Riko Kawase

顔

Nozomu Momochi works as a supermarket employee and lives without any dream and courage. He accidentally met his favorite manga creator, Tomoe Yuizuki and they became a couple. One day, a middle-aged man approaches Nozomu and calls himself Tomoe.

Daimon Michiko is a 37-year-old freelance surgeon who is part of a questionable “doctor placement service” that has her wander from hospital to hospital. The harsh environment at the hospitals led many doctors to retire from their positions, forcing hospitals to make use of said program to fill the empty spots at least temporary. However, Michiko doesn’t look like a doctor at all with her flashy clothes and eccentric attitude. In the first episode she raises objections to a certain operation which is planned to be done by the head of a hospital who hasn’t performed an operation for a very long time. This causes Michiko to incur odium at the hospital, however, everyone becomes frozen when Michiko points out the outdated skills of the director. She also holds a scrupulous compliance when it comes to her working hours, never does any unnecessary chores that don’t require a medical license, and couldn’t care less about the power struggles within the hospitals. Nobody knows how she acquired such a top-level skill that allows her to claim exorbitant sums as reward, but her private life is an even greater mystery to everyone around her. Tanaka plays a rookie surgeon, Uchida an anesthetist, Kishibe the head of the placement service, and Ito the head of the surgical department of this institution.

Inspired by multiple true cases of false accusations, Elpis follows Ena Asakawa (Masami Nagasawa), a former network anchor whose star has faded due to scandal and now helms a late-night, less-formal magazine show. There an under-rated and rookie director Takuro Kishimoto (Gordon Maeda) begins to doubt a death row conviction which, together with Asakawa, make-up artist Cherry (Toko Miura) and star reporter Shouichi Saito (Ryohei Suzuki), they investigate and unravel as a state-wide conspiracy and cover up.

Miyama Akari is a university student who manages a photography shop with her mother that was left behind by her late father. One day, she receives a request from a male customer to develop a roll of film and discovers something within the photos which she had seen before. Meanwhile, she reunites with her old childhood friend for the first time in fifteen years. Soon after, a series of strange incidents start to occur within the town.