New to jdrama (kdrama veteran) and need some easy pickings

I recently decided to try out some jdrama and wasn't disappointed. First series I watched was Hana Yori Dango (boys over flowers) and was so happy and thrilled with it, I watched next Shanai Marriage Honey, an unusual but very nice series. Next I watched Ashi Girl, which was alright, thought it was more geared towards younger audiences. I'm now watching Zenkai Girl, and it's alright, but I'm not totally captivated.

My favorite combination is fluffy romance, comedy, some drama. I'm not sure if there's something similar like Hana Yori Dango or better in jdrama, I'd really enjoy more drama romance like that.

In kdrama I liked series like:
-  Goong, arranged marriage and a royal family. Maybe jdrama has similar. I'd like to watch something like this next.
- I'm not a robot
- Secret Garden
- Strong girl bong soon

I want to watch the best jdrama  series matching those kinda series.

Can you help me? :)

 mjf314:

If you liked Hana Yori Dango, you'll probably like Hanazakari no Kimitachi e.  They're similar to each other, and roughly equally good imo.

I also recommend Nodame Cantabile.  I like this one more than Hana Yori Dango.

Another popular romcom set in school is Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo, but I haven't seen it yet.

I checked your list and I see that you gave the Korean version of Mother a 10/10, so you might be interested in checking out the Japanese version of Mother.

Thanks for quick reply, looks like I have something to watch tonight :D

And yes I was aware of the japanese (original) version of Mother, great dramatic story, and I was going to watch the japanese version when I was feeling like watching that kinda story. Took me months to decide to watch Mother korean version because I knew it was a dramatic story.

I like good series like that, but my daily dose involves mostly escapism series with fluffy comedy romance with a hint of drama.

Try:

• Love Last Forever / Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomademo
• From 5 to 9 / 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made
• A girl and three sweethearts / Suki na Hito ga Iru Koto
• We married as a Job / Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu
• Buzzer Beat
• Pride
• Orange Days 
• Good Morning call

Watching Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu   now, 4 episodes left. It's pretty good, very light and romantic, some comedy, overall fairly well balanced. Very similar to the kdrama Because This is My First Life .

I did give Hanazakari no Kimitachi e    a try, but it didn't make me fall in interest in it, so I parked that series. Not interested in high school series at the moment.

Doesn't j-drama have something like a modern day royal/imperial family drama, similar to Goong  or King2Hearts  or The King: Eternal Monarch    ?   Maybe difficult to create those kinda series in Japan since the imperial family is still there, so because it's so respected nobody is willing to create those kinda series?

Also, I'd like to watch a romance between a rich guy (chaebol) and a poor girl, Secret Garden comes to mind, but there are also many others like Boys over flowers/Hana yori dango, I'm not a robot, My secret romance, etc.

Awesome :) I feel like a kid in a candy store, been told everything is free... :)

Here's some fluffy romance, comedy j-dramas to add to your list :)

Uchi no Musume wa, Kareshi ga Dekinai!! 

Tatta Hitotsu no Koi 

Kahogo no Kahoko 

Date - Koi to wa Donna Mono Kashira 

Sekai Ichi Muzukashii Koi 

Some Movies:

From Me to You 

Flying Colors

Orange 

Yell for the Blue Sky