The Summer 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!
Hayabusa Shobodan
8/10
I expected a traditional story of the "city man who comes to small town and recharges himself", and at first, that was what we got- But at the halfway mark of Hayabusa Shobodan, the show slowly began shifting into an entirely different kind of drama, a surreal David Lynchian type, one involving Fanatical Religious Cults, Supernatural Encounters, and Spiritual Prophet Reincarnation! WHAAA! While on one hand thinking "What the HECK is happening to this drama?", the OTHER hand was transfixed and couldn't WAIT to see what would happen NEXT!
Mitararaike, Enjou Suru
(Burn The House Down)
8/10
Wonderfully acted and well paced story of a young girl's dedication to uncovering the truth behind a house fire that tore her family apart and making the woman whom she believes is responsible pay, however I can't help but feel the story's conclusion was just a bit trite and more suitable for a weekly Investigator Mariko episode than the finale for such a well done and intense show.
Kanojotachi no Hanzai
8/10
Despite this drama's wildly outlandish set-ups and unbelievable plot twists (really haven't seen this many expectations subverted since The Last Jedi!), I cannot deny the fact that I was THOROUGHLY entertained throughout the entire series of the three desperate women who do the unthinkable to get out of the unbearable situations fate has cornered them into!
Atsuko Maeda, Anna Ishii and Mai Fukagawa excel as the three lead women, in particular Fukagawa came in strong with this one!
Grace No Rireki
8/10
A drama left from last season that I finally got around to finishing, this was one heart-wrenching and bittersweet drama! Very sombre and slow paced, I had to take the drama in small doses to really appreciate what it had to offer. Loved going along with main character Kikuo on his spiritual journey and thought the ending was just achingly perfect!
8/10
A very standard and "By the Numbers" story of two young entrepreneurs as they make their way from rags to riches, but wonderfully entertaining and fun to watch! Despite all the usual dirty dealings, ripoffs and back-stabbings that a show like this is filled with, the show always made you feel like the good guys had one step ahead of the baddies, so even through their setbacks you knew they were going to keep moving upwards!
All this plus Mio Imada in her Femme Fatale "A" Game!
Keibuho Daimajin
7/10
The pure unbridled violence in this show and in particular agent Daiba's (Ikuta Toma) passion for brutality, was what initially caught my interest with Daimajin, and in that regard I liked checking in each episode to see what mayhem he'd get up to each week, but i wish this drama was more than the usual "fetch quest" type of mystery where the leads just go from red herring to red herring over and over. Also, no one told me this wasn't going to even have a real conclusion!
Probably setting up for a Cinematic Movie release.
Kazoku Dakara Aishitan Janakute, Aishita no ga Kazoku Datta
7/10
Wonderful "feel-good" drama of a humble family that, despite its many set-backs, always looks to the future with the strength of their ties to each other. A real showcase for actress Yumi Kawai who leads the pack as the able daughter Nanami as the driving force of the family as they work their way through life. I hear the story is based on a real-life Nanami, what a colorful journey she must have had!
7/10
I must say that despite it's predictable plot, I rather enjoyed most of 18/40, at least to the parts where it dealt with the story of the young single woman giving birth to a child on her own who gets taken in by a kind older woman who cannot have children of her own. Outside of that i found it to be a VERY trite and meandering romance vehicle, one that I just couldn't get into.
Noce acting by both leads Kyoko Fukada and Haruka Fukuhara.
Usokon
6/10
Though my initial assessment of this drama was a predictable and generic plot (and it was indeed all of that), the drama picked up a bit in the middle while the couple struggled to hide their fake marriage from friends and workers, sadly it lost steam towards the end and had its by the numbers conclusion....
Ninja ni Kekkon wa Muzukashii
6/10
This was another drama that didn't really grab me after watching the first episode and though the idea of two married people secretly from rival ninja clans sounded good on paper, I found it to be fairly mundane, and I intended to drop it.
Ironically, with all the dramas being dropped or put on hold this season, Ninja Kekkon was one that the subbers always diligently and consistently uploaded each week, and in the end I ultimately watched the whole thing! Final analysis is "not bad".
Barakamon
6/10
A late addition to my Fall Season Watchlist, I did not even realize I hadn't made an initial post about it until i was trying to find the entry to review what I'd said about it! A lighthearted show about a Calligrapher with artistic block who moves to a small island in the country and, through the efforts of the townspeople there, rediscovers himself and finds what he truly wants to do, this was a relaxing drama to watch "just for fun".
Anata no Butsu Ga, Koko Ni
5/10
Appreciated the acting by Sawa Niimura as the single Mom pushed out of her hostess job due to her advancing age and the arrival of COVID who becomes a parcel delivery person and was eager to follow her journey.
Gotta say though, so much of this drama was filled with her being bullied and belittled by both the rude customers and her arrogant superiors at work, that this drama ended up being a chore to watch most of the time. As mentioned before, not a fan of persecution plotlines.
Halation Love
2/10
A mystery starting with the development of an unmarked can of film and the images within intrigued me from the start, sadly it quickly devolved into just the kind of j-drama murder mystery I loathe with red herring leads, "fake out' suspects and the inevitable reveal at the end of the "last boss" being the main character's closest friends. So tired of this trope.
That's about it!
As mentioned, this was a season where, for the first time, I dropped a lot of dramas, ones like Manatsu No Cinderella and Vivant, shows that I just could not get into, despite both hailed by both fans and critics alike... There were also a few shows that, while I DID like them, never got finished by the subbers (or currently remain in limbo), leaving only this small handful as "completed"...
