A new year is upon us! It looks like 2008 is starting off right, with a fresh batch of promising dramas to keep you warm throughout the winter weather. While this list doesn't include the tanpatsu dramas, take a look at the regular lineup for next season:

This jidaigeki drama has been renewed for a 38th season, with Kotaro Satomi still playing the lead as the legendary Mitokomon, who travels across Japan upholding justice. Yuko Takeuchi and SMAP's Shingo Katori star in this love story about a blind woman (Takeuchi) and a flower shop owner struggling to raise a daughter alone (Katori). The script is penned by popular screenwriter Shinji Nojima, whose works include "Pride," "Koukou Kyoushi," and "Hitotsu Yane no Shita." In this school comedy, a girls' high school suddenly goes co-ed, but the incoming boys are far below their expectations. As a result, some of the girls start a project to reform the boys into "princes." Kotaro Yanagi takes the lead role in the series. Like "Hana Yori Dango" and "Hanazakari no Kimitachi e," "Honey and Clover" is an adaptation of a popular shojo manga series. This story of love, life, and friendship for five college students was previously turned into a movie starring Yu Aoi and Sho Sakurai, but the television version features young actress Riko Narumi and rising actor Toma Ikuta. This series features Fumiyo Kohinata in his first starring drama role. Based on Masahiko Shimada's novel "Jiyu Shikei," the story follows an unfortunate man who decides that he will end his life in 11 days. However, a string of encounters and incidents makes those 11 days far from peaceful. But can those events save him from his death and show him how to live again? Popular actor Shun Oguri takes on the role of an overly positive college student in this comedy series. Firmly believing that there are more important things than money, he ends up taking on other people's debts and working to pay them off, despite his own poverty. The sixth series of the popular detective drama "Aibou" continues its run. Starring Yutaka Mizutani and Yasufumi Terawaki, the drama has a movie coming out this spring, as well as a comic adaptation that began serialization earlier this month. Based on a manga series by Yua Oda, "Saito-san" stars Alisa Mizuki as a mother of a young child. Unafraid to speak her mind, she constantly confronts people who have poor manners or who don't follow the rules of society. This mystery drama is entering its 10th season. Once again, Isao Hashizume plays a newspaper reporter who solves mysteries in the process of doing research for his articles. This period drama is based Jiro Osaragi's popular novel "Kurama Tengu." Mansai Nomura II stars as the titular samurai who saves innocent commoners from the conflicts of warring samurai. The 8th season of this long-lasting series continues from the fall. Tetsuya Takeda is back as Kinpachi-sensei, dealing with issues in education and society. This season's batch of students includes Yuta Uekusa, Taku Kamei, Yuma Sanada, Camu Cade, and Mitsuki Takahata. In this hardboiled drama, Ryoko Yonekura stars as the tough Reiko Usagi, a police negotiator. As part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), she deals with dangerous criminals, but at the same time, she has to navigate her way as a woman in a male-dominated world. This bizarre comedy is based on a novel by Manabu Makime. Hiroshi Tamaki stars as a teacher assigned to a girls' high school in Nara, where the students give him a hard time. One day, he realizes he can hear the voices of the deer around him (Nara is known for its deer), and they entrust him with a sacred mission. Karina gets her first starring role in this drama series, which is based on a manga by Mizuho Aimoto. Karina plays Yuzu, a 23-year-old woman with the mind of an 8-year-old. She falls in love and becomes pregnant, but the father dies in an accident, leaving Yuzu to raise the child alone. In this jidaigeki drama adapted from Yuichiro Kurosaki's "Meifu no Shikaku," Kinya Kitaoji plays an official who is sentenced to death for killing a colleague. However, he escapes from his punishment and restarts his life as a swordsman upholding justice. This mystery series is based on author Jiro Akagawa's "San Shimai Tantei Dan." While the original story revolved around three sisters who solve mysteries, the drama version features four, with Kaho starring as the youngest. Noriko Nakagoshi, Natsuki Kato, and Yui Ichikawa play the other sisters. In this drama inspired by Thomas Edison's childhood, Misaki Ito stars as a first-grade teacher. She discovers that one transfer student, considered to be a problem child, may actually be a prodigy, just as Edison was. Now it's up to her to cultivate his potential. This comedy is penned by popular screenwriter Kankuro Kudo. Kyoko Fukada plays the English teacher Meguru Yoshida, who discovers a special power on her 24th birthday - with a full stomach, she can see the people around her as they look 20 years in the future. "Guren Onna" is based on a novel by Nobuyuki Joko. Ai Takabe stars as the high school teacher Fumiyo Nabekura, whose lack of friends is the result of a gloomy personality. Looking to find her purpose in life, she dresses up at night as the "guren onna," a fictional ghost, and terrifies other people. But soon she begins meeting actual ghosts... This is an adaptation of the manga of the same name by Rumiko Takahashi, featuring a mixture of comedy, sports, and romance. KAT-TUN's Kazuya Kamenashi stars as Kosaku Hatanaka, a skilled boxer who turns pro at the age of 19. However, due to his lack of control over his appetite, he always ends up in a higher weight class, leading to a series of losses. He then meets a nun-in-training named Angela (Meisa Kuroki), whom he falls for as she tries to help him with his problem. Katsumi Takahashi stars in this six-episode drama based on the life of former baseball pro Michihiro Takabatake, who was best known as a batting coach for seven different teams and many famous players. He became a high school teacher at the age of 58, but died of cancer about a year later. Inspired by the idea of stoppage time in soccer, "Lost Time Life" is a collection of 9 stories about wasted time in life. In each episode, the protagonist comes close to death, but a mysterious group of referees appears to grant the person extra time. The focus of the drama is the way that each character makes use of that time. The stars of the episodes, in order, are: Eita, Keiichiro Koyama, Tomochika, Juri Ueno, Atsushi Ito, Naoki Tanaka, Takako Tokiwa, Yoko Maki, and Yo Oizumi. NHK's 47th taiga drama stars young actress Aoi Miyazaki as Atsuhime (also known as Tenshoin), who became the wife of Tokugawa Iesada. Tomiko Miyao's "Tenshoin Atsuhime" is the source for this series. In this comedy series, SMAP's Goro Inagaki and actress Koyuki star as a couple who have been married for three years. However, their completely opposite personalities result in constant fighting. Both of them happen to be lawyers, which turns their collapsing marriage into an amusing legal battlefield. NHK's 77th Asadora completes its second half this winter. Shihori Kanjiya stars as a young woman who moves to Osaka and decides to become a rakugo storyteller after discovering the art form. Wakako Shimazaki stars in this home drama about a woman named Natsuko who marries a younger man (Shuhei Minami), the son of an established senbei maker (Toshie Negishi). The series focuses on the conflicts between Natsuko and her new mother-in-law. This drama focuses on the lives of the women in a red-light district of Kyoto. The central character, played by Tamao Nakamura, is the "mama" of an old teahouse. "Atakake no Hitobito" ("The Ataka Family") is based on a novel of the same name by Nobuko Yoshiya. Kumiko Endo stars as Kuniko, the daughter of an employee of the hotel magnate Soemon Ataka. She marries Soemon's mentally-challenged son Soichi (Shige Uchida), drawn to his pure heart rather than his fortune. Soichi is looked down upon by his younger brother Joji (Takashika Kobayashi), whose business failures have eaten away at the inheritance. While Kuniko desperately tries to protect the last remaining hotel from Joji, Joji's wife (Akane Oda) finds her way into Soichi's heart.