Ok, I began to rant about the new dramas of this season on some forums but what the hell? Let me share the jtv love. Some of these dramas are bad, and some are like my super expectation but I don't think you care, so anyways, remember, this isn't a complete list by any means, this is just a list of dramas that will most likely pique your interest, meaning I left out the dramas that are obviously for octogenarians.

So I proudly present:
WINTER 2006-2007

1. Tokyo Tower 2007
Official website: http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/tokyotower/index.html
Synopsis: "A realistic portrayal of the love between parent and child."
Translation: Wake me up when Moco takes off his shirt.
Notable actors: Hayami Mocomichi
My review: I really don't have much background on the story, however, I love Mocomichi... and even though I love him I must admit 2 facts, his dramas get interesting if he:
a. Gets naked
b. Does something interesting
Ok, I love his skin and everything but jeez, I will be really happy if he doesn't do a naked scene or has sex with someone in the drama. And I don't like his orange hair either. BUT (yes, there's a but), this is his first primetime drama (Monday - 21.00) so I have to check it out just in case.

2. Haikei, Chichiue-sama.

Synopsis: "Set in the traditional quarters of Kagurazaka, the story revolves around a traditional Japanese restaurant "Sakashita." The chef is Ippei (Ninomiya), who is trying to search for his father. His mother is a former geisha. Ippei's junior is Nakagawa (Yokoyama)."
Translation: It's hard to go wrong with food related comedies. Unless you're Teppan Shoujo Akane.
Notable Actors: Ninomiya Kazunari, Yokoyama Yuu.
My review: It's supposed to be a comedy guys, despite the fact that the writer is the guy who did Yasashii Jikan. This is Nino's first role in a comedy since Stand Up!!, and just when I thought he'd leave forever into "i'm too much of a serious actor for dramas" land, he comes back with this. Do I sense the Nino+Yasashii Jikan writer relationship the new Kusanagi Tsuyoshi+Boku no Aruku Michi writer? I hope this is funny, because if it isn't, they are going to waste 2 of the funniest guys of Johnnys Jimusho :roll: .

3. Himitsu no Hanazono
Official announcement: http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt20061 ... 12002.html
Synopsis: "Sonoda Natsuyo is a bumbling editor who is transferred to the shojo manga editorial department after the publication of her fashion magazine is discontinued. She is put in charge of popular manga writer Hanazono Yuriko, but later discovers that Hanazono is truly the creative effort of four weird brothers."
Translation: Let's guess which guy she's going to fall for! Hint: Probably not the 16 year old.
Notable Actors: Kaname Jun, Shaku Yumiko.
My review: This reminds me so much of that anime/manga Fruits Basket, I can't help it but comparing it to this drama. Honestly, I wanna watch this drama just to see if the girl's head is as plastic-looking as in the sanspo announcement. Oh yes, funny fact - When you google the name of this drama, you'll get to porn and hentai sites.

4. Konshuu, Tsuma ga Uwaki shimasu.
Synopsis: "Yusuke Santamaria plays a cuckolded husband to Ishida Yuriko's character, a career woman with an apparel company."
Translation: Domestic Violence. Female Empowerment. Fashion.
Notable Actors: Yusuke Santamaria, Ishida Yuriko.
My review: I enjoyed Yuusuke Santamaria back in Odoru Daisosasen and I do enjoy my DV dramas, but then again I'm not in my mid-thirties aka the target audience of this drama.

5. Haken no Hinkaku
Official site: http://www.ntv.co.jp/haken/
Synopsis: Haruko is a responsible and capable OL who earns 3,000 yen an hour and has 28 people under her charge. She, however, never cracks a smile, is cold, never minces her words and leaves the office on the dot. Haken no Hinkaku is a timely drama that examines the differences in the treatment of an OL dispatched by a food manufacturer to a supermarket and regular employees, and the ways to overcome frictions in interpersonal relationships. It follows in the wake of an October report on labor conditions by the Labor Ministry, which showed that the proportion of regular employees to OLs had doubled compared to that eight years ago, after a relaxation of regulations.
Translation: Damensu Walker + (Kimi wa Petto - The pet) = Haken no Hinkaku.
Notable Actors: Shinohara Ryoko, Kato Ai and Ex-Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro's super hot son Koizumi Koutaro.
My review: Ex-PM Koizumi's son is so hot. Yeah, I guess this means I'm watching this too... wait! They are making a show about labour conditions!

6. Erai Tokoro ni Yomeide Shimatta!
Synopsis: Kimiko is an unfeminine, sloppy wife who is a bad cook and housekeeper but is somehow mistaken for a "good wife" by her meddlesome, tradition-bound mother-in-law, Shimako. Isojiro is a good looking man who tries to please everybody around him.
Translation: Japanese version of Jennifer Lopez' movie "Monster in Law".
Notable Actors: Nakama Yukie, Tanihara Shosuke and Matsuzaka Keiko (OMG! The wonderful mom of lovely Sakaguchi Kenji in Mother and Lover!)
My review: And just when you thought Nakama Yukie was done with dramas where she plays some sort of bumbling character, here she is again. Don't get me wrong, I think Nakama is lovely (except for that horrid single she put out for KDDI AU, yuck) but I'm watching this for Tanihara Shosuke.

7. Warui Yatsura
Official Announcement: http://movie.goo.ne.jp/contents/news/NF ... 117006001/
Synopsis: The last in a three-part adaptation of Matsumoto Seicho's works. Yonekura Ryoko plays a nurse who turns into a stalker (and murderer). In a slight deviation from the original storyline, the drama starts off with a nurse in love with a doctor, played by Kamikawa Takaya, and proceeds its depiction as her life spirals out of control.
Translation: A bad copy of Kiraware matsuko no issho.
Notable Actors: Yonekura Ryoko.
My review: This is going to be hilarious to me. Unless it's really boring like Byakuyakou where they just wax poetic about love while killing people and stealing. Sigh. Just break the law so I can be entertained! I don't need your fake Bonnie and Clyde... did I mention that I love dramas where someone's life gets ruined?

8. Hana Yori Dango 2

Official Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/hanadan2/
Synopsis: Do we even need one?
Notable Actors: Matsumoto Jun, Inoue Mao, Oguri Shun, Matsuda Shota.
My review: Okay, I'm going to be completely real with you... when the first Hana Yori Dango was announced I cried in the middle of my college's computer lab. I pretty much memorized every episode of the anime and read all of the manga in like 7th grade. I mean, come on, think about this: Clearly Doumyoji Tsukasa and I are meant to be together! He is almost as badass as I am. Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh, right. This sequel is gonna be the jam... and Ikuta *fu#@^ng* Toma will be in the first episode beating Matsumoto while he rapes Tsukushi lol, so I bet that's gonna be erotic. Oh well, anyways, everybody will watch it since it has MJ in there.

9. Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi 3

Synopsis: An incompetent and invisible “Mr. Nobody” at work, but turns into a sexy, handsome, and intelligent savior at night! A new type of super hero is here to stamp out social evil!
A new type of super hero is here! Tadano Hitoshi is an assistant manager of an advertisement company who seems to be nothing but a dull and incapable “nobody”. While most of the employees wonder why such a passive and incompetent person like Hitoshi is yet to be laid off, there is just one person who heavily relies on him as a “savior” to the company, the CEO. In fact, the “Mr. Nobody” is simply a disguise from the real Hitoshi, as he is under various special missions of the CEO to quietly carry on his “extraordinary ” task to fight against the corruption of the company. Originally from a big hit comic book!
Translation: How many erogenous zones can we see in an hour?
Notable Actors: Takahashi Katsunori, and not too much lol.
My review: What the synopsis doesn't tell you is that this show's late at night and the protagonist makes women have orgasms just by looking at them... and you wish I were kidding.

10. Karei naru Ichizoku
Official site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/karei2007/
Synopsis: Originally a novel by Yamasaki Toyoko, and later a 1974 movie. Manpyo Teppei is an executive managing director of a steel firm. The book depicts the conflicts within the Manpyo family, which is famous in Kansai's financial circles, amidst the tumultuous reorganisation of the financial industry of 1970s. Unlike the book, the eldest son, Teppei, and not the father, Daisuke, will be the central character of the story.
Translation: The problems of the rich and good looking!
Notable Actors: Kimura Takuya (<333333), Yamada Yu, Narimiya Hiroki (<3333), Yanagiba Toshiro.
My Review: Let's all say it in unison: Kimutaku Drama. At long last. What else do you need? The king of dramas is back!! I can't wait T______T

11. Enka no Joou
Synopsis: Himawari is an unsuccessful 39-year-old enka singer. She has bad luck with men and money. Born in an Osaka takoyaki shop, the young Himawari was inspired by her father's words to immerse herself in Japanese enka. However, when she was 13, her father disappeared. Her mother who'd remarried, treated her harshly. After graduating from high school, Himawari heads to Tokyo and makes her debut as an enka singer.
Translation: LOL.
Notable Actors: Amami Yuki
My review: It's an interesting plot and has potential to be a funny drama, but I'm keeping my bets low.

12. Kirakira Kenshuui
Synopsis: The main character is Oda Usako, who is a new graduate from medical school who is in training in a local hospital. She's a bit of a klutz and causes some problems but she works with all her might and does her best!
Translation: NEVER GIVE UP! I'M GONNA BECOME THE BEST DOCTOR EVER!
Notable Actors: Konishi Manami, Eiji Wentz (<3333)
Synopsis: I think it will be a less sexist Nurse Aoi.

And lastly, a Drama special:
Byakkotai
Synopsis: A re-make of the 1986 hit, which scored 80-percent in the Aizu district of Fukushima prefecture.
"Byakkotai" seems to be a story by which the content of the drama visits Byakkotai Memorial Hall by a modern young person who is the descendant of a Byakkotai samurai, and traces the history of the tragedy of the Byakkotai in the force organized by about 340 boys of 16 years old and 17 years old at Boshin War (Aizu war). Yamashita performs two roles (a Byakkotai samurai in the old days and the descendant's Shintaro Sakai).
Translation: How can you make teenage girls get into japanese history? Obviously Johnnys Jimusho.
Notable Actors: Yamashita Tomohisa, Tanaka Koki, Fujigaya Taisuke, and super JJ sex god Higashiyama Noriyuki.
My review: Sounds a bit gay, but who cares? It cas JE guys! It's a must watch for me! XD

Well, anyways, if someone actually reads this post something, it's free and makes the forum prettier

All I need is the new Kimura Takuya drama! Hana yori Dango 2 or not, it won't be able to compare!