Korean dramas have increased in popularity over the last few years, alongside Korean music and popular culture. In comparison, few people seem to talk about Japanese dramas, perhaps due to the limited options available on Netflix. This, however, shouldn’t be any reason for these amazing shows to be dismissed; Japanese movies and shows have a refreshing feel to them, with a lot of them paying attention to human emotions and relationships. Here, I have compiled a list of ten Japanese shows and movies of different genres that you should check out.
1. Unnatural
To me, “Unnatural” is the best J-drama; even if this list is not a ranking, it deserves to be number one. The show follows Mikoto Misumi (Satomi Ishihara), a forensic doctor working at the Unnatural Death Investigation Laboratory (UDI). Along with her colleagues Kei Nakado (Arata Iura), Rokuro Kube (Masataka Kubota), Yuko Shoji (Mikako Ichikawa), and Yasuo Kamikura (Yutaka Matsuhige), Misumi investigates a series of deaths that arise from unnatural causes while working to solve a bigger mystery.
The show is structured as a group of individual cases introduced per episode that eventually lead to a bigger, overarching mystery. It combines sitcom-style comedy in the more relaxed portions of the narrative, but when things get serious, the show is able to set the tone through brilliant acting by Ishihara and Iura. All of the characters have their own story and become even more likable as the series progresses; the soundtrack is brilliant, and the theme song “Lemon” by Kenshi Yonezu is even better.
The brilliance of “Unnatural” lies in its intricate way of dealing with human emotions and relationships, which seems to be key for a lot of J-dramas. The show discovers life through death, revealing what it means to be truly alive. It discusses family, friendships, love, hate, jealousy, sacrifice and more. “Unnatural” is a work that will make you laugh, cry and discover things about life that you may not have noticed before.
2. Alice in Borderland
As a science fiction thriller drama, “Alice in Borderland” follows Ryohei Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and Yuzuha Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), two of many who become trapped in an abandoned Tokyo and are forced to participate in dangerous games, putting their lives on the line to renew their “visas” that keep them alive in this nonsensical world. The two work together to discover the truth behind the abandoned city and do their best to stop the games once and for all.
Reminiscent of survival shows such as “Battle Royale” and “Cube,” “Alice in Borderland” stands out for its visuals, cinematography, and editing, but my favorite part of the series is the uniqueness of all the games. From the first episode, viewers are faced with an interesting game that has never been done before in other media; it was greatly suspenseful and had everyone sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what was to come next. Although the first season left off with a cliffhanger, the series released a second season in December 2022.
3. Legal High
“Legal High” is a comedic courtroom drama following Kensuke Komikado (Masato Sakai), a lawyer who has never lost a single case, and Machiko Mayuzumi (Yui Aragaki), a passionate up-and-coming lawyer with a strong sense of justice. Although they greatly disagree on things, the two work together at the Komikado Law Firm alongside the clerk Hattori (Kotaro Satomi) and the spy Kaga Ranmaru (Junnosuke Taguchi), resolving case after case together.
Like “Unnatural,” “Legal High” presents a single mystery per episode for the main cast to decipher. The comedy can definitely feel a little slapstick at times, as a lot of J-drama comedy can be for international audiences, but that doesn’t necessarily take away from the brilliance of the story. There are a lot of good moments in “Legal High” that make it memorable even after 10 years.
4. Boys Over Flowers
As a classic romantic drama, “Boys Over Flowers” has had various adaptations over the years, including ones from Taiwan, Korea, China, and Thailand. However, it was originally a Japanese manga, so of course, there was also a Japanese television adaptation. The series follows Tsukushi Makino (Mao Inoue), a lower-middle-class student who attends Eitoku Academy, a prestigious school for Japan’s richest. Although she wishes to remain invisible at school, she encounters and enrages the F4: Tsukasa Doumyoji (Jun Matsumoto), Rui Hanazawa (Shun Oguri), Soujiro Nishikado (Shota Matsuda), and Akira Mimasaka (Tsuyoshi Abe). They were the sons of Japan’s wealthiest tycoons, and they begin to bully her; that is until F4’s leader Doumyoji begins to fall in love with her.
The Japanese live-action adaptation seems to follow the original source material the closest, and it stars some of Japan’s greatly famous actors, namely Matsumoto and Oguri. I would say that this adaptation is definitely one of the better ones in comparison to the others. Although it is an old drama and may be cheesy at times, it is still definitely worth watching.