Dr. Asura おわり

Wakana Matsumoto in "Dr. Asura"

 The “Medical Drama with the Genius Surgeon” is surely one of Japan’s most enduring and popular tropes and follow such an unwavering formula that many episodes could be interchanges between shows with nary a hitch!

Despite their similarities, there are some medical dramas which strike me as mundane-and others which dazzle me and keep me on the edge of my seat, and I’ve concluded that it all comes down to the charisma and passion of the actor/actress/team who are are playing the lead role(s). It’s THEY who are responsible for my interest and involvement with the stories, and so it was with Wakana Matsumoto as the titular character and the terrific ensemble cast in the highly entertaining DR. ASURA, which kept the show as a “must see” for me this season!

From its first episode all the way to its very intriguing last, this drama kept me thoroughly entertained, holding my breath through its intense operating sequences and wiping away the tears during some of its more touching and inspiring passages!! 

Wakana Matsumoto has moved WAY up on my list of favorite actresses, and I'll definitely be keeping a lookout for what projects she decides to do next!!

Wakana Matsumoto is "Dr. Asura"

Generally speaking from my limited observations, J-drama medical series tend to fall into two camps: one where the show is more grounded in real-life (so to speak) where it’s mostly about gifted surgeons with a strong sense of doing what is right, (think shows like Radiation House, Fragile, Lady Davinci no Shindan, Unnatural, etc), and then there are the ones which feel more like sci/fi super-hero thrillers, with quirky physicians boasting almost superhuman medical abilities (Get Ready, Dr. White, even the charming Doctor Chocolate)...

And now we have the spirited “Dr. Asura” which seems to be mostly of the latter style, featuring the brooding Shura Anno (played with deadpan delivery by the svelte Wakana Matsumoto) who has an almost preternatural sense when it comes to the patients she sees in the Emergency Room of a struggling Hospital!

She can sense any malady a patient may have- simply by sight, smell and/or their actions and she even knows when a new admission is on its way even before the telephone can ring! And her skills in almost any field of surgery is unsurpassed- even performing TWO operations at ONCE!

Dealing with the injured at the scene of a horrific accident along with her newbie subordinate Yakushiji (Masaya Sano), they must think on their feet as they meet unexpected challenges...

Beautiful, calculated and always cool, in the end, the obsessed Dr. Asura and her team always gets the job done! But there is a dark past fueling Anno's determination, and the operating room victories are always bittersweet. Thanks are rarely given and indeed unwanted. The patient's well being  and recovery is her only desire.

As is natural for ALL Japanese medical dramas though, the real problems aren’t the emergencies that come their way or the complications the patients bring with them, but (of COURSE), those corrupt hospital heads, all crooked and up to (seemingly) no good, and it’s up to Asura Sensei to defy them all! 

Nagisa Katahira

Atsuro Watabe

Seiichi Tanabe (with Worst Haircut of the Season)

Yoshiyoshi Arakawa

Koyuki

Shiro Sano as the big bad hospital director Fudo

Checked this one out for the charismatic Wakana Matsumoto and she’s a real dream in the front seat of this drama- really like her character and despite the show’s many cliches, is somehow quite fun to sit back and watch! Watching Dr. Asura,  it almost seems like they’re setting this series up to be the next generation’s “Doctor X”! 

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Trouble in Paradise: “Sky Castle”

Compelling drama about a series of rich Physicians' Families living in the fantastic affluent gated community  SKY CASTLE, who will do anything to further their own successes in both work and for the educational future of their children, even if it resorts to cutthroat tactics!

There is the Asami Family, composed of Husband Hideyo (Seiichi Tanabe), surgeon at the hospital, obsessively-driven daughter Ruri (Miu Arai), youngest daughter Maju (Noa Shiroyama), and the outspoken and calculating wife Sae, (Nao Matsushita).

There is the Nikaido family, with demanding husband Wataru (Kosuke Suzuki), apologetic wife Kyoko (Manami Higa) and smart but always lectured and berated son Sho (Fuga Shibazaki)...

…the gaudy and, truthfully, rather unrefined Natsume family, composed of unkempt doctor husband Ryutaro (Chikara Honda), the loud wife Misaki (Maryjun Takahashi) and their unassuming son Kensaku (Shion Matsufuji).

Above them all is the seemingly on-top-of the world Saejima Family. Husband Tetsuto Saejima (Jun Hashimoto) is next in line for a huge promotion at the Hospital he works at, and Wife Kaori (Naho Toda) has secured a deal with a genius tutor who has just helped their son Haruto (Riku Ohnishi) pass the college entrance exam with flying colors!

They are the envy of all the others in the neighborhood, and it looks like there is nowhere to go but up for them…so it is a real SHOCK to everyone when, one evening Mother Kaori climbs to the top of the highest tower in town- and LEAPS to her DEATH!

This rocks the community and leaves everyone unsure of what is  happening around them. Following Kaori’s death, Husband Tetsuto finds he has lost his promotion at the hospital and abruptly, he and his son pack up and leave.  What on earth has occurred here?

The families don’t have time to think, however, for in no time, a new family has moved in the the unoccupied house, and these are the Minamisawas. Unlike the other wives, wife Izumi (Fumino Kimura) is a down-to-earth sort, more comfortable digging in her garden than rubbing elbows with the elite. Their son Aoba (Manato Sakamoto) is the highest-scored student at school, a real feat since he seems to have had no fancy tutor help and has achieved it all on his own!

. And as for Husband Kohei (Ryohei Otani), he’s the physician who has been hired to take the promotion slot meant for Tetsuto Saejima, much to the surprise of the other doctors!

 When wife Izumi goes to introduce herself to the neighbors, she is treated politely but curtly by the housewives, especially Sae, who makes it clear that she is the top hen in this neighborhood!

 Though her reaction is cordial, once she leaves, her disposition changes and hints at a past filled with some animosity towards those affluent wives of Sky Castle. What can their connection be?

And then there’s the mysterious genius Tutor Ayaka Kujo (Koyuki). Boasting a 100% success rate for her students, she doesn’t come cheap, and adheres to a cold and stringent method of teaching, but there is something about her that gives off a sinister vibe that one cannot put a finger on…

Gotta say that after only ONE episode, I am already HOOKED on this show- such GREAT characters and scenarios. Additionally, for anyone who’s seen dramas like “Mother Game”, you can always count on Fumino Kimura to shine as the”common” personality among the haughty and posturing socialites, and though her agenda is still not yet revealed, she’s already my favorite character and I can’t wait to see what unfolds!