Summer is so busy that I really (I swear) try not to watch as many dramas… but there were so many that were hard to resist this season, so honestly that didn’t pan out as well as I hoped. I was definitely saved by Seiyu to Yoasobi having two Connect periods while I was at work, and Mrs Green Apple’s TV show was off for a lot of the time as well.
I quite enjoyed writing the Spring Snapshot, so figured I’ve have a second go with the summer shows. I’ve watched most of these in Japanese, but if they have English titles through licences or on MyDramaList, I’ll put those in brackets for searchability. These aren’t meant to be full reviews, just a fun way to share my impressions.
Overall Best Show: Tokyo Middle 30
Tokyo Middle 30 follows three women (previously best friends in school) who left their hometowns behind to chase their dreams in Tokyo. However, their lives haven’t gone as planned, and now they’re in their 30s facing a variety of difficulties. Be it being stuck in a relationship that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, married and struggling with a child showing signs of ADHD and a desire to return to work, or finding what could be true love for the first time. This is apparently based on a popular Chinese drama (Nothing But Thirty), but I haven’t watched that to draw any real conclusions from it in terms of comparisons.
But really what I enjoyed the most about this is that it has fairly serious storylines, but it’s still fun to watch since it has a good atmosphere to it. The three main characters have been estranged from one another for a while when we first begin the story, but they’re brought back together by a coincidence and now support each other through the challenges they’re facing. Each of the three characters is given a fairly equal focus, which I appreciated, as usually shows like this pick one who is the ‘lead’ even if the premise is supposed to revolve around more than one character. Even though all of the characters are in their mid-30s, I also liked how they’re all in very different places in their lives. Not only when it comes to love and romance, but also in their careers. This didn’t have the dreaded ‘once you’re 30, you might as well be dead’ atmosphere that a lot of these kinds of stories tend to have, either. Which was also a welcome change! It was a very close call picking my favourite show as there were some incredible stories this season, but I think I had the most fun and found the most consistency in this one.
Technically Summer, but Netflix Binge Watch Form: S&X
Based on a manga series by Tada Kisei, I had been following S&X closely since Netflix announced they would be making an adaptation. The story follows sex therapist Shimotori Ichito as he treats a wide range of patients at Shimotori Clinic. In a country that finds it difficult to talk about sex openly, Shimotori hopes to help those in need to open up and talk about their wants, needs and desires. This starts off reasonably episodic, but as it goes on it also explores Shimotori’s past and his reason for becoming a sex therapist, despite being someone who claims to ‘hate sex’.
As you can imagine from hearing the words ‘sex’ and ‘Netflix’ in the same sentence, I was highly sceptical of this going in. I was prepared for it to be quite explicit and not necessarily in a way that served the story it was trying to tell. But to my surprise, there really wasn’t a lot of graphic sex. The show instead leans into artful direction when such scenes are needed, and by ensuring they are few and far between, when they do occur, they feel earned.
Now, of course, if you read my spring edition of J-Drama Snapsot (or know me at all), you’ll know that I am a big fan of Kento Nakajima. Now, when they announced he was playing Shimotori, I actually wasn’t sure it would work at first. He matches the handsome character design of the original work, sure, but this felt like a story that needed a lot of depth and range of expression. Now that’s not something I didn’t think Nakajima was capable of, but still I felt unsure. But as soon as I watched episode 1, all of those doubts were blown away. His performance and range of emotion were incredible. Instantly I felt he had been the perfect choice all along. Because Nakajima could project the kindness necessary of a therapist who is trying to get someone to open up but also the studiousness of a medical professional. But most importantly, Shimotori is a character with a lot of his own problems, and I always felt that complex nature coming from Nakajima’s performance.
The messaging behind this story is so important and something I think a lot of us could learn from. It’s true that we shy away from talking about sex, and I, as a woman, all the more because it feels like that’s the expectation that society places upon us. It feels awkward to talk about because people have long been ridiculed for it. And I think S&X does an incredibly good job of showing us why we shouldn’t stay the way we are when it comes to this topic. I will definitely be looking to pick up the manga for this now.
This is available in English on Netflix.
Miku Ubukata Returns: Until the T-Shirt Dries
I have very mixed feelings when it comes to dramas where Miku Ubukata is the screenwriter. I liked the idea of Silent but ultimately felt like the story had an axe to grind when it came to the deaf community vs those who could hear, and in fact, those who lost hearing later in life, like one of the main characters. Then there was Where Does the Sea Begin, which again did a lot of things right but had a lot to beat the viewer over the head with as it went on. Still, neither of those stories were bad, so when I saw Ubukata was behind the new show Until the T-Shirt Dries, I knew I had to watch it.
And this ended up being strange but also good! Led by Yu Aoi, our story follows Sakiko Seo whose husband gets involved in a bus crash and seemingly passed away. Sakiko has no idea why her husband would have gotten on that bus, but she soon discovers that he wasn’t alone. He was with a woman, who also never made it home, and now her husband, Itsuki Sonoda, is left to raise their young child and wondering the same thing as Sakiko. Why were those two together that day?
I think I enjoyed this more than Ubukata’s other work since it felt less like a social commentary and more of a mystery series. The characters do and say some ridiculous things at times, but it somehow always fits the wider narrative and keeps you on the hook week to week. It was fascinating seeing how things connected and watching the character relationships that developed from this event. By the final episode I wasn’t sure how I felt about the ending we reached, and now almost a week later I still don’t know. But I do know I was glad to have watched it. My mixed relationship with Ubukata’s writing continues on, but I know I will be back for her next work.
This is available in English on Netflix and Viki
Lawyering with Rap: Legal Beat
This series follows Sora Taichi, a lawyer who passed the bar exam on his first attempt but has been struggling to find a job due to his stutter. Eventually, he lucks into being taken on by a struggling law firm who are willing to let him find his feet. There he works with the director, Asumi Yukimura, and eccentric genius lawyer Hideyuki Hoshi who refuses to take on any case he won’t win. This wasn’t the most grounded of legal dramas all of the time, and it had the usual episodic ‘case of the week’ structure, but I thought it had its heart in the right place.
This was especially true of depicting Sora’s struggles with speaking, both in everyday life and in the courtroom, where the pressure exasperated his stutter. And then Sora starts using his love of music as an aid, whereby communicating in rap relieves him of his stutter. And that element I found really interesting because rather than just being your typical legal drama, it felt like this tried to cast a light on something important. Of course, I did also greatly enjoy getting to see Ouji Suzuka in the lead as Sora, so that does add quite a bit to my enjoyment of it, I suppose.
The Affair Story I Still Can’t Work Out: 一緒にごはんをたべるだけ
Based on a manga series by Omachi Terasu, I still can’t work out what to make of this. I actually read all of the (4 volume) manga when it was being released and came away not understanding why I kept picking it up. This follows Taki Sawada, a cooking instructor, and editor Rei Saito who is working with her on cooking columns (and later a cookbook). Both are married but feel unhappy with aspects of their relationships. Taki wishes for her husband to praise her cooking, but he never does. Meanwhile, Rei wishes his wife were interested in anything other than the frozen meals she buys. He dreams of cooking for her and their daughter, but she refuses to eat his food and sees it as a waste of time. Taki and Rei share a relationship that brings exactly what the other has been lacking. Even just sharing a meal together during work leaves them feeling incredibly happy, but of course that soon begins to evolve into something more…
I’ve talked before about how I don’t particularly enjoy watching the cheating dramas that are popular in Japanese live action unless they have something particularly unique in mind. However, since I’d read the manga and didn’t have bad feelings toward it, I picked this up anyway. And it was an engaging watch helped by only having 25-minute episodes. I do wish this had just been a straight-up pure romance (like the opening tries to pretend it is!) rather than a forbidden love deal, but otherwise I can’t really complain seeing as I knew what I was getting into.
Best of the BL: My Summer of You
There was a lot of BL series this season, and I enjoyed a lot of them, but in the way that they were good passive TV but not anything I was counting down the seconds to the next episode of. My Summer of You is based on the manga series by Furuya Nagsa (available in English from Kodansha) and follows two high school students who bond over their shared love of film. The two leads have good chemistry, and I think the production has captured what made the original work so engaging, with one exception…
You see, the problem with this show is that it is about two characters who very much love film, a creative medium. Except for the drama adaptation, a lot of props and set pieces were clearly made with AI. Y’know, the thing that screams in the face of human-created creative industries. So it’s hard to support, given all that, which is a shame, as it really was one of the better shows in the genre this season.
If you do want to watch it, it’s available in English on GagaOOLala.
Obsessive Love Mystery: 25 Years of You
Sota Yukimura has been in love with Mariko Nose for 25 years, after she stood up for him in elementary school one day. But the two were never friends, nor even acquaintances. The moment Sota looks back on so fondly is something she doesn’t even remember. Still, unbeknownst to Mariko, Sota has been following her around from a distance for all the years since. Currently they work at the same company, and Sota secretly tries to help her out where he can. But one day, their lives begin to intertwine as they find themselves caught up in an incident from 25 years ago…
Now obviously I do not support Sota’s stalkery behaviours, and I honestly thought that would put me off the show entirely. But there’s a mystery here, something that has bound these two by fate, and I was eager to see what was going to happen. I do feel like the story escalated to the point of silly as it went on, but as a suspenseful story, it did its job of ensuring I wanted to tune in week after week. I even started to root for a romance between Sota and Mariko, despite everything he’d done up until then. I’m not sure this will stick around in my mind long-term, but it was good summer viewing.
This is another one available on Netflix in English.
Chaotic Airport Security: Gate24: The Border
Set at an airport immigration and customs counter, Gate24 follows a ragtag group who have been put together to create GATE24 (Global Airport Task Enforcement), which is supposed to help speed up the whole process without needing to constantly go back and forward with other departments.
This ends up being an ensemble cast drama with an interesting enough setting. I can’t say airport security is something we see much of in comparison to, say, police or medical departments. It is very unrealistic in the kind of cases they deal with every day (people smuggling, someone trying to smuggle in a rabbit, multiple bomb threats, solving a murder case!). It’s silly, but it was novel, and sometimes that novelity will take you a long way (all the way through a season, in this case).
Once again, available to watch in English on Netflix.
Out of Season Viewing #1: 女神の教室～リーガル青春白書～
Having originally aired in early 2023, this predates me watching dramas without an English release and it has never been licensed since it aired. However, I had been eager to watch it since Mamoru Miyano is among the side cast, and my wish was finally granted when TVer had it over the summer due to a rebroadcast.
Set in a law school, we follow Shizuku Hiiragi as she takes on teaching a class. As a qualified judge herself, Shizuku really wants these students to become good lawyers, judges, prosecutors and so on. But at the school she’s faced with the reality that these teachers only want to get the students to pass the exam, not how to be good at their jobs. So Shizuku sets out with the intention of teaching them more about the kinds of clients they would be helping and giving them experiences you can’t get from textbooks.
There were quite a lot of characters in this one, given the nature of a school, but the story juggled it reasonably well. There were plenty of older characters to support Shizuku too, as well as a rival in the form of Jin Aoi, played by Yuki Yamada. Since I’ve been interested in seeing more of Yamada’s work lately, I was thrilled to see him have such a big role here. Even if Jin’s character is that kind of annoying genius type. Again, not really a show that will set the world on fire, but I’m happy I finally had the opportunity to watch it.
Out of Season Viewing #2: 彼女はキレイだった (She Was Pretty)
Having aired back in 2021, this is another series that entirely passed me by but has reappeared on TVer in the last couple weeks. And who could say no to seeing Kento Nakajima, Fuka Koshiba and Eiji Akaso acting together! Not I, that’s for sure~
This is a Japanese remake of a popular Korean drama. The story follows Ai Sato who is about to reunite with Sosuke Hasebe, a boy she was close to in middle school but lost touch with after he moved to America. However, in the 17 years that have passed since, Ai feels she’s become unattractive, while Sosuke has gone from an overweight young boy into an extremely attractive man. Ai doesn’t feel like she can face him and begs her best friend Yui to take her place and pretend to be her for a single day. And that should have been the end of things, but Ai lands a job as an intern for popular fashion magazine The Most, which just so happens to be the magazine Sosuke has returned to Japan to manage as the deputy editor-in-chief.
Luckily(?) Sosuke doesn’t recognise her, having bought into the idea of Yui being the Ai he knows and loves, but Ai is shocked to discover how unfriendly and cold hearted Sosuke is at work. Everyone fears him, and Ai herself is treated coldly by him, as her inexperience constantly leads him to yell at her. Frustrated by her own failures and the fact Sosuke doesn’t even see her for who she is, she works hard to become useful to the department. And that has caught the eye of coworker Takuya, who quickly figures out her past relationship with Sosuke and wants to protect her from his unkind treatment. At first Takuya thinks it’s fun being with her, but slowly he develops feelings for her and finds himself struggling between supporting her and Sosuke and trying to win her feelings himself. And to make matters more complicated, Yui has continued to secretly meet Sosuke, keeping up the lie of being Ai.
At the time of writing I’m halfway through this (I didn’t want to hold the post until I was finished), and it has been incredibly dumb but also oddly compelling. As you would expect from a story like this, there are a lot of twists and turns which are great fun to watch unfold. And I know I absolutely should not be rooting for Sosuke given his attitude, but I find myself hoping there’s a happy ending for him and Ai somehow. I don’t like the wider implications of the story that Ai is not pretty now because she is! And the fact she’s gone through a glow-up just after the halfway point further fuels the messaging I’m not a huge fan of. And yet, I am willing to forgive several of these narrative negatives since it’s so much fun watching Nakajima, Koshiba and Akaso act together. They have great chemistry, even though Nakajima’s acting isn’t as polished as I’m used to seeing now (and neither is Akaso’s). It’s silly but highly entertaining despite its flaws.
And with that, I shall draw a close on the summer 2026 season! I felt like there was a good variety this time around, especially compared to spring where a lot of my favourites were romances in one way or another. Or extremely good until the last episode or two (I have still not forgiven GIFT for that). And now we prepare for autumn, where Mamoru’s in a medical drama, and there’s a Japanese remake of Extraordinary Attorney Woo for some reason. I am looking forward to a new slate of shows, unlike usual, where I bemoan the fact everything is ending (although I am doing that with my anime) I’m looking forward to the autumn reset.