You're in a J-Drama When...

 A few new entries going into the big list of J-drama Cliches and tropes!  

Unexpected Person at the Haka

Whenever a lone character goes to visit a grave and give offerings, he/she will be startled by the unexpected arrival of another person. Then the two will talk about the deceased, usually they employ this method to explain backstory between the deceased and the main character.

Slamming Down a Glass of Beer in Disgust

 An almost comically overused cliche of the downtrodden employee who, after going to an izakaya with co-workers after a hard day, will take a swig of beer before slamming it down and half-drunkenly complaining about the “jerk” that they are working with!

Bonus points if the scene begins with a closeup of the glass slamming against the table...

"Hey, There's That Person I Like! Ooops..."

A new variation of the classic "Mistaken Kiss" trope that i've been seeing a lot lately is when the main character is just starting to fall in love with this new romantic interest and sees him/her out in public. They happily rush over to say HI...but stops SHORT when they see the person MEETING UP with ANOTHER PERSON who looks like it is his/her LOVE INTEREST!!

Cue heartbreak and subsequent "OH I SEE He/She already HAS a partner, guess we were only FRIENDS, well, I guess that's OKAY!

Journey To The Past in "Theseus No Fune"

Just started watching Theseus No Fune, the story of a man named Shin Tamura (Ryoma Takeuchi) who has lived his life as the child of a convicted murderer.

 Though his policeman father has always claimed innocence, the courts found him guilty of poisoning the juice of a family festival which killed numerous children, and his family has had to endure the wrath of the public his entire life.

When his wife Yuki (Juri Ueno) is dying after giving birth to a new son, she urges him to seek out his father and get to the truth of the matter, if not for him, then the future of their child. And so, with her last words in his ears, he makes his way back to the school ground where the horrible act took place.

 As he stands before it, a mysterious fog swirls around him, and when it clears, he finds that he has been transported...

 ... back to 1989! 

While  she was alive, Yuki kept a meticulous scrapbook about all the odd events leading up to his father’s accusation and arrest, and now, with the scrapbook in hand, Shin finds he has been given the chance to change the past and hopefully make a better future for his son!

While keeping tabs on his father and his doings, he naturally crosses paths with them, and before he knows it. has been taken in and cared for by the family that has no idea is his own, albeit some 20 years in the past!

Strangest of all is the strange relationship he develops with his Father. His father only sees him as a suspicious drifter and Shin is not too sure about how much he trusts his father either!

But as the crimes foretold by the scrapbook slowly unfold, the two will have to learn to trust each other if they hope to forestall upcoming events that will affect BOTH of their future selves….

Quite enjoying this show, but MAN is it similar to the Yuriko Yoshitaka drama Shiranakute ii Koto! They use the same plot device featuring a child who has grown up in the shadow of a convicted felon charged with indiscriminate murder by poisoning  the drinks of a family event, and now, as an adult, strives to use their abilities to seek out the truth of the past….
Makes me wonder if this kind of stuff happens a lot in Japan in real life for it to be in so many dramas as plot devices...
 Posted at zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Another Yokohama Business Park Sighting!

Toma Ikuta on the steps of Yokohama Business Park

Regular readers of this blog know of my obsession with Yokohama Business Park with its unique design and familiar cobbled pond in front. I first saw in in “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” but only noticed it when it appeared in an episode of “Tsuki No Koibito” a few weeks later! From then on it became my hobby to document it whenever it showed up in the background of the dramas I watch…and the latest was in the penultimate episode of the highly riveting “Ouroboros”!

 Funny, I know this Waterfront Park so well that even before the structure itself showed up,  in an earlier part of the show, Ikou (Toma Ikuta) is talking to Hibino (Ueno Juri) and I said to myself, “Those buildings in the background look like the ones behind Yokohama Business Park!” 

I wondered if it was…and then, sure enough, the group meets up right at the shores of the famed waterworks and corridors!

One really cool thing about this appearance is that a significant portion of the scene takes palce BEHIND the structure, so we get to see Oguri Shun running through the corridors and  exiting out through the side, into the lobby area! Ah, it's like taking a tour!!! LOL

Yokohama Business Park…where will it turn up NEXT?!!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com