Coming Up in Japanese Dramaland

Where are Japanese dramas fans? *raises hands* It’s been some time since I last wrote any Japanese dramas news; let’s see if I still got the skills. So, here are some of the upcoming Jdramas.

In translation: Alice’s Thorns. Now this sounds interesting! A revenge drama made in Japan is always a pleasure to come across. So this drama will tell the story of Alice, a newbie doctor whose father died when she was 14 due to a surgical mistake and the truth has been hidden so that none of the staff would take responsibility. Many years later, she comes back with a new identity for one mission: Revenge on everyone who was there the day her father died. Yes, you go girl! Revenge is a dish better served cold anyway but I hope they won’t turn this into a medical drama instead. That would be bothersome.

The drama is scheduled for the spring season on TBS and will mark Ueno Juri’s comeback to dramas ever since her last role in NHK’s 50[sup]th[/sup] Taiga drama Gou. Ueno who has been known for her joyful characters expressed her excitement to play a cold-hearted revenge freak which will polish her acting skills.

Main Cast:
Ueno Juri as Alice
Odagiri Joe, Kuriyama Chiaki, Nakamura Baijaku


Ghosts and detectives…Once again! BORDER is about a detective who reached death. However, he was saved at the last minute but he has to live with a bullet in his head. Ever since then, he’s able to see and communicate with the dead (or maybe the undead?) to help him solve difficult cases. Doesn’t this remind you of OCN’s currently airing drama The Ghost Seeing Detective Cheo Yong? I know it clicked on me the first time I heard about it but as I said before, the Japanese and Korean ways of making detective dramas are completely dissimilar.

The drama is scheduled for Spring 2014 on TV Asahi. It’s notable to mention that the drama’s screenwriter Kaneshiro Kazuki wrote the drama with Oguri Shun in his mind because he was looking for an actor that would successfully pull off the characters’ different sides. So the drama is literally written for Shun and he immediately accepted the role once it was offered to him.

Main Cast:


Oguri Shun as Ango Ishikawa
Aoki Munetaka as Yuma Tachibana
Haru as Mika Higa
Furuta Arata as Akai



Pandora Eien no Inochi is the fourth Installment of the Pandora series but this time around it's a special, not a full length drama. I wonder if they’re related? Most likely not, since the male lead changed in every installment: the first Pandora was led by Mikami Hiroshi, the second Pandora: Kiga Retto starred Sato Koichi and the third 2011 drama’s main lead was Eguchi Yosuke, while this year’s special will have the name of the one and only Sakai Masato on it.

The special belongs to the sci-fi genre about a doctor who made a revolutionary invention of a human cloning technique which eventually led to many unfortunate events, as if the Pandora Box was opened.
WOWOW’s drama special will air on April the 27th.

Main Cast:


Sakai Masato as Gen Suzuki 
Ono Machiko as Natsumi 
Ito Ayumi as Megumi Tashiro, 





*Gasp* such a long title! In translation: The Woman Who Lived as Mori Mitsuko ~ the Most Loved Mother in Japan was the Loneliest Woman in Japan. The upcoming Fuji TV’s 55[sup]th[/sup] anniversary drama special will focus on Mori Mitsuko’s life between the age of 26 and 42 where she happened to give up on her marriage to succeed as a stage actress. The SP will be narrated by one of Mori’s closest friends Kuroyanagi Tetsuko.

Main Cast:


Nakama Yuki as Mori Mitsuko
Fujiki Naohito as Okamoto Yoshihiko
Ishizaka Koji as Kikuta Kazuo




I must say, Japanese are so fond of long titles! Anyway, Yowakutemo Katemasu is apparently a sports-school drama about a coach who’s been given the mission to take care of the school’s weak baseball team. Everyone in the school is obsessed about going to prestigious universities, so the baseball team isn’t exactly a priority. At the matter of fact, it's never won any match and contains only 5 students. But the new coach will aim for the nationals by disciplining his players and all.

*Yawns* isn’t this like the oldest sports drama plot ever? Don’t get the wrong idea, I wouldn’t judge the drama before it even starts airing but this is so old. But who knows, maybe this will bring something new.
The drama is scheduled for Spring 2014 on NTV starting April.

Main Cast:
Ninomiya Kazunari as Tamo Aoshi
Fukushi Souta, Nakajima Yuto, Yamazaki Kento, Hongo Kanata as the students.
Arimura Kasumi as the team’s Manager.
Yakushimaru Hiroko as the owner of a café.

Leaving the best for last maybe? Bitter Blood must be my most anticipated drama from the upcoming season alongside BORDER. It’s a detective drama and I am well aware it doesn’t appeal to most people but it does sound pretty interesting to me. The drama is about a newbie detective who has been separated from his father as a child and ever since then, they were never on good terms until some fate brought them back together. Tey have to work together as partners in the first criminal investigation division of the Ginza Police Station. The father is a flashy playboy type who doesn’t care about detective work and the son is a hot-blooded detective who always runs to help others. How will these two opposites work together and how will their life become from now on?

As I mentioned, I am detective drama fan and I know there are tons of them produced in Japan but they’re rarely subbed and I didn’t come across any detective drama where the partners were a father and son, and they’re Watabe and Sato! I am certainly looking forward to this.

The drama is scheduled for Spring 2014 on Fuji TV and will mark Sato’s first detective and first leading role in a Fuji TV drama.

Main Cast:


Watabe Atsuro as Shimao Akimura
Sato Takeru as Sahara Natsuki
Kutsuna Shiori as Maeda Hitomi

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