The Fall J-Drama Season is over, and finished up a few dramas!
Truthfully, I felt it was a pretty mundane season, but for what it's worth, here are the dramas listed by my personal rankings!
First Penguin!
10/10
You all know how much I love actress Nao and the always spunky and sassy roles she takes, and the part of novice fishmonger in first Penguin might be the BEST character she's played yet! We're at the halfway point of this drama and its been soooo soooo good- can't believe how much i love this show- every episode has me in tears with emotions, and the developments are still coming!
Silent
9/10
Though probably not as much as the overwhelming buzz surrounding this show, I did really like the Haruna Kawaguchi/Ren Meguro drama Silent a lot, and by the show's end, I found I really loved the characters and cared about them! And not just the main characters either, this is a show with a particularly outstanding support cast, not just with the respective ex-partners played by Suzuka Oji and Kaho, but the lesser roles by Hiyori Sakurada and Rihito Itagaki as the caring younger siblings as well as a great role by Shunsuke Kazama as the sign-language teacher who become s the conduit of sorts between the people!
Reibai Tantei Jozuka Hisui/
Invert: Jozuka Hisui Toujoshu
8/10
Well. This show has certainly taken me for a loop! Starting off as the story of a psychic medium who is involved with helping solve a serial killer case, at the halfway point, it completely pulled the RUG out from under us and morphed into an entirely different kind of show!!!
Really loved the fleshed-out characters in the second arc and would love to have seen a whole drama dedicated to this set-up!
First love
7/10
Doronjo
5/10
Well, this drama didn't go in the direction I was led to believe it would- FAR from seeing the birth of the conniving and charismatic Yatterman villainess , we were stuck watching the Doronjo character portrayed as this sad sack loser who has to deal with all the bad luck and grief the writers can dream up. Waited for it to pick up but somehow it never really did....
Atom No Ko
5/10
The tale of a gaming programmer who comes out of retirement to help a young woman who has just inherited her family toy company. Was going to pass on this one but after watching the first episode, decided to give it a try. Well, started out OK, but ended up being pretty much what I'd originally thought it would- very rote and chiched story with the team dealing with one tropey problem after another.
Shotengai no Pianist
5/10
A wholesome drama about a former piano prodigy named Ren (Kita Komagine) who has long since sworn off playing but is reintroduced to the love of music through the enthusiastic efforts of a girl named Midori (Yuki Mio) and the family store's street piano.
Another gentle show to watch at the end of a day before sleep.
5/10
Sheer curiosity drew me to this drama starring Fumika Baba as a college student named Yuri who falls in love with a yakuza leader named Oya (Yuta Furukawa), and though it's a lightweight High school rom-commy sort, I gotta admit it's been entertaining enough!
Kaidenshita No Gogh
4/10
Telling the tale of an overworked office woman who finds a renewed passion in painting when she joins an night class full of oddball eccentrics. A rather Ho-Hum affair.
Hokuo Kojirase Nikki
4/10
A lightweight drama about a young girl who is into all things Finland and dreams of someday moving there. Actress Hitomi Honda is cute as the obsessed Shimako, but at a mere 4 episodes at 22 minutes each, it felt more like a secondary spinoff show than a "real" drama proper...
Shinai Naru Boku E Satsui wo Komete
3/10
A story that began with the situation of a mild mannered man who finds out that he has a split personality that may or may not be a serial killer sounded interesting enough, but as the show went on it and they tried to make each episode have a different person supposedly revealed to be the murderer, it began to lose steam, and by the drama's last few episodes, the protagonist's split personality didn't matter ONE. SINGLE. IOTA. to the story. What an unbelievable waste of a good premise.
Also thought I'd add the ANIME shows I'm currently watching as well!
Chainsaw Man
10*/10
* This goes to 11!!!
Wasn't sure what to expect initially from his show about a down on his luck guy who, through fate or by curse, becomes a half-human, half-demon hybrid with chainsaws emanating from his head and arms, but from the GET-Go it's been overwhelming me with its killer action scenes, naughty and bawdy humor and wonderfully flawed and fully developed characters!
There isn't a single character you don't immediately want to know more about, and you are thrilled to learn what you can as you tag along with the Demon Hunting Team as they take down the demonic bad guys!
SPYxFAMILY 2
10/10
The continuing story of the Forger Family comprised of Husband Loid, a world renowned secret agent, Yor, the dutiful wife who is secretly a vicious assassin, and adorable Anya, the psychic daughter, who knows it all!
An anime beloved by so many, half the fun is going online and going onto the reaction channels to rewatch and relive each chapter!
My Dress-Up Darling
9/10
A story of a shy and sheltered boy who is obsessed with Hina Dolls and making outfits for them gets drafted by the most popular and pretty girl in school in making costumes for her cosplay ventures sounds like a fairly mundane subject to watch but MAN, the FANSERVICE in this drama is OFF the CHARTS and I can't help but tune in week after week! Also some very cute theme songs!
That's about it for now! As far as the upcoming season goes,I have not started anything nor seen upcoming show that really grabs my interest, so right now, save for the Sakura Fujiwara/Taiga Kyomoto drama "Tsukanoma no Ichika", my drama slate is completely clean, and have no urgency to start any up...
