Nice looking and sweet girl (see video below), not too famous as yet but that could actually be a plus. Eita will still go a long way.

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Title (romaji): Kaze no Garden
Also known as: Garden of Wind
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Human drama
Episodes: 11
Viewership ratings: 15.7 (Kanto)
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 2008-Oct-09 to 2008-Dec-18
Air time: Thursday 22:00

Theme song: Nocturne by Hirahara Ayaka Download here

Nocturne – Hirahara Ayaka

Official site

Synopsis

Despite being a respected anesthesiologist at a famed Tokyo hospital, Shiratori Sadami has a disastrous family life. Before his life in Tokyo, his infidelity prompted his wife’s suicide and the incident separated him from his two children ever since. Seven years later, as he is being diagnosed with late-stage cancer and inevitably on the brink of death, he finds himself making way towards his hometown Hokkaido, his estranged children and his final moments in life.

Main Cast

Production Credits

Screenwriter: Kuramoto Sou
Producers: Wakamatsu Hiroki, Asano Masumi
Director: Miyamoto Rieko Music: Yoshimata Ryo

Review

Will review after watching it in full. Looks like a well written powerful heartlander touching drama (a signature of screenwriter Kuramoto san) that resonates well with Japanese all over Japan. A 5oth Year Anniversary drama from Fuji TV. This drama is Ken Ogata’s last performance before he succumbed to liver cancer and passed away in Oct 2008.

Always loved your performances since Black Jack in 2003 and your movies before and after that. Rest in Peace – Ogata san.

After 1 Episode

This drama comes across as a pretty serious family drama. Although the premise of an irresponsible father figure catching an incurable disease and repents and finally pass away in the last episode with a bitter sweet ending etc is a premise most people will roll their eyes at but this particular drama is slightly above average is terms of how it is setup and how good the actors are at their roles. The drama is pretty much targeted at the heartlanders/rural/suburbia Japanese and it did get a good response from those areas. Do look out for Kamiki Ryunosuke and his wonderful performance…Meisa looks great…

Review

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Title: Tomorrow
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Medical drama
Viewership rating: 12.6 (Kanto)
Episodes: 10
Broadcast network: TBS
Broadcast period: 2008-Jul-06 to 2008-Sep-7
Air time: Sunday 21:00 – 21:54
Theme song: Hikari by Hoshimura Mai Download here

Synopsis

Kohei Moriyama quit his job as a doctor 8 years ago and now works at the city hall. Since becoming a public official, he has become cheerful and optimistic. He is loved by everyone around him. However, his emotional wound from the past is not yet healed. He does not trust anyone but himself when it comes to important matters. One day, he meets a dedicated nurse, Aiko Tanaka. This encounter triggers his decision to reestablish a hospital. This is when he realizes… “Losing is not the end. Giving up is what ends everything.” –TBS

Main Cast

Production Credits

Screenwriter: Shinozaki Eriko (ep1-10), Yazu Hiroyuki (ep3,6,8)
Producers: Iyoda Hidenori , Masaki Atsushi
Directors: Yamamuro Daisuke (ep1-2,5,8,10), Kawashima Ryutaro (ep3,6,9), Kan Satoshi (ep4,7)
Music: Hasebe Toru, Segawa Eishi

Review

Plot/Story

Tantalizing opening with a good hook in Ep 1. A surgeon Moriyama Kohei who encounters a career setback and relegated himself to a small town doing something completely different. The story follows the rebounding of a surgeon in a small town, his encounters with various characters for e.g. Tanaka Aiko a nurse in a local hospital in the process of revitalizing a struggling hospital, the complicated small town city politics surrounding economic wealth versus community service.

A pretty common concept but held well with the character dramas and side plots laced together with the main plot which reveals the biggest coincidence of all.

A pretty good hook in the beginning, with strong dialogue and believable emergency scenes and human medical dramas subsodes. However, the ending can be much stronger.

Casting

The casting is done well. Takenouchi Yutaka was a little stiff  in the beginning episodes but gradually dove right into his role. Kanno Miho as always is a pleasure to watch with her angsy character and her great “on the spot” crying scenes.

The character who shined and caught my eye is Ogawa Tamaki, a very poised actress who has been acting since 93, with her last work in 2006. An actress to keep an eye on definitely, she should see more roles unless she doesn’t want to take them.

What does J think?

An attractive cast who did a good job. If you are fans of Takenouchi Yutaka this drama gives you a good example of his dramatic acting especially towards the later episodes. Story is captivating and makes you stay hooked to it, however the ending is predictable with a rather flat climax.

<Tomorrow> will appeal to viewers who like a good energetic medical drama coupled with human relationships and small town politics. There are quite a number of tear jerking scenes, do prepare tissues.

Overall a good job by the main writer (Shinozaki Eriko) who has penned <Kurosagi> and <Daisuki> amongst others.

Rating: (Worth buying the DVD)

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Tomorrow DVD

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Title (romaji): 33pun Tantei
Also known as: 33 Minute Detective
Format: Renzoku across two seasons
Genre: Comedy, mystery
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Air time: Saturday 23:10
Theme song: Secret Code by KinKi Kids

Synopsis

Kurama Rokuro is a private detective. He is a detective story aficionado, and a mystery geek. He believes in ghosts and UFOs. He hates the sight of blood and dead bodies. Actually he has a sharp insight and a creative imagination, but his reasoning is always just a guess. When he wrongly accuses people of a crime, he sends them a gift with a note “I’m sorry about the mistake”. His mission is to use all up the airtime (33 min.) to solve a quite simple case which must be settled in 5 min. His wild guesses and imagination increase the number of suspects, and his ambiguous reasoning turns the cases upside down. Can he finally discover the offender? –Fuji TV

Main Cast

Production Credits

Screenwriter: Fukuda Yuichi
Producers: Shikanai Tsugi, Moriya Takeshi
Directors: Fukuda Yuichi,  Narita Takeshi
Music: Ishida Katsunori

Review

Well what can I say. This drama is uniquely interesting as it is a comedy drama stringed together with episodic detective crime solving with a particularly interesting angle. Domoto Tsuyoshi has not done a solid drama in a couple of years or more and he came back with a comedy, although I think he could have picked a much better script for his come back.

With due respect to the production team and screen writer, the overall structure of the drama can be slightly better. But I have to admit I do enjoy the drama (in a weird uninhibited way), as the comedic elements are funny and at times corny, they hold well on their own and did not go over board. The quirky songs and dances and “freeze motions” are innovative and pretty true to the local Japanese comedic style, a style I grew to love, I am sure you will too.

The cast was also pretty well selected with Sato Jiro and Kojima Yoshio as strong comedic interventions. Takahashi Katsumi as the police inspector is also a well chosen cast who is pretty established in the comedy scene. Asami is great as usual, although not showing her full comedic range but overall she did a good job.

Rating: 3.5/5 (Can do without watching, but it is still overall a good laugh)

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Title (English): CHANGE
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Human drama, politics
Episodes: 10
Viewership ratings: 21.7 (Kanto)
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 2008-May-12 to 2008-Jul-14
Air time: Monday 21:00
Theme song: Miles Away by Madonna Download Here

Official site

Synopsis

The story begins with the deaths of ruling party’s Fukuoka legislator and his eldest son, his heir apparent, in an accident. It is decided that a by-election will be held, and Kanbayashi Masaichi, the leader of the ruling party, and secretary Miyama Rika conceive the idea of fielding the second son, Asakura Keita, who had been renounced by his father.

After Keita graduated from senior high school, he went on to a university in Nagano because he wanted to live in a place with beautiful stars, and eventually became an elementary school teacher over there. Well-liked by children and satisfied with his beloved star gazing, Keita has no interest in the world of politics. However, at Rika’s persuasion and the pressure of his family, he reluctantly decides to announce his candidacy.

Upon returning to Fukuoka, Keita is given a hearty welcome by supporters. The election strategist, Nirasawa Katsutoshi, arrives there. He is guided by the notion “election is the only permitted legal war” and begins Keita’s election campaign. –jade_frost

Main Cast

Production Credits

Screenwriter: Fukuda Yasushi
Producers: Goto Hiroyuki, Shimizu Kazuyuki
Associate producer: Ishihara Takashi
Directors: Sawada Kensaku (ep1-2,5,8,10), Hirano Shin (ep3-4,6-7,9)
Music: Nobuchika Teruyuki

Review

Rating: (A Classic)

Awards

• 12th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (Spring 2008): Best Drama
• 12th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (Spring 2008): Best Actor – Kimura Takuya
• 57th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Actor: Kimura Takuya

Additional Videos

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Title (English): Last Friends
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Friendship, human drama, gay/lesbian
Episodes: 11
Viewership rating: 17.7 (Kanto)
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 2008-Apr-10 to 2008-Jun-19
Air time: Thursday 22:00

Official site
Official “Another” site

Theme song: Prisoner Of Love by Utada Hikaru Download here

Instrumental version here

Synopsis

Last Friends tackles issues that afflict the current generation. Michiru’s mother has brought a man back to their home and she is bullied at her workplace where she works as a beauty parlour assistant. She starts cohabiting with her boyfriend, a good young man who works at the Child Welfare Division and the only person who can give her emotional support, but ends up the victim of domestic violence and becomes fearful of love. The boyishly charming Ruka was a classmate of Michiru’s in junior high school. She has performed brilliantly as a motocross racer and aims to win the national championship, but as the story progresses, a deep worry that she can neither confide in her parents or close friends grows evident. Takeru is a hair and makeup artist acquainted with Ruka. He is a good confidant to females due to his kindness and perceptiveness, and finds himself attracted to Ruka but has a phobia of sex as a result of a past trauma. The three of them become house mates and through their associations with others, gain the capacity to be positive about life. –jade_frost

Main Cast

Production Credits

Screenwriter: Asano Taeko
Producer: Nakano Toshiyuki
Directors: Kato Hiromasa (ep1-3,8,11), Nishisaka Mizuki (ep4-5,9-10), Endo Mitsutaka (ep6-7,SP)

Music: Izutsu Akio , S.E.N.S.

Review

Rating: (Worth buying the DVD)

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Videos

Promo

Cast Game

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Title (English): Loss:Time:Life
Tagline: Life in additional time
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Varies
Episodes: 9 plus two overtime eps
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 2008-Feb-02 to 2008-Apr-19
Air time: Saturday 23:10
Theme song: Kimi Station by Orange Range

Synopsis

The title is taken from the Japanese term for stoppage time in soccer. In each episode, the lead character will be in a situation where he or she is about to die. Time suddenly stops and a mysterious group of referees appears, who grants the protagonist extra time based on the time wasted during that person’s life. The story will explore the ways that each of the characters decides to spend that extra time.

Main Cast

Production Credits

Planning: Kakehi Masaya (???)
Producer: Nakajima Kumiko (?????)
Screenwriters: Tsuchida Hideo, Ueda Makoto (???), Yoshida Tomoko, Hashimoto Hiroyuki (????), Suzuki Chihiro (????), Mori Hayashi (????), Yazawa Kouji, Watanabe Chiho (????)
Directors: Kakehi Masaya (???), Suzui Takayuki (????), Oki Ayako (????), Fujikawa Yusuke (?????)
Music: Yashiki Gota (????)

Review

Rating: (Worth buying the DVD)

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Loss Time Life DVD

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Synopsis

Sasaki Norimichi and his wife Ritsuko are two lawyers with opposite personalities, who’ve been married for three years. However, their completely opposite personalities result in heated quarrels that lead them to the courtroom to settle a possible divorce, with the two representing themselves in an amusing legal battlefield.

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Synopsis

Forced out of his research group after conflicts with his colleagues, Ogawa Takanobu takes up an offer to teach at a girls’ high school in Nara. When taking roll call on the first day one of his students, Hotta Ito, sneaks into class late, claiming a bogus excuse–that she got a ticket after trying to park her deer in front of the train station. He makes immediate enemies with Hotta when he tells his superiors about her tardiness and attitude. In the following days, he begins to notice something unusual about Hotta, but he can’t seem to put his finger on it.
With an odd group of colleagues who live together with him, Ogawa slowly accustoms to life in slow-paced Nara, where there seem to be as many deer as people. Walking through Nara Park one day, he begins to befriend the local deer population, feeding them rice wafers. After being confronted by a talking deer who commandeers him to prevent the destruction of Japan, he fails in his first mission and the talking deer exacts punishment–looking into the mirror the next day, he discovers he has turned into a deer from the shoulders up. Ogawa slowly begins to piece the puzzle together: the talking deer, the mysterious student, and a recent series of earthquakes that could spell doom for Japan…

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Bara no nai Hanaya

Synopsis

Shiomi Eiji is forced to become a single father when his girlfriend passes away while giving birth to their daughter, Shizuku. Desolate after the loss of the woman he loved, Eiji has little time or desire to even consider remarrying, working part-time jobs just to make ends meet. The one thing that gives meaning and joy to his life is Shizuku, but even that begins to trouble him when Shizuku begins acting strange, hiding her face by putting a cloth over her head when around other people.

One day after opening his flower shop, Eiji comes across a blind woman standing by the door, taking shelter from the rain. When he invites her to come inside the shop, she at first refuses, but later gives in to Eiji’s kindness. They become intimate friends and she slowly grows to depend on Eiji’s sincerity and goodheartedness. After rescuing her a following evening when she walks into the street and is nearly struck by traffic, Eiji himself inexplicably discovers the cold of winter that has saddled his heart all these years slowly melting away…

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Title (Romaji): Edison no Haha
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Human drama, comedy
Episodes: 10
Viewership ratings: 9.5 (Kanto)
Broadcast network: TBS
Broadcast period: 2008-Jan-11 to 2008-Mar-14
Air time: Friday 22:00
Theme song: Ai wo Komete Hanataba wo by Superfly

Synopsis

The series focuses on Ayukawa Noriko, the teacher of a class of first-graders. One day, a boy named Kento transfers into her class from another school, where he was treated as a problem child. In reality, the inquisitive Kento actually displays the potential of being a prodigy, and it’s up to Noriko to figure out how to handle him. The story draws inspiration from the childhood of famous inventor Thomas Edison, who was also considered a problem child by most adults around him. –Tokyograph

Main Cast

Production Credits

Original plan: Yamaguchi Masatoshi
Screenwriter: Omori Mika
Producer: Kato Shoichi
Director: Muto Jun

Review

Rating: (Worth buying the DVD)

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Synopsis

Kita Yoshio(Kohinata), has chosen his close friend’s death anniversary as his suicide date, which is 11 days away. The number 11 has always been important to him: he was born on November 11th; his roll call number at school was #11; and 11 years ago, he and his wife, Mizuho(Konishi), went through a divorce. In debt and feeling unneeded to the world, he sells off all his belongings and plans for his death date. However, on the 1st day, he meets Yashiro Heita(Matsuda) and several other people who will create the most eventful 11 days of his life.

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