[1995]
The year was 1996 and I had just started getting into J-pop. My co-worker, who was a fellow j-pop lover, asked me if I watched Japanese dramas, to which I had to admit I didn’t, not really. “Ehhh, you should check out this show called “The Chef”… this guy is like MacGuyver but instead of weapons, he uses food and cooking utensils, super funny!” Then he added the final selling point to me, “Oh, and the ending song is “Chase The Chance” by Namie Amuro.”
WELL! Being a big Super Monkeys fan by that point, I made sure I checked out that episode that evening, and I have to say that it really was a scream! With Higashiyama sternly using his culinary skills to defeat the bad guys, Kokubun Taichi as the doofus sidekick and Kawashima Naomi as the luscious femme fatale arch-enemy Kitamura, how could this show lose!!!? Well, OK, the conclusion to this series sucked, but….it DID get me into dramas and for that, it will always rank as one of my faves!
[1997]
And then there’s “Stalker Sasou-Onna”, that old guilty pleasure of mine where Akiko Hinagata plays the psychotic Glenn Close to Takanori Jinnai’s Michael Douglas a la Fatal Attraction. Ah, does this bring back memories!
It’s a WAY over-the-top thriller that goes from exaggeration to flat out nuttiness, and one reviewer named micahworld likened Takanori’s stuttering shocked expressions to Mr. Bill, that ever suffering clay figure from those old classic Saturday Night Live skits. He summed it up thusly:
"Best "So Bad It's Good" Dorama: Sutouka Sasou Onna (The Stalker). Unintentionally hilarious show about a woman who goes off the deep end. It's worth watching just for Jinnai Takanori's constant "Oh No!" Mr.-Bill expressions, but there's a lot more! By the time you reach the final episode and the ending, you'll be rolling on the floor."
Watching these episodes all over again, in regards to Mr, Bill, I have to say that it’s SO TRUE!
[1996]
The second NHK Morning drama I watched, following the lives of twin daughters of a small town Tofu-maker, starring Mana and Kana as the girls in their youth, and Kikuchi Maiko and Iwasaki Hiromi as the girls in their older years.
Though the show was equally divided between the two sisters in the first half, as they got older and chose career paths (Reiko attempting an acting career and Hiromi getting into shoji), the show swung more towards the latter, with the show almost exclusively following Hiromi and her professional chess-playing career and her subsequent romance with her rival.
[1998]
A totally sad and heartbreaking drama about the abuse going on at a factory that employs mentally handicapped children as their workers. I began watching this for Sakai Noriko and Hirosue Ryoko, but they actually play only minor roles in this drama. The true main character of the show is Towa, one of the aforementioned children working under sadistic caretakers in a small town where no help is in sight.
And if your heart was already aching from the show, man, when the sad ending theme song “Ito" by Nakajima Miyuki started, your heart would just break into pieces, I remember ending each show with the tears just running down my face!
[1997]
Etsushi Toyokawa plays a small town station master who gets involved with a young mother and her daughter who are fleeing from an abusive husband relationship.
This is the first drama I ever saw Hiromi Nagasaku in, and I remember telling my friends excitedly that “I think the girl from ribbon is in this show!”
A topsy and turvy story, I remember after the show’s final episode, arguing with a co-worker about the direction the show ended on. “Are you telling me you LIKED that ending?” she asked. I said yes, and she said “That girl should NOT have ended up with that guy, she was obviously just confused!” I was like “Hmmm…I didn’t see it that way…” LOL, everyone’s opinions may vary!
PS: Aoitori is yet another drama where the runaways end up at that same small town fishing port. Almost seems to be a rule that all j-drama fugitives from justice end up at that fish packing factory, LOL
[1999]
Though I initially thought of this drama as an okay murder mystery whodunit, when I watched it a second time around, I was pleasantly surprised at how the show still captivated me, the macguffins and misdirections were so good that I actually FORGOT who the murderer was, LOL!
Stellar acting by all the principle cast members, Takenouchi Yutaka as Hirokaa Eiki, the detective working a murder case, Nakamura Toru as the gruff chief detective Takeshi, and Nanako as the beautiful primary suspect “Egi Touko”!
Wonderful dreamy theme song “Diamond Dust” by Himuro Kyosuke which completely captured the drama’s eerie, cold, hypnotic feel.
[1993]
The story of a washed-up rock superstar attempting as comeback, Chance stars Mikami Hiroshi as egotistical and unwieldy rock musician Yuji, while Nishida Hikaru plays Aoi, the girl forced into the role of his ever-suffering manager and caretaker…and eventually, the only one who truly believes he can really make a comeback!
With wonderful songs by Toshinobu Kubota, this is one really sweet drama, one I really wish more people had the chance to check out (no pun intended…)
An early show written by the “Queen Of Romance Dramas” Eriko Kitagawa, who would later go on to pen both “Long Vacation And Aishiteiru To Ittekure”!
An early show written by the “Queen Of Romance Dramas” Eriko Kitagawa, who would later go on to pen both “Long Vacation And Aishiteiru To Ittekure”!
[1996]
Starring Emi Wakui as a gentle and sweet autistic girl Yuuka Orihara who excels in sculpture, the show covers her life at a crossroads as she has just been discovered by the media, with her friends trying desperately to shield her from outside influences. A callous journalist (Tsutsumi Shinichi) has crossed paths with her, and she has taken to trusting him, but will he use this trust to manipulate her or will Yuuka’s sweet outlook reach through to his cold exterior? Also starring Takahashi Katsunori, Saki Takaoka, as well as a young Ryoko Shinohara, this was one roller-caoster of emotions and OH BOY, the ending credits (of Yuuka playing amongst her beloved feathers while Mr. Children’s “Namonaki Uta” plays) just had you all caught up in the mood each week!
[1996]
Kekkon Shiyouyo is the tale of Yosuke Eguchi as Tonoyama Keitaro, a single father who is in danger of losing his son to his ex-wife unless he can get married and prove to the courts that he can provide a stable environment for him. Ishida Hikari’s character Yuikawa Miwa is a young entrepreneur who needs a place to stay because her apartment has fallen into disrepair. Together they form an agreement that will benefit them both: Miwa will pretend to marry Keitaro in a sham relationship in exchange for lodging in his cozy condominium. Will their ruse work? Will everyone’s plans come to fruition? And most importantly, will the two realize they are made for each other and actually fall in love?
Whenever I told anyone the synopsis for Kekkon Shiyouyo, I was ALWAYS met with an eye rolling groan, as they sarcastically said “Gee, I WONDER if they’re gonna fall in love, like DUH!" But I have to say that the actual end was so far removed from the cliched end everyone was expecting, I remember HATING it! I was like “Why couldn’t they just have ended it the way everyone EXPECTED it to?!”
But funny, years later I dug out the show and watched it again, and THIS TIME, for some reason, I really LIKED the end and thought it was PERFECT! I guess time changed my opinion of the way dramas should “flow” and this subtle end really suited my more mellow perspective!
[1995]
The story about the life and times of a earnest young businessman living with his feisty mother as he tries to balance work and getting married, Kagayake Rintaro was one of the very first dramas I watched on my own (without the suggestion of anyone else, hey, I was really getting INTO this whole J-drama thing!) and was the very first time seeing Karasawa Toshiaki, Kiki Kirin AND the awesome Esumi Makiko.
At times very “soap opera” in style, with lots of broken hearts and tears, the show would also veer into straight comedy and silliness, in a way, this was a PERFECT example of classic 90’s J-dramas! Back then it was the norm for a drama to run 12 episodes (can’t remember the last time a recent one ran that long) and when the show ended, it felt like I’d been watching it for a long, LONG time, like a part of my life had just come to a close!
Though I would see Kiki Kirin only sporadically in later years (cracked me up in the Kyoko Fukada movie Kamikaze Girls!) Karasawa Toshiaki and Esumi Makiko would go on to become two of my favorite actors in even more favorite shows!
[1998]
Nakamura Tamao made a career out of playing these kind and warm country bumpkin type obaasans, and none was better than her role of Katsura in the ensemble family comedy/drama Akimahende!
When Katsura is proposed to by Junichi, a three time widower, she tells him that she wants to be friends with his children before she can accept. To get to know the kids on a personal basis, she goes undercover as the housekeeper to the children while Junichi is away overseas on business. Spoiled, selfish and arrogant, Junichi’s kids are cold and hostile towards her, but little by little, Katsura’s heart touches the kids and they come to see her as a parental figure they didn’t even realize they wanted or needed!
Junichi’s Children ranged in age from little An Suzuki, to Kazunari Nino, to Uchida Yuki, all the way to big sister Fujiwara Norika! I saw this drama years before I heard of ARASHI, and it was fun to go back and re-watch this after I’d gotten to know Nino, whom of course went on to even bigger acting jobs like Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima!
[1995]
When I first got into watching j-dramas, Mada Koi Wa Hajimaranai (Love Still Hasn’t Begun!) had just completed its run on NGN, so I juuuuuust missed it. So many great actors and actresses in this one- Kyoko Koizumi, Nakai Kiichi, Yutaka Takenouchi, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi AND Takako Tokiwa, I was really hoping one of my friends had taped it, but twas not to be. In fact, it’d be a couple of years before I was able to get my hands on a copy of it (through online trading), but once I did, it easily fit into the great pantheon of “Classic” dramas of my golden age! THIS WAS GREAT!
The story of two lovers in the Edo period (Koizumi and Kiichi), who, because of different social classes, cannot be together. Persecuted by their clans, the two commit lovers suicide, promising that they will certainly find each other in the next life and be happy together…
Now we are here in the modern world where the two souls have been reincarnated and, unbeknownst to them, have just crossed paths again for the first time! But destiny ain’t all that it used to be, and somehow things keep popping up to prevent them from reuniting and fulfilling their romantic course!
Such a great show, and the theme song, “Beautiful Girls”, sung by Kyoko Koizumi is one of my favorite j-pop singles as well!
[1997]
Nagatsuka Kyozo plays Sakamoto, a supervisor for a Traveling agency who is put in charge of three inexperienced girls, Tsuruta Emiko (Ishida Yuriko), Shirakawa Marika (Inoue Harumi) and Kobayashi Nanoko (Kimura Yoshino). Sakamoto tries his best to nurture the girls, but just as he’s gotten their trust, he is told that because of cutbacks, he has to fire one of the girls. Unable and unwilling to choose, his only hope is to turn these girls into employees that the company NEEDS!
This was another drama I really liked and tried to get friends to watch. For some reason, none of them particularly liked it; my friend Jas watched just ONE episode, gave it bck to me and growled, “this show is so freakin’ irritating- why don’t he just fire dem!” LOL!
How could I explain to him that the joy of this show was in the little ways all of these characters really cared about each other. The relationship Sakamoto has with his sweet and supportive wife (played by Fubuki Jun, oh man did I fall in love with HER!) the caring way he looks after his employees like daughters, and the way the three girls learn to look up to him like a father, it’s THESE moments that really make the show.
Theme song “Sayonara Seishun” by JEHO matched to feel-good vibe of the show perfectly, and was a song I really wanted to sing at karaoke. I bought the single and took time to learn the song, but despite all my preparations, I never did find it in any karaoke books to take the song out for a spin! Maybe someday I’ll find it…
[1995]
Another one of the very first shows I ever saw on KIKU when I was first getting into J-dramas, this introduced me to both actors Akai Hidakazu, Kinki Kids' Domoto Tsuyoshi, AND Misako Tanaka, the latter of whom I promptly fell in love with!
Second Chance tells the tale of a Single father named Noda Tsutomu (Akai) trying to raise his rebellious daughter Kimiko (Miyagi Akina) while simultaneously trying to woo the affections of an outspoken single mother named Fujii Haruko, who is living with her three boys, Wataru (Domoto), Yuki, and Noboru.
This was one of the first “family” dramas I saw in which I was to learn how much I HATE whiny little kids, but despite that, I found that I really, really loved this show- it had so much warmth and love between the couple, and the social interaction of their schoolkids suddenly forced to live together was very touching and insightful!
Besides its wonderful story and cast, this drama also boasts of of j-pop’s greatest singles, the widely acclaimed “Tomorrow” by songstress Mayo Okamoto!
11. To Heart~ Koishite Shinitai
[1999]
To Heart reunites SECOND CHANCE cast members Domoto Tsuyoshi and Akai Hidekazu in a drama about an up-and coming boxer named Yuuji (Domoto), his grizzled coach Yoshii (Akai), his unrequited love with his supervisor Saori (Hara Sachie), and the rambunctious young girl who loves him Touko (Fukada Kyoko, in one of her earliest and cutest roles).
As far as romantic dramas go, I suppose this one is about as basic as the rest, but like the title suggests, the best thing about this show is how much heart it has, especially with Kyoko who plays the overexcited overly attached girlfriend Touko to the MAX! Really heartwarming when she’s running around following him and cheering him on when it seems no one else believes in him, but MAN, there was this one scene where she sneaks into his apartment to examine his stuff that was like WHOA, kind of veering into Psychotic Stalker Territory now, Touko! LOL!
Besides the theme song “To Heart” sung by Domoto’s group KinKi Kids, the show also had an opening song called “Life” by American soul singer Des’ree. This was such a happy and bright way to open each episode, and I remember while working at Tower Records, seeing a promotional copy of Des’ree’s latest album “Supernatural” with that song ON it! I wasn’t able to get that copy, but fortunately, Japan released a special J-pop single version of it, which I of course ordered up and grabbed right away!
PS: One of the great secondary characters in the show was Junko Noda, an elevator girl who played the evil foil to sweet and good-natured Touko. She was played by sexy idol Reiko Azechi, and I’ve always wondered... whatever happened to her? Seems like she never did anything after that! Oh well, we’ll always have her gravure photos…
Another one of the very first shows I ever saw on KIKU when I was first getting into J-dramas, this introduced me to both actors Akai Hidakazu, Kinki Kids' Domoto Tsuyoshi, AND Misako Tanaka, the latter of whom I promptly fell in love with!
Second Chance tells the tale of a Single father named Noda Tsutomu (Akai) trying to raise his rebellious daughter Kimiko (Miyagi Akina) while simultaneously trying to woo the affections of an outspoken single mother named Fujii Haruko, who is living with her three boys, Wataru (Domoto), Yuki, and Noboru.
This was one of the first “family” dramas I saw in which I was to learn how much I HATE whiny little kids, but despite that, I found that I really, really loved this show- it had so much warmth and love between the couple, and the social interaction of their schoolkids suddenly forced to live together was very touching and insightful!
Besides its wonderful story and cast, this drama also boasts of of j-pop’s greatest singles, the widely acclaimed “Tomorrow” by songstress Mayo Okamoto!
[1999]
To Heart reunites SECOND CHANCE cast members Domoto Tsuyoshi and Akai Hidekazu in a drama about an up-and coming boxer named Yuuji (Domoto), his grizzled coach Yoshii (Akai), his unrequited love with his supervisor Saori (Hara Sachie), and the rambunctious young girl who loves him Touko (Fukada Kyoko, in one of her earliest and cutest roles).
As far as romantic dramas go, I suppose this one is about as basic as the rest, but like the title suggests, the best thing about this show is how much heart it has, especially with Kyoko who plays the overexcited overly attached girlfriend Touko to the MAX! Really heartwarming when she’s running around following him and cheering him on when it seems no one else believes in him, but MAN, there was this one scene where she sneaks into his apartment to examine his stuff that was like WHOA, kind of veering into Psychotic Stalker Territory now, Touko! LOL!
Besides the theme song “To Heart” sung by Domoto’s group KinKi Kids, the show also had an opening song called “Life” by American soul singer Des’ree. This was such a happy and bright way to open each episode, and I remember while working at Tower Records, seeing a promotional copy of Des’ree’s latest album “Supernatural” with that song ON it! I wasn’t able to get that copy, but fortunately, Japan released a special J-pop single version of it, which I of course ordered up and grabbed right away!
PS: One of the great secondary characters in the show was Junko Noda, an elevator girl who played the evil foil to sweet and good-natured Touko. She was played by sexy idol Reiko Azechi, and I’ve always wondered... whatever happened to her? Seems like she never did anything after that! Oh well, we’ll always have her gravure photos…
(Heaven Cannot Wait)
[1999]
TOKIO’s Masahiro Matsuoka plays, Amakasu Shiro, a shleppy guy with no motivation to do anything substantial with his life. So it is a real wake up call when a mysterious person arrives on his doorstep, introduces himself as Tendo Yoshimi (Takanori Jinnai), an angel from Heaven, and proclaims that if he doesn’t do the tasks he orders, he will DIE!
A very slapstick and wacky show, but very cleverly done- the tasks that Tendo Yoshimi orders Shiro to do seem basic in their premise, but it is interesting how the act really does save his life: example: He is told that unless he can bow down to others, he will die. Later on, he just misses getting shot because he was bowing at the time! So the humbling saved him in the literal sense, but he also gets a life lesson in how to be a better person. And so it goes with each episode- every task that Shiro fulfils saves him one more day on earth…and makes him that much of a better person!
[1999]
“Renai Kekkon No Rule” is the story of an average but goodhearted man named Koichi who’s just looking for someone who he can spend time with, a “nice girl”, if you will. He goes on a dating-service meeting, and meets the girl of his dreams in Asako (Koizumi). They seemingly hit it off, much to Toshiro’s delight, but it all comes crashing down when he realizes SHE has no interest in seeing HIM!
Fate seems to have other plans, however, and time after time the two cross paths and before you know it, they are thoroughly intertwined in each other’s lives and affairs, both literally AND figuratively! Along with Toshiro’s overbearing relations and Kyoko’s meddling co-workers and friends, it’s a crazy mish-mash of plotting, deception and…falling in love!!!
The actors in this show are all top notch, with a cast that includes Koizumi Kyoko (her best EVER) and Yanagiba Toshiro as the leads, with an incredible supporting cast filled out with Kashiwabara Takashi, Koyuki (in her first ever drama!) and even Hikaru Nishida as the young love of Toshiro’s FATHER!
But the one that really takes the CAKE in every scene she’s in just HAS to be Kobayashi Satomi, whose sarcastic and dramatically helpless attitudes both overpower AND assist Kyoko in her situations, at times being a dominating force in Kyoko's life, then becoming needy and pathetic at the drop of a pin!
Even after all these years, Renai Kekkon No Rule remains one of my Top Ten Japanese Dramas of all time, and as the years go by, it becomes even more and more precious to me!
PS: One thing you can say about Kyoko “Kyon Kyon” Koizumi is that her shows always seem to feature some pretty terrific theme songs. This is, of course, no small part due to the fact that she inevitably sings the theme songs for the dramas she appears in herself!
[1997]
Virgin Road, the story of a girl named Kazumi (Emi Wakui) who has come home from America because she has heard her father is on his death bed. Recently dumped by her lover and not wanting to appear before her father single, she enlists a man named Kaoru (Sorimachi Takashi) to stand in as her fiancé. When she arrives home, however, she finds that her dad (played brilliantly by Tetsuya Takeda) is perfectly fine and the “critically ill” news was just panic by her younger brother when he got sick. Kazumi and Kaoru have no choice but to prolong the charade while they are there. Then Kazumi finds out that she is pregnant from her lover in America and Kaoru finds himself in the unenviable position of having to decide if he wants to continue pretending to be her boyfriend for an extended time!
A really touching and heartbreaking show, especially the scenes between Takeda Tetsuya and Emi Wakui, such gripping, emotional scenes, you really felt like they were father and daughter! And MAN, one of the MOST IMPORTANT reasons I watched this show, the lovely, lovely Ms Kimiko Yo, here playing the family's pretty and reliable Aunty Michi!
Throw in the incredible theme song “Can you Celebrate’ not only sung by Namie Amuro on record, but in person singing in the opening credits each episode and you’ve got all the makings of a timeless classic!
A really touching and heartbreaking show, especially the scenes between Takeda Tetsuya and Emi Wakui, such gripping, emotional scenes, you really felt like they were father and daughter! And MAN, one of the MOST IMPORTANT reasons I watched this show, the lovely, lovely Ms Kimiko Yo, here playing the family's pretty and reliable Aunty Michi!
Throw in the incredible theme song “Can you Celebrate’ not only sung by Namie Amuro on record, but in person singing in the opening credits each episode and you’ve got all the makings of a timeless classic!
[1997]
Sanada Hiroyuki stars as a man named Harashima who has been going to a small, out of the way clinic in a small, insignificant town because he has signs of cancer and doesn’t want anyone at his work to know. He brushes paths with a carefree bumpkin of a man named Konosuke who befriends him and shows him the town’s modest hospitality. Soon the townsfolk accept him into their circle of friends. What they don’t know is that Harashima is the head of a development company that is set to destroy their town for a new business project!
I had already seen Tamaki Koji’s drama “Coach” starring Atsuko Asano as a demoted executive woman who is banished to a small island factory who meets up with Bumpkin (Tamaki) and learns the love of their simple ways, so the story of “Konna Koi No Hanashi” was, at first, almost like watching the show all over again! But soon enough, the characters of the show took over, and by episode three, Konna Koi No Hanashi had far eclipsed Coach in terms of story, and by its conclusion had become on of the finest dramas I’d ever seen!
[1996]
Oishii Kankei tells the tale of a young woman named Momoe Fujiwara whose father has passed away. After leaving his funeral, she discovers a small restaurant that serves consommé soup which reminds her of the wonderful soup she once had with her father at a big hotel restaurant. Touched, she decides she would like to work there, but once employed, begins immediately butting heads with the head chef Keiji Orita. He doesn’t like her prissy and fussy ways and she doesn’t like his cold and bullying attitude…but what she doesn’t realize is that this grouchy man is in fact the SAME chef who made her consommé soup all those years ago! Despite their differences, they begin to respect each other and get closer…
Starring Nakayama Miho and Karasawa Toshiaki as the leads, as well as Iijima Naoko, Yamaguchi Sayaka, Morimoto Leo and Kusanagi Tsuyoshi in supporting roles, this was one helluva cast!
I loved this drama SO MUCH when it was airing! One of the dramas I really remember obsessing over, and in no small part because of the theme song / opening credits…titled “A Present for the Future”, with a dreamy montage of some mysterious rendezvous between Miho and Toshiaki that may or may not happen…
[1996]
The first Taiga Drama I ever saw, this epic show really blew me away and has remained the Taiga Drama that ALL OTHERS must compare, and in my opinion, they’ve never even come CLOSE to how fricking great this one was. I mean, Watari Tetsuya as Oda Nobunaga? HELL YEAH! NOBODY’s done it better! And then there’s Naoto Takenaka’s maniacal portrayal of Hideyoshi, Yorichika Mitsuko’s beautiful take on Lady Oichi and effin’ Sanada Hiroyuki as Ishida Mitsunari!
I’ll tell you the only jarring thing about Hideyoshi being my first Taiga Drama- As you know, the NHK Taiga dramas all tell pretty much the same story, (they are Historical dramas after all), as seen through the eyes of the main character.
Watching some of the other Taiga dramas that came after, I was quite surprised at how dubious Hideyoshi’s character was played: sniveling, scheming and weak, and after about the 5th Taiga I saw, I realized that HIDEYOSHI was the ONLY drama painting him in a good light! As the main character of the show, the writers must have done some SERIOUS brainstorming to make him a charismatic and sympathetic person…and I gotta say, in that they totally succeeded, for no matter what I’ve seen later, Naoto Takenaka will always be, to me, the one true portrayal of Hideyoshi!
PS: How good was Takenaka? So good that he even reprised the Hideyoshi role in the NHK Taiga Drama Gunshi Kanbee, a good 18 years later!!!
[1993]
The highs, lows, successes and heartaches of the Kashiwagi Family, if there is any drama out there suited for the title of “Feel Good Drama” of all time, it MUST be Hitotsu Yane No Shita!
I got into J-drama watching in 1995 and got introduced to actors Eguchi Yosuke in Kekkon Shiyouyo, Fukuyama Masaharu in Ashita ga Asa Aru and Sakai Noriko in Hoshi No Kinka, but there was always the general consensus among J-drama fans that the show you HAD to see them in was Hitotsu Yane No Shita. Since no one I knew had taped it, though, I was pretty much outta luck, since the show had aired in 1993!
It wasn’t until the arrival of the internet and I began a J-drama sharing page (where I got my name zdorama!) that I was able to connect with other fans and got myself a copy of the show! I wondered…after all this time, would the show seem dated? Would it seem too old? Would I have a hard time believing the characters since I’d seen them all in so many other dramas?
Well, after just the first episode, all my fears were laid to rest, and I got on board the tale of the poor but optimistic Kashiwagi Family, six children whose parents died when they were young, running a drycleaning store and dealing with the slings and arrows of life.
By the show's last episode, I TOTALLY GOT it! I could TOTALLY see why this show is as revered as it is- So many heartfelt and heartbreaking scenes, such great acting between all six children, and Oh! Did I fall in love with cutie pie Megumi Ooji!!!
[1995]
Another HUGE Drama not only in terms of quality but for the very fact that it was, along with The Chef, one of the first two Japanese dramas I ever tried watching. I actually didn’t start watching this one til around episode 4, but when he saw how interested in the show I was, my friend Dan-O made copies of his recordings of the first 3 episodes. Then it was a photo finish to the end!
The romance story of a flighty, innocent and immature young girl named Hiroko (Takako Tokiwa in a career making role) and a moody and introspective deaf/mute painter named Koji (Toyokawa Etsushi) would probably be dramatic enough on its own, but adding in the theme song “Love Love Love” into the mix, and you had a HEAVY, heartbreaking show, full of tears and longing, and I remember feeling completely drained after each week’s episode ran. I would then go out at night to get my dinner, and MAN, how lonely and empty I would feel! Occasionally I’d feel this way about other dramas later on, but only infrequently, and NEVER as hard as I got hit with this one. A must see for ANY drama fan, in MY opinion!
[1996]
Oh boy, did I love this drama! I’d watched a few dramas before on KIKU, but this was the one that made me subscribe to NGN and made drama watching a top priority in my life! A friend had given me a VHS tape with Episodes 1 through 3 on it, and I remember that after watching that tape, the show was SOOOO good, I immediately called him up and said “OK, Where’s the REST of the series?!” But that was it- the rest of the show hadn’t AIRED yet!! Argh, waiting was too harsh! He assured me that when NGN ran the next episode, he’d tape it, and get it to me the following weekend. Following Weekend?! I couldn’t WAIT that long! So I ended up subscribing to NGN myself, so that I could at least see it as soon as it aired! This was one drama WORTH PAYING MONEY FOR!
The tale of introverted pianist named Sena (Kimura Takuya) who gets saddled with an brash and outspoken young woman named Minami (Yamaguchi Tomoko) as a roommate, LONG VACATION was s show about PEOPLE and the way we touch others around us. A stellar cast that included not only Kimura and Yamaguchi but Takenouchi Yutaka, Matsu Takako and Ryo!
NGN pulled some sneaky trick on all us viewers during the last episode, however… Just as the show reached its happy climax, the show abruptly ended. I just couldn’t believe that was ALL there was to the show, so I went to a video rental store and rented a copy of the JAPANESE broadcast of the last episode and… SURE ENOUGH, there was more…a LOT more, and HELL, it was the ENDING, fer chrisssakes, how can you cut that out?!! Someone later told me that NGN cut the last scene because it was shot out of Japan, but STILL, WHAT THE HECK!!!
Luckily, years later, the same friend who gave me that VHS tape years ago got me DVDs with hardsubs of this wonderful show, clear and WITH THE ENDING intact!
[1997]
I was introduced to the concept of the “Morning Drama”, a 15 minute show that aired each weekday morning (presumably for folks getting ready for work, parents who had to get their kids ready for school, etc ) with the Matsushima Nanako show “Himawari”, and watched my first full 156 episode drama with “Futarikko” but it was the NEXT asadora I saw that became the BIG one, the GREATEST J-drama of ALL TIME for me, and that was AGRI!
Starring the lovely Misato Tanaka as the titular heroine in the 56th NHK asadora, she stole my heart from the moment she came onscreen, captivated it the entire time it was on the air, and I’ve NEVER gotten over her!
Agri tells the tale of a young girl in the 1920’s who grows up to become the owner of the very first beauty salon in Japan to offer Permanent Wave hairstyles. Throughout her life, she lives through all the great moments in Japan’s Showa era- enjoying American Influences like Jazz, Bebop and poetry, and suffering and shouldering through war, war, and the devastating Hiroshima Atomic Bomb dropping.
AGRI is based on the real life of Agri Yoshiyuki (named Mochizuki in the drama) and I found this out in the coolest way ever- in the drama, Agri’s daughter proclaims she wants to be an actress when she grows up. I was later thrilled to realize senior actress Yoshiyuki Kazuko was the real-life daughter of Agri who had, indeed become that great actress she wanted to be!
When I first saw the asadora Himawari, my friend told me how these morning dramas followed a character throughout their entire lives (citing Oshin as an example), and WOW,when Agri wrapped up, I really DID feel like I had walked alongside Agri through her entire journey of life! WHAT A DRAMA!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
