What makes you actually watch a Japanese drama?

Philippines
May 26, 2009 7:33am CST
Is it the characters, the setting, the plot? Is it because your favorite Japanese actors/actresses or in it? Do you prefer dramas that are adaptations of a novel or manga you've actually read before? Or do you choose which dramas to watch based on synopses read over the internet? Do you force yourself to watch dramas just because they're popular among your friends? Well, personally, I'm more of the type of fan who watches series with characters played by my favorite actors/actresses, regardless of the plot. This was how I actually managed to watch Code Blue and Last Friends. I'm an avid fan of NEWS, the group to which Yamapi and Nishikido Ryo belong to so I guess it kind of followed that I just had to watch all dramas with them (and other NEWS members) in it. Of course, when there aren't enough dramas starring actors/actresses that I'm interested in, I take to Wikipedia and, based on the plot summary, decide which dramas to watch. I also tend to like live action adaptations of anime/manga, which are usually lighthearted and easy to watch. So, how about you guys? Any thoughts?
1 person likes this
8 responses
• Singapore
26 May 09
OMG!!! I didn't know that I will be able to find another NEWS fan in mylot!! Hihi~~ Nice to meet you I am more of a Kat-tun's fan than a NEWS one though. However I do like yamapi when he is together with Akanishi
1 person likes this
• Philippines
27 May 09
Hi there. Nice to meet you, too. NEWS and, well, JE fans for that matter, are hard to come by here in myLot but we do have a separate interest category per group - at least, I'm a member of "news" and "tegomass" and I've seen "kat-tun" and "arashi" in the list of "artists I listen to" categories. Maybe you're be interested in adding these keywords to your interest... As for subbed Japanese dramas, well, it is really quite difficult to find them on online streaming sites since fansubbers actually forbid uploading their releases to such sites. So, what I do is I download the dramas in full .avi or .mkv format (around 700MB-1GB). I find that it's worth it, though. Anyway, nice to meet you again. Will friend you, if it's okay.
@modstar (9605)
• Philippines
27 May 09
Can you tell me the sites where i can download japanese action/fantasy/psychological films? I've been looking for them for ages.
1 person likes this
• Singapore
28 May 09
@nekonyanta I used to download dramas too. However I gave it up because of my poor internet connection. I have to wait for at least 1 - 3 or even 4 hours just for an episode. So I am glad that there are websites like http://www.dramacrazy.net/ around. The quality might the problem for a minority of the videos though, so if you are ever sick of downloading, you might want to check out this website. @modstar You can try looking for it in the fan-subbers website or you can a list of already subbed videos and the links to the site that contains the download links in - http://fansub.d-addicts.com/D-Addicts:Completed_JDramas
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• Philippines
26 May 09
I always go for the story or plot... I can't name one single Japanese actor or actress. However, the drama "1 liter of tears" was the first Japanese drama I've seen so far... I shed tears as the actress who portrayed the role of a girl who suffered from a disease that destroyed her body really played the part well. Even if I had liked this drama so much, I didn't bother to know the real names of the actors and actresses that were in this drama.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
27 May 09
Hi there and thanks for responding to my discussion. I honestly haven't watched 1 Liter of Tears, no matter how much I've been meaning to since Nishikido Ryo is in it. He plays the part of the main character/dying girl's love interest. I'm hoping that having the drama shown over a local channel would finally push me to watch the original, subtitled version.
@secretbear (19448)
• Philippines
29 May 09
hi nekonyata! ^^ for me its the same. i usually watch J-dramas of my favorite actors and actress. one example is mei-chan no shijutsu. i forced myself to finish it because of Mizushima Hiro. ^^ and also in Ace Wo Nerae. i didn't want to watch at first because i am not a fan of Ueto Aya. but i watched it because of Yoshizawa Yuu who i first saw and instantly liked in Bloody Monday. ^^ but i liked the tennis action there too. but sometimes i do watch a drama based on the story. just like in... i forgot the title!!! its about a girl who has a shallow perspective in life. she just want to look pretty and aims to have a husband with a stable job. she doesn't think much of others and only herself until she met Ganesha, the god of fortune with an elephant nose and a small crown stuck in his head. oh! got the title, Yume wo Kanaeru Zo. of course at first i was curious to see the girl from Last Friends. i only wanted to read the synopsis and i didn't really want to watch it. but after i read it, i got curious and i wanted to see what will happen to her. and i'm glad i watched it because its really a good one. funny but with a lot of sense. i actually learned something from it. ^.~ and sometimes, its a combination of both. just like in Bloody Monday. i just had to watch it because of Haruma Miura and when i read the synopsis, i got interested right away coz he'd be playing like a geek here, a genius hacker which is in contrast with his roles in Gokusen and Koizora. ^^
1 person likes this
• India
27 May 09
i watch japanese,korean,taiwan,and vietnamese drama for learn they culture and language i lerned some vietnamese and korean also you also can learn language of world mahal kita...
@gcorp09 (940)
• Singapore
26 May 09
Well, I must admit that I had not watched 1 Japanese drama since a few years ago. The most recent one should be the Hero movie by Kimura Takuya (which was initially a TV series around the year 2000/2001). However, in the 1990s, I was quite fascinated about watching Japanese drama (J-doramas), and watched quite a fair bit from the local television as well as the VCDs we had bought. That was also the "golden" period for J-doramas in our country, before the Korean dramas came over, and "overtake" its place. Some of the J-doramas I had watched were GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), Beach Boys, Hero, Beautiful Life, Love Generation, ... I'm not very sure how many here are familiar with these titles... Well, I will say that there are a lot of things I look into when selecting the dramas to watch. However, at that time, I must admit that the Japanese actors and actresses did play a very important part in watching the dramas, especially those who were hot and popular during that time (such as Kimura Takuya, Matsu Takako, Yutaka Takenouchi, Takashi Sorimachi, Nanako Matsushima, and more). However, the story and characters will also play a big part in continuing my interest to watch the show. Well, anyone did watched the above shows I mentioned...
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@stafei (98)
• China
27 May 09
I like their AV,do you like it?I totally don't know why they can advance it so great.So many many person join it and I think they all can have a very good future even if they don't join it.But in fact,they joined,how to understand their act.How to know their thinking.Whether is effected by their education?That is really hard to understand.this is Janpan,anyway I don't like it.They don't like a man,they afraid to face history and face to fact.
1 person likes this
@alvingb (265)
• Singapore
26 May 09
hi there, Well japanses dramas are really intersting to watch. Firstly the language itself is a class of its own. I love the language and it just makes me want to listen more of it. I am not a japanese but i think they really have a very nice accent and beautiful language. seccondly the entire plot of the drama seems to keep me at the edge of my seat. Its really interesting and dramatic. The whole suspense issue is just worth watching. Thirdly its the expression and the tones that are used that makes it really intersting to watch. On the whole to me its really good to watch them. I dont really matter much about the cast, i dont really have a favourite too, i just like japanese dramas on the whole. have a great day ahead. Happy myloting. best regards, alvingb
• Philippines
27 May 09
Hi there. I'm not a Japanese, either, but I really am getting quite familiar with the language, considering that I've been watching anime and J-dramas for the longest time. I'm just waiting to have more free time so that I could attend formal language lessons. And yes, I have to agree that their facial expressions and intonations are interesting to watch and listen to.
@keihimekawa (2009)
• Philippines
1 Aug 11
I always go first with the story (taking into exception if the main cast include actors/actresses that I follow or ANYONE from Arashi XD). If the drama is taken from a manga or anime, I'd also look into it ASAP. If it's from an anime/manga I haven't read/seen, I'd watch the drama first before reading the manga or watching the anime. I tend to get disappointed when I watch the original first before drama (unless i've seen/read the original first before they created the drama). Lead actors/actresses only takes little interest from me but when the drama looks too boring, I'd definitely pass it (even if my fave personality's the main star)