Mr. Brain Details
Title: MR. BRAIN
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Comedy, mystery
Episodes: 8
Viewership rating: 20.0 (Kanto)
Broadcast network: TBS
Broadcast period: 2009-May-23 to 2009-Jul-11
Air time: Saturday 20:00
Theme song: JUMP by Van Halen
Mr. Brain Synopsis, story and Review :
Tsukumo Ryusuke is a quirky, yet brilliant neuroscientist working for the National Research Institute of Police Science. Wielding a unique perspective and psychology, Tsukumo tackles the nation's most baffling crimes and scandals, going head-to-head with the most brilliant and twisted criminal minds. But his eccentricities and poor social timing can also aggravate people and circumstances, further complicating matters.
Mr. Brain Plot :
Takuya Kimura plays Ryusuke Tsukumo, a neurological scientist studying human nature at the Metropolitan Police Agency’s National Research Institute of Police Science. He tackles fundamental questions about human nature and overturns a few commonly-held beliefs along the way in a gripping mystery drama packed with plenty of emotional punch.
Ryusuke Tsukumo gets arrested himself for allegedly setting off an explosion. During his interrogation, he answers the questions using his keen sense of intellect and knack for deductive reasoning and turns the questions back on his interrogators, setting up inferences that point to a more likely suspect ...
Mr. Brain Cast and Starring :
Kimura Takuya as Tsukumo Ryusuke
Ayase Haruka as Yuri Kazune
Mizushima Hiro as Hayashida Toranosuke
Hiraizumi Sei as Funaki Junpei
Shitara Osamu as Kanda Junichi
Yamazaki Shigenori as Ochi Koichi
SHIHO as Mariko
Kinoshita Yukina as the cleaning lady
Isaka Shunya (井坂俊哉) as Namikoshi Katsumi
Hayashi Yasufumi as Iwabuchi Kiyoshi
Kobayashi Katsuya (小林克也) as Seta Ippei
Tanaka Yuji (田中裕二) as Natsume Mitsuo
Tortoise Matsumoto (トータス松本) as Nanba Jotaro
Daichi Mao as Sasa Miharu
Kagawa Teruyuki as Tanbara Tomomi
Guests
Ichikawa Ebizo as Takei Kohei (ep1,7-8)
Sugimoto Tetta as Kojima Hideki (ep1,3,7)
Takashima Masanobu as Doi Kenzo (ep1)
Yusuke Santamaria as Funada Tsutomu (ep1)
Toda Keiko as the host club customer (ep1)
Hirosue Ryoko (ep1)
Shiga Kotaro as Tsuchida Goichi (ep1)
Tsuda Kanji as Komine Kazuhiko (ep1)
Abe Ryohei as a yakuza (ep1)
Gackt as Takegami Teijiro (ep2)
Koyuki as Miyase Kumiko (ep2)
Matsushige Yutaka as Kishikawa Seiji (ep2)
Jinbo Satoshi as Tsumura Shusuke (ep2)
Fukui Hiroaki as Takada Hidekazu (ep2)
Hirayama Yusuke as Goto Hideki (ep2)
Ishiguro Hideo as Sugiyama Kozo (ep2)
Kawamura Yosuke as a detective (ep2,5)
Onoue Hiroyuki as a member of crime lab (ep2-3,5,7-8)
Kamenashi Kazuya as Wakui Masakazu (ep3)
Aibu Saki as Goto Megumi (ep3)
Koichi Mantaro as Dr. Chihara (ep3)
Hirayama Hiroyuki as Araki Akio (ep3)
Shinagawa Toru as Hyuga Shinichi (ep3)
Okuda Tatsuhito (ep3)
Sato Takeru as Nakagawa Masaru (ep4-5)
Kimura Tae as Nakagawa Jun (ep4-5)
Togi Hideki (東儀秀樹) as Yagi Hitoshi (ep4-5)
Takaya Yuya (貴山侑哉) as Kinoshita Shoji (ep4)
David Ito as Nishizaki Minoru (ep5)
Nakama Yukie as Akiyoshi Kanako (ep5-6)
Osawa Itsumi (大沢逸美) as Matsushita Yuriko (ep5-6)
Rokkaku Shinji (六角慎司) as Aoyama Koichi (ep5-6)
Yoshida Yo as Sakamoto Ryoko (ep5-6)
Kamikawa Takaya as Kitazato Yosuke (ep7-8)
Mitsuishi Ken as Aizawa Yoshiyuki (ep7-8)
Hamada Akira as Ozaki Kohei (ep7-8)
Suzuki Kazuma as Ozaki Shinichiro (ep7-8)
Shimizu Koji as Kikuchi Daijiro (ep7-8)
Obayashi Takeshi as Kawase Yozo (ep7-8)
Yamada Meikyo as Tsuda Yoshikazu (ep7-8)
Hayashi Tsuyoshi (ep7)
Katori Shingo as a hijacker (ep8)
Production Credits
Screenwriters: Makita Mitsuharu, Morishita Yoshiko
Producers: Ishimaru Akihiko, Iyoda Hidenori (伊與田英徳)
Directors: Fukuzawa Katsuo, Hirakawa Yuichiro, Yamamuro Daisuke
Music: Kanno Yugo
Mr. Brain bags top rating in Japan for first quarter 2009
Popular Japanese actor Takuya Kimura's latest television drama 'Mr. Brain' achieved a remarkable 24.8 per cent viewer ship and bagged the accolades for top rating for the first quarter of the year.
The first episode of 'Mr. Brain' even overtook last year's overall highest rated drama, 'Rookies'. This is a boost for the flagging Japanese drama market, where ratings have been dismal and uninspiring of late.
In this light-hearted drama, Kimura plays the role of Ryusuke Tsukumo, a gigolo who suffers a freak brain injury and becomes a crime-solving genius.
Before the series started, critics chided its storyline for being similar to another Japanese show 'Inspector Galileo' and the American hit crime-investigation drama 'CSI'.
But after the first episode, fans not only applauded the casts' performances but also agreed that it is different from the said dramas.
The broadcaster's decision to put a star-studded cast for 'Mr. Brain' has been a masterstroke in attracting the ratings. The regular cast includes Kimura, Mizhushima Hiro and Haruka Ayase.
Another highlight of the drama will be the featuring of a new guest star appearance in every episode. The first episode featured Ryoko Hirosue from the Oscar-winning film 'Departures'. Subsequent episodes will see the likes of popular artistes Sato Takeru and Kazuya Kamenashi.
However, not everyone is smitten with the drama. Netizens are complaining that the storyline is illogical, and may mislead kids. One of them questioned, "How can a person become a genius after injuring his brain? Children should not follow his example."
On a lighter note, the current success of 'Mr. Brain' has led to a series of commercial opportunities.
A bread company has already pushed out a series of "Golden Brain Bread" (Kimura's character is a blonde), and a Chocolate Bread with mayonnaise which includes the brain-enhancing ingredient DHA that is selling at 128 yen (S$1.96) each. - CNA/fa
Mr. Brain Photos : 
Watch Mr Brain Theme Song JUMP by Van Halen Video here
Last Friends Details
Title: ラスト・フレンズ
Title (English): Last Friends
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Friendship, human drama, gay/lesbian
Episodes: 11
Viewership rating: 17.7 (Kanto)
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 2008-Apr-10 to 2008-Jun-19
Air time: Thursday 22:00
Theme song: Prisoner Of Love by Utada Hikaru
Last Friends Synopsis, Story, and Preview
Last Friends tackles issues that afflict the current generation. Michiru's mother has brought a man back to their home and she is bullied at her workplace where she works as a beauty parlour assistant. She starts cohabiting with her boyfriend, a good young man who works at the Child Welfare Division and the only person who can give her emotional support, but ends up the victim of domestic violence and becomes fearful of love. The boyishly charming Ruka was a classmate of Michiru's in junior high school. She has performed brilliantly as a motocross racer and aims to win the national championship, but as the story progresses, a deep worry that she can neither confide in her parents or close friends grows evident. Takeru is a hair and makeup artist acquainted with Ruka. He is a good confidant to females due to his kindness and perceptiveness, and finds himself attracted to Ruka but has a phobia of sex as a result of a past trauma. The three of them become house mates and through their associations with others, gain the capacity to be positive about life. --jade_frost
Last Friends Cast, and starring :
Nagasawa Masami as Aida Michiru
Ueno Juri as Kishimoto Ruka
Eita as Mizushima Takeru
Nishikido Ryo as Oikawa Sosuke
Mizukawa Asami as Takigawa Eri
Yamazaki Shigenori as Ogura Tomohiko
Nishihara Aki as Hiratsuka Reina
Ranka Rea (蘭香レア) as Mita Sayuri
Hirano Sayaka (平野早香) as Okabe Mayumi
Baisho Mitsuko as Aida Chinatsu
Nagashima Mitsuki as Kishimoto Shogo
Shibuya Takeru as Higuchi Naoya
Kitami Toshiyuki as Endo Kenichiro
Ito Yuko as Shirahata Yuko
Tanaka Tetsushi as Hayashida Kazumi
Asaka Mayumi as Kishimoto Yoko
Hirata Mitsuru as Kishimoto Shuji
Guests
Gamo Mayu (蒲生麻由) (ep1,4)
Higashi Yuki (ひがし由貴) (ep1,7,10,SP)
Nomura Erika (野村映里利) (ep1)
Hamada Michihiko (浜田道彦) (ep1,11)
Kiyomi Jun (キヨミジュン) (ep1)
Natsukawa Asaki (夏川亜咲) (ep1)
Mai (舞雪) (ep1)
Komine Yuko (小峰悠子) (ep3)
Kawamura Saori (川村早織梨) (ep4,7)
Kanako (かなこ) (ep4)
Shimizu Kazuhiro (清水和博) (ep4,8)
Yoshida Tomokazu (吉田友一) (ep4)
Nishida Saki (西田早希) (ep4)
Ishii Haruka (石井春花) (ep5)
Uchikura Kenji (内倉憲二) (ep5-6,8,SP)
Motokawa Ransho (本川嵐翔) (ep6-7,SP)
Watabe Aya (渡部彩) (ep7)
Horiguchi Takayoshi (堀口敬巧) (ep7)
Miyagi Arisa (宮城有沙) (ep7,SP)
Watanabe Tetsushi (渡辺哲史) (ep7,SP)
Uemura Kihachiro (植村喜八郎) (ep8)
Nakazawa Junko (ep8-9)
Asaki (ep8)
Komizu Aya (小水彩) (ep8)
Tashiro Mai (小水彩) (ep8)
Wasamoto Nahoko (和佐本菜穂子) (ep8)
Okumura Mao (奥村真央) (ep8)
Takada Makiko (高田麻紀子) (ep8)
Nanjo Chihiro (南條千尋) (ep8)
Takeshima Yasunari (竹嶋康成) (ep9-10)
Ebina Kiyokazu (蝦名清一) (ep9)
Mimura Takayo (ep9)
Yoshimura Tamao (吉村玉緒) (ep10)
Tsuchida Ashimo (土田アシモ) (ep10)
Takishita Tsuyoshi (滝下毅) (ep10)
Yoshino Yoshiko (よしのよしこ) (ep10,SP)
Daiya (ダイヤ) (ep10)
Nagano Satomi (長野里美) (ep11)
Haruki Misayo (ep11)
Shirai Keita (白井圭太) (ep11)
Okazaki Hiroshi (岡崎宏) (ep11)
Mori Fujio (森富士夫) (ep11)
Matsuyama Hisako (松山尚子) (ep11)
Omori Akemi as Nagatani Shizue (ep11)
Production Credits
Screenwriter: Asano Taeko
Producer: Nakano Toshiyuki (中野利幸)
Directors: Kato Hiromasa (加藤裕将) (ep1-3,8,11), Nishisaka Mizuki (西坂瑞城) (ep4-5,9-10), Endo Mitsutaka (遠藤光貴) (ep6-7,SP)
Music: Izutsu Akio (井筒昭雄), S.E.N.S.
Watch Last Friends Ost. Prisoner of Love by Utada Hikaru
