The Ultimate Guide and Discussion Board for Asadora (Japanese Morning Dramas)

Hi everyone!

It's that time again already! The 103rd Asadora has been announced!

Title: Ochoyan 

Heroine: Sugisaki Hana (Hana Nochi Hare, BLEACH, Blade of the Immortal, Her Love Boils Bathwater etc.) 

Screenplay: Hiroyuki Yatsu (best known for Hanazawa Naoki and Shitamachi Rocket)

Plot: Based on true story of a woman who was called "Osaka's mother", Naniwa Chieko, an actress who was active from the 1920s to the 1970s. The drama will depict a generation of women who were active as comedy actresses in Osaka from the Taisho period to the end of the war. 

Broadcast is Fall 2020!

It already has a page here on mdl: https://mydramalist.com/51103-ochoyan

Seems NHK now completely changes the policy for heroine casting in Asadora. I guess they REALLY don't wanna do any speculation and now it's only proven superstars are eligible. I like whenever Sakura Ando, Erika Toda, Suzu, Fumi, and Hana-chan on the screen due to their acting prowess but for their respective asadoras, NHK could've cast actresses of similar age groups with less exposure but known potentials. The mentioned names simply no longer need an asadora, they are already big names and sought after. 

One of the excitements of asadora casting is that NHK often discovers potentials of underrated or even largely-unknown actors/actresses and catapult them into more legit chances to showcase their talents. Who would've known or thought that the likes of Machiko Ono and Haru were very good actresses back then? The current radical switch of policy completely kills the fun.

@Hanna:

Agreed, with the previous casting practice, the viewership rating was doing fine in general, except for a few occasions, but it was more due to faulty writing rather than the actors' blunders. I mean, even with casting superstars, the changes in rating is marginal. About some viewers marginalized by the policy, this is true among some Japanese I talked to, which explains the rating stagnation. There is absolutely no point of going 180 degree turn like this.

 biribiri:

I'd like to make a suggestion, on the first post can the shows with english subs be marked (and that are available somewhere on the internet). 

Sure! But I need others to help me locate them because I don't know ^^"

 oneclearnight:

I've made a quick list of all asadoras from 2010 and their subbing status, thought it might be helpful for others who are getting into asadoras for the first time like me!

• gegege no nyobo - eng sub completed
• teppan - eng sub ongoing
• ohisama - eng sub completed
• carnation - eng sub completed
• jun to ai - not subbed
• amachan - eng sub completed
• gochisousan - eng sub completed
• hanako to anne - eng sub completed
• massan - eng sub completed
• mare - eng sub completed
• asa ga kita - eng sub completed
• toto nee-chan - eng sub ongoing
• beppin-san - eng sub completed
• hiyokko - eng sub completed
• warotenka - not subbed
• hanbun, aoi - eng sub completed
• manpuku - eng sub completed
• natsuzora - eng sub ongoing
• scarlet - not subbed
• yell - TBA
• ochoyan - TBA

Umechan sensei - not subbed

Scarlet and Yell both eng sub ongoing

Warotenka - planned to be subbed

 Nabbit:

Thanks for posting this. Where can I find Warotenka's subs announcement? That's exciting!

Edit: Found it on Twitter. EcoTV is really on a roll!

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Just happened upon this thread. I love asadoras since discovering them a few years ago. Loved Hanbun, Aoi and Hiyokko best. Mare was very good, too. Couldn't get into Gochisousan or Asa ga Kita after 50ish eps apiece. Trying Toto Nee-chan currently. :)

Asadora subbing projects always seem to get dropped because they are just too time consuming and long. There's at least 5 projects that are currently On Hold or the subber has disappeared midway through.

If possible, I'd suggest supporting EcoTV in Patreon since he is the only consist Asadora subber right now.

From your list, it seems like you prefer more modern Asadoras. I'd recommend Amachan, Carnation, Dondo Bare, & Chiritotechin. I'd avoid Tsubasa and Welkame; they really are as bad as their ratings suggest.

 Rand:

Asadora subbing projects always seem to get dropped because they are just too time consuming and long. There's at least 5 projects that are currently On Hold or the subber has disappeared midway through.

If possible, I'd suggest supporting EcoTV in Patreon since he is the only consist Asadora subber right now.

From your list, it seems like you prefer more modern Asadoras. I'd recommend Amachan, Carnation, Dondo Bare, & Chiritotechin. I'd avoid Tsubasa and Welkame; they really are as bad as their ratings suggest.

Interestingly, both Tabe and Kurashina Kana have managed to stay in the showbiz and even develop into pretty well-known actresses despite such potentially catastrophic career setback. 

 lontongstroong:

Interestingly, both Tabe and Kurashina Kana have managed to stay in the showbiz and even develop into pretty well-known actresses despite such potentially catastrophic career setback. 

Natsuzora was good but not great. It was more focused on the bond between the female lead and her grandfather rather than the relationship between the female lead and her husband. Since it was 100th Asadora, it was filled with cameos from a lot past actresses and actors from previous Asadoras. I enjoyed that a lot.

For Tsubasa, Tabe's acting was fine; however, the script and the directing were not very good. The comedy seemed out of place, and the main plot line didn't really seem to move forward that much.

In Welkame, the screenwriter really makes it difficult to like the female lead for like 30-50 episodes. By that point, I think most people would just lose interest in the entire plot.

Usually when an Asadora gets low ratings (Japanese TV ratings and MDL ratings), it is because  the screenwriter and director were terrible.