Unfiltered Recommendations: Must-Watch Dramas of Spring 2024 from Three Critical Watchers

Shimada: There has certainly been a string of “sad” type of works. The same was true for the last Geki 9 “Kimi ga Kokoro wo Gitaeru Kara” (Because You Gave Me Your Heart). But even the last episode was not a hit, with an average household rating of 6.6%.

Hiyama: We have to abandon the successful experience of the “impatient” type. If this line persistently continues on various stations, we will lose viewers.

Shimada: Go Atsushi had a series of good works such as “Promise Cinderella” (TBS) with Fumi Nikaido (29) and Gan-chan (Takenori Iwata, 35) and “Elpis: Hope or Disaster” (Fuji) with Masami Nagasawa (36). It’s kind of a waste.

Imai: Because there is no way I can act. I’m sleeping all the time (laughs). It’s the script, after all. A high school student in his twenties and amnesia, which is a staple of Korean dramas, is a strange makunouchi bento.

Hiyama: This is also an amnesia drama, but “Kururi: Who fell in love with me? 〜(TBS),” which is also an amnesia drama, is interesting to watch. What do you think?

Shimada: The lead actress, Meruru (Ikumi Airu, 22), has a surprisingly wide range of acting skills.

Hiyama: TBS’s Tuesday 22:00 slot is filled with dramas that make girls happy. The same was true for “Runaway Shame,” “The Story You Read the Day You First Fell in Love” with Fukada Kyoko (41) and Ryusei Yokohama (27), and “Promise Cinderella” with Fumi Nikaido and Atsushi Goh.

Shimada: “Kururi” has three male counterparts. It’s nice to be able to choose your type.

Imai Like a love game.

Hiyama And they all like “me. It’s a common pattern in shoujo manga.

Imai: “9 Border,” also by TBS, is also about amnesia. In this one, Kohei Matsushita (37), who has lost his memory, is playing his guitar on the street and suddenly grabs the hand of Haruna Kawaguchi, who stops by and asks him, “Do you know me? …… The setting of the encounter is too abrupt.

Hiyama And then they fall in love (laughs). Even excluding the amnesia element, it is quite chaotic. If it had been before, it would have been possible with just one heroine, but that wouldn’t be seen anymore, so for “9 Border” I prepared three main characters, aged 19, 29, and 39, aiming at a wide range of generations.

Imai: Apart from Kawaguchi, we have Haruka Kiminami (38) and Meiiku Hata (22), both talented actors, but having three of them makes the content thin. All the stories are half-hearted. Moreover, the portrayal of the 19-year-old is far removed from the actual 19-year-old, who is “a ronin student who just met a guy on a matching app and he proposes to her. This is what a middle-aged person thinks of a 19-year-old.

Hiyama: I wonder why Fuji and TBS make so many amnesia stories on the same station. I thought they should have talked about it.

Shimada In terms of girl-pleasers, did you see “Tokyo Tower” (TV Asahi), starring Ren Nagase (25) and Yuka Itaya (48)?

Imai: Yes. A love story between an older woman and a young man is rare and good, but the content was a surprise. There was a cat under a car, and Nagase, a college student who rescued the cat, was asked by architect Itaya, “There is a shower in my office. It’s as if we’re being shown the fast-forward to the act of …… porn, where Itaya, the architect, asks Nagase, the college student who rescued him, “There’s a shower in my office, do you want to take a bath? The script is too violent. I’m not drawn in by a story that’s too unrealistic.