Some dramas to recommend for those who love mysteries, thriller and suspense.
Basically I find most WOWOW dramas above average and almost always a level higher in terms of quality production.

Yami no Bansosha (already subbed from ep1-3 at d-addicts, total 5 episodes)




I've watched it without subs once and loved it. I'm gonna watch it with subs again since there were details I might have missed before. But I recommend it to anyone who likes mystery and what makes this all the more interesting is the involvement of manga where they need to find clues in the unpublished 50-pages manga. The pair in the show, an ex-cop played by Matsushita Nao and manga expert Furuta Arata have such a great chemistry I really enjoy watching them interact. The pacing is fine, cliffhangers around ep3-4 were good.
Acting is also really good. I like how there's very little over-acting in wowow series, everything is toned down and feels more mature.
Rating: 8/10


Ishi no Mayu
Just finished airing last Sunday. Subs completed @d-addicts. Another WOWOW drama that is worth watching.



If we're talking about suspense, then this show's got it all. The search scenes and more gruesome ones, will definitely take your breath away and leave you at the edge of your seat. Excellent directing, amazing background music score and great cast. The criminal may be easy to predict and the lead character being a rookie may also not be everyone's cup of tea but I find this refreshing because we've seen a lot of strong and confident female cops in detective dramas and rarely a normal rookie. We also get to see how she grows throughout the case. So despite these few drawbacks, it's still very thrilling and worth trying. I'm even hoping for a sequel as I want this team back with another case.
Rating: 8.5/10

This post has been edited by avanpiper: Sep 18 2015, 01:21 PM

From my observation, WOWOW dramas tend to be slow-burner and can take a while for the suspense to really kick in. Kageri Yuku Natsu was an example where the first few eps were kinda slow but the revelation at the end made it satisfying to watch. I'm watching True Detective Season1 at the moment and it reminded me of the style too, slow but engaging. No wonder someone told me before that the directing style for Japan's WOWOW is similar or equivalent to HBO's.

Summer 2015 impression so far:

Finished dramas:

Ishi no Mayu (WOWOW) - Obviously my favorite of the season. Despite the few drawbacks (quite predictable villain and viewers may be slightly annoyed by the rookie cop's actions especially in first few eps but give it some time), I still enjoyed all the suspense it managed to deliver and fitting background music score. The production value is quite high though I don't think WOWOW has more budget than the other channels but they definitely made full use of whatever they have. I want a sequel.

Tantei no Tantei (FujiTV) - If you want episodic thrills of detective vs detective cases with a strong female lead who will get physical in almost every episode, then this is for you. This show made me feel stupid whenever they use stuffs/tricks which I'm not entirely sure will actually work or not in real life but be prepared for some Sony product placements. In some ways, I appreciate all the explanations and you learn tricks but because it also felt slightly 'unrealistic' that I couldn't really take it very seriously. It's quite dark, not BORDER dark but quite nice to marathon.

37.5 no Namida (TBS) - Nothing truly impressive or special about this show to be honest. I came in thinking it might be similar to Mother Game but it didn't manage to captivate me as much. Still, I finished it just because I wanted to see why the lead character's family hate her so much and who she ends up with in the end.

Still need to finish:
Omotesando Koukou Gasshoubu
Napoleon no Mura
Death Note

Dropped:
Koinaka
Age Harrassment
Dokonjo Gaeru
Risk no Kamisama

As far as I know, nobody is subbing it. Expected since it's a wowow drama. I finished watching it and even though I generally can watch without subs (unless too many technical terms and jargon) the fact that this was slightly tougher to watch was because they used Kansai-ben (Osaka). After 1-2 eps, I started to get used to it but the experience will definitely be better with proper subs. Guess we'll just have to wait for someone kind to take it up. My impression of it - slightly draggy, would have worked better in 3-4 ep format instead of 5. Black comedy, acting is great and plot is okay. It's not really a must watch, there are better wowow dramas but I do like the way they filmed this show, I mean, the directing.

It's already subbed and I just watched it this afternoon. Quite nice, didn't make me cry like the anime did but it sure feels nostalgic. Secret Base is such a good song by the way.

I think this is her most recent drama and you'll love this, a lot of focus on her since she's the lead.

Couldn't have said it any better It's not flawless but personally I think the directing is really one of the best this season. I also like that they didn't include any super annoying character like we see in so many other dramas (even the senior who initially has something against Kisaragi was not really over the top to turn me off yet). The whole atmosphere feels realistic too. As for crime suspense genre, I think Ishi no Mayu is definitely above average and one of the standouts this year. We'll see how MOZU fares and there's Unfair movie coming soon too.

Tenshi to Akuma I think

Not sure if these suit your taste but I'll just list down those that left quite an impression on me for the past year.

Human/slice of life dramas:
Tenno no Ryouriban - prepare tissues for this
Mondai no Aru Restaurant - I like how they describe women's position in men's world and the characters are charming in their own ways.
Kazokugari - very dark/heavy insight into family issues
Wakamonotachi 2014

Detective dramas:
Ouroboros
Border
Ishi no Mayu
Tantei no Tantei

Other recommended ones:
N no Tame ni - quite heart-warming and about a group of friends with a dark past
Alice no Toge - revenge suspense

There's HERO (2014 version) too if you're interested.

Just watched it. Quite funny Plus it's only 20 mins per episode. Can try and see if it fits your taste.

Sharing screencaps for Teddy Go! ep1

I didn't watch Jigoku so I'm not sure how bad that was. But I think Teddy Go! is worth at least trying the first ep.

Oh by the way, if anyone's looking for heart-warming show this season, must try out Kounodori (Ayano Go, Mayu Matsuoka). Solid first episode. Teared up a bit. Well, watching babies being born do that to me even though I'm not a kids person but them babies are so cute and innocent-ish. Plus Mayu's scenes here are quite funny so the tear-jerking moments and comedy is balanced quite well.

This post has been edited by avanpiper: Oct 18 2015, 03:46 PM

Do you mean external subtitles or streaming? If soft subs, visit this page and look under Summer 2015 dramas --> Tantei no Tantei (soft subs).
http://fansub.d-addicts.com/Jdrama_Fansub_Map_2015#Fall_2015

My most anticipated drama of the season.

Siren/サイレーン
Based on the manga by Yamazaki Sayaka. Curious what it's about so I bought them at Kinokuniya and read everything (altogether 7 volumes). I really like it. The main pair works as police who are buddies and also couple who kept their relationship a secret. Crime suspense and ruthless psychopath targeting one of the leads.

Cast: Tori Matsuzaka, Kimura Fumino, Nanao

Airing tonight 9pm JST (2-hour special)





This post has been edited by avanpiper: Nov 1 2015, 01:21 PM

Yup, she was in Mother Game last Spring also (her first lead role). I really like that drama, the kids are adorbs too and she plays such a lovable single mother



By the way, her birthday with Tori Matsuzaka are only 2 days apart so the staffs ordered a custom-made birthday cake using that particular 'kissing scene' in the drama. So funny







And they were given matching hoodies as presents too lmao



This post has been edited by avanpiper: Oct 20 2015, 05:55 PM

Yeah It's quite rare for Japanese police drama to have the main pair in a relationship actually so I'm really looking forward to their chemistry on-screen. Most of the time, they like to focus on the cases and keep romance to minimum or just hints.

PMed you.

What dramas are you watching this season? So far, I'm really liking:

Kounodori
Good balance of comedy and tear-jerking moments. Oguri Shun makes a guest appearance in episode 1 and 2 too.




Siren
Having read the manga, I really want to see how they execute the live-action. So far, the first episode is off to a good start. The two leads have great chemistry, very convincing as a couple. Pacing is quite fast and there's suspense and action.




Isan Souzoku
This has lots of over-acting characters but not to the point of annoying. More on the comedy side and family dispute over the properties. The only two sane characters are the main pair. Quite interesting family drama. Will be following this.

Some impressions so far for the current season's dramas:

For plot and cast:
Shitamachi Rocket - Abe Hiroshi is stellar and it reminds me of Hanzawa Naoki minus the over-acting

Siren - Main leads; Matsuzaka Tori & Kimura Fumino are adorable, convincing as a couple and villain, Nanao is ruthless. Not your typical episodic detective drama.

Isan Souzoku - first ep is great (lots of over-acting but not to the point of annoyance and main pair; Mukai Osamu & Eikura Nana are nice. It's very funny too) Needs to be subbed.

Kounodori - nice balance of tear-jerking and comedy scenes (Go Ayano and Mayu Matsuoka are enough to make me watch this). Another drama that needs to be subbed.

Not so intriguing plot but for the cast:
Kekkonshiki no Zenjitsu ni - watching it since it's Karina's return to dramaland after her hiatus

Okitegami - plot is so-so as in the cases aren't very interesting but here mainly for the cast and comedy (Aragaki Yui and Masaki Okada!)

Mutsu Mieru me - Not as intriguing as I hoped for but again, Hidetoshi Nishijima and Hideaki Ito are in this so...

Okashi no Ie - slow and relaxing slice of life 20 mins show. Here for the cast; Odagiri Joe & Ono Machiko.

Gisou no Fuufu - Not sure how I feel about this yet because while it's hilarious and great acting (Amami Yuki, Sawamura Ikki) the script and plot sometimes creeps me out. But Sawamura Ikki's gayness is fun to watch.

Maybe dropping soon depending on the plot development:

5-->9 - Weird characters and plot, almost dropped it. Yamapi is surprisingly...bearable as of now. The comedy is really the only thing making me hang on to this show. The whole stalking is creeping me out, in a bad way.

Umi ni Furu - Ep1-2 are kinda slow but hanging on just to know what's the twist and since it's WOWOW, I'm putting some hope.

Thanks for the info Yeah, they're appearing in Siren and their roles are quite huge later on if the drama version follows the manga closely. The doctor will provide some funny scenes too haha

This post has been edited by avanpiper: Nov 9 2015, 03:17 PM

Finally warming up to Gisou no Fuufu. Couldn't get used to Amami Yuki's expressionless face at first but then after ep2, I find that her character is actually the best among all others. She always finds herself in situations where she ends up helping others, even though she hates people to its core in the first place. She's bottling all emotions up inside and we only get to hear her inner thoughts (where she curses and vents her anger/frustrations LOL) Sawamura's body language with his gayness and squeals are hilarious. So far, it's a really funny show so if you're looking for something to laugh at, give this a try.

This post has been edited by avanpiper: Nov 9 2015, 03:11 PM

My favorites of 2015
Tenno no Ryoriban
Kounodori
Mother Game
Mondai no Aru Restaurant
Shitamachi Rocket

Honorable mentions
Gisou no Fuufu, Siren, Tantei no Tantei, Ishi no Mayu, Omotesando Koukou Gasshoubu!

Recent movies that I enjoy



Biri Gyaru/ Flying Colours is quite funny and easy to watch. Motivational especially for students as it's about a student who never bothers to study at all. Despite being in high school, her knowledge level is elementary grade 4 only. Then a life changing moment came after meeting a cheerful and supportive cram school teacher. Based on a true story. Some warm touching family scenes too.
Rating: 3.8/5

Being Good/Kimi wa Ii Ko, starring Ono Machiko and Kora Kengo is not an easy movie to watch. It touches on social issues and children abuse. Nevertheless, I liked it. Amazing acting by everyone, even the kids! Ono Machiko actually scares me when she abuses her kid.
Rating: 3.8/5

Umimachi Diary/ Our Little Sister - Any fan of those four actresses should watch this. It's slice of life and kinda 'plotless' but I like the daily interactions between the sisters and their growth.
Rating: 4/5



Initiation Love - A movie that promises viewers will be tricked and watch for the second time. I was nearly tricked. Had an inkling about the twist but never really figured it out until almost the revelation.
Rating:4/5

Kuchibiru ni Uta wo/ Have A Song On Your Lips - About a reluctant famous former pianist who returns to her hometown after a traumatizing incident, which caused her to be cold and puts a distance between herself and others. Any fan of Aragaki Yui should watch this. It's overall slow-paced with some heartwarming scenes and I'm happy they used Angeli Aki's Tegami song as the theme song.
Rating: 3.6/5

Little Forest~ Winter & Spring - A lovely slice of life and the FOOD featured look so yummy. The scenery, especially the snow landscapes during winter are beautiful.
Rating: 4/5

This post has been edited by avanpiper: Jan 11 2016, 10:08 PM

Chihayafuru live action

The movie was just released in Japan (cinema) so it's gonna be a while.