What Japanese drama are you currently watching?

[snow_angel]

Jigoku Sensei Nube / Hell Teacher Nube

[RamonaC]

A taiga drama, Gou-himetachi no sengoku.

[lee-chan]

Jigoki Sensei Nube ~ just here for chinen yuri Gou~Himetachi No Sengoku ~ trying to catch up with itGomen Ne Seishun - seems interesting~ and i caught sight of it in tvNobunaga Concerto - love the cast!

[Guest chocmagma]

Done re-watching HERO all the way from Season 1, SP, Movie and Season 2.

Currently re-watching Answer.

[Kathy]

There needs to be some serious attention paid to Japanese dramas, there are some terrific ones out there.  We've recently watched and highly recommend - 

Border - Terrific writing, acting and production.  Oguri Shun is a detective who has a bullet lodged in his brain and sees dead people, specifically the victims of the murders he investigages approach him at the murder scene and continue to unexpectedly show up till he solves their murders and catches the culprits.  One of the BEST endings ever.

Date - or can a Hikkomori and an equally socially inept math genius find love?  Ann Watanabe and Hiroki Hasegawa are hysterically funny in this one.  Sheer fun.

Galileo, Shinzanmano, are two top notch series of Keigo Higashino mysteries.

Otenki Onee-san a socially withdrawn weather fanatic helps solves mysteries, a lot of fun.

Fukuie Keibuho no Aisatsu a female detective who is always overlooked and rudely treated but always solves the mysteries no one else can.  Love this one.

Zero no Shinjitsu a most unique lady coroner and very interesting cases.

And a few favorite taigas (historical dramas) Ryomaden, Yae no Sakura and Gunshee Kanbe are all worthy and very well done stories of famous historical figures.

Those are just a few gems, oh and don't miss N no Tameni a murder mystery that will keep you guessing till the end, another story taken from a popular novel and very well done.

High applause also for Mr. Brain, Hero 2, Priceless, and oh I could go on and on so I'll stop for the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2015 by Kathy
Added a few more recommendations

[ELY_397]

Thank you for your recommendation. I will watch Border and Date next.

Has any one watched Koinaka? It seems to be quite popular in Asia. I am interested in dramas with good acting in it, and preferably those with unexpected twists & turns in the story line, or melodramas that are done with subtlety. Thanks!

[Kathy]

Thank you for your recommendation. I will watch Border and Date next.

Has any one watched Koinaka? It seems to be quite popular in Asia. I am interested in dramas with good acting in it, and preferably those with unexpected twists & turns in the story line, or melodramas that are done with subtlety. Thanks!

If you like unexpected twists and turns in a story line be sure to watch N no Tameni and any of the Keigo Higashino mysteries, especially Shinzanmano and all of its special individual 'movies' that came after it.

[2manytears]

Currently watching Yami no Bansosha,     (Partner In Darkness). A short series with only five episodes. Stars Matsushita Nao and Furuta Arata.

Manga, murder and mystery.  Creepy but in a good way. Have only seen the first three episodes, can't wait for the last two.

 

On that note, the subs themselves are complete but the raw video is only available using torrent. I don't know anything about using torrent and don't feel confident to do so. So, I have to wait for the videos to be uploaded.

[Aziraphale]

^ That's on my to-watch list as well. Most WOWOW dramas are very good, everything from the plot, production values to the solid acting.

Recently finished Suna no Utsuwa and a rewatch of Koori no Sekai.

[2manytears]

I'll have to give Suna no Utsuwa  a try, thanks for mentioning it.

[ELY_397]

If you like unexpected twists and turns in a story line be sure to watch N no Tameni and any of the Keigo Higashino mysteries, especially Shinzanmano and all of its special individual 'movies' that came after it.

Many thanks. Does anyone know where I can watch the older dramas (from the 90's) in HD? The ones shown in Youtube are so blurry you can hardly see the faces. Cheers.

[Guest choovely]

I'm watching the live action adaptation of Anohana. It's really good. 

[Kathy]

Another Japanese drama I can highly recommend is Kazoku Game.  This one isn't at all what you first think it is, it has one surprise after another and you think, what is this guy doing?  What he is doing is saving a whole family, by first breaking down all the deceptions.  Truly memorable, I'm sure I'll think back on it forever.

 

The Family Game was originally an award winning novel by Honma Yohei that was adapted for television drama and film. 30 years later, the story returns to the screen again on Fuji TV, Wednesday nights. Sakurai Sho stars in this troubling drama as the private tutor Yoshimoto Koya. Koya becomes a tutor to a student, Numata Shigeyuki, an underachiever on the verge of dropping out of middle school. Expecting immediate results, Shigeyuki’s father makes a deal with Koya that if he could make Shigeyuki return to school within a week, he would receive a 100,000 yen bonus. Koya accepts the offer, replying that he would only need 5 days to complete the mission but demands that no one should interfere with his methodology in doing so.

A handsome face with a reckless mouth, Koya is a wacky unpredictable pro tutor. How will he save Shigeyuki, a boy who has been bullied in school, betrayed by his best friend, and become a shut-in at home? How will he educate Shigeyuki to change his ways? What is Koya’s motivation in teaching? Koya’s "education" is nothing like anyone has ever imagined. You just have to see it yourself to believe it

Many of the dramas including older ones are available on sites like dramanice or dramacool

Edited September 29, 2015 by Kathy

[Guest PuiZhen]

GTO

[ELY_397]

@Kathy. Many thanks.

[asiaren]

...this year....my list for japanese drama...

...Ouroboros....with Oguri Shun and Ikuta Toma.... a gold and great team   !

...Second Love...with Kamenashi Kazuya and Fakuda Kyoko.... one team  of love ...with a contemporary dancer and on beautiful teacher....very good ..indeed !...

...Border....with Oguri Shun.....the best ost...and the best Oguri ...!

....please ,enjoy with japanese drama !....

[Guest ina111]

I'll echo the recommendations for N no tame ni and Yami no bansousha. They are two of my favorites among the jdramas I watched in the last year. I'm happy to hear that Yami no bansousha got English subs. I loved Furuta Arata in that drama. I was hoping to see more of him in Risuku no Kamisama, but he had a pretty minor role there. 

A few other dramas I enjoyed over the last year were Chanpon tabetaka, 64, Temisu no kyuukei, Kageri yuku natsu, Shi no zouki and Mozu. It's probably obvious from the list that I like short crime and mystery jdramas, and Chanpon is the odd one out. I started watching it on a whim and ended up enjoying it. It's set in an interesting time period (early seventies), with quirky characters and a heartwarming story (coming of age, music, family, friendship). After watching Chanpon, I had to follow the very talented Suda Masaki to his next drama, Tamiou. I'm really glad that I did, because he and Endo Kenichi were fantastic in it. I just finished watching it, and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for some comedy. 

I'm really happy I found this thread. I can now add a few more dramas on my "to watch" list. A lot of you recommended Border, so I'll start with that, but I'm also really interested in series based the works of Higashino Keigo. Thank you for your recommendations everyone!

If anyone has suggestions for what to watch in this fall drama season, please post. Shingari looks interesting to me, but I'm worried that I won't understand it well enough without subs.

[2manytears]

Thank you for your recommendation. I will watch Border and Date next.

Has any one watched Koinaka? It seems to be quite popular in Asia. I am interested in dramas with good acting in it, and preferably those with unexpected twists & turns in the story line, or melodramas that are done with subtlety. Thanks!

If you like unexpected twists and turns in a story line be sure to watch N no Tameni and any of the Keigo Higashino mysteries, especially Shinzanmano and all of its special individual 'movies' that came after it.

I've started watching Shinzanmano today. I like it so far.  

[ELY_397]

Otana Joshi. I am looking forward to this one. It is a mature romcom I think, a breath of fresh air from the popular high school romances.

[Guest chocmagma]

Thank you for the recommendation, @Kathy!

Watched most of the recommended dramas except Gunshee Kanbe. Gonna watch it when I have time.

Bitter Blood is awesome and funny! Highly recommended!