No. of Epis: 11Year/TV Stn: 2009/TBS
Cast:
Osawa Takao ~ Minakata Jin
Nakatani Miki ~ Tomonaga Miki / Nokaze
Ayase Haruka ~ Tachibana Saki
Koide Keisuke ~ Tachibana Kyotaro
Uchino Masaaki ~ Sakamoto Ryoma
Synopsis: (edited from Dramawiki)
Minakata Jin has spent the last two years in anguish, as his fiancee Miki lies in a vegetative state after an operation he performed. One day, he faints at the hospital and awakens to find himself transported back in time to the Edo period. He is soon attacked by a samurai, but he escapes with the help of a man named Kyotaro. Kyotaro suffers a serious injury to the head while trying to protect him, but Jin manages to save his life despite a lack of proper medical equipment. Because of that, Kyotaro's sister Saki begins taking an interest in Jin and becomes his assistant. Meanwhile, Jin is determined to find a way back to the present.
Slacker's review:
"JIN" is probably the best autumn drama I have watched last season. The theme itself was not very new (TVB's "Xun Qin Ji" got a similar cross era theme), but the plot was engaging. At first I thought the storyline would focus on how Minakata struggled to return to the modern era, but I got to see how the guy used his modern medical knowledge & techniques to help the Edo people. Of course, the highlight of the story was when Minakata met Nokaze, who looked exactly like Miki. I liked how the characters interacted with each other. While Saki was rather reserve, Nokaze was much more straight forward in her speech and behaviour towards Minakata. Ending was kinda ambiguous. Minakata in modern era was still in coma state, but there's a scene where Minakata actually slipped forward into time and saw Miki. Just as I thought he went back to modern era, the next scene was Minakata got up from his fall and he's still in Edo! (I think there will be an upcoming special soon...)
I have been waiting for Osawa's drama comeback, and his acting was great. Minakata is not those "overly serious" character, so I thought Osawa's portrayal was just nice; kinda funny at times, but not to the extend of exaggerating, and he could be very serious when he's operating on his patients. Chemistry with Ayase was not too bad, but the fireworks was with Nakatani. (Maybe Ayase looked more like a sister beside Osawa).
As much as I liked Ayase's character Saki, I thought I loved Nokaze more. This woman was much more sophisticated, probably it's because she's the top oiran. I loved the ending for the lady, as she's a like a caged bird who was set free and could lead a peaceful life.
Koide's Kyotaro is a support role, but there's a side plot b/w him and another oiran. I thought it's nice to see Koide in a more matured and serious role.
Uchino's Sakamoto is an impt character here, but seriously I found Sakamoto too "noisy". Haha!
Theme song is "Aitakute Ima" by MISIA.
