3 Most Emotional Moments in J-Dorama

J-dorama is the best in terms of emotional content. In fact, it's the reason I love it so much. Maybe I'm lunatic, but I have a record of my favorite emotional scenes (the name of series, episode, the exact time, and link), so I have this habit of watching them over and over. It makes me cry, but at the same time, warms my heart.

So, I'd like to share 3 favorite emotional scenes of myself. I can easily mention 10 or more, but restrict myself to these.

1. One Litre of Tears (2005), Ep. 08: Aya's farewell message to her classmates

I said I kept watching the emotional scenes, but I didn't mean this. I simply can't rewatch it, it's too much for me. However, to all fairness, it should be the first to mention: Here Aya summarizes all her heroic fight, how in order to smile to her classmates, she had to shed 1 litre of tears before ...

I can't say more, my tears are to come. Aya! I love you so much, you're the best ...

2. Mother (2010), Ep 01: Nao becoming Rena's Mother

It's about 10 minutes, starting with Nao finding Rena in a trash plastic and finishing with them sitting beside the ocean. The climax is when Nao says: Rena! Can you call me 'mother'? And Rena crying, shouts: Okaasan, Okaasan, Okaasan! An amazing mixture of sadness and happiness. Better to say, it's a birth of happiness and hope out of sadness and tragedy. I love them so much. I wish I could help them in some way.

There are many other beautiful moments in the series, but I chose this, because the story of these amazing mother and daughter begins here.

3. Queen's Classroom (2005), Ep. 02: Kazumi Crying on her Sister's Shoulder

I know, there are many more serious scenes in the history of J-dorama, but I've a personal reason: My older brother was abusive and my parents totally neglected that. So, when I saw their sisterhood, I said to myself: Oh, God! Siblings are supposed to be like that! A family should be such a place!

Kazumi is bullied by her teacher and classmates. She also lost her best friend after a fight. To make things worse, she sees her parents bringing their regular childish fights to the next level. The teacher asks her to surrender, but Kazumi responds: I won't cry! Definitely, I won't cry! She comes back home. Her sister, Yu, is in bed as she had asthma attack recently. As though nothing happened, Kazumi tries to cheer her sister up with a funny song and her cute Te-He, but Yu is too attentive and caring to miss what's going on. With just looking at Kazumi's face and her voice, she finds out that something is wrong. And then with two times naming 'Kazumi!' and assuring Kazumi that she is always on her side, Yu makes Kazumi open her heart. When you have such an amazing sister, it's totally fine to cry, Kazumi!

It's as simple as that. Siblings should be like that. Friends as well. Humans too.

I really miss such an older sister. It could change my life totally.

I can name many more, but it's enough for now.

What are you favorite scenes? Really curious to know!

Dear Sister was memorable as well. The mischievous little sister actually cares about her older sister, it's so emotional and yet so sweet.

 TimiZero:

Nice sharing!!

From the 3 I did not watch "1 Liter" cause you know why and can't really remember clearly about the Queen's Classroom. But, for Mother I totally agree with you... the "at the sea" scene was so good and I like how Rena tried to ask the birds first to take her with them (if I remember correctly)...then that had triggered Nao for her action. 

Actually everything in episode 1 of Mother was a "bomb"...you have it all from suspense, emotions to mystery. To me this was the strongest episode out of the series and it gave viewers curiosity on the story flow.

My favorite moment (but not the emotional one) from this episode is when Rena tried to reach the normal red postbox and then her question about the Yellow Postbox was really subtle but meaningful.

Regarding Mother!

Yeah, Rena first asks the birds to take her. And before it, she was curious if she could find new parents through baby mailbox, all hints for Nao to become her mother.

Elsewhere, you mentioned something about the Korean remake of Mother! Let me add this: The version tries to make the story more dramatic, but in a ridiculous way. For example, in their "at the sea" scene, their Rena follows the birds, and then enters the sea. She seems suicidal, or at least indifferent to pain. However, this is at least inconsistent with we saw from Rena before, since when she asked the birds to take her or thought of the baby mailbox, she showed the urge to live happily. Also her notebook of favorite things (I love her saying 'Creama Soda'!) shows that even in the worst moments of abuse, she tries her best to be happy. So, the Korean version of entering water doesn't make sense to me. On the contrary, the Japanese version shows Rena's fight for happiness subtly: Rena runs and asks the birds to take her, but as soon as the waves touch her feet, she runs back to the beach and Nao. I think it's a nice depiction of the fact that although Rena desperately tries to save herself, as a little kid, she is too weak to do anything. She needs some land to save her from drowning. And then Nao grabs her and becomes her 'land of safety'.

 faarian:

The version tries to make the story more dramatic, but in a ridiculous way.

Wow nice observation!! I vaguely remember about that one, but it shows how little details really count in good Japanese drama. 

Actually some of other K-remakes that I watched were disappointment too...it feels like they were trying to tell people that they're better than Japanese instead of giving justice to the original... The obvious mistake they usually overlooked is inconsistency of a character in my opinion.

 bubblytea:

I find that I don't much like explicitly emotional scenes in dramas.  Old Anime Lady published an article on this subject that was very interesting.  It outlined the reasons why some viewers might actually want to cry.  I'm in the other camp.   I don't like to feel emotionally manipulated and prefer a more subtle approach.   

That said,  one of my favorite emotional moments in a drama is from Mitsu no Aji.  This drama might  be difficult for many as the theme is incest.  And not the Kdrama fake incest  - ooooh forbidden love - but not really because he is actually her step brother, adopted, whatever.    Mitsu no Aji looks at what might be the reality.  My favorite emotional scene is near the end where the couple is truly desperate as they have been driven out of even the most menial jobs because of their relationship.  The male lead simply opens the blanket of his futon and lets his beloved slip in to sleep with him.  Delicate and moving.   

Thank you for introducing the article. I'm trying to find it, but not successful yet. As I said, I live with these emotional moments, but sometimes think that maybe I'm too sentimental, so I'd like to hear other views. I'll think over your point about 'emotional manipulation'.

And thanks for Mitsu no Aji. I've no problem with incest, as far as there is a balanced relationship and both people love each other (though this should be a really complicated and tough kind of relationship). So, I happily started to watch the series. At first, Naoko's 'love' seemed to me possessive and selfish (hoping her uncle fails in the exam, watching a boy dying to make sure that her rival fails), but then she showed mature behavior and true love (throwing away the ring, saying it will be a 'different her' from now on), therefore now I'm really sympathetic to their love. 'Nada so so' (2006) made me crazy as the lovers didn't manage to express their feelings (they were not real brother and sister, but that was not important to me). I just should say that this time, it is a real incest, as they are uncle and niece. After his parents' death, Masato lived with his much older brother and his wife, so became their daughter, Naoko's 'niichan'.

I finished MNA. I should thank you massively for introducing the series. I really enjoyed it, as their love is exactly what I call 'love'. There is a strong tendency in Japanese (and more generally Eastern) series and culture to not talk about feelings, so many times like 'Nada so so' (2006), watching 'romantic relationships' becomes painful for me, but here, it was the opposite. I really love that before his marriage, Naoko told Masato about her feeling for him, and later asked him why he started to kiss her, and what would have happened, if he hadn't received the phone call, and so on and so forth. I'd like this kind of honest and straightforward talk about feelings and everything. At least, lovers should be like that. And I'd love the fact that they didn't start their relationship for years for many understandable reasons, but when they decided to do that, they were so determined that even the worst consequences couldn't stop them. Until the very end, I was worried that one of them held back, but thank God, it didn't happen!

I also got what you meant by the emotional subtlety of that 'opening the blanket' scene! It was really heartwarming. Even if the whole world is against you, it's more than enough if you get such warmness from the one who you are in love with. Then there will be no reason for wavering!

As the original post suggests, my first priority is to watch drama series on human relationships with serious content, but now I'm kind of short of them, so I really appreciate it, if you could introduce me more, whenever you have something in mind.