Summer 2009 Japanese Drama Preview!

jazlynnyee · Sep 2, 2009

Summer 2009 Japanese Drama Preview!

The summer heat may have overcooked this preview, now that it's several weeks behind schedule. But it'll still tell you all you need to know about the current batch of dramas! Dive right in and see what you're missing!

FujiTV

Buzzer Beat (ブザー・ビート～崖っぷちのヒーロー～)
Fuji TV, Monday 9:00pm, premieres July 13
Tomohisa Yamash*ta stars as Naoki Kamiya, a young player for a pro basketball team. But due to his relatively smaller size and his tendency to crack under pressure, he is unable to show his true skills on the court. Meanwhile, Riko Shirakawa (Keiko Kitagawa) is a cheerful, strong-spirited music college graduate aiming to become a professional violinist. One day, Riko finds Naoki's lost cell phone on a bus, and their meeting begins a friendship that eventually turns into love. However, Naoki was already considering marriage with his current girlfriend (Saki Aibu). And it doesn't help matters that Naoki's coach (Hideaki Ito) has fallen in love at first sight with Riko!
Other Cast: Shihori Kanjiya, Junpei Mizobata, Munetaka Aoki, Nobuaki Kaneko, Miki Maya, Masaru Nagai, Hannya, Aya Omasa
Official Site: http://www.fujitv.co.jp/buzzerbeat/index.html

Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji 4 (救命病棟２４時)
Fuji TV, Tuesday 9:00pm, premieres August 11
This is the 4th season of the popular medical drama "Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji," which averaged roughly 20% in each of its previous three seasons. Yosuke Eguchi and Nanako Matsushima are back as a pair of emergency room doctors, constantly saving lives while dealing with the human drama taking place around them in the hospital. This season introduces new problems and new faces, including Yusuke Santamaria as a rival doctor.
Other Cast: Tae Kimura, Kie Kitano, Itsuji Itao, Miwako Ichikawa
Official Site: http://www.fujitv.co.jp/kyumei24/index.html

Koish*te Akuma (恋して悪魔～ヴァンパイア☆ボーイ～)
Fuji TV, Tuesday 10:00pm, premieres July 7
Ruka (Yuma Nakayama) is a young vampire with a problem. In order for his undeveloped fangs to grow, he has to find a woman whose blood he would like to suck. And unless he gets his first true taste of blood, he won't be able to obtain eternal life! So to find the right victim, he is sent to the human world, where he begins life as a high school transfer student. His good looks have his female classmates falling over themselves for him, but Ruka has no interest in any of them. However, he unexpectedly finds himself drawn to his homeroom teacher Makoto Natsukawa (Rosa Kato). At the same time, she sees a strong resemblance between Ruka and her first love from her high school days.
Other Cast: Masahiko Kondo, Shintaro Morimoto, Shiro Ito, Keiko Horiuchi, Nobuo Kyo, Nanami Sakuraba, Kento Nakajima, Jingi Irie, Rei Okamoto
Official Site: http://ktv.jp/vampire_love/index.html

Ninkyo Helper (任侠ヘルパー)
Fuji TV, Thursday 10:00pm, premieres July 9
Hikoichi Tsubasa (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) has been a gangster since the age of 17, and he currently serves as the leader of a yakuza group in Roppongi. When the boss of his clan passes away, the successor (Ken Matsudaira) gathers Hikoichi and the other leaders (Meisa Kuroki, Kota Yabu, Shunji Igarashi, Jutta Yuki, Takashi Ukaji), informing them of a possible promotion to an executive position. To determine who should get it, the leaders are sent to undergo "training"... as helpers in an elderly care institution.
Other Cast: Osamu Mukai, Ren Osugi, Yusuke Yamamoto, Riisa Naka, Misako Yasuda, Yui Natsukawa, Aoi Nakabeppu
Official Site: http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/ninkyo-helper/index.html

Otomen (オトメン（乙男）)
Fuji TV, Saturday 11:10pm, premieres August 1
The romantic comedy "Otomen" is adapted from a popular shojo manga by Aya Kanno. Masaki Okada plays the part of the high-schooler Asuka Masamune, a national kendo champion. But beneath his cool and masculine exterior, he hides a secret: he has very feminine interests, including shojo manga, sweets, and sewing. One day, he saves a girl named Ryo Miyakozuka (Kaho) from trouble, and he instantly starts falling in love. To Asuka's surprise, she turns out to be a new transfer student at his school. Naturally, Asuka's secret becomes harder to hide as he gets closer to Ryo, especially because of her tomboyish nature. Meanwhile, his skirt-chasing classmate Juta (Kazuma Sano) discovers the secret and begins helping him win over Ryo, though he has his own hidden reasons for getting involved...
Other Cast: Ryo Kimura, Koji Seto, Mirei Kiritani, Tomohiro Ichikawa, Emi Takei, Kanako Yanagihara, Mirai Yamamoto
Official Site: http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/otomen/index.html

NTV
Akahana no Sensei (赤鼻のセンセイ)
NTV, Wednesday 10:00pm, premieres July 8
Santaro Ishihara (Yo Oizumi) is an electronics salesman with a knack for entertaining customers while wearing his trademark red nose. But his actual sales are poor, and he soon gets fired. Through his former teacher, he finds a job at a hospital as a junior high teacher for children who are unable to normally attend school due to their illnesses. Looking to cheer up the children, he tries using comedy, but he is unable to even draw a smile. The elementary school teacher, Tagawa (Satomi Kobayashi), scolds him for not focusing on education. After some painful events, he becomes determined even more to bring laughter to the children, but it results in even more conflict between him, Tagawa, and the pediatrician Haruka (Yu Kashii).
Other Cast: Takaya Kamikawa, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Kenta Suga, Hikari Takara, Maeda Maeda, Toshinori Omi, Ken Mitsuishi, Risa Kudo
Official Site: http://www.ntv.co.jp/akahana/

Saru Lock (猿ロック)
NTV, Thursday 11:58pm, premieres July 23
Naoki Serizawa's action-comedy manga "Saru Lock" comes to life with Hayato Ichihara as the star. Yataro Sarumaru (Ichihara) is a brilliant locksmith who can open any lock, but he's also a frustrated teenage boy who can't get a girl. While working as a locksmith, he also gets involved in dangerous cases where he puts his lockpicking skills to use. In the first episode, a friend working at a "date club" is being coerced by the owner into selling herself, and it's up to Saru to steal the video and photographs that she's being threatened with.
Other Cast: Sei Ashina, Gota Watabe, Sousuke Takaoka
Official Site: http://www.ytv.co.jp/sarulock/

Karei Naru Spy (華麗なるスパイ)
NTV, Saturday 9:00pm, premieres July 18
Expert swindler Kyosuke Yoroi (Tomoya Nagase) sits in a prison cell, carrying out a 30-year sentence for taking more than 100 million yen in thirteen different cases. Unexpectedly, he receives a visit from Seiichi Kiriyama, the head of Japan's secret intelligence agency (Susumu Terajima). Kiriyama arranges a meeting with the Prime Minister (Tetsuya Watari), who makes Kyosuke an offer - he can earn his freedom if he helps the government by stopping thirteen terrorist plots, one for each of his crimes. With his chameleon-like skills of disguise and a team of experts, Kyosuke steps into his new role as a James Bond-like superspy in this action comedy.
Other Cast: Kyoko Fukuda, Anne, Sekai no Nabeatsu, Akira Emoto, KIKI, Tomochika, Kazuhiro Fujiwara
Official Site: http://www.ntv.co.jp/thespy/

TBS
Tonari no Shibafu (となりの芝生)
TBS, Wednesday 9:00pm, premieres July 1
"Tonari no Shibafu" is a remake of a television drama from the 1970s, popular for its depiction of the common conflicts between a mother and daughter-in-law. This time, Asaka Seto plays Tomoko, a mother of two who is married to an employee of a fiber manufacturing company (Koji Ookura). When she hears that her mother-in-law Shino (Pinko Izumi) is coming for a short visit, the nervous Tomoko strains herself to get the house in order for those 2-3 days. But to Tomoko's horror, Shino freely decides to extend her stay, turning every day into a constant struggle.
Other Cast: Rieko Miura, Ren Osugi, Asuka Shibuya, Narumi Kayashima
Official Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/tonarino09/

Teio (帝王)
TBS, Wednesday 12:29am, premieres July 15
"Teioh" is another adaptation of a Ryo Kurashina manga set in the world of night clubs. Ryo Sakaki (Takashi Tsukamoto), a young man in the outskirts of Tokyo, has experienced a series of setbacks in life - such as giving up his childhood dreams of playing soccer and being unable to settle into a job. One day, his best friend Eitaro (Shinjiro Atae) tells him that his girlfriend was stolen away by Toru Renjo (Yusuke Yamada), the number-one host of a Roppongi club. Wanting to help out Eitaro, Ryo heads to Roppongi with him to try to settle the matter. After the arrogant Renjo issues Ryo a challenge, Ryo enters the world of the nightlife in an effort to compete against Renjo as a host.
Other Cast: Nao Nagasawa, Yoshikazu Kotani, Seiji Chihara, Yumi Adachi, Yoshihiko Hamada
Official Site: http://www.tei-oh.com/

Orthros no Inu (オルトロスの犬)
TBS, Friday 10:00pm, premieres July 24
Hideaki Takizawa and Ryo Nishikido co-star in this suspenseful thriller about two men who should never have met. When police detective Nagisa Hasebe (Asami Mizukawa) gets caught during an undercover operation, she is saved by an unknown man who mysteriously kills her attackers just by touching them. Days later, good-hearted high school teacher Ryosuke (Nishikido) turns himself in, distressed because he has the "hands of the devil," which enable him to kill with his touch. Nagisa lets him go due to lack of evidence, but begins investigating him. While looking for hints, she meets a prisoner named Shinji (Takizawa), convicted for murder. Suspecting that he may have the same power, she mentions Ryosuke's story, and the interested Shinji demands to meet him. But in fact, Shinji is Ryosuke's opposite - an evil man with "hands of God" that can heal any pain or illness.
Other Cast: Asami Mizukawa, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Atsuko Takahata, Seiji Rokkaku, Haru, Hikaru Yaotome, Shugo Oshinari, Ryuji Yamamoto, Natsuki Harada, Toshio Shiba
Official Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/orthros-dog/

Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouenmae Hashutsujo (こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所)
TBS, Saturday 7:56pm, premieres August 1
Also known by the shorter name "Kochikame," this comedy adapts Osamu Akimoto's long-running manga of the same name. The story is centered on a fictional police box in front of Tokyo's Kameari Park, where police officer Kankichi Ryotsu (Shingo Katori) is stationed. With a hilarious cast of characters - including Mocomichi Hayami as an absurdly wealthy but naive cop, and Karina as a brilliant and beautiful officer - "Kochikame" chronicles the misadventures of Kankichi and company in the neighborhood.
Other Cast: Kenichi Nagira, Hiroaki Fukui, Masato Ibu, LaSalle Ishii, Rie Shibata
Official Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/kochikame/

Kanryotachi no Natsu (官僚たちの夏)
TBS, Sunday 9:00pm, premieres July 5
Based on a novel by Saburo Shiroyama, "Kanryotachi no Natsu" focuses on the Ministry of International Trade and Industry during the postwar era, which was critical to Japan's miraculous economic recovery in the 1950s. Koichi Sato stars as Shingo Kazakoshi, a key member of the ministry. In order to effectively shape the country's economic success, the dedicated Kazakoshi and his fellow ministry members had to overcome many obstacles, coordinating opposing industry factions and balancing domestic interests with globalization.
Other Cast: Masato Sakai, Katsumi Takahashi, Shiro Sano, Masahiko Nishimura, Tetta Sugimoto, Kazue Fukiishi, Kei Tanaka, Yoshiko Tokoshima, Eri Murakawa, Katsunori Takahashi, Eiichiro Funakoshi, Kinya Kitaoji
Official Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/kanryou09/

TV Asahi
Keishichou Sousa Ikka 9 Gakari 4 (警視庁捜査一課9係)
TV Asahi, Wednesday 9:00pm, premieres July 1
This detective series is enjoying its fourth season on the air, having been renewed every year since the first run in 2006. Tsunehiko Watase and Yoshihiko Inohara co-star as a pair of detectives heading a special investigative division that was established to focus on difficult crimes in the Tokyo area. Michiko Hada, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Hiromasa Taguchi, and Kanji Tsuda are also reprising their roles as the division's four other detectives.
Other Cast: Noriko Nakagoshi, Sachie Hara, Reina Asami, Kumiko Endo, Hiroko Hatano
Official Site: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/9gakari/

Kasouken no Onna (科捜研の女)
TV Asahi, Thursday 8:00pm, premieres July 2
After being known as "Shin Kasouken no Onna" for the last several seasons, this mystery drama has returned to its roots for its 9th series. The show still stars Yasuko Sawaguchi as the expert forensics scientist Mariko Sasaki, with Takashi Naito reprising his role as the detective Kaoru Domon. As usual, the two work together to crack complicated cases.
Other Cast: Mayumi Wakamura, Takehiko Ono, Takako Kato, Ken Tanaka, Satoru Saito, Masayuki Izumi
Official Site: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kasouken/

Dandy Daddy (ダンディ・ダディ？～恋愛小説家・伊崎龍之介～)
TV Asahi, Thursday 9:00pm, premieres July 9
Ryunosuke Izaki (Hiroshi Tachi) is a popular romance novelist who is constantly writing bestsellers. Now a widower with plenty of experience in relationships, he is also an open advocate of "free love." But when it comes to his teenage daughter Akari (Nao Minamisawa), he sings a completely different tune! The overprotective Ryunosuke monitors her every move, even if it means shadowing her or stealing her cell phone! Will the two ever learn to understand each other, and will Akari ever be able to date in peace?
Other Cast: Aya Hirayama, Hideo Ishiguro, Kimiko Yo, Norito Yashima, Tsutomu Ikeda, Tantan Hayashi, Takeshi Kaga, Jiro Sato, Yoko Nogiwa
Official Site: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/dandy/

Call Center no Koibito (コールセンターの恋人)
TV Asahi, Friday 9:00pm, premieres July 3
Wataru Tokura (Kotaro Koizumi) works in Tokyo for a TV shopping program. After getting on the bad side of the show's charismatic presenter "Antarctic Ice" (Yuko Natori), he gets transferred to a rural call center. Waiting for him is Kyoko Aoyama (Mimura), nicknamed the "queen of complaints" for her expert ability at handling unsatisfied customers. Unsettled by this call center that seems to have no regard for the rules, he begins working on a plan to return to the main office in Tokyo. But as he struggles with his work at the call center, he also begins to find love.
Other Cast: Saori Takizawa, Yutaka Matsushige, Ken Yasuda, Go Wakabayashi
Official Site: http://callcenter.asahi.co.jp/

Maid Deka (メイド刑事)
TV Asahi, Friday 11:15pm, premieres June 26
Based on a series of light novels by Yuji Hayami, "Maid Deka" stars Saki Fukuda as the top-notch young maid Aoi Wakatsuki, who works for the chief of the National Police Agency (Ryuji Harada). But she also serves a second duty - when the police have a case that they can't look into directly, Aoi gets sent as an undercover agent to carry out the investigation! She poses as more than just a maid in a variety of missions, ranging from politicians' mansions to movie shoots to teahouses.
Other Cast: Koji Matoba, Toru Shinagawa, Megumi Nakayama, Reon Kadena, Yoko Oshima
Official Site: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/meido/ [/spoiler]

NHK
Haken no Oscar (派遣のオスカル～『少女漫画』に愛をこめて)
NHK, Friday 10:00pm, premieres August 28
In this six-episode series, Katsuko (Lena Tanaka) is a single temp worker with a serious love of shoujo manga. In fact, every day she imagines herself inside the world of "Rose of Versailles." One day, the strange, Kansai-ben-speaking president (Yoshimi Tokui) arrives at the company and begins pushing some unreasonable cost-cutting measures. At that moment, Katsuko hears the voice of Lady Oscar, inspiring her to fight on behalf of the "commoners" - in this case, her fellow employees.
Other Cast: Anne Suzuki, Hikaru Asami, Tomohito Sato, Seiko Takuma, Sayaka Kaneko, Sei Hiraizumi, Tsunehiko Kamijo
Official Site: http://www.nhk.or.jp/drama/dramalist/oscar.html

Saisei no Machi (再生の町)
NHK, Saturday 9:00pm, premieres August 29
Michitaka Tsutsui stars as Shunma Takaoka, a man who loses his job and returns to his hometown in Osaka with his wife in order to take care of his mother. There, in the fictional city of Namihaya, he finds employment at the municipal office where his deceased father used to work. But with Namihaya on the brink of economic collapse, the city launches a difficult financial reform project. Shunma ends up involved in the operation, burdening him with the task of rebuilding the place he calls home.
Other Cast: Ittoku Kishibe, Yasunori Danta, Kaho Minami, Kenichi Yajima, Tomohiro Kuboyama, Eisaku Yoshida, Masaomi Kondo, Riho Makise, Masuyo Iwamoto, Kichiya Katsura
Official Site: http://www.nhk.or.jp/dodra/saisei/index.html

Mama wa Mukashi Papa Datta (ママは昔パパだった)
NHK, Sunday 8:00pm, premieres August 23
The 40-year-old Hitomi (Keiko Toda) is a single mother working as a long-distance bus driver. She pours her effort into raising her two sons, who are proud of their "somewhat pretty mother." However, many years earlier, Hitomi used to be Hitoshi, a man with a gender identity disorder. With the recommendation of a doctor, he underwent surgery and began life as a woman. Now, as Hitomi, her life is full of complicated relationships, including a disapproving mother (Yumi Shirakawa) and an ex-wife trying to take custody of one of the sons (Kimiko Yo).
Other Cast: Shiro Ito, Ken Mitsuishi, Eisaku Yoshida, Yuta Komuro, Iori Ashihara, Kasumi Yamaya
Official Site: http://www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/mamapapa/

TV Tokyo
Oretachi wa Tenshi da! (俺たちは天使だ! NO ANGEL NO LUCK)
TV Tokyo, Wednesday 1:20am, premieres July 1
The original "Oretachi wa Tenshi da!" was a detective comedy series from 1979. In this remake, Joji Shibue plays the part of Kyosuke Inui, a former police detective who now runs his own small detective agency under the alias Cap. His agency has three other members - a barista named Darts (Kenta Kamakari), a mechanic named Navi (Ray Fujita), and Jun (Shouma Yamamoto), a hacker who has a part-time job as an extra in movies and TV shows. Desperate for work, Cap and his team are forced to accept small jobs from various clients, but they often end up turning into big cases!
Other Cast: Akira Onodera, Nana Akiyama, Seiji Nozoe, Shuji Hayashi, Erika Okuda
Official Site: http://ani.tv/oreten/

Uramiya Honpo REBOOT (怨み屋本舗 REBOOT)
TV Tokyo, Friday 12:12am, premieres July 10
"REBOOT" is the sequel to the original "Uramiya Honpo" series from 2006. Ayumi Kinosh*ta once again plays the mysterious woman Uramiya, who sells an unusual service - revenge. Every day, unforgivable crimes occur without their culprits being punished. The victims find black business cards promising justice, leading them to Uramiya. For a price, she offers not mere murder, but complete erasure from society.
Other Cast: Masaya Kato, Ken Maeda, Aoi, Kento Ono, Kitaro, Hitomi Hasebe, Tetsushi Tanaka
Official Site: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/uramiya/
Credit: Tokyograph