Japanese dramas?

[Osen]

I love watching Japanese dramas! I think they have helped me a lot with my Japanese too. I still need to use the English subs, but I find that I'm understanding some of the words now without having to read the subtitles.

Do any of you watch Japanese dramas? And which ones do you like the best?

[Chromlea]

I've really been getting into the Japanese dramas over the past few years too. Well, I've really been into Asian dramas to be more exact. It started with Japanese dramas for me, but it's expanded into Korean and Taiwan dramas as well. I haven't explored many of the Asian movies, but I've also recently started enjoying those

Hmmm... as for the Japanese dramas that I liked the best? (And this is in no particular order)

Gokusen is fun... It does get a little (or a lot) repetitive, especially during the later seasons, but I like the teacher and still enjoy watching it.

Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers)... yes, it does have about a million versions (The manga, the anime, the Taiwanese version Meteor Garden, the Korean Version Boys Before Flowers, I think there was another Taiwanese version that came out recently? I haven't had a chance to watch it yet.) But yea, point is, I enjoyed it - especially early on.

Kimi wa Petto... Momo is cute! I had a hard time keeping interested in the show to the very end, but the beginning was very entertaining to me. Strange concept (a woman takes on a younger man as a pet), but cute story.

Nobuta wo Produce... Another one that I enjoyed. Noticing the Johnny's theme yet? - I'm guessing you know about JE if you've been watching Japanese dramas. Anyway, the story is good, plus the boys are nice to look at

What else? I've watched so many it's hard to keep straight.

Ruri no Shima... such a sweet story, first drama I ever watched, so I hold it close to my heart!

1 Litre of Tears... So sad, I think I cried a litre of tears while watching it.

Summer Snow... Another sad but good one

Bara no Nai Hanaya... Loved the beginning so it makes the list, but started losing interest near the end

Satorare... About a guy whose thoughts can be heard by everyone - so unique of a storyline

RH Plus... Corny, but cute vampire story.

Daisuki!!... Feel good story

Engine... Another feel good kind of story.

Yea, my descriptions really don't tell you much, maybe I'll add some links to the dramawiki pages later. Or you could just search up the ones you don't recognize. I'm sure you've already seen some of these yourself.

[Osen]

heh, Johnnys... good times, good times. Yes, I like looking at the Johnnys boys too 

I've seen Gokusen 1 and 2, haven't watched 3 yet. I heard there was a movie, but I couldn't find the subs for it anywhere. I also watched Boys Over Flowers, but haven't seen the other versions except the anime. Think they are worth watching? I also saw Nobuta wo Produce and One Liter of Tears. And I agree, that's so sad, I cried a lot at the end too. I should check out the other ones cause I haven't seen them yet.

You might also want to try Hana Kimi, Absolute Boyfriend, Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, Bloody Monday, First Kiss, and Nodame Cantabile.

[bakabakashi]

I've watched GTO and the first season of Gokusen, but they got kind of repetitive for my tastes. It didn't help that both shows were almost the same storyline either...

I did watch a bit of Trick, with the same teacher lady that's in Gokusen. The show itself was kind of dated, but still mildly entertaining. I haven't watched many Japanese dramas though, I prefer to watch anime myself

[Chromlea]

Yea, I've watched Great Teacher Onizuka too, and though I don't mind it (cause yes, it is repetitive), I still prefer to re-watch Gokusen. Maybe cause there's more episodes to watch so it doesn't always feel like repeats to me. I don't know lol... I also think Gokusen is funnier, and in my opinion, I think Yankumi is better than Onizuka

Maybe I should watch Trick, since it's got that actress that played Yankumi in it

[bakabakashi]

Just wondering if you guys know of any other good anime adaptations into Japanese dramas? I started watching the Death Note anime and I'm enjoying it so far. Maybe I should watch the live action for it too. Though I might want to wait until after I'm done watching it in anime form or I'll just end up all confused or bored if it's identical...

[Osen]

Hmmm... good anime to drama adaptations, huh? Let me think...

Well, just cause I'm currently watching the anime (again), so it's fresh in my mind... Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge. At first, I wasn't digging the live action version of it as much as the anime, but then it sort of grew on me. But there's different things that obviously couldn't be transfered from the anime (like the chibis) which I miss. But still, the more of it I watched, the better I thought of it.

Also Boys Over Flowers was nicely adapted from the anime. Took me a while to get used to MatsuJun as Domyouji, but by the end, I was routing for him, because he totally won me over. Even with my obsession with Oguri Shun... so that was quite the accomplishment. The second season was okay, but I liked the first better.

Nodame Cantabile was also done as both an anime and a drama. The music was fun, and surprisingly, all the actors seemed to pull off their quirky characters very well. Sometimes people just don't seem to "fit right" with the character that they are playing (especially when you've already got a picture of them in your mind), but this series seemed to find a really good cast.

Then there's Gokusen, but you've already seen that one, so I won't get into it.

I thought this would be a longer list... but come to think of it, most of the live dramas I've enjoyed went straight from manga to drama without the anime 

[Chromlea]

Anyone watching any Japanese dramas this season? I just watched The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo), the live action movie that came out this year. It was alright... but I definitely liked the anime that came out before it much better. Though it did get the emotions going... cause I almost cried while watching both the live action and the anime version. But the ending of the live action kind of felt cheap to me. To avoid spoilers, I'll leave it at that.

I started watching Q10, but I haven't finished it yet. The Chobits theme so far holds my attention, but then again, I also liked Chobits, so yea, that would make sense...

I also saw a couple episodes of FACE MAKER, which was a real eye opener. I found myself going "OMG, I had no idea! That's so true" a few times while I watched it. It really makes you think of actions/consequences in a whole new way. Or at least it did me. But I'm not sure if I'll keep watching it. Sure, it made me go, Ah!, but, still...

Now for what I still want to see:

I've been thinking about giving Freeter, Ie o Kau. a try, since I like Nino and Karina, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm not even sure if the full series has been subbed yet, or not, since it just ended a few days before Christmas.

I also wanted to check out Niini no Koto wo Wasurenaide, though it sounds like A Litre of Tears, reversed with Ryo getting the deadly illness this time. There's only one episode, so it's not like I'll have to invest too much time into it, should it seem like I've already seen a show like it.

Then there's Hotaru no Hikari 2... it's been out for a while now I think, but I saw the first one and enjoyed it, so I'd like to see how the story continues.

On another note... has anyone seen Moyashimon? I tried to watch it, to see what it was all about... and it was just so strange that I couldn't get through the first episode. I'm not sure if I should give it another chance to grow on me? Is it worth it?

So, what have you all been watching lately?

[bakabakashi]

Can't say that I've watched Moyashimon, but then again, I really haven't been watching all that much lately. I've just been super busy with other things. There was nothing dramawise that I'd heard about anyway that I've been waiting to see, and -shock, gasp, omg!- I'm even behind on my anime which I watch more of.

So yea, I'll have to get out there at some point and see if there's anything that I've really been missing so much.

[Osen]

so... lots has gone on in the past little while for me. I caught up on lots of my shows, and watched Gokusen 3 which was okay, but pretty much a big repeat of the first two seasons... and other than a couple of the actors, I really didn't connect with the cast. I did find the movie subbed too though, and I liked that one better than season 3, probably because they brought back so many of the old cast - but where's Sawada!?

And I watched Summer Snow (yummy Tsuyoshi, with a side dish of Imai Tsubasa and Oguri Shun hehe!) which was oh so sad but oh so good! I also liked Ruri no Shima (that little girl, forget her name at the moment, is such a good actress) - I wish I could live somewhere like that! I think we have very similar tastes in dramas, so I'll keep looking at your list to see what else I can watch

I can't wait to see some of the dramas coming out this season:

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta - with Miura Haruma -giggles- (though he doesn't seem old enough for that role... maybe he will when I'm watching it.)

Misaki Number One!! - Can you say Gokusen, but with a "hot" teacher? Should be fun anyway.

Jidankoshonin Gota Keshi - about negotiation techniques and behavioural psychology also sounds interesting, but I'll have to watch some of it to really tell what it's all about.