Jun Matsumoto
The show is based on the "Jiu" suspense novel series by Honda Tetsuya. Motoko (Kuroki) is a fierce, physically capable investigator with a strong battle instinct, while Misaki (Tabe) is more intellectual, kind-hearted, and naive. The two of them are both working to track down Jiu, the ringleader responsible for a series of brutal crimes.
Hibiki (Hiroki Aiba) is a genius dancer and leader. Serlin is a patissier and the son of a priest. Kotocchi is a Japanese harp fortune teller. One day at the unusual cafe where these three work at, Gaku joins them to realize his dream. Which is to become a patssier who can make others happy. Four popular young actors unite for this production.
A son quits his job and is persuaded by his father to head off to a cottage in the remote mountains. Together, the two of them manage to get through their days while wearing old jerseys left by a deceased grandmother. The following summer, the two once again leave the stifling heat of Tokyo, as if escaping to the mountain cottage. However, the next summer is very different...
Thirteen years afterward, I wonder if those who bombed Hiroshima are looking at me and saying: 'We did it! We were able to kill another person!' They should be," murmurs Minami (played by Kumiko Aso), one of the two leading female characters in Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni, as she lies dying in 1958, her life brought to a premature end by sickness resulting from her exposure to atomic bomb radiation. This is a story about those who at least initially survived the first U.S. atomic bombing of 1945 and their descendants in contemporary times. The film, based on a comic by Fumiyo Kono, jumps between the two time frames and quietly depicts the sorrow and mortification experienced through the everyday lives of laid-back and soft-spoken Hiroshima people. Only a few scenes of the bombing and the ensuing devastation are featured.
Sakiko, works independently at a travel agent in Tokyo. She was raised by her mother, Tatsuko, is hospitalized, Sakiko returns to her hometown Tokushima on Shikoku. The town is famous for its annual Awa Dance Festival. She is told by doctor, Terasawa Daisuke, that her mother has terminal cancer.
Toraji is a stereo-typical yakuza who is hoping to become a rakugo (comic) storyteller. Ryuji is a designer who has terrible taste, but owns a fashion shop in Ura-Harajuku, a shopping district famous for its avant-garde clothing. The story develops around the relationships Toraji and Ryuji have with the offbeat and comical characters around them. This fast-paced comedy is a collection of one-off stories which blends the modern and traditional by basing each episode on a classic rakugo storyline.
Ryoko Itakura returns as the government tax agent willing to tackle the toughest cases. This time she takes on a fanatical but lucrative religious cult run by a vile lecher.
