The spring lineup of drama series contains more than the usual share of comic-book adaptations, which is good news since comics tend to have more interesting story-lines than do dramas written directly for the screen.
"Kochira Hon Ikegami-sho (This Is Hon Ikegami Police Station)," (TBS, Monday, 8 p.m.): The story, which first started appearing in the comic book Evening in 1999, is centered on a small neighborhood police station in Tokyo's Ota Ward. This is the second time the comic has been adapted for TV. The first series was aired last summer and was a ratings hit. Unlike most police series, the tone of "Hon Ikegami" is warm and neighborly rather than hard-boiled. Masanobu Takashima plays an easygoing policeman who lives with his mother and his daughter. This week, in Episode 2, the precinct has been hit by a wave of purse-snatchings, and the pattern indicates that the criminal is doing it just for kicks.
"Kimi wa Petto (You're My Pet)," (TBS, Wednesday, 10 p.m.): An extremely popular girl's comic that appears in the comic Kiss, "Kimi wa Petto" is about Sumire (Koyuki), a young woman who appears to have everything: looks, education, intelligence and a great job. However, she's recently had a run of bad luck. After being unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend of five years, she punches out a supervisor at work who she claims is sexually harassing her and is subsequently demoted. Depressed and unsure of her future, she returns home one night to discover a young man, beaten and bloody, in a cardboard box outside her apartment building. She brings him in, cleans him up and essentially adopts him as her pet, naming him Momo. Sensing her "inner suffering," Momo goes along with the game.