1980s Japanese Drama/Movie Chat - Discussions & Recommendations

Hi there. I really like watching drama from the 80s and wondered if there are others out there who do too. 

I thought it would be nice to chat with other people who watch alot of movies and shows from this era and just make a space for people to chat and follow each other etc, in one place.  I think they do get alot less attention likely due to lack of retroactive fansubtitles and just being older tbh.  

 
I find I'm alot more tolerant on the quality and can just enjoy the vibe of the era and looking at a time in Japan that I wasn't here to see. I love looking at the clothes and music and even old food labels and shops. 

Anyway thought I would start a thread if anyone else wants to discuss or share things they have watched. Even finding place to watch some of these more obscure titles can be quite difficult. 

Anyway just to get the ball rolling, I watched Meitantei wa hitoribocchi last year on youtube after the algorithm suddenly threw upon me. It was very much a tv movie special quality but I enjoyed the goofiness of it. I quite like the male lead (as far as teen idols go) after seeing him in  Pro Golfer Reiko which I've watched a bit of and find hilariously silly. 

Likewise I watched Best Friend - ningen kousaten yori but I actually thought this ended up rather wretched as it went on and I just didn't really understand the characters anymore or care about story. The first half was really good fun though with some lovely scenes in a discotheque and shops. I guess I enjoyed the setting of the film but not really the story.  

On a more serious side while it's not set in the 80s I absolutely loved 1983's Amagigoe , I thought it was such a beautiful film, big recommend from me. 

I'm currently slowly watching Sailor fuku doori  off and on, and tbh it's not that great overall but it's also very much a teen drama. The acting is pretty bad from the lead girls but the overall vibe of the show is light hearted. Ngl, I'm mostly watching it because I love the theme song My Revolution by Watanabe Misato. 

Think next on my list is rewatching and finishing Waka okusama wa udemakuri, I rather enjoyed what I saw and I find Nakayama Miho so adorable. 

Anyway, I would love to hear some of your favourite 80s shows, no matter how obscure. Hopefully I can track some down to watch too and get some ideas. 

 autumn iris:

Wow, you have access to 80s Japanese drama? Did it has english subtitle? Can you please share me the website address? Thank you in advance.

I was trying to search for Kimi ga Uso wo Tsuita (1988) to no avail. And I only found one episode of Sekai de Ichiban Kimi ga Suki (1990) on youtube. 

I was checking my completed list and I didn't list any J-dorama before 1991. Sorry that I don't have any titles I already watched, but you could check both of the previous titles. I heard they're good.

Unfortunately I do not. I can speak Japanese so I can watch them without subs. I know raredorama has some good old stuff but alot of it doesn't have subtitles. 

I watched Amagigoe on Hulu Japan and it had Japanese subtitles which always helps me to follow alot easier. 

I'm also interested in 90s drama too and was going to make a similar post to this one for 90s too, later. 

Thanks for the recommendations, I sometimes listen to Kudo Shizuka's music so I would be interested to watch her in something. I had the 2nd one already book marked but not the first.

Best Friend "Ningen Kosaten" Yori does have fan subs and I do believe you can find them in the comments section on the MDL page for it.

Edit - 

Actually the same livejournal that has Best friend on it has other stuff from the 80s it seems 

Yume ni Mita Hibi looks interesting to me as I love Momoi Kaori . I'm also already watching  Sano Ryoko in a drama, Anata ni aitakute  and shes really cute. 

I'll probably check this one out. 

Hi @hystericmoon. Thanks for making this thread. It's always nice to see fellow vintage Japanese drama/movie lovers around this part. The pandemic got me hooked on old Japanese movies, but I think I've watched more movies from the 50s and 60s than the ones from the 80s?

I started the famous Stewardess Monogatari last month and it's as over the top as it's rumored to be, but I think I'm going to watch it very slowly, when the mood hits. I've watched even fewer 80s dramas, but I quite liked the 1982 adaptation of Matsumoto Seicho's Kurokawa no Techo, which was grittier than the most recent version (made in 2017).

I watched Kaito Ruby recently. What an incredibly fun movie, and by God, Koizumi Kyoko and Sanada Hiroyuki are very cute (and very young) there. Highly recommended to anyone who loves fluffy, 80s goodness.

Stewardess Monogatari is one of my childhood Jdramas. The dubbed version was aired on our local TV in the 80's alongside with few others like Moero Attack, Kamen Rider Black, and the legendary Oshin.  I might not fully understand the plot as a kid but I still remember how Stewardess Monogatari being so much different than the popular American series like A-Team or Knight Rider, especially when the drama focuses on workplace/real-job unlike the American series at that time.

However few years ago when this drama became available online, I tried to rewatch it RAW. But to my surprise I was surprised by the "unique" acting of the female lead during the first episode....LoL Now that this series has been fully subbed in English, I'm still not so sure if I want to watch it again....but who knows one day.

As a kid I was obviously more attracted to Moero Attack and Kamen Rider though. I have been looking for Moero Attack but to no avail. If I remember correctly, this drama was amazing and inspiring. Although the release year was 1979, I guess it's borderline 80's. 

Now back to the present me. I think I feel neutral about 80's dramas. I'm not bothered by VHS aesthetic but I'm looking for interesting plot. Then the availability factors play a big role too. On a different note, I just realized the 80's dramas on my completed list are all historical....lol 

PS: I think I will share this LIST to anyone who might be looking for 80's dramas with Eng Sub. It is prepared by @GEO9875, the person who do the fansub. Note that the list contains all of his work which includes some 80's titles as well. He was also the one who fansubbed Stewardess Monogatari.

I've recently started watching aishiatteru kai, only 1 episode in so far but it's very....cringey but somehow fun. Pretty much what you would expect of a Japanese 80s raunchy comedy. It's one of those popular bubble boom "trendy dramas" and I was curious to check one out. 

Quite blown away how this was such a hit though with ratings (maybe less choice at the time). I don't hate it though. It's actually appealing in it's goofy way. Japanese comedy can be very love/hate with me but this has enough downtime that I might just enjoy the story. I'm hoping the characters mellow as it goes on. I'm largely just curious to watch this because it has an average viewership ratings of 22.6% .

It's on youtube and with English subs if anyone else is interested but be warned its very "of its time" and very 80s raunchy Japan even if it is 1989.  

Yes. I forgot the idol power. That’s likely one reason. TV also just used to be so different. With so much choice and streaming now it much rarer for  shows will hit high % much  anymore.