We're about halfway through the Fall J-drama season, and though this time I've only caught a few dramas, I thought I'd still take the time to note what I'm currently watching... As usual, these are listed here in order of how much I've been liking them (so far)!
Zen Ryouiki Ijou Kaiketsu Shitsu
A show I described as X-Files for D-Addicts, AARO: All-All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office continues to be my favorite show of the handful of dramas I've chosen to watch this season, with its ineresting stories and intriguing twists. And of course there's Alice Hirose, who heightens ANY situation!
Was having trouble finding subs and raws for this one, at the moment it seems to be slowly but steadily coming out, and I can only cross fingers that it continues....
Usotoki Rhetoric
Very cute drama about a peppy detective named Iwai (Ouji Suzuka) with an intuition for details and his sincere and hard-working assistant Urabe (Honoka Matsumoto)...who has the ability to tell when anyone is lying! Set in the 1940's era, the period piece alone makes it fun to watch and the characters are quite charming!
Rikon Bengoshi Spider
Maryjun Takahashi is as cool as ever as the titular Asuko "Spider" Mikumo, the savvy divorce lawyer who uses crafty and intricate ways to ensnare her 'victims" and get her clients out of horrible unions. I only wish I didn't have to sit through the first half when they are showing the bad spouse being a jerk as I hate persecution scenarios.At least we get to see their comeuppance by the show's end!
Danchi No Futari
Still slowly working through this slice-of-life style drama following the daily goings-on of two old friends (played with impeccable and rascally wit by Satomi Kobayashi and Kyoko Koizumi) who have moved back to the old apartment complex they lived in when they were children. Stories of cranky neighbors, minor mishaps and maladies, and the eternal woes of getting old, each episode lets you sit back and relax along with them!
Watashi wo Moratte: Koji Hen
Older Dramas I'm Finally Watching
GIFT
REALLY enjoying this one as one of the WACKIER Kimura Takuya dramas I've ever seen (and of which it's unlikely we'll ever see again!) with Kimura as an amnesiac man named Yukio working as a courier for an unscrupulous delivery agency as he tries to find out who he is and where he came from.
CONCERTO (Kyosokyoku)
Kimura, Miyazawa Rie, and Tamura Masazaku in a VERY Soap-opera-ish melodrama which started out playful and interesting but has somehow turned into a drama more like Ko No Yo No Hate with everyone involved looking so miserable and distraught throughout. Still a compelling story, though, one I want to see through to the end~
Love Generation
Kimura Takuya and Matsu Takako romcom. Kind of enjoyed myself at first but this drama has all the early 90's trappings I detest: misunderstood feelings, mistaken embraces, and CONSTANT nonsensical breakup to makeup bickering. Becomes very tiresome to sit through, but still fun seeing everyone so YOUNG here, not jsut Kimura and Matsu but even Norika Fujiwara and Kimura Yoshino!
Dramas I Dropped:
Munou No Taka
I has misgiving about the writing of this show from the beginning, particularly the uneven way they portrayed Takano's stupidity- from wasting time on the computer in one episode to not even understanding what a mouse was in the next, it all seemed so sloppy. While still stuck at ep.4 subtitle-wise, I've already been hearing in the forums how unsatisfactorily and aggravatingly the drama ended, so I won't waste any more time on this.
Takaramono
Checked out for Wakana Matsumoto as a woman who is in an abusive relationship with her husband and ends up getting pregnant from a childhood love, but as I'm not a fan of cheating spouses OR abusive relationships, there really is nothing going on for me here. Hated every character in this show, especially Kei Tanaka who I abhorred every second I had to sit through with him.
Sono Bisque Doll Wa Koi Wo Suru
As expected, I just couldn't get used to as the characters in this manga adaptation of "My Dress Up Darling. Though there are many rallying behind the choices, I think the leads (especially Riko Nagase) were horribly miscast. Gave it a shot but seeing the previews for episode 2, I realized I just loved the original manga/anime too much and opted to drop the LA.
Ano Kuzu wo Nagutte Yaritainda
I LOVE Nao but I feel like I've seen this set-up of the pushed around character wheo steps up to become a stronger person through boxing a million times, and after watching all the cliched characters (jackass boyfriend, tsundere love interest etc) I feared what was coming, and when Nao began getting the usual bossy attitude from the members at the gym, I was out.
My Diary
Another one starring an actress I really like, My Diary starred actress Kaya Kiyohara in the main role as a girl, yet I the characters all struck me as by the numbers and basic, and I found I just could not get into this.
I admit, I just haven't been "feeling it" with the shows these past few seasons and it doesn't look like there's anything on the horizon to look forward to either.