Trick

Trick comprises a comedic Japanese television drama and movie series (three seasons, four movies, and three feature-length TV specials), as well as associated comic books, novelizations and meta-fiction novels about a failed magician and an arrogant physicist who debunks fraudulent spiritualists. It stars Hiroshi Abe and Yukie Nakama and is shown on TV Asahi (digital TV channel 5). It was created by Japanese director Yukihiko Tsutsumi and produced by Toho. Synopsis Although 23-year-old Naoko Yamada (Yukie Nakama) considers herself a beautiful and talented magician, she is continuously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late. Before firing her, her manager shows Yamada an ad for a physics professor, Jiro Ueda (Hiroshi Abe), a non-believer of all things magical, offering money to anyone who can prove to him that magic is real. Desperately needing the money, Naoko accepts the challenge, which is how she comes to meet Professor Ueda. Falling prey to her simple magic tricks, Ueda is impressed, and enlists the reluctant Naoko to help him uncover the tricks behind a local cult. Soon, they are debunking spiritualists. Eventually Ueda develops a reputation for solving supernatural cases, but his secret weapon is Yamada, who hates the work but needs the money. Chronology The entire Trick series consists of three seasons, four feature films and three feature-length specials in total. The final installation, Trick The Movie: Last Stage, premiered in Japan on January 11, 2014, marking the end of the Trick series after 14 years. Presented in chronological order: Season 1 (2000) Season 2 (2002) Trick: The Movie (2002) Season 3 (2003) Trick Shinsaku Special (2005) Trick the Movie 2 (2006) Trick Shinsaku Special 2 (2010) Trick The Movie: Psychic Battle Royale (2010) Trick Shinsaku Special 3 (2014) Trick the Movie: Last Stage (2014) Seasons