Angered by his boss, a strident and selfish production company employee, Takasugi, quits his job as a director and finds himself saddled by a 10 million yen ($100,000) debt. He decides to hatch a plot, conspiring with a former assistant director friend named Sonobe, to kidnap a very rich family’s beloved dog for ransom. But then a mysterious woman, Natsuko, shows up as well as the son of the family whose dog they plan to kidnap, both wanting in on the plot. Then things really take a complicated turn when Takasugi is marked by a real kidnapper to take the blame for a separate child kidnapping in this thrilling, humor-filled and moving suspense.

“Can bonds among strangers grow to be stronger than family?”
Inspiring human drama with a touch of comedy plays out among strangers working in a converted “home restaurant run by a retired husband and wife (Hiroshi Tachi and Atsuko Asano) in the second season of a popular television series about contemporary family life. In the first season, a homemaker (Asano) with 3 children all grown up, married and independent, convinces her husband Daigo (Tachi) to turn part of their home into a restaurant and dormitory for hired help, and the setting for sticky human relations.Yoko Uchida (Mirai Ishida), Noboru Otake (Shota Yasuda, Kanjani), Eri Chiba (Mahiru Konno) have all made fresh new starts to their lives, but now must face the arrival of new employees who all of troubled back stories of their own.

Company man, Daigo Nagashima, is facing retirement with great anticipation. His children have all grown up, gotten married or live independently. But when his wife, Aya, confesses that it's been her long-cherished dream to run a cafe restaurant out of her home, Daigo's vision of a post-career life of ease and relaxation vanishes. But after all of Aya's years as a devoted homemaker raising the family. Daigo decides to lend support his wife's fulfillment of her dream. The ensuing life is far from quiet and uneventful. When the restaurant finally opens, Daigo finds that the young workers hired as restaurant staff all come with issues and concerns of their own forcing Daigo, who had left all the childrearing and disciplining of his own children to his wife, having to provide counsel and mentoring. Here for the first time, he discovers where real strength of family lies, and in the process of helping conflicted youth resolve a series of problems, genuine family ties are born.

Yuzu Fukuhara is a 23-year old with a slight mental disability. With childlike innocence, Yuzu falls in love and becomes pregnant. The sudden death of her child’s father throws Yuzu into confusion even as she becomes a mother. Yuzu’s dogged efforts win the unflagging support of those around her, but a far more difficult path lies ahead than anyone can imagine.

A girl-next-door type, the ordinary senior high school girl, Izumi Hoshi suddenly turns into a yakuza (gangster) boss. The high school girl, who had been completely unrelated to the yakuza world, now defeats evils one after another. It is a truly exhilarating story.
The original novel written by Jiro Akagawa is a big hit that sold some 2 million copies! Furthermore, it is a serial drama based on “Sailor Fuku to Kikanju (sailor suit and machine gun),” which was made into a movie starring Hiroko Yakushimaru and was rage of the times.

In a house on the outskirts of Tokyo, there lives a family of eight. Such a large family is rare these days, however not one of them is related by blood. They all lost a loved one in the same holiday accident. Moved by the suggestion that they all move in together, they have gathered in this house. Each has their own issues and it makes for the start of a tumultuous home life, but the eight grow closer together as a family. This is a human drama full of heart and mixed with laughs and tears depicting a group of deeply wounded people beginning to believe in tomorrow and live life more positively.