I started watching Japanese dramas in the late 90's. Back then, Japanese dramas were great. The storylines were well written, the actors/actress looked cool, the environment settings were great, and even the background music was great. When I watched Japanese dramas, it's like I was in a different world.

Over the past several years, things have somehow changed. It's as if Japanese drama, as a form of entertainment, has lost its magical appeal. The storyline is sloppy; there's only several types of stereotypical characters; even the music is not as good. They even stopped making those music videos that go with the theme songs in the beginning or end of the drama! (I loved those music videos) Now, the credits just roll in the bottom of the screen. Some low budget dramas don't even have background music anymore.

I'm not the only person who feels this way. When people want to watch Asian dramas nowadays, most of them watch Korean dramas. Less and less people watch Japanese dramas. I'm just wondering...what happened to the Japanese entertainment industry? Why are Japanese dramas not as good now? I don't think it's caused by insufficient production budget. A lot of money went into Kimura Takuya's Nankyoku Tairiku, but it still sucked.

Do you feel that Japanese dramas aren't as good as they used to be? If so, what do you think the reason is?

That was kind of discussed here: http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.1330.htm&sid=22bc58844625f993d54f84e6beac389c

And my post in that thread was:
I dunno. There's still good dramas out there. Last year there was Arifureta Kiseki, Shiroi Haru, Love Shuffle, JIN and probably others that I've missed.

Kind of reminds me of when people say the '70s was a great era for television and they bring up MASH, All in the Family, and Mary Tyler Moore.

They don't mention crap like The Dukes of Hazzard, CHiPs, and BJ and the Bear

And this year so far we've had "Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi", "Strawberry Night", and "Unmei no Hito" all of which I liked. Of course I've had to wade thru junk like "Stepfather Step" and "Dirty Mama" as well. Not to mention this year's Taiga, "Taira no Kiyomori" might be the worst taiga ever. (And if you've seen "Yoshitsune" that's saying something!!)