I'm not sure what is the trend of previous years, but 2010 spring season has sprung quite a number of good dramas. One of those is Team Batista 2: General Rouge no Gaisen. People who have been following the series on the movie screens shouldn't be unfamiliar with this series since this has been shown on big screen with Takenuchi Yuko and Abe Hiroshi as the main leads as Taguchi Sensei and Shiratori respectively. I've also reviewed Team Batista no Eiko, which is the part 1 of this series, both movie and drama versions.
Ito Atsushi and Nakamura Toru reprises their respective roles in part 2 of this series where instead on dealing with medical malpractice within the hospital, a bigger scandal looms when the ER department lead by the brilliant but erratic Hayami sensei is quietly building up discontent among the department. However, when both of them dig further, they uncover something bigger which both of them may not be able to handle.
As per normal, people may start to compare the movie version with the drama version. No doubt there may be similar characters such as Hayami Sensei. However, that's where the similarities stop. Compared to Part 1 where the drama and the movie version is pretty similar, albeit with an extended version for the drama version, this second drama series takes a life on its own, which I personally feel is a good move by the writers. There's no point for the drama version to be the same as the movie version as there's no link at all between the two.
The overall feel of the drama is pretty positive, with each case ending at the end of each episode, of course with the main exception for the main plot that is building up as the drama goes along. The pace for the show is good and atypical of medical dramas. Acting is good with experienced actors such as Kato Ai and Shirashi Miho complementing the three main characters. The average ratings for this show is 14.4% (Kanto Region), which is considered very good for a drama rating. Do catch it if you can, and of course if possible, do watch part 1 of the series first to get a basic understanding of the two main characters. However, if you decide to start on the series, it's still fine as the drama does not carry any baggage from the previous series.
