Satoko Ôshima

Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.

Yū Amagi is a slightly eccentric detective who has been assigned to the Twelfth Section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigative Division from the Lost and Found Centre. The Twelfth Section is called the "graveyard of detectives" and ridiculed as the "banishment room where hardened detectives who cannot be fired are sent." Its assembled detectives Kōsuke Samura, Takumi Yamashita, Keita Nagasawa, Tamaki Mizuta, and Masatoshi Katagiri are elite and yet oddballs. Amagi appears fixated with time which seems to have no relation with a case. Raising questions about the timelines of the perpetrator and victim derived from the estimated time of death, time of crime, time of alibi, and time limit, he searches for the meaning of "blank time" which arises from this. He obsesses over the weight of every minute and second of time because of some incident.

Takako Mamiya is a lawyer who quits her job at a prestigious law firm and establishes her own office. She confidently sets out to build her business, but soon her former firm is putting up obstacles and interfering, causing Takako's employees and clients to drift away. She finally puts together a new staff consisting of a college student who knows little about the law, a girl who applied for the job in hopes of meeting a rich guy, a hard-nosed lawyer, and a paralegal who hasn't passed the bar exam yet. Takako reluctantly handles divorce cases with her incompetent crew. For an elite lawyer like her, divorce cases are the most boring and unrewarding cases that exist. Through clashing with her employees and clients, Takako soon becomes a very mature and tough lawyer. "Divorce Lawyer" also tells the story of how difficult it is to judge love and relationships in legal terms.

Fujisaki Aya is a young college student whose family is 150 million yen in debt after her father's corporation went bankrupt. To earn the money, she enters the Hostess Grand Prix.

Ieji Hisashi, a salaryman who works for a securities company, has a fuzzy memory of the recent five years because of an accident at his job posting. His wife of five years, Megumi and their 4-year-old son seem to wear masks. He can neither tell their facial expressions nor their emotions. He also struggles about his love for them. On the other hand, Ieji feels an attachment to his ex-wife, whom he divorced five years ago, and their daughter. What sort of days did he have in those five years which are a blank to him? Ieji sets out on a journey to find his past self with a mysterious bunch of 10 keys that he has. He becomes aware that he was a cold, career-minded man before the accident, and the persona that is gradually revealed is beyond the imagination of his present kindhearted self.

The main character provides a highly unusual service by offering his companionship in exchange for the humble fee of covered transportation costs and payment of his food and beverage tab. Joining others to file legal papers, enjoy a denied icy treat, or to ride a train’s entire loop just for the fun of it, are typical of the requests he takes on. He is blessed with a young son and an extremely supportive wife. Interestingly enough, this person who does nothing, save for answering the simplest of questions, manages to warm the hearts of the people he meets.

"I thought I might be using a lifetime's happiness in a moment. I was that happy and she was that beautiful." A young boy stands on the red earth of Australia under its blue sky. It is 17-year-old Sakutaro Matsumoto. His time with the girl comes back to him. The colored sand runs through his hands and a tear appears on his cheek. He wakes up. It's 2004 and he is 34 years old and in Japan. He thinks "I have been in a world without her for 17 years." Returning home to see his old high school for the last time before it is demolished, Saku confronts anew the loss of the love of his life, Aki, to leukemia 17 years ago. Now a medical researcher at graduate school, he has been living as if half of him died with her since then.

Kitajima Shinnosuke, a cowboy from the USA who goes to Shibuya to find a group of girls to dance Para-Para. Along the way, he becomes a new type of hero, helping to solve problems that afflict Shibuya-Gals.

Ask any nursery-aged little girl what she wants to be when she grows up, and she's bound to say nurse, florist, or ballerina. Ask any nursery-aged little boy what he wants to be when he grows up, and he's bound to say policeman, fireman, sports player, or pilot. As for 20-year-old young man Taiyo Suzuki, however, he's had different aspirations all his life. Moved by his elderly nursery school teacher, Taiyo decided then and there that he too, would also become one. Now, having passed the nursery school teacher examination, bright-eyed and eager Taiyo is out to make his mark in a totally female-dominated world.

A young woman whose life has been a breeze up to now suffers a disappointment in love which acts as the impetus for her to start working at a law firm, a completely new field to her. This love comedy depicts how the young woman, while struggling with love and with her work, comes to know what the real worth of a person as she strives to change into a can-do woman recognized by everyone. Reika Nanjo has the attractiveness of a polished diamond. She's been raised to believe that good looks and finely honed physical proportions are a woman's most important assets.

Shoko and Mutsuki get married to satisfy their worried parents, but she is well past the age at which a ‘good’ Japanese woman should marry, and he is in love with a young male college student.

Elementary schoolgirls find a puppy and decide to take care of it. Learning and giving lessons in supportive-ness, loyalty, and friendship.

Shinichi and Chikako Ohara have been married for 50 years. After Shinichi retired from his job, he has stayed at home, which Chikako stresses over. They are on the verge of having a divorce. Meanwihle, their daughter, Aya runs a food truck. She meets Ryota Kanno who is her customer. Ryota recently began working as a funeral undertaker and invites Aya to attend the Oshukatsu Fair. Aya also recommends to her mother Chikako to attend the Oshukatsu Fair. Chikako gets the latest information on preparing for death at the fair, but Shinichi doesn't like that. Their relationship gets even worse.