Japanese dramas, Q3 2026: the quarter in review

It began on July 26 in TBS's Sunday Theater slot. The story picks up right after the final scene of season 1 in 2023: Yusuke Nogi (Masato Sakai), just back from a mission, receives an emergency call-up signal and plunges into a new one. Season 1's main cast, including Hiroshi Abe, Fumi Nikaido, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tori Matsuzaka and Koji Yakusho, has reunited, and Katsuo Fukuzawa is responsible for the original story and direction.

Its premiere drew 18.8%, the highest rating of any Japanese drama aired this year, and all eight episodes of the first half, which ran through September 13, scored 15% or more. Unusually for Sunday Theater, it spans two quarters: after a two-week break for Asian Games coverage, the second half began on October 4 and is scheduled to end on November 8. Episode numbers continue from season 1, so the season 2 premiere is episode 11 overall.

This TV Asahi Thursday drama aired nine episodes from July 23 to September 17. In this original drama, GATE24, a new airport unit made up of staff from customs, immigration and other agencies, takes on increasingly sophisticated international crime. Shuri plays customs officer Machi Mori, with Gordon Maeda, Rihito Itagaki and Yasuko Matsuyuki co-starring.

It opened at 10.7% and averaged 9.8%. Apart from VIVANT, that is the highest average of any commercial-network serial this quarter.

This TBS Friday drama aired 10 episodes from July 10 to September 11. An original script by Miku Ubukata, screenwriter of silent, it follows two married couples caught up in a long-distance bus accident as they confront the loves and secrets each has kept hidden. Yu Aoi plays her first lead in a network TV serial in 18 years, with Kenichi Matsuyama, Kaho and Ayumu Nakajima co-starring.

After 6.9% for the premiere and 6.2% for episode 2, its ratings climbed from episode 3 onward without dipping once, reaching a series-high 9.3% with the final episode. The theme song is by Spitz.

It aired 11 episodes from July 20 to September 28 in the Monday 10 p.m. slot on Kansai TV and the Fuji TV network. Takashi Sorimachi, who played Eikichi Onizuka in the 1998 version, returns to the lead in this new serial, reuniting with that version's screenwriter Kazuhiko Yukawa and director Satoru Nakajima. Onizuka, a former biker-gang member turned teacher who is now in his 50s, takes a post at a school in the Reiwa era and confronts the problems of its students and the school head-on.

Meru Nukumi plays the assistant homeroom teacher, and Nanako Matsushima of the 1998 version returns as Azusa Fuyutsuki. A one-off special with the same star, GTO Revival, aired in 2024. The premiere drew 6.4%.

This Nippon TV Wednesday drama aired 10 episodes from July 8 to September 9. In this medical drama, set against the social problems of a falling birth rate and a shortage of doctors, a maternal and neonatal emergency team set up at a hospital for celebrities saves pregnant women for whom no hospital can be found. Manami Higa plays obstetrician Aki Mitsui, with Atsuko Maeda and Miki Maya co-starring. It is an original script by Hideya Hamada, and the premiere drew 6.8%.

This TBS Tuesday drama aired 10 episodes from July 14 to September 15. Set in Japan's globally beloved "cute" character industry, it depicts the work, growth and love lives of the people who create the characters. Wakana Matsumoto plays the 40-year-old lead, Anna Kusakabe, and Hayato Sano plays Mizuki Seo. The theme song is Gen Hoshino's "Suki."

It aired 10 episodes from July 22 to September 23 in the Wednesday 10 p.m. slot on the Fuji TV network. It transplants to Japan the hit Chinese drama Nothing But Thirty, about three women aged 30, and changes their age to 35. Maki (Riisa Naka), who juggles work and child-rearing, Haruka (Non), who gave up her dream of music, and Kaoruko (Mai Fukagawa), who has been in a relationship for four years without marrying, find themselves in the middle of lives different from the ones they pictured as teenagers.