Life on Remote Islands

Japan has over 14,000 islands, many of them small and home to only a few people. Life on these remote islands is full of surprises and variety, as well as deep-rooted history and traditions.

FRONTRUNNERS

FRONTRUNNERS highlights professionals at the very forefront of their field. We showcase their amazing work, discover their motivations, and learn about the challenges they face in the future.

RISING

Going beyond the horizon. Meet Japan's entrepreneurs whose innovative thinking is changing traditional mindsets in their various fields of work.

アキバ冥途戦争

Akihabara is the center of the universe for the coolest hobbies and quirkiest amusements. In the spring of 1999, bright-eyed Nagomi Wahira moves there with dreams of joining a maid café. She quickly dons an apron at café Ton Tokoton, AKA the Pig Hut. But adjusting to life in bustling Akihabara isn't as easy as serving tea and delighting customers. Paired with the dour Ranko who never seems to smile, Nagomi must do her best to elevate the Pig Hut over all other maid cafés vying for top ranking. Along the way she'll slice out a place for herself amid the frills and thrills of life at the Pig Hut. Just when Nagomi's dreams are within her grasp, she discovers not everything is as it seems amid the maid cafés of Akihabara.

SHIROBAKO

In a school in northeastern Japan, five friends in the animation club, Aoi, Ema, Shizuka, Misa, and Midori swear to complete a new anime called "Shinbutsu Konkou SHICHIFUKUJIN" with some donuts. Since then, day after day, the five spend all of their time on anime production. The awe of going from rough sketches to animation, and the awkward acting in the after-recording session... The final product was finished at the cultural fair six months later. After they graduated they still pursued animation and swore on some donuts that they would make another anime together.

先輩がうざい後輩の話

Futuba Igarashi's new job would be great if her senpai, Harumi Takeda, wasn't so incredibly annoying! Futuba hates his laugh, she hates how big he is, and she really hates that he treats her like a little kid. Just because Futuba is short and looks young doesn't make her a kid, and just because she spends so much time with Takeda doesn't mean she sees him as anything but an annoying senpai...or does she?!

ムチャブリ! わたしが社長になるなんて

Hinako is the executive assistant to the CEO of Relation Gate, a startup company growing at breakneck speed. Apt to listen to his gut feelings, her boss bombards her day in and day out with tall orders he concocts on a whim. Life is far from chill for Hinako, who hasn't had a boyfriend in six years. She barely even has time to sit and think carefully about her future. Each long workday ends with the same toxic thought, "I find no meaning doing this!" as she clutches a beer and lets out a huge sigh.

ぼくたちのリメイク

Hashiba Kyouya is a 28-year-old game developer. With his company going bankrupt, and him losing his job, he returns to his hometown. Looking at the success of creators of his age, he finds himself regretting his life decisions as he lay distressed on his bed. As Kyouya wakes up, he discovers that he has traveled ten years back to the time before he entered college. Will he be able to finally make things right?

トクサツガガガ

The series is based on the manga Tokusatsu Gagaga, a comedy manga by Tanba Niwa. Tokusatsu Gagaga series follows Kano Nakamura, an office lady played by Fuka Koshiba, who is secretly a tokusatsu otaku, a toku-ota. She lives her life by the code of tokusatsu heroes and often envisions herself as one as a means to make it through her daily struggles.

90 Day: The Single Life

Six singles from the various 90 Day Fiancé series give dating another shot. Letting go of their past proves difficult as they have to go through first dates and falling in love all over again. The singles seek out the help of dating coaches, events, apps, friends and family.

アグレッシブ烈子

Frustrated with her thankless office job, Retsuko the Red Panda copes with her daily struggles by belting out death metal karaoke after work.

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Degrassi Talks

Degrassi Talks was a Canadian television series which aired in 1992. A sequel to the popular Degrassi series of television shows, Degrassi Talks was a six-episode documentary series which featured popular Degrassi actors discussing health and social issues with teenaged audiences. Each episode was hosted by one Degrassi actor, although other actors participated in the series as well. Topics included drug abuse, gay rights, depression, and teenage pregnancy. The show was produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in cooperation with Health and Welfare Canada. Episodes of Degrassi Talks were packaged in the Degrassi Junior High DVD set.

The F Word

The F Word is a British food magazine and cookery programme featuring chef Gordon Ramsay. The programme covers a wide range of topics, from recipes to food preparation and celebrity food fads. The programme is made by Optomen Television and aired weekly on Channel 4. The theme tune for the series is "The F-Word" from the Babybird album Bugged.

Time Machine

Time Machine is an American game show where contestants compete to answer trivia questions about popular culture and recent history to win prizes. The show aired on NBC from January 7 through April 26, 1985 and was hosted by John Davidson. Charlie Tuna was the announcer, with Rich Jeffries as his substitute. Reg Grundy Productions produced the series, and upon its premiere Time Machine was one of three Grundy series airing on NBC. Most of the questions used focused on nostalgia, popular culture, and recent history, and more specifically what year a particular event occurred. Future Card Sharks model Suzanna Williams appeared as one of the prize models in this series.

Future Weapons

Future Weapons, sometimes also written as FutureWeapons and Futureweapons, is a television series that premiered on April 19, 2006 on the Discovery Channel. Host Richard "Mack" Machowicz, a former Navy SEAL, reviews and demonstrates the latest modern weaponry and military technology. The program is currently broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Military Channel.

30 Days

30 Days is a reality television show on the FX cable network in the United States, created and hosted by Morgan Spurlock. In each episode, Spurlock, or some other person or group of people, spend 30 days immersing themselves in a particular lifestyle with which they are unfamiliar, while discussing related social issues. As in Spurlock's film, Super Size Me, there are a number of rules unique to each situation which must be followed during each such experiment. At least one episode each season has featured Spurlock as the person spending the month in the particular lifestyle. Season one premiered on June 15, 2005, and its respective DVD set was released July 11, 2006. The second season premiered on July 26, 2006. Season 3 of 30 Days premiered on June 3, 2008. FX said on November 6 that it would not be renewing the series for a fourth season, effectively canceling the show. The show has recently been picked up for re-air by Planet Green, though no new episodes have been ordered. In the United Kingdom, the program is broadcast on More4 and Channel 4. In Australia, the program is broadcast on Network Ten and Lifestyle Channel. It currently airs in Canada on Independent Film Channel and Canal Vie. It also airs on FX in Latin America. In Norway it airs on TV 2. In Sweden it airs on TV4 and Kanal 9.

Global Village

Global Village is an Australian television show broadcast by the Australian public broadcaster SBS. The program is hosted by Silvio Rivier, who also does many of the voice overs. In 2008 it combined with Thalassa, a French documentary series, to expand its coverage of coastal areas. Global Village covers communities from all over the globe. The show consists of usually two, mostly short films 10–15 minutes long describing land and people all across the world. About 50% come from a French TV station and thus deal with topics from France, or, less frequently, its former colonies. The main focus is to educate viewers about different cultures and working styles from around the world. Global Village has released two music CDs which contain a selection of music taken from the countries they visit.

Fifth Gear

Getting viewers up to speed on all the latest automotive information, with new car reviews, second hand bargains and industry tidbits being the focus of this magazine show.

The Future Is Wild

The Future Is Wild was a 2002 thirteen-part documentary television miniseries. Based on research and interviews with several scientists, the miniseries shows how life could evolve in the future if Homo sapiens left the earth. The version broadcast on the Discovery Channel modified this premise, supposing instead that the human race had completely abandoned the Earth and had sent back probes to examine the progress of life on the planet. The show took the form of a nature documentary. The miniseries was released with a companion book written by geologist Dougal Dixon, the author of several "anthropologies and zoologies of the future", in conjunction with natural history television producer John Adams. For a time in 2005, a theme park based on this program was opened in Japan. In 2008 a special on the Discovery Channel about the development of the video game Spore was combined with airings of The Future Is Wild. A film version of the series was picked up by Warner Bros.