MaSuNaRa

I love Engine too!! Great performances and super interesting plot!
However, I didn't enjoy Mr.Brain at all, and pride though has 2 of my most favorite actors (Kimura & Takeuchi) I found too cliched (well it's a GetsuKu so that might be normal), but I also didn't fancy Kimutaku's character a lot & I especially hated his cheesy "Maybe" line X(

Comedy is not bad, I just feel his choice of stories and characters has kind of dropped, in the past it felt like he only did the worthwhile and unique characters, now most of his characters are no where being unique.
I know it can be difficult to watch old shows if you're only used to watching the later ones, but I think you should give shows like Long vacation a try, it's a definite classic and a must watch for KimuTaku fans, since it's the show that shot him to stardom.

From what I see of your favorites, I'd guess you might enjoy:
(J) Mother > A definite tear-jerker and a super touching story, Awesome performances (watch out for an acting prodigy) and nice OST
(J) Change > Political drama with a great firm story that shades light on the system of the politics in Japan. Not much romance so perfect for you ;-) , Great cast + KimuTaku is the lead -that says it all-
(K) City hall > Politics and comedy and romance all mixed together, super performance & I ADORE the OST too!
(K) You're Beautiful > reading the synopsis I guess you might not feel tempted to watch but this imo is a must watch! It's very funny and though I don't fancy gender-bender plots a lot, I still found this one very nicely done. Plus it would be safe to watch coz there's only a few K-Drama fans who haven't ^_~

unfortunately the ones you've mentioned I have yet to see, in fact Chuno was on my to-watch list for a long time but thanks to some user here on MDL who spoiled the ending in one of his comments I don't feel like watching any more :(
Tonbi I was recommended to watch by a friend and plan to watch next isA! Glad you like it too!

Cheesiness differs from one person to another, what you find cheesy other might find super cute and lovable ;-)
Though I admit that of course RomComs have more ground for being cheesy than other genres, but I still need to know exactly which shows did you find cheesy in order for me to guess your standards ;-)))
Hidden Gems? well that's also a very subjective thing, but I'll do my best.
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HanaDan was certainly a lot better imo.
Don't you think it a little fast for you to decide that most romcoms are cliched without watching more dramas? I mean most of your watched media are movies, I personally think you should watch more K-Dramas.
I'd love to know what type of plots exactly do you find cliched? There are numerous types of cliches in K-Dramas you know, like the usual love story between the rich spoiled Chaebol & the innocent and independent poor woman, with the chaebol's mother opposing of course ;-)
The usual cliches in melos revolve around two who fall in love while children, fate separates them for a long time only to get reunited again and eventually someone either gets caught in an accident and loses his/her memory or dies or discovers he suffers from a fatal disease :D
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friend request Accepted! :D
Thanks a lot!! Haha
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Would have loved to leave it at that to immitate your comment ;-) but I can't resist talking as usual. *^_^*
I see we have a lot of common favorites ;-)

So any gem discoveries lately? I'd love to get recommendations from a rarely-gives-a-10-rating viewer ;-))

Al salam 3alaykom Jasmine ;-)
Awalan ramadan kareem atmanna tekoony be 5eer we el7amdullilah fe el awda3 el sa3ba elly benmor beha fe masr.
^_^ Ana sa3eeda ennek 3amalteely add, mabsoa dayman enny a2abel asa7ab masreyeen hena.
I agree with you that deciding your favorite genres would take a little more time to watch more shows, coz at this point u might be generalizing a whole genre just watching one drama .
Btw, I never watched the whole korean version boys over flowers but only a few scenes on tv dubbed, and I HATED IT. I was afraid it would destroy my memories of the original Japanese version (which my first JDorama btw) so I chose not to watch it and I still believe I made the right choice.
I can give u some recommendations if u could tell me which o the dramas you've watched did you particularly enjoy.

I'm glad you liked it.
I'll try giving it a try sometime when I'm finished with the shows at the top of plan-to-watch list ;-)
Thanks for sharing your impressions with me :-)

I'm glad you liked it.
I'll try giving it a try sometime when I'm finished with the shows at the top of plan-to-watch list ;-)
Thanks for sharing your impressions with me :-)

Thanks for accepting my friend request ^_^
I'm glad too that we share favorites ^_~
KimuTaku is an old addiction of mine.
Though Compared to his latest few dramas (starting Mr.Brain), his earlier ones were by far better.
I love most of his earlier dramas up to that point except a few (like sora kara furu ichioku no hoshi)
I wish he would be able to create great dramas like change once more and stop acting the shallow characters he've playing lately.

Hi!! Thanks for accepting my friend request. ^_^
Ramadan Kareem (^o^) Hope you're doing great ;-)
Your genre choices, I agree with ;-)
Romance melodrama is too dramatic and sad for my tastes too.
Especially since Koreans LOVE to make people get sick with incurable deseases or go blind or get amnesia :D

Nice article! :-)
I have watched all of the three dramas mentioned in your list.
oh my girl! I've watched ages ago and didn't really fancy, so I can hardly remember it or the girl for that matter
As for my girl, I remember how I felt that the little kid's acting was far better than Aiba's :-)))
NatsuNiji...I like that drama a lot & watched already twice but a strange thing is that I can hardly recall the kid at all...!! Might be coz she had MatsuJun and my all time favorite actress Takeuchi Yuko at her side stealing all the lights, but I believe it's mostly due to the fact that the plot evolved most of the time around the relationship between the two main leads and how it developed.
I can see you have Mother on your PtW list, I assure you that when you do, Ashida mana will for sure rightfully take the first place on your list ;-)
Looking forward to your next article

I haven't watched "she is wow" yet, but it has an iteresting plot, positive reviews & high viewer ratings...so GO FOR IT!
Please do tell me your impression of it if you ever watch it :-)

Well, I shouldn't be watching anything during Ramadan (family rules that I'm all for) but this year I can't seem to resist the temptation and have been watching a bit of Jdorama and Kdrama :-( bad me
How about you?

First of all, Ramadan Kareem 3aleeky!! Hope you're doing great ;-)
Well, you're welcome! But I notice you haven't accepted my request yet :)))

I can't tell coz I never watched it, but I hear the action choreography was good in CH, when I said comical I was referring to the plot rather than the action scenes.
Well, History of the Salaryman I only knew through the promotional poster while it was airing back in 2012 ( it has a bit of unique poster that left an impression on me), however I never considered watching it until I read some very high reviews of it (nearly all if it's reviews on MDL are positive ones) with a lot of them stating they thought it is definitely downrated, so I thought of giving it a try ;-)
here's the DramaWiki link for it:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/History_of_the_Salaryman

tania sanawy!!!
Tania sanawy elly heyya maba2etsh sanaweyya 3amma walla lessa sanaweyya 3amma?
rabbena ye3enek 3ala el 3omom.

Al Salam Alaykom!! takabal Allah menna wa menkom Al seyam.
GREAT!! we can exchange favorites ;-)

It's great that your first encounter with KimuTaku was priceless and yet you still ended up as a fan!!! that drama though having hilariously funny parts imo was lacking a lot on other aspects other than comedy. plus it had some verrry unrealistic twists that made my jaw drop with tongue out :)))

Long Vacation is one of those classics, that anyone who considers himself a JDorama fan SHOULD watch at least once. It is one of the rare dramas that I rewatched fully right after finishing. I fell in the love with all the characters but above all I was entertained by the fast-paced witty script.
Change also is a must watch for all KimuTaku fans, and Hero is one of my personal favorites that Never fails to entertain me no matter how much I watch.
WoW! I haven't talked about Kimutaku lately, it bring back a lot of memories! Now I feel like rewatching a show of his all of a sudden ;-)

Innocent man was kind of a new experience to me, since I don't watch much melodramas or revenge plots, but I'm so glad I watched it because of a lot of things one of which is of course coz I got to meet Song Joong ki ;-)

Hmm, a lot of people talk highly of City hunter but I'm not so much into action, and to be honest I never felt tempted to watch it reading the plot...it somehow has a certain comical feeling about it that it makes sense it's an old Japanese animation's adaptation. I know I'm wrong though and that I shouldn't judge without giving it a try. (><)

Right now I'm watching I hear your voice. Just one episode through so I have yet to form my impression of it. Next I was planning to watch Queen In hyun's man & Then history of Salaryman.

Thanks a lot for accepting my friend request!!
I'm delighted we have common favorites ~_^

My history with Kimura Takuya is a long one. -Enters the Storytelling mode :)))-
When I was in my second year at college I watched Kareinaru Ichizoku (which was his latest show at the time) and was amazed at Kimutaku's acting skills, so I ended up watching all of his shows that I could get my hands on all in one go (like what they call marathon viewing).
What I loved about KimuTaku was not just his acting or charisma, I also appreciated his choice of characters and how he managed to play a different type of character each and every time, you can try making a list of the jobs he played and you won't find two similar ones amongst the list.

I have to admit though that his latest shows like Mr Brain, Tsuki no koibito & priceless were nothing close to his older shows and were quite disappointing to me. Somehow it started to feel like I was watching the "Kimura Takuya" acting in a drama written just for him with the story revolving around him, it somehow feels he's so full of himself (well I honestly don't blame him :D)

I have yet to watch Nankyoku Tairiku but unfortunately I don't have much expectations for that one either.

P.S. I find your user name kind of amusing, you might be a "new" addict as you say time-wise, but considering the number of dramas you've watched you're definitely not "new" :D