kura2ninja

Re: hand. Yes, I've been wondering why we had so many close-ups of hands in recent episodes. Is it significant, or was the director just messing with us?

So I've been thinking. Ye-suh might be Seo-jin's flesh and blood, but if she has a "spiritual daughter", it's Hye-na. They have the same grit and cold-bloodedness, and won't stop at anything to get what they want. Ye-suh might be willful, but--just like Coach Kim said--she's mentally weak compared to her mother and her half-sister.

Oh, I haven't watched Switch. Another title to add to my PTW list, then :D

Nah, there's still good ones. But whether subs are available at a timely question, that is another matter entirely ;)

Re: "still skewed towards a certain demographic". That's the thing, isn't it? It's the same with Kdrama-watching scene, but since Kdramas have more viewers, the effect is diluted somewhat. Not so with Jdramas, and like you said, it's quite sad.

Oh MY God, you read my mind. I nominated her for Best Upcoming Actress, but it seems not many people watched either Innocent Days or Toumei na Yurikago last year :(

Yeah, I'm with you SumiTheCat. Of all the stuff that's nominated in the final poll, I think I've only watched a few. (I've only watched a total of twenty Jdramas this year, though, less than you).

And with all due respect for Chuugakusei Nikki fans, it's a good, solid drama, I guess, but the best? Definitely not. Of all the dramas I've watched this year, In This Corner of the World (also a TBS drama), anone, and Innocent Days are arguably better in all aspects--acting, writing, directing--than Chuugakusei Nikki.

And I agree with you both--wouldn't it be nice if MDL just change "The Best" of award to "Most Popular" awards. I feel like it's fairer and more indicative of the nature of this kind of poll.

Oh, wow. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Don't you love watching a bunch of pompous, privileged people making fools of themselves? I know I do :D

You're absolutely correct. Dramafever started off by snatching subs from subbers. And then they had the gall to hit Dramabeans for "copyright infringement" when they simply posted recaps of a show.

Oh, another one; this is great! I can't thank you enough for writing all this. Not everybody is familiar with the technicalities of subbing/translating, and I think that's why some of them can get unfairly critical of subbers/translators. So thank you very much for showing us a glimpse of how you work.

A little comment on the availability of multiple subs for one show. As you all might know, not all translations are equal. Some fansubs are "weird", maybe because the subber is just starting their craft or because English is not their first language. Some of them are re-translations--imagine English subs for the Korean drama "Top Star Yoo-baek" based on Chinese subs of that show. And then imagine someone making Indonesian subs based on that English subs. Confused already? But yeah, it happened. Personally, I'd rather not use re-translations to watch a drama unless there's nothing else. And I also have a list of favorite subbers; usually I just wait until they release their subs because I like the quality of their work, rather than use faster releases which might not be that good.

And, oh, regarding hardsubs, I still remember the day when hardsubs were the norm. I think the good thing about them is that, even when illegal streaming sites snatched them, viewers could still see who were actually making them. That way, they could support subbers directly if they chose to. I must admit, my heart is breaking a little whenever someone said how they left a message on Kissasian or whatever about requesting the subs for a show . . . .

A Wife's Credentials and The End of the World were awesome too. Yum Jung-ah and Jung Joon-ho were also in a jTBC drama together several years ago called Your Neighbor's Wife.

The part with the twins' family is definitely a black comedy. As for the rest of it, I'm with you--it's too depressing to be funny.

I'm usually not a fan of birth secret--"that rich guy is my real daddy and we're actually related", that kind of thing--but this time, when they showed the reveal, I found myself laughing in glee.

Best Screenwriter: Park Hae-young (My Mister), Lee Soo-yeon (Life)

Best Director: Kim Won-suk (My Mister), Kim Ji-won (Just Between Lovers)

Best Drama of 2018: My Mister

Best Romance Drama: Just Between Lovers

Best Romantic/Comedy Drama: Matrimonial Chaos

Best Actor: Jo Seung-woo (Life)

Best Actress: IU (My Mister), Moon So-ri (Life--not sure if she's a main character or a supporting character, tbh)

Best Idol Actor/Acress: IU (My Mister), Lee Jun-ho (Just Between Lovers)

Best Up and Coming Actor of 2018: Jang Ki-yong

Gosh, I don't even watch that many new Japanese dramas this year. But here it goes . . .

Best Japanese Drama of 2018: Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni (aka In This Corner of the World)

Best Screenwriter: Sakamoto Yuji (anone), Nogi Akiko (Kemono ni Narenai Watashitachi)

Best Director(s): Otsuka Kyoji, Kariyama Shunsuke, Iwasaki Marie (directors of Takane no Hana)

Best Japanese Actress: Takeuchi Yuko (Innocent Days)

Best Up and Coming Actress of 2018: Kiyohara Kaya (for her roles in "Innocent Days" and "Toumei na Yurikago")

Best Romantic/Comedy Drama: Kemono ni Narenai Watashitachi

Best Action/Thriller/Suspense Drama: Yami no Bansosha Season 2 - Henshucho no Joken

Best Mystery Drama: Eerie Mienai Kao

Best Manga/Anime Adaptation: Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni

Best Family Drama: anone

Best Villain: Sano Shiro (Genkai Danchi)

On another note, it would be great if there's a category for Best Ensemble Cast. I can think of some Jdramas that are worthy of that title this year.

Same here. I just watched the first episode of Luther the other day and found it awesome. (Plus Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson were so hot, and I wanted them to make out with each other.)

Based on one episode alone, I think Luther is better, but Bad Detective isn't bad (no pun intended). I'm planning to watch both, and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy both as well.

Flames of Desire. It has dramatic violin music and all sorts of antics. Very crazy and very enjoyable.

Glad you liked it, at least. And yeah, I have zero interest in the newest installment, despite loving Tony Leung.

Thanks for the recs. High and Low in particular sounds interesting.

I've watched Tokyo Raiders years ago and I can't remember the plot now, but I do remember enjoying it very much when I watched it. A word to the wise, Tokyo Raiders had a sequel of some sorts, called Seoul Raiders, which I don't recommend at all. Just stick to the first movie.