2009 Winter Jdrama Review

2009 Winter Jdrama viewership rating for 1st episode

1	Voice		17.7%
2	Kiina~Fukanou Hanzai Sousakan		16.5%
3	Mei-chan no Shitsuji		14.9%
4	Triangle		14.7%
5	Hissatsu Shigotonin 2		14.7%
6	Arifureta Kiseki		12.5%
7	Honjitsu mo Hare. Ijyo nashi		12.4%
8	Rescue		12.2%
9	Zeni Geba		12.0%
10	Tokumei Kakaricho Tadano Hitoshi		11.9%
11	Uta no Oniisan		10.6%
12	Kami no Shizuku		10.3%
13	Love shuffle		10.0%
14	Akai Ito		7.5%
15	Reset		7.0%

My Personal Review

My Rating:
★★★★★: Absolutely fascinating! A Must-watch!
★★★★☆: Great job! A fun to watch!
★★★☆☆: Fairly good! You might enjoy!
★★☆☆☆: I personally don’t recommend, but you can try!
★☆☆☆☆: Don’t recommend! Not worth watching
☆☆☆☆☆: Horrible and awful! Complete trash!

1	Voice		★★★★☆
2	Kiina~Fukanou Hanzai Sousakan		★★☆☆☆
3	Mei-chan no Shitsuji		★★★★☆
4	Triangle		★★★★☆
5	Hissatsu Shigotonin 2		★★☆☆☆
6	Arifureta Kiseki		★★☆☆☆
7	Honjitsu mo Hare. Ijyo nashi		★★★☆☆
8	Rescue		★★★★☆
9	Zeni Geba		★★★★☆
10	Tokumei Kakaricho Tadano Hitoshi		★☆☆☆☆
11	Uta no Oniisan		★★★☆☆
12	Kami no Shizuku		★★☆☆☆
13	Love shuffle		★★☆☆☆
14	Akai Ito		★★☆☆☆
15	Reset		N/A

Among this season's dramas, my favorites are "Voice", "Mei-chan no Shitsuji", "Triangle" and "Zeni geba".  "Zeni geba" is an amazingly depressing drama but it triggers viewer's curiosity what's gonna happen to Futaro (Kenji Matsuyama).

"Mei-chan no Shitsuji" is a pure fun.  Those who liked "Hanazakari no Kimitachi-e" and "Hana yori Dango" will enjoy this series. 

"Triangle" is a mystery series.  A once-doctor-turned-interpole officer, Ryoji Gooda (Yosuke Eguchi) searches for the truth surrounding the murder of his classmate which happened 25 years ago.

2008 Autumn Jdrama result

2008 Autumn Jdrama viewership rating for last episode

1	Ryusei no Kizuna	←	22.6%
2	Kaze no Garden	←	17.6%
3	Team Batista no Eiko	↑	16.5%
4	Scandal	←	15.5%
5	Innocent Love	←	15.1%
6	Celebu to Binbo Taro	↓	14.3%
7	Blooody Monday	↑	13.2%
8	Salaried man Kintaro	↓	12.6%
9	Gira Gira	←	9.7%
10	Scrap Teacher	↓	8.9%
11	Oh! My Girl!!	↑	8.0%
12	Room of King	↓	7.2%
13	Shoni Kyumei	↓	7.0%
14	OL Nippon	←	6.4%
15	Yume wo Kanaeru Zou	←	3.4%

My Personal Review

My Rating:
★★★★★: Absolutely fascinating! A Must-watch!
★★★★☆: Great job! A fun to watch!
★★★☆☆: Fairly good! You might enjoy!
★★☆☆☆: I personally don’t recommend, but you can try!
★☆☆☆☆: Don’t recommend! Not worth watching
☆☆☆☆☆: Horrible and awful! Complete trash!

1	Ryusei no Kizuna		★★★★☆
2	Kaze no Garden		★★★★☆
3	Yume wo Kanaeru Zou		★★★☆☆
4	Bloody Monday		★★★☆☆
5	Celebu to Binbo Taro		★★★☆☆
6	Innocent Love		★★★☆☆
7	Team Batista no Eiko		★★★☆☆
8	Gira Gira		★★★☆☆
9	Salaried man Kintaro		Not viewed
10	Scrap Teacher		Not viewed
11	Room of King		Not viewed
12	Shoni Kyumei		Not viewed
13	Oh! My Girl!!		★☆☆☆☆
14	Scandal		★☆☆☆☆
15	OL Nippon		Not viewed

 

Despite my anticipation, "Ryusei no Kizuna" turned out OK and it won the 1st prize in the viewership ranking.  "Kaze no Garden" on the other hand, attracted much admiration among adult viewers in their 50s and 60s.  Innocent Love was SO-SO in my opinion, considering the 1st acting experience for a jpop singer Yuzu's Yujin Kitagawa... He is cute looking but sometimes his smile is just so fishy!.  And I think the story needs more refinement, though.

2008 Autumn Jdrama review

2008 Autumn Jdrama viewership rating for 1st episode

1	Ryusei no Kizuna		21.2%
2	Kaze no Garden		20.1%
3	Celebu to Binbo Taro		17.6%
4	Scandal		16.9%
5	Innocent Love		16.9%
6	Team Batista no Eiko		15.2%
7	Salaried man Kintaro		13.8%
8	Scrap Teacher		12.6%
9	Gira Gira		12.2%
10	Bloody Monday		11.4%
11	Room of King		10.4%
12	Shoni Kyumei		9.6%
13	Oh! My Girl!!		8.3%
14	OL Nippon		8.3%
15	Yume wo Kanaeru Zou		7.1%

My Personal Review

My Rating:
★★★★★: Absolutely fascinating! A Must-watch!
★★★★☆: Great job! A fun to watch!
★★★☆☆: Fairly good! You might enjoy!
★★☆☆☆: I personally don’t recommend, but you can try!
★☆☆☆☆: Don’t recommend! Not worth watching
☆☆☆☆☆: Horrible and awful! Complete trash!

1	Ryusei no Kizuna		★★★☆☆
2	Kaze no Garden		★★★☆☆
3	Celebu to Binbo Taro		★★★☆☆
4	Scandal		★☆☆☆☆
5	Innocent Love		★★★★☆
6	Team Batista no Eiko		★★★☆☆
7	Salaried man Kintaro		★★★☆☆
8	Scrap Teacher
9	Gira Gira		★★★☆☆
10	Bloody Monday		★★★★☆
11	Room of King
12	Shoni Kyumei
13	Oh! My Girl!!		★☆☆☆☆
14	OL Nippon
15	Yume wo Kanaeru Zou		★★★★☆

To my disaapointment, this season's jdrama series were not so fun as I though it would be. Currently, my favorite series is "Yume wo Kanaeru Zou" "Innocent Love" and "Bloody Monday".

By watching the first episode, I thought "Ryusei no Kizuna" would be a controversial one. My guess was proven right.  There are heated discussion on the net over the screenplay written by Kankuro Kudoh (many call them "KudoKan"). Being a renowned playwriter, KudoKan's scripts in the past such as "Kisarazu Cat's Eye", "Tiger and Dragon" and "IWGP" earned admiration. His fast-paced dialogue mixed with newest slungs and jokes vividly depicts real conversation among young Japanese.

However, I think this drama didn't need his help. The author of the original book, Keigo Higashino is also a renowned suspense drama writer and his book such as "Yogisha X no Kenshin (original book for "Galileo")" and "Byakuyako" became a hit series in the past.  With "Johnny's" fabulous casts (not just one, but two!), this drama already had enough reason to become one of the hit series of the season.

Many commented that expectation for this drama was bitterly betrayed...

If you are going to watch it, don't expect it to be a suspense drama.  It is more like a comedy drama.

2008 Summer Jdrama Result

2008 Summer Jdrama Result~2008 Summer Jdrama Viewership rating for last episode~

1	Code Blue	→	19.5%
2	Yasuko to Kenji	↑	16.3%
3	Taiyo to Umi no Kyoshitsu	↓	15.6%
4	Shibatora	↑	15%
5	Tomorrow	↓	14.1%
6	Mao	↓	14.1%
7	Monster Parent	↓	13.6%
8	Gonzo	→	12.4%
9	Seigi no Mikata	↓	12.2%
10	Yottsu no Uso	↑	9.6%
11	33-minutes Tantei	→	8.7%
12	An-donuts	↑	8.1%
13	Dageki Tenshi Ruri	↑	7.7%
14	Roto6 de 3oku2senman ateta Otoko	↓	6.4%
15	Koi-sora	↓	6.3%
16	Gakko jya Oshierarenai!	↑	5.9%

My Personal Review

I  must say that this was a boring season and I longed for it to end soon
and the result also shows that all the other viewer didn't like summer drama much.

I didn't finish watching some of the dramas until the end, but only Mao.

It was a sad but satisfying ending but I felt a bit strange for the additional scene of the boss and the girl...

Well, finally the summer is over and I have a high hope for autumn season.  By seeing some of the previews, some of the dramas seem very promising!

 

2008 Summer Jdrama review

2008 Summer Jdrama viewership rating for 1st episode

1	Code Blue		21.2%
2	Taiyo to Umi no Kyoshitsu		20.5%
3	Tomorrow		16.8%
4	Monster Parent		14.2%
5	Mao		14.0%
6	Seigi no Mikata		13.2%
7	Shibatora		13.0%
8	Gonzo		12.5%
9	Roto6 de 3oku2senman ateta Otoko		12.4%
10	Yasuko to Kenji		12.3%
11	33-minutes Tantei		12.2%
12	Yottsu no Uso		11.8%
13	An-donuts		11.6%
14	Dageki Tenshi Ruri		10.0%
15	Gakko jya Oshierarenai!		9.9%
16	Koi-sora		5.6%

My Personal Review

My Rating:
★★★★★: Absolutely fascinating! A Must-watch!
★★★★☆: Great job! A fun to watch!
★★★☆☆: Fairly good! You might enjoy!
★★☆☆☆: I personally don’t recommend, but you can try!
★☆☆☆☆: Don’t recommend! Not worth watching
☆☆☆☆☆: Horrible and awful! Complete trash!

1	Code Blue		★★☆☆☆
2	Taiyo to Umi no Kyoshitsu		★★☆☆☆
3	Tomorrow		★★★☆☆
4	Monster Parent
5	Mao		★★★★☆
6	Seigi no Mikata		★☆☆☆☆
7	Shibatora		★★☆☆☆
8	Gonzo
9	Roto6 de 3oku2senman ateta Otoko
10	Yasuko to Kenji		★★★★☆
11	33-minutes Tantei
12	Yottsu no Uso
13	An-donuts
14	Dageki Tenshi Ruri
15	Gakko jya Oshierarenai!
16	Koi-sora		★★★☆☆

 

What happened to the hot summer season!?  Jdrama-wise, its a complete disaster.

Maybe, every stations are holding the better Jdramas for the next season to avoid the Olympics.

Anyway, I am currently watching only "Tomorrow", "Mao", "Yasuko to Kenji", and "Koi-sora".  While the story of  "Tomorrow" and "Mao" are sometimes depressing, "Yasuko to Kenji" is a pure fun.  I just wish for better casts for Erika Tsubaki and Jun Tsubaki.

"Code Blue" was too tense for me...

2008 Spring drama result

2008 Spring Jdrama ~2008 Spring Jdrama Viewership rating for last episode~

1. 27.4% ← CHANGE （Fuji TV）
2. 23.6% ↓ Gokusen ごくせん （NTV）
3. 22.8% ↑   Last Friends ラスト・フレンズ (Fuji TV）
4. 19.5% ↑ ROOKIES （TBS）
5. 15.1% ↑ Around 40 （TBS）
6. 13.6% ↓   Zettai Kareshi 絶対彼氏 （Fuji TV）
7. 11.5% ↓ Shichi-nin no Onna Bengoshi 7人の女弁護士（TV Asahi）
8. 10.1% ↓ Osen おせん （ＮＴＶ）
9. 10.0% ↓   Puzzle パズル （TV Asahi）
10. 9.4% ←  Kimi, Hannin jya nai yone? キミ犯人じゃないよね？（TV Asahi）
11. 8.9% ↑   Hokaben ホカベン （ＮＴＶ）
12. 8.3% ↑ Hachi-one Diver ハチワンダイバー (Fuji TV)
13. 7.7% ↓  Muri na Ren-ai 無理な恋愛 （Fuji TV）
14. 7.2% ↓ Ryokiteki na Kanojo 猟奇的な彼女 （TBS）

All in all, it was a good season.  Especially, "ROOKIES" gained a lot of support as the drama progresses and became a big hit!  TBS announced to air the special drama next fall and even the movie version next year!

Even though Gokusen maintained a high rating with the support from the core fans (& Hey Say Jump fan?), ROOKIES beated Gokusen by far with its exciting storyline and each actor's powerful acting skills.

Also, Eita and Juri Ueno received a high recognition with their acting skills in "Last Friends".

My personal favorite other than ROOKIES was "CHANGE", "Last Friends", "Around 40", "Zettai Kareshi" and I liked "Osen" a lot.   Ending-wise, however, I wished a better ending for "Around 40" and "Zettai Kareshi".

Osen

Osen (April 22, 2008~)

Cast:

半田 仙 Sen Handa … 蒼井 優 Yu Aoi
江崎 ヨシ夫 Yoshio Ezaki … 内 博貴 Hirotaka Uchi
藤城 清二 Seiji Fujishiro… 杉本 哲太 Tetta Sugimoto
竹田 留吉 Tomekichi Takeda… 向井 理 Osamu Mukai
鈴木 テル子 Teruko Suzuki … 鈴木 蘭々 Ranran Suzuki
久保田 冬子 Fuyuko Kubota … 工藤 里紗 Risa Kudoh
脇坂 玉子Tamako Wakisaka… 森田 彩華 Ayaka Morita
長谷川 健太 Kenta Hasegawa … 奥村 知史 Tomofumi Okumura
林 隆史Takafumi Hayashi … 宅間 孝行 Takayuki Takuma

珍品堂さん Chinpindo-san … 渡辺 いっけい Ikkei Watanabe
浅井 シズ Shizu Asai … 余 貴美子 Kimiko Yo
半田 千代 Chiyo Handa … 由紀 さおり Saori Yuki

Synopsis:

The story is based on Shota Kikuchi's manga "Osen".

Sen (Yu Aoi), or o-Sen-san as everybody calls her, is the "okami" (hostess) of a long-standing traditional Japanese restaurant, Isshoan. Though she seems always carefree and loves to drink sake during the day, she has an impressive mastery of a wide range skills, from cooking to ceramics to calligraphy. A new apprentice, Yoshio (Hirotaka Uchi), or Yocchan-san as Sen calls him, is disappointed at first by her act, but soon becomes mesmerized by Isshoan's philosophy toward cooking and its service mind.

NTV's official website

Opening theme song:

踊れ Odore by Micro

Ending theme song:

Koi-Uta/PROGRESS(Limited edition A CD+DVD)
(to be released on June 4th, 2008)