With last season’s dramas all finishing up now, it’s that exciting time when all new ones begin! Let’s have a look at what next season brings. Sounds Good To Me!

Tokyo Dogs A strong cast in this one. I’m very excited to watch both Oguri Shun and Mizushima Hiro together (again). It will hopefully be good I have to say that Shun’s hair cut is very flatering. (Plot? What plot? Did someone say something about a… ooh, there’s Shun and Hiro )

My Girl Staring Arashi’s Aiba Masaki this is the story about him raising his daughter by his self. It’s a late night one so it might not have much quality in it, but it looks perhaps sweet, plus I like Aiba, so I am looking forward to this one.

Shokojo Seira Or “A Little Princess”. Ths was one of my favourite books when I was a child, so I’m very interested to see how they interpret this!

Samurai Seventeen It’s got Miura Haruma in it, do I need to say more? Haha. But this sounds really cool, so I hope it is. He stars as an unmasculine guy who gets a samurai spirit in him or something. It also stars Shirota Yu! Hmmm… Maybe

Liar Game 2 OK, so with Liar Game, I actually ended up really enjoying it. It was crap, let’s face it, but I enjoyed the crap for what it was. It certainly wasn’t a show that took itself seriously, so why should I? Liar Game is coming back in November with Liar Game 2 (to end in a movie as well I hear). This is going in my Hmmmm.. list so I don’t think too highly of it and wont be dissapointed, hopefully just pleasantly surprised.

JIN Let me quote this: The story follows a brain surgeon named, Minakata Jin, who falls into a “time slip” that sends him back to Edo during the Bakumatsu era, the period that spelled the end of the shoguns’ rule over Japan. There, Jin ends up using his 21st-century medical expertise to help the people, who are suffering from various epidemic illnesses from the time, with the help of the modern medical knowledge of his era. (from dramawiki) Sounds interesting. Not sure if I agree with messing with the past, but it sounds interesting.

Nah

Real Clothes I wont be tuning into this unless others say it is good. This was a special before it was turned into a TV show. I watched maybe 3/4 of it and was bored to tears. While I love Cinderella stories, this was unoriginal and boring. I’m not sure what the tv show has to add/re-do but yawn

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While in my hotel one night (in Osaka) I decided to watch a bit of TV and Full House was on, dubbed. I filmed a little bit of it in the following clip - and yay, I can understand one joke. Haha. I haven’t seen Full House in years.  

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I’m looking forward to Atashinchi no Danshi, and from the poll from my Spring Drama introduction post, everyone else is too. The official website has been updating daily with the cast of the six adopted sons in the family Horikita Maki’s marries into. Let’s take a look at who they are!

Kaname Jun plays the oldest son at 30 years old. It seems the character is jobless but gets everything handed to him. Kaname Jun has been in shows such as Himitsu no Hanazono and Ryusei no Kizuna.

Okada Yoshinori plays the second son, 27 years old. He is a biker and loves to gamble. Yoshinori has been in lots of things, including Hana Kimi which I recognise him from… But this will be my first real encounter with him.

Mukai Osamu plays the third son, a 25 year old host. Osamu has most recently been in Mei-chan no Shitsuji, but as also been in Nodame Cantibile, Hachimitsu to Clover, and Bambino.

Yamamoto Yusuke plays the 22 year old fourth son, a fashion model. But he’s still a virgin! Yusuke is well known to Hana Kimi fans. He was also in Himitsu no Hanazono playing a role which I think was rather pointless to the over all show…

Seto Koji plays high schooler fifth son, a 17 year old ex magician. Koji is from the tv drama version of Koizora.

Okayama Toshiki plays the sixth son, 12 year old genius middle schooler who trades shares on the internet. I’m not sure, but I think this may be Toshiki’s first role, and it sounds like it’s going to be a good one. Atashinchi no Danshi will be airing on Tuesdays at 9pm on Fuji TV. It will start on April 14th. Check out translations of the characters from the main website here.

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Most of the new dramas airing next season have now been announced and it’s that time where I can’t wait for the new season to begin! Here I will highlight some of the ones I’m looking forward to or at least have some curiosity in. I’m Liking The Sound Of…

Atashinchi no Danshi Horikita Maki’s character marries a man who offers to pay off her debts that her father made, and moves into an eccentric family. I think (hope) this will be quirky and fun, and there are lots of well know guys in it: Kaname Jun, Okada Yoshinori, Mukai Osamu, and Yamamoto Yusuke have been announced so far. Hyoryu Net Cafe Toki Koichi leads a pretty dull life. Until he meets his first love again in an internet cafe. Suddenly something happens with the electricity and he and everyone else get stuck in the cafe which has become a strange universe… or something. Perhaps it’ll be something like Long Love Letter, the drifting classroom drama. Stars Ito Atsushi who I hope wont be doing another Densha Otoko take with his character. Also staring Asami Reina, and KIKI

Hmmmm? Dunno…

Ghost Friends Fukuda Saki plays a girl who can see ghosts after a car accident. Then she falls inlove with one of the ghosts. Nishijima Takahiro plays the love interest. Sounds OK, I like ghosts, but also doesn’t really sound that exciting at the moment… I think this one is aimed at a young audience, but I could be wrong. Smile Staring Matsumoto Jun as a half-Filipino with no family and Aragaki Yui who can’t speak…. something about always smiling. Yeah, the story line sounds a bit twee but I’ll watch the first couple of eps for the cast! Majo Saiban Ikuta Toma is chosen as a Juror on the trial of a suspected woman’s murderer trial. Yeah, from that name alone you know I’ll be watching, but at the moment this one feels like it is just going to educate us on the juror (jurial? I’m not sure) system. Hope it proves me wrong. Also staring Kato Ai and Higa Manami Boku no Imoto Staring Odagiri Joe and Nagasawa Masami, this is another “maybe” because of cast. The two are siblings with a close bond because of the death of their parents. However, Masami’s character isn’t the brightest and makes bad choices, testing the strength of the sibling’s relationship. Could be OK maybe…

Noteables

Konkatsu! About a single salary man in his mid 30s. Everyone around him talks about marriage so he begins to think about it as well. Noteable because Nakai Masahiro is staring in this! From Smap, for the past couple of Star Bowling eps that I’ve been watching he’s been wishing to be in another drama. His wish has come true! - also stars Ueto Aya, Sato Ryuta, and Matsukata Hiroki

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SMAPxSMAP Episode Air Date: 09-03-09 Rate This Episdoe: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. I really enjoyed this episode! It had a lot in it. Paris Hilton, Mei-chan no Shitsuji cast, Horikita Maki, Kamiji Yusuke, and someone who I assume is some baseball player. Lots of laughs, lots of fun

First we have Takuya Kimura dressed up as a girl. He’s very pretty. He and some friends meet Paris Hilton. She gives Kimura some glasses. In return they give her some presents. Except the presents Kimura gives aren’t very nice presents.

You can tell most of it was set up and that Paris is a really bad actor. She’s good at just smiling. That’s about all…

In the end she went off with Kimura because he promised her she would be introduced to the guy in the photo below at a party.

Next section was SMAP Bistro, with the Mei-chan no Shitsuji cast. I love these guys, they are so cute! Smap all picked on Takeru which was cute, and someone, I forget who, accidently called him “Wataru” or some such, and the other guys jumped in “Wataru?”

Yes, I think Takeru is adorable. What a little cutie.

Katori dressed up as a sheep. Highly amusing.

Of course Katori and Kimura won.

  Next was a quiz with Horikita Maki and Kamiji Yusuke. Nakai wouldn’t let Yusuke promote his new special that’s airing, “Kamiji Yusuke Monogatari”, a documentary about himself. Instead he kept allowing Maki talk about her show, “Chance”.

Now, Maki-chan, this is your real smile! Wear it more often!

  The guys then threw balls which who I assume is a baseball player. They tried to guess the speed they would throw the ball at, and in the end the base ball guy got it. For some reason, Katori was dressed as a cow.

  Lastly they sang some song but I am not sure what it was because I feel asleep and conveniently woke up when it was over…

yawn. Lucky the rest was good.

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ラブシャッフル Love Shuffle Episode Two First Aired: Winter 2009 Carlie’s Rating:
Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. First week of love shuffling. Ojiro discovers a bit about AiAi’s past and why she has trouble in relationships. Older woman tries to seduce Kei and ends up in a bar fight (Hmm… Bad English there… I mean Kei ends up in a bar fight!). And there is a couple of pyjama parties…

Wow! This is a pretty crap show. The whole thing just seems pretentious. Let’s say it one more time, come on… “Love Shuffle”.
The music is soooo bad as well. The music sounds like it belongs in “Priscilla , Queen of the Desert.” I really don’t have much to say about this episode. It just didn’t excite me at all. The characters are just so bland. The good thing about this episode was the bad English. I love listening to bad English. One thing I don’t get is why the native English speakers always seem to slur their words/don’t talk clearly at all. It is almost impossible for me, a native speaker, to understand them. It’s not just in this, I’ve seen it before in other shows. The rest… Liar Game, also staring Matsuda Shota, I thought was bad but actually got pretty good. Will this also improve? We’ll see if I can continue to watch through this boring program. Who would have thought that swinging could actually be boring?
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ラブシャッフル Love Shuffle Episode One First Aired: Winter 2009 Carlie’s Rating: Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. This is about four peeps who get stuck in an elevator - it turns out they all live on the same floor. They are all a bit disgruntled with their love life and decide to get a new moral outlook - and to shuffle their romances. That is, each week they will swap partners. No keys in a bowl here, it seems like fate is decided by cards. Awwww. The characters here are unusual which usually works for me, but some how… some how I don’t know what to think. They aren’t bland, that’s for sure, but I’m not really loving them either. The therapist’s hair makes me laugh though… And this was strange too. I usually love strange. Peeing into cups… Really bad and old back ground music… Lame kisses that make me giggle. This should have me excited but I’m not. It some how just feels bland. At the same time, this was more like an “intro” episode. No shuffling has taken place yet. I’m hoping the next episode will be better and will grow on me. For now, meh, I’m not so impressed but I’m not hating it either. Daigo’s character. Some how, out of all the characters, I think he’s my favourite. It wasn’t bad, it was just a bit bland. These guys also live in an awesome apartment complex. I would shuffle with them just to live there!!! note: tbs drama alert!

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嵐の宿題くん Arashi no Shukudaikun

120

Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. This episode’s guest was Tokio’s Nagase Tomoya, who has stared in My Boss My Hero and Utahime among others. This episode was awesome,

This episode is just wild! It involves giant meat… mmmm, I want some!

1.5kg steak! It looks like it is cooked to my tastes too.

A giant hamburger!

This is normal size, but not so normal way to eat it… kabab meat. After the giant meat we get some role playing sports. Which includes close contact… It involved two teams getting into different shapes such as the Tokyo Tower.

Nagase was here to promote his new movie. It’s called Heaven’s Door. I found out about this movie a while ago and remember being very teased by the teaser trailer. It is now released at the cinemas, here’s Heaven’s Door’s Official Site. As you can see the show was a lot of fun! I enjoyed it very much.

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Voice ヴォイス Episode One First Aired: Winter 2009 Carlie’s Rating: Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. In this episode a man collapses in the street with his grocery shopping. He has somehow been electrocuted. His wife worries that he died hating her. Meanwhile, our gang seems to be into food and cooking and their antics revolve around getting Kanako to cook something.

I feel sorry for Kanako. She is the most dedicated and serious one of the group. However, people tell her she’ll end up an old maid and seem to put her down. Well, one would rather be single than date someone who is like that! My gripe with this show is that the characters and their past are interesting, but the “discover what really happened” angle is not. It is too sentimental, there doesn’t feel like there is any tension. I like some “investigation/medical” sort of shows that the US brings out that has a mix of great characters yet engaging story line, but this… As I said, it is really twee. That being said, next episode seems to be more about Kanako’s past so I’m excited by it. It looks like there will be a case that is similar to her mother’s death. So, I am looking forward to the next episode! I do like the characters. Don’t like the whole point of the show though! eep. So, I’m giving it

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嵐の宿題くん Arashi no Shukudaikun

119

Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. The guest star this episode was Sato Ryuta, from shows such as Bambino, Rookies, Utahime and many more.

This was your typical episode, nothing really too exciting. Of course there was the spicy food… There is always something spicy. And somehow, it is always funny…

They were trying different ramen, and this episode had something interesting… Ice-cream ramen. I want to try that!!

Another great moment was when Nino revealed that Ohno’s fly was down.

And I’m sorry all Sho fans, but he confessed his love for Sato.

And here’s where I confess my unending love for doria. Mmmmm…

There were a few other shenanigans, but over all it was just an average ep.

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Voice ヴォイス Episode One First Aired: January 2009 Carlie’s Rating:
Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. A group of five medical students take on the task of conveying the “voices of the dead.” Eita plays Daiki, who fails to get into a popular heart surgery seminar but is somehow accepted into a seminar on forensic pathology. When he approaches the professor Sagawa (Saburo Tokito) and asks him why he ended up in the seminar, Sagawa challenges him by asking why he wants to study heart surgery. Daiki replies that medicine is meaningless after the heart stops, but Sagawa counters that medicine also applies to the dead. Along with fellow students Ryosuke (Toma Ikuta) and Kanako (Satomi Ishihara), Daiki begins to explore the mysteries of death. from TokyoGraph

Let me start by saying Colonel Sanders haunts me. I must want chicken. As far as I can tell, it’s a different man than the Colonel Sanders linked above, but still, I’m making connections… I think my subconsciousness is trying to tell me something.

I am not really a fan of medical shows unless they are a comedy like Scrubs, but since I Eita and Toma, this show is a must!! Still, my unlove (but not hate) of medicals means that this show will probably never make it on to my “Most Awesomest Dramas Ever!” list, but may be one that I just enjoy. This episode revolves around a man who died from something heavy falling onto him from a construction site, but there is no sign of the object that hit him. It is an over all introduction to the characters and the show. I think some scenes felt really cheesy, but over all I did like it. It was sweet. I do like the overall chemistry of the characters. There is one guy who is a bit too silly - however, the other guy who is “tough”, even though he was over the top I didn’t mind it. Over all, I think what will make this drama a pleasure to watch isn’t the story line but the characters themselves. I hope that it doesn’t just have the same pattern week after week. I get the feeling it will. That may be tedious. The Leading Men!!! Not really a fan of medical dramas. It was good but it wasn’t great, so I’m giving this one

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Hana Yori Dango 花より男子 Boys Over Flowers Episode One First Aired: 2005 Carlie’s Rating: Rate This Episode: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it. The story of Tsukushi Makino, a poor girl who goes to a school filled with rich people. Then there is this group of boys called the “F4″, a group of rich bullies. Well, really, only one is the bully, a Tsukasa Domioji. The group decides to pick on Makino, which is the biggest mistake they could have made as she plans to fight back… This was one of the first dramas that I watched, and is thus will always have a special place in my heart. I also read (in English) the manga years ago, and was one of the things that contributed to my Japanese learning journey. This drama was also the start of a love affair with Matsumoto Jun. At first I didn’t get his appeal, but then he had me on his hook - another one Jun baited. We flirted for a while, but eventually I dumped him and moved on to different pastures. Episode One has Makino get the reg tag, and thus becomes bullied by the school. Makino is a great heroine because she stands up for herself. Tsukasa, on the other hand, is a real piece of work. I’d forgotten how mean he was, how horrible he could be. I was definitely rooting for Rui at the start. I can’t remember if it was the same with the manga, it’s been so many years since I read it. We do get a bit of insight into Tsukasa’s home life, so we gain a bit of perspective on why he is a huge a hole. The poor (figuratively) boy has issues, that’s for sure. I love the punch near the end. Pow, right in the kisser. And then it ends on a cliff hanger, getting kidnapped by Tsukasa… oooh, what will happen next?? Overall, this is a pretty strong first episode for a drama compared to most. And hey, I already said I’ll probably be a bit biased to this, as it’s like a “precious” childhood memory.

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