Lately I have been practicing more Japanese and will be making more updates on my progress in Japanese this year in the form of Japanese only posts, reviews of Japanese study resources and I am actively seeking a Japanese friend in Japan that hopefully I will correspond with for more than a few weeks like all the others I have had. While reading posts from various blogs and looking into various ways to stay inspired while studying I decided to start watching Japanese dramas.
I started out watching My Boss My Hero
….need to hear more Japanese…
I am not completely new to Japanese Dramas as I have scanned through a few in the past but now I will be watching a few series completely from start to finish with the aim of getting used to hearing Japanese being spoken more. I’ve found that through my practicing and writing Japanese my main obstacle is not having the opportunity to hear natural Japanese being spoken much and while anime watching is cool and I do a lot of that I am aware that only listening and learning from Japanese spoken in anime is not such a good idea.
Innocent love is next on the “to watch list”
I welcome your J-Drama recommendations
I’ve started watching “My Boss My Hero” (hilarious!) and through requests via twitter and other mediums for names of hopefully subtitled J-Drama I have so far compiled a list of shows I’m considering watching and them will eventually review. Are you a fan of or have experience watching Japanese Dramas? Please suggest a few by leaving the name in a comment below or contact me directly.
Suggestions so far (updated Jan-7-09)
- Innocent Love
- Nobuta wo Produce
- Great Teacher Onizuka
- Taiyo to Umi no Kyoshitsu
- 1 Litre of Tears
- Koizora
- Stand Up!!
- Hanazakari no Kimitachi e
- Akihabara@DEEP
- Ryuusei no Kizuna
- Bloody Monday
- Kaze no Garden
- Remote
- Liar Game
- One Missed Call
- The Ring
- Battle Royale
- Nodame Cantabile
- Boku wa Imouto Ni Koi wo Suru
- Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru
- Tokyo Boy
- Kurosagi
- Absolute Boyfriend
- Last Friends
- Satorare
- Trick
- Mop Girl
- Crying Out Love
- Center of the World
- Kikujiro
- Danishi Man
- Okane ga nai
- Odorudaisosasen
- Nodame Kantabire
![[japan]](http://www.jamaipanese.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/japan.jpg)
Please take a look at the following Related Posts:
My Boss My Hero and Innocent Love are both great choices, I love them both.
I think you know that I love dramas already, so I do have a few suggestions for you!
If you like sad (but not completely sad) dramas:
1 Litre of Tears
Koizora (I suggest you watch the movie first though)
If you like funny dramas:
Stand Up!!
Hanazakari no Kimitachi e
Nobuta wo Produce
Akihabara@DEEP
If you want to watch the most recent stuff I suggest Ryuusei no Kizuna, Bloody Monday and Kaze no Garden (besides Innocent Love). Well, I have MANY suggestions, so when you’ve watched a few more I can be a bit more specific ^^
i am so gonna watch innocent love, because that’s horikita maki in the picture, right? (*is a fan*)
here are some j-dramas and movies that i personally have enjoyed lately (excluding the ones already mentioned):
adventure/detective dramas: “Remote” and “Liar Game”
horror movies: “One Missed Call”, “The Ring” and “Battle Royale” (though I’m not sure BR counts as horror)
romance/drama: “Nodame Cantabile” Live Action (anime-based j-drama with comedy in it), Boku wa Imouto Ni Koi wo Suru (somewhat controversial movie as it deals with incest) and “Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru” (movie)
next on my personal to-watch list are “Tokyo Boy” (movie), Kurosagi (drama AND movie), “Absolute Boyfriend” (drama) and “Last Friends” (drama).
okay, enough recommending, i guess. ^^ hope you find something you like, and thanks for keeping a nice blog!
Umm every newbie has to start with One Liter of Tears whether or not you like the sobby shit. It is a great show for first time drama watchers.
From that I would recommend Satorare for the love area.
For mystery type I would recommend the drama Trick. Only first and second seasons are worth while.
For something funny I would recommend Mop Girl.
Thats only to name a few lol.
For movies I want to recommend Crying Out Love in the Center of the World. Kikujiro (freakin hilarious). Danishi Man
GTO is my favorite… others on my list, both staring ridiculous actor Oda Yuji (and both pretty old, but awesome nonetheless):
1. Okane ga nai
About a guy who doesn’t have money, but ends up working his way up the ladder in a big company.
2. Odorudaisosasen
Police drama – good stuff.
Hearty reccomendation for ‘Nodame Kantabire’
@ everyone – thanks for all your recommendations! updated my post with them all and will be blogging more about Japanese dramas and movies :D
MPD Psycho Live Action. You must, it’s only 6 episodes or so.
There is one on NHK (I think) That’s about a car dealership in the early 70′s. Lots of old classic cars in that. Can’t remember the name though.
Japanese only posts? Are you high? LOL. A lot of those dramas sound like Engrish. Good luck on your progress.
I second (or third, if I missed it) “Last Friends”. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed the most recent TV series version of “Tokyo Tower.”
Gokusen and Great Teacher Onizuka are musts. As far as finding a Japanese friend to correspond with, go to http://lang-8.com. It’s a free “you correct my english, I’ll correct your japanese” blogging community.
No one has mentioned Densha Otoko (aka Train Man)… It’s the best J-Drama, ever! It’s about an Otaku (this sounds familiar…lol) falling in love with a girl after saving her from a drunk man on a train. After the incident, he explains about his crush on one of those *chan sites.
There’s also Orange Days and Long Vacation—Good luck in searching for LV…it was made in 1996, unless you get the complete series on DVD (Region 2 only), which costs around $200 USD on YesAsia.
I’m a huge drama or dorama fan korean and japanese dramas are a good way to learn to speak i find that after watching for years im almost able to watch with out subs.Good luck on that I’m learning as well i and can give you list of sites that are helping me :)
you should definatly check out are hana yori dango
I’m really enjoying Osen right now. Cooking is a hobby of mine, and who doesn’t love a good drama about traditional Japanese cooking. It also stars my favorite Japanese actress, Aoi Yuu. I admit, I have a weird yet healthy obsession with her, haha.
i recommend…![[love]](http://www.jamaipanese.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/love.jpg)
[smile] ![[angel]](http://www.jamaipanese.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/angel.jpg)
-200 pound beauty-comedy,drama…
-attack of pin-up boys-comedy
-baby and me-comedy,drama
-crazy first love-comedy,drama
-do re mi fa sol ra si do (movie)-drama,romance
-going crazy waiting-comedy,romance
-hansel and gretel-horror
-jenny, juno-drama,romance
-innocent love-drama,romance
-my boss,my hero-comedy
-nightmare-horror
-the art of seduction-romance
-1 liters of tears-drama
-absolute boyfriend-romance
-boku dake no madonna-drama,romance
-majo no jouken-drama, romance
-concerto-romance
-hana kimi-drama,romance
-koisora (drama,movie)-drama, romance
-nodame cantabile-comedy,romance
hope u’ll like it…like i do….
My first dorama was Majo no Jouken (魔女の条件 )
which stars Matsushima Nanako of the GTO drama.
It’s an excellent romantic drama, that will have you wanting more
My Boss my hero, GTO, Change, Konna koi no hanashi, Love shuffle, dragon zakura..all are amazing =]
I watched Cat Street (キャットストリート) to get used to the sound of Japanese. It’s about a child start that fell out if the limelight, and ends up at a school for misfits. Kinda neat.![[japan]](http://www.jamaipanese.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/japan.jpg)
Jyoou no kyoushitsu and last present are good too!
I haven’t seen many J-dramas, but I did watch this interesting movie called “Kagen no Tsuki”. I know you didn’t ask for movie recommendations, but it’s intriguing (and it’s in Japanese, go figure)