Acting
Rakugo has the image of a humorous story, but it is also a treasure trove of “scary stories”. Among them, this work boldly arranges a performance in which "human fear" stands out, and does it in an omnibus format. There are four rakugo plays that will be drawn as a drama this time: "Kokoro", "Tatsumi's Tsuji Zou", "Konya Takao", and "Miyatogawa (upper / lower)".
In the end of Meiji era, Takei Chiyo was born in a poor family in Osaka, and was sent to a theatre tea room as a servant when she was 9 years old. There, she was attracted by the world of theatre comedy. She grows up to be an actor and marries to Amami Ippei , but the war broke out and she was forced to stay away from acting for a while. However, when she comes back again, her acting in a radio drama impresses many people and makes herself one of the leading actors in western Japan.
Mita Sakura is considered to be weird by her colleagues at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, because she voluntarily works in the unidentified bodies department. About 20,000 unidentified bodies exist in the country and Mita Sakura works on returning these unknown deceased people to their families. She has a colleague, Tsukimoto Makoto, who works in the same department. They are totally opposite in terms of their personalities and interests. Mita Sakura is bright and warm-hearted, but Tsukimoto Makoto is calm and cold-hearted. They do share the same desire to return these unidentified bodies to their families. To find the identities of these deceased people, they rely on the few clues that are left behind on them.
Sakuragi Miyabi is a high school student in Aomori. She lives with her lawyer grandfather and receives special education from him in the field of law. Sakuragi Miyabi soon becomes the youngest person to pass the bar exam on their first try. A decision is then made to send Sakuragi Miyabi to her grandmother in Tokyo, who works as a director of a law office. Sakuragi Miyabi begins to work as an apprentice lawyer at her grandmother’s law office. Despite her position, she still has the mindset of a teenager and sometimes has disagreements with senior lawyers. Meanwhile, Sakuragi Miyabi begins classes at her new high school in Tokyo. She hides her lawyer job from people at her high school, but she eventually begins to give counseling at her school on law matters.
After being possessed by the ghost of vengeful hitman Kudo, college student Fumika Matsuoka agrees to help him finish his quest for revenge from beyond the grave.
Masaya Kotani is an associate professor at a university who has led an unremarkable life. One day, however, he has a series of chance encounters with Reiko Nonoyama, a woman who attends the university where Masaya works, and they become interested in each other. They say a miracle happens when coincidences happen three times in a row. Masaya tries to keep his distance from Reiko, but is drawn in by her natural charm, and falls deeper and deeper into the swamp of love…
Lawyer Sena Koyama, a realist disillusioned by love, teams up with idealistic newcomer Yu Matohara, who believes in love and sincerity. Despite their clashing views, the two grow closer as they navigate love-related cases and debates in court.
Women's self-esteem saves the society! Ms. Shirakawa, a beautiful woman with strong mentality, repels stresses that afflicts women, such as prejudice, harassment, and dominance.
Igarashi Raito (Tsuna Keito), a municipal worker for 10 years, has lived a stable life under constant pressure to avoid making mistakes in a society where a misstep could trigger a public backlash. One day, a man claiming to be Raito himself and saying he has come from the future, suddenly appears. The man predicts events in Raito’s future one after another―his dreams, work, friendships, relationships, marriage, and family. Raito’s stable daily life begins to waver under the influence of the man’s bold behavior and different values.
When a young student shows signs of trauma, his parents act swiftly against his middle school teacher. But all may not be as it seems, leading the scales of justice to tip in fascinating, heartbreaking ways.
Director Yoshiyuki Kishi and screenwriter Takehito Minato—the team behind acclaimed boxing epic Wilderness—reunite to adapt Ryo Asai's prize-winning novel. A sensitive drama about the aberrant in a society without regard for diversity, the story unites characters trying to hide abnormalities: a prosecutor who is worried that his pubescent son is a shut-in, an introverted saleswoman with a peculiar habit, and a student tortured by feelings she can’t express. In a world fill with abnormalities, what if it’s actually normal to be abnormal?
