Asian Drama

While Yuzu Hodaishi (Riho Sayashi) tried to find a decent job, she became hooked on a novel about yoghurt and became a big fan of the bacteria lactobacillus bulgaricus that appeared in the novel. Meanwhile, I is a lactobacillus bulgaricus and sees Yuzu Hodaishi. I jump out of the package of yoghurt and follow her as an invisible presence.

After a year of trying to find a job, Yuzu Hodaishi finally gets hired by a food company in Meiwa and gets assigned to work for the company in Osaka. At first, she worked with the supermarket staff, but she was transferred to the PR department at the head office in Osaka. Her senior there is Itsumi Midori (Rio Asumi). Yuzu Hodaishi struggles with her life in unfamiliar Osaka and also her work in the PR department. She then gets assigned to work on a magazine article for Meiwa Yogurt's 50th anniversary.

(Source: AsianWiki)

Adapted from the novel "Reiwa Bulgaria Yogurt" (令和ブルガリアヨーグルト) by Miyagi Ayako (宮木あや子).

Episodes: 10

Airs On: Wednesday

Set in a world where men get pregnant and give birth.

Kentaro Hiyama works at an advertising agency. His romantic partner is Aki Seto . Aki Seto works as a freelancer writer and an editor. She prioritizes her working career first and ignores her parents' pressure to marry. One day, Kentaro Hiyama learns that he is pregnant. Kentaro Hiyama and Aki Seto are surprised by the pregnancy. They both didn't expect to become parents. Kentaro Hiyama now faces a lot of difficulties due to his pregnancy. Kentaro Hiyama and Aki Seto must decided whether to have their baby or not.

The daughter of Detective Shibasaki Sachio from the First Investigation Division is found stabbed to death. He goes after the truth with Kawasumi Shigekatsu, a junior detective who respects Shibasaki as his mentor in life and is a close family friend. However, the hard work of the police is in vain and the case goes unsolved. 15 years later, Shibasaki is retired and quietly spending the rest of his life looking after his wife Miwako who is seriously ill. The situation begins to change with the establishment of a unit specializing in re-investigating unsolved cases. Kawasumi also joins them and while the case is reexamined, a man regarded as the criminal emerges. Shibasaki pursues the truth on his own. A single phone call triggers a desire for vengeance and he winds up facing a charge.

Adapted from the novel "Ryoba no Ono" (両刃の斧) by Takeaki Daimon (大門剛明).

A heart-full story about a strange living together with a salaryman, Hanzawa Yohei, who suddenly fell in love with a lover who was thinking of getting married, and a female ghost, Aisuke.

Innocent and pure Aisuke who did not experience romance while she was alive, and Yohei who is clumsy in love who does not notice the feelings of the other party. At first, the relationship was awkward, but as they spent time in the same space, they understood each other and shortened the distance.

When Kurosaki Koshiro was 15 years old, his father was a victim in a fraud case. His father tried to kill all his family members including himself. Kurosaki Koshiro was the only family member to have survived. Due to his painful past, Kurosaki Koshiro decides to take revenge on swindlers who cheat people and take their money. This becomes his purpose to live. Kurosaki Koshiro seems like an ordinary young man, who raises black cat Kuro. But, Kurosaki Koshiro doesn't trust people and lives a lonely life. Meeting with various people, he also faces his past.

Adapted from the manga series "Kurosagi" (クロサギ) written by Natsuhara Takeshi (夏原武) and illustrated by Kuromaru (黒丸).

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Akira Yamazaki and Akira Kaido are new employees at Industrial Central Bank. They are both outstanding at their jobs and fierce rivals, but they come from totally different backgrounds. When Akira Yamazaki was a child, his father's factory went bankrupt, and his family ran away in the middle of the night. Because of that experience, Akira Yamazaki wants to work as a banker to save people. On the other hand, Akira Kaido was born into a family that runs a large company. He works with a calm demeanor.

Due to a case, Akira Yamazaki receives a demotion. Akira Kaido continues to be successful at work, but his family's company is on the verge of bankruptcy due to their family-oriented management style. The employees there and their families are all in a crisis situation. With this desperate situation unfolding, the reversal of fate of these two men begins.

Adapted from the novel "Akira and Akira" (アキラとあきら) by Ikeido Jun (池井戸潤).

Kuroishi Koji is a horror movie director. To shoot a documentary film, he visits a home, located deep within in a mountain, with assistant director Ichikawa Miho. There, they meet beautiful Miyoshi Maria, who seems to be experiencing a mental storm. She tells Kuroishi Koji that she is a fan of his work. At Miyoshi Maria's house, Ichikawa Miho witnesses unexpected phenomenons.

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Yasuo grew up as an orphan. He married a woman he loved and they had a son Akira. Yasuo's life seemed great at the time, but his life totally changed after his wife died in an accident. Since that time, Yasuo, who never experienced his parents' love himself, has to raise his son Akira alone.

Adapted from the novel "Kite" (とんび) by Shigematsu Kiyoshi (重松清).

Agawa Kayo works as a probation officer and faces a heinous crime taking place.

Adapted from a manga of the same name.

Follows the trials and tribulations of Agawa Kayo, a volunteer probation officer.

Adapted from a manga of the same name.

9 years after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, two murder cases take place in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The two victims are assumed to have been murdered by the same person. Both of the victims were tied all over their body and starved to death. Yasuhisa Tone emerges as a suspect in the murders. Yasuhisa Tone was just recently released from prison. In his past, he committed arson and injured someone to protect his acquaintance. Detective Seiichiro Tomashino discovers a common link between the two victims and chases after Yasuhisa Tone.

Aoba Ippei, a police officer in the Police Dog Section of the Forensics Division, and his police dog buddy, Oliver, take on a series of inexplicable cases. As they try to solve the cases, they find themselves in the midst of various conflicting incidents...

(Source: NHK)

Episodes: 3

Duration: 45 min.

Aired On: Friday

Horigai Sayo is 22-years-old and she will soon graduate from a university. She has already been working in a child welfare job. She is 170 cm. tall and people think she is a bit eccentric, but she doesn't care what others think about her. She spends her time working part-time, attending classes, and going back to a boarding home. She meets Inogi Kusuko, who attends the same university. Kusuko has lived through a painful experience in her past. One day, Sayo’s friend Suiho Nao kills himself.

Adapted from the novel "Kimi wa Eien ni Soitsura yori Wakai" by Kikuko Tsumura.

Soma Ito is a high school student in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. She has a talent for playing Tsugaru-shamisen. The music is native to Aomori Prefecture and involves the traditional folk instrument Tsugaru-shamisen, which is a plucked three-string instrument. Ito learned to play Tsugaru-shamisen from her now-deceased mother. Due to her strong Tsugaru dialect and her shy personality, she has a hard time playing in public and also experiences difficulty in social settings. She doesn't have any friends. To change herself, Ito begins a part-time job at a maid cafe. Her father Koichi watches anxiously over her, while she works her new job. By meeting various people, Ito begins to grow as a person.

Three mothers have sons with the same name of Yu Ishibashi and they are all 10 years old.

In Kanagawa, Ishibashi Rumiko is 43-years-old and she works as a freelance writer. She is married to Yutaka, who works as a freelance cameraman. They have a 10 year old son Yu.

In Osaka, Ishibashi Kana is a 30-year-old single mother. After her divorce, she has worked part-time jobs and raises her 10-year-old son Yu alone.

In Shizuoka, Ishibashi Asumi is a 36-year-old housewife. She is married to Taichi and they have a 10-year-old son Yu. Her husband works as a salaryman.

These 3 women are happy and busy raising their boys named Yu. Due to some little thing, their lives fall apart. Their anger and anxiety unconsciously head towards their sons Yu.

Adapted from a novel of the same name.

A love story spanning 5 years between a man and a woman. A 22-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman both miss the last train at Meidaimae Station in Tokyo and meet there. Their relationship develops romantically.

Mamiya Hibiki is a sincere young man with a bright personality. He works as a car mechanic and lives with his girlfriend Ogasawara Kurumi. They have dated since they were high school students. Hibiki makes a plan to propose to Kurumi. On the day he will propose to his girlfriend, he slides off a tunnel and becomes trapped. 4 days later, he is able to escape, but he faces a different world. There are no people outside, the traffic system is destroyed, and there are bloodstains on the streets. What happened to the world? Hibiki tries to find Kurumi.

Kuroe works as a delivery person for delivery company "Elephant Express," which is located on a deserted shopping street. Every day, she drives a small truck to deliver her packages. The packages contain unique stories of the sellers and purchasers.

Akutsu Eiji is a newspaper reporter. He is working on unsolved case that took place 30 years ago. The case involved a group of people extorting several companies for money. The group sent cassette tapes to the companies. Akutsu Eiji comes across a mysterious cassette tape. Meanwhile, Sone Toshiya lives in Kyoto and runs a tailor shop. He discovers a cassette tape among his late father's possessions. He plays the cassette tape and hears his voice from his childhood days.

~~ Adapted from the novel "The Voice of Sin" (罪の声) by Shiota Takeshi (塩田武士), which in turn was inspired by the extortion case "Glico Morinaga case" (グリコ・森永事件).

Tsuji Kazumichi is a "good man" who has a good reputation for his work. He has casual relations with two women in his workplace; however, he feels kind of bored for dull days without excitement. He has never fallen in love with someone from the bottom of his heart.

One day, he meets a mysterious woman named Ukiyo (means "transitory world") and saves her life, after she was about to die in a railroad crossing because of her car's engine problem. Ukiyo is beautiful, but her off-guard attitude causes lots of problems for other people, including Tsuji. Though he notices her troublesome nature, he unconsciously gets involved with her. Gradually, Tsuji comes to have a dangerous relationship with underworld figures. Even if he loses his usual life style, he is willing to save Ukiyo, but that leads him to an even worse situation.

Originally shown as a 10-episode series on TV in Japan, it was edited into one movie which was released theatrically in Japan and played at some festivals. It will be released as two movies theatrically in French-speaking Europe.

Gota is an unpopular scriptwriter. He has been married to Chika for 10 years and they have a daughter Aki. Their marriage life is not very good. Gota tries to make his relationship with Chika better, but Chika looks down on him for not being able to earn money. One day, Gota has a chance to travel to Kagawa Prefecture to write a screenplay. He persuades Chika and Aki to go with him to Kagawa Prefecture, but he faces an unexpected case.

The story is based on the life of a japanese composer named Yuji Koseki from Fukushima in the Showa Era.

In 1909, a long-awaited baby boy was born to a family which has run a dry goods store for generations in Fukushima Prefecture. He would later become the talented composer Koyama Yuichi who wrote many famous songs. Although Yuichi was brought up as the heir of the business, he was rather dreamy and considered a child with no redeeming traits by the people around him. However, when he encountered music, it sparked joy and unleashed his gift in composing music through self-study. As a youth, Yuichi secretly put his name down for an overseas songwriting competition. This would change his destiny. He won runner-up for the song he entered for the competition. As a result, he got to know a female student who wanted to be a singer. Despite the long distance between them – Fukushima and Toyohashi – the two of them tied the knot. When they came to Tokyo, they met all sorts of people and weathered a dark period to produce a number of hit songs. However, war broke out and Yuichi had to compose wartime songs at the army’s request. It pained him that young men died in battle after singing the songs he had written. After the war, the country began to recover amid the chaos. The couple made a new era of music in an attempt to encourage the wounded through the power of music.

Kento enjoys cooking with canned foods and eating them at a camp-ground. Nanako likes cooking with natural ingredients she obtains herself from nature. The only thing in common between Kento and Nanako are that they eat and sleep alone at camp. Through the people they meet at camps, they both become fascinated with the world of food.

The main character Himi Ko is a lawyer who is an expert in the field of crisis management. Her main area of activity is not in a courtroom but within the shadows of many of the big scandals. As a genius "spin doctor", she has managed to solve 99.9% of her client’s issues and requests. If need be, she would even manage to reverse falsehood into justice. And most of all, she has a strong belief in supporting women, especially those who are stuck in a crisis and will go all the way to solve some of the most tricky cases. This is a drama which depicts such a determined character who takes whatever step she needs to help people who are at the edge of their lives!

Koichi is a son in the Suzuki family. He is a shut in who never leaves his house. He dies suddenly. The rest of the Suzuki family, father Yukio, mother Yuko and daughter Fumi fall into a state of confusion. Yuko, the mother, is so shocked by her son's death, that she loses her memory. Fumi lies to her mother and tells her "Koichi stopped being a shut in and is now working in Argentina."

Story is set after the movie "Room Laundering."

Miko Yakumo (Elaiza Ikeda) continues her work "room laundering." She struggles to solve the worries of ghosts staying in the rooms. Meanwhile, the relationship of Miko Yakumo and Akito Nijikawa (Kentaro Ito) develop romantically.

In the 1970s, the Kansai region of Japan experienced a high economic growth and the Osaka World Expo was held. Yong Gil is Korean who moved to Japan and settled down in a local city in the Kansai region. He and his wife run a small Yakiniku restaurant called 'Yakiniku Dragon'. He has three daughters, oldest daughter Jung Hwa, middle daughter Yi Hwa, and youngest daughter Mi Hwa. Yong Gil lives cheerfully and positively all the time although he was deprived of his left arm and his hometown after the war. The shop is always crowded with regular customers such as Tetsuo, who is Jung Hwa's childhood friend. The sisters are bound together by strong ties, but the times soon began to move on...

Based on the stage play “Yakiniku Doragon” which was written and directed by Wishing Chong. The stage play was first performed in 2008.

Akatsuka Detective Agency stands inconspicuously at Shimo Akatsuka in Tokyo’s Itabashi ward, right above a small snack shop run by their landlord. Akatsuka's eccentric chief Kaze Kaoru founded it with her two investigators Goro and Gure in order to take on odd cases that others are reluctant to do anything about. Their motto is "to be compassionate and meddlesome", which leads them to get involved in strange situations with their clients. Sometimes they're motivated by the potential to sell a sensational story to the press, but sometimes they end up working pro bono. They may be rough around the edges and always a little short on rent, but they always find a creative solution by diving into the mystery with their hearts even when they aren't sure if they'll succeed. They're joined by the Ranko, who first comes to them as a client, and other friends they meet along the way.

When a new disease called the Bugster Virus or "Game disease" begins infecting people across japan, the ministry of health works with GEMM Corp., a major video game company, to create the Cyber Rescue Center or "CR" and recruit a group of Doctor Riders including Emu Hojo AKA Kamen Rider Ex-aid, a medical intern with incredible gaming skills, and Hiiro Kagami AKA Kamen Rider Brave, a young genius surgeon who has never had a failed operation. Together with the help of Poppy Pipopapo, a Bugster reprogrammed to help them, they set out to cure the japan of the Bugster Virus. But they soon find that they aren't the only Doctor Riders out there and that the CEO of GEMM Corp. has his own motives in all this that could threaten their mission.

The story revolves around Kansai-area high school boys Seto and Utsumi, particularly their completely normal but comedic chats after school.

The manga was nominated for the 18th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize "Reader Award" in 2014.

On 9 August (Showa 20) 1945, one streetcar starts to run on the streets of Hiroshima which has been devastated. The surviving employees of the electric tram company had begun recovery work since the day after the atomic bomb was dropped. The bent tracks were hammered down and the overhead wires were set up again. A mere three days after the bombing, they manage to resume service on a section of the route. The drivers are young girls in their mid-teens who work while studying at the company’s girls school for home economics. Working in place of the males who have gone off to war, they are crew of the streetcar and even in charge of driving. 16-year-old Amada Toyoko (Kuroshima Yuina) is one of them. Born in a farming village in the outskirts of Hiroshima, Toyoko had heard that she could study while working, and came to Hiroshima. She was driving during the morning shift on the day that the atomic bomb was dropped, but miraculously survived although she was thrown out of the streetcar. Now she stands at the driver’s seat with her head wrapped in a bandage. The car is filled with people who are going in search of family members. Everyone clings to hope and stares ahead. Then the end of the war greets them. The streetcar continues to run on the streets of Hiroshima which has lost everything.

“Once the streetcar runs, Hiroshima will come to life again!” Matsuura Akitaka (Abe Hiroshi), the head of the electric tram company’s electrical section and a widower with three children, is tasked with restoring the main routes within one month. The streetcar which travels the forlorn streets becomes the hope of Hiroshima before anyone realises it.

Set in a small restaurant in the corner of a shopping district. The unusual eatery is only open after midnight, and its standard menu consists of just a single choice. However, the customers still come for the amusing chatter and the proprietor's willingness to cook any dish that they request. This drama depicts the lives of the restaurant's patrons, including a yakuza, an unsuccessful actor, a group of office ladies, a newspaper delivery boy, and a stripper.

Set in Asakusa, along the Sumida river amongst all the multi-tenanted residential and commercial buildings, there is a company by the name of "Ookawabata Tanteisha". It is a small private investigators' agency, run by 3 people. Muraki, who is the licensed investigator; the "Director", who has ties with the underworld; and Megumi, the candid and bubbly pretty receptionist. Their customers are from all walks of life, and some come with the strangest requests, and yet none are turned away. In the course of their investigations, they come in contact with the people related to the clients, and they end up trying to resolve their relationship problems.

In the fictional town of Mahoro on the outskirts of Tokyo is Tada Benriken, a small business which does odd jobs. Its owner is the solemn and level-headed Tada Keisuke (Eita), and his unexpected guest, the easygoing but vague Gyoten Haruhiko (Matsuda Ryuhei), a former junior high school classmate who showed up one day and started to sponge on him. The two of them get on like oil and water, and yet are somehow inseparable. They receive queer, dubious incoming odd job requests which they accept, and what comes into view are the friendship between them as well as the backgrounds of their clients.

A detective, who has been put on suspension due to a particular incident, unfortunately meets a woman... This woman happens to be able to “see” things, or in other words, has a special ability called a “vision.” She is shaken by her ability that she had suddenly gained one day, as she sees the images of murders... How did she develop this ability called “vision”!? What exactly is hidden in her past!? Strange incidents begin to happen around the two, and as they decide to team up in solving these cases.

Ito Kaiji moves to Tokyo after graduating from high school. Unable to find a job and frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalizing cars, and drinking booze. Two years later and his life no better, a debt collector named Endo arrives to collect money. The debt collector then offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 years paying off your loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay your debt and possibly make a whole lot more. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous Endo is actually conning Kaiji, believing he won't come back from voyage. Kaiji is then up for the night of his life.