Spring 2008 Japanese Drama

April 12, 2008 | 16 Comments

Thanks to some commenters, I'm reminded that there will be some interesting drama adaptation coming this Spring. The one that might be of interest to Nodame Cantabile drama fans is probably Last Friends because this is a drama starring Ueno Juri, Eita, and Mizukawa Asami. It's like a Nodame Cantabile drama reunion except one without Tamaki Hiroshi. I'm also interested to see Zettai Kareshi since this is Watase Yuu's adaptation of the same manga. I find it amusing because the story is about a girl who falls in love with a robot. I wonder if this means Fushigi Yuugi will be adapted next (imagine the "Miaka!!" and "Tamahome!!" lines that the actors get to say in the drama). Anyway, Zettai Kareshi stars Aibu Saki, who's reunited with her Rengatta co-star, Hayami Mokomichi, who plays the robot in question. There are also other titles like Osen, which stars Aoi Yuu. What I have here are brief descriptions of Japanese dramas that I'm interested in, as well as the actors who are involved in them. I'll probably give the first episode of several series a try but I'm not sure yet if I'm going to cover them permanently. The list below are not comprehensive but if you're interested to see what else are on offer, Tokyo Graph and Drama Wiki have the complete list. With that said, which dramas you'll be watching this season?

Source: Tokyo Graph | Drama Wiki

Last Friends

Cast: Nagasawa Masami (Aida Michiru), Ueno Juri (Kishimoto Ruka), Eita (Mizushima Takeru), Mizukawa Asami (Takigawa Eri), Nishikido Ryo (Oikawa Sousuke)
Start Date: 10th of April 2008
Station: Fuji TV
Theme song: Prisoner of Love by Utada Hikaru

Last Friends is about three friends (played by Nagasawa Masami, Ueno Juri, and Eita) who decide to live together in a house. The story follows their life and love entanglement. In other words, it's just like every other Japanese dramas out there. From what I can gathered from the Japanese website, it looks like Eita's character likes Ueno Juri's character but Ueno Juri's character bats for the other team and likes Masami's character. It should be interesting to see the reunion of Nodame Cantabile cast again but it seems the storyline is a bit angsty and I'm not sure if I'd be up for it. Still, I'll watch the first episode and listen to that Utada Hikaru song and see if it's any good. The episode already started since the 10th of April (around 2-3 days ago). I promised to review at least the first episode so I'll definitely watch this.

Zettai Kareshi

Cast: Hayami Mokomichi (Tenjou Night), Aibu Saki (Izawa Riiko), Mizushima Hiro (Asamoto Soushi)
Start Date: 15th of April 2008
Station: Fuji TV
Theme song: Okaeri by ayaka

Literally translated as Absolute Boyfriend, Zettai Kareshi is story based on Watase Yuu's manga of the same name. The story is about Izawa Riiko, a working girl who's unlucky in love. One day, she signs up a contract to obtain an "Absolute Boyfriend" and instead get a 5 days trial period of the company's latest invention, a humanoid robot called Night Tenjou. In other words, this is like a reverse Chobits and that sounds kind of fun. Interestingly enough, the drama decides to change the character/setting from high school students/school to office worker/company. It's probably done to avoid any kind of trouble since showing high school girl ordering what is basically amount to a sexbot probably won't be received that well by non-anime/manga viewers. I think the story sounds amusing so I'll be watching this one as well.

Gokusen Season 3

Cast: Nakama Yukie (Yamaguchi Kumiko), Namase Katsuhisa (Sawatari Goro), Anan Kenji (Wakamatsu Hiro), Kaneko Ken (Asakura Tetsu)
Start Date: 19th of April 2008
Station: NTV
Theme song: Niji by Aqua Timez

A woman from Yakuza family background aspires to be a teacher but is in for a rude awakening when she gets the worst kind of students in her class. This is basically a 3rd season of the series so unless you've seen the 1st and 2nd season, it's probably a bit difficult to catch up with the series. Personally, I'm not going to watch this but I know some people are looking forward to this so if you're interested, mark 19th of April in your calendar.

Ryoukiteki na Kanoujo (My Sassy Girl)

Cast: Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (Masaki Saburo), Tanaka Rena (Takami Riko), Matsushita Nao (Asakura Minami)
Start Date: 20th of April 2008
Station: NTV
Theme song: Tsuyogari by Kome Kome Club

A guy falls head over heel for a girl who creates problem for him. You think the US adaptation starring Elisha Cuthbert is a bad idea? Well, be prepared for the Japanese TV series adaptation starring SMAP's Kusanagi Tsuyoshi. I am not keen on the fact that they change the characters from college students to two professionals. Plus, the only SMAP thing I'm interested in is Bistro SMAP so this is barely on my radar. Having said that, maybe it's interesting to see how the first episode goes. Personally, I'm surprised that SMAP doesn't sing a song for the series.

Osen

Cast: Aoi Yuu (Handa Sen), Uchi Hiroki (Ezaki Yoshio), Sugimoto Tetta (Fujishiro Seiji), Mukai Osamu (Tomekichi)
Start Date: 22nd of April 2008
Station: NTV
Theme song: Odore by Micro (of Def Tech)

Nothing much is known about this apart from the fact that it's based on a manga about a restaurant owner who despite being an airhead, is a good chef. The manga apparently features a lot of Japanese foods and that sounds drool-worthy to me if those foods ever make it into this adaptation. Plus, it stars Aoi Yuu (Hagu in Honey and Clover movie, Tanyuu in Mushishi movie), and Mukai Osamu (Mayama in Honey and Clover live-action series).

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