 Akihabara@DEEP [アキハバラ＠DEEP]
Rating: 9/10 (Bought & Watched)
Flashy, loud, hysteric, second degree and totally over the top. The characters are loveable (yet annoying) and the overall design is funky. It´s a bit to geeky and weird to appeal to the masses but if you take it as an entertaining life-action-anime, and if you are a bit of an otaku at heart, this should be fun. |  Boku dake no Madonna [僕だけのマドンナ]
Rating: 6/10 (Watched)
Fluffy, funny at times, sweet story, worth watching once. Not more not less. | Densha Otoko [電車男]
Rating: 8/10 |
 Golden Bowl [ゴールデンボウル]
Rating: 10/10 (Watched)
I gave this a 10 because I have watched this at least 4 or 5 times. I adore the positively uncool setting, an old bowling hall. The chemistry between the main leads, Kaneshiro Takeshi and Kuroki Hitomi, is great, their age gap doesn´t matter at all.
Both of them are good in lying to themselves and not admitting failures. I like the moments when they have their frank dialogues - mostly when playing (and often winning) tournaments.
The main characters feel real, because the drama shuns away from the usual "weak woman that needs to be saved - strong man that´ll protect her" scheme. Hitomi, albeit a housewife, is strong and takes responsability for her life and failures, Shu is weaker but strong enough to not choose the wrong girl.
And let´s not forget the entertaining sidekicks, Gorilla, Midori, Akira and Owner. |  GTO [麻辣教師]
Rating: 8/10 |  H2~Kimi to itahibi [２〜君といた日々]
Rating: 9/10 (Watched)
I always hated sports dramas for that the storyline always seems to be the same: underdogs first struggle, overcome their weakness and always end up winning the finals. H2 in that sense is no different, yet I enjoyed it immensely because H2 gets the balance right between sports and friendship, love and other day-to-day worries. The four protagonists and their friends are normal teenagers who struggle with unrequited love, death of a parent, deciding on their future and other insecurities. Nothing overly angsty but even I (over 30) could identify with some of the issues. The baseball scenes are enjoyable for non-fans and not every game is easily won, some are stupidly lost. |
Hachimitsu to Kuroba [ハチミツとクローバー]
Rating: 7/10
The source material is a bit slow and boring already so I wasn´t expecting anything hilarious or action driven. The actors fitted well, the major storyline was respected and I recognised many scences from the manga, which I liked. Not grand, but not really bad, like the manga. The anime is funnier. | Haikei, Chichiue-sama [拝啓、父上様]
Rating: 8/10 (Watched)
A tad too slow, yet sweet!
A nostalgic look on how most things that once mattered come to an end. | Haken no Hinkaku [ハケンの品格]
Rating: 8/10
I have a soft spot for office dramas (I blame it on Ricky Gervais) and Shinohara Ryoko, I had to check this one out. I politely overlooked the Japanese interpretation of Spain and Andalucia but the whole drama stayed a mixed bag until the end. There were certain issues and stories I enjoyed, and certain things I deemed ridiculous. Wonder temps who save the the day every day do not exist. |
 Hakusen nagashi [白線流し]
Rating: 8/10 (Watched)
A quite realistic coming of age drama about provincial high school kids. I was fresh at university when this first aired. I wish I could have watched this back then. It is also fun to watch a puppy Nagase Tomoya. | Hana Yori Dango Season 2 [花より男子]
Rating: 7/10 (Watched)
HYD2 delivers! I had as much fun watching this as season one. The show is real eye-candy as everybody is soo good looking, from Makino to F4, from Yukie to Makino´s brother, the prettiest being Rui. I gave this a seven because the plot is not entirely convincing, even less then in season one and because the corny wedding proposal in front of 1000 people followed by a badly choreographed dance made me cringe. It simply doesn´t fit a though ping-pong couple and besides, they are way too young! | Hanayome to Papa [花嫁とパパ]
Rating: 4/10
Creepy obessive dad Tokito Saburo and a more than conservative family setting made this unwatchable for me. |
Himitsu no Hanazono [ヒミツの花園]
Rating: 8/10 (Watched)
I want to be Hongo Kanata’s mum – he’s the jewel (and Maya Miki) in this funny and touching drama about a family secret. The main character, portrayed by Shaku Yumiko stays overall too submissive and pale in comparison to the four eccentric brothers and their crazy editor. | Ichi Ritoru no Namida [１リットルの涙]
Rating: 8/10 |  Ikebukuro West Gate Park [池袋ウエストゲートパーク]
Rating: 9/10 (Bought)
One of my favourite shows, which I still recommend to all my friends. I can´t really explain why I like this so much, but the plot is tight, the actors deliver and even though it´s a bit violent I find it very touching. It has a certain "this is OUR youth" vibe going on and it makes me for some freaky reason feel young again. |
Ima Ai ni Yukimasu [いま会いにゆきます]
Rating: 8/10 | Iryu [医龍 Team Medical Dragon]
Rating: 7/10 (Watched)
A bit too much pathos and a touch too heroic for me! But definitly one of the better medical dramas! It´s worth watching for the performances of the cast, for the sometimes quite gory surgery scences and for at least slightly touching the darker sides of the medical world (ie internal power struggles, corrupt or anxious doctors, pharma industry power). | Jikou Keisatsu [時効警察]
Rating: 9/10
It’s a one case per episode crime solving series but it won’t appeal to everybody - one of the main ingredients is subtle black yet whacky humor. Therefore, this non-sense comedy won me over in no time. It works on several levels: slapstick, the dialogue, background situations, the chemistry of the two main protagonists and the whacky colleagues. One word to describe this drama: absurd.
The cases are not that challenging and the pace is slow but this is not what the series is all about anyway. I prefer this kind of humor over MBMH and even Nodame Cantabile (although I like both of them tremendously). |
 Kamisama mou sukoshi dake [神様、もう少しだけ]
Rating: 8/10 | Kekkon Dekinai Otoko [結婚できない男]
Rating: 8/10 | Kiken na Aneki [危険なアネキ]
Rating: 7/10 |
 Kimi wa Petto [きみはペット]
Rating: 7/10 (Watched)
I liked the manga, so I enjoyed it a lot. I feel though that there was a lack of sexual tension and it was not as steamy as I would like it to be. Mind you this is my personal problem since I am a bit older, European and libertine, impossible for me to buy an ending where two people into each other go back to platonic. Also the time of watching, I wasn´t really aware that the older woman/ younger man plot is such a recurring theme in J-dramas - see Anego, Sapuri, Boke dake no Madonna, Sore wa totsuzen or even Gokusen, and now I am growing tired of it. |  Kisarazu Cat's Eye [木更津キャッツアイ]
Rating: 10/10 (Watched)
My favourite drama by screen writer Kudo Kankuro - even though storywise IWGP and T&D are better.
This is mainly because of the story´s central character - Bussan, a terminally ill lad who had not much of a perspective anyway.
Bussan is warm, cute, loud yet frail and really really funny. His love for baseball, his small town and his four friends is really touching and never pathetic.
Besides the wonderful cast (at least 2 JE Boys, but they deliver) you get hilarous flashbacks, excentric side characters, the über-cool references.
I want to see the two movies, which followed really badly :-))) | Kuitan [喰いタン]
Rating: 8/10 |
Kurosagi [クロサギ]
Rating: 7/10 (Bought)
Good vehicle for Yamapi who has improved his acting skills. The plot sometimes lacks pace and the female parts are too one-dimensional. I found the cat fighting between the two university pals over Kurosagi childish and annoying. |  Last Christmas [ラストクリスマス]
Rating: 8/10 |  Long Love Letter [ロング・ラブレター〜漂流教室]
Rating: 8/10 (Bought)
I like "out of the box" ideas so this one about a time-travelling highschool works fine for me. A weird story, nice reflexions on humanity, the recurring theme of lost love, a cute closing song and some good (and some good-looking) actors is entertaining enough for me. The last episode is a bit confusing, as if the scriptwriters wished to give us a happyend albeit this only works on the personal level of the protagonists not on the underlying topic of total environmental destruction. |
 Lunch no Joou [ランチの女王]
Rating: 8/10 |  Manhattan Love Story [マンハッタン ラブストーリー]
Rating: 9/10 |  Medaka [めだか]
Rating: 8/10 |
Mirai Koshi Meguru [未来講師めぐる]
Rating: 7/10 (Watched)
Kudo Kankuro weakest work to date. Absolutely watchable for its quirkiness and adorable excentric characters - I loved Meguri´s grandfather, Michiru and her accent and Yuki, the stupid boyfriend. But the story is too often too silly and the heroine - no surprise - infantile and annoying. But it would be too easy to blame it on Fukada Kyoko only, the script wasn´t that neat either. Cool ending song and guest apparences by beloved actors though. | My Boss, My Hero [マイボスマイヒロ]
Rating: 8/10
This drama/comedy succeeded in making me laugh out loud all the time. It’s neither smart nor subtle but downright funny. Nagase Tomoya is not taking himself too seriously as a stupid (or shall we say intellectually challenged) Yakusa. Will I ever watch this again? Probably not – this is not the kind of series I can watch over and over again. |  Nemureru mori [眠れる森]
Rating: 8/10 (Watched) |
Nodame Cantabile [のだめ カンタビ−レ]
Rating: 9/10 |  Orange Days [オレンジデイズ]
Rating: 9/10 (Watched) |  Over Time [オーバー・タイム]
Rating: 9/10 (Watched)
Nice love story, I won’t say much just that I found the dialogues between men and women refreshingly open and honest for a Japanese drama. |
Psychometrer eiji 1
Rating: 7/10 (Watched)
Good but two flaws:
First of all, this drama aged badly! It must have been very now when first aired. If you see it as a testament to what it was to be young in 1997, it´s fun, the dancebeats by Krush, first computer animations, the haircuts, ... memory lane
Secondly, it´s based on a hugely popular manga (which I LUFF ;-)) and it´s somewhat faithful but sacrifices too many beloved side characters. | raiaa geemu [ライアーゲーム]
Rating: 7/10 (Watched)
Have only watched until episode 4 and got hooked. The leads are very charming and so far convincing (although Erica Toda´s persona is borderline annoying with her apparent (?) naivity). Let´s see what happens next but to remain really good, this series needs some twists and more surprises. Maybe it turns out to be a series that you watch only once but it´s fun. Compliments 4 the music! | Shika Otoko Awoniyoshi [鹿男あをによし]
Rating: 8/10
Loved the talking deer, loved the idea and the surrealism, loved the location of Nara and the old-fashioned look and feel, loved the actors and the dialogues. I’ll rate this 7.5 to 8 as I got distracted around episode 6 and only regained interest in the last two episodes. The execution was too slow, or to put it in a different way, most of the time the characters were doing uninteresting things (visiting temples, drinking, participating in school competitions, teaching), these activities had a higher purpose though, the search of the triangle, but I felt it was boring to watch at times nonetheless. |
 Shomuni [ショムニ]
Rating: 9/10 | Slow Dance [スローダンス]
Rating: 8/10 |  Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi [空から降る一億の星]
Rating: 8/10 (Watched) |
 Stand UP!!
Rating: 8/10 (Watched) | Unfair [アンフェア]
Rating: 9/10 (Bought)
I was highly entertained and this drama kept me guessing all the time. Very few shows are that thrilling, and with its twists and u-turns, it has almost movie tension going on. As a consequence, the plot is a bit unlikely but thight enough to work out well. | Utahime [歌姫]
Rating: 8/10 |
 Virgin road [バージンロード]
Rating: 9/10
Honestly it's a little pathetic and has lots of cringe moments (especially the last episode). But I was addicted from the first episode and genuinely cared about the protagonists. I watched this in one weekend, so it deserves a 9/10. But caution, it's like stuffing yourself with sweets on a rainy Sunday. It’s okay to do so but only once in a while. |  Yasashii Jikan [優しい時間]
Rating: 10/10 |  Yasha [夜叉]
Rating: 8/10 (Watched)
Surprisingly touching for a SF-drama! Very good performances and good action scences. I give this only an eight for three reasons:
- firstly the two first episodes were too slow and rather weird/boring instead of intriguing, I almost gave up. Thanks god I didn´t!
- Then the title song since I really hate Sting but that´s a very personal view, sorry.
- And lastly because on one hand it had too many repetitive flashbacks and on the other hand I was left with many open questions. |
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Abe Hiroshi [阿部寛]
Esumi Makiko [江角マキコ]
Fujiki Naohito [藤木直人]
Ikuta Toma [生田斗真]
Kubozuka Yosuke [窪塚洋介]
Kudo Kankuro
Kuroki Hitomi [黒木瞳]
Maya Miki [真矢みき]
Tamayama Tetsuji [玉山鉄二]
