I have a love-hate relationship with new drama season. On one hand, new dramas starting are always exciting and there’s plenty to sample from. On the other hand, the previous season has ended and now you’re in this kind of withdrawal from your favorite of the previous season. Sometimes it helps if there wasn’t anything too good last season, but usually, there’s one drama that I just need more of. Well, anyway, I’ve definitely been sampling quite a few of the dramas from this season and here they are:

Ando Natsu
This is the story of a young woman who wants to become a pastry chef who one day comes across a small Japanese sweets shop looking for a part-time employee. So, she starts working there and learning about the art of traditional Japanese sweets from them. I really liked Kanjiya Shihori in KimiHan and does anyone remember her from Hanadan 2 as Hinata Sara? And also has the crazy guy who was Manami’s boyfriend from LIFE, his role seems rather minimal, though. Unfortunately no one has picked up this series, but that doesn’t mean I won’t still be watching it =) And I can never refuse sweets…yum!

Code Blue
One of the more anticipated series because of its all star cast of Yamapi, Aragaki Yui, and Toda Erika. I admit I haven’t joined the Yamapi fanclub, but I really like Toda Erika and Aragaki Yui isn’t bad either. Also has Ryo in her usual type of role of the beautiful and very experienced __(fill in occupation)__. Basically this drama is Grey’s Anatomy with a helicopter and without the sex . I’m in!

Maou
Whee! Ikuta Toma! =) Mystery, suspense, thriller? I’m in! Of course there’s Arashi’s leader Ohno in his first starring role, and he has pleasantly surprised me as the two-faced lawyer. It’s an interesting type of mystery drama, since the culprit is already known, but I’m been captivated every minute of it. Does this drama remind anyone else of Death Note? L and Kira? I’ve always loved Death Note and I can never get enough of physiological thrillers… So far it’s been very good, and I’m a little surprised at the average ratings, but I suppose the genre can turn off even the biggest of Johnny’s fans/

Seigi no Mikata
It’s the story of two sisters: the older is a devil masked beneath a beautiful and intelligent woman, the younger is the victim of the older and the only one who knows of the older sister’s true evil ways. I don’t really like Yamada Yu and I don’t think she’s all that beautiful, either, but she’s quite entertaining as the evil older sister. The upside is that Shida Mirai is playing the younger sister and I have watched her in a number of roles and every time she impresses me. So far, it’s no different - this girl is going to be a big star (if she isn’t already). Plus what makes this drama so fun for me personally is that I’m the younger sister and when I was younger, I felt the exact same way as Youko (the little sister) feels, even though my sister isn’t actually evil (or is she?) Watching this, I just want to laugh and say “story of my life!!” haha… but watching just the first episode I just think…man, how can everyone think she’s actually nice….she’s a complete bitch to everyone and not just her sister!

Cat Street
Adapted from Kamio Yoko’s manga, this tells the story of a former child star, Aoyama Keito, who has cut off the world but slowly starts coming back when she starts attending a school for teenagers like her. It’s by the same author as Hana Yori Dango, so you know what to expect. Amazing storytelling with relateable characters. I’ve read parts of the manga myself and am looking forward to this finally airing! (starts in August) Stars Tanimura Mitsuki as Keito (remember her from Watashitachi no Kyokasho?). Also stars Kimura Ryo (Hana Kimi, Puzzle), Namase Katsuhisa (Gokusen 1-3, 4 Shimai Tantei Dan), and Kurokawa Tomoka (Detective Conan 1 and 2). I’m looking forward to this drama the most….start already!

Koizora
Drama adaption of the movie, which tells the story of Mika and Hiro’s painful love. I enjoyed the movie and I’m looking forward to better timing of the events and some backstory on their friends! The girl starring as Mika, Mizusawa Erena, is pretty unknown, so this could be her breakout role! Seto Koji is going to play Hiro and he’s from D-boys, which I known pretty much nothing about. Looking forward to watching Nagayama Kento aka Eita’s little brother in his supporting role. I think this one starts in August too.

Lotto 6 de San-oku Ni-senman Yen Ateta Otoko
It’s the story about a divorced man who suddenly wins lots of money in the lotto. It sounded sort of interesting, so I watched the first episode but never finished it. Maybe I’ll finish it eventually but I doubt it. Oh and it has that cute little boy from Last Friends in it!

Walkin’ Butterfly
It’s about this girl who has a complex about being too tall (partly because she is always rejected because she is too tall for her crush). One day she gets mistaken as a model when she’s delivering pizza to a fashion show and she realizes that her body is perfect for modeling. Unfortunately, she’s totally ungraceful and acts just like a guy, so it’ll be a tough climb to become a real model. Stars Nakabeppu Aoi as Michiko, who’s actually a model, Toray’s swimsuit model for 2008. Also stars Ishihara Satomi and Sakai Ayana in small supporting characters, which is a shame because they deserve to be the leading characters in some other drama on a bigger network. Generally, I find that TV Tokyo dramas are kind of weird, so I’ve never watched them before. But since this is adapted from a manga, it should be okay, right? Even though this one isn’t being subbed either, mostly I’m finding it easy to get through, as the language they use isn’t very complicated.

Honorable mentions
Shiro to Kuro - stars Nishihara Aki (Yuki from Handan, the hairstylist bitch from Last Friends) as Ayako, who’s in a love triangle with two brothers that have two opposite personalities. It’ll be interesting to see her finally star in her own drama, even though it’s daytime. I’d like to watch this but don’t know if I actually will.
Yottsu no Uso - sounds like Desparate Housewives, but I never got into that
Tomorrow - another hospital drama but it has Kanno Miho who is amazing
Here is Greenwood - adapted from a shoujo manga that I heard of but never read. and it’s also on a network with generally weird dramas
Taiyou to Umi no Kyoushitsu - seaside school drama that starts Oda Yuji who I only know about because of Oguri Shun’s Kisaragi. Also stars Kitano Kii from LIFE and a bunch of other young rising stars like Yamamoto Yusuke, Okada Masaki, and Tanimura Mitsuki (who’s also in Cat Street). Hm… maybe I should pick this up….

Koizora

Starring:
Aragaki Yui as Tahara Mika
Miura Haruma as Sakurai Hiro
Koide Keisuke as Fukuhara Yu
Karina as Minako
Usuda Asami as Saki
Haru as Aya
Nakamura Aoi as Nozomu

Koizora is a very interesting mix of a pure first love story mixed with an over the top soap opera. Aragaki Yui plays an innocent girl-next-door type of girl, Mika, who meets through…interesting circumstances, Hiro (played my Miura Haruma). He’s a bit of a delinquent, as evident with his bleached blonde hair and biker older sister, but the two fall head first into love. They face many trials as a couple including (but not limited to) rape, pregnancy and jealous exes.

The movie was based off a cell phone novel that was later sold as an actual novel that sold millions of copies. The novel was written by first time author Mika, who supposedly based the novel off her own life. I say supposedly because I’m not sure if I quite believe that all these things can happen to just one couple. I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but there were its fair share of faults. Although the movie does span a time of 4 years with another time jump later on, there are so many overly dramatic events crammed next each other that the better part of the film feels like you’re on a roller coaster.

I mainly watched this movie because there’s a drama adaptation coming out for the summer season and wondered what exactly it was about. I read mostly positive responses about it, but very short, things of the ‘really great, I cried!’ variety. And I love a good romance story myself, so I checked it out. I can definitely understand why some people would cry, as it can be quite a tearjerker if you’re prone to crying during dramas or movies (I’m not, though, so I didn’t). After watching the film, I am looking forward to the drama. The drama will (hopefully) better space out these events, so it will less of drama stacked right on top of each other. And provide some side stories of the minor characters, always a plus in a story (for me at least).

I hope the leads in the drama give as good of a performance as the leads in the film did, though. While by no means groundbreaking, the two have a nice chemistry and are very charming in their roles. The film is also quite pretty, with some beautiful scenic shots. It’s set in the countryside or what seems to be like the countryside, which is quite picturesque. It’s a pretty interesting mix, though, of kids from the country, but are still quite hip and very Tokyo-esque.

While I did enjoy Koizora, a lot of things felt very over the top and sometimes like it was just a drama fest. Fans of this genre and of the leads will definitely enjoy this film, though, as it was quite sweet in many moments. Hopefully, the upcoming drama will be able to fix the faults in time-spacing.

Buy this movie: Malaysia DVD (Eng subs) | J Premium Edition

Starring:
Tachi Hiroshi as Kawahara Kyoichiro
Aragaki Yui as Kawahara Koume
Kato Shigeaki as Osugi Kenta
Morita Ayaka as Nakayama Ritsuko
Yashima Norito as Nakajima Kokai
Sada Mayumi as Nishino Wakako
Asou Yumi as Kawahara Rieko

Papa to Musume no Nanokaken is a Japanese dorama that aired in the summer of 2007. It was broadcasted on Sunday nights at 9:00 PM on TBS. Its average ratings were 13.9%, though the highest ratings were 16.7% for one episode, and there were seven episodes altogether.

It would be an understatement to say that Koume and her father have grown apart over the years. Her father tries to talk to Koume again and again, but she usually gives him to cold shoulder. One day their family goes to see Koume’s grandmother and she gives them peaches. Koume and her father take the train home together, but on the way back there is an accident and they are hospitalized. Fortunately, neither of them is hurt, but by some mysterious force, they have switched bodies. Neither of them think that anyone will believe them, so they decide to just pretend to be each other at work and at school.

For each of them, this is an important time at school/work. For Koume, it is the start of her relationship with a senpai that she likes, Kenta, a soccer player. For her father, it is the direction of a risky project that he had dumped on him by his superiors.

Basically the drama is about the father and daughter getting through the lives of the other. They try not to ‘ruin’ the life of the other and not get anyone suspicious of each other and, of course, they grow closer to each other as the days pass.

I was kind of hesitant to pick this up, since the whole premise of the show sounded ridiculous. Father and daughter switching bodies? But I actually really enjoyed the entire thing. I thought the two leads, Tachi Hiroshi and Aragaki Yui, were excellent in portraying the other person. Like the femininity and immaturity of a high schooler in a grown man and a wisdom and views of an adult in a high school girl. But wow, there a lot whole lot of voiceovers!

I like the Kenta and Koume storyline and how Papa-Koume followed Koume-Papa around on ‘her’ first date with him. And the other simplistic things of first romance - holding hands, giving a good-luck present, just being together that Papa-Koume wanted to experience.

However, I didn’t really like the storyline with Nishino. It was just too unbelievable and out there to appeal to me. Why would she even be interested in the dad? And act so ridiculously only to back out so quickly? Her character was a bit too wishy-washy for all her grand acts. I thought the mom was great, though.

Overall, this drama was really good. Plus, it’s short (only 7 episodes!), so you don’t have to invest a lot of time into it. Koume’s storyline and Papa’s work storyline were both pretty strong and rather interesting. The only thing I didn’t like was Nishino’s story, but it only that. I’d definitely recommend this drama.

Buy the boxset: Japan Version