Shows For Sad Rainy Days

Gokusen is possibly my favourite drama ever.  Funny and ridiculous and achingly sensitive, I feel like I'm being cleansed when I watch it. It brushes all the bad feelings away. The boys in this show are indescribably lovable. It's impossible not to fall hard for these angsty puppies. Their devotion and loyalty to their weird and wonderful teacher is invaluable. And this drama is invaluable to me.

Thirty But Seventeen deserves a place here firstly because it's an oasis for hopeless romantics, but mostly because it's set in a perfect world where everyone who has been hurt can heal. The characters at the centre of this story are caught in a web, tangled up together because of a deeply traumatic incident, but Thirty But Seventeen refuses to be bleak. It is tender, a drama with a soft vulnerable centre, but it is hopeful. (Go to #13 for a show I love for the same reason.)

Hana Kimi is outrageously funny for anyone who loves slapstick or absurd humour, and it goes out of its way to be stupid and fun. It's a little pocket of joy. I laugh every single time.

Age of Youth 2 is harrowing in an understated kind of way - the show understands that living your life means facing hardship, but it serves up its wisdom with colour and vigour.  Poetry in motion.

One of my favourite romances - it's a small show, barely leaving the neighbourhood where the hero and heroine meet, but it has big intentions. It's soaring and passionate.

This show is the antidote to cynicism - it's observations about life are spot on, but the delivery is always full of heart. Equal parts hilarious and devastating.

 Hana Nochi Hare had no right to be so good, but it was. It's the kind of melodrama that reminds me why I crave them. There are truly rich characters with understandable motives; they clash, they make mistakes, they put each other through torment, but you can't help but love them. The perfect show to be swept away with.

The most addictive show on the planet. A delicious takedown of the rich and entitled which will grasp you with its insanely complicated plot and never let you go. There's no better distraction from the world than this.

A fairytale about transformation and healing, disguised with broad humour and fast wit. One of the most interesting, intimate love stories I can offer.

This is, quite literally, comfort food. Ignoring the jarring thriller elements, this show feels like a piece of someone's life. The characters are weird, there's not really any plot - an easygoing and gluttonous little drama.

Whether it's the manga or the 2003 drama (never, never watch the 2016 reboot though), this story is as simple as it is sexy. It's strangers bonding through circumstance (with a twist).

This film keeps on giving. It's a feast for the eyes, picturesque and pastoral, filled with beautiful food and an even more beautiful Kim Tae-ri. It demands that you put your life on pause and cocoon yourself in its slow, unfussed bliss.

It feels like 2020 has been posing a question: If things just keep getting worse and worse, what will you do? Neechan no Koibito was born to give us the answer. Just keep loving each other. Just keep reaching out and spreading kindness and finding reasons to be joyful. Although not a perfect show (I found several of the supporting characters, with their unfailing positivity and perkiness, grating) I left it wishing I could live in its world for just a minute longer. Its optimistism is infectious.