Junkichi Orimoto

Thirteen years after abandoning his wife and two sons by stepping out for a pack of cigarettes and never returning, deadbeat gambler Masato dies of stomach cancer. At his funeral, a motley crew of fellow mahjong players, pachinko parlor employees and former drinking buddies gather to pay their respects and tell stories, revealing aspects of Masato’s life that complicate his sons’ resentment towards him.

Natsuko Kotani was born to be a swindler. Meanwhile, Tetsuko Ishida is Natsuko’s distant relative. Unlike Natsuko, Tetsuko is an attorney with an upright disposition. Whenever Natsuko makes trouble, Tetsuko is called to solve her troubles. Believing that Natsuko is using her, Tetsuko, with her boring life, begins to change.

Sawa Yamagishi worked as a nursing-care helper. The family for an old man asked Sawa to sleep with him, which led her to lose her job. Now, she has nowhere to go. Sawa finds elderly people in trouble and gets involved in their lives. Meeting them, Sawa's own wounds start to heal.

Two sisters living on a peach farm in Koori town, Fukushima Prefecture,are opposites. Haruka Miyamoto feels less beautiful than her sister Akiba Miyamoto and hates being compared to her. She finds comfort in playing a piano in a barn. A year after the Great East Japan Earthquake, she decides she wants to be a pianist. Akiba, for her part, moved to Tokyo to attend college. When she moves back to Koori, Haruka is unsettled and memories connected to the disaster she has tried to forget resurface.

Reiji Kikukawa, who has a strong sense of justice, graduated from the police academy with the lowest score ever. He becomes a police constable, but is suddenly fired by the Police Chief due to "disciplinary" issues. In actuality, the firing is part of a carefully orchestrated plan to set him up as an undercover cop in the Yakuza.

"Elite" members of an insurance company are gathered together to form a unit to investigate an accident and whether the company needs to pay out on the insurance policy or not.

Momotaro and Hidemaro are 1st-years at Otokojuku, a private boys school where true men are made. Momotaro, proficient in academics and martial arts becomes good friends with Hidemaro an underachieving weakling. Omito Date, former student leader, plans his revenge against his former school. Now leader of an evil army from rival Kanto Gogakuren school he fully intends on taking over Otokojuku.

Aki, who loves freedom, mets Masaya, an aspiring watchmaker. The two have opposite personalities and initially clash. The two reach better terms when Masaya is able to see Akis inner pain. Eventually, Masaya uncovers Akis sad past which was supposed to be held secret from everyone.

The experiences and relationships of five senior students at a rural high school, during the last year leading to graduation.

Jun, a 16-year-old teen, refuses to stand while the national anthem is being played at his graduation ceremony. This event will totally change his life, as he involuntarily becomes the new hero of a rebel anti-system youth. Singer Muy's pop music and his friend, Nozomi, with whom he shares his sadness and hatred for the society that surrounds them, help him bear his terrible loneliness.