Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon

Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon
Japanese	ドクターX〜外科医・大門未知子〜
Genre	Medical drama Comedy Japanese television drama
Written by	Miho Nakazomo Aya Takei Masato Hayashi Toshio Terada Takashi Kosaka Manabu Uda
Directed by	Naomi Tamura Hayato Yamada Hidetoshi Matsuda
Starring	Ryoko Yonekura
Narrated by	Taguchi Tomorowo
Country of origin	Japan
Original language(s)	Japanese
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	49 + 1 special
Production
Producer(s)	Seiko Uchiyama
Production location(s)	Japan Japan  USA New York City
Running time	54 minutes
Production company(s)	TV Asahi The Works Co., Ltd.
Release
Audio format	Stereophonic
Original release	18 October 2012 (2012-10-18)
Chronology
Followed by	Doctor-Y: Surgeon Hideki Kaji
External links
Official website

Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon (ドクターX〜外科医・大門未知子〜) is a Japanese medical drama that premiered in October 2012 on TV Asahi. It stars Japanese actress Ryoko Yonekura.

Plot

The show follows Daimon Michiko, a freelance surgeon who works at university hospitals in Japan.^[1][2] Also known as Doctor-X, Daimon is introduced at new hospitals by walking into surgery staff planning review sessions, where the conditions of her work are established. She is depicted as challenging a medical system in crisis, which follows the laws of the jungle.^[1]

Her trademark line is "I never fail",^[3] and she is willing to do high risk surgeries that other surgeons are not, sending those patients elsewhere when they are deemed non-operable.^[4] Her success in treating high risk patients is a result of always putting the patient first, prioritizing their health above performing medical firsts or innovative techniques. This practice often puts her into conflict with other doctors.^[4] Beyond being a surgeon, she also served as a combat surgeon and resort doctor.^[5] Daimon is supported by her manager Akira Kanbara and anesthesiologist Hiromi Jonouchi.^[1]

Cast

The show stars Japanese actress Ryoko Yonekura as Doctor-X - Daimon Michiko.^{[1][2][8][9] [10]} Yonekura was a former fashion model who had performed as the first Roxie Hart in the Japanese theater production of Chicago in 2008. ^{[11] [12]} After learning English, she made her Broadway debut in the same role in 2012 and reprised it in 2017. ^{[11] [12]} The actress has said that she overuses her character’s catchphrase, “I never fail” in her personal life. ^[13] She also sees the character as a lighter, less stressed and more free reflection of herself. ^[14]

Ito Shiro and Ittoku Kishibe were both veteran actors who joined the cast for the first season.^[9]

Yuki Uchida has appeared in all five seasons playing an anesthesiologist who works for the same agency as Michiko Daimon.

Ryoko Yonekura, Takeshi Kitano and Kei Inoo all appeared in the special.^[15] Takeshi Kitano returned to acting after a two-year absence for his role in the special. He had taken time off to work behind the camera. ^[15] Michiko Tanaka was also a regular in the fourth season, playing the secretary of the hospital director. ^[16] She was nervous during the whole three months of filming for the season because she had to work with Toshiyuki Nishida.^[16]

The fourth season also starred Toshiyuki Nishida as Shigekatsu Hiruma.^[10] He had previously appeared in Nobunaga Concerto and State of Union.^[10]

Yonekura returned for the fourth season despite an earlier intention not to do so. During the break between seasons, the former model had starred in the Broadway production of Chicago. The actress and former model cited her potential reason for declining to appear in the season as not having a history of playing the same character for so many seasons. Traditionally, dramas run for only one season in Japan.^{[14] [11] [12]}

Masao Kusakari stars in the fifth season.^[13]

Broadcast history

Doctor-X's first season aired from October 18 to December 13, 2012 on Thursdays on TV Asahi in Japan.^[1] It frequently was one of the top ranked dramas on private television in its time slot.^[3][7]

Production team

Miho Nakazomo was the main writer for the first season. She had experience writing dramas with her 10 years of work on "Woman's woman ~ Tax collector inspector" and on the original story she wrote called "Haken no Rika".^[9]

Awards

Ryoko Yonekura was awarded best actress at the 21st Hashida Awards for her performance as Doctor-X.^[19] It was her second time winning the award, previously winning it for her performance in the second season. Yonekura was also recognized with the Kuniko Mukda prize in 2013.^[4]

Miho Nakazomo co-won the best writer award at the 21st Hashida Awards, sharing the honor with Kobayashi Nenjyutsu.^[19]

Spinoffs

Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon was spun off with the show Doctor-Y: Surgeon Hideki Kaji, featuring Masanobu Katsumura playing Hideki Kaji.^[20] It started airing on September 29, 2016.^[20] Katsumura was surprised and pleased that his character was spun off and he became the lead of the new series.^[20]

Distribution

Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon is distributed internationally via Amazon's video-on-demand service, Amazon Prime. All five seasons are available worldwide with English language subtitles.^[21][6] In India, Doctor-X is dubbed in Hindi language on the occasion of International Women's Day and it is as of 2018 streaming on Indian Digital Platform ZEE5 for Season 1 only.^[22]. Japan Foundation also distributed the first seasons in some Latin American countries (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Bolivia) in 2017, dubbed in Spanish.^[23]

References