is a Japanese

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series created by Akira Nagai and illustrated by Tarō Nogizaka; following Nagai's death in 2004, Nogizaka became the sole author, with medical supervision taken by Mie Yoshinuma. The manga was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Big Comic Superior is a semimonthly seinen manga magazine published since July 1, 1987 by Shogakukan in Japan. Its target audience is somewhere between the audience for ''Big Comic Original'' and ''Big Comic Spirits''. The magazine has published works by a number ...

'' from April 2002 to January 2011, with its chapters collected in 25 ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. It was adapted into a

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

series, which was broadcast for three seasons between April 2006 and December 2010. In 2005, the manga won the 50th

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being ...

in the general category.

Plot

Ryūtarou Asada is a prodigal surgeon who was exiled from the medical field. He is recruited by Akira Katō, an assistant professor, who wishes to use his skills to complete her thesis on the

Batista procedure The Batista procedure (also called a reduction left ventriculoplasty) was an experimental heart procedure that proposed the reversal of the effects of remodeling in cases of end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy refractory to conventional medical therap ...

to promote herself politically in order to change the corruption in the Japanese medical system. Ryūtarou accepts and begins by recruiting a team skilled enough for the surgery.

Characters

; :Ryūtarou is a prodigal surgeon who was framed for medical malpractice and exiled from the medical field. He is recruited by Akira Katō to work in a medical university. He was portrayed in the live action series by Kenji Sakaguchi. ; :Akira is an assistant professor who aims to become a professor to change the corrupt Japanese medical system. She is portrayed in the live action series by

Izumi Inamori is a Japanese actress signed to Burning Production. Biography Izumi Inamori was born and grew up in Kagoshima Prefecture. After finished from the local high school, Inamori went to University of Texas at Arlington to study English abroad. Af ...

. ; :Miki is a

surgical nurse A surgical nurse, also referred to as a theatre nurse or scrub nurse, specializes in perioperative care, providing care to patients before, during and after surgery. To become a theatre nurse, Registered Nurses or Enrolled Nurses must complete e ...

and Ryūtarou's lover. She is portrayed in the live action series by

Asami Mizukawa is a Japanese actress. She grew up in Ibaraki, Osaka. She made her debut in 1996 at age 13 in an advertisement for Asahi Kasei's "Hebel Haus". In 2000, she won the ''Grand Prix'' at the “3rd Miss Tokyo Walker” competition (the first winner ...

. ; :Noboru is a hard working medical intern who is not assimilated into the corrupt Japanese medical system. He is portrayed in the live action series by

Teppei Koike is Japanese actor and singer associated with Burning Productions. After appearing in the television drama ''Tentai Kansoku'' in 2002, Koike began appearing in several other films and dramas, notably as Atsushi Otani in ''Love Com''. At the sam ...

. ; :Keisuke is a cardiologist whose priority is for the patient and not the hospital. He is portrayed by

Kuranosuke Sasaki is a Japanese actor, known primary for his roles in Japanese television drama. Biography He was born into a family of a sake brewery in Kyoto, Japan. After graduating from Kobe University and resigning from an advertising agency, he played an ...

. ; :Monji is a skilled

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, ...

who charges high amount for every surgery. He is portrayed in the live action series by

Sadao Abe is a Japanese actor, stage actor and musician from Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. He started his acting career after joining a theater company/talent agency, Otona Keikaku, in around 1992 and gained his popularity after the drama series '' Team Med ...

. ; :Takeo is the professor of the cardiology department. He values his reputation over the lives of his patients. He is portrayed in the live action series by

Ittoku Kishibe , born , is a Japanese actor and musician. Career He originally entered show business as the bassist for the Japanese rock bands, The Tigers and Pyg, but later switched to acting. The veteran of over 115 films, he won the Best Actor Japanese Aca ...

. ; :Gunji is Miki's half brother and is a strong political figure in the medical field. He was the one who framed Asada for medical malpractice and used his influence to exile him from the medical field. He is portrayed in the live action series by

Kazuki Kitamura is a Japanese film and television actor who won the award for best supporting actor at the 21st Yokohama Film Festival for '' Minazuki'', ''Kyohansha'' and ''Kanzen-naru shiiku'' as well as the CUT ABOVE Award for Excellence in Film at JAPAN CUTS ...

. ; :Naoto Kitō is the professor of the emergency department who wants to recruit Ryūtarou into his department. ; :Shōko Kitō is the professor of the emergency department. She is later the dean of the hospital. She is portrayed in the live action series by

Mari Natsuki , more commonly known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, dancer and actress. Born in Tokyo, she started work as a singer from a young age. In 2007, Natsuki announced her engagement to percussionist Nobu Saitō, with their marriage taking ...

. ; :Takehiko Kihara is Kato's assistant. He is portrayed in the live action series by Tetsuhiro Ikeda.

Media

Manga

''Team Medical Dragon'' was created by doctor, writer, and medical journalist , and illustrated by . The series debuted in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' on April 26, 2002. Nagai died of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

in 2004, and Nogizaka became the sole author of the series, with medical supervision taken by Mie Yoshinuma. The series finished on January 28, 2011. Shogakukan collected its chapters into twenty-five ''

'' volumes, released between September 30, 2002, and February 26, 2011.

Volumes

Live action series

The manga was adapted into a series of live action dramas by

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

. Directed by both Satoshi Kubota and Naruhide Mizuta, the first season of the live action series was produced by Sōsuke Osabe and Yasuyuki Asuyuki with Koji Hayashi as the scriptwriter. The series ran for 11 episodes which were broadcast on Fuji TV between April 13, 2006 and June 29, 2006. The ending theme for the first season is "Believe" by Ai. Fuji TV released a DVD box set on October 27, 2006. The soundtrack for the series was released by Universal Sigma on June 7, 2006, which was re-released by Universal Sigma on September 18, 2013. Directed by Hiroki Hayama, Kazunari Hoshino and Naruhide Mizuta, the second season of the live action series was produced by Sōsuke Osabe and Reiko Misao with Koji Hayashi as the scriptwriter. The series ran for 11 episodes which were broadcast on Fuji TV between October 11, 2007 and December 20, 2007. The ending theme for the second season is "One" by Ai. Fuji TV released a DVD box set on April 16, 2008. The soundtrack for the series was released by Universal Sigma on November 28, 2007, which was re-released by Universal Sigma on September 18, 2013. Directed by Hiroki Hayama, Ryo Tanaka and Naruhide Mizuta, the third season of the live action series was produced by Tsuneya Watanabe with Koji Hayashi as the scriptwriter. The series ran for 10 episodes which were broadcast on Fuji TV between October 14, 2010 and December 16, 2010. The ending theme for the third season is by Deep. Fuji TV released a DVD box set on April 6, 2011. The soundtrack for the series was released by Universal Sigma on December 8, 2010. A fourth season of the drama was announced in 2013. It was broadcast from January 9 to March 20, 2014.

Reception

''Iryū: Team Medical Dragon'' received the 50th

for general manga in 2005.

Notes

References

External links

Manga Sanctuary review

25 Manga News review

* {{Shogakukan Manga Award - General Japanese medical television series Live-action shows scored by Hiroyuki Sawano Medical anime and manga Seinen manga Shogakukan manga Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga