Saturday, January 03, 2015

2015 Winter Jdoramas at a glance

JDORAMAS THAT SHOULD BE SUBBED


MONDAI NO ARU RESTAURANT

If anyone can take a men vs women theme and make it an incredible smart jdorama, its Sakamoto Yuji. (Mosaic Japan) Kudo Kankuro did an ok job with Gomen ne Seishun! but Sakamoto Yuji is a master at great dialogue and characters. Add in the acting talents of Maki Yoko and no johnny in sight, my expectations are sky high.

On the other hand, women vs men story is a hard subject to make interesting because of the let's appreciate each other and get along formula. Best case scenario is that Sakamoto Yuji has a lot of interesting things to say, worst case is that its a boring comedy with interesting dialogue.


OUROBOROS

One of my favourite mangas ever is Sanctuary which is about two friends wanting to change Japan, one by entering politics and one by becoming a yakuza. It is also the manliest manga out there next to Hokuto no Ken.

The stakes in Ouroboros are not so high since it sounds like a revenge story about uncovering a corrupt cop. The main selling point for me is that its got Oguri Shun and Ueno Juri! The only alarm bell is writer Furuya Kazunao who, other than Liar Game has a record of writing more 'mainstream' stuff that I avoid like Kasukana Kanojo, Priceless and Ninkyou Helper. I have a feeling its going to be a dumbed down mainstream revenge show like Ueno Juri's Alice no Toge.

GHOST WRITER


Nakatani Miki and nurse Miki from Iryu in a story about a novelist who uses a ghost writer. I will watch anything with those two in it. Not sold on the writer but should be worth a look. Jadefrost's write up for the plot sounds interesting.


KAGERI YUKU NATSU

Watabe Atsuro needs to stop doing stupid comedies and jdoramas with overacting people.


JDORAMAS THAT MIGHT BE WORTH SUBBING


DOCTORS SEASON 3

I still can't get over how Sagara didn't lose in season 2. It could have gone to interesting places and yet turned out to be a rerun of the first season, perhaps due to its high rating. First season was a classic, second season was a waste of time and I don't think there's anything left for season 3 despite what the poster says:

Despair is hope.
Idealism is reality.
Ambition is moving to a new world.

I'd love to be proven wrong though.


DATE

The only reason to watch this is that its written by Kosawa Ryota who wrote classic jdoramas Suzuki Sensei and Gaiji Keisatsu. Not sure about the Watanabe Anne casting. Nothing that I've seen her in tells me she's got it. Kosawa Ryota is definitely not someone I would expect writing a romantic comedy but that means there's a chance it could be good. Hopefully Suzuki Sensei doesn't bring over his jokerish overacting from Mozu.


THE ONE JDORAMA THAT MUST NOT BE SUBBED: SECOND LOVE


Lol at the negative combined acting talent of those two.

On the other hand, the writer is Ooishi Shizuka who wrote Kazoku Gari, Cleopatra na Onnatachi and Second Virgin so there's a chance it might be decent. Who am I kidding? They've got a combined 5 facial expressions between the two of them.

For the love of all thatthe hairspray and wrinkleless faces in jdoramaland, there are a lot of great jdoramas out there that deserve subbing more like Mosaic Japan and Meoto Zenzai.

8 comments:

Cyberwave said...

I would focus more on Matsuoka Mayu & Takahata Mitsuki in Mondai no Aru Restaurant, since they both shone in asadoras recently. Not much expectations in seeing good performance of the two main casts though. Sorry but Maki Yoko just doesn't have enough expressions to be humorous.

Mizukawa had too much bad records of starring in Shitty dramas so I'm really conservative of Ghost writer.

My hope on the following season goes to Ryusei Wagon only. Yes I know the Nishijima-Kagawa Combo is going weary and yes "time travel solving relationship" is not new idea anymore. But this is the only drama that gives me a feel of quality among the preview trailers I've seen.

P.S. Sigh...when will Kanjiya Shihori just stop starring in stupid dramas?

Anonymous said...

Why always so harsh towards Kamenashi HAHAHA

dgundam said...

lol thats what i thought about second love as well.
hmm if its the writer of second virgin i guess he likes kyoko fukada.

i remember watching kyoko in an old jdrama called first love with watabe atsuro. i guess this isnt a sequel.

im not really looking forward to any show but with probably watch ghost writer.
asami misukawa is not a good actress and hasnt been getting good roles, but i like her from iryu. while miki nakatani i <3 too bad looks like shes the bad guy.

will probably check ouro because of the manga. but i doubt it if it will be something extraordinary.

Sonna~ said...

I've got Marumaru Tsuma on my list, but only because it is written by Yukawa Kazuhiko-sama, writer of my beloved Queen's Classroom.

My guess is that DOCTORS 1 + 2 are a good setup for DOCTORS 3.

Looks like Nojima Shinji is writing another "with young kids" drama. I am disappoint. I also hate the Johnny's looking actor, he gives me the creeps. I'm waiting for Chris Hanson to ask him to go have a seat over there.

Akiramike said...

Cyverwave: Point taken about Maki Yoko's limited expressions but what if its dry humour?

I haven't watched any trailers and just did the preview based on actors and writer.

Kanjiya Shihori has got to pay her bills.

dgundam: Is the manga good?

Sonna~ Yukawa Kazuhiko also wrote Mita which had some of the cheesiest, fakest dialogue ever.

WTF. Didn't realise Nojima Shinji is writing Oniichan gacha. Why is someone of his caliber writing johnny stuff?

Cyberwave said...

To Akiramike,

There's a 30s teaser posted in Jdrama Weblog, which shows a bit footage & dialogue. It's the 1st time I see Maki Yoko plays an enthusiastic team leader. Let's see if she can handle such emotional role well to prove me wrong. :)

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/Z7qJdrK-dIA/

Anonymous said...

Rootabega sez:
Yay, I love these dorama season wishlists!
Mondai aru no Restaurant looks totally solid. Looking forward to this one for sure.
My most anticipated dorama this season has to be Kaiki Renai Daisakusen. It looks absolutely NUTS. Subs or no, I'll be watching (but subs would be great).
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/kaiki/
So many actors I like are in this.

Unknown said...

I'm looking forward to Ghost Writer. I'm still looking for a site to watch it but I hope the show isn't boring.