Asian Drama

A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) submarine sank in a maritime accident near Japan. Japan was shocked by the news that the survival of all 76 crew members, including the captain, Second Lieutenant Shiro Kaieda, was hopeless. However, the crew actually survived. They were selected as crew members for a nuclear submarine built in top secret by Japan and the United States.

(Source: Japanese = silent-service.jp)

Adapted from the manga series "The Silent Service" (沈黙の艦隊) by Kawaguchi Kaiji (川口開治).

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~~ Adapted from a novel of the same name by Yuzuki Asako

"Underdog" follows three boxers who are all underdogs. Suenaga Akira is a boxer, who struggles to succeed as a boxer. Omura Ryuta is a young boxer, who grew up in an orphanage. Miyagi Shun challenges a boxer, following the plans of a TV program.

Nagisa is transgender. She grew up in Hiroshima as a man, but now lives in Shinjuku, Tokyo as a woman. Due to an incident, she begins to live with middle school student Ichika, who is a distant relative. Ichika has been neglected by her mother Saori. From living in solitude by herself, to now living with Ichika, Nagisa develops maternal instincts for the first time.

It is early summer of 2020. Now, connections between people are limited and people spend more time at home. This is the story of 6 men and woman living in the same apartment complex who meet and make friends and make new relationships with one another: a married couple in their third year of marriage, a young photographer, and a trio of people who make videos on the video platform "NewTube".

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.

Tachibana Haruka is a rookie nurse with a bright personality. Mihara Natsumi is 34-year-old veteran nurse. She is struggling at work and with her love life. While Tachibana Haruka and Mihara Natsumi work as nurses at a place that deals with life and death, they laugh and cry. The two women grow as persons in the process.

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!

In this drama, each of three troubled women encounter a mysterious and charismatic man while traveling to Bangkok, Taipei, and Ho Chi Minh.

17-year-old Aoi came to Yui Obstetrics and Gynecology clinic as a part-time nurse apprentice in Summer 1997. Right after her entry, she is shocked after witnessing an abortion surgery. However, she also met staff members like Yui, the head of the clinic who is careful about everything, Sayako, a reliable and experienced nurse, and Sakaki, the gentle head nurse, who face each pregnant patient and support them after surgeries. Fumika, Aoi's mother, is worried about her clumsy nature and poor communication skills, but Aoi's unique compassion and kindness draws patients' hearts. "I wonder what's life..." Aoi matures while looking at the newborn babies' overwhelming life and asking herself that question.

"Miss Sherlock" is set in modern day Tokyo and both lead characters are Japanese women – Dr. Wato Tachibana, a surgeon recently returned from a volunteer doctors’ mission in Syria and Sara Shelly Futaba, an investigation consultant to the police department who solves bizarre and difficult cases. Throughout the series, the pair solves mystery after mystery with Miss Sherlock’s extraordinary observation and reasoning skills.

(Source: IMDb)

Adapted from a collection of short stories and novels "Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Episodes: 8

Duration: 49 min.

Content Rating: 15+ - Teens 15 or older

Aired On: Friday

Ratings: 8.0

Saigo Takamori, the hero of the Meiji Restoration, was born to a poor, low-ranking samurai family in the Satsuma domain (present day Kagoshima Prefecture). His simple honesty caught the attention of its charismatic feudal lord of Satsuma, Shimazu Nariakira. Nariakira’s assertion that the love of people is what will enrich and strengthen the nation captivated Saigo who took on Nariakira’s secret mission and eventually became a key person for Satsuma. Not a portrait of him survives today and much of his life is a mystery. He is a man who was twice exiled and thrice married. He overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate with exceptional bravery and action. Although he accomplished the restoration, he lost his life in a fight with the new Meiji government.

Based on the novel "Sego Don" by Hayashi Mariko.

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.

High school students Tobio, Maru, Isami, and 20-year-old Paisen, who graduated from high school a long time ago are contented with their lives. One day their ordinary routine completely changes. Tobio and the rest plant a home-made bomb at the school next door in revenge for Maru’s vicious beating at the hands of delinquents. However, the bomb which was only intended to shock the delinquents, ends up causing a huge explosion that claims many victims including friends and seniors. This triggers the start of their life on the run.

Eiichi Nishio is a young actor. He is not very popular and only receives offers to play dead bodies. One day, he wanders around Nakameguro, Tokyo and recognizes the restaurant/bar Izakaya Fuji. He saw pictures of Izakaya Fuji on a woman's Instagram account and decides to go in. There, he meets Nao Omori and other actors who are all regulars at Izakaya Fuji.

Adapted from the 2015 novel "Izakaya Fuji" by Kuriyama Keisuke.

Kozo Nakase attends meetings for single widowers looking to remarry. He meets Sayoko Takeuchi and eventually marries her. Not longer after their marriage, he suddenly collapses and dies, leaving everything to Sayako. The rest of his family, including his daughter Tomomi, are left out of his will. Tomomi hires Honda, a private investigator, to find out more about Sayoko.

Meanwhile, Sayoko works with Toru Kashiwagi, the director of the matchingmaking service. When older wealthy men register for the service, she charms them until they eventually leave everything to her. Sayoko and Toru always split the spoils 50/50. After Kozo Nakase's death, Sayoko begins attending the matchmaking meetings again. Kiharu Funayama becomes her next target, but Sayoko sincerely falls for Kiharu.

A writer living in Mushashino, Sugimoto Ryuji's novels "Yatou Denki" and "1" were featured in the local newspaper, Koushin Newspaper. One day, an application from Shiota Yoshiko was delivered to Koushin Newspaper with the gist of its contents saying "Yatou Denki seems interesting, so I'd like to read your publication". Sugimoto Ryuji then sent a letter of acknowledgement to Yoshiko. However, in less than one month's time since the application was made, these words were delievered "Your novel is too boring so I will not purchase it anymore"

Hoshina Kyoko, Doi Tomohiko and Sakai Miwa have been leading ordinary lives working as adults. Raised at Yoko Gakuen which was isolated from the world and located on the mountain, the three of them enjoyed child-like lives and education and were supposed to be normal children. One day, they were told by their principal Kamikawa Emiko that they are special children who have been given a “mission” from birth and were informed of their “true destiny”. The three are actual clones and they were produced for eventual organ harvesting.

Tono Risa is a gifted writer in her 30s. She has already made a name for herself, but actually feels that she is at the end of the road. At that moment, Kawahara Yuki, a young woman in her 20s who has come to Tokyo with the dream of becoming a novelist, appears in front of her. Tired of her title as a genius and unable to confide in anyone that she has exhausted her own ability, Risa entrusts Yuki with being her ghost writer. Risa gets distressed about pretending to be someone she is not in the shadows of her glittering career, but continues to act the way the people think of her. The talented Yuki finds the admiration she should have for Risa gradually transform into bitter animosity. Oda Hayato, a rookie editor, is the first person to discover Yuki’s talent, and become the one who understands her the most. He struggles in his attempt to make Yuki stop being Risa’s ghost writer and debut as an novelist.

The original novel revolved around a young man who struggles with himself after killing a pawnbroker, Ochiai's manga tells the story of a college dropout and hikikomori (shut-in) who plans to kill a high school girl leading an enjo-kousai (compensated dating) group. Kora plays the role of Tachi Miroku, a dropout and hikikomori who is aiming to become a writer. He lost his father to suicide, while his mother and older sister have high expectations for his future. He ends up deciding to murder a heartless young girl named Baba Hikaru (played by Hashimoto Ai), who is the leader of an enjo-kousai group. The heroine of the drama will be the character Ameya Echika, played by Mizukawa. Other characters include the public prosecutor Goi Kurodo (Ibu Masato), the money courier Mikoshiba Haruka (Sometani Shota), and the mysterious man Sudo Kai (Tanaka Tetsushi). ~ Tokyograph

Ryutaro Asada, a renegade but brilliant surgeon, was being framed for a misdiagnosis and let go by the North Japanese Hospital. He went into exile and lived in a seaside shack when he was visited by Akira Kato, assistant professor of the Faculty of Cardiac Surgery at Meishin University Medical Hospital. Despite being a female doctor, Akira managed to become an assistant professor. She was ambitious and set her goal to be promoted to full professor by succeeding in a surgery using the Batista technique — an extremely difficult type of heart surgery — and to write a paper on it. A year ago, Akira witnessed Ryutaro's skills when he was an NGO doctor and was impressed enough to seek his assistance in the Batista technique. This drama exposed the difficulties encountered in the rigid Japanese medical professions in treating patients whereby decisions made were based more on protecting the hospitals than the patients.

Fuku-chan came to Tokyo more then 10 years ago. He lives in the apartment building "FukuFuku Flats”. Fuku-chan is a nice guy, but he sucks at dating . Fuku-chan holds a fear of women. He ruins a blind date arranged by his friend Shimacchi.

Fuku-chan's fear of women arose from an incident when he was in middle school. The incident involved his first love Chiho. One day, Chiho apologizes to Fuku-chan about his fear.

The governor of Tokyo is aggravated by an article in an English language magazine which regards it as a problem that there are few female top officials in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police especially its star, the Criminal Investigations Department. In order to erase this negative image overseas, a veteran female detective Demachi Izumi is made the head of the First Investigative Division’s new section, and the NS Section is born. However … … --jdramas--

Koyurugi Sota looks up to and adores his senior in school, Takahashi Saeko. With his one-sided love for her, he decides to leave for Paris to learn the art of making chocolates, as she loves chocolates. After returning from Paris, Sota dreams of creating the perfect chocolate to present to Saeko, and that it will make Saeko fall madly in love with him. Saeko, who is already married, is actually quite the airhead, but her actions seem to lead Sota on. Does Saeko not know that Sota is madly in love with her? Or is she just playing with his feelings?

Domoto Tsuyoshi plays the lead character Tenma who has inherited the power to get into contact with spirits but is afraid of his ability to do that. Out of no choice, he has to take on the position of the president of an exorcism company. Kawaguchi Haruna and Minagawa Sarutoki will be Tenma's assistants in his "ghost-busting" missions. Serina will play an elder woman in the neighbourhood who chases Tenma around while Sato Jiro plays Tenma's late father who communicates with Tenma through his dreams.

In the early Edo period, an encounter with Oichi (Mizukawa Asami), the daughter of the chief retainer Umemiya Shuzen (Sakai Masaaki) of a small domain, prompts the dull Sarutobi Sasuke (Ito Atsushi), a budding ninja who was born in a ninja village deep in the mountains, to charge off for the capital.

While Sarutobi attempts to protect Oichi from intrigue, Tokusaburo (Yanagiba Toshiro), a devious, mysterious merchant, appears before him. And then Sarutobi’sarchnemesis, Hattori Hanzomon, the grandson of Hattori Hanzo.

Tsuyama Shio is a boring thirty-something working as an OL in a boring company. As a risk-averse person, she doesn't dare to do anything that may bring on hurt. No lover, no friends, and her close friend is the convenience store at night. Thinking to change her lonely lifestyle, she decides to move into a share house（kind of like a guesthouse/hostel but on a long term basis). Amidst all the difficulties, joy and troubles of living with others, she comes into contact with two very interesting men who also live together with her in the share house. Shio starts to develop feelings for one of the men, Sakurai Yukiya, but he in turn thinks he is in love with the other man, Kawaki Tappei, who has fallen for Shio... And hence begins a strange love triangle! -- NTV

Ryuzaki Shinji, who possesses a "God Hand", the power to heal wounds and illnesses just by touching the patient, is, in fact, a dark introvert who does not reveal his true self to others. Aoi Ryosuke, who possesses the "Demon's Hand", the power to kill a person just by touching him, is as kind and pure as an angel. When the demon meets the god, a fatal battle begins.

Detective Hasebe Nagisa gets caught by the criminals during a deep cover operation. Ryosuke, a man she does not even know, comes to save her and she witnesses his "Demon's Hand" in action. Thereafter, she discovers by coincidence the existence of Shinji's "God Hand" and brings the two together. Little did she know that this would cause great disorder to the world and even to her own life.

The story revolves around a young man named Mahigashi Teru. When he was young, his father, a brilliant surgeon, died in an accident, but not before saving Teru's life. As a result, Teru also aims to become a great surgeon like his father, devoted to never letting a patient die. As a clumsy newcomer at his hospital, he seems to be an unlikely savior. But whenever a patient's life is in danger, his true powers emerge in the form of his "god hands," allowing him to successfully perform even the most difficult operations.

Last Friends tackles issues that afflict the current generation. Michiru's mother has brought a man back to their home and she is bullied at her workplace where she works as a beauty parlour assistant. She starts cohabiting with her boyfriend, a good young man who works at the Child Welfare Division and the only person who can give her emotional support, but ends up the victim of domestic violence and becomes fearful of love. The boyishly charming Ruka was a classmate of Michiru's in junior high school. She has performed brilliantly as a motocross racer and aims to win the national championship, but as the story progresses, a deep worry that she can neither confide in her parents or close friends grows evident. Takeru is a hair and makeup artist acquainted with Ruka. He is a good confidant to females due to his kindness and perceptiveness, and finds himself attracted to Ruka but has a phobia of sex as a result of a past trauma. The three of them become house mates and through their associations with others, gain the capacity to be positive about life.

A Young monk Sanzo Hoshi sets out for India, never forgetting to keep a "believing heart" as he travels together with Son Goku (monkey), Sagojo (water monster) and Chohakkai (Pig), those spirits who are always causing problems. What adventures are awaiting our band of travellers on their way, and will friendship and love prevail in the end?

Two young adults, Mitsuru and his girlfriend Maki, kidnap a little girl and hold her for ransom to pay off a drug-related a debt. As they hide out at an abandoned school, they attempt to call the girl's parents only to find out from her parents she has been dead for a year. Mitsuru's friends also arrive, with ulterior motives of their own. Soon, members of the group are brutally killed by an unseen force. Is the mysterious little girl responsible, or is something far more sinister at work?

Four schoolboys find themselves the last virgins left at school. During the summer holidays, a girl they knew as children 11 years ago, moves back to the neighborhood. Despite their childhood attraction to her, they realize she is a mere shadow of the "princess" they all thought they knew. This story of summer - love, friendship, school, family, the hypocrisy of adults, complications of life, experience and failure is set in an everyday shopping district and shows the clumsiness of children who have developed a little later than their peers. It's a bright romantic comedy that both young and old can appreciate.

Four schoolboys find themselves the last virgins left at school. During the summer holidays, a girl they knew as children 11 years ago, moves back to the neighborhood. Despite their childhood attraction to her, they realize she is a mere shadow of the "princess" they all thought they knew. This story of summer - love, friendship, school, family, the hypocrisy of adults, complications of life, experience and failure is set in an everyday shopping district and shows the clumsiness of children who have developed a little later than their peers. It's a bright romantic comedy that both young and old can appreciate.

This drama pits two protagonists against each other. On the one hand there's Makoto, a woman who believes that the TV program is a product and that viewer ratings are the proceeds, and who believes any method is fair in getting those ratings. On the other hand there's Hiromi, a flashy sort of guy who claims that life is to enjoy and boasts that the program is simply a tool in that process. He loves wine, women and gambling. Such a pair is bound to mix like oil and water, but following a fateful reunion, they come to understand each other in the midst of confrontation.

"100 Tales of Horror" is the follow-up to "Onmyoji Abe no Seimei" in the Tuesday night "Super Jidaigeki" time slot. Computer graphics and special effects bring a new face to these stories of horror that have been told for many years.

Yuka Misaki, whose parents run a flower shop, casually begins dating college student Akio Asami, and later falls for him. But due to some type of accident, the two lose contact with one another.

One year after the accident, the two suddenly meet again. Yuka is still working at her father Shigeo's flower shop, and Akio is a teacher at a nearby high school.

It's January 7, just right after the New Year begins. Makeup classes are being held for students that aren't keeping up with their daily studies. Taking the classes are the popular Tadashi Otomo, and the leader of the delinquent students, Sho Takamatsu. And giving the lecturers is Noriko Sekiya, a teacher that has taken out all kinds of loans to pay for the popular brand items that she buys.

Yuka comes to the school to collect money from Noriko. While at the school, with thoughts of the past in the back of her mind, Yuka and Akio meet and get into a fight. Then all of a sudden, there is a small tremor, and after it subsides.

Adapted from the manga "The drifting classroom" by Kazuo Umezu.

Odoru Daisousasen is a Japanese drama, with some comedic moments. It originally ran for 11 episodes, and has spawned several TV specials and four full-length theatrical movies.plays a character named Aoshima Shunsaku, an ex-computer salesman, who decides one day that he wants to be a detective. He soon becomes a detective at the Wangan Police Station where he encounters various cases and deals with the police bureaucracy.