kittyflumpin

Oh, has Raintree no Kuni (a.k.a. World of Delight) been fansubbed? Nice!

I loved Nino in Stand Up!!, which I honestly went into thinking it sounded pretty stupid but ended up being a pretty great drama (most plot synopses make it sound like a Japanese version of American Pie, and it *does* have some sex farce-type elements but I thought it handled them well and never let them take over the emotional content at the heart of the story). I remember thinking he looked like such a kid to me in the beginning but over the course of the drama his character had transformed into a young man right before my eyes.

In closing, I love Nino.

omg I'm watching Onegai Kanete Versailles right now on YouTube and it's cracking me up. I'm not even a fan of the band (while I've heard a lot of the names mentioned, VKei's not really my style of music) but the dissonance of seeing these hyper-stylized rock stars doing such everyday things (so far, helping to babysit an infant and entertaining at a gathering of senior citizens) is a riot. Thanks for drawing it to my attention!

Thank you Hessa!

I was gonna try to add some Japanese ones, but I found myself wondering what exactly qualifies a show as a "melodrama". Is it the same as a "tearjerker"? Is it a show that has few-to-no light/comedic moments to break the mostly-serious mood? Or is it a more "soapy"-flavored drama (rather than merely "mostly-serious")?

Is there a genre guide somewhere on MDL?

Eh, this is MDL so pretty much anything Japanese could probably qualify in that category, at least for most users.

Bringing Asakura Takeshi (Ouja) back, if only for a side ep like this, is the most interesting thing Ex-Aid has done so far.

Aw, I got excited for a moment b/c I thought Hard Nut got a movie! Anyway, it's been a few years now but I'd still welcome a sequel series for it. It was great to see the "quirky genius & detective"-type combo where for once the genius is a woman.

Well, I liked her in Nobuta wo Produce and... mmm, that's about it. I didn't think she had much range as an actress-- her acting always seemed a bit "flat" to me, like she wasn't really into it. If that were the case, then it's not that surprising she'd choose to leave the business behind.

God, I wanted to be interested in this (b/c hello, handsome merman!?) but I just cannot get past the weird overdubbed dialogue thing with Chinese dramas, esp. the female lead. Is this something y'all have to just *deal* with as fans?

Hmm, not as far as I know. I mean, older Heisei-era Kamen Riders (think Kuuga, Ryuki, Faiz, for example) are a bit more adult in *theme* than the more recent shows but not to the same degree as Amazons (no "blood-splosions," cannibalism, etc.).

EDIT: I almost forgot, there's Shougeki Gouraigan (which I believe is from the same creator as Garo, it sure *looks* similar) but again, that's more similar to Garo than Amazons imo.

Well... there's Garo but that's more "adult" in the sense that there's more violence (like people straight-up die sometimes) and there are the occasional bare breasts (not of any major characters but like the occasional supporting actress). I should note that the brief nudity is infrequent enough that if that's your main reason to watch, you'll probably be disappointed (also it seems to have dropped off completely in later series in the franchise).

HiGH&LOW is fantastic, and it's kind of funny to think of it as an "idol drama" (b/c I usually think of those as being very fluffy) but it really is. But imo it's an example of an idol drama done *right*. I wasn't even a fan of any of the EXILE Tribe groups (I was vaguely aware of their existences but couldn't tell you how they were related to one another, etc.) before I watched the show, but I sure am now!

It's obvious the author hasn't watched much J-drama because there are a ton of sweet guys!

Sorai Daisuke from Soratobu Kouhoushitsu (actor Ayano Go);
Kikuta Kazuo from Strawberry Night (actor Nishijima Hidetoshi);
Namiki Kouhei from Boku to Star no 99 nichi (actor Nishijima Hidetoshi);
Hatano Shuji from Buzzer Beat (actor Mizobata Junpei);
Godai from Kamen Rider Kuuga (actor Odagiri Joe);
Takeru from Kamen Rider Ghost (in a few years) (actor Nishime Shun);
Shinji from Kamen Rider Ryuki (actor Suga Takamasa);
Goro from Kamen Rider Ryuki (actor Yuge Tomohisa);
Dojo Atsushi from Library Wars/Toshokan Sensou (actor Okada Junichi);
Madenokouji Arikoto from Ooku: Arikoto Iemitsu Hen (actor Sakai Masato);
Asai Shouhei from Stand Up!!! (in a few years) (actor Ninomiya Kazunari);
Mikuri‎ya Asahi from Summer Nude (actor Yamashita Tomohisa);
Kurenai Gai from Ultraman Orb (actor Ishiguro Hideo);
and Cobra or Yamato from HiGH&LOW (actors Iwata Takanori & Suzuki Nobuyuki).

Special K-drama mentions (for me) would be:

Park Cheol Soo from What's Up Fox? (K) (actor Chun Jung Myung);
and (already mentioned below) Choi Young from Faith (actor Lee Min Ho).

The undeniable appeal of this show even managed to draw *me* in, and I hardly watch K-dramas anymore (I'm thoroughly burned out on their tropes tbh), so it takes a lot to get me interested these days! Once I got through the "set-up" eps in the beginning (which were not even *that* boring, honestly), I was hooked.

I understand people's complaints about the main romance between Sun Woo & Ah Ro; I'm pretty indifferent about them myself, but that's really not why I'm enjoying the show. Rather, it's pretty much every *other* reason you've listed here. The fact that one element is a little lackluster doesn't make the entire show bad-- unless the main/only reason you watch dramas is the romance, in which case yeah, maybe skip this one. Otherwise, I've been finding it very fun (and funny) and exciting (and frankly *very* nice to look at).

P.S. As a side note, I'll *definitely* be checking out Park Hyung Shik's next project, if that gives you any indication as to who stole my heart in this drama (I know I'm not alone in this).

The show is cute 'n' all but man, this is not a flattering look for Seto Koji.

Someone's already addressed the ending, but I gotta say that the Korean movie missed the mark character-wise. It was like they just read the most basic outline of KwP ("woman adopts young man as pet") and kinda ignored the rest of what made the story special.

I really liked the first episode so far. I find her character refreshing.

I wouldn't say no to more Hentai Kamen-themed stuff if the actor(s) had the physique to pull it off (see Suzuki Ryohei in the HK movies).

I'm honestly not sure that "Prince of Shoujo" is necessarily a title to which one should aspire, at least not if they want to be a well-rounded actor.