Moshi Moshi Minna San (hello everyone ^^)

Ever since the Korean wave hit us in 2002 through Autumn in my Heart, it seems that the J-wave that once dominated fans heart had subside to nothing more than occasional ripples. I'm sure it isn't hard to notice that that are practically no more japanese dramas being showed on Channel 8 and Channel U. All the drama time slots now are currently packed with Korean dramas and sometimes Taiwanese Idol Dramas.

How i miss the times when I stayed up to 12.30 (against my parents wishes as I was still a primary school student) on Mondays and Thursdays nights to catching Japanese Drama Classics like Long Vacation, Love Generation, Hero (starring Takuya Kimura), Majou no Jouken (魔女の條件 also known as Witch's requirement and Forbidden Love) (Takizawa Hideaki and Matsushima Nanako), GTO, Beach Boys, Over Time( Takashi Sorimachi),  God, Please Give Me More Time (Kyoko Fukada and Takeshi Kaneshiro) and many more. 

Do you still remeber the times when J-pop was massively advertised during the commercial breaks? I do. I remember seeing Ayumi Hamasaki more than a hundred times(ok I'm exaggerating) when I watched the television the whole day. The songs that came with the Japanese dramas, do you still love them? I do. That's why I'm writing this. Utada Hikaru's First Love (Majou no Joken) and Can you Keep a Secret ( Hero),  Cagnet's La La La Love Song (Long Vacation), Takashi Sorimachi's Forever (Beach Boys), Yamaguchi Yuko's Believe (not that song from My Sassy Girl, it's from Over Time don't be mistaken), Luna Sea's I For You (God, Please Give Me More Time) and the list goes on.    

Is is because current Japanese dramas are not  as good? Is it because J-pop's quality has dropped? I don't think so. There is still a long list of good dramas and movies and songs.I think a very distinctive difference between Korean dramas and Japanese dramas is that the former is more love-orientated (love as in between a couple and a family) while the latter is more life-orientated although love is always used as an enhancer to the dish. I can't really explain how Korean dramas appeal to Singaporeans because it doesn't appeal to me but I'm sure it must have a certain X-factor that have created the overwhelming wave that not only hit us but also other parts of Asia, including Japan. It's just a change in generation and change in taste I guess. 

Through this article, I would really like to find out if the J-wave is really dying because it seems to, at least from what I have seen, lesser screening time, lesser pages of information on Japanese celebrities in magazines, lesser people talking about the plot of Japananese dramas (basically no one around me is talking about them except me) . If the response is negative for the article then I would like to share reviews on Japanese dramas and cds with SIngaporeans (and also Malaysians too if possible) who are still into J-Entertainment, just like me ^^

Here are some Japanese dramas that I reccommend: One Pound Gospel (Kamenashi Kazuya and Kuroki Meisa), Operation Love(Yamashita Tomohisa and Masami Nagasawa), Galileo (Fukuyama Masaharu and Shibasaki Kou) , Nodame Cantabile (Tamaki Hiroshi and Ueno Juri)       

 

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jpop wave is here to stay Friday, 04 April 2008 - Written by rhina - rhina21.blogspot.com jpop culture rox. though like most fads it will gain sudden public interest and then lose out to the newer trend/fad. we die-hard or true blue jpop fanatics will always stick it out...there's sumthing about j-dramas that draws me in...or is it the fancy eyebrows of our ikimen...heheh Reply / Leave A Comment  of coz not Sunday, 17 February 2008 - Written by sam two movies of Death Notes did very well here, it's still early to conclude. Reply / Leave A Comment  K/J Thursday, 14 February 2008 - Written by xinyi actually i think K-wave is cooling off too.. there's just too limited(or none at all) Jap dorama on free-to-air.. Reply / Leave A Comment  good article Thursday, 14 February 2008 - Written by Ban Wei Actually everyone has their own preference, I believe there are still people who like Japanese dramas/movies.    Just like I have friend who still love HK series a lot now (HK series was quite popular in 80s/90s)    Cheers! Reply / Leave A Comment