Best Japanese thriller series

From the mind of horror manga maestro Junji Ito comes a spine-tingling selection of some of his most bizarre, disturbing and terrifying tales.

Eleven high school classmates awaken, restrained to a large dining room. While fearing for their lives, they question a motive to this bizarre act.

After causing a major incident, police officer Daigo Agawa takes his wife and daughter to live in the remote mountain village of Kuge. It seems the perfect place to recover from the ordeal, despite the mysterious disappearance of a previous officer posted there. One day, the body of an old woman is found on the mountain. The Goto family says she was attacked by a bear, but Daigo notices a human bite mark. It soon becomes clear that not all is as it seems in the village.

A mysterious woman appears in front of Otaro Dojima. The mysterious woman has a pale face with red lips. She kisses him and he dies, but the next moment he regains consciousness. He realizes he is now seven days in the past. The mysterious woman also follows him. Due to her kiss, Otaro Dojima dies and goes back to the past over and over again.

Six months ago, Hikaru vanished for a week. Now, as his best friend Yoshiki senses something amiss and confronts him, the harrowing truth emerges.

Riders on a commuter train get an earthquake warning on their cellphones. Cars lurch as electric sparks fly, people are thrown about and the lights go out. Train 5 passengers awake to find that they are no longer in a tunnel, and overgrown brush can be seen through the windows. People slide open the doors and find that the train tracks end suddenly ahead and behind the car. People's reactions to losing the modern world vary from confusion to alarm to indifference. Where or when are they? Can they survive in this wilderness?

Misa has been a supporting character all her life, blindly trusting her best friend and husband. When she discovers their affair, the betrayal results in her death. Waking up ten years in the past, Misa vows to become the main character of her own story. She plans to ruin her betrayers by making them marry each other, but after meeting her director at work, starts to consider who she truly is.

Four students of the same age have nothing in common except that they attend the same elite New York City school. Kate, Rose, Claire and Rachel all belong to different cliques and hardly notice each other's existence. Then one day they gain something in common, something very important, something mysterious. They find themselves drawn together by the death of a fellow student and the secret of their own missing memories. Suddenly they are thrown into a world of hidden warfare on the city streets and are caught up in secrets which would not be believed by others. These four all have their own problems to struggle with, things that seem more important than such strange conflicts. Can they escape from this fate? The only thing they know is that despite coming from four different worlds they now have to rely on each other or die without a hope.

Two fans of pop idol Ai are reincarnated as her "secret" baby twins, Aqua and Ruby, and grow up supporting her until the tragic day she is stabbed by a stalker. Flash forward a few years later, and Aqua and Ruby are high-school students determined to make it on their own in the cut-throat world of entertainment for personal reasons.

A Japanese tabloid reporter tired of working simply as a celebrity scandals writer accepts a new challenge when he is assigned to make contact with a former Yakuza informant.

Yoji Minamimaru, known as Nanmaru, is a university student with a supernatural ability to create small holes in anything. One day, Yoji finds out that the professor of folklore studies has gone missing. Together with his classmates, he decides to search for the professor.

A school psycho suspense that depicts classmates, students, and their families being involved in a whirlpool of suspicion and confusion when a mysterious and beautiful high school girl, Kiritani Sara, suddenly transfers to another school.

What would happen if Ōtarō wouldn't be able to go back in time with a kiss and be revived? A real-world-like parallel timeline about what happens after Ōtarō's deaths.

Two years ago, Noda Tetsuya worked as a doctor. He was a medical intern trained by cardiac surgeon Terashima Koichi. One day, Koichi and his wife were murdered. At that time, Tetsuya lost his right hand. Koichi and his wife left behind their 8-year-old daughter Terashima Yui. Now, Noda teams up with Yui to lead an illegal secret surgery team, whose ultimate purpose is to find the truth behind the death of her parents. To hire the black market surgery team, a fee of 100 million yen in cash is required as well as an NDA requirement and chocolate. The team are able to save the lives of patients no matter the circumstances, but a newspaper reporter begins to chase after them.

One day Mio attends a middle school reunion and is reunited with her first love, Shuichi. Her love is rekindled when the guy approaches her, but they get caught up in an incident where members of the reunion start dying one after another.

Genius Nikola Tesla preserved records of all his inventions inside crystals known as Tesla Shards. After an inexplicable incident in Norway, Botan Negoro, a descendant of ninjas raised to be the ultimate agent, is recruited on a mission to recover the crystals. Her partner through this is self-proclaimed No. 1 agent, Kuruma. With the fate of the world at stake, the fight for the shards begins.

The story is set in a big hospital which is infiltrated and taken over by an armed group wearing devil masks. Musashi Saburo a police officer on leave of absence has to save the hostages within a set time limit.

Yamihara Kokoro and Asada Toramatsu live in a town that is quite peaceful, until a serial murder case happened where the bodies all had their blood drained out. Five years have passed but the case remains unsolved. Meanwhile, Kokoro and Toramatsu have been in a relationship for a year, but are unable to get married as they are keeping a serious secret from each other. Kokoro is actually a vampire. However, she does not attack humans and live modestly. Toramatsu is a popular resident in the town and is trusted by many. After getting a divorce, Toramatsu got drunk and went back to his old house, where he met Kokoro, the current occupant. As the two continue to keep their secrets hidden, a horrific murder occurs once again in the town.

On her 17th birthday, Ozaki Karin suddenly lost her childhood friend and first love, Soma Jun. Ten years later, on her 27th birthday, Karin happens to find a film camera left behind by Jun and the photos he took of her. This causes her to remember all the feelings she had for Jun. Unable to control her emotions, Karin burns all the photos and is transported back in time to the day the photo was taken 10 years ago. As Karin travels back and forth between the past and present to stop Jun's suicide, she slowly discovers the shocking truth behind her childhood friend's death.

Komatsu Kie (Key), a magazine writer from Tokyo, teams up with Omine Sakura, an Okinawa native, to pursue the truth of a sexual assault case.

Hotaru Kusakari is married to Gorō Kusakari, and she works as a pharmacist. She holds a secret that she is really a ninja and part of the Kōka ninja clan. Her husband holds a routine job as a postal delivery man, but he has a secret as well. He is also a ninja and part of the Iga ninja clan. Even though Hotaru and Gorō are a married couple, they are each unaware that their partner is a ninja.

Shibasaki Kaori is a doctor. Her patient that she was having an affair with dies. Kaori is suspicious of the patient's son Kido Takashi about the death. Noguchi Tomomi is a single mother. She is excited in experiencing love for the first time in 7 years. Harada Saeko is in conflict with her husband Harada Satoshi about having a child. Mizushima Juri insists on having freewheeling romance. She feels excitement with meeting a woman. These four women's lives connect and an unexpected story begins.

A legal suspense drama featuring the unconventional lawyer Odagiri Wataru, who specializes in defending fraud victims. The story revolves around Wataru's choice to defend fraudsters for a specific reason, as he strives to win cases against the perpetrators who prey on the vulnerable in court, revealing his true motives along the way.

Parliamentary secretary Toru Washizu (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) has devoted 20 years of his life to Kosuke Inukai, a member of parliament and cabinet minister. Toru works behind the scenes as Inukai's "shadow," deftly handling the petitions of Inukai's supporters and crushing any hint of scandal. Cool and collected, Toru rarely betrays emotion and would humble himself to anyone to get what Inukai needs. But then a shocking event changes everything. Toru's only son, Taiki, is gravely injured in an accident that leaves him close to death. Toru is stricken with worry and fear for his son, but Inukai orders him to conduct a cover-up. Feeling betrayed, Toru, who once would have done anything for Inukai, begins to question everything.

Eight men and women with heavy debts, are trapped in a situation where they cannot survive. The eight people are invited by a mysterious man named Ninomiya, an agent of Mr. X, to play a "lottery game" at a permanently closed hotel. The game involves risking their lives and their money. Who is Mr. X and what is the purpose of the game? (Source: DramaWiki)

Sakuraba Haruma's childhood friend Inukai Shuji was a cut above him in every way imaginable, living out the glamorous life bestowed upon him. Haruma, an unassuming salaryman, has lived his every day clutching onto his inferiority complex, existing only in Shuji's shadow. One day, Haruma coincidentally meets Shuji's wife, Inukai Reika, who Haruma has always secretly admired since his high school days. With feelings of envy, jealousy, and more, a "secret" is born from Haruma's repetitive days.

Okuda Akane has been subjected to domestic violence and moral harassment by her husband, Okuda Daisuke. After experiencing a miscarriage due to domestic violence, Akane begins to reconsider her life and follow the instructions in a mysterious letter to punish her husband socially.

Former elementary school teacher and detective, Kurasawa Itsuki (Nakatani Miki), has a history with Kishi Ruoto (Kikuchi Fuma). At the age of 12 and her 6th grade student, Kishi murdered Kurasawa's daughter. The young age of the murderer caused the bizarre murder case to send shockwaves throughout Japan. Kurasawa experienced despair and quit her job as a teacher to become a detective with the desire of "saving as many people as possible from suffering like I did". Driven by her strong conviction, Kurasawa spends 12 years working hard to solve cases before learning that Kishi is to be discharged from a medical reformatory just before the anniversary of her daughter's death. One day, she receives a text message from the supposedly "completely rehabilitated" Kishi promising to "take away your precious things once again". This was the beginning of a new incident that would shock all of Japan again.

Naoya Aizawa has been married for a few years to his colleague, Kana. The couple has a perfect life until a new employee named Noa Tachibana is assigned to Naoya’s branch office. Will Naoya be able to resist Noa’s temptation? What is the fate of this couple?

Kanata Moriguchi, a representative of the fashion subscription service "shareDresser", becomes popular overnight, because of a famous artist's shout-out on SNS. From there, surrounded now by luxury, Moriguchi starts touting the concept that the number of followers on social channels is the most important thing and everything else will just work on its own. Because of his popularity, he becomes a part of a celebrities circles, but also ends up as the object of envy and respect of his fellow industry colleagues. However, everything changes when Moriguchi receives a message from a stranger. In it, he receives a video that should never see the light of day and could ruin his life. Forced to follow the blackmailer's instructions, Kanata tries to find out who is behind it and what his motives are. At the same time, he faces a dilemma whether to save his career or confess his sins to the world.

The stage is five years after "Borderless", Nao, Kiri, and Kotone have started a new life on their own. One day, a novel written by Kiri will be published under the name of a popular young actress. Kiri is dissatisfied but cannot resist. In addition, "incidents" occur to trace the incidents in the works. They can't believe it's a coincidence, who imitated what and why? As they tried to get to the bottom of the truth, an inescapable tragedy struck them again...

Kozono Yohei, secretary general of Shoto University, was found stabbed to death in his home. Hoshino Naoto, a detective at Fujimi Police Station, rushes to the scene and sees the scene of the murder in the living room. Tanimura Kaho, a lecturer at Shoto University's Department of International Studies, is trying to get ahead in life at any cost, and has been having an affair with Kozono, who holds the right to personnel affairs, for half a year. Kozono is murdered, and Kaho is arrested as a murderer. On the other hand, reporter Maruyama Sota receives information about the affair via anonymous email, and realizes that someone is trying to manipulate the impression of the incident, and begins his own investigation. In the midst of this, Hoshino feels uncomfortable with the investigative policy of the upper-level police, which concludes that Kaho is the culprit in a half-baked investigation, and eventually realizes that Kaho may have been framed by someone.

The Korean-Chinese-Japanese collaborative drama series “Strangers 6″ is about a group of six experts from the police forces of Korea, China, and Japan who are secretly gathered to protect the countries’ economic futures. “Strangers 6″ is set in the near future and centers around the fictional Chinese city of ‘Haiwan’, a huge economical hub without any national boundaries for companies from South Korea, Japan, and China. However, the city is doomed to collapse under a gigantic earthquake predicted to hit the city within the next three months. There’s a chance to prevent the disaster by installing a special device underneath the city, but this would require cutting-edge technology and an unimaginable sum of money from all three countries. Believing that this is the only way to protect their economy, the countries are quick to agree on this joint-operation and hasten their efforts in order to complete the device as soon as possible. However, somebody is trying to interfere with the project and attempts to assassinate the people involved. In order to protect the project and to find out who is behind the assassination plot, the three countries form a top-secret group, ‘Strangers 6′, which is made up of their best experts and agents.

Makoto, a gang leader, takes in Minoru Tokito. Minoru has a mysterious past that includes the usage of a drug called W.A. This drug has caused Minoru to have his right arm as a monstrous limb. The two begin their journey by investigating this drug that is tearing up the city's "underground."

Akiho Takeda is assigned to #3 investigation team for The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. On her first day at work, a burglary takes place at a jewelry store in Shibuya. The case though is taken by the #1 investigation team which Akiho hoped to join. Nevertheless, Akiho goes secretly to the jewelry store where the theft took place. Later, a safe at a jewelry store in Roppongi is broken into. Stolen from the safe is the diamond called "Besu". The "Besu" is one of three diamonds that makes up the "Kuraida Family's Three Sisters". The other two diamonds are "Ani" and "Kyasari". The diamond "Ani" was stolen from the jewelry store in Shibuya, that occurred a few days earlier. Several people believe the two diamond thefts were done by the same person(s), but Akiho mentions the techniques used by thieves are different. Yet, Akiho believes there must be a connection between the two cases.

A religious cult called Mushikago no Niwa that secretly developed hidden human potential existed in the past. However, one such person, whose potential was unleashed, rose in rebellion. After the cult was destroyed, the members dispersed and only the rumour of a vast fortune on the cult grounds is whispered in the underworld. Nanami is a go-between and trades information with people of the underworld. One day, he meets Kagoroku who happens to be there when he is in a tough spot in a secret deal. The two of them eventually team up to solve all sorts of issues. They get involved in a fight between the former Mushikago no Niwa members that went through human experiments and the people of the underworld over the assets and mystery of the cult.