Densha Otoko/Trainman- Episode 1 Synopsis

Episode 1 Synopsis

Densha Otoko, also known as Train Man, is a japanese drama based on a true story about an Otaku, Yamada Tsuyoshi, trying to win the heart of the beautiful girl, Aoyama Saori, who he meets and rescues during a train ride from a vile old drunkard. Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, and video games, the type of guys that doesn't appeal to most girls.

Despite Yamada being defeated by the drunkard in the end, Saori expresses gratitude to Yamada thereafter and shows interest in further interaction with him. She sends him Hermes tea cups, along with her handphone number.

Extremely inconfident and unexperienced in communication with girls, Yamada shares his fateful encounter with his love interest on the train with the online forum members of Aladdin Channel BBS.


Yamada works as a job agent who often gets bullied by his colleagues and his flirtatuous female client. Jinkama Kisuzu, due to his soft and inconfident character. Even his younger sister despises him at home. The thought of suicide crosses his mind when his birthday is totally forgotten by his father.

The Aladdin Channel BBS forum members become his only pillar of confidence and motivation. Together, they persistently encourage him to call Saori's handphone number, which he can never find the courage to do so.
Thanks to their persuasion, and a motivational text art by one of the forum member, who names him Densha Otoko, he finally plucks up the courage to call Saori, trembling as he holds the phone.


The first episode of Densha Otoko/Trainman ends with Saori's handphone ringing in a restaurant in the company of another guy as Yamada awaits her to pick up anxiously.


Below Info taken from Dramawiki.

Episodes: 11

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Viewership ratings: 21.04%

Broadcast period: 2005-Jul-07 to 2005-Sep-22

Air time: Thursday 22:00

Songs:

• 'Twilight' by Electric Light Orchestra (Opening Theme)

• 'Sekai wa Sore wo Ai to Yobun da ze' by Sambomaster (Ending Theme)
  

Cast

• Ito Misaki as Aoyama Saori (25)
• Ito Atsushi as Yamada Tsuyoshi (23)
• Shiraishi Miho as Jinkama Kisuzu (26)
• Sato Eriko as Sawazaki Kaho (25)
• Sudo Risa as Mizuki Yuuko (30)
• Hayami Mokomichi as Aoyama Keisuke (23)
• Sato Jiro as Kuroki Fumito (40)
• Maekawa Yasuyuki as Oikawa Naoto (28)
• Horikita Maki as Yamada Aoi (17)
• Koide Saori as Takeda Karin (17)
• Gekidan Hitori as Matsunaga Yuusaku (30)
• Toyohara Kosuke as Sakurai Kazuya (38)
• Akiyoshi Kumiko as Aoyama Yuki (48)
• Kishibe Shiroo as Yamada Tsuneo (48)
• Sugawara Eiji as Kawamoto Shinji (27)

Aladdin Channel Users

• Oguri Shun as Minamoto Munetaka
• Rokkaku Seiji as Ushijima Sadao
• Yamazaki Shigenori as Asano Shinpei
• Sakurai Chizu as Hashizume Ryoko
• Nukumizu Youichi as Ichisaka Susumu
• Gashuin Tatsuya as Tominaga
• Nasubi as Couple man
• Tamura Tagame as Couple girl
• Matsuo Satoru as Thespa
• Nomizu Iori as Kagami Moé
• Kikuma Yukino as Housewife
• Yamanaka Takashi as Fuyuhiko
• Yashiba Toshihiro as Freeter
• Namioka Kazuki as Music otaku
• Doi Yoshio as Conductor
• Kakeda Makoto (掛田誠) as Middle-aged man
• Murakami Wataru (村上航) as Military otaku
• Kojima Tenten (小嶌天天) as Prep school student
• Yumita Makoto (弓田真好杜) as Bodybuilder
• Mizuno Tomonori (水野智則) as Moeta
• Nakajima Yoko as Sachiyo
• Toyonaga Toshiyuki (豊永利行) as Sharp-dressed man
• Kase Takao (加瀬尊朗) as Good looking man
• Ebihara Keisuke (海老原敬介) as Tobita Koki

Absolute Boyfriend (Zettai Kareshi) Episode 3 Synopsis

The scene starts with Riiko staring at the contract, shaking. Alas, she stamps on the contract as an agreement to buy Night. The 100 million yen payment will be paid by instalment, due at the end of every month for a period of 70 years, equivalent to 6.451 yen per day. However, Riiko still yearns for a normal love life and begins to doubt her impulse on buying Night. Namikiri emphasizes there's no refunding as she has already signed the contract.


After Namikiri left, the landlord lady visits Night in Riiko's presence, giving him a shirt as n expression of her care while pressing Riiko to settle the rent asap. Back at Kronos Heaven, Namikiri's superior is surprised that Riiko is willing to buy Night after all the negative response from her. He is meanwhile concerned towards Night's functionality as a product and is against the idea of mass producing Night anytime soon in case there is a problem with him.

The more Riiko calculates, the more she starts to worry about her finances regarding Night's cost. As the company's outing draws near, Riiko plans to back out to save money but is seriously refused by her colleague, who is the organizer. Soon, Night arrives at Riiko's office and introduces himself as the new janitor. Riiko is simply stunned.


The colleagues are puzzled that Night's writte first name is the same as Riiko's. In an instant, Riiko spots the name of the hot springs on the brochure's cover, declares that Night's true name is Tenjo Night and explains he is her cousin.


At the meeting room, Soshi's presentation of Riiko's cream puffs as the new product is quickly dismissed by his brother and the other superiors. At the pantry, Riiko reprimands Night for choosing her workplace out of all places and calling her 'girlfriend' before her colleagues. Night reacts almost happy and says that Riiko is just being shy. Meanwhile, Riiko notices Soshi passing by with a downcast look.

Despite Riiko's indifference towards Night's passion for her, Mika feels jealous and deliberately tries to seduce Night while he is working alone. On his own, Soshi manages to gain the help of his grandfather's friend who is a bakery store manager, to try selling his cream puffs. Riiko is pulled from her boring involvement in the outing's planning to help Soshi, who assigns the disgruntled section chief to take her place.

Night waits at Riiko's office building entrance, unaware she is staying back to help Soshi with the cream puffs. Mika seizes this chance to get closer to Night, who doesn't appear to be moved by her at all. When asked why he likes Riiko, he answers there is no need for a reason because Riiko is just special. This infuriates Mika even more that she tries to affect their relationship by saying that Riiko is interested in the boss.

Unable to break through the closed glass doors as a part of his programmed regulation, he waits till morning for Riiko, who exits the building with Soshi, asking her if there is anything between her and Soshi. Riiko is reminded that Night being a little jealous is part of her requirement during the survey but doesn't bother to explain and follows Soshi.


At Kronos Heaven, the results of Riiko's emotions generated from Night's bangle show mainly negative responses with only once where it turned pink. Namikiri's superior is increasingly concerned over this, and worries about the company's future if their creation continues to show no constant positive results.


During the outing the next day, Riiko sleeps through the entire tour due to exhaustion from work and wakes only when they reach the inn they are supposed to lodge. Riiko and her colleagues are shocked when she finds Night inside the tour bus's luggage compartment. The moments that follow in the inn annoys Riiko, as Night follows her basically everywhere, during dinner and even to spa bath where he conceals himself under water.

After dinner, Riiko rushes off to join Soshi after receiving an urgent call from him to meet in the President's office. In a hurry, she shoves Night away telling him not to pester her, breaking the crystals bracelet she just picked with Mika as a bond of their friendship. She tells Night that she wishes that she never bought him and left.

At the office, Soshi's brother(Vice President) reprimands Soshi and Riiko for using such a plain product in the name of the company. Soshi defends Riiko by saying Riiko is merely following his orders. Together, Soshi, Riiko and the manager try to convince Soshi's brother(Vice President) to taste the cream puffs which he sees no prospect in. Alas he tastes one, with subtle amazement in his eyes, but walks off coldly with an unchanged opinion.

Night spends the night alone assembling the broken bracelet when Mika enters his room. Lying to him that she has glue on his face, she offers to wipe it off, asking him to close his eyes. This he does and she closes in to kiss him on the lips. Night suddenly shuts down. Riiko happens to return and Mika gets up in a fluster to explain herself. Shortly, Night reboots again and walks up to Mika, hugging and calling her 'girlfriend'. Riiko looks on, befuddled by his weird actions.


*Episode 4 & onwards synopsis coming soon!*

Absolute Boyfriend (Zettai Kareshi) Episode 1 Synopsis

The story starts off with the authorities of the robotics company Kronos Heaven, soon to launch their newest creation 01, aimed to rid women from their suffering of love. So they plan to find a test subject for their new invention.

The scene switches to Riiko, an ordinary looking and down to earth girl at a cafe talking with her potential love interest, Ishizeki. However her hopes are dashed when she realizes he is not in the least interested in her. Saddened, she spills her sorrow to her friend at the bar she frequents, where a scientist, Namikiri from Kronos Heaven overhears her unfortunate story, and invites her to take a survey. The survey is a list of questions regarding the ideal characteristics she would expect from an ideal boyfriend. Initially uninterested, Namikiri eventually persuades her with the assurance that her life can be changed only if she dares to take the first step. When asked for further additions to the survey, she adds that her ideal boyfriend is someone who will come to her rescue when she is in a pinch.


At the office meeting, Riiko's best friend Mika, encourages her to hasten her pursuit of Ishizeki. The story introduces Riiko's chief, Soshi, the son of the Asamoto's president who treats work with little motivation and indifference.
The next day, an anonymous big package arrives at her doorstep, addressed to her from Kronos Heaven. When she opens it up, she finds a guy inside, a robot who she almost mistakes for a real human. Following the manual booting instructions, she kisses him briefly curiously and rushes to work.

After work, Riiko arrives home in shock to find a naked guy emerging from her kitchen and throws a pan at him. It is the model 01 sent to her that morning earlier. 01 walks near and scans the cowering Riiko, who matches with the programmed test subject, also known as his girlfriend.
Namikiri arrives shortly to fix the damage caused by her frying pan when 01 blocked with his arm, and asks Riiko to be more gentle with 01.

He tells Riiko that she is only granted 5 day free trial to use 01, during which, he will monitor 01's operational functions. Though 01 is programmed to treat his owner with uttermost devotion, Riiko finds him very annoying and wishes for the 5 day free trial to end as soon as possible. At night, she assigns 01 to sleep/recharge in the toilet.

By Mika's advice, Riiko decides to use the dashing looking 01 to act as her boyfriend to incur jealousy in Ishimeka, hoping to win his attention. As she had wished, he responded dumbfounded and later asks her out on a date. But unknown to Riiko is the fact that Ishizeki is secretly dating her best friend Mika. During her date with Ishimeka, Riiko is angered by 01's constant stalking and claim about him being her ideal boyfriend in front of Ishimeka and commands him to stay away.
This he does as his bangle lights blue indicative of his owner's rage.

At an important dessert conference, Ishizeki accidentally tells the driver who is sending the new products the wrong directions. When asked, Riiko says it is her mistake to cover Ishizeki and is seriously reproached. 01 happens to hear this as he heads to find Riiko, and rushes to the driver to bring back the products himself. On the way back, he hits a moving construction machine and falls on his head, but continues his way back with a damaged knee.

Outside the building, Riiko waits anxiously while Soshi asks why she did such a foolish thing to cover Ishizeki's mistake. 01 soon arrives to pass Riiko the products, as he goes into shutdown mode, telling Riiko to go to the conference quickly. The event ends in a success, and Ishizeki expresses gratitude to her and asks her out to celebrate that night.

Aware of 01's incurred damages through his satellite receiver, Namikiri comes to fetch 01 for repairs. When Riiko later discovers she has dropped the handkerchief Ishizeki gave her, she heads back to her office to look for it and overhears Ishizeki's distasteful opinions of her. He goes further to insult her after knowing she has heard everything. While Soshi intends to intrude Ishizeki, 01 confronts Ishizeki and punches him on the face, saying he will not let anyone hurt Riiko.

Mika dumps Ishizeki, returning his ring after knowing Riiko has lost interest in him, saying that she is only interested in others' property.

Riiko disposes Ishizeki's handkerchief and thanks 01, naming him Night, pronounced similarly to the 'knight' who will protect her in times of trouble. But still, she objects to Night calling her his girlfriend for he is only a robot programmed to act and speak without a will.

Click here for Episode 2 Synopsis!

Absolute Boyfriend (Zettai Kareshi) Episode 2 Synopsis

The next morning, Riiko wakens in shock to see Night's face closing in to kiss her. To her surprise, Night is a great cook as she sees the neat breakfast he prepared for her, which he reminds Riiko that it was part of her requirements for him(her ideal boyfriend) to be a great cook when she took the survey.


When Ishemeki insulted Riiko, he toppled the box of cream puffs which Riiko intended to pass to him. Curious, Soshi tasted one of the cream puffs and becomes amazed by its unique taste. At work, Soshi's father and his brother discuss that the company is in need of a new product which would be sold at Touto Departmental Stores. The reluctant and uninterested Soshi is assigned to come up with a sample for this crucial assignement.
He approaches Riiko and shows interest in her cream puffs to be used for the new product. At home, Night does the housework like sewing and cleaning. Outside his apartment, he saves the landlady as she slips while fixing the lights. She is instantly mesmerized by Night's dashing look.


As the 5 day free trial period draws to an end, the head at Kronos Heaven plans to retrieve Night and find the next test subject. Namikiri however objects as he believes Riiko's rare down to earth character fits perfectly as a test subject for Night. To do so, he needs to make sure that Night will no longer be used as a free product. Namikiri visits Riiko, who awaits him anxiously to take Night back, and spare her from the annoyance of his presence. (Night constantly calls Riiko 'girlfriend', says 'I love you' and claims himself as her ideal boyfriend in front of Riiko's colleagues. He even sprays water on his body, does push ups and poses sexy before Riiko as part of her requirements during the survey.)


Namikiri uses the contract against Riiko, which she didn't read through thoroughly, to ensure that she buys Night. One of the terms states 'should the product be damaged or repaired during the trial period, he will be considered sold'. The price however is 100 million yen!!
Riiko however is given the option to return Night if she can settle the repair fees of 1 million yen within the next 7 days.


But Riiko's total savings only make up 601 255 yen, which is far from enough. She applies to work as a hostess at a cabaret club after work, and is sighted by Soshi who visits the place. He follows her to the kitchen, and is fascinated by her delicate culinary skills. Mika who shows interest in Night after an incident where Night stopped a robber who snatched Riiko's handbag turns up at Riiko's place and is received by Night. She purposely hints that Riiko is keeping something from him hoping to sow discord between them. Night however expresses puzzled at her words.


When Riiko hasn't come home late that night, Night sets out to the bar to look for her. The lady boss discloses to him about Riiko's financial problems lately. Night later finds Soshi carrying a drunken Riiko on his way to her apartment. Both the guys introduce each other, with Night unfriendly at the start, but soon confirms Soshi's good intentions. Soshi says Night should act more like a boyfriend.


The following night, Riiko comes home and realizes Night is missing. In truth, he is out taking night jobs doing labour work. His tremondous strength and stamina earns the boss's praise. Alone, Riiko calls Namikiri, asking what will happen to Night after she returns him. Namikiri tells her that Night's data archive and memories of her will be deleted, before he is scrapped completely. Riiko hesitates but still insists she will pay the fees and return Night.


As she was fired from the job at the club, she takes up a job as a dishwasher. On her way home, she sees Night dressed as a delivery man, loading boxes onto a truck. Suddenly, he retreats into a sitting posture to recharge. Startled, she walks forth and covers him with a large empty box just as the manager comes looking for him.


He mistakes her for Night's girlfriend and conveys that Night claimed to him that he is willing to do anything for his girlfriend. Riiko expresses subtle sentiments at these words. When asked if she's coming to check on Night, Riiko pretends so, and lies that Night has gone to the toilet while pushing Nights' feet into the box to avoid him being noticed. Night soon recovers and helps Riiko, who is loading the boxes for him.


Riiko consolidates their recently earned money, and Night's totals 350000 yen. Riiko shows sign of gratitude and remorse at the same time. Before leaving for work, Riiko hands Night an envelope containing the repair fees to hand over to Namikiri when he arrives. She also instructs him to place the house key in the mailbox when he leaves the house. Looking at Night for the last time, she hurries to work without telling him her decision to return him.


At the office kitchen, Riiko demonstrates the recipe of her cream puffs to Soshi who observes in amazed silence. Riiko compliments his drawing of a house she saw earlier on, and asks the meaning of the drawing. Soshi tells her that her cream puff reminds him of his grandfather who founded Asamoto. When he was still a kid, he would teach him a lot of things and treat him to his delicious cream puffs. The drawing is the house his grandpa once lived in.


During the baking, Riiko realizes Night's bracelet in her handbag and so rushes back home to return it after instructing a puzzled Soshi what to do when the baking completes. Outside her apartment, the landlord lady tells Riiko that she saw Night leaving with a man a short while ago.


At the street, Riiko catches sight of Namikiri's car driving away and chases on. Namikiri notices her and stops the car. As she is about to hand over the bracelet, she looks at Night, who is smiling at her with his innocent eyes. Flashes of Night's thoughtful actions of the past few days dawn on her mind and after much consideration, she tells Namikiri firmly that she will buy Night from him. Namikiri looks on at her in surprise.

Click here for Episode 3 Synopsis!

The Magic of J Drama Music

When one talks about Japanese Dramas, some memorable classics instantly pop up in our minds. But what is it that makes these classics so undetachable from our memories? Apart from a powerful theme and storyline, it is notable to mention the credit of catchy and sentimental music serving as indispensable ingredients, completing the drama as a quality classic. Most common of classics with great music include Utada Hikaru's 'First Love' from 'The Terms of An Innocent Witch', Chage and Aska's 'Say Yes' from 'The 101 Marriage Proposals', Yuko Yamaguchi's 'Believe' from 'Overtime' and many more.


Over the years, the scores and arrangements of J dramas have greatly impressed fans of the genre. What I feel instead is the overuse of the J drama's concepts that captured our hearts in the first place. This has made me feel strongly about the strong and exceptional sentiments and artistry that the Japanese possess.


After watching a decent number of J dramas, I realize some common instruments used in Japanese dramas is notably the guitar and the piano. As most Japanese dramas' stories are more dedicated to love, moral values and life's purpose, many Japanese dramas' soundtrack adopt a more emotional, romantic or soothing feel which I have come to love very much. Originality is also an emphasized factor when it comes to Japanese drama scores, though a minority borrow English songs to use as their theme songs.


Music scores in Japanese dramas can be mainly classified into 3 main types: the comedic scores, the emotional scores, and the heroic scores, usually used where the characters finally come up with a probable solution to resolve the crisis of an episode. I am also impressed at the quantity and quality of music tracks for some Japanese dramas, equalling that of some movie soundtracks. From this, one can see the effort and the diversity of the Japanese media music industry.


I certainly hope the Japanese TV media will continue to touch and surprise J drama fans all over the world with excellent plots and heartfelt soundtracks in the years to come, and carve a significant mark in the world of the TV media industry.

Hotman (2003)

A family drama about understanding between siblings.

This drama contains several lovable casts and acting from Yada Akiko, Konishi Manami(from Accuracy of Death), the charismatic twin brothers Keita and Shota Saito, and Ichikawa Yui. Story is about the 5 children of the same mother, yet different fathers. Takashi Sorimachi plays the eldest son, Enzo, who commits himself to take care of his other 4 siblings,who come to live with him in the house of their shared mother, who passed away.

However, Enzo's daughter, Nanami is who he cares for the most, born with a skin disease that causes extreme itching of the skin. Nanami's disease evokes Enzo's guilt of his wild and ignorant past he spent fooling around with girls. The day that caused his change was when Nanami was placed at his doorstep by her unidentified mother.

Since then, he devotes himself as a father to Nanami to amend for his past. Nanami's role is acted really well by young actress Yamauchi Nana. Her face, voice and expressions are simply kawaii! Seeing her playful innocence is very heart lifting.

Dramas like Hotman, as like many J dramas often emphasize on the values of promise, morals and human bonds with very light hearted and innocent interaction that is very sincere and truthful. Siblings relations, love, friends and child caring, this drama has it all, carrying across to us subtle lessons to be learnt in bettering the bonds with our close ones.

I guess this is the unique magic of J dramas, in that it always inspires and encourages in very simple and honest ways.

For this reason, I can easily differentiate a J drama from other regions of dramas. I am sure this is also the case for most J drama fans out there. As other drama tells stories through cool appearances, a J drama tells stories with genuine burning passion that emits through the screen naturally.

*Episodes are available for viewing at Veoh.

Below info taken from DramaWiki

Episodes: 11, + 1 Special + (Continued on Hotman 2...)

Genre: Family Drama

Viewership ratings: 14.26

Broadcast period: 2003-Apr-03 to 2003-Jun-19

Air time: Thursday 21:00

Songs:

• 'Together' by EXILE (Opening Theme)
  

• 'Utakata' by YeLLOW Generation (Insert song)
  

Cast

• Sorimachi Takashi as Furiya Enzo
• Yada Akiko as Kaneko Misuzu
• Konishi Manami as Furiya Shima
• Ichikawa Yui as Furiya Hinata
• Saito Shota as Furiya Haiji
• Saito Keita as Furiya Ryunosuke
• Yamauchi Nana as Furiya Nanami
• Fukami Motoki as Okuma Toki
• Kuga Yoko as Fujita Sonoko
• Kurotani Tomoka as Sakamoto Yukimi
• Sawajiri Erika as Akikawa Satsuki
• Hiranuma Norihisa as Fujita Masato
• Yamamoto Yuko as Tatsuko Mama
• Ryu Raita as Enzo's Father
• Nakamaru Shinsho as The twins' father
• Waki Tomohiro
• Natsukawa Jun
• Kamiji Yusuke
• Kurita Riko
• Matsuda Shoichi

General Synopsis

Sorimachi Takashi plays school art teacher Enzo Furiya, who takes care of his 5-year-old daughter, Nanami, of which he has no idea who her mother is. He also lives with his four siblings, whose fathers are all different. Nanami suffers from severe atopic dermatitis, so Enzo throws himself into managing her diet to alleviate her condition. He is so determined to raise Nanami well, he doesn’t appear to have any spare time for a girlfriend. And yet, Enzo finds himself drawn to Misuzu Kaneko, a health teacher at his school. Enzo pursues life passionately for his little girl and his family. (TBS)

Dream Again

A modern supernatural J Drama that displays the impact of personality over status.


I was drawn to this J drama when I saw Takashi Sorimachi' name as the protaganist, Ogi. At that time for me, the storyline is a fresh turn from the more exagerrating manga to live action adaptations, which I like too :)


It starts off slow at first, but picks up from the part we see the protaganist, Ogi struck by lightning and dies around 10 mins into the 1st episode. In spirit form, he meets Tanaka, the divine being who comes to fetch him. Soon however, Tanaka realizes that Ogi's death was a mistake, but as Ogi's body has been cremated, he assigns Ogi's spirit onto the body of an influential business tyrant, who has just died from a heart attack.


As the widely hated tyrant, we see how Ogi faces critical decision making situations related to the business which he knows nothing about, awkward speeches with his subordinates, and worst of all, his loving girlfriend who has always wanted to bring down the tyrant's company due to his harsh and unfeeling business methods.


To see how Ogi struggles within these circumstances, and wins even the hearts of enemies with his honesty and compassion is indeed a fulfiling journey to me. Only comment from me is that some middle episodes seem a rather slow and less thought provoking. Luckily the story soon picks up again for the last couple of episodes.


I was anticipating as to how the ending would turn out for Ogi. Will his girlfriend ever know that the tyrant she hates is actually her deceased beloved and what will become of Ogi in the end?


The ending was quite unexpected to me and many others. Some dislike it to certain extent, but mostly love it.


For fans of Takashi Sorimachi and contemporary fantasy plots, give this J drama a try!


*Episodes available for viewing at Dramacrazy.



Below Info taken from DramaWiki

• Genre: Supernatural/Sports/Drama
• Episodes: 10
• Viewership ratings: 10.2 (Kanto)
• Broadcast network: NTV
• Broadcast period: 2007-Oct-13 to 2007-Dec-15
• Air time: Saturday 21:00
• Theme song: Aoku Yasashiku by Kobukuro

Cast

• Sorimachi Takashi as Ogi Shunsuke / Asahina Takaya
• Kato Ai as Ninomiya Satsuki
• Shida Mirai as Fujimoto Hina
• Aota Noriko as Ushiyama Momoko
• Suga Takamasa as Hishinuma Tsukasa
• Miyake Hiroki as Kumada Tsunehito
• Watanabe Tetsu as Maeda Kenzo
• Segawa Eiko (瀬川瑛子) as Nakata Kayo
• Kodama Kiyoshi as Tanaka

General Synopsis

This original series stars Takashi Sorimachi as the pro baseball player Shunsuke Ogi, who is forced to retire after a shoulder injury. He continues to train in hope of returning to the game, but a sudden accident leads to his death. God decides to give him a second chance, placing his soul into the body of another man - a wealthy fund company manager - but adjusting to his new life isn't easy... --Tokyograph

My Boss My Hero (2006)

The fondest and silliest details of school life in a humorous package!

Having just rewatched GTO, my flair for J dramas' heart lifting effect rekindled. So I searched around looking for J dramas of comparable quality and originality, and I came upon several, one of them was 'My Boss My Hero'. So then I decided to give it a try and the night of the 1st episode nearly threw my sister and me into a laughing fit.

It was really that funny, especially the pudding fight and other scenes where the yazuka leader, Makio was defeated by the little situations of daily school life. It really pushes the plot to a interesting level to see the reactions of Makio, his classmates and his actions as he is forced to blend in as a student.

With time, he learns the feeling of true love and that there are many issues violence can't solve, no matter how undefeatable he is. The roles of his friends and teachers fit well with the plot too, such as the stern female teacher(the Iron Face) played by Yuu Kashii , his soft spoken classmate played by Tegoshi Yuya of the band NEWS whom Makio can never remember his full name, and his love interest, a sweet looking and innocent girl played by Aragaki Yui in his class.

In my opinion, I think the 1st episode carries the strongest weight of laughter among the rest. Despite the fact that some episodes have really interesting ideas, I feel the ideas weren't fully utilized to bring out the humor. But this series is not all about comedy, it has some memorable and touching moments from its second act onwards, which made me feel sad for Makio.

The ending is still alright, though it feels rather fast and incomplete in a way, mostly regarding the female teacher(Iron Face). For those who loves school drama and a heart lifting plot, My Boss My Hero is definitely one you should check out! Because of Nagase Tomoya's unique role in this drama, we were later introduced to his band, TOKIO after some googling.

*Episodes are available for viewing at Dramacrazy.

Below info taken from DramaWiki

Episodes: 10

Genre: School Drama, Comedy

Viewership ratings: 18.91

Broadcast period: 2006-Jul-08 to 2006-Sep-16

Air time: Saturday 21:00

Songs:

• 'Sorafune' by TOKIO
  

Cast

• Nagase Tomoya as Sakaki Makio
• Tegoshi Yuya as Sakurakoji Jun
• Tanaka Koki as Manabe Kazuya
• Aragaki Yui as Umemura Hikari
• Murakawa Eri as Hagiwara Saki
• Kikawada Masaya as Sakaki Mikio
• Osugi Ren as Kuroi Teruyuki
• Ichimura Masachika as Sakaki Kiichi

General Synopsis

Sakaki Makio, also known as "Tornado" is a tough 27-year-old high school drop-out. By academic standards, he's pretty dumb. His father decides to force Makio to return to high school to receive his diploma and he asks an old friend who happens to be the principal of a nearby school to admit Makio. If Makio doesn't graduate, the position of boss will be given to his younger brother, Mikio.

Furthermore, he must pose as a 17-year-old during school hours and in the presence of any classmates or teachers outside of school. If his cover is blown, it would be the end of his high school career as well as his hopes to become boss. Things start out rough and tough as Makio's violent temper is tested. As the lessons and days go by he learns there is much more to school than just tests and studying.

Gokusen (2002)

Gokusen is a bold and funny school drama brimming with fiery moves and passion!

Gokusen was one of the J dramas recommended by fans for those who looking for similar genre like Great Teacher Onizuka. I started out with the first season, several details I found are probably inspired by GTO, thus nothing new at first, except that the teacher is a female this time round. Quite like Onizuka who is a bike gang leader, she comes from a yakuza clan, and both never give up on their students.


But seeing that Gokusen has three seasons already out before I even started watching, I became curious about this series. I must admit one of the main fun here is to see how the female protanganist Yankumi intimidates arrogant and ignorant delinquents who belittle her as a woman with her years of martial arts training.


The conflict and comedy is raised as she teaches at a boys school, taking over a class of aggressive and seemingly hopeless delinquents who often mock and spit sarcastic remarks about her plain and unappealing appearance and show entire no interest in study. But no matter how sad she is, she only shows it when she's alone, keeping always an optimistic front before others. No one knows her better than her yakuza family.


She only lets down her long straight hair and takes off her nerdy specs when she's back home, or getting ready for a fight which she is outnumbered. I would always chuckle when she does so. Man, why must she go to school dressed up in a jersey with two awkward ponytails sticking out on both sides. She looks really different, way cooler and pretty in her other portrayal, but no complaints, it's more funny this way, having opposite sides to her character and appearance.


In short, Gokusen sets its focus on the issues regarding male delinquency while Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) diverts across a wider group of students of boys and girls facing problems of varying natures. Overall, Gokusen is more comedic and action filled whereas GTO is more emotional in its direction and has several memorable scenes accompanied by very sentimental scores.


I'm currently watching the 2nd season and find the 1st episode quite moving. The pace compared to season 1 is much faster. There have been comments from fans that Gokusen 2 is better than 1, as well as vice versa. Guess I gonna watch it to find out for myself :)

*Episodes available.

*Synopsis (every episode) available.

Below info taken from DramaWiki

Episodes: 12, + 1 Special + (Continued on Gokusen 2...)

Genre: School, Comedy

Viewership ratings: 17.43 (Not including Special)

Broadcast period: 2002-Apr-01 to 2002-Jul-03

Air time: Wednesday 22:00

Songs:

• 'Feel Your Breeze' by V6 (Opening Theme)
  

Cast

• Nakama Yukie as Yamaguchi Kumiko (Yankumi / Ojou / Kumicho) (Math Teacher/Class 3D adviser)
• Matsumoto Jun as Sawada Shin
• Namase Katsuhisa as Sawatari Goro, Kyoto (School Vice Principal)
• Utsui Ken as Kuroda Ryuichiro (Kumiko's grandpa / 3rd Generation Oedo Yakuza Boss)
• Anan Kenji as Wakamatsu Hiro
• Kaneko Ken as Asakura Tetsu
• Uchiyama Shinji as Tatsukawa Minoru
• Ryogoku Hiroshi as Sugawara Makoto
• Oguri Shun as "Uchi" / Uchiyama Haruhiko
• Waki Tomohiro as "Kuma" / Kumai Teruo
• Narimiya Hiroki as Noda Takeshi
• Ishigaki Yuma as Minami Yoichi
• Ito Misaki as Fujiyama Shizuka (English Teacher)
• Nakazawa Yuko as Kawashima Kikuno (School Nurse)
• Nabe Osami as Ando Osamu (Social Studies Teacher)
• Kohmoto Masahiro as Iwamoto Kohei (P.E. Teacher)
• Okuma Ichiro as Oyama Hajime (Science Teacher)
• Tayama Ryosei as Shirakawa Gonzo (Principal)
• Saito Satoru as Washio Kanji (Japanese Language Teacher)
• Sawamura Ikki as Shinohara Tomoya (Police Officer)
• Sakata Tadashi as Kashiwagi Yutaka (Police Officer)

General Synopsis

The story of a young, idealistic teacher who enters Shirokin Gakuen with hopes of making a difference in the students' lives. However, Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) is in for a rude awakening when she finds that she will be the homeroom teacher of 3-D, the hardest class to maintain in the school. The students have multi-colored hair, sloppy uniforms, and show absolutely no respect to her. The leader of the class, Sawada Shin is lazy but bright and shows some interest in Yamaguchi when he notices that she is very different from other teachers. The students try to bully her to make her quit, but their attempts don't get them very far.

What the class and the rest of the school does not know is that Yamaguchi Kumiko is actually the 4th generation heir to the Ooedo Group, a notorious yakuza clan. Even though her family would like her to take the title of Ojou when her grandfather dies, they have accepted the fact that Yamaguchi would rather be a teacher.

Eventually, the students learn to respect their quirky teacher because of her devotion to them, and even give her a nickname: Yankumi.

20th Century Boys- Chapter 1 (J Movie)

Runtime: 140 mins
More Info at Imdb

A interesting blend of mystery, prophecies, and conspiracy.

When i watched this movie, I haven't any idea of how its manga version feels like. But as a fan of the mystery genre, I was soon absorbed into the movie in about 10 mins into it.


First, it is quite a lengthy movie which I felt was like close to 3 hours when I watched it. (But I have always like long movies). Nothing really bad about that, rather I find it still reasonable as it gives more time to tell the backstory and unfolds the mystery.


Story basically starts out with long time friends gathering at the funeral of their once close friend, Donkey, who died mysteriously. Tieing the case and the protanganist(Kenji) together is the symbol that leads back to his childhood schooltimes where he and his group of friends first met. The symbol was created as a sign of their friendship.


Under the lead of Kenji, the curious students imagined what the future would be like and Kenji drew down the events on a book, which they named as the Book of Prophecies. The book was later buried and the group of students grew up living their own lives.


Back to the present time, mysterious murders continue after Donkey's death, influence of an unknown cult begins to spread, led by someone known only as Friend, an unidentified individual who wears a mask drawn with the symbol created by Kenji and his friends. Meanwhile, the events told in the Book of Prophecies starts to come true one after another.


Who is this Friend? Could the culprit be among Kenji's friends, the only ones who know of the Book of Prophecies? It was these questions that kept me till the credits roll. It was quite a pleasant surprise to see how the ending paves the start for the 2nd Chapter, which alas after a long wait will be screening in local theatres on this 9th of July!


Pacing and overall execution wise, I find Death Note better to some extent, though I have to say that 20th Century Boys' plot is more complex, and the character involvement is much broader. Fans of the mystery genre, DON'T miss this!