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