as Invisible, the crime coordinator in the underworld. She mediates transactions for organized criminals. Kiriko flies under the radar of many and even only a few in the police department are aware of her existence. One day, Kiriko suddenly offers to help the police arrest criminals. She is willing to provide information on unsolved cases and violent criminals. Her only condition is that she wants to work with Shimura Takafumi.

About two people who are aromantic and asexual and begin living together.

Sakiko finds it difficult to live in a society which operates under the assumption that people will fall in love with each other. She meets supermarket employee Takahashi when she goes to support a "fall-in-love" campaign by her junior at work. She is startled when she hears him say that there are people who don't fall in love. As Sakiko's mother keeps hurrying her to get married, she decides to move out and rent an apartment with her friend but her friend backs out at the last minute after reconciling with her ex-boyfriend. Just when Sakiko is about to give up, she ends up living with Takahashi under one roof because of their similar values towards romance.

Before Himura Kenshin met Kaoru, he was a fearsome assassin known as Hitokiri Battousai. "Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning" tells the story of a young Kenshin who became the number one assassin for the Ishin Shishi (which later became the "Meiji era") who fought against the Shogunate during the last days of the Tokugawa era, and how he got his famous "X" mark on his left cheek.

In the early days of Himura Kenshin as Hitokiri Battousai, he one day met Yukishiro Tomoe, a beautiful young woman who looks serene but always carry a sad face. Battousai and Tomoe fell in love with each other but little did he know, Tomoe carries a huge burden in her heart which would change the life of Himura Kenshin forever.

Adapted from the the anime series "Rurouni Kenshin" (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-), which in turn is based on the manga series "Rurouni Kenshin" (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚) by Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Ayako Mochizuki is a 35-year-old detective. She is a hard worker and seeks out justice, but she lacks flexibility. Ayako Mochizuki investigates a murder case. From the evidence she collects, she targets Haruto Hidaka as the murder suspect. Haruto Hidaka is a chemistry researcher and he runs his own company. He is smart and proficient with his work, but he is also a psychopathic murderer. Right before Ayako Mochizuki arrests him, their bodies are switched.

The first episode will be based on the manga's "Fugō Mura" story, where Rohan is dragged into an incident inside a millionaire's mansion. The second episode will be based on the "Kushagara" short story by Ballad Kitaguni in the novel spinoffs, where Rohan receives a strange request from fellow manga creator Jugo Shishi. The third episode is titled "D.N.A.," and is also based on a story from the manga where Rohan is investigating his editor's memory loss through hypnosis.

Set in 1940, Yusaku runs a trading company in Kobe, Japan and he he is married to Satoko. While on a business trip in Manchuria, Yusaku learns of a horrific national secret. For the sake of justice, he decides to let the whole world know about his discovery. Satoko believes Yusaku, who is now accused of being a traitor. She swears to be with Yusaku no matter the consequences.

Not long after twin brothers Ryuichi and Ryuji were born, they were abandoned by their own parents. They were then adopted by the Yoshie couple, who ran a small shipping company. Sometime later, the Yoshies gave birth to their daughter Misa. Ryuichi and Ryuji enjoyed pleasant days with their adopted parents and younger sister Misa. When Ryuichi and Ryuji were 15-years-old, their parents experienced extremely dark days because of Genpei Kirishima, who ran a competing shipping company.

Genpei Kirishima tried to expand his business nationwide at this time and he tried to deprive business of the company owned by the Yoshies. Due to Genpei Kirishima, the Yoshies fell into heavy debt and eventually killed themselves. Ryuichi and Ryuji vowed to get revenge on Genpei Kirishima.

7 years later, Ryuichi has become a new person through plastic surgery and using someone else's identity. He takes part in the criminal world. Meanwhile, Ryuji works for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, to supervise shipping companies.

Adapted from the novel Ryu no Michi by Shirakawa Toru.

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?

28-year-old Oshima Nagi works for a home appliance manufacturer in Tokyo. She conforms to her surroundings as she constantly gauges people’s moods. Because of that, her goal is to pass each day without incident. However, as a result of reading too much into situations and pushing herself too hard, she collapses from hyperventilation. One day, Nagi’s boyfriend says something that breaks her heart. This prompts her to reexamine her life, and she makes the decision to change it. She resigns from her company, cancels the contract for the apartment she is living in and also stops communicating with everyone including her boyfriend. She plans to reset her life in order to be happy and let her naturally curly hair, which she has a hang-up about, grow out as is.

Based on manga series "Nagi no Oitoma" by Misato Konari.

Ishibashi Taro is 38-years-old, single and works for a big bank. Miyoshi Reiya is 37 years old, divorced and works as a dentist. Iwakura Kazuhiko is 45-years-old, single and works as a lawyer. These three men are close friends and they enjoy their lives as single men, but they begin to think about marriage.

Oshima Goro, a janitor of an elementary school, becomes a gifted teacher who teaches children that have fallen behind even though he has no licence. Single mother Akasaka Chiaki opposes formal education in schools during the war and sees the potential in a school to give coaching for a free, well-rounded education. The two of them become a couple both at work and at home, and create new history in the industry in this story depicting a family’s 50 years, set against the backdrop of the Showa to Heisei era.

Adapted from 2016 full-length novel "Mikazuki" by Mori Eto.

Shiori Kitamura just moved to a new apartment. She works at a company. Susumu Hirano lives next door to her. He aspires to become a novelist. One evening, Shiori Kitamura hears a man’s voice coming through her wall saying "I am in the future 1 year later." The voices asks to trail Susumu Hirano. She is unable to hear the man's voice anymore. To solve the mystery, Shiori Kitamura begins to follow Susumu Hirano and she gets attracted to him.

Kazuo’s younger brother went missing, leaving behind debt for Kazuo. To pay off his brother's debt, Kazuo works at the library during the day and works at a bread factory at night. His wife and daughter soon leaves him. One day, Kazuo wins 300 million yen from the lottery. He feels uneasy about the amount of money he has won. He decides to do research on other people who won the lottery and he learns a lot of the winners became miserable. Kazuo decides to visit his rich friend Tsukumo for advice. Tsukumo tells him that he doesn't know the meaning of money. They spend time together, but the next day Kazuo discovers that his 300 million yen winning is gone and so is his friend Tsukumo. To get the money back, he meets various people who worked with Tsukumo.

Aikawa Kazuki is a university lecturer who teaches ethology, which is the study of animal behaviour. He just started life as a lecturer six months earlier at the recommendation of Professor Samejima Shun whom he studied under in university. However, when it comes to the animals and living things that Kazuki loves, he gets so immersed that he pays no attention to other things. He is not able to follow the rules established by the university and gets scolded at work every day. In addition, he has the habit of procrastinating on things that he finds bothersome and is also poor at being punctual. Kazuki’s lessons are “not ordinary”. Although he gives students assignments to make them express their opinions, he would end up saying that he does not know the right answer and stump them. Kazuki’s behaviour bewilders the people around him, and at times, it even irritates them. They keep this “eccentric” at a slight distance but this does not perturb him. However, their own values are shaken by the sight of Kazuki, who has no bias or preconceived ideas and enjoys each day following his interests and curiosity, and they are gradually influenced by him.

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.

Family members learn the whereabouts of the father who vanished without a trace 13 years ago. However, he dies of cancer three months later, leaving Koji and his family members without closure. Koji and his family think they can't reclaim the lost 13 years, but the stories told about their father by mourners at the funeral reveal the truth that was unknown to the family.

Based on the true story of Hashimoto Kouji (はしもとこうじ), a TV show writer and screenwriter.

Sato Tomoko leads an ordinary life as a 40-year-old wife and mother with a part-time hourly job to supplement the household income. One day, she defies an unfair rule at her customer service job because she wants to help the customer, and is fired on the same day her husband loses his job. Tomoko is a high school dropout due to her family background, and has no certifications. How is she to get a secure job that pays enough to provide decent meals for Shun, her 5-year-old son? After her husband mentions find the high salary of city council members, Tomoko researches it on the Internet and learns that winning a seat on the council has a higher probability than getting a secure salary job. Inspired by the desire to earn a good salary, Tomoko decides and convinces her husband to withdraw their savings so she can run in the current election. While her rivals are endorsed by current politicians or come from families with elite backgrounds, Tomoko isn't intimidated for long, and decides she can be a voice for struggling working class families and fight the status quo that makes it difficult for Japanese women to work after becoming mothers. Todo Makoto, who comes from a long line of politicians and is also running for a seat on the council, hears her speech and is impressed. So is Hirata Kazumi, a former star political journalist at a newspaper whose daughter attends the same nursery school as Shun, is inspired by her energy and ability to unify people, and becomes her campaign manager.

Set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka, featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modeled after Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female comedy show promoter. Ten is born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Tōkichi who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business. When they fall in love, Ten goes against her parents' wishes to marry Tokichi who is a big lover of comedy. Ten unwittingly becomes the manager of a vaudeville theater with her husband, and eventually becomes the first woman in Japan to make comedy into a business, transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

Set during the late Meiji era to post-World War II period at Osaka, featuring the lead character Fujioka Ten who is modeled after Yoshimoto Sei, the founder of Yoshimoto Kogyo and a female comedy show promoter. Ten is born into a family managing a drug wholesale business in Kyoto and meets Kitamura Tōkichi who is the son of a family in the rice dealing business. When they fall in love, Ten goes against her parents' wishes to marry Tokichi who is a big lover of comedy. Ten unwittingly becomes the manager of a vaudeville theater with her husband, and eventually becomes the first woman in Japan to make comedy into a business, transforming Osaka into a capital of comedy.

Rei Kiriyama is a 17-years-old shogi player. He debuted as a professional shogi player when he was in middle school. He lives by himself in Tokyo, because his parents and younger sister died in a traffic accident when he was little. One day, Rei Kiriyama meets three sisters who are his neighbors. The three sisters are Akari Kawamoto, Hinata Kawamoto, and Momo Kawamoto. This is his first meeting with someone outside of the shogi world in many years. Having meals with the Kawamoto family brings warm feelings to Rei Kiriyama. As Rei Kiriyama continues his shogi career, his interactions with his neighbors allow him to grow as a shogi player and as a person.

Kiriyama Rei is a 17-years-old shogi (Japanese chess) player. He debuted as a professional shogi player when he was in middle school. He lives by himself in Tokyo, because his parents and younger sister died in a traffic accident when he was little. One day, Kiriyama Rei meets three sisters who are his neighbours. The three sisters are Kawamoto Akari, Kawamoto Hinata and Kawamoto Momo. This is his first meeting with someone outside of the shogi world in many years. Having meals with the Kawamoto family brings warm feelings to Kiriyama Rei. As Kiriyama Rei continues his shogi career, his interactions with his neighbours allow him to grow as a shogi player and as a person.

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.

During the Sengoku period, the Ii family governs the Totomi region. Due to many past wars, there are no more male successors left to become a lord. Naotora Ii (Kou Shibasaki), the only daughter of the lord, now becomes a lord. She faces a difficult period. The constant love from her fiance, whom she became engaged with at a young age, helps her to keep moving forward.

26-year-old Numagoe Sachi works for a Japanese-style bar and earns an annual income of 2.5 million yen. She lives with the goal of buying an apartment. Her routine is to spend her off-days going around to an apartment showroom in town in search of a “lucky property”. She studies the showroom with the dispassionate seriousness of someone just browsing around and asks questions that puts professionals to shame. Why does Sachi intend to buy an apartment alone? In truth, she suddenly lost her house in the past.

Kurumi Ichiki (Ayame Gouriki) is 25-years-old. When she was young, she went to France. Now, after she came back to Japan, she works as a waitress at high end traditional restaurant (ryotei). She is talented with cooking. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ichiro Ato (Fumiyo Kohinata) and Executive Secretary of Prime Minister Seiji Koga (Kenichi Takito) decide to hire a cook for the prime minister's residence for the first time in 70 years. Due to an incident, Seiji meets Kurumi Ichiki and discovers that she has a natural talent for cooking. Seiji asks her to be a cook for the Prime Minister. After a hesitation, Kurumi Ichiki says yes. She begins work at the prime minister's residence, but she struggles in a hostile environment with the chef and his subordinates at the restaurant of the prime minister's official residence.

Mochizuki Kohei married Maria, the beautiful and talented daughter of a wealthy family. He quit his job at a medium-sized advertising agency to run a café and appears to have everything going well with him. Although Kohei pretends to be the perfect husband, he feels suffocated by his wife’s consideration and restrictions and plots her murder at the instigation of his café partner and lover Kitasato Anna. However, the situation drastically changes just as he makes the decision to kill Maria. When Kohei returns home, she has been kidnapped and the kidnapper demands an enormous ransom. To make things worse, he is made a suspect at some point in this kidnapping case and driven into a corner. In the middle of this, Maria’s frightening true face which was completely unknown to Kohei gradually emerges.

After Sugihara Oto’s mother passed away when she was young, she was raised by adoptive parents in the Hokkaido countryside. Although she gave up having dreams, she lives cheerfully and bravely. But she is troubled by her adoptive parents attempts to force her into a marriage with a wealthy man 20 years her senior to save the family from poverty. Soda Ren lost his parents early and was brought up in the great outdoors in Fukushima by his grandfather. However, his grandfather gets swindled and Ren leaves for Tokyo in order to earn money to recover the farmland. He dreams that he will be able to live with his grandfather some day, but reality is harsh. By coincidence, Oto heads to Tokyo too. This is the story of love and growth of six young people from the rural areas who gather in Tokyo.

One day, the current prime minister of Japan, Muto Taizan, and his useless son, Sho, suddenly discover that they have switched bodies.

With no known cause or solution at hand, Sho reluctantly ends up appearing in the Diet on his father’s behalf. But he completely cannot follow the deliberations as well as the questions and answers because it has been his routine to skip his studies. He is also repeatedly caught making childish responses or misreading kanji in documents. However, untainted by the adult world, Sho’s straightforward opinions and genuine feelings start to mobilise the Diet and the public.

On the other hand, Taizan has to lead the life of a university student and search for a job on behalf of his son, but with the brains of a prime minister. He refutes arrogant interviewers with his overwhelming knowledge and debating skills. Although Taizan wins the war of words, he is an absolute failure in the interviews itself. Furthermore, several peculiar girls whom Sho has had relationships with appear and makes Taizan more bewildered.

Rintaro Hino is a 41-year-old psychiatrist, working at a university hospital. He is an excellent doctor with keen insight and intuition. He even sees the Chief Cabinet Secretary as a patient. Dr. Rintaro has written books and appears as a guest on TV. Some patients have to wait more than 2 months to see him. One day, a woman appears in front of Dr. Rintaro and his life changes because of her.

Morimura Tomomi is a housewife scorned by her husband and two sons, and yet she continues to protect the family. On her 46th birthday, she leaves home in disgust and embarks on a 1,200 km journey. It is Tomomi’s first time driving onto the highway and she speeds along to the west. On the road, she encounters a series of traumatising episodes. She detects her husband’s affair, is faced with a truck driver who mistakes her for a prostitute housewife, and finally her car gets stolen. While Tomomi is at a loss, a good-looking young man and an elderly person give her a ride, and she arrives in Nagasaki. As she meets various people in this town which was once transformed into a wasteland because of the atomic bomb, she becomes aware of a “wilderness” within her and starts to explore the path to rebirth.

Based on the novel "Dakara Kōya" by Kirino Natsuo.

Saburo, an ordinary high school student, travels back in time to the Sengoku era (1549). He encounters a young lord who looks exactly like him and is told, “Be my substitute. I’m the eldest son of the Oda family, Oda Nobunaga.” After the young lord leaves, Saburo is mistaken for Nobunaga by a vassal and taken to the castle. He starts to live as Oda Nobunaga from this day. The young samurai of the Oda family, which is merely a minor feudal lord, set out towards the extraordinary dream of unifying the whole country through the power of Saburo.

Saburo, a person from modern times who has no experience killing people, does not understand the willingness of the warlords of the Sengoku era to lay down their lives for their family. It is the same for the vassals too. They have had a hard time understanding Nobunaga’s actions ever since the ill-mannered, wilful Saburo took over. Despite this “generation gap across space and time”, they are soon on the brink of achieving their dream.

It is the Spring of 1814. The restaurant "Tsuru-ka" is gaining much popularity after its chef, Mio, won the prestigious cooking competition. One day, the owner of "Tsuru-ka", Taneichi, employed young Fuki to be the attendant for customers' shoes. Mio could fully empathize with young Fuki, who was an orphan and yet was courageous enough to survive on her own. Around the same time, the famous novelist Seiemon started coming to "Tsuru-ka". Even though Seiemon criticized Mio's cooking each time, he always returned to the restaurant daily. Remembering the words spoken by the samurais that had last seen Komatsubara, "Tokei no Ma", Mio was very tempted to ask Seiemon the meaning of the words! Meantime, "Tsuru-ka"'s rival restaurant, "Toryuro" was always serving food that was similar to Mio's latest creation. Even before Mio had a chance to offer them on "Tsuru-ka"'s menu. It happened repeatedly, which left Mio puzzled and troubled by it all. To add to her worries, Mio heard from Mataji that her dear childhood friend, Noe, who is one of the top oiran (prostitutes) in Yoshiwara (red-light district of Edo), was injured while trying to protect another prostitute from being slashed by a patron. Mio's despair at not having been able to help Noe escape her fate at Yoshiwara all those years ago threatened to overwhelm her completely. Especially since her fellow housemate, O-Ryo's son was stricken by the life-threatening measles at the same time...

July 1590, Odawara. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army had surrounded the Odawara Castle for over three months, hoping to conquer this last obstacle to his dream of the country's unification.

Standing at the gate of the castle, a lone man facing the menacing guards shouted out: "Do not throw your lives away. Treasure living!". Not long after, the castle gates opened and the reigning lord surrendered. The name of that man is Kuroda Kanbee. An excellent military strategist, he worked hand-in-hand with Hideyoshi to unify the country.

Kanbee's family had fled to Harima, and were relatively poor. As the protege of Kodera Masamoto, Kanbee was very much trusted and relied upon by his lord liege. However, Kodera was suspicious of Kanbee's father, Mototaka, thinking that he was trying to usurp his power. One day, Kodera decided to match-make Kanbee with the daughter of Kushihashi, another one of his vassals. Kushihashi's son, who was of the same age as Kanbee, intensely disliked Kanbee and objected to the match. Since this was the order of Kodera, they had no choice but to marry the youngest daughter, Teru, to Kanbee. On Kuroda clan side, in order to assuage their lord liege's suspicions, Mototaka decided to step down, and made Kanbee the head of the clan. Kanbee was but 22 years old. Kanbee and Teru were married, and they were blessed with a son soon after, but when many years had passed and yet Teru couldn't seem to conceive a second child, Kanbee decided to adopt the young children of his vassals as his proteges who became known as "Kuroda's warriors".

When Kanbee turned 30, a revolutionary young lord was slowly laying siege to all the various shogunates, aiming for a unified Japan. Harima became the place where the clash between Oda and Mori Terumoto was set. Kanbee was very attracted to Oda's unification plans, and had gone to Gifu Castle to meet up with him. There, he became acquainted with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and soon became Hideyoshi's right-hand man, marking the birth of Gunshi Kanbee.

After being retrenched from his job at a Tokyo securities firm, Tsunezue Riichi decides to return to his hometown to work. He soon lands a job at the company GALAXYZ, a job that his parents highly recommended. GALAXYZ is a newly set up company, with young entrepreneur Kui Yoshiaki at its helm. Unbeknownst to Riichi, the company actually handles AV (Adult Videos i.e. Porn) projects. Even the OL's at the company's premises are actually all aspiring AV actresses. Throughout the entire company, everything is AV-centric, with even filming taking place within the office! Amidst all these, Riichi finds himself fascinated by a sweet charming girl, Momoko, another OL/AV-wannabe...

In a residential area, a man is murdered by another man, who broke his apartment. Sergeant Kizaki, who is working near the area, hears a gunshot and runs towards the apartment. Detective Omura already is at the scene of the crime.

During their investigation,they get closer to finding out the identity of the killer. Soon, Sergeant Kizaki feels someone is behind the case. A girl then steps out from the shadows. Sergeant Kizaki feels she is linked to the murders somehow.

In Edo of the early 1800's, Mio (Kitagawa Keiko) is foretold that while she will live a life of trials and tribulations, there will always be a blue sky waiting for her beyond the clouds. As she tries to find a path for herself amongst the highly competitive world of chefs, she comes to learn first-hand just how many trials and tribulations she will have to endure. Still, with the help of those around her, Mio won't give up searching for her own flavor...

The story focuses on a group of mothers who all have children around the same age. These women form a bond through sharing their anxieties about raising their children, each coming from a different background. However, the friendship between the five women also turns to jealousy and betrayal, due to the fact that their children are all taking similar entrance exams for elementary school.

Anne plays the protagonist Yuko, whose set of values as a woman, wife, and mother have been overturned, and she struggles to climb back from her fallen state.

Meanwhile, her four fellow mothers are hiding serious problems at home, despite their appearances. Ono Machiko plays a woman receiving verbal abuse from her husband on a daily basis, Kurashina Kana plays a “yankee mama” who got pregnant as a teenager by a truck driver, Ryo plays a capable woman running her own online shop, and Kimura Yoshino plays a popular reader model for a women's magazine.

Ichiko and Eri are two beautiful Japanese university students who are in a lesbian relationship. Ichiko comes out to her father who tells her he is also gay and her mother was a lesbian. Her best friend is gay too, though he has a female who is after him. Their liaison is very intense, but Eri suggests a temporary separation so she can concentrate on her law studies. The break from their affair is difficult for Ichiko to deal with. But Eri soon sorts out her priorities.

Yoji is a young lonely factory worker who falls for an equally lonely girl co-worker, Sachiko, but is unable to tell her of his interest. However, later, a bio-mechanical monster, NecroBorg, starts take over human bodies and use their flesh to create weapons.

Ritsuko discovers an old cassette tape, while packing her things to move into a new apartment. She listens to the tape and hears the voice of a frail girl saying "I'm so afraid of tomorrow that I can't fall asleep. I think I'm going to die soon." Soon after, Ritsuko leaves a sparse note for her fiance Saku, "I'm going away for a while. Don't worry about me. - Ritsuko." During this time a Typhoon is approaching Japan and Saku watches the news at his friends bar. He spots his fiance walking in the background of a news report at the airport. He knows Ritsuko is going to her home town of Shikoku and Saku decides to go back there as well, the place where he grew up and first met Ritsuko and the girl on the tape.

As a former gang member, Hazama Ichiban witnessed the worst side of the emergency medical system and vowed to become a doctor to change it. With the aggressive passion he learned on the streets, Ichiban has worked his way to becoming a no-nonsense emergency medicine resident. But it is this same passion that he must learn to control when confronted with a situation beyond his help.

The series featured many firsts for the franchise, including the start of the story in a movie rather than the series proper. Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact was the prequel to the series and took place ten years before episode 1. In it, 9-year-old Musashi Haruno encounters the being of light, Ultraman Cosmos, and befriends him as the two confront a threat to Earth.

Ten years later, Musashi, now 19 and a member of Team EYES, once again encounters the being of light from his childhood. The dark being Chaos Header has appeared and is corrupting the monsters of Earth, making them become ravenous and violent creatures that threaten humanity. Through Musashi's will to see the beasts and humans live in peace, Cosmos grants him a new power that will allow him to heal the corrupted creatures.