Winter 2009 Drama Ratings Ranking

The Winter 2009 drama season has finally ended and here is the report on the ratings ranking as well as some input on the dramas which I've seen. To date, I've only finished Zenigeba, Triangle and Love Shuffle while I'm still in the midst of Kiina and Voice. And coincidentally, these two dramas which I've yet to finish are in the Top 2 for this season. The ratings for this season are pretty horrendous, so as to speak. The difference separating Kiina and Voice is a mere 0.01% and all Top 3 dramas failed to cross the 15% mark. One-third of the dramas went below the 10% mark. I would have thought that when the weather is cold, more people would stay at home to watch TV. Anyway, these ratings do not take into account people who actually record these dramas and watch at their own leisure time. Recently, there is talk that Video Research has developed a technology to capture figures of the number of people recording the shows so this may lend a bit more credibility to the ranking as well as reflect the true tastes of the viewers. Oh, I almost forgot that I haven't finished Uta no Oniisan too...

First up, we have Kiina from NTV which scored an average of 14.57%. I'm only 3 episodes into this drama. It's not that I don't like this drama but rather the episodic storyline doesn't give me any motivation to continue watching. I will finish up this drama soon though, maybe side by side with Voice. Frankly speaking, these two dramas are very similar to each other. Both are suspense stories which focus on investigative work BUT the approach is different. Kiina may look like a supernatural story on the surface but there are lots of theories and logic behind each phenomenon presented. As such, I thought the story wasn't as far-fetched as I expected. Nonetheless, it can be a bit mind-boggling to hear all those big words so I'll do a more detailed review on this once I finish.

Next up is Voice from FujiTV which scored a mere 0.01% lesser than Kiina. I've watched 5 episodes of this and I've toyed with the thought of dropping this. I must admit that I kept comparing this drama with Kiina and found that I liked the latter more. More on that when I complete the remaining episodes. Again, the main reason stopping me from watching this faithfully every week is the episodic nature. If the story doesn't develop over the course of the season, it's hard to get the viewers to continue watching the same format over and over again.

Third on the ranking in Mei-chan no Shitsuji which seems to be a big hit among the younger audience. I did not watch this drama so I can't comment much on this. From the looks of it, this seems to be a comedy featuring lots of ikemen. Another version of HanaKimi?

And here's the rest of the ranking plus a few comments I have...

4) Triangle - 12.36% (I was fuming mad when I got to the last episode. More on this later. It made the same fatal mistake as Koori no Sekai. And both dramas are from the same TV station. They simply didn't learn their lesson.)

5) Hisatsu Shigotonin 2009 - 12.33% (Didn't watch this)

6) Uta no Oniisan - 10.76% (Still in the midst of this)

7) Arifureta Kiseki - 10.56% (Didn't watch this)

8) Tokumei Kakaricho Tadano Jin - 10.32% (Didn't watch this)

9) RESCUE - 10.00% (Didn't watch this)

10) Zenigeba - 9.94% (Superb! Matsuyama Kenichi puts up another brilliant performance! Mimura also surprised me in a good way. Shiina Kippei was magnificent too. The story, though short, managed to condense the developments nicely and didn't have too much excess. Detailed review coming up!)

11) Love Shuffle - 8.82% (This is something which you either love it or not. Nojima Shinji's style of comedy may be a bit lame at times e.g. the panda joke but I loved the twists and humour. Review coming soon!)

12) Akai Ito - 8.52% (Didn't watch this)

13) Honjitsu mo Hare Ijou Nashi - 8.30% (Didn't watch this)

14) Kami no Shizuku - 6.20% (Enough said about this)

15) RESET - 5.60% (Didn't watch this)

Hang on for more updates about the new Spring 2009 season!