Japanese dramas, Q2 2024: the quarter in review

NHK's asadora (morning drama) aired 130 episodes from Monday to Friday at 8 a.m. from April 1 to September 27. Modeled on Yoshiko Mibuchi, it follows Tomoko Inotsume (Sairi Ito), who dreams of a legal career in the early Showa era, becomes one of Japan's first female lawyers, and makes her way through the courts during and after the war. Erika Yoshida wrote the original script, with Taiga Nakano as Yuzo Sada, Masaki Okada as Koichi Hoshi and Yuriko Ishida as Haru Inotsume.

It opened at 16.4%, hit its highest weekly average of 17.6% in week 22, and averaged 16.8% over its run. It became the first morning drama to win the top prize in the drama category at the 51st Hoso Bunka Foundation Awards in 2025, and it also won the Grand Prize in the TV category at the 62nd Galaxy Awards, as well as Best Actress (Sairi Ito), Best Supporting Actress and Best Theme Song at the 121st Television Drama Academy Awards. It also ranked No. 1 in the drama category of the Yahoo! Search Awards 2024.

It aired 10 episodes in TBS's Sunday Theater slot from April 14 to June 16. In this original courtroom drama, Masaki Akizumi (Hiroki Hasegawa), a lawyer who can win acquittals even for murder suspects, uncovers the hidden side of his cases with courtroom tactics that defy convention. Takumi Kitamura plays Shuto Akamine and Mayu Hotta plays Asuka Shinomiya, with Mansai Nomura also in the cast.

It opened at 11.5%, reached its series high of 12.8% with episode 2, and drew 12.2% for the final episode, averaging 10.8%. At the 120th Television Drama Academy Awards it won Best Actor (Hiroki Hasegawa) and Best Supporting Actress (Mayu Hotta).

Produced by Kansai TV, it aired 11 episodes on the Fuji TV network on Monday nights at 10 p.m. from April 15 to June 24. Miyabi Kawauchi (Hana Sugisaki), a neurosurgeon left unable to retain new memories for more than a day after a brain injury in an accident, returns to medical work with the help of her diary. It is based on the manga by Yuzuru Kojika and Kanto Otsuki, with Ryuya Wakaba as Tomoharu Sanpei, Arata Iura as Koichi Osako and a script by Eriko Shinozaki.

It opened at 6.0%, reached its series high of 6.8% with the final episode, and averaged 6.0%. It won six awards at the 120th Television Drama Academy Awards, including Best Drama, along with an Award for Excellence at the Tokyo Drama Awards 2024 and the top prize in the TV drama category at the 2025 Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association Awards. Hana Sugisaki received an Individual Award in the TV category at the 62nd Galaxy Awards in 2025 for her performances in this series and The Diamond Sleeping Under the Sea.

It aired 10 episodes in NHK's Drama 10 slot (Tuesdays at 10 p.m.) from April 30 to July 2. Riki Oishi (Shizuka Ishibashi), a contract worker struggling to get by, agrees to act as a surrogate for a couple who want a child. It is based on Natsuo Kirino's novel, winner of the Eiji Yoshikawa Prize for Literature, with Goro Inagaki as Motoi Kusaoke, Yuki Uchida as Yuko Kusaoke and a script by Ikue Osada.

At the Tokyo Drama Awards 2024 it won an Award for Excellence in the serial drama category, Best Actress (Shizuka Ishibashi) and Best Supporting Actress (Yuki Uchida).

It aired 10 episodes in Nippon TV's Saturday 9 p.m. "Do-Dora 9" (Saturday Drama 9) slot from April 13 to June 15. Mai Hanasaki (Mio Imada), a bank employee on the "rinten-han" team that inspects branches, stands up to wrongdoing within the organization. It is based on Jun Ikeido's novel. The series, which first aired in 2014 and 2015 starring Anne, was made anew with the main roles recast, with Koji Yamamoto as Takeshi Soma and Rinko Kikuchi as Reiko Shosenkyo.

It opened at 7.8%, reached its series high of 8.1% with the final episode, and averaged 7.3%.

It aired 11 episodes in Fuji TV's Monday 9 p.m. "Getsuku" slot from April 8 to June 17. Former high school classmates Asuka Yukihira (Alice Hirose) and Haruto Mizuno (Gordon Maeda) reunite after many years and fall in love, but an incident drastically changes the course of their lives. Yukako Shimizu wrote the original script, inspired by HY's song "366 Nichi."

Its 7.2% premiere was the series high, with a low of 5.4% and a 6.1% average.

This TBS Friday drama aired 10 episodes on Friday nights at 10 p.m. from April 19 to June 21. The title is a coined word for the last age of each decade, such as 19, 29 and 39, and three sisters who have reached those ages each find their own way as they face choices about love, work and life. Haruna Kawaguchi plays the middle sister, Nana Oba (29); Haruka Kinami the eldest, Mutsuki Narusawa (39); Mei Hata the youngest, Hatsumi Oba (19); and Kohei Matsushita plays Kotaro, a man who has lost his memory. Arisa Kaneko wrote the script, and the theme song is SEKAI NO OWARI's "Romantic."

The first episode drew 6.7%, episodes 2 and 3 drew 5.1%, and the final episode drew 6.5%.

It aired eight episodes in TBS's late-night drama slot Drama Stream on Tuesday nights at 11:56 p.m. from April 2 to May 21, and Netflix released it weekly from March 26, ahead of the terrestrial broadcast. At a junior high school on Shodoshima in Kagawa Prefecture, Nishikata (Soya Kurokawa), who is constantly teased by Takagi (Rui Tsukishima) in the seat next to him, keeps trying to get even; it is based on the manga by Soichiro Yamamoto. Rikiya Imaizumi directed and co-wrote the script with Tomoki Kanazawa and Jun Hagimori, and Yosuke Eguchi plays their homeroom teacher, Mr. Tanabe.

Every scene was filmed on Shodoshima, and the story was made to lead into the live-action film released on May 31. The film, starring Mei Nagano and Fumiya Takahashi, depicts events 10 years after the drama.

Released as a worldwide exclusive on Amazon Prime Video, with episodes 1–3 on June 14, episodes 4–5 on June 21 and episodes 6–7 on June 28, it concluded with seven episodes. Web designer Ichiko Aihara (Mitsuki Takahata), in the seventh year of her marriage, and her husband Otoya (Masaki Okada) are a childless, sexless couple who agree to let the husband have an extramarital relationship with his wife's consent, so-called "sanctioned infidelity." It is based on the manga by Peko Watanabe, with Rikiya Imaizumi directing and Kaori Imaizumi writing the script. Nanase Nishino plays Otoya's lover, Mizuki Kashiwagi, and Kengo Kora plays Mizuki's husband, Shiro Kashiwagi; the theme song is Spitz's "i-O (Shuri no Uta)."

This TV Asahi Tuesday 9 p.m. drama aired nine episodes from April 9 to June 4. In this suspense love story, Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office prosecutor Kanade Nishimura (Satomi Ishihara) closes in on the truth behind an incident from her college days and her father's death 20 years earlier, and comes face to face again with Masaki Nogi (Kazuya Kamenashi), her boyfriend at the time. Satomi Ishihara returned to serial dramas for the first time in three years and played a prosecutor for the first time, and Noriko Yoshida wrote the script. Emma Miyazawa, Yuma Yamoto and Minami Tanaka appear as their college classmates.

It opened at 7.9%, fell to a low of 6.7% with episode 7, then hit a series-high 8.3% for the final episode, averaging 7.5%. It was No. 1 in Netflix's Top 10 for TV in Japan in the week of April 14 and stayed in the Top 10 for nine consecutive weeks through the week of June 9.