Dorama World - New Year Greetings, Recap of 2025 and Projection for 2026

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! 明けましておめでとうございます!

A very happy new year to everyone, no matter where you are and regardless of how long you have been following this blog! I wish everyone all the best in the year ahead and that you will find and come across more gems in the J-drama and J-movie universe and derive joy along the way while finding new titles to watch and keeping in touch with related developments through this space.

This year marks a very significant milestone for Dorama World as this blog began exactly 20 years ago in August 2006 (although it was in a different form prior to that). I don't know how many of you have been with me since then but this is indeed a very long time (way longer than I expected when I first started writing the blog) and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support to date. 

Honestly speaking, for this to have lasted 20 years as a solo side project while juggling other commitments without any help and hardly any promotion beyond organic reach and word of mouth, I am humbled by where I am today with regard to this blog. No doubt this may not be as well-known or influential as some of the other J-drama blogs out there, I hope that you have enjoyed what I've dished out over the years.

I haven't thought of what to do to celebrate this occasion but there are still a number of months to go until the anniversary month of August so I'll be planning something for sure.

And so, in this special year, I thought of doing a recap of what I watched in 2025 and give you some ideas of what's coming in this space for 2026. While I don't think that what I chose to watch, like or dislike may be in line with everyone's tastes, you may be curious about what I watched and through this post, you can hopefully uncover or find out about something which might just interest you. With the increasing Japan-related content on OTT platforms this day, there is a lot to watch - to the extent that I just can't catch up because my to-watch list keeps growing and time is so limited these days due to my tight schedule. This is a happy dilemma though because more content is better than no content.

Last but not least, note that the selection of titles are not restricted to new/current ones because the OTT platforms had uploaded a number of past-season or classic titles which I may have missed when it was in-season.

Here's a summary of my key statistics in 2025:

* In terms of the number of titles I watched in 2025, the total of 64 was slightly higher than in 2024's 61. However, when it came to the breakdown between dramas and movies, I watched more dramas than movies in 2024 (34 vs. 27) while 2025 saw a more-or-less even split of (33 dramas vs. 31 movies). I think this has to do with the fact that there were more movies available to watch on OTT and that I had much lesser time to watch full-length dramas and needed to be very selective on what I chose to watch.

* When it came to the source/platform I watched the dramas/movies on, it is probably not surprising that the bulk came from Netflix (38) with Amazon Prime and TVer tied at second with 10 each. 

* As for the "producers" of what I watched, while TBS' works were my top choice in 2024, the distribution was more spread out in 2025 - TBS (9), Netflix (6) and 5 each from NTV and TV Asahi.

* In 2024, there was a drama which I gave a perfect score of 10 i.e. "Lion no kakurega" but there wasn't any this year. The highest score I gave in 2025 was 9 out of 10 for two titles: "Mikami-sensei" and "Gekieiga Kodoku no Gurume".

On the other end of the spectrum, I gave the score of 1 for 1 title in both years i.e. "Anata no ban desu Gekijouban" (2024) and "Housoukyoku Senkyo" (2025).

* In terms of the ratings I gave for the titles I watched this year, it seemed like I was more satisfied with my picks in 2024 because 41% of the titles got a score of 8 and above. In contrast, only 25% were in this range in 2025. The bulk of the titles got a score of 5 to 7.5 i.e. 56% compared to 39% in 2024. The percentage for titles scoring below 5 was about the same for both years i.e. around 18%.

* As for my most "productive" month, I watched the most titles in March (12), April (10) and June (9).

NOTE THAT I still have 4 titles in 2025 which I haven't posted the reviews for so will get that done, hopefully by the end of this month.

First title I watched in 2025 was...

And I ended the year with this...

Coming to my plans for this space in 2026, what's for sure for now are:

* Clearing the outstanding quick reviews for the 4 remaining titles in 2025

* Planning for some celebratory activities for the anniversary month 

If you have any ideas on what you would like to see, please feel free to send them along. As to whether I can incorporate them in the anniversary month, the biggest challenge is time so I seek your kind understanding if I can't commit or deliver on certain suggestions.

As for my viewing plans in 2026, I think my selection will be very much focused on what the international OTT platforms have to offer. It's tougher for me to follow TVer which doesn't keep its dramas on demand for a long time and I can't really stick to the weekly viewing schedule these days (unless it's a must-watch-now kind of situation). For now, I intend to watch whatever is still in my to-watch list first so you may be seeing reviews of 2025's seasonal dramas along with older selections progressively in 2026 and this means that the newer titles may not be covered so promptly. Using this year as an example, I haven't watched all of Netflix's J-drama/J-movie productions except for "Imawa no kuni no Arisu" which I finished in days after its release. As such, please don't be surprised to see something released months ago being covered here much later.

Before I end this post, in case you are wondering what I watched on the first day of 2026...

Happy New Year 2025 + Dorama World's Recap of 2024

First of all, a very happy new year to everyone! あけましておめでとうございます！

This year marks the 19th year since I started the blog and honestly, I would never have expected to be still doing this after so many years if you had asked me back in 2006. Regardless of whether you are new here or have been longtime readers, I would like to thank you for your support and hope that this little space will continue to be of value and meaning to everyone who are fellow fans of Japanese entertainment especially dramas and movies.

Without spending any money on ads to promote this blog other than posting through the official social media channels, awareness of this site was probably limited to those who had followed me from the forum days in the beginning. This also meant that people wouldn't have found out about this site that easily unless my posts were indexed on search engines or they happened to come across my PR posts on social media. As such, it was such a pleasant surprise to see that this blog finally crossed the 5 million views' milestone this year even with this lack of publicity (without me realising it). Going by how "fast" the blog is chalking up views, I think it will be another couple of years before the next million milestone is reached though. ^__^

And so, I thought about marking the entry into a new year by looking back at my highlights on this blog for the year 2024.

Compared to 2023 when I watched J-drama series largely on TVer, my source of dramas and movies significantly expanded beyond this platform as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video started adding more titles at a steady pace in 2024 other than their own productions. 

My final tally in 2024 is as such:

* 61 titles compared to 34 in 2023

* 34 dramas + 27 movies

* Watched mostly on Netflix (36 out of 61), followed by TVer (9) and Amazon Prime Video (8)

* Among the key TV networks, watched the most dramas from TBS (10) followed by 7 from Amazon Prime Video and 5 from WOWOW

* Among the titles I watched, I'm glad that most of my picks met or exceeded my expectations (about 80% rated 5 and above). However, it seems that I have a comparatively lower success rate with movies because 8 of the 12 titles I did not like were movies.

* My top 7 highest rated titles this year (ratings in brackets) are as follows:

1) Lion no kakurega (10)

2) Zenryouiki ijou kaiketsushitsu (9.5)

3) Unmet Aru nougekkai no nikki / Yoake no subete / Warau Matoryoushika / Grand Maison Tokyo / Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo (9)

Note that other than "Shin kuukou senkyo" which I did not write a review for, the other titles I watched were all covered here so you can click on the "Quick Review" tab on the right side of the blog for these entries.

The reviews for "Grand Maison Tokyo SP" and "Oshi no ko" (drama version) will be posted in due course in January 2025.

While our preferences may differ, I still hope that my reviews can serve two purposes i.e. allow people to find out more about titles which may potentially be their cup of tea and for those who had watched those titles to read about different perspectives and share their own views and observations. As such, if it just so happens that I didn't like what you thought more favourably of or vice versa, let's not get upset or worked up over this difference in opinions because even the most popular or supposedly hit drama/movie will have its detractors anyway.

With the increase in the number of titles I watched in 2024, this had also led to the number of reviews I wrote as compared to previous years. I hope to be able to stay on course with doing this in 2025 as much as time allows.

In addition, I am happy to note that I managed to write a number of special reports and analytical pieces about the J-ent industry this year. For those who have missed this, you can check out the Analysis/Special Report tab.

To be honest, I am not very happy with using X nowadays ever since how messed up it got due to its new owner but given that Dorama World has a significant following there, it's not easy to get the users to migrate to another platform. However, if there comes a time when I really have to exit that platform, I am glad to note that I expanded Dorama World's social media presence to new platforms i.e. Instagram, Threads and Bluesky. Hopefully, there's one platform which you can use as a backup for now if there ever comes a day when I have to say goodbye to X or even Facebook.

And this wraps up my recap of 2024 on Dorama World. I hope the new year brings good things for you and everyone can stay safe and happy! Take care ~

Dorama World's social media channels - the way going forward (3 Oct 2024)

To date, I have relied mainly on Twitter / X and Facebook to get the word out whenever there are new posts on the Dorama World blog. However, there have been various issues over the years with these platforms which are making them no longer as effective and useful as compared to the past:

Twitter / X

Since Twitter had an ownership change, things have been pretty messed up so I took a break from this platform for a while since my posts were just not getting out to my followers. Even after resuming activity here this year, it is so disappointing to see that the issues of posts totally not being seen by the followers or only seen days later still persist. Free features in the past such as analytics are now only available to those who have a paid account. At present, what I can tell is that less than 10% of the posts can be seen by my followers so this is a very frustrating situation to be in.

Facebook

It's a different situation on Facebook as their so-called censorship is simply incomprehensible and downright ridiculous. They had removed many of my posts in recent months, some even within minutes after being posted for reasons such as them being "spam posts" and the links do not match the descriptions. The posts on both Twitter and Facebook are the same - they merely contain the title of the blog post and the URL to the post. I cannot understand how this is spam or that there is a mismatch between the link and the blog post title. 

While I have no intention to drop these social media channels for now, I am pondering over their long-term effectiveness especially since my main purpose in maintaining them is to inform readers/followers of updates to the blog. As such, in order to ensure that my messages get delivered as intended, I will use the following portals from now on along with the existing two:

Instagram

Threads

For those who may not know or remember, how I came to have these accounts was because of the mess at Twitter since summer last year. Threads was touted as the "replacement" for Twitter when it first burst onto the scene so I signed up for an account to try it. And in order to have a Threads account, I needed to create an Instagram account. As such, Dorama World's accounts on these two platforms have been in existence for some time - just that I haven't used or publicised them actively.

The thing about Threads in its early days was that, the character limit made it difficult to write longer posts, there was no Web version then (typing on the phone was such a pain) and URLs couldn't be pasted into the posts. It seems now that the second and third issues are not a problem anymore so I'll give this platform a try again. Note that there are some old posts on the Threads account i.e. short reviews of dramas and movies and thoughts about various things that I did not post on the blog so in case you are keen, please check these out.

I am fully aware that there is no single platform which will satisfy everyone's needs. And to be honest, using all 4 platforms in the long term is not sustainable. While I try to figure out what would be the best strategy going forward by testing these platforms, it would be great if you could choose whatever works best for you as well and follow me on your preferred platform. Should you decide not to use any of these social media channels to keep track of my updates, I kindly ask of you to visit the blog from time to time to see if there's anything that interests you.

Thank you very much for reading this and I look forward to your continued support here!

Dorama World's official social media channels w.e.f. 14 Jul 2023

As mentioned previously, I was thinking of finding a replacement social media platform for Twitter given its "user-unfriendly" changes so far this year. In particular, the effects of the latest restriction on number of tweets to be viewed can be observed in more ways than one. There have been multiple occasions when I couldn't load any tweets and the tweets which show up on my timeline these days aren't the usual ones I am seeing (some from accounts or topics which I don't even follow). In terms of the views and engagement on Dorama World's account, I can see that the numbers don't go beyond a certain figure which is definitely not the norm. The logical conclusion is, whatever I'm posting don't get seen by my followers, no thanks to these restrictions and possibly, manipulations at the back end to control who sees what.

Much as I tried to look at other options over the past week or so, it has been difficult to find one which meets various conditions of which the most important to me are that it should ideally be web-based rather than app-based (easier to type on the computer's keyboard than the mobile phone) and allows the sharing of links, photos and videos (need to quote my sources when posting news translations). The platform should also have a certain number of users so that it's more convenient to "shift" rather than having to ask people to sign up for new accounts just to access it. I also wondered if I should move to a new platform just to duplicate what I was already doing on the Facebook page. If I wasn't going to, the new platform should allow me to produce a different type of content beyond what is on the blog and the Facebook page.

And when Threads came along, I deliberated on it for a few days and decided to take the plunge.

With effect from 14 Jul 2023, Dorama World will be on the following platforms:

* Blogger - this is the blog where you get to read previews and reviews of dramas and movies, news articles (longer ones) and analysis of topics in the J-ent world

* Facebook - J-ent news in point form and notifications for new posts on the blog.

* Threads (@doramaworld_chiaki) - short episodic reviews, interesting things or observations from dramas and movies and any other random stuff/ramblings

What this means for the Twitter account is:

- it will still exist because I need it to keep track of news and updates from the official accounts of various productions, artistes, TV stations and movie companies 

- the existing content will remain as it is until further notice

- there will no longer be any updates on this platform 

Much as I would like to have a single platform for everyone to get the news updates, it is realistically impossible to do so since we all have our preferences when it comes to the use of social media portals. As such, although I know that it may be inconvenient for those who are on Twitter exclusively to have to sign up for new accounts on other platforms, I seek your kind understanding in this regard.

Thank you for your support so far and please continue to support Dorama World going forward ~

Regarding the future transition of Dorama World's Twitter account to a new platform

Actually, I have been pondering over this for a while but I think it's time for me to make a decision now especially after the restriction on viewing tweets kicked in suddenly yesterday.

As of now, at least on my end, I can't load my timeline. Searching for tweets is also intermittent for me since yesterday. This makes me wonder, do I actually read more than 600 tweets in a day for this restriction to apply to me?

From this year onwards (no thanks to the changes happening within Twitter due to you-know-who), the functionality and usability of this platform have been affected in more ways than one. 

Just to quote an example, the user analytics section is seeing a reduction in the number of statistics provided so it doesn't provide a very accurate picture of the user situation for this account. In addition, the information is often not up-to-date. Much as I know that as a "free" user, I can't be complaining but still...I am not asking for some fanciful features. Prior to yesterday, I could still try to convince myself to stay on this platform for its ease of use and the fact that I have a sizeable following here. However, to have the reading of tweets being restricted in this manner means that it's time for me to decide what to do going forward.

With immediate effect, the following changes will take place:

* News updates/posts which can fit into one tweet will still be provided on Twitter until further notice.

* For stuff which cannot fit into one tweet, please click the Facebook post link below the source to view the entire post.

The reason for the second change is that I have to load the first tweet in order for me to add the subsequent parts to the thread. However, based on yesterday's experience, it is near impossible to even load my own tweet unless the restriction is lifted. Since I am posting the same content on Facebook and that that does not have a character limit which forces me to break up the post into smaller bits, you will be able to view the content in its entirety over there. Alternatively, if you already have a Facebook account, you can just like/follow my page there.

The long term plan though, is to find another platform to replace my Twitter account.

For now, I hope to solicit some feedback from my Twitter followers on this with regard to the following questions:

* What other platform do you think is suitable to replace Twitter and why?

* Is there any other preferred channel or platform other than social media which will make it easier for me to post and for you to follow the news update?

For the Facebook followers - you can also give suggestions especially if you find that using the Facebook platform is inconvenient or difficult for you in any aspect.

It would be best if you can leave a comment on this blog post instead of replying to the thread on Twitter (in case I cannot load it). Looking forward to hearing from you as we try to navigate the transition to a new platform in the least painful manner as possible. Thank you!

Coverage plans for Winter 2023 & Spring 2023 dramas

Just as I am still trying to find time to finish the quick reviews for the Winter 2023 dramas I finished watching, the Spring 2023 dramas have already started airing. Hardly any time to catch a breather since I also finished a number of older but very high-quality dramas released on Netflix recently.

So in case you are keen, please keep a lookout for the quick reviews of the following dramas (in order of completion) coming your way on this blog: 

* Get Ready

* Otto wo shakai teki ni massatsu suru itsutsu no houhou

* Brush up life

* Hoshi furu yoru ni

* 100 mankai ieba yokatta

* Daibyouin senkyo

* 6 byoukan no kiseki

* Themis no kyoushitsu

* INFORMA

* Wana no sensou

You would have noticed that I stopped doing episodic posts somewhere in the middle of the season and the main reason is that there were not that many things to write about in each episode. This was in stark contrast to Autumn 2022 when I wrote a lot of my thoughts for multiple titles. Generally speaking, there wasn't any drama in the last season which was a satisfying all-rounder and there were quite a number of titles with a great cast and acting but terribly-executed story.

With hopes for a better new season, this is what I plan to watch for now but no promises to stick till the end for every title:

* Kashimashimeshi

* Kyoujou 0

* Tonari no otoko wa yoku taberu

* Sorette pakuri janai desuka?

* Anata ga shitekure nakutemo

* Shouri no houteishiki

* Unknown

* Pending Train

* Namiyo kiite kure

* Dr. Chocolate

* Tsukiyomi-kun no kindan oyashoku

* Last Man

* Gouritekini arienai

* Ousama no sasagu kusuriyubi

* Nichiyou no yoru gurai wa

The plan for now is to do at least one post about the first impression of the drama but it is most likely that I will do quick reviews for the majority of the dramas listed here unless there's any title where there's a lot to talk about in each episode.

If you have a to-watch list for this season, please feel free to share them with me! 

Status update of Summer 2022 dramas - 1 Aug 2022

Now that we are already a month into the Summer 2022 drama season, it's time for a recap of the dramas which I've watched, will continue watching and have already dropped. With this, you will know if I will continue to cover a drama with my episode reflections or will just round up at the end with a quick review. 

To read my past episode reflections posted on Twitter and Facebook, simply search for the hashtags on the Dorama World pages.

What I watched (at least 2 episodes; in order of start date):

1) Old Rookie

2) Unicorn ni notte

3) Teppachi!

4) Okutou 

5) Junai Dissonance

6) Yukionna to kani wo kuu

7) Ishiko to Haneo 

8) Kyousou no bannin

9) Hatsukoi no akuma

10) Mahou no rinobe

Dropped

1) Teppachi! (watched up to Ep 4) 

2) Okutou (watched half of Ep 3) 

In danger of being dropped

1) Unicorn ni notte

2) Kyousou no bannin

Will continue watching but may switch to doing a quick review at the end instead

1) Yukionna to kani wo kuu

2) Old Rookie

3) Junai Dissonance

To continue with episode reflections barring unforeseen circumstances

1) Ishiko to Haneo

2) Hatsukoi no akuma

3) Mahou no rinobe

In the last season, I only finished one drama to the end with episode reflections i.e. "My Family" while I did a quick review for "Koi nante honki de dousuru no". Considering that I've only dropped 2 out of 10 at this stage, it seems that the offerings this season are better in terms of quality and appeal, at least in my opinion.

However, things may change again in the span of an episode or two so it's still too early to tell which drama will make it to the end.

Introducing QuickReviews - a speedier way to share reviews of Japanese dramas and movies

One problem I constantly encounter when I want to write reviews for Japanese dramas and movies is the time factor or rather, the lack of it. Often, I try to go into great detail (sometimes too much) so this means that I have to write and rewrite the review multiple times to the extent that there have been too many occasions when I end up with half-done reviews.

As such, to overcome this problem and to avoid having to write long reviews for dramas/movies which I may not have so much to comment about, I've decided to start doing QuickReviews.

Essentially, what this means is that a QuickReview will have 4 key sections only and in relatively short sentences:

- Rating based on a scale of 10

- Recommended for i.e. the target audience or who might like this drama/movie

- Liked i.e. what I liked about this

- Disliked i.e. what I disliked about this

It doesn't mean that doing a QuickReview for a drama/movie is due to me not liking the title as much. The main purpose of doing this is that I want to get the review out as soon as possible and may not want to go into great detail for a particular title. However, if you have any questions or want me to elaborate on what I wrote in such a QuickReview, you can always leave a comment on the blog post or reply to the thread on the Twitter or Facebook post. 

This also does not mean that I will stop writing the detailed reviews - just that I will be able to focus more on a select few and can afford to spend more time on them.

And perhaps the most important point is, reviews are subjective by nature so please do not get upset if it turns out that our views differ.

So without ado, I will be posting the first QuickReview soon. Do keep a lookout for it and let me know what you think!

明けましておめでとうございます！And the 2019 Fukubukuro giveaway begins!

A very happy new year to everyone! 明けましておめでとうございます。

First of all, thank you very much for your support of this blog over the years! 2019 marks the 13th year since I moved from the forum to this blog. Frankly speaking, I'm actually surprised at how long I've lasted despite the fact that I took breaks during this period and was close to giving up. 2018 was tough for me in various aspects and I even had to scale back on the amount of work I did on this blog so as to keep going. Despite this sudden decision, I was moved by the encouragement and supportive comments received which made me realise that what I'm doing is of value to others.

A new year brings a fresh beginning and the opportunity to make new plans and set new goals. Rather than make elaborate plans, I would like to take things slow, one step at a time. Gradual progress, slowly but surely. And I hope that everything will turn out well for myself and everyone around me including all of you who have been following this blog and the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

As a small gesture of my appreciation, I would like to hold the 2019 Fukubukuro giveaway! For those who may not know what a fukubukuro is, it literally means a bag of fortune. At many departmental stores or shops, customers pay a fixed amount to get a fukubukuro which tends to contain items whose value exceeds the price paid. However, you won't be able to see the contents or pick a specific bag so this is like a test of your fortune to see if you will be lucky in the new year.

Similar to the concept of a fukubukuro, I will be giving away 15 fukubukuros for free! These fukubukuros contain official merchandise of dramas or movies. Simply send me a private message via the Twitter and Facebook pages of Dorama World with the following information and indicate the number of the fukubukuro which you wish to get. If there are multiple requests for the same number, I will pick one person by random. Entries are accepted until the end of this Sunday, 6 Jan by 11.59pm SG time. Note that for the favourites categories, only one answer is required. Any entries with multiple answers will be disqualified:

Your Name/Nickname:
Number of the fukubukuro requested:
No.1 favourite actor:
No.1 favourite actress:
No.1 drama for 2018:

Winners will be announced after 7 Jan 2019. I will then contact them via private message so as to get the mailing addresses to send the fukubukuros to.

Hope to receive your entries soon and good luck! 

Announcement: Some changes to the coverage on this blog

First of all, sorry for being MIA for about a month. Things have been rather hectic of late and my circumstances have changed in such a way that it has become almost impossible to keep up with my usual blogging pace. And inevitably, I have to consider what I need to do in order to keep this space going.

In the end, my conclusion is...to make some adjustments to the amount of content which I'm covering.

I know for sure that it's not possible for me to keep up with the news translation and coverage as per before. And yet, I don't want to give it up all together. The only way to get around this problem is to scale back on what I have been doing and make changes to the processing time needed for this task. As such, this is what I have to do.

- Most of the news will be "summarised" and posted exclusively on the Twitter and Facebook fan pages. If need be, please check the details on the original news stories. Google Translate will be there to help you if you can't understand Japanese.
As Twitter has a character limit, I can't write that much in a single tweet so it will most likely be a one-liner about the story. On the other hand, I can afford to write a bit more on Facebook but will keep it to three points max so that I can clear the news stories in a short time.
For major stories, I will probably spend a bit more time compiling various sources and doing a translated summary on the blog.

I have a rather huge backlog of stories so I will be posting them over the next week or so. Don't be surprised to see really old stories popping up here.

Please follow the blog's official Facebook and Twitter pages to continue getting the latest news. I'm not sure if there's any function on Twitter to help you see my tweets more easily among the sea of content you may be reading but I know that if you Like instead of Follow my Facebook page, it places the stories in a higher position within the hierarchy of posts. Otherwise, you have to keep coming back to the page to ensure that you do not miss anything.

- The second part to the change is the blog returning to its roots of focusing on reviews. This was initially set up for me to post reviews. However, I have been so caught up with posting translated news that I have totally neglected that aspect. With this change, I hope to use the time freed up to focus on writing reviews again and do more on my other blog Shoku / Shisou / Seikatsu which is on a more personal basis.

This decision is not an easy decision to make. However, rather than stress myself out over the things which I can't achieve now, I feel that these adjustments are necessary in order for me to continue with this blog. I hope that you can continue supporting this space as usual and look forward to interacting more with all of you.

Clarification about the coverage policy on Dorama World

Every now and then, I get questions or comments about whether I'm going to cover a particular piece of news or when I'm going to post about it. Most people who ask such questions are polite and don't behave in a nasty manner by talking down to me or as if I am supposed to accede to all of their requests. If something is already in the pipeline, I will tell the person to wait for a while. Given that this blog is a one-person-operation, there is a limit to how much time I can devote to this. Only if the story is breaking news or something really major, I would then let it "jump queue" ahead of the pending stuff I have on hand. Generally, the readers here have been very understanding and patient about this.

Of late though, I have been getting comments and questions from some people (don't know the exact number since some people leave comments as anonymous) which can sometimes get really offensive and rude. Much as I try to keep myself from reacting to such nasty words, some of them are really pushing my limits. As such, I see the need to make things clear now and manage expectations.

As mentioned in my previous post back in December 2017, I really hope that the atmosphere here can be comfortable enough for everyone to post their comments or views without fearing that they may be attacked for their different opinions. However, there are people who still insist on taking a rather nasty tone when voicing their disagreement. For example, there was a comment who didn't agree with my review and blatantly told me that I was wrong and that his/her view was correct. In the first place, a review is my personal view. There is no right or wrong and you don't have to be so defensive or angry even if we don't see eye to eye. Moreover, I do not ask of you to agree with all of my views. In fact, if you have a different perspective, I would love to hear it from you because it may provide something which I may not have noticed and we can learn more from one another through a discussion where we respect each other's views. If you can't accept that we are all different in one way or another and will look at things differently, maybe you shouldn't be reading my reviews in the first place.

There have been people who keep bugging me to cover a particular person who I suppose should be their favourite actor/actress. This is a blog for Japanese dramas, movies and the Japanese entertainment world in general. I try to cover as much as I can, regardless of whether I like the actor/actress. If I have the intention of being biased, you will probably never read anything about those people who I dislike. Likewise, I think it's not reasonable for people to expect this blog to become one which is dedicated to honouring their favourites only. I stress this again - this blog is not a fansite for one person.

Last but not least, I am not a newswire service. There are many other sites which can serve up the news in a faster manner than I can. I don't aspire to be the fastest in conveying the news because that's not possible. For breaking news, I sometimes wait till the situation has become more or less clear before I post anything but this inevitably leads to some people questioning me why they still don't see anything about that news on my blog. And of late, casting announcements of dramas and movies tend to be released in batches rather than at one go. I will follow the order in which the news is announced so it is perfectly normal for you to read multiple posts on the same drama or movie at different points in time due to the nature of how the news was disseminated. If there's really something I missed, you can always give me a lead by leaving a comment or sending a private message through the social media channels. There is really no need to take on a mocking or insulting tone when you assume that I do not know something that you already know.

With this clarification, I hope that everyone will understand how things function on this blog and be able to enjoy the content in a satisfactory manner. Thank you for your support!

Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます！

Wishing everyone a wonderful start to 2018 and all the best in the year ahead! Hope that you will continue supporting Dorama World in the new year!

明けましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いします。

Dorama World's 2017 in Retrospect

As we bid farewell to 2017, it's high time for a look at the key highlights here at Dorama World and in the J-ent world.

First of all, the top 3 most viewed blog posts of 2017 are as follows:

1) Maki Youko quitting from the movie "SUNNY Tsuyoi kimochi tsuyoi ai"
2) Kubota Masataka & Mizukawa Asami's dating news
3) Takenouchi Yutaka taking on the lead role in NHK drama "Kono koe wo kimi ni"

Coincidentally, these three posts all came from the second half of the year i.e. November, December and July. That's not to say that there wasn't many things happening in the J-ent world in the first half of the year but rather, the significant increase in readership of the blog and followers on the Facebook and Twitter accounts probably contributed to the spike in the access numbers.

There were also a number of key milestones on Dorama World this year:
- The 1st Dorama World Awards which wouldn't have been a success if not for your participation and support
- Celebrating the 11th anniversary in August

On the other hand, the most unpleasant thing to deal with would have been the content thieves. No doubt it was an unwelcome thing to happen, it was a timely wake-up call to tighten security and protect my work. There were many of you who gave me very useful advice and tips as well as alerted me to the content thieves. Thank you once again for your help in this!

2017, just like other years, saw a mix of good and bad dramas. Personally, among the dramas I've watched this year, "Quartet" was my No.1 even though it didn't do so well in terms of ratings. However, that's not to say that my opinion won't change since I have yet to watch some of this year's dramas which I intended to but haven't had the time to do so. I'll look forward to seeing which are the ones you consider to be the best in 2017 when the voting activity for the 2nd Dorama World Awards starts in January.

This year saw a number of actors and actresses hog the limelight such as Takahashi Issei, Takeuchi Ryoma, Suda Masaki, Hirose Suzu and Yoshioka Riho. Whether you like them or not, you can't deny that they are everywhere this year and it's hard to ignore their presence. Next year might see them continue their blazing trails in showbiz or a new batch of names may become the new hot shots of 2018.

While there are good news such as new couples formed (be it dating or married), there were also others who went their separate ways. Here's a list of news which I covered this year so you may click on the links to read the posts:

New dating couples (those who admitted or did not deny the news)
Kubota Masataka & Mizukawa Asami
Nakai Masahiro & Takeda Maika
Sakurai Sho & Ogawa Ayaka
Tanaka Daiki & Hirose Arisu

New couples who said "I do"
Okada Junichi & Miyazaki Aoi
Miyaji Mao
Wada Masato & Yoshiki Risa
Fujisawa Ema
TAKAHIRO & Takei Emi
Kikukawa Rei
Murata Mitsu & Kanda Sayaka
Watabe Ken & Sasaki Nozomi
Saotome Yuuki & Shimabukuro Hiroko
Nakamura Aoi
Okamoto Reiji & Usuda Asami

Couples who said sayonara to each other
Matsuda Ryuhei & Ota Rina
Misaki Ayame
Yui
Hakamada Yoshihiko & Kawanaka Ai
Mitsushima Shinnosuke
Ono Machiko
Tanaka Naoki & Kohinata Shie
Suneohair & Tomosaka Rie
Fukushi Seiji & Higa Manami
Fukikoshi Mitsuru & Hirota Reona
Tosaka Hiroomi & Rola

And there were many celebrities who welcomed new arrivals to their families such as Hirayama Hiroyuki, Nakamura Shido, Higashide Masahiro & An, Nakamura Aoi, Aibu Saki, Suenaga Haruka, Takashima Masanobu, Kato Takako, Mizuno Miki, Harada Natsuki, Kubozuka Yosuke, Kaku Kento & Eikura Nana, Akanishi Jin & Kuroki Meisa, Nagai Masaru & Nakagoshi Noriko, Dean Fujioka, Emoto Tasuku & Ando Sakura, Endo Kumiko, Oguri Shun & Yamada Yu and Suzuki Ami.

2017 saw a continuation of the furin 不倫 trend i.e. having extramarital affairs from 2016 with big names like Watanabe Ken and even "repeat offenders" like Itao Itsuji, Saito Yuki and Tanaka Tetsushi making the news for this reason. The details got as sordid as they could in some instances e.g. Uehara Takako & Abe Tsuyoshi's affair possibly leading to the suicide of Uehara's late husband TENN or her fellow SPEED member Imai Eriko's alleged affair with another politician but probably suggests that this issue is so deep-rooted in the entertainment world. Following her retirement announcement, Shimizu Fumika was also exposed to have had an affair with Meshida Yuuma.

Retirement also seems to be a buzzword for 2017. In the second half of the year, Amuro Namie dominated the headlines for a while with her surprise announcement to retire next year. However, you might not remember that the first half of the year saw a series of retirements from actors/actresses with the most prominent examples being Horikita Maki, Esumi Makiko and Shimizu Fumika. In Shimizu's case, it was extremely messy because she was so heavily involved in many projects and her sudden move was made more controversial due to the religion factor.

Another type of retirement, or rather breaking up in a professional manner, was also common this year. Besides the trio of Inagaki Goro, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi & Katori Shingo breaking away from Johnny's Jimusho and becoming new Internet sensations in the second half of the year, Takki & Tsubasa also parted (not sure for how long) and will concentrate on their solo careers. Yamamoto Yusuke was fired by his agency for contract violations but there were no details on the nature of such violations while Ikimonogakari suspended their group activities.

Celebrities also got trouble with the law such as Kimura Takuya's traffic accident in June or Koide Keisuke's scandal of drinking and having sex with an underage girl or Tanaka Koki caught for marijuana possession, On the other hand, family members of celebrities also created issues of their own such as Asano Tadanobu's father caught for drug consumption and Hashizume Isao's actor son caught for drug possession,

Some celebrities had issues with their health such as Domoto Tsuyoshi's sudden hearing loss back in summer and Nakamura Shido's cancer while some celebrities passed away such as Nogiwa Yoko, Kobayashi Mao, Inoue Takashi, Watase Tsunehiko, Fujimura Shunji and Matsukata Hiroki.

How was 2017 for you? Please feel free to share your comments on what news stories or drama or movie was especially memorable for you. ^__^

About comments and sharing of views

I have been thinking for a long time about whether to post this but I guess the situation has gotten rather tricky of late especially as the community accessing my blog and the affiliated social media channels has expanded quite a lot over the past year. Before things get out of hand, I think I need to speak up now. Especially for those who are new here, please take a moment to read the following.

When it comes to posting your comments, please abide by the following principles:
1) Everyone is entitled to their views - please show respect for others as you would like others to do the same to you
2) Agree to disagree - acknowledge the fact that people will have differing views from you but you can choose to disagree and don't have to insist on others changing their perceptions to match yours
3) No heckling or insulting - when in disagreement, avoid using words which put down others or may come across as degrading. heckling of the winners is also uncalled for even if you don't agree with the choices.

The reason why I am saying this is that there have been some comments of late which are bordering on offensive or insulting especially when the topic in question is controversial or subjective. During this year-end period in particular, there are so many types of rankings and awards announcements. We all know that these results will never please everyone. As such, there are bound to be disagreements when A wins the title but some people feel that B deserves it more. However, some people seem to be taking these results so personally to the extent that they literally "pounce" on others who question the legitimacy of the winners or suggest alternative views which is often done in a bid to defend their favourites. I can understand that perfectly because I disagree with some of these results too and feel that others are more deserving of the titles. Not everyone sees things in the same way as I do but I just put out my views anyway and I don't have to force you to agree with me.

I think we all need a gentle reminder that the results won't change just because we are arguing over it. However, we can still share insights or our views in a bid to give a possible explanation as to why the results are as such. It is then up to the individual reading such views to see if they agree or not. Even if you don't agree, there is no need to tear the other party to pieces because honestly speaking, how others think shouldn't have an impact on your view anyway. It may be that you change your view if you get more information from a different perspective through the discussion though.

I really hope that this blog will be a place where people can feel free to raise their views without feeling intimidated or uncomfortable in case their comments differ from others. After all, a community will thrive only if we share our differing perspectives in a cordial manner and pick up new insights along the way, not fight each other to death just because we don't agree. Two people may watch the same drama or movie and develop different views and conclusions at the end because our experiences, backgrounds and perspectives are not the same. As such, I sincerely ask of everyone to be a bit more conscious about avoiding unintended misunderstandings or sparking unnecessary arguments when you post your comments or views and be more accommodating of one another's differences.

Thank you very much for your attention regarding this.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Dealing with the content thieves

It's been extremely frustrating and time-consuming to deal with the content thieves. Even after raising the alarm or contacting the offending parties, they are still doing it. In particular, that Kawata Hina blog is stealing my content so blatantly that I find my posts reproduced in full there within 5 minutes of my post here. And it looks like other sites are also victims of that blog. It infuriates me especially I may have spent more than 10 minutes on that single post.

I am trying various ways to deal with this. For the time being, you may notice some differences in the format of how my posts appear on the blog. That is because I notice that some of these content thieves are using the RSS feeds to reproduce my stuff automatically so this probably explains why the copy and paste block I implemented did not stop the theft. As such, I have to introduce other measures to stop this so I need to assess the effectiveness before deciding on the approach going forward.

I hate having to do this because it increases my work and stops me from enjoying what I'm doing here. It also frustrates me to do with these shameless content thieves who don't want to stop even when exposed. Not to mention that there's no apology coming from them. Seriously, if you can't write anything of your own, you don't deserve to have a blog in your name which contains information stolen from other people. Totally no respect for the hard work that people put in! However, these people have no sense of shame, they continue doing it as if they are justified in stealing from others. As such, there is no point being cordial towards them anymore.

In the meantime, as I try to deal with this situation, I seek your kind understanding. In addition, I welcome any reports of offending websites or blogs or forums which are stealing my stuff so please feel free to contact me via the blog's comments section or the Facebook or Twitter pages.

UPDATE: Stealing of my posts - latest status on the situation (7 Oct 2017)

First of all, thank you to everyone who have expressed their support in this issue where my posts are popping up everywhere else without my permission. Some of you who have shared my information elsewhere have taken the initiative to inform me about this and I have given you the permission to continue with this as long as you credit me and my blog. I truly appreciate your honesty and sincerity in dealing with this situation. Meanwhile, some of you have provided information to me when you see my posts appearing elsewhere without due credit to me.

As such, I think it is right for me to update you on what has happened since my last post:

- The user who had been reproducing my posts without permission from me nor due credit to me on Jdorama.com has yet to respond with regard to what he/she did. One of the readers here had kindly sent a message to this user asking for him/her to contact me on this issue. Unfortunately, I still have yet to hear from this person. As I am not a member of that forum, I can't tell if this user is still continuing with this behaviour or has stopped. I did a quick search on my blog's history and saw that I had interacted with someone with the same nickname back in 2014. It seems like this person has been a reader of my blog for some time. I just find it unbelievable that this person has yet to see what I wrote about he/she did so my assumption that he/she has decided to ignore me, perhaps hoping that the issue will die down.
If you are a member of Jdorama.com and continue to see my posts popping up there without my permission or due credits to my blog, please kindly inform me. I don't know if this person may change his/her username to do the same thing again though but if there's anything suspicious, please help me by reporting it to me or the administrator of that forum.

- At the same time, I also found out about another blog (thanks to one of my readers) which has been stealing my posts, passing them as his/her own without due credit and permission. I have left comments twice on the blog to date but they aren't showing on the posts concerned because they need to be approved by the blog owner. As you can probably imagine, the demands I've made to the blog owner to withdraw the offending posts were ignored. I have since contacted Blogger to check on what I can do.
I hate to have to spend time and energy going through this process of chasing after such content thieves but this blog owner's attitude towards this issue really angers me especially after I had posted a warning previously about the theft of my content in this manner. You can't say that you haven't seen that when you had visited my blog and wasted no time stealing my post about the Nikkansports Drama Grand Prix results which were just uploaded last night. And by ignoring me, that just shows how self-entitled you feel about this behaviour. What's probably more ironic is, my post about the recent BORDER screening event is this blog's No.3 most popular post while the rest seemed to be download links to videos. For heaven's sake, can't you just write your own stuff if you want to have your own blog?

I don't know how much I have to do to stop this kind of stealing and if the measures I take will be truly effective. However, I will do my best to protect my work and kindly ask you, my readers to support me through this journey, be it by alerting me about the offenders or suggesting ways that I can deal with such people. And for those who are still stealing my work and thinking that you can get away with it, you are just lying to yourself by passing off content from other people as yours. If your conscience doesn't prick you or you don't feel ashamed about this act, I guess whatever I say will affect you or make you change your ways. 

IMPORTANT: Regarding the distribution of my posts elsewhere

Hi everyone, I really hate having to write such a post when there is a pile of more important stuff and news to share with you. However, having come across this blatant reposting of my content elsewhere without giving due credit , I have to make this clear once and for all and seek your understanding and attention to this issue.

I found out minutes ago that my posts are appearing on this forum called Jdorama.com and you can see that everything is copied word-for-word without any credit to my blog. Here is an example of one of the pages. What annoys me even further is that this person copied the names of the sources where I got my articles but not the hyperlinks I put there so it's a clear copy-and-paste with minimal effort. The thing is, I don't remember giving permission for my content to be published on this forum.

To date, many of you have taken the courtesy to inform me and ask for permission to reproduce my blog's content elsewhere and I don't think I've ever rejected any of such requests. Retweets and shares on my blog's official Twitter and Facebook pages are also very much welcome since by doing so, whoever sees the post can still see where the information originated so for sharing on these social media platforms, I don't really need you to ask me beforehand. I am very grateful for the respect shown and your effort in informing me beforehand especially since I've spent so much time translating and writing everything I have here.

However, I simply don't have the time to do cyber policing to catch those who copy and paste my stuff elsewhere without linking back to my blog. Even in the example above, much as I am 100% sure that the content was posted without my consent, I can't seem to find a place to contact the forum's administrator to raise my objections and do something about this. I don't even know if I should feel flattered that there are people who want to steal my content.

Going forward, I would really hope to have your cooperation in the following:
- For the reposting of my blog's content elsewhere (be it in English or translated format), please inform me beforehand. I usually wouldn't say no unless there is some reason to object.

- Retweets on Twitter and shares on Facebook do not require prior permission since the original post should appear when you do so. However, please do not copy and paste the content and pass them off as your own in a new tweet or Facebook post.

Thank you very much for your cooperation and please let me know if you ever come across any of my stuff posted elsewhere without due credit to me.

Happy 11th anniversary, Dorama World!

And here it is again, the anniversary of Dorama World.

It's been 11 years since I started the blog. In the past year, the blog has grown in many ways. Not only has the number of posts and scope of the content grown, the number of followers on the social media accounts i.e. Twitter and Facebook has also increased significantly. This is despite the fact that I don't buy any ads to promote my pages and content. A big thank you to everyone who has visited my blog, be it longtime readers or new ones for bringing about such growth in the numbers. Be it liking my posts, sharing them or re-tweeting them, this helps to extend the spread of my content, allows me to know what kind of posts are popular and makes it possible for more people to find out about my blog. The numerous discussions through the comments section have also helped me see different perspectives in various issues and I had a lot of fun engaging in such conversations with you even though we may not always agree on the same thing. As such, I really appreciate your support and responses which have helped to make this blog become a community of like-minded Japanese entertainment lovers rather than a one-way delivery of information from me. I look forward to interacting with you as usual or even more in the years ahead.

I had been thinking about how I should be celebrating the occasion. However, being swamped with many things of late, it became difficult to carry out what I had planned. Nonetheless, I would still like to offer my thanks to everyone who made it possible for me to continue this journey to this date. Pardon me for the lack of "festivities" on this day as we celebrate the occasion in a relatively subtle manner compared to last year.

Thank you and please continue to support this blog!
ありがとうございます。これからもよろしくお願いします。

Happy Lunar New Year!

Wishing everyone a very happy Lunar New Year! May you enjoy prosperity, health and good luck in everything during the year of the Rooster!

Updates to the blog may be slightly less frequent over these few days because of the festivities going on so I'll be catching up gradually after the holidays. ^__^