Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Hamsapsukebe awards 2011

Now that I finished watching Pandora 3, its time for no prizes for my favourite doramas and performances from last year.  Hopefully I've watched everything worth watching. The only two caveats could possibly be Shitamachi Rocket and Co Ishoku Coordinator. Both are unsubbed and would be pretty hard to watch since they would involve lots of technical jargon though jdrama weblog has written detailed synopsis. Can't get HKEng subbed Wowow doramas so maybe I'll give them a go some time in the future. Forgot to look for Kazoku Hotei when I was in Japan. :(


I CAN'T BELIEVE AWARDS:

I can't believe 40% of Japanese thought Mita was good or at least tuned in for the last episode.

I can't believe Suzuki sensei has an average rating of 2.16% An incredible dorama is on TV and the ratings actually slide done. Where are the Japanese reviews and blogs telling people how good it is?

I still can't believe they screwed the middle Jin 2 up. That's what happens when you write Nakatani Miki out of the story.

I can't believe how brainless Watashi ga Renai Dekinai no Riyuu is. What is more unbelievable is that I lasted 7 episodes.

I can't believe there are 4 seasons of Hancho and they rate pretty decent. Talk about rewarding mediocrity.

I can't believe Takei Emi is getting such a big push like as if she's bonking all the producers. She's like the second coming of Horikita Maki.



WATCHABLE DORAMAS OF 2011

Jin 2 - The ship got back on the path towards the end but it was too late.

Kurumi no Heya

Is - Unfortunately not based on the Masakazu Katsura manga but still watchable.

Don Quixote

Last Money ~Ai no Nedan~ - If not for the johnny guy, it would have been a pretty good dorama.

Shinya Shokudo 2 - Not as good as the first one.

Pandora III

Madonna Verde - Haven't watched the last 2 eps. Could end up sucking.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS


Ono Karin as Kawabe in Suzuki sensei.


Kawabe is the most important student in terms of performance and she absolutely sold me that she was playing a real character and believed everything she said. Ogawa was the central character storyline but no acting was needed for her. Suzuki sensei would have failed without Ono Karin's fearless acting.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Takashima Masanobu as Moriyama sensei in Doctors


I guess the most of award is due to the writing but Moriyama is the most memorable supporting character from last year's doramas. There is not subtle acting here but the character does his job well. Moriyama inspired me to write this post about memorable jdorama characters.

Shout out to Kazama Shunsuke who played Futaba's sister in Soredemo. He is one johnny beside Nino who can act.

BEST ACTRESS

Mitsushima Hikari as Toyama Futaba in Soredemo Ikite Yuku


There is no one else to give it to. Whoever gives it to Matsushima Nanako in Mita is an idiot.

BEST ACTOR

Can't choose between Eita and Hasegawa Hiroki.




Both great performances. Eita really impressed me and I was never impressed with his acting until Soredemo. Hasegawa Hiroki followed up his faultless performance in Suzuki sensei with Mita but even he couldn't even act to the horrible lines.

TOP 5 DORAMAS OF 2011

5. School!


Knows what it is doesn't try to be what its not but doesn't it very well.

4. Doctors: Saikyou no meii


Doctors is what happens when you take all your hospital dorama cliches and give the characters' brains. You end up with something intelligent unlike hospital doramas that make things stupider by making it more soap operaish. *cough* 37 sai *cough*

3. Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro



Very, very funny dorama made on a shoestring budget which further enhances its charms.

1. Suzuki sensei (tie)


I think I've said all I need to say about Suzuki sensei here, here, here, here, here, here and here. 7 posts on Suzuki sensei! Probably the only other dorama I've written so much about is Kekkon Dekinai Otoko. Suzuki sensei has plenty of subtext and undertones as well as being pretty funny.

1. Soredemo Ikite Yuku (tie)


Can't decide which one is better since they're both bloody fucking good. So good I have to consider both of them if I ever make a top 10 list which I'll never do cause I can never whittle it down to just 10. Soredemo is just a great emotional journey that shows you what they characters are going through instead of preaching it to you. Can't believe Fuji TV made something so good.

8 comments:

jt said...

2011 is nice. i did enjoy dramas released or so did i forget the bad ones. haha.. it was a good year though.

Shane said...

Hi there,

I just wanted to say I've been stalking your blog for years now without ever commenting. For some reason I felt compelled to break the silence and say well done on all your reviews. I find I agree with you on many things and you've become a very reliable source for recommendations. Keep it up, I look forward to reading more in future! Soredemo Ikite Yuku is my top drama of 2011 too (suzuki Sensei close second though).

Kiriyama said...

Great list. I'm going to finally give Suzuki Sensei a try tonight.

By the way, I just read that Soredemo's Mitsushima Hikari and Shinya Shokudo's Kobayashi Kaoru will be starring in a movie together. I thought both shows were great, so hopefully this movie will live up to its potential. More info: here.

Jung said...

haha our list overlaps pretty well.

This is a list of doramas I didn't delete from 2011:

1. Shinya 2
2. Suzuki Sensei
3. Soredemo
4. Doctors

Best jdorama song:
Spitz - Time Travel from Boku to Star.

IS~otoko demo also had a pretty fun song.

You should've put Boku to Star as #6 for our favorite friend. haha

Anonymous said...

Very nice list! I actually agree with you on Kaseifu no Mita (overrated) and Suzuki Sensei (underrated). Another drama I liked from 2011 was Kudo Kankuro's 11 nin mo iru.

Akiramike said...

Thanks Shane.

Kiriyama, we'll probably have to wait til end of next year to see it online.

Haven't tried 11 nin yet.

Antspace said...

Almost total agreement : )
The top 4 would be the same as mine. I liked number 5 School! as well, but there's a few other series of 2011 that I liked equally or more. So my number 5 be Marumo no Okite. I really enjoyed this feel good story about two little brats and their guardian Abe Sadao. I also liked Deka Wanko. It was wacky fun and lots of gothic dresses : ) 11 nin mo iru was also quite good, it was not Tiger & Dragon good, but still quite funny. I would add Kare Otto Otoko Tomodachi to the list as well, although the story collapses somewhat at the end. Maki Yoko is great in it though, and I also liked Kaho in it. Together with School! this would make 5 number 5s. Oh yeah, I would nominate Kurumi no Heya as well, so 6 number 5s.
I'm obviously not cut out to make these lists, so I'm glad you do it : ) Thanks for that: very enjoyable.

Captain Banana said...

Watched Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro and LOVED it, thanks for the recommendation, it's attitude to being low budget is great....the big sign in the intro is like "yeah I'm low budget so what?"

Can't wait for season 2!

I knew I'd like it when I saw that Takayuki Yamada was in it, since watching MILOCRORZE - A Love Story at a film festival I try to watch everything that he's in as that was such great fun.