The Banana Guide to Asian Entertainment: It’s All About Japan: Part II

Animated series are never behind!

Though I may not be as well-versed in anime series, I sure appreciate the ones I have been able to watch. Besides from some close-to-my-heart oldies like Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac, Captain Tsubasa, Street Fighter II: V or Inuyasha, I have dabbled with some other weird — or sometimes not so weird — animated series.

First, there was Love Hina, a 25-episode animated comedy of an admittedly bizarre sexual nature, dealing with a failed young man who has been trying to enter Tokyo University for the past few years in order to meet the love of his life, whom he hasn’t seen since they were kids. In the end, he ends up at a family-owned girls dorm where he works as a manager surrounded by girls. However, just like jdrama is varied in genre and themes, anime series are just as broad.

You’ll find romances for all tastes — including boy-on-boy and girl-on-girl — comedies, horror series like Mononoke, action fantasy, fantasy dramas — Mushishi comes to mind — and even mystery dramas like Spiral: Bond of Inference, about a boy who gets targeted by a mysterious group of people that call themselves the Blade Children.

Japanese animated series, unlike their American “cartoon” counterparts, sometimes deal with a lot of serious topics not suitable for all viewers, like (the shocking) School Days, Serial Experiments: Lain, Welcome to the N.H.K, or the amazing Time of Eve.

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It doesn’t really matter what’s the medium or what genre it is, there’s a LOT to watch on Japanese television for all tastes and ages. You know what they say… once you watch Japanese TV, you can never go back. People don’t say that, do they? I should start saying it, then.

Stay tuned to discover some of the amazingness of Japanese movies!

In the meantime! Here’s a list of all the Japanese dramas we have reviewed in YAM Magazine at the time of posting:

* denotes a highly recommended show of mine.

• Atami Investigators (熱海の捜査官) *
• Bitter Sugar (ビターシュガー)
• Chouchou-san (蝶々さん)
• Galileo (ガリレオ) *
• High School Teacher 2003 (高校教師)
• Secret Spy Erika (秘密諜報員 エリカ)
• The Japanese that the Japanese Don’t Know (日本人の知らない日本語)
• Jin (JIN-仁-) *| Series 1 + Series 2
• JIU: Special Investigation Team (ジウ 警視庁特殊犯捜査係)
• Juri Ueno and the Five Bags (上野樹里と5つの鞄) *
• The Pioneers (開拓者たち)
• I’m Mita, Your Housekeeper (家政婦のミタ) *
• Keizoku (ケイゾク) *
• Keizoku 2: SPEC (ケイゾク 2: SPEC)
• Last Friends (ラスト・フレンズ)
• Mononoke (モノノ怪) *
• Mother *
• Perfect Girl Evolution (ヤマトナデシコ七変化)
• Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas (聖闘士星矢 THE LOST CANVAS 冥王神話)
• Sasameki Koto (ささめきこと)
• The Holy Monsters (聖なる怪物たち)
• Shokuzai (贖罪) *
• Spiral: The Bonds of Inference (スパイラル〜推理の絆) *
• Street Fighter II V (ストリートファイターII V)
• Hard to Say I Love You (素直になれなくて)
• Time of Eve (イヴの時間) *
• Urban Legend Woman (都市伝説の女)
• Vampire Knight – Season 1 (ヴァンパイア騎士)
• Welcome to the N.H.K (N・H・Kにようこそ!) *