The Spring Season is over, and though I made myself a commitment to keep the dramas to a minimum this time, I still managed to catch a few shows, all of which I've listed here, ranked in order of how much I liked it as well as a brief summation of my thoughts!
Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi
9/10
Well, despite all the cliches common in romcoms like this (including one very BIG one that I really loathe), it still completely charmed and delighted me throughout its run, and unquestionably became my Number One drama of the season!
Not gonna really justify the basic plot devices or the obvious and entirely predictable situations, but when I look over my experience with the show and its ups and downs, the feeling I remember is it being a reliable show I could get comfortable and take it easy watching each week!
For all of its foibles, the underpinning strength of the show was leads Ryosuke Yamada and Kanna Hashimoto portraying these warm lead characters whom you always believed really loved each other, characters you liked and wanted to spend time with!
Goritekini Arienai: Tantei Kamizuru Ryoko no Kaimei
9/10
A pretty standard detective/sleuthing kind of crime show elevated by the outrageous and larger than life antics of the unstoppable Yuki Amami! Far more than any of the actual cases is the fun and entertaining situations she and her colorful cohorts (including Kouhei Matsushita and the adorable Sei Shiraishi) get into each episode! Gonna miss checking in on the Kamizuru Detective Agency each week!
Hatsukoi no Akuma
9/10
Almost exactly to the week since the subtitling team dropped Hatsukoi no Akuma a YEAR ago, I got the most wonderful surprised when the subber unexpectedly FINISHED up the show this past week and shared the subs!!
As some of you may recall, Akuma was one of my favorite shows of the 2022 Summer season, and it was really tragic when the subs were halted midway through the show- JUST when it was getting really GREAT! Well, the show picked up RIGHT where it left off and, indeed, ended up giving me one of the most interesting and INTRICATE murder mysteries, with complex characters, weaved story plots and a SLAM BANG conclusion!
0.5 No Otoko
8/10
Story of a young man named Masaharu (Ryuhei Matsuda) who, thanks to the spoiling by his older mother (Fubuki Jun), has become a shut-in and is content to live this way forever, without working and living off his mother, until his older sister Saori (Asami Usuda) moves in with husband (Atsushi Shinohara) and teenage daughter Ema (Tamaki Shiratori) in tow. This catalyst shakes things up and we see the young man's journey out of his room back into the working civilization!
Really liked the slow and subtle pacing if this drama, had this real Hirokazu Koreeda vibe throughout.
Rikon Shiyou Yo
8/10
Someone named Rose on MDL said of Rikon Shiyou Yo: "If you start watching this, don't take it seriously or it'll piss you off. I surprisingly had a nice time watching it", a sentiment that summed up MY feelings for it EXACTLY!!! Because as ZANY as the characters were and how STUPIDLY and SELFISHLY they behaved, I still found myself WILDLY ENTERTAINED throughout! A showcase for Riisa Naka!
Nagatan to Aoto Ichika no Ryourijou
8/10
A very "by the numbers" drama about a woman put in a marriage of convenience while struggling with taking over as head chef for her family's restaurant business, I couldn't deny the very sincere and warm-hearted vibe this drama gave me! Mugi Kadowaki has been getting more and more roles in recent years, and, along with Ryuto Sakuma, gives a fine feel-good food-themed series to spend your evenings with!
Utsubora
8/10
I was captivated by this dark noir/erotica story of a faded writer named Mizorogi who, upon the suicide of a woman he had stolen a manuscript and plagiarized as his own, is confronted by an identical woman claiming to be the woman's twin sister. Captivating and mysterious, the woman takes over Mizorogi's life in both writing and "under the sheets", even as he struggles to uncover if this woman is truly a twin sister, or the deceased victim herself seemingly back from the grave!
A GRIPPING drama that had me on my toes throughout with its twists and turns, and a SPECTACULAR performance by Atsuko Maeda who simply SLAYED as the dual roles of both the deceased writer and her brooding twin coutepart!
Tsukanoma no Ichika
7/10
Ah, the staple of classic J-dramas of times past and even now, the "doomed romance with Boyfriend/Girlfriend dying of a disease" trope, more commonly known as the "Manic Pixie" cliche with the "Hyperactively Positive Girl who lives life in the moment because she doesn't have long to live, who finds true love before passing on". Yes, it's a predictable set-up, but always reliable, and, when done right, completely heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time!
Wanted to watch this purely for Sakura Fujiwara and haven't been disappointed yet!
Shouri no Hoteishiki
7/10
Shida Mirai starring as Ran Kagura, a former child actress playing a kid lawyer who becomes a real one when she grows up. When she finds herself up against an overwhelming case, she meets an Investigator named Kurosawa ( Kazama Shunsuke) who has the skills to analyze the facts and give her a script to work from where she can lead her clients to victory!
A joy to see a Now grown-up Shida Mirai after just re-watching her classic Seigi No Mikata, and it's primarily her passion that really fuels the cases in this sombre show!
Shachiku OL Chiemaru Nikki
7/10
A winsome and silly drama showcasing the sillier side of Tina Tamashiro (one that i found a joy to watch) as an addled newbie OL to an overly demanding company complete with loudmouth bully boss, this would probably be hard to sit through as a full series but at 22 minutes each, was a perfect snack size to watch in between other shows!
Unknown
6/10
A show about vampires that frankly seems like it was written by an grade schooler about the genre, throwing the most basic bullet points about vampires, choosing randomly which ones to use and then just as easily discarding them, (and then attaching a mess of a serial killer plot to the story besides!) this tale of a mortal man who falls for a vampire lover still had some interesting things going for it, not least of all Mitsuki Takahata in a charming role that I can only describe as "Kahogo no Kahoko meets Twilight"
Watashi no Oyome-kun
5/10
Thought this story of a seemingly perfect sales agent who is secretly a clumsy slob who meets aman with a talent for cleanliness and order would be the next "Hotaru No Hikari" for me, sadly once they got the premise out of the way it pretty much became a VERY generic romcom with ALL the usual cliches to fill its run time. A show that I first hailed as the most promising at the beginning of the season which quickly became an also ran....
Crime Family
5/10
Though maddeningly outlandish at first, I found that if i watched it on 1 1/2 speed, this tale of a would-be burglar who gets entrapped by a family into helping them with THEIR deluded crimes into something kind of entertaining to watch!
Probably would not have stuck around for a full season of this, but at 4 episodes it was easy enough to breeze through, and as a lighthearted venture worked out better than I'd originally thought!
100man Kai Ieba Yokatta
5/10
Story of a murdered man named Naoki Torino (Takeru Sato) whose spirit returns to his fiance Yui Soma's house (Mao Inoue) , with no memory of how he has passed or, in fact, the knowledge that he even has died! Luckily for them, the detective in charge of his murder is a man named Uozumi (Kenichi Matsuyama) who has the ability to see and interact with the dead!
Could not get into this one as much as I'd hoped, as I found the murder investigation draggy, and ultimately underwhelming. But it was nice to see Mao Inoue again after all these years!
Otonari ni Ginga
5/10
A sweet if somewhat overly long story of a magical princess who comes to the "real" world and falls for a regular guy. Interesting premise but ultimately I felt like there was not much substance there as a story, though the leads Hayato Sano and Rikako Yagi certainly felt believable in their roles as starstruck lovers as well as their affection for each other...
....And Still Waiting to Finish:
Crossing fingers that the subbing teams that have taken on these dramas find the time to wrap them up as I STILL totally invested in these and am DYING to see what happens!
Dr. Chocolate
Nami yo Kiite Kure
