Ok so i'm starting to get into jdoramas and thought that there should be a thread to discuss them (searched for a thread but didn't find one).

I used to be into anime a lot but recently (last month) i've been watching more dramas than anything else. So far i've finished GTO, のだめカンタービレ, Tiger&Dragon, and ごくせん. I was looking into the 2nd and 3rd series of ごくせん and read that its the same thing with different characters so i'm not very interested (i am disappointed that the first season didn't finish the storyline between yankumi and shinohara-san). But i've loved all of the ones listed.

I'm looking for a new show to start. Any recommendations?

I've watched many doramas already, but it really depends on what genre you prefer. ..hm..maybe you might like Hana Yori Dango? (Pretty popular) Zettai Kareshi
There is actually a site which has summaries and reviews of J-Dorama http://jdorama.com/ No downloads or links to anything, but you can get some info here (btw there's one site, which doesn't provide you downloads either, it's great and it just points you to some streaming sources..just try to write "watch hana yori dango online" into google and -->try your luck!<--- ) ..hope I wasn't so blatant about this, since according to rules this might get deleted/edited )

マイボス☆マイヒーロー is really awesome. 電車男 is of course a classic as well.

I'm currently "watching" 3 dramas... that is, I have watched the first ep and stopped there for now

流星の絆 - Didn't like it much, but I got Japanese subs so I'm thinking of watching more just for training. It's about 3 siblings who had their parents murdered when they were kids and now they are trying to find the killer. My main problem is that while the concept is serious, most of the drama isn't. The first episode ends in a retarded way at least.
わたしたちの教科書 - About a new teacher at a high school. You might think of GTO, but this is completely different, in the first episode a girl kills herself because she's bullied. It's the same main actor as in 電車男 but safe to say, this isn't a comedy.
あしたの、喜多善男 - I like this one. It seems to be the easiest of the three (watching them all Raw, 流星の絆 is the only one I have Japanese subs for). It's about a guy who plans to take his own life in 11 days, but start meeting interesting people who will (I assume) change his mind about that.

Do you plan to watch those dramas Raw or are you looking for subtitled stuff?

I downloaded a new drama called Hancho, I haven't had a chance to watch it yet it so I hope its good. I also downloaded Rinjo and Shiroi Haru whic are also new

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Hancho
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Rinjo
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Shiroi_Haru

I like everything I watch, but my favorites are My Boss, My Hero and Kekkon Dekinai Otoko. I don't use streaming sites, so I don't know what's available there.

薔薇のない花屋 (Bara no nai Hanaya)
セレブと貧乏太郎 (Celeb to Binbo Taro)
電車男 (Densha Otoko)
ドラゴン桜 (Dragon Zakura)
花ざかりの君たちへ (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e)
池袋ウエストゲートパーク (Ikebukuro West Gate Park)
結婚できない男 (Kekkon Dekinai Otoko)
キイナ (Kiina)
クロサギ (Kurosagi)
ランチの女王 (Lunch no Joou)
マイ★ボス マイ★ヒーロー (My Boss, My Hero)
野ブタ。をプロデュース (Nobuta wo Produce)
のだめカンタービレ (Nodame Cantabile)
パパとムスメの７日間 (Papa to Musume no Nanokakan)
斉藤さん (SAITOU san)
SP (Security Police)
正義の味方 (Seigi no Mikata)
鹿男あをによし (Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi)
Stand Up!!
怨み屋本舗 (Uramiya Honpo)
山おんな壁おんな (Yama Onna Kabe Onna)
絶対彼氏 (Zettai Kareshi)

wow thank you all for the replies so quickly. And don't worry about linking to download sites. I'd rather keep the thread here. I've been on jdorama and love all the info about dramas that they have. I'm about to start Ikebukuro West Gate Park. Anyone heard anything good about it? Thanks for all the replies so quickly!

Tobberoth Wrote:マイボス☆マイヒーロー is really awesome. 電車男 is of course a classic as well.

I absolutely agree (book Densha otoko, the original compilation of the chat, is awesome too!)

Tobberoth Wrote:流星の絆 - Didn't like it much, but I got Japanese subs so I'm thinking of watching more just for training. It's about 3 siblings who had their parents murdered when they were kids and now they are trying to find the killer. My main problem is that while the concept is serious, most of the drama isn't. The first episode ends in a retarded way at least.

Well it isn't supposed to be so serious, but if you want serious stuff, try to get the book it's based on, it was actually a bestseller (that's probably why they turn it into dorama this quickly )

If you're not doing this just because of practise or you don't mind listening to something else than only Japanese, you might consider trying some Korean (and other) ones too

Well its definitely for practice, but leisure too. Since it is in the japanese language forum i'm mainly looking for japanese ones. I know there are tons of korean ones too lol. I like how korean dramas can go on 60+ episodes, but jdoramas are limited to like 10-14 episodes. I guess they milk it more (kinda reminds me of a certain popular anime show about ninjas).

I second 絶対彼氏, I just finished watching that one (first one to watch all the way through without subtitles... yay!). I've never been able to finish Tiger and Dragon, but I may go back to it now that my Japanese is better. Gokusen 1 was def. the best, don't waste your time with the others (if you HAVE to, watch Gokusen 2, but don't watch 3). ドラゴン桜 was pretty good too. 電車男 made me laugh a lot, but it was completely ridiculous, and this one guy with a unibrow kept popping up who made me want to smash my computer.

I don't think I added anything to this discussion. Thanks for reading!

Jon_B Wrote:Well its definitely for practice, but leisure too. Since it is in the japanese language forum i'm mainly looking for japanese ones. I know there are tons of korean ones too lol. I like how korean dramas can go on 60+ episodes, but jdoramas are limited to like 10-14 episodes. I guess they milk it more (kinda reminds me of a certain popular anime show about ninjas).

Yeah I know, I watched some of these 60+ dorama xD (learned some history from them..and how to yell "I will kill you!!" in Korean xD) But there are shorter ones too. Plus there's definitely more touching in Korean dorama ;D (You mean about one -most definitely- colorblind ninja? )

The first japanese film I watched without subs was Gegege no Kitarou 2, because I was too lazy to wait for english translation I thought "Ok, fine, just 5 minutes"..and then "ooops, ending credits" )

I personally enjoyed the heck out of Nodame Cantabile, a "romantic comedy" drama about music students - mainly the arrogant Shinichi Chiaki who dreams of becoming a conductor in Europe, and Megumi Noda (aka Nodame), the silly, aloof pianist who dreams of being a kindergarten teacher. Same director as 電車男, and it shows. If you're into classical music and enjoyed Densha, you'll probably love this.

Also really enjoyed Team Batista no Eiko, which I recommend if you're into doctor dramas and/or murder mysteries. It also stars Atsushi Itou of Densha Otoko fame who, once again, plays the nicest guy in the world (only with a bit more of a spine this time).

i could use a new dorama to watch too.. it's been months!

For a while I was watching anime on the AnimeisLive channel on mogulus, but it's been shut down for copyright violation.. I really need something new to watch :/

Check out Last Friends....there are J-subs available!

The JDorama sight is useful as it has a good rating system set-up imho. Each user can select up to 9 dramas as their favorite. So the ones on the top 20 are good bets. In addition, users can review each drama if they so choose. Useful if you want to get heads up on recent dramas that don't have the votes yet.

I'm not really a fan of anime so watch quite a few dramas.

I also can't stand soppy love stories (too many momements of reflection with no talking and crappy music) so with that in mind here's some of my favourites:

Gilileo - crime/science. High quality production and very enjoyable.

Shomuni - about the general affairs section of a big corporation where the OL "failures" are sent. Very very funny. Season 2 not as good as first and not seen season 3 yet.

Trick - a female magician and a physics lecturer get involved investigating paranormal activities and debunking them (kind of like Galileo but not as structured - i wonder if this is where they got the idea for Galileo though). Only half way through but has a wicked sense of humour so far.

SCHOOL DRAMAS:
Gokusen - season 1 good but strongly agree with danieldesu in that series 2 and 3 really go down in quality.

Life - Highly highly highly reccomended. About a girl who gets bullyed - quite cruelly in fact. Great music and worth watching alone for Fukuda Saki's um er acting ability A brief clip to whet your appetite:

(Quite easy to find a streaming version of this online if you do a quick search)

GTO - enjoyable enough but was kind of over school dramas by the time i saw it.

FOR THE FOODIES (like me):
Lunch Queen - about an OL with a passion for lunches under ￥1,000 and ends up working in a restaurant.

My Little Chef - quaint (although sometimes a little slow) drama about a small restaurant that hires a talented but formally untrained chef.

Kougen e Irrashai - failed hotelier starts up new boutique hotel in the highlands with an ecclectic staff. Really enjoyed this one.

All the above were english subbed which i know i need to stop watching with eng subs and am really after any decent dramas with japanese subs. Any tips?

Kisarazu Cats Eye - no subs, but I really like this show. One of my favorites. Good for roughening up your dialogue.

Tiger and Dragon - via suggestion from AJATT site. Good drama/comedy. The DVD has subs

Ikebukuro West Gate Park - up there with Cats Eye on favorites

GTO - really funny. I like to copy the lead's manner of talking.

Byakuyakou - extremely dark show, but I found it flowed episode to episode. I like the detective's manner of talking. Subs are online

Nodame no Cantabile - My wife and I watched this together, great comedy. The DVD has subs

Odoru Daisosasen - Extremely funny. It's a wonder this concept (police bureaucracy) has not been stolen for US TV yet.

Hana Yori Dango 1 and 2 - Very funny. Subs are online

Last Friends - Heavy drama. I found it declined after the 5th episode. Subs are online.

Change - I liked it. Lots of political concepts to help when you read newspapers.

I don't get why Gokusen is so popular. The first half of the show is funny, the second half is over the top melodrama with very bad karate tossed in near the end. Season 3 has subs online so it may be worth it... sonoyaro.

I never looked a jdorama, but I got Nodame no Cantabile and I will look it soon.

Yo, what about the last season? Is there something any good?
I downloaded 2 or 3 but got nothing yet.

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Maou

I tend to do the whole 'watch 1 episode then stop' thing (more out of laziness than not liking things), but I still kept up with Maou for about 4 episodes and would like to finish it. There are some subs available for it on D-Addict, but I didn't find them for the whole series. (Alternatively, you can get it on DVD with Japanese subtitles, I think.)

未来講師めぐる Mirai Koshi Meguru
not sure if any of you mentioned this here..
its by far my favorite

and there are a few tearjerker ones that were really good the first time i watched and then were not so great the second time
14 sai no haha １４才の母
1 litre of tears １リットルの涙

im currently looking for some cute comedys where i can watch them again and again..


im really annoyed.. i used to watch tons of anime and Jdramas on crunchyroll now i cant find anything to watch.. ugh its like they removed all the videos or something.. and now the tags feature searches for groups instead of videos.. i dont want to meet new friends.. i want to watch videos!

anyone know where i can find streaming jdrama videos?.. i cant download on my computor because its got a super tiny hard drive and adobe photoshop and microsoft office took up most of it.. i did see some on veoh but even veoh has changed their site making it harder to find series'..

squiggyflop Wrote:anyone know where i can find streaming jdrama videos?

http://www.mysoju.com/

MySoju has a lot of Japanese doramas, as well as some movies. I'm surprised I haven't seen it on this thread yet. o.o I watch almost all of my doramas there.

They also have dramas and movies from Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. (I like the chinese one, Handsome Siblings. Saw it on AZNTV sometime back in '07...wonder what ever happened to that station?...)

im sure everyone knows about the site, but we were refraining from posting direct links because I for one am not sure if its allowed. So try to keep the thread link free ^^ ありがとう！

Mysoju has subs for most dramas. That's why everyone ignored it.

AkiKazachan Wrote:MySoju has a lot of Japanese doramas, as well as some movies. I'm surprised I haven't seen it on this thread yet. o.o I watch almost all of my doramas there.

.. well, sure, since I read it's kinda against rules to post direct link to site where you can actually *watch* dramas, I didn't post it. I kinda tried to hint it in the second post in this thread though.. )

mentat_kgs Wrote:Mysoju has subs for most dramas. That's why everyone ignored it.

Agreed. d-addicts for the win, I hate having to cover 20% of the screen to get the subs out of my way.