Sorry, I re-read your original post and you said you loved Kekkon Dekinai Otoko. Staying with Abe Hiroshi I would recommend "Going My Home" and "At Home Dad".

Going My Home is a bit slow in the beginning, but for me it is really satisfying. You don't mention liking period dramas but if you want to take a risk try "Jin" & "Jin 2". My first period drama and one of my all time favorites! Cheers!

Looking for rom-coms with good looking characters for a friend who is only into Kdramas. I want to show her that Jdramas are good too but I need ideas because I'm drawing a blank. I have Hotaru no Hikari and maybe Love Shuffle in mind so far..
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sadacori wrote:

Looking for rom-coms with good looking characters for a friend who is only into Kdramas. I want to show her that Jdramas are good too but I need ideas because I'm drawing a blank. I have Hotaru no Hikari and maybe Love Shuffle in mind so far..

How about Love Revolution, Long Vacation and Nodame Cantabile? Granted, that last isn't quite a rom-com... Hotaru and Love Shuffle are good choices, though!
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In addition to the two junny mentioned, I would add "Overtime".

sadacori wrote:

Looking for rom-coms with good looking characters for a friend who is only into Kdramas. I want to show her that Jdramas are good too but I need ideas because I'm drawing a blank. I have Hotaru no Hikari and maybe Love Shuffle in mind so far..

Orange Days? Not exactly a comedy though, and Shibasaki Kou is strangely not very pretty in it.

Churasan. So funny. But again the cast may not be as good looking as those in Kdramas.

Satorare. Really funny again but a rather odd looking couple.

sadacori wrote:

Looking for rom-coms with good looking characters for a friend who is only into Kdramas. I want to show her that Jdramas are good too but I need ideas because I'm drawing a blank. I have Hotaru no Hikari and maybe Love Shuffle in mind so far..

Hotaru's a good one. Love Shuffle, too, although I think it's an acquired taste. I'll recommend Kekkon Dekinai Otoko as an offbeat romcom. Zenkai Girl and Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi would be two other recommendations.

Boo, finishing a couple great dramas and then not finding new ones to get into is the worst. We recently watched At Home Dad and Muri na Renai. Both were totally awesome and exactly the kind of show we like.

Since then, we've tried and bombed out on:

beach boys (b&b ocean drama)
satorare (broadcasting feelings doctor)
tentai kansoku
ryusei no kizuna (suspense revenge drama)

All in the last day or so, haha. Beach Boys felt too lean on plot and slow. Satorare just was not our kinda thing at all. Tentai Kansoku we couldn't find a great quality copy of and someone is redoing subtitles so we want to wait. That one seemed of some interest but didn't wow us yet. Ryusei was just kind of "eh" for us and a bit more serious than we usually go for....

Here's the remaining list at the moment of shows to check out, trying to decide what to try next:

king's restaurant 1995
my little chef (abe)
tiger and dragon (fashion, yakuza comedy)
attention please (airline drama) (skip?)
karazu Cat's Eye (crime caper comdy w/ cancer?)
love generation 1997, advertisement, maybe
pride - romance, ice hockey, v sweet (maybe more dramatic)
good luck (airline drama w/ romance)
Tatta no Hitotsu Koi romatncic, maybe more drama)
flower shop w/o roses (touching (romantic?) drama?)
Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo cute hs comedy
Ando Natsu (confection drama could be good)
Yamada Taro Monogatari (poverty hs drama)
Love revolution (surgeon romcom)
artifical beauty (sad love story w/ plastic surgery)
Ruri no shima (foster child school island drama)
omiai kekkon (arranged marriage drama)
akihamende (would be wife as housekeeper w/ unruly kids)
tiger & dragon (classic JP comedy w/ gangster odd couple)
IWGP (japanese gang comidrama)
long vacation (musical romantic comidrama)
slow dance (romance and clothing store comidrama)
antique (late night confectionary workers drama)
priceless (riches to rags dorama)
manhattan love story (coffee shop romances dorama)
ma)
Marumo no Ikete (guardian and doggie drama)

Forgot about Marumo, maybe that one should be next.

maxcriden, I posted in the Saki Aibu thread about her new drama and that reminds me of another one of her dramas "Utahime": http://www.jdorama.com/drama.1211.htm.

I really liked it and it may be the only drama Tomoya Nagase was in where he didn't come down with a severe case of overacting. You might want to check it out.

Based on what you like and dislike, I think Marumo is a good choice. King's Restaurant is a classic, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Maybe Omiai Kekkon too.

Salam

Could you please recommend 3 Jdoramas from 2014 ? the top 3 in order ?


Thank you very much

mezoomozaa wrote:

Salam Could you please recommend 3 Jdoramas from 2014 ? the top 3 in order ? Thank you very much

Well, that's kind of a problem because my favorite drama of 2014 was "Zoku. Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi 2" which is a sequel to the 2012 drama "Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi". You really need to watch the first one to understand the second one completely.

But two other dramas from 2014 I liked a lot were "Boku no Ita Jikan" and "N no Tame Ni".

gaijinmark wrote:

Well, that's kind of a problem because my favorite drama of 2014 was "Zoku. Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi 2" which is a sequel to the 2012 drama "Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi". You really need to watch the first one to understand the second one completely. But two other dramas from 2014 I liked a lot were "Boku no Ita Jikan" and "N no Tame Ni".

Thank you very much for your reply , I'll check them

Hi all,

The time has come to hit y'all up for some new recommendations!

Some lists below that I'm hoping will help in making recommendations.

Definitely a bit fan of Tamaki, Abe, Kuninaka-san, Kimtaku. Some others too as you'll see below!

Looking mostly for character-driven stories with romance and/or food and/or cuteness.

Thanks!!

--

Still to watch (stuff that's been recommended but we haven't checked out):

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king's restaurant 1995 tiger and dragon (fashion, yakuza comedy) karazu Cat's Eye (crime caper comdy w/ cancer?) love generation 1997, advertisement, maybe pride - romance, ice hockey, v sweet (maybe more dramatic) good luck (airline drama w/ romance) Tatta no Hitotsu Koi romatncic, maybe more drama) flower shop w/o roses (touching (romantic?) drama?) Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo cute hs comedy artifical beauty (sad love story w/ plastic surgery) Ruri no shima (foster child school island drama) omiai kekkon (arranged marriage drama) akihamende (would be wife as housekeeper w/ unruly kids) tiger & dragon (classic JP comedy w/ gangster odd couple) IWGP (japanese gang comidrama) long vacation (musical romantic comidrama) slow dance (romance and clothing store comidrama) antique (late night confectionary workers drama) manhattan love story (coffee shop romances dorama) saigo s2

tried won't try again:

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no continue kid (loathed this) dekichatta kekkon (abe, wedding) (find the characters/esp. female lead unpleasant) Ando Natsu (confection drama could be good) (terribly dull) Hito ni Yasashiku (three men and kid) (found one of the main actors is really annoying, really didn't grab us) love and fight (satc-esque) (same dude from above show, just didn't grab us) moto kare (ex love triangle w/ food manager) (watched a lot of this but plot went in unpleasant directions) moon lovers (kimtaku) (didn't understand this one at all...kimtaku's character was so loathsome!) beach boys (b&b ocean drama) (moto kare and dekichatta kekkon actres is in this and it was pretty slow) woman (really depressing) mother (ashida) (too dour)

tried, could try again:

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train man/densha otoko (found the protag's friends super creepy/pervy) operation love (time travel hs and wedding drama) (eh, got a bit boring pretty quick) Konkatsu! (tonkatusu/rom com) (seemed really light on character development/depth) Sunao ni Narenakute (twitter) (eita kinda annoyed us, seemed a bit pretentious, couldn't get into it--tried the first ep 2-3x, got 1/2way through maybe) amachan (diver comidrama) (bit slow to get into with so many eps) my boss my hero (25 y/o school yakuza) (bit too over the top/fantastical) nodame cantabile (music) (see above, but want to try again) Saikou no Rikon (divorce dramedy) (eita was really unpleasant in the ep we tried) satorare (broadcasting feelings doctor) (protag was pretty creepy in the opening segment we tried) tentai kansoku (want to watch but haven't found good ep quality + sub quality combo) ryusei no kizuna (suspense revenge drama) (bit odd/over the top) legal high (over the top) hungry (found this kinda slow; didn't grab us) hanayome to papa (overprotective dad of marrying daughter drama) (felt really over the top) Love revolution (surgeon romcom) (sloooow and felt dated) minna mukashi (really slow, despite our appreciation of kuninaka-san) Yamada Taro Monogatari (poverty hs drama) (bit obvious/over the top with the heartstrings, despite liking Ninomiya-san in Freeter)

watched (asterixes are faves, but we liked all of these a lot and loved most of them):

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Freeter ie o Kau ****Kekkon Dekinai Otoko ****Rich Man, Poor Woman 7 Days of Daddy and Daughter Osen ****Zenkai Girl ****Late Blooming Sunflower ***orange days (golden campus drama) ***love shuffle (bizarre love drama) Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi (female tv producer retiring drama) S1 *****Hotaru no Hikari (interior designer romcom/drama) Beautiful Life *****Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi (deer man drama w/ Love Sha star) *****At Home Dad *****Muri na Renai (age differnece romcom) *****Marumo no Ikete (guardian and doggie drama) my little chef (abe) attention please (airline drama) (skip?) last christmas *****priceless (riches to rags dorama) Kimi wa Petto Kekkon Shinai dear sister (family cohabitation drama)

(accidental double post, my apologies)

Looking back I can't believe I never recommended "Hotman": http://www.jdorama.com/drama.666.htm

It's another one of the "siblings living together" dramas. But it was the first drama I ever saw and the one that got me hooked.

Last year I really liked "N no Tame Ni": http://www.jdorama.com/drama.2035.htm

It's a murder mystery but it covers three different timeframes. An event that happened in 2000, the murder which happened in 2004, and then the present 2014. There's a lot of flashbacks and jumping around between the different times which might be a little confusing but Nana Eikura really knocked me out in this. I'd seen her in some other dramas and wasn't too impressed but she really came thru in this one.

Another drama that I'm pretty sure you won't like but you really should try is "Jyoou no Kyoshitsu" (Queen's Classroom):http://www.jdorama.com/drama.949.htm

Yuki Amami is the teacher from hell. But there's a method to her madness. She is so bad in this that during the closing credits she comes out of character and with the rest of the cast they do a song and dance routine. It's almost like they know how much everybody must hate her so they have to say at the end "This is fiction! She's a nice person in real life!" Plus there's a very young Mirai Shida in one of her first roles. She's great in this. Try it for at least one episode.

gaijinmark wrote:

Looking back I can't believe I never recommended "Hotman": http://www.jdorama.com/drama.666.htm It's another one of the "siblings living together" dramas. But it was the first drama I ever saw and the one that got me hooked. Last year I really liked "N no Tame Ni": http://www.jdorama.com/drama.2035.htm It's a murder mystery but it covers three different timeframes. An event that happened in 2000, the murder which happened in 2004, and then the present 2014. There's a lot of flashbacks and jumping around between the different times which might be a little confusing but Nana Eikura really knocked me out in this. I'd seen her in some other dramas and wasn't too impressed but she really came thru in this one. Another drama that I'm pretty sure you won't like but you really should try is "Jyoou no Kyoshitsu" (Queen's Classroom):http://www.jdorama.com/drama.949.htm Yuki Amami is the teacher from hell. But there's a method to her madness. She is so bad in this that during the closing credits she comes out of character and with the rest of the cast they do a song and dance routine. It's almost like they know how much everybody must hate her so they have to say at the end "This is fiction! She's a nice person in real life!" Plus there's a very young Mirai Shida in one of her first roles. She's great in this. Try it for at least one episode.

Ooh, Hotman and Queen's Classroom both look way up my alley. You know, you might've mentioned Hotman to me before. I do remembering reading about it and seeing that the lead from White Christmas (I think that's the same guy) is in it.

I'm curious why you think I won't care for QC. Is it very over the top or something? On paper I have to say it looks pretty appealing!

I'll keep N in mind--it's on my radar and I know people liked it, I just feel like it might be too dark for us.

Anyway, thanks so much for the recs, Mark, as always!

ETA: I just remembered something about Hotman. Isn't this one where the main love interest isn't in the second season? I looked up the show and I remember reading that now. Does that end up detracting from the second series? Thanks!

maxcriden wrote:

I'm curious why you think I won't care for QC. Is it very over the top or something? On paper I have to say it looks pretty appealing!

There were times it was hard to keep watching. All the crap she puts those kids through. Especially Mirai Shida's character.

Quote:

ETA: I just remembered something about Hotman. Isn't this one where the main love interest isn't in the second season? I looked up the show and I remember reading that now. Does that end up detracting from the second series?

You're right. For "Hotman 2" they completely wrote Akiko Yada's character out. Also, Manami Konishi who plays Shima in season 1 was busy making the drama "Fireboys" so they replaced her with Ito Misaki. For those two reasons I never watched the second series so I can't really comment on it.

For Tamaki:
- Top Caster
- Itoshi Kimi e

He's more of a supporting character in these, but still good. Top Caster is workplace comedy of sorts, with Amami Yuki in a typical career woman role and Tanihara Shosuke with very, very improved hair. Itoshi Kimi e is a straightforward romance with Fujiki Naohito and Kanno Miho.

I also really like Tamaki in Zannen na Otto, his currently airing drama. He's hilarious in it and clearly enjoying the over-the-top humour.

For Abe:
- Shinzanmono

A pretty slice-of-life of sorts cop procedural.

As for Kimutaku, I always feel his earlier works were his best, such as Long Vacation and Hero. Apparently he was also pretty good in Hundred Million Stars From the Sky, though I haven't seen that.
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Mark:

Wow, we just finished Queen's Classroom. Thank you for recommending this show! Whoa. It was a heck of a ride. Very intense. Shocking what the kids were put through and I'm not sure what I think about the resolution, but at the same time it's hard to picture it ending up any other way necessarily. It's like...it was just brutal to watch at times. Incredible acting from the kids and from Amami Yuku. She's like the Meryl Streep of Japan for me, between roles like this and Kekkon Shinai. We still need to watch the Specials, but found the main show very compelling.

BTW, any others you wanted to recommend since we ended up finding it so compelling?

Junny:

Thank you for the Tamaki, Abe and Kimutaku recs! Want to watch Zannen na Otto. I see there are subs being done but I plan to wait till the series is finished at this point. We'll probably watch something like Top Caster next as a palate cleanser from the intensity of Queen's Classroom.

maxcriden wrote:

Mark: Wow, we just finished Queen's Classroom. Thank you for recommending this show! Whoa. It was a heck of a ride. Very intense. We still need to watch the Specials. BTW, any others you wanted to recommend since we ended up finding it so compelling? We'll probably watch something like Top Caster next as a palate cleanser from the intensity of Queen's Classroom.

I never watched the specials. There's a JDorama member, Geezer. He hasn't posted in quite awhile but he always had good recommendations and he had watched the specials and had this to say:

Quote:

I could have done without the specials that followed the series. They seemed to be an attempt to soften Maya's character

So I passed on them. But if you want to see Mirai Shida in something as a "palate cleanser", I would recommend "Seigi no Mikata":http://www.jdorama.com/drama.1312.htm