shari

A well-paced action/drama peppered with hilarious moments. It cruises nicely past the half way mark, then spoils its charm by using the cheapest substitute for new ideas: guns and blood. Hats off to composer Matsumoto Akihiko for one of the most creative scores, and to Yanagiba Toshiro for occasionally unclenching his teeth.

This over-stretched drama is so contrived, I kept wondering why I should care. It reminds me of those Bergman movies: you can make it look poetic and artsy but in the end a boring drama is still a boring drama.

A dumbed-down drama in which a pop star invades an ordinary family to play busybody and village idiot. When not acting the buffoon, Nagase Tomoya sputters moralistic speeches as hollow as the music score. My heart goes to the behind-the-scene janitor who has to mop the gallon of tears Mr. Pop Star sheds every time he gets emotional.

This asadora gets a speedy start with a cast of talented kids, but soon slows to a crawl when Haruka-The-Country-Bumpkin leaves her village for the big city. It switches gears again when Haruka-Turned-City-Slicker returns home. The story then deepens and sees all its characters and subplots intertwine nicely to a heart-warming finish.

This drama has the artificial flavor of industrially manufactured products. The story is a collection of refurbished old ideas that unfold at a metronome beat, and the scenes are shot with almost aseptic symetry. Kusanagi has little to offer besides his name, and with his limited acting abilities and emotional range, he can only stand dwarfed by Tsutsumi's screen presence.

The first half of this feather-weight comedy is pure fun thanks to its very creative direction and a nicely fitting music score (except for the theme song that'll send you scrambling for the mute button). At times you even forget that androgynous Tsuyopon has no more charisma than a slice of ham. The second half looks like the writers scratched their head as to what they could come up with, and you'll likely scratch yours as to what they came up with.

The promise of a social theme about the condition of female office workers quickly drowns in the swamp of shallow entertainment to the beat of an overblown music score. With her modeling poses and shortened skirt, Esumi Makiko would be more convincing selling work uniforms in a fashion magazine than playing tough cookie.

This high-energy asadora digs deeper and flies higher than your usual morning soap. Writer Ohishi Shizuka's up-to-date depiction of modern Japanese women is done with sensitivity and intelligence. The cast is first class.

This over-crowded asadora tries too hard to be entertaining. The musical numbers look like school productions, the photography is what you see in a bad smog day, and the music score sounds like something coming out of a saloon.

The paper-thin story of this asadora is held together by a solid cast, some good comedy and inviting settings populated by colorful characters. If Kuninaka Ryoko bubbles, her male co-star is as wooden as another co-star who has the excuse of being a tree.

This asadora rises to refreshing heights with good-humor, sweet moments and a great music score. Every set is lit with direct sunlight blasting through a window which makes everyone either bask in blinding light or glow in semi-darkness.

A ridiculous drama in which ridiculous members of a ridiculous secret service solve ridiculous cases in the most ridiculous way.

The first few episodes shoot like a super-charged train riding on a nice premise with a stream of good comedy and inspired scenes. But the story soon derails under the weight of endless fillers that go from repetitious to irritating with a mob of sexually disoriented loonies on steroids. The chemistry between the ever-brooding Oguri and the miscast Horikita never produces sparks.

and so much swimming you can smell the chlorine.

The quality of Part 1 of this two-part medic soap is so good in every way (the cast in particular), I decided to shelf Part 2 out of fear of impending disappointment.

This formulaic, cliche-ridden drama featuring Ueto Aya at her most annoying has no more brain and artistic value than the JAL recruitment infomercial it actually is.

A genius surgeon-turned-bum is called to perform surgical miracles with his hands in his pockets while pulling together an A-team of mentally unstable doctors to bleed this drama to absurdity.

An ill-conceived high school drama in which teachers act like asylum patients and students suffer an epidemic of bad hairdos. The endless lectures are taken right out of the Idiot's Guide to Tokyo-U Entrance Exam, and if they succeed in activating an idiot's brain, they're more likely to deactivate yours.

This slice-of-village-life viewed through the eyes of a 12 year-old boy navigates between low-grade slapstick and high comedy, cheap melodrama and heart-warming delight. But the good far outweighs the bad and delivers some truly magical moments. Michael Jackson's perfectly fitting "Ben" reminds us that he too was a cute kid once.

Take a rags-to-riches story, give it the right dose of comedy, add a pinch of drama without melo, mix in a well-seasoned cast, set the timer to a good pace, and you've got yourself this unpretentious dish that'll charm you with every bite.

In this inspiring tale of familial bond, Super Brother manages to reunite five siblings as diverse as society itself. The story moves at a good pace and stays on the light side with some very funny moments. Add a nice music score and a great cast, you've got something that will charm you to the bones.

If you switch your brain to a pre-teen level you might enjoy watching Mr. Superotoko fighting the bad and the ugly, provided you don't mind stories written for (and by?) the even less mature.

A sweet and sensitive look at an aging couple struggling with their marriage. This well-acted drama is a nice follow-up to all the marriage-happy endings. Reminds me of these lines in Kurosagi: "Cinderella meets Prince Charming. They get married. That's when the real story begins."

A bad remake of an overused theme. This unfunny comedy is like a shirt washed too many times: a sad-looking thing, discolored and misshapen.

Masterfully executed with taste and sensitivity, this slow-paced drama is pure delight with its first-rate cast, great music score and a perfectly fitting winter backdrop.

This overly complex mystery/thriller uses all the cheap tricks in the book just for effect and only succeeds in making you guess which character is the least unappealing.

A nice little comedy, thin and fluffy, about a junior editor who finds herself playing mom/sister/maid to an all-male family of manga artists. She gets bullied a lot, works around the clock without apparent sleep, always wears a beaten-dog look on her face, and dresses with urban chic like a socialite on her way to a tea-party. Reminds me of a maze: a fun walk through paths leading nowhere.

The maverick fem cop caught in a personal battle between her past and a killer. Clues and twists are revealed in a steady stream that makes this well-crafted story move and deepen at a good pace. Like quicksand, it catches you and pulls you in to the end. The plot gets a bit too thick to see clearly through it.

She can type at the speed of light, staple like she has 6 hands, drive cranes and six-wheelers, slice fish like a sushi chef, yell like a sailor (in Russian), rope down elevator shafts, predict earthquakes, deliver babies, fight like a kendo master, perform flamenco like a pro, parachute over Tokyo, live among Andalusian peasants and, in the end, picks Mr. Wrong.

The old theme of the country bumpkin landing in the big city. In this one, a bunch of uprooted loners find a home-away-from-home and learn the value of friendship and momship, thanks to Mrs. Busybody. The show has some nice moments until it gets bogged down in thick melodrama.

A beautiful and classy cellist falls for a repulsive man whose only quality is to have a good heart (but so do poodles). When just about everyone around her urges her to marry him, the story goes as out of tune as a broken cello. But great camera work and photography, a nice cast and some funny moments save the day.

Couldn't figure out what this dorama was about. A storyless showcase of pretty faces? An 11 hour-long advertisement for confectionery? A chance for Mr. Children to unload half of their repertoire? Gave up after 3 eps and went to stuff myself at the local bakery for better entertainment.

Take a bunch of circus clowns, dress them as students, give them violins and timpani instead of kazoos and slide-whistles, and you've got Nodame Cantabile. If you like circus acts, you may love this show. If you like classical music, better turn off the sound and play your grandpa's Spike Jones vinyls.

A depressing and uninspiring school drama about a tyrannical teacher who looks like a vampire and believes that oppression and mental torture are the best teaching tools. 3 points for being worth watching the day you'll grow to hate kids (may the day never come).

They took an old theme but brought nothing new to it. The whole thing moves at a drowsy pace, but the pace is steady, the acting first rate, and the music score just right. It's slow without being boring and grows on you without sticking. Hard to hate it, hard to love it.

Humorous, human, never quite boring without being exciting either. Makes you think that if you ever step out of line, shachou Shiina and his team of over-dedicated angels-with-a-badge will be standing in background watching over you with a compassionate look on their face.

Pure love is caught in a world of intrigue where doctors should be wearing straight-jackets and handcuffs instead of white blouses. But this dorama from another century still cruises nicely thanks to its first-rate cast, great music score and beautiful photography. The melodrama is sometimes overdone.

Yada Akiko brings her usual sweetness and signature hair style and lip gloss to form a perfect pair with Amami Yuki's tough reporter persona. But this winning duo is plagued by an over-excited crew, low-grade humor and shallow stories. 3 cheers for Amami plus 3 cheers for Yada make it a 6.

Riveting drama about a man who dedicates his life to the safety of others but can't help bringing calamity on himself. Mystery, intrigue and suspence loom at every corner, and everytime you think the story can't go further, it bounces back with the same energy to reveal yet another twist.

"Great" teacher, you say? A teacher whose favorite pastime is watching porn videos and whose reckless attitude toward his students would have had him arrested? You'd think no woman in her right mind would fall for this guy who's so obnoxious and sexist that he makes his female co-teacher's blood boil every time they meet. Well, after undergoing brain removal (not revealed in the story), she does.

Big stars couldn't pull this one out of its dark world. Should have been called Rondo in D minor.

Number 5 feels tired, but Shiina and his aging team keep chasing the bad and the misguided with the same tireless dedication.

Another winner from Kitagawa Eriko who also wrote Orange Days. Kimura does a good job as the desillusioned pianist, but he doesn't quite hold it to co-star Yamagushi Tomoko. He's got trouble expressing emotions with his face and often uses mannerisms that become irritating. The ending doesn't do justice to the quality of this show.

Hiroshi and Yukie really found themselves in this one. The end is a bit disappointing, but the rest is funny, clever and refreshing.

A 10 if it wasn't for the mismatch of the two main characters. We sympathize but don't quite connect.

Matsushima Nakano gives the perfect performance in this heart-warming love story as the "perfect woman" aiming high and falling low. The elegant look of this drama works really well.

This drama tries too hard to be funny and clever but is neither. You've got to be a hero to sit through 11 episodes of thin stories, lame subplots and bad camera work.

Another dame-without-a-brain falling for Mr. Wrong story. Here, the patient with the brainectomy happens to be a classy and attractive 32 year-old heart surgeon. Are we supposed to feel for her when she gets hurt and humiliated? 3 points for the nice little intros at the begining of each ep.

The main spices of this otherwise bland asadora are its beautiful locations and the "Will he, won't he?" that'll keeps you guessing to the end. A piece of trivia: Mr. Will-He-Won't-He is the son of music conductor Osawa Seiji.

Nakama Yukie shines in this one. She'll make you want to jump out of your couch and join her gang of misfits to "feel your breeze". Fight-to oh!