Asian Drama

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Episodes: 5

Duration: 20 min.

Aired On: Tuesday, Friday

Set in China, during the Warring States Period. The powerful neighboring country of Zhao suddenly attacks Qin. Shin, who dreamed of becoming a great general, fights against Zhao.

(Source: Asianwiki)

Adapted from the manga series "Kingdom" (キングダム) by Hara Yasuhisa (原泰久).

Duration: 2 hr. 9 min.

Content Rating: G - All Ages

Set two years after the drama series "Nemesis," Kazama Naoki works for Nemesis Detective Agency and is regarded as a brilliant detective. He is able to solve the most difficult of cases, but he has a secret. His secret is that he is actually a lousy detective and he relies on the genius skills of his assistant Mikami Anna to solve cases. Their partnership continues.

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"Even if my heart is dead, my music will continue to live".

A young music lover named Asano Daiyoshi died at the young age of 20.

In that fact, there is a feeling that a miracle that cannot be imagined overflows the bonds of many people.

Feel the brilliance of life that you can live powerfully even if it is short.

It's a movie that everyone can sympathize with and give courage to tomorrow.

Adapted from a book.

Following the ascension to power of Taira no Kiyomori, the Minamoto clan is exiled. Minamoto no Yoritomo meets Masako, the sister of Hojo Yoshitoki and later marries her. Following this marriage, the gears of Yoshitoki's destiny begin to turn.

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

Akira is the legendary killer known as the Fable. Following the order of his boss and due to being overworked, he lives peacefully with his partner Yoko as ordinary siblings. Akira still works part-time at design company Octopus with CEO Takoda and employee Misaki. CEO Takoda and Misaki are unaware of Akira's background as an assassin.

Meanwhile, Utsubo is a representative for an NPO. But, Utsubo works with contract killer Suzuki to set people up for extortion purposes. They target someone at design company Octopus.

Hayami Teruya is a dedicated salaryman who does a workman like job as the chief editor for a magazine. He has personal charm, get along with both the publisher and subordinates and runs the ship well. Chatting with his direct boss he picks up a certain vibe. Did he misunderstand that the magazine is doomed and will be terminated? If so, he is not going down without a fight. He will fight to make it through and keep his, and the others', jobs.

Drama set in the historical Warring States Era of Japan. Tokaido name Imagawa Yoshimoto personally led his army to invade Owari Province territory, now in Aichi Prefecture Nagoya City area, was Nobunaga leader of this surprise bursts of death. After the war, the Imagawa clan who originally dominated the Tokaido region fell away, and the victorious Oda Nobunaga quickly expanded his power in Central Japan and the Kinki region, laying the foundation for his future control of the central government of Japan.

Kazuhiko Takano and Ryoichi Taoka are industrial spies for the secretive organization "AN Tsuushin." They are are in a struggle over information on state of the art solar energy development that many other countries are seeking. A conspiracy exits behind the technology which can shake the political and economic world in Japan. Kazuhiko Takano faces Korean spy Kim, a mysterious woman Ayako and powerful men from various countries.

On Christmas Eve, a TV broadcasting station receives a phone call. The caller warns "I have set up a bomb at Ebisu in Tokyo." A contract worker for the TV broadcasting station and a housewife are accused by the Ebisu police as being the culprits. During this chaotic situation, a mysterious man silently watches as everything unfolds. A video clip is then uploaded to an online video website. The video contains a demand to talk with the Prime Minister during a live broadcast or a bomb will be detonated at 6 pm in Shibuya, Tokyo. Who is behind the bombings and who will stop them?

The story takes place over 5 days from March 11 to March 15, 2011. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake strikes at 2:46 PM on March 11, 2011. The earthquake triggers a giant tsunami that hits the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Toshio Izaki works at the nuclear power plant and he must make a difficult decision. Masao Yoshida is a manager at the nuclear power plant. He manages the situation as best as he can and communicates with the company headquarters. The Japanese Self-Defence Forces move in, as does the U.S. armed forces. Meanwhile, 50 workers stay at the site and fight to contain a horrific disaster. (Source: AsianWiki) ~~ Adapted from the nonfiction novel "Shi no Fuchi o Mita Otoko: Yoshida Masao to Fukushima Daiichi Genpatsu no 500-nichi" by Ryusho Kadota.

A little girl is kidnapped along a Y-shaped road, but the kidnapper is not caught. Tsumugi, who was with the girl right before the kidnapping, is deeply hurt from the event. 12 years later, a girl goes missing along the same Y-shaped road. Takeshi is a lonely young man and sells recyclable products with his mother. He is a suspect in the recent kidnapping case. He panics when he realizes he is a suspect and runs away to another city. 1 year later, Zenjiro lives with his pet dog near the Y-shaped road where the two kidnapping cases took place. He carries out business to revitalize the village, but somehow he is blamed by the people there. He falls into madness and that leads to a horrific case.

Takano Kazuhiko, an agent for a secret organization, has a small bomb embedded in his heart and is pushed to breaking point. His partner is Taoka Ryoichi. They begin a dangerous game of wits with agents from other countries over top-secret information about next-generation energy while facing the risk of death round the clock. Amid an extreme situation where they do not know who are their allies and foes, the bombs in their hearts approach the limit.

A boy was trained to be a killer. Several years later, he is now an elite contract killer nicknamed 'Fable'. The man takes a year off from his job as an assassin in order to live like an ordinary person in Osaka.

Story takes place over a 24 hour period.

In the southernmost part of Japan, 20 fishing boats of an unknown nationality suddenly fire upon and occupy parts of the Hateruma archipelago. Members of the Japan Coast Guard are detained. Under the extremely tense situation, the Japanese government sends Aircraft Carrier Ibuki and an escort fleet to the area. Ryota Akitsu (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is the captain of the Aircraft Carrier Ibuki and Toshiya Niinami (Kuranosuke Sasaki) is second-in-command. It is now 6:23 am. and Japan faces one day which they never have before.

Yuri Ishikawa and her team try to crack unresolved cold cases in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

A man arrives in the city upon news of a potential terrorist strike in Italy. He is Japanese foreign diplomat, Kosaku Kuroda, and he’s here under orders of his supervisor at the Foreign Ministry, Hiroshi Kataoka (Kiichi Nakai), to aid...

Four strangers (a verbose romantic, a human lie detector, an expert pickpocket, and a woman with a preternaturally precise sense of time) are brought together by chance when they inadvertently team up to thwart a bank robbery. Recognizing the potential...

Seiji (Masanobu Ando) is a third generation "Gosei kai" gang member. He works to build up the group's strength. Meanwhile, a journalist (Tasuku Emoto) investigates a case that occurred 19 years ago. He meets Hayato (Masahiro Higashide), Daisuke (Kenta Kiritani)...

55-year-old Kanji Washida (Koichi Sato) has worked as an attorney for the past 25 years in Hokkaido, Japan. He has lived alone all that time. That was his punishment that he gave to himself 25 years ago when he worked as judge.

When Kanji Washida worked as a judge in Tokyo, Saeko (Machiko Ono) appeared as a defendant in a drug possession case. She was his girlfriend when Kanji Washida was a student. After, Kanji passed his bar, Saeko suddenly disappeared. 10 years later, Kanji and Saeko meet again in his courtroom. Even though Kanji was a married father at the time, he began a relationship with Saeko again. A few months after their relationship resumed, Saeko is gone. Kanji wondered to himself why she left him again, but he also realized his sinned. Because of this, Kanji threw away his job as a judge and also left his family. He settled down in Hokkaido, Japan. He has since lived a lonely existence.

Now, defendant Atsuko (Tsubasa Honda) appears in front of Kanji. She reminds him heavily of Saeko. Atsuko begins to have feelings for Kanji.

Higuchi Shintaro (Sato Koichi), the Assistant Director of the Financial Services Agency’s Banks Division, has been working himself to the bone for 33 years. Even though he is despised by his bureau chief Yajima Sumihiko (Yashima Norito) and treated like a doormat by his family, he makes an honest living as he dreams of spending a happy old age with his family. But one day five years before Higuchi’s retirement, some unexpected incident happens. The blame for allegedly accepting bribes is shifted to him by Yajima. Higuchi is forced to retire with a private sector job waiting. This event causes the complete breakup of his family. His wife Yoshiko (Asano Atsuko) thrusts divorce papers at him and their two children (Daito Shunsuke, Mano Erina) also leave home. The life that he had built up with simple honesty crumbles miserably. Higuchi is also at his wits end. The place of employment that Yajima has prepared is JAMS, an organisation which supports small and medium-sized companies nationwide. JAMS will be the guarantor for small and medium-sized companies and sole proprietorships when they obtain a loan from a bank, and in the worst-case scenario, it will assume repayments with money from government coffers. The income is 10 million yen a year which is nothing to criticise. However, Higuchi can hardly believe the words of Tachibana Aoi (Ishida Yuriko), the director’s secretary and general affairs, at the Kanda annex where he has been assigned. The work at the office is only to manage the documents on bad debts to JAMS that have exceeded the five-year repayment term. In other words, he has nothing to do! Higuchi is frustrated, but starts to spend his days together with a former Self-Defence Force official Otomo Tsutomu (Ishiguro Ken) who has been parachuted into this workplace that seems like paradise on the same day. One day, Shintaro notices something about a favourite author Tsukuba Takuya (Takenaka Naoto) whose real name he knows is Kanao Tametaro. A long time ago, JAMS had taken over Kanao’s debt of 5 million yen and this document was left in the Kanda annex. Higuchi invents a reason to have Kanao validate a document stating that repayment is not necessary with his seal in order to get an autograph for his book and goes to Kanao’s residence. However, he is handed 30 million yen in cash including interest by Kanao. Learning about this, Aoi comes up with an outrageous scheme. It is to expose the high-income taxpayers who did not pay off their debts to JAMS in the past, collect the money and split it equally between Higuchi, Otomo and herself. A gloomy Otomo, who was dropped from the Self-Defence Forces to cover up a scandal caused by a superior, is keen. But Higuchi expresses reservations about this scheme which counts as embezzlement. At this point, he learns about Aoi’s past … … In fact, she used to be a bank staff and was also set up by Yajima, reassigned to JAMS and forced to become his mistress. All three of them were forced into similar misfortune and want to start their lives over again amid wearisome days where they have nothing to do. Will Higuchi participate in this high-stakes scheme?

Set 4 years after movie "Unfair: The Answer."

Natsumi Yukihira (Ryoko Shinohara) receives secret documents of an organization that controls the country from the shadows. Because of this, Natsumi's ex-husband, Kazuo Sato (Teruyuki Kagawa) pays a terrible price. Natsumi goes back to the Investigation #1 of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to take on the organization, but Natsumi becomes involved in a new case. She gets closer to the final enemy.

Atsushi was a dedicated and serious worker for all of his adult life. Now retired to the northern territory of Hokkaido with his wife Ryoko, Atsushi is at a loss with what to do with all the time on his hands. As Atsushi busies himself with erecting a stone gate to surround their new home, a local lad is recruited to help, the couple's reconciling daughter comes to visit and Ryoko holds a secret close to her bosom.

A TV drama adaptation of Agatha Christie’s world famous mystery novel “Murder on the Orient Express”, filled with thrilling plot twists. The story setting has been changed to the early Showa era. “Murder on the Orient Express” is about a murder that occurred while on a luxury sleeper train called Orient Express. The first night of the drama will be faithful to the original. The second night will reconstruct the story based from the point of view of the criminal.

The Vancouver Asahi baseball team consists of 2nd generation Japanese immigrants living in Canada. They play within a local amateur baseball league. The team got popular due to their fair play spirit, while struggling to fight against discrimination and poverty in their everyday lives.

Reggie (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is a 2nd generation Japanese immigrant who works at a sawmill in Vancouver. He is the leader of the team and plays shortstop. Roy (Kazuya Kamenashi) is the team's ace pitcher and works at a fishery field. Kaye (Ryo Katsuji) is the team's 2nd baseman and co-worker of Reggie. Tom (Yusuke Kamiji) is the catcher and works at a tofu shop. Frank (Sosuke Ikematsu) works at a hotel and plays baseball with the team.

Detective Kosai Takeo can't forget the killing of an 8 year old girl 15 years ago. The suspect Dojima Akira was the son of a member of the Diet and political pressure hindered further investigations. Shortly before Kosai is to be demoted to the Accounts Division, Fujidera Risa comes forward who claims to have been assaulted by Dojima shortly before the other girl went missing.

Food crisis occurs worldwide from the rise in grain prices due to conversion to biofuel and crop failure due to climate change due to global warming. Japan relies on imports for most of the major crops. Japan's government recently found that you fall into a serious state of starvation within half a year if imports were stopped. At that time, the agronomist Suzuki Mamoru is the one who succeeded in the development of genetically modified corn to grow at a rate of four times the normal. This miracle corn developed successfully over seven years in a laboratory deep in the mountains isolated from all surroundings. Suzuki named this corn "God Corn." Fund companies to try to monopolize the money tree that produces the God Corn. Government heard rumors of successful development of "God Corn", and tries to get the rights to this God Corn, and the huge profits that are bound to come with it. Suzuki is suddenly caught up in a swirling world of conspiracy. On the other hand, Yagisawa Chikako of the Criminal Investigations Unit harbors a suspicion about the burned bodies of men found in the riverbed. This starts the investigation, and it might be murder rather than suicide or accidental death. Pandora's box has certainly been opened.

Enomoto Kei is a security "otaku" working for a security firm, devoted to improving the securities system on a daily basis. He is not an easy person to familiarize oneself with, always collected and calm, unapproachable, a maniac in Physics, Science, Architecture and profound in other basic theoretical foundation. He is certain and proud of the fact that there is no key which he cannot unlock. One day, Kei is asked to help reveal a mystery behind a locked room murderer. While he lacks any interest in solving the mystery, he is inevitably intrigued by the term, "Closed Doors" and decides to take on the position. He works side by side with Aoto Junko and Serizawa Gou, who are lawyers working at a major law firm. Junko is pure and forward, acting upon her instincts while Serizawa is a prideful elitist who sees time as money, and therefore, will not take on any job that is unprofitable. Possessing a vast amount of knowledge and acute insightfulness, Kei is able to unlock the closed doors and unravel the secrets leading to the solution. Never before has there been a drama focused solely on closed doors. It's an all new original mystery that will keep you guessing every week

Yuichi Mafune is known as a finance broker, but he's actually a conman. One day, two men show up in front of Yuichi. One man is "M" and the other is his underling Yuki Seki. They ask Yuichi Mafune to steal the "M funds". The "M funds" is thought to be a longheld legend that massive amounts of gold and other stolen loot from World War II were hidden in the basement of a Japanese bank. The loot was then taken by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces to fund secret operations.

Yuichi accepts the proposal after hearing of the large fee offerred if successful. In order to steal the "M funds," which Yuichi isn't even sure if it exists, "M" plans an unprecedented money game which brings in interests from the U.S., Russia and other places.

In the year 1590, powerful daimyo Hideyoshi Toyotomi nears his plan to unify all of Japan, but he comes across a floating fortress known as Oshi Castle. Nagachika Narita, in charge of defending the castle, must use his army of 500 men to combat Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army of 20,000.

Detective Tono Kazuyuki (Sato Koichi) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's First Investigative Division resigns to take responsibility. However, he gets an appointment letter which he is unprepared for...to become an instructor at the police academy!

It is a useless role in the classroom involving theories about the many violent criminals. Tono, who has thus far used seemingly unorthodox measures to arrest criminals in investigations he obssessed over, assesses better than anyone else that he is least suited to be an instructor ... ... Awaiting him at the police academy he goes to as a new instructor are the naive young people of today who are attracted by the stability of being a civil servant and the cool uniform, particularly the trainee, Miyata Eiji (Miura Haruma), who handles everything tactfully. He is smart, good at sports and popular with both genders, but he has neither encountered hardships nor setbacks, and has nimbly made his way through an innocuous life. In fact, Miyata's way of life is far from the qualities of a police officer who protects the lives and possessions of citizens.

Set after WW II, "Wagaya no Rekishi" follows the Yame family and its 7 members over the next two decades. The drama will provided a mixture of laughter, romance, drama and suspense.

It's New Year's Eve for the Hotel Avanti, and the whole place is in panic mode. There's an award ceremony and countdown party to prepare for, guests to greet, entertainment to organise, a persistent call girl to deter, an escapee duck to find, and more.

It is near impossible to sum up this film in a few neat concise paragraphs. The level of writing that has gone into this film is fantastic. Throughout, it really feels like a stage play. The viewer feels intimate with the story and characters, and there is a real warmth and closeness there that is rare to find. Perhaps it the writer's experience with the stage that allows that quality to come through, and as such it is a real strength for the film.

This intimacy really helps the viewer to involve themselves in the story, which is incredibly fast-paced and deliciously mischievous in design. The film is really funny, and represents a very full spectrum of humour, from "hmmm" funny to "hah hah", and wry to downright silly, but still manages to be quite understated. This isn't the kind of film that you will make Pepsi come out your nose, but it is really funny all the same, and and there are some hilarious cock-ups that will have you giggling gleefully.

The jokes of course wouldn't work without the film's biggest strength: the characters. They are all so enjoyable to watch, as their adventures and mishaps tangle and spiral together, gathering momentum in one huge snowball effect. Some scenes are the culmination of so many threads that it is wonderfully painful to watch it all come together. It is hard not to talk at the TV. To the writer's credit though, the film is often refreshingly unpredictable, and I was impressed to find that this comedy of errors didn't just rely on the same old gags as similarly styled comedies.

The film also carries a dramatic message, and while all of the characters are caricatures of sorts, they are much deeper than that, and live and breath to the extent that the viewer finds themselves genuinely caring about what happens to them. There are so many great characters and scenes in this film that it would be a very cynical viewer that couldn't take away something memorable from it.

The Uchoten Hotel is a delightful film, expertly written, directed and performed. Even as the film effortlessly straddles zaniness and sophistication, and its many threads entwine together, the viewer can, just as the Hotel Avanti promises, think of the place as their second home.

Yano Katsuhiko, a weather forecaster who is divorced and is introduced by his friend, Taguchi to popular radio DJ Yukawa Sachi aka "Love Specialist". Yano recalled seeing pictures of her before but the person he actually saw is Sachi's friend, Yujin.

Yano Katsuhiko, a weather forecaster who is divorced and is introduced by his friend, Taguchi to popular radio DJ Yukawa Sachi aka "Love Specialist". Yano recalled seeing pictures of her before but the person he actually saw is Sachi's friend, Yujin.