Brothers

The tale of four brothers and their widower father, who heads a large Buddhist temple in Tokyo. Goro Kishitani, the oldest brother, does not want to take over the temple. He prefers only to pass through now and then to exercise his eldest brother prerogative and hit No. 2 brother Masahiro Nakai (SMAP's MAPPY) over the head. Nakai, who really wants to be a sportswriter, appears to be in line for the temple takeover and zips around in a motorcycle helmet and Buddhist robes to chant sutras for the dead. Papa-san frequents Ginza clubs and had a cigarette or a toothpick dangling from his mouth for most of the first episode. He hires an "Otonashi Karen look-alike" (Kimura Yoshino) with a crush on Nakai as housekeeper and she bops around the temple grounds as if it was Shibuya on a Sunday. The opening sequence where they all grab guitars, line up in black robes in front of the temple incense burner, and rock back and forth as if disciples of the Elvis Presley sect of Buddhism is classic in its own way though.