Asian Drama

In the turbulent last days of the Edo period, Kawai Tsugunosuke, a Japanese samurai serving the Makino clan of Nagaoka, dreamt of independence from the restraints of vassalship. Despite his progressive views and his desire for his estate to remain neutral during the Boshin Civil War, he was bound by loyalty and duty to the clan and was compelled to choose sides.

Adapted from the novel "Toge: Saigo no Samurai" (峠 最後のサムライ) by Shiba Ryotaro (司馬遼太郎).

Former detective Shimada Shugo now runs a private detective agency, with the help of his assistant Kojima Akari. Recent cases have been pretty routine, until he receives an intriguing request from a seemingly wealthy older woman. While hospitalized, his client met fellow patient, Omatsu Mickie, who is terminally ill. Time is not on her side. Her dying wish is to be taken to a place special to her. Can Shugo get Mickie there before the clock expires?

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.

One day, Inspector Shibasaki Reiji of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's General Affairs Department is made to take responsibility for the inexplicable suicide of a direct subordinate and demoted to a police precinct despite being among a small number of elite candidates in the police force. Reiji received a phone call from his boss Nakata instructing him to allow his subordinate Kazuhiko Kido, who previously suffered from depression, to take part in shooting training. Reiji followed the instructions, but Kazuhiko killed himself soon after receiving a handgun from him. Reiji was interrogated, but his boss denied making the phone call regarding Kazuhiko. Who made the phone call?

While Reiji showers love on his wife and child, he has had no qualms about using intimidation on fellow police officers in order to get ahead in his career. Realising that he has been set up, he devises a plan not only to shed light on the truth, but make a return to the career track.

Assistant Inspector Fukuie (Dan Rei) does not look like an assistant inspector but once she starts an investigation, she takes no notice of anyone as she searches for the key to find out the truth. She does not care for the hierarchical relationship of the organisation or career advancement. If she has doubts, she will not listen to her superior and will persist in investigating to the end. Fukuie’s boss Inspector Ishimatsu (Inagaki Goro) is completely different from her. He places importance on the organisation and discipline, is rigid and strait-laced. Ever since Fukuie became his subordinate, his pride has been in tatters because she loves to disregard his instructions and investigate on her own even though this eventually results in success and he gets credit for her achievements. His principle is to investigate using orthodox methods, but the results that Fukuie delivers goes against this and makes him feel ashamed.

The new season begins with a special case that leads the duo to the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong. It’s the first time for ‘Aibou’ to expand its setting to a foreign location since they went to London in the second season. Mizutani commented that it perfectly suits inspector Sugishita Ukyo, since Hong Kong used to be a British colony and Ukyo is interested in everything British. His new partner is called ‘Kai Toru’. He’s played by Narimiya Hiroki and is going to breath new life into the series. More details about him can be found here and here, but we will have to wait until the first episode to find out how they end up as partners.

Nobuko Shimura is on duty for the first time at Gyoda Hospital. The duty doctor is Yosuke Naoe. After 9pm, Jiro Toda, a childhood friend of Nobuko's, is brought in with a cut to his forehead from a fight. But Naoe has gone out for a drink, and can't be found. Both Toda and the ambulance crew become angry and demand to know where the doctor is. Naoe returns and seeing the commotion, he orders Toda be locked in a toilet until he calms down. Nobuko is horrified by Naoe' s attitude but is later impressed with his ability as a surgeon when treating Toda's injury. This is their first fateful meeting.