Brother Beat

Premise

The program centers on a mother and three sons, living together and supporting one another since their father died when they were young; much of the plot centers around their romances, and various situations at work and at home. It is something of a reworking or revival of the 1995 TV drama Second Chance, which had much the same premise of a mother working at a supermarket and living with her three sons; Misako Tanaka stars in both shows as the mother. Though the rest of the characters and cast are different, and Brother Beat is not intended to carry on the same plot as a true sequel, there are a number of connections and references to Second Chance. For example, in this show Tanaka plays Harue Sakurai, where in Second Chance her character's name was Haruko Sakurai; Hidekazu Akai plays the husband or chief love interest of Tanaka's character in both shows, though that character's name and role differ. In many parts of Japan, the full run of Second Chance was re-aired in 2005 preceding the premiere of Brother Beat.

Though the plot of this series was meant to involve the development of a relationship between Harue and Hideki Noguchi, played by Katsuhisa Namase, ending in their marriage, Namase's schedule interfered with this. However, it was arranged that the two would play the main character's parents in a 2006 TV drama called 14-year-old Mother.

Cast

Staff