Kansatsui Asagao*NEW*
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Mondays, 8 July 2019
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: Nemoto Nonji (Fruits Takuhaibin, Ten Tenhodori no Kaidanji, Izakaya Fuji)
Original Work: Kansatsui Asagao by Kagawa Masahito
Cast: Ueno Juri, Tokito Saburo
Synopsis: Maki Asagao (Ueno Juri) is a rookie forensic pathologist who works at Kouun University’s Department of Forensic Medicine in Kanagawa Prefecture. While she is still a novice, she possesses outstanding skills and a wealth of knowledge that has earned her the respect of the people around her. She is a loving, compassionate and sincere young woman who cares more about others than herself. However, Asagao not only lost her mother in the Great East Japan Earthquake but continues to feel raw grief that the body has not even been found. This sorrow has given her an unshakeable conviction as a forensic doctor to never allow a death to go unidentified. She lives with her father Taira (Tokito Saburo), who is a veteran detective. One day, he unexpectedly transfers to a police precinct’s investigation unit which has jurisdiction over Kouun University. If a dead body is found, the police will bring it to the department where Asagao works. So Asagao now has to work with her father.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/asagao
Heaven? Gokuraku Restaurant
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, July 2019
Station: TBS
Scriptwriter: Yoshida Erika (Hana Nochi Hare, Dansui)
Original Work: Heaven? Gokuraku Restaurant by Sasaki Noriko
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Ishihara Satomi, Fukushi Sota, Shison Jun, Katsumura Masanobu, Dante Yasunori, Kishibe Ittoku
Synopsis: Iga Kan (Fukushi Sota) has been working at a French restaurant. He is serious and inflexible. Because he cannot even smile for the sake of customer service, both his colleagues and customers have a low opinion of him. However, a mysterious woman named Kurosu Kanako (Ishihara Satomi), who has a high regard for him, shows up. She is scouting Iga for the French restaurant that she is going to open soon. She tells him, “My staff need to have originality. You’ll certainly be a good service guy.” Iga is moved by her words and decides to work at her restaurant. But this restaurant is located in a cemetery far from train stations, shopping districts and even residential areas. In addition, the employees that Kanako has assembled are all novices – Kawai Taichi (Shison Jun), a former trainee hairdresser; Tsutsumi Keitaro (Katsumura Masanobu), a manager of a beef bowl shop for five years; Yamagata Shigeomi (Kishibe Ittoku), a retired banker who is a qualified sommelier – with no prior experience with the exception of Ozawa Yukio (Dante Yasunori), a talented chef who has had the misfortune of working in restaurants that all subsequently closed down. Why has Kanako brought them together and will the restaurant be able to open without incident?
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/Heaven_tbs
Gisou Furin
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Wednesdays, July 2019
Station: NTV
Scriptwriter: Eto Rin (Survival Wedding, Nodame Cantabile Series)
Original Work: Gisou Furin by Higashimura Akiko
Genre: Romance
Cast: Anne
Synopsis: Hama Shoko (Anne) is a temporary employee in her 30s. She is single, lives with her parents and has grown weary of looking for a marriage partner. One day, she meets a charming, handsome younger man on an plane as she sets off a solo trip. The two of them end up having a meal together at the destination. However, Shoko ends up lying to him that she is already married, wanting to pretend that she is someone’s woman instead of a spinster. She gets an unexpected chance at romance with this “married” tag when he proposes that she have a fling with him during this trip. Shoko learns the joy of romance for the first time through this “limited-time romance”. Although she tells herself that this is an affair to him and not pure love, she gradually falls too deep. Can this happiness be called true happiness?
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/gisouhurin
Soshite, Ikiru
Date: Summer 2019
Station: WOWOW
Scriptwriter: Okada Yoshikazu (Hiyokko Series, Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni, Kibougaoka no Hitobito)
Genre: Romance
Cast: Arimura Kasumi, Sakaguchi Kentaro, Ji-young
Synopsis: Ikuta Toko’s (Arimura Kasumi) parents died in a traffic accident when she was three years old. She was adopted by her father’s older brother who runs a barber shop in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, and grew up happily. Toko was sometimes active as an idol and eventually aspired to become an actress. Then when she turned 19, Toko decided to try for an audition that was being held in Tokyo. However, on 11 March 2011, the day before her performance, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. That autumn, Toko participates in volunteer activities in Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture together with a Korean coworker Han Yuri (Ji-young) at the cafe. This is where she meets Shimizu Kiyotaka (Sakaguchi Kentaro), a Tokyo University student who is a executive committee member of a student volunteer group. Kiyotaka runs operations on the ground quietly and systematically, but Toko feels something is off about his smile for some reason. She has no way of knowing his own cruel fate. As Toko and Kiyotaka spend time together in Kesennuma, they begin to develop special feelings for each other.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/ikiru
I Turn
Date: From 12.12 a.m., Saturdays, July 2019
Station: TV Tokyo
Scriptwriter: Uchida Eiji
Original Work: I Turn by Fukuzawa Tetsuzo
Cast: Muro Tsuyoshi
Synopsis: 45-year-old Komae Mitsuo (Muro Tsuyoshi) is a salesman who works for an advertising company. He gets demoted from the head office and transferred to a small branch office in the countryside. He has to leave his wife and daughter behind in and go alone to this “hellish town” which controlled by gangsters. Komae becomes the manager of the branch office which only has a pathetic two employees. He is stuck with the unreasonable demand to boost performance or face immediate closure and dismissal. With a home loan and his daughter’s further education to consider, Komae plans to increase sales with the skills he honed back at headquarters. Meanwhile, he receives a sudden phone call from a client regarding the production of new flyers they have undertaken. The CEO, Ryuzaki, is absolutely furious. A single mistake dramatically is about to change Komae’s life. He discovers that his client is a company run by a gang called Ryuzaki-gumi. This is the beginning of a nightmare.
Website: www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/iturn
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Mirror Twins Season 2
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Saturdays, 8 June 2019 (continues from first season on Fuji TV)
Networks: Fuji TV & WOWOW
Scriptwriter: Takahashi Yuya (Hi no Ko, Angel Heart, Tenshi to Akuma)
Genre: Suspense
Cast: Fujigaya Taisuke, Kurashina Kana, Takeda Rina, Watanabe Dai, Nukumizu Yoichi, Murakami Tomoko, Sakurai Atsuko, Nakamura Kumi, Satoi Kenta, Takahashi Katsunori, Ishiguro Ken
Synopsis: Katsuragi Keigo (Fujigaya Taisuke) is detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigative Division. The only evidence discovered at the scene of a case that he is investigating, is DNA that is exactly the same as his and he finds himself under pursuit. He wonders if the criminal is his older twin brother Yugo (Fujigaya Taisuke) who was abducted and went missing as a child. Despite having the same genes, their lives have turned out like two sides of a mirror. That is why deep in their hearts, each twin thinks that he is different from the other. Which one is truly evil and which one is righteous?!
Website: mirror-twins.com
No Side
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, July 2019
Station: TBS
Scriptwriter: Ushio Kentaro (Shitamachi Rocket Season 2, Black Pean, Chiisana Kyojin)
Original Work: No Side by Ikeido Jun
Genre: Corporate
Cast: Oizumi Yo
Synopsis: Kimijima Hayato (Oizumi Yo) is a mid-level salaryman who works for a large manufacturer Tokiwa Motor. He is said to be leading the field of candidates for an executive position. However, he is relegated to be the administrative manager of a regional plant as a result of opposing an acquisition led by his boss. This transfer is against his wishes but this is also the fate of a salaryman. As a disconsolate Kimijima takes up his position at the plant, he is ordered to double as the general manager of Tokiwa Motor’s rugby team Astros. Astros was once a mighty team. However, it has been mired in a slump. Rebuilding a team is a heavy burden for Kimijima who lacks knowledge and experience in rugby. He begins his battle to make a comeback with a struggling rugby team and no hope for career advancement.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/program/nichi201907
Kami no Te
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, 23 June 2019
Station: WOWOW
Scriptwriter: Tanaka Hiroshi (Yokokuhan)
Original Work: Kami no Te by Kusakabe Yo
Genre: Medical
Cast: Shiina Kippei
Synopsis: After surgeon Shirakawa Yasuo (Shiina Kippei) has tried every possible means for his 21-year-old patient Furubayashi Shotaro who has terminal cancer, he makes the agonising decision and chooses euthanasia in the end. However, Shotaro‘s mother Yasuyo brings a charge against him. Was it murder or manslaughter? While this becomes the talk of the town for consecutive days, it makes the legalisation of euthanasia, which had already been debated, seem very real. Behind the scene are groups seeking to pass a bill legalising euthanasia and drastic medical reforms, doctors opposed to mercy killing and Yasuyo who plans to make use of the mass media. Shirakawa soon gets engulfed this torrent.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/kaminote
Poison Daughter, Holy Mother
Date: Summer 2019
Network: WOWOW
Scriptwriter: Shimizu Yukako (Reverse, Fukigenna Kajitsu (2016), Onna Sore o Yurusanai)
Original Work: Poison Daughter, Holy Mother by Minato Kanae
Genre: Mystery
Cast: Terajima Shinobu, Adachi Rika, Kiyohara Kaya, Nakamura Yuri, Kurashina Kana, Ito Ayumi
Synopsis: Actress Fujiyoshi Yumika (Adachi Rika) has been troubled by her mother Yoshika (Terajima Shinobu) since young. She regards her mother who tries to control her the way she wants, as a toxic parent. Yumika runs to Tokyo in an act of rebellion but she is unable to break free. Yoshika’s machinations cause her to split up with a man and lose important work. Learning about this, Yumika accuses her mother on a talk show and this generates tremendous response. Meanwhile, the people who know Yoshika, regard her as a caring mother and certainly not a toxic parent. Yoshika reflects on her own life after hearing what Yumika said, and decides to let go of her daughter. But … …
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/poison
Anata no Ban desu
Date: From 10.30 p.m., Sundays, July 2019 (continues from last season)
Station: NTV
Scriptwriter: Fukuhara Mitsunori (Gokudo Meshi, Makanai-sou Series, Shikaku Tantei Higurashi Tabito Series)
Genre: Mystery
Cast: Harada Tomoyo, Tanaka Kei, Nishino Nanase, Asaka Kodai, Nao, Yamada Maho, Mikura Kana, Otomo Karen, Kanazawa Miho, Tsubokura Yoshiyuki, Nakao Masaki, Koike Ryosuke, Isaka Ikumi, Araki Towa, Hakamada Yoshihiko, Katagiri Jin, Matobu Sei, Wada Soko, Nomaguchi Toru, Hayashi Yasufumi, Kataoka Reiko, Minagawa Sarutoki, Tokui Yu, Tanaka Yoji, Nagano Satomi, Sakata Masanobu, Okata Hisako, Minemura Rie, Takenaka Naoto, Ando Masanobu, Kimura Tae, Namase Katsuhisa
Synopsis: A newlywed couple move into an apartment near the Sumida River in Tokyo. Tezuka Nana (Harada Tomoyo) is a designer of sportswear. She was pursued by sports gym trainer Shota (Tanaka Kei) whom she met through work and they got married despite their 15-year age gap. What they share in common is a love of mysteries. Seeing the close families and couples, they imagine a bright and happy future for themselves. However, the fates of the Tezukas are rocked by a residents meeting that Nana attends. The residents of the apartment building start dying around them. Those with motives to kill have alibis and the murderers cannot be arrested in any of the cases. The riddle lies in a game that the residents are playing among themselves. 13 of them have written down the people they want to kill for offending them and started this murder game where these slips of paper are randomly drawn. At first, it was something that none of them took seriously. Then the people whose names were written started getting killed one after another and another threatening note is delivered with the warning, “You are next”. There is no turning back even if they have regrets.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/anaban
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