The upcoming Fall 2012 J-dorama season is about to commence now that the Summer doramas have either wrapped up or will be wrapping up soon. I scanned the list and there isn’t a single renzoku renai on the radar, so that means I’m going for actors to watch as opposed to story that interests me. After a truly boring Winter dorama in Ending Planner, my Yamapi is returning to yet another popular genre – the buddy cop procedural. I swear there are at least 3 cop/law enforcement/crime fighting shows every season! And Japan is a country with an astonishingly low crime rate! The upcoming MONSTERS starring Yamashita Tomohisa and SMAP member Katori Shingo is about a rookie righteous cop paired with a operates outside the norm seasoned veteran that no one wants to work with. Clearly I’m only going to check this out because it stars Yamapi, who was super excited to play a cop for the first time ever. Dude is seriously following in Kimura Takuya‘s footsteps in how they don’t play people but types of people.
Other than Pi’s early works, he’s now since play a swindler, a time-traveler, a basketball player, a doctor, a funeral home director, a boxer, and now a cop. He didn’t manage to pull any of those characters off, but in some he looked really cute so my time was well spent. Another SMAP guy is also returning to television, and of course its none other than KimuTaku himself ready for his one dorama a year stint. Last year he totally sent me running away screaming after 2 episodes of Nankyoku Tairiku, which was simply a Japanese feel good recovery story plus nationalism propaganda film rolled into one. KimuTaku was gorgeous in period garb as a scientist and the dogs were adorable, but that was about it. This time around, the newspapers are calling this upcoming dorama the farthest he has ever fallen in his character’s station in life. Priceless is the story of an executive leading a well-to-do life who get laid off one day and pretty soon finds himself homeless and living in the park. Through his new circumstances, he discovers there are things in the world which are priceless that he never appreciated before.
Priceless is set to be a Fuji TV Getsuku, which means its going to occupy the time slot soon to be vacated by Rich Man, Poor Woman. But RMPW ends next week and Priceless is scheduled to premiere in October, which leads me to think that a few tanpatsu doramas will probably fill that time slot gap in the meantime. Priceless is supposed to be quite uplifting and cheerful, with KimuTaku’s character being someone who retains his positive attitude despite encountering difficulties. Joining him is Karina playing a shy accountant colleague of his, as well as Nakai Kiichi playing KimuTaku’s flaky boss. Rumors have it that KimuTaku is pretty much running the show and he picked his co-stars and the script. I guess this means if Priceless tanks, he’s going to have to shoulder the blame. A look at the characters he’s played reveals this will definitely be the bottom of the barrel in terms of poverty level. He’s played: President of Japan, race car driver, airline pilot, super rich businessman, scientist, genius crime solver, ice hockey player, space ship pilot, and serial killer. I’m definitely curious to watch KimuTaku hit rock bottom and become a bum for a change.
Awwwww, such a deserving recognition and a long time coming for K-actress Jang Nara. She's…
It's still crazy that the two biggest K-dramas of this year 2024 aired basically at…
So there are new posters, stills, and a first teaser out already for modern C-drama…
This is an interesting twist on what sounds like a standard legal K-drama, the male…
So Xu Kai is back in period drama land and has a new actress costar…
So Kim Soo Hyun recently became the new face of fragrance house Jo Malone in…
This website uses cookies.
View Comments
Honestly, most current doramas are really bad and it doesn't help that the procedural/cop dramas are trending there. And pairing up Shingo and Pi, well Shingo is somewhat decent but the best part is they are singing a duet to the dorama! (neither of them can sing)
Hilariously there was rumors about Karina not being Kimutaku's lady choice, he wanted Ayase Haruka.
None if the upcoming fall dramas excite me at all. Usually there are some treasures to be found, example Mother, saigo kara nibanme no koi (that had Nakai Kiichi)and that hilarious low budget rpg adventure with Yamada Takayuki. Luckily for me they are making a second season.
Why can't they just give me Kurosagi season 2 already, Maki's asadora has still a few eps left and it's doing well.
"He didn’t manage to pull any of those characters off, but in some he looked really cute so my time was well spent." HAHAAAAAAA
While I am excited for Yamapi's return to dorama-land....it's yet another cop procedural show. :C That said, I hope he does well on this show cuz his previous one was a snooze-fest.
I have an uhealthy obsession concerning KimuTaku. I'm gonna get my fix soon *jiggling with joy*. Yeah I know he's not as hot as he used to be, but he still has a piece of my heart.
Just wondered which series KimuTaku played pres of Japan, space ship pilot, and scientist? I can guess the rest, watched most of them.
Role-tv drama:
President of Japan- CHANGE
Pilot - Good luck!
Scientist - BRAIN
I think I watched at least 80% of his dramas except his very early work as I was small and the access to Japanese dramas was very limited :)
Shows how many KimuTaku fans there are out there, that it wasn't long until that was answered. 8-)
Yeah, I'll be watching as well even though I also didn't last with KimuTaku + puppies. You'd think I could overlook almost anything for that, but, turns out, no.
Spaceship pilot was the movie Space Battleship Yamato
I watched Proposal Daisakusen and swear afterwards that I'm never watching another drama with Yamapi on it. But I'm getting rave reviews on Nobuta wa Produce so maybe I'll try that out next.
So, no new jdorama recommendations yet, Koala? Hmmm, good thing I'm a new jdorama fan, so I still have lots of oldies to fall back on.
I just want to share, I finished Ikemen Desu Ne last night. And while I think it cannot be compared to the original, I kinda liked the chemistry between Mio and Ren more than their Korean counterparts. Because I can imagine them both as a couple, they acted like a normal one in Episode 9, unlike Taekyung and Minyeo..
Definitely give Nobuta wo Produce a shot. It's one of those rare dramas where I'm just as sad to get to the end on rewatch as I was the first time through. And Yamapi is stupidly adorable as Akira. I wish he'd do that sort of thing more often instead of trying to be a Serious Actor.
Kimutaku back... Yay. I really love kimura and Ayase together except they are always barely acting together in the few that they have been together in. Too bad :( I don't really feel one way or another about karina. I don't know... I haven't really gotten into any jdramas as of late. I have a feeling this one isnt really going to make much of a splash either much as I like him. I even liked the craziness that was brain but I didn't watch his dorama last year at all.
It should be interesting that he's playing a dude on the poverty line this time. I will keep my expectations low.
I would love to see yamapi and Shingo together. I really have liked next to none of yamapi's dramas. Nwp was it. I normally like police / procedural flicks but I guess I just haven't gotten into the jdrama ones yet. They do seem to do well in Japan though.
Try Shinzanmono, it's not quite a prodecural as much as Columbo-like. Or Hero, which is more typically your KimuTaku to the rescue type thing.
The Kimutaku drama sounds like something I might check out, just out of love for him, provided things are slow in K-drama world. Does anyone else love him because of Pride? It's the only sports drama I really liked. I'm not a huge J-dorama watcher. I've seen maybe 25 over the years, and probably 8 of them were Kimutaku. The last Kimutaku drama I watched was Brain - can this one give him better hair?
Well, I've never seen Kimura play a homeless guy before but his character in Jinsei wa Jojo da was pretty wastrel like. And while the Monsters combination is so odd, I'm so relieved Yamapi is playing a kind of funny character from the previews. I don't think I can take two serious dramas in a row from him.
Ooooo I can't wait for this Kimu-Karina pairing. For me, it's been a long time coming since CHANGE. The premise does sound a little out-of-the-ordinary so I hope it works for him. And Karina was awesome in Renai Dekinai. I strongly recommend this dorama to anyone, it's quite a realistic portray of the issues women face in modern society today.