Is Spring 2008 the best single dorama season ever?

[britoki]

Granted, I have a limited viewpoint, but I can't remember any single season that has produced so many great shows.

I'm on the edge of my seat watching

1) Zettai Kareshi
2) Last Friends
3) Rookies
4) Ryokiteki na Kanojo
5) Change

And I haven't even started Gokusen 3 yet, nor had the opportunity to see anything else. I think that any of the 5 dramas above could easily rank among the best dramas in recent years.

[emerica1123]

I have yet to watch most of them but this season is way better than last so far.

[yunizuka]

It's funny because I was thinking the same as you ! And thinking that my summer vacation is going to be really busy with all those dramas

[XrayMind]

'About 40' is also one of my favorite this season. Great romantic comedy. And Haruspex is putting out the English sub so fast.

[kvertand]

Let me be the first to say 'no, it's not close to the best ever', though admittedly I don't like most recent dramas.

For the sake of comparison, last season had two of the best dramas in a while IMO, Hanaya and Yoshio. This season has Last Friends, which stands out more because of the themes it tackles than because of any particularly clever screenplay, and Change, which is good but very short.

I've been following Puzzle because of an irrational devotion to Satomi, but my patience with its formula is quickly depleting. I watched the first ep of ZK and thought it was one of the silliest, least entertaining pilots I've ever witnessed. I absolutely refuse to watch anything related to Gokusen, because the last season was just so bad for being a carbon copy of season one that I am protesting the entire franchise (and I consider myself to be a fan of Yukie). Rookies, Muri, and Kanojo aren't bad, just really really average. And don't even get me started on that Kimi Hannin show.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I think this is the off-season.

[Salz]

yeah this season really have great drama compare to other season....
my fav is
1. Last Friends
2. Rookies
3. Osen
but im so dissappointed with Zettai Kareshi......the way they change so much in the drama make it really boring....
i really luv both Hiro and Hayami but it really unfair that they favour Soshi too much when Knight is supposed to be the hero and the way Riiko treat him badly make me hate Aibu Saki much more^^"
im still havent watch other drama....

[incyphe]

Let me be the first to say 'no, it's not close to the best ever', though admittedly I don't like most recent dramas.

For the sake of comparison, last season had two of the best dramas in a while IMO, Hanaya and Yoshio. This season has Last Friends, which stands out more because of the themes it tackles than because of any particularly clever screenplay, and Change, which is good but very short.

I've been following Puzzle because of an irrational devotion to Satomi, but my patience with its formula is quickly depleting. I watched the first ep of ZK and thought it was one of the silliest, least entertaining pilots I've ever witnessed. I absolutely refuse to watch anything related to Gokusen, because the last season was just so bad for being a carbon copy of season one that I am protesting the entire franchise (and I consider myself to be a fan of Yukie). Rookies, Muri, and Kanojo aren't bad, just really really average. And don't even get me started on that Kimi Hannin show.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I think this is the off-season.

I think Satomi is totally charming to watch in Puzzle, but the script is amateurish at best, and gets worse after each episode. It's a sorry attempt at copying Trick.

I agree with Gokusen. I am so baffled how it's pulling in 20%+ rating. Watching episode 1 was excrutiating. Maybe it's because I liked GTO so much... all other subsequent derivatives simply haven't measured up.

With that said, I agree with the original poster in that this is a great season. There are a lot of decent to pretty good series to watch. I like:


Surprisingly good
-Pandora


Pretty good
-Last Friends
-Osen
-Hokaben


Not bad
-Around 40
-Muri na Renai

The biggest let down is Ryokiteki na Kanojo. As much as I think Kusanagi is a great actor, I think he was totally miscast here. The script is very thin, with not enough focus on the supporting characters. Really, the only reason why I'm bearing through this trainwreck is because I really adore Rena Tanaka.

the biggest surprise is Pandora, which for some reason isn't even listed on D-addict Wiki. It's highly entertaining.

Of course, I haven't started the biggest dorama of the season, Change...

[tarobz]

i do agree with you. i ended up watching 5 dramas in this season and i like them all. i really like around40 though some might argue that the plot is plain...it makes me smile every time i watch it.

[mizune]

i'd agree that it's probably the best season in terms of the past year or so (inasmuch most ppl seem to have found at least a couple of shows they are interested enough to follow without having serious disappointment issues yet -- last year, i pretty much bailed and caught up on some kdramas instead ), but "ever" is definitely a relative term depending on your personal tastes in stories, what's been subbed, and how long you've been watching these things...

[lunas]

I totally agreed that this season has a more series to offer than the few seasons in the past. I am currently watching a total of 7 series, that's the most series I've ever watched in a single season. Only Puzzle, Zettai are not up to par in compare to the others.