There are two main reasons why this offering from the current winter season catches my eye. First of all, medical dramas with an investigative/suspense twist are my cup of tea. As the title suggests, we are looking at a bunch of "monsters" in this drama who seem to be embarking on some sacred mission but something is not quite right about this undertaking. It still remains to be seen who are the real "evil" monsters in this drama but at least from the first episode, we are seeing some clues as to who might be potential monsters and why they might be motivated to become one. Secondly, the cast lineup is made up of quite a number of my favourite actors like Nakatani Miki, Katsumura Masanobu, Kohinata Fumio, Kato Ai, Hasegawa Hiroki, Suzuki An. As for the lead actor Okada Masaki, I've seen him in a number of dramas and movies so far and quite like his acting but his babyface is always a concern when it comes to him taking on more serious or older characters. This character looks like something which can be a potential hit for him so I'm hoping that he can make full use of the opportunity.
Having said all that, let me introduce the characters first before giving a summary of what happened in the first episode:
Shiba Kengo (Okada Masaki)
Kasugai Yuka (Nakatani Miki)
Hyuga Keiko (Kato Ai)
Hyuga Toshio (Hasegawa Hiroki)
Arima Mie (Suzuki An)
Itokawa Yojiro (Watanabe Ikkei)
Mizuhara Ryoji (Katsumura Masanobu)
Okubo Shiro (Kohinata Fumio)
Hirai Yoko (Oomasa Aya)
Shiba Sogo (Hirata Mitsuru)
SPOILERS ALERT!!
One rainy night at Okubo Memorial Hospital, a pregnant woman is sent to the entrance of the hospital even though she has no scheduled appointment for delivery. Shiba Kengo, the doctor on duty that night, decides to do a Ceasarean because of complications with the mother's condition. However, soon after a baby boy is born, the mother dies. Unknown to Shiba, this incident isn't a coincidence but a culmination of various arrangements and happenings...
The story reverses back to 1 year ago when Shiba was told to transfer to Okubo which was facing financial difficulties. At the same time, Hyuga Keiko who is pregnant, is holding her wedding to Hyuga Toshio, the rich owner of an educational business but feels unwell during the ceremony. Suddenly, she collapses in a pool of blood and is sent to the university hospital where Shiba works at...
Although Shiba is reluctant and not so enthusiastic about his new workplace, he starts to discover that there is satisfaction and value in being a hands-on doctor who saves lives, thanks to the calm and capable chief nurse Kasugai Yuka. He also gets advice and information about his co-workers from a patient Itokawa who's been hospitalised for some time.
One night, a boy who suffers from peritonitis is admitted for an emergency operation but Shiba is apprehensive about taking this on because he has no experience. With "encouragement" from Kasugai, Shiba manages to complete the operation successfully.
Keiko visits Kasugai and it is revealed that they are sisters who grew up in an orphanage. Keiko pleads with Kasugai to be her surrogate mother as she can no longer give birth to her own child following the removal of her uterus. However, Kasugai reminds Keiko that surrogate births are forbidden in Japan and doesn't agree to it. Nonetheless, Keiko doesn't want to give up while Kasugai is shaken by Keiko's desperation.
When Kasugai goes to visit Keiko at her place, seeing how Keiko is treated by her mother-in-law shakes her resolve in doing what's right. In addition, after hearing Shiba's story of his mother risking her life to give birth to him and seeing how a mother disregards the well-being of her child, Kasugai finally decides to help Keiko who wants a child but can't do it herself. On the other hand, Shiba is unknowingly drawn into this whole fiasco without knowing what is going on...
The first episode's pace is relatively fast and sets out to introduce the characters to us and show the main motive for turning the characters into monsters. What is at stake here will be the surrogate pregnancy initiated by Keiko. However, it is not something as easy as getting someone to bear the child for her. Doctors aren't supposed to help with delivering babies from surrogate mothers. I can see that is why Shiba will be drawn into this mess because the people involved will need someone who's oblivious to what's going on in order for this to work. Just from the first scene alone, you can see some suspicious acts by Kasugai which all made sense by the time you finish watching the first episode:
- Kasugai was standing by the window and looking at the entrance before the pregnant woman was sent to the hospital's entrance. She didn't rush out immediately to find out what was going on and waited till the person who sent the woman had left before raising the alarm.
- Kasugai was being rather insistent that Shiba should do the Ceasarean at Okubo rather than sending the pregnant woman to another hospital.
Kasugai couldn't risk letting others know that the woman was sent to Okubo on purpose so she was aware beforehand that the woman was coming. In short, she's part of the surrogate pregnancy scam. Initially, she still stuck to her morals as a medical professional but when she saw her own sister was suffering due to the inability to produce a heir, she just went straight into this crazy idea for Keiko's sake. To be frank, if you have seen the 2nd episode's trailer, it should strike you that Kasugai seems to have lost her usual rational side now that she's decided to go all out to help Keiko.
Keiko's insistence on bearing a child for her husband didn't strike me as solely pure love for her own children but rather, it was also prompted by the fact that her in-laws and her husband's ex-wife were hurling sarcasm at her while maintaining this nice facade. She needs a child to cement her position in the family although I think her husband Toshio doesn't seem to like kids that much and I get the feeling that he's not too concerned that Keiko can't get pregnant although he says that he loves her more than children.
From the trailer, it looks like the surrogate mother isn't going to be Kasugai after all but rather Arima Mie, a teacher who works in the Hyuga family's kindergarten. Since the opening scene already showed Kasugai as one of those who helped in the delivery of the baby, this would have ruled her out. It remains to be seen how they manage to convince Mie to undertake this crucial role of being the surrogate mother.
Another person who looks likely to be involved in this would be the hospital's owner i.e. Okubo. He is at his wits' end due to the hospital's bad financial position but I think his chance meeting with Hyuga Toshio would probably mean something later. If he's desperate enough for money to save his hospital, he would probably agree to letting the surrogate mother give birth in his hospital.
It does look like Shiba will be in the hot soup for helping to deliver the baby boy. There may be legal repercussions even though he is totally unaware of the scam but I think his emotional outburst or change in his mindset after the whole episode is exposed might be something more interesting to look out for as we progress further in this drama. The fate of these "monsters" would also be worth checking out. On the whole, I think the first episode did pretty well in igniting my interest so I should be following this for a while or even till the end if it turns out to be very engaging.
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