On average, 600 abortions are performed in Japan every day. This rarely publicized situation is the subject of a new afternoon soap opera, "Tenshi no Dairinin" ("The Angels' Proxies"; Fuji TV, Mon.-Fri., 1:30 p.m.).
A nonfiction writer named Yoshimura (Atsuko Takahata) is interviewing a woman named Fuyuko (Yoshie Ichige) for a book. Fuyuko belongs to an association of midwives who call themselves Tenshi no Dairinin. Their mission is to persuade women who are considering abortions not to undergo the procedure.
Every day, Fuyuko tells the writer a story about one of the women they have tried to talk to, including a mother undergoing fertility treatment who ends up with the wrong embryo; a woman whose husband has an affair with her sister and gets her pregnant; and a woman in her 40s who becomes pregnant by her younger boyfriend who has a terminal disease. In the background, the two women's own stories are fleshed out.