Favorites Dramas and Movies Watched in 2024
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1. Light on Series: Moses on the Plain
Chinese Drama - 2023, 6 episodes
Basically a slice of life but with murder. Sometimes you even forget that there is a plot. Its languid pace invites you to pay attention to minute details (or drives you to boredom).
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2. Kaso Girei
Japanese Drama - 2023, 10 episodes
Often very funny, I got attached to the characters even as they make questionable decisions that eventually hurt themselves and others. I loved the two crooked leads and their earliest "followers" and how they genuinely care about each other and help each other. And for a drama about fake religious sect, it's surprisingly nuanced in its portrayal of religion/belief and its adherents.
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3. Sexy Tanaka-san
Japanese Drama - 2023, 10 episodes
This is the kind of story that I love, about relationship(s) that transforms you into a better version of yourself. The titular character, with her courage and big heart, inspires her younger friends to become better people, and they in turn offer her genuine friendship based on love and respect.
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4. Tora ni Tsubasa
Japanese Drama - 2024, 130 episodes
In a way, this is a typical asadora that gives paean to hopeful optimism, community, and hard work. But in its celebration of individuality and diversity, it is also very much steeped in 21st century values.
Ito Sairi shines as the titular Tora-chan (real name: Tomoko), and even though she is an exceptional woman, it is her curiosity and openness and her willingness to bridge gaps that at first seem insurmountable that the drama emphasizes, not how great she is all the time.
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5. Danchi no Futari
Japanese Drama - 2024, 10 episodes
Very chill drama about life in a post-war apartment complex. The friendship between the two main characters--and their interaction with their fellow residents--is the heart and soul of the drama. It's generally lighthearted and funny, but this is not one of those dramas showcasing a kind of "lifestyle", so to speak, so it does broach difficult facts of life too--mostly to do with aging--but with a light touch. Highly recommended.
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6. Dress Sleeved Red
Korean Drama - 2021, 17 episodes
Never had I felt so conflicted between wanting the leads to bang and wanting the female lead to run away as fast as far away as she can (virtually impossible in this case, though). I don't think I've ever seen something this brutally honest in examining what it's like to be in a relationship with such a massive power imbalance it practically strips away the weaker party of her selfhood.
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7. Platform
Chinese Movie - 2000
Reading the reviews, I thought it's going to be a super dour, depressing movie, but it's actually wickedly funny. Sure, it becomes more quietly sad as it goes on, because the characters are getting older and life is often hard, but the humor is always there. And all around them, China is rapidly changing.
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8. Shinjuku Yasen Byoin
Japanese Drama - 2024, 11 episodes
Funny, irreverent, and with a big heart underneath it all. Classic Kudo Kankuro.
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9. Moment at Eighteen
Korean Drama - 2019, 16 episodes
Lovely, well-written coming of age drama.
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10. A Woman After a Killer Butterfly
Korean Movie - 1978
"The will to live is sacred!"
"It sucks but I think I'll keep on living."
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11. Classmate no Joshi, Zenin Sukideshita
Japanese Drama - 2024, 10 episodes
Perfectly captures that mix of idiocy and maturity that young teens have. Young Suneo is the true star (and heart) of the drama--imaginative, a bit dumb, and genuinely kind. His adult counterpart has such good rapport with his supportive but exasperated editor, and their interaction very much resembles that of a comedy duo.
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12. Let's Go Karaoke!
Japanese Movie - 2024
Unusual friendship is one of my favorite tropes so of course I liked this. The yakuza might've learned how to sing from the kid, but the kid learns so much about himself thanks to their friendship (by "friendship" I mean hanging out in the karaoke together, with the yakuza singing and the kid criticizing him and eating fried rice--it's great).