Shitsuren Chocolatier
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Mondays, January 2014
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: Adachi Naoko (Oh! My Dad, Rich Man, Poor Woman, Taisetsuna Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshietekureta)
Original Work: Shitsuren Chocolatier by Mizushiro Setona
Cast: Matsumoto Jun
Synopsis: 20-year-old Koyurugi Sota (Matsumoto Jun) who attends a confectionary school fell in love at first sight with his senior Saeko during high school days. Like a wish come true, he is in a relationship with her now. After a lot of effort, they started dating right before Christmas. However, Saeko says she cannot meet Sota on Valentine’s Day which they should have commemorated together. He manages to see her on the eve of Valentine’s Day, but she will not accept the chocolates he has made for her with all his heart, knowing that she loves them. In addition, he is even told that she did not mean to date him. However, the single-minded Sota is not discouraged. Resolving to become a chocolatier to make Saeko pay attention to him again, he goes over to France alone. After training for five years, he returns to Japan and gains popularity as the “Chocolate Prince”. Saeko has married another man by this time. Even so, Sota does not give up.
Website: http://www.fujitv.co.jp/chocolatier
Kami no Tsuki
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 7 January 2014
Station: NHK
Scriptwriter: Shinozaki Eriko (Furueru Ushi, Nemureru Mori no Jukujo, Magma)
Original Work: Kami no Tsuki by Kakuta Mitsuyo
Cast: Harada Tomoyo, Mizuno Maki, Nishida Naomi, Mickey Curtis, Mitsushima Shinnosuke, Fuji Manami, Mitsuishi Ken
Synopsis: Umezawa Rinka (Harada Tomoyo) lives with her husband Masafumi (Mitsuishi Ken). They do not have children, and she starts working part-time at Wakaba Bank. As a liaison officer, she goes round to customers and gains the trust of lonely old people like Nago Tamae (Fuji Manami) through her willingness to help with household chores. Among them is Hirabayashi Kozo (Mickey Curtis), a local landowner infatuated with Rinka. One day, Rinka is called to the Hirabayashi household where she meets Hirabayashi’s grandson Kota (Mitshishima Shinnosuke) who has come to borrow money from him. Two years later, Rinka embezzles 100 million yen in cash which she has been holding for customers and flees abroad. As Okazaki Yuko (Mizuno Maki) and Nakajo Aki (Nishida Naomi), Rinka’s friends from high school days, retrace the incident Rinka caused, they are forced to confront the darkness in each of their hearts.
Website: -
Team Batista Season 4 ~ Radenmeikyuu
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, January 2014
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: Goto Noriko (Goen Hunter, Team Batista Series, Toshi Densetsu Series)
Original Work: Radenmeikyuu by Kaido Takeru
Cast: Nakamura Toru, Ito Atsushi, Mizuno Miki, Kuriyama Chiaki, Yanagiba Toshiro, Katono Kaito, Yamazaki Kento
Synopsis: The Sakuranomiya family runs the district hospital Hekisuiin which is primarily involved in end-of-life care but also conducts autopsies on bodies in the vicinity when the cause of death is unknown. Hospital director Sakuranomiya Iwao (Yanagiba Toshiro) has earned the immense trust of his patients. One day, a radiologist quietly disappears along with an autopsy imaging … … What does the radiologist intend to expose about the family? What secret is Sakuranomiya and his daughters Sayuri (Mizuno Miki) and Sumire (Kuriyama Chiaki) trying to hide from Taguchi Kohei (Ito Atsushi) and Shiratori Keisuke (Nakamura Toru)?
Website: -
Related: Team Batista 3 ~ Ariadne no Dangan
Boku no Ita Jikan
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Wednesdays, January 2014
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: Hashibe Atsuko (Osozaki no Himawari, Freeter, Ie o Kau, Boku Series)
Cast: Miura Haruma, Tabe Mikako, Saito Takumi, Yamamoto Mizuki, Nomura Shuhei, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Asada Miyoko, Harada Mieko
Synopsis: Fourth year university student Sawada Takuto (Miura Haruma) is having a tough time looking for a job. The eldest son of the director of a mid-sized general hospital, his parents had expected him to become a doctor, but began to focus their hopes on his younger brother Rikuto (Nomura Shuhei) at some stage during his junior high school years. Although Takuto is popular and is good at befriending females, he has no confidence that he will be loved and avoids deep emotional involvement with anyone. One day, he is informed that he does not have long to live because he is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It is an incurable, progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurons which provide voluntary movements and muscle power. Muscles gradually atrophy and breathing difficulties develop. Without an artificial respirator, it will eventually result in death. Takuto, who had given vague thought to his goals in life, starts to explore what is left of his life and live with a positive attitude.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/bokunoitajikan
Kinkyuu Torishirabeshitsu
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, January 2014
Station: TV Asahi
Scriptwriter: Inoue Yumiko (Pandora Series, 14-sai no Haha, Shiroi Kyoto)
Cast: Amami Yuki, Tanaka Tetsushi, Hayami Mokomichi, Suzuki Kosuke, Sasai Eisuke, Kusakari Masao, Denden, Osugi Ren, Kohinata Fumiyo
Synopsis: Makabe Yukiko (Amami Yuki) is a female detective who worked her way up the ranks to be the first female head of one of the sections of the elite Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigative Division and steered the police to crack many brutal crimes. However, she is held fully responsible for the failure of negotiations in a bus hijacking and is assigned to the Emergency Investigation Response Team, which goes by the name of Kintori and is the First Investigative Division’s team of interrogation experts. Surrounded by idiosyncratic veteran interrogators (Tanaka Tetsushi, Denden, Osugi Ren, Kohinata Fumiyo), she pursues the truth hidden behind cases as she plays mind and word games with tough criminals.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kintori
Dr DMAT
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, January 2014
Station: TBS
Scriptwriter: Anbuki Ichiro (Shirato Osamu no Jikenbo), Yoshizawa Tomoko (Kuro no Onna Kyoushi, Koko ga Uwasa no El Palacio, Karyuu no Utage)
Original Work: Dr DMAT ~ Gareki no Shita no Hippocrates by Takano Hiroshi and Kikuchi Akio
Cast: Okura Tadayoshi, Kato Ai, Takimoto Miori, Ichikawa Mikako, Sato Jiro, Hosshan, Takaki Yuya, Aso Yumi, Ishiguro Ken, Kunimura Jun
Synopsis: The Disaster Medical Assistance Team, known as DMAT, was established in response to the lessons learned from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. First launched in Tokyo in 2004 and then deployed to other prefectural and city governments, it is a team of specialists that responds to major catastrophes and accidents such as a big earthquakes or airplane and train crashes. They are not full-time staff but have been volunteered by the persons in charge of designated hospitals. DMAT has to work under the restrictive conditions of disaster sites which are not properly equipped. There are times when they have to prioritise the lives to save, and provide improvised medical treatments in some other instances. A split second’s hesitation can mean the life or death of a person. Yakumo Hibiki (Okura Tadayoshi) works at Tokyo’s Arisugawa General Hospital. He was with the emergency room until a year ago but transferred to the department of internal medicine after the shock of being unable to save his younger sister (Takimoto Miori), who was admitted because of an accident. She then slipped into a coma. However, the newly-appointed hospital director (Kunimura Jun) nominates Yakumo to be a member of DMAT.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/DrDMAT
Iryu 4 Team Medical Dragon
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, January 2014
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: Hamada Hideya (Last Hope, Zettai Reido, Last Report), Hikawa Kayo (Kyuumei Byoto 24-ji Season 5, Higashino Keigo Mysteries)
Cast: Sakaguchi Kenji, Inamori Izumi, Koike Teppei, Abe Sadao, Sasaki Kuranosuke, Natsuki Mari, Kishibe Ittoku, Hira Mikijiro
Synopsis: Big corporations and trading companies are buying out hospitals overseas or are building new hospitals to get into foreign countries in an attempt to earn foreign money through healthcare for wealthy individuals. On the other hand in Japan, the administration of mid-sized hospitals which shoulder medical treatment for the rural areas is badly off. This is compounded by the shortage of doctors. The successive closure of the most essential hospitals to patients make many people anxious. Amidst this harsh reality, Asada Ryutaro (Sakaguchi Kenji) and Team Dragon regroup in order to create the ideal hospital and get into action. There are numerous obstacles that stand in their way … …
Website: -
Related: Iryu 3 Team Medical Dragon
Watashi no Kiraina Tantei
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Fridays, January 2014
Station: TV Asahi
Scriptwriter: Fukuda Yuichi (Tenma-san ga Yuku, Kodomo Keisatsu, Yuusha Yoshihiko Series)
Original Work: Watashi no Kirai Tantei by Higashigawa Tokuya
Cast: Tamaki Hiroshi, Goriki Ayame
Synopsis: Ninomiya Akemi (Goriki Ayame) is a university student and huge mystery buff. She puts the private eye Ukai Morio (Tamaki Hiroshi) up in the building she owns at cheap rental, and takes every opportunity to try to get herself involved in his cases. Ukai runs a private investigation agency with a questionable signboard which reads "Welcome Trouble!" Because murder cases are not profitable, he solely focuses on investigating infidelity and searching for the lost dogs and cats of celebrities. That is until his agency moves to Akemi's building and he gets mixed up with her. He now finds himself repeatedly hauled into murder investigations by Akemi.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kirainatantei/
Giga Tokyo Toy Box*NEW*
Date: From 11.55 p.m., Saturdays, 4 January 2014
Station: TV Tokyo
Original Work: Giga Tokyo Toy Box by Ume
Cast: Adachi Rika, Kaname Jun, Uno Misako, Fukushi Seiji, Kitagawa Hiromi, Cho Tamiyasu, Kikuta Daisuke, Kishi Asuka, Hashimoto Manami, Shiho
Synopsis: Momoda Momo (Adachi Rika) dreams of becoming a game creator but her quest for a job ends in repeated failure. At the last minute, she is employed by Studio G3 as a trainee game planner. A troublemaker who boasts that while she lacks the skills, she has the spunk, vivacity and spirit of gaming, Momo starts to cause new trouble at Studio G3. Besides the conflicts, frustrations and growth that Momo experiences through game creation, Studio G3 finds itself at odds with the young female president (Shiho) of an up-and-coming game company as well as faced with Sensui Izuru’s (Fukushi Seiji) grand scheme.
Website: www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/tokyo_toybox
Related: Tokyo Toybox
S ~ Saigo no Keikan
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, January 2014
Station: TBS
Scriptwriter: Furuya Kazunao (Kasukana Kanojo, 37-sai de Isha ni Natta Boku, Shiawase ni Narou)
Original Work: S ~ Saigo no Keikan by Komori Yoichi
Cast: Mukai Osamu, Ayano Go, Fukuishi Kazue, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Hirayama Hiroyuki, Takahashi Tsutomu, Hirayama Yusuke, Honda Hirotaro, Asaka Mayumi, Sugawara Daikichi, Takashima Masahiro, Kondo Masaomi (guest star), Omori Nao
Synopsis: The National Police Safety Rescue, or NPS is the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s special assault team which possesses both the mobility of the Special Unit (SAT) as well as the investigative skills of the Special Investigations Team (SIT), and is tasked with bringing criminals into custody alive. This small elite team is a new approach to fighting against heinous crimes. Kamikura Ichigo (Mukai Osamu) retired from the life of a professional boxer and became a police officer after that. In his second year working as a uniformed police officer, an incident leads to him being scouted by the NPS. Armed with excellent reflexes, explosive power and punches honed through boxing, Kamikura is a close combat specialist who is good at getting control over his opponents using barefists. On the other hand, Soga Iori (Ayano Go) is a member of the SAT. Described as superhuman, he prides himself in his sharpshooting and is the SAT’s best sniper. Soga was once assigned to a police precinct because he had aspirations to become a detective. Before long, he arrested three robbers and attracted attention as one of the promising newcomers. He is cool and collected, has great concentration, endurance, perception as well as combat ability; the embodiment of the SAT’s ideal male.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/S-saigonokeikan-
Hanasaki Ashita
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 5 January 2014
Station: NHK BS Premium
Scriptwriter: Nishiogi Yumie (Ando Lloyd, Honjitsu wa Taian Nari, SPEC Series)
Cast: Koike Eiko, Yamada Yu, Takeda Kohei, Hoshino Mari, Suruga Taro, Yanagishita Tomo, Mashima Hidekazu, Watabiki Katsuhiko, Natsuki Mari
Synopsis: The Hanasakis are a family of five siblings (Mashima Hidekazu, Yamada Yu, Takeda Kohei, Hoshino Mari) including 35-year-old Asa (Koike Eiko) who is the eldest girl. Each of them are facing challenges in their lives. At this moment, their 60-year-old mother Fuuko (Natsuki Mari) who had once abandoned them, returns from Italy and comes back to the Hanasakis for the first time in 20 years. Fuuko is merry, lively, a big eater and braggart. Although she has huge rows with Asa, she uncovers the problems of her troubled children and it is her vitality that guides them toward new lives.
Website: -
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