Must Watch:
Attention Please:-Losing her mother at a young age, Misaki Yoko (Ueto Aya) was raised amongst three brothers. Yoko is a slightly boyish girl who is bullheaded and hates dishonesty. Ever since she was young, she enjoyed the company of boys over girls. She starts a band with four of her boy friends and becomes the lead singer. Then one day, one of the members of the band, Tsukasa, gets a job at a bank in Tokyo. Due to Tsukasa leaving town, the band breaks up and though Yoko finds herself lonely, she puts on a strong act in front of Tsukasa. She can't tell Tsukasa how she truly feels for him. On the day Tsukasa leaves for Tokyo, Yoko goes along with the band members to the airport to see him off. The guys get excited when they see some cabin crew ladies and Yoko has no idea why. She reminds them that even she can wear a uniform, but the guys only make fun of her. That's when Tsukasa tells Yoko he wonders what she'd look like dressed in uniform. This is when Yoko decides she wants to work as a Cabin Attendant.
-This, as far as I can remember, was my first drama. Ueto shines brightly as a punk who tries to become a beautiful, elegant cabin attendant. This is one of those dramas where the protagonist learns and improves as a person, but doesn't lose their fun personality. The romance in this drama isn't as important, but there is still some. I assume this drama was popular, at least in Japan, because there are multiple specials.
Nodame Cantabile:-Based on the hit comic book by Tomoko Ninomiya, this is a fun-filled quirky romantic story of two very opposite people. Megumi Noda, or "Nodame" is a piano student at Momogaoka College of Music. An extremely talented pianist who wants to be a kindergarten teacher, she prefers playing by ear rather than reading the music score. She is messy and disorganized, takes baths several days apart and loves to eat, sometimes stealing her friend’s lunchbox when it is filled with delicacies. Shinichi Chiaki, is Momogaoka’s top student. Born into a musical family, he is talented in piano and violin and has secret ambitions to become a conductor. An arrogant multi-lingual perfectionist who once lived abroad in the music capitals of the world as a young boy, he feels mired in Japan because of a childhood phobia. They meet by accident. Nodame quickly falls in love, but it takes much longer for Chiaki to even begin to appreciate Nodame’s unusual qualities. Their relationship causes them both to develop and grow. Because of Nodame, Chiaki got the opportunity to lead a student orchestra and begins to have a broader appreciation of people's musical abilities. Because of Chiaki, Nodame faces her fears and enters a piano competition. Opportunities open up as both begin taking risks, stretching themselves far more than they ever thought possible.
-I avoided this drama for awhile because the plot didn't catch my interest. I don't care about classical music or them playing their instruments. However, the characters are so entertaining that it doesn't matter.
Highly Recommended:
-Blessed with good looks, Takano Kyohei, a college student, is always suffering from the unreasonable behaviour of customers who want him and the sexual harassment of his store manager. Because of his hot temper, he loses his head on this occasion and is fired from his part-time job. Then one day, the glamorous owner, Ms Nakahara proposes, "I’ll give you free board-and-lodging if you can turn my niece, Sunako, into a lady!" Kyohei and Toyama Yukinojo, Oda Takenaga and Morii Ranmaru, the other guys living together in the same boarding house, are enthusiastic, but the person who appears before the four of them is a spooky girl whose hair covers her face and who loves horror and vampires. And so, their tumultuous communal life begins... --Jdrama Weblog
-In theory I should also love this drama, and it is pretty popular. But as I've said before, I have a short attention span. It is interesting for the first couple of episodes, but the progression wasn't fast enough so I lost interest. I might try again because this drama became popular pretty quickly.
Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo:-Kano Haruko (Naka Riisa) is a charismatic shop assistant who has such excellent fashion sense that she has been featured in fashion magazines. However, she is unable to give up her dream of being a high school teacher. Haruko is asked by her former teacher to teach Japanese to foreigners for three months on the understanding that he would introduce her for the high school’s Japanese language teaching position. And so, she becomes a trainee teacher at a Japanese language school where she coaches nine foreign students with strong personalities, including an Italian anime enthusiast and a Swede who is in love with ninjas, according to her own convictions, while setting her sights on becoming a high school teacher. --JDrama Weblo
-I started to watch this series because it talks about Japanese as a language with advanced questions that they use or have trouble with in daily life. It is interesting and great if your learning Japanese. I stopped watching before I got to know too many of the characters, just because I was busy. There is a good chance that you might see some gaijin (foreigner) stereotypes, but the show deals with issues that foreigners have to deal with in Japan. So this is a great show for us gaijin.
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