LOVED ONE

Masumi Mizusawa, a brilliant forensic pathologist returning from the U.S., joins the newly established Medical Examiner Japan (MEJ) alongside inexperienced director Maho Kiryu, and on their first case, they investigate the mysterious death of a 17-year-old boy found in just 40 centimeters of water; as the team conducts their first autopsy, what seems like a simple accident begins to raise troubling questions about whether the death was truly accidental or something more.

Under the leadership of Masumi Mizusawa and Maho Kiryu, Medical Examiner Japan (MEJ) begins operations, but the team is quickly overwhelmed by paperwork and unable to perform autopsies as expected; meanwhile, Honda reunites with his old friend Hirono, who is later found dead under mysterious circumstances, and as investigators determine he died from a fall despite no visible place to fall from, the team sets out to uncover the truth behind the impossible case.

A late-night call brings forensic pathologist Masumi Mizusawa and MEJ director Maho Kiryu to the scene of an apparent traffic accident involving shipyard president Yasuo Izawa. However, inconsistencies at the scene quickly raise suspicions. The victim’s body was thrown too short a distance despite clear signs of sudden acceleration, and the autopsy reveals injuries that don’t fully match the evidence. As the MEJ team pieces together the contradictory clues, the discovery of the young truck driver’s body and an apparent suicide note leads the investigation toward an even darker truth hidden behind the accident.

While MEJ director Maho Kiryu struggles with being pulled away from the youth poverty support project she once fought for, a new suspicious death case emerges at a cabaret club. The victim, owner Hayato Kuriyama, was notorious for his abusive management style. A hostess named Miyuki confesses to poisoning, strangling, and drowning him after being trapped by debt and violence, but refuses to explain one crucial detail. Just as the case seems solved, a club bouncer steps forward with his own confession, claiming he attacked the victim with an ashtray and strangled him. With conflicting testimonies and evidence pointing to multiple causes of death, MEJ must uncover which confession hides the real truth.

As the MEJ team celebrates news that forensic pathologist Rensuke Takamori is about to become a father, they are called to investigate an unconscious 11-year-old boy who, before collapsing, spoke fearfully of a “black monster.” While suspicion falls on his mother’s abusive boyfriend, Takamori is shaken by signs of child abuse that awaken memories of his own traumatic past. As the investigation uncovers the darkness of generational abuse, Takamori must confront both his fears and his future as a parent in order to uncover the true identity of the “monster” the boy saw.

After a scandal involving her older sister Saki and a powerful politician erupts in the media, forensic pathologist Suzune Matsubara becomes personally entangled in a new MEJ investigation when the politician is found hanging in what appears to be a suicide. However, the autopsy reveals suspicious stab wounds that contradict the scene. As political pressure mounts and the truth becomes increasingly difficult to uncover, Suzune is forced to confront her complicated relationship with her sister and the hidden meaning behind the “atmosphere” people desperately try to maintain.