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I see... Hmmm, I'll have to think about it, thanks!

Regarding Shinzanmono, I think there are various shades of sexism and some people tolerate some shades easier than others. For example, I can live with small number of female characters or male gaze. I can even stomach cutesy fanservicey female characters. What I hate, though, is gender violence and condescending attitudes towards women.

So I won't hold it against a show if it features the lone cute but air-headed woman. But if the male character is pontificating to that girl or lecturing her on stuff that she knows better, I'm out.

Higashino Keigo's male characters, unfortunately, just love to pontificate. And the story usually proves them right.

I'll add details about The Wings of the Kirin below to put a spoiler tag.

Haha at first I thought you meant River's Edge with Yoshizawa Ryo XD

I'd check it but I've heard it's very sexist. Shinzanmono is very sexist as well, isn't it? I've tried Wings of the Kirin and didn't like it.

Oh, come one. Of course stuff like Handan is full of hyperbole and exaggerated reactions, but most stories that are not comedies are pretty realistic. Moreover, J-dramas has no glamour so you won't see a poor girl wearing Gucci there unlike in every other K-drama.

Other info from the poster: One Ok Rock will write a theme song; Kitamura Kazuki is in the cast.

From news sites: Tsuchia Tao promised very cool action.

Update (Credit to Psycho-Drama https://t.co/6IwedF5NsB): Otoo Takuma will play Woo Heishin (that Enishi's henchman who brought 4 identical warriors in the last part of the story for everyone to fight) and Kitamura Kazuki will play Yaminobu's Tatsumi (that final boss from Tsuioku hen).

Both of them are on the posters. The man 8n White is still a mystery.

I figure out what the deal with that guy with swords is! He is Enishi's spy in Shishio's faction. It was supposed to be Gain but a) they used Gain in the first movie b) they forgot to add Gain's stand-in in kyoto arc.

Makes sense!

Hoho! Aoshi and Misao are back! And Misao looks badass!

That guy with multiple swords from Kyoto arc is also back - why?? I don't remember him there.

The villains look cringy but at least there is no Venom in sight.

I'm also disappointed that there are air baloons. They were crindge from manga I would be happy to leave behind.

I also don't see the guy in white from the trailer or the old man.

Yeah, no matter how much I was disappointed I can't help but admire the Stranger. It is a brilliant show! Have you watched Hanzawa Naoki by any chance? It's famous corporate J-drama that aired in 2013 and was watched by half the population of Japan, it's iconic. But when I watched it recently, all I could think about is that the main character wouldn't last a day in Western Seoul Prosecutor Office X)

I should definitely give it a try then!

About the Stranger: The female lead is one of those female characters I truly love. She's my ultimate fave. The male lead is utterly loveable as well, I have no complaints here.

I have two main reasons to be disappointed in the Stranger.

Firstly, killing off male lead's love interest (and she was love interest what with classic romance tropes and all) just so that the male lead could have an emotion is one of the most cheap sexist storytelling devices there is. Exacerbated by the fact that of course even our emotionless hero would finally (melodramatically) feel something for the poor plucky girl who pursued him all this time. But, alas, it's too late!

I also didn't like the fact that of course the young female prosecutor would be the love interest. Of course there are only two women in prosecution, both young and gorgeous, one of them is a secretary, and another have the hots for the male lead. Ah, this is so frustrating.

I'm sorry if I sound acerbic but I was so in love with the show I felt the sexism like a personal betrayal.

Perhaps, such an amazing in every sense female lead could only exist (while not having a romance with male lead) by offloading all the sexist bullshit on another female character.

I also must admit that Signal has its lion share of sexism too so I understand that K-dramas are not there yet and I shouldn't be so critical.

The other thing I didn't like was the reveal about who was the 'villain'. I was so rooting for that friend of the male lead to turn out to be some classic villain with white persian cat and obsession with the male lead. Instead, the villain was the guy you could point out in the first episode. It's like they spend the whole show by desperately trying to shift the blame elsewhere. The drama turned out to be about corruption and all the exciting mystery stuff was a red-herring.

In other words, they completely fooled me (how dare they XD). I was expecting mystery but it was, in fact, a political drama. Moreover, it seemed like they used the exciting mystery stuff to keep your attention till the end when they turn around and shove some heavy moralisation down your throat while you are still reeling from the plot reveal.

Sexism and red-herrings aside, I immensely enjoyed the game of wits (honestly, Seoul prosecutors office is like the most dangerous place in the world, you can trust no one) and charismatic characters face-offs. The dry storytelling is my favourite as well. I just wish there were less fanservicey romance, murders of love-interests, and moralisations.

Yes, exactly, K-dramas are big on portraying the injustice! It's often hard to swallow.

I'll reply about the Stranger in a different comment to put a spoiler on) Stranger is, of course, brilliant.

Unfortunately, both K-dramas and J-dramas struggle with sexism. I'd say both have outstanding female characters but maybe I should concede the victory to K-dramas. After all, you are right, they've put a lot of effort in creating great female characters.

Thanks for the recs! I heard a lot of mixed opinions about Tunnel (i.e. 'poor cousin of Signal') so I've avoided it. Maybe I should give it a go. And Solomon's Perjury is a classic J-drama, of course. Though, you've probably meant the K-remake? And I should try some of the others. I need my mystery fix)

Wowow dramas sure are different. I'm looking forward to that one with Ryoma and Fujiwara. The trailer was published today, looks great.

Thanks! I'll check it out! I tried several Odagiri Joe mysteries but couldn't get into them, I hope this one will hit the spot! (Btw Anaban is not the best, I wouldn't dream of putting it anywhere near Dele or Unnatural.)

I watched the first season of Mozu and I found it quite entertaining. Can you recommend some other wowow dramas? (Aren't they are hard to get, btw? For example, the one that airs now with Hashimoto Ai - I'm sure noone will make subs for it TT)

Also, I agree with the must-have message in J-dramas and movies. Korean movie-thrillers are scary though. I watched Ajhussi, Train to Busan, Along with the Gods - all of this stuff is not for faint-hearted (and I'm faint-hearted).

Woah, thank you for the thorough reply!

I do want to ask you for K-drama recs!

The thing is I am a mystery lover who watched every decent mystery J-drama there is. So now I'm starved for a good detective show.

I tried watching Signal and Stranger. Signal is obviously one of the best shows ever made by humankind (haha, at least, I think so). But Stranger does feature arguably unnecessary romance (even if it's slight by K-drama standards) and a very sexist trope. I also didn't like the ending (I'm only grumbling this much because I was really invested in the show and the main characters are now my faves forever).

So judging by this two dramas, I now expect every mystery K-drama to feature hardcore angst or ridiculous fanservice. I gave a try to Missing Noir M and it immediately started with Gary Sue main character in designer clothes attempting to unravel convoluted unrealistic mystery.

So where do I go wrong? Should I just accept a certain level of fanservice (like a great variety of nice knit-wear every dirt-cheap detective obviously owns or the fact that said detective will make time for a romantic date amidst the urgent serial murder investigation)? Is every mystery K-drama as angsty as Signal with people committing atrocious crimes unpunished?


Speaking about J-dramas, I would add to your assessment that

+ J-dramas excel at dealing with social issues by considering them from educational angle. For example, their medical dramas aim to destroy misconceptions and social stigma. The murderer in mysteries must not only be caught but the reasons that led them to murder must be addressed.

+ This educational angle makes for perfect workplace dramas. Workplace drama + mystery = perfection. Examples: Unnatural or Dele.

+ They know how to make charismatic characters who are, as a bonus, very unlike western clichés.

+ J-dramas are full to the brim with toxic masculinity but its difference from the western toxic masculinity truly opens one's eyes. I'd say, K-dramas do not have this effect.

- J-drama mysteries tend to favour locked room Agatha Christie like stories where the puzzle is the most important thing while the characters are left by the wayside. These kind of stories are not to my taste.

- J-dramas heavily rely on context and unsaid Japanese social norms which are hard to read for the viewer unfamiliar with the culture. Take Unnatural, for example. How many viewers noticed who is the romantic endgame for the main character? It's blink-and-you-miss-it Japanese romance.

- While K-dramas is no feminist picnic, J-dramas have their dose of sexism. Especially mysteries have lots of it, several iconic franchises are completely unwatchable because of it.

- They feature lots of fake science. I'm looking at you, Galileo and Mr. Brain. Argh, I can't even.


I'd say something about mystery C-drama but I don't want to be unkind. I was completely flabbergasted by Medical Examiner Doctor Qin success.

When it comes to detective / mystery, which country is the best? Please, only answer if you've watched at least one detective drama from each country.

It's a great article, thank you!

Thank you for devoting an article to unsung heroes of k-drama world!

From official twitter announcement about Arimura's casting as Tomoe:

1) Otomo worked with Arimura previously and was very happy with her work. So he pushed her for the role of Tomoe.

2) Takeru said that he kept the image of Tomoe in his head during the previous 3 movies as she is so important to Kenshin.

3) Arimura was surprised by how passionate everyone in the cast and crew were.

So far Garu-chan aka Girls' Channel (a J-netizen hub with female audience) has been full of angry comments. Netizens doubt Arimura's acting abilities, worry that she looks visibly younger than Takeru (Tomoe was much older than Kenshin), and think that she is too full of vitality to play doomed grave Tomoe.

On the other hand, twitter comments under the official announcement were full of posts from people happy with Arimura's casting. So it's not like the disapproval is universal (besides, Garu-chan has a reputation for being nasty).

Funny tidbit: Arimura's casting was revealed just after the finale of Takeru's romcom drama (the final episode had a staggering 15,4% rating). Perhaps, they were waiting for it?

Yeah, me too, I see idol actors as you do. And I agree with your take on Takeru.

Ryo definitely works hard on his acting though some of his recent projects were failures acting-wise (see Hanzawa Naoki special). The thing is, his agency wanted to cast him in Kingdom so they pushed him in the River's Edge and in Gintama. As a result, he nailed his character in Kingdom but it remains to be seen whether he'll shine in his new less-developed projects.

Matsuzaka Tori is no idol actor, that's true. I was rooting for Suda this award season, I must admit XD

Yamaken works hard but he's yet to make that final step. Let's wait for Gekijou.

I think that for the longest time industry has required female actors to be young, drop-dead-gorgeous, and skilled. Male actors have it easy. So, perhaps, acting standards for male actors should be elevated. Or our society should get rid of lookism. Either option sounds unlikely.

No way! Did I finally met someone here who doesn't swoon over Yamaken? I like young ikemen actors but I must admit it's sad to see many great dramas getting low ratings here just because they don't feature young ikemen.

And I totally agree, the project makes the difference. It's true not only for young ikemen but for established actors as well, but, I suppose, the difference is really egregious for the former.

I was rooting for Kadowaki Mugi too TT. Wouldn't she be perfect? Unfortunately, Otomo worked with Arimura before so he pushed her for the role.

Sadly, the movies do a disservice to Ruroken female characters by cutting out their fighting scenes and turning them into damsels in distress even when the original didn't do that. So, I suppose, we shouldn't have expected anything different from these new movies. Turning kick-ass femme fatale into sad sweet girl is very much in Ruroken movies style. Oh well, it's Reiwa already so I hope this is the last shounen manga adaptation that mistreats its female characters.

Welll, Yuriko Ishida is great while everybody else is extra hot. There are 5 ikemen and Nanao. Yet, it's unwatchable.

When a show can't work even as fanservice fest while featuring so many hot and charismatic actors, it fails as entertainment.