Explore TV Series

BEGIN Japanology invites you into the world of Japanese culture, both traditional and modern, explaining how traditions evolved and the part they still play today in people's everyday lives.

The 37th NHK Taiga Drama is Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The series focuses on the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and final ruler of the Tokugawa period. Born the seventh son of Lord Nariaki of Mito, Yoshinobu is named shogun when he is just 29 years old. With a wisdom and vision beyond his years, he tries to prolong the life of this 200-year-old dynasty which began with Ieyasu. However, he is unable to forestall the winds of revolution as clans in Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, with the help of the Imperial Court, clamor for change.

Phantoms, monstrous beings born out of the hopelessness and despair of humans, have been appearing and causing chaos. Battle mage Haruto Soma, uses the magical Wizard rings to turn into Kamen Rider Wizard and fight to protect the light of hope. Why did he undertake this fate? And what is the Phantoms' goal?

As Haru emigrates from Japan with her family to the coffee plantations in Brazil, Natsu is left behind in the care of spiteful relatives. Losing all contact, each must make her own way in an unforgiving world. Hardships abound in the struggle to survive in war-torn Japan and in the face of anti-Japanese sentiment in Brazil, financial ruin, familial pressure, abandonment and lost love. However they also experience the precious joy of survival and success. Now, after 70 years, Haru comes back to Japan to find her estranged sister.

Set in Japan several centuries back. It depicts the struggles of three historical warriors, Dosan Saito, Nobunaga Oda and Mitsuhide Akechi.

Three computer-savvy kids, Naoto, Yuka and Ippei created their own videogame superhero, but then discover it possessed by an inter-dimensional police officer, Gridman. Pursuing an evil program called Kahn Digifer, he merges with Naoto and fights Kahn Digifer's digitized monsters in order to prevent the computerized demon from wreaking havoc on the Human World.

A major newspaper has informally decided to employ a female university student. However, shock ripples within the newspaper because of a weekly magazine’s scoop that she is the daughter of the criminal in a serious case. This was the kidnapping of a newborn baby at a big hospital 20 years ago. The criminal demanded a ransom from the director of the hospital instead of the parents. But after the criminal had the large sum of money in hand, he died in an accident while being pursued by the police. The baby was never found. Kaji Hidekazu, a former hotshot journalist who has become deadwood in the wake of an incident, is ordered by the newspaper to re-investigate the kidnapping case. He finds out the shocking, tragic truth which had been kept under wraps.

Taira Kei has a talent for contemporary dance since he was young and went to study in Germany to join a dance company in his teens. He has won several international competitions and was referred to as a “prodigy”. However, he encountered a setback in the middle and got frustrated. He returned to Tokyo and takes a part-time work while he tries to re-capture his dream. Nishihara Yui is a Chemisty teacher in her 30s, working at a prestigious high school. Even while continuing a love affair with a married colleague, she was still lonely until she meets Kei and gets swallowed in passion.

Crange Game Girls follows the adventures of three girls who save the world by playing Crane Games.

Moriyama plays a temp worker who has never had any luck with women. One day, he suddenly starts getting invitations from several beautiful women, and he finds himself confused about how to deal with this new experience of having a "moteki" (a period when one is very popular and attractive to others).

Choshichiro Nagayori Matsudaira is the son of Tadanaga Tokugawa, which makes him a nephew of the Shogun. Tadanaga died as a result of an alleged plot to overthrow his elder brother, the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. Because of Choshichiro’s complicated background, he lives among the commoners in the shogunal capital city of Edo, punishing the evil when he sees wrongdoings and injustice.

Based on a manga with the same name created by Aida Natsumi, 'Switch Girl!!' revolves around a high school student named Nika who appears to be a stylish and fashionable girl at school, but that's really a fake persona that she uses when she's in public. At home, she “switches off” the facade and her returns to her true slovenly nature. Kiriyama Renn plays the good-looking transfer student Arata, who is Nika's love interest in the story.

The eleventh entry in the Toei Fushigi Comedy Series. Yuko Murikami stops by a shrine to pray for the new school year. Yuko accidentally breaks the bell and drops it on top of a turtle's head. Because she is the only person that stopped by the shrine in a long time, he grants her the power to become a superheroine, based on another ancient deity. It is her job to protect her neighborhood from the threats it faces. By yelling "Cosmo Magic! Métamorphose!!", she transforms into the Masked Beauty Poitrine!

Madoka Wakatsuki, a 26-year-old resident, strives to find happiness while navigating the challenges of being both a doctor and a woman in the medical field.

Blue Blink is a fantasy adventure anime series created by Osamu Tezuka. The anime is based from classic film Konjok-gorbunok by Ivan Ivanov-Vano. The film in turn is based from Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov's The Little Humpbacked Horse. This was Tezuka's last anime series. Osamu Tezuka died while this series was in production. The studio completed the production according to his plans. The show is currently streaming at Anime Sols, but will soon be removed, because it did not meet its goal of crowd-funding the for DVD. It is alternately available for legal streaming at Viki.com.

Two people, sake and gourmet. Yoshioka (Asaka), who is stressed by work, reunites with Keiko (Nakamura), a longed-for senior, because of his work in the “U-shaped bar” with a U-shaped counter.

Kaede (Nozomi Sasaki), Kaoru (Natsuna Watanabe), Michiru (Shoko Nakagawa) and Emi (Eri Tokunaga) are childhood friends. The four women meet again on Emi's wedding day. But on that day, the company Kaede works for goes bankrupt and her boyfriend dumps her. She is about to turn 30-years-old. Kaede decides to follow her childhood dream and become a baker. She gets a job at bakery, but making bread is not easy and the senior baker is strict. Meanwhile, Kaoru work at a luxurious massage salon. Michiru makes handbags, but she is poor. Emi is experiencing newlywed life. What will tomorrow hold for these women?

Tekkaman: The Space Knight is an anime produced by Tatsunoko Productions in 1975. A short-lived English adaptation aired in the US in 1984. Two decades later, it was followed by the much more popular Tekkaman Blade, which was dubbed in the U.S. by Saban as Teknoman. The original series is currently streaming in North America via Yomiura Group's planned Anime Sols video service, as of spring 2013. However, due to the failure to successfully crowd-fund it for DVD, the show will soon be removed from the site, with the possibility of considering a crowd-funding opportunity in the future.

The year is 1947, August. Ono Junko's family is being evacuated to Wakayama and the father is going to war. A few years later, the father has returned from Manchuria but he also brought a boy that had been abandoned by his mother. The boy is Yuta and the family will adopt him.

The story takes place during the Muromachi period of Ancient Japan, in the midst of the Ōnin War. The main character in the series is Tomiko Hino, a historical figure with a bad reputation because of her actions to rebuild Kyoto after the Ōnin War.

A high-school girl Itō, captivated by women's bicycle racing “Girls Keirin,” enters a training school and has a fateful encounter with Hiratsuka, who becomes both their lifelong rival and close friend. They practice and compete together, to realize their dream, to win the top title of Keirin athlete, “Girls' Fresh Queens”!

Etsuko Kono is a 28-year-old woman who loves fashion. Aspiring to become a fashion editor, she joins a publishing company, but is sent to work in copy editing. There, her job is to correct errors and inadequate parts of documents and copies.

Kozue Ogawa is a housewife and has been married to Hideo for seven years. They don't have any children, but as they live with her parents at their flower shop, every day is still lively. She is happy with her life and her husband, but she wonders if it is enough. From time to time, she is gripped by this doubt that she cannot raise with anyone. Kozue starts a part-time job in the editing department of the magazine where she used to work. Her former colleague is now working hard as the editor-in-chief. One rainy day, Kozue meets a young man. He is Takuma Fukazawa, a high school student. He seems somehow shrouded in sadness. He is a dance teacher. In the dance studio, there is just the two of them. Takuma curls his hands around Kozue's body, and his dance instruction begins. Their unexpected closeness causes Kozue to hesitate. With her heart pounding, she pushes Takuma's hands away and runs home. But the throbbing in her chest continues. It can't be. But what is this feeling?

Three teenagers attempt to commit suicide and fail. When they wake up in the hospital, they learn they have acquired mysterious superpowers. These abilities are usually passed down through generations of heroes, and are something that only allies of justice can possess… But the directionless trio, who feel there is no place for them in this world, choose to use these powers for evil in order to destroy the world.

A clumsy romantic, an aloof teacher and a troubled teen cross paths, forming an unlikely household in this offbeat comedy about love and belonging.

Betrayed by her own organization, Chloe flees her life as a spy and starts over under the new identity of Victoria in the Kingdom of Ashberry. Victoria wants a simple civilian life, but the locals have other plans, becoming enmeshed with an abandoned girl and a knight. As the trio bonds and Victoria’s past catches up to her, the skills she perfected as a spy prove useful in her new life.

Acrobunch was an anime series aired in 1982. There were 24 episodes. It is also referred to as "Demon Region Legendary Acrobunch", "'Demon Regions Legend Acrobunch", "'Ruins Legend Acrobunch", "'Acrobanch".

The timeless heart of Japan's ancient capital. Against its rich backdrop of culture and tradition, today's Kyoto continues to innovate and inspire.

Space Warrior Baldios is a Japanese super robot mecha anime series from 1980.

Between grief, school woes and family chaos, self-conscious teen and budding writer Nanami copes the only way she knows — with laughter and tears.

Sailor Zombie was a TV-Tokyo Drama which featured members of AKB48 in its main casts, some of their guests are also from AKB48. It's title theme song Sailor Zombie was sung by the sub-unit Milk Planet who are also in the Drama as narrators.

Welcome to Kindergarten Noir, an exclusive school catering to children of the global elite. Rita, one of the teachers, has been on the hunt for a boyfriend but has had absolutely zero luck so far. One day, an assassin comes after one of the children...and he’s totally dreamy?! Dive into this action-packed rom-com as it unfolds inside the world’s “safest” kindergarten!

Okometsubu Fujiyama has recently transferred over to a new school, Wakame High School. His goal is to make 100 friends--until he meets the extremely wierd Masaru Hananakajima. Masaru is a martial artist whose specialty is the "Sexy Commando" form of martial art. Masaru forms a club based on this art, including Fujiyama, who he nicknames Fuumin, in the club. The club becomes full of strange, yet wacky people. Aliens, moustaches, and cute fuzzy animals are encountered as the club moves along and gets steadily more popular.

The misadventures of 11-year old boy named Shota Sato and the often perverted situations he gets into with his female classmates.

Determined to become King of the Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy leads his Straw Hat crew across treacherous seas in search of the legendary One Piece while facing ruthless rivals, powerful enemies, and countless dangers along the way.

"The Complex-Prologue" is a spin-off of horror movie "The Complex". A young boy named Minoru becomes involved in a mysterious phenomenon and horror experience.

The story revolves around Nekoyama Suzu, a timid, shy tsundere girl loves dogs, and Inugami Yachiyo, a super masochistic, air-headed, friendly girl who loves cats. One day, after a fateful meeting, the two find themselves attracted to each other. In response to Inugami's instinctive approaches, Nekoyama is always bashful. Their friend Aki has to work hard to make jabs at some of the situations of the two, and also to stop Inugami from going berserk.

After discovering technology that transforms him into the hero Kamen Rider Fourze, high school student Gentaro Kisaragi forms a special club called the "Kamen Rider Club" to combat the evil forces infiltrating their school, and along the way, makes friends with everyone he meets.

Destiny takes an unpredicatable turn when Mix Juice, the unknown girl group, teams up with Dr. Susomo Tsukumo, a genius scientist, to become the first band on the moon.

Koushi is in high school, oblivious to the marriage arranged for him at his birth. Enter Momoko Kuzuryuu: airhead martial artist and Koushi's self-proclaimed bride. Her wish for sexual intercourse meets with Koushi's square refusal as he has absolutely no desire to get it on with someone who looks like she could be his little sister, not to mention that he doesn't have the foggiest idea who she actually is. Meanwhile, a war has broken out between the martial arts families. For Koushi, this means that numerous fighters are out to challenge/assassinate him.

Papuwa-kun is a young boy living a quiet life with his dog, Chappy, on a small island located somewhere in South Pacific, when Shintarou, who is being pursued by gangsters, invades their happy existence. Chappi takes Shintarou's precious Jewel, thereby making the two main characters lifelong rivals. Together they experience a series of bizarre adventures and situations.

Ataru Aida lives with his mother and has never moved out of his childhood room. A clean freak since he was a little boy, Ataru hates to go out and is cynical and seriously lacking in communication skills. He was having a blast with his work-from-home situation brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic when, one fateful day, he is fired for having an attitude problem.

Behind the frail, hapless and nerdy Kagemori's thick glasses and unkempt hair lies a master in the ways of the ninja, he secretly watches over and is in service to his “neighbors”, the Konnyaku family, who have been under his family's protection for the past 400 years! Yuuna, the young daughter of the Konnyaku family is Mamoru's responsibility and has been since they were both in kindergarten. Luckily for Yuuna, whenever she finds herself in trouble, her secret savior is never too far away!

This is the story of a young mother, Kitayama Nazuna, and her son Taiyo from Ohma, a small town at the tip of a peninsula in Aomori. Taiyo's father, Murai Kento had aspirations to be a professional boxer but due to a detached retina he was forced to abandon his dream. Leaving Nazuna behind, he left for America, with another woman, to get treatment for his eye-problem, unaware that Nazuna was pregnant. As his life is boxing he quickly returns to the ring after the operation turns out to be successful and once again he dreams of becoming a professional boxer. However, success eludes him and he returns home to Japan. Nazuna meanwhile has given birth to her son and moved to Tokyo to search for Kento. By chance she finds Kento. When discovers he has become a father, he tries to make up for lost time. The show picks up their story as Nazuna, Taiyo and Kento begin family life together. Of course things are not as simple as they appear.

Themis is known as the goddess of law and order in Greek mythology. This story takes place at a law school where students aspire to become judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. Hiiragi Shizuku, who is both a judge and a law teacher, is confronted with the reality of the law school, where the teachers are only interested in teaching students how to pass the bar exam. With her belief that "one cannot become a good lawyer if you do not know people", Shizuku decides to create a new trend in the law school by teaching the students how to learn more about "people", which is something that cannot be learned from textbooks.

Machine Robo Rescue was a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise and the most recent Machine Robo series to date. A total of 53 episodes and a two-episode special were aired on TV Tokyo from January 8, 2003 to January 3, 2004. The series was inspired by the Machine Robo toyline from Bandai.

Haru Tezuka's parents run a bar in Kamata, Tokyo. She is honest and bright, but she can't lie which sometimes causes her to get in trouble. Haru finds it difficult to get a job. Haru then notices an application guideline from airline company ANA (All Nippon Airways). Haru, who never thought of working in the airline industry, decides to take a test for the airline company. She first attends a company presentation by ANA. There, she sees elite persons who have dreamed of becoming pilots for lengthy periods of time and airplane enthusiasts. She becomes overwhelmed by them. Haru is indecisive about whether she wants to go through with it, but she manages to barely pass her test. Now, Haru wants to become a pilot, but what awaits for her is harsh training.

A woman loses herself by playing the "perfect girlfriend," cooking elaborate meals for her partner, while her old-fashioned boyfriend assumes women should cook. After a smooth college romance and cohabitation, they break up right after his proposal. Through cooking, they rethink stereotypes and rebuild their love in this rom-com.

The setting is a world where people drive sentient vehicles that are hybrids between guinea pigs and cars – "Molcars"! Molcars have round eyes, big soft butts, and short arms and legs as they trot along. They run around with a silly look on their face, and even when you're stuck in traffic, you can be put at ease just by gazing at the guinea pig butt in front of you! Even if they cause a bit of trouble, it's easy to forgive them because they're so cute and fluffy! This is an animation focusing on various situations unique to cars, full of satisfaction, friendship, adventure, crazy action, and tons of guinea pigs!

Taking place in the future, during this time wars were occuring in heaven, mostly for possession between the eight moons created by the savior Fuse that surrounded God's land. When the war ended, there was only one ruling family - that of the Oowaris, and the remaining son gained control of all the moons of heaven, except for one. Meiten, the moon of the pope, where people refrained from war and were therefore out of it's terms. Eight people. Each from one of the eight moons. Each possessing one of the jewels - the elements that compose Earth. They are those who are destined to become saviors of humanity. All of them have sacrificed for these jewels, and are determined to complete their duty to Queen Fuse who entrusted these to them. When the mad emperor Kai threatens to revive a ghost who wants to prevent the restoration of Earth, these eight must battle using the powers given by their jewels in order to create Earth and defeat those who want to prevent it.

Amane Kaoru lives a night life, not because she wishes so, but because she is infected with the xeroderma pigmentosum virus. This virus defects the ability to repair damage caused by the sun's rays. Although she cannot expose her body to the sunlight, she dreams of becoming a singer, even if remaining positive has been ruined many times due to her illness. One night, playing outside, she meets Fujishiro Kouji, who has lost his job and hope, and becomes someone who reminds him of his long forgotten music passion.

Shuichi, the lead vocalist of Bad Luck, struggles with writing the lyrics of a new song due to Yuki becoming distant in their relationship.

Ryuga Dogai faces a new challenge when confronted by another warrior in strange steel armor.

"Newlyweds" Keiichi and Akira Hirose have moved to a new city. Keiichi, who works as an author, and Akira, who works with kindergartners, are hiding a big secret from the people around them.

Ayano, an elementary school teacher in her thirties, stops by a bar one day and meets another woman named Akari. Sparks fly as the two chat, and before the night is over, Ayano even goes in for a kiss. Akari is intrigued but confused…especially when she discovers that Ayano has a husband! Both Ayano and Akari are about to find out that love doesn't get any easier, even as you grow older.

A shy high school girl gradually realizes her first love for a quiet classmate after a chance train encounter, navigating confusing emotions and friend advice before nervously confessing her feelings with an uncertain outcome.

MegaTokyo 2034: Beauty is only skin deep, but when you can’t see beneath the skin, how can you know what you’re really dealing with? In a world where perfect androids called Boomers have infiltrated every aspect of society, it’s the job of Branch to maintain peace between the people and the plastic. Unfortunately, not all boomers are created perfect, and when boomers go bad, people die. The thin blue line that separates man from machine is about to meet its most horrifying test.