This was an off yr for dramas for me. I began so many but completed so few. Nonetheless, there have been a handful that I liked so I wished to maintain this countdown going even in a much less bountiful yr. Hopefully there might be extra to sit up for in 2025!
Relatively than submit my traditional seize bag of dramas, this yr I’m going to truly rank them.
Description (from MyDramaList): “Ichiro is a PE trainer in 1986 feared by his college students for a “powerful love” method, harsh tongue and ceaselessly “inappropriate” habits. He’s additionally a dad making an attempt to lift a rebellious daughter after having misplaced his spouse to sickness. When he will get transported in time to 2024, he encounters trendy sensibilities that train him about empathy but in addition offers folks of at this time a purpose to rethink their very own political correctness on this time traversing comedy about change.”
I simply adored this drama. It was the funniest, most artistic factor I watched all yr. The time journey facet requires a lot suspension of disbelief, nevertheless it’s extra of a plot machine than one thing to be dissected in any logical means. I liked attending to spend time in Showa-era Japan, nevertheless it’s the characters and writing that basically made this drama soar. Plus, it’s randomly a musical as effectively! There’s actually no such factor as “style” in the case of this one. Give it a strive in case you’re in search of one thing quirky with super-endearing characters.
Description (from MyDramaList): “Tsukioka Natsu is 28 years previous. He works for a printing firm in Tokyo. At some point, Tsukioka Natsu hears that Nagumo Mizuki died. They had been in a romantic relationship once they attended the identical college. They broke up after Nagumo Mizuki instantly informed him that she wished to finish their relationship, and he or she disappeared afterwards. He didn’t hear something about her for the previous 7 years after their breakup. Tsukioka Natsu attends Nagumo Mizuki’s funeral, the place he meets a younger youngster named Umi. He’s stunned to study that Umi is Mizuki Nagumo’s daughter. Nagumo Mizuki’s mom talks to him and tells him that Umi is his daughter.”
That is for these of you who love a tearjerker. Critically, this drama twists your feelings till they bleed, however the emotional struggling is someway so candy. That’s because of nice performing and writing, together with the perfect youngster actress I’ve ever seen. That is from the creators of Silent, which was my favourite drama of 2022. They know what they’re doing in the case of this explicit format.
Description (from MyDramaList): “It tells the story of a middle-aged man, Makoto Okita, who’s caught in society’s previous widespread sense and prejudices. He’s disliked by his household as a “stiff,” and his subordinates at work shun him for his insensitive habits. However he has continued to forge forward on the trail he believes in, believing that that is “the one proper reply”. However a turning level comes for him when his son tells him, “I… by no means wish to change into somebody like my dad!!” So, a prejudiced man in his fifties makes a homosexual pal greater than twenty years youthful than him, and his “widespread sense” begins to alter!”
Thematically, this truly shares a lot in widespread with my high choose. This drama’s far more typical in its execution, however the characters are so beautiful to be round. It’s an attention-grabbing research in Japan’s altering social perceptions, however above all else it’s humorous and extremely heat, feel-good leisure.
Description (from MyDramaList): “Arisawa Ichika enrolls in an elite women’ highschool attended by the youngsters of rich households. Pondering of her daughter’s future, her mom Chihiro tries her greatest to scrape collectively the varsity charges, however life for the couple will not be straightforward. When Ichika advances to her second yr of highschool, the varsity merges with an all-boys college to change into coeducational, Asuran Academy. The scholars are excited, however a brand new college rule is enacted that prohibits relationship between girls and boys. What’s extra, the rule is so strict that any scholar who violates the rule and has sexual activity might be expelled.”
Sadly, this was a kind of dramas that was completely nice till its last episode. They didn’t land the ending, however that is nonetheless price waiting for its skill to take a lame idea and rework it into one thing fairly thrilling. I liked the forged as effectively.
Description (from MyDramaList): “Mishima Futoshi, a junior highschool scholar within the countryside, is bullied by his classmates. The reason being that he’s seemingly homosexual. In actuality, Mishima does like guys, so he doesn’t resist their bullying, and as a substitute, finds solace in secretly cross-dressing. At some point on the rooftop of the varsity, Mishima finds the lipstick he had misplaced earlier than within the palms of Kirino Makoto, one of many bullies. Kirino was about to placed on the lipstick that Mishima used on his personal lips. That is the story of those two younger boys in search of a spot they will actually be themselves.”
I used to be on the fence about this one for the longest time. Its over-the-top exaggerated method is off-putting at first however as soon as I noticed that was the director’s means of capturing youth I understood the drama far more. At its core, it’s an extremely candy coming-of-age story with a really distinctive perspective.
