Currently watching: Tokkan

After a couple of years of making films and a year-long morning drama, this series marks Inoue Mao's return to prime time TV since 2010. In this, she plays an unremarkable government official who only wants a quiet life and a steady job. But then she is put onto the Special Collection team, whose job it is to recover unpaid tax. This brings her into conflict with her unfeeling boss and also her own past.

As a drama, it's got a little bit of everything. Comedic bits, educational bits (I think I now know more about the Japanese tax system than I do the British one) and sad bits. I enjoyed the performances. Usually, it's not convincing when obviously attractive actresses try to play ugly, but Inoue Mao does an excellent job. Her mumbling and awkward actions make her look anonymous and drab.

Kitamura Yukiya, as her new boss, is great, just on the believable side of caricature. Meanwhile, Iwamatsu Ryo is more or less playing the same role he had in Jikou Keisatsu: that of a loveable but apparently ineffective boss.

After episode one, this shows good promise. Hopefully they can balance the light-hearted and serious parts, as well as keep up the supply of interesting cases.