Monday, April 11, 2011

Spring 2011 Jdoramas

The jdorama subs are slowing down so lets look ahead at what shows await us.


JIN SEASON 2

Part two of the big budget dorama from 2009 that actually met expectations. Of course it helps that Jin had a cast who could actually act with Osawa Takao, Ayase Haruka, Nakatani Miki and of course Uchino Masaaki as Sakamoto Ryoma. Masaaki's Ryoma was so good that I just couldn't bear watching Fukuyama Masaharu's stilted portrayal of Ryoma in Ryoma den. The first season left many questions unanswered so while the doctor from future in Edo part is still going to be fun, they better have a good explanation for that baby.


SHIAWASE NI NAROU YO

Katagori Shingo, Kuroki Meisa and Fujiki Naohito in a dorama about a marriage consultant who falls for the girl he sets up. In terms of acting ability, this show doesn't have it but its by the writer of Dosokai, Pandora and Good Luck! so my prediction is it'll probably be a watchable show.


MUSCLE GIRL

I love wrestling and the last time Ichikawa Yui showed she had something was in H2. Don't know why the fuck they have a Korean dude in this show, but he's playing a referee. I'll definitely give it a shot though. Daughter taking over dad's puroresu organisation has potential for lots of funny and interesting stories involving different personalities and wrestlers trying to put a match together. I expect to see stories involving wrestlers refusing to job, calling a match on the fly and of course working a match injured.


GOOD LIFE ~ARIGATO PAPA. SAYONARA~

Based on a Korean novel about a workaholic dad who connects with his son only to learn that his son has leukemia, something 50% of characters in Kdramas have. I want to see GTO be in a good show, something that can make use of his charisma but this is not it. Solely aimed at viewers who love crying at crude and over-sentimental storylines.


KAZOKU HOTEI

Nagatsuka Kyozo as a judge who now has to deal with his family problems as his wife as passed away. Its got the lovely Mimura and most importantly, its by Ozaki Masaya, the writer of Shiroi Haru, Love Generation, Tadano Hitoshi and the classic KDO!! No other spring dorama deserves to be subbed more than this! Expect lots of witty conversations and interesting characters. This dorama needs to be subbed!


BOSS SEASON 2

WTF are they making a sequel to such a horrible make believe cop show which could have had a good ending had they the balls to go dark. If you like police shows that don't make sense and characters that act like they are in an anime, this show is for you. The fact that Boss won so many awards is a testament to how pathetic the critics of jdorama are.


NAMAE O NAKUSHITA MEGAMI

A dorama about the lives of 5 hot moms. The only negative thing I can say is that I hate watching the anorexic Kimura Yoshino on screen. There's a 99% chance this show is going to be about all their lives in upheaval, they'll all get stronger, nothing really dark and serious happens and we get a meh ending.


MADONNA VERDE

Daughter gets mom to be surrogate mother. Interesting concept and its got Kuninaka Ryoko who will hopefully get to stretch her acting ability. Should be worth checking out but sadly its not going to subbed.

I know there are a few more doramas but they don't deserve your attention for very obvious reasons. My excitement is mostly for Jin and if Kozoku Hotei is not subbed then I'll have to make do with a HK subbed dvd.

4 comments:

Musouka said...

According to Wikipedia JP, JIN's manga concluded on November 24, 2010. They should be able to explain everything in the second season, hence.

If you are in a hurry, you can download the 20 volumes of the manga here. I would imagine the Japanese will be quite difficult because of the use of medical terms.

Puupaa said...

New season, new doramas - same problems. Many sequels (number of sequels seems to be on rise), many bad series and the few good series like Kazoku Hotei might not even be fansubbed.

The fansubbing problem is familiar from previous seasons, for example Gold is still stuck at episode 5 and Ninkyo helper SP is without subs.

What makes me even more frustrated is that I've found many interesting old series at lets-look.com such as:

Papa wa Newscaster (1987)
Nihon Chinbotsu (1974)
Mama wa Idol (1987)
Natsu taiken Monogatari (1985)

and few others, but of course none of them with subs. Only ones with subs were:

Kita no Kunikara (1981) - sub in progress
Kage no Gundan - Shadow Warriors (1980) - with Sonny Chiba

Maybe I should just start learning Japanese and after ten years I might not need anymore subs.

Akiramike said...

Jesus, you are right and I am ashamed to have insulted City Hunter. Ok Ryo is a detective but its still about solving cases. I have trouble finding descriptions for the level of jdorama police shows.

My level of Japanese is nowhere good enough for manga reading, even if most manga have furigana but thanks for the link anyway.

Puupa, I believe Ninkyo Helper SP has been subbed.

Anonymous said...

I see that Mikilove has picked up Madonna Verde, so it will be subbed after all.