riskyshift Wrote:Looking at the other thread, someone posted a link to http://www.jdorama.com/topdramas.htm, and GTO (1998) is the #1 rated show. While I did enjoy GTO more than most other J-Dramas, frankly, the dialog was pretty bad, the acting wasn't great and the production values were about on the same level as the kids' TV shows I used to watch in the 90s. It was really only Takashi Sorimachi's portrayal of Onizuka that saved it.
Having recently finally given in to watching this old show that people seem to rave about so much I decided to come back to this thread. I haven't finished it yet but you are totally right about how Takashi Sorimachi's acting is the best thing about GTO. There is something typically j-drama-y about the others' acting but I find it actually to be way more wooden than the acting in any other jdrama I've watched. Some of the stuff that Onizuka does that makes people love him is just so ridiculous and I just cannot fathom how that would ever work. What I'm saying is, please don't give up on jdramas because you've been put of by the hype surrounding that outdated series. Generally, watch some newer stuff. I find that in newer series the comedic elements flow much better into some more mature dramatic scenes and the higher production values and standards of acting create the overall impression that you're watching a good US comedic drama (Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty are the only examples I can think of right now, but of course, all these jdramas aren't female orientated like them) or a British Doctor Who or Sherlock type drama, that doesn't take itself particularly seriously, but is very high quality.
I like:
Bitter Blood - A gem of 2014 with very high production value that's just thrilling. A tough cop legend father and over enthusiatic, thinks-he-needs-to-be-everyone's-white-knight son work together as police detectives at Ginza Police Station after years of having been estranged. The relationship between father and son and the office banter is quite comedic, but tastefully and amusingly rather than straight up cheesily, and this does not interfere with the police drama side; the crime investigations and the tense interactions with criminals are serious and suspenseful. I've only just watched the first episode, but I have to say that the opening was action from the get go, the comedy that they mixed into the father son reunion warmed me to the characters and when they got to the *slight spoiler* hostage situation near the end of the episode, it was suspenseful and I was on the edge of my seat and I think it was handled well. The cheesiest thing was probably the slightly OTT psycho villians, but it sort of just reminded me of Bond villians and the Joker, which US viewers enjoy, and it just made them scarier. Not a gritty US cop drama like the ones you quoted but an exciting suspenseful cop drama nonetheless.
Mother - If you really want to eliminate all cheese from your J-drama experience there is Mother. Mother is about a elementary school girl called Rena who is abused by her mother's boyfriend and seen as a hinderance by her mother. Rena's teacher, Nao, picks up on this and decides her only choice is to kidnap the girl before her family ends up killing her. Thus ensues an emotional on the run story which explore's Nao's troubled childhood as an adopted child and meeting many other troubled characters along the way, never knowing who to trust. I have not finished this either, but I can tell you, there is no chance of the thinnest slice of cheese in this; it is all rather depressing. It's very well acted - I am repeatedly impressed by Rena's actress who really puts the right emotion into everything convincingly despite being only 6 years old.
Yakou Kanransha 夜行観覧車 - A mystery/family drama, with cheese that was pretty minimal. A new family in an exclusive neighbourhood are troubled by their snobbish neighbours apart from one young family with children from past marriages, who they look up to until the husband in that family is murdered in the house. Solving the mystery leads to constant flashes back and forwards in time until all info is filled in up until the night of the murder and we see the families The main family came off as horrifyingly cheesy at the beginning, but the whole thing got dark quick and ceases to tolerate any cheese after pretty much the first episode. The one exception to this are the snobbish old ladies that keep a sort of Cruella De Vil air about them, but eventually become less relevant.
Face Maker - People who want to start a new life visit a plastic surgeon called the face maker who will replace their face with the face of a past patient in exchange for adding their face to the library for future customers. This was really dramatic and generally very good. Many of the characters were very troubled and it was interesting to see how they hoped to change their life with their new face. However, more often that not, something would occur to make them realise what they had lost, and pretty much always the person who received their original face from the face maker would come back to haunt them. Very episodic until the last 2 episodes pretty much, when we learn the back story of the face maker and his glamorous assistant. Generally well acted, never comedic but sometimes over the top, but that really just pushed the drama forwards. The main problem is the wealth of female clients who were being bullied into thinking they weren't good enough or were jealous of someone and somehow thought that becoming another person was the best option to fix those situations. Of course it was always way too extreme a solution and gave them more problems than they had originally had. I began to loose respect for these sorts of characters, much preferring those who were in real mortal peril or who had truly ruined their lives beyond repair.
Soratobu Kouhoushitsu 空飛ぶ広報室 - A drama about romance, journalism and military aircraft. I watched this because it was just so odd a premise to me. A female television reporter, Inaba, who previously hounded a husband and wife to near madness is relegated to doing gourmet reports until she gets the opportunity to produce a documentary on the Self Defence Office (the place that organises Japan's defence). This does get her out of the drudgery of gourmet reports but she is really not chuffed about having to make a story out of daily office life (since there is no war going on, their office life really isn't interesting). Entering the job with this bad attitude, she instantly rubs an enthusiastic young ex-pilot, Sorai, who works in the office, up the wrong way by telling him, after he made a huge speech about all the different types of planes they have with great enthusiasm, that planes aren't beautiful because they're just made for killing people. It's not until Inaba finds out Sorai's horrible story of why he had to quit being a pilot before he achieved his dream and then breaks through to him that she starts to respect the people in this office and sees how there is really a touching story behind all of them that Japan wants to hear. Eventually Inaba develops a friendship with everyone in the office, and there is some serious character development as she discovers all of their past stories and starts to help them overcome their troubles, and a sparkle of romance begins between her and Sorai. This was well acted, but there was definite cheese particularly coming from the head of the office and one worker there. It was not action packed but did occasionally get very dramatic, but that drama was more about the emotions of the characters trying to overcome their weaknesses and their drive to help their friends rather than the actual situation that was going on, which was never life threatening. Generally, it was a heartwarming drama that will teach you lots about planes and friendship.
