2000s Japanese Drama/Movie Chat - Discussions & Recommendations

Sep 4, 2025 07:45 pm

Ah thanks for reminding me of Deru Toko. I remember watching this for Horikita Maki but totally forgotten the story. And I think I watched some Kabakura drama too but not really sure if it's Jotei. I confused it with Jyouou. But looking at the cast I think high chances it's Jotei. LoL

I liked both Shinigami no Ballad and Real Clothes. Loss time life I only watched few earlier episodes then put it on hold because of the sub delay.

Thanks for the other recommendations!

RainyEvenings

Sep 5, 2025 02:37 am

Aethra:
Here are some less popular dramas from that period that I watched:
Tsubasa no Oreta Tenshitachi (2006-2007) - two seasons
Deru Toko Demasho! (2007)
Jotei (2007)
Shinigami no Ballad (2007)
100 Scene no Koi (2008)
Camouflage (2008)
Keiji no Genba (2008-2009) - two seasons
Loss:Time:Life (2008)
Ketsuekigatabetsu Onna ga Kekkon Suru Hoho (2009)
Real Clothes (2009)
TEIOH (2009)
They can be found with English subtitles.
All older Kimura Takuya's dramas are good. His dramas actually inspired me to start watching Japanese dramas. I had only watched films before.

His daughter is up and coming seiyuu, she voiced many anime characters .

I saw one of his first dramas appearances in Furuhata Ninzaburo, he had really long hair back then..

Hystericmoon Author

Sep 5, 2025 05:00 am

Tsubasa no Oreta Tenshitachi appeals to me so I've book marked that one for later. Thanks

I watched real clothes years ago but can barely remember it now. I watched it all so I enjoyed it enough. Been meaning to rewatch now I know the language.

I like Amami Yuki but I don't really like the types of shows she typically gets cast in, all the crime shows etc. I've never really got into Japanese the ott crime stuff and find some often have large leaps in plausiblity. I tried Galileo once because it was so popular but found the first episode a bit ridiculous tbh. Might try again sometime because I do love Shibasaki Kou and it feels pop culturally significant now. I fel the same with BOSS, I may have just picked bad choices.

Hystericmoon Author

Sep 5, 2025 09:10 am

Yeah mixed with ugly Betty which was also on air aroudn this time. There was a lot of parallels with popular American shows I noticed then. SCANDAL fet like a Japanese attempt at desperate housewives

TimiZero

Sep 5, 2025 03:52 pm

Hystericmoon:
find some often have large leaps in plausiblity.

I think many crime solving dramas are suffered from this but that's what it is. The fun is for solving the tricks. In Galileo for example, people wanted to see the science behind the crimes albeit some of them have almost less than 0.1% rate of success. It's from Higashino Keigo btw, so that also explained its popularity.

Aethra:
"Jyouou" is more on the explicit side, a lot of nudity.

Yeah I realized after checking the cast yesterday. That's why I confirmed it was Jotei that I watched. Hahaha...

Caie

Sep 5, 2025 10:42 pm

Yuuki (2006) is a movie that has stayed with me for 15 years

autumn iris

Sep 5, 2025 11:30 pm

I'm starting Osen. Aoi Yu looks or feels a bit similar with Kuroki Haru, has the same comforting personality on screen.

Oh, I didn't realized that we could also recommend movies.

Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name were maybe the two best movies in 2000s. I can't stand and dropped the drama that was made after that. But the movies, were awesome. I got goosebump especially at the end of part 2 just as much as the manga. Told the story about a powerful book that could determined someone's death. Kira, a smart high school boy whose dad was a police officer, found a death note accidentally and start killing criminals using it. But when he was about to get caught, he started killing even the innocent people who could expose him.

Lovely Complex was a rom-com about the tallest girl in the class falling in love with the shortest boy in the class.

Nobody Knows was one of my recent 2025 watch (because I was into title with children a few months ago). Based on real life story, it told the living condition of several children during months of abandonment as their mother left them after finding a new man in another city.

Ring 0: Birthday told the tragic life Sadako had when she was still alive and how she ended up in the well, very sad...

Touch was Adachi Mitsuru's another adaptation about a brother trying his best to fulfil his late brother's dream.

Hystericmoon Author

Sep 6, 2025 02:25 pm

I decided to just put movies & dramas together as forum activities aren't what they used to be. Also feel like Japanese drama/movies are sadly just not as popular in the west as they used to. It's seems to be pretty dominated by korean media now. Even this site recommends me endless korean tv shows depiste me never having watched one, lol. I did watch a fair share of the popular Korean movies from the 2000s though and A Tale of Two Sisters is perhaps one of my favourite movies of all time, but I havn't logged any of them on here as I'm only logging things on rewatches as some of these films I havnt seen in 20 years now.

Anyway it's been great to just hear from others who still watch alot of Japanese drama. Obviously, a huge drive for me is for language reasons and I'm sure there's equality interesting shows from other countries but I get so much more out of this from a learning experience too, and tbh after living here for almost 15 years now the settings and locations are just familiar and basically home now for me.

Anyway...

I remember enjoying Ring 0 but it has been year.So many great movies in the 2000s for sure. Probably how I first got into Japanese media as it gradually started to pierce the west with the J-horror wave and big movies like Battle Royale being shown on even terrestrial TV channels, in the UK.

I rewatched Battle Royale recently and still think it holds up as a cinema classic.I thought the sequel was utterly awful though.

I actually watched Ju-on: The Curse for the first time last year and thought it was actually very good for its budget and scope. I did think Ju-on: The Curse 2 was weaker but I was surprised how well these films worked together as a prequel to the better known Ju-on: The Grudge. I actually never really cared for this movie and thought the America remake made for a better film. I was also under the totally wrong impression that it was just a theatrical remake of the previous straight to video films. It really works much better as movie if you have seen the previous films and alot of the extra stuff in the remake came from them too I noticed.

Actually one of my favourite horrors from the j-horror boom was Dark Water . Kuroki Hitomi was wonderful in it and I really need to rewatch it now she is one of my favourite drama actresses.

K-20: Legend of the Mask - Really good fun, I watched this on a plane once to Japan and it was a really good time. Reminds me of those fun 80s and 90s big adventure movies. In fact just looking it up and wow I actually know who alot of the cast are now that I did not at the time. I had no idea who Matsu Takako and Nakamura Toru were when I first saw this but I'm literally watching dramas starring both of them right now.

The Happiness of the Katakuris is still one of the most silly fun films I've seen. I like the original Korean movie too. The originaly was a black comedy, This one is a black comedy horror musical. It's fab.

I can't tell you much about it but I definitely remember enjoying Memories of Matsuko .

Casshern - Actually really enjoythis movie even if I feel like I'm the only person who does. I think it was grossly mismarketed as super hero action flick and it really isn't. The trailer is a horrible bait and contains almost as much action as the entire film. The film works alot better when viewed as a drama and social commentary about humanity. It can be a bit preachy but I really liked the filming and it had a very unique aesthetic and soundtrack at the time. Think anyone looking forAction, Tokusatsu, as its tagged is going to be sadly disappointed.

Hystericmoon Author

Sep 6, 2025 05:27 pm

I've been enjoying a fair few modern Japanese of late. I can't say I've noticed a westernization in the one's I watch but maybe it depends on genre and perhaps not the Netflix made ones. Secret Makeover was decent and I'm currently really enjoying 18/40: Futari Nara Yume mo Koi mo and Midsummer, Grasping Love and Their Marriage. I've just started The Diamond Sleeping in the Sea and it's beautiful so far. I've seen very few modern movies however.

Anyway back to the 2000s Kegaretashita just got added on TVer and I'm probably going to try to watch that (although I have a ridiculous amount of shows from Tver to keep up with now).

Iijima Naoko is in it and I've been watching her in the 2001 dramam, Koi wo Nannen Yasundemasu ka and I really like her in it so I'm going to try her in this. Only 6.0 on the ratings but I honestly feel ilke so much I watch thats older has bad ratings on here. And more modern but kinda fluff or BL stuff has higher ratings. Each to their own and there is a place for everything but I'm realising the ratings on popularthings are probably just people with very different tastes to me.

Anyone watched it?

Anyone watching anything from 2000s atm? I kinda just thought to make this a space to share what your watching too rather than just lists of recommendations. I needed a place to ramble on about shows I'm watching haha.

Hystericmoon Author

Sep 6, 2025 05:40 pm

What I'm currently watching:

Over 30 (2009) - 31/40 episodes into this afternoon drama. It's really fluffy and honestly not that great but its also incredably harmless. I'm largely interested in it because I know a fair few of the filming locations. I also saw the lead Yuui Ryoko in Stalker: Nigekirenu Ai which I really liked (although i hated her character). It's quite good for some language practice I guess. I started it after a very long break from watching anything and have just been slowly watching it off and on on Hulu. (I think the title sounding like Around 40 appealed and I'm also in my late 30s now so gravitating more to older casts now)

14-sai no Haha 6/11 episodes into rewatching this. Holds up really well andI forgot how good the acting is. A few of my fave actresses are as good asI remembered, but I forgot how good Namase Katsuhisa is as the father, a few scenes were really powerful. Anyway it's fun to revisit but I really dislike the journalist sideplot and really couldn't care for the forced drama there. Just following her pregnancy and the family drama is enough IMO.

I've mostly paused those two as TVer just dumped aload of stuff I want to watch and they have time limits...

Koi no Jikan 1/10 - This is a lovely rewatch, I first saw this when I rented it years ago and it's always had a special place in my memoryas one of the early shows I watched when I was feeling good enough with the language. I love the two leads and it's fun to rewatch as I can't remember any of the story really. I recommend it if you like romances and stories about older women/sisters.

Shiawase no Shippo - 1/12 - A very odd drama so far. I'm not really sure what it's about or where it's going yet. I guess it's about a father and daughter trying to establish a relationship with each other since he has been absent all her life. I'm enjoying the really early 2000s vibes and hair and clothes. The story is too early to tell. Not bad but also kinda a nothing drama right now. I'll stick with it for now but it's the least interesting on TVer atm.

Koi wo Nannen Yasundemasu ka - 2/10 I'm up to date with this one on Tver and man I want more. I really like this drama, I don't know why really as the story is nothing super fresh or new. It just feels like it's done so well. It had good success with tv ratings and got a special so I can't have been the only one who felt this way. I think its really just a mixture of good writing and a really strong cast. The 3 female leads just have this lovely chemistry and the dialogue is really charming. I just love the scenes where they sit around and chat.