New releases in Malaysia (updated 31 March 2007)J-Dorama:1. The Wealthy Family/The Grand Tribe/Karei-Naru Ichizoku (TBS)Cast: Takuya Kimura (SMAP), Kyoka Suzuki, Kyoko Hasegawa, Koji Yamamoto, Yuu Yamada, Saki Aibu, Toru Nakamura, Kazue Fukiishi, Izumi Inamori, Hiroki Narimiya, Kinya Kitaoji, Yumi Takigawa, Mieko Harada, Tetsuya Takeda, Toshiro Yanagiba, Toshiyuki Nishida, Masahiko Nishimura
Date aired in Japan: January-March 2007
Average rating: 23.87%
Peak rating: 30.4% (Kanto), 35.5% (Kansai)
Final episode rating: 30.4% (Kanto), 35.5% (Kansai)
Official website:
http://www.tbs.co.jp/karei2007/Link to synopsis:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Karei-naru_IchizokuFormat: VCD (Malay & Chinese subs), DVD (Malay, English & Chinese subs)
SMAP's Takuya Kimura plays the charismatic eldest son, Teppei Manpyou, an executive managing director of a steel firm in this television adaptation of Toyoko Yamasaki's book of the same name. She is also the author behind "Nyokei Kazoku" (Matriarchal Family) and "Shiroi Kyoto" (The Great White Tower). The book depicts the conflicts within the Manpyou family, which is famous in Kansai's financial circles, amidst the tumultuous reorganisation of the financial industry of 1970s. Unlike the book, the eldest son, Teppei, and not the father, Daisuke, will be the central character of the story.
The story is set in Tokyo (instead of Kansai like in the book) in the 1970s. Because of this quite difficult set, the filming of this drama is done in Shanghai. So for some few months, the casts and staff have to go back and forth between Tokyo and Shanghai for the filming. Shanghai has also been decorated here and there, to make it look more like Tokyo in the 70s.
2. Hana Yori Dango 2 (Returns) (TBS)Cast: Mao Inoue, Jun Matsumoto (Arashi), Shun Oguri, Shota Matsuda, Tsuyoshi Abe, Aki Nishihara, Natsuki Kato, Toma Ikuta (Johnny's Jr) (special guest), Saki Seto, Aki Fukuda, Emiko Matsuoka, Megumi Sato, Mayumi Sada, Erika Toda (guest)
Date aired in Japan: January-March 2007
Average rating: 21.69%
Peak rating: 27.6%
Final episode rating: 27.6%
Official website:
http://www.tbs.co.jp/hanadan2/Link to synopsis:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Hana_Yori_DangoFormat: VCD (Malay & Chinese subs), DVD (Malay, English & Chinese subs)
The sequel to Hana Yori Dango, with a New York arc.
3. Haken no Hinkaku (NTV)Cast: Ryoko Shinohara, Ai Kato, Koutaro Koizumi, Yo Oizumi, Ryo Katsuji, Yuka Itaya, Yu Shirota, Yumi Shirakawa
Date aired in Japan: January-March 2007
Average rating: 20.1%
Peak rating: 26.0%
Final episode rating: 26.0%
Official website:
http://www.ntv.co.jp/haken/Link to synopsis:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Haken_no_HinkakuFormat: VCD (Malay & Chinese subs), DVD (Malay, English & Chinese subs)
Popular actress Ryoko Shinohara takes on the role of Haruko, a responsible and capable OL who earns 3,000 yen an hour and has 28 people under her charge. Haruko, however, never cracks a smile, is cold, never minces her words and leaves the office on the dot. "Haken no Hinkaku" is a termed a timely drama that examines the differences in the treatment of an OL dispatched by a food manufacturer to a supermarket and regular employees, and the ways to overcome frictions in interpersonal relationships. It follows in the wake of an October report on labour conditions by the Labour Ministry, which showed that the proportion of regular employees to OLs had doubled compared to that 8 years ago, after a relaxation of regulations.
4. Erai Tokoro ni Totsuide Shimatta! (TV Asahi)Cast: Yukie Nakama, Shosuke Tanihara, Keiko Matsuzaka
Date aired in Japan: January-March 2007
Average rating: 12.67%
Peak rating: 16.1%
Final episode rating: 11.7%
Official website:
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/eraitokoroni/Link to synopsis:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Erai_Tokoro_ni_T...ide_Shimatta%21Format: VCD (Malay & Chinese subs)
"Erai Tokoro ni Yomeide Shimatta" is a comedy that focuses on a bride and her mother-in-law. In a turnaround from her role in "Komyou ga Tsuji", Yukie Nakama plays Kimiko an unfeminine, sloppy wife who is a bad cook and housekeeper but is somehow mistaken for a "good wife" by her meddlesome, tradition-bound mother-in-law, Shimako, played by Keiko Matsuzaka. Shosuke Tanihara stars as Kimiko's husband, Isojiro, a good-looking man who tries to please everybody around him.
5. The Secret Garden/Himitsu no Hanazono (Fuji TV)Cast: Yumiko Shaku, Masato Sakai, Jun Kaname, Tetsuhiro Ikeda, Kanata Hongo, Susumu Terajima, Miki Maya, Saori Takizawa
Date aired in Japan: January-March 2007
Average rating: 12.41%
Peak rating: 14.7%
Final episode rating: 11.4%
Official website:
http://www.ktv.co.jp/hanazono/index.htmlLink to synopsis:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Himitsu_no_HanazonoFormat: VCD (Malay & Chinese subs)
Yumiko Shaku stars in her first lead role as Natsuyo Sonoda, a bumbling editor who is transferred to the shoujo manga (girls' comics) editorial department after the publication of her fashion magazine is discontinued. She is put in charge of popular manga writer Yuriko Hanazono, but later discovers that Hanazono is truly the creative effort of four weird brothers.
6. Warui Yatsura (TV Asahi)Cast: Ryoko Yonekura, Takaya Kamikawa, Kimiko Yo, Kazuki Kitamura, Yuko Fueki, Noboru Kaneko
Date aired in Japan: January-March 2007
Average rating: 9.35%
Peak rating: 13.6%
Final episode rating: 10.1%
Official website:
http://waruiyatsura.asahi.co.jp/Link to synopsis:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Warui_YatsuraFormat: VCD (Malay & Chinese subs)
The last in a three-part adaptation of Seichou Matsumoto's works (the other two being "Kurokawa no Techou" and "Kemonomichi"), sees Ryoko Yonekura resume her role as a "bad woman". This time she plays a nurse who turns into a stalker (and murderer). In a slight deviation from the original storyline, the drama starts off with a nurse in love with a doctor (Takaya Kamikawa), and proceeds its depiction as her life spirals out of control.
7. Enka no Joou/Enka Queen (NTV)Cast: Yuki Amami, Taizo Harada, Wakana Sakai, Atsuko Takahata, Masaya Kikawada, Mayuko Fukuda, Yoichi Nukumizu, Yasunori Danta, Junko Ikeuchi
Date aired in Japan: January-March 2007
Average rating: 9.09%
Peak rating: 10.9%
Final episode rating: 10.4%
Official website:
http://www.ntv.co.jp/enka/Link to synopsis:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Enka_no_JoouFormat: VCD (Malay & Chinese subs)
Yuki Amami plays an unsuccessful 39-year-old enka singer, Himawari, who has bad luck with men and money, in this drama which once again teams her up with "Jyouu no Kyou#su" scriptwriter, Kazuhiko Yukawa. Born in an Osaka takoyaki shop, the young Himawari was inspired by her father's words to immerse herself in enka. However, when she was 13, her father disappeared. Her mother who'd remarried, treated her harshly. After graduating from high school, Himawari heads to Tokyo and makes her debut as an enka singer...
8. Jigoku Shoujo/Girl From Hell (NTV)Cast: Sayuri Iwata, Aya Sugimoto, Kazuki Kato, Hisahiro Ogura, Saaya Irie, Kazuhiko Nishimura
Date aired in Japan: November 2006-January 2007
Official website:
http://www.ntv.co.jp/jigoku/Link to synopsis:
http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Jigoku_ShoujoFormat: DVD (Malay, English & Chinese subs)
Somewhere in the vast sea of the Internet, there's a website that can only be accessed at the stroke of midnight. Known as the Jigoku Tsushin, rumor has it that if you post a grudge there, the Jigoku Shoujo will appear and drag whoever torments you into the inferno. Very little is known about the girl - all we know for sure is that she lives with her equally enigmatic grandmother, that three magical straw dolls accompany and serve her, and that whenever a posting on the Jigoku Tsushin moves her, she becomes the Jigoku Shoujo.
credit to: whitedove aka tia@cari.com.my