Dorama of the Year 2003-IV Fall - Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

Between another imitation of GTO and live-action remake of an anime I'm choosing Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

1. Anata no Tonari ni Dareka Iru  [あなたの隣に誰かいる] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Thriller, Mystery, Horror, Drama Azusa the wife, Otaro the husband, and their only daughter Suzu. They live in a little public dwelling in Tokyo. They're a fairly ordinary family of three living a normal but happy life. That is, until they move into that house. Then all sorts of frightening experiences escalate and involve the entire family, developing into incidents that will give goosebumps. Would you be able to defend your precious family if a major disaster should suddenly occur? The topics in this series are family and life itself, the ultimate topics for everyone. This drama uses the form of a horror suspense show to depict the bonds within a family. Forgot how bad horror mysteries can be, probably should exclude this genre as well as I know none that I enjoy.   Overall Rating: 5/10

2. Manhattan Love Story [マンハッタンラブストーリー] (Finished 3/11) Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama Next door to Chuo TV's offices is "Manhattan," a coffee shop for aficionados. The owner's passion for coffee is almost a sickness and all he wants is for his customers to enjoy their coffee. He is a man of few words. If he has to say something, he gets his waiter Shinobu Gamo to speak on his behalf. Owner's real name is unknown. He would prefer to be addressed as the shops' "Master" rather than its owner - not that anyone is aware of this. He gives his all to coffee. Despite his wishes, his regular customers don't really come to taste the coffee. They are there because of love. They use his shop as a place for dates, marriage proposals and break-ups. He doesn't show it, but it saddens him that his customers are so preoccupied with affairs of the heart and not the coffee. I don't understand the point of it. It's not funny to see more and more people confessing out of blue. It was even less funny listening to mute'ish bartender inner voice commenting all this and nagging about everything in the very same repeating manner. It's all senseless and silly.   Overall Rating: 5/10

3. The Pawnshop No. 8  [第8號當舖] (Finished 1/116) Tags: Horror, Romance, Supernatural The legend has it that if you can locate Pawnshop No. 8, it will honor any request you may have, as long as you are willing to pay for the price. It accepts valuable jewelry or house deed. It also gladly accepts your limbs, your love, your sanity, your child's future, and the most valuable commodity to the pawnshop, your soul. Episodic horror.   Overall Rating: 5/10

4. Punch (2003)  [때려] (Finished 1/16) Tags: Romance, Drama, Sports A tragic union of a man and a woman in a world where fist comes before the law, they choose love before fist to find hope in their future... Punch! Yoo Bin loses her only family, her brother, Yoo Cheol, from a boxing match, and is left alone in the world. She lives a difficult life but an opportunity to become a female boxer makes her a grown woman. Boxer by day and nightclub solicitor by night. But, Han Sae is a very fast and skilled fighter. Even when Han Sae knows that Yoo Bin is Yoo Cheol's sister, he is attracted to her by her fresh image. Pilot is basically pre-story, so it does not look like typical spokon, but it sets road for a pretty typical one ahead.   Overall Rating: 5/10

5. Stairway to Heaven [천국의 계단] (Finished 2/20) Tags: Romance, Melodrama The relationship of childhood sweethearts Cha Song Joo and Hang Jung Suh becomes complicated when Jung Suh's father remarries. Along with a new stepmother, Jung Suh also has a new introverted stepbrother, Han Tae Hwa and a scheming stepsister, Han Yuri. Gradually, Tae Hwa falls in love with kind-hearted Jung Suh and Yuri decides to pursue Song Joo. Nothing can shake the bond between Jung Suh and Song Joo, however, not even Song Joo's departure to study abroad in America. On the night of his return, however, Jung Suh is mysteriously hit by a car and believed dead. Having lost her memory in the crash, she is taken in by Tae Hwa, who relocates and gives her another name. Five years later, on the eve of his engagement to Yuri, Song Joo sees someone who looks exactly like his lost love Jung Suh. Well, hating everything about it. So melodramatic and slow and toxic and simplistic and just bad.   Overall Rating: 5/10

6. Suekko Chounan Ane Sannin [末っ子長男姉三人] (Finished 1/10) Tags: Comedy Haruko Takanashi is 30. She works at a radio station. She is approaching middle management where good looks alone aren't enough. She isn't very romantic so she devotes herself to work and play and suddenly finds herself alone. Just when she has given up on romance she meets a man. She meets him at a party to which she was taken by a subordinate at work. He is 25-year-old Ichiro Kashiwakura and is nothing out of the ordinary. They start a relationship. One day, out of the blue, Ichiro ardently proposes to Haruko. Realizing that he really loves her, Haruko says yes and they get married. But she still hasn't told him her real age. Why FL is again Fukatsu Eri even though I can't stand her... it's too painful for me, after all.   Overall Rating: 5/10

7. Yankee Bokou ni Kaeru [ヤンキー母校に帰る] (Finished 2/10) Tags: Youth, Drama It follows a former gang member, dropout and graduate of the school who returns as a teacher. The story follows him as he helps graduating students out into the world. The teachers and students will confront all the issues of youth and society today. At this school, there are no compromises, no lies. Both students and teachers face a variety of issues head-on. This is a moving story that is created by people coming together and learning to believe in each other. One more GTO imitation. Can't say it impressed me in any way during first episodes, but this concept is hard to fail, so remains watchable.   Overall Rating: 6/10

8. The Great White Tower (2003)  [白い巨塔] (Finished 1/21) Tags: Business, Law, Medical, Political A striking drama of the amazingly gifted surgeon Zaizen Goro, caught up by his desire for power and fame, and his contemporary physician Satomi Shuji, who selflessly continues a quest to save human lives. This serious drama depicts the lives of these two contrasting personalities and the people around them. The Great White Tower returns again to the television screen for the first time in 25 years! The Great White Tower is the title of a representative novel by Yamazaki Toyoko that depicts the hidden side of the medical world and the dignity of human life, thus shocking and moving many readers, marking a milestone in medical dramas. A dense human drama develops starting with the first half, which depicts the tragicomic circumstances arising from human ambition in the selection of professors, and proceeding to the second half, which inquires into the dignity of human life through a medical court case involving a malpractice suit. Remake mostly about dedicine.   Overall Rating: 5/10

9. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon [美少女戦士セーラームーン] (Finished 1/49) Tags: Tokusatsu, Romance, Youth, Supernatural A great evil, consisting of Queen Beryl, her four generals, and an amorphous evil power named Queen Metaria, attempt to steal energy so that Beryl can take over the world. Standing in their way are the Sailor Senshi, five middle-school-aged girls: perky Usagi Tsukino, genius Ami Mizuno, paranormally gifted shrine maiden Rei Hino, tomboyish Makoto Kino, and J-pop idol Minako Aino; two beings that appear to be sentient stuffed cats (Luna and Artemis); and Tuxedo Mask, a jewel thief in search of a Silver Crystal. Ofc it's not for me, but even I enjoy creativity with which it's done while having small budget and only simple CGI..   Overall Rating: 6/10

10. Kawa, Itsuka Umi e [川、いつか海へ] (Finished 1/6) Tags: Romance, Life, Drama NHK's 50th-anniversary memorial drama serial. This drama consisting of several short stories starring some of the well-known actors and actress of Japan today. A ball floats from the river's source to the sea, unlocking the portrayal of six love stories across the four seasons of the year. Not a fan of omnibus format. Had to skip first since it had Fukatsu Eri in it. Second is constant cringefest, hardly of any interest.   Overall Rating: 5/10

11. Breathless (2003) [나는 달린다] (Finished 3/16) Tags: Romance, Drama, Sports A young man here is dreaming about his future. He needs to do whatever task lying in front of him to earn his living, yet he is running fast to dream and to love. Whenever he is sprinting, he is so full of energy that he forgets about his poverty and his dark family background. The world might jeer at him, but he does not care. She is rather special. She is very well aware of her charms and is highly self-reliant. The most unfamiliar word to her is "failure" because she has never faced failure in her life since the world was always on her side. She conquered whatever she intended, and she dumped whatever she thought unnecessary. However, she just cannot deny the love that is to determine her destiny. She is like an open-hearted prairie, young and gleaming. They love each other, and the love changes both of their lives; they run towards an uneasy future. Three episodes in, and it's still being a directionless mess - just a random sequence of events around one of main charactes. Tired trying to see where it's all going as so far it's going nowhere, but at least it's not a spokon.   Overall Rating: 5/10

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