J-Dramas

[Kura]

Anyone here watching any J Dramas (or asian dramas in general) around here? Anyone have some recommendations?

I just got finished watching Bloody Monday. (About a terrorist group going to unleash a bio-weapon in Tokyo to kill off almost everyone in Japan.) It was really amazing! I usually go for funny instead of scary thrillers, but this one seriously got me hooked!

Now I'm on episode 3 of Nodame Cantabile. Pretty funny so far! It's about a guy who wants to become a conductor and finally gets his first shot at it by having to conduct the worst music players in the school.

How about you guys?!

 

[Koi]

Recommendation

I used to watch a lot of J-Drama year ago and here's the list of some of the most memorable drama I've watched in the past: Last Christmas, 1 Litre of Tears, Summer Snow, Byakuyako, Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo Sakebu(also known as Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World or Socrates in Love), Gokusen Series(1-3), Nobuta wo Produce, Suppli, Yuuki(one episode drama), Tatta Hitotsu no Koi, Kami no Shizuku, and Kurosagi.

 

[Esper]

I've watched a few, but none for a while. (I learn more toward movies.) I would also recommend Gokusen (I should finish that some day), but that's half because it has Nakama Yukie in it and I think she's awesome ever since I saw and even older drama called Trick.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

I don't know if this is just an issue I have, but does anyone with a greater appreciation of J-Drama think that they 'look' weird? Like, from a cinematography point-of-view? I've been in Japan for the last two weeks and managed to watch a few dramas while on TV. My appreciation of the language isn't great, and since they had no subtitles, I couldn't really follow a lot of the plot... but the look of all of the live-action TV seemed to be very different from that of a Western show.

For one, everything seemed to be vastly over-lit, making the atmosphere really bright. Also, there seemed to be numerous editing snafus with random shots to different people who had no right to be there. Finally, the acting seemed to be very heightened and exaggerated... but that might just be might personal taste. I watched a police drama, a high-school-set drama and a one about a couple's home life but unfortunately didn't remember any of the names.

I hope the stuff that I mentioned earlier isn't symptomatic of the entire Japanese medium, but I didn't get a great impression when I was watching any of them, unfortunately.

 

[Esper]

I don't know if this is just an issue I have, but does anyone with a greater appreciation of J-Drama think that they 'look' weird? Like, from a cinematography point-of-view? I've been in Japan for the last two weeks and managed to watch a few dramas while on TV. My appreciation of the language isn't great, and since they had no subtitles, I couldn't really follow a lot of the plot... but the look of all of the live-action TV seemed to be very different from that of a Western show.

For one, everything seemed to be vastly over-lit, making the atmosphere really bright. Also, there seemed to be numerous editing snafus with random shots to different people who had no right to be there. Finally, the acting seemed to be very heightened and exaggerated... but that might just be might personal taste. I watched a police drama, a high-school-set drama and a one about a couple's home life but unfortunately didn't remember any of the names.

I hope the stuff that I mentioned earlier isn't symptomatic of the entire Japanese medium, but I didn't get a great impression when I was watching any of them, unfortunately.

Television is a cheap medium in Japan. It doesn't really have the same status (read: money) that it would in places like America or the UK. Actually, I don't even know if money would make a difference. It's just not something people take as seriously, or there's not enough of a push for higher production values, or people don't care enough. In other words, what you saw was pretty normal. There are some shows which are a cut above the rest, but usually you get that kind of daytime soap opera feel from your programs.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

It just seems unusual that a country with such a vaunted live-action film history would skimp out on their live-action television production. Traditionally, TV has always played second fiddle to the cinema, but production values across the world have improved since the mid-90s. I guess I was just expecting Japan to follow the rest of the world, but apparently not...

 

[Ryoutarou]

I think, at least the technical stuff like lighting, might just be the random shows you've watched. I've seen plenty that looked just fine, though in general they do look a little lower budget than Western shows when it comes to sets. But the same can be said of a lot of foreign media. Though for the most part, I don't mind it because the differences aren't too huge and there are only a handful of shows I've seen that I would look at and definitely think they look cheap.

The acting itself is...well, yeah, it's different. Emoting in that style seems to be the norm for Asian productions and it's one of those things that makes you think about norms. Is it really bad or is it just different, and jarringly so, because the norms for acting in the West can be so different? As far as my history with J-Dramas go, I was able to appreciate them a lot more when I let go of the idea that they were overacting because...hey, who's to say Westerns aren't underacting? (and that actually seems to be something made fun of quite a lot in Japanese comedy) It's very different, that much is certain, but if you can enjoy them, there are some really great shows out there.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

The acting itself is...well, yeah, it's different. Emoting in that style seems to be the norm for Asian productions and it's one of those things that makes you think about norms. Is it really bad or is it just different, and jarringly so, because the norms for acting in the West can be so different? As far as my history with J-Dramas go, I was able to appreciate them a lot more when I let go of the idea that they were overacting because...hey, who's to say Westerns aren't underacting? (and that actually seems to be something made fun of quite a lot in Japanese comedy) It's very different, that much is certain, but if you can enjoy them, there are some really great shows out there.

I could sympathise with that viewpoint more... if it weren't for the fact that Japanese cinematic acting is very similar to cinematic acting in the West. Films as diverse as Tokyo Story, Rashomon, Ballad of Narayama and Still Walking all have acting that I'd classify as great, and I wouldn't even think to compare them to the mugging that I saw on Japanese television. I guess the best analogy I can come up with is that Japanese film acting is to Japanese TV acting as Mexican film acting is to Mexican telenovela acting. (And it sort of goes hand in hand with the 'soap opera' look that Scarf expertly described earlier.)