With tons of new J-drama series airing in a given year, it’s hard to keep track of them all. NanteJapan has come to the rescue with a comprehensive list of premiere dates, cast list, and summaries all about the Fall season J-dramas. Series will be divided by day of the week.
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Monday
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One Day: Seiya No Kara Sawagi (Fuji TV)
First episode date: October 9 at 9 PM JST
Main cast: Kazunari Ninomiya, Takao Osawa, Miki Nakatani
Synopsis: Two men and one woman live separate lives and are completely unrelated, but one day at midnight on December 24th, the stories of Seiji Suguroji (Kazunari Ninomiya) a man with amnesia, Tokio Tachiaoi (Takao Osawa) a stubborn chef, and Kikyo Kurauchi (Miki Nakatani) a newscaster begin to intertwine. A story depicting the mysteries, miracles, and love of one holy night.
Tokumei! Keishicho Tokubetsu Kaikeigakari (Fuji TV)
First episode date: October 16 at 10 PM JST
Cast: Hashimoto Kanna, Sawamura Ikki, Sato Jiro, Matsumoto Marika, JP, Maeda Kentaro
Synopsis: Madoka Hajime (Kanna Hashimoto) is a police officer who works as a special accounts officer and gets dispatched to Mancho Police Station to cut police spending costs. There she meets detectives who use up a lot of money due to destruction of property, interactions with shady informants, and unaccounted for expenses. While overseeing the budget and proposing cost-cutting measures to the detectives, there are clashes between Madoka and the detectives, but ultimately she can help solve cases using her unique methods.
Tuesday
Kaseifu no Mitazono season 6 (TV Asahi)
First episode date: October 10 at 9 PM JST
Cast: Matsuoka Masahiro, Inoo Kei, Hirata Atsuko, Yo Kimiko, Shuhama Harumi,
Synopsis: Mitazono is a strong housekeeper who dresses as a woman and has exceptional housekeeping skills. While peeking into the world of homes, he is able to pick out the deepest rooted secrets that exist among the family.
My Second Aoharu (TBS)
First episode date: October 17 at 10 PM JST
Cast: Hirose Alice, Michieda Shunsuke, Ihara Rikka, Iinuma Ai, Mizusawa Rintaro, Yanai Yumena
Synopsis: Since Shiratama Sayako (played by Hirose Alice) was a child, she dreamed of becoming an architect. She studied hard, but due to bad luck she repeatedly failed her university entrance exams. Now at 30 years old and working in a field far away from her ideal job, by chance she meets the mysterious university student Ogasawara Taku. After sharing with him about her past dream of becoming an architect, Ogasawara Taku tells her that it is never too late and that she can still get accepted into a university.
Toki wo Kakeruna, Koibitotachi (Fuji TV)
First episode date: October 10 at 10 PM JST
Cast: Yoshioka Riho, Nagayama Eita, Ito Marika, Jiro, Ishida Gota, Nishigaki Sho
Synopsis: One day, Tokiwa Megu (Yoshioka Riho) meets Iura Kakeru (Nagayama Eita),who is a time patrol member from the future. The two are given a special mission to work together to crack down on illegal time travelers. The two were former lovers, but Megu’s memory of their relationship had been erased due to the time traveling governing rules. A forbidden story in the style of Romeo and Juliet that transcends between time.
Kimi ni wa Todokanai (TBS)
First episode date: September 26 at 1:03 AM JST
Cast: Maeda Kentaro, Kashiwagi Haru, Tanaka Taketo, Matsumoto Leo, Momose Takumi, Itakura Toshiyuki
Synopsis: Yamato Ohara (Kentaro Maeda) and Ashiya Kakeru (Haru Kashiwagi) are childhood friends. Ohara is good-looking, has excellent grades, and is constantly confessed to by girls. Kakeru, on the other hand, has poor grades and is quite average in every aspect. One day, Kakeru is told that he is the person Yamato likes. But no matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other.
Wednesday
Kotatsu ga Nai Ie (Also known as: Worry Not, She’s the Boss) (NTV)
First episode date: October 18 at 10 PM JST
Cast: Koike Eiko, Yoshioka Hidetaka, Sakuma Ryuto, Kobayashi Kaoru, Kitamura Kazuki, Horan Chiaki
Synopsis: Marie Fukahori (played by Eiko Koike) is a successful wedding planner. However, she ends up having to support three people: her husband who is an unsuccessful manga artist on the verge of going out of business, her son who got rejected from an idol audition, and her father who got divorced during his midlife crisis.
Paripi Komei (Fuji TV)
First episode date: September 27 at 10 PM JST
Cast: Mukai Osamu, Kamishiraishi Moka, Moriyama Mirai, Dean Fujioka, Sekiguchi Mandy, Miyase Ryubi
Synopsis: General of the Three Kingdoms, Kongming had struggled his whole life, facing countless battles that made him into the accomplished strategist he was. So on his deathbed, he wished only to be reborn into a peaceful world and was sent straight to modern-day party-central, Tokyo! Can even a brilliant strategist like Kongming adapt to the wild beats and even wilder party people. (credit: MangaUpdates)
Thursday
Yuria Sensei no Akai Ito (TV Asahi)
First episode date: October 19 at 9 PM JST
Cast: Kanno Miho, Suzuka Ouji, Kido Taisei, Tanaka Tetsushi, Matsuoka Mayu, Shiroyama Noa
Synopsis: Fifty-year-old Yuria has a quiet life teaching embroidery classes in her home, where she lives with her writer husband and his mother. Then one day her world is turned upside down when husband has a subarachnoid hemorrhage and upon arriving at the hospital, Yuria is met by a tearful young man who announces that he is her husband’s lover. (MangaUpdates)
Ichiban Sukina Hana (Fuji TV)
First episode date: October 12 at 10 PM JST
Cast: Tabe Mikako, Matsushita Kouhei, Imada Mio, Kamio Fuji, Saito Asuka, Nakano Taiga
Synopsis: Four people of completely different ages, genders, and upbringings meet by chance and are confronted with challenges in their friendship and love lives.
Black Familia: Shindoke no Fukushu (NTV)
First episode date: October 5 at 23:59 JST
Cast: Itaya Yuka, Yamanaka Takashi, Morisaki Win, Watanabe Risa, Hoshino Yuna, Tsutsui Mariko
Synopsis: Kazuha Shindo (Yuka Itaya) lives an ordinary life as a housewife. Her family consists of her husband Kosuke Shindo (Takashi Yamanaka), her younger brother Yuma Igarashi (Win Morisaki) and her two daughters Sana Shindo (Risa Watanabe) and Riria Shindo (Yuna Hoshino). The older daughter Sana Shindo works as a reporter and the younger daughter Riria Shindo attends high school. Riria Shindo is smart, pretty, and athletic. She dreams of becoming an actress. One day, a business person’s home party video gets leaked. A week later, Riria suddenly dies. (AsianWiki)
Mei no Mei (TV Tokyo)
First episode date: September 7 at 23:30 JST
Cast: Hongo Kanata, Osawa Kana, Tanaka Minako, Kawata Hiroki, Hashimoto Atsushi, Shimizu Hazuki
Synopsis: Ozu (Kanata Hongo), is a 32 year old company employee living in Tokyo, who takes his niece Mei (Izuna Osawa), who lost her parents, to Fukushima during the summer vacation.
Friday
Uchi no Bengoshi wa Te ga Kakaru (Fuji TV)
First episode date: October 13 at 9 PM JST
Cast: Tsuyoshi Muro, Hirate Yurina, Toda Keiko, Sakou Yoshi, Matsuo Satoru, Murakawa Eri, Hyuga Wataru
Synopsis: Tsuyoshi Muro plays an extremely successful talent manager who is suddenly fired from his office. However, due to an unexpected turn of events, he is assigned to manage a new lawyer, An Amano (Yurina Hirate). A nurturing legal entertainment in which a former talent manager struggles to manage a paralegal who is super elite but somehow clumsy.
Fermat no Ryori (TBS)
First episode date: October 20 at 10 PM JST
Cast: Takahashi Fumiya, Shison Jun, Koshiba Fuka, Nakamura Toru, Itagaki Rihito, Shiraishi Sei
Synopsis: Kitada Gaku, (Takahashi Fumiya) is a math genius who aspires to become a mathematician but fails. One day, he meets the mysterious and charismatic chef Asakura Kai (Jun Shison), who helps Gaku discover his talent for cooking. Gaku uses his mathematical thinking skills to tackle the challenges of cooking.
Kyo kara Hitman (TV Asahi)
First episode date: October 27 at 11:15 JST
Cast: Aiba Masaki, Yamamoto Maika, Motokariya Yuika, Honda Chikara, Kakei Toshio, Katsumura Masanobu
Synopsis: Shy, clumsy ordinary salaryman Inaba Toukichi is forced into living a dual life as an office worker and a hitman, in order to protect his family. (Drama-Otaku)
Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Also known as What Did You Eat Yesterday? Season 2) (TV Tokyo)
First episode date: Otober 6 at 23:30 JST
Cast: Nishijima Hidetoshi, Uchino Seiyou, Yamamoto Koji, Isomura Hayato, Makita Sports, Tanaka Misako
Synopsis: Kakei Shiro and his partner, Yabuki Kenji, live a life full of some hardship but mostly happiness together, with Shiro’s specialty in cooking affordable and delicious dishes. As they turn 50, they begin to experience different changes, but Shiro and Kenji are still gentle with each other as they move on to a new stage in their lives.
Himitsu wo Motta Shonentachi (NTV)
First episode date: October 6 at 23:40 JST
Cast: Sato Kaito, Ohara Yuno, Nishida Itaru, Ohigashi Ritsuki, Yoneo Kento, Tomita Yuki
Synopsis: In order to save his childhood friend Yuki (Ohara Yuno), (who he has an unrequited love for) Mitsuishi Reiya (Sato Kaito) becomes a nocturnal being who attacks people and sucks their blood. A shocking erotic suspense that depicts the cruel fate of a boy and a girl who end up traveling at night against their will.
Saturday
Zeicho: “Haraenai” ni wa Wake ga Aru (NTV)
First episode date: October 14 at 10 PM JST
Cast: Kikuchi Fuma, Yamada Anna, Shirasu Jun, Matsuda Genta, Suzuki Mogura, Izuka Kenta
Synopsis: Aiba Soichiro (Kikuchi Fuma) is a tax collector who works at city hall. While dealing with tax issues, he also tries to find ways to help citizens.
Tanshin Hanabi (TV Asahi)
First episode date: October 14 at 11 PM JST
Cast: Shigeoka Daiki, Araki Yuko, Tanaka Juri, Takanashi Rin, Nagai Mijika, Maehara Mizuki
Synopsis: Sakuragi Shun (Shigeoka Daiki), is an office worker who lives a happy life with his wife and daughter in Tokyo. One day due to a sudden appointment he headed to Kagoshima, the place where he had fond memories of where he spent his junior high school days. Soon after he was reunited with his first love, and the Pandora’s box that he had hidden was opened, along with bittersweet memories.
Nukarumi no Shokutaku (TV Asahi)
First episode date: October 21 at 11:30 PM JST
Cast: Saito Kyoko, Yoshizawa Hisashi, Sakurai Kaito, Hara Nanoka, Toda Naho, Tsutsui Mariko
Synopsis: Even after her abusive father passed away, Nejiki Mia (Saito Kyoko) lives with her highly repressive mother. She falls in love with the store manager at her part-time job and they begin an affair. However, when her store manager’s wife’s illness worsened, she was forced to quit.
18-sai, Niizuma, Furin Shimasu. (TV Asahi)
First episode date: October 15 at 2:30 AM JST
Cast: Fuji Ryusei, Yabuki Nako, Kobayashi Ryoko, Komiya Rio, Yamamoto Ryosuke, Nozoe Yoshihiro
Synopsis: Meika is the heiress to a massive estate, called the Sanjou Empire. With her high school graduation, she is to marry her bodyguard Akira, and she is starting to think her actual budding romantic feelings are pointing elsewhere, but can that really be true?! (BakaUpdates)
Sunday
What Will You Do, Ieyasu? (NHK)
First episode date: January 8 at 8 PM JST
Cast: Matsumoto Jun, Okada Junichi, Arimura Kasumi, Muro Tsuyoshi, Nomura Mansai II, Abe Hiroshi
Synopsis: Takechiyo (later known as Tokugawa Ieyasu) was born as the son of a poor and powerless daimyo. After losing his father on the battlefield, Takechiyo grew up isolated with no clue about what his future would hold. A destined dramatic meeting with the young Oda Nobunaga changes his life forever.
Worst to First: A Teen Baseball Miracle (TBS)
First episode date: October 15 at 9 PM JST
Cast: Suzuki Ryohei, Kuroki Haru, Igawa Haruka, Kohinata Fumiyo, Namase Katsuhisa, Matsudaira Ken
Synopsis: Shuji Nagumo’s (Suzuki Ryohei) life revolved around baseball but he is injured while playing baseball for his university team and instead makes the decision to pursue his dream of becoming a teacher.
Monday to Friday
Bugiugi (NHK)
First episode date: October 2 at 8 PM JST
Cast: Shuri, Yanagiba Toshiro, Mizukawa Asami, Shimizu Kurumi, Katayama Yuki, Ihara Rikka
Synopsis: Sets in the 1910s, this is the story of Hanada Suzuko, a young girl who grew up in a family that owned a bathhouse in downtown Osaka. From a young age, Suzuko loved to sing and dance, and joined the Umemaru Girls Opera Company (USK) in Dotonbori. Suzuko continued to show her talent for singing and eventually became a star of the postwar era. (DramaWiki)
