Age Harassment: First Impressions (Ep 1-2)

Takei Emi works so much that it almost feels strange for her to be missing from the Jdorama scene for more than one season. Her SP for Senryokugai Sousakan aired recently but her last full on drama was Subete ga F ni Naru back in fall of 2014. At the beginning of 2015, I was slowly beginning to fall behind in Jdoramas and Jnews because I was so busy with my first year of university. Now that its summer time and I'm a little more settled, I can finally catch up! 

Age Harassment wasn't my most anticipated dorama of this season, but it has already become my favourite with only 2 episodes. Aside from my love for Emi, I find the issue of harassment in the workplace very interesting. We all know that it happens, but we don't realize how often it happens and how subtle it can seem. This drama focuses on age harassment since our main lead, Yoshii Emiri,  is a young female office worker who has just secured a new job at a big company. Because of her young age and beautiful looks, she is able to get away with almost anything and is always the center of attention with male colleagues. Despite these perks, she is unable to show her full potential and is only given jobs that require her youth and prettiness. On top of all this, she is also the target of fellow jealous female employees who were once youthful like her but are now just pushed aside. 

There are other types of harassment that are mentioned in this drama but the two prominent ones seem to be age and gender, which our characters seem to experience almost daily. It's almost hard to hate on the female employees because even though they appear to be bitchy, we see that they go through the same harassment. Growing old is not a crime, but the older female employees still have to suffer from constant degrading comments masked as just a little joke. This of course would make them self conscious on their actions. 

Even with all this happening, no one steps up to call anyone out. This is where our main character comes in. Through a series of events, she realizes that this harassment has happened and will continue to happen as she gets older unless someone speaks up to stop it. We haven't seen much change yet, but Emiri is already stepping up and calling people out for their shit at the end of the first two episodes. 

So far, I'm loving the role of Emiri and I feel really good about Takei Emi's portrayal. For the last few dramas she has done, her characters have all felt lacklustre and I get the feeling that she isn't putting her all but rather just getting by. I'm glad that she is getting the role of a more realistic character now because I was getting real tired of her deadpan and "quirky" characters.

This drama is the first time I've actually taken notice of Inamori Izumi. I didn't know she was in Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu even though I did remember her character. Her character here is much more memorable. She plays Osawa Yuriko, the direct supervisor of Emiri, and a victim of age and gender harassment. She is probably the best at hiding her feelings despite all the unfairness she goes through. But don't get the wrong idea as she isn't so innocent either. Her actions really confuse me because it seems like she takes care of Emiri but hates her for her youth at the same time. Anyhow, Inamori Izumi is really impressive so far because I've been scared of her character like multiple times in each episode. She has that gentle sheep appearance with a really subtle bitchiness.

Overall, I really like this drama and the storyline has really gotten me hooked. I'm hoping that it'll stay this way and become a example of a girl power drama done right!

Scholar Who Walks the Night: First Impressions (Ep 1-2)

After waiting for what seems like an eternity, Scholar Who Walks the Night (SWWTN) has finally premiered last Wednesday! The thing about these dramas that start teasing and filming too early is that viewers will often feel extra disappointed if it doesn't live up to the hype. Fortunately, at least for me, SWWTN did live up to all the buzz it created.

I managed to find the Chinese translated for the currently ongoing manhwa that SWWTN is based on and rushed through it before the drama started. Since I'm not thaaat good at reading Chinese, I didn't understand much but from I could tell, the drama has been following the storyline quite closely. There are a few differences such as the way Sung Yeol became a vampire and of course the addition of the character Myunghee played by Kim So Eun.

Lee Jun Ki is perfect and impressive as Sung Yeol. His casting is spot on as his trademark pretty boy image fits the androgynous look of his manhwa counterpart perfectly. As with Lee Yoo Bi who is basically a carbon copy of Yang Sun in the book. And even though Lee Soo Hyuk doesn't have silver hair, he is just so gorgeous and it feels so wrong because he is so evil but SO HANDSOME. Kim So Eun is playing new dual characters. One is the first love of Sung Yeol from 120 years ago and the other is Hye Ryung. I really really love Kim So Eun and glad to finally see her in a drama instead of following her in WGM week after week. I can't say much about Changmin yet since we got so little of his character but I'm not feeling any stiffness from him so far! I am however feeling very bad about his moustache and beard. Changmin is my favourite in TVXQ so seeing him with facial hair was a bit of a shock and it will take probably forever for me to get used to.

Cutie pie So Eun being a cutie pie

The first episode was solid and fast paced without letting any time go by freely. I'm pretty glad that the writers decided to present the whole setup in the first episode instead of flashbacks throughout the drama. It's just so much less confusing and it allows us to follow the present time much better, which is more important. At the same time, we can still see the changes in our titular character from 120 years ago and now. What Sung Yeol went through was tragic and his personality has changed drastically. Gone is the slightly sassy scholar with a happy marriage on the way and in comes a vampire with a human heart, unable to control his urges and haunted by the death of his loved ones. I'm glad that Sung Yeol has people by his side but hiding away for 120 years as everyone around him changes and leaves him behind must be sad.

The second episode was just as good but slowed down only by a little bit. We see more of our heroine and her background. People can move mountains for the one they love and we see that here as Yang Sun is doing everything she can to support her family and her little sister even if they aren't related by blood. Her relationship with her sister is just too cute but I'm really afraid it'll end in tragedy. From years of drama-watching experience, I feel like something is going to happen to her little sister. Please oh please, dramagods, let me be wrong!

Even though I love this drama's OTP, I actually found the OTP scene in episode 2 to be a little awkward. Maybe its because Lee Yoo Bi is rocking her cross dressing look too well, but I was actually so unused to her long hair. Ha! Even though Sung Yeol's frivolous and teasing personality worked in the manhwa, I'm afraid its a bit hard to transfer that onto camera, where it can easily look and feel cringey.

HOW IS HE THIS HOT LIKE SRSLY

I'm really enjoying Gwi so far. His character is a typical villain at first glance but if you pause and think about it, he's anything but typical. He has the power to stay alive for a long time because of how strong he is. From what I interpret, it's as if Gwi is bored of his tyranny. It's become too easy for him. So after Sung Yeol turned into a vampire and knocked him unconscious with his unexpected powers, Gwi was probably shocked and that's why he waited so long to battle with Sung Yeol again.

I actually don't typically watch saeguks or anything vampire related so I'm watching this purely based on the actors themselves and especially for the OTP. The story so far is quite good and I'm getting really good vibes from all of the characters.

STOP BEING SUCH A CUTIE PIE

STOP BEING SUCH A HOT TOMATO

2015 Anticipated Summer Jdoramas

Hey hey hey! I know its been a long long time since I've done a dramalist but its honestly because I've only been keeping up with one or two Jdoramas per season. I have a whole pile of dramas that are waiting to be watched so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed but I will definitely get through them. This season, I'm jumping back on the Jdorama train and there are a bunch of dramas I'm excited to watch, some of which have already aired!

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Mondays

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Koinaka

Start: July 20th / Time: 21:00 / Channel: FUJI TV

Cast: Fukushi Sota, Tsubasa Honda, Nomura Shuhei, Shinkawa Yua, and more

Synopsis:

Miura Aoi (Fukushi Sota) has an indecisive personality and dislikes summer. One summer day, he meets his childhood friend and first love Serizawa Akari (Tsubasa Honda) who disappeared suddenly in their 3rd year of high school. Aoi's feelings for Akari begin to resurface again but there is now another man beside Akari who is also named Aoi.

Thoughts: 

I honestly don't have any interest in the plot of this drama because I still don't fully understand it. But I always like to watch everything that Tsubasa Honda is in because I absolutely adore her. A drama with her and Fukushi Sota, another one of my favourite actors, is a must watch for me. I am a little concerned about the acting since they are both known to be a little weak in that apartment, but I'm confident that they will work up their charms and chemistry!

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Thursdays

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Tantei no Tantei

Start: July 9th / Time: 22:00 / Channel: FUJI TV

Cast: Kitagawa Keiko, Kawaguchi Haruna, Miura Takahiro, Dean Fujioka, Ito Masayuki, Rokkaku Shinji, and more

Synopsis:

Sasaki Rena (Kitagawa Keiko) is a woman with great memory and intelligence. Rena works as an investigator who specializes in corruption among other detectives. Her reason for doing so is because her sister was murdered by a stalker after being given information from an unknown detective on her sister's whereabouts.

Thoughts: 

Dramas about corruption gets me excited and makes me depressed at the same time. Although its fun to watch, I'm always saddened by the fact that in real life, corruption is almost inevitable. Anyhow, I love Kitagawa Keiko even though I haven't been impressed with her dramas as of late. I love Kawaguchi Haruna even more so I'm pretty pumped up for this. I'm expecting plenty of on the edge moments and a big plot twist towards the end! Twists are predictable for these types of dramas, but it is still so stimulating to watch everything unravel!

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Age Harassement

Start: July 9th / Time: 21:00 / Channel: TV ASAHI

Cast: Takei Emi, Inamori Izumi, Seto Koji, Kaname Jun, Okura Koji, Naito Risa, Hara Mikie, Sugimoto Tetta, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Asano Kazuyuki, Aso Yumi, Takenaka Naoto, Kazama Morio, Koizumi Kotaro

Synopsis:

Yoshii Emiri is a new employee of a top trading company. In addition to her motivation, skills and ambition, she possesses both youth and beauty. This would appear to be her passport to happiness. But because she is assigned to the General Affairs Department, the old guard which only pays lip service to “female employment”, everything she possesses becomes a target of harassment. The company only requires Emiri's youth and beauty. Her dream of doing a good job and eventually becoming an executive officer is quickly crushed. On the other hand, Emiri just has to flash a smile and the male staff would fuss over her even though she did not ask for anything. She becomes the target of jealousy of the older female staff. Emiri is given a hard time simply because of her youth and beauty. Although she endures this every day, she soon reaches the limit of her patience. When Emiri rebels against the old-fashioned company, what awaits her is... -- Jdrama Weblog

Thoughts: 

Duh, I'm obviously watching this for Takei Emi, my ultimate female bias. Apart from that, I went in the first episode expecting nothing, knowing nothing, and coming out floored at how much I already love this drama. I'm not sure about how things will go since I've only just watched the first episode but this is a role from Emi in a long time that I'm excited for. After playing stupid/not-so-stupid characters and deadpan characters, we finally have strong female character! YES! I'm pretty pumped up about this drama so expect a first impressions post soon around episode 3!

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Saturdays

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Dokonjo Gaeru (Gusty Frog)

Start: July 11th / Time: 21:00 / Channel: NTV

Cast: Matsuyama Kenichi, Mitsushima Hikari, Maeda Atsuko Katsuji Ryo, Mitsuishi Ken, Denden, and more

Synopsis: 

When Hiroshi (Matsuyama Kenichi) was just a middle schooler, he tripped and fell on a top of a frog that was flattened and stuck on his shirt. The frog, named Pyonkichi, began to speak and that was the start of Hiroshi and Pyonkichi's strange relationship. Now that Hiroshi is a grown man and still a loser, he decides to redo his life. 

Thoughts: 

Anything with Matsuyama Kenichi is a must watch! Especially when he is playing a klutz! I'm not super sure about the storyline but I'm expecting a fun and lighthearted drama with a magical twist. I'm also pretty stoked about Maeda Atsuko because I adore her.

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Sundays

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Death Note

Start: July 5th / Time: 22:30 / Channel: NTV

Cast: Kubota Masataka, Yamazaki Kento, Yuki Mio, Sano Hinako, Fujiwara Reiko, Matsushige Yutaka, Sato Jiro, and more

Synopsis: 

Yagami Light, (Kubota Masataka), is an ordinary university student. One day, he receives a death note which changes his life. He becomes murderer Kira and punishes criminals through the death note. L, (Yamazaki Kento), is a private detective who defines Kira as evil and decides to catch Kira. 

Thoughts: 

I haven't watched the first episode yet and with all the reviews I've been reading, I have to be honest and say I am super skeptical and a little scared. I did really enjoy the movies, but I don't love it enough to swear off anything that is different. The only thing I think I would be constantly comparing to is Matsuyama Kenichi's performance as L. Kenichi brought L to life perfectly and that is the very role that made me fall in love with him. I like Yamazaki Kento and I do believe that he has the acting ability to portray L, but sometimes its not always about acting ability. If the characters have really changed like I've read from various bloggers, then I would say I'm disappointed that they decided to use the name Death Note. All of these feelings are conflicting with my intense love for Kubota Masataka. If you didn't know, I fell head over heels for Kubota in N no Tame Ni. I'm not so ready for him to play a character that's very dislikable. Light is admirable to some extent but I would never like him as a character. OH MY FEELINGS!

Who Are You: School 2015 Thoughts & Feelings (with spoilers!)

Whew, I haven't written a post on a current drama in a long time. I'm actually watching a ton of Kdramas this season and I really wanted to write about them but I just had no time. Anyways, I finally have a little bit of time and I just finished Who Are You: School 2015 with a lot of thoughts I want to share.

First of all, because of the crazy shipping war, I'd like to make it clear that I ship Eunbi and Yi An (YiBi). Honestly, I like both Yi An and Taekwang for Eunbi but I would say I like Yi An a little bit more because he is more of my style in real life and I would choose him if I ever had the change (T.T). On top of that, I like YiBi because they like each other and I think that's all that really matters. But there are a lot of things that went wrong with this drama in terms of the romance and I wanna address some of those issues. Even though I have my own ship, I'm going to try to be as unbiased as possible in this post.

Now I don't like to participate in shipping wars but I do love to read drama forums, especially the ones on Soompi. I've been following the forums since the beginning of the drama and I've seen a lot of comments that kinda irked me. It seems that there are a lot of crazy shippers from both ships that seemed to have lost the ability to think logically. 

There are a lot of people who ship Taebi only because they like Taekwang. Taekwang is a very sweet guy who has always known Eunbi for her and supported her throughout the whole drama. But Eunbi doesn't owe Taekwang her feelings just because of everything that he's done for her. She never showed any romantic feelings towards him or gave him false hope--she rejected him 3 times. I've seen comments calling Eunbi a bitch right after her long awaited confession to Yi An and even ones telling her to go die. I really don't understand how anyone with a right mind can tell a fictional character to go die just because a drama didn't play out the way they wanted to. Its both absurd and ridiculous. Eunbi isn't a bitch just because she doesn't like your oppa back. It's her feelings and she gets to choose. Of course I know these comments don't represent the majority of shippers but only the really crazy and illogical ones. 

Although it was unreal that Yi An, who liked Eunbyul for 10 years, suddenly fell for Eunbi, it was still believable and not all that surprising. First, he has said to Eunbi (who he thought was Eunbyul at the time) that he likes the her after her memory loss more. Second, its very possible that his feelings for Eunbyul stemmed majorly from when they were younger. They have grown up and changed a lot, just as Eunbyul said, and feelings can change without knowing. When you've liked someone for so long, it kind of turns into a habit and you don't really stop to think about your feelings. Eunbi is what made Yi An stop and think about his true feelings.

I've also seen people call Taekwang abusive and forceful which is also very absurd. Just because he confessed more than once? Just because he kissed Eunbi on the cheek? Honestly, there is no rule that says you have to stop chasing a girl just because she rejected you. And it wasn't like Taekwang kept telling Eunbi that he liked her. Taekwang has always supported Eunbi from behind and Eunbi knows that as well. He even knew that Eunbi was feeling sorry and stepped back himself. Thats definitely not abusive or forceful. It's wrong to hate someone just because he is the rival of your favourite. Same for both sides.

One last thing I'd like to address is the ending. Some people think that ending was an open ending in terms of romance when it really wasn't. Eunbi rejected Taekwang. Eunbi confessed to Yi An. She told him that although she likes him she isn't ready to accept his feelings and has to find herself first. Yi An gave Eunbi the medal and told her to give it back to him when she is ready to accept his feelings. After six months, Eunbi comes back to Sekang High and gives Yi An the medal on the bus, meaning that she accepted his feelings and they are together. There weren't a lot of lovey dovey scenes for them in the end but its obvious that they ended up together.

Honestly, all these problems stem from the writers. The writers are the ones who gave TaeBi shippers false hope. Because Taekwang was more popular, they used him for ratings and milked the TaeBi couple up until the very end. Why would you do that if you weren't going to make TaeBi endgame? What they should've done was reduce the scenes between Eunbi and Taekwang after the first rejection and get more give more time for Yi An and Eunbi to develop their feelings further. School 2015 is pretty much the worst drama in terms of playing with the viewers. It even tops Doctor Stranger. I shipped Lee Jong Suk's and Kang Sora's characters so hard and I felt so frustrated because the writers would keep giving us more of their scenes week after week. But at least there it was made obvious that Jong Suk's character had no romantic feelings for Sora's and that they wouldn't be endgame early on. I'm really disappointed that the writers for School 2015 went for ratings over quality.

Forgetting about all the dumb ship wars, lets talk about how amazing Kim So Hyun is. For such a young actress, she is well beyond ready for more leading lady roles. Her portrayal of the twins was simply magic. I could tell straight away when it was Eunbi or Eunbyul even if they were pretending to be each other. Aside from the obvious makeup and hair differences, Kim So Hyun even spoke differently for each role. From her gaze to her subtle actions, I really can't imagine anyone else other than Kim So Hyun who can pull this off. She's always been one of my favourite actresses but this makes me beyond excited for her future works.

Nam Joo Hyuk was pretty good but there weren't enough chances for me to even judge. His character was very poorly developed beyond the romance part and I blame it all on the writers. Because of Taekwang's popularity, Yi An pretty much had almost no scenes for the last few episodes. I would've liked to see more on his dreams for swimming and his relationship with his father. Yook Sungjae did a great job and he really shined in his role as Taekwang. He seriously made my heart flutter and had some of the best lines of the whole drama. Raise your hand if you squealed when he said that time can only go faster when he's with Eunbi *raises hand* Taekwang really grew throughout the drama and I almost cried when he finally shared a meal with his father after all that time.

Jo Soo Hyang, who played Kang So Young, also shined a lot in this drama. It actually takes some talent to make people hate you and she did just that. I literally wanted to rip So Young's face off every time I saw her and I was hella glad when Eunbyul came back and finally gave her a taste of her own medicine. I felt that Lee Pil Mo was largely underused until the end which was pretty unfortunate because he had so much potential. Plus, where do you find such a cute teacher in real life?

As compared to the previous School instalments, this one definitely sticks out. It's definitely not as realistic as the previous dramas and it had a lot of plot holes. It also focused a lot on romance, which I personally don't mind. Despite all this, it still took me on a very emotional ride with how it depicted bullying and parental issues from both sides. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this drama. It had some plot holes and some untied loose ends but it still managed to keep me entertained and moved every week. I'll end it here with my favourite OST. All the songs from the OST are amazing but this one is my personal favourite!

N no Tame ni (Review)

Hola, this is a review for N no Tame Ni. I’m actually writing this only because it was such an outstanding drama that gave me SO MANY FEELINGS. I’ve been super busy with school and exams that I pretty much missed 2 whole seasons of Jdramas. I managed to squeeze in Subete Ga F Ni Naru (because of my never-ending love for Takei Emi and because dramafever was subbing it) and I just recently watched N no Tame Ni because a friend recommended it. I started with one episode just out of curiosity and then I found myself blowing off my homework just to watch it.

Anyways, lets get to the review aka me throwing buckets of my feelings at you ;)

Synopsis

Taken from Jdrama Weblog:

University students Sugishita Nozomi, Naruse Shinji, Ando Nozomi and Nishizaki Masato end up coming upon the scene of the murder of the Noguchi couple, because of a plan they had devised. Nishizaki is arrested at the scene and is given a 10-year prison term because of his voluntary confession. 10 years later, Takano Shigeru, a former police officer who has misgivings about the verdict of this case, starts to pursue the truth. He is convinced that it all began as a result of an incident caused by Nozomi and Naruse on an island in the Seto Inland Sea on the summer 15 years ago. "They committed a crime at that time. It was for the sake of each N."

Cast & Characters

Eikura Nana plays Sugishita Nozomi. Not sure if you guys knew but I actually really disliked Eikura Nana before. I watched a few episodes of Mei-Chan and hated it sooooo much that I swore off both her and the drama. She is a good actress indeed but I just didn't like the vibes she gave off. Obviously I regret it now because I pretty much love her now. This entire drama just made me fall in love with both her character and her. It really goes to show how drama choices can make or break a person. Well for me at least. Anyways, Eikura does such a great job at conveying the feelings of Nozomi. Seeing her character grow up seriously made me tear up because of all the hardships that she had to go through. This is one character I'll never forget. It's really rare to find such a well-written character and have such a great actress play the part as well.

Kubota Masataka plays Naruse Shinji. Kubota is another sorta newbie actor in my book since I first saw him in the mess that was Summer Nude and then he had a supporting role in ST: Scientific Task Force. I did develop a liking for him through ST since his character was really cute. Buuut, I disliked his hair in both Summer Nude and ST to the max, so its safe to say that I was SH-OCKED at how handsome he looked in here. I was so pinning for Kaku Kento since he's always been one of my favourites but right off the first episode, Kubota got me like "Kaku who??" Naruse is probably my favourite character along with Sugishita and that's majorly because of Kubota's portrayal. Although his development slowed down a little after high school, I never forgot about him because of the impression he made while on the island. Needless to say, Kubota has shot of my favourites list with this drama just like several others. I'd also like to mention that his voice is just SO nice to listen to lol. 

Kaku Kento plays Ando Nozomi. I've always liked Kaku Kento since his days in Asuko March but his character didn't hit me as hard as the others. Ando is the typical good guy character and I do admit the way he cares about Sugishita is pretty heartwarming. Buuuut since I loved Naruse so much, I did push Ando to the side a little bit at first. It wasn't until the scene where Ando brought Sugishita on the building lift where he kind of tugged at my heartstrings a little bit. His love for Sugishita is for sure touching but since I'm not a big fan of the one sided pining for a love, I much preferred when the drama focused on Sugishita and Naruse's personal development. 

Koide Keisuke plays Nishizaki Masato. Koide is new to me as well. I might've seen him in other shows since I tend to see a bunch of the same actors scattered around in shows but I don't remember him at all. The problem with Nishizaki isn't with Koide's portrayal but rather with how the character is written. I really do not understand how he could love Naoko that much that fast. I do understand his choice to take the blame for the murder because of his past with his mother but I did not get his infatuation with Naoko. Eh, it's probably just me. Anyhow, it's quite interesting to see how every character has somewhat of a dark past and I think Nishizaki has probably had the worst. 

Review & Thoughts


This drama falls under the mystery genre and I did like the suspense in guessing the truth, but what impacted me the most was the relationship between the characters and their own development. This is one of those dramas that give off that nostalgic feel because you can truly see how each character has moved on and grown up past their dark pasts. Friendship also plays a big role and we can see that from the strong friendship between Sugishita, Ando, and Nishizaki as well as the strong relationship between Sugishita and Naruse. Sugishita is definitely the true main of this drama as we see her change the most. From the island to Tokyo, her every experience impacts the audience in some way. I cried as she cried and I laughed as she laughed. That kind of connection with a character is completely based on the character itself and the actor. I would say I'm a pretty sympathetic person but when watching Sugishita, I just wanted to reach into the screen and pat her on the back. Towards the end of the drama, you can really see how many people she has met and became a support for her and it just made me tear up *sniff* *sniff*.

The episodes that took place in the island were my favourite. The relationship between Sugishita and Naruse just seemed the strongest to me. I realize that it might not fully be love in the end but their understanding and past with each other just trumps everything. That scene where Naruse was leaving the island and saying goodbye to Sugishita was just perfect. It was probably my favourite scene in the whole drama with the very last scene in the finale as a close second.

I really didn't think much about this drama as I began it but it really did blow me away. IMO one of the most important things about a drama is how it affects the viewers emotionally. In this case, the theme song played a really big role in giving me all those feels. The title song is called "Silly" by Leo Ieiri and it fits the drama perfectly. I found out about Leo Ieiri through her awesome theme song for Umi no Ue no Shinryoujo so I've been following her music. When I first heard "Silly," I totally wasn't aware it was for a drama and found the song to be just okay. Of course after watching the drama the song went from just okay to amazing. This is one of the reasons why songs from dramas have more impact for me because I always think back to the drama whenever I hear the song.

Something else I want to point out is the amazing scenery. Ever since Umi no Ue no Shinryoujo, I've been obsessed with Japanese islands. You get a lot of nice cinematography during the episodes on the island and whenever a drama has great cinematography it just makes my day :)

A Guide to Japanese Detective Dramas + Top

If you're a Jdrama fan, I'm sure you've watched at least one Japanese detective drama regardless of what your genre preferences are. For every drama season since what seems to be the beginning of time, there has been at least one Japanese detective drama on air. When TV networks run out of new ideas, they pop out a detective drama. When they get hit with low ratings, they pop out a detective drama. It's the typical fall back genre since the general Japanese public enjoys detective dramas.

My first detective drama was Galileo. I'm sure every Jdrama fan has heard of it since it's one of the most successful detective dramas in history. A lot of dramas are based on either mangas or novels, and Galileo was no different in that it was based on the famous novel series by writer Keigo Higashino. After watching Galileo and falling in love with it, I went on to watch a whole slew of detective dramas. After about 5 of them, I started to see a trend and you'll soon see that the basis for J-detective dramas are all pretty much the same. 

The Main Character 

If you're the main character of a detective drama, you probably aren't a detective but rather someone with unique knowledge who helps in solving crimes. There might be some cases where you actually are a detective, but those situations are usually very special. You can solve crimes no matter what your career is. You could be a mathematician, or a physicist, or a weather girl, or a magician, or a even a gigolo after a freak accident. There really is no limit to what you can be in order to solve crimes. 

Even though you could be in any profession, you must must must have a character quirk! Most of the time, you'll probably just be socially awkward or extremely in your own world. But above all that, you absolutely cannot be normal in any way! And you have to have a signature move that you perform when you've solved the mystery. One that defines your very character. 

How the Mystery is Solved

Crime cases tend to get boring if they're solved the same way over and over again. Everyone knows how a normal detective solves a normal case. Questioning, finding evidence, and then the final deduction. We need something new: a fresh new way of solving cases!

And whadya know, Japanese detective dramas give us just that! Crimes can be solved by using mathematical formulas, scientific theories, and using your sixth sense (aka seeing lovely ghosts of the victims). These fresh new angles in approaching a case makes an entertaining drama. You just have to find the write method for yourself but keep an open mind at the same time. 

General Format

Just like the majority of Japanese dramas, the detective ones mostly consist of an episodic format with a central mystery that remains on the back burner until later episodes. This might seem a little bit repetitive for some, but it does a good job in keeping viewers on boat in releasing little bits of information each episode. This is a personal opinion, but I always like knowing that I'll get to know the criminal of each episode's case by the end of the showing. 

My Top Detective Dramas

Here are 8 of my favourite detective dramas. I actually have a lot more but I wanted to create a list with more diversity in terms of types of cases and such! These are some that you should definitely check out if you're just beginning to watch Jdramas ^^

1. Galileo

Pretty much the cream of the crop of Japanese detective dramas. While its not my personal favourite, you can't really go wrong with Galileo. Personally, I think season 1 was better than season 2 in terms of how interesting the cases were, but both were equally great otherwise. I know a lot of people was against the main actress change but I like both Shibasaki Kou and Yoshitaka Yuriko's performances. There are also a bunch of SPs and movies that you should definitely check out as well.

2. Border

If you want something a little more dark, this one is definitely the way to go. There are no backstories or quirks with this drama except that the main character can see dead people. The acting in Border is just superb. The story wastes no time with extra side characters but instead improves the important few. Personally, I think this is one of if not the best performance from Oguri Shun as an actor.

3. Hard Nut

Hard Nut is probably my favourite drama out of this bunch simply because of its quirks, actors, and great music. The main character, played by Hashimoto Ai, is a math major and her quirk is using math to solve cases. Kengo Kora is the detective in question and the object of the main lead's affection. The cases are solid but made better by the dry and funny nature of the leading character's interactions. If you're looking for a nice solid drama while not being adverse to learning some math, this one is the way to go! It's also pretty funny to boot.

4. Tokyo Dogs

With three great leads and a very intriguing central mystery, this makes for a great detective drama that's not always about murders. The characters are all funny in their own way and their friendship that develops throughout the time span of this drama is the highlight of the show.

5. Zettai Reido

Zettai Reido deals with cold cases which are quite hard to solve since evidence can expire after a long time. The main cop, played by Ueto Aya, is the rookie of the team and has no special quirk other than the one that comes with the actress itself. Both seasons of the drama and SP are very interesting. The second season deals with cases where all the detectives have to be undercover and its equally as great as the first season. This central mystery has a big baddie who has been contributing to all the cases of the drama so it makes for a great finale. Check it out!

6. Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo

This drama is based on the famous manga series. There are an abundance of SPs and seasons for Kindaichi which is great because it can cater to a variety of different people. Check out the older seasons for some old school detective solving and the newer seasons if you would prefer higher video quality.

7. Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de

Kitagawa Keiko and Sakurai Sho star as master and butler. Kitagawa plays a daughter from a well off family who is a fledgling detective and Sakurai plays the loyal butler who is not afraid to run his mouth and has a talent for solving cases. The humour in this drama is great and it's surely a fresh take on detective dramas. The cases are okay but what really shines are the leads, who have loads of chemistry and do a magnificent job at playing their roles.

8. Kagi no Kakatta Heya

Lastly, we have the closed room mysteries! Closed room cases have always been popular because there is always a trick involved. If you love em, check this out because every episode features a closed room. Satoshi Ohno plays the monotonous, straight-faced, lock expert who is not exactly your typical hero. Throughout the drama there is always some sort of mystery on whether the lead is actually good or bad. If you're into closed room cases and a possible anti-hero, then check this one out!