xploring wrote:
Crime or action without violence is pretty rare, and violence in jdoramas are not that scary, right? Maybe you can try Furuhata Ninzaburo
http://jdorama.com/drama.89.htm
They made 3 series for this. I have only watched 2 episodes so far and there's no violence at all.
Odoru daisousassen has comedy, crime and action and I highly recommend it. (Sorry I am repeating myself) There is a little bit of violence, but really quite minimal.
The Furuhata Ninzaburo series was written by Koki Mitani, one of the best screenwriters (TV and film) in Japan. It is very reminiscient of the Columbo series with veteran actor Masakazu Tamura in the titular role. A very entertaining series.
Odoru Daisousassen has spawned a very profitable franchise based on the original TV series. There have been four theatrical movies--the first two starring the entire TV cast, the last two focusing on a particular character from the series. The first two movies are among the highest grossing domestic live-action movies in Japanese cinema.
I know I mentioned this on a thread awhile back, but in 2001 poll of Japanese TV viewers, Odoru Daisousassen was voted the number one all-time favorite TV series. This is very much a character-driven show, with a large, exceptionally synergistic ensemble cast. A terrific series.
For a purely comedic cop show, I would recommend Mamachari Deka, starring Misako Tanaka and Yuko Asano playing respectively, a detective's wife who can't help sticking her nose into his cases and her husband's colleague who is annoyed that an ordinary civilian is getting involved in police business and even more annoyed that she is able to solve the crime.
A lot of people also like Unfair, starring Ryoko Shinohara as a hard-as-nails detective. There's a lot of murders which occur in this series. I had some reservations about the script, but it is worth watching to see Ryoko Shinohara in yet another sterling performance.
Kochira Honikegami Sho takes place at a police precinct and has a large ensemble cast. There have been five seasons of this series. It's at best an average series, but it does have some actors in it that I like.
Partners is another series with multiple seasons (it's up to season six I believe). I've only seen a few episodes from a couple of different seasons, but what I've seen I've enjoyed a lot. Well written and acted. It's very much a plot-driven show with the emphasis on how the two lead detectives go about solving the crime.