Densha Otoko [電車男] You gotta see it! [Rating: 10/10] The best Japanese drama I've seen, and the best program I've seen for years. Hilarious, moving, inspiring.
The only little thing was that Densha cried too much. Someone should've slapped him (Hermes san?) and told him to act more like a man.
But, anyway, we forgive him.
If you're a normal guy and not some superstud who's never been rejected, then you can really empathise with Densha.
And Hermes san....so MOE!
Gakko ja Oshierarenai! [学校じゃ教えられない！] Quite a shallow drama [Rating: 6/10] The first two episodes of this drama are pretty funny. However, it's all downhill from there. Although the first half to three-quarters of the series is watchable, it never lives up to the first two episodes and turns from a comedy into a shallow drama. The last few episodes revolves around the characters trying to give touching summaries of the others. However, it doesn't work because the characters never really click and don't really share any emotion throughout the story. Even after ten episodes I couldn't remember the names of the characters, as they didn't make me care about them at all. The only one who was pretty good was the character Tomu (Morisaki Win), who also shows off his singing a couple of times. I guess this drama would be enjoyable for fans of Morisaki, especially female fans. I was also disappointed in Tanihara Shosuke's role, which didn't allow him to express any emotion whatsoever.
The gay and lesbian theme throughout the drama was also quite disturbing.
I also found too that the characters changed too easily. Not really satisfying or believable.
GTO [麻辣教師] Too old [Rating: 3/10] Old and lame. Don't waste your time unless you're into retro TV.
Long vacation [ロングバケーション] Hardly any classical music [Rating: 6/10] I was a little disappointed in this drama because I thought it would have classical music in it. I find it very odd that they made the main character a pianist, but all the time he just played music that was probably written for the drama. If they wanted to play pop music, they should have made him a guitarist or something.
Story is OK, but there seemed to be lots of threads and setups that were never followed through.
Pretty much just a chick flick romance.
Nodame is 100 times better.
My Boss, My Hero [マイボスマイヒロ] Very Funny [Rating: 8/10] Hilarious comedy and great acting. Loses two points for trying to become a serious drama in the last two episodes.
Proposal Daisakusen [プロポーズ大作戦] Save yourself. Don't watch it! [Rating: 2/10] It starts out promising, but it's the most drawn out, frustrating, depressing, and unsatisfying drama I've ever wasted my time on. Think of a mean person offering you a piece of cake, and then taking it away just as you're about to get it. Repeat 11 times, and in the end, you never get it. What was the writer thinking? Man, this was so frustrating!
Ok, now that I've vented, a few more detailed comments. Yamashita Tomohisa needs to get acting lessons. Rei's character is not likeable at all and you just want to slap her. Probably half the drama involves prolonged shots of the actors' faces with nothing happening. And the open ending doesn't suit the buildup.
SP [エスピー] Dumb Ending and horrible subtitles [Rating: 7/10] This was a reasonable drama, and the hospital series was pretty good. A bit like Japanese MacGyver.
However, the twists didn't make sense, especially at the end. Come on, even amateur story writers know that if you want to have a twist you have to plant some seeds earlier.
English subtitles (QueerBeet) were so bad I switched them off and had to rely on my poor Japanese. I don't know how they get away with selling a DVD with English subtitles that are nonsensical. It was almost as if the "translator" stuck the script into an internet translator and just copied that in without any verification. Most disappointing. Oh, and all Japanese names came out in the subtitles as Chinese names! Geez, just leave the names alone, fgs!
Being a classical music lover, I enjoyed some of the choices of music, but it was a little intrusive at times (I find there is too much music in Japanese dramas generally, making it difficult to hear the dialogue), and often it didn't match the action. For instance, there was some really aggressive Shostakovich (my favourite composer) that didn't suit the scene where the characters were just standing around the office talking!
Worth a look if your Japanese is good and you can forgive the dumb tricks.
Sunao ni Narenakute [素直になれなくて] Poor [Rating: 3/10] Boring plot, no chemistry between the characters, and some very disturbing subplots. If the best actors in JDrama are starring in such a clumsy series, then Japanese drama is in serious trouble.
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Log in
Densha Otoko [電車男]
