There are a lot of crime and mystery serials this season, and as with most drama series they tend to star popular young female actresses or ikemen (handsome guy) actors. TV Asahi, however, is bucking this trend: Its crime and mystery drama series feature middle-aged men. Taking off from the success of its perennial winner, "Aibo" ("Partners"; Wed., 9 p.m.), TV Asahi is offering two new crime dramas with shibumen (serious guy) characters.

"Honboshi: Shiri Tokuso Jikenbo" ("The Real Criminal: Psychological Investigation Casebook"; Thurs., 8 p.m.) stars Eiichiro Funakoshi, the "king of two-hour mysteries," as Dr. Kirishima, a psychiatrist who works with the police in extracting incriminating information from suspects.

In this week's episode, Kirishima and his team are summoned to the rooftop of a condominium where the corpse of a woman has been discovered. They find traces of the woman's blood as well as the murder weapon in her apartment, and Kirishima wonders why the killer moved the body up to the roof.