Plot
Kuryu Kohei is a young public prosecutor who gets transferred to a division in Tokyo from Aomori. Kuryu is unlike a typical prosecutor; he refuses to wear a suit and tie, opting for casual clothing, his trademark orange down jacket and stylish boots. He looks and behaves more like a Generation X slacker. He is known for always buying bizarre items from infomercials and the home shopping network. Kuryu is a high-school dropout who was falsely accused of a felony, cleared only by a public prosecutor who took the time to uncover the facts. This has inspired Kuryu to abandon his delinquent lifestyle, take his high school equivalency, study for the bar exam and pass with flying colours. Also, when he was 17 yrs old, he was arrested whilst trying to protect a friend. [ Hero season 1, ep 10.]
Kuryu's brilliant investigative instincts and determination make him well-suited as an investigator and advocate. Kuryu's job is to interview suspects and decide whether to proceed with pressing charges against them. However, unlike his colleagues, rather than sit behind a desk and rubber-stamp suspects for trial, Kuryu will leave the office and (literally) do the legwork, go the extra mile and doggedly pursue the truth. However, his unorthodox approach generally generates a lot of antagonism and negative publicity.
Kuryu's colleagues are all concerned with status and position and do not think highly of Kuryu or his eccentricities. Amamiya Maiko, his paralegal assistant, is concerned with attaining her law credentials and becoming a full prosecutor. At first, she believes Kuryu's addition may help her chances but at the beginning of the series comes to detest Kuryu. Kuryu doesn't care too much how he is viewed and only cares about uncovering the truth of criminal allegations.
Throughout the series, Kuryu uncovers coerced confessions, unethical legal practices, corruption, obstruction from overzealous cops, sensationalistic media, interference from politicians and well connected, powerful elites. Over the course of the series, his idealism and dogged pursuit for truth and justice ignite a similar passion in his colleagues, especially Amamiya.
By the end of the series, Kuryu is transferred to Ishigaki Island because of all the commotion he causes.
A running gag of the series was the bartender who miraculously and instantly produced anything a person asked for, even if it was something rare, obscure or unlikely to be expected at a Japanese bar. The bartender would never say a word except "Aru yo," meaning "I got it".
