Air Dates: July 3 to September 11, 2008 on Fuji-TV Average rating: 15.6%
Main Cast:
Tomohisa Yamashita as Kousaka Aizawa.... doctor in training
Erika Toda as Mihoko Hiyama.... doctor in training
Yui Aragaki: Megumi Shiraishi.... doctor in training
Manami Higa as Haruka Saejima.... nurse
Yosuke Asari as Kazuo Fujikawa.... doctor in training
Toshiro Yanagiba as Shuji Kuroda.... head doctor
Kiyoshi Kodama as Yoshiaki Tadakoro.... hospital director
Masanobu Katsumura as Tadashi Morimoto.... doctor
Ryo as Kanna Mitsu.... doctor
Susumu Terajima as Toshi Kaji.... helicoper pilot
Tetta Sugimoto as Susumu Saejou.... doctor
Not going to do it this post but will be talking about Kuroda in many posts as he's such a key figure as the head doctor in this drama. He's divorced and has some important scenes coming up with his ex-wife in some upcoming episodes, he was supposed to meet her this show but an operation prevented that. His dedication is the main reason for his divorce but I'm also waiting for one pic where he doesn't have a scowl on his face, not sure if there will be one.
Will also introduce Aizawa soon who is the star of the show though have mentioned him many times already and probably will for this post. The other male doctor in training is Fujikawa who I've referred to as a goofball. He is but then again he must have some brains or else he wouldn't be a doctor.
Fujikawa seems to get the 'drama' cases, this show he had a teenage girl as a patient. She mentioned to him that she had a stalker and he was waiting for her in the visiting area. Fujikawa managed to get rid of him but he came back as Fujikawa was eating his lunch outside.
The stalker had stabbed himself with a knife, not too serious but he had to be admitted to the hospital. There weren't any charges that could be leveled against him as he hadn't hurt anyone. However his infatuation with the girl Minami didn't last much longer as once he got to know a few things about her he suddenly disappeared. Fujikawa is also the only doctor to date who hasn't ridden on the Doctor-Heli as Kuroda doesn't think he's ready yet which is an accurate assessment.
As you can see Fujikawa is also the butt of many jokes, some little kids had slapped that sign on his back. The doctors in training are getting a tad more respect as one night there are no available doctors for the ER. Kuroda was dead set against them being alone but was talked into it by Tadokoro who is the hospital's president.
On duty that night were Fujikawa and Shiraishi but Aizawa and Hiyama decided to stay to help them out, more accurately to get some brownie points. Up until now have used the first names for the gals but will stay consistent and use their last names for now on. Also on duty that night was Saejima who is easily the most dependable nurse.
It was a quiet night until later on when a patient was brought in who had fallen down who was really very drunk. The doctors figured it'd be an easy case and it was at first but things soon took a turn for the worse. The patient soon passed out but it wasn't due to him being drunk but with him having hematoma, whatever that means. Aizawa takes charge, with Kuroda unable to make it to the ER for at least forty minutes the doctors in training need to operate immediately.
Aizawa is cool under pressure, Shiraishi is against him doing an operation but there's really no alternative. The four of them, assisted by Saejima, worked well as a team and the operation went well. Kuroda eventually showed up but by that time the operation was close to being finished. Afterwards he did point out all of the mistakes they made performing the operation and they apologized for them. Kuroda said don't apologize, they did save the patient's life which so far is the only time he's made a compliment towards them.
Every episode follows a pattern of a doctor in training caring for one patient. Talked about Fujikawa's already and let's move on to Hiyama. She was taking care of a lawyer(bengoshi) who didn't have a serious illness but she needed an operation which the hospital couldn't perform. Wakasugi was the lawyer's name and even confined to a bed she did nothing but work, work and even more work. Wakasugi didn't get along well with Hiyama at all, actually seems like the lawyer didn't get along with anyone.
Wakasugi kept insinuating that Hiyama wanted her condition do get worse before she was transferred, that would make an intern's day if they could save the life of a patient. Hiyama kept insisting that wasn't true and didn't want anything bad to happen to Wakasugi. That's what Hiyama said on the outside but we know her better, she does hope her patient's health takes a turn for the worse so she can perform an operation.
That operation never did take place, may have been a good thing for Hiyama as the lawyer threatened to sue her if anything went wrong! On to Shiraishi who had a patient who didn't appear to be a difficult one but it did turn out that way. The patient Motoyama was a middle aged woman whose son had died two years ago. The doctors have caught her talking to him as he was still alive, Shiraishi is wondering if it isn't an early case of senility.
Motoyama was in the hospital as she had passed out and fell down some stairs, the injury wasn't that serious. But after hearing her talk to her dead son plus interviewing her husband Shiraishi thought it may be something more severe than senility. Aizawa may be the most talented doctor so far but Shiraishi seems to know more about the medical field, possibly because her parents were doctors.
After having a brain scan(?) it was found that Motoyama has a brain tumor and an operation is needed immediately. It hasn't taken place yet or at least we didn't see it done in this episode as it may be part of the next episode but if I recall we don't see the actual operation.
Manami's role as Saejima grows slowly every episode but we do see quite a bit of her in most shows. Her life gets really interesting when we meet her ex-boyfriend, two episodes in the second season are dedicated to their relationship. Saejima does fly on every trip the Doctor Heli takes, there's really no way the hospital could run as well as it does without her.
When the four doctors in training had to do the emergency operation she was there the entire time guiding them, her role at the hospital is taken too much for granted. Saejima had one excellent scene at the end where she was helping out Aizawa with a patient. That patient was a jerk to the max degree, he had fallen from the 55th floor(!) of a building but somehow survived. He was quite high on drugs when he fell and since being admitted to the hospital was the most annoying person you've ever seen to the entire staff.
Saejima ended up putting him in place as she really told him off and said what the staff really thinks of him. Two episodes in a row Saejima has told someone off, previous time was her putting Shiraishi in her place. The patient couldn't believe what she said to him, he was thinking of complaining to the director who happened to be passing by. He stuck up 100% for Saejima and the patient sort of whimpered under his covers. One reason for Saejima's surly attitude at times is because she had to quit her doctor training, more on that in future posts.
Call these 'mini recaps' but they haven't worked out that way too well. So much goes on in this show it's a bit difficult to leave too many things out. Need to step up the pace for these recaps so hopefully can watch and post about the fourth episode tomorrow. Have got one viewer interested in this drama already, hopefully a few others who haven't seen it will take the plunge. I'm not a huge fan of medical dramas but this show is a bit different than the usual ones that air, think if you give this series a chance you'll be rewarded.
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