Ying Ye 3+1

Rating: ***.5

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Action, School
Episodes: 16
Cast: Chen Qiao En, Jerry Huang, Jason Hsu, Ming Dao, Viter Fan

"Xia Tian, Jia Jiang, Fang Wei, Bulu all four grew up on Westside Street together and currently study in Ying Ye School. One month away from graduation. Xia Tian's dad is a police officer in Westside Street and is retiring tomorrow. But just on that day, they all had a fight with the Dinosaur gang in the school and were almost expelled by the principal. Officer Xia went to settle the conflict and not only did it not get settled, his gun got misplaced by the principal too. Everyone thus discussed things over and decided that AJ they all will remain in the school and they must find the gun within the one month of graduation to let Officer Xia retire peacefully and happily. Jia Jiang, Fang Wei and Bulu then can successfully graduate. While finding the missing gun, they discovered that a ex-convict Grey Wolf who escaped from prison is possibly connected with the missing gun and even more surprisingly, the Grey Wolf is actually having close communication and contact with students in Ying Ye."

Anything with Ming Dao and Chen Qiao En in it is a good drama. However, I'm not too interested in the way the fight scenes and such were made.. Anyway, it is something to check out.

Brown Sugar Macchiato

Rating: ****

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School
Episodes: 13
Cast: Ah Wei, Ao Quan, Gui Gui, Wang Zi, Ya Tou

"One day, six boys with different personalities and backgrounds are notified they shared the same father. And on top of that they are entitled to a large inheritance. There is only one catch. They must attend the same school and live in the same house for one year to become loving brothers. But, the boys not only hate each other, they have to deal with nine mean girls from their class. Will the brothers band together and successfully pass the inheritance test? Or, will falling in love with their classmates pull them farther apart? "

Hana Kimi

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance, Comedy, School
Episodes: 12
Cast: Horikita Maki, Ikuta Toma, Kamikawa Takaya, Konno Mahiru, Oguri Shun

"Based on a popular comic, this hilarious comedy follows the chaos, troubles and friendship at a boys’ boarding school after a girl-disguising-a-boy joins. Mizuki ASHIYA (Maki HORIKITA) has just come back to Japan from California where she was raised. She fell in love with a hopeful high jump hero Izumi SANO (Shun OGURI), but he has quitted after an accident. As she wants him to go back to the sport once again, she enters the same high school as a boy! With a short hair, flattened chest and lowered voice, she starts sharing the same room with Sano at the dorm. Living in a dorm at a boys’ high school is hard enough; changing clothes, bathrooms, etc., but things get even more complicated when Shuichi NAKATSU (Toma IKUTA) has a fancy feeling about Mizuki while Sano notices Mizuki is actually a girl and falls in love with her but she doesn’t notice he knows!"


Best clip ever:

One Litre of Tears

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance, School
Episodes: 11
Cast: Jinnai Takanori, Nishikido Ryo, Riko Narumi, Sawajiri Erika, Yakushimaru Hiroko

"This beautifully moving drama is based on the real-life struggles of a 15-year-old girl named Aya who suffered from an incurable disease, but lived life to the fullest until her death at 25. The script is based on the diary Aya kept writing until she could no longer hold a pen. The book that later followed entitled “One Litre of Tears" has sold over 1.1 million copies in Japan alone. Fifteen year old Ikeuchi Aya was just a normal girl, soon to be high school student and daughter of a family who works at a shop that makes tofu. As time passed, unusual things started happening to Aya lately. She started falling down often and walks in a strange way. Her mother Shioka, takes Aya to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar degeneration - a terrible disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat. A cruel disease, as it does not affect the mind in the least. How will Aya react when told about her disease? And how will Aya live from now on?"

Nobuta Wo Produce

Rating: ****

Genre: Drama, School
Episodes: 10
Cast: Erika Toda, Horikita Maki, Kamenashi Kazuya, Kimura Yuichi, Yamashita Tomohisa

"Kiritani Shuji is the popular guy who gets along with everyone, from the jerks to the nerds to the just plain weird. The one person Shuji cannot stand is Kusano Akira. To Shuji, Akira is just plain annoying. He laughs, talks and acts funny. Things heat up when a new student comes to school. Her name is Kotani Nobuko, a girl who has no self confidence at all and is content at being made fun of and bullied in school. Shuji and Akira come to an accord that in order to make use of their "youth" they will "produce" Nobuko as the next popular girl. One of the conditions, however, is that nobody should find out that they are working together as a team to make this concept possible. Unveiled here is the story of true friendship between three unlikely candidates who would not have been friends if not given the special circumstances."