Title courtesy of Botagel I guess
having greatly enjoyed this Yuusha Yoshihiko mentioned by user cask in the DQ thread
(this ease of posting videos feels like witchery after old SB)
I have not the slightest knowledge in the medium so without shame or pretense of good taste I ask the dark powers for comedies of similar tone or style, or whatever
I don’t think a single decent J-drama exists
Anime actually has a better track record for quality
Waiting for an HBO moment that will never arrive itt
I didn’t think decent J-pantomime existed either though, before that DQ thing
Yeah that where I was/am, I doubt there’s a golden vein to be discovered or anything but ehi
akihabara@deep is about a bunch of social misfits who start a business solving people’s problems around akihabara. it’s not anywhere near as silly as yoshihiko, but it is still very funny, and has a similar late night otaku garbage feel to it.
i actually love quite a bit of shit low budget late night japanese shows aimed at nerds, but j-drama fandom seems to mostly love soap operas and romantic comedies. most of the shows i like aren’t really what you’re asking for itt either though
Most of the Japanese television I’m exposed to comes through anime/video game fandom so everything I see is lowest common geek denominator stuff like akihabara@deep or tokusatsu stuff Kamen Rider. I never actually got around to watching that DQ parody series but I’m sure Akihabara@deep (a live action manga adaptation) probably fits in the same style. I recall the old Great Teacher Onizuka drama (not the new one) being fun. If you’re fine with exploring variety television you can check out Gaki no Tsukai (the end of year specials are most popular but they have lots of other episodes translated too (these are streamed 24/7 on this streaming site). It’s been so long that I can’t really recall anything else off the top of my head aside from Kamen Rider and stuff but I don’t know if Saturday morning cartoon style stuff is what you’re looking for.
On a side note there’s a tokusatsu show called Innocent Lilies that stars an idol group and feels a lot like porn.
Someone find me a torrent of the Hama Maiku show. I’m not saying it’s great, but I like the energy that Hama Maiku is whatever the director wants it to be.
To enjoy J-dramas, you do have to accept some soapiness, although it’s a far cry from cheesiness of K-dramas, Latin American telenovelas and Turkish series, if you are familiar with those by any chance (hopefully not).
Since you’re looking for something humorous, I recommend the recent Suteki na Sen TAXI. It’s an episodic series about a taxi driver who can take people back in time, allowing the passenger to go back and turn a regretful choice around. It has great,funny dialogue and as is the case with Japanese comedic sensibilities, the whole going back in time is presented as something common-sense and trivially believable to a humorous effect.
Ikebukuro West Gate Park, a drama about rival youth gangs in early 00s Japan. Again, it’s far from the edginess that you’d expect in an American drama about the same subject matter. Instead, it’s actually more of a slice of life series that never takes itself too seriously, but does contain a few touching moments, and I think the resolution of the main plot is surprisingly mature. Considered a classic in the drama scene.
Anyway, if you’ve played any of the Yakuza games, then the sidequests in that game should be of some indication of the humor in the series I mentioned.
joke answer: game center cx
serious answer: game center cx
Netflix and TV Tokyo put up a J-Drama available on US Netflix called Atelier. My friend pitched it to me as a J-drama version of The Devil Wears Prada except about ladies’ lingerie. I’ve seen a few episode and enjoy it enough.
In college, my friend and I were really into the J-drama adaptation of Nodame Cantabile. The characters are all dumb and cartoony and it's about this cool pianist/concert genius who's life gets ruined for the better by a slob genius pianist lady and I forget the rest of the premise. I remember at some point a teacher comes from Europe but it's totally a Japanese guy with a bad spray-tan, a terrible nose prosthesis, and wig and he goes around speaking bad foreigner Japanese.
Also my friend’s mom was in love with the protagonist’s actor. I swooned a bit for him too. His voice is soooo deep.
Older stuff: I remember enjoying the Densha Otoko J-drama. I liked seeing all the dumb stereotype depictions of 2ch posters. It got real soapy later but it was an alright ride. I think Anime Twitter would recommend Kanpai Senshi After V which is a low budget show like Yuusha Yoshiko about a dysfunctional Power Ranger squad drinking and hanging out after work. It's alright. I got a few episodes into it but didn't finish. Man, looking back at Hero Yoshihiko, their production/set budget was pretty nice. The hero is doing some amazingly accurate/nice looking Dragon Quest V cosplay. I never finished watching the show either because I got tired of the same-y jokes. Is the ending worth watching?WATCH LIVE ACTION SAILOR MOON
it’s great.
It’s not GOOD but it’s great.
i’m not sure if everyone knows about it already but i felt like i should write an actual post
it is one of the world’s last variety shows
they hired a buddhist monk for a season to read quotes from game manuals
most of the seasons were recorded in a plain white room with visibly bad air conditioning. they usually decide when to stop taping each episode based on when the cameraman can take the last train home
they go to a different arcade almost every episode, based on letters from viewers, and never send anyone to scout ahead of time. one time they end up at an unplugged Metal Slug cabinet sitting outside a convenience store in a poor part of town. so they plug the cabinet in and invite the little old lady who owns the convenience store to play with them. children on the street gather to watch.
there’s a segment, spread out over a season, where Arino plays a terrible, inscrutable chinese famicom rpg, without a manual, and calls up viewers who submit their phone numbers for tips. this led to surreal moments like watching a man in his early 40s holding a phone and staring at a CRT, waiting for an 8 year old boy to come back from doing his homework to tell him which unmarked tile he needs to step on to teleport to the next area. in another episode they call a stoner college student and he encourages them to stick with it, “for the ending.” weeks later, the ending turns out to be a line of white congratulatory text on a blue screen, and nothing else. i think Arino got a little mad.
they popularized games sb generally likes (legacy of the wizard, umihara kawase, bio miracle, etc) and had segments where they devoted 10 seconds each to wide swathes weird obscure games, many untranslated; the original Galaxy Oddity
for a few seasons they had a super-shy assistant director (Nakayama) who arino makes fun of for having lived in america. later, when arino gets stuck in legacy of the wizard (because everyone gets stuck in legacy of the wizard), nakayama draws him a guide on a flippable sketch book with colored marker
(most episodes with nakayama in them are good episodes)
when umihara’s artist heard that they were playing his game, he faxed them fanart as they were taping
the show’s quality is very mixed, but there’s nothing else quite like it
you can pick out episodes in any order you feel like, there’s very little seriality to worry about
seven you’re spot on GCCX, I watched plenty of that in the past and still occasionally check around. Nakayama is the guy that play fighting games right, I always connect your pic to that
Sounds like you’re still in the first season? There’s no denying jokes are a bit similiar but it’s probably worth finishing. Of course I love the eh, got a new spell moments so ymmv. I love how MC is so obtuse and not even particularily good, just very emotive and childish
Nakayama strongly strongly reminds me of a friend i have.
CR is simulcasting the second season of live action Wakakozake and you’re all gonna watch it with me, right
We can do it while also drinking and eating comfort food so it’ll be interactive
best j-drama intro
everyone please watch the greatest tv show of all time, sukeban deka ii: the legend of the girl in the iron mask
oh i totally didn’t know this thread existed
i never watched a dorama to the end but i’m really curious to watch miss sherlock sometime!
