풀하우스 (Full House)

Title: Full House
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 16
Broadcast network: KBS2
Completed Airing?: Yes

Han Ji Eun (played by Song Hye Gyo) is an aspiring writer who has become famous online because of her romance stories. One day, she is tricked into going to China as the winner of a supposedly free trip by her best friends, and they sell her house and her possessions to pay off their debts. On the plane, she has her first run-in with Lee Young Jae (played by Rain), who is a famous actor. The two have quite a meeting - not only does she pester him throughout the plane ride, she then pukes on him (actually, puking on that shirt is doing the world a favor... too bad she didn't get the pants, too). Han Ji Eun returns from China to find all of her belongings gone and her house empty. Surprise surprise, the one who buys Han Ji Eun's house is none other than Lee Young Jae, who tries to kick her out. Eventually, the two settle on arranging a contract for a fake marriage for the sake of the media, and things snowball from there.

This is one of my favorite dramas. Not only does it have Rain in it (I'll get to him in a minute), this drama is just great. Unlike many other romance dramas, which get bogged down in angst, this one doesn't... at least until the last few episodes. It does get a little bit tedious there, but overall, this drama is certainly worth the watch. It's fun to watch the two lead characters argue, and even if the premise of friends selling Han Ji Eun's house is a little strange and impossible, the drama works well overall. There are numerous funny points, whether it's Han Ji Eun chasing after her two friends (though that's almost as painful to watch as it is funny, because they act way too dramatic) or her doing the infamous "bear dance" for Lee Young Jae's parents.

Of course, what would a drama be without a love triangle? More of a love square, actually, as two other characters come into play and everyone's in love with everyone else in traditional drama style. But Full House manages to make all the drama and angst not so bad, and the comedic parts shine through. It drags on and gets repetitive near the end, but don't let that deter you. Though it's quite a bit longer than most Japanese dramas, spend an hour a night for a couple of weeks watching it. Full House is one of the most popular Korean dramas (the final episode got 40.2% ratings in Seoul) for good reason.

Now, on to Bi (Rain). Picture Usher in your mind, make him Asian, and you have Rain. He is an international pop star with masses of fans all across Asia, and he has even performed in Madison Square Garden. He sings in multiple languages, and he is a large part of the Korean Wave sweeping across Asia and brushing up against the shores of America - he was named as one of Time's "100 Most Influential People" in 2006 and People's "Most Beautiful People." He also beat out Stephen Colbert on Time's online poll of influential people in 2007, and Colbert proceeded to mock and parody him on air.

I can't seem to find the original video of Colbert yelling at Rain for beating him when Colbert made his own Korean pop video, but here's the second time Rain was mentioned on his show (and obviously, this is Stephen Colbert and should be taken with a grain of salt):

たったひとつの恋 (Just One Love)

Title: Tatta Hitotsu no Koi
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 10
Broadcast network: NTV
Completed Airing?: Yes
Tatta Hitotsu no Koi is a Romeo and Juliet-style romance story set in the port city of Yokohama. Kanzaki Hiroto (played by Kamenashi Kazuya of KAT-TUN) is the poor boy, struggling to support his ailing mother and brother by running a failing ship repair shop he has inherited from his father. One day he meets Tsukioka Nao (played by Ayase Haruka), who is the daughter of a rich jewelry maker. Slowly they fall in love, and the young couple faces multiple obstacles in their relationship, including Tsukioka Nao's family trying to tear them apart.

This drama may not be the worst of the bunch, but it is certainly nowhere near good. It's a typical romance story, the kind that we've all seen millions of times before, and the plot is so predictable it gets annoying waiting for what you know is coming. The acting is not that great, but passable enough for a soap opera. If anything, compared to a lot of dramas where the acting is overblown and overly dramatic, the acting in this drama is the opposite - very low key, lots of soulful looks, etc.

If you're in the mood for a love story like this, it's a good enough way to pass the time. I am oddly partial to the music, and I like some of the side actors (this includes Toda Erika and Hiraoka Yuta). Another member of KAT-TUN, Tanaka Koki, is also in this drama. It's a story in the great tradition of love stories, and like I said, if that's your thing, then you'll probably enjoy it. But don't go into it expecting it to be the most original, wonderfully-acted drama out there.

有閑倶楽部 (Yukan Club)

Image Copyright Nippon Television Network Corporation

Title: Yukan Club
Genre: School, Comedy
Episodes: 11
Broadcast network: NTV
Completed Airing?: No

The members of the Yukan club are the cool kids on the block. Rich and massively popular, the six of them have a lot of free time on their hands. And what better for high school students to occupy their time than solving crimes? Yes indeed, the six members of the Yukan Club are a tightly-knit crime-solving unit. Though they have a wide variety of personalities (from the girl who hates boys to the narcissistic pretty boy to the typical popular girl to the disciplined martial artist to the tomboy), and do completely outlandish things, they still manage to solve the crime and help others in need.

I will say this right of the bat: this drama is pretty bad. Surprisingly, the ratings reflect this; they aren't hot, despite the fact that arguably the most popular boy in Johnny's Entertainment, Akanishi Jin of KAT-TUN, plays one of the main characters (Shochikubai Miroku). Apparently even the legions of fangirls at KAT-TUN's beck and call won't sit through a drama this bad. The worst part is the acting. The characters are stereotypes that have been taken too far, and even if the actors are doing an okay job at portraying their characters, it just comes off as terrible acting. And, in some cases (Akanishi Jin's, for one), it really IS just bad acting. The situations in the drama are way overblown and overly dramatic, and it's not the kind of thing that pulls you in at all.

There are a couple of cute points to this drama, especially if you're a fan of Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi (also of KAT-TUN, and he plays Bido Granmarie), or Yokoyama Yuu (of Kanjani8, who plays Kikumasamune Sanshiro). There are some amusing jokes, and the JE fangirl in me does enjoy watching the JE actors. I've been watching it weekly with a friend, and we enjoy ourselves; however, if you're expecting something good... well, just don't get your hopes up. Even if it might not be the best drama ever, if you know what to expect when you start watching it, it could be amusing.

And although it's not finished, if it makes some magical turnaround in the last few episodes and is suddenly awesome, I'll be sure to make a note. ;)

Yukan club Official Site

宝塚歌劇団 -- The Takarazuka Revue

The post this time deals not with a drama review like usual, but instead with Japan's one and only all-female acting and singing revue: Takarazuka. While studying abroad, by chance I ended up going to see one of the plays, "Elisabeth," with my roommate and her friend. My roommate's friend was a big Takarazuka fan, and while I only went with them to the convenience store for company while they bought their tickets, I ended up purchasing one as well. I'd heard various things about Takarazuka before, but never really researched it. Odd as the concept of women dressing up and strutting around the stage pretending to be men might be to a lot of Westerners, it really was a treat and I really, really enjoyed it.

The first thing you notice when you get off the Hankyuu train line in the city of Takarazuka are the buildings. Just off the station there is a long road lined with European-style buildings, and if you're there around one of the showtimes, the street, called "Hana no Michi" (Road of Flowers), is full of women headed for the theater complex. The theater itself is large, white, and pretty hard to miss. The inside gleams, and everyone either wanders around looking at the treats for sale in the shops, takes pictures in front of the elaborate costumes on display in the windows of the costume shops, or goes to find their seat. And when I said that Hana no Michi was full of women, I wasn't kidding-- I believe I saw a grand total of five men in the theater that day, all of them with wives or girlfriends.

The fact that it was in a foreign language aside (though I was thanking my lucky stars for the little English summary of the play that was there), the acting and singing were surprisingly very, very good. It was a little odd at first to see a woman singing and speaking in a very low tone, hair slicked back and mustache plastered onto her face, but once I adjusted to it and got into the play, I loved every second of it.

Now, I had been warned about what happens at the end of plays ahead of time, but it was still rather... surprising. For two hours, guests are entertained with a romantic, dramatic play with sweeping music and gorgeously complicated costumes, then all of a sudden, you're transported to Las Vegas. I kid you not, the sparkly stairs come out, the girls line up in big feathery outfits and all start doing the can can. I'm not entirely sure how this particular part of things got started, but it's good for a laugh-- so long as you do it silently.

Takarazuka was started in 1913. Back then, the city of Takarazuka was still small, its main attraction the hot springs. As an attempt to get more customers to come to the springs, the president of Hankyuu Railways pulled together a bunch of young, unmarried girls and had them begin performing in 1914. It officially became Takarazuka Kagekidan in 1940, and the girls split into groups: Hoshi Kumi (Star), Yuki Kumi (Snow), Tsuki Kumi (Moon), and Hana Kumi (Flower), with Sora Kumi (Cosmos) being added in 1998. Every year, each group puts on a play both at Takarazuka and at the Takarazuka theater in Tokyo.

To become a Takarazuka star, girls have to apply to Takarazuka Ongaku Gakkou, or the Takarazuka Music School. It's a very strict school, and out of the many people who apply, only 40 to 50 people are accepted each time. For two years the students learn singing, various forms of dance, and performing. There are around 400 people in the school, aged 15 to 18, and the first year students must learn to properly respect their sempai (upperclassmen). One of the duties of the lowly first years is to clean the school by hand. Once students have gotten past this first year, they are split into male roles and female roles, and the studying continues for quite some time before they are given their shot at lead roles.

There are varying kinds of performances. Famous Western musicals and novels (Elisabeth, West Side Story, Gone With the Wind, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.) are often played out upon the Takarazuka stage, as well as some plays based on Japanese comics (Rose of Versailles, for example). There are also Japanese historical plays.

Seriously, if you are going to be in Osaka any time soon, look into getting tickets. They are pretty cheap: I believe I paid around $50 for mine, and we were in the middle range of seats. Even if you can't understand what they're saying, the singing is wonderful, the costumes are great to look at, and the Las Vegas dance at the end is just plain amusing. I believe there is even an English phone number you can call to purchase tickets... but don't ask me where it is. Still, if you're interested more or have questions, let me know!

Takarazuka Revue English Site

シンデレラになりたい！ (I Want to Become Cinderella!)

Title: Cinderella ni Naritai
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 1
Broadcast network: TBS
Completed Airing?: Yes


"A person can’t change their appearance or shape. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t change. The kind of face you end up living with is up to fate. And those who get the lucky ticket will have good luck everywhere. They’ll probably be liked by many, and have countless numbers of chances to be loved back. If only I could change…"

Kuramochi Bon (Yasunomi Sano) is ugly. There's just no way around it. All his life he has been tormented and teased because of his face. He spends his life working at a burger joint as the local trash boy, mocked by everyone. All he can do is look at everyone else and wish that he was as pretty as they, a dream he knows is impossible. One day Bon is told to go to the neighboring town for three days and pretend to be the Legendary Man Narumizaka Ken (Ohkura Tadayoshi of Kanjani8) in order to boost lagging sales at one of the company's stores. Narumizaka Ken and Kuramochi Bon could not be farther apart in appearance; Narumizaka is the idol of the burger chain, and women stand in line for two hours just to have him take their order. Bon knows that there is no way he can be the Legendary Man, not with his face. But when a crackpot doctor bribes Bon with a magical potion to keep Bon from reporting him when he runs Bon down with his bike, Bon knows that this is the only chance he'll ever have to be beautiful -- a chance that will last only three short days.

I absolutely adore this drama. It's short, only an hour-long special. I think the fact that it isn't millions of episodes long is part of its charm, though I would have liked it to be a little bit longer, because it is just that cute. When Bon goes to work at the other store, he meets the girl of his dreams and goes with her on a date, though he knows that the clock will strike midnight and soon he will turn back to his ugly, unloved self. Perhaps it's cliche, but Bon is one of those truly good people who is kind to others, whether he's tying a ribbon onto a child's finger to keep him from crying or wading into a river to get a bear for some kids that dropped it, even though the kids grew tired of waiting and left.

I watched this drama once a number of months ago and then again a couple of nights ago, and I loved it both times. I daren't say anything more about why I love it for fear of spoiling the rest, so you'll just have to watch it and see for yourself. All I will say is that, despite its shortness, this is a drama that really connects with people. It's easy to fall in love with Bon and the girl he likes, and, for risk of sounding cheesy, it leaves you with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

And yes, the insert song is indeed Sheryl Crow.

Cinderella ni Naritai Official Site

Music in Dramas

Similar to American dramas, popular music is often used in Japanese dramas, and the music often has a special link to the popular male drama actors: it is often them singing.

Johnny’s Entertainment is the powerhouse behind the popular music market in Japan. Started by Johnny Kitagawa in 1963, it has spent the last four decades churning out boyband after boyband after boyband. While it doesn’t work with female singers at all, the bands produced by Johnny’s consistently top the charts of single and album releases as well as musical DVD sales. It is very nearly impossible to step outside your house in Japan or watch more than a few minutes of T.V. without seeing one of the idols, for they are in stage plays and dramas, hosting or guesting on variety shows, posing in ads and commercials for random products, promoting their music or dramas, or being talked about on celebrity gossip programs virtually all hours of the day and night. Thousands and thousands of girls and women of all ages flock to their plays and concerts and drop money left and right in stores that sell official pictures or paparazzi pictures and goods which bear the faces of their favorite idols. The idols are literally everywhere.

The success of a popular drama often hinges upon the actors in it. While there are very well-liked actors not in Johnny’s Entertainment (JE for short), such as Matsuda Shota and Oguri Shun, many of the most popular dramas have members of JE in lead roles. Oftentimes, the script for a drama is written with a specific singer/actor in mind. The lead actors are most often from the debuted groups of the company (NEWS, KAT-TUN, Kanjani8, Tackey & Tsubasa, Arashi, SMAP, V6, TOKIO, KinKi Kids, Golf & Mike, Shounentai, and the brand new Hey! Say! JUMP), but there are many more Juniors (un-debuted members) who also continue their long climb to fame by taking smaller roles in dramas. Kimura Takuya of SMAP is perhaps the idol most renowned for his acting, having appeared in 28 dramas and a handful of movies.

If there is a member of JE in a drama, there is a pretty good chance that one of their songs will be a theme song for a drama. Sometimes there will be a song during the opening sequence and sponsor list. More commonly, the song will be either an insert song, usually played in the latter half of each episode when there is something dramatic going on, or the closing song. Hana Yori Dango is a good example. One of the most popular dramas in recent years, the lead character is played by Matsumoto Jun of the JE band Arashi. Spanning two seasons, unusual for a Japanese drama, Arashi sings the theme song for each season, with insert songs done by Otsuka Ai and Utada Hikaru, two popular female pop stars.

If a group sings a song for a drama, it often coincides with the release of a new single. As opposed to the American idea of a single which is a single song from an album, a Japanese single is more like an EP, usually containing 2-3 songs and karaoke versions of one or two of them. The trend is that the song will be featured in a commercial for the new drama, then the drama will begin, and a couple of weeks after that, the group’s single will go on sale across the nation.

As mentioned above, the popularity of the idols and the popularity of the dramas go hand in hand. The dramas act as sale-boosting promotional vehicles for the idols; the idols draw in the legions of Japanese fangirls who loyally sit down in front of the T.V. and give the ratings. One excellent example of this is the JE unit Shuuji to Akira. A temporary unit formed to promote the drama Nobuta wo Produce, it was composed of two of the top idols in JE: Kamenashi Kazuya of KAT-TUN, who plays the character Kiritani Shuuji, and Yamashita Tomohisa of NEWS, who plays Kusano Akira. The two idols recorded and single containing three tracks, the theme songs for Nobuta wo Produce, Gokusen, and Dragon Zakura. It sold over a million copies in less than four weeks and became the best selling single of 2005 and the third best selling single of 2006. It was also released in Sweden and entered the Swedish singles chart at #41.

This does not mean that if a member of JE is in a drama, his group automatically does the theme song; still, it happens often, and the male pop star world and the drama world are inextricably linked.

マイ＊ボス マイ＊ヒーロー (My Boss, My Hero)

Image copyright Nippon Television Network Corporation

Title: My Boss, My Hero
Genre: School, Comedy
Episodes: 10
Broadcast network: NTV
Completed Airing?: Yes

Sakaki Makio (Nagase Tomoya) is the tough kid on the block. Twenty-seven years old and the eldest son of a Yakuza (essentially the Japanese Mafia) lord, he has earned the nickname "Tornado" for his awesome fighting skills. He is all set to take over the clan, but for one little problem: he isn't very bright. After making an elementary adding mistake that costs the clan tons of money (20+5+5+5 is less than 27), his frustrated father issues an ultimatum: either graduate from high school or he will give leadership of the clan to Makio's younger brother, Mikio. Makio must pose as a 17 yaer-old student, and if anyone discovers his secret, he will be unable to become the Yakuza boss he seemed destined to be.

Yet again, this is one of those so stupid it's funny dramas. Makio sticks out in class like a sore thumb, and though people comment on it sometimes, they accept it. He is bullied at first, only to befriend Sakurakouji Jun (Tegoshi Yuya), an angsty pretty boy, over the matter of winning pudding. That's right, pudding. But not just any pudding; this pudding is very Special, for every day at lunch the entire school holds a race to try and get their hands on one of twelve daily cups and the students literally trample over each other to win. He slowly wins the rest of the class over as well, especially Umemura Hikari (Aragaki Yui of Papa to Musume no Nanokakan), who he develops a crush on to the point that "the little midget in his chest" is making lots of noise. Their math teacher also starts developing something of a schoolgirl crush on Makio, though she doesn't understand why and doesn't even realize it for a long time.

The acting is stupid. It's supposed to be stupid. Makio especially often makes highly comical faces when he thinks, and it's hard not to laugh when you look at them. Many of the situations are so silly that you can't help but laugh: Makio wins his pudding race by tying the school's flag around his shoulders as a cape and leaping off the roof of one building and flying to the next one over (this was how he learned about parabolas); when Sakurakouji eventually decides that something is strange with Makio and takes a surprise visit to Makio's house, alarms go off and all the Yakuza are forced to hide, which involves grabbing the nearest expensive object and crawling into fireplaces, crouching behind staircases, and shooting Sakurakouji with a dart and using that distraction to move around a fake wall.

Of course, there are the cheesy moments, like when the entire class settles their differences and comes together to all participate in the school talent show, or when Makio's secret is revealed when a rival gang comes to threaten him while he's in school, or the little moral lessons that the school nurse imparts upon occasion. Sakurakouji is also more of a girl than I am. But overall, this drama is worth the watch. I laugh out loud whenever I watch it, and between watching it myself and sitting other people down and forcing them to watch it, I've seen it a good four times or so. Because honestly, stupid IS funny.

My Boss, My Hero Official Site

By the way, here is a video of a parody that a comedy show (similar to MadTV/SNL) did of the first time that Makio participates in the race. The scene is almost an exact replica of the scene in the drama... well, minus the Terminator and Jack Sparrow, that is. Also, there are no subtitles, so a rough translation is below.


Bottom right text: Episode One: Pudding Fight
00:12: Today, I'll absolutely get it. That pudding will be mine... today.
01:13: Ah! My pudding!
02:03 Text: The Terminator impersonation
02:18 Text: Pirates of the Caribbean Johnny Depp impersonation
02:18: I'm not Johnny Depp, I'm Johnny Hiromi! (some sort of joke that I get about as much as you do)

パパとムスメの７日間 (Seven Days of Father and Daughter)

Image Copyright Tokyo Broadcasting System

Title: Papa to Musume no Nanokakan
Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 7
Broadcast network: TBS
Completed Airing?: Yes

Kawahara Kyoichiro (Tachi Hiroshi) is your average salaryman, going to work in a large company, coming home, going to work, coming home. The light of his life is his daughter, Koume (Aragaki Yui). Every evening he sits and watches videotapes of his adorable daughter playing on the beach and saying that she loves him. In reality, however, his teenage daughter no longer speaks to him beyond what is absolutely necessary, and Kyoichiro does not know how to approach her. He can only watch the tapes over and over and over. This changes suddenly one day, when, after a trip to visit Koume's grandmother, there is a terrible train accident and father and daughter cling together. They awaken in the hospital, very alive but also in the wrong bodies! Father has become daughter and daughter has become father. Keeping it from Mama is the least of their worries, not when Kyoichiro faces getting fired at work if his project fails and Koume has tests and love at school to worry about!

I will tell you right now that I'm slightly biased about this drama, as I am one of the people translating it. I originally started watching it thinking that it would be nothing more than amusing, but I found it quite charming, actually, and volunteered my translating services since I developed a soft spot for the drama.

If you hadn't guessed from the summary, this is indeed a Japanese drama version of Freaky Friday. The storyline is pretty predictable, and it's certainly not something that we've never seen before. However, I really liked that it was a father and daughter that made the switch, not the overdone mother and daughter. The main attraction of the drama was watching the two as the opposite sex. What is Koume to do when Mama wants some action and thinks she's curling up to her husband? What is Papa to do when Kenta-senpai ("senpai" is the term for "upperclassman") wants to go on a date with "Koume?"

Watching Aragaki Yui walk and talk like a middle-aged man is amusing enough, but it is Tachi Hiroshi who steals the show. There's something that will never fail to be amusing about an old man texting on a pink, blinged-out cell phone and bouncing around the room squealing like a thirteen year-old, only to have to pause in mid-bounce as Mama enters the room.

Admittedly, some parts of this get boring. There is the requisite Moral Lesson every so often, and the parts at Papa's company aren't the most interesting. The whole part about the affair is also pretty serious, and I would have liked to see a lot more comedy. The ratings for this show were average, nothing spectacular, and a lot of people said that they weren't going to bother watching it. But it's cute, it's short, and you could be watching a lot worse dramas.

Papa to Musume no Nanokakan Official Site

花ざかりの君たちへ (For You in Full Bloom)

Image copyright Fuji TV

Title: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e
Genre: School, Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 12
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Completed Airing?: Yes

If there's one thing to be said about this drama, it's that it's strange in almost every way possible. If you want something serious and heart-wrenching, this is certainly not the drama for you. There are certainly serious moments where the drama goes a little bit overboard, but the main appeal of Hana Kimi is the comedy.

Ashiya Mizuki (played by Horikita Maki) is a Japanese girl growing up in the U.S. who idolizes a Japanese high school athlete named Sano Izumi (Oguri Shun). "Idolizes" might not be the correct word; stalks is probably more like it. So enthralled by the teenaged high jumper is she that Ashiya hops on a plane to Japan, cuts off all her hair, dons a male school uniform, and enrolls in the all-male Ohsaka Gakuen. She winds up in the same class as her idol, only to discover that he doesn't have the greatest personality. Basically, he's quit high jumping and become a ball of emo. Still, she doesn't let this deter her, determined to see him jump once more, even if she has to push him into it. Surprise surprise, the two of them are roommates, giving Ashiya more time to get closer to Sano. But how long can she keep the fact that she's a girl a secret, when she's surrounded by boys?

If you don't let the fact that Horikita Maki looks absolutely nothing like a boy deter you, this drama is one of the most amusing things I've ever seen. The characters overact, which can be annoying, but it's so ludicrous that it's hilarious. I spent a lot of the drama watching all the other, nameless students in the back of the shots making the strangest faces. Then again, the main characters provide plenty enough amusement on their own, especially Nakatsu Shuuichi (Ikuta Toma). Poor little Nakatsu finds the (supposedly) male Ashiya attractive, and he can't for the life of him figure out why. He spends most of the series having a serious mental crisis that includes a number of hilarious mental asides as he thinks things over and gestures to himself.

Of course, this is also a romance drama, though it never gets overly heavy-- could be due to the constant cross-dressing, lie detection machines, and strange school contests. This is one of those dramas that is so far-fetched that it's impossible to even imagine ever being real, and if you even try to take it seriously, you'll just get annoyed by the overacting and so-stupid-it's-funny jokes. Then again, you should know that any drama that begins with the disclaimer, "This drama is fictional, so please excuse us," is going to be silly. It's also not for the homophobic, as boys in dresses and gay jokes abound; two of the regular characters are obviously gay, more are highly suspect, one is worried that he is, and even the straight ones sometimes look better in a dress than I do.

The music for this drama was nothing overly special, and while I am partial to the opening song, the ending song drives me crazy and I can't stand listening to it, though that could just be me. Also, the last episode's ending was longer than the end of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and that's saying something. It's a given that Ashiya would say her farewells to the main characters, but when she literally says goodbye to every single one, it gets annoying and I stopped caring after about five people. I think it was supposed to be emotional, but for myself and the person watching it with me, it had the opposite effect.

This is also not the first time the drama has been adapted from the manga. In 2006 it was aired in Taiwan and ran for 15 episodes, though I haven't seen that version so I can't vouch for it. But if you're a fan of the series, it might be worth looking into.

Hana Kimi Official Site

ライアーゲーム (Liar Game)

Image copyright Fuji TV

Title: Liar Game
Genre: Psychological thriller
Episodes: 11
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Completed Airing?: Yes

Kanzaki Nao is one of those sweet, giving, and above all honest people—so honest, in fact, that people often describe her as “stupidly honest.” She wouldn’t know how to lie to save her life. Unfortunately, it looks like she is going to have to learn, and learn fast. One day she returns home to find a black box sitting outside her door and in it is one hundred million yen (about $870,000) and a video tape explaining to her that she has entered into the Liar Game Tournament. It is now her job to fool her opponent, her former teacher, and steal his money from him. If she wins, she can keep the money; if she loses and her money is stolen, she will be in debt—lots of debt. She goes to her teacher for help, and he easily tricks her out of her money. Nao suddenly finds herself in a very bad situation and the police won't help her at all. With nowhere else to turn, she hunts down the swindler Akiyama Kenichi on the day he is released from prison and begs him for help.

That is where the real game begins.

This drama is absolutely fascinating. It was ranked as the second most satisfactory drama according to a survey done by Oricon Style (a magazine similar to Billboard Magazine), and for good reason. There is something about this drama that hooks you and refuses to let you go right up until the end. A lot of the fun is wondering what you would do if you were in this situation; I almost felt like I was in the game myself while I was watching it. There were a lot of times that I could predict what was going to happen, or at least understand the reasoning behind things that the people in the game were doing--and more often than not, I figured this out, oh, about ten seconds before it was explained. Still, even if I could get a lot of the little pieces, I had no idea whatsoever what was going on overall, and it made the week-long wait until the next episode almost unbearable at times.

It does start to get a little repetitive, especially when they take a while to explain something you've already figured out, and some of the characters are downright annoying and they just won't go away. Still, the soundtrack is absolutely wonderful and you can easily distract yourself with the odd lighting effects and colors. The final episode was extended to three hours as opposed to the usual one, and I was rather annoyed with the fact that almost two hours of that was recap of what had happened in the rest of the series, with a little bit of new footage in between. Still, overall this series is completely worth the time it takes to watch it. Every week I would try to get my roommate to come watch it with me, and nothing from asking to begging to bribing would get her to. Lo and behold, a few weeks ago she randomly watched the first episode and immediately IMed me demanding to know why I hadn't made her watch it while we were in Japan. My reaction was three simple words: "TOLD YOU SO!"

This is a drama that will keep you guessing right up until the end, and I fully maintain that every single person I know should be forced to watch it. What would you do if you were in that situation? How would you cheat the others out of their money? How would you manipulate everyone so that you were able to win? Would you exit if you had the chance, or would you continue on in the tournament with the goal of getting even more money? And why does the man who explains all the rules to the players look like the dude from Saw?

Some things we'll never know.

Liar Game Official Site

Irasshaimase!

Irasshaimase and welcome to Dorama Suki! This blog is intended to offer information about and my opinions on various dramas. Since I am studying Japanese, most of the things reviewed here will be from Japan; however, I am also a fan of Koran dramas and occasionally watch Taiwanese dramas, so reviews of those may sneak in from time to time, and possibly movie reviews as well.

Japanese dramas in a nutshell:

Just as with American dramas, there are various genres of Japanese dramas, from the “soaps” to those targeted at a younger audience. This blog will deal with the latter, the trendy/post-trendy dramas. These are dramas different from their predecessors. They emerged starting around 1990, often dealing with love, home life, and social issues. They are named “trendy” dramas because they are about people living glamorous lifestyles and doing glamorous things—in other words, these are dramas that target a fairly young core demographic.

Other types of Japanese dramas:
Asadora- lit. “morning drama.” These dramas began on NHK broadcasting channel (similar to PBS, only on a much larger scale). Targeted toward the middle-aged housewives, these dramas run every morning for 15 minutes and can go on for years. A very famous one is called Osshin, which ended after 294 episodes.
Jidaigeki- lit. “period dramas.” These dramas generally take place in the Edo period, from around 1600 to 1868. Sort of like Westerns only with samurai.
Tokusatsu- lit. “special effects.” These are the dramas with superheroes, monsters, and giant robots. Think Power Rangers.

There are four three-month seasons in Japanese dramas: Spring (April-June), Summer (July- September), Autumn (October-December), and Winter (January-March). While Japanese trendy dramas tend to run 9-12 weeks, one episode per week, Korean dramas usually run between 16-24 episodes and air twice a week. Surprisingly, new episodes of Japanese dramas are filmed only two to three weeks before they are aired, which means that scripts for dramas are flexible and often change based on audience reception of the drama. Ratings are important to dramas, and some have argued that the golden age of dramas is over; rarely does a current drama get above 20% ratings. Still, the selection of actors for and the music in a drama play a large role in achieving good ratings. It is rare for a Japanese drama to have a sequel, though this happens more often with dramas from other East Asian countries.

Asian and Korean dramas especially are rapidly gaining popularity not just in Asia, but all around the world. The other year there was even an article in the CSU newspaper about Korean dramas and how more and more people are beginning to watch them. Overall, people find them less violent and racy than American dramas and the like, generally more about true love than having sex every two seconds. With many of these dramas available either on the internet or for sale and the large number of people who volunteer their time to translate these dramas for the rest of the world, it is no surprise that their popularity continues to spread.

If you have thoughts or comments on any of the dramas I review, or would like me to review a specific drama, just let me know! :)

In the meantime, I leave you with a Bobby Lee MadTV parody of Korean dramas: