19 Banme no Karte~The 19th Medical Chart

 As someone who has gone through their share of various physical problems only to be told by the Docs that they are merely due to age and stress, though you feel in your bones that they are something more, I instantly took to the premise of the new drama “19 Banme no Karte~The 19th Medical Chart” to heart, where patients of a fast-moving hospital are quickly (and generically) diagnosed so as to “move them along”, sometimes dangerously detrimental so, until a new Doctor arrives with a new mindset to shake up the old ways, prioritizing time and understanding in order to best serve the patients.

Fuka Koshiba plays Mizuki Takino, a doctor specializing in orthopedics in the hospital, who is frustrated at the limited amount of time she can give each patient as well as the fact that once the patient’s problem moves out of her specific field, she no longer can faithfully look over them or make judgement over their follow up care.

Enter a quirky young man named Akira Tokushige (Jun Matsumoto), a plain and unassuming fellow who is content to look over the hospital’s various goings-on and the methods they use to get their snap diagnoses, and realizes that with every doctor only focused on their specific area of expertise, sometimes the true malady can go undetected.

While looking over Dr. Takino helping an elderly patient in for a broken ankle, Tokushima observes things about the patient that she doesn’t immediately identify, and after asking the patient about his information regarding his lifestyle, job, and the way he injured his ankle, has him properly operated on for a much larger overarching malady.

 Turns out this Dr. Tokushige is the newest Physician in the building, the head of a brand new department of General Medicine, where his role will be looking over the various problems of the patients, make a clear and concise diagnosis, and, with the help of the other specialists in the Hospital, prepare what is best for the patients.

Humbled, amazed, and inspired, Mizuki confronts him, asking how he knows so much about diseases and afflictions that he can make such detailed determinations, and if there is a way to become like him, a super- doctor who can save every single patient he sees! He gently tells her that there is no one who can cure all, not even him, but she nonetheless sees in him something to aspire to.

 Mizuki aside,  Doctor Tokushige’s unorthodox way of spending so much time with each patient case and his way of involving himself in their diagnoses and patients makes him somewhat of an outcast among the other doctors, who feel they have no need for outside advice!!!

Kimura Yoshino

Taiiku Okazaki

First Summer Uika

Hiroya Shimizu

Tsuda Kanji

Below: Patient Kuroiwa (RiisaNaka) is in constant pain but, despite having seen many doctors, is told that the malady is either due to stress or simply in her mind! With Takino's advice, she takes her in to see Dr. Tokushige.

He sits her down and talks through her past medical history, her current job and routines, and when the pain began. And though he cannot immediately give her an answer to her problems, he is at least listening with his full attention and resolve to see things through. 

It's all one can ask in a doctor, and with his help, they find a way to identify her malady, discuss treatment, and get her back to living!

It will take time, but as time goes on, hopefully every naysayer in the hospital will see that this Doctor’s heart is in the right place, and his plans of having all the doctors working together, sharing knowledge and skills is the real way to go…all while chasing that elusive dream of a Physician who can save everyone.

That was quite a first episode! As some of you know, I only initially downloaded this for Fuka Koshiba, and was kind of disappointed that she had what I call those “reactionary” roles, i.e. a secondary character whose main presence is to look on in awe for every stunt the main characters does, and while there IS some of that, I somehow really liked the show!

I mentioned before in my post about RADIATION HOUSE that I do not necessarily like Doctor Dramas as a whole (too many predictable and irritating cliches) but I’m a sucker for those dramas like that doctor in the Jack Nicholson film “As Good As It Gets”, where Helen Hunt has been taking her boy to one bad doc after another without change and is finally given a good one (played wonderfully by Harold Ramis!)...“ Look, whatever I find, I promise you, at the very least, from now on your son is going to feel a great deal better, okay? ” he assures her, and Helen Hunt melts with gratitude. THAT’s the kind of Doctor shows I LOVE, and 19 Banme no Karte seems to be shaping up nicely!!!

Looking forward to seeing more!

Secret Makeover~ "Maruhi no Mitsuko-San"

Haruka Fukuhara as the titular Mitsuko

 Just caught the first episode of the highly entertaining “Maruhi no Mitsuko-san”, the tale of an almost magical (think Mary Poppins) woman named Mitsuko Motomiya who specializes in the most extreme of makeovers!

Our Story: Yasuko Matsuyuki is Natsu Imai, a meek and unassuming caretaking tending to a business tycoon named Kenichi Kujo (Satoshi Jinbo) who was hurt in a fire.
His wife and children are all waiting for him to die on so they can inherit the business for their own selfish whims, and so none are particularly surprised when Kenichi mysteriously passes away.

They say Kenichi died due to his fire injuries, but caretaker Natsu swears he was getting better every day. Nonetheless, she is the only one grieving at his passing, seemingly the only one who cared about him at the end…and nothing proves this more when, at the reading of the will, she is the one to inherit the entirety of the company’s shares!
Mother Miki (Makiko Watanabe), son Haruto (Shuhei Uesugi), daughter Reika (Sara Shida) and Matriarch Isuzu (Rumiko Koyanagi) are all up in arms over the situation but feel they can easily manipulate the naive and easily bullied Imai into turning over the shares…enter Mitsuko Motomiya!

The mysterious Mitsuko arrives at the Imai household on the evening after Kujo’s will-reading, and though Imai’s children Tomo (Hiroya Shimizu) and Aya (Sakura Kiryu) are wary of this suspicious woman, Motomiya shows credentials showing she was hired by the recently departed Kujo to help Imai in her time of need.

It seems that while he was still alive, Kujo had intended to use his business and influence to build a city that focused on family care and closeness, and, with his future in question, had used his will to place his dreams on the only one who seemed to understand him-Natsu Imai.

The next day Natsu is summoned to the Kujo mansion where the unscrupulous family clearly intend to bilk her out of her inheritance by taking advantage of her naivety and trusting nature.

But they had not reckoned on Motomiya being there!

With a cool understanding of what's at stake and the game they're playing, Motomiya shuts down the proceedings and suggests they withdraw for the time being so everyone can have time to reevaluate their choices. The family's plans have been thwarted!

The shy and mousey Natsu cannot comprehend this ruthless world of business politics, but Motomiya assures her that she has the strength within her to push back if she really wants it. Does she want to take up the fight against the cruel family and create the dream Kujo dreamed of, or give in and let them have their way?

In the end, the decision comes down to Imai herself and she finally decides that YES, she wants to try, and with that a deal is made and Motomiya prepares an extreme makeover that will change her for good!

With seemingly magical flourishes, Mitsuko transforms the dull and drab Natsu into a vibrant, svelte looking business-woman, one whom looks ready to stand up to the power of the Kujo family and cut through their twisted desires and all their tricks.

On the day the company is about to choose its next President, the vote is interrupted by a new challenger- Natsu Imai herself! With a shaky but newfound resolve, she nominates herself as the next potential candidate for company president...while the family gawks in surprise! Is THIS the mousey caretaker they once knew?

Whether or not she can ultimately succeed is yet to be seen, but with the backing of the smart and savvy Mitsuko Motomiya behind her, it seems there's nothing she won't be able accomplish!

Mitsuko Motomiya is an enigma all her own. Positive, upbeat and completely in control of the situation, on her own, we see a different side of the peppy and spritely girl…one of bitter coldness and cutthroat methods of getting what she wants.

Where does this woman ACTUALLY come from, and what is her REAL agenda??? Only time will tell!!

WELL, this is a new kind of role for Haruka Fukuhara, for SURE! Someone always bubbling with sweetness, even when she is playing a character who becomes a betrayer (like in Hoshi Kara Kita Anata), she still conveyed cuteness, her role as Mitsuko Motomiya, however, is truly creepy even when she is smiling sweetly, you KNOW she's got some other motive in mind!

 Should be an interesting show!