I'm currently mainly involved in 2 dramas:
Yasha and
Yaoh. I'd been sort of dancing around
Yasha for years now, ever since I started watching dramas. It's a favorite amongst the aarinfantasy crowd because of the
extremely close (hint-hint, nudge-nudge) relationship between the main character Sei and his friend Moichi (who are the most obviously BL-oriented main couple I've ever seen in a drama) but it always somewhat turned me off because it seemed so dark (really, sci-fi + bio-terrorism + BL-undertones?). And... it really
is pretty, well, serious in nature. There's no comedic moments to be had at all. But once I watched the first few episodes I found I was really enjoying it... that is, at least up until what transpired in episode 8. Although honestly I was somewhat expecting it because it didn't seem like the type of series that would let the boys live happily-ever-after but
damn, I was still quite upset when Moichi died in Sei's arms *weep*-- no joke, I really did start crying at that point. . As a result, I've been sorta dragging my feet after this... but, I
do really want to see Sei have his (hopefully bloody-and-prolonged) revenge on Rin for that , so I'll probably finish it this next week).
As for
Yaoh, about newbie-host Ryosuke's attempt to climb to the #1 spot at his club while dispensing "lessons-of-the-week" to clients & fellow-hosts alike in each episode-- at first, I'll be honest, I did not think TOKIO's Matsuoka Masahiro, as Ryosuke, was attractive, so initially he was a hard sell for me as a host. Mainly what bothered me was his hair. I know it's stupid & shallow, but I
really disliked his hairstyle in the first few episodes. But I've watched 4 episodes now and I don't know if his hairstyle is evolving or if I just have grown to like the character enough that I don't notice the hair as much (or likely a combination of the two) but now I can see him as a host (though he's definitely not a classic bishonen-type, he's still handsome). The big surprise of this series though, for me, was how rather creepily-attractive* Kazuki Kitamura is as Seiya, current Romeo Host #1. Having only seen him in
Akihabara @Deep, Galileo, and
Bambino!, I've never seen him in such a role before.
*in an eerily reptilian sort -of-way; I think it's the bleached hair and light-brown contacts that make him seem so other-worldly in this series.
Re: The winter 2008 dramas-- so far I've watched episodes 1 of both
Ryuusei no Kizuna and
Oh! My Girl!! I think I will continue watching
RnK-- honestly, I have a bit of a crush on the now-all-grown-up
Kazunari Ninomiya (
Stand Up!!) at this point. Though I must admit I was not expecting a series that revolves around a trio of siblings avenging their parents' violent murder to have such offbeat comedic moments, I'd like to see where this goes so I plan to catch up on it once I finish both
Yasha and
Yaoh).
I wish I could say the same about
Oh! My Girl!! but I should have known better when I first read the plot synopsis. I
hate precocious child-characters so I'm not really sure what I was expecting (maybe something better for poor Hayami Mokomichi, after being so dumped-upon as Night in
Zettai Kareshi?). But this is definitely not the series for me and I will not be watching the rest unless I hear rave reviews about it as it further develops.
Wow-- it looks like
Yasha and
Yaoh will be my 70th and 71st dramas (59th and 60th if you don't count the Korean and Taiwanese series). I've actually watched far more live-action drama than I have anime at this point-- they won't make me rescind my Fansub TV membership, will they?
