I wasn't really thrilled with what was shown in the past three months, maybe I am a bit spoiled by what was offered in the past seasons. There was so much quality that there had to be a letdown sooner or later. Let's face it, you won't get series like "Hana Yori Dango" or "Haikei, Chichiue-sama" in every season. So this is what I thought of the past one:
Watashitachi no Kyoukashou
Not that bad, since Kanno Miho and Ito Atsushi were starring in the leading roles. It's yet another school drama, but this time not with an ex-gangster-turned-teacher type of story but with an attorney filing a suit against a school in which a student supposedly killed herself. This drama looks into the darker sides of school, although it has its funny moments every here and then. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, since the polt has way too many obscure turns and twits that are a little bit too unlogical when they occur. But it's decent. Not a classic, but good.
(6/10)
Hanayome to Papa
A father who is a little too caring for his daughter who just wishes to break free from the rules of her home. The father always causes trouble, be it at her new workplace or when interfering with her love life. Ishihara Satomi is always fun to watch and the whole cast is really fun to watch. Still I have the feeling that those boygroup brats are just not born to be actors. Sometimes those guys just seem to be too ... well, in German one would say "wooden", if you know what I mean. Taguchi Junnosuke just can't keep up with the rest of the cast, I think.
This one's your average happy-go-lucky drama with a few nice ideas here and there.
(7/10)
Tokkyu Tanaka San Go
I liked this one and the cast totally contradicts what I wrote previously. Tanaka Kouki is really good in this drama. He plays Tanaka Ichirou, a guy with an overwhelming self esteem who causes trouble whereever he goes. But he's a good pal and always cares about his friends. At his third rate university he meets up with two train fans, played by Tsukamoto Takashi (of Kisarazu Cat's Eye) and Akiyama Ryuji. Those two are just hilarious with their excitement for everything that's involved with trains. The bar they use to visit is a theme styled train bar with seats in a model of a train waggon. Extremely funny.
The love story is fun to watch with Kuriyama Chiaki playing the female leading role. She gets stalked by Tanaka and he is really getting on her nerves. But during the course of the series she finds out what a nice guy he is and blah blah blah. Still it's very funny, I was laughing out loud at some points. The train scenery is perfect and I can totally relate to that since I really like to travel by train. Although I wouldn't go so far to memorize timetables or make models of trains.
(8/10)
Seito Shokun!
Yet another school drama and this time there she is again. The vigilant teacher who faces all the hardships of here students with a lot of energy. Uchiyama Rina plays the teacher who goes up against a class of students who lost their faith in the teaching personel (once again). Horikita Maki and Hongo Kanata play the students who as "3TD" terrorize every new teacher for their class since they think they don't need teachers anymore. I haven't watched this to the end up until now since the subs are not there yet, but I guess it will end as always (a.k.a. GTO- or Gokusen-style). The teacher will win over the class one by one and in the end they will be the best of friends. This one has also a slightly darker touch than the other series, so I think I'll see it through to the end.
(6/10)
Proposal Daisakusen
The best drama of this season. Yamashita Tomohisa plays a miserable guy who has to attend his childhood friend's (Nagasawa Masami) wedding who he is still in love with. While watching a slideshow of pictures from memorable moments of the bride's life a fairy appears and offers him to go back in time to change his fate. Of course he fails in his first attempt, but there are a lot more chances because there are a lot more pictures in the slide show.
This drama has a good story and great actors. The supporting roles (Eikura Nana, Hiraoka Yuuta, Hamada Gaku)are wonderful and the ideas the writers had with the timetraveling are not as worn out as one would suppose they are. It was fun watching this series until the end.
(8/10)
Kaette Kita Jikou Keisatsu
The sequel to Jikou Keisatsu starring Odagiri Joe once again. There isn't that much progress in the series since every episode covers one story at a time. Kiriyama-kun is still researching old and closed cases as his hobby and he is still giving out his "I won't tell anyone" card at the end of each episode. This drama is just hilarious with so many unexpected ideas that just leave you laughing and laughing. And I am still convinced I have seen Asou Kumiko in some other drama, I just can't remember which one it was...
(7/10)
Hotelier
Hm, a story based around a hotel (a remake of a Korean drama, it seems) and the staff who work there. Ueda Aya is the main character and has to confront the looming takeover bid by an opposing invenstment group. The cast is huge but there were only 9 episodes. Seems like this series didn't get that many viewers in front of the screen. I think it's because the story is a bit off. It's a little too cliché. The main characters fall in love, then find out they are syblings and in the end they are not? Give me a break, that's a little bit too much. Nice scenery, but I'd trade a good script for an uglier scenery anytime.
(5/10)
Bambino
Matsumoto Jun as a chef in an Italian restaurant in Roppongi Hills? Why not. Seems to be yet another manga-turned-drama and I like it. The kitchen action look thrilling and you can get hungry easily watching the crew make a lot of delicious meals. Still sometimes Matsumoto goes a little bit over board with his acting. That was okay in "Hana Yori Dango", but here it feels like it's a bit out of place.
The rest of the cast is decent with the different level of telling the story from the point of view of the top staff of the restaurant like the chief waiter (Kitamura Kazuki), the manager (Uchida Yuki) or the kitchen chef (Sasaki Kuranosuke).
Still there was something missing but I haven't figured out what just yet.
(6/10)
Sexy Voice And Robo
Wonderful drama with a little girl at the centre and lots of strange things that happen around her. Hayashi Niko (Ohgo Suzuka) has the talent of mimicking voices and also of telling apart different sounds and voices. She meets Sudo Ichiro/Robo (Matsuyama Kenichi), an otaku who collects figurines and all sorts of stuff of one particular anime series. Somehow they get involved in strange cases and become "spies" for a lady who owns an antiquities shop.
This drama is very strange and has lots of Japanese styled jokes. I really like to watch it but then again it becomes very exhausting to watch because you have to pay attantion all the time and some jokes get missing because they can't be translated, I think. Still I'd really recommend this one, especially because of the otaku-factor. It's not as high as in "Densha Otoko", but then again, who cares anyway...
(7/10)
Two dramas I only watched the first two episodes of were "Joudan Janai!" and "Liar Game". Both seem to be too cliché with "Liar Game" clearly being aimed at a younger audience (Toda Erika and Matsuda Shota starring as the main characters). Toda is way too afraid and Matsuda is way too cool. It's all a little bit too much. maybe I'll give it a second try when there is another season break.
"Joudan Janai!" looked very promising at first with almost all of the first episode being set in southern France. But I can't help it, it just looks like another triangle love comedy thing to me.
So that's it for the spring season 2007. Let's enjoy the summer.
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