HAMSAPSUKEBE JDORAMA AWARDS 2013

I CAN'T BELIEVE AWARDS 2013

- I can't believe the number of must-watch jdoramas in 2013. I think this must be the best year in jdoramas I can remember. This is also the hardest time I've ever had trying to decide winners of the prestigious Hamsapsukebe awards.

- I still can't believe Kaho agreed to do all the panchira shots in Minna! Esper Dayo! Still can't get over how Sono Sion failed to do create a strong narrative for the show. How I wanted it to be good.

- I can't believe Oguri Shun wasn't a chikan and Sakamoto Yuji went the boring and safe route for Woman.

- I still can't believe badly acted Hanzawa Naoki got over 40% ratings. Imagine the highest rated show in your own country is about serious issues but treats its characters like a saturday morning cartoon with worse ending. I would be ashamed and not plaster the main character's face at every train station.

- I can't believe a johnny can actually act award goes to Hagishiyama Noriyuki in Nanatsu no Kaigi

- I can't believe the Oscar Promotion duo of Gouriki Ayame and Takei Emi keep getting push after push after push with doramas written for their lack of talent. Does whoever run Oscar Promotion have pictures of tv executives with schoolgirls? (very possible) Do they give the greatest bj in the world at the same time? Do they have some sort of acting talent and screen presence that I am absolutely blind towards?

- I can't believe they screwed up Doctors 2 and went the boring route which jadefrost believed  was a tv station directive.

- I can't believe we got two video game doramas this year that didn't suck. Along with Yuusha Yoshihiko, its a sign that people who grew up as gamers are getting into positions of responsibility in the jdorama world.

- I can't believe Nanatsu no Kaigi and Meoto Zenzai have not been English subbed.

- I can't believe Amachan spent so many episodes building up this countryside and diving girl story so that she can stumble in Tokyo to be an idoru.

- I can't believe Yonekura Ryoko's legs can pull a 20% rating, double Nagasawa Masami's legs.

- I can't believe the students in Limit who fell into a ravine next to a road could not find a way up and instead ventured deeper into the wild.

- I can't believe the writer for Gekiryuu wasn't fired from that show. It has got to be one of the worst written mystery doramas I've ever seen that it makes Triangle look like One Million Stars Falling from the Sky . It was an absolutely trainwreck of a script.

BEST JDORAMA EYECANDIES OF 2013

KAHO & MANO ERINA - MINNA ESPER DAYO!

I can't wait for Patlabor!!!!

TRIENDL REINA - DANDARIN

She really grew on me throughout the series.

MOTOKARIYA YUIKA - LADY JOKER

KURASHINA KANA'S SMILE - DINNER

BEST ACTOR - 3 WAY TIE CAUSE I CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND

EITA - SAIKOU NO RIKON

HAGISHIYAMA NORIYUKI - NANATSU NO KAIGI

SHIBATA KYOHEI - LADY JOKER

Its a three horse race between Eita, Hagishiyama Noriyuki (Natatsu no Kaigi), Shibata Kyohei (Lady Joker),  and I could not pick a winner. However much of the flawed but endearing Hamasaki is due to Sakamoto Yuji's writing and how much to Eita's performance? Higashiyama Noriyuki and Shibata Kyohei's roles are very similar; salarymen trying to do the right thing by their companies and by themselves. Higashiyama is one johnny's who can act. Honourable mention to Moriyama Mirai (Meoto Zenzai) and Uchino Masaaki (Tonbi).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

MAKI YOKO - SAIKOU NO RIKON

Honourable mention - Tanaka Yuko (Woman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

TOYOHARA KOSUKE - LADY JOKER & NANATSU NO KAIGI

From the spiteful cop in Lady Joker to the politician in Nanatsu no Kaigo, this dude can flat out act.

Honourable mention - Furuta Arata (Furueru Ushi), Kobayashi Kaoru (Woman/Furueru Ushi)

BEST ACTRESS - 2 WAY TIE

ONO MACHIKO - SAIKO NO RIKON & MEOTO ZENZAI

The Matsu Takako of this generation. She is so freaking good that it is a crime against humanity she is not one of the top earners in jdoramas today.

MITSUSHIMA HIKARI - WOMAN

For all my problems with Woman, Mitsushima Hikari's acting just continues to blow me away.

Honourable mention - Takeuchi Yuko (Dandarin), Kaho (Minna! Esper Dayo! & Akuryo Byoto)

BEST JDORAMAS OF 2013

SAIKOU NO RIKON

Sakamoto Yuji is a jdorama god!

MEOTO ZENZAI

Exquisitely brilliant.

NANATSU NO KAIGI

Straightforward drama with superb acting. Well done NHK!

DANDARIN

Smart, funny and relevant.

LADY JOKER

One of the best jdoramas ever. WOWOW went for a story with a high degree of difficulty in execution and made knocked it out of the park. I would love to watch the movie and compare the two. If one were to only watch one jdorama from 2013 and 2012, it would be Lady Joker.

OTHER RECOMMENDED JDORAMAS FROM 2013

- Keibuho Yabe Kenzo 2
- Shotenin Michiru no Mi no Uebanashi
- Tonbi
- Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi
- Woman (for the acting)
- No Con Kid
- Furueru Ushi
- Kagi no Nai Yume wo Miru eps 3+4
- Akuryo Byouto
- Double Tone
- Doctors SP
- Made in Japan

SPECIAL THANKS AWARD TO INCYPE - For subbing Lady Joker cause my Japanese was not good enough to realise how godlike this show was.

Here's hoping 2014 turns into another great year for jdoramas as well!