Summer 2008 Drama Preview!

This summer’s starting to feel like the hottest ever! It’s time to break out barbecue and have some fun! But when you’re not outside enjoying the sun, take a break indoors and check out what’s new on TV:

“Ando Natsu” is based on a manga by Yuji Nishi and Terry Yamamoto. Shihori Kanjiya stars as the title character, Natsu Ando, a young woman aiming to be a Western-style patissier. However, she suddenly loses her job when her store’s owner dies, and is unable to find a new employer. But then she discovers an old Japanese sweets shop and begins working there part-time, learning about traditional sweets under the guidance of the store’s veteran chef (Jun Kunimura).

Yuji Oda is returning to Fuji TV’s Monday night time slot with a starring role in this school drama, also known as “Homeroom on the Beachside.” Oda plays an unconventional high school teacher named Sakutaro Sakurai, newly assigned to a famous college prep academy in the Shonan region. His students have been trained with the idea that their last year of high school is all about preparing for exams, but the passionate Sakurai helps them realize that there’s more to life than taking tests. Keiko Kitagawa co-stars as an assistant teacher who, like the students, lacks a true goal in her life. The student cast is an ensemble of young stars, including Masaki Okada, Kie Kitano, Mitsuki Tanimura, and Yusuke Yamamoto.

Teppei Koike’s youthful appearance makes him an appropriate choice as the star of “Shibatora,” a comical series about a child-faced cop who deals with juvenile criminals. The drama is adapted from a popular manga by Yuma Ando (a pen name of Tadashi Agi) that is currently serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine. The supporting cast includes Miki Maya as the head of the juvenile division, Naohito Fujiki as Shibatora’s good friend, and Suzuka Ohgo as the female lead.

This series highlights the problems caused by “monster parents,” the type who will make unreasonable demands of schools and teachers. Ryoko Yonekura plays a business lawyer who gets asked by her boss (Masao Kusakari) to help out a school in dealing with such parents. Outside of her area of expertise, she finds herself struggling against the “monsters.” Yoshino Kimura makes a guest appearance as one of those parents in the show’s first episode.

Kyoko Fukada and Shosuke Tanihara co-star in this original series by writer Kazuhiko Yukawa (“Mahiru no Tsuki,” “Joou no Kyoushitsu”). Fukada plays a teacher at a private all-girls high school. When the school accepts its first five male students, she recruits five girls and creates a social dance club to help the boys adjust and to teach her students about “love.” Tanihara plays the school’s principal, who refuses to approve the club.

In this police drama, Masaaki Uchino stars as Kuroki, once an ace detective. But after being traumatized from a case, he became unable to work and was transferred to another division, where he idles his time away. One day, a particular case pulls him out of his rut and gives him a chance to return as a detective. Two staff members of the popular “Aibou” series, producer Motohiro Matsumoto and writer Ryota Kosawa, are working together on this series.

“Seigi no Mikata” is an adaptation of Chiaki Hijiri comedy manga of the same name. Mirai Shida stars as Yoko, a cheerful girl who is constantly being tormented by her devilish older sister Makiko, played by model Yu Yamada. While Yoko knows her sister’s true nature, Makiko’s ill deeds always end up having positive effects somehow, leading her peers to believe she is an “ally of justice.”

This is the second season of “Sono Otoko, Fukushocho,” an ordinary detective drama that first aired in the spring of 2007. Eiichiro Funakoshi reprises his role as an assistant chief of police at a station in the Kyoto area. Several of the original cast are returning, including Misato Tanaka and Hisako Manda.

Yoko Kamio’s “Cat Street” manga series will come to life in this drama version. The story revolves around a former child actress named Keito who suffered a traumatic incident, and subsequently shut herself off from others and became withdrawn from the world. Now a teenager, she discovers a school for people like her who have lost their place in society, and she finally finds a group of friends she can open up to. Mitsuki Tanimura plays the lead role as Keito.

This “home suspense” drama revolves around a group of four women (Hiromi Nagasaku, Shinobu Terajima, Reiko Takashima, Michiko Hada) who were once classmates together but eventually parted. Now at the age of 41, three of them are reunited after hearing that Minami (Hada) has passed away in an accident. After they learn that Minami was having an affair with Shifumi’s (Nagasaku) ex-husband, each of the women’s past secrets and lies gradually come to light.

For this medical drama, Fuji TV has assembled a group of young stars and experienced ones. Based on a national proposal for an emergency helicopter system, the series revolves around a service called Doctor Heli that quickly brings medical aid to those needing immediate medical attention. Tomohisa Yamashita is the star as a training “flight doctor,” while Yui Aragaki, Erika Toda, and Yosuke Asari play his fellow candidates. They are guided by a skilled team of “flight doctors,” played by Toshiro Yanagiba, Ryo, and Masanobu Katsumura.

“Shikaku Ukeoinin” is a jidaigeki drama that had its first season last summer. Hiroaki Murakami is back as the star, playing a ronin who was forced to flee to Edo. There, he takes up the life of a contract assassin who administers justice in his own way.

How much would your life change if you won the lottery? Loosely based on a true story, this drama stars Takashi Sorimachi as a divorced, overworked, pachinko-playing salaryman who is mostly wasting his days away with no hope of a happy future. Desperately hoping to pay off child support, he gives in to temptation and buys a ticket for the Loto 6. He soon regrets his actions, but he checks his numbers anyway and discovers that he has won more than 300 million yen!

This is a remake of last year’s Korean suspense series “The Devil” (“Mawang”). Arashi’s Satoshi Ohno has his first starring role as a seemingly benevolent lawyer who secretly seeks revenge against his brother’s killer. His path becomes crossed with a detective (Toma Ikuta), who has a dark past of his own but is now investigating a mysterious string of murders.

“Dageki Tenshi Ruri” is another manga-to-drama adaptation, based on an action/suspense series by Yasuhito Yamamoto. Rei Kikukawa takes the lead as an ordinary OL named Ruri. One day, she discovers that a burst of anger gives her unnatural strength, giving her the power to instantly take anyone down. Tired of the evil she perceives in the world, she decides to start punishing bad guys on her own.

Chihiro Tamaki’s “Walkin' Butterfly” manga series is getting the live-action treatment, with teen model Aoi Nakabeppu as its star. She plays a young woman named Michiko, who has long had a complex about being too tall. While working as a pizza delivery girl, she gets sent to drop off an order at a fashion show, where she gets mistaken for a model. Now drawn into the world of fashion models, she has to overcome her height complex if she wants to become successful.

“Koizora” is based on the hit mobile phone novel that was turned into a blockbuster film last year. The dramatic story follows an ordinary girl named Mika, who falls for her classmate Hiroki soon after entering high school. However, that turbulent love leads her down a path of rape, pregnancy, betrayal, and other trials. So far, the only confirmed cast members are the leading couple, played by Erena Mizusawa and Koji Seto.

TOKIO’s Masahiro Matsuoka and actress Mikako Tabe play the title characters in this comedy series. Originally a manga by artist Aruko, “Yasuko to Kenji” tells the story of a brother and sister who lost their parents in an accident 10 years earlier. Kenji (Matsuoka) was originally a gang member, but after his parents’ death, he began making a living as a shojo manga writer. Yasuko (Tabe) meets and falls for a young man named Jun (Tadayoshi Okura), but his older sister Erika (Ryoko Hirosue) also happens to be a former gang member who has had a long-lasting crush on Kenji.

This comical mystery series gets its name from the length of each episode: 33 minutes. Within that span of time, the detective Rokuro Kurama (played by KinKi Kids member Tsuyoshi Domoto) attempts to solve a mystery. However, his powers of deduction are quite off the mark, always leading him to form incorrect theories and accuse the wrong person.

“Tomorrow” is a human drama in a medical setting, starring Yutaka Takenouchi and Miho Kanno. Takenouchi plays a retired surgeon who returns to the profession several years later in order to save a struggling hospital. There, he meets Aiko (Kanno), a nurse who has dedicated herself to saving the lives of others.

Yukie Nasu’s classic shojo manga “Here is Greenwood” has given life to this screen adaptation, which will air on independent stations across the country (with varying schedules). Set at the all-boys school Rokuto Academy, the story revolves around the inhabitants of the unusual Greenwood Dormitory and their misadventures. Hotch Potchi’s Yuki Izawa plays the protagonist Kazuya Hasukawa, a late arrival to the school. His first surprise comes when he discovers his roommate is Shun Kisaragi, who appears to be a girl…

The family drama “Daisuki! Itsutsugo” is now entering its 10th series, with Yumi Morio and Yasuhiro Arai still playing the parents of quintuplets. The show has been running every summer since 1999, though the current cast of children first appeared in 2005. With the kids already graduated from high school, it seems that the Sakurai’s child-raising days are over, but the family ends up temporarily taking in a group of 6-year-old quintuplets after their mother is hospitalized.

In this afternoon drama, talento Chiharu stars as a mother living in the Gunma prefecture with her husband (Toshinori Omi) and teenage daughter Natsuki (Mitsuki Takahata). One summer day, Chiharu is unexpectedly reunited with her first love (Yasuyuki Maekawa), leading to a complicated relationship. Meanwhile, young Natsuki has her own reunion with her first love.

Aki Nishihara is the star of this daytime series, titled “Shiro to Kuro” (“white and black”) to indicate two sides of love. She finds herself in a sort of love triangle with two brothers, opposite in personality. Katsuya Kobayashi is the “good” older brother, while Tomohito Sato (formerly known as Yuki Sato) plays the “bad” younger brother.