The future is ✨ BRIGHT ✨, my friends! I decided to “pass/fail” (so to speak) some dramas, but ended up passing most of them. I love having so many Japanese dramas to watch!
Currently
Juhan Shuttai / PASS! I gave it a “pass” in the first 15 minutes. I knew I’d love it! I also recognized Kuroki Haru from Sanadamaru and boy is she adorable. I can see how people might be annoyed by her faces (and acting in general), but I find her so refreshing and expressive! I’m also a sucker for any dramas based around the creation of manga.
Boku no Yabai Tsuma / PASS! I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again — I love when Ito Hideaki plays it bad. Here he’s a little bad, but also cowardly. Or so we think. And would it be a real Ito Hideaki drama without a shower scene? I’m so blessed. LOL. Boku no Yabai Tsuma seems like Gone Girl at first glance, but seeing as what would have been the whole book wrapped up in the first episode, there must be more to this story. Looks like the wife is going to make his life hell!
Dias Police: Ihou Keisatsu / PASS! The colors and directing on this one are insane. Film quality stuff. It’s good to see Matsuda Shota in dramas again. (3 years since his last drama, 5 years since he was in anything decent.)
99.9% / FAIL. It’s not a bad drama, it’s just boring. I guess I’m just ambivalent towards Matsujun. Eikura Nana is also not a very good actress, and Kagawa Teruyuki is not enough to “save” a drama for me even though I find him to be more than capable as an actor. 99.9% is just a little too similar to Ohno’s Kagi no Kakatta Heya and I don’t feel like I’m missing out by skipping over this one.
Good Partner / PASS, because lawyers are SO in this season! It’s hard for me to turn down a Takenouchi Yutaka drama, who has found his way into my good graces again after Suteki na Sen TAXI. His rapport with Matsuyuki Yasuko is winsome. Fun fact #1: Kora Kengo is dating Eikura Nana, who happens to be a lawyer in 99.9%.
Sekai Ichi Muzukashii Koi / PASS. Fun fact #2: Sugimoto Tetta is doing double duty as a lawyer in Good Partner and as a chauffeur in SekaMuzu. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever watched an Ohno drama that I didn’t like and I don’t think this one will be any different. He has great comedic timing. I also have a soft spot for Haru after catching bits and pieces of her asadora in Japan. It honestly feels like she came out of nowhere, but she’s been around since 2005… the come up is REAL!
Watashi Kekkon Dekinai Janakute, Shinain Desu / PASS. I’d find it cute that Fujiki Naohito is sort of like a love coach if he wasn’t such an ass! It really hurts me that he keeps playing positively ass-y characters, but I can’t help but watch those dramas. What I also can’t help is watching yet ANOTHER drama about a single, 40-year-old woman zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz it’s cute though and Nakatani Miki is a goddess.
Omukae Desu / (tentative) FAIL. I kept seeing Fukushi Sota and Suzuki Ryohei in ads everywhere (especially the latter — the guy looks positively glistening drinking beer atop a lush mountain) and wanted to see the fuss behind Fukushi Sota. Well, he’s bland. And so is this drama. However, it clocks in at only nine episodes and I might give it another try later…
Love Song / Pass, pass, PASS! I fell in love with this one and powered through all the episodes I could find in just one weekend. It’s a slow burn in a good way, the lead actress is so adorable/good (this is her first drama… dang), and I’m sorry I ever called Fukuyama Masaharu “handsome (?)”? Handsome? Question mark??? Not with that voice and that smile! When I watch Love Song it feels very much like a trendy Getsu9 drama, but something about it is very earnest. Very nice human drama so far.