Summer Season Drama Preview

Back for another season of dramas Here’s my take, but the official synopsis are over at tokyograph. My top picks for the season would have to be Maou, Cat Street, and - is anyone surprised - Code Blue!

I’ve Got Some Code Blue Fever!

I’ve yet to get started on looking through the summer 2008 dramas, but this one’s really caught my eye. Maybe it’s because I love Yamapi to death, maybe because I adore Gakki, maybe because I really like Erika, or maybe because I just have some perverse fetish for scrubs and helicopters - I am so, so ready for Code Blue.

Spring Season Drama Preview

Happy April! Happy Spring! (although not happy April Fools… it’s kind of a terrible excuse for a holiday.) This month, spring season dramas will be starting. Watching most of the dramas last season was kind of painful so I don’t think I’ll attempt it again Still, I thought it’d be nice to give an overview. Tokyograph always has a terrific synopsis of everything this season. I thought I’d look through everything and give my two cents.

My own personal recs? If there’s three I’m actually probably going to follow it’d be Last Friends, Hokaben, and Kimi Hannin Janai yo ne.

And onto the dramas:

2008 Winter Dramas (Part 2)

So here’s the continuation to the Part 1 of the drama review! Following the six from last time, here’s the next seven.

Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi (The Fantastic Deer-Man) is about a man (Ogawa, played by Tamaki Hiroshi) plagued with terrible luck all his life, and now that he’s at the end of his line he’s sent to an all girl’s school in Nara to teach. When he gets to Nara, where deer roam around, he catches the eye of… I dunno, deer gods? who can turn into humans. And they’ll get him to become the protector of Japan, under their instructions? This drama is ridiculous (talking deer!) but hilarious, with unbelievable events voiced over by Ogawa’s self-pitying deadpan that somehow creates a great mix. Having Tamaki Hiroshi starring doesn’t hurt at all. I am so completely confused by the drama and yet I love it already.
Watch status: watching!

2008 Winter Dramas (Part 1)

Now that episodes have aired, ratings are out, and I’ve watched an episode or two, it seems ripe time to round up this season’s new renzoku dramas.

In other words, I’m watching everything and weeding stuff out so you don’t have to. Here’s the first six.

(Before anyone asks: I watched most of these with Chinese subtitles or raw, so I don’t know availability of English subtitles. Check on d-addicts.)

Bara no nai Hanaya is doing the best in all of this season’s dramas. It has the popular Monday night Fuji romance spot and is headed by Katori Shingo of SMAP. Plot revolves a single dad raising his daughter while running a small flower shop in memory of his late wife and - well, I guess eventually romance will come, but for now he just meets people (who happen mostly to be pretty women.) It’s a romance drama, so you know what to expect, although for now it’s just more of a “human drama.” It does has funny quirks, a nice pace, and - for my enjoyment - Matsuda Shota. It’s pretty good, if you dig those human relation dramas.
Watch Status: Might watch some episodes if I’m in a chick-flick kind of mood