Iryū

Iryū: Team Medical Dragon (医龍-Team Medical Dragon-) is a Japanese medical manga series created by Akira Nagai and illustrated by Tarō Nogizaka; following Nagai's death in 2004, Nogizaka became the sole author, with medical supervision taken by Mie Yoshinuma. The manga was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Big Comic Superior from April 2002 to January 2011, with its chapters collected in 25 tankōbon volumes.

It was adapted into a live action series, which was broadcast for three seasons between April 2006 and December 2010.

In 2005, the manga won the 50th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category.

Plot
Ryūtarou Asada is a prodigal surgeon who was exiled from the medical field. He is recruited by Akira Katō, an assistant professor, who wishes to use his skills to complete her thesis on the Batista procedure to promote herself politically in order to change the corruption in the Japanese medical system. Ryūtarou accepts and begins by recruiting a team skilled enough for the surgery.

Characters

 * Ryūtarou Asada (朝田龍太郎)
 * Ryūtarou is a prodigal surgeon who was framed for medical malpractice and exiled from the medical field. He is recruited by Akira Katō to work in a medical university. He was portrayed in the live action series by Kenji Sakaguchi.


 * Akira Katō (加藤晶)
 * Akira is an assistant professor who aims to become a professor to change the corrupt Japanese medical system. She is portrayed in the live action series by Izumi Inamori.


 * Miki Satohara (里原ミキ)
 * Miki is a surgical nurse and Ryūtarou's lover. She is portrayed in the live action series by Asami Mizukawa.


 * Noboru Ijūin (伊集院登)
 * Noboru is a hard working medical intern who is not assimilated into the corrupt Japanese medical system. He is portrayed in the live action series by Teppei Koike.


 * Keisuke Fujiyoshi (藤吉圭介)
 * Keisuke is a cardiologist whose priority is for the patient and not the hospital. He is portrayed by Kuranosuke Sasaki.


 * Monji Arase (荒瀬門次)
 * Monji is a skilled anesthesiologist who charges high amount for every surgery. He is portrayed in the live action series by Sadao Abe.


 * Takeo Noguchi (野口賢雄)
 * Takeo is the professor of the cardiology department. He values his reputation over the lives of his patients. He is portrayed in the live action series by Ittoku Kishibe.


 * Gunji Kirishima (霧島軍司)
 * Gunji is Miki's half brother and is a strong political figure in the medical field. He was the one who framed Asada for medical malpractice and used his influence to exile him from the medical field. He is portrayed in the live action series by Kazuki Kitamura.


 * Naoto Kitō (鬼頭直人)
 * Naoto Kitō is the professor of the emergency department who wants to recruit Ryūtarou into his department.


 * Shōko Kitō (鬼頭笙子)
 * Shōko Kitō is the professor of the emergency department. She is later the dean of the hospital. She is portrayed in the live action series by Mari Natsuki.


 * Takehiko Kihara (木原毅彦)
 * Takehiko Kihara is Kato's assistant. He is portrayed in the live action series by Tetsuhiro Ikeda.

Manga
Team Medical Dragon was created by doctor, writer, and medical journalist Akira Nagai, and illustrated by Tarō Nogizaka. The series debuted in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Big Comic Superior on April 26, 2002. Nagai died of liver cancer in 2004, and Nogizaka became the sole author of the series, with medical supervision taken by Mie Yoshinuma. The series finished on January 28, 2011. Shogakukan collected its chapters into twenty-five tankōbon volumes, released between September 30, 2002, and February 26, 2011.

Live action series
The manga was adapted into a series of live action dramas by Fuji TV. Directed by both Satoshi Kubota and Naruhide Mizuta, the first season of the live action series was produced by Sōsuke Osabe and Yasuyuki Asuyuki with Koji Hayashi as the scriptwriter. The series ran for 11 episodes which were broadcast on Fuji TV between April 13, 2006 and June 29, 2006. The ending theme for the first season is "Believe" by Ai. Fuji TV released a DVD box set on October 27, 2006. The soundtrack for the series was released by Universal Sigma on June 7, 2006, which was re-released by Universal Sigma on September 18, 2013.

Directed by Hiroki Hayama, Kazunari Hoshino and Naruhide Mizuta, the second season of the live action series was produced by Sōsuke Osabe and Reiko Misao with Koji Hayashi as the scriptwriter. The series ran for 11 episodes which were broadcast on Fuji TV between October 11, 2007 and December 20, 2007. The ending theme for the second season is "One" by Ai. Fuji TV released a DVD box set on April 16, 2008. The soundtrack for the series was released by Universal Sigma on November 28, 2007, which was re-released by Universal Sigma on September 18, 2013.

Directed by Hiroki Hayama, Ryo Tanaka and Naruhide Mizuta, the third season of the live action series was produced by Tsuneya Watanabe with Koji Hayashi as the scriptwriter. The series ran for 10 episodes which were broadcast on Fuji TV between October 14, 2010 and December 16, 2010. The ending theme for the third season is "Door to the Future" (未来への扉) by Deep. Fuji TV released a DVD box set on April 6, 2011. The soundtrack for the series was released by Universal Sigma on December 8, 2010.

A fourth season of the drama was announced in 2013. It was broadcast from January 9 to March 20, 2014.

Reception
Iryū: Team Medical Dragon received the 50th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga in 2005.