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J-Dramas

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Hmmm.... it's been a long while since I last watched J-Dramas. The last one I watched is Densha Otoko which I enjoyed immensely.

Any good J-Dramas that you guys can recommend? BUT one thing: it must NOT involve super pretty guys and girls falling in love with each other since I sort of loathe that kind of shows.

Hmmm... maybe "shows about ordinary people" might fit the bill of what I am looking to see. It can be romance, humor, mystery, whatever, as long as the characters are just "ordinary people", if you guys can understand what I am saying.
 
Laughing Banana said:
Hmmm.... it's been a long while since I last watched J-Dramas. The last one I watched is Densha Otoko which I enjoyed immensely.

Any good J-Dramas that you guys can recommend? BUT one thing: it must NOT involve super pretty guys and girls falling in love with each other since I sort of loathe that kind of shows.

Hmmm... maybe "shows about ordinary people" might fit the bill of what I am looking to see. It can be romance, humor, mystery, whatever, as long as the characters are just "ordinary people", if you guys can understand what I am saying.
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Highly recommend the show Moteki. http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Moteki

Don't let the description lead you to believe this of some kind of harem anime. It's about an insecure guy who starts to appear attractive to women.
 
I'm still watching Ryomaden. The subs are just taking forever to finish.

I really like the series, except how it portrays Ryoma as like this Japanese Jesus who was at the center of everything and fixed everything.
 
Slayven said:
No one watches them anymore?
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There hasn't really been anything lately of particular interest =/.

Jin season 2 might be alright and I've been watching Shiawase ni narou yo but I might drop it because it takes itself to serious, if it were more of a comedy along the lines of Hitch it would be more fun.

The jdrama scene has been pretty stagnant lately in my opinion, Prosecutor shows, marriage/birth rate promotion shows, or medical surgery shows.
 
evilpigking said:
There hasn't really been anything lately of particular interest =/.

Jin season 2 might be alright and I've been watching Shiawase ni narou yo but I might drop it because it takes itself to serious, if it were more of a comedy along the lines of Hitch it would be more fun.

The jdrama scene has been pretty stagnant lately in my opinion, Prosecutor shows, marriage/birth rate promotion shows, or medical surgery shows.
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Yeah I stopped for a few years because they started to blur together. The last one I watched that I halfway liked was a detective show where the main character knew he was in a detective show and could go into a special room to break the 4th wall.
 
Haven't watch any J-Dramas for awhile either. I have watch a few K-Dramas though. Dream High is worth watching, love it. Secret Garden was good for the most part, only towards the end it drag a bit. Loved Coffee House, the lead was a loveable ass. Best Love has been fun so far, liking the two leads, great chemistry.
 
ZoddGutts said:
Haven't watch any J-Dramas for awhile either. I have watch a few K-Dramas though. Dream High is worth watching, love it. Secret Garden was good for the most part, only towards the end it drag a bit. Loved Coffee House, the lead was a loveable ass. Best Love has been fun so far, liking the two leads, great chemistry.
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Ya, I've been watching a lot of K-dramas lately but I didn't bring it up since this isn't the place for that =x. But as long as the topic has been breached...been enjoying Best love/Greatest Love, 49 days, and Lie to me as of late.

Might try digging around in the jdrama backlogs to see if I can scrounge something up. Maybe Proposal Daisakusen.
 
Flipping through some older titles and man either Kimura Takuya was awesome at choosing projects to work on or somehow made projects awesome. Pretty much anything he was in regardless of how the synopsis sounded was a fun watch.

Also 1 Liter of Tears is still great and Fukada Kyoko is still terrible. I've also come the conclusion that I was wrong in the past and Hirosue Ryoko is indeed > Uchiyama Rina.

End rant of nonsequitors.
 
evilpigking said:
Ya, I've been watching a lot of K-dramas lately but I didn't bring it up since this isn't the place for that =x. But as long as the topic has been breached...been enjoying Best love/Greatest Love, 49 days, and Lie to me as of late.

Might try digging around in the jdrama backlogs to see if I can scrounge something up. Maybe Proposal Daisakusen.
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1 plus love to K-Drama. I stopped watching J-drama a few years back, I felt like the acting was just far too sterile for me to enjoy.
 
evilpigking said:
Flipping through some older titles and man either Kimura Takuya was awesome at choosing projects to work on or somehow made projects awesome. Pretty much anything he was in regardless of how the synopsis sounded was a fun watch.

Also 1 Liter of Tears is still great and Fukada Kyoko is still terrible. I've also come the conclusion that I was wrong in the past and Hirosue Ryoko is indeed > Uchiyama Rina.

End rant of nonsequitors.
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Too bad Erika turned into a total bitch queen shunned by all though.

Unless you're watching Moto Kare, neither Hirosue Ryoko nor Uchiyama Rina have been relevant for a long while.

Kimutaku is the A-list of the A-list in Japan. He can choose to do whatever the fuck he wants.
 
zeroshiki said:
Too bad Erika turned into a total bitch queen shunned by all though.

Unless you're watching Moto Kare, neither Hirosue Ryoko nor Uchiyama Rina have been relevant for a long while.

Kimutaku is the A-list of the A-list in Japan. He can choose to do whatever the fuck he wants.
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In order: True but doesn't take away from the show, also true but they are still better than the crop that followed and most of the shows I watched were from that era (late 90s-2004ish), and also true but tangential to my comment.

Gotta relive the days when I actually found the shows interesting.

Coffee House was indeed fun and it also had Eunjung <3.
 
evilpigking said:
In order: True but doesn't take away from the show, also true but they are still better than the crop that followed and most of the shows I watched were from that era (late 90s-2004ish), and also true but tangential to my comment.

Gotta relive the days when I actually found the shows interesting.
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Well, Nodame, Nobuta wo Produce, Karei Naru Ichizoku, etc all came after 2004. There is still some quality there.
 
I think it's easy to "OD" as it were on j/k-dramas. I was watching "Someday" about 6-8 months back and just, pow, stopped even caring. I have so much backlogged I dunno when I'll ever get back in to it.

It was nice to see the thread bumped again though. Was hoping for a bunch of new suggestions.
 
Yeah I highly recommend checking out Dream High, Coffee House, Greatest Love (good so far) and 49 days. Love 49 days for actually moving the plot quickly rather dragging things out like in most drama's do.

I hear Can You Hear My Heart is good as well, but I haven't seen it.
 
I really loved Seigi no Mikata and Yasuko & Kenji, but I haven't watched a show since. Has there been anything since in a similar vein?
 
Did anyone watch Nagareboshi (last season I think?) I meant to check it out but forgot >_>;.

Also watched the first episode of Muscle Girl on a whim and it was not as terrible as I expected, if seems to revel in it's campiness and the fact it is a vehicle for Lee Hong Ki and by extension FT Island to gain some popularity in Japan. Don't get me wrong the production values and overall quality is fairly bad but not URA-KARA bad.
 
I've never watched a J Drama before but I think I want to start. I'm thinking of starting with GTO, is that a good jumping off point? Please feel free to recommend other good introduction series too.
 
.JayZii said:
I've never watched a J Drama before but I think I want to start. I'm thinking of starting with GTO, is that a good jumping off point? Please feel free to recommend other good introduction series too.
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GTO is good fun though you should probably skip the movie I don't recall it being great. Another light hearted manga to drama adaption is Nodame Cantabile, about a free spirited piano player and a more uptight conductor (tis also a comedy).

For a more shoujo orientated manga to drama there are a lot to pick from: Hana Yori Dango, Zettai Kareshi, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. but I'm guessing that isn't your area of interest so moving on.

Other series...really anything with Kimura Takuya. Hero in particular is a good one that is lighter on any romance aspect and has good comedy. It is about an unorthodox public prosecutor and how he investigates and solves the cases he is given to find the truth.

Kekkon Dekinai Otoko is another good comedy about a super awkward man and his relationships.

My Boss, My Hero is about a 30ish year old Yakuza successor who is really unintelligent so his father says he must go undercover to attend and graduate from high school, hijinks ensue.

For Medical-ish shows, Iryu is a more over the top surgery show but good, Code Blue is about rookies who are working in the helicopter rescue unit, Jin is about a modern doctor who time slips into the Edo period.

For tear jerkers there is 1 Liter of Tears, which is about a high school girl who is diagnosed with spinocerebellar atraxia, Sekai no Chuushin de ai wo Sakebu, about
a guy remembering the love of his life who died in the past (never actually saw this one).

There are probably quite a few representative shows that I am forgetting or missing so if you have a genre in particular you are looking for I'm sure people can give more detailed suggestions.
 
Ikebukuro West Gate Park:

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Ikebukuro_West_Gate_Park

Really good worth watching. Watanabe Ken is also in this series.

Tiger and Dragon:

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Tiger_&_Dragon

Give Tiger and Dragon at least two episodes for it to click like it did for me.

If you like Tiger and Dragon than try out Unubore Deka, which is by the same team and leading actor. Not as good as Tiger and Dragon but worth checking out, some really good laughs in the series.


Trick series:

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Trick

The series is like a mix of X-Files and Scooby Doo. Series takes a couple of episodes to click but once it does it becomes really fun to watch. 3 seasons total and 2 TV Specials.
 
Thanks a lot for the suggestions. Now that you mention it, I have heard good things about Trick so I think I will start off with that. I'm in the mood for something a little X-files-ish.
 
evilpigking said:
GTO is good fun though you should probably skip the movie I don't recall it being great. Another light hearted manga to drama adaption is Nodame Cantabile, about a free spirited piano player and a more uptight conductor (tis also a comedy).
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Indeed, the movie is not required viewing but the actual series is great. Also second the recommendation for Nodame Cantabile. It's awesome in any form.
Other series...really anything with Kimura Takuya. Hero in particular is a good one that is lighter on any romance aspect and has good comedy. It is about an unorthodox public prosecutor and how he investigates and solves the cases he is given to find the truth.
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My favorite series with Kimura Takuya is Beautiful Life, it's just a nice series overall and executed well. He plays the role of a hair stylist and meets his love interest who's a librarian in a wheelchair. It was quite a sweet story. Good suggestions overall =)
ZoddGutts said:
Tiger and Dragon:

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Tiger_&_Dragon

Give Tiger and Dragon at least two episodes for it to click like it did for me.

If you like Tiger and Dragon than try out Unubore Deka, which is by the same team and leading actor. Not as good as Tiger and Dragon but worth checking out, some really good laughs in the series.
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Definitely also give Tiger and Dragon ago, it's a great comedy that I felt even though some of it was lost in translation I laughed out loud alot. Great suggestion.

If you're feeling like mystery I would say watch Galileo, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's about a detective who has to solve crimes with the help of a university professor who goes out of his way to prove that the conspiracies are a result of science and not paranormal.

And if you're done watching GTO and like Soramachi Takashi I would watch Hotman. I love that show with him, but I would avoid the all but terrible second season.
 
Yeah I also liked Galileo.


Stand UP!! is also worth checking out if your looking for something like American Pie type comedy but not as dumb. It's also by the same director of the Trick series.

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Stand_Up!!


Another series worth checking out is Kisarazu Cat's Eye. Same director of Tiger and Dragon.


http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Kisarazu_Cat's_Eye
 
Pretty lackluster season so far: Ouran and "You're Beautiful" remake (Ikemen Desune) are both disappointing. Didn't really get into the first eps of Tempest, Don Quixote, or Jiu.

Haven't given Yuusha Yoshihiko a watch yet but I will.

Thus currently only watching Zenkai Girl which is overall interesting though cliche and IS which is probably the surprise forerunner of the season for me. I enjoyed the first two episodes quite a lot though crazy girl might be a bit overdone in the writing, at least she is crazy in a different way than I originally expected.
 
Don Quixote is funny, I like it despite being full of cliches and having a concept stolen from another show I forgot the name.
 
Anyone watching Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro? Should appeal to Gaffers who watch J-Drama, it's like low-budget RPG drama. Watching the first episode, it's funny so far.

Edit: The mage is hilarious! Hana-boo spell. :lol I'm liking the "party" so far.
 
Wow, there's a J-drama thread?

I'm also watching IS, for the subject matter... but the writing borders on atrocious melodrama sometimes.
 
Been watching Don Quixote and man, it's surprisingly fun. I wasn't sure what to expect from a drama about a Yakuza and a Child Services worker switching bodies but it's a hoot and I like the cases dealing with kids in it.
 
Bumping this thread from the grave, I started Kurosagi just last night. I'm 3 eps in, and the show seems pretty slick so far. Tomohisa plays a great Kurosaki.

UXeL5.jpg
 
Gosh damn, this thread is dead. Anyway, up to ep 5 of Kurosagi. Still as fabulous as ever. Hilariously melodramatic at times, but that comes with the territory it seems, and I've almost stopped seeing that as a negative. Tsurara's moe, and Kurosaki treads the thin ice between a broody bore, and a badass with an undercurrent. He should get better with the stuff that went down in ep 5 though.
 
Any good comedy shows from the 90s? I just finished watching Odoru Dais&#333;sasen and I really liked it and I need more.
 
Miri said:
Gosh damn, this thread is dead. Anyway, up to ep 5 of Kurosagi. Still as fabulous as ever. Hilariously melodramatic at times, but that comes with the territory it seems, and I've almost stopped seeing that as a negative. Tsurara's moe, and Kurosaki treads the thin ice between a broody bore, and a badass with an undercurrent. He should get better with the stuff that went down in ep 5 though.
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Kurosagi started the unfortunate trend of Yamashita Tomohisa playing the same character over and over and over. He still hasn't gotten out of it.

I realize he's a poor actor and all, but I hate how every character he plays is just so cool and awesome and his only flaw is that he's too awesome.

Blablurn said:
i need to watch that new liar game movie at some point. i loooooved the series back then.
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The latest movie? Its the 3rd movie and is basically just an "adventure" for Akiyama with a new girl. There's nothing in it that was not covered in the previous series and movies.
 
I almost never watch them but made an exception for Byakuyakou after reading the book. I'm frankly really looking forward the korean version though.
 
The movie is pretty awesome, watch that.

There's also a JDrama for Genya (Byakuyakou sequel) but that's a crappy version shown on a cable channel so you should ignore that.
 
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