It is finally time to put pen to paper for this list. Since I started this blog a lifetime ago, I have always had this list in my head with the intention of doing this list one day. I roughly knew roughly the 6 that I wanted in but it is hard to narrow down the other 4 after years of watching jdoramas. There are way too many shows to wither it down to 10 and I feel like if I rewatch some old shows I will end up changing the list again. Here are my top 10 greatest jdoramas of all time in no particular order.
1. GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (1998)
The original is the best. Sorimachi Takashi's charisma along with the chemistry with Matsushima Nanako and one of the best student talents ever. I could watch this every year and not get bored.
2. SOREDEMO IKITE YUKU
The Sakamoto Yuji masterpiece is so perfect, so good I've written so many posts about it and translated his interview.
3. OYAJI
The perfect family jdorama. Yes, even more than Kita no Kuni Kara. Tamura Masakazu is the perfect entertaining stubborn dad. The talent in this show is crazy and the theme song so good. Every family jdorama I compare to Oyaji. They tried to capture lightning in a bottle again with Otousan which sucked but I think Oi Handsome!! did a pretty decent job.
4. LOVE GENERATION
If I had to choose one dorama from the golden era, it would be Love Generation over Long Vacation and 101 Proposals. Kimutaku and Matsu Takako and Uchino Masaaki. Maybe Ozaki Masaya's second greatest work.
5. KEKKON DEKINAI OTOKO
Ozaki Masaya's masterpiece and Abe Hiroshi's greatest acting job ever. Everything is perfect from chemistry with Natsukawa Yui and Kuninaka Ryoko to Ken-chan. The easiest dorama to write reviews for because it is so fun to dissect the story and dialogue.
6. IRYU TEAM MEDICAL DRAGON
Greatest surgery jdorama ever. The greatest jdorama soundtrack ever. The amazing thing is they have mostly kept the quality for all 4 seasons except season 3 was a bit meh. This show is so bullshit but its so cool. You will remember and love every character. Entlassen!
7. SHINYA SHOKUDO AKA MIDNIGHT DINER
The ultimate slow burn feel good show. The chicken soup of jdoramas.
8. SUZUKI SENSEI
The smartest teacher jdorama ever. I wrote 7 reviews for the whole series or rather the reviews wrote themselves because the dorama is just so well written. I need to do a rewatch one day.
9. LADY JOKER
The best WOWOW show? I actually place Samayou Yaiba pretty high up there as well along with Kenja no Ai. However when I think of WOWOW excellence, the first show that comes to my mind is Lady Joker. I think I have rewatched this 3 times already.
10. GAIJI KEISATU
Best terrorist/police thriller jdorama in a sea of crappy terrorist shows like Bloody Monday and Rondo. It is so good I wrote about what it does so well that other jdoramas don't. Watabe Atsuro at his best.
After thoughts: I really wanted to put in Manhattan Love Story/Tiger & Dragon and Mosaic Japan, The Journalist and Love Shuffle. Maybe one day I will revise the list. Maybe I should make put 20 shows in because there are too many good shows like Liar Game, Quartet, Kenja no Ai, Kita no Kuni Kara, Shiroi Kyoto etc.
You should make at least a top 20 drama list, and does Saikou no Rikon still going to be on your top drama list? And another one, do you have any top guilty pleasure drama list?
ReplyDeleteFantastic list. Thanks for your great content. I can't believe you're' still at it. Are you going back to Japan any time soon?
ReplyDeleteIf I were to put together a list based on # of repeat watch, Lady Joker tops the list, followed by KDO . LJ still gives me the chills watching it. KDO, while old, has held up extremely well.
I can't say the same for GTO and other classics I used to adore. I don't think I'd be able to sit through them and enjoy. Some classics are better left as classics in your memory.
I have to mention My Boss My Hero and Densha Otoko as guilty pleasure favorites ;-)
Would that be whittle it down to 10?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, fascinating list. Several I haven't watched and so look forward to following your recommendations.
Re GTO:
I know this drama is a classic favorite, but for me it has all the key features of the worst of Japanese series: over-acted and cliched characters, loud music at climactic scenes that even drowns out the speech of the characters, predictable and repetitive plots, frequent sexism and objectification of women's bodies, etc.
The thing that bugged me about GTO is that iirc he is never ever shown doing any actual teaching.
ReplyDelete"They tried to capture lightning in a bottle again with Otousan"
ReplyDeleteDid you ever watch Dare Yori mo Mama wo Aisu?
@Faiz: I need to rewatch Saikou no Rikon but looking at my reviews I loved the script.
ReplyDelete@Jung: Densha has a strong argument for being in the top 10 because of how popular it was.
@Rick: I love it in GTO because it did it well and everything else is just a copy.
@Robert: You are correct, he never taught anything! I have not seen Dare Yori mo Mama wo Aisu. Is it must watch?
I need to rewatch Dare Yori... as I remember enjoying it but not much else about it (not much of a recommendation I know). I'm disappointed to hear that Otousan wasn't so good (iirc I never found video for it anyway).
ReplyDelete@Robert: Looks like Avistaz has a DVD rip of otousan which was uploaded 2 years ago.
ReplyDelete