Diplomat Kuroda Kousaku

""His job is to protect Japanese citizens. He is also a man with a secret side, executing top secret duties: Diplomat Kuroda Kousaku.""

- Opening Narration

Thus begins Diplomat Kuroda Kousaku, a J-Drama series about a troubleshooter for the Counterterrorism Department of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a very much Stale Beer series with very little gunplay and lots of political manuvering, mixing handling the case of the week and a Myth Arc encompassing a former colleague on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge for his wife's death in an embassy siege...


 * Almighty Janitor: What John's covers end up being (driver for a mafia boss, bartender/waiter...)
 * Awesomeness By Analysis: Rikako is a genius when it comes to maps. More than once, her ability to use/create a map comes in handy; at the end of the series, she's planning stakeout and containment positions for Niita.
 * Badass Longcoat: Kuroda often wears one, adding to the spy drama feel.
 * Beleaguered Bureaucrat: What most of the staff of the Central America & Caribbean Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are.
 * Conspicuous Trenchcoat: The Public Security agents and cops. Also Kuroda.
 * Cunning Linguist: Kuroda is heard to speak Spanish, French, Russian, English and Japanese, which would be expected of an experienced diplomat. It's also mentioned that he speaks fluent Polish.
 * Doing It for the Art: Location shooting in San Francisco, among other things, rather than attempted California doubling.
 * Dojikko: Ogaki Rikako is a live action version of this.
 * Driven to Suicide: Shimomura is first assumed to be this, after appearing drunk and depressed in San Francisco... and then it's revealed that he's Faking the Dead.
 * Dr. Yoshino, who helps him fake his death, is later driven to suicide after being chased all over San Francisco by Kuroda when the latter caught him tossing his apartment.
 * Faking the Dead: Former diplomat Shimomura, who goes to San Francisco to fake his death as the start of his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
 * Genre Savvy: John, Kuroda's CIA contact, agrees with his theory that Shimomura is alive and faked his death, on the grounds of "That'd be more interesting."
 * Guile Hero: Kuroda; while he's competent enough with a weapon, he prefers to get things done using his smarts.
 * The Handler: Ando, who's been giving Kuroda his assignments over the phone for years. It's not until Kuroda returns to Japan at the end of the pilot that they meet face to face.
 * Hero Antagonist: Police Superintendant Niita and his team; Niita's a By-The-Book Cop whose only interest is solving the murders; because he and Kuroda are chasing after the same guy they end up butting heads against each other.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Chairman Kaga is Ando, Kuroda's handler.
 * StormShadow is a CIA agent and friend of Kuroda's.
 * Reassigned to Antarctica: When he's getting too close to the truth, the Minister of Foreign Affairs plans to transfer Kuroda to Poland.
 * Sharp-Dressed Man: Many of the male characters, justified as they are in positions where this is demanded by the dress code.
 * Surprisingly Good English: Kuroda's CIA contact, played by Lee Byung-Hung, speaks American English in all his scenes. Kuroda holds several conversations with him in accented but correct English.
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: Kuroda's main modus operandi, helped in that he has diplomatic immunity overseas and he's usually a few steps of everyone else back in Japan.
 * Towards the endgame, Kimoshita and Saionji display this, willing to sacrifice their careers to help Kuroda.
 * Where Are They Now? Epilogue: Summing up the fates of most of the cast; Shimomura's surviving accomplices are in jail, Rikako now works with Niita, Kimoshita and Saionji still have their jobs, Mikami is the new Foreign Affairs Minister and Kuroda is in France.