Takao Osawa travels through time for "Jin"
Wed, July 22, 2009 (1:44am EDT)


The previously announced live-action adaptation of Motoka Murakami's manga "Jin" will be aired on TBS this fall. Leading the cast is actor Takao Osawa (41), who has not acted in a serial drama since "Mukashi no Otoko" in 2001.

The original manga tells the story of brain surgeon Jin Minakata (Osawa), who falls into a "time slip" that sends him back to Edo during the Bakumatsu period in the 19th century. Still being serialized in the magazine Super Jump, the comic has sold more than 1.6 million copies of the 15 volumes released so far in tankoubon format.

The show will also feature actress Miki Nakatani (33), who has similarly not appeared in a drama series since 2002. She will play two roles - Jin's fiancee in the present day, and an oiran in Edo's Yoshiwara district.

Haruka Ayase (24) will also play a major role as Jin's assistant. Other cast members include Masaaki Uchino, Fumiyo Kohinata, Tetsuya Takeda, Keisuke Koide, Yumi Aso, Naho Toda, Hiromasa Taguchi, and Kenta Kiritani.

TBS will broadcast "Jin" on Sunday nights at 9:00pm, starting in October.

interesting... wait wasn't there also an animation too?

I'm not sure about an animation. You can find information on the manga here and here is some information on Motoka Murakami, it doesn't mention him working on a animated version of the serial either. (Credit: ANN)

It seems like a interesting show.

Pretty interesting first episode! Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Going back to the Edo period is funny, yet so exciting!
I love medical dramas!
Can't wait for today's episode.

Screen captures from episode 01:

For those interested Heiwa Fansubs has picked up the series, subtitles can be found here (D-addicts).

Probably the best first episode for the new season so far!

Screen captures from episode 02:

i'm freaked out by the blood they're showing.. but it's a pretty good episode!

So far I'm liking the cast. I didn't realize koide keisuke and uchino masaaki are in this drama..uchino is so hilarious!

I love this drama a lot! I like Ayase & Osawa chemistry in Ichi. So, it's nice to see this pair again in this drama.

For those of you who have read the manga does anything happen between Saki and Jin? Looking at episode 2 and the preview for episode 3 it appears as if Saki has grown fond of Jin.

From Yomiuri Daily,


For good TV this autumn, call the doctor
Wm. Penn

The one drama definitely worth tuning in this autumn is Jin. The TBS tale of a time-traveling neurosurgeon (Sundays, 9 p.m.), debuted with Video Research Ltd. ratings of 16.5 percent.

Jin Minakata (Takao Osawa) questions his skills after performing difficult surgery on his fiance (Miki Nakatani) that has left her comatose.

While chasing a mysterious, fleeing patient, Jin is catapulted back to 1862 where he saves the life of a samurai whose sister, Saki, (Haruka Ayase) becomes his assistant. Later, he discovers Yoshiwara's top geisha looks just like his comatose fiance.

Unsure what it all means, Jin keeps busy combating a cholera epidemic and reassessing the meaning of being a doctor. He realizes he's not much of a healer without all his advanced medical tools and rediscovers the desire to really help cure patients. Jin, based on the popular Super Jump manga, works on several levels. The story is intriguing, the contrast between feudal Edo and the modern-day Tokyo it became is thought-provoking and the supporting cast, including Masaaki Uchino as Sakamoto Ryoma and Tetsuya Takeda as famed doctor Ogata Koan, are great. Attention to detail in the dialogue and period sets gives it all a realistic feel. Do check it out. It's definitely this quarter's best bet.

So far among the dramas I have watched this fall, JIN is the best! The first episode is epic. This is the first time in a Jdrama that I didn't feel that 1 and 1/2 drama episode is not too long.

The 2nd episode's pacing is quite slow. I really want Jin to meet Nakatani Miki's Edo era self. I wonder how it will go. As much as I want to read the manga but I'm not good at kanji XD

QUOTE (garnet_moon @ Oct 24 2009, 08:44 AM)

So far among the dramas I have watched this fall, JIN is the best! The first episode is epic. This is the first time in a Jdrama that I didn't feel that 1 and 1/2 drama episode is not too long.

The 2nd episode's pacing is quite slow. I really want Jin to meet Nakatani Miki's Edo era self. I wonder how it will go. As much as I want to read the manga but I'm not good at kanji XD

I agree with you about the first episode I was actually thinking when the episode ended "Is that it?" it really didn't feel like an hour and a half had passed while watching it.

Being that he's a doctor it'll probably have something to do with either the recent outbreak of Cholera or some other medical problem that crops up. As of now he doesn't really have a reason to visit a Nokaze, a Oiran (precursor to a Geisha) just yet.

I love it. I watched the first episode. though I think stuff may be exaggerated - I would think even though they don't have the modern technology, they'd have something similar to aesthetics to ease the pain through some herbal remedies, but I wouldn't think a modern doctor would know - however there was that doctor hanging about.

I love how it's going to explore his impact after bring technology in to the past and even affect the politics.I can see he's going to be more confident in his skills.

this drama started off so well.
i agree, it definitely reels you in.

mygosh, this drama is sooooooo goood. atleast the first 2 epsiodes are

at first, i thought its going be kindof cheesy (well not really, but cant find the word) doctor goes back in time.. blah
but totally changed my mind
so many mysterious stuff going on (highlight)
-is ryoma the patient who went to the future and switch places with Jin?
-but Jin meets ryoma in edo, so he's not the patient
-or did Jin even go back before ryoma went to the future, so ryoma meets Jin and later needs that medical kit and thats why Ryoma goes back to the future.. hahaha confusing
-miki=weird evil looking princess?
-which sortof can explain why she thinks that particular sunset is the most beautiful of them all, because she was in the edo period already and saw it from that cliff like Jin
I wonder how they all going to explain this, i hope it wont dissapoint me!

loved the part where he realises he's changing history, where his gf made the peace-sign with her other hand, subtle but scary

the embryo keeps freeking me out though

cant wait till next episode!

oyeah, i love haruka!

^

i believe miki is not a princess but a prostitute. (her bow is in the front).

QUOTE (atel @ Oct 25 2009, 03:50 PM)

^

i believe miki is not a princess but a prostitute. (her bow is in the front).

She's an Oiran which a precursor to a Geisha. She's skilled in the arts like a Geisha but is also something like a prostitute, in fact she's the head/top girl.

Screen captures from episode 03:

Thank you semi-fly for the caps... Can't wait to watch the 3rd ep....

Wow, I'm really enjoying this drama! The first two episodes were great and what a touching drama. The little boy is too cute for words especially with his Edo style haircut. And, how he repays the doctor giving him edamame for life and trying to be a matchmaker for his mom. I hope the rest of the episodes continue to impress. Can't wait to see them.

Just finished watching the 3rd ep. It's not as good as the 1st ep, though - imo, esp the scene when the little kid's mom died.

Some of the scene are beautiful!



And again love Jin & Saki's chemistry! Esp. this one (I think Jin started to accept his destiny!)



Can't wait for these scenes next week. Jin finally met Miki. And Miki met Saki. The plot getting tighter...






And how I am sooo sooo happy seeing this preview.... Love it!

I haven't had a chance to actually watch the third episode yet so I have to ask how did Saki meet Miki? Saki wouldn't have had a reason to go to the brothel (or whatever the correct term is) to meet Miki. Did Saki meet Miki after seeing Jin's photo or was it totally random?

That I'm curious also. But perhaps somehow there's someone's sick at the brothel house. So Jin & Saki visit the brothel house and meet Saki? Guessing here.....

This series keeps getting better. I can understand Jin's sentiment about changing one's destiny. Like everyone else, I also can't wait to see Jin and Miki's old self encounter.

Isn't Osawa Takao so cute when he's smiling??? <3

Osawa Takao is as charming and cute as I last remember him. And Ayase shows how comfortable she is working with veterans.

wait till epi 4 i guess...

just watched 3. like someone mentioned before not as good as 1. its more of a continuation/closure of episode 2.
nontheless, still lovin it though. i would actually love to see more "butterfly effects" rather than the "one destiny" but on the other hand, kinda like it how they did it, killin off the mother.

its also really hard to imagine that tokyo actually looked like that just 100 years ago. this has got to be one of the most expensive dramas ever made.

Finally finished watching with eng subs from Heiwa Subs. I got more understanding now why Jin's crying hard when the mom's kid dies. And I'm soo touched with what Saki's comfort words to Jin when he's asking about his existance. 'Sensei, you changed my destiny. When I met you and your medicine, I and many others, saw bright things, like the sound of a beating pulse. I am alive...' And then Jin burst in tears again. . Gosh, I love this scene. I am really hoping this relationship is growing into something sweet.

I was rather apprehensive about watching another production with Ayase Haruka who is one of the actresses with a really limited repertoire but popular. I'm glad I tried in spite of that because Jin is surprisingly good and I can't wait to see how the story unfolds. Ayase is still pretty much the same but the highlight of the show for me has been the little boy Kiichi and Jin's own journey of rediscovering himself and the things he had taken for granted. I hope they keep it up.

Screen captures from episode 04:

Just finished watching Jin ep. 4. Too bad the scene I've been waiting - Saki & Jin - is too short. I want more. ;D

And here's what I can caps... Enjoy!

JIN is the best 2009 drama! I'm nowhere a fan of a historical drama but this drama never bored me to death. In fact I'm really excited each episodes. At some point, I was telling myself to wait until all the episodes are shown so that I can watch this in marathon but then I just can't resist.

I can't wait to see episode 5! It's quite amazing that they relate the episode with the discoverer of syphilis who is a Japanese. I want to see how JIN will mass produce penicillin.

I'm glad that the ratings of JIN are doing great. ^^.

Hi Garnet Moon,
I can't agree more. I'm soo happy! Just check out d-addict. Heiwa sub already release the eng sub of ep4. Rewatching again.

Didnt expect edo miki to be sortof... normal, nice..

but theres probably more to her than this episode

loved the butterfly effect on the picture of jin & miki.
but wouldnt it change again if hes going to see her again & again...

cant wait till next episode!

Nokaze's behaviour is probably a facade to intimidate people. She must be weary and lonely to be cooped up in that world. She'll certainly warm up to him much more if he saves her "sister" with the venereal disease tomorrow. I wonder if that random killer who appeared in a very brief scene will put a kink in any possible development in the interactions between Nokaze and Jin.

I'm also very curious to know how Jin's actions will change how the two of them appear in photo.

Thank goodness for Jin this season or there'd be nothing much to watch!

^ maybe he prevented a disease gene, one that mutates and causes miki's tumour from passing down to nokaze's eventual descendants?

this drama is so good! It's the first medical drama i've enjoyed watching

I'm not sure but I think I saw a scene on the episode 5 preview that Jin failed to save Nokaze's "sister". There was a scene there that appeared she died.

Same with me. I'm getting curious every episode

I'm still curious with that fetus. I'm thinking that the man who went back to the hospital and Jin is the same person

Haha yeah thank goodness for Jin this season as I'm getting bored with some dramas. I'm also glad that it is maintaining its good ratings.

Out of the topic but I really like Osawa Takao. Jin is my first Osawa Takao drama so I'm watching some of his works. I really cried with Life - Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara - movie which is based on the true story of professional wind surfer who got liver cancer. (which took too long to download) Too bad the movie doesn't have subs but nevertheless I kinda understood the story. I'll probably check out Goemon and Ichi next.

Oh yes, you're most likely right. The ending sequence of the trailer seems to imply that he failed despite his success in making penicillin. We'll know very soon how the story unfolds.

I've never seen Osawa Takao in a production before. He has acted in many high profile movies but somehow, I've never had the chance to catch them. He's one of the breed of actors who has aged well and has a commanding screen presence. I can't think of any of the younger generation of actors who measure up.

Goemon isn't a very nice movie. It's more like a video game with too much CGI.

Jin thinks that he went back in time to perhaps change his destiny with Miki. If he advances medicine in the Edo era, medicine of the future may progress further.

He succeeded in producing penicillin but the quantity is limited because it is hard to cultivate. In the process of doing this, there are people in the medical institute who resent him for overtaking the institute and this will definitely become an issue to get rid of him soon I think.

The penicillin took effect but was not enough to save Yugiri. She died although her looks were somewhat restored. Nokaze was devastated but prepared for her death. The boss said she'd been looking for a cure for 3 years.

This episode also shows how Jin and Miki got together. And the photo changes again.

Edit: In the trailer, Jin is framed for murder because of people who feel threatened by him.

There's subs out for Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara.
http://www.dlaznmovies.com/search?q=osawa+takao

If you like romance story, Christmas on July 24th Avenue is good. Sky High is a pretty interesting movie. He plays the bad guy.

^ Actually I just lately saw that site after I watched the movie. Anyway, I 90% understood the movie so I guess I don't really need the subs that much. I have already watched Christmas on July 24th Avenue (haha I was joking to my friend that it is the movie where Jin and Miki met and become lovers XD). My friend recommended me to watch Metro ni notte so I'm going to watch that first XD (And I just saw that Tsutsumi Shinichi is on the cast list which adds some conviction to watch it)



Yeah he really aged well as I'm seeing the pictures from his older movies. I have watched SekaChuu but I really don't remember him there.



I'm seeing this to happen that somehow some people will hate him because of his out of this world techniques (well thinking at that time, his techniques are out of this world)

Since the manga is not yet finished in Japan, we can expect a season 2 or SPs for JIN in which I don't really mind. JIN's ratings is fairly high and consistent, so I guess TBS won't give a second thought to give JIN a sequel. And dramas with sequels are pretty a trend now in Jdramas

anyone know what happened in the short (very short) scene of ep.4 where Jin is saving that boss and saki's brother (Koide Keisuke as Tachibana Kyotaro ) went wondering outside, then he was talking to this girl behind the wooden bars asking her something like "Is there something wrong with me?" i thought that part was really random and i didn't understand it.

Hi Jade Frost, thanks for the spoiler... Now, i really can't wait for the link of ep 5 to appear.

I also cried in that movie where Osawa act as a wind surfer. I think Osawa has made me cried a lot of times cos he appeared in lots of movies where at the end he died... Midnight eagle, Metro ni notte, Ichi. But I still love him because those movies are beautiful.

Don't expect much from metro ni notte. The story was a bit disturbing and some things don't make sense. Okay a lot of things don't make sense. If you don't try to make sense of it, the movie okay.

Does anyone have the lyric translation for "aitakute ima" by misa?

^ Hehe I always don't have expectations while watching Japanese movies.

Anyway, good news for JIN's fans.

JIN episode 5 rating - 20.3%!!!!!!

Wow you rarely get a Jdrama nowadays with 20% ratings (Actually I usually don't care for ratings but I'm happy JIN is getting what it deserves). The raw is already out on D-addicts.

It's not uncommon to have dramas over 20% Most of Kimura's dramas are over 20%. But I'm glad Jin's ratings are going up. Hopefully it will go up higher to average over 20%. The first few eps were 16% and 17%. Let's hope it runs for a season 2 with the same speed and interesting script. Usually season 2 gets changed and it starts to suck like iryu 2.

^ I guess that proves to my post that I usually care about ratings XD I don't know much about the ratings trends. I just watch what I feel to watch even if it doesn't have high ratings.

Yeah Iryu 2 was quite a disappointment. It failed to bring back the magic of the first season.



I'm not sure but based on that scene it appeared that the girl is quite afraid to be picked up by a man. He's in the red light district so as to expect, he would pick a girl but instead he just asked: "Is there something wrong with me?".

I think that interaction will start as a new subplot for JIN.

Screen captures from episode 05:

I started watching this drama b/c I'm a big fan of Osawa Takao, really REALLY happy to see how good it is! This story handles time traveling and all the dilemmas it presents better than pretty much any other I've seen. Can you change the past? Should you? What happens to your present if you do? Plus there are lots of other mysteries (aside from the obvious one of why and how did Jin travel back in time?) Does anyone have any theories on what the embryo is supposed to represent?