Everyone is different, and they like different things, too. Some like action movies, some like comedies, and some can’t live without romance. All these genres are perfectly combined in Japanese series, which will help to understand this mysterious country.
Samurai Gourmet
- Rating IMDB – 8.1
- Genre: Comedy, adventure
- Japan production / 2017
- Directed by Michihito Fujii, Mamoru Hoshi
- Cast: Naoto Takenaka, Tetsuji Tamayama, Honami Suzuki, Hiroki Hayashi, Hiroki Ikehara, Joji Tanuma, Tomoko Akase, Eiji Akaso, Toshimitsu Amano, Ryuichi Ando
Takeshi Kasumi, 60, has retired. Before, every hour of his life was devoted to work and work and work. Now Takeshi needs to figure out how to use this sudden burst of time. So he finds new hobbies: reading books about samurai and traveling around Japan in search of culinary delights.
Japan has the longest life expectancy and, consequently, the highest proportion of pensioners in society. The retirement age in the Land of the Rising Sun is 70. But one can become a pensioner even earlier – at the age of 60-65. In this case, cash payments will be reduced.
Boku no ita jikan
- Rating IMDB – 8.1
- Genre: Drama, melodrama
- Japan production / 2014
- Directed by Hiroki Hayama, Hidenori Joho, Miyako Yasoshima
- Cast: Haruma Miura, Mikako Tabe, Shunsuke Kazama, Takumi Saito, Mizuki Yamamoto, Shuhei Nomura, Miyoko Asada, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Mieko Harada, Mantaro Koichi
A touching and sad love story of the boy Sawada Takuto and the girl Megumi Hongo. His parents expected him to inherit the family business. But Takuto chose a different path. The popular guy suddenly discovers his terminal illness. Instead of falling into depression, he tries to live his remaining time as actively as possible. But what about Megumi? Will she stay with the young man, or will she prefer someone else?
The main character was diagnosed with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It is a disease of the central nervous system in which neural connections are destroyed, and paralysis and muscle atrophy occur. The average life expectancy with ALS from the time of diagnosis is 2 to 5 years. Stephen Hawking, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Mao Zedong suffered from ALS.
The Emperor’s Cook
- Rating IMDB – 7.9
- Genre: Biography, Drama, History
- Japan production / 2015
- Directed by Yuichiro Hirakawa, Yuji Nakamae, Shingo Okamoto
- Cast: Takeru Sato, Haru Kuroki, Sei Ashina, Ryu Morioka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Kenta Kiritani, Tasuku Emoto, Ryohei Suzuki, Tetsuya Takeda, Hideaki Ito
One day a 16-year-old country boy tasted a cutlet and disappeared. Now his whole life is devoted to one dream: to become the best cook in the Japanese Empire. Starting from the very basics, Tokuzo Akiyama went the hard way and at the age of 25 became the chief cook of the Imperial Palace.
A biopic about the life of an iconic figure of Japanese culinary art, the imperial chef Tokuzo Akiyama, who spread French cuisine in the country. Akiyama served two emperors and retired at the age of 83 in 1972.
Alice in Borderland
- Rating IMDB – 7.6
- Genre: Action, sci-fi, drama, detective
- Japan production / 2020
- Directed by Shinsuke Sato
- Cast: Kento Yamazaki, Tao Tsuchiya, Nijiro Murakami, Yuki Morinaga, Keita Machida, Ayaka Miyoshi, Dori Sakurada, Aya Asahina, Shuntaro Yanagi, Yutaro Watanabe
Arisu, an avid gamer, once again has a row with his family and goes out with friends. At a Shibuya crosswalk, the trio causes an accident and hides from the police in the bathroom.
Once out of hiding, the buddies realize that Tokyo is deserted. A huge scoreboard in the center invites the guys to play a game. The loser dies, while the winner gets a temporary reprieve and takes part in the next round of deadly fun.
One of the most recognizable locations in Tokyo is the Shibuya diagonal crosswalk. The creators never managed to film it unmanned, and had to recreate it using computer graphics.
Liar Game
- Rating IMDB – 8.1
- Genre: Thriller, Drama
- Japan production / 2007
- Directed by Hiroaki Matsuyama
- Cast: Erika Toda, Shota Matsuda, Michiko Kitise, Kazuma Suzuki, Shingo Ippongi, Masayuki Izumi, Shigeo Kiyama, Makoto Sakamoto, Soko Wada, Mio Dazai
Young and naive Nao Kanzaki is drawn into the “Liar Game” competition by an unknown organization. The girl has been given 100 million yen and must keep it for one month. Nao has a rival who must take the money from her by any means necessary. On the first day, the girl’s rival cheats her and takes all the money. Nao decides to enlist the help of the con man Shinita Akayama, who recently got out of prison.
The drama has sequels: “Liar Game 2” from 2009, “Raiâ gêmu: Za fainaru sutêji” from 2010 and “Liar Game: Rebirth” from 2012.
Boku dake ga inai machi
- Rating IMDB – 7.8
- Genre: Drama, detective, thriller, fantasy
- Japan production / 2017
- Directed by Tan Shimoyama
- Cast: Yuki Furukawa, Mio Yuki, Rinka Kakihara, Noriko Eguchi, Shigeyuki Totsugi, Jin Shirasu, Tomoka Kurotani, Reo Uchikawa, Kairi Jou, Rinka Kakihara
Satoru Fujinuma, a 28-year-old loser mangaka, works part-time at a pizzeria. You’d think he’d be a regular guy. But no! Satoru has a superpower – he can travel through time. Usually he can go back a few minutes. But Satoru’s mother has uncovered a terrible secret about child abductions in the past and paid for it with her life. To save his mother, Satoru decides to travel back 18 years.
A mangaka is an artist who draws Japanese manga comics. The work of a mangaka is very stressful; 20-30 pages of manga have to be turned in each week. In 2011, one famous manga artist “earned” a fracture of the lumbar spine due to the large number of hours spent working.
Kaitô Yamaneko
- Rating IMDB – 7.1
- Genre: Detective
- Japan production / 2016
- Directed by Ryuichi Inomata, Ryo Nishimura, Naoko Komuro
- Cast: Kazuya Kamenashi, Hiroki Narimiya, Suzu Hirose, Nanao, Yukiya Kitamura, Nene Otsuka, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Takashi Sasano, Sairi Ito, Kosen
The story of the Japanese Robin Hood. All the victims of a mysterious criminal have made a fortune through dishonest means. The police are all over the place trying to catch the mysterious thief. The criminal is so masterful and talented that the police can’t even come close to catching him. The detectives think an entire organization is behind the thief. But they’re wrong. Only a reporter and a schoolgirl with hacking skills are helping him.
The image of Robin Hood is understood by all people on Earth. All in all, the character has appeared in movies more than 50 times.
Nankyoku tairiku: Kami no ryouiki ni idonda otoko to inu no monogatari
- Rating IMDB – 7.3
- Genre: Drama, adventure
- Japan production / 2011
- Budget: $14 000 000
- Directed by Katsuo Fukuzawa
- Cast: Takuya Kimura, Haruka Ayase, Masato Sakai, Takeshi Ishimoto, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yosuke Kawamura, Tomoko Naraoka, Naoto Ogata, Yoshinori Okada, Kyohei Shibata
1958 year. A group of Japanese scientists makes a daring attempt to get from the Antarctic base to the Bottnooten Highlands. The Japanese use 15 Sakhalin Huskies sled dogs. Because of bad weather, people were evacuated from the base by plane. Fifteen beautiful animals were left tied up with a week’s worth of food. People could not return for them until eleven months later.
The film is based on real events. Out of 15 huskies, only two waited for their owners. In Japan, a monument was erected to the dogs abandoned by humans to die in ice captivity.
Kazoku Game
- Rating IMDB – 7.5
- Genre: Drama
- Japan production / 2013
- Directed by Yuichi Sato, Kazuyuki Iwata
- Cast: Sho Sakurai, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shiori Kutsuna, Seishu Uragami, Rie Kitahara, Itsuji Itao, Honami Suzuki, Yuki Eguchi, Maki Hironaka, Yuki Mashita
Numata’s family is among the exemplary. Only the youngest son, Shigeyuki, is totally out of control and doesn’t attend school. He’s about to take his high school exams, and all he can think about is having fun. To remedy the situation, Numata invites tutor Yoshimoto. The homeschooler’s methods of work will repeatedly stump the family and force them to look at themselves from the outside.
The TV drama is based on the novel of the same name by Yehei Honma and the 1983 Japanese film.
GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka
- Rating IMDB – 7.6
- Genre: Drama, comedy
- Japan production / 2012
- Directed by Keiichiro Shiraki, Kazuhisa Imai, Toru Otsuka
- Cast: Akira, Yu Shirota, Yusuke Yamamoto, Ryousei Tayama, Hitomi Kuroki, Ayano Sugiyama, Myori Takimoto, Noboru Takachi, Saori Takizawa, Masato Yano
A young boy named Onizuki Eikichi has a troubled past. He is a former member of the “Onibaku” biker street gang, and now works at the school as a simple gardener. One day Onizuki catches the attention of the school authorities by resolving a difficult conflict. The young man was hired as a teacher to calm down the most defiant and conflicted class 2-4. These kids are known to be able to drive any teacher crazy. But can they handle Onizuka?
Bosozoku, or aggressive racing clan, is a semi-criminal subculture of Japanese bikers. During its heyday in the 1970s, it united 571 clans with a total of 23,000 members. Most gang members were armed, and conflicts between them caused great inconvenience to the police. In order to curb them, Japan set up special detention facilities. Now the bosozoku movement is on the decline.
From Five to Nine
- Rating IMDB – 7.0
- Genre: Melodrama, comedy
- Japan production / 2015
- Directed by Shin Hirano, Hideyuki Aizawa, Masaki Tanimura
- Cast: Satomi Ishihara, Tomohisa Yamashita, Kei Tanaka, Yuki Furukawa, Rin Takanashi, Saeko, Miyu Yoshimoto, Leo Nagatsuma, Yuri Tsunematsu, Mokomichi Hayami
A comedy-drama about an overzealous Buddhist monk. Hoshikawa Takane lost his parents early. He was raised by his grandmother, who dreamed of her grandson becoming a temple abbot. And the young man did not deceive his relative’s expectations. During one of the ceremonies at the temple, a beautiful girl caught his attention. Sakuraba Junko, 28, teaches English and dreams of living in New York. Hoshikawa sets a goal to marry the beautiful girl by all means.
Most people in the Land of the Rising Sun are Buddhists. There are over 77,000 Buddhist temples whose priests are allowed to marry and eat meat. Most temples are family temples, and sons inherit the priesthood from their father.
The Naked Director
- Rating IMDB – 7.7
- Genre: Biography, drama, comedy
- Japan production / 2019
- Directed by Masaharu Take, Hayato Kawai, Kotaro Goto
- Cast: Takayuki Yamada, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Tetsuji Tamayama, Misato Morita, Tokyo Emoto, Sairi Ito, Ami Tomite, Riri Frankie, Jun Kunimura, Takenori Goto
A semi-documentary biopic about the life journey of the Japanese “Porn Emperor” Toru Muranishi. An English encyclopedia salesman found out about his wife’s adultery. This unpleasant fact prompted him to quit his boring job and start a career in the sex industry. At first he buys a store selling erotic magazines “bini bon”, and then he starts making pornographic films.
Toru Muranishi revolutionized Japanese adult videos. Muranishi came up with unusual plots for his films and even starred in them himself. The director was the first to break the unspoken rule that sexual intercourse could not be shown on the screen.
Hajimete Koi o Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi
- Rating IMDB – 6.8
- Genre: Melodrama, comedy
- Japan production / 2019
- Directed by Ryosuke Fukuda
- Cast: Kyoko Fukada, Kento Nagayama, Ryusei Yokohama, Tomoya Nakamura, Fumi Dan, Kenjiro Ishimaru, Katsuhisa Namase, Yo Takahashi, Shingo Tsurumi, Yumi Adachi
Junko Haruma is 32 years old. She works as a teacher in a preparatory course. She once dreamed of enrolling in Todai, but never got around to it. One day, Junko meets a teenager, Yuri Kyohei, who makes her remember her dream. The young woman enthusiastically takes it upon herself to prepare the young man for enrollment. At the same time two more men appear in Junko’s life: former classmate Yamashita and successful cousin Masai Yakumo. Which of them will she choose?
Todai, or Tokyo University, is one of Asia’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning. The symbol of the institution is the ginkgo leaf, whose trees grow in large numbers on the campus. Ginkgo is a relict living fossil that has not changed in appearance for several million years.
Rich Man, Poor Woman
- Rating IMDB – 7.5
- Genre: Comedy, melodrama
- Japan production / 2012
- Directed by Masaki Nishiura, Ryo Tanaka
- Cast: Shun Oguri, Satomi Ishihara, Saki Aibu, Arata Iura, Yosuke Asari, Yasuhi Nakamura, Shiro Sano, Kiyohiko Ueki, Ayumi Koyanagi, Masumi Nomura
The extraordinary Hugo Toru is known for having founded a successful IT company when he was young. Now he is 29 years old, incredibly rich and popular. But Toru prefers to communicate only with useful people. He prefers not to notice or remember the others. But one day at one of his presentations he gets into an argument with an industrious student named Sawaki Chihiro and, to his surprise, remembers her name.
One of the best Japanese series. It has a sequel called “Rich Man, Poor Woman in New York” from 2013 and a Korean version of the same name from 2018.
Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo
- Rating IMDB – 7.6
- Genre: Melodrama, Comedy
- Japan production / 2013
- Directed by Koto Nagata, Kazuya Konaka, Dan Matsumoto
- Cast: Honoka Yahagi, Yuki Furukawa, Tomomi Nishimura, Yoji Tanaka, Koura Kazumasa, Yuki Yamada, Yuga Aizawa, Nanami Fujimoto, Kasumi Yamaya, Kanna Mori
At the very beginning of the school year, Aihara Kotoko falls in love. Her heart starts beating more often at the sight of Irie Naoki, the smartest and most handsome student of the school. The girl finds the strength to declare her love for the boy, but he rejects her. Kotoko is helped by nature itself: the girl’s house is destroyed by an earthquake. The damaged family is invited to stay at her house by a friend of Kotoko’s father. What was her surprise when she realizes that the new home is Naoki’s home.
The plot of the dorama is quite popular. The series has a sequel in 2014, as well as Taiwanese, Chinese, South Korean, and Thai versions.
Border: Keishichô Sôsa Ikka Satsujinhan Sôsa Dai 4-gakkari
- Rating IMDB – 7.4
- Genre: Drama, Crime, Detective, Fantasy
- Japan production / 2014
- Directed by Hajime Hashimoto, Takafumi Hatano
- Cast: Shun Oguri, Munetaka Aoki, Haru, Ken’ichi Endo, Arata Furuta, Ken’ichi Takito, Toru Nomaguchi, Kenta Hamano, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Mariko Akama
The protagonist of the series, police officer Ango Ishikawa, is shot in the head one day while on duty. Doctors never manage to remove it from the detective’s head. But Ishikawa survives and returns to duty. The injury completely changes the ambitious detective’s life. He begins to see ghosts that help him investigate crimes.
In 2017, a sequel to the series called “BORDER Shokuzai” was released.
Miss Sherlock
- Rating IMDB – 6.8
- Genre: Detective, Criminal
- Japan production / 2018
- Directed by Yusuke Taki, Junichi Mori, Takashi Matsuo
- Cast: Yuko Takeuchi, Shiori Kanjii, Ken’ichi Takito, Tomoya Nakamura, Ran Ito, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, Yuki Saito, Ryohei Otani, Mei Nakano, Ko Takasugi
A fresh Japanese take on classic literary characters. Shelly Futaba, nicknamed “Sherlock,” often helps the police investigate complex crimes. She is helped by her roommate, a doctor named Wato Tachibana, who recently returned from a humanitarian mission in Syria.
Sherlock Holmes is the most popular hero among filmmakers. The first movie about him was released back in 1900. According to the Guinness Book of Records, as of 2012, the legendary hero has appeared on the screens 254 times. But, according to the British, the best Holmes is our Vasily Livanov. Even Queen Elizabeth agrees with this statement.
The 35 Year-Old High School Student
- Rating IMDB – 6.8
- Genre: Comedy
- Japan production / 2013
- Directed by Seiichi Nagumo, Masaki Nishiura
- Cast: Ryoko Yonekura, Junpei Mizobata, Nana Katase, Rikiya Koyama, Hiroki Aiba, Ataro Dojun, Takaaki Enoki, Sumire Fujishiro, Reiko Fujiwara, Alice Hirose
In the new school year, third-grade students are in for a surprise. A new student, a 35-year-old woman, joins the class. The class does not welcome the newcomer unfriendlyly. But gradually Granny, as her classmates call her, gains the trust of the teenagers. But what prompted the grown-up woman to return to school after 18 years?
Nice uniforms, kind teachers, and extracurricular activities. This is roughly how everyone imagines Japanese schools. In fact, in the Land of the Rising Sun, children often face strict rules, punishment for the slightest fault, and bullying by teachers and classmates. Almost 200,000 children refused to go to school in 2019. In Japan, they even coined a special term for this phenomenon: futoku.
The Wallflower
- Rating IMDB – 6.9
- Genre: Drama, comedy
- Japan production / 2010
- Directed by Ishii Yasuharu
- Cast: Tatsuomi Hamada, Kazuya Kamenashi, Aya Omasa, Yuya Tegoshi, Seishiro Kato, Miyao Shuntaro, Reiko Takashima, Laura Windrath, Aki Hoshino, David Ito
A guy who liked young Nakaharu Sunako said that he hated ugly girls. After that, the girl stopped taking care of herself and became a real recluse. Her aunt asked the guys who rent her mansion to help the girl become a real lady. But Nakaharu’s nose bleeds even after 10 seconds in the company of the “shining foursome” of handsome guys.
Nakaharu Sunako is a hikikomori girl. They are people who give up their social life, often have no job and live off relatives. 80% of hikikomori are men, and their total number is about 1.6 million Japanese.
A Girl & Three Sweethearts
- Rating IMDB – 7.1
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, comedy
- Japan production / 2016
- Directed by Ko Kanai
- Cast: Mirei Kiritani, Kento Yamazaki, Shohei Miura, Shuhei Nomura, Sakurako Ohara, Kenta Hamano, Hinako Sano, Marie Iitoyo, Nanao, Kotaro Yoshida
Sakurai Misaki, 27, is a pastry chef, and devotes all her free time to the job she loves. But she gets fired, which comes as a complete surprise to her. By chance, Sakurai meets an old acquaintance Chiaku, whom she used to be in love with. The young man invites Sakurai to work at his family’s restaurant by the sea. Except that Chiaku forgets to warn Sakurai that she will have to live and work not only with him, but also with his two brothers.
In foreign distribution, the Japanese romantic dorama is called The Girl and the Three Lovers.
3 nen A gumi -Imakara minasan wa, Hitojichi desu-
- Rating IMDB – 7.4
- Genre: Drama, Detective
- Japan production / 2019
- Directed by Naoko Komuro, Yuma Suzuki
- Cast: Masaki Suda, Mei Nagano, Ryota Katayose, Rina Kawaei, Miu Tomita, Moka Kamishiraishi, Takara Sakumoto, Jin Suzuki, Ayumu Mochizuki, Nana Mori
A few days before the end of the school year, art history teacher Hiiragi Ibuki takes Class 3A hostage. The previously calm teacher has only one question for the students. Who is to blame for the death of their classmate who recently committed suicide? If the answer is correct, Hiiragi promises to let the teenagers go. But for every wrong answer, he will kill one student at a time.
The most famous terrorist attack in Japan was the sarin attack on the Japanese subway by the destructive sect Aum Shinrikyo. Five pairs of terrorists stabbed packages of the poisonous substance with the tips of their umbrellas directly into the cars of the capital’s subway system. The attack killed 12 people and injured as many as 5,000.
Ouran High School Host Club
- Rating IMDB – 7.5
- Genre: Melodrama, Comedy
- Japan production / 2011
- Cast: Haruna Kawaguchi, Yusuke Yamamoto, Shunsuke Daito, Yudai Chiba, Hiromura Mitsumi, Masaya Nakamura, Nicolas, Momo Ogawa, Ryo Ryusei, Manpei Takagi
Privileged Orange High School is famous for its host club. In it, rich and beautiful high school students entertain equally rich and beautiful girls. By chance, a poor scholarship kid named Haruhi Fujiyoka enters the club’s premises. The guy immediately smashes a vase worth eight million yen and now has to work off its value.
At first Fujiyoka does the dirty work, but a little later the club president makes him a tempting offer. If a handsome guy is chosen by a hundred female customers, he will forgive his debt. The poor guy agrees. But no one suspects that Fujioka is actually a girl.
Host clubs in Japan are usually nighttime entertainment venues offering visitors drinks and an attentive conversation partner. There are separate establishments for men and women.
Ikemen desu ne
- Rating IMDB – 7.0
- Genre: Comedy
- Japan production / 2011
- Directed by Shunichi Hirano, Toshio Tsuboi
- Cast: Taisuke Fujigaya, Miyuki Imori, Nana Katase, Kumi Koda, Haruna Kojima, Hisako Manda, Anna Nose, Seiji Rokkaku, Yutaka Shimizu, Masanobu Takashima
Miko, a young novice at the convent, is approached by the manager of a popular music group. Her twin brother Mio urgently needs help – his nose is broken and surgery is required. And at the same time, the contract requires the boy’s presence in the band. Heart-wrenching girl agrees to replace her brother. Now she has to constantly be in the company of three irresistible guys – the other members of the band.
The drama contains what is known as gender intrigue, a storyline in which a guy and a girl swap places or bodies. Gender intrigue is one of the most popular plots in Asian series.
Scum’s Wish
- Rating IMDB – 6.3
- Genre: Drama, melodrama
- Japan production / 2017
- Directed by Shogo Miyaki, Shunsuke Shinada
- Cast: Miyu Yoshimoto, Dori Sakurada, Sarii Ikegami, Rina Aizawa, Hiroki Ino, Shiori Yoshida, Shiho, Misato Kawauchi, Chika Anzai, Koki Mizuta
Hanabi Yasuraoka, a Japanese girl, has been in love with her brother Narumi since childhood, but he is unaware of the girl’s feelings. Together with Hanabi, the boy Mugi Awaya, who is in love with his music teacher, attends school. The impossibility of being together with their loved ones brings the teens together, and they form a temporary alliance that has only three rules. Can Yasuraoka and Avaya abide by them and not fall in love with each other?
A dorama that has been consistently included in the top Japanese TV series. The project is limited to “+18” and is based on the plot of the manga of the same name, which has been published since 2012 in a sénan magazine. Sainen is an anime and manga aimed at an audience of young men from 18 to 40 years old. An anime adaptation of the manga was also released in 2017.
Ojiichan wa 25 sai
- Rating IMDB – 6.2
- Genre: Drama, sci-fi, comedy
- Japan production / 2010
- Directed by Makoto Tanaka
- Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Shunsuke Daito, Kana Kurashina, Katsumi Takahashi, Renji Ishibashi, Jingi Irie, Rin Takanashi, Mahito Oba
In the early 1960s, a young man fell off a cliff during a snowstorm. Forty-six years later, his frozen body was found and he was alive and well. Returning to his family, he realizes that his wife is dead. At home, the 70-year-old grandfather in the body of a 25-year-old boy meets a 52-year-old son and young grandchildren. The hero has to adapt to the modern realities of life.
Freezing the bodies of dead people is called cryopreservation. There are several hundred bodies frozen on the planet. Relatives of these people expect that in the future technologies will be invented that can revive or clone them.
