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Netflix to Stream 20 NHK Drama Titles Including Descending Stories: A Life in Rakugo, Tokyo Salad Bowl, More
posted on by Joanna Cayanan
Netflix announced on Wednesday that it will stream worldwide a total of 20 drama titles from Japanese broadcast network NHK including Taiga dramas, titles from NHK's Renzoku Terebi Shōsetsu (Serialized TV Novel, also known as "Asadora" or Morning Drama), and Drama 10 series.
The first wave of titles will launch on June 22 and will include Drama 10's Descending Stories: A Life in Rakugo — the live-action series adaptation of Haruko Kumota's Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū manga — and the live-action series adaptation of Kuromaru's Tokyo Salad Bowl: Kokusai Sōsa Jikenbo (Tokyo Salad Bowl: International Investigation Files) manga.
Other titles included in the first wave include the Taiga drama Strategist KANBE, Mampuku Morning Drama, Drama 10's The Science Club, and the premium drama My Family. Additional titles will launch in early 2027.
The manga's television anime adaptation premiered in January 2016, and the second season premiered in January 2017. Crunchyroll streamed both series as they aired in Japan. The manga also inspired an earlier two-episode original video anime project.
The manga also inspired a musical stage play adaptation that ran from February to March 2025.
Kumota began the manga in Kodansha's ITAN magazine in 2010 and ended the series in June 2016. The 10th and final volume shipped in September 2016. The series received the "Best General Manga" prize at the 38th Kodansha Manga Awards, was honored with the Excellence Award at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards, was nominated for the 17th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and won the New Creator Prize for the 21st Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The manga was also listed in the top 10 manga for female readers by Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2017 guidebook.
The Tokyo Salad Bowl live-action series aired on NHK in January 2025. The story centers on the unlikely duo of the green-haired police officer Mari Kōda and police interpreter Ryō Arikino, who take on international crimes unfolding in Tokyo involving foreigners and criminal organizations. The series starred Nao as Mari Kōda, and Ryūhei Matsuda as Ryō Arikino.
The manga launched on Kodansha's Palcy app in 2021. The manga ended with its fifth compiled book volume that shipped in 2024.
Source: Netflix
