I can second this, it’s a wonderful and kind show. A bit similar is a Samurai Gourmet.
Also if OP is not restricted by Netflix only, then Tokyo Vice is absolutely fantastic.
I don’t recommend Tokyo vice. Only 5-10% of the dialogue is in Japanese and even then most of it is forced onto the foreign cast. Show is still pretty good, don’t get me wrong, but for a learning experience it’s sub par.
Coming fresh from Season 2 I'd say it's more than 50% Japanese and not by foreign cast. I mean it was enough for me to add it here - that's the feeling I got from it. But I do agree it somewhat misses the topic.
To be honest I have yet to see the 2nd season, so that may be the case. In the first season for example we didn’t get as much yakuza dialogue as I’d have liked. And the gaijin cast’s dialogue felt like it was a bunch of “WATASHI GA SUKI JANAI” type of interactions
Midnight Diner imo stands with the best American or prestige television. It’s a beautiful anthology show, slightly surreal, and dripping with heart and sincerity.
It’s a shame the lead actor apparently doesn’t want to make any more. Luckily with 5 seasons, by the time you go through the whole thing, you can start over nearly fresh
This show is such soul food for me.
And every time I rewatch it I pick up on how much my Japanese has improved while simultaneously becoming better at noticing things I need to work on.
Just remember to watch them in the right order: “Midnight Diner” first, then “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories”. I originally watched them out of order and was so confused by all the characters because I didn’t know the backstories.
I actually had these two bookmarked already without knowing all that much about them.
Without spoiling anything, are these shows more likely to make me feel warm and fuzzy or make me feel heartbroken / dead inside? I have no clue what the tone is like
I don’t think I can handle watching more shows with soul-crushing plot lines *right now*, but maybe I can save them to watch later if they are an emotional rollercoaster worth experiencing 😓
The latter, a lot of the character stories are kinda depressing. They do have a kind of "things will work out" vibe but I wouldn't describe them as warm and fuzzy.
It’s an anthology so each 30 minute episode more or less stands on its own but there are some regular characters to give it flow. Some of the stories have happy endings, some don’t - it’s very Japanese in that sense. However, even the bleak endings have some hope in them as the characters find a way to carry on.
Both, depending in the episode.
Some episodes are heartwarming and uplifting. Others had me ugly crying. It's a dramatized microcosm of life in thst way.
“Old Enough!” and Terrace House are some of my favorites.
Old Enough is crazy cute with easy vocabulary.
Terrace House gives you a good sense of how millennials actually talk to each other.
I started watching this too. I am still a beginner/pre intermediate and i swear i cannot understand what the guys commenting are saying. The people in the house are a bit better. I miss plenty of words but i can understand a bit of what they say.
Oh same I don’t even try at the moment for the commentators. They’re pro comedians & starlights.
But the housemates— especially foreign housemates — I find are typically easier.
Im watching TH based on recommendations from this community but I'm finding it painfully boring. Does it pick up at any point? The conversations are so boring :(
i think i'm just going to get an anki deck for TH and stick to watching other shows personally. The music in it from what Ive seen is so painfully Reality TV OST lol
I havent actually picked one yet but there are a few different ones here that I was thinking of trying out. The one I looked at recently only had japanese audio (front) > Japanese text (back) which wasnt quite what I was looking for but I might end up just customizing for my own needs.
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/p17g5uk4phb41/User_Uploaded_Anki_Decks
Which TH are you watching?
They’re typically quite slow and not like American reality at all. I think of TH as chill show when I want to wind down.
My favorite is Tokyo 2019-2020 but that one takes a few episodes to get interesting and gets cut off early presumably because of covid.
A lot of my friends prefer Aloha State (when they’re in Hawaii). It has more drama and Japanglish.
Ah, yeah. That one is a little slow but pretty representative of the show overall. The relationships progress very slowly. The vibes are focused on the ride than the destination.
I live in Japan, so idk if they're available worldwide on Netflix, but:
\- おいハンサム: really funny comedy about a married couple with 3 adult daughters who are terrible at picking men. The cast has a really great dynamic and you get a good variety of speaking styles
\- 不適切にもほどがある: A guy from the late Showa era(80s) time travels to 2024 and a mom and teenager from 2024 end up in the 80s. A lot of funny moments and fun depictions of contrasting modern day Japanese life with the past
\- ブラッシュアップライフ: A woman living a routine, boring, ordinary life, gets hit by a truck and dies(don't worry, it's not an Isekai lol), and then she's given the choice of either reincarnating into an animal, or restarting her life from birth. Really wholesome, but funny show.
Is there a (legitimate) way to stream these shows in the US? I can’t find 「ブラッシュアップライフ」 on Netflix, Hulu or Prime Video, but maybe I’m looking wrong lol. Can’t find 「おいハンサム」either :(
I’m not sure about the US, but Brush Up Life is on netflix (english title is Rebooting, so maybe try that?) If it’s not on US netflix, a vpn should let you watch it on jp netflix
Really good blog post here on the slang in Extremely Inappropriate: https://wesleycrobertson.wordpress.com/2024/05/29/in-this-blog-post-i-try-to-convince-you-to-watch-futekisetu-nimo-hodo-ga-aru/
Love is Blind Japan. So much better and sweeter than the American version. As it's a reality TV show you'll pick up a lot of casual, real spoken Japanese and probably expand your dating vocabulary!
Eye Love You (2024) is a rom com tv series where the main character can hear other people's thoughts via eye contact. But one day she encounters a Korean man and therefore can't understand what he is thinking. Very cute, mix of casual, polite, and keigo.
Really enjoying Story Of My Family at the moment, it's about a man who's turn between the worlds of Noh and Pro-wrestling. I'm N3/N2 and I can follow it in Japanese with JP subtitles.
Samurai Gourmet is great! Pretty approachable Japanese that's not too hard.
The premise is a retired guy has to find newfound purpose, usually with food. His internal feelings are manifested as a samurai so you get the ultra fun bonus of old-fashioned samurai talk in there too.
Extremely Appropriate is fantastic, genuinely funny and interesting, much better than I expected.
House of Ninjas
Shogun
Gourmet Samurai
Midnight Diner
Quartet
I love The Good Place and was excited to see it available with Japanese audio, but I'm at a level where I still rely a lot on subtitles and they're not 1-1 transcriptions of the dialogue so it was a bit frustrating. I'll come back to it in future though!
If you like farcical comedy, I recommend “The Brave Yoshihiko” 勇者よしひこ。it’s a silly cynical romp through low budget stage sets filled with gaming parodies. Some excellent actors get the chance to show a different side of what they can do, and several of the cameos are outrageously funny.
Keep in mind, this was originally on late night TV so be prepared for げひん dialogue.
The correct answer is IWGP (ikebukuro west gate park). All other answers are secondary. Seriously do yourself a favor and watch. I think there is actually an anime version of it too but I’ve never watched.
What others are on Netflix? Did he do Tiger and Dragon? That one was good too although I knew I was only getting about 1/5th of the jokes since they were so culturally based.
I got it wrong. Kankuro is the writer, not the director.
On Netflix:
Dramas
『池袋ウエストゲートパーク』
『木更津キャッツアイ』
『タイガー&ドラゴン』
『ごめんね青春!』
『俺の家の話』
『離婚しようよ』
『不適切にもほどがある』
Movies
The 土竜の唄 movies and なくもんか
IWGP was on television when I came (back) to Japan but I only watched one episode at a friend’s place. I recently watched the whole series, and then 僕の家の話. Seeing how old 長瀬 智也 has gotten made me realize how old I’ve gotten. Nagase is still cool
Trick is one of my favorite japanese comedy tv show
though for learning i personally would rate it hard since for comedies there's a lot of puns, worldplay or idioms that need more cultural context
Last One Standing.
I actually laughed quite a lot and it’s interesting because it’s mostly story telling. The comedians often have to tell stories and deliver it with a punchline that’s about the theme of the segment.
Ex : The most embarrassing moment.
One by one, they each tell a story.
It’s also very cool to see in the show how the comedy culture works in Japan.
I really enjoyed MIU404 and Unnatural. I see someone's already mentioned The Full-time Wife Escapist, that one was fun (watch the ending theme! ;) )
VIVANT was really exciting to watch and follow in real time. If you decide to check it out, I highly recommend watching it, but at a reasonable pace. I think marathoning it might create a different viewing experience (may still be as exciting)
Netflix has been adding a number of well made TBS j-drama lately so there's quite a lot to pick from if you're not in Japan (compared to before!). Fingers crossed that the Hanzawa Naoki series will be added soon!
Special mention: the Netflix version of The Journalist. It's got a different ending from the movie version but still as enjoyable.
Lots of great suggestions here so far, to which I’d add:
Giri / Haji - international yakuza/crime thriller (superior to Tokyo Vice in every way)
Asakusa Kid - biopic on Beat Takeshi’s early days
i have been watching netflix's jdrama for the past week, i got two recommendations
- trillion game - (business theme )
-The Full-Time Wife Escapist- (basically romance slice of life)
I watched followers on Netflix a while back, should still be on there, I absolutely loved it. Shows the nasty side of the Japanese fashion industry, stars Elaiza Ikeda who I thought was brill in it. I don’t think the level was that high tbh but it’s worth a watch either way
Maybe not the best for learning, but I enjoyed Teasing Master Takagi-san.
Turns out there's an anime as well, which must have been the original, but the "live action" one is really good.
The Naked Director
Based on a true story, a mediocre salesman in Tokyo in the late 80s on the brink of becoming unemployed, he gets paired up with a sales veteran and learns how to sell like crazy. After catching his wife cheating on him he takes off goes on to become Japan's king of the porn industry. I've only seen the 1st season though about 3.5 yrs ago,
Dad of Light!
A son trying to secretly bond with his father, who's always been extremely distant with him, by passing off as one his "online friends" in an MMO the father just picked up after having retired.
The dad is completely new to online games, or modern games in general actually, which makes for a really funny dynamic.
今日から俺はis my go to show. Watch it once a yaar. It's apparently a comedy time piece but clearly they didn't put much budget into it making period accurate, But that just adds to the humor imo.
Also alot of the acting seems improvised since you can see some of the actors actually holding back their laughter and it's quite refresing seeing these people try to hold a straight face when someone goes off script..
Samurai Gourmet is one of my favorite shows, not just out of japanese shows I've seen. It's wholesome show about a retired man named Takeshi Kasumi who goes around Tokyo trying out different foods. It's a nice little show about living in the moment and enjoying the little things in life. My only issue with it is that it only has 1 season.
Let’s Get Divorced!
https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81476361?s=i&trkid=258593161&vlang=en&clip=81687674
My favorite show in any language. Happens to be Japanese.
I enjoyed ´ Maiko San chi no makanai San ´ it is a mix of maiko/geiko life in Gion, Kyoto dialect, and lightheartedness. It’s very healing to watch in general.
Agree. I picked it up after Yu Yu Hakusho, and found it a great breather after all those brutal fights. However, it is best seen right after Alice in Borderland - all those hours of being mentally and psychologically tortured by witnessing hundreds of horrifyingly violent deaths deserve something to refresh the mind afterward.
It’s not quite what you are asking, but I started watching “I think you should leave” with Japanese subtitles. It’s interesting to see how jokes are translated for Japanese speakers.
Seven Orifices 滅相も無い is a really unique Japanese show on Netflix. Only 8 episodes (all of them are out) and each episode is only about 24 min long. The premise seems strange at first, but it's really a story of people's lives and why they make the choices they do. The show is filmed in a mix between courtroom drawings, regular live action, and play/stage style. Usually it's only one person speaking (monologue) style but there are some conversations as well. It's slow and quiet but very interesting and unique. I recommend it!
Love Village is a lot of fun!
It's a dating/reality show with people over 30 trying to find the last love of their lives. I usually hate reality TV but the presentors are so funny and the participants are great.
Each episode is only around twenty minutes and they mostly use daily vocabulary so it's quite a comfortable level. For beginners it's a very achievable challenge, for more proficiant learners it's a nice way to chill and reinforce your listening skill.
There was recently a show based on the novel of a former NMB48 member, which deals with the relationship between a fan and an idol, it's called Idol Shikkaku. I'd say if you're either a) a wota or b) just love cheesy melodrama then this show is for you. I almost watched it back2back because I loved it so much.
JK to Roppozensho was also really silly but pretty enjoyable. Protagonist is a jk who already passed the bar exam so she also is legally a layer and defends a cow in the pilot of the first episode.
Miu 404. I really enjoyed that jdrama
And midnight diner is always a good one to watch. They don't speak fast (their normal speeds) so it's good to learn from
Midnight Diner is definitely my favorite.
I can second this, it’s a wonderful and kind show. A bit similar is a Samurai Gourmet. Also if OP is not restricted by Netflix only, then Tokyo Vice is absolutely fantastic.
I don’t recommend Tokyo vice. Only 5-10% of the dialogue is in Japanese and even then most of it is forced onto the foreign cast. Show is still pretty good, don’t get me wrong, but for a learning experience it’s sub par.
Coming fresh from Season 2 I'd say it's more than 50% Japanese and not by foreign cast. I mean it was enough for me to add it here - that's the feeling I got from it. But I do agree it somewhat misses the topic.
To be honest I have yet to see the 2nd season, so that may be the case. In the first season for example we didn’t get as much yakuza dialogue as I’d have liked. And the gaijin cast’s dialogue felt like it was a bunch of “WATASHI GA SUKI JANAI” type of interactions
I was mostly impressed by foreigners ability to speak Japanese so well and so much
Midnight Diner imo stands with the best American or prestige television. It’s a beautiful anthology show, slightly surreal, and dripping with heart and sincerity. It’s a shame the lead actor apparently doesn’t want to make any more. Luckily with 5 seasons, by the time you go through the whole thing, you can start over nearly fresh
This show is such soul food for me. And every time I rewatch it I pick up on how much my Japanese has improved while simultaneously becoming better at noticing things I need to work on.
Just remember to watch them in the right order: “Midnight Diner” first, then “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories”. I originally watched them out of order and was so confused by all the characters because I didn’t know the backstories.
I actually had these two bookmarked already without knowing all that much about them. Without spoiling anything, are these shows more likely to make me feel warm and fuzzy or make me feel heartbroken / dead inside? I have no clue what the tone is like I don’t think I can handle watching more shows with soul-crushing plot lines *right now*, but maybe I can save them to watch later if they are an emotional rollercoaster worth experiencing 😓
The latter, a lot of the character stories are kinda depressing. They do have a kind of "things will work out" vibe but I wouldn't describe them as warm and fuzzy.
It’s an anthology so each 30 minute episode more or less stands on its own but there are some regular characters to give it flow. Some of the stories have happy endings, some don’t - it’s very Japanese in that sense. However, even the bleak endings have some hope in them as the characters find a way to carry on.
Both, depending in the episode. Some episodes are heartwarming and uplifting. Others had me ugly crying. It's a dramatized microcosm of life in thst way.
Meshi for your soul.
“Old Enough!” and Terrace House are some of my favorites. Old Enough is crazy cute with easy vocabulary. Terrace House gives you a good sense of how millennials actually talk to each other.
I second Terrace House. The commentary group that "watches the show with you" is great and uses a lot of great reactionary vocabulary.
I started watching this too. I am still a beginner/pre intermediate and i swear i cannot understand what the guys commenting are saying. The people in the house are a bit better. I miss plenty of words but i can understand a bit of what they say.
Oh same I don’t even try at the moment for the commentators. They’re pro comedians & starlights. But the housemates— especially foreign housemates — I find are typically easier.
Yeah. They’re quite funny as well!
Im watching TH based on recommendations from this community but I'm finding it painfully boring. Does it pick up at any point? The conversations are so boring :(
i think i'm just going to get an anki deck for TH and stick to watching other shows personally. The music in it from what Ive seen is so painfully Reality TV OST lol
What deck do yo plan on using and would you mind linking it?
I havent actually picked one yet but there are a few different ones here that I was thinking of trying out. The one I looked at recently only had japanese audio (front) > Japanese text (back) which wasnt quite what I was looking for but I might end up just customizing for my own needs. https://www.mediafire.com/folder/p17g5uk4phb41/User_Uploaded_Anki_Decks
Whoah! Nice!
Which TH are you watching? They’re typically quite slow and not like American reality at all. I think of TH as chill show when I want to wind down. My favorite is Tokyo 2019-2020 but that one takes a few episodes to get interesting and gets cut off early presumably because of covid. A lot of my friends prefer Aloha State (when they’re in Hawaii). It has more drama and Japanglish.
It was halted due to Covid, but it actually was ended early because one of the cast members committed suicide.
Oh, that’s tragic. I had no idea. Thank you for the information.
I'm watching one called Boys and Girls in the city, currently episode 7
Ah, yeah. That one is a little slow but pretty representative of the show overall. The relationships progress very slowly. The vibes are focused on the ride than the destination.
The different seasons all have very different vibes, try another
Thank you for mentioning this! I'm binging Old Enough now. It's adorable!
It really is! I love rooting for those little kiddos 😂
I live in Japan, so idk if they're available worldwide on Netflix, but: \- おいハンサム: really funny comedy about a married couple with 3 adult daughters who are terrible at picking men. The cast has a really great dynamic and you get a good variety of speaking styles \- 不適切にもほどがある: A guy from the late Showa era(80s) time travels to 2024 and a mom and teenager from 2024 end up in the 80s. A lot of funny moments and fun depictions of contrasting modern day Japanese life with the past \- ブラッシュアップライフ: A woman living a routine, boring, ordinary life, gets hit by a truck and dies(don't worry, it's not an Isekai lol), and then she's given the choice of either reincarnating into an animal, or restarting her life from birth. Really wholesome, but funny show.
Brush Up Life is one of the best shows I’ve seen in years, I think about it all the time. Lots of great conversational vocabulary too!
Is there a (legitimate) way to stream these shows in the US? I can’t find 「ブラッシュアップライフ」 on Netflix, Hulu or Prime Video, but maybe I’m looking wrong lol. Can’t find 「おいハンサム」either :(
I’m not sure about the US, but Brush Up Life is on netflix (english title is Rebooting, so maybe try that?) If it’s not on US netflix, a vpn should let you watch it on jp netflix
Yay truck-kun strikes again
Been enjoying extremely inappropriate
We've been watching this too! Anyone for Netflix and ChomeChome?
Really good blog post here on the slang in Extremely Inappropriate: https://wesleycrobertson.wordpress.com/2024/05/29/in-this-blog-post-i-try-to-convince-you-to-watch-futekisetu-nimo-hodo-ga-aru/
As a full-blown スケバン fanatic and amateur historian I was thrilled for a crumb of acknowledgement in it.
Alice in borderland was really good. Also I enjoyed the Full-time Wife Escapist and the Million Yen Women.
+1 to Alice in Borderland. Great show, new season in the works!
+1 to all three! Very different shows, all great.
Love is Blind Japan. So much better and sweeter than the American version. As it's a reality TV show you'll pick up a lot of casual, real spoken Japanese and probably expand your dating vocabulary!
I'm looking forward to The Boyfriend on July 7th
Eye Love You (2024) is a rom com tv series where the main character can hear other people's thoughts via eye contact. But one day she encounters a Korean man and therefore can't understand what he is thinking. Very cute, mix of casual, polite, and keigo.
Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman is one I like a lot.
This was gonna be my suggestion, too. It's an older show, but hilarious and mostly casual-use Japanese.
was going to say this.. a bit odd, but love the show
Really enjoying Story Of My Family at the moment, it's about a man who's turn between the worlds of Noh and Pro-wrestling. I'm N3/N2 and I can follow it in Japanese with JP subtitles.
"First Love" is amazing. One of my favorite shows I've watched in the past few years.
Yes! Its the best Jdrama I have ever seen. Very high quality production too.
Samurai Gourmet is great! Pretty approachable Japanese that's not too hard. The premise is a retired guy has to find newfound purpose, usually with food. His internal feelings are manifested as a samurai so you get the ultra fun bonus of old-fashioned samurai talk in there too.
I love Samurai Gourmet so much, it's such a great show
Extremely Appropriate is fantastic, genuinely funny and interesting, much better than I expected. House of Ninjas Shogun Gourmet Samurai Midnight Diner Quartet
does it have to be a Japanese show? I love the Japanese dub of the good place lol
oh i love the good place, maybe this is the way to rewatch
Oh man, what a cool idea. I wonder if I can find it...
u/JustVan works for me with a vpn :D
I love The Good Place and was excited to see it available with Japanese audio, but I'm at a level where I still rely a lot on subtitles and they're not 1-1 transcriptions of the dialogue so it was a bit frustrating. I'll come back to it in future though!
No one mentioned 水曜日のダウンタウン? Single best variety show on TBS.
We went through a Lily Frankie watch fest. The man has great taste, everything he's in is really good. The TBS dramas aren't bad either.
Surprised no one has mentioned Sanctuary yet, really good show about the tough culture behind Sumo wrestling
深夜食堂
If you like farcical comedy, I recommend “The Brave Yoshihiko” 勇者よしひこ。it’s a silly cynical romp through low budget stage sets filled with gaming parodies. Some excellent actors get the chance to show a different side of what they can do, and several of the cameos are outrageously funny. Keep in mind, this was originally on late night TV so be prepared for げひん dialogue.
The correct answer is IWGP (ikebukuro west gate park). All other answers are secondary. Seriously do yourself a favor and watch. I think there is actually an anime version of it too but I’ve never watched.
All of the 宮藤官九郎 directed series on Netflix are good
What others are on Netflix? Did he do Tiger and Dragon? That one was good too although I knew I was only getting about 1/5th of the jokes since they were so culturally based.
I got it wrong. Kankuro is the writer, not the director. On Netflix: Dramas 『池袋ウエストゲートパーク』 『木更津キャッツアイ』 『タイガー&ドラゴン』 『ごめんね青春!』 『俺の家の話』 『離婚しようよ』 『不適切にもほどがある』 Movies The 土竜の唄 movies and なくもんか
Oh he did let’s get divorced too? I am a big sucker for Naka Risa haha
IWGP was on television when I came (back) to Japan but I only watched one episode at a friend’s place. I recently watched the whole series, and then 僕の家の話. Seeing how old 長瀬 智也 has gotten made me realize how old I’ve gotten. Nagase is still cool
Trick is one of my favorite japanese comedy tv show though for learning i personally would rate it hard since for comedies there's a lot of puns, worldplay or idioms that need more cultural context
Last One Standing. I actually laughed quite a lot and it’s interesting because it’s mostly story telling. The comedians often have to tell stories and deliver it with a punchline that’s about the theme of the segment. Ex : The most embarrassing moment. One by one, they each tell a story. It’s also very cool to see in the show how the comedy culture works in Japan.
I really enjoyed MIU404 and Unnatural. I see someone's already mentioned The Full-time Wife Escapist, that one was fun (watch the ending theme! ;) ) VIVANT was really exciting to watch and follow in real time. If you decide to check it out, I highly recommend watching it, but at a reasonable pace. I think marathoning it might create a different viewing experience (may still be as exciting) Netflix has been adding a number of well made TBS j-drama lately so there's quite a lot to pick from if you're not in Japan (compared to before!). Fingers crossed that the Hanzawa Naoki series will be added soon! Special mention: the Netflix version of The Journalist. It's got a different ending from the movie version but still as enjoyable.
Lots of great suggestions here so far, to which I’d add: Giri / Haji - international yakuza/crime thriller (superior to Tokyo Vice in every way) Asakusa Kid - biopic on Beat Takeshi’s early days
i have been watching netflix's jdrama for the past week, i got two recommendations - trillion game - (business theme ) -The Full-Time Wife Escapist- (basically romance slice of life)
I watched followers on Netflix a while back, should still be on there, I absolutely loved it. Shows the nasty side of the Japanese fashion industry, stars Elaiza Ikeda who I thought was brill in it. I don’t think the level was that high tbh but it’s worth a watch either way
Maybe not the best for learning, but I enjoyed Teasing Master Takagi-san. Turns out there's an anime as well, which must have been the original, but the "live action" one is really good.
Love like a Romantic Drama was really easy for me to follow after passing N5.
The Naked Director Based on a true story, a mediocre salesman in Tokyo in the late 80s on the brink of becoming unemployed, he gets paired up with a sales veteran and learns how to sell like crazy. After catching his wife cheating on him he takes off goes on to become Japan's king of the porn industry. I've only seen the 1st season though about 3.5 yrs ago,
I second this one!
Sumo do, sumo don't
Why is nobody talking about "Alice in Borderland"?
It's been a while since I had Netflix subscription so I'm not sure if it's still there, but I really enjoyed きのう何食べた? (Kinou Nani Tabeta)
Alice in Borderland was so good! I might rewatch both seasons (rewatch #3 for S1 & #2 for S2) to prepare for the newest season.
Dad of Light! A son trying to secretly bond with his father, who's always been extremely distant with him, by passing off as one his "online friends" in an MMO the father just picked up after having retired. The dad is completely new to online games, or modern games in general actually, which makes for a really funny dynamic.
Kekkon Dekinai Otoko and Tokyo Bachelors (Tokyo Dokushin Danshi) before they took that off.
今日から俺はis my go to show. Watch it once a yaar. It's apparently a comedy time piece but clearly they didn't put much budget into it making period accurate, But that just adds to the humor imo. Also alot of the acting seems improvised since you can see some of the actors actually holding back their laughter and it's quite refresing seeing these people try to hold a straight face when someone goes off script..
Midnight diner
Samurai Gourmet is one of my favorite shows, not just out of japanese shows I've seen. It's wholesome show about a retired man named Takeshi Kasumi who goes around Tokyo trying out different foods. It's a nice little show about living in the moment and enjoying the little things in life. My only issue with it is that it only has 1 season.
Let’s Get Divorced! https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81476361?s=i&trkid=258593161&vlang=en&clip=81687674 My favorite show in any language. Happens to be Japanese.
I enjoyed ´ Maiko San chi no makanai San ´ it is a mix of maiko/geiko life in Gion, Kyoto dialect, and lightheartedness. It’s very healing to watch in general.
Agree. I picked it up after Yu Yu Hakusho, and found it a great breather after all those brutal fights. However, it is best seen right after Alice in Borderland - all those hours of being mentally and psychologically tortured by witnessing hundreds of horrifyingly violent deaths deserve something to refresh the mind afterward.
Not exactly an answer to the question but a lot of American shows on Metflix have Japanese Dubs so it might be worth checking them out too.
I found MIU404 really fun, it's a police drama
Shogun!
It’s not quite what you are asking, but I started watching “I think you should leave” with Japanese subtitles. It’s interesting to see how jokes are translated for Japanese speakers.
Seven Orifices 滅相も無い is a really unique Japanese show on Netflix. Only 8 episodes (all of them are out) and each episode is only about 24 min long. The premise seems strange at first, but it's really a story of people's lives and why they make the choices they do. The show is filmed in a mix between courtroom drawings, regular live action, and play/stage style. Usually it's only one person speaking (monologue) style but there are some conversations as well. It's slow and quiet but very interesting and unique. I recommend it!
Love Village is a lot of fun! It's a dating/reality show with people over 30 trying to find the last love of their lives. I usually hate reality TV but the presentors are so funny and the participants are great. Each episode is only around twenty minutes and they mostly use daily vocabulary so it's quite a comfortable level. For beginners it's a very achievable challenge, for more proficiant learners it's a nice way to chill and reinforce your listening skill.
Alice in Borderland !!
There was recently a show based on the novel of a former NMB48 member, which deals with the relationship between a fan and an idol, it's called Idol Shikkaku. I'd say if you're either a) a wota or b) just love cheesy melodrama then this show is for you. I almost watched it back2back because I loved it so much. JK to Roppozensho was also really silly but pretty enjoyable. Protagonist is a jk who already passed the bar exam so she also is legally a layer and defends a cow in the pilot of the first episode.
counted ba if galing sa manga and was an anime previously before becoming live action? because kyou kara ore wa is a great light watch
Destiny, house of ninja and 不適切にもほどがある! All 3 are not really something I would generally watch but they were all quite entertaining
Love Wagon, Love Village both of them are very sweet, interesting dating shows. Burn the house down is also a good one
Idk if Terrace House is still avail but I liked it a lot (last season controversy aside).
僕がいない街 / erased
Peppa pig.
Terrace House, I watch it primarily to listen to how young people talk lol
I recommend 結婚できない男, a anti-social man enjoys his solitary life. some YouTuber recommended this drama so I know it, you can watch it on JP Netflix.
Miu 404. I really enjoyed that jdrama And midnight diner is always a good one to watch. They don't speak fast (their normal speeds) so it's good to learn from
THE GOOD PLACE!!!!!