Asian Drama

Adapted from the comic essay "Yuyu Wonderland" (湯遊ワンダーランド) by Mankitsu (まんきつ).

Momone Nagaura lives with her parents, grandfather and younger sister on an island in Kesennuma Bay, Miyagi Prefecture. In the spring of 2014, Momone Nagaura graduates from high school and moves to the city of Tome. She fails to enter a university. While she tries to figure out what to do with her life, she begins to work as an apprentice of a forest guide. A turning point in her life occurs. A popular weather forecaster from Tokyo arrives. Momone Nagaura walks on a mountain with the weather forecaster. She hears from the weather forecaster that the weather forecaster can predict the future. Momone Nagaura becomes touched by that comment and decides to become a weather forecaster. She studies hard for the exam to become a weather forecaster. With the help of the people around her in Tome, she finally passes the exam. Momone Nagaura moves to Tokyo and begins to work at a private weather forecasting company. Working there, she grows up as a weather forecaster. Several years later, in 2019, a major typhoon approaches Japan. To help her hometown, she heads to Kesennuma Bay.

An unpopular idol, Kurobara Junko, pretends to be innocent, but in reality, she is an absurd girl who is jealous of her rival. She volunteers to work as traffic safety and security awareness in a parade to increase her popularity, but ends up discovering a murder scene and being accused of being a serial murderer who called himself a "justice". She then works with police detective Todo Shusaku to solve the murder and clear her name.

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.

Natsuko Miyamoto (48), a full-time housewife and mother of two (daughter Hana, 20, and son Kotaro, 17), is shocked when her husband Akira (54) announces that he will quit his job to explore his long-term interests in agriculture. In turn, Natsuko decides to seek employment of her own, but faces rejection due to inexperience and age. After a confusing mishap, she finds new hope for her life skills in an unexpected place -- a poorly managed supermarket.

Adapted from the book Sengyou Shufu ga Shuushoku Suru made ni Yatteoku beki Yatsu no Koto by Cynthia Usui

High school senior Saimon is headed for college, and his buddy Tada Takashi will take over his family's factory. Takashi is fed up with being surrounded by guys and heads off with Saimon on a journey to find the love of his life. Takashi goes all out with guitar in hand, whereas Saimon harbors feelings that he can't express. They each have their own motivations for a trip that heads toward an unexpected conclusion.

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.

In a society in which justice is awfully subjective, and the possibility of finding the truth is so complicated, detective Yugami simply chases after the facts of various cases. He will casually approach potential suspects and talk to them in order to attain new information. All he is looking for are the facts. He feels that there is no point in following the rules, nor trying to read the atmospheres of the environment he's in. For him, resorting to unique and illegal investigations is not out of the ordinary. To assist him, he also has a sidekick, Torao Hanyu, who's a serious detective with a completely different personality. For Yugami, he simply wants to arrest as many criminals as possible through his illegal investigation style, so Torao's existence becomes a bother for him. Two detectives with absolutely nothing in common, somehow try to combine their skills in order to combat the enemies of society.

It is Tokyo in 1935. 10-year-old Yanagi Etsuko is a young girl who loves songs. Her father Kantaro, a struggling lyricist, still cannot forget her late mother and wastes his life away. Seeing her father like this, Etsuko begins a search for Kantaro’s second bride and the new partner who will be her mother. Her first target is her teacher Muraoka Masako whom she eggs on to land a date with her father. However, it does not go very well. The next person who catches her attention is a salesgirl Ikebe Kyoko whom she met at a department store. Etsuko is drawn to Kyoko’s simplicity and gradually begins to love her as if she were her own mother. However, at that moment, Kantaro’s elder sister Tsuruyo pursues the subject of an arranged introduction with Kusakabe Kaoru, the incredibly beautiful daughter of a bank owner who is a shareholder in her husband’s company.

Based on the novel "Ecchan" by Shishi Bunroku.

Tachibana Miyabi is 39-years-old and hasn't had a boyfriend in 5 years. This doesn't bother her though as she is pretty and confident and enjoys her life as a single woman. She is a doctor and runs her own successful dermatology clinic. But at her school reunion, she finds herself being pitied by others for still being single. Afterwards, she attends a gourmet meeting at a restaurant. There, she talks about her school reunion. Seiji, the owner of the restaurant, makes a biting remark that she isn't the type popular with men. She becomes upset by the remark, but finds herself taking his advice to heart. Eventually, she asks Seiji to mentor her on how to catch men to which Seiji agrees. What follows is a series of mishaps and triumphs and adventures as Miyabi does her best to be the 'type' of woman men want.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department creates a new division which consists of 5 female detectives. The new division is called Higanbana which is a flower with a poison root. The 5 female detective have their own specialties and sensitivities. The women try to solve a murder that took place at the wedding of a female doctor.

Detective Nagisa Kinomiya is a member of Higanbana. She has the special ability of sensing a criminal’s murderous intent and ill will.

Nishiuchi Mariya stars as a novice concierge in a luxury hotel who strives to see her customers smile. The heroine with never-give-up attitude who doesn't say "no" to customers tries her very best to solve problems with support from her seniors. The drama brings heart-warming one-off episodes every week to viewers.

Toko has finally got her dream job as concierge at "Hotel Vollmond". One day, fashion designer and customer, Sachi, requests Toko to change the flowers at her party venue, which Toko promises to do without due consideration. With the help of her senior, Honjo, she manages to keep her rash promise, but Honjo starts to question why on earth Washio chose Toko as concierge in the first place. Toko, then, gets enthusiastic about supporting a customer who plans to propose to his girlfriend.

Nakayama Haruhiko is a new cameraman who'd feel fulfilled if he could die on the job. His only interest is to be ahead of everyone at accidents or disasters, disregarding his own safety to click that one photo which transmits the sense of immediacy. Getting a lead that a there's a drug dealing going down, he sneaks into a certain club. Coming face to face with a scary fellow, he runs but gets fired on by another man in the alley

The scene is set in the town of Yume (Dream) city. Due to financial difficulties, the town is in the process of merging with another city, meanwhile turning into a garbage disposal facility. The formerly prosperous town was referred to as the "Town of Songs", represented by the music hall, now torn down and in ruins. Returning from New York having performed on Broadway, Kurasaka Mio was born and brought up in this city of dreams. Upon finding out the state the city, she stands up together with a group of mothers in a chorus group called "The Chansons" to bring the city back to life. Mio is a dropout musical star, attending auditions on Broadway until her agent tells her that there are no more auditions available for her to attend. The one and only time she got through an audition was for a substitute role. On the other hand, Isaka Chuko is the mayor's daughter and also is a housewife, who struggles to rebuild "The Chansons". While her father tries to go through with the merging of cities, she rivals Mio, who disposes of the old concept behind chorus' in attempt to incorporate a show choir into the routine. Chuko sticks to tradition and will not let Mio have her way without confrontation. A super positive musical comedy, Mio and Chuko team up to chase their dreams together with the chorus girls

When Kibou Minase wakes up, she finds herself wearing a sailor suit and lying in a white room. She is in a spaceship. Planet Earth was hit by a meteorite and all living creates perished except for 11 people who were saved by an alien. Those saved include a man who claims to be part of the Earth Defense Force, a pilot who can't speak, a pregnant woman and elementary school student. Those left are faced with the choice of living with aliens in a faraway place or escape the spaceship and build a new city on Earth.

A man inadvertently kills his uncle. A woman witnesses this act. These two people fall in love and flee to Tokyo. A detective investigates their past.

Episodes: 8

Duration: 54 min.

Aired On: Sunday

Kano Haruko is a charismatic shop assistant who has such excellent fashion sense that she has been featured in fashion magazines. However, she is unable to give up her dream of being a high school teacher. Haruko is asked by her former teacher to teach Japanese to foreigners for three months on the understanding that he would introduce her for the high school’s Japanese language teaching position. And so, she becomes a trainee teacher at a Japanese language school where she coaches nine foreign students with strong personalities, including an Italian anime enthusiast and a Swede who is in love with ninjas, according to her own convictions, while setting her sights on becoming a high school teacher.

Arisa Mizuki plays a 35-year-old woman named Kurumi, who suddenly loses everything in her life when her fiance runs off with all of her assets. Left with a mere 15,000 yen and some boxes of ohagi (a type of rice ball), the despairing Kurumi happens upon a construction site, and she begins handing out the ohagi to the men working there. Using the theme of food, "Tenshi no Wakemae" depicts Kurumi's journey as she turns her life around.

A high school girl, Wara, looks cheerful, but she conceals darkness deep in her mind. On a sudden impulse, she nearly climbs over a fence on the hospital roof, when an unacquainted boy, called Dino, persuades her otherwise. Concerned about troubled Wara, Dino puts a bandage on the fence. Wara feels comforted by his act, and comes up with an idea to form "Hotai Club" (Bandage Club).

The Club asks people to post their bruising experiences on the site, then the Club applies a bandage to the damaged part or the place, and a digital photograph is sent back to the original poster. Wara started the Club with Dino and other friends. Club members each have their own problems, but they are gradually freed from their worries through the activities of the Club.

A story of pure love between the son of a man who runs a ship repair factory beset with financial troubles and the well-bred daughter of a national jewelry chain store owner. The backdrop of the story is Yokohama.

If you feel you have lost the purity of your soul by watching stories about womanizers seducing impudent women, or by carrying out calculated maneuvers in your own love life, here is a story for you. A boy and a girl from highly different social backgrounds meet and fall in love. Their love, of course, faces a lot of obstacles. The setting is in Yokohama, a modern port city known for its romantic atmosphere. Hiroto Kanzaki (Kazuya Kamenashi) works hard every day and night for the survival of a small ship repair factory (inherited from his father) as well as the survival of his mother and younger brother, who are suffering from health problems. Living such an underprivileged life, Hiroto has forgotten how to smile. In contrast to him, Nao (Haruka Ayase) is the daughter of a popular jewelry shop owner in a fashionable street in Yokohama. She attends a prestigious exclusive women's college and grew up cheerful and blessed with affluent love. From the moment Hiroto meets her, his closed mind slowly opens up to Nao, who is so innocent that she utters whatever she thinks. Their three close friends, who are also 20 year old's, play an important role in their developing relationship.

The scriptwriter is Eriko Kitagawa, who earned the nickname "The Goddess of Love Stories." This classic love story enables those who are in the same generation to feel empathy, or be envious of the characters' lives; and the rest, who were once 20 years old's, to reminisce about their own "Love of My Life."

A young boy by the name of Asahina Daigo was once rescued by a fireman. Ever since then, he has wanted to become a firefighter like the hero who saved him from the flames. Now he's all grown-up and has recently received his credentials as a firefighter. However, the firefighting brigade he is assigned to is the so-called "Me-Gumi," the nickname of the Medakagaoka Fire Brigade, which at first glance seems to have absolutely no fighting spirit whatsoever. In reality, this is the home of a group of seasoned professionals led by that legendary firefighter Commander Gomi. They're active on the front lines, constantly putting their lives at risk. The innocent Daigo, burning with a sense of justice and of mission, battles together with his "Me-Gumi" compatriots, suffering, laughing and crying together with them as he develops into a topflight firefighter in this moving human drama.

Two teenagers, Masami and Tomoko, talk about a videotape recorded by a boy in Izu which is fabled to bear a curse that kills the viewer seven days after watching. Tomoko reveals that a week ago, she and three of her friends watched a weird tape and received a call after watching. Tomoko goes downstairs and witnesses her TV turn on by itself. She later hears startling noises and turns around, only to be killed by an unseen force.

Days later, Asakawa Reiko, a reporter investigating the popularity of the video curse, discovers that her niece Tomoko, and her three other friends, mysteriously died at the same time, on the same night, with their faces twisted in fear. She also discovers that Masami became insane from witnessing Tomoko's death and is institutionalized in a mental hospital. After stumbling upon Tomoko's photos from the past week, Reiko finds that the four teenagers stayed in a rental cabin in Izu.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Suzuki Koji (鈴木光司).

Two teenagers, Masami and Tomoko, talk about a videotape recorded by a boy in Izu which is fabled to bear a curse that kills the viewer seven days after watching. Tomoko reveals that a week ago, she and three of her friends watched a weird tape and received a call after watching. Tomoko goes downstairs and witnesses her TV turn on by itself. She later hears startling noises and turns around, only to be killed by an unseen force.

Days later, Asakawa Reiko, a reporter investigating the popularity of the video curse, discovers that her niece Tomoko, and her three other friends, mysteriously died at the same time, on the same night, with their faces twisted in fear. She also discovers that Masami became insane from witnessing Tomoko's death and is institutionalized in a mental hospital. After stumbling upon Tomoko's photos from the past week, Reiko finds that the four teenagers stayed in a rental cabin in Izu.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Suzuki Koji (鈴木光司).