Winter 2025 Japanese Drama Checklist

This is the definition of a romantic comedy. Nagase Ren, as Rich-turned-poor boy Tendo Subaru, provides plenty of laughs with his narcissistic, naughty ways. And Yamashita Mizuki, as Hanakura Madoka, adds spark to the inevitable cupid fire with Subaru, this in spite of her serious work/life attitude. Handsome Koseki Yuta and cute Nakamura Riho support this fine drama. 

Links to my comments for this show can be found at https://mydramalist.com/781082-onzoshi-ni-koi-wa-muzu-sugiru/episodes

Fujii Ryusei's voice is calm, cool, and never in a rush. He plays Shioya Daisuke, a senior to Sato Kaede, played by Konno Ayaka, at the company the two work at. Shioya is always kind and understanding towards Konno, and she is attracted to him. But there's a problem- her superior, Mizoguchi Satoru (Kawashima Noel), shares an apartment with Daisuke. 

Late winter addition. Konno Ayaka is concurrently starring in Kiss de Fusaide, Barenaide. Like in that drama, her character here, Hattori Maika, is having office trouble. This time I like Suzuki Jin's haircut. Hoping for a good revenge romance!

Fuji TV does their best to make a story about people sitting around answering emergency phone calls as exciting as possible. Seino Nana, as Kasuhara Yuki, has great inquisitive and imaginative power. This enables her to envision what's going on during these emergencies. NOT a romance show, therefore my interest-level is lower. 

A short, plain office worker, in a drunken stupor, suddenly gets secretly married to her tall, handsome boss! It’s an outrageous, unbelievable plot. The two ML’s, Saito Kyoko, who plays Koshiba Mao, and Shirota Yu, who plays Ando Hajime, are not exactly the perfect match. Mao is thevoice of reason and reality.  On the other hand, Hajime is the Ever-Optimist. He seems to think nothing of their odd circumstances. 

I'm turned off by medical dramas. But this one actually has comedy and a bit of romance mixed into it. Yoshine Kyoko plays the doctor-in-training Wakatsuki Madoka. The supporting cast includes cool Suzuki Nobuyuki, beautiful Mori Kanna, and cute Takahashi Hikaru. I hope the show continues prescribing comedy and romance, and doesn't get too bogged down in medical emergencies. 

Shinkawa Yua's character, Aizawa Mahiro, and her husband Igarashi Naoto, played by Shiono Akihisa, are unhappily married and living separately. Fate draws them together to the same company. How long can they hide the fact that they're legally married from their co-workers? And will they ever get back together?

Kawaguchi Haruna and Matsumoto Hokuto are the two big leads in this drama about Love Lawyers. I'm not really a fan of lawyer shows, but I'm hoping for sparks to fly between the two stars. 

Sekimizu Nagisa, as housekeeper-to-the-rich Kuromi Kiyoka, must be one of the prettiest killers on TV. She'll act delicately and demurely in front of the family members, but death and destruction to anyone who dares to defy her ideals! NOT a romance, so my interest-level is lower. 

Perhaps there are three main leads: Matsukura Kaito as The-Boy-From-Yamagata Utsunomiya Hiroto, Katayama Yuki as Around-Thirty-Sone, and Higuchi HIna as Hoping-to-Marry Meguro. Lots of chatter about life in Tokyo and dating.

This drama begs the question "Can childhood friends become lovers?" It reminds me of the movie "When Harry Met Sally...," the premise which is whether or not men and women can be just good friends. Hijiri is more like a brother to Koyori than boyfriend. What will it take for their relationship to transform from friends to lovers?

This is more like a real-life documentary, much less a fictional drama. You've got sexless, bickering couples, low salaries, addiction to self/smartphone/sex, kids not wanting to go to school, kodomo shokudo (free meal centers for the poor), and so on. Not much glamour in this show. From the characters' personalities to their style of dress, to the locations. Even the usually glamorous Megumi (in the role of Yanagida Chika) is usually without much makeup. Will Gota (Kazuma Shunsuke) ever be able to persuade his own wife to sleep with him? 

Toumi is matched up with Takizawa Tsubasa in this corny romance-comedy. Her character, Katase Shiori, is really touchy-feely with her underling, Shinozaki Takuma. 

Adachi Rika is Aya Narumi, an office worker looking for s⭕️x! She makes up rules to ensure she enjoys a successful and safe one-night stand! Hiraoka Yuta, playing her boss, Dojima Goro, is chasing her, trying to convice her to sleep with him. But it's against her rules to sleep with a co-worker! Will she break her own rules and give in to her boss? 

Ishii Anna's character, Katagiri Mirei, is very self-conscious. She had plastic surgery on her face, but her insides have not changed. Mirei's classmate since junior high school, Sakaguchi Kei (Honda Kyoya), quickly loses his cool demeanor as he falls in love with Mirei.  Naturally beautiful Honami (Kubota Saya), who likes Kei, will stoop quite low to attempt to snare him. 

Ise Yukiya (Watanabe Keisuke) wants to get back at all the family members who have wronged him.  Little to no comedy in this serious revenge tale. But I hope for a little romance.

Food and innocent romance in the countryside. Baba Fumika’s character, Minase Alice, who is in her late-twenties,  and a high-schooler? Intriguing! By the way, iroribata means open hearth, or fireplace. It's common in traditional Japanese homes. Can pretty much only find them in countryside abodes. 

Late winter addition. Similar to Honno Switch in that the ML's are friends since childhood. Again, begs the question "Can friends become lovers?"

This drama has the same innocent-love theme to it as Toshishita Kareshi Season 2. High-schooler Rei is obnoxiously in love with Rin, his classmate, while she is tsundere, having a love-hate personality. Will this odd pair become a serious couple?

I'm NOT a fan of lawyer shows nor a fan of shogi, the Japanese board game. And I'm NOT a fan of Kamishiraishi Mone, nor any other cast members. The two ML's are guilty of not being romantically involved.

Kinokura Gen (Morisaki Win) enjoys solo camping. Kusano Shizuku (Honda Miyu) intrudes on his solitude and bliss. She cooks dinner for him. Gen has a moment of weakness, digging in and even guzziling down some beer.  Shizuku decides to become Gen's disciple, and so let's do this again next week. NO romance. 

Dropped- too serious 4 me

Dropped- I got lost looking for romance in the forest

Dropped- I thought this was a romance-comedy, but it turned out to be a career-oriented story

Not interested- Just couldn't see eye-to-eye

Not interested- No 'hank you

Not interested- I was originally interested in this half-drama, half-variety program, but after checking it out, I checked out

Not interested- I forget what this is about- maybe I lost my memory or something

Not interested- Checked in for two episodes, then checked out