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)