JDrama Recommendations

nothing_noble wrote:For two seconds I was like "Gokusen is a horror drama!?!?!"

Hahaha what an Idiot I am :P

Nah, you're not.... G2 has been a running joke since it appeared... :hehe:

Why?

How Is gokusen one? I was thinking about watching that one.

nothing_noble wrote:Why?

Because G2 is a complete clone of G1... With different pretty boys. :bleh:

How Is gokusen one? I was thinking about watching that one.

Not bad, but I think it's lost quite a bit of its charm because of G2... The word "tainted" comes to mind.

Despite all the girls-in-heat screechings regarding Matsumoto Jun, Nakama Yukie IS the star of the drama and she completely carries the show on her shoulders... Her class of delinquent students might as well be cardboard props with styling gel and make up.

[

quote="cori"]I noticed that a lot of people are mentioning Haikei, Chichiue-sama (Dear Father) and Yasashii Jikan and saying that it was good even though it was a slow-moving drama. I tend to get bored of some slow-moving dramas (Aoi Tori/Blue Bird, for one), but I'm still debating on whether to check these dramas out, I would appreciate some opinions. No Nino fangirl opinions please. :beaten:

Both shows mentioned are from the same producer and screenwriter. I noticed they have paid a lot of attention to the production set details so much so that I want to be 'in there' fiddling with the crockery or grinding my own coffee. Coincidentally Nino was part of the main cast in both shows. Both roles were difficult to handle and he did well, bearing in mind he is a pop idol, not trained actor. :naughty: No offense to fans - i didn't know Nino-san can act. Funny, it's about his Fathers. And funny too, i find both synopsis boring.

Haikei speaks about erosion of Japanese culture and lost heritage through urbanisation.

Both shows are very very sentimental, very very slow. Sucigam-san says it right. Unrealistic portrayal of young people. Difficult to believe Japanese fathers being so sentimental too.

I don't mind watching them again. I love the theme music/songs of both dramas. In both shows, I was drawn to the older cast.

I prefer Yasashii Jikan to Haikei because the plot flows better with Yasashii. It's so different from other dorama. . It's all about an intense relationship between a father and son, and how through separation their emotional wounds start to heal. Thirdly, the scenery (inside the set or outside the set) is so breath-taking, both autumn and winter. The only thing i didn't like are the 'broken plates' - it's just so irritating.

If you are one of those sick of 'kawai' characters, slapstick one liners or those Tokyo streets, these shows are worth a watch. By the way, this sort of shows cannot fast-forward.......you might miss the best conversations.

cori wrote:
That's so annoying. And looking at the comments from the people in the Gokusen synopsis area thingy, most of them are fixated on MatsuJun, with only a handful of comments that actually say something about the drama. Finding a well written, unbiased review in a pretty boy/girl drama is like finding a freaking needle in a haystack. :banghead: (Also, MatsuJun ain't all that good looking, so I'm guessing he's popular just because he's in a boyband, right?)

actually no.

going off topic. forgive me but because its posted here thus i'm answering on this thread.

Somehow lots of females do find Matsujun attractive , NOT because he's in a boyband. A lot of his fans who constantly post random thread "OMG!!! MATSUJUN THE SMEXIEST OF THE SMEX" are not really into the band but found him in the dorama first. Gradually they will like ARASHI if they care to find out more about his real personality underneath the smex-ness shown on screen (I personally find him not that good looking too but his god given unique facial features & magnetism on screen demand you to stare at him awhile longer.. he is too "hime" like for my taste tho'). He's known as the "Bait" in arashiology. The science of boyband loving works the other way around. Love one & you'll like the others. The reason he's in Arashi is not why he is SOOO popular. Quoting Nino "Matsujun is the one that gave us work." (sumthing like that) but Arashi is the IN thing right now in Japan. Matsujun popularity plus the hords of girls in heat screeching his name, doesn't make him any less of an actor. He might not be perfect like the king of Idol-Actor Kimura Takuya, but he works really hard to become every character that he'd played & it shows.
huhuhu..I ranted :sweat:

Overatting a dorama just based on bias-nes alone is annoying but people do that, even fanboys. But mostly those who wrote reviews like that are newbies.
Gokusen 1 & 2 is overatted but G1 is waaaaaayyyy better than G2.
And, I prefer Yasashii Jikan To Haikei too because the flow of the story is much better but I love the interaction between the young & old in Haikei. Respecting the elders is a dying trait. Another plus in Haikei is the love story of the lead which works better than in Yasashii.

And (again) for the person who's asking about Kisarazu, IT'S GREAT! Go watch it. Another different dorama to look out for. However I find that those who are seasoned dorama watchers are the ones that appreciate the genius of it the most. Kudo Kankuro wrote it.

bmwracer wrote:
Nah, you're not.... G2 has been a running joke since it appeared... :hehe:

What kind of joke is that??
I never heard that, could u tell me plz??

i havent posted here in a while because ive been too busy watching my many dramas, but im almost finished with my latest one so i need a new recommendation: preferably something romance/comedy. Here's the dramas ive seen already -

Gokusen 1/2
Stand Up!!
Swing Girls
Sekachu
Hana Yori Dango 1/2
1 Litre of Tears
Nobuta wo Produce
Nodame
My Boss, My Hero - still gotta be my fav comedy so far, either that or nodame
Byakuyakou

KenC wrote:i havent posted here in a while because ive been too busy watching my many dramas, but im almost finished with my latest one so i need a new recommendation: preferably something romance/comedy. Here's the dramas ive seen already -

Gokusen 1/2
Stand Up!!
Swing Girls
Sekachu
Hana Yori Dango 1/2
1 Litre of Tears
Nobuta wo Produce
Nodame
My Boss, My Hero - still gotta be my fav comedy so far, either that or nodame
Byakuyakou

I recommend:

Mukodono! (The first series)
Orange Days
Last Christmas
Kekkon Dekinai Otoko

KenC wrote:i havent posted here in a while because ive been too busy watching my many dramas, but im almost finished with my latest one so i need a new recommendation: preferably something romance/comedy. Here's the dramas ive seen already -

Gokusen 1/2
Stand Up!!
Swing Girls
Sekachu
Hana Yori Dango 1/2
1 Litre of Tears
Nobuta wo Produce
Nodame
My Boss, My Hero - still gotta be my fav comedy so far, either that or nodame
Byakuyakou

I think u will like:
- Kekkon Dekinai Otoko (this is superb, very funny and fresh story)
- Attention please (also not lease funny)
- and also why don't u try kimutaku's drama (beautifull life, pride, engine) lots of people love it, me too...

^

too much 'smex' used... that sounds like a chips brand

btw, i actually missed when cori wrote that. i actually like Arashi as a j-pop artiste, love their songs. but i really hate MatsuJun as an actor. so i guess, it can go the other way around right?

but yeah, a lot of people like him as both, so he might be popular just coz he's in a boyband. but how popular is Arashi anyway?

KenC wrote:i havent posted here in a while because ive been too busy watching my many dramas, but im almost finished with my latest one so i need a new recommendation: preferably something romance/comedy.

I'd recommend Kuitan and Seikei Bijin.

monta wrote:^

too much 'smex' used... that sounds like a chips brand

btw, i actually missed when cori wrote that. i actually like Arashi as a j-pop artiste, love their songs. but i really hate MatsuJun as an actor. so i guess, it can go the other way around right?

but yeah, a lot of people like him as both, so he might be popular just coz he's in a boyband. but how popular is Arashi anyway?

Yes it does work the other way around too but my theory are for the Matsujun fans. Really monta... you prefer Jun nasally singing voice to his somewhat ok acting skills? I love Arashi music but mostly because of Captain Ohno angelic voice, Tensai Sho raping words, Nino haunting written solo & Arashi crack. As for Jun's acting, he is too (in)tense for his own good but the eyes are able to convey a thousand unspoken words (mind my exagerration :beaten: ) & so far, I adore him the most when he was Momo. I think they do like him because of the smexy-ness :P. But the man is not without talent. People can't deny his strong screen presence either they like it or not.

Arashi weren't as popular as they are now. They were not in demand as Kn-tut.. i mean Kat-tun and even the release of their 2005/early 2006 ONEconDVD was canned. People in Japan didn't care much about them then. Then came Hanadan, Ninomiya acting in Hollywood under Eastwood direction,an increase of overseas fans which awoken a new wave of passion in the Japanese fans and a lot of other factors that contributed to their new found popularity.
Still, not all Jun fans are Arashi fans & not all Arashi fans like Jun's acting (but we do support him :P).

i havent posted here in a while because ive been too busy watching my many dramas, but im almost finished with my latest one so i need a new recommendation: preferably something romance/comedy

For romance plus comedy : LONG VACATION, MUKODONO & SATORARE

When you say his on stage screen presence though, is that all that is needed to be recognized as a great actor? I've seen at least 4 of his dramas(completed 2, got half way through the other 2) and and all he has done in my opinion is overact. If he really wanted to be respected as an actor he would do something more subtle, for example if he ever did a drama like Yasashii Jikan and pulled the role off successfully I would never question anyone who voted for him but as it stands right now it seems that 90 percent of the people who vote for him either:

a) think he is good looking

b) like him because he is playing the main character in there favorite dramas

c) like the cool personality he gives off from the characters he plays

d) all of the above

edit - ...and before Kimi wa petto is brought up as a role that shows his range as an actor, that was one of the dramas I got half way through. That role is what I would categorize as overacting.

I never said he's a great actor sucigam-san & I've complained in other threads he's an over actor who needs to be more subtle. The screen presence is your

c) like the cool personality he gives off from the characters he plays

plus he's great acting out intimate scenes (=smex :P). He's just plain charismatic on screen

He tries too hard to be in character and really works his butt off on & off screen (for an arashi fan, I noticed he used method acting but couldn't shut off his character even after filming). A good hardworking actor NOT a great actor. He make up his lack of talent with hardwork.
I guess people were charmed by his one (maybe more) moment of brilliance in a whole 11ep serial. The hidden smirk in Gokusen, the conflicting eyes as Domyouji & the kiss in KwP. Those were the moment when I feel he got it just right. I voted for him because he made those scenes unforgettable. However, he still needs to learn to be more subtle. If I can rate him his score would be only 6.5 out of 10
I do think his overacting works in Kimi wa Petto.

Uh, let's get back on topic.... You guys can continue the discussion in the appropriate thread(s)....

Again, I thank those of you who responded to my question on the Yasashii and Haikei dramas. After I'm done with the drama that I'm watching now, I'll be sure to check them out.

And my apologies to Arashi fans and those of you who took offense to what i said about MatsuJun. I don't dislike him at all. In fact, I rather grew a bit fond of his character in HYD 1&2, though it took me a while to get past that wild hairstyle of his. :P

~~~~~~~~

That saying, I would like some recommendations for some funny dramas with substance. Something in the lines of Nodame or My Boss, My Hero. Thanks!

cori wrote:
That saying, I would like some recommendations for some funny dramas with substance. Something in the lines of Nodame or My Boss, My Hero. Thanks!

I highly recommend u Kekkon Dekinai Otoko its very funny, for me I don't get bore at all.

I wonder about Sapuri, is it good?? i've read the review, the responses is quite good, but I doubt it because I've watch Kimi wa Peto that the story is about boy and older woman relationship and I don't like it.
I wonder if its the same??

and also some people complaining kame (he is look like girl, not a nice couple for misaki), but I personally like all his drama that I've watched (Nobuta, Gokusen2, Tatta hitotsu no koi)

Steve wrote:I highly recommend u Kekkon Dekinai Otoko its very funny, for me I don't get bore at all.

I've read the synopsis and it sounds like an interesting one. Thanks! :)

Steve wrote:and also some people complaining kame (he is look like girl, not a nice couple for misaki), but I personally like all his drama that I've watched (Nobuta, Gokusen2, Tatta hitotsu no koi)

I don't think he looks like a girl. Just a really sassy looking guy. :P

cori wrote:That saying, I would like some recommendations for some funny dramas with substance. Something in the lines of Nodame or My Boss, My Hero. Thanks!

Have you seen Swing Girls? It's only a movie, but fun and lively.

Summer Time Machine Blues is another fun movie. :)