Latest news with #J-drama
Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Top 5 Japanese romance dramas on Netflix: From First Love to Nevertheless and more
It's been a while since Sakura and Haruto pulled us into the messy, addictive world of Fishbowl Wives, or since Riisa Naka and Tori Matsuzaka's fiery politician-actor romance had us fully hooked, just two standouts from the growing slate of J-content on Netflix. With the steady rise of Asian shows on OTT platforms, especially with the Hallyu wave cracking open the gate for viewers to explore everything from Thai dramas to Indian series, Japanese slice-of-life dramas, and more, it's clear that the OTT space, once heavy on Hollywood and English content, is now leaning hard into Asian storytelling. Japanese shows, on the other hand, with their tight 8–10 episode format, have become fan favourites for their portrayal of raw human emotions and a crop of talented actors, some already household names. Also read: News Anchor star Nagano Mei quits new J-drama amid rumoured relationship with co-actor, agency says 'great trouble caused to relevant units' Cast: Mone Kamishiraishi, Takeru Satoh, and Katsuya Maiguma Release Year: 2020 Director: Maki Enjoji The show revolves around 22-year-old Nanase Sakura, who fell for Doctor Tendo Kairi years ago after witnessing one of his life-saving, heroic moves. Motivated, she grinds her way into the medical field and eventually lands a job as a nurse, hoping to cross paths with him again. Five years later, she does. But the fairytale quickly flies away when she realises Dr. Tendo isn't quite the man she imagined. Turns out, he's a 33-year-old dubbed the 'devil' at work, a perfectionist to the bone, never hesitating to throw sharp-edged, constructive criticism at his peers. Most can't stand him. Sakura, on the other hand, is headstrong, unfiltered, and refuses to back off. She makes it her mission to catch his attention, never hiding how she feels. And somehow, her persistence starts to get through to him. Cast: Hikari Mitsushima, Takeru Satoh, and Rikako Yagi Release Year: 2022 Director: Yuri Kanchiku This 2022 J-drama follows two teenagers who first met in the late '90s. Yae and Harumichi spent years together, carefree, madly in love, until high school graduation pulled them apart. Yae moved to Tokyo, and Harumichi joined the Self-Defense Forces to study aviation. Before leaving, they promised never to forget each other. But 20 years pass, and everything's changed. Adulthood hits different, the spark's faded, life's gotten heavier. The story picks up again with Yae, who, after a tragic accident, gives up her dream of becoming a flight attendant and now works as a taxi driver. Harumichi, having finished his time in the Forces, is with a security firm. Then, just like that, their paths cross again. The drama is inspired by Hikaru Utada's iconic songs 'First Love' and 'Hatsuko'. Also read: Ji Chang Wook's Suspicious Partner and Beyond Evil get Japanese makeover: release date, cast, OTT, and more Cast: Haruna Kawaguchi as Kurumi Mashiba, Ryusei Yokohama as Shun Fujino, Ryûhei Maruyama as Haruto Terai, Anne Nakamura as Ayaka Hase Director: Ayuko Tsukahara The story is a fun little escape, no heavy hitters, perfect to ease your Monday blues. It revolves around Kurumi Mashiba, a super work-focused employee at a top interior design firm. Her solo motto? Look good, stay locked into the job, and hustle hard as a fashion influencer, so much so that she forgets everything else, including renewing her apartment lease. Which forces her to move into a shared apartment in Omotesando, the trendy Tokyo neighbourhood, thanks to her friend Kouko Saotome, a food stylist. But Kouko doesn't live alone. Kurumi now finds herself rooming with a bunch of free spirits who see life very differently—like Shun Fujino, a chef chasing a quiet, simple life, and Hase Ayaka, an aspiring artist. Slowly, the new setup starts shaking up Kurumi's world, she begins to question her priorities, rethink her image and opens up to unexpected connections and love. Cast: Ryusei Yokohama as Ren Kosaka, Sara Minami as Miu Hamasaki Release Year: 2024 (Japanese mini-series adaptation) Director: Nakagawa Ryutaro If you've watched Song Kang and Han So Hee's Nevertheless, then you already know the drill. The Sara Minami and Ryusei Yokohama starrer is a Japanese take on the same story, with just a few tweaks in the timeline. Miu is reeling from a breakup that was both brutal and humiliating, and now she's super focused on her art. But her life turns upside down when Kosaka Ren walks in, a free-spirited artist who's back in Japan after years abroad. He joins her university in Kamakura as a guest lecturer, carries a mysterious personality, and has that kind of quiet magnetism that pulls people in, even if he keeps them at arm's length. Except with Miu. That push-pull game. He plays it hard. And even though he stays emotionally checked out, Ren ends up stirring something deep in her that she can't shake. Release Year: 2024 Cast: Fumi Nikaido as Yuri Motomiya, Chae Jong-hyeop as Yoon Tae Oh, Taishi Nakagawa as Akito Hanaoka The story follows Yuri Motomiya, a girl who, after an accident, ends up with a supernatural ability; she can hear people's inner thoughts just by looking into their eyes. At first, it drives her crazy. The constant noise, the unfiltered mess in people's heads, it's enough to make her ditch her dates mid-way. But slowly, she starts making peace with it. And then walks in Yoon Tae Oh, a kind-hearted, soft-spoken Korean student with a calm vibe. Now, every time she looks into his eyes, all she hears is thoughts in Korean, which she doesn't understand. That unexpected barrier turns into her safe zone, letting her finally breathe, speak, and connect without the pressure of hearing every single thing running through someone's mind.
The Star
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
'Gannibal' review: Brutality that's surprisingly easy to digest
The world has certainly come a long way from the days when entertainment involving cannibalism was made on ultra-low budgets, shot in some "exotic" Asian locale (our own rainforests being a location choice for one notorious example with a certain ex-Bond girl), and drew hordes of the curious to cinemas. All of them looking kind of sheepish or guilty as they lined up for tickets, to be sure. If we lived in cooler climes, most of us would have been queueing in trenchcoats with upturned collars. With Gannibal, things have gone decidedly mainstream. Not only is the series Disney+'s biggest live-action hit in Japan, its country of origin, it also boasts some top-notch production values – noticeably higher than the average J-drama's – and at least one big-scale battle scene (so far). Based on Masaaki Ninomiya's cult favourite manga, which has only just been translated into English, Gannibal is adapted by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Takamase Oe (Drive My Car). It's set in remote Kuge Village where the people, or at least the members of one large and insular clan, have a peculiar custom. 'Weapons? Violence? Oh no, we're just simple farmers. My friend here with the bandaged face had a ... fruit-picking accident. He's just peachy now.' The protagonist is Daigo Agawa (Yuya Yagira, the youngest ever Cannes Best Actor winner for Nobody Knows), a disgraced city cop assigned to be Kuge's constable after the previous one goes missing. While most of the people seem welcoming, Daigo soon runs up against the formidable Goto clan and its leader-in-waiting Keisuke (Show Kasamatsu, Tokyo Vice). Rather than tiptoe around them, he wastes no time showing them that he is not to be trifled with. (At this point, I feel mortified for citing Tatsuya Fujiwara's characters in School Police and AARO as using excessive force on suspects. Compared to Daigo, those guys were pussycats.) Gannibal's first season is just chock-full of intense staredowns, challenges to one another's authority, and plain old in-your-face-ness between Daigo and the Gotos. Adding to the tension is the fact that his young daughter Mashiro (Kokone Shimizu), who has not spoken since her dad did a Very Bad Thing to a suspected paedophile, actually likes it in the village and Daigo's wife Yuki (Riho Yoshioka, the journalist from House Of Ninjas) wants him to get along with everyone so their daughter can recover from her trauma. But does Daigo listen? No. Maybe it's because early on, a mysterious, towering feral being known as "That Man" locally gave him a gash across the head that needed stitches. Or after parts of his predecessor soon turn up in assorted locations. Something is indeed rotten in Kuge, but Daigo's frequent run-ins with the Gotos and the admonishments of the other villagers wear thin pretty fast. This is the one weak aspect of the otherwise fine first season. 'Well, if you knew the twisted s*** that goes on here, holding a gun on the two of you is far from the worst of it.' The second season, which started streaming in March and had a finale on April 23, sees everyone's gloves come off. After the previous season ended on a cliffhanger, the second season hits the ground running, introducing even more unsavoury members of the Goto clan. It does not take long before the situation escalates – and by that, I mean the excrement hits a fan spinning at Ludicrous Speed, as the Gotos prove a far more formidable force than the overconfident city cops imagined. Season Two also explores the post-WWII history of the Goto clan, as flashbacks show just how its sinister (now-deceased) matriarch dramatically shook things up in the village hierarchy. It's a welcome change of pace after the scale of the brutality that precedes it, and puts viewers in a comfortable place – well, as comfortable as the material allows – to take in the remainder of the series. Sure, it's hardly subtle in hammering home its contrasts between rural and urban dwellers, or its themes of how primal impulses lurk in even the most civilised-seeming of individuals, but Gannibal certainly commands the viewer's attention – and not just because most of us here need to read the subtitles. Time to seek out those translated manga is available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar.
