Title: トリック
Title (English): Trick
Genre: Mystery, suspense, comedy
Broadcast network: TV Asahi
Season 1
Episodes: 10
Broadcast period: 2000-Jul-01 to 2000-Sep-08
Air time: Friday 23:15-24:10
Synopsis
Although 23 year old Yamada Naoko is a "super" magician, she is continously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late. After being fired once again, her boss shows her an ad of a physics professor, a non-believer of all things magical, offering money to anyone who can prove to him that magic is real. Desperately needing the money, Naoko accepts the challenge, which is how she comes to meet Professor Ueda. Falling prey to her simple magic tricks, Ueda is impressed, and enlists Naoko to help him uncover the tricks behind a local cult. Their hilarious antics, along with those of police officer Yabe, leads them onto further mysteries, all with tricks needing to be solved in sort of an "X-Files" meets "Scooby-Doo"...
Cast
Sasai Eisuke as Mirakuru Mitsui (aka Miracle Mitsui) (ep4,ep5)
Season 2
Episodes: 12
Broadcast period: 2002-Jan-11 to 2002-Mar-22
Air time: Friday 23:15-24:10
Synopsis
Trick 2 keeps on describing the strange relationships of Yamada Naoko, a skilled and unemployed magician, and Ueda Jiro a physics teacher who doesn't believe in supernatural powers. Each story gives us the opportunity to meet these funny characters including Police Officer Yabe and Naoko's mother.
Cast
Mie Haru (見栄晴) as Kuraoka Tsuyoshi (ep9,ep10) Shiina Kippei as the masked person from Yamada's past (ep11,ep12)
Season 3
Tagline: Troisième Partie
Episodes: 10
Broadcast period: 2003-Oct-16 to 2003-Dec-18
Synopsis
A unique duo of a beautiful female magician and a strange physician are back! After two successful TV series, a record high DVD sales record in the newly released drama category, a smash hit theatrical movie, the best selling novelized book, etc., the show has made a come back to a weekly prime time slot.
The drama takes place at a remote mountain village bound by convention. In each episode, a beautiful female magician and a strange physician witness various supernatural phenomena far beyond their imagination. Just as the previous series, the two will try to investigate and seek what lies behind these paranormal events and logically prove what the tactful trick would be, only, if any. Now reaching its third series, the drama assures an ever more emphasis on the performance of the unique casting, stronger and original scripts, and more fun delving into the mysteries of this favorite title!
Cast
Wada Shu (和田周) as Nishimura Hiroshi (ep3,ep4) Inoue Aoi (井上碧) as Kameyama Chiharu (ep7,ep8) IZAM as Kameyama Tetsuya (ep7,ep8) Danpu Matsumoto (ダンプ松本) (aka Matsumoto Kaoru) as Matsumura's sister (ep7,ep8) Musaka Naomasa as Minamikata Kumasaku (Person looking for 'Kami no zou no zou') (ep9,ep10) Guts Ishimatsu as Kanai Genzo & Gattsusekimammushi (the flying insect) (ep9,ep10)
Special 1
Title: TRICK 新作スペシャル
Title (romaji): Trick Shinsaku Special
Broadcast date: 2005-Nov-13
Air time: Thursday 21:00
Theme song: Lucky Maria by Joelle (ジョエル)
Synopsis
Ueda Jiro together with 3 other scholars from different universities was invited in a TV program which features the super natural power of a fortuneteller. And of course, all of them were not convinced that such powers do exist. Midorikawa Shoko is known to predict how, when and where will a person dies. And due to some unexpected turn of events a certain man really did die when the show ended as to what Shoko predicted. Meanwhile, Yamada the super magician is once again fired from her job and coincidentally, she saw the TV program on her way home. Ueda phoned her about it and she insisted that she will never go with him no matter what, but because she was kicked-out from her apartment, she went with him nonetheless. And so, Ueda & Yamada went to Midorikawa's mansion and together with the 3 other scholars, they decided to expose Midorikawa Shoko's fraudulent act.
Cast
Special 2
Title: TRICK 新作スペシャル2
Title (romaji): Trick Shinsaku Special 2
Broadcast date: 2010-May-15
Air time: Saturday 21:00
Theme song: Getsurenka by Kumagai Ikumi (熊谷育美)
Synopsis
Ueda, Naoko, Yabe Kenzo and his partner Akiba are back in a new Trick special. Ueda Jiro is summoned to investigate serial killings that are likely to happen again during a festival to take place in a small village in Okayama. The victims are persons who took an oath under a local tradition but were dumped by their partners afterwards. The festival is marked by the return to the village of a strange woman by the name of Higashizaki Ayano, who had left 20 years ago after the death of her husband and son. The Saionji family, which is the most influential in the city, dislikes the fact.
Cast
Asano Yuuko
Tezuka Satomi
Minami
Aizawa Rina
Hamada Mari
Movie 1
Title: トリック 劇場版
Title (romaji): Trick: The Movie
Broadcast date: November 9, 2002
Synopsis
In Trick, Yukie Nakama plays Naoko, an aspiring but unknown and struggling magician. Following a particularly light-attended performance, Naoko is approached by two country bumpkins and invited to come to their town. You see, the villagers there believe their town to be threatened with impending doom at the hands of a giant turtle god; their only hope at defusing the panic revolve around her posing as a goddess, demonstrating her tried and true magic tricks as supernatural powers, and thereby reassuring the townsfolk of their safety. Being faced with a recent and massive rent increase, and herself knowing of a historical example where such a ruse worked successfully, she gladly accepts.
Upon arriving, however, she finds she is not the only poseur god in town, but in fact the fourth, with each previous god demonstrating a mastery of supernatural skill. This all may or may not have to do with an odd bit regarding legendary lost Tokugawa treasure possibly hidden in the town, or at least one of its toilets (you’ll see), which in addition to the self-proclaiming gods has drawn any number of enterprising characters (including Naoko’s longtime mathematician boyfriend, Mr. Ueda). And so the conundrum arises: To save the day Naoko will have to expose and debunk the other poseurs’ tricks while concealing her own. Doing so will not only net the townspeople some much needed peace, but possibly net her a nice piece of treasure in the process.
Cast
Nakama Yukie as Yamada Naoko
Abe Hiroshi as Ueda Jiro
Namase Katsuhisa as Yabe Kenzo
Yamashita Shinji as Kanzaki Akio
Yoshimoto Miyoko as Minagawa Etsuko
Oshima Yoko as Ikeda Haru
Maehara Kazuki as Ishihara Tatsuya
Kawasaki Mayo as Yasuda Yasuo
Aijima Kazuyuki as Hongo Sanshiro
Minosuke as Komaba Ichiro
Miyake Hiroki as Shirai Takeshi
Takenaka Naoto as God No. 001
Bengal as God No. 002
Ishibashi Renji as God No. 003
Ibu Masato as Chousokabetamekichi
Nogiwa Yoko as Yamada Satomi
Negishi Toshie as Kikuhime
Narumi Riko as Yamada Naoko (young)
Fuse Eri
Murasugi Seminosuke
Movie 2
Title: トリック 劇場版２
Title (romaji): Trick: The Movie 2
Broadcast date: June 10, 2006
Synopsis
Ueda and Naoko accept to hear a proposal from a young man (Yuta Hiraoka) living in Fumo-mura village. The proposal is to bring back his childhood friend, Misako (Maki Horikita), who was taken away by a psychic, Hakogami Sawako (Nagisa Katahira), 10 years ago. Upon request, the pair head for Hakogami-jima where Hakogami lives. They succeed in bringing Misako back, however, it incurs the wrath of Hakogami and they are sucked into a situation that takes the pretense of a paranormal phenomenon. Naoko manages to see through the trick, and Sawako kills herself as a result. The incident reveals Sawako's sorrowful past as she was one of its victims as well.
Cast
Movie 3
Title: 劇場版TRICK 霊能力者バトルロイヤル
Title (romaji): Gekijoban Trick: Reinosha Battle Royale
Title (english): Trick The Movie: Psychic Battle Royale
Broadcast date: May 8, 2010
Synopsis
Naoko Yamada (Yukie Nakama), a female magician, and Jiro Ueda (Hiroshi Abe), a genius physicist, are back again to solve the mystery of supernatural happenings. In a village where people are cured, a battle royale is held to find the successor for shamen Kamahaeri. Naoko attempts to gain big money by participating in the battle royale, while Jiro is invited to the village to stop this custom. Naoko and Ueda then challenges this amazing trick ..
Cast
Yoko Oshima as Haru Ikeda
