What live-action series are you watching or have you watched?

[*Jess♥]

i wouldn't say i 'don't like' emotional love story.

only, the end of zettai kareshi was very painful. I like romantic love story if it is not so painful.

i think most of them that i watched have been like that to some degree.

atashinchi no danshi was romantic, meichan no shitsuji was.

but maybe you are talking about a different style?

I guess zettai kareshi is that type though anyway.. like bicentennial man, or like AI or like chobits. they are inevitably sad because of the subject matter.

no matter what the outcome there will always be something wrong in your mind.

I liked ohitorisama, that was mostly a romantic drama, and the ending was mostly good.

I'll take a look at Hero later on.

btw i had a quick peek at otomen. i glimpsed a couple of scenes and i did like the style. they have paid a lot of attention to the setting and the environments. what is that word... mise en scene?

that's what i like.

[*Jess♥]

looking at the dvd cover, the series looks interesting.

i've seen a few japanese dress like that, it seems like an iconic style.

jam project have that sort of style.

i think it must be japanese rocker style?

[Salkafar]

Currently watching Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann. I like it.

[durendal]

Ryuki, this is the song that I first heard years ago. Although this is not the main theme of the drama "Love Generation", this was the song that drew me to watch the series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-iHVh4wwpw

and the opening theme that got stuck on me, of course this was sung by the lead actress, Matsu Takako:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SzSuJXb0LY

[*Jess♥]

you've convinced me

I don't want to watch it

heh heh , sorry, those musics are not giving me a good feeling about the series. it's probably wonderful but i think maybe it will make me sad.

to be honest, I would probably love it, I just looked at the opening. but maybe i can leave it til a later date.

[durendal]

Meh, like I said, you might not like it. Although I've convinced you, it's actually of the opposite of what I intended . Although I can't say that I didn't expect your reaction. But yeah, the story has some really sad moments, or rather frustrating moments since we are talking about a serious relationship. Talk about a love quadrangle. At least in the end they resolved their differences.

Anyway, putting the two love story series aside, I think you should try Hero.

[*Jess♥]

yeah i got Hero incoming.

I got 3 series to watch now. kinda contented

[Purgstall]

I've watched:

-All of the Godzilla movies (plus the 1998 remake)

-Several of the Toho monster movies (War of the Gargantuas, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Rodan, Mothra, the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, etc.)

-Most of the Gamera series except for Super Monster Gamera and Gamera the Brave

-Seen most of the lesser known Japanese kaiju films like The X from Outer Space and Gappa.

-Seen a few Korean kaiju films like The Host, Yongary (both the original and the remake), D-War, and I'm planning to get CHAW soon.

-I've seen the original Ultraman series, Ultraman Nexus (Plus Ultraman the Next), Ultraman Max, Ultraman Mebius (Plus all of the Gaidens and Movies), Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (Haven't seen NEO yet, but I do have the Ultra Galaxy movie)

-Seen GARO plus the Gaiden and Beast of the White Night

-Seen a few episodes of Kamen Rider Kiva, haven't gotten around to watching all of it. I think I only got up to episode 5.

-Not sure if this one counts, but I saw Zebraman by Takashi Miike.

[*Jess♥]

so everything was on hold while i was hooked on dragonball.

now i am up to date with dragonball kai ad i don't have the full set of dragonball z yet so i can't contiunue with it and am now continuing with yama onna kabe onna.

it's not an exciting series but it is pleasant to watch while relaxing.

enjoyable.

what i really like about this series is how much attention is being paid to hte characters of the girls.

it is very character driven and i am getting to see such wonderful personalities in a way i have not seen before in a j-drama.

i like it because it is not a romance show, it is not romantically driven and that is refreshing.

I like to weigh up the delightful qualities of the different girls. how one is tall and has a deep voice and is quite analytical. one is quite bubbly and gets drunk easily, etc.

I also like how it is hinting at themes f underwear and nudity etc, but it is not too brazen like some of the shameful british shows.

I like how the producers can keep it cheeky yet clean.

[durendal]

Not to mention the gratuitous insinuation about breast sizes among all the different female characters. Imagine, having a button fly off just because of huge breasts.

[*Jess♥]

i find that funny, but not as funny as the guy "but i'm the sempai" was saying, "i'm thirsty because i've been shouting".

[durendal]

I think I remember another series that I enjoyed. Nodame Cantabile.

It was originally a manga, then there was an anime series for this, then a drama. The Drama recently concluded with the second theatrical version which was released just last april.

The series is about Nodame, a girl who is really good at playing piano using widow, but terrible in reading notes. The Male protagonist is Chiaki, a genius pianist that aspires to be a famous conductor. The show highlights the meeting of Nodame and Chiaki and their funny antics of reaching their goal.

I would recommend the first season simply because it has a light hearted tone to the series as well as funny as hell. This series made me appreciate more my love for classical music, with pieces from Bach and Rachmaninoff.

[*Jess♥]

that seems interesting.

i don't like the feel of classical musics in shows, because it always seems 'stuffy' somehow. but i will take your recommendation as you have not steered me wrong yet.

i got 2 episodes left in yama onna kabe onna and i'm dragging my feet now.

I don't want to end another series.

i started watching otomen that i mentioned earlier.

I really like it. it's got a really nicely laid out atmosphere, the characters feel well rounded and there are a lot of different locations and scenarios. I feel there is plenty to explore.

the relationships between the characters is really fun.

[*Jess♥]

i'm thinking about watching

this one - http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_87100.htm Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo

this one - http://wiki.d-addicts.com/HAMMER_SESSION! Hammer session

this one - http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Keizoku_2:_SPEC keizoku 2 - spec. (i may need to watch keizoku 1 first)

[durendal]

Ratings for Keizoku are kinda low, and I don't know the rating for the other two. But Keizoku somehow looks similar to Hero. I usually check out shows with high ratings, usually 20% or higher. But Nihonjin no shiranai nihonggo seems interesting. I'll take a look at it also.

edit: I checked the viewership ratings for these show. They're kinda low. Nihonjin averaging 3.32% and hammer session averaging 6.95%. Although these shouldn't be a factor in deciding to watch them, it kinda makes my expectations low.

Edited December 16, 2010 by durendal

[*Jess♥]

i just really love the idea of seeing non japanese in the show.

I personally don't want to pay too much attention to ratings. in the UK, the highest rated shows are soaps, and i can't stand soaps.

I don't know what the ratings are like for otomen, but i really love this show.

I like to judge a show wether it looks interesting from a few screen captures.

I can get some idea about it by the lighting style, what is present in the frame and the environments.

and of course if the general story seems interesting.

keizoku seems interesting because it reminded me of death note mixed with x-files.

[durendal]

I've checked the Japanese wiki for Otomen, and surprisingly, the average rating was 8.1%. I guess for modern day drama, it's difficult to get higher ratings due to the intense competition coming from other shows.

Even the all star Atashinchi no Danshi only garnered an average rating of 10.9%.

Just to give comparisons to shows that I think we both have seen, these shows have the average ratings:

Densha Otoko got 21.0%.

Yama onna Kabe onna got 12.2%.

Binbo Danshi got 11.6%

Hero, if you still haven't seen it, has the highest rating of 34.2%. The theme song was also sung by Utada Hikaru, can you keep a secret. She also cameod as a waitress in the series.

[*Jess♥]

i haven't started it yet.

I want to find a spare hour to watch some more yama onna kabe onna. still got those 2 eps to finish it off.

been switching between dragonball Z and trying some new anime, the one called 'soremachi' is pretty funny.

also obtaining abenobashi, and one piece.

I want to see if i can manage to stick with it and catch up to you guys since you seem to be talking about it fairly regularly.

AAAAANYway..

I'm not surprised densha otoko got such high ratings.

I guess they have to first draw in the audience, then they have to remain consistent to keep the audience.

I would say... otomen is fairly standard in terms of content. it's not amazingly special, but i like it because of the atmosphere.

if you never saw it, I would actually say you haven't missed out on a lot. but it's hard to find something good that has the kind of atmosphere you would enjoy. some would have high ratings, but when i watch it, i feel depressed.

[Guest DekaTheHalls]

Ya know bro, I have abenobashi somewhere, complete on dvd...

[*Jess♥]

ah yeah, I remembered you had it. but i can't put DVD into my computer. no disc drive.

if you can rip it, then that would be very handy

[Guest DekaTheHalls]

I'd need to find it first, lol, it's hidden somewhere in all that stuff I have waitin to come over here. I'll have a look nex time possible, then do somat on sarah's pc an put it on my hard drive for ya.

[durendal]

I also remembered another series that I watched. Although it is not Jdrama, it's still drama. It's the Kdrama titled "Lovers".

Summary from d-addicts:

Kang Jae is a wealthy businessman and gangster and Mi Joo is a plastic surgeon. These two meet after Mi Joo mistakens Kang Jae as being her sleazy brother-in-law. Kang Jae just happens to be the boyfriend of Mi Joo's pregnant neighbor, Yoo Jin. Sae-yeon meets Mi-Joo and falls in love with her feisty attitude. Kang-Jae works for the father of Sae-Yeon who is a gangster. Mi-Joo and Kang-Jae fall in love.

I seem to have this knack of watching love stories.

[durendal]

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but you guys should also watch the drama GTO. It is a live adaptation of the popular manga and anime of the same name. Very funny too. Even the lead actor, Takashi Sorimachi, sang the opening song "Poison", which is kinda catchy too.

[*Jess♥]

I'll get it now.

[durendal]

Seen any good J-drama lately? I think I'm going into relapse due to my D-addiction.