きみはペット / Kimi wa Petto

You Are My Pet       2003 JDorama that was first manga about a ToDai grad with an awesome job as a journalist who is reaching 29 when her life takes this amazing and drastic turn. She's seen as a tough bitch with balls, but the reality is she has inferiority issues and a somewhat unrealistic fear of being discovered as a fake. Being shy, it's difficult for her to express her true feelings, though at the start of this 10...

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별을 따다 줘 / Byeoreul Ttada Jwo

Wish Upon a Star 2010 Korean Drama about a reckless girl running about life on a whim, not caring for much else besides her one-sided crush on a hardened attorney who works at the same insurance company she does - Until her parents, who have adopted four, younger siblings and a toddler, die in a car accident, and suddenly our hapless and carefree Jin Pal kang (Choi Jung won) is faced with the unglamorous reality of an uncertain future. She...

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My Boss My Hero / マイボス マイヒーロー

2006 JDorama (sort of) that starred Nagase Tomoya as the 30-something son of a Yakuza boss whose father decides that before he'll promote Sakaki "Tornado" Makio to the 3rd 'something' in the clan, he must obtain a diploma, or said position will go to his younger brother. "Tornado" because when he's pissed off, Makio-kun turns into a crazy fighting machine, with not even the toughest bad-ass left standing in his wake. Early in this 10-episodes...

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Triangle / トライアングル

2009 JDorama that was meant to be suspence/thriller/murder mystery all rolled up into one, amazing story - and, it delivered & then some! For starters, the star of the show was hunk-da-fied (even as he ages as fine as wine) Eguchi Yosuke from Lunch no Joou (my introduction to the gorgeous man). Dude's got that '...not, really trying' attitude that works to draw a woman to him all the more, and I ADORE that in a man. Besides Mr. Tall, Dark,...

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ラブシャッフル / Love Shuffle

2009 JDorama that is supposed to be about a young man who went from nothing to something after falling in love with and becoming engaged to the daughter of a prominent businessman. He's got an office job at the in-law's corporation, but the fiance's aniki is constantly harassing him and threatening him with a lay-off if he doesn't get his act together. He's Tamaki Hiroshi of Nodame Cantabile fame, and I've yet to watch that, so this is a first...

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Egao no Hosoku / 笑顔の法則

Living Today for Tomorrow 2003 JDorama that stars Abe Hiroshi as an eccentric (kind of) anime artist and a young girl in search of a job. She's late for an interview after attending a friend's wedding, and while still in a pretty, red kimono, she ends up getting the rented garment stuck inside the door of a van in front of the office tower where she's supposed to have the interview. Abe happens along and is immediately reminded of a pet goldfish...

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Shiawase ni Naritai / 幸せになりたい！

I Want to be Happy! 2005 JDorama about a young girl and her two, younger brothers whose once-prosperous otoosan is heavily in debt and ends up committing suicide, leaving their bed-ridden okaasan to shoulder the responsibility. While she was still the daughter of an upstanding businessman, she was tutored by a handsome senpai who now works for UBS in the city, and after the funeral - when two seemingly nasty debt collectors steal the offerings...

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