So....I'm mainly a manga addict, with dorama second, and anime a distant third.

For anyone who may not know, "dorama" is just live-action Japanese TV, often though certainly not always based on manga. They generally finish the story in 9-12 episodes, unlike US TV series that go on for waaaaaaay too long and then tend to get cancelled without resolving things. No, I don't like US TV much.

ANYway, I'm looking for suggestions of good dorama, doesn't have to be based on manga, older stuff is fine but *please* only shows with English subs! I've tried watching a few shows without subs and though I can usually get the gist of what's going on, my Japanese is WAY too basic to really enjoy the shows.

I've seen & liked:

GTO
Gokusen
Hana Yori Dango I & II
Yamada Taro
Ikebukoro West Gate Park
Kimi wa Petto
Yan Papa
Long Vacation
Hana Kimi
Nodame Cantabile (had some great moments, but overall not a favorite)
Bambino (well done, but too much drama & not enough comedy for me)
edit - added:
Densha Otoko (had it's moments, but...)
H2 (again good moments, but too slow & too much baseball)
Tiger & Dragon (one of my absolute favorites!!)
My Boss My Hero (yet another with some great moments, but overall not a favorite)
Liar Game (sure hope there's a second season...otherwise the ending... )
Kurosagi
Nobuta wo Produce
Trick I, II, III
Akihabara@Deep (and movie)
Lovely Complex movie (verrry cute!)
Water Boys movie (ok this one is 99% just plain silly, but still fun)
Haikei, Chichiue-sama (I have the feeling I completely misspelled this one...)
Kisarazu Cat's Eye (and first movie)
Honey & Clover movie
Tokyo Tower (movie)
edit - added 11-04-07
14 Sai no Haha
Jyoou no Kiyoshitsu
Jikou Keisatsu
Himitsu no Hanazono

Hmmmm I know I've seen more but I can't remember them at the moment.

What have YOU seen & liked??

Last edited by TofuQueen at 1:03 am, Nov 4 2007

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"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

1 Litre of Tears!

did not watch it, but all my friends told me to. Even my brother watched & liked it.

I also saw My Boss My Hero, because somebody told me TOKIO was in but pfft... it was only their song!! It wasn't my favourite either. I liked Nodame though!!

My friends told me to watch 14sai no haha (is it??) something about a 14 year old mother. And also Attention, Please. I didn't have time for them!

Trick

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Mad people either have no sense or too many extra senses...
On the net, men are men, women are men and children are the FBI. =D

Eh.... your list covered almost all what i would write.. So add on to these after your list.

Lovely Complex - Movie
NANA - Movie 1 and 2
Death Note - Movie 1 and 2

er and let me think and i'll come back xD

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R-18 below

Detective Horror Series

Tracker BakaBT

oh.. I thought she wanted series, so I didn't say NANA

But NANA has a series, right?? (I thought..)

I probably won't ever watch 1 Litre of Tears, because I hate sad stuff...though I've heard it's very good...

Actually the main actor in MBMH is Nagase Tomoya (err...something like that...at our house we call him "Ahiro Otoko", meaning "duck man", from something else I saw him in ) from Tokio, and I think one or two of the other guys from Tokio are in it too.

14 Sai no Haha, yeah, I should watch that one, might be heavier on the drama than I usually watch tho? On another board I saw a bunch of posts about how annoying the main actress in Attention Please was, which kind of made me not want to watch it - but then a lot of people also found the main actress in Yamada Taro annoying and she didn't bother me, so I should add Attention Please to my list.

@Nelo, that's another one I was forgetting, I've seen all three seasons of Trick (now if only I could find the movies...)

@chueisha, I have seen Lovely Complex movie, very cute!! Nana I'm totally uninterested in, same with Death Note.

Updating original list....

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"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

oh me too!! I didn't watch it because it was sad. And besides, I missed the "1 Litre of Tears discussion" when it first came out, so even if I watch it now.... I'll be crying by myself

TOKIO really? I didn't see them!! Were they like... the students? aww.. oh well. I loved "duck man" LOL. There's another show by him, but wiki.d-addicts is not working (on my computer), I don't know what show. But it looked interesting...

If you watched 14 sai no haha, and if you like it, I'll go watch it... Also, I heard that in Hong Kong, they banned the show in case people were influenced to get pregnant at 14

[quote=TofuQueen]
I probably won't ever watch 1 Litre of Tears, because I hate sad stuff...though I've heard it's very good...

14 Sai no Haha, yeah, I should watch that one, might be heavier on the drama than I usually watch tho? On another board I saw a bunch of posts about how annoying the main actress in Attention Please was, which kind of made me not want to watch it - but then a lot of people also found the main actress in Yamada Taro annoying and she didn't bother me, so I should add Attention Please to my list.
quote]

That's why you should watch 1 Litre of Tears. I cried every episode *sniff*

I don't watch alot of dramas but 14 Sai No Haha is a great drama. I didn't find the actress annoying. I really liked it I found the two kids stupid but I guess they are 14 so it's interesting to see how younger people deal with it. I really loved the mom in the series, her character was great.

Have you watched Nodame Cantabile? It's really funny and cute.

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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. ~ Thoreau


whatphotoshopmypicswhatliesdoyouspeakof?! >D

I loved Mine-papa!!!

OMG, they made a drama of Yamada Taro?! One of the best comedy manga ever?! Woo hoo! I am firing up BitComet as we speak!

Looks like you've seen the best ones already...
And how about korean or taiwanese/chinese doramas? They're quite good too.
Would you like to try them? If yes, I will try to write here some good titles.

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Still the bad cop.

what? You watch Chinese/Taiwanese?

I'm pretty sure the guy who calls him "aniki" all the time is also from Tokio - the guy who works at the school as a janitor, & makes him the birthday cake with 28 instead of 18 candles. I bet at least some of the other members show up as Yakuza, but they might look a lot different than usual.

Nagase Tomoya was also in Ikebukuro West Gate Park, Yan Papa, and Tiger & Dragon (and a bunch of other stuff I haven't seen).

If I watch 14-Sai no Haha I'll try to remember to post here & let you know what I think of it.

@meimei-chan, Yamada Taro dorama is QUITE funny, esp. if you're an Arashi fan, but be warned that they did change quite a bit from the manga (from what I've seen in other discussions - I've only read a bit of the manga myself so I don't know the specifics).

@kawaiiairbender, yep, I did see Nodame, and it was cute but didn't make my favorites list.

@Indreju, I'm somewhat interested in Korean/Tiawanese/Chinese doramas, but NOT if they go on for 30-50 episodes.

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"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

OH!! I love fake-mikki LOL He's from TOKIO? And... did you say Nagase Tomoya?? Because he's from TOKIO =O (found out just now). OH.... so I guess they were everywhere

And I did not like Devil Beside You (taiwanese) because it's so boring. So... don't recommend it.

Ok
Based on manga:
Devil beside you (have you read Akuma de sourou?) Taiwanese
Mars (well, Mars...) Taiwanese
Princess hours (Goong) Korean
also:
Time Between Dog and Wolf (korean, good)


I liked Love contract...sad and good. And good music, too. It's Taiwanese.

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Still the bad cop.