Oguri Shun Reunites with Ikuta Toma to Headline J-dorama Adaptation of Hit Manga Ouroboros

A super exciting J-dorama is on the horizon that promises epic bromance and the well-executed crime fighting detective procedurals that Japan does so much better than Korea or Taiwan. TBS is adapting the popular shonen manga Ouroboros: Keisatsu wo Sabaku wa Ware ni Ari into a Winter J-dorama starring Oguri Shun and Ikuta Toma. It’s been 7 years since the two worked together as the two male leads in the hit dorama Hanazakari no Kimitachi e with Horikita Maki cross-drossing as a boy and enviably in a love triangle with the two gorgeous men. The J-version of Hana Kimi remains my favorite by far and the K-version called To the Beautiful You exists solely to emphasize how perfect the first J-version nailed it. I haven’t been keeping with Toma’s career as much as I follow everything Shun does but both men have very unique styles and charisma all their own and are always a pleasure to watch.

As an actor Shun keeps improving and wowing me and this year his headlining cop-who-can-see-ghosts dorama Border will likely be my favorite J-dorama of the year by far. It is sooooo good and the ending blew my socks off. I was actually expecting a sequel Border 2 (which might still happen) but with Shun doing Ouroboros with Toma next that means any more Border goodness will have to wait. In Ouroboros, Toma and Shun play a pair of orphaned boys who grew up together under the caring protection of their sensei. When sensei is senselessly murdered and the law enforcement and criminal elements collude to let the killer get away, the two boys vow to exact their own justice one day. Toma’s character Ryuzaki Ikuo becomes an ordinary detective hiding excellent fighting skills while Shun plays brilliant Danno Tatsuya who rises through the yakuza ranks and becomes a gang leader. They secretly work together to solve cases from their respective ends while remembering their promise to one day solve their sensei’s murder. This sounds so awesome I WANT IT NOW.