Ninja’s Friday Drama Roundup #181

Ms. Justice (Japanese Drama, New)
This one looks like a fairly typical J-legal crime drama, except our heroine is a newbie persecutor that has a lot of maturing to do instead of some brilliant Sherlock Holmes type. The heroine starts off the show with a boyfriend but it looks like Mr. Right (if we are actually lucky to get one) might end up being one of her co-worker…that is if we actually get a romance plot.
You’ve Got Someone To Come Home To (Japanese Drama, New)
After being married for 13 years, Mayumi and Hideaki Sato could only see each other’s annoying traits whenever they are together. Thanks to a suggestion of a friend, Mayumi decides to re-enter the workforce only to find out that she has been left behind by time and has a lot of catching up to do. While Mayumi is adjusting to her new job, Hideaki meets a married couple through work and proceeds to carry out an affair with the wife.

I would usually stay far away from this type of story but You’ve Got Someone To Come Home To was surprisingly interesting… funny even. The show is by no mean a comedy but there were just enough comedic moments mixed in that it makes the show seem light. I also like the fact that the show addressed some pretty realistic issues about marriage. The husband was of course a slimeball for cheating on his wife but the show didn’t shy away from the fact that Mayumi herself contributed in part to their marriage problem. I am still not all that excited about watching a show that has this much extramarital affairs in it but I might just be curious enough (especially because there is something very weird about the husband of the wife Hideaki is cheating with) about the story to keep watching.
Miss Devil (Japanese Drama, New)

As a brand new hired employee at a well known insurance corporation, our hero is filled with excitement to begin his training for his dream job…until our heroine, who has earned herself the nickname of Miss Devil walks in as their new trainer.

Wow, Mako Tsubaki looks awesome here as the HR consultant from hell! The story will deal with lots of workplace issues such as misuse of power, sexual harassment, and the age old problem of “employees or profit?” Judging by the first episode, I don’t think we will get any romance out of this one but it should be plenty entertaining watching our heroine being her “devil” self anyway.
Butler Saionji’s Great Reasoning or Shitsuji Saionji no Meisuiri (Japanese Drama, New)
J-drama sure loves its crime deduction stories, especially with unlikely heroes. Takaya Kamikawa plays our hero who is a butler to an elderly but elegant madam. As the perfect butler, our hero will do anything to make his master happy, even if it means solving crimes when she becomes curious who the real perpetrator is. Kinda of a Sherlock Holmes set up where the hero investigates around then he does the big reveal at the end but Takaya Kamikawa great in the role.
Boys Over Flower 2 (Japanese Drama, New)
Not a continuation of the original story, season 2 of Boys Over Flower is set 10 years after F4 has left school and a new generation “C5” vows to carry on their legacy by making sure they get rid of all “commoners” hiding in their elite school. Growing up as the only daughter of a rich father, our heroine is now one of the “commoners” who is trying desperately to hide after her father’s business was bankrupted. Horrified when she meets Haruto, our hero who is the head of the C5, while working as a cashier at the convenient store, our heroine thought all is lost and she will be kicked out of the school the very next day…that is until she discovers a secret Haruto is also desperately trying to hide.

It was a bit difficult to like this one at first because the C5 really came off more like mean bullies at first. Thankfully, once the show reveals that our hero is actually a very insecure guy who dreams of one day becoming brave like his idol, Domyouji (the hero in the original), all of our hero’s actions and tough talks made a lot more sense. By the way, for fans of the original Hana Yori Dango, Jun Matsumoto does make a brief appearance so it might be fun to check this one out just for that.
Next Time, Together Forever (Chinese Drama, New)
Forced by their different circumstances to enter into a fake marriage, our two leads slowly fall in love as they work together to overcome what life throws at them. Obviously a very predictable plot BUT I found both leads’ characters quite charming so I am planning to keep a tab on it for now.
Between (Taiwanese Drama, New)
Constantly finding herself caught in the middle in every aspect of her life, our heroine, Su Hsiao Ching is resigned to being the “sandwich girl” from her work life to her family life…and to her romantic life. (“The Triumph of the Sandwich Girl” is the actual translation of the Chinese title.) Trapped between our two male leads with one being her new boss and the other, her new landlord, our heroine must figure out how she will find happiness in her professional and personal life as the “sandwich girl”.
Episode one of Between was a bit rocky especially with what I thought to be really over-the-top acting from our heroine. However, I think once the story gets going the heroine’s character might settle down so I am hoping the over-the-top acting would stop then too. The story does look cute which means I will most likely give this one another chance.