I've watched 25 J dramas this year, and yet I'm not able to vote for almost every category. I have just not watched Chugakusei Nikki ,Todome no Kissu and Dele. When the year started, I really thought that Unnatural and its hit song Lemon would win everything, yet events turned out very differently (that's not a bad thing in itself).
For those who are frustrated, and I am one of them in many categories, as some posters are reminding you, there was some weeks ago an article where everybody could nominate their favorite for each category. It just happens that the three dramas I've mentioned above, and others (I have not watched) where nominated more than those you were anticipating. I counted the nominations for best J dramas, and there was a time I thought Unnatural would not even make the final list even if it was so trendy on the first part of 2018. I am personnaly frustrated to not see anone in this best drama list because it was such a wonderful drama, so far better than Unnatural, but there were just not enough people who nominated it. And, if I remember well, there were more people who made suggestions this year than last year.
As for Shoplifters, that is not even nominated in best movies, I would remind you that aside being a Kore-Eda movie and being a Cannes Palme d'Or, although it were on Japanese screens in June, it's not the case all over the world. In France, where Palme d'or are always soooooo much advertised, the programmation in theaters only started on December the 14th, so it doesn't give you a lot of time to watch it, because, despite its high recognition, it is not available in every theaters. So I guess it's not on screen everywhere in the world. And I'm not talking about other Japanese movies that never leaves their country's shores. Indeed, the difficulty to find subs makes it harder for Japanese dramas and movies viewers to watch them, then to nominate them. 41 persons made nominations in best movie category and Shoplifters was only nominated 6 times. Per the rules, it didn't qualify because 5 movies were more nominated than it.
It seems to me that every year's poll leads to the same discussion : how many dramas should you have watched to be qualified to nominate? As long as there is no minimum requirement, then everybody is entitled to give their nomination. If you don't agree with that, why not doing the poll next year with your own rules? At least, this poll shows what MDLer's have watched and enjoyed in 2018, even if the quality of those dramas/movies can be questioned. I do apologize if my post seems rude to some fo you, it is not my intention. I just see the same posts year after year, the same frustration year after year...
Best Couple: Tanaka Kei as Haruta Soichi and Hayashi Kento as Maki Ryota in Ossan’s love
Best Bromance: Kimura Takuya as Shimazaki Akira and Saito Takumi as Takanashi Masaya in BG : Personal Bodyguard, Ninomiya Kazunari as Tokai Seishiro and Koizumi Kotaro as Takashina Gonta in Black Pean, Yasuda Ken as Aihara Tsutomu and Yoshitaka Yuriko as Takemura Ririko in Seigi no Se (technically it’s not a bromance).
Best OST: anone, Black Pean (and especially the wonderful “Kono michi wo” by Oda Kazumasa), Unnatural
I'm feeling disappointed with my choices this year. I haven't watched enough J-dramas (25) to make a proper selection among them, and looking back at my list it seems to me I've spent time on useless dramas while some promising ones (from last season) are missing in my watching experience. I'm looking forward to my fellow MDL'ers propositions to add some diversity in the final selection.
Btw, I'm reaffirming my offer to help with the counts if needed.
Whatever the role, he never disapoints. He is a really wonderful actor who always manages to touch me. I can't get enough of him and I'm already looking forward his next role. Thanks for being there: お誕生日おめでとうございます！
Thanks for the recommendations. i'm not into Kdramas but i've seen most of those you mentioned and liked them. I'll give 3 Noom Nuer Tong and Ugly Duckling series a try.
I've only seen (and enjoyed) Pride from this list, and I added almost all the other ones : thanks for highlighting those dramas. I don't watch a lot of sports dramas, and my favorite is Tumbling, but I also enjoyed a lot Yowakutemo Katemasu and Water Boys. It's not really a sport drama but as you mentioned some game dramas, I'm adding I really liked Akagi (still looking for the second season).
Thanks for the article, it was really interesting! I participated in the survey and I really enjoyed it, all the more that it made me realise I'm rating higher than what I was thinking.
I should start by saying I'm a pretty easy to please person, I'm generally enjoying every show I'm watching, and if I've completed a show, it somehow managed to give me enough distraction to forget the bad days at work.
I'm only rating dramas when I complete them, and (almost) never when I drop them. I don't rate dramas when I'm currently watching them. I'm not choosing dramas regarding their score on the drama page, but I might be influenced by high rating from friends on the feeds (for example What's wrong with secretary Kim?). I'm more interested in watching a certain actor (that doesn't mean I would rate it high even if I like that actor) and most of all by plots. I'm avoiding some genres, like horror, so high rating have no appeal to me. I'm more interested in what people I know are thinking of the drama, but I'm not reading reviews (I don't really like it).
I'm not a professionnal critics, so even if I'm trying to be fair by taking into account many aspects of the drama (story, acting, relationships, genre...), I'm totally ignoring some others (more technical ones like editing, cinematography...). I can also totally forget obvious flaws to take more into account the enjoyment : I can rate a tokusatsu higher than some awarded drama. So, as many people stated, I'm rating more based on my enjoyment on the show, what it brought to me at that time of my life, than on some objective aspects.
I don't have a rating system, but as there is a scale, I don't see why I shoudn't use it fully. I've rated some dramas or movies a 1 and I gave many 10s (at the moment 18 including one movie). When I started rating, it seemed to me that 10 would not be possible because a flawless drama would not be possible. Nevertheless, I gave 10 to dramas that gave me a special feeling, that dealt with topics I'm interested in (friendship and human bounds in general), and that are having been able to balance every parts of the show. I wouldn't say all of them are my favorites, I sometimes like more some shows I rated lower. But to me those "rated 10" shows had something special to offer, and I would highly recommend them to any friend (them being asian drama addicts or not).
I was really interested while reading the comments, on how several users are linking their rating system to school rating systems. It is my case, mostly because I only know this way of rating. I'm not from the US, so I don't relate at all to the US system. I'm refering to the french school system (the most widely used at least, at the time I was a student), where works and exams are rated on 20. A 10/20 just means the work is average (in maths, half of the answers are correct, the second half are wrong), above 16 things are very good, excellence is above 18... It also means that below 10, many things are lacking. In the school system you can rate from 0 to 20, so with dramas too I'm rating from 0 (1 in fact because the site doesn't allow you rate lower) to 10. So I'm justing making the ratio to stick to the MDL system. I means to me, dramas rating 5 are average dramas, where I spent a nice time watching them but there are many things that were lacking or bothering me or I was not pleased with the way the story went... For me, bad dramas are the ones below 3. Recently though, when I'm considering the rating I would like to give, I take a look at my completed list to compare with other shows. I'm wondering if that's not because of that that 40% of my completed shows are rated between 7 and 8.5... which is, objectively speaking, far too much !
On a side note, I'm watching almost only Japanese dramas, and have many friends who are liking them. It seems to me that Japanese dramas watchers tend to use a larger scale of rating than korean drama watchers, but I might be blinded by the prism of my awareness of japanese topics.
To finish (sorry I was not expecting to be so long), I would like to answer to your questions : 1 sometimes yes (I would feel more like castaways), 2 no, 3 no (at least not on rating topic).
Can't get over this show after several weeks. This is one of the most gentle, subtle, genuine story I've watched. The atmosphere of the drama is so apeasing. I'm wanting more, but honestly, it's perfect as it is.
It's one of my favorite drama of the season, and I just adore how Nino is portraying his character (I had no doubt considering how is he is particularly good at portraying mean characters, even in their TV shows). It's true it's another of your skilled doctor show, but the mystery around Tokai manage to keep the show interesting. I particularly enjoy the rivalry with Takashina (or maybe it's just because I adore Koizumi Kotaro as well?)
Hello! Hard to decide what I liked the most in Japan because each place has its own flavour. Last summer I was pleasantly surprised by Koya-san. Still, I'm never as happy and excited as when I'm in Tokyo. I just enjoy so much walking in this endless city (and yes, I'm from the countryside, that's maybe why). Last summer I spent a whole day trying to find a famous alley we can see in many dramas (especially in the opening of Jdrama Hero), and beautifully failed. But it was a lot of fun! (If anyone knows, I'd like to know for next trip -thanks in advance).
Thanks a lot for this review. I took some glimpses at all the shows you mentioned except Tunnels... but I don't really watch Japanese shows except if there is someone i'm interested in it, and if I can find subs, which is rare. That "this is MJ" segment with Kame and Yamapi was indeed great, but it's one of the few I've watched. I just don't like food shows, so...
I'm only watching VS Arashi on a weekly basis, so it's easy to say it's my favorite japanese show. It's in fact the only show I can understand without subs, and I'm just sooooo happy to watch the five of them fooling around and with the guests. The show is a little bit repetitive at the moment, I liked it better some two years ago... but well, Arashi members are aging, so I guess we can't expect as much as before. I like all the games except Korokoro Vinking (can't stand the music anymore). Sho in cliff climb is a must see for me!!!
Such a sad news, it was so shocking to read the headlines earlier. I was looking forward to watching him again in Byplayers 2. He was one of those actors we, drama fans, are just glad to see on the screen, because we can expect enjoying the acting.
It's not easy to describe this drama, it has such a unique atmosphere. So far (episode 4), the story is unfolding in such a gentle way, it could seem slow paced, but it's not, and you never get bored. Strong acting and strong writing, you clearly see it' on another level compared to "ordinary" dramas. It's so realistic, yet so poetic at the same time...
Finally a way for those who want and can help (financially) to do so ! Yeah! And it's nice to be able to customize…
By the way, is there a way to hide or lighten that VIP logo, it's too bright (for my taste) , especially compared to the logo of the staff members. (sorry, i don't mean to complain because I'm super happy with this new feature, it's just I think it's not fair because on my screen it's more obvious than the staff logos).
Finally a way for those who want and can help (financially) to do so ! Yeah! And it's nice to be able to customize some things, even if that's just extra bonus for me, cause the site is already a wonderful place! Thanks for all the hardwork, it's really appreciated.
First of all, thanks for the results ! (I was about to ask if results would be out soon...).
I don't know if I'm surprised or not by the results. Can't say we didn't see it coming, but frankly, it's disapointing considering the wide range of nominations this year (I don't know if it was just my personal delusion, but it seemed to me there were more diversity in the nominations this year). I don't disagree with some awards, but... (Quartet T-T)
Then I took a look at the previous Best of Japan awards... Finally it's the same old story with this poll. So rendez-vous next year to see which romance(or rom-com) drama will steal all the awards from the japanese gems's hand!!! ;P
Nevertheless, I want to thank the staff for organizing this poll every year. I had a glimpse of the amount of work (and time) compiling the nominations is needing, and didn't realise it was that much. And if I may sound sarcastic and bitter, don't be too bothered by that : I definitely enjoyed voting this year, because all the fun is in the process of nomintaing and voting more than in the results. So I'll be there next year if the poll is done too!
10 
18 
10 
When the year started, I really thought that Unnatural and its hit song Lemon would win everything, yet events turned out very differently (that's not a bad thing in itself).
For those who are frustrated, and I am one of them in many categories, as some posters are reminding you, there was some weeks ago an article where everybody could nominate their favorite for each category. It just happens that the three dramas I've mentioned above, and others (I have not watched) where nominated more than those you were anticipating. I counted the nominations for best J dramas, and there was a time I thought Unnatural would not even make the final list even if it was so trendy on the first part of 2018. I am personnaly frustrated to not see anone in this best drama list because it was such a wonderful drama, so far better than Unnatural, but there were just not enough people who nominated it. And, if I remember well, there were more people who made suggestions this year than last year.
As for Shoplifters, that is not even nominated in best movies, I would remind you that aside being a Kore-Eda movie and being a Cannes Palme d'Or, although it were on Japanese screens in June, it's not the case all over the world. In France, where Palme d'or are always soooooo much advertised, the programmation in theaters only started on December the 14th, so it doesn't give you a lot of time to watch it, because, despite its high recognition, it is not available in every theaters. So I guess it's not on screen everywhere in the world. And I'm not talking about other Japanese movies that never leaves their country's shores.
Indeed, the difficulty to find subs makes it harder for Japanese dramas and movies viewers to watch them, then to nominate them.
41 persons made nominations in best movie category and Shoplifters was only nominated 6 times. Per the rules, it didn't qualify because 5 movies were more nominated than it.
It seems to me that every year's poll leads to the same discussion : how many dramas should you have watched to be qualified to nominate? As long as there is no minimum requirement, then everybody is entitled to give their nomination. If you don't agree with that, why not doing the poll next year with your own rules?
At least, this poll shows what MDLer's have watched and enjoyed in 2018, even if the quality of those dramas/movies can be questioned.
I do apologize if my post seems rude to some fo you, it is not my intention. I just see the same posts year after year, the same frustration year after year...
Best Screenwriter (and for which show?) Sakamoto Yuji for anone, Goto Noriko for Innocent Days,
Best Director(and for which show?) Mizuta Nobuo for anone,
Best Comedy Drama: Oh my Jump!, Momikeshite Fuyu,
Best Romantic/Comedy Drama: Ossan’s love,
Best Family Drama: anone, My Brother’s husband, Momikeshite Fuyu
Best Action/Thriller/Suspense Drama: BG: Personal Bodyguard
Best Mystery Drama: Innocent Days, Shinhannin, Black Pean
Best Manga/Anime Adaptation: Seigi no se, My brother’s husband,
Best Japanese Actor(and for which role?): Ninomiya Kazunari as Tokai-sensei in Black Pean, Sato Ryota as Yaichi in My Brother’s husband
Best Japanese Actress(and for which role?): Hirose Suzu as Tsujisawa Harika in anone, Takeuchi Yuko as Tanaka Yukino in Innocent Days
Best Japanese Supporting Actor(and for which role?): Abe Sadao as Mochimoto Kaji in anone,
Best Japanese Supporting Actress(and for which role?): Tanaka Yuuko as Hayashide Anone in anone
Best Up and Coming Actor of 2018(and for which role?): Hayashi Kento (as Maki Ryota in Ossan’s love)
Best Idol Actor(or Actress): Ninomiya Kazunari (Black Pean), Yamada Ryosuke (Momikeshite Fuyu)
Best Couple: Tanaka Kei as Haruta Soichi and Hayashi Kento as Maki Ryota in Ossan’s love
Best Bromance: Kimura Takuya as Shimazaki Akira and Saito Takumi as Takanashi Masaya in BG : Personal Bodyguard, Ninomiya Kazunari as Tokai Seishiro and Koizumi Kotaro as Takashina Gonta in Black Pean, Yasuda Ken as Aihara Tsutomu and Yoshitaka Yuriko as Takemura Ririko in Seigi no Se (technically it’s not a bromance).
Best OST: anone, Black Pean (and especially the wonderful “Kono michi wo” by Oda Kazumasa), Unnatural
I'm feeling disappointed with my choices this year. I haven't watched enough J-dramas (25) to make a proper selection among them, and looking back at my list it seems to me I've spent time on useless dramas while some promising ones (from last season) are missing in my watching experience. I'm looking forward to my fellow MDL'ers propositions to add some diversity in the final selection.
Btw, I'm reaffirming my offer to help with the counts if needed.
Thanks for being there: お誕生日おめでとうございます！
I don't watch a lot of sports dramas, and my favorite is Tumbling, but I also enjoyed a lot Yowakutemo Katemasu and Water Boys.
It's not really a sport drama but as you mentioned some game dramas, I'm adding I really liked Akagi (still looking for the second season).
I should start by saying I'm a pretty easy to please person, I'm generally enjoying every show I'm watching, and if I've completed a show, it somehow managed to give me enough distraction to forget the bad days at work.
I'm only rating dramas when I complete them, and (almost) never when I drop them. I don't rate dramas when I'm currently watching them. I'm not choosing dramas regarding their score on the drama page, but I might be influenced by high rating from friends on the feeds (for example What's wrong with secretary Kim?). I'm more interested in watching a certain actor (that doesn't mean I would rate it high even if I like that actor) and most of all by plots. I'm avoiding some genres, like horror, so high rating have no appeal to me. I'm more interested in what people I know are thinking of the drama, but I'm not reading reviews (I don't really like it).
I'm not a professionnal critics, so even if I'm trying to be fair by taking into account many aspects of the drama (story, acting, relationships, genre...), I'm totally ignoring some others (more technical ones like editing, cinematography...). I can also totally forget obvious flaws to take more into account the enjoyment : I can rate a tokusatsu higher than some awarded drama. So, as many people stated, I'm rating more based on my enjoyment on the show, what it brought to me at that time of my life, than on some objective aspects.
I don't have a rating system, but as there is a scale, I don't see why I shoudn't use it fully. I've rated some dramas or movies a 1 and I gave many 10s (at the moment 18 including one movie). When I started rating, it seemed to me that 10 would not be possible because a flawless drama would not be possible. Nevertheless, I gave 10 to dramas that gave me a special feeling, that dealt with topics I'm interested in (friendship and human bounds in general), and that are having been able to balance every parts of the show. I wouldn't say all of them are my favorites, I sometimes like more some shows I rated lower. But to me those "rated 10" shows had something special to offer, and I would highly recommend them to any friend (them being asian drama addicts or not).
I was really interested while reading the comments, on how several users are linking their rating system to school rating systems. It is my case, mostly because I only know this way of rating. I'm not from the US, so I don't relate at all to the US system. I'm refering to the french school system (the most widely used at least, at the time I was a student), where works and exams are rated on 20. A 10/20 just means the work is average (in maths, half of the answers are correct, the second half are wrong), above 16 things are very good, excellence is above 18... It also means that below 10, many things are lacking. In the school system you can rate from 0 to 20, so with dramas too I'm rating from 0 (1 in fact because the site doesn't allow you rate lower) to 10. So I'm justing making the ratio to stick to the MDL system. I means to me, dramas rating 5 are average dramas, where I spent a nice time watching them but there are many things that were lacking or bothering me or I was not pleased with the way the story went... For me, bad dramas are the ones below 3.
Recently though, when I'm considering the rating I would like to give, I take a look at my completed list to compare with other shows. I'm wondering if that's not because of that that 40% of my completed shows are rated between 7 and 8.5... which is, objectively speaking, far too much !
On a side note, I'm watching almost only Japanese dramas, and have many friends who are liking them. It seems to me that Japanese dramas watchers tend to use a larger scale of rating than korean drama watchers, but I might be blinded by the prism of my awareness of japanese topics.
To finish (sorry I was not expecting to be so long), I would like to answer to your questions : 1 sometimes yes (I would feel more like castaways), 2 no, 3 no (at least not on rating topic).
It's true it's another of your skilled doctor show, but the mystery around Tokai manage to keep the show interesting. I particularly enjoy the rivalry with Takashina (or maybe it's just because I adore Koizumi Kotaro as well?)
It was interesting to read everybody's answers on the article.
And thanks dear Admins for the events!
Hard to decide what I liked the most in Japan because each place has its own flavour. Last summer I was pleasantly surprised by Koya-san.
Still, I'm never as happy and excited as when I'm in Tokyo. I just enjoy so much walking in this endless city (and yes, I'm from the countryside, that's maybe why). Last summer I spent a whole day trying to find a famous alley we can see in many dramas (especially in the opening of Jdrama Hero), and beautifully failed. But it was a lot of fun! (If anyone knows, I'd like to know for next trip -thanks in advance).
I took some glimpses at all the shows you mentioned except Tunnels... but I don't really watch Japanese shows except if there is someone i'm interested in it, and if I can find subs, which is rare. That "this is MJ" segment with Kame and Yamapi was indeed great, but it's one of the few I've watched. I just don't like food shows, so...
I'm only watching VS Arashi on a weekly basis, so it's easy to say it's my favorite japanese show. It's in fact the only show I can understand without subs, and I'm just sooooo happy to watch the five of them fooling around and with the guests. The show is a little bit repetitive at the moment, I liked it better some two years ago... but well, Arashi members are aging, so I guess we can't expect as much as before. I like all the games except Korokoro Vinking (can't stand the music anymore). Sho in cliff climb is a must see for me!!!
I was looking forward to watching him again in Byplayers 2. He was one of those actors we, drama fans, are just glad to see on the screen, because we can expect enjoying the acting.
It's so realistic, yet so poetic at the same time...
(sorry, i don't mean to complain because I'm super happy with this new feature, it's just I think it's not fair because on my screen it's more obvious than the staff logos).
And it's nice to be able to customize some things, even if that's just extra bonus for me, cause the site is already a wonderful place!
Thanks for all the hardwork, it's really appreciated.
I don't know if I'm surprised or not by the results. Can't say we didn't see it coming, but frankly, it's disapointing considering the wide range of nominations this year (I don't know if it was just my personal delusion, but it seemed to me there were more diversity in the nominations this year). I don't disagree with some awards, but... (Quartet T-T)
Then I took a look at the previous Best of Japan awards... Finally it's the same old story with this poll. So rendez-vous next year to see which romance(or rom-com) drama will steal all the awards from the japanese gems's hand!!! ;P
Nevertheless, I want to thank the staff for organizing this poll every year. I had a glimpse of the amount of work (and time) compiling the nominations is needing, and didn't realise it was that much. And if I may sound sarcastic and bitter, don't be too bothered by that : I definitely enjoyed voting this year, because all the fun is in the process of nomintaing and voting more than in the results. So I'll be there next year if the poll is done too!