Japanese MUST WATCH dramas 2006-2010

I actually wanted to do a post about anime related stuff as I was busy with Japanese Animation Film Festival, but while in need of a quick post to get the blog rolling again, I decided to go with that.

14-sai no haha (2006)

Proposal Daisakusen - some people may argue, but I'd say it's pretty MUST SEE
also it was my second drama I ever watched!

Attention Please (2006)
Byakuyako (2006)
Densha Otoko (2006)
Kekkon Dekinai Otoko (2006)
My Boss, My Hero (2006)
Nodame Cantabile (2006)

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (2007)
Hotaru no Hikari (2007, 2010)
LIAR GAME (2007)
Proposal Daisakusen (2007)

Binbo Danshi (2008)
Bloody Monday (2008)
CHANGE (2008)
Code Blue (2008, 2010)
Hachimitsu to clover (2008)
Koizora (2008)
Last Friends (2008)
ROOKIES (2008)
Ryusei no Kizuna (2008)
Zettai Kareshi (2008)

At the end of the street: a poster of Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku
I was in Japan when it was airing, so a lot of posters at streets and trains

Atashinchi no Danshi (2009)
BOSS (2009)
Buzzer Beat (2009)
JIN (2009)
Mei-chan no Shitsuji (2009)
MR.BRAIN (2009)
My Girl (2009)
Orthos no Inu (2009)
Smile (2009)
Tokyo DOGS (2009)

Freeter, Ie o Kau (2010)

Moteki (2010)
Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku (2010)
Sunao ni Narenakute (2010)
Tumbling (2010)

If I left something important out, feel free to correct me! Now I shall go back to my "Genji monogatari" that needs to be finished reading.

Japanese MUST WATCH dramas ...-2005

I am so sorry~!!! I had finals... and then I went home... and I just slept and watched movies/ dramas... and read mangas (damn you Gintoki! and Yanagi-kun... :3 ) and then the uni stuff started again and I got a part-time job and then somewhere in the middle I had a total mental breakdown and then Cypsis went away....... in summary: I suck at making it to the deadline -.-

Well I decided to post the ultimate list of MUST WATCH Japanese dramas. So here is the first part (90.s to the awesome year of 2005) in chronological and alphabetical order. (links to Cypsisblog or Dramawiki)

the beginning of Kimutaku's popularity

101st marriage proposal (1991)
Itazura na kiss (1996) 
Long Vacation (1996)
Love Generation (1997)
Virgin Road (1997)
GTO (1998)

Ikebukuro West Gate Park (2000)
Love Complex (2000)
Summer Snow (2000)
Trick (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2010)
Yamato Nadeshiko (2000)
Beautiful Life (2000)

Hero (2001)
Antique (2001)
Love Revolution (2001)
Strawberry on the shortcake (2001)
Long Love Letter (2002)
Lunch Queen (2002)
Kisarazu Cat's Eye (2002)

Eita andYamada Takayuki half-naked most of the time? Yes, please!
Tanaka Kei, Nakao Akiyoshi and Koike Teppei in second season? Yes, please!
Water Boys

Good Luck!! (2003)
Gokusen (2003, 2005, 2008)
Kimi wa Petto (2003)
Manhattan Love Story (2003)
Stand Up!! (2003)
Water Boys (2003, 2004)
Last Christmas (2004)
Orange Days (2004)
Pride (2004)

1 litre of tears (2005)
Anego (2005)
Brother Beat (2005)
Densha Otoko (2005)
Dragon Zakura  (2005)
Jyoou no kyoshitsu (2005)
Hana yori Dango (2005, 2007)
Kiken na Aneki (2005)
Nobuta wo produce (2005)
Slow Dance (2005)
Tiger & Dragon (2005)

As you can see, me and Cypsis haven't watched even half of them! But one day we will - even if we're old and grey (hint to one of my favourite songs). Did I miss something that should be in this list? Well let me know then! :D

Mangakas in Japanese movies/dramas

As those connected to us through facebook already know: we went to anime convention this weekend! It was awesome. Anime is what started my need-to-know-about-Japan-love so it is a big part of my life. It must be the same for a lot of people. It made me realize how important are manga artists - mangaka's - in the social phenomenon that is "becoming a fan of Japanese pop culture/ Japan in general".
So this post is about how Japan portrays those amazing people in the moving picture format.

TROUBLEMAN - Tokuda Kazuo + 4 sad woman

 Kazuo didn't become mangaka himself, but he did become an assistant to Yamada Kikuko who already had three talented assistants. But it can get quite messy when there's one ikemen and four woman whose love life can be described as non-existing as all they do is work and work and work.

Chichi yo anata wa erakatta - Onodera Yu

 He is the example of people aspiring to become mangaka and the conflicts it may bring with one's parents - after all mangaka's paycheck is something that makes people eat instant ramen (I mean everyday and all the time ). The mangaka part is only in the beginning of the movie, so there isn't much to it.
As Kato Shigeaki played both Tokuda Kazuo in "TROUBLEMAN" and Onodera Yu in "Chichi yo anata wa erakatta" I have to add the fun fact that he actually is kind of mangaka in real life too! His novel "Pink to Grey" got serialized as a manga as soon as the novel came out in 2012.

Party wa owatta - Asakura Toake

 After a long time working friends must drag mangaka's out of their room just to show them the real world. But even so the friends can't stop the brain of mangaka. And so Toake is the perfect example how a small thing can be an inspiration for something big. And that you can work where ever you want to.

My darling is a foreigner - Saori

Saori shows how it might get difficult when a mangaka moves in with someone. As mangaka's mostly are freelancers who are trying hard to get a serialisation (that doesn't happen so often), then they need a lot of work with no interruptions. Through Saori we can also see what other possibilities mangaka's have in the work field.

Nihonjin no shiranai nihongo -Luca

 He represents the smallest group of mangakas - the foreign authors.Yes, they do exist. There have been many discussions about foreigners writing manga - wheter it is authentic manga or rather something similar to western comics. My opinion is that manga is manga no matter who writes it - when the appearance and story are manga like - then it's manga. 

Loss time life (ep. 5 "Childhood friend") - Hajime

 Hajime became a mangaka because he promised his childhood friend that he will become one. He is the example of "nothing comes when one doesn't give his best" - nowadays it is really difficult to have a break through but he was able to do it. He also portrays the reality of being a mangaka: living with his mother and having constantly sleepless nights.

If you thought being an manga artist is all about doing what you love, then you are wrong. As you can see even in dramas and movies mangaka's are portrayed as "workaholics whose life is filled with different problems". I think the more we should appreciate our favourites! :)

Elite schools of Japan

In most of the world the new school year has just started - at least in the west side of the world. In Japan the school year started in March so at the moment the second half of the school year has started. As the beginning of September is always associated with school I decided to make this post about elite schools of Japan - of course fictional schools from our lovely high school dramas!

First of all I have to note that in Japan there are two types of schools: public and private.

 Elite schools are of course the latter ones - meaning the people attending it have more money to spend or are talented enough to have scholarships to attend it. But don't think that all private schools are elite! No, not at all - most of the private schools are quite like public schools. For example three years ago I attended The First High School of Tokyo University of Agriculture - a private school that appeared in the drama Dance Drill, yet there wasn't any big differences with public schools I've seen. So by elite school I mean schools that only really rich or/and talented attend.

Now that that's cleared let's see some of the elite schools most of us know!

Eitoku High School - Hana Yori Dango

Eitoku is the place where the people of high-society go. This distinguished private high-school is an escalator from kindergarten to the university.

Even the school field trips are to destinations like Bali, Maldives, Canada and New Caledonie. The school is ruled by the famous F4 who also are responsible for all the bullying that goes on in there - and trust me that is one really bad bullying case! But since they have graduated already, the bullying also kind of has pulled back - at least in Red Notice Level (the person who got one became a victim of bullying).
Well what can I say about this school? If I'd be rich and famous, I'd never make my children attend this school!
My favorite place in school? Probably I'd be like Tsukushi and find refugee from the isolated fire escape.
My favorite sempai? Tough choice but I'd have to say Nishikado Soujiroh - he's the safest choice.

Ouran Academy - Ouran High School High School
The Ouran Private Academy encompasses kindergarten to twelfth grade (along with a university). 

Most students come from wealthy families, but in special cases, merit scholarships are granted to exceptional students from a lower income bracket. The school's unofficial motto is "Lineage counts first, wealth a close second," meaning students with stellar family backgrounds but low socioeconomic status may be given top priority over those from rich families with lesser pedigrees. It has a lot of different extra curriculum clubs - heck! even a host club!
What can I say about this school?... When and where can I fill in my admission papers?? please mind my age, lineage and educational background....
My favorite place in school? The host club obviously - hey! I AM a girl after all.
My favorite sempai? As much as I adore Tamaki, I'd still have to say Nekozawa-sempai - he is just the most adorable little piece of blackberry that I know and I'm not talking about cellphones!

Osaka Academy - Hanazakari no Kimitachi e
Osaka Academy is an all-boys high school that one can enroll in based on scholarships

(sports, performing arts and academic scholarships). The three grade levels are divided into three classes. These nine classes are divided into three dormitories, as most of the students do not stay around the school area. The culture within the individual dormitories are immensely different. Osaka Academy also has a sister school - St Blossoms, an all-girls high school.
What can I say about this school? Basically if you want to see future Olympic winners - this is the school you should look.
My favorite place in school? 2 Dormitory - I guess every place is good when you are surrounded by athletic ikemen's!
My favorite sempai? Kayashima Taiki - you mean who? Of course the awesome dude who can see ghosts and detect auras!

Now that you have seen all those amazing fictional schools and chosen your favourites, I let you all come back to reality and check out one of the real elite schools:
Horikoshi Gakuen - the school that's list of alumni consists of names from Johnny's Entertainment and other well known idols and actors/ actresses from Japan. Want to know more about it? I'll leave you a link: Horikoshi Gakuen

Japanese Scriptwriters you should know

Most of us drama-addicts have our own ichiban's/ crushes/ idols/ what-ever-else-one-can-call-them whose dramas/movies we just want to see. But even when our favourites are leading the drama/movie, we cannot always say that it actually was a great one. Great cast cannot always save a bad script. For drama/movie to be a great one - it has to have a great script (that's the basic of movie making). So instead of looking up another drama/movie with actor/actress you like, you should check the scriptwriter of some of your favourite dramas/movies and look up some other pieces of her/his works. You might be surprised how good stuff you'll find.
So here is my list of Japanese scriptwriters with titles of dramas/movies from Cypsis's list/ notable titles whose work is something that I can always watch over and over again:

- Omori Mika (My Boss My Hero, Buzzer Beat, Hungry!, Kimi wa Petto, Long Love Letter, Lunch Queen)

- Kaneko Shigeki (Proposal Daisakusen, Summer Nude, Honey&Clover, Voice)

- Kaneko Arisa (Stand Up!, Papadoru, Sore wa totsuzen arashi no yo ni, Helter Skelter)

- SABU (real name: Tanaka Hiroyuki) (Troubleman, Shissou~Dead Run, Usagi Drop) I have to warn you that SABU is for so called "special taste".

- Bando Kenji (Paradise Kiss, Tada kimi wo aishiteru, Boku no hatsukoi kimi ni sasagu, Taiyou no Uta, Kids)

- Kitagawa Eriko (Sunao ni narenakute, Tatta Hitotsu no koi, Postman to Heaven, Halfway, and tribute to Kimutaku: Long Vacation, Beautiful Life, Hundred Million Stars Falling from the sky) to tell you the truth she's not my favourite scriptwriter, but I added her into this list as she is the most awarded and known and many people love her works - I just can't handle all this loveydovey I'm-woman-I'm-weak stories(I prefer SABU's wickedness) 
So let me know your favourite scriptwriters - let's share the awesomeness!!!

'cause post without pic is boring
currently watching Kaneko Shigeki's "Summer Nude"