Hajime Takezono

The Tomodachi Game manga series is getting a new live action adaptation, set to premiere on Asahi TV on July 23.

Suspicions fall on politician Tagane Seizo over the sale of nationally owned land to a social welfare service corporation back in 2010. Seizo Tagane is then given immunity for his testimony, but people become furious that he was not going to be prosecuted. A committee of prosecutors meets and concludes that Seizo Tagane should be prosecuted. An outstanding lawyer Yui Hitotsugi takes the prosecutor's position in the case with the help of the prosecutor Tachibana.

Taro's business failed and he got divorced. He also left his family's home. 5 years later, his oldest daughter Natsumi, second daughter Yuka and ex-wife Junko still live in the same house which Taro left. One day, Taro, who has been having difficulties paying his rent, visits his daughter Natsumi's office to ask for a loan. Natsumi is the bread winner for the family since he left., so she becomes angry at him. Later, Taro arrives at his former house unannounced and begins to live there.

7.6/10

Assistant Inspector Sugiyama Shintaro is a compassionate detective who works for Kichijoji Police Precinct. The cases he has solved are too many to count. Once he comes back home, he is a father to the three children, Miharu, Kaito (Suda Eito) and Gaku (Matsuura Rihito), he has with his beloved wife Kaori. However, he cannot deny that he has sacrificed his family because he has been busy at work. At that very moment, Kaori is fighting against an illness in hospital and his mother-in-law (Takahashi Keiko) is not pleased with him. Sugiyama has focused on the family ever since his wife fell sick. He has even considered a move away from the frontline and Kichijoji Police Precinct’s arrest rate has consequently declined. Then, a murder occurs within the precinct’s jurisdiction. Sugiyama strives to juggle child raising, housework and the investigation. However, he can hardly do so as he ends up late for a meeting because he has to send his children to nursery school. Unable to just watch without doing anything, his mother-in-law declares that she will take custody of the children. Sugiyama makes the decision to quit being a detective, but...

Set within a hospital, located on the outskirts of town, mysterious phenomenons occur in sequence around a nurse. The nurse is suspected as the cause for some horrible cases and finds herself in danger.

5.9/10

The story is set against the beautiful scenery of Yamakoshi, Niigata, which is also known for bullfighting. Yanagiba plays a man named Satoshi who raises fighting bulls, while Kanjiya plays his deaf and mute daughter Mio. Osamu plays her fiance Maru, a charming young man from the lower part of town.

Kana Uemura's song "Toilet no Kamisama" turned into a 2-hour drama special on TBS. The song, which is nearly 10 minutes in length, tells of Uemura's relationship with her grandmother, from her childhood to her grandmother's death.

7/10

The story is based on the bestselling autobiography of 25-year-old Rie Saito, who became a number-one hostess in Ginza despite being deaf. "Hitsudan Hostess" was published by Kobunsha this past May, and so far it has sold roughly 115,000 copies. The book depicts the life of Saito, who was born in Aomori and became deaf at the age of 1 due to an illness. She rebelled against her strict parents, and she ran away from home several times as a youth. At a local club, she began taking an interest in "hitsudan" (communicating through writing), which she later made use of when she moved to Tokyo and became a popular hostess at a Ginza club. --Tokyograph

6.8/10