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Pretty well written and acted drama. I was surprised by Fujiwara Sakura's well done performance, not because it's her first role, but because you don't usually see singers/models/idols tackle such a character role for their acting debut and pretty much nail it if they do.
Not a fan of pop and acoustic music, but I quite liked it in this kind of setting.
The ending was mediocre, but that's something I'm pretty much used to, especially in Japanese media.
I also didn't like the main characters relationship much and am actually quite surprised nobody questions the age difference between the mains. I usually don't care about that at all if it's 10, 15 or even 20 years if one of the people involved is in their mid to end 20s or older, but if it gets to the point where he's almost 2.5 times as old as she is in real life (46 to 20) it's a bit too much even for me. The author/screenwriter could've written his character as divorced with three kids and as a twist at the end it comes out that she's actually the best friend of his youngest child. I wonder who came up with this thought process of "love makes you blind and let's you lose all the braincells you need for rational thinking".
P.S.: If the genders were reversed this would probably have 400 comments and a 6.0 rating ;)

If you ask in general, yes. Some are .srt, some are .ass. But if you ask for this drama here, then no. At least not yet.

These are very rare in Japan aswell. WOWOW (pay tv, like HBO) is often the only TV station that airs dramas like this, with a lot of skin shown, talk about sex and what comes with it. A lot of (most?) actors/actresses in Japan aren't "trained", they start out with modeling, being an Idol, gravure, in music, etc, so they have a certain "image" to uphold (pure and innocent mostly). It's my more or less educated guess, but this is one of the reasons why there's no(t much) skinship, kisses or exposed skin in Jdramas, because the actors and especially actresses shouldn't even know how to kiss, to exaggerate a bit. Besides the fact that tv stations/agencies/publishers/sponsors, etc are absolut hypocrites of course. For example, Tsunematsu Yuri needed to publish a lengthy statement in 2021 why she chose to "get naked" in Netflix's The Naked Director 2, because her fans (and maybe the companies she has ad contracts with, but I don't know about that) didn't like it at all when she didn't play an innocent and pure little maiden (again a bit of exaggeration), even though she was an actress from the beginning and shouldn't even have a image to uphold. Sorry for the lengthy rant ;)

Yeah, I think she changed most in S2 and gained a lot of unnecessary and especially unhealthy traits and lost most of her confidence in herself. But, it's Japan, so the woman has to be the less confident and needs to be at least a bit dependent on a guy, like it is in 90% of all romance Jdramas. They are so behind the times, especially in Shoujo Manga adaptions and the business world, it's not even funny anymore.

"We went from an adult japanese drama to a classical korean one: full of tropes, unnecessary characters (the sister?!?!?) & storylines and zero skinship."
This also happens in KDramas? I thought only every romance Jdrama is like this. Around maybe 5% of them have more skinship than "fish kissing" where they push their faces together so their lips touch and around the same percentage (maybe a bit less) don't have unnecessary side characters who artificially create problems for the mains. S1 and 2 belonged to that minority, but it seems that they needed to tone everything down in S3 for.... reasons?

But I agree with almost everything you said, except for the fact that Momo didn't change much in all the seasons, she just went from funny and free spirit/uninhibited in S1 to pitiable and in dire need of a psychologist/self-esteem coach in S2 to typical JDrama damsel who's pretty much dependent on her partner in S3.

Drama-Otaku, which is a site for mainly uploading fansubs, doesn't have the drama nor subs. You can probably find the raws on private sites I think, but I can't really help you there, sorry.

First police drama with female lead I found in which she's an as vital and respected member of an investigation unit as her male couterparts, without gender stereotypes or discrimination. No female police officers whose only plan is to work there until they are able to snatch some guy or who go to Goukons twice a week, no bosses/colleagues that try their hardest to undermine the "heroines" investigation efforts even though they make a hundred times more sense than all of the male officers' ideas together, no bosses/colleagues that don't take the "heroine" for full just because she's a woman, she doesn't have a crush on any colleague, neither does a colleague have one on her, etc. Even though she's a rookie her ideas are seriously taken and they even try to teach her instead of just telling her that she's in their way because she doesn't have any experience. Coming from Japan, that's basically an absolute novelty and gets a big plus from me.

That said, the story is nothing new, but well acted and suspenseful, even if you know who the killer is. In my opinion a good crime thriller doesn't need a "who's the killer quiz" to make it good. The much more important parts for me are that neither the police nor the killer are/act stupid and that we don't know the next move(s), rather than the identity of the one who makes those moves.

The Japanese industries don't give a crap about overseas. Not movies, not tv, not music, etc. Not without a reason is KPop and KDrama are all over every music station and streaming services in the world and nobody in mainstream knows any Japanese musicians/movies/dramas/actors(tresses). The only industry that really exports out of Japan is Anime... and the people in it are getting exploited to hell.

Yeah, that scene when Ryo is sort of not really confessing even though he knows she's in a relationship and gets turned down and the one when he calls her a hypocrite for coming back were the two that made me want to hit that guy. She's helped him and was always nice for 6 (?) years since the earthquake despite his selfishness and he only tries to put her and her efforts down. It's basically the same with her sister, but she at least makes an effort to be nice to everyone. But basically everyone is in desperate need of counselling and mental health treatment.

Chimudondon is pretty much a train wreck, but I really like all the actresses in it, especially Kuroshima Yuina, which made it watchable for me.

I completely forgot about the father in Mare, he's one of the best examples. But I'm not a fan of that Asadora. It has way too much of the outdated Japanese way of thinking "the woman should support her man and doesn't need any dreams for herself, except raising a family" in it, which basically ruins the drama for me. I liked it until that point, especially the chef and his family, but I skipped through a lot of episodes between after she went home and when she opens her own shop.

Churasan and Beppin-san will be the next two "new" ones I'll watch, I just don't know when yet. I'm a bit afraid that Beppin-san will be an absolute tearjearker though, which is why I avoided it all this time. Not a fan of dramas which only purpose is to make you cry and/or show the characters suffer.

Definitely. Thanks!
I tried to submit changes a few times before on other dramas, but never got an answer or got rejected, so I just tried to point it out in a comment this time. If people would watch this special especially because of Kuroki Haru for example they would be pretty bummed out ;)

I really enjoyed this drama. I thought it will be a "even if there are obstacles, in the end everything will be back to "normal" anyways" story, but it managed to surprise me. Pretty unique, well acted (except for the romantic scenes. This is still not how you kiss, dear Japanese producers) and except for a few plot points pretty relatable. I especially like how the characters were able to adapt pretty quickly, which is a point why I usually avoid gender/body swap stories because of the lingering awkwardness all throughout.

What I didn't like was the social viewpoint I took from it. It is ok to be together (and show it in a drama) legally, in that case married, and have kids together as two women as long as one of them was a man before and she fell in love while he was still male, but two women falling in love with each other is a no-go? I mean same-sex-marriage isn't even recognized in Japan and, to this day, there's only one JDrama that shows a lesbian couple/romance as the main characters/plot point. Two women in a relationship with each other really must be that threatening to the old dudes in tv stations who have the power to make decisions when their only answer to the diversity and LGBTQ+ question is to show a minimum of 3 BL dramas every three months.

The facts that the Manga is from the same author as Back Street Girls, adapted by Bakarhythm and Hanabie covered Imagine Dragons' "Believer" as the Ending Song makes this a must watch for me. The cast is also pretty incredible for a 15 minute per ep drama that airs on a rather small VOD service. And, according to the trailers, it seems that the two main actors/actresses are pretty perfect together in these roles.

I can definitely understand that. Oftentimes there's no or very little chemistry in romantic JDramas because I think they want/need to "keep it innocent", the characters are basically the same all the time and all that's left are the looks of the actors/actresses that makes you finish a drama. I mostly remember actors/actresses when they played a unique character and/or one I really like/hate. And I think there are definitely a lot more female characters like this in JDrama. They use the same old male character template way too often: cold (or at least cool), collected, handsome, has his life together and is liked/admired by everyone even though he's a total scumbag 95% of the time, while there are a lot more variations of female characters, even if I'd end up hating more than half of those.

I'm rewatching Okaeri Mone at the moment... but some weeks I find hard not to skip the second time around. I really like the topic, the heroine, Tsunematsu Yuri's character, the people from Tome and Tokyo, but I'm not a big fan of her other friends, sister and especially Ryo and his father. Some weeks should come with a PSA, "don't enable depression, seek help", which makes it really hard to watch for me, because that's all everyone does all the time.

I really tried to like Chimudondon and almost all the characters are indeed very likebale, but the story jumps too much from one thing to the next for my taste. And the real bad machine translated subs after week 5 didn't help one bit, especially because I understand the mistakes in the subs, but don't understand enough Japanese to watch without any. Maybe they got updated since I watched at the beginning of the year, which would make me want to rewatch it. Also, why does an Asadora so often need a brother/uncle/family friend to be a complete idiot? Gegege no Nyobo had a gambling/deceiving friend, Chimudondon has the idiot brother, Umechan's uncle is a bit shady, as is Natsu's brother in the beginning, etc.

I didn't watch Gochisousan, exactly because of the same reasons. I evaded The Confidence Man for more than 3 years because I didn't want to watch something with that guy in it.... and those two together as a couple on screen, I don't think I can bring myself to watch it.

I'd love to watch Ochoyan because Sugisaki Hana is another one of my favorite actresses, but it's a real shame that nobody picks up the subtitles after they got abandoned. As did a few other fall Asadoras by the same subber (Warotenka and Scarlet come to mind).

To be honest, I don't really know why I'm only into JDrama and a lot of its actresses. Sure they have some really good ones but a lot of performances, especially in Manga/Anime adaptions, are really forgettable, and worst of all, a lot of the writers and scripts are unrealistic and really fail to stay with the times, mainly in romance dramas and when it comes to female roles/characters in general. Probably my love/hate relationship with the culture and their entertainment industry, because I love the language and because I think they're the masters of the Slice of Life genre keep me stuck to Japan.
I haven't really given CDrama a real try yet (emphasis on "yet") and I can't connect with KDrama at all for a few reasons that make me drop every series I try to start, even though I like Korean movies. I'm also really bad at remembering names in general, even English/Western names, so I don't think I'm even going to try with Chinese or Korean names :D.

I loved everything about Natsuzora, except for "horse boy" xD. It has some of the best characters and relationships in all of JDrama in my opinion. Especially with her foster family and her own family.

The last few weeks of Hanbun Aoi were super draggy at times, yes, but for me the biggest problem was more that I really couldn't care less about the romance in the end because the writer thought it was a good idea to kill the probably most important person in the hardest time of her life before that.

There's no romance at all in Teppan, but they tried (and in my opinion definitely failed) to force some into the story. Thankfully it's only a few eps towards the ending, so it's rather easy to ignore in retrospect.

I think Hiyokko is pretty nice if you want something lighthearted with a fun cast of characters. They keep repeating how unfortunate Arimura Kasumi's character is, but compared to Nagano Mei in Hanbun Aoi she has the most carefree life ever ;).

Of course, not every drama is like I described. It just has a lot to do with the actors/actresses, the genre, the tv stations and agencies and the time slot the drama airs in. To compare, all of the dramas you mentioned have a rather serious aspect to them according to the synopsis and aired in 11 pm/0 am or later time slots with mostly actors/actresses first who do other stuff on the side because it's expected of them in Japan (Nakamura Yurika for example, even though I don't like her very much). On the other side, this drama here is a comedy, main actress Araki Yuko is a model first who does acting and it's an almost prime time drama. I guess it's mostly the hypocritical TV stations and/or agencies who really put restrictions on their talent/actors/actresses and prevent "more flashy" romantic scenes.

If you're looking for characters showing affection to each other, I would definitely not recommend Japanese Dramas. 90+% of the people who star in Dramas and Movies are so-called "talent" not "actors/actresses" (like in this drama), which means they're models, idols, singers, etc besides or even before acting. Kissing, showing skin and a lot of romantic displays are a no-go for them because their fans expect that their favorite celebrities (especially females) are innocent and pure and don't do this stuff. Even if they kiss in JDrama it's 98% a peck on the mouth that looks more like an accident between fish. Japanese TV stations and agencies have a lot to do with it aswell because they are as hyprocritical as it gets when it comes to such scenes, so movies are a bit more realistic in that regard. Of course there are exceptions like Ando Sakura or Matsuoka Mayu for example, but if you see "is an actor/actress and model/singer/whatever" on their MDL profile, you can most probably expect a wholesome performance in which you need to use your imagination rather than your eyes to see any romance ;)

I really don't like Natsu's childhood friend, the guy who's obsessed with horses. He's super gloomy all the time and, at least too me, he gives off this "I'm better than you because I have no desire to ever change myself or my surroundings" aura. But maybe that's just me.
I think they could've explored her being half-deaf even more in Hanbun Aoi, but I liked how not everything works out even after she realized her dream. Only thing I really don't like about it is the last few weeks. I think what happens is one of the two worst things the writer could've come up with and that's saying something for what they already throw at her all throughout the story (the other would be if it happened to Satou Takeru's character). For me it's also the Asadora that gives off the biggest LGBTQ vibes (between Nagano Mei's and Seino Nana's characters) and I would love to see a LGBTQ heroine someday, but that will probably never happen.

I really like Teppan, like I wrote in my previous post. I actually wrote a rather lengthy comment (which is kind of my thing I guess?) on its MDL page on how it's very enjoyable except for a few weeks worth of episodes in which the script tries its hardest, thankfully in vain, to self-destruct and destroy all the character growth it build up beforehand.

Yell is, so far, the only Asadora I liked with a double lead (it's more focused on the guy). I'm not a fan of (pre) World War II settings, but I really enjoyed the story and Nikaido Fumi's sassy heroine.

Coming out of high school and marrying someone is definitely a shoujo manga thing, but the Japanese backwards thinking of "a woman can't be in a leading business position and/or succeed her family's business" is definitely real. 11.4% in 2022 says everything I think.

It was a good special, well acted and written, but compared to the drama, it lacked a lot of the humor and wittiness in my opinion. The case itself was rather small aswell and could've been handled in a 50 minute episode. More like a filler between the drama and the movie with foreshadowing for that at the end.

Cast & Credits should be overhauled aswell. Kuroki Haru was more like a guest role with about 2 minutes of screen time total. This was mostly Kohinata Fumiyo's special with Takenouchi Yutaka as second (and smaller) lead role. Sakurai Yuki and Yamazaki Ikusaburo were only on screen in two photos and a text message with voice respectively.