ATARU Special: Challenge from New York
ATARU Special: Challenge from New York (Japanese: ATARUスペシャル～ニューヨークからの挑戦状！！～) is a 2013 Japanese television movie that serves as a continuation of the 2012 TBS drama series Ataru. The production consists of two episodes and was broadcast on January 6, 2013.
Plot
The story is divided into two distinct parts. In the first episode, Maiko Ebina (Chiaki Kuriyama) establishes her own private detective agency and takes on a case involving a missing three-year-old boy. In the second episode, Ataru (Masahiro Nakai) returns to Japan from New York to assist his younger brother, Tasuku (Masaki Okada), who has become a suspect in a series of murders. During the investigation, Ataru and Maiko face opposition from a character named Madoka (Maki Horikita).
Cast
The television movie features the returning cast from the original series alongside new additions:
- Masahiro Nakai as Ataru
- Kazuki Kitamura as Shunichi Sawa
- Chiaki Kuriyama as Maiko Ebina
- Yuta Tamamori as Sho Ebina
- Maki Horikita as Alessandro Carolina Madoka
- Masaki Okada as Tasuku Inoguchi
- Masachika Ichimura as Makoto Inoguchi
- Hideko Hara as Yuriko Inoguchi
- Hiroaki Murakami as Larry Inoue
Production
The project was directed by Satoshi Kan and Yusuke Taki, with a screenplay written by Takeharu Sakurai. It aired on the TBS network on January 6, 2013, during a four-hour block.