When the J-dorama gods giveth they are oh so generous. And a bit piling on with so much coming at the same time. I’ve been following two J-doramas this season, both packed with some of my favorite actors and actresses wrapped in great storytelling. One of them is Nobunaga Concerto with Oguri Shun, Shibasaki Kou, Mukai Osamu, and Fujiki Naohito. It’s a manga adaptation with a high school student thrown back in time to the thrilling and dangerous era of the Nobunaga shogunate and Oguri Shun as the title character is pulling double duty and having a blast doing so.
Shun is seriously working nonstop these days, despite being a new dad, as last season his Border was the only dorama I loved. He won’t have any break once NC ends as he’s already signed on to costar with Ikuta Toma for the upcoming big-budget corrupt cops and gangsters TBS dorama Ouroboros. The cast was completed this weekend and rockets up another notch on the must-watch meter with the addition of Ueno Juri as the leading lady. She plays a fellow detective alongside Toma’s character while Shun trades his police badge in and plays the dark dangerous gangster for a change.
Juri’s character is described as a no-nonsense detective who graduated from Tokyo University. I haven’t read the manga so don’t know if there’s a love line between her with either of the male lead characters but I’ll be fine if there is or isn’t. Border shows once again that Japan can do fantastic police procedurals without needing to resort to romance as an additional lure.
Ouroboros is the Greek symbol of a serpent eating its own tail. The manga uses that imagery for the story revolving around two orphans who grow up to be a cop and a gangster, respectively, in order to investigate and avenge the murder and cover up of their beloved mentor. One works from inside and the other from the outside to take down the corruption within the police system. Ouroboros starts filming in mid-December for a January 2015 premiere. I can’t wait!
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OMG CAN'T WAITTTTTT. And holy moly, that is a GORGEOUS photo of Ueno Juri!
Japanese drama Gods are way too generous this year!!!! Pump up for this! countdown starts in 3, 2, 1. . . . .
YES! I am so watching this!
OMG with this casting! Pls grant us a great production team for this one!!!
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Good casting! Let's see how she can work with Toma and Shun. I've heard she's a difficult actress but I've always had a soft spot for her. (But Gou was just not for her, no historical dramas for Juri)
The story sounds dark but Toma is one of the decent JE actors (not great but decent, he's charming and my favorite Nakatsu)
I think it's better to have Shun portraying the darker more complex character as he is the stronger actor.
Speaking of Shun Nobunaga concerto is just great, I love the bromance between Saburo and Tsune-chan.
Huh? Why is she s difficult actress? Where did that come from? O_O
There has been news for years in the J-entertainment world that Juri can be hard to work with and interview.
Apparently why she doesn't have many commercial deals is because she's considered difficult and apparently made some bosses mad.
I don't know how much is true and if she's just strong willed that's seen as misbehaving.
Yippeeeeee!!!!!! You can NEVER have too much Oguri Shun.
That first picture of Juri is amazing. The cast is fantastic but I honestly haven't seen a good japanese drama for years. Maybe my taste have changed, but I think it is the quality of the projects that has dropped.
What have you watched? There have been good dramas recently.
Give an example?
Not sure what's recent for you (nor what kind of dramas you like), but in 2013 and 2014 I liked:
- Wakamonotachi (I loved this one, but I think some people found it too 'shouty')
- The Long Goodbye
- Alice no Toge
- Hard Nut (loved it)
- Soratobu Kouhoushitsu (I have soft spot for this one)
- XXX Holic (loved it)
- Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo (my favourite Itakiss adaptation)
- Kogure Photo Studio (4 episode drama only)
There were a few I started and enjoyed, but for which subs haven't been completed:
- Nazo no Tenkousei (saw 3 eps, I believe there are subs for this now... need to find time to watch the rest)
- Nakuna Hara-chan (saw 2 eps)
There were also some that I wanted to watched and have heard good things about but that haven't been subbed yet at all, like Henshin.
Henshin
From alua's list: Currently watching Juri's Alice no Toge and it's quite interesting. Liking Juri's chemistry with Odagiri Jo.
Long Goodbye (5 eps) is excellent all round, from cast to acting to music.
Women, legal high, hanzawa naoki, saikou no rikon, border, just to name a few
I think someone else adapted this manga too because I haven't read it but distinctly recall seeing that summary
Everyone really should read the manga because although I don't have time to read many, this one is really great. It's ongoing which can be kinda frustrating because I want to see how it ends, but I'm sure the drama will be crack for me because I love the cast and can't wait to see them all in their roles!