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.

Winter 2008 Drama Preview

New season, new dramas, and a renewed spirit! This’ll be my first drama preview post as just my first impressions on the dramas I’m planning on watching and reviewing.

First Impressions

Shikaotoko Aoiniyoshi

A very unlucky man is forced to move his post at a university lab to a girl’s high school in Nara, where the deer roam around freely. Ogawa Takanobu moves into an apartment/inn of some sorts with a bunch of his co-workers. Life in Nara is quite different from Tokyo and Ogawa has probalem adjusting, including a student who seems to hate him. And not to mention that there seems to be someone tailing him and writing telltale notes on his classroom blackboard. So far, I’ve found Shikaotoko Aoiniyoshi to be quite interesting. Even though, it takes place in Nara that’s depicted as mostly slow-paced and not very exciting, the drama is full of life. I also love that the humor is very dry; there doesn’t seem to be any slapstick to be seen. I also have to mention that Tamaki Hiroshi and Ayase Haruka have pretty unflattering hair compared to their previous hairstyles. Maybe it’s supposed to be reflect on their location.

[Jdrama] Nodame Cantabile

Nodame Cantabile

Starring:
Ueno Juri as Noda Megumi aka Nodame
Tamaki Hiroshi as Chiaki Shinichi
Eita as Mine Ryutaro
Koide Keisuke as Okuyama Masumi
Mizukawa Asami as Miki Kiyora
Saeko as Saku Sakura
Uehara Misa as Tagaya Saiko
Takenaka Naoto as Franz Stresemann
Endo Yuya as Okochi Mamoru
Ibu Masato as Mine Tatsumi
Nishimura Masahiko as Tanioka Hajime
Toyohara Kosuke as Eto Kozo
Kondo Kouen as Tamaki Keiji
Sakamoto Makoto as Hashimoto Yohei
Fukushi Seiji as Kuroki Yasunori
Mukai Osamu as Kikuchi Toru
Hashizume Ryo as Kimura Tomohito

Nodame Cantabile is a Japanese drama that aired in the fall of 2006. It was broadcasted on Monday nights on Fuji TV. Based on the manga of the same name, Nodame Cantabile averaged rating of 18.79%.

Nodame Cantabile is the drama for all of us orchestra dorks (or more generally, music dorks). It takes places at Momogaoka Music Academy, focusing on the life of Chiaki Shinichi and his strange relationship with Noda Megumi, nicknamed Nodame. Chiaki is the top piano student at the Academy, as well as a talented violinist, but secretly dreams of conducting. He longs to return to Prague, where he spent his childhood, but feeling trapped in Japan because of his phobia of flying and sailing. He wonders what his future in music will be like, since one must study abroad in Europe to truly have a career as a conductor. Soon after, he transfers to the conducting division of the school.

[Jmovie] Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru

Starring
Miyazaki Aoi as Satonaka Shizuru
Tamaki Hiroshi as Segawa Makoto
Kuroki Meisa as Toyama Miyuki
Aoki Munetaka as Shirohama Ryo
Koide Keisuke as Sekiguchi Kyohei
Oonishi Asae as Yaguchi Yuka
Uehara Misa as Inoue Saki

I watched Miyazaki Aoi in NANA; she was great and I was interested in her other works. And I do love Ai Otsuka’s ballads (the movie’s theme is Renai Shashin), so when I found subs for Tada, Kimi wo Ashiteru, I had to watch it.