J-Dramas Recently Wrapped Up!

The Season is over, and these are the ones I've completed, ranked in order of how much I liked them, as well as a brief summation of my thoughts...

Unmet: Aru Nogekai no Nikki

10/10

When I was at about halfway thru Unmet, I already knew this was going to be the best drama of the season, and the show only got better and better as it headed towards its conclusion, and at the final episode, easily exceeded my expectations!!

Ryuya Wakaba was great as Sanpei , but WOWWW, the level of acting Hana Sugisaki as the amnesiac-but-still-positive Miyabi has to be her FINEST yet, conveying SO MUCH with just facial expressions, head tilts and body language, so much with few words and few gestures!

Not a huge fan of medical dramas as they all tend to skew to the same tropes, and while Unmet had some, I was constantly surprised by the directions and unexpected developments they chose to follow, until I realized: "HEY! I'm really INVESTED here!!!"

Aw Man, Hana Sugisaki MUST get some kind of accolade for this drama…it was my number ONE drama of the season, and most of it due to her wonderful portrayal of Miyabi. This was one real MUST SEE drama!

Hanasaki Mai ga Damattenai

9/10

One of my faves of the season, not only for the adorable antics of Mio Imada in the titular role, but for the show's easy bite-sized case episodes. Not really a fan of the long-winded political thrillers of late, and though even Hanasaki Mai got bogged down in the usual corrupt politics in the end, the series still charmed throughout~! 

Believe: Kimi ni Kakeru Hashi

9/10

Like I said, I'm not a huge fan of the corrupt politician/diabolical company kind of drama, however I find the Takuya Kimura drama Believe more a study of a person's strength of character in the face of strong adversity, and at times I felt it seemed like a modern-day "Spartacus" as we see architect Kariyama, wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, slowly win over his fellow cellmates and make connections with them much as he did as a savvy businessman. Great acting and some TERRIFIC scenes!

RoOT

8/10

RoOT tells the tale of a young private investigator and her sidekick looking into a series of cases, all of which may be connected. Have to say, for a drama that I initially watched solely for Yumi Kawai,  it turned into a fairly entertaining and interesting show! Funny because for the first few episodes, her bumbling partner (Ryota Bando) irritated me so much with his incessant screw-ups that I almost dropped it! 

Konkatsu Tantei

8/10

A show from 2022 (which I recently discovered they had completed subbing)  featuring a self-professed "hard boiled" detective Kurosagi  (Osamu Mukai) who goes through the ups and downs of potential marriage matching with the guidance of counselor Kido (Riko Narumi) who  intends to iron out all his bad habits and behaviors so he can meet the "one" and settle down!

A fairly basic plot but so much fun and WOW, the guest stars appearing as Kurosagi's possible partners: Akane Hotta, Aimi Satsukawa, Yui Ichikawa, Maho Nonami and Miwako Kakei among others, all of them stunning and beautiful and seeking the man of their dreams!

Hamaru Otoko ni Keritai Onna

8/10

Very predictable and cliched drama from early 2023, with an arrogant man and a sincere woman who detest each other but, once forced to live together under certain circumstances, find they are compatible and attracted to each other. It's as basic as you can get, but somehow I really liked this one, no doubt due to the likeable characters played by Taisuke Fujigaya and Nagisa Sekimizu in the lead roles as the will-they-or-won't-they romantic interests. Sekimizu especially shone here and it was great to fall in love with her all over again!

Miss Jikocho

7/10

A much older show from 2019 following a woman who investigates industrial accidents to determine the cause and create preventative measures to ensure it doesn't happen again, Yasuko Matsuyuki as lead Manako Amano is a joy to watch, so smart and sassy!  I've mentioned it before but Miss Jikocho would have been a fantastic KIKU staple.

 9 Border

7/10

While holding out for the second season of Oi Handsome ( that drama with Haruka Kinami as the oldest of three sisters who go through life and love together) to get picked up by subbers,  I reluctantly opted for 9 Border, a DIFFERENT show featuring Haruka Kinami as the oldest of three sisters  (with the other two being Haruna Kawaguchi and Mei Hata) who go through life and love together...

Hatsukoi Zarari

7/10

Really sweet story of a mentally impaired young woman going out into the world and experiencing both her first real job and her very first love. Excellent acting from Karin Ono who was simply heartbreaking as the naive but sincere Arisa as we see her struggles to become an 'ordinary' girl for her boyfriend Ryuji ( Shunsuke Kazama), her work and at life. Another drama from seasons back that we finally got to see completed and I'm so glad!

Haiiro no Otome

7/10

An eccentric story from a few seasons back that I finally wrapped up, dealing with a psychopathic stalker named Tsutako (Reika Sakurai) who, when her stalker object of obsession Azami (Keisuke Nakata) gets hit by a car and loses his memory, introduces herself back to him as his supposed girlfriend and ingratiates herself into his life. How could a drama be so DISTURBED and yet so much FUN? It all comes down the insanely adorable charms of actress Reika Sakurai who is cute and strangely sympathetic even as she's going about her questionable antics, making you root for her even as you're condoning her actions!

 Secret Doumei

7/10

The drama banner for the Airi Matsui drama "Secret Alliance" has GOT to be the most MISLEADING promotional pic EVER! Judging by the photo, you'd expect a light-hearted romcom featuring a generic high-school love triangle, instead you got a DARK, on-the-edge-of-your-seat THRILLER featuring blood, violence, deception, betrayals, and psychological WARFARE of the highest order! I always complain about predictable plots, holy HECK did this one keep me GUESSING!

Fune Wo Amu

7/10

With a dictionary-themed show centered primarily around words and their meanings, this drama probably would have been better suited as 20 minute slices than full blown 45 minute episodes, nonetheless, this was a very sweet and heartfelt show that uses words to touch people's hearts and mend wounds. A nice, relaxing vibe to the show, and Elaiza Ikeda shines as the sincere newbie Midori.

Komugi no Manpuku Ki

7/10

Cute if far-too-short (only two episodes long) foodie drama about a girl (the amazingly adorable Nanoka Hara) obsessed with all-things wheat based. That includes pastries, pastas, ramen and more! Who knew so much stuff could be made from wheat! Not really a drama per se, more like a travelogue type show as Nanoka's character gallivants from town to town, trying out the signature dishes from popular establishments! A cute show to relax to with your tea at night.

 House of Ninjas

6/10

A drama that started out strong- exciting action and intriguing story and terrific characters, sadly the show quickly lost its steam by its mid-point and became a sluggish and draggy affair. The powers of the Shinobi that were hinted at at the beginning never fully came to fruition and I was disappointed to see them clumsy, clunky, and very bad at decision making, a point I found aggravating to sit through as they noisily blundered through the story.

Seems the end left an opening for a sequel, but when/if it does, I'll probably pass...

366 Nichi

5/10

I did not have great expectations for this drama which looked to be one of those cliche ridden melodramas, and, indeed, the show delivered exactly what I thought it would. I only watched this show for my love of Alice Hirose, and though she did make it worthwhile for the duration of the show, I had such a time getting through this one.  Very predictable and draggy, though it occurs to me that this might be a good "first drama" for someone just getting into the genre as it follows a tried-and-true formulaic template.

Anti-Hero

5/10

While the premise of a group of renegade lawyers dedicated to defending and exonerating clients who are clearly guilty seemed intriguing, I found I just could not get into this drama. Frankly everyone involved seemed entirely unlikeable, including the supposed "heroes" of the show of whom we were supposed to be rooting for! The story does come to a head by its final episode, however by then I was only watching it to finish it up...

Hakubo no Chronicle

5/10

This drama started with an interesting premise of the Okinaga, beings who are seemingly immortal, who are on high alert when one of them becomes a notorious serial killer, unfortunately, this is yet another fetch-quest type murder mystery with the characters shuffling from one red herring suspect to the next until ultimately revealing the true villain (who always ends up being somebody close to them). Thankfully, Airi Matsui charms as usual.

Nanyobi ni Umareta no

4/10

Marie Iitoyo plays a hikikomori girl who has withdrawn from society after a bad motorcycle accident when she was in high school. But when her manga father makes a deal with a famous author (Junpei Mizobata) to collab on a new series using her backstory as the basis, we slowly learn her past, get introduced to her old classmates, and their back story.

A drama with an interesting start but sad to say it kind of falls apart towards the end into another rote by-the-numbers whodunit and I was watching it in double time just to finish it up! Too bad, such great characters!

Destiny

1/10

Argh, this is just the kind of mystery drama I really dislike, with the characters more like virtual game pieces in a board game as they are led from one clue to one suspect to one confession to one false alarm to another clue to one red herring to another false confession.... Drama ended up exactly like I expected, what a chore it was to get through the final episodes. No more of this stuff, please!

 WELL, that about wraps it up for THIS round of dramas for the season...one can only wonder what will be coming up NEXT!

Crush Of The Day: Nagisa Sekimizu

Crush of the Day: Nagisa Sekimizu

Way back in 2020 I had my heart promptly smitten by adorable Nagisa Sekimizu in her role as the genki Aika in the excellent Yuriko Yoshitaka drama  “Shiranakute Iikoto”, and at the time I enthused:

"Who’s THIS absolute CUTIE playing journalist Koizumi? (looks her up on asianwiki)...Why, it's Nagisa Sekimizu, who stole her scenes as the plucky co-worker of Mikoto in the Nanao drama 4-punkan no Marigold! Such a genki girl-I really like her feisty role in Shiranakute Ii Koto and hope to see her character get more screen time!"

Since then I’ve been lucky to see Nagisa involved in more and MORE projects, from shows like  “Anonymous” to the awesome Motokare Yuigonjou, with character roles like these, I was dying to see Nagisa headline a show of her own!

Shiranakute Iikoto

4-punkan no Marigold

Anonymous: Keishicho ”Yubisatsujin” Taisakushitsu

with Oizumi Yo in  Motokare no Yuigonjou

 I finally got my wish in 2023, with her show “Who Am I?”, a mystery drama with Nagisa starring as an amnesiac who must solve her own assault case. Intriguing idea, sadly I was mostly bored with it and felt it draggy and mundane, a sad development for my Nagisa expectations!

#Who Am I

However, all was not lost as  another drama she did in 2023 fit the bill JUST RIGHT,  and put me in full “Crush of The Day’ alert! The drama in question was called “Hamaru Otoko ni Keritai Onna~Unexpected Love Story in Maison Ginseiso” and THIS was the Nagisa I wanted to see: smart, cute and FUN, and finally bolstered her right to the top of the charts for me!

The english translation for this drama is "The Woman Who Wants to Kick the Man She Is Addicted To", and that really sums it up perfectly! The drama stars Taisuke Fujigaya as an arrogant exec named Koichi Shitara who gets fired from his job and divorced from his wife, only to end up as the housekeeper for a boardinghouse taking care of its tenants.

Unbeknownst to him, one of the tenants is a woman named Itsuka Nishijima (Nagisa), an ad designer that he once cruelly slighted during a job some 2 years earlier, and she has spent that time planning her revenge on him, honing her craft and becoming a success in her own right, if only to finally get the upper hand on him!

Fate has somehow placed the now dethroned Executive Koichi back into her life- but with their positions of power now incredibly reversed! And of course, Itsuka's first impulse is to take it out on the unsuspecting Koichi, and make his life as their caretaker a living hell!

Of course, as dramas like these go, once you place two individuals who supposedly HATE each other and are forced by circumstance to be together for a time, they soon see the KINDER sides of their foes and become ATTRACTED to them, and eventually FALL in LOVE! 

Yeah, such are the cliche-ridden plots of these kind of dramas, but I GOTTA say how much I was THOROUGHLY entertained by the show, and it ALL comes down to the likeability of its two stars...ESPECIALLY Nagisa who, as the questionably vengeful Itsuka Nishijima, instantly captured my heart from her very first appearance in the show and made me FALL in LOVE with her ALL OVER again!!

Spend a good portion of the show screencapping her, sadly Nagisa's character spends most of the show morosely in deep thoughts, resulting in most pics showing her looking glum, but when things go right, her smile saves the day! You just HAVE to root for her!

APOLOGIES for the excessive Nagisa Sekimizu PICSPAM, I JUST couldn't STOP myself!!!

Reveling in all this Nagisa Sekimizu goodness, it reminds me that I've still yet to finish Konkatsu 1000 Bon Knock, a drama that Nagisa co-starred in earlier this year that I began watching, unfortunately, after episode 4, the subtitlers either put the series on indefinite hold...or dropped it entirely! 

Too bad, but luckily Nagisa is becoming more and more popular and appearing in more and more shows, so it won't be long til we see her again! Until then, I've certainly been enjoying her in Hamaru Otoko ni Keritai Onna!

Will be keeping an eye out for her future activities, for sure!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com