Fall 2024 Heart-Pounding Japanese Drama Rankings

This drama blows me away with its cuteness. I hardly ever watch a drama twice, but I find myself doing just that with this one! Both Nagase Riko and Nomura Kota are promising young actors, and their characters are both very charming. The music is great, to boot! Cosplayers should definitely check out this drama.

I really like Nao. She's very personable on screen. I feel like I could have a totally normal conversation with her if I met her. Interesting story and well-acted and produced. Not exactly a Rom-Com, but definitely has good romance in it. I especially savor the love-hate feelings that Nao’s character, Sato Hokomi, harbors for Tamamori Yuta’s character, Kuzuya Kairi. This is Female Romantic Rocky. DA-DA-DADADA-DADA-DA-DA-DA!

This one just suddenly appeared on my radar. It's about thirty-something year-olds acting like cute but selfish kids. Very funny AND romantic, so it's just up my alley. I especially enjoy the strong-willed, free-speaking lawyer FL character, Mirumachi Kahori, played by Takada Riho. Hilarious! <<OMAE, BAKA-KA?!>> she screams in the first episode after slapping Watanabe Shu's character, Sunagoya, SO HARD! Why, you may ask? Because he failed to disclose to her that he is a married man, before they had their tryst, right after meeting no less!

A late addition to the fall season, this drama features Hayashi Meari, all of 19 years old. She plays the role of Yuki Rio, who is 26 and has been married for 10 years already. And yet she has not yet ever met her husband, Takamine Masatomo, played by Inukai Atsuhiro, who is also starring concurrently in Watashi no Machi no Chiba-kun wa. Admittedly a strange and weak premise. I wonder why the producers cast a 19 year-old with not much acting chops to play an older woman. I guess they wanted someone who could convincingly look and act innocently?

This is actually a tokusatsu (special effects) action-oriented, super-hero drama in the vein of the Kamen Rider. The majority of the plot revolves around our Man-of-the-Hour, junior high school student Hirono Kenta, and his infatuation with being a costumed super-hero who fights evil. But there's also a bit of damsel-in-distress going on with his classmate, Ogawa Miku, played by Kikuchi Hina. And that's why I'm including it in this list.

Weird Rom-Com where the FL, Onodera, is a high-school teacher who gets reacquainted with her first love, Yuichi, from her junior high school days. At the same time, his younger brother, Yuto, is one of her current students, and he's fallen for her! So two brothers going after one woman. What is Onodera to do?

You've got a triple-double in this drama. Three couples. Of course, the story focuses on the main couple, played by Kikuchi Fuma and Kumada Rinka. I can count the number of times Kikuchi's character has smiled on one finger. So serious. And yet on his first date with Morita (Kumada Rinka), he spins her around and kisses her. On the other hand, Kumada's character is kind of bland to me. I can't really describe her in a way that would satisfy myself. As for the second-rank couple, I personally like Yamazaki Hirona, and I like her glasses-look this time around. But as for her opposite, until I started watching the drama, I thought it was another woman. Instead, it's MR. Sakamoto, played by Shimekake Ryuya. Oops. Actually I wish there was more camera time spent on the third-rank couple, played by Saito Nagisa and Kaku So. She's Mini, he's Mighty. 

Like Watashi no Takaramono, the wife has a horrible husband. Actually, this drama one-ups that Matsumoto Wakana drama because at least in that one the husband doesn't cheat on the wife. In this one, Kaho, played by Kubota Sayu, is a "plain-looking" wife, although that's not really the case. Her husband, Shinya, played by Hasegawa Makoto, is having an affair with a co-worker. When he is confronted by Kaho, who found out about his deeds, he admits it, saying that "all husbands cheat at least once." He also complains about her plain looks and brags about how he did her a favor by marrying her. Shortly after this, they divorce. She starts getting involved with a college student, Iori, played by Sano Masaya. How will their relationship go?

Hard to fairly rate this drama, as it's two short stories every episode. But some of them have been very cute stories, so that's a plus. And as the title suggests, all episodes involve older girls/women with younger boys/men. But hardly any real relationships nor romance.

Silly Romance drama that ends up being funny. I mean, you've got a suave Angel of Death who just loves to eat. So far clueless FL who just lets this Stranger of Death stay at her place, while her brother is clueful (is that a word?) and tries to protect his sister in the most round-about ways. All the while you know the Grim Reaper is actually the Grin Reaper, meaning he's actually good.