I assumed everyone here have watched doramas for like what.. 3 or 5 doramas at least? Just out of curiosity. What's in it for you? Besides stalking your fave artiste filmo...
As for me; I find doramas are more intriguing to watch than any dramas from my country simply because I like the way they teach us not to give up on your dream that easy...

Naah.. I simply like stalking my fave artiste filmography.
Maybe learning nihongo along the side

i used to watch it b/c i had to, in jpn there is nothing but jpn television. now i actually watch it because i understand a lot more and dig watching it, altho i prefer the variety shows to the drama these days.
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I watch it for all the cute girls in them and the story lines that they have. Don't get me wrong, I do like american drama's too. I'm a huge smallville and The O.C. fan. Wednesday night is my favorite night to watch tv.
BTW Kristen Kreuk is HOT!!!

PistonHondaEM1 wrote:

I'm a huge smallville and The O.C. fan. BTW Kristen Kreuk is HOT!!!

nice of you to post once in a while Piston! as if you didn't know already, kreuk is half asian, check her profile below:

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Seriously.

Japanese dramas have provided me with hope. From the characters that you watch, to the goals that they try to achieve. Sometimes those characters can end up where they see no light. You may have a friend who feels the same way or you feel that same way. I have let friends borrow Japanese dramas that in their situation...they can relate to the characters from that drama and after watching the drama, it has given them some sense of hope.

Japanese dramas have provide me with learning Japanese and speaking Japanese in a far more cooler way than anime would have. I met far too many anime fans who try to talk Japanese like their favorite anime character and that's just too crazy. Some really sly words that I have used towards Japanese women that I have dated or had relationships with, some stuff I picked up from Japanese dramas. At the same time though...know what your saying...because older Japanese can question your word usage (politness level). Dramas helped expose me to other forms of Japanese entertainment.

Japanese dramas has provided me some insight. Insight to past relationships with women that at times, I may have been insensitive that seeing certain experiences on Japanese dramas that I can relate to...perhaps give me a perspective of what the woman may be feeling and was to insensitive to know. Insight to what the characters are experiencing to parallel of the things that happen in my life and for certain people around me.

Japanese dramas has provided me with courage of seeing other straight Asian men having their hair styled, dress well and giving me the extra boost to look good and feel great by looking good. I so much zero in on the surroundings of Japanese dramas...may it be the style, the decor, the restaurants, you name it.

Japanese dramas have provided me with happiness. I've met so many incredible people in my life through conversations of Japanese dramas, people that became good friends and almost like family members. I continue to meet awesome people on J!-ENT, forums like jdorama.com and other sites that have the same passion and excitement.

So, that's what in it for me.

kndy

off the topic: oh yeah I know I love hapa girls. my ex-g/f is half japanese and half irish. we dated back in high school.

they waste more time .. i have an endless supply of time to waste in the name of Japanese Dramas

For me, I'm totally fed up with American TV. I totally hate gameshows, reality shows, and brainless sit-coms, especially when the man of the house is a moron and he gets away with being one every week. A lot of this changed since 9/11. I think I brought this up previously where the execs of all the network TV companies decided to promote more and more family-oriented entertainment (Raymond, Friends, etc)., along with programming where they make you think alot (CSI, Cold Case, West Wing, etc.) And reality shows is an escape for people where they can, for a change, see others act really stupid. Again, it's programming for the weak mind.

I think Japanese entertainment in general is 10-times better. Even when I watch shows like SMAPxSMAP where I don't understand a single word they're saying, it's still much more entertaining than watching someone answer super-easy $1000 questions, or being fired on national TV by a Donald Trump. And usually I watch only Jdoramas when they're love/romance (y'know, the really mushy-mushy stuff), which you really don't see at all in prime-time TV in America.

--- groink

Hmph. You know . . . I never really thought about "what's in it for me." I mean, I hope I'm not stating the obvious here; I've watched enough J-dramas (on TV, that is, yuk, yuk) . . . but "why"?

Well, I like the fact that J-dramas' episodes are limited, that's for sure. Kinda' helps to ensure that a certain series won't "jump the shark."

I guess I also appreciate how J-drama is unafraid of tackling somewhat proscribed issues -- Maja No Jouken is citable. And let's not forget that the Taiga drama, when done well (me favorite is Musashi at this juncture ), is something to behold. I can't think of an ongoing U.S. TV series, historical in nature, that captivated me (such series do not include documentaries, mind you) as much as some Taiga have done so. Perhaps the 30-60 episode series, as opposed to the aforementioned constant series or even the week-long mini-series, for "based on fact" TV shows is something the rest of the world can learn from the NHKs of Japan.

Lastly, you can see an "anxiety of influence" on an inspection of the spectrum of J-drama.

sid wrote:

they waste more time .. i have an endless supply of time to waste in the name of Japanese Dramas

Great answer! You've got my vote!

I just simply enjoy japanese dramas. What i get out of it is a form of escape from my sorry ass life for a few hour. I especially love story about family and true love, character that i can aspire to be like at some level because they are good peoples. But most important of all is all the beautiful ladies in jdrama like Ryoko.,

Intriguing plotlines, great actors/actresses, not to mention they are short and sweet.

The best thing I love about j dramas is that they are usually about 11 episodes long only, compared to the marathon 30+ episodes ones from other countries.. >_>
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Okay, now my serious answer:

The Japanese people and the culture completely and totally fascinates me. A lot of the friends I had in school were Japanese, and my first crush was a Japanese girl. So watching these historical and modern doramas just sorta brings me that much closer the people and the culture...

I watch dramas simply because at times, the plot is great, if not good. And some just "hook me" and keep me in "supense" for the next week's one.

Oh, I know you weren't referring to this aspect, but I DO watch them for my favorite actresses as well!!

Ren wrote:

I just simply enjoy japanese dramas. What i get out of it is a form of escape from my sorry ass life for a few hour. I especially love story about family and true love, character that i can aspire to be like at some level because they are good peoples. But most important of all is all the beautiful ladies in jdrama like Ryoko.,

welcome back, ren!
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Interesting topic!

I really like the structure--only 11 or 12 hours usually. Much better than what we usually get here in America, when storylines drag on and on and on until you are sick of them. (It's a money thing). Okay, the taiga dramas are long, but the few I've seen seem to be more tightly scripted than the average American sitcom.

It's also neat to be able to take a peek into another culture. And to practice my Japanese!

And the dramas I like to watch are so romantic--just try and find that kind of thing on American TV! (Okay, Lifetime channel, but their stuff is so awful!) Granted, we're probably getting the best of the best here (Jdramas, I mean), and I'm sure there is some really bad Japanese television out there, but on the whole, I've enjoyed the dramas I've seen so far!

got bored watching tv shows - same ole story over and over again so branched out to anime and then to jdramas to add a little bit of variety.
Only thing i watch on local tv these days is West Wing.
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I watch Japanese dramas because in most of them, despite the obstacles or hardships faced, the characters just seemed to hold on to their beliefs..
something which is so hard to do in real life....
And of course, the good acting which is sorely lacking in some local dramas I've seen...

Thank you guys for sharing it with me...I mean us, all of us here
It just hit me one day when my friend asked the same question out of the blue. He said that I've changed somehow after I have my so new japan 'fetish' It shows specially from the way I talk or act, but not that obvious... i hope