Code Blue was broadcast from July to September of 2008, and it starred Yamashita Tomohisa as Aizawa Kosaku, a flight doctor-in-training at a University hospital that was first to create a program whereby the helicopter is used in emergencies to deliver patients quicker than by ambulance.
Each episode brings a new case for Kosaku and his colleagues, Aragaki Yui as Shiraishi Megumi, Toda Erika as Hiyama Mihoko, Asari Yosuke as Fujikawa Kazuo, and Higa Manami as Saejima Haruka (Flight nurse), to grapple with in order for them to grow in knowledge and better serve the team.
There was no romance involved, and surprisingly, it didn't matter to me.
However, at one point in the story, we get to know the real nurse, Saejima Haruka, when her wheelchair bound, ex-boyfriend enters the picture, and I about wanted to punch her in the face.
Mean, heartless, selfish, thoughtless ... there aren't enough negative adjectives to describe her OR what she did to the guy.
Mary Jane Yoko was funny, though!
Yamashita's Kosaku represented the not-so-surprising stone-faced loner type again, too.
Now that I've seen just about everything he's starred in, I'm hard-pressed to wonder whether his smart-ass and/or aloof nature is all an act, or if his true personality comes through in each of the characters he portrays on-screen.
Then again, it could just be type-casting, which I'm beginning to recognize with certain, Asian actors.
In no way would I compare his character in Code Blue with Gregory House, as some chose to do at aznv.tv, and more like what Yamapi is capable of portraying in his own, unimitable fashion.
He's a bad-ass on the child-like side, searching in an aloof sort of way for his own identity, which can make him appear awkward or shy at times yet always distancing himself to some degree from those around him.
He does this with charm and grace in Code Blue, and since the show is about the introduction of helicopter transport to Japan's health system, the lack of romance made no difference when each of the stories that unfolded in each episode kept the viewer riveted enough to distract us from that, missing component of most dramas.
Medical dramas, like sports-themed stories, are not a huge draw for me, but for awhile I was as drawn to the above-mentioned HOUSE series with as much fascination as I was drawn to the Code Blue series, which happens to have a handsome, young doc as well.
Code Blue had some interesting situations occur along with in-hospital going's on that captivated, so it's hard to say this was a boring or typical 'medical' drama, but I do have to wonder if it would have been as entertaining (for me) had Aoki not starred.
Blood, gore, scalpals, broken bones, and stitches creep me out and always will, so to put my hand over my eyes during those moments wasn't much of a bother, and the only thing I was left to wonder was the same thing I'm always curious about any time I watch medical stuff - and that is, the people who gravitate toward such a profession.
I think weird things like, "Yes, I want to cut people open and fix their innards." and "Sick, bloody strangers appeal to me for whatever reason, and I want to make them better."
Personally, I don't get it - but, I do admire them for their courage & inner strength.
After the first season, there was a special
The head doc hands in his resignation, and then there is this huge train wreck in Chiba, putting to the test all of the in-training's capabilities.
Then came season 2
which cleared up some unanswered questions and took the viewer on another journey through the lives of those who work in the medical field.
The only 'humorous' moment for me came when I first saw the embroidery on the right sleeve of the interns that read 'Stat and Now' - which, if I'm not mistaken, mean the same thing.
Doctor Heli bugged me, too, but I got over it.
Yes, there are personal issues among the staff, personality clashes among the characters that need to be addressed, and inner demons that make the interns question their resolve - which all adds to the excitement of the disasters, medical scenarios, and interactions of the players.
OR! You could say let's hope for a season 3 to include the original cast for one, more chance to stare at Yamapi for at least eleven episodes!
