Musings on the Jdrama

"Or, A Short Chronological History of my Experiments with Jdramas"

If I consider my discovery of Kdramas to be recent – as in barely a year and a half ago – then my introduction to Jdramas was barely a moment ago. I had no conscience that they even existed just half a year back. It wasn’t until I was scouring articles about Kdramas on the blogosophere that I ran into mention of these curious beings known as Jdramas or J-doramas or doramas.  But like the young and fresh thing I was, I figured what could be cooler than expanding my horizons just a little bit? I perused a giant list of recommendations from Koala’s Playground, and going by what plot synopsis seemed interesting – because I had no earthly idea who any of the actors were, I chose Nobuta wo Produce.

Will any drama ever again capture such a beautiful friendship??

Could there have any been any better introduction to the world of Jdramas? I think not. I cheered, I cried, I raved, I told every blogger I knew to hurry up and watch this. I roped my husband into starting his first Jdrama, and thereby watched it TWICE within just two weeks.

Next on my hit-list was Hana Kimi, a little quirky (okay let’s be honest: it was totally quirky) but priceless, and again I’ve already watched it twice. I followed it up with a romantic option: Tatta Hitotsu no Koi, and wow did I sure love its slow boiling story and sweet OTP.  Then to make sure I didn’t become too one-genre centric, I watched Bloody Monday. I like a good thriller. By the way, did I mention that every single one of the above mentioned dramas also boasts a pretty cast. Eye candy, people. Never underestimate good eye candy.

Business plot lines aside, you have to admit, this drama
did have some fairly nice romantic scenes.

Unfortunately, like all great things, there comes a time when the honeymoon period ends. I didn’t hit rock bottom all at once, but the next round of Jdramas became increasingly less appealing and less entertaining overall. They weren’t duds necessarily, but they were definitely approaching the dud territory, had a certain amount of charm not saved the day. 

I’m talking about Love Shuffle, Pride, Buzzer Beat, Rich Man Poor Woman (pictured right). They hit a right chord somewhere, were otherwise kind of meeh. See my individual reviews for each of these for more clarification about what I mean.

Warning: The Ranting Begins Soon.

I should give a disclaimer: I think something’s possibly wrong with my sense of humor. If I offend your precious Jdrama babies, I apologize endlessly. *extremely low bow*

I don’t even know what happened. Here I was, mindlessly going on my merry Jdrama way when I came across two (in my eyes) atrocious Jdramas. I’m appalled. They’re all so well spoken of, and highly praised, and I’m at pains to figure out why. Hence the premise of this entire article.


READ MORE for partial reviews of Atashinchi no Danshi and Nodame Cantabile, with possible explanations for why I just couldn't stand them (No Spoilers)

Jdrama Review: Bloody Monday (2008)

Bloody Monday, Season 1 
ブラッディ・マンデイ 
9/10 ♥♥♥

Here’s an anomaly. I profess to love Kdramas, and yet the first review I shall make here is of a Jdrama. Be not concerned; I haven’t abandoned my first love! I just haven’t completed an actual Kdrama in some time. (Watching Nice Guy as it airs has been truly unbearable – I’m much more of a marathon watcher.) 

I only began Bloody Monday because I was told by a dear friend that Miura Haruma was hot. And come on; look at the boy. He is a hottie. He also happens to be a damned good actor, of which I suspected but needed some time (about 2 episodes) to confirm. But there you have it. The reason why I watched a Japanese drama about a terrorist cell intent on destroying Tokyo with a deadly virus known as Bloody X was because of Miura Haruma. Our 18 year old lead star plays Takagi Fujimaro, aka Falcon – an internationally acclaimed master magician hacker who of course becomes unwittingly involved in… dun Dun DUN… saving the world. Or at least Tokyo. Because I would be sad if Tokyo was wiped off the map before I had a chance of becoming interested in this particular Asian capital that isn’t Seoul, South Korea. 

Needless to say is that Bloody Monday is an intense action-thriller that successfully kept my interest in its 11 episode run. Before I get down to knit-picking it, let me just say that for the most part I was pretty sure on how much I liked it. It was a staunch 8/10 from at least episode 3 onwards. Whether that was because Miura Haruma proved to be so efficient at portraying a genius high school boy/hacker whose world is thrown off balance by the intrusion of downright evil and plot-twist-worthy terrorists is a moot point. I try to be objective, but the only proof I have right now is to say that when he cried, I cried. No Kdrama heroine-esqe tears from this boy. I believed him! I was also impressed with the nearly endless series of plot twists, some of which I predicted from day 1 and some of which I never in my wildest dreams saw coming (and I seriously dream plot twist detection - it’s my one consolation before bed that at least my brain is smarter than Dramaland-ish plot twists). In the last five minutes, I hastily changed my 8 to a 9. I like a good emotional twist. So sue me. 

Here’s where I would normally drag a drama to pieces. I’ll tell you all the reasons why on a scale of 10, Bloody Monday ultimately loses a whole point. 

• They speak Japanese, not Korean. 
• This is a thriller, not a romantic comedy. 
• The occasional computer-generated graphics in 2008 are just not refined enough— 

Oh, sorry... I got off topic. Here are some actual reasons: 

While Bloody Monday is an overall exciting watch with notable acting (even among the supporting cast), I’m just going to have to say that thrillers, even more than comedies, come under my scrutiny for gaping plot holes. For instance, I’m pretty sure I could hand in my current resume, and instantly get a job with the number one Japanese intelligence agency (in this drama, Third-i), because obviously my rationale for thinking out logical strategies is higher than half the plans created by the master spooks in Bloody Monday. I also know that when you’re gearing up for a gun-fight, you really shouldn't walk up to your intended target close enough to where your target can easily disarm you and aim that gun directly at your own head. But I digress. 

Did I mention there’s a Bloody Monday, Season 2? Yeah, I’ll get around to that someday. In the meantime, Season 1 was ultimately an exciting change of pace from my usual norm of Korean rom-coms and melodramas. And all plot holes aside, I really did have shivers most of the times I sat down to watch this drama unfold. Having genuine anxiety for fictional characters goes a long way in my book of Appreciating Entertainment 101.