Summer 2009 JDramas = the worst season of dramas since who knows when

So I failed to write about last season’s dramas, which had some great gems like BOSS and Mr. Brain and also some very entertaining ones The Quiz Show, Majo Saiban, and Atashinchi no Danshi. I’ve been thinking that recently in the past year, the amount of good dramas has gone down significantly. Now that my internship has ended, I’ve been searching for some interesting ones to watch from the current season, but alas, I’ve been so very very disappointed.

I don’t ask much of dramas. All I really want from a drama is the feeling of needing to know what happens next. So far, there’s only one drama that does that. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve become pickier (I don’t think so…) or if the quality of dramas has just plummeted. Anyway, onto the mini reviews.

Basically I just want to complain about how practically all the dramas I’ve tried suck. Anyway, onto the mini reviews. Sorry there aren’t any pictures, I’m just too lazy to do it.

Dandy Daddy?
This sounded kind of promising or at least funny and entertaining. Which it kind of was, but 3/4 of the way through, I was wondering when the episode would finally end. Tachi Hiroshi (the dad) is very funny and kind of charming but by the end, very annoying. Sounds funny but a paranoid and overbearing parent is just the opposite.

Saru Lock
I thought this would be kind of interesting or funny but it ended up being stupid and kind of gross. The “dangerous cases” that Ishihara Hayato’s character supposedly helps to solve are nothing more than shallow problems from stupid people. I guess it’s late night for a reason.

Koishite Akuma
I didn’t really want to watch this, but since there were so little dramas worth watching, I thought I should give it a try. I thought it would be pretty good considering it’s to promote the new Johnny’s group, but I got tired of it around half way through the first episode. Plus vampires are getting really overrated now (considering the recent popularity of Twlight, another thing I can’t understand). Pass.

Ninkyo Helper
Another one I thought had promise considering its cast. While it seems to have a few interesting subplots woven in, the whole elderly care + yakuza turns out to be pretty unappealing. This is one that I could probably watch more of to kill time, but I’m in no rush to find out what happens next.

Orthros no Inu
I thought this one would be really interesting and it also stars Mizukawa Asami, who is just great. Unforunately, Nishikido Ryo is playing probably the dumbest guy ever. It has a very interesting premise though, so I think I’ll try and stick with it for at least a couple more episodes, and hopefully it’ll get better so I’m not left groaning at how stupid some people are.

Karei naru Spy
I also had high hopes for this one, especially since spy movies are usually pretty entertaining. But in the end, it was way too over the top and I’m not sure if I will watch future episodes. It seems like there are some other sub plots besides the spy stuff, but they don’t seem to be very interesting.

Otomen
This was another drama I was looking forward to watching. I read some of the manga, and it’s pretty cute. I wasn’t sure how well it would transition into live action, and unfortunately, it turns out to be a little cheesy. Maybe it’s because the manga would be cheesy if it were real people but still it’s a bit of a disappointment

Teioh
This is one drama that I’ve watched more than 2 episodes of. I’ve been kind of enjoying this one, since the episodes are short (25 min) and it’s pretty fast paced. Plus it starts Tsukamoto Takashi, who’s pretty talented.

Buzzer Beat
Last is the best drama by a long shot. I was a little hesitant to watch it, because I actually don’t like Yamapi much. I’ve only watched a few of his dramas before but I thought he was mostly annoying in them (except Code Blue). But I watched it anyway and it is a great drama! Kitagawa Keiko and Kanjiya Shihori are so fun to watch as well as Aibu Saki playing a villian-ish role (the first time I’ve seen her not play a good girl). I always wish I could watch the next episode when I finish one. And like I said, that’s all I really want in a drama.

Am I being to picky about dramas? Or are most of them kind of bad this season? Are there any good ones I should check out?? I guess I’ll just have to try some more later….

Winter 2009 JDrama Awards

Instead of end-of-season reviews, I decided that I’d rather do awards! But they are rather limiting awards because they’ll only be based on dramas that I have watched. But all the same, they should be loads of fun for me!

Favorite Drama: Tie between Voice and Triangle
Voice was not was I was expecting, but I still really liked it. It’s actually not mysteries but more of a human drama with each episode focusing on a different guest. Although a lot of dramas with a different guest star per episode can have trouble with character development, Voice didn’t suffer from that problem at all, since the stories managed to weave into their personal lives as well. Plus Eita, Ishihara Satomi, Ikuta Toma, Endo Yuya, and Sato Tomohito were great as the five seminar students, starting out from a group of random students into their own little circle of close friends.

Triangle was definitely a treat for any mystery fan. There are plenty of twists and turns but not ones that come from nowhere and just the right amount of conspiracy, and the cast is filled with veterans, really drawing you into their world. It seems like there aren’t many long-running mystery series, most of them Yare one-episodes mysteries, like for every 10 Kiina/Yon Shimai tantei Dan/Galileo/etc-type mysteries, there’s only 1 Triangle / Unfair -type mystery series. But if they’re all like Triangle, it would be worth the wait. Eguchi Yosuke really impressed me; he’s quite amazing.

Winter 2009 J-drama Previews

Happy late Chinese New Years! Unfortunately, no one gave me a red envelope this year. =( But I have my dramas to comfort me. =)

Akai Ito

Starring: Minamisawa Nao, Mizubata Junpei, Kimura Ryo
Akai Ito follows the story of Mei and Atsushi (A-kun) who are kind of like star-crossed lovers. They first met as children on their very unusual birthday, February 29 and later unknowingly become high school classmates. And even though fate seems to be bringing them together, it’s also pulling them apart.

This drama also has tie-ins to the movie; the drama starts the story off, and then the movie and drama are intertwined. I don’t know if you have to watch the movie to understand the rest of the drama, though. But so far I have been enjoying this one – it’s a young cast and it’s set in high school, but not crazy like Hana Kimi’s production. It’s a sweet young love story, so if you like innocent love type stories, this would be a good pick.

Fall 2008 Drama Reviews

So instead of doing a drama preview and separate review, I bring to you near-end of season reviews! Short and sweet, hopefully. Well, even though I haven’t finished any series yet, I’ve been dying to do this! Dramas are so nice…they make a great study breaks, haha =)

Celeb to Binbo Taro

Starring: Ueto Aya, Kamiji Yusuke, Kunitaka Ryoko, Kashiwabara Takashi
It’s the story of a rich girl (Ueto) who’s the daughter a major hotel chain owner, who also runs her own fashion line. She meets a poor widower with three young kids (Kamiji) and blah blah stuff happens. Basically it’s a drama with almost everyone really exaggerated, where the villian’s motive is nowhere to be found (yet? who knows). But, it’s still a fun watch for when you’re bored.

[Twdrama] Corner with Love – Zhuang Jiao Yu Dao Ai

Starring:
Barbie Xu as Yu Xin Lei
Alan Luo as Qin Lang
Lu Jia Xin as Cai Xiao Yang
Carolyn Chen as Wen Bi Zhu
Dean Fujioka as An Teng Feng
Fang Fang as Du Dan Po
Harlem Yu as Lian Sheng Quan
Zhang Li Wei as Ah Da
Chen Yan Ru as Jiu Ba Dao
Huang Hong Sheng as Ah Yi
Chen Zhi Kai as Yin Shang Dong
Jiang Chao as Xiao Pang
Fan Ming as Cui Ge
Xiao Jian as Bao Che Ren
Wu Yan Xuan as childhood Qin Lang

Corner with Love starts off in Shanghai, introducing us to the two main characters: Yu Xin Lei and Qin Lang. Xin Lei is from a wealthy family and is dating Shang Dong, who comes from a family just as privileged as hers. Qin Lang, on the other hand, works at a small restaurant and lives upstairs with his co-workers. He’s from Taiwan and came to Shanghai to pursue his dream of drawing, but was conned and lost his money and passport. The two meets when Xin Lei’s chauffer brakes suddenly, causing Qin Lang to crash into them with his bike.

Summer 2008 Drama Previews

I have a love-hate relationship with new drama season. On one hand, new dramas starting are always exciting and there’s plenty to sample from. On the other hand, the previous season has ended and now you’re in this kind of withdrawal from your favorite of the previous season. Sometimes it helps if there wasn’t anything too good last season, but usually, there’s one drama that I just need more of. Well, anyway, I’ve definitely been sampling quite a few of the dramas from this season and here they are:

[Jdrama] Puzzle (2008)

Starring:
Ishihara Satomi as Ayukawa Misako
Yamamoto Yusuke as Imamura Shinichi
Kimura Ryo as Kanzaki Akira
Nagayama Kento as Tsukamoto Yoshio
Iwata Sayuri as Matsuo Yuko
Sato Chiaki as Takamura Michiru
Asakura Aki as Wada Hitomi
Tsujimoto Hiromasa as Nagatsuka Kenichi
Kaneko Norihito as Daido Gorou
Shiomi Sansei as Kamata Torahiko

Puzzle stars Ishihara Satomi as Ayukawa Misako, an English teacher at a prestigious boys’ high school. At first sight, she seems to be a meek and humble teacher, but in reality, she’s arrogant, greedy, and terrible at English. Her students know this, but the rest of the world has yet to catch on. Each episode is done pretty much the same way. Three of her students find out about some competition where you have to solve puzzles and riddle and if you win, you get some big expensive prize. She finds out about it and comes with them, intent on winning and becoming rich. After they get there, it later turns into a murder mystery of sorts. Even though her English is atrocious, she’s actually very clever and can solve the riddles easily.

[Jdrama] Kimi Hannin Janai yo ne?

Starring:
Kanjiya Shihori as Morita Sakura
Kaname Jun as Udagawa Norio
Ogawa Nana as Nakagawa
Kojima Fujiko
Hagino Takashi
Ikeda Tsutomu
Kongouchi Takeshi
Watanabe Ikkei as Chief

Generally, all mystery dramas are the same. The only thing differentiating them is the gimmick specific to the show. KimiHan is no exception. It follows a girl named Morita Sakura, who is an aspiring mystery novelist. Unfortunately, she is always refused by the same editorial company over and over. Because of this, she works a lot of weird and random part time jobs. She meets Udagawa Norio, a detective who got in only because of his family connections. Generally, he’s stupid and falls in love very easily with almost any beautiful woman he sees. He discovers that she has an amazing memory, and she begins helping him with various cases as a part-time job.

[Twdrama] Romantic Princess / Gong Zhu Xiao Mei

Starring:
Angela Zhang as Mai Qiu Sui (Huang Fu Shan)
Wu Chun as Nan Feng Jin
Calvin Chen as Nan Feng Cai
Gu Bao Ming as Huang Fu Xiong (Emp)
George Hu as Nan Feng Lin
Li Ang Lin as Nan Feng Ying
Genie Zhuo as Gong Mo Li
Hsia Ching Ting as Yi Sen Chuan
Bu Xue Liang as Mai Cong Guang
Huang Jia Qian as Mai Ge Hao Wa
Lu Jian Yu as Head of Guards

Romantic Princess, Gong Zhu Xiao Mei, tells the story of Xiao Mai. Illegally adopted by a poorer family, she’s always dreamed that she was actually an heiress. One day to her and her parent’s surprise, the right hand man of Asia’s richest man Huang Fu Xiong (called Emp) comes take her back to her real home. She is actually the granddaughter of Emp and 17 years ago was taken by his enemies and later abandoned on the side of the road. Finally, after years of searching, his men have finally found her. She doesn’t want to leave her parents and her current life, but since her parents adopted her illegally, they have no legal rights as her guardians.

[Jdrama] Around 40

Starring:
Amami Yuki as Ogata Satoko
Fujiki Naohito as Okamura Keitaro
Otsuka Nene as Morimura Nao
Tsutsui Michitaka as Ohashi Sadao (Ma-kun)
Matsushita Yuki as Takeuchi Mizue
Maruyama Tomomi as Shinjo Takafumi
AKIRA as Ogata Tatsuya
Sakura as Ogata Maki
Hayashi Ryuzo as Ogata Tomoyasu
Kaga Mariko as Yoshinaga Haruko
Matsumoto Wakana as Katayama Haruka
Katagiri Hairi as Matchmaker
Kato Masaya as Kanasugi Kazuya

Around 40 centers around 3 women as they are approaching a new turning point in their lives: turning 40 (though it’s sooner for two of them than the last). Ogata Satoko is a 39-year-old psychiatrist. She hasn’t dated anyone in five years, but is still very happy with her life. She is satisfied from her work and doesn’t feel the need to get married or have kids. Takeuchi Mizue is also 39 years old; she and Satoko were classmates. She got married after graduation and has a son in junior high. Although she used to be happy with her life as a housewife, lately she has begun to feel tired of it and wants to start working again.