I've been drama hopping for the past couple of weeks. I haven't really been able to get into any one series. I've started and stopped several from the past 3 years that were supposedly top shows - but none was able to hold my interest. And then I came across Ryusei no Kizuna. It has been on my list for a while, but for some reason I kept skipping over it. Well, I'm glad that I finally decided to try it out. It's my favorite since Orange Days.
Synopsis: I guess, I'd put this series in the 'Family' genre. The story centers on three siblings whose parents were killed when they were younger. They are bonded with each other in large part b/c they are committed to finding their parents' killer. Along the way they decide to engage in swindling activities - which leads to hilarious situations - and brings them closer to discovering the killer's identity.
Characters:
1) The oldest brother Kouichi - was the main character in Chichuie-sama. It was hard for me to see him as the older wiser serious brother b/c he looks so young to me. It was only in the scenes when his inner dork would show that I felt his character fit his face.
2) The younger brother - was the abusive boyfriend in Last Friends. I did not think that I would be able to see him as anything but that character. Surprisingly, I was able to forget about that character most times and see him as the naive and emotional younger brother.
3) The sister, Shizuna - was one the interns in Code Blue. Like in Code Blue she's supposed to be pretty attractive. But, she's so much more sentimental and less cocky about her looks in this series. I still don't see her as being particularly attractive -- but that's neither here nor there.
Impressions: This show has a wonderful mixture of humor and sentimentality. And it is only slightly predictable -- meaning at the beginning I had no idea how it would end, but within the last 2 episodes, it was pretty clear how things were going to end -- but I could easily deal with that.
It had enough sub-plots and twists to keep me engaged the whole way through. Also the main premise is one that you want to see to the end. If there's anything that I could complain about it would be the ending of the show. When you see what they're all up to now -- it was a bit vague and sappy for me. But, that only lasted for 5 minutes and was a very minor drop off in quality.
Two thumbs up for me!!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Oh No Veoh!
I used to use Veoh.com to download many of the doramas that I've watched. I'd then go to d-addicts to get the soft subtitles for the dramas. But, since Veoh has upgraded -- my normal routine has been disrupted. It seems that the new veoh does not work with my operating system and on top of that it causes my firefox to crash everytime I try to use it. Bah!
But the good news is that I have found an alternative location to view my Japanese dramas. So in the words of 30 Rock's Liz Lemon "suck it!" Veoh.
But the good news is that I have found an alternative location to view my Japanese dramas. So in the words of 30 Rock's Liz Lemon "suck it!" Veoh.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Compartmentalizing
I know that no one else reads this blog. I can't quite figure out how to make it searchable. But, I will one day and in preparation for that I thought it would be fun to have not just a summary of the shows that I've seen, but also a comparison of some shows to another. i.e. "If you like X drama you should check out Y drama" In my first step towards that, I am going to categorize the dramas that I've seen below. I will put them in order of my favorite types.
Working woman finding love: This type of show has the main character as a single woman at least in her mid-twenties who accidentally falls in love with another character. Usually there's some conflict preventing her from admitting the love at the beginning: either work, another boyfriend, a girlfriend/fiancee..something. But, in the end as expected the heroine makes it work with her beau -- usually learning a lot about what's really important to her. Most times this type of drama is approached from a comedic standpoint - but not always. If this type of drama seems interesting - you should check out:
Sapuri
Hataraki Man
Hokari no Hinkaku
Around 40
Kimi wa Petto
Zettai Kareshi
*Kekkon no Dekinai Otoko- the lead character here is a man
Quarter-life crisis: More like 1/5 of life crisis.: Kids in their 20s trying to figure out what life is all about. There's love and work and everything in between (often that's college).
Orange Days
Last Friends
Nodame Cantabile
Propsosal Daiskusen
Hatchimatsu to Clover (Honey and Clover)
Professional theme drama: I've seen two main types the medical drama and the police drama. They both focus primarily on the cases that these professionals face. The team has to overcome some unusual obstacle and they use their unusually high expertise to do so. Usually episodic in nature with three or four multi-episode cases in one season. It surprising how similar the the medical and the police dramas can be, which is why I've grouped them together. If you like watching ER - you should try:
Iryu
Team Medical Dragon
SP
Code Blue
Galileo
High school angst: This type of show is characterized by a girl and a boy who are at odds for most of the show, but clearly like one another. Usually there's a love triangle with a third person liking one of the two main characters (and sometimes a fourth). If this type of drama seems like fun to you - you should check out:
Hana Yori Dango (Boys over Flowers) - 2 seasons and a special
Hanazakari no Kimatachi e
*Nodame Cantabile (except this takes place in college)
Strong women kicking butt and taking names: These women kick butt either literally or figuratively (with their incredible minds). There's usually some minor love interest, but the focus of the show is on proving to the men that they can do it. If this kind of drama is exciting to you - watch:
Koshonin
Unfair
Family drama: This one can be a comedy or a drama or a slice of life type of show, but the focus of the series is on family dynamics: husbands and wives, women and their children, friendships or maybe all of those in one. There's usually some sort of social commentary about the state of Japanese life in the subtext.
Haikei, Chichuie-sama
Saitou-san
Karei-naru Ichizoku
Monster Parent
SCANDAL
The Classroom: Inevitably it's the high school classroom, from new teachers, to new students, to mean teachers, to mean students. These dramas usually have some "misunderstood" character element.
Queens Classroom
LIFE
Dragon Zakura
There's no "I" in TEAM: Team sports usually with a high school or college backdrop.
Ganbatte Ikimasshoi
Waterboys
ROOKIES
Hopeless Novice: The main character is starting out in a new field - usually this is a comedy or romance.
Attention Please (flight attendant)
Bambino! (chef)
Bengoshi no Kuzu (lawyer)
Sibling Rivalry: Brothers and sisters fighting for dominance - this is a comedy genre. This is actually my least favorite type as I stopped watching two shows of this type. But, if this kind of thing strikes your fancy try:
Kikken na Aneki
Seigi no Mikata
--And then there's the Drama Drama: These are tearjerkers that deal with illness/death or some other unfortunate circumstance. You know from the start that you will end up crying. I have not actually watched any of these -- as I tend to not want tv to make me depressed. But, from the descriptions I've seen here are some that look good:
Boku no Aruku Michi
14-sai no haha
Kaze no Garden
Bara no nai Hanaya
Going forward I will categorize any newly summarized dramas using this metric. Despite their being 11 different categories (a bit high) I think these groupings work. We'll see how it applies going forward.
Working woman finding love: This type of show has the main character as a single woman at least in her mid-twenties who accidentally falls in love with another character. Usually there's some conflict preventing her from admitting the love at the beginning: either work, another boyfriend, a girlfriend/fiancee..something. But, in the end as expected the heroine makes it work with her beau -- usually learning a lot about what's really important to her. Most times this type of drama is approached from a comedic standpoint - but not always. If this type of drama seems interesting - you should check out:
Sapuri
Hataraki Man
Hokari no Hinkaku
Around 40
Kimi wa Petto
Zettai Kareshi
*Kekkon no Dekinai Otoko- the lead character here is a man
Quarter-life crisis: More like 1/5 of life crisis.: Kids in their 20s trying to figure out what life is all about. There's love and work and everything in between (often that's college).
Orange Days
Last Friends
Nodame Cantabile
Propsosal Daiskusen
Hatchimatsu to Clover (Honey and Clover)
Professional theme drama: I've seen two main types the medical drama and the police drama. They both focus primarily on the cases that these professionals face. The team has to overcome some unusual obstacle and they use their unusually high expertise to do so. Usually episodic in nature with three or four multi-episode cases in one season. It surprising how similar the the medical and the police dramas can be, which is why I've grouped them together. If you like watching ER - you should try:
Iryu
Team Medical Dragon
SP
Code Blue
Galileo
High school angst: This type of show is characterized by a girl and a boy who are at odds for most of the show, but clearly like one another. Usually there's a love triangle with a third person liking one of the two main characters (and sometimes a fourth). If this type of drama seems like fun to you - you should check out:
Hana Yori Dango (Boys over Flowers) - 2 seasons and a special
Hanazakari no Kimatachi e
*Nodame Cantabile (except this takes place in college)
Strong women kicking butt and taking names: These women kick butt either literally or figuratively (with their incredible minds). There's usually some minor love interest, but the focus of the show is on proving to the men that they can do it. If this kind of drama is exciting to you - watch:
Koshonin
Unfair
Family drama: This one can be a comedy or a drama or a slice of life type of show, but the focus of the series is on family dynamics: husbands and wives, women and their children, friendships or maybe all of those in one. There's usually some sort of social commentary about the state of Japanese life in the subtext.
Haikei, Chichuie-sama
Saitou-san
Karei-naru Ichizoku
Monster Parent
SCANDAL
The Classroom: Inevitably it's the high school classroom, from new teachers, to new students, to mean teachers, to mean students. These dramas usually have some "misunderstood" character element.
Queens Classroom
LIFE
Dragon Zakura
There's no "I" in TEAM: Team sports usually with a high school or college backdrop.
Ganbatte Ikimasshoi
Waterboys
ROOKIES
Hopeless Novice: The main character is starting out in a new field - usually this is a comedy or romance.
Attention Please (flight attendant)
Bambino! (chef)
Bengoshi no Kuzu (lawyer)
Sibling Rivalry: Brothers and sisters fighting for dominance - this is a comedy genre. This is actually my least favorite type as I stopped watching two shows of this type. But, if this kind of thing strikes your fancy try:
Kikken na Aneki
Seigi no Mikata
--And then there's the Drama Drama: These are tearjerkers that deal with illness/death or some other unfortunate circumstance. You know from the start that you will end up crying. I have not actually watched any of these -- as I tend to not want tv to make me depressed. But, from the descriptions I've seen here are some that look good:
Boku no Aruku Michi
14-sai no haha
Kaze no Garden
Bara no nai Hanaya
Going forward I will categorize any newly summarized dramas using this metric. Despite their being 11 different categories (a bit high) I think these groupings work. We'll see how it applies going forward.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
K-drama v. J-drama
I love the break between Xmas and New Years for all of the drama watching I can do. I decided to try our a Korean drama - after hearing so much about them. There are many people who believe that Korean dramas are the superior drama of the East Asian dramas....I am not so convinced.
First drawback - the series are very long. -- Well, not all of them but they're definitely longer than a Japanese series which is no longer than 11 episodes plus a special. I had to hunt to find a short one and even that is 17 episodes (with 2 hour long episodes...).
Second drawback - They are primarily one genre- romance. Granted, I've only watched part of one series, but the descriptions of all the series I considered had to do with unrequited love or love triangles or something else related to love. The japanese dramas come in many genres: action, mystery, medical, sports, office, and romance. Even though I don't like all of the genres, I like the fact that there's variety to choose from. Keeps things interesting.
Third drawback - (and this is completely personal) I prefer the sound of Japanese to Korean. And I also think the Japanese actors are more attractive. It is probably that I've just gotten more used to watching Japanese people and slowly learning Japanese along the way.
Overall, I think that I will slowly continue to finish watching: The 1st Coffee Prince. But, I doubt that I will rush out to watch more Korean drama. I will just be patient and wait for the new seasons of Japanese dramas to come out
First drawback - the series are very long. -- Well, not all of them but they're definitely longer than a Japanese series which is no longer than 11 episodes plus a special. I had to hunt to find a short one and even that is 17 episodes (with 2 hour long episodes...).
Second drawback - They are primarily one genre- romance. Granted, I've only watched part of one series, but the descriptions of all the series I considered had to do with unrequited love or love triangles or something else related to love. The japanese dramas come in many genres: action, mystery, medical, sports, office, and romance. Even though I don't like all of the genres, I like the fact that there's variety to choose from. Keeps things interesting.
Third drawback - (and this is completely personal) I prefer the sound of Japanese to Korean. And I also think the Japanese actors are more attractive. It is probably that I've just gotten more used to watching Japanese people and slowly learning Japanese along the way.
Overall, I think that I will slowly continue to finish watching: The 1st Coffee Prince. But, I doubt that I will rush out to watch more Korean drama. I will just be patient and wait for the new seasons of Japanese dramas to come out
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