Meiken Itô

Hiroto Miyama is an unconventional young lawyer who dances to his own tune and gets a little obsessive. For one thing, he’s only interested in criminal cases, and he will never give up in his pursuit of the truth even if offers only a 0.1% chance of being discovered. Japan’s 99.9% criminal case conviction rate leads the world, attesting to a “highly reliable” judicial system. In other words, once a crime suspect is indicted, prosecutor arguments tend to be accepted hook, line and sinker. In the face of those 99.9% odds, there’s no money in being a defense lawyer specializing in criminal cases, but for Miyama, that’s where the interest and kernels of truth lie. From unexpected places, the mold-breaking Miyama stakes his reputation on a prayer of a chance as he clashes with hotshot lawyers who’ll go to any lengths to win in this gloriously fun, legal mystery.

Based on the comedy manga by Abe Shuji, "Elite Yankee Saburo" tells the story of Ookochi Saburo (Ishiguro Hideo), a plain and shy boy entering high school. Unfortunately for him, his two older brothers had built a reputation as legendary troublemakers at that school. When Saburo arrives, he is immediately misunderstood and treated as an "elite yankee."

When a private eye, a jilted bride and a mysterious stranger join forces to track down an elusive mobster, there's more than trouble in the air.

Tucked away in the darkest depths of this world, tales of the bizarre and the supernatural quietly unfold. These inexplicable stories are chronicled throughout the pages of a certain strange encyclopedia, sheltered within a crumbling, decrepit building. Do you dare to open its cover and experience the horrors firsthand? Each of the macabre tales held within the book's pages details some unusual, surreal experiences that often come to a gruesome end. A man searches for his adulterous wife, only to find himself at the mercy of otherworldly visitors; a boy befriends a snowman who harbors a sinister secret; crop circles suddenly form on a family farm, created by some unexpected visitors; hidden in plain sight, menacing mechanical beings continue on undetected. In all of these horrifying stories, nothing is as simple as it seems, revealing a terrifying darkness that perhaps might have been best left alone.

An overweight cook is given the opportunity to woo the girl of his dreams when he is given a "handsome suit" that transforms him into an idealized human being in this absurd Japanese comedy.

When radicals from Japan's Red Army took a woman hostage in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano in 1972, Officer Atsuyuki Sassa was put in charge of diffusing the situation. But the task had its challenges. Upon arriving in mountainous Nagano, Sassa had to compete with freezing winter temperatures, conflicting opinions between the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Nagano Prefectural Police, as well as public opinion to gain entrance to the lodge that held the single woman captive.

Katagiri, a highly ambitious young detective, teams up with older detective Takiguchi, who is about to retire, to investigate a murder that took place by Sumida River. Katagiri is annoyed by Takiguchi's pushiness, but is surprised to hear that the victim was a suspect in the 300 million yen robbery.

A cop chasing after a female cop killer, but then gets caught in a dark web of departmental corruption.

Based on a true story, "Sunshine Ahead" tells the story of environmentalist Koji Kinjo & his wife who embarks on a ambitious plan to create coral reefs in the sea. Although it takes the couple 10 years to finally succeed, they are able to persevere and become the first persons to ever spawn coral reefs.

Hyogen Sawayaka's best sketches