Help me clean my PTW list (Jdrama edition)
If you want to help me prioritize and prune my list, you can vote for the dramas you think I should definitely absolutely keep. In other words, vote for the dramas you consider a "must watch" or at least very worth watching. If you came away thinking, “it was fine” or “I enjoyed it but won’t remember it in two months” don’t vote for those dramas.
How my system works: I keep a shorter list of dramas I’m sure I want to watch on My Watchlist. This is an extended list that also includes dramas I’m interested in but still on the fence about. The idea is that some of the additional dramas I have here will eventually make it onto the official list or alternatively get thrown out. I will update the contents of this list as I watch these dramas, find new dramas to add, or decide I’m no longer interested and am ready to delete a title.
FYI, the dramas at the very top of this list are already "safe" on my PTW list. I'm not saying don't vote for them if you loved them, but it's mostly the dramas further down the list that I'm still deciding on.
xinya May 24, 2026
-
![A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You]()
1. A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You
Japanese Drama - 2025, 10 episodes2,080 points by 22 votersIn 1936, Natsumi is the third of four daughters from the Sekiya family. One day, Natsumi’s father suddenly tells her that her marriage has been decided and her husband will be Takimasa ...more -
![Don't Call it Mystery]()
Totono Kuno is a university student. He has curly hair, which he has a complex about. He doesn't have any friends or a girlfriend. His memory and observation skills are very good, ...more -
![Glass Heart]()
Saijo Akane, a drummer who was ousted from her previous band just before her debut, is unexpectedly chosen by Fujitani Naoki, a reclusive and brilliant musician, to join his new band, TENBLANK. ...more -
![One Liter of Tears]()
15-year-old Ikeuchi Aya is an ordinary girl, the daughter of a family who works at a tofu shop, and a soon-to-be high schooler. However, odd things have been happening to Aya lately. ...more -
![Mr. Hiiragi's Homeroom]()
With graduation 10 days away, homeroom teacher Hiiragi gathers all 29 students of class 3-A and proclaims them as his hostages. His last lesson regards the death of a student that passed ...more -
![Unmet: A Neurosurgeon's Diary]()
Kawauchi Miyabi, a former neurosurgeon, suffers from memory loss, unable to recall the past two years or retain daily memories. Now working as an assistant nurse, her life changes when eccentric neurosurgeon ...more -
![Rebooting]()
A comedy focusing on Kondo Asami, a 33-year-old single woman who lives with her parents and works at the local city hall, and suddenly finds herself starting her life over from scratch. ...more -
![Nagatan and Aoto: Ichika's Cook Book]()
In Kyoto, soon after the war, Ichika strives to save her family's long-established ryoten restaurant from financial crisis. In order to do so, she marries Yamaguchi Amane, who is 15 years younger, ...more -
![Boys over Flowers Season 2]()
The story picks up right after Domyoji leaves for New York. After confessing to Domyoji, Makino has not spoken to him for a year. Rui and the other members of F4 try ...more -
![Double]()
Takarada Takara works for a company. On a rainy day, he walks helplessly without an umbrella. Somehow, he watches a stage play performed by theatrical troupe Eiyu. Takarada Takara becomes touched by ...more -
![Liar Game]()
College student Kanzaki Nao, known for her honesty, receives 100 million yen and an invitation to join the "Liar Game", where players deceive each other for the prize money: losers end up ...more -
![Erased]()
Fujinuma Satoru is an aspiring manga artist who has the ability to travel back in time moments before a life-threatening incident, in which he is able to prevent those from happening. When ...more -
![Nodame Cantabile]()
Megumi Noda or "Nodame" is a piano student at Momogaoka College of Music. An extremely talented pianist who wants to be a kindergarten teacher, she prefers playing by ear rather than reading ...more -
![Why Didn’t I Tell You a Million Times?]()
14. Why Didn’t I Tell You a Million Times?
Japanese Drama - 2023, 10 episodes705 points by 8 votersSoma Yui and Torino Naoki were childhood friends, but they met again as adults. Just as he decides to propose to Yui, Naoki suddenly disappears from Yui's sight after being embroiled in ...more -
![Ikebukuro West Gate Park]()
This story follows a young man named Makoto, who lives in Ikebukuro West Gate Park, an area known for youth delinquency and gangs. In fact, one of Makoto's best friends from high ...more -
![The Way of the Househusband]()
Immortal Tatsu, the feared yakuza who once took down a rival gang with a lead pipe, mysteriously disappears and reappears with a new life. Swapping his weapon for an apron, he’s now ...more -
![Dearest]()
A suspense love story centered around Sanada Rio, a businesswoman who suddenly became an important reference for a murder case; a detective who is Rio's first love and is trying to pursue ...more -
![Life's Punchline]()
The story of five young people in their late 20s who try to overcome their great failures in life. Haruto Takaiwa, Shunta Asabuki and Junpei Minowa are members of the unpopular comedy ...more -
![Orange Days]()
Yuuki Kai is in his senior year at university studying social welfare psychology. At present, he is in the middle of job-hunting season. He is finding it difficult with no job offers ...more -
![Quartet]()
Maki Maki, Sebuki Suzume, Beppu Tsukasa, and Iemori Yutaka happen to meet and form a quartet. They even begin to live together in Karuizawa during the winter, but there is a big ...more -
![Ouroboros]()
Ryuzaki Ikuo and Danno Tatsuya, orphans from Mahoroba no Ie, witnessed the murder of a beloved staff member during their childhood, but their statements were suppressed by a corrupt officer. Fifteen years ...more -
![Buzzer Beat]()
Kamiya Naoki is a basketball player from a professional basketball team, JC Arcs. However, due to his relatively smaller size and his tendency to crack under pressure, he has been unable to ...more -
![Miracles]()
Aikawa Kazuki is a university lecturer who teaches ethology, which is the study of animal behaviour. He has just started work as a lecturer at the recommendation of Professor Samejima Shun whom ...more -
![dele]()
Freelance programmer Sakagami Keishi is paralysed in the lower half of his body because of an unknown illness and uses a wheelchair. He sets up a company called dele. LIFE in partnership ...more -
![Engine]()
Jiro Kanzaki is an F3000 driver blessed with acute sensitivity and breathtaking driving techniques. He's a daredevil who feels no fear driving at speeds that even top racers dare not attempt. But ...more -
![Jin]()
Minakata Jin, a brain surgeon, has been tormented for two years after his fiancée falls into a vegetative state following an operation he performed. One day, he faints at the hospital and ...more -
![Heaven and Hell: Soul Exchange]()
Mochizuki Ayako is a 35-year-old detective who works hard to seek justice, but she lacks flexibility. While investigating a murder case, she targets Hidaka Haruto as a murder suspect from her collected ...more -
![Hold My Hand at Twilight]()
Asagi Soramame, a 23-year-old energetic woman from rural Kyushu, follows her childhood friend and fiancé to Tokyo. Fate keeps pulling her closer to a stranger—Umino Oto, also 23, a struggling musician who ...more -
![Last Samurai Standing]()
The story begins in Kyoto, Japan in 1878, 10 years after the glory days of the samurai. Stripped of their identity and status and no longer permitted even to carry swords, the ...more -
![The Inanimate World]()
Investigations on a mysterious woman, Toko, started when Sonoe, a teacher and Toko's fellow faculty member, was found dead as a result of what seemed to be an unfortunate accident. Eiki, an ...more -
![Mother]()
Elementary school teacher Suzuhara Nao decides to abduct Michiki Rena, one of her female students, after discovering that she is being abused by her mother. Fleeing Hokkaido to Tokyo, the two experience ...more -
![I Am Mita, Your Housekeeper.]()
Can a family hope to recover after losing their mother to suicide? Keiichi Asuda serves his wife, Nagiko, divorce papers after he tells her that he intends to marry his mistress. The ...more -
![The Family Game]()
The story revolves around an eccentric home tutor named Yoshimoto, who is hired to teach the second son of the Numata family. While being tossed around by the weird and unconventional home ...more -
![Good Luck!!]()
Having achieved his life-long dream of being a pilot, Hajime is first officer on an international jetliner and is now working to become a captain. He can't seem to please Captain Koda, ...more -
![La Grande Maison Tokyo]()
A talented Japanese chef in French cuisine has devoted his life to food. He opened his own restaurant in Paris and earned two Michelin stars. Hailed as a superstar chef, his confidence ...more -
![Love Deeply!]()
Nagisa Mio, an oceanographer at Shibaura University of Marine Science and Technology, loves the sea but is secretive about her past. Hasuda Rintaro, the second son of a wealthy family, appears aloof ...more -
![Jitenshaya-san no Takahashi-kun]()
It is a love story between Takahashi Ryohei, a caring, young yankee who runs a bicycle shop, and Hanno Tomoko, a shy 30-year-old office worker. (Source: Japanese = Natalie.mu || Translation = ...more -
![Passing the Reins]()
Kurisu Eiji is a certified tax accountant. He respects his father, who runs a tax accountant's office. Dreaming to work with his father, Eiji has worked at a major tax accounting firm ...more -
![Tiger and Dragon]()
A young yakuza thug apprentices with an indebted comic rakugo performer, whose not-so-fashionable son runs a clothes shop in the Harajuku backstreets. (Source: Netflix) -
![Flowers for Algernon]()
Shiratori Sakuto is 28, but has the intelligence of a 6-year-old boy. He works for Dream Flower Service, a flower distribution centre which provides employment for problem youth. One day, he and ...more -
![Nobunaga Concerto]()
Saburo, a high school student from modern times, is transported back to the Sengoku era (1549), where he meets a young Oda Nobunaga. Mistaken for Nobunaga, Saburo is taken to the Oda ...more -
![Testimony of N]()
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 ...more -
![Bitter Blood]()
Rookie detective, Sahara Natsuki, is assigned to the Investigation Division of the Ginza police station. Here he has an unexpected reunion with his father and veteran detective, Akimura Shimao, from whom he ...more -
![Two Weeks]()
Daichi served time in prison for attempted murder. After his release from prison, he spends his time doing nothing and he doesn't see any hope for himself. One day, Daichi hears that ...more -
![Nagi's Long Vacation]()
28-year-old Oshima Nagi works for a home appliance manufacturer in Tokyo. She conforms to her surroundings as she constantly gauges people’s moods. Because of that, her goal is to pass each day ...more -
![MIU404]()
The Mobile Investigative Unit (known as "MIU") of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department attempts to solve cases within 24 hours. Detective Shima Kazumi is selected as a new member of MIU. He ...more -
![Shijukara]()
Watanuki Shinobu has been a manga artist for the past 20 years. Despite being married and having a son, Shinobu lives her life unsatisfactorily. When Shinobu was about to give up her ...more -
![NIZI Village Clinic]()
Kureno Masora is a young doctor who was working happily at a large hospital in Tokyo. However, she found out that she has an illness and decided to continue working as a ...more -
![Only Just Married]()
27-year-old Ookado Akiha who vows to stay single, gets a proposal to enter into a fake marriage from 30-year-old Momose Shuu who wants to get the status of a married man for ...more -
![The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House]()
50. The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House
Japanese Drama - 2023, 9 episodes216 points by 3 votersKiyo and Sumire are childhood friends from Aomori Prefecture who move to Kyoto to become a Maiko (apprentice geisha). During their training, Sumire is praised for her talent and diligence. Kiyo, meanwhile, has difficulty learning the basic ...more -
![Straight to Hell]()
Japan’s most famous fortune-teller, Hosoki Kazuko, once held the nation in her thrall. Was she a savior or a devil? Wealth, fame, romance — she had it all. But what shocking, untold ...more -
![Soul Mate]()
After inadvertently destroying the life of his best friend, Narutaki Ryu abandons everything and leaves Japan. He nearly dies at a church in a foreign country before he is saved by a ...more -
![Kimi no Te ga Sasayaite Iru]()
This drama is an adaptation of the manga by Junko Karube about a deaf woman and her struggles with love, family and everyday life. This is made of 5 special episodes, aired ...more -
![Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake]()
High-school student, Kano Masaki, found herself falling into the practice of selling her body in order to earn money. When she heard that her favourite music composer, Ishikawa Keigo was holding a ...more -
![A Sleeping Forest]()
Ito Naoki is a mysterious man who seems to have some special childhood connection with Oba Minako. But she lost her memory long ago and doesn't really remember anything about her childhood ...more -
![Over Time]()
While on vacation in Hokkaido, Natsuki happens to meet Soichirou, a photographer. Unbelievably, she runs into him two more times completely by coincidence, and out of this, a great friendship is formed. ...more -
![Friends]()
Left alone on a trip to Hong Kong, Tomoko, a sales woman from Japan finds herself the victim of a purse-snatching. The police arrest the man she points out, but it turns ...more -
![Home Drama]()
In a house in the outskirts of Tokyo, there lives a family of eight. Such a large family is rare these days; however, not one is related by blood. They all lost ...more -
![Hakusen Nagashi]()
Sonoko, a rural high school student, notices stars drawn on her desk at school. It seems that sitting at that very same desk at night is Wataru, a poor teenage student, who ...more -
![He Who Can't Marry]()
Kuwano Shinsuke, a successful architect at 40, enjoys living by himself. He doesn't like people, but somehow is able to design wonderful houses for them. He has a routine of making himself ...more -
![Last Friends]()
Michiru, bullied at work and struggling with her mother's new relationship, finds emotional support in her boyfriend, a child welfare worker. However, she becomes a victim of domestic violence, causing her fear ...more -
![Saving My Stupid Youth]()
31-year-old Hara Heisuke is a teacher at a high school in Shizuoka. He is like most people rather than an exceptional person. But an unfortunate accident which occurred 14 years ago ended ...more -
![Antarctica]()
A drama commemorating TBS's 60th anniversary, the story is about 11 members who were sent to the South Pole for the first time in February 1957 in a national project to explore ...more -
![Kenja no Ai]()
A psychological drama about unhealthy interpersonal relationships explained often through elaborate flashbacks. Takanako Mayuko, who grew up in an idyllic mansion with the perfect loving family, blames her childhood best friend for ...more -
![Naoki Hanzawa]()
An idealistic banker takes on corruption and wrongdoing at his large corporate bank. While forging ties with some unlikely allies, he must use his financial expertise, his instincts about human nature, and ...more -
![Hokuto]()
20-year-old Hokuto is being detained as a murderer and tells his court-appointed lawyer Takai Soichi to get him the death penalty. Hokuto was actually severely abused by his parents in his childhood ...more -
![Behind the Door]()
Yamazaki Risako lives with her husband Yoichiro and 3-year-old daughter Ayaka. One day, she receives a notification from the court that she has been selected as an alternate member of the jury ...more -
![I Don't Love You Yet]()
Mitarai Yo is a successful career woman working for a shoemaker, but her love life is a mess. Her best friend, Ishida Ren, works for a developer and is the one person ...more -
![Iribito]()
Naho is the deputy curator of the art gallery established by her grandfather, an avid art collector. Naho's husband is the managing director at a different art gallery in Ginza which his ...more -
![On a Starry Night]()
Yukimiya Suzu, a 35-year-old gynecologist, feels emotionally drained by her life in a peaceful seaside town. The demanding and stifling society has left her unable to open up to anyone, despite her ...more -
![Chastity High]()
Arisawa Ichika enrolls in an elite girls' high school attended by the children of wealthy families. Thinking of her daughter's future, her mother Chihiro tries her best to scrape together the school ...more -
![Nevertheless: The Shapes of Love]()
Kosaka Ren arrives in Japan to take up a special temporary lecturer position at an art university in Kamakura, Japan. He is a young and talented artist, who has a certain aura ...more -
![Ningen Shikkaku]()
Three tales raise unsettling questions about the central qualities of being human. In one, a father is torn between love for his son and the desire for revenge, while a second examines ...more -
![Aoi Tori]()
A train station attendant falls in love with the wife of the son of a powerful community leader. When Yoshimori sees how unhappy Kahori is in her new marriage, he impulsively runs ...more -
![Lipstick]()
Hayakawa Ai commits a crime which lands her in a correction facility for juveniles. There she meets and becomes firm friends with four other delinquents and falls in love with one of ...more -
![Long Love Letter]()
Yuka Misaki, whose parents run a flower shop, casually begins dating college student Akio Asami, and later falls for him. But due to some type of accident, the two lose contact with ...more -
![The Great White Tower]()
A striking drama of the amazingly gifted surgeon Zaizen Goro, caught up by his desire for power and fame, and his contemporary physician Satomi Shuji, who selflessly continues a quest to save ...more -
![Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World]()
78. Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World
Japanese Drama - 2004, 11 episodes84 points by 1 voters"I thought I might be using a lifetime's happiness in a moment. I was that happy, and she was that beautiful." A young boy stands on the red earth of Australia under ...more -
![The Family]()
Set in the 1960s, it depicts the inside story between bureaucrats, politicians and big businesses over a bank merger revolving around the family discord between Manpyo Daisuke, the owner and president of ...more -
![Tonbi]()
Ichikawa Yasuo, who goes by the nickname Yasu, is a ‘dumb’ man unequalled anywhere in the world. He has not had schooling, is boorish and would immediately let his fists fly if ...more -
![Long Goodbye]()
Set in Tokyo, Japan during the 1950's. Tamotsu is suspected of murdering his actress wife, Shizuka Harada. He flees to Taiwan and commits suicide. Tamotsu’s friend Banji Masuzawa works as a private ...more -
![Koinaka: Best Friends in Love]()
Aoi Miura was born and grew up in Toyama Prefecture. He has an indecisive personality and does not like summer. He was the focal member of the high school swimming team, but ...more -
![Love That Makes You Cry]()
After Sugihara Oto’s mother passed away when she was young, she was raised by adoptive parents in the Hokkaido countryside. Although she gave up having dreams, she lives cheerfully and bravely. But ...more -
![My Dangerous Wife]()
Mochizuki Kohei, married to the beautiful and talented Maria, seems to have it all—a successful café and a perfect marriage. However, feeling suffocated by her, he plans her murder with the help ...more -
![Residential Complex]()
A scuba diving instructor, Nana and an ordinary salaryman, Daiki live together in a small apartment. After purchasing a 'corporative' house together in a residential complex, they soon decide that they want ...more -
![In This Corner of the World]()
18-year-old Urano Suzu marries Hojo Shusaku and moves from Eba City to Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture in the middle of the Pacific War. As Japan slides into a war it cannot ...more -
![You, Me and Bach]()
Yaeko Kogure is a 27-year-old office lady. After she resigned from her company to get married, her fiancé informed her that he was in love with another woman and broke off their ...more -
![To Heal the Heart]()
An Kazutaka is a young, bashful psychiatrist whose jazz piano skills are as good as a pro. He also has a love for records and books. He searches for his place in ...more -
![Neko]()
Mineko Kaneko learns that she has a brain tumour, leaving her with little time left to live. Koji Amane is a freeloader with few dreams or life goals. A cat brings them ...more -
![Influence]()
Yuri confesses to a female novelist that she and two friends committed three murders and asks her to write their story. In high school, Yuri lived in a provincial apartment complex where ...more -
![Mukou no Hate]()
In 1985 Tokyo, novelist Kohei Kimizuka is murdered in an arson case, and childhood friend Ritsuko Ikematsu is arrested. Prosecutor Tsutaguchi investigates Ritsuko’s past and the men in her life, uncovering varying ...more -
![Shizuka-chan to Papa]()
Shizuka lives with her deaf father, Junsuke, who owns a photo studio in a local shopping district. Her mother, also deaf, passed away when she was young, making Shizuka her father's communication ...more -
![Prism]()
Maejima Satsuki works part-time at a garden centre in Tokyo. While her aspiration is to be a voice talent, she is on the verge of giving up. Satsuki has never been serious ...more -
![Ano Ko no Kodomo]()
Kawakami Sachi is a normal second-year high school student with a peaceful family. Her parents accepted the love story between Sachi and her childhood friend Tsukishima Takara, and the two spent happy ...more -
![Beyond Goodbye]()
Sugawara Saeko works at a coffee manufacturing company in Hokkaido. Through coffee, she was able to meet her boyfriend, Yusuke, who co-owned a coffee shop with his best friend. Her love story ...more -
![The Monster Within]()
This suspense story centers on Kajin Ayame, a lawyer with a promising future but who lives alone. The story begins when a beautiful and seductive man, Minamoto Iteya, appears before her. He ...more -
![Suikoden]()
In a world where corruption is rampant and truth is crushed under an emperor indifferent to governance, a low-ranking government official, Soukou, quietly moves the wheels of destiny. Heeding the suffering of ...more
