5 Japanese dramas you need to watch.

I have a little confession to make. Over the years living in Japan, I've become addicted to Japanese dramas. Whether it's silly love comedies, vehicles for musicians to start an acting career or the ever present cop dramas, I watch em all like there's no tomorrow. Of course there's a lot of crap shows I give up on after the first or second episode, but there's also usually two or three good shows per season.

Why do I like J dramas so much? For one, they don't go on forever. Most Japanese shows end after a single season of around 10 episodes, so they don't run the risk of getting stale or forcing a long story line on a show that was intended to end much sooner.

They also often have top quality actors - the best in Japan - because in Japan the movie and TV industries have never really been separate (a phenomenon Kiefer Sutherland helped to end in the US with 24).

So without further ado here's my list of 5 Japanese TV dramas you really need to see.

1. Last Friends: This show is for the most part as close to perfection as you can get for a serious love triangle style story. It stars Masami Nagasawa (Michiru) and Juri Ueno (Ruka) as old friends from junior high school who reunite after many years apart. All is happy in the world - Michiru is moving in to live with Sosuke, the man of her dreams (Ryo Nishikido) but all is not as it seems, and she soon realizes her loving new boyfriend is not what he seemed to be. Nishikido's portrayal of the abusive boyfriend is honestly scary at times and shows IMO that he has the potential to make it big as an actor. There's also a great supporting performance by Eita, who's since moved on to many big projects.

This show is great not just for the good acting and storyline, but also because it addresses serious issues like spousal abuse in a stark and frank manner you seldom see (this show single-handedly brought the term domestic abuse into the Japanese vocabulary). Last Friends is also notable for its great opening song, Prisoner of Love, that helped restart Hikaru Utada's career.

2. MR. BRAIN: What seems at first to be just a Kimutaku vehicle is actually a pretty good police drama that is both funny and serious in a good balance. Yes it is a strange show and I don't know if you could really say anyone in it is acting, but it's fun to watch the whole way through and you get to see some serious Haruka Ayase cuteness.

3. Hotaru no Hikari: The show that made Haruka Ayase a household word, Hotaru no Hikari is as silly of a J love story as you can find, but with real heart and touching moments in every episode. Haruka plays Hikari - a dedicated career woman who's a big lazy ass in private life - and the show starts when she's forced to become roommates with her boss at work who's just been separated from his wife.

OK it's a very contrived plot, but Haruka and her boss (Naohito Fujiki proving his romantic lead chops) have real chemistry and that alone prompted a rare sequel and a new movie version of the show, the preview video I posted above.

4. Bloody Monday: Is this show a ripoff of 24? Probably. Is the plot thin at times, convoluted to the point of almost incomprehensibility, and full of what seem like a million holes? Yes. But it's also a big budget, massively scaled action drama with good acting on many points and honest tension all along the way. Look for great performances especially from the grizzled Yutaka Matsushige and the beautiful Michiko Kichise, who basically steals the show every time she's on screen.

The second season in many ways is also better than the first, so it's worth watching through to the end.

5. BOSS: The tall beauty Yuki Amami stars here as a no-nonsense cop leading a ragtag band of losers. Good stories and good acting all around, but above all Amami's presence is what keeps the show moving along. This and the love comedy Around 40 bumped her pretty much to the top slot for female Japanese actors, and she's now on TV constantly.

Amami is in a lot of commercials, too. Here's her pitch for Suntory's Strong Refuru, a damn good drink.