A Look Ahead to the 2011 Fall Drama Season

Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de.



Starring Keiko Kitagawa and Arashi member Sho Sakurai. Kitagawa plays the part of Reiko Hosho, a rich detective whom lacks detective skills. Sakurai plays Kageyama, Reiko's buttler whom helps her solve the cases. The synopsis sounds a bit cheesy but I'll watch it anyways, since I'm a Keiko Kitagawa fan.

Sengyou Shufu Tantei ~ Watashi wa Shadow




Stars Kyoko Fukada and Naohito Fujiki. Fukada plays the part of Serina, a bumbling housewife turned detective who is suppose to grow stronger throughout. Sounds like there might be some interesting character development for Kyoko's character, and may be interesting to at least check it out. Hopefully it will get subbed.

Kaito Royale




This drama will be a late night drama (Fridays at 24:20), which means that episodes will likely be only 30 minutes long. It stars a trio of talented new and young actors: Tori Matsuzaka, Aya Oomasa, and Seiji Fukushi. I've seen in the tokusatsu series Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, in which he played the main character, Takeru. He did a fine job in that series, and I've been looking forward to seeing him in something else since. It's ashame that Gold hasn't been fully subbed yet, because I would like to see Matsuzaka in it. I've also seen Aya Oomasu and Seiji Fukushi in minor roles in other dramas. Oomasu I've seen in Buzzer Beat, playing Yamapi's younger sister. I've seen Fukushi play Keiko Kitagawa's older brother in Hitsudan Hostess. Both were ok in their respective roles, so they should be ok to watch here. As for the plot itself, Matsuzaka plays the character Rei, who's hired to steal an expensive ring called "Alexander's tear." This drama has an attractive cast and I'll probably try to watch it, but it may take me some time to get around to it.

Nankyoku Tairiku




This one is likely to be a ratings getter, with vastly popular actors Takuya Kimura and Haruka Ayase. Just about any Kimutaku drama draw at least an average 15% rating. The drama itself celebrates TBS' 60th anniversary and seems to be based on a true story. It's about a group of 11 people whom were sent to explore Antartica on a national project. It does sound interesting, but this is a drama that I probably won't pick up until after it's finished. I may be hard pressed to watch the first three I have listed.

Gook Luck!! J-Drama Review (2003)

Info

Title: Good Luck!! (Japanese: グッドラック!!)

Episodes: 10

TV Station: TBS

Broadcast Time: January 19, 2003 to March 23, 2003 on Sundays at 21:00

Genre: Aviation

Average TV Rating: 30.4%

Synopsis

Having achieved his life-long dream of being a pilot, Hajime is first officer on an international jetliner and is now working to become a captain. He can't seem to please Captain Koda, who has become an exacting taskmaster since an air incident many years ago. To complicate matters, he begins a relationship with stubborn and straight-talking mechanic, Ayumi, whose parents died many years ago in the plane crash for which Captain Koda feels he is responsible. What follows is a story of 21st century love, dreams, and passion.

Cast

Kimura Takuya as Shinkai Hajime
Tsutsumi Shinichi as Koda Kazuki
Shibasaki Kou as Ogawa Ayumi
Uchiyama Rina as Fukaura Urara
Kaname Jun as Abe Takayuki
Danta Yasunori as Ota Kenzaburo
Kuroki Hitomi as Togashi Noriko
Takenaka Naoto as Naito Jane
Ikariya Chosuke as Shinkai Ryoji
Nakao Akiyoshi as Shinkai Makoto

Awards

36th Television Drama Academy Awards:

Best Supporting Actor: Tsutsumi Shinichi

Best Opening

6th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix:
Best Actor: Kimura Takuya

Best Drama

My Review

This series for me is a bit mixed. The plot is pretty good but suffers along the way due to some spotty writing. The pacing is slow and they don't do enough with some of the key aspects of the story. For example, Ayumi's (played by Shibasaki Kou) father was killed in an airplane crash some 12 years in the past, for which Captain Koda Kazuki (played by Tsutsumi Sinichi) felt responsible. However, while this incident is explained it is never shown once throughout the drama. The other major flaw with the writing was surrounding Shinkai Hajime's (played by Kimura Takuya) injury. There was basically no screen time devoted to his recovery from surgery. However, there's still quite a bit to like about this drama. It does give an interesting look at the aviation industry. The characters are all pretty solid and I really did like the interaction between Shibasaki's and Kimutaku's character. The developing romance between them was pretty solid. Also, I think Shibasaki, Kimutaku, and Tsutsumi all deliver very good performances. Overall, I think Good Luck!! is a good drama but overrated due to Kimutaku's presence, especially since this drama is ranked in the top 10 on jdorama.com.

Pros

* Great interaction and a solid developing romance between Shibasaki Kou's and Kimura Takuya's characters.

* Interesting look at the aviation industry.

* Descent plot and story line.

* Good acting from Shibasaki, Tsutsumi, and Kimutaku.

Cons

* Suffers from spotty writing.

* Starts out really slow for the first four episodes.

* Uchiyama Rina's character is really annoying, although she has a very good character development episode in episode 5.

* The ending theme sucks.

My Rating

7.5/10- For me a good drama, but could have been better if it had some better pacing and better writing.