MHz Choice debuts first-ever series from Japan

New titles from Iceland, Italy, France, and Germany join the growing slate of content for MHz Choice.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MHz Choice will debut two new series from Japan, a first for the streaming service. Pension Metsä (Videoplugger) takes place in and around a one-room guest house nestled in the Nagano larch forest. The guest house is owned by Tenko (Satomi Kobayashi), who finds herself in deep conversations with her visitors who are often lost or at a key turning point in their lives. It may seem like the guests are the ones learning new things about themselves, but in the end it's Tenko who finds a fresh direction in life. Each 30-minute episode features a single guest star, including an appearance in Episode 6 by actress Tôko Miura, who played the young chauffeur Misaki in the Oscar-winning feature Drive My Car.

Kinpika (Videoplugger), is the more action-packed of the two series from Japan and is based on the novel series by Jiro Asada. The story centers around three men who band together to seek revenge: former gangster Kenta Sakaguchi (Kiichi Nakai), underappreciated by fellow gang members for the crime and punishment he receives to protect the gang, former political secretary Hirohashi Hidehiko (Yusuke Santamaria) who took the fall for his boss and seeks to inflict justice on the real criminal and former military officer Isao Ogawara, dishonorably discharged from the military after taking a moral stand for truth.

All are brought together by Mukai (Katsuhiko Watabiki), who encourages them to fight unfairness together. Both bloody and funny, the three revenge-seekers are unlikely allies but ultimately help each other towards retribution. 

On the lighter side of crime, the producers of the long running series Detective Montalbano, which had its final episode debut last year on MHz Choice, are behind a new Sicily-based series Makari: Sicilian Mysteries (Beta Films). Based on the books by Gaetano Savatteri, this new series stars Claudio Gioè as Saverio Lamanna, a writer who returns to a long-abandoned family home in Makari after he loses his high ranking job as a press officer. Saverio is quickly reunited with family friend Peppe Piccionello (Domenico Centamore) who favors shabby shirts and flip-flops to Saverio's more suave attire. They are an unlikely amateur detective duo, who bicker with each other like family and yet also manage to solve crimes. Their hearts are always in the right place even if their methods are unconventional.

Moving on from crime altogether is the witty, fast-paced Icelandic comedy Ordinary People (REinvent Studios) which centers around the friendship of Vala (Vala Kristin Eiriksdottir) and Júlíana (Júlíana Sara Gunnarsdóttir). Best friends since drama school, Vala and Júlíana have taken different paths in life with Vala in an unsuccessful pursuit of an acting career while Júlíana has stepped away from acting to have two children with her husband Tómas (Halldór Halldórsson). Decidedly in the "Me Too" era, Vala has a disastrous encounter with studio bros who are looking to paper over their past reputations with a female-lead production. They end up inviting both Vala and her "funny friend" Júlíana to host their own TV talk show. Rather than being equal co-hosts, Júlíana takes center stage on her way to fame while Vala is relegated to a sidekick character. Everything is tested – friendship, marriage, motherhood, ambition – as success is unevenly distributed between the two friends. The first two seasons will premiere in October.

October is also chock-full of returning fan favorites. The Swiss crime drama Wilder (Global Screen) returns for a second season with new mysteries to unravel in remote Alpine communities, and the sixth season of Germany's long-running Tatort: Borowski (Studio Hamburg) premieres with Detective Klaus Borowski as brilliant and delightfully offensive as ever.

Also premiering this month are a pair of intense French thrillers with political rollercoaster Spin (ITV Studios) and the three-part mystery A Long Lost Silence (Mediawan).

Full October Schedule available here:
https://mhzchoice.com/premiere-schedule/

MHz Networks offers viewers in the U.S. and Canada access to a library of the best television mysteries, dramas, comedies and documentaries subtitled in English through its subscription streaming service, MHz Choice. Select MHz Networks content is also available on DVD and on its free ad-supported service MHz Now, available on Samsung TV Plus and Plex. New MHz Choice customers receive a free 7-Day Trial. For more information, go to mhzchoice.com.

SOURCE MHz Networks