dangermousie | Top Dozen Jdramas: all new expanded and improved list

Nothing is as good as a good jdrama, so favorite jdramas are my favorite dramas of all.

I did a Top Jdramas list some time ago, with reasons and vids, but time to update. Why? Well, for one, current dramas number 3-5 weren't even on the list then, because I haven't seen them.

Same rules as earlier apply: it’s all about which are my favorite jdramas? And why? Here is the list of my favorite dozen, with reasons, vids, and pics. Note: no drama that I haven't finished completely is on this list, because who knows how it will turn out. Beautiful Life might end up on the list once I have enough courage to finish it, but am not done yet. Also, I have a 'favorite scene' from each drama, and I described it very briefly, if at all, to make it as unspoilery as possible.

(1) PRIDE (2004) (11 episodes)

Starring: Kimura Takuya, Takeuchi Yuko, Sakaguchi Kenji, Ichikawa Somegoro
Plot: Hands down my favorite jdrama, and one of my fave dramas period, Pride is a drama following a particular hockey team, but more specifically, its captain, Satonaka Halu, and his relationship with Aki, his OTP.
Why: Oh, my love for Pride knows no bounds. Mainly because the relationship between the difficult, closed-off Halu and the rather old-fashioned yet strong Aki is one of my all time fave OTPs. Or maybe because all the characters are so awesome. I don’t know. It’s just…if there is such a thing as perfection in a jdrama, this is it.
Favorite Moment: After his horrible mother has left yet again, Aki is comforting Halu in his apartment and the tough Halu ends up crying, pressed to her lap. And then he reaches up to kiss her. (See icon). I died.
Vid:

(2) ITOSHI KIMI E (2004) (11 episodes)

(I was going to use a pic from the drama, but I love this photo of FN too much not to use it instead)

Starring: Fujiki Naohito, Kanno Miho
Plot: The only jdrama that came close to ‘dethroning’ Pride as my favorite jdrama, IKE is a seemingly simple and straightforward story of a professional photographer, Shunksuke (Naohito) who finds out he will go blind in three months. And it is the story of Shiki (Miho), a starting-out pediatrician who falls in love with Shunsuke.
Why: The colors, the colors, the colors! This is one of the most gorgeously filmed dramas (j, k, tw whatever) I have ever seen. And it is romantic, and heart-breaking, and life-affirming, and all those other cliché words which are somehow not cliché here. And Fujiki Naohito’s passionate desperation and Kanno Miho soothing kindness and just…I get all emo when I try to explain how much I love it.
Favorite Moment: (to quote an earlier write-up of mine, pardon the incoherency) ‘OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG He goes running looking for her, and she's left the hotel and he searches the city and he has an attack and he crashes on the ground and then he is running still even though everything is blurry and he sees her get on a tram and he yells her name and she doesn't hear and he runs after the tram and he can't see at all any more and he collapses on the ground, screaming her name, and then is just collapsed and he looks up and he sees a blur running towards him and it is Shiki and OMGOMGOMGOMG I think this is the best thing in the history of the Universe.’
Vid:

(2) (tie) AISHITEIRU TO ITTE KURE (1995) (12 episodes)

Starring: Toyokawa Etsushi, Tokiwa Takako
Plot: The story revolves around an aspiring young actress and a painter who has been deaf since childhood.
Why: It's a gorgeous story which finds poetry in the every day, a romance that made me sob and laugh and swoon. It's incredibly acted, the characters are ones I love, and the conflict comes from believable internal differences (his shieds, her youthful insecurity). There are moments which broke my heart and moments which made me dance around the room. I really have no words. And it's a rare drama which has adult sensuousness and physicality (but it is not vulgar in the least).
Favorite Moment: Either the scene the morning after they first made love, or the scene on the beach in the last ep. You know which one.
Vid:

(4) BARA NO NAI HANAYA (2008) (11 episodes)

Starring: Katori Shingo, Takeuchi Yuko, Yagi Yuki, Matsuda Shota
Plot: Eiji is a florist who is also raising an eight-year-old daughter, Shizuku. Eiji is a quiet, unassuming man full of kindness, but his life begins to take a complete U-turn after he meets Mio, a blind woman who moves into the neighborhood. As Eiji begins to open his heart to yet another person, he does not know that Mio is part of an elaborate plan conceived to wreck him mentally, emotionally, and financially, a part of elaborate scheme of revenge...
Why: If you did not cry at least once during BNNH, you have no heart, I mean it. A quiet, devastatingly effective drama that is equal parts intelligently written, incredibly acted and emotionally irresistable. It deals with parental love, and romantic love, and self-sacrifice and forgiveness and all sorts of 'weighty' topics without either drowning in them or making them self-importantly cliche. It's such a delicate piece of work.
Favorite Moment: On the beach, when he opens up his arms. I died. Or Eiji picking Shizuku from the crowd.
Vid: (it's a father/daughter one)

(5) MUKODONO (2001) (12 episodes)

Starring: Nagase Tomoya, Takeuchi Yuko
Plot: A sometimes funny, sometimes angsty drama about a super-cool pop idol who has to conceal from his fans that not only is he a total dork at heart, but that he is secretly happily married.
Why:It's hilarious. I literally laughed so hard, I cried. It's sad (I cried, and not from laughter). But not only that, it has one of the sweetest drama heroes ever (I adore Sakuraba Yuichiro beyond words), an adorable heroine, cool things about importance of family, and oh yeah, Nagase Tomoya is one of the hottest things ever.
Favorite Moment: Sakura telling Yu they have to break up. Yu coming up to her family to ask permission to marry her. The wedding. Both scenes at the cemetery. Yu beating up the paparazzi. Too many things to mention, actually.
Vid:

(6) SAPURI (2006) (11 episodes)

(screencap taken from

winterspel)

Starring: Kamenashi Kazuya, Ito Misaki, Eita
Plot: Sapuri (or Suppli, I’ve seen it spelled both ways) follows the lives of various employees of an advertising agency, but especially Minami (Ito Misaki), a perfectionist ad exec, and Yuya (Kame), a younger, cheerful ‘part-time’ worker. There is funniness, there are friendships, OTP and about the most giddy-inducing drama you are ever likely to watch.
Why: Let me start with saying this: normally I have no interest in office dramas. None. Yet you would have to pry Sapuri DVDs out of my cold dead hands. Why? The story feels so real: the characters, the interactions, the humor, the friendships and romance. And I love the message of the work ethic and the heroine and the cinematography. But above all, I adore Ishida Yuya, surely one of the most awesome drama characters ever created.
Favorite Moment: Vineyard kiss. But more specifically, Yuya’s jumbled confession to Minami right before, and the fact that he spent all night working to earn that bottle of wine for her. *dead*
Vid:

(7) TATTA HITOTSU NO KOI (2006) (10 episodes)

(cap courtesy of

winterspel)

Starring: Kamenashi Kazuya, Ayase Haruka
Plot: Love story of Hiroto (Kame), a lower-class, beaten-down guy trying to run a business left to him by the father who killed himself, and Nao, a sheltered, fragile rich girl.
Why: It’s very romantic yet very low-key. Hiroto is so achingly vulnerable you just want to make it all better and Nao is a darling. It’s just a very sweet, very straightforward, very moving romantic story, gossamer-light, and that is incredibly hard to do. And it makes me cry and grin like an idiot.
Favorite Moment: When they fall into the pool. When they first hold hands. When they spend their last hours on that boat.
Vid:

(8) FORBIDDEN LOVE (Majo No Jouken) (1999) (11 episodes)

Starring: Matsushima Nanako, Takizawa Hideaki
Plot: This is a love story about two misfits: the 26-year-old Michi, an alienated high school teacher who drifts through life, bullied and controlled by everyone, her students, her parents, her boyfriend. And Hikaru, the 17-year-old student trying to escape the creepy, rather incestuous clutches of his mother. When their paths intersect, they find that they only become themselves with each other. But clearly, this is not a relationship that is going to be accepted by anyone, and angst, sacrifice, jail, and a lot of pretty running follows.
Why: It’s beautifully filmed and acted (I don’t think Takki has ever been better actually) and also so cleverly written: you really get the sense of alienation and relief. And it is also about growing as a person, and connecting, and love. This is incredibly romantic and made me root for a couple I would normally actually be rather freaked out about. It is just…an amazing, amazing drama.
Favorite Moment: Michi, about to do the proper thing (i.e. get married, resign blah blah) instead speaks out her feelings at the public school assembly and is dragged away as Hikaru is trying to get to her.
Vid:

(9) KAMISAMA MOU SUKOSHI DAKE (1998) (12 episodes)

Starring: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Fukada Kyoko
Plot: The plot involves a 17 year old girl dying from AIDS (which she got as a result of a 'paid date') who crosses paths with a haunted young composer (I think he is in his mid 20s). Incredible angst, love, and sheer fanservice follows.
Why: This one is awesome! This has been made for basically three reasons: (1) to prove that Japan can make a kdrama; (2) to show off Takeshi Kaneshiro’s gorgeousness; (3) to make up to all jdrama fans for hideous kisses in all other jdramas. It succeeds on all three fronts. But seriously though, KMSD is lovely. It’s incredibly romantic, it’s angsty, and gorgeously filmed. It has a wonderful OTP with a lot of chemistry, and so much passion. I love it.
Favorite Moment: She is on that bridge they come to a lot, and she is balancing on the railing. And then she hears: "Are you planning to jump off? Go ahead. I'll jump after you, as many times as necessary." And it’s him, and he climbs on the railing too. And she stares at him as if he's Christmas and all her birthdays and Valentine's Day all at once.
But she yells at him: "I am dying." And then he says: "Then die in my arms." And asks her "Don't you believe me?" and looks at her and jumps into the water. Off the bridge. And she jumps after him and then we get the kissing: they kissing all wet in the water and it's a long, hot, thorough kiss and it’s just…guuuuh.
Vid:

(10) HANA YORI DANGO (1+2) (2005; 2007) (20 episodes total)

Starring: Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun
Plot: Come on, everybody knows this one. Take one spunky, outspoken poor girl in a snooty rich school ruled by the F4, the sons of four richest families. Put her on a collision course with Domyouji Tsukasa, the F4 leader, and the most arrogant, pig-headed one of the bunch. Have her declare war back on him and result in him falling for her, except she wants nothing to do with him, obviously. Add in some hilariousness, heart-break and crazy fashion. Stir. What do you get? An adaptation of a very famous manga and one of the most popular dramas of recent years.
Why: It is so funny and yet can make me cry. I adore Makino, surely one of the coolest, most pragmatic, awesome heroines ever. Domyouji is so funny in his immaturity and so touching in his romantic determination. There are cool plot developments, friendships, personal growth and just sheer awesomeness.
Favorite Moment: Hmm. When he sees her in New York. I rewatched that scene about eight billion times. Or maybe when they are huddled in that hut and he remembers her and just buries his face in her hair and puts the Saturn Necklace back around her neck. There might have been sniffles in my house. I ain’t saying.
Vid:

(11) KUROSAGI (2006) (11 episodes)

Starring: Yamashita Tomohisa, Horikita Maki
Plot: The story follows a 'Black Swindler,' a swindler who swindles other swindlers as his livelihood. The Black Swindler in question is Kurosaki, a messed-up, intense guy with a really messed-up past. Oh, and then there is his neighbor, Tsurara, a law student with an optimistic outlook on life and a thing for our protagonist.
Why: I love stories about swindlers. But when it’s messed-up beyond measure, hot, cheeky swindler, and with a huge potential for an OTP with burning UST? Oh YES.
Favorite Moment: Hug-not-hug. You know what I am referring to.
Vid:

(12) GOKUSEN (2002) (12 episodes)

Starring: Nakama Yukie, Matsumoto Jun
Plot: Gokusen involves a new young teacher, Yankumi, who has just landed her first job, which is to be a teacher to a class of unrepentant juvenile delinquents. Tough, horrible job, right? Probably, except Yankumi is also a yakuza heir, so she is not easily deterred. She might have an easier time though if she got the class ring-leader, Sawada Shin, to come to a truce with her.
Why: This is the only out-and-out comedy on the list. And also the only one with no overt romance storyline (though I am a rabid Yankumi/Shin shipper, thank you very much). And not even a linear plot. And yet, it’s on the list. Why? Because it’s incredibly funny, because all the characters are awesome and hilarious and yet those you care for. Because Yankumi is this great mix of larger-than-life optimism and toughness and yet still real. Because Shin just might be the coolest juvenile delinquent ever. Because, because, because…I love Gokusen. The end.
Favorite Moment: When Yankumi invites herself over to Shin’s house and insists on making dinner. LOL. Or the very end, when Shin says 'Excuse me. Four.' Canon, OMG, canon! (Yeah, am sad shipper, let me enjoy self)
Vid:

(12) (tie) (I cheated) BRAND (2000) (11 episodes)

Starring: Imai Miki, Ichikawa Somegoro
Plot: The story revolves around Midori (Imai Miki) and Koichiro (Ichikawa Somegoro). Midori is a very successful 35 year old manager at an expensive fashion line. She is a workaholic, happy with her work, well-balanced, who lives with her elderly father. However, something is missing in her life and she is wondering if it isn’t husband and kids. After all, she is a bit lonely being single. And then one day, her paths cross with Koichiro, the 25 year old, rebellious heir to a prominent tea family. Koichiro is sarcastic, eccentric, and he throws Midori off-kilter in her ordered life. He has also just decided to apply (and has been hired) as an assistant in the department Midori manages. And it goes on from there…
Why: Brand is one of the most underrated dramas out there, at least in LJ land. I’ve rarely seen it discussed and it’s even hard to find. However, it’s much much much worth the effort. In many ways, even though made years before the current crop of office dramas, it’s much more progressive, showing its heroine as neither a neurotic needing a man, or someone bitterly fighting a glass ceiling. Imai Miki loves her job, and is very good at it. Also, unlike a lot of male protagonists of these ‘office stories, older woman/younger man’ dramas, Ichikawa Somegoro is not someone weaker, or less driven than the heroine. Basically, Brand has some awesome character interactions, a great, great, GREAT love story, interesting things to say about relationships and traditions and even learning about yourself. Basically, it rocks.
Favorite Moment: The OTP finally makes love. Yes. *gasp* And they are giddy the morning after.
Vid:
Sadly, I couldn’t find one.