Betsuni

Damn bruh, why so much hate for the system? Not every cop is a bad person. This ain't America

I chuggled as well. But surely it must be an adlib? It was randomly inserted. Probably they were filming it on the day that Gakky announced it and they just inserted it for fun.

I like it. I have the feeling that it will be sismance vs bromance-type comedy with an overarching serious plot. They managed to get big names for this drama with Toda, Nagano, Miura, Yamada and Nishino.

Haha, “Why is Gakky getting married?”

Kdrama really tries to use an actor and portray him as some prince. Many people think that the actor in real life is also like that and call them oppa.

But honestly choosing between S1 and S2 is like splitting hairs. Both will stand the test of time in my opinion.

You must like Dragon Zakura 2 a lot, because you listed it twice in your top ten on your profile ;-)

Although I must say that both seasons were top-notch, I think I enjoyed the first season slightly more. Although S2 is a much more complex, exciting and appealing story, the first season had characters I really rooted for. In the first season, the students were underdogs in life - basically lowlifes. I was rooting for Yajima, Mizuno and Okuna much more than Fuji or even Hayase and Amano. I strongly believe that the kids in S2 would land well on their feet even if they did not go to Todai. I am not sure about those of S1. The kids in S1 were attending a run down inner public school and had dysfunctional families, the ones of S2 were attending private school (albeit a shitty one). Heck, Yajima was so poor that he could not even attend uni, whilst in S2 these kids had Keio, Waseda and Aoyama Gakuin (private universities) as safety schools. Plotwise I do think S2 is better, but S1 hits my emotions harder.

BTW I disagree that the golden age is 2000-2010 for jdorama. The golden age started somewhere in the nineties. You cannot sleep on Long Vacation, Love Generation, Beach Boys, GTO and many more!

Yes, Nogi Mariko is real. She is still the wife of Muranishi. I would say that 80% is real, but the side stories might be exaggerated.

According to the Japanese Wikipedia, Toshi is modeled after 山田光俊. I do think that they might have spiced up the life story, but Toshi is a real person.

You have a point there, but Taki and Nishiuchi are not comparable cases. Taki is not necessarily blacklisted after his coke scandal. He is what I call "soft" cancelled. He just need to duck the limelight for a bit and he will slowly make his return. Mariya dissed arguably the most powerful Jumisho in Japan. I believe Rising is affiliated with Burning. But I am happy that Netflix does not give a rat's ass about the hierarchy in Japan, unlike a TBS or something.

Dramas such as Rikokatsu are peak Japan. This drama has the highest satisfaction ratings amongst the Japanese general public together with Dragon Zakura 2 for all the spring dramas.

It is very hard to find accessible doramas with a romance theme. If you want to enjoy them, it is important to familiarise yourself with the Japanese institutions regarding family, marriage, divorce and sex life. If you understand the patriarchal hierarchy of Japan, then you will like these doramas. Because Japanese writers put a lot effort in personal and psychological development.

For more western-style type of romance, I think kdramas are much better. But most kdramas lack any plot and depth IMO. They just found a tropey formula that works and try to dupe the world with their "swooney oppas".

Apparently Yamapi was not blacklisted: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2410830fc65b28d7deb7952060241d160a28f5c1

I wonder how many of the kids will be next Yamapi, Gakky and Maa-chan in 16 years

Yamapi is back in Japan according to his instagram, but I think the reason that he did not appear can also be because he is not a Johnny anymore. Surely, he is blacklisted by this powerful Jumisho one way or another. Even if he is still Yamapi.

Yeah, Tsunematsu deserves much more fame. I find it brave that she took this role, but people with her kind of beauty normally do not take on these kind of explicit roles - Netflix production or not.

It's going to be awesome! What would the rating be? Definitely 20%+, perhaps 25%? Heaven and Hell also did 20%+ for the final episode and they did not have all these cameos.

I just watched Season 2 and it was dark... like real dark. No other spoilers from me, but definitely worth the watch.

Look, I am not here to convince you. On the question whether I am irritated by your tone? - Yes, I am. Because your rant is rude and disrespectful towards her kids, husband and perhaps even the actress. Sure, the kids and husband will not go on this website and read the comment section, but it just irks me the wrong way that there are people like you that write whole conspiracy theories about dead people. There is of course the possibility that she was murdered, but for now most of the evidence points at a tragic suicide. Unless you have concrete proof, try to abstain as much from writing these type theories or write it in a more nuanced manner. You are lucky that you are not living in Japan, because these types of comments will get you sued for defamation.

I find the characters of Toshi, Kawada and Sayaka actually the most interesting. Also good to see Nishiuchi Mariya acting again after getting blacklisted by Rising. I wonder how she managed to circumvent the ban... Might give a little hope to actresses such as Rena Nounen, who witnessed the same faith after pissing off her agency.

The attention of Nao has shifted from Kaede to Mari, but Mari seems to be popular also with Kenta and Fujii. Although I am not sure about Kenta (he might see her as a big sister).