Post here with your first J-Drama, your favorite J-Drama, and your favorite Japanese show on Viki!
First: Hana yori dango [“Boys Over Flowers”]
Favorite:Hanako to Ann
This NHK asadora is based on the real life story of the Japanese woman who translated Anne of Green Gables into Japanese. This is one of my favorite TV shows of all time! (hint hint, Viki licensers!)
Favorite on Viki: My Long Awaited Love Story
I might be a bit biased since I helped subtitle this Christmas special, but it is one of my favorite Japanese shows on Viki. For shows I did not help with, my favorite Viki J-drama is probably Overprotected Kahoko since it is so inventive and breaks from the usual mold of a lot of shows.
First AND Favorite: Mai Bosu Mai Hīrō (My Boss My Hero)
This may have been the first Asian TV drama I ever watched and I think I watched it on YouTube. Absolutely loved it! Tomoya Nagase was hysterical and I was so impressed that such a handsome man was willing to distort his looks so much to make us laugh. It’s been about seven years since we’ve seen it, but my husband and I still chuckle when we think of “custard”.
I also enjoyed Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend) and Kimi Wa Petto (You’re My Pet).
I would like to try more Japanese dramas but I have trouble finding them. And sometimes the ones I do find are just too cute (Mischievous Kiss) or too edgy (Midnight Diner) for me. (I love the Korean version of MD). So I really appreciate your recommendations! I’m off to watch Overprotected Kahoko now.
(This is off-topic, but how does one start a new discussion? I wanted to find out why I was seeing so many duplicate reviews for some shows (e.g. The Secret Life of My Secretary), but I couldn’t figure out how to post my question).
First: “With Love” (1998) - Very similar story to “You’ve Got Mail” but was made a year before the American movie and aired in Japan 10 months before YGM’s premiere. It had flaws - Takenouchi Yutaka was phenomenal as the composer HaTa (Hasegawa Takashi,) but Tanaka Misato was badly miscast and weak as his leading lady TeruTeruBozu (Murakami Amane.) And there was a suspension-of-disbelief problem in that you’re thinking “No way they woudn’t have guessed identities by now!” But the music is so good it’s almost like a third main character. It’s really dated 23 years after-the-fact (especially the ancient computers,) but the story is excellent and that’s all that matters, really.
Favorite: “Life” (2007) - based on Suenobu Keiko’s manga about vicious school bullying, I describe this as “Like ‘Aliens,’ but with scarier monsters.” Just a masterpiece of the classic Morality Play - because there is a critical moral choice that goes to the core of the character in almost every scene in this, and the way the heroine gets justice and vindication is totally unexpected and totally ethical. I like this so much I bought it on DVD for something like $250 USD - but it’s the genuine Japanese original so there are no subtitles, in any language - and my Nihongo still hovers around the JLPT N5-N4 range, so a long way to fluent comprehension. And yeah, I really hope Viki gets this drama ASAP, because… it’s a masterpiece. Easily the single best J-drama I’ve ever seen. Maybe the best drama, period - from any country in any format.
Favorite on Viki: So far it’s “Jimi ni Sugoi! Kōetsu Girl: Kouno Etsuko” (“Pretty Proofreader”) - because it too is about critical choices, about dedication, about striving for excellence above and beyond the call, and about achieving dreams as a result. It’s also a world-class production from start to finish, with zero flaws, really. More of this, please. (Yeah, I have a wish list, but I’ve already posted it all over the place on these forums. )
Kimi Wa Petto the original version on DramaFever in 2009 or 2010. Did not quite know what to make of it but loved it. My first “dorama” and my favorite.
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