Having found Japanese culture new and refreshing, I have come to discover J-dorama. Here in the United States, our “soap operas” seem to go for years. How long has “General Hospital” been on? Since longer than I can remember. J-doramas only go for about 11-to 12 episodes, and then maybe a follow up movie. Sometimes they are longer or shorter, but mostly come in one fine little package.
Many of the actors come from various backgrounds. Some are pop singers, (like Otsuka Ai) or from Pop bands, (like KAT-TUN) and others have been teen idols, models or have done commericals. J-doramas often adopt their theme music from some of the various Jpop and J-rock band hits much like Anime has done. An artist who has released a song, knows they will be successful if their song not only gets lots of air play, but is adopted as a theme for Anime or Dorama. Both, puts them in the spotlight for a long, long time.
I would have to say that of the ones I have seen, or have purchased on DVD, 95% of them are really very, very good. Like life itself not all of them have happy endings. Sometimes the main character or love interest dies. Sometimes they are based off of real stories in the news or off the Internet like Densha Otoko (Trainman). But you will not be bored, and in fact its easy to get hooked in.
Many times I have started a series wondering where it was going to go, wondering if it was going to be bad, but I am never disappointed. You have to expect that having a box of Kleenex near by is part and parcel of the experience, but I still love the programs and can not get enough of them.
Happily this is not a problem. For while the Asian video store I go to will sell the DVDs at around $30.00 for a three disk set, one can still watch them for free if one knows where to go on the world wide web. (AZNV.TV for example) I find that for me, as a student learning Japanese, I can hear the language in its natural use, and of course there are always subtitles in English which allow you to enjoy it more.
My current list of watched J-dorama’s
http://www.listsofbests.com/list/22154
