TV Asahi's new dramatic comedy series, "Trick 2," which premieres this week (Friday, 11:15 p.m.), fits comfortably into the current TV zeitgeist of pop spiritualism and magic shows. A lot of the renewed interest in paranormal phenomena has been boosted by the addition of debunking elements. On many recent variety shows, experts are brought in to show the fakery behind UFO and ghost sightings, and the illusionary techniques behind classic magic tricks are revealed.

As the title indicates, "Trick 2" went over this ground earlier, back in the summer of 2000, to be precise, when the first series aired. The drama centers around a less-than-proficient magician named Naoko (Yukie Nakama) and her frequent collaborations with a "genius physicist" named Ueda (Hiroshi Abe), whose life's work is exposing fraud disguised as ESP, magic, spiritualism, telekinesis and the like. Though these two oddballs invariably resent each other, they often work together to solve mysteries that baffle laypeople, including the police.

In the season opener, Ueda is approached by a man who owns an old Japanese inn located deep in the countryside. The innkeeper says that on Jan. 11 of every year, someone who happens to be staying at the inn that night dies. The deaths, which have so far claimed a political secretary and a writer's assistant, are completely random and unpredictable, but since they always occur on the same day, it is believed evil forces are at work. Despite the infamy of the place, guests continue to come. Ueda and Naoko agree to investigate.