2009 summer j-dramas
23 Apr 2009 12:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mayoraaseiI've watched less Jdramas than I normally would for the start of the season, or maybe I'm just feeling that way because I've completely gone off anime now (I blame it on Gundam 00), the new season of which also starts in April and normally I would have been madly watching new series of both.
Apart from two dramas (one with Fujiki and one with Toma), I've seen all the other ones I was interested in. I don't know what it is about this season but most of them are detective/crime-based.
Konkatsu!! (Mondays)
This season's "Gekku", about a 30-year-old guy being employed at a company that requires him to be married and now he needs to find a girlfriend to marry in 3 months. It's really not my cup of tea, and I only watched it because it's the first time Ueda is in a drama. Unfortunately ever since Jin said "Ueda, when you smile you look like a crocodile", that phrase echoes in my head every time Ueda smiles. Even though he's very cute when smiling...it's all Akanishi's fault as you can see =__=+++
Atashinchi no Danshi (Tuesdays)
Is Tuesday 9pm slots reserved for girls or what? ==; This is another drama you'd only watch for the guys. Maki is seriously getting on my nerves after walking through 5 dramas and 5 very different characters with exactly the same acting style. On the other hand, the guys are hot. But the script and pace is slow and not quite funny enough. It's about a girl who married a rich old guy a month before his death (ew, right?) and then realising she accidentally signed a contract to mother his six grown-up adopted sons for 3 months, or she forfeits some 10 million yen. Like its predecessor (Meichan) it's one of those shoujo dramas with highly improbable and yet predictable basis.
BOSS (Thursdays)
To be honest I only watched this for Toda Erika, but it turned out to far exceed my expectations. It's shot very much like an American procedural, so the pace and editing is all quite dynamic and quick (kind of like Bloody Monday but with less dizzying handheld effects). Continuing on from Kiina last season, at the head of this crime series is a strong intelligent woman, who is looking after a group of misfits thrown out by other departments. Strong, intelligent, morally good and yet sexy women are so rare in Japanese TV that I'm going to watch it just for the freshness of that.
Smile (Fridays)
I was really split over watching this because on the one hand it has MatsuJun, who can be awesome, and on the other it has Aragaki Yui, who's very pretty but can be incredibly annoying =__= The summary didn't sound too encouraging either - a half-Filipino and a girl who can't talk smiling optimistically...what? It turned out to be a lot more depressing and complex than that. MatsuJun's character used to be involved in gang violence, and the leader of his gang (who happens to be SHUN LOL) got jailed while he got off trying to get back on the straight road, but cultural prejudices against foreigners make it difficult for him. I...am not into drama for the sake of drama, and I don't like it when you know the (unhappy) ending and have to wait for the inbetween to happen. Still, if you're looking for a meaty drama, then this is probably the choice. And MatsJun is good =D
Meitantei no Okite (Fridays)
Based on a book by the famous Higashino Keigo, this is a postmodernist and satirical take on the crime genre. Postmodernism in film is always rather bizarre for me ==;;;; Particularly as in this instance, where the characters step out of their role and speak about it. It does make fun of a lot of conventions of the crime genre, but either I haven't watched enough crime or it's just too forced for me. Crime buffs (especially those who grew up on Kindaichi staples) would probably find it much funnier. Besides, it has Matsuda Shota, who was in Liar Game (as well as other cool things like Hana Yori Dango LOL).
The Quiz Show 2 (Saturdays)
I watched this for Yoko ♥ Yoko~~ ♥ The original show was about using a game show consisting of 7 questions to unearth the dirty laundry of fictional celebrities, and throughout the series, go through actions driven by the 7 deadly sins. I've never actually watched Sho act before and his host persona isn't much different from his normal personality ==;;;;; Yoko is soooo going to get typecast into "evil mastermind" roles~ not that I mind XDDDD I didn't even realise that the pretty girl is Ayaya or that Arashi sang the theme song (there was a theme song?) Well, now I've seen everyone in Arashi act except Aiba. The series is interesting in that even though it is crime, the crime and the criminal is known, so it's a lot more detached and less gory, but there's still suspense to run it. Nevertheless, I wonder if it can keep up the suspension of belief for the entire series?
God Hand Teru
A bumbling guy who inherited his surgeon genius father's "god-like hands", which come out when he's under duress and helps him perform surgery like a perfect art? It's the sort of thing that only Japanese manga can come up with (and did ==;) Maybe it's the cynicism of the profession, but an emergency surgeon who has never lost a patient? ==;; It's all very magical. The ludicrous premises aside, Yuta and Asami are both excellent actors and watching it just reminds me of how crappy Code Blue was thanks to YamaP and Gakki =__=
Apart from two dramas (one with Fujiki and one with Toma), I've seen all the other ones I was interested in. I don't know what it is about this season but most of them are detective/crime-based.
Konkatsu!! (Mondays)
This season's "Gekku", about a 30-year-old guy being employed at a company that requires him to be married and now he needs to find a girlfriend to marry in 3 months. It's really not my cup of tea, and I only watched it because it's the first time Ueda is in a drama. Unfortunately ever since Jin said "Ueda, when you smile you look like a crocodile", that phrase echoes in my head every time Ueda smiles. Even though he's very cute when smiling...it's all Akanishi's fault as you can see =__=+++
Atashinchi no Danshi (Tuesdays)
Is Tuesday 9pm slots reserved for girls or what? ==; This is another drama you'd only watch for the guys. Maki is seriously getting on my nerves after walking through 5 dramas and 5 very different characters with exactly the same acting style. On the other hand, the guys are hot. But the script and pace is slow and not quite funny enough. It's about a girl who married a rich old guy a month before his death (ew, right?) and then realising she accidentally signed a contract to mother his six grown-up adopted sons for 3 months, or she forfeits some 10 million yen. Like its predecessor (Meichan) it's one of those shoujo dramas with highly improbable and yet predictable basis.
BOSS (Thursdays)
To be honest I only watched this for Toda Erika, but it turned out to far exceed my expectations. It's shot very much like an American procedural, so the pace and editing is all quite dynamic and quick (kind of like Bloody Monday but with less dizzying handheld effects). Continuing on from Kiina last season, at the head of this crime series is a strong intelligent woman, who is looking after a group of misfits thrown out by other departments. Strong, intelligent, morally good and yet sexy women are so rare in Japanese TV that I'm going to watch it just for the freshness of that.
Smile (Fridays)
I was really split over watching this because on the one hand it has MatsuJun, who can be awesome, and on the other it has Aragaki Yui, who's very pretty but can be incredibly annoying =__= The summary didn't sound too encouraging either - a half-Filipino and a girl who can't talk smiling optimistically...what? It turned out to be a lot more depressing and complex than that. MatsuJun's character used to be involved in gang violence, and the leader of his gang (who happens to be SHUN LOL) got jailed while he got off trying to get back on the straight road, but cultural prejudices against foreigners make it difficult for him. I...am not into drama for the sake of drama, and I don't like it when you know the (unhappy) ending and have to wait for the inbetween to happen. Still, if you're looking for a meaty drama, then this is probably the choice. And MatsJun is good =D
Meitantei no Okite (Fridays)
Based on a book by the famous Higashino Keigo, this is a postmodernist and satirical take on the crime genre. Postmodernism in film is always rather bizarre for me ==;;;; Particularly as in this instance, where the characters step out of their role and speak about it. It does make fun of a lot of conventions of the crime genre, but either I haven't watched enough crime or it's just too forced for me. Crime buffs (especially those who grew up on Kindaichi staples) would probably find it much funnier. Besides, it has Matsuda Shota, who was in Liar Game (as well as other cool things like Hana Yori Dango LOL).
The Quiz Show 2 (Saturdays)
I watched this for Yoko ♥ Yoko~~ ♥ The original show was about using a game show consisting of 7 questions to unearth the dirty laundry of fictional celebrities, and throughout the series, go through actions driven by the 7 deadly sins. I've never actually watched Sho act before and his host persona isn't much different from his normal personality ==;;;;; Yoko is soooo going to get typecast into "evil mastermind" roles~ not that I mind XDDDD I didn't even realise that the pretty girl is Ayaya or that Arashi sang the theme song (there was a theme song?) Well, now I've seen everyone in Arashi act except Aiba. The series is interesting in that even though it is crime, the crime and the criminal is known, so it's a lot more detached and less gory, but there's still suspense to run it. Nevertheless, I wonder if it can keep up the suspension of belief for the entire series?
God Hand Teru
A bumbling guy who inherited his surgeon genius father's "god-like hands", which come out when he's under duress and helps him perform surgery like a perfect art? It's the sort of thing that only Japanese manga can come up with (and did ==;) Maybe it's the cynicism of the profession, but an emergency surgeon who has never lost a patient? ==;; It's all very magical. The ludicrous premises aside, Yuta and Asami are both excellent actors and watching it just reminds me of how crappy Code Blue was thanks to YamaP and Gakki =__=
