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….

Starring
Kato Rosa as Tachibana Ayaka
Matsuda Shota as Date Naoto
Sakai Ayana as Hojou Rina
Maeda Ai as Miki
Saito Shota as Sugino Kenichi
Ihara Tsuyoshi as Onoue Yuichiro
Katase Rino as Fujimura Sawa
Nakajima Tomoko as Fujimoto Mina
Toyohara Kosuke as Osawa Kengo
Fukikoshi Mitsuru as Koda
Ozawa Maju as Reiko
Kato Kazuko as Tachibana Mariko
Izumiya Shigeru as Minomura Tatsukichi
Morimoto Leo as Hojou Terumori
Hayami Mokomichi as Shiratori Takuya

Jotei (translating into ‘Empress’) is a Japanese drama that aired in the summer of 2007. It was broadcast by TV Asahi on Fridays nights at 11:00. There were 10 episodes and averaged ratings of 11.6%. The theme song is Kanata by Nanamusica.

Jotei starts off set in the high school of Tachibana Ayaka. She is the student council president and Sugino Kenichi, her admirer, is vice-president. He is the only son of a rich and powerful family. Hojou Rina is the daughter of a well known politician. Since Kenichi aims to be a politician, the Sugino and Hojou family have matched up their son and daughter to be married. Rina lets Ayaka know this and reminds her that as a daughter of a poor Snack shop-owner, she is no match for Kenichi. However, this is no indication that Ayaka is interested in Kenichi.

Ayaka’s mother is being threatened to sell her Snack shop and is terminally ill, something she had been hiding from her daughter. After a particular traumatizing experience, her mother is hospitalized and shortly after passes away. Ayaka has never known who her father is, but at her mother’s death bed, she is told that he is still alive. Ayaka quits school and moves to Osaka to work as a hostess. She is determined to become the Empress (Jotei) of the night world to take revenge on powerful people who had taken advantage of their positions. But the road to become an empress is not easy and there are those who don’t want their high status to be taken away.

In Osaka, she meets Date Naoto and the two become friends. However, the club’s mama (the owner) warns Ayaka that she fears that he is yakuza trying to take advantage of her. When Ayaka confronts Naoto about this, he tries to rape her, but she struggles and shouts that she aims to become the empress of the night world. Surprisingly, he stops his advances and decides that he will support her goal. He tells her that he wants to become a yakuza boss. The two form an alliance.

The drama chronicles her life as a hostess and trying to get to the top. She must secure the richest and most powerful men as her regular customers in the club. She later moves to Ginza, Tokyo because one cannot truly be an Empress of the night world if they are not well known in Ginza. But in Ginza, the powerful men of that world include Kenichi’s boss, Onoue Yuichiro, and Rina’s father. And Rina doesn’t want Ayaka to become an Empress and tries to hinder her by any means.

Though the beginning was a little slow, I became interested by the end of the first episode. Although, I suppose the introduction to Ayaka’s background was necessary to show her determination to become someone with power. The two leads Kato Rosa and Matsuda Shota were both excellent in their roles, though Kato started off a little slow. And Matsuda Shota’s overly long hair bothered me at times.

Sometimes I feel sorry for Sakai Ayana, because she has to play the part of an absolute bitch (and often the antagonist in several dramas). And her character of Hojou Rina is rather one-dimensional, as are some of the other ‘villains’ in Jotei. Rina doesn’t seem to have any real drive behind her motive. Why does she do what she does? Because she hates Ayaka? It’s too shallow of a reason for me to swallow sometimes.

Something I found a little hard to believe was how dramatic the hostesses would act when their lives were ‘ruined’ because they fell from the top. And how all the club mama’s were so kind to Ayaka - why? Can the bosses really be that gracious and considerate all the time?

I did like how the writers showed a distinct difference with all the hostesses when they were working to when they were getting ready or leaving. All the fighting and arguments were done in the back room while getting ready or when the club was empty after a night of working. It really showed how luxurious everything was when the club was open, but after the night was over, there was basically no one they could rely on in the club.

The finale disappointed me a bit. Some of the events that happened felt out of character and were just done for the sake of wrapping up a storyline in a pretty like package. Like the series was going in one direction and suddenly, the line became skewed in the last episode.

Jotei has very little fluff and comedy in it. A bit dark and tragic, perhaps it really does portray life in Tokyo night life. It was also interesting to see how different people used their power and status. I enjoyed the series, but thought the finale didn’t measure up to the rest of it.

Buy the boxset: Japan Version