What drama are you currently watching ?

[winner]

Yeah. Hitting on Beautiful Life, pretty crazy stuff.

Chased up all the dramas on now, so went back to finishing off Jidankoshonin Gota Keshi.
Manga adaption. It's about a negotiator that helps people who have been scammed by swindlers.
For a 30min midnight drama, it's really good. Oh, and it has Kutsuna Shiori too.

[Yoshino]

^^ Speaking of Beautiful Life,  ‘Kaseifu no Mita’  had the highest rated episode for any episode since that series, from Oricon:

Matsushima Nanako’s stoic housekeeper role in Nihon Television’s  ’Kaseifu no Mita‘ has been garnering a lot of attention.

The anticipated final episode aired on December 21st, and managed to draw in a whopping figure  of 40% in viewership ratings within the Kanto region. It also received an average of 36.4% in the Kansai region and 34.6% in the Nagoya region, making it the first time in nearly 12 years that a drama has surpassed the 40% mark.

With these ratings, ‘Kaseifu no Mita’ is tied for 3rd as the drama with the highest ratings of all time. The top three dramas in this regard are ‘Tsumikikuzushi Oya to Ko no 200-nichi Senso‘ (TBS 1983) with 45.3%,’Beautiful Life‘ (TBS 2000) with 41.3%, and ‘Netchu Jidai‘ (1979 NihonTV) with 40.0%. ‘Kaseifu no Mita’ has tied with third place, surpassing the TBS drama ‘3 nen B gumi Kinpachi Sensei‘ (39.9%).

According to media research, this is the first time since 2000 that a drama has exceeded the 40% viewership rating. The last time a drama achieved this rating was when TBS aired the final episode of ‘Beautiful Life‘ back in March of 2000.

To get an idea of how far ‘Kaseifu no Mita’ has come, the series began with an average first episode rating of 19.5%. It continued to improve as the series progressed, leading up to the final episode.

Although the final episode received an average of 40%, the final scene gained the highest viewership rating, with 42.8% in the Kanto region, 39.0% in the Kansai region, and 36.7% in the Nagoya region. This was during the final moments of the drama where Mita, played by Matsushima, bids farewell to the family that she served.

As a whole, the drama received an impressive average rating of 25.17%.

Despite being in an era where people are watching less television, the drama turned out to be a blockbuster hit. Nowadays, a drama with 15% or more viewership ratings is considered to a hit, and a drama exceeding 20% is considered to be a huge hit.

[Yoshino]

Taking a slight break from Arakawa, subs are so, so small it's giving me one headache, was getting to hard to enjoy it, up to episode 7 on that one so during the break starting on this one, hard to believe I haven't seen it, think we all need a bit more Aya in our lives.

[winner]

^^ Speaking of Beautiful Life,  ‘Kaseifu no Mita’  had the highest rated episode for any episode since that series, from Oricon:

^Actually, I was talking about that record, not start watching Beautiful Life now. Pretty hard to say you're a jdrama fan but still haven't watched Beautiful Life in the past 10 years.

darn, hope a subbed last episode comes out tonight.

[Yoshino]

For me Beautiful Life has been my #1 drama for a few years, first saw it 4+ years ago and have watched it 6-7 times, never get tired of it, as a matter of fact that'll be the perfect drama to start the new year off with.

[muppet]

jafeijai and yoshino- heard about Kaseifu no Mita   from both of you and another  friend  who says it is a great show....Just in the middle of episode 1.....

Mita solves a tough problem for the younger son in math, and the boy is "oh wow, she's correct" and then the little girl tells the family she can name every member of AKB48, and Mita starts to name them in order...........

Nice thing about starting a brand new drama, instead of an an older one.....the references are quite contemporary....

anyway it appears to be a good show, looking forward to continuing it

then I will try to find "Beautiful Life" which I have not watched yet...........

[Yoshino]

then I will try to find "Beautiful Life" which I have not watched yet...........

Can't believe you haven't seen Beautiful Life yet, that really is the best drama ever, like I mentioned above have seen it 6-7 times and it's one you can never ever get tired of. Takuya has his coolest role in this plus Takako is great in such a hard role but do admit Miki Mizuno was my fave in the show, one of the most underrated actresses ever.

[muppet]

DramaCrazy has Beautiful Life, so I will watch it next.

[Yoshino]

^^ After I posted that ended up watching the first 3 episodes again, need to finish it.
Currently up to episode 7 of Zettai Reido, it's been an okay watch but not what I expected and thought it'd be a bit better, hopefully it'll end on a high note, seeing as how there's a second season it must(?)....

[winner]

Zettai Reido was ok.
Season 2 I couldn't stand its boringness...

[Yoshino]

^^ Good, think I'll pass on it.
About to start this for really no good reason.

[winner]

Unfair SP - Thought it would be more dark, Kitano Kii's character is way too cute for a cop.

Blizzard - Web drama about 9 snow-climbing teens meeting a blizzard. One is murdered leaving the remaining 8 stuck in an abandoned lodge guessing which one of them is the killer. old-fashioned theme, still fun guessing who did it.

[Yoshino]

^^ The Unfair TV movie was good but not nearly as good as the series, then again most aren't, then again so much better than the first movie.
As far as current watches go, up to episode 3 of Gm Odore Doctor, tried to luck out in trying a series I knew nothing about and so far it's been a real good watch, been becoming a Mikako fan as of late, she's too underrated it seems, plus it has Shiina Kippei, easily in the top 3-4 actors for the last 15 years.
And doing a rewatch of Tsuhan Man/Shopping Hero, little known one from 2002, there's really nothing special about it, thin storyline and very predicatable but as far as the enjoyability factor goes it gets a ten, really an easy and fun watch, if you don't know who Ayako Kawahara is(wow!).....

[muppet]

First- Kaseifu no Mita- wonderful show, cast members were outstanding, and so dramatic at certain points....really would recommend to anyone.....

and now on to........................."Beautiful Life"

Holy Frijoles, Batman!

I have just finished the first episode of "Beautiful Life" thanks to Yoshino san and Winner san's recommendations.....


I am hooked.............Takako Tokiwa is freakin' beautiful.............have never seen her in a drama a before, I recognize her face from CM's or magazine covers, but seeing her in this show has sealed the deal...is there a thread for her? We need to get one going, if there isn't. This woman is all that, and a bag of chips.

The show itself; as I said I am hooked after one episode. I know I have just booked  flight to Sadsville, if I know my dramas, but let's see what happens.....
Yes, and Takuya Kimura can act and I am interested to see where he goes with this character.

Anyway, rather than a clip form "Beautiful Life" (2000), when Takako was about 28 years old, here is Takako on a television show called "CM Girl" from 1992,
when she was 19 years old. Apparently the format of the show, or at least the segment, was to guess which CM the pretty girl had appeared in.......

[muppet]

Okay, finished episode 2 of beatiful life, really nice feel to this show, the writing, the acting, the music.

And speaking of Music, great ending theme song by B'z:

今夜月の見える丘に / Kon'ya Tsuki no Mieru Oka ni (At the Hill Where We Can See the Moon Tonight) Released February 9, 2000, it was the 27th single by B'z. Released digitally for dowloading in  2005, the song was declared by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) to be a gold single for being downloaded more than 100,000 times by 2011.

[Yoshino]

Beautiful Life ranks #1, first season of Hitotsu Yane no Shita though comes in at #1A, should not be missed.

Of the highest rated dramas, which dramas are the most loved?

The online and mobile polling service of goo and NTT DoCoMo recently asked their users to vote for their most favorite dramas out of all those that achieved very high viewer ratings.

Of course this poll was only created because of the incredible success of the recent ‘Kaseifu no Mita‘ (NTV), which recorded the third best single-episode rating of all time for Japanese dramas with its final episode. This means that there have at least been two dramas that gathered more people in front of the TV for a single episode and many more with an overall average above that of ‘Kaseifu no Mita’.

However, some of those dramas reach back as far as 1977 and shouldn’t be that familiar to many of the younger viewers. This brings us back to the poll question, “What is your most favorite of the highest rated dramas on TV?”

The users of goo and NTT DoCoMo cast their votes in the following way:

01 – 7,210 votes – ‘Kaseifu no Mita‘ (Highest: 40.0% / Avg: 24.8%)
02 – 5,834 votes – ‘Long Vacation‘ (Highest: 36.7% / Avg: 29.6%)
03 – 3,700 votes – ‘HERO‘ (Highest: 36.8% / Avg: 34.2%)
04 – 3,243 votes – ‘San-nen B-gumi Kinpachi-sensei‘ (Highest: 39.9%)
05 – 2,927 votes – ‘Beautiful Life‘ (Highest: 41.3% / Avg: 32.3%)
06 – 2,269 votes – ‘The 101st Proposal‘ (Highest: 36.7% / Avg: 23.6%)
07 – 2,190 votes – ‘Hitotsu Yane no Shita‘ (Highest: 37.8% / Avg: 28.1%)
08 – 2,090 votes – ‘GOOD LUCK!!‘ (Highest: 37.6% / Avg: 30.6%)
09 – 1,215 votes – ‘Ie Naki Ko‘ (Highest: 37.2% / Avg: 24.7%)
10 – 1,037 votes – ‘Danjo Shichinin Aki Monogatari‘ (Highest: 36.6% / Avg: 30.0%)
11 – 975 votes – ‘Necchuu Jidai‘ (Highest: 46.7%)
12 – 827 votes – ‘Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari‘ (Highest: 34.2%)
13 – 814 votes – ‘Zutto Anata ga Suki Datta‘ (Highest: 34.1% / Avg: 19.9%)
14 – 795 votes – ‘Tsumiki Tsuboshi ~Oya to Ko no 200 Nichi Sensou~‘ (Highest: 45.3%)
15 – 682 votes – ‘Oshin‘ (Highest: 62.9% / Avg: 52.6%) * Highest ever recorded drama rating on TV!
16 – 581 votes – ‘Hitotsu Yane no Shita 2‘ (Highest: 34.1% / Avg: 26.7%)
17 – 502 votes – ‘Dare ni mo Ienai‘ (Highest: 33.7% / Avg: 23.8%)
18 – 233 votes – ‘Akai Gekiryuu‘ (Highest: 37.2%)

Do you agree with the results?

Goo

Hitotsu Yane no Shita.

[muppet]

Yoshino san, great list.....will have to see what is available with subtitles....

Watched episode three of Beautiful Life, some great moments. Some of the side characters are beginning to be developed,  including Kyoko's friend Sachie, played by always lovely Miki Mizuno. Even the ex-girlfriend Mayumi Ozawa, as played by Chiaki Hara, athough not an entirely sympathetic character, is showing her vulnerable side.

But one character, that of conniving hair dresser rival  Satoru Kawamura, as played by Takanori Nishikawa, is showing no signs of redemtion yet.
Nishikawa, better  known as TM Revolution or TMR to his music fans, at 41, is still going strong, as are his contemporaries in the cast (Takuya Kimura, Takako Tokiwa, Miki Mizuno, etc)

Here he is interviewed by AKB48's Minami Takahashi, although he seems to be in control of the interview, and Takamina's laughter.....

[muppet]

Episode 4 of "Beautiful Life" completed, and the show keeps going at a great pace. In a previous post, we saw Takako when she was 19 years old on "CM Girl".... Well, how about Miki Mizumoto at 17? (and Yoshino san, someone else pretty famous is standing next to Miki, wearing a white top and grey skirt....I won't give you anymore clues, because that would be 'Unfair')

[Yoshino]

Finished up GM Odore Doctor, hadn't expected too much going in, really had wanted to just watch another Mikako drama, she did well and so didn't the rest of the cast, ended up an enjoyable watch, sometimes that's just good enough. Also one episode left on the rewatch of Tsuhan Man/Shopping Hero, also a fun watch, checked the ratings and can't believe how low they were, I must be the only one who liked it.
Next is this, shocked that it was easy to find plus it's subbed.

[Yuling]

I'm getting ready to start watching Saba Doru (starring Mayu Watanabe). I'll come back to let you guys know how it is