Name |
Cast |
Rating
(5-pt. system) |
Aired |
Synopsis |
| SAYONARA OZU SENSEI 
|
Masakazu Tamura
Seto Asaka
Yusuke Santamaria
Nishida Naomi |
3.0 |
Oct-Dec 2001 |
Masakazu Tamura is a powerful banker in New York who gets caught
while doing some shady deals for his bank and ends up in prison. When he comes out, he
decides to return to Tokyo, only to find that everything he worked for all his life had
been lost: his job: his reputation, his family, and all of his possessions. He is forced
to take up a teaching position at a third-rate school, and there he meets a cast of
interesting characters, all with their own issues and attitudes. The plot revolves about
learning about life in the classroom, and Masakazu Tamura is convincing as a jaded man of
experience with a cynical take on life. The plot’s okay and the acting is solid, but
the storyline’s been done so many times that it’s hard to inject new life into
it.
|
| SEMIDOUBLE |
Nakai Kiichi
Izumi Inamori
Tsunku
Shinobu Otake
Vivian Hsu |
2.5 |
Apr-Jun 1999 |
Inamori
Izumi is a model who loses one of her breasts to cancer, and has to give up her career in
modelling. While she is learning to deal with her new physical defect, she meets Nakai
Kiichi, a very smart but cold-hearted professor who is gradually won over by her brave and
optimistic outlook. Tsunku is Inamori's best friend and has loved her from the start.
Vivian Hsu plays Nakai Kiichi's half-sister. The story started off as being quite
promising but then about two-thirds of the way through, things go straight downhill. One
of the most unnecessarily depressing endings I have ever seen. Read
the episode summaries (C.J. Morikai) |
SHOMUNI 
|
Esumi Makiko
Hosho Mai
Takahashi Yumiko
Kyono Kotomi
Morimoto Leo
Ishiguro Ken |
4 |
Apr-Jun 1998 |
This really
funny comedy about six female workers in the General Affairs Division 2 (Shomu-ni) which
is the most despised department in the company, who fight back with their own brand of
charm and sassiness. Esumi Makiko is their charismatic ringleader and they end up
being the company's champions when things go wrong. The series was so popular that
it spawned a sequel, Shomuni-2, which was aired in Apr-Jun 2000. Read the episode synopsis (the
Enforcer) |
SHOTA NO SUSHI 
|
Kashiwabara
Takashi
Kitahara Masaki
Kimura Yoshino
Hirosue Ryoko
Kaneko Ken |
|
Jul-Sep
1996 |
Based on
the manga, with Kashiwabara Takashi as the young and talented Shota who works towards
being recognised as the No. 1 sushi chef in Japan, because he wants to save his father's
sushi shop. To learn the art of making sushi, he became an apprentice at the famous Otori
Sushi. Each episode sees him picking up a new skill, and going a step towards his goal.
However, many obstacles stood in his way, including a harsh and cold senior who was
jealous of his talent. |
SUMMER SNOW 
|
Dohmoto
Tsuyoshi,
Hirosue Ryoko
Ikewaki Chizuru
Imai Tsubasa
Oguri Jun
Nakamura Shunsuke |
5 |
Jul-Sep 2000 |
One of the BEST dramas I have seen in recent years! If you're a fan of the Hitotsu
Yane no Shita dramas, you MUST watch this one! Dohmoto Tsuyoshi is really hilarious
- and convincing - as the protective (but oldfashioned, in a kind of *dasai* way) ani-chan
who brings up his younger sister and hearing-impaired brother after their parents die in a
car accident. He meets and falls in love with Hirosue Ryoko,a loving but distant
girl with a heart disease, who is in turn inspired by his strong personality and can-do
attitude. A funny, touching and totally heartwarming drama! Read the episode
synopsis (C.J. Morikai) |