goldenseal50 wrote: looked over your list and you seem to like the intense stuff...have you thought about White Christmas? It's not a 10 but it's interesting.


To be honest... I've never heard of White Christmas.
But I have to agree with you... I like the intense stuff haha As I said... maybe i'm spoiled and nothing excites me anymore xD I have the same problem with horror films

Kawaikochan wrote: So true! 2008-2011 were really good....maybe it's time for an upswing. Kinda like getting out of a drama depression, lol.


Yaaa! Isn't that right? I was watching a new episode almost every day, because there was an overflow of great, interesting and unique stories!
Kawaikochan wrote:
I couldn't get over Sakurai's overacting in the first episode of Kazoku Games and Saikou no Rikon became boring about midway.


Oh boy, me, too! I wasn't even able to finish the first ep of Kazoku Game, Sakurai's "Ii ne" here and there, somehow pissed me of. I had high expectations on this because of what people are saying but I just can't get passed the actor's acting.

MachiavellismX wrote: Is it just me or are the Dramas this year really boring? I can't help it... there is nothing interesting and new...
Even Galileo Season 2 was disappointing...

What do you guys think?


There are actually some pretty decent and well made drama this 2013. I've only watched a few dramas on 2013, and here's what I think of them:
35 sai no Koukosei - School setting. 35 year old attending high school. Tackles about bullying and other student issues. I thought it was boring, never made it to the end.
Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou - Currently watching this. The first episodes seems promising to me, but I'm planning to see it to its end. Seems pretty decent drama to me.
Galileo 2 - Got high expectations on this. Watched the first ep, thought it's good. But never get myself to watch the next ep.
Hanzawa Naoki - Currently watching this. Sakai Masato's acting is flawless and the pilot ep is superb, I might finish this though I usually doesn't watch drama of this genre.
Kazoku Game - Like what I said above. I, too, for some reason, pissed off by the lead actor's acting. Stopped halfway on the first ep.
Soratobu Kouhoushitsu - I think this is a well made drama. I enjoyed watching this. Talks about career and dreams, your typical jdrama concepts viewed on a different angle on this one. Ayano Go and Aragaki Yui as leads.
Summer - Yamapi's drama. Expecting a lot from this given its casts (Karina, Toda Erika, etc), but after watching the first ep, might not continue watching this. So-so drama for me.
Take Five - I actually enjoyed watching this drama. Subs for this aren't complete yet but I'll definitely want to complete it. Tori is awesome here.
Tonbi - Hands down to this one. Family drama. Definitely a well-made drama. Actings were great. The pilot ep is good as well. Sato Takeru as Akira. Never fails to made me cry on each episode.
I think too many idols are in dramas nowadays. When you look at dramas from like the early 2000s and before, it wasn't so prevelant but now they're everywhere. Most of them can't act. For example, I've watched some dramas starring Johnny's Juniors and their acting isn't good at all. The only one with Johnny's Juniors that I could tolerate was 35sai no Koukousei and even that wasn't the best drama ever. Kamen Teacher is pretty dull...Dont even let me get started on the AKB dramas. Ugh. And school dramas get repetitive after a while because it's always the same: bullying, shoplifting, mean girls, a new teacher transferring to a troubled school who has to help the worst class etc. They need to think of something new. BUT all hope is not lost. Two dramas that stood out to me were Minna Esper Dayo and Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi. Plus I really liked Share House no Koibito. I personally loved Saikou no Rikon but oh well.
But why, I'm currently watching and enjoying Starman :)
tampopo100 wrote: I think too many idols are in dramas nowadays. When you look at dramas from like the early 2000s and before, it wasn't so prevelant but now they're everywhere. Most of them can't act. For example, I've watched some dramas starring Johnny's Juniors and their acting isn't good at all. The only one with Johnny's Juniors that I could tolerate was 35sai no Koukousei and even that wasn't the best drama ever. Kamen Teacher is pretty dull...Dont even let me get started on the AKB dramas. Ugh. And school dramas get repetitive after a while because it's always the same: bullying, shoplifting, mean girls, a new teacher transferring to a troubled school who has to help the worst class etc. They need to think of something new.


I know what you mean. They are everywhere! There are some who are really good at acting. You mentioned Johnny, but I think Toma Ikuta and Yamada Ryosuke are good actors, when it comes to that. I liked most of their dramas, but most of the other Johnny's... well...
AKB is the same, I've never seen a drama with them and thought that it was great, because the stories and the characters are stereotypical and boring. When I remember right, Limit is aiting currently... I started reading the Manga, but the drama is, because of the acting, not that good.

reika wrote:
Galileo 2 - Got high expectations on this. Watched the first ep, thought it's good. But never get myself to watch the next ep.

There is no need to finish watching... I was so disappointed with season 2... The first season was great, because it was totally my genre and I couldn't wait for the next one. But unfortunately it was boring and the cases were easy. The most annoying thing was the new police girl. She had seriously NO intuition and was such a childish character, which made everything worse.
Not all of Johnny's acting are bad just the juniors lol. I think Ikuta Toma, Nishikido Ryo, Kimura Takuya, Matsumoto Jun, Nagase Tomoya and Okada Junichi are all good actors. They're older so they have more experience anyway. But this current round of Juniors...meh. I guess I would agree with Yamada Ryosuke because I did watch Risou no Musuko and he didn't do the typical wooden expressionless high school stage play acting the other Juniors do.
Haha that's so true. But Yamada Ryosuke has like the older Johnny's a lot of experience. He is acting since 7 years and I believe I just started watching Dramas around that time, when he started. He was cute in Tantei Gakuen Q but you could see that he was still a bit uncomfortable and still had a lot to learn. And now he is really good for his young age. You mentioned Risou no Musuko. Compared to his early works, this one was really good, because of his acting. I'm looking forward to his future work, because I think he will be able to play the really deep characters someday, when you know what I mean haha
Galileo S2 was pretty solid. And Hanzawa Naoki is very very good. Not much complaints from me. 1-2 dramas every season is a good deal. Only one drama per station can be a getsukyuu anyway, and masterclass dramas dont happen all the time or they wouldnt be masterclass anyways.
I agree! I have been in such a drama slump this year. I've only completed two dramas this year, and that is "Cruel City" and "Last Cinderella". I might watch Kazoku Games now though, because everyone says that it is good. I Usually like stuff Sho is in anyways, (I can only think of Quiz Show 2 right now).The summaries for Jdrama's usually aren't that great anyways. I completely stan for Kimura Takuya, and I didn't even watch PRICELESS. I've just been watching dramas from the previous years that I never thought to watch while they aired.
For me, it's because I spend 90% of last year watching dramas and now I have the attention span of a dead squirrel. Drama slumps suck.
i only watch jdramas so i will have to disagree with u. in fact i have to say 2013 is looking a lot better than 2012. spring season had a few 10 worthy dramas. this season has some good ones too which others have already mentioned so i won't repeat. the problem is finding the time to watch them all. i just got back from traveling all summer and i have weeks of dramas to catch up on starting with hanazawa naoki. i will agree that a lot of synopsis suck as attention grabbers. which is sad . but i have found many dramas to be very interesting despite the lackluster synopsis. hanazawa naoki is a prime example. i've learned sometimes it's just best to at least check out the 1st episodes of a few dramas despite the synopsis or the cast. every season there is a gem hidden somewhere i don't expect to find it. i was really hoping for summer nude to be good since the cast is filled with ppl i love but it's not doing nothing for me. and then i realise that i haven't really enjoyed anything yamapi has done in a while. hot, young cast doesn't always make good drama.
boutux wrote:
i will agree that a lot of synopsis suck as attention grabbers. which is sad .


I think this may be in part to poor translations of the synopses...we have to remember that they are written in Japanese usually.
tampopo100 wrote: I think too many idols are in dramas nowadays. When you look at dramas from like the early 2000s and before, it wasn't so prevelant but now they're everywhere. Most of them can't act. For example, I've watched some dramas starring Johnny's Juniors and their acting isn't good at all.


In defence of idol actors, there were plenty of bad dramas and movies starring then-Johnny's Juniors in the late 90s/early 00s. Stuff like Ppoi and Shinjuku Shounen Tanteidan. It's one way of training them up and getting them exposure after all, like backdancing at the concerts of their senpai.
femmedesneiges wrote: In defence of idol actors, there were plenty of bad dramas and movies starring then-Johnny's Juniors in the late 90s/early 00s. Stuff like Ppoi and Shinjuku Shounen Tanteidan. It's one way of training them up and getting them exposure after all, like backdancing at the concerts of their senpai.


Lol that doesn't take away from the fact that many of the Juniors can't act now. I acknowledge that they can improve...but for some, acting maybe just isn't their specialty. Prime example: Yamashita Tomohisa. I think that they need to train them better before they debut in dramas, or at least figure out which ones actually have a passion for acting and which ones just won't get it. Most (if not all) Johnny's are chosen just for their appearance. No matter how much some people are trained, they just won't be good actors or singers. Unfortunately, in the idol world, talent or skill doesn't matter, it's all about charisma and appeal...
Fair enough, I see your point. :) I suppose I meant that the proportion of Johnny's Juniors in dramas back then is similar to how it is now. It's just that nobody watches those old dramas so we don't complain about their bad acting. Idol vehicles are generally pretty awful anyway. This cohort of Juniors seems to be starring in evening and latenight dramas, which makes their lack of acting skills all the more noticeable. At least previously they were relegated to afternoons. I suppose tastes have changed and someone decided drama is the best way to market them. Though I still think debuting in dramas is part of the process of their training, not an end in itself. Personally I can't stand Yamashita's acting, singing or anything else. I have no idea what his speciality is besides looking pretty. They put him in dramas because they want to promote him. On the other hand, Ikuta Toma, Nishikido Ryo, Ninomiya Kazunari did their time and ended up decent-to-good actors with strings of lead roles to their names. There's also the likes of Maruyama Ryuhei; years of secondary roles with a well-acted lead role relatively late in his career. I disagree that having charisma or appeal isn't a talent or skill, and not just in the context of the idol world. Maybe if Code Blue had starred Eita instead of Yamashita I'd have liked it more. But if "Shuuji and Akira" weren't "Kame and Yamapi", Nobuta wo Produce wouldn't have been half as fun.