I'm longing for some decent Japanese films or Dorama.. Please help!

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cerulean Member
From: Ohio Registered: 2008-05-09 Posts: 133

I've already seen:

-Many Kurosawa films
-Best animated films
-Twilight Samurai
-Battle Royal
-Zatoichi
-A movie with 'Beat' Takeshi where he helps a young boy find his mother
-A movie with a childish woman who abandons her 3 or so kids
-Fear and Trembling (but I can't finish it because the subs won't match up after a certain point.. I tried synching them over and over with a different program but to no avail)
-Death Note films
-One Missed Call
-Audition
-Memories of Matsuko


DRAMA
-At Home Dad
-Shopping Hero
-My Boss My Hero
-Zettai Kareshi
-Akihabara@Deep
-Hana Kimi
-Densha Otoko
-Kekkon Dekinai Otoko
(When it comes to dorama, I'd prefer more that fall in place with these.. light hearted comedy/romantic/school/work/everyday life kind of thing)


I'm interested in watching more current Japanese films or dorama.. They can be of any genre, as long as you feel they are worth watching..

One movie I would be interested in watching but can't remember the name is that more recent 'monster movie' that was released in American Theaters..  I can't recall the name..   If you know the name, please tell me!

And thank you in advance for all your suggestions!


Hmm.. right now I'm going to give Detective Conan Live Action Special a shot since I enjoyed the animated version and watch it now. ^-^

Last edited by cerulean (2008 October 17, 9:54 pm)

vosmiura Member
From: SF Bay Area Registered: 2006-08-24 Posts: 1085

(When it comes to dorama, I'd prefer more that fall in place with these.. light hearted comedy/romantic/school/work/everyday life kind of thing)

Some of the ones I like along those lines are Pride (highly recommended), Bara no nai Hanaya & Stand Up!

alyks Member
From: Arizona Registered: 2008-05-31 Posts: 914 Website

Man! I was going to post almost the exact same topic!

I was going to say this:

Question for everybody, why do I know and understand pimp gangsta talk despite being raised in the suburbs and homeschooled? Simply put, because of TV. So in this spirit I want to give myself the Japanese childhood I never had. Everybody should post in this thread awesome Japanese movies and TV shows.

Since this needs to be real life stuff, they should only be focused in the present time (no samurai movies =[). Also, no animated movies. We want real life stuff:

Action
Romance
Drama
Gang stuff
Japanese Wes Anderson

Post amazon and yesasia links where possible, and if you want you can hint at where to find them online (respect Fabrice's rules, please).

Whatever.

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CaLeDee Member
Registered: 2008-08-31 Posts: 170

I second the recommendation for Pride (プライド). Great show imo. A drama show I'm watching now that fits your tastes would be パズル. It's just fun to watch and the main actress is extremely beautiful.

Some movies I enjoyed:
Ichi the killer (classic)
Suicide circle
Waterboys (funny)
Shinobi
Twilight Samurai
Apple Seed (animated)
Spriggan (animated)
Memories of Matsuko (great movie!)
Kamikaze girls
Udon
Be with you
Graveyard of honour
Sword of the stranger (animated)
2LDK
5cm per second (animated)
Memories of tomorrow

suffah Member
From: New York Registered: 2006-09-14 Posts: 261

プライド was a good show.  I would recommend GTO and if you liked My Boss My Hero I would highly recommend タイガー&ドラゴン (Tiger and Dragon).

EDIT: Just noticed you want more modern stuff, タイガー&ドラゴン has flashbacks to an older time period, but I still recommend it regardless.

Last edited by suffah (2008 October 18, 3:58 am)

urpwnd Member
From: Maryland Registered: 2007-12-07 Posts: 30

I would also highly recommend GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), the series.  The special and movie were not as awesome.

Summer Snow is another good dorama that hasn't already been listed, and while i enjoyed it a lot, and most of the series is light hearted and fun, it gets pretty serious towards the end.

Beach Boys, which has the main actor from GTO in another role, was also a great dorama.

Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

Sonatine is a good movie (Beat Takeshi in this one as well). It's about Yakuza, but a bit more "stylish" Yakuza than the punks in Crows Zero etc. Sort of like the Godfather.

kazelee Rater Mode
From: ohlrite Registered: 2008-06-18 Posts: 2132 Website

CaLeDee wrote:

I second the recommendation for Pride (プライド). Great show imo. A drama show I'm watching now that fits your tastes would be パズル. It's just fun to watch and the main actress is extremely beautiful.

Some movies I enjoyed:
Ichi the killer (classic)
Suicide circle
Waterboys (funny)
Shinobi
Twilight Samurai
Apple Seed (animated)
Spriggan (animated)
Memories of Matsuko (great movie!)
Kamikaze girls
Udon
Be with you
Graveyard of honour
Sword of the stranger (animated)
2LDK
5cm per second (animated)
Memories of tomorrow

Can't believe you mentioned 2LDK without mentioning Aragami....

@original poster:

If you like the movie where the chick left her kids alone you'll love,

Rainbow Song - Sad
Gaichu - Makes you want to off yourself
Welcome to the Quite Room   - insane asylum movie
Soseiji - I man is replaced by a look alike
Shinku - A chick befriends the daughter of the man who murdered her family
Kanaria - the son of a religious terrorist goes on a quest to find his little sister
Visitor Q - RESEARCH BEFORE WATCHING - By same director of Audition.


Then there's

Casshern    - One of the most stylistically beautiful movies ever (look wise)
Machine Girl     - Weird but cool
Stacy: Attack of the School Girl Zombies     - hilariously nonsensical
Uzumaki    - The first Japanese live action horror film I ever saw
Versus     - cheesy yet cool action movie
SkyHigh   - series based off a show
Great Yokia War   - Seems like a live action Miyazaki film (eg Princess Mononoke)
Hatsukoi    - Interesting
Kagen no Tsuki   - weird dreamlike movie

In Za Puuru - Funny movie about people who go to see an eccentric psychologist




As for dramas, I try to avoid ones that aren't funny.

Seigi no Mikata '08   - A little sisters tales about her evil older sister.
Cutey Honey: The Live - Don't know if it counts as drama but it's funny as hell.
SkyHigh - the series - I don't know if funny was the intention but laugh I did
Gokusen - Just watch one of the three series as they're all the same (then again repetition might help with learning.



Oh and I think that recent monster movie was Cloverfield.

<_<

>_>

I could uhh... hook you up if you need any of... the good stuff... sniff

Last edited by kazelee (2008 October 18, 10:21 am)

CaLeDee Member
Registered: 2008-08-31 Posts: 170

kazelee wrote:

Can't believe you mentioned 2LDK without mentioning Aragami....

Well I've never seen Aragami. I'll check it out, and some of the others you mention. Thanks

Edit: I just double checked. I have seen Aragami. Yea I can see the similarities between it and 2LDK. Both pretty good!

BTW What is the name of the movie your talking about, with the mother leaving her kids?

Last edited by CaLeDee (2008 October 18, 10:34 am)

cerulean Member
From: Ohio Registered: 2008-05-09 Posts: 133

CaLeDee wrote:

BTW What is the name of the movie your talking about, with the mother leaving her kids?

I'm not sure, which is why I didn't put the title.  I wanted to say 'No one knows" but couldn't find it when looking for it.

-- Okay, I just looked again and found it.  It's called 'Nobody Knows' or 'Dare mo Shiranai' ..  It's pretty good I thought.

edit: haha.. If you enjoyed Nobody Knows IMDB recommends 'Home Alone' XD:::


Thanks for all your suggestions.. 

For movies I think I'll first be checking out In Za Puuru, Soseiji, and Shinku
and since everyone's recommending Pride, I'll definitely check that out soon.

Once I'm done with those, I'll come back to this thread for more ^0^


I've watched Uzumaki after reading the manga.. and I wasn't terribly happy with it only because the manga was so spectacular.  I urge you to check it out.. It's far greater than the film and explores 3 times the plot.

Last edited by cerulean (2008 October 18, 11:26 am)

cerulean Member
From: Ohio Registered: 2008-05-09 Posts: 133

oh, kazelee I'll see if I can find the stuff myself..  But I'll come back to you if I need a hook up wink


As for the Monster Movie, it's not Clover Field..

..  OOhh wait wait a sec..  I recall now.. It's not Japanese in Origin..  I was having a discussion with someone.. I was surprised because they told me it was Japanese.. But I remember now, I examined the back of the dvd case and saw that it was Korean.   So.. nevermind..



edit:alright kazelee..  where's your secret stash.. I can't find In Za Puuru (sounds hilarious), Shinku, Soseiji... and Rainbow Song has no seeds o_o

But it looks like I can watch Pride on Crunchyroll and I've gotten a hold of Gokusen, so I should be good for a week.   Thanks again everyone.

Last edited by cerulean (2008 October 18, 12:00 pm)

simple Member
Registered: 2007-04-09 Posts: 42

cerulean wrote:

As for the Monster Movie, it's not Clover Field..

..  OOhh wait wait a sec..  I recall now.. It's not Japanese in Origin..  I was having a discussion with someone.. I was surprised because they told me it was Japanese.. But I remember now, I examined the back of the dvd case and saw that it was Korean.   [/i]

If anyone's wondering that (Great!) movie is called "The Host".   Sometimes I wish I was studying Korean instead of Japanese just 'cos I LOVE their films.  As for Japanese films I liked:

All About Lily Chou-Chou
Swallowtail
Dolls
Ping Pong
Go
Platonic Sex

The thing I don't like about a lot of Japanese films is they seem to be just a little bit too low budget.  I'm sure I just haven't seen enough though

kazelee Rater Mode
From: ohlrite Registered: 2008-06-18 Posts: 2132 Website

Heh, good choices. I was exposed to Bijita Q while searching through my bro's dvd collection. That movie... I'm rarely shocked and that movie shocked me. That's why I recommend it.

and I wasn't terribly happy with it only because the manga was so spectacular.  I urge you to check it out.. It's far greater than the film and explores 3 times the plot.

Really? I've watched the movie at least ten times. Hands down, it's my favorite. The more I watched, though, the more I noticed that something seemed missing. I guess this explains it.

Reply #14 - 2008 October 18, 3:27 pm
chamcham Member
Registered: 2005-11-11 Posts: 1444

Some good dramas:

Koi ni Ochitara
Slow Dance

Both are light hearted and easy going.

Reply #15 - 2008 October 18, 4:04 pm
mentat_kgs Member
From: Brasil Registered: 2008-04-18 Posts: 1671 Website

Liar game!

Reply #16 - 2008 October 19, 7:44 am
dilandau23 Member
From: Japan Registered: 2006-09-13 Posts: 330
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