Juhan Shuttai! (2016)

It was a great watch. On the surface, this drama can (very) easily be seen as a typical cheesy happy-go-lucky Japanese drama. And essentially it is one, however, it has many points that make it memorable, that dig deeper into society and into our characters' psych. It has a hugely talented cast, and though some were underused overall it was great seeing them going at it ;)
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One of the points that makes it a substantial drama is its characters. Kokoro is your typical happy-go-lucky girl, a point mentioned throughout the drama as a joke. What makes her different though is that she never imposes her solution on others. Her job in the drama is to watch the people around her, as we the viewers do until the characters find their own solution. This brings us to another great point in the drama, where even though it seems we have a weekly lesson learned, problems are ongoing and don't get magically solved by the end of the episode it got introduced. We do get the episodic focus, but issues do get revisited later as we see where the characters are headed. This gives us better-paced character development, as the characters make decisions about their work and their lives. Another element I'd like to mention is the way the drama peaks into the characters' lives'. We don't get a full explanation and detailed background about them, we just get enough to know how this is affecting their current lives, views, and work. We only know what we usually know as we get closer to our colleagues at work. To this end, this is a drama about work and career.
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I feel this drama represents not only how publishing works in Japan, but how the entertainment industry works there overall. It is what makes Japan produce these artistic works while hand-in-hand producing the usual predictable easy-to-sell works. The episode focused on Yasuda Ken's character Yasui-san emphasizes it most, but we do explore that theme more than once. I won't go into detail as to what it is exactly, I will leave it for the viewers to discover. I'd just like to add the way the drama itself is produced is representative of that idea. As I mentioned earlier, it looks and sounds like those typical dramas, but just by peeling that layer off, you find something deeper, as each episode goes by.
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I have to mention how much I loved all the characters here; Takahata, Yasui, Numata, Wada-san, Mikurayama, Koizumi the lovely Iokibe to name a few, and the cast did an outstanding job no matter how much or how little we saw of them, but my most favourite by far Nakata Haku the disturbed aspiring manga artist. Nagayama Kento played him to perfection. The whole cast did an outstanding job, but I just love how that character was handled. I wish we had seen more of Narita, the character played by Kaname Jun.
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Do give the drama a try, and give it at least 3-4 episodes and you will understand the gem I'm talking about. If anything the eye-candy in here will sure keep you entertained ;)

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Johan shuttai! Is a Jdrama about how mangas are done and the process between the mangaka and editors, salesman, designers, distributors and basically the entire squad.
The drama is told mostly from our female lead point of view, korusawa kokoro who will hit you in the kokoro. She was a good athlete (judo) and her aim was to be part of the Olympic after suffering an injury she finds a new place in a manga editing company, odagiri joe plays her senior at work (sunbae, senpai, shesho, tensho) and followed by one of the best side characters that I've seen in my life.
The story follows the team mates and newbie mangaka wannabes into becoming mature and reaching mutual goals together, with hardly any lame moments this one was a beautiful ride.
Usually I watch a whole 11 episode jdrama in 2 days but I watched this slowly and rewatched many parts because I didn't want to finish it too soon.
The main goal of the team and kokoro is to get a Johan shuttai meaning a second printing on their mangas. Highly recommended for good drama lovers
9.2/10 from Johnson shampoo family.
Drama quotes:
“We all have wings that can't be seen, if you want to nurture splendid wings, read plenty of book"
"Read plenty of book, the shape of the book is the shape of a bird, just by reading it you'll have strong flexible wings, that's how you can fly anywhere"
"Writing a piece of work is like looking inside your own heart"
http://kissasian.com/Drama/Juhan-Shuttai

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What a lovely dorama! The plot was super interesting, I love all the characters, the setting was so mabushii, so bright and colorful and clean.

The story is a very engaging one: the world of mangas and mangaka. To be more precise, the world of editors. They also have to struggle, not only the mangaka do. They need to take care of the mangaka, give them advice, move here to there. There are also moments of tears and frustration. Editors need to walk along the mangakas, they need to be there for them all the time and built a trust, which is fundamental.

Since I am a big fan of BAKUMAN, it was impossible not to link them both. One is from the Mangaka's POV, the other one is from the Editorial's POV. I looked everywhere to read the manga Juhan Shuttai, but unfortunately is not translated :( It really is a heart-warming story, and the art is so cute, especially chibi Kokoro, who looks a lot like dear Sawako from "Kimi ni Todoke".

The cast was marvelous. I was familiar with most of the secondary characters only; more specifically, the mangakas (Mikurayama-sensei, Takahata-sensei...). And of course, Namase Katsuhisa-san. But this is the first time I see Kuroki Haru (Kokoro) and although I've seen some photos of him, this is my first time watching Odagiri Joe (Iokibe-san). I am not sure which one of these 2 were my favorites! Kokoro was the typical bright, positive girl, but she was far from annoying and stupid. Her motto was "Gambaremassu" and she motivated a couple of characters, like emo mangaka-to-be Nakata-kun, and poor, nice Koizumi-kun, whose professional life was a bit depressing at first, but once he was motivated, everything changes for him for better. It was really touching. Impossible not to like a girl with that kind of enthusiasm! Also my first time seeing Sakaguchi Kentaro, who is a real sweetheart! His smile is so adorable, and he acts really well! Can't believe his filmography is so short; he acts like a pro and ten million times than veterans!

**sighs** Odagiri Joe... I've read some lists before were he was mentioned, like "more kissable lips" or whatever, but have never paid him any attention. My, I was so impressed with this guy. Let's talk first about his role. Iokibe-san is one of the coolest guy I've seen in a dorama. Super nice, real intelligent, a perfect mentor, a humble editor, a nice guy, a kind co-worker, a capable editor. Only once he shouts in the whole dorama, otherwise, he speaks with a calm, soothing voice. No wonder Kokoro admired him so much! If I were her, I would have probably fallen in love with him. Because not only he was the nicest guy and mentor, he also looks real good! Glasses and man-bun, perfect combination! With some facial hair, the cherry on top. Sure, some of his shirts were, errr, colorful, but he looked like a model! I loved him and I am glad Episode 9 was more or less about him.

Clothes were colorful, specially in Kokoro's case. Some of her skirts were a bit old-fashioned, but overall her clothes matched her character: young, happy and bright. Editor Mibu was always wearing T-shirts with food drawings on them (I love this actor, he is so funny!), Yasui-san was always wearing stripped sweaters, Takahata-san always in Adidas outfits, Nakata-san always in dark sweatsuits and Koizumi was always in suit. I love that even the clothes were important to the story, every detail meant something!

The sountrack was lovely, and the ending song was ok. But my favorite thing is that it is an inspirational dorama. If you love something, you give it all, like Kokoro did, and for that, she was rewarded at the end. I laughed many times, but I also cried a couple of times. There wasn't a single episode that was boring or dragging, I loved it from Ep. 1 to 10, and I wish it was longer! Nevertheless, it has a perfect ending, because it wasn't really an ending.. more like a beginning :D

I recommend this dorama a hundred times Top quality, top cast, excellent story, I loved it!

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I'm really not used to jdrama formats, and faces, so it took me a while to invested in this. by eps4 or 5 I realized that this is more than just "Kokoro Kurosawa changing her life's path and going through a new foreign one"..

usually in kdramas they'd focus on the main lead and the romance, so this was a nice fresh outlook. it was about more than just Kokoro Kurosawa and the mains, it was about more than just one mangaka and yet it was not episodic.

Kokoro Kurosawa is the only bright bubbly character that's acceptable! she was a ray of sunshine, a force to be reckoned with, she set her goals and worked hard to achieve them, she was clueless but she was not afraid to ask for help and though her coworkers started off rough around the edges they soon became her colleagues she could depend on while they also admired and acknowledged her presence.
I honestly think a kdrama can never achieve this..
also, I adore her, but her outfits were so awful! they were like an old kindergarten teacher's outfits xD also the guys' hairs were a disaster xD

Iokibe Kei was cold but he was a great character and a great mentor and I shipped him with the restaurant owner xD. Koizumi Jun;s growth was so admirable and he matched so well with Kokoro Kurosawa, tbh the only acceptable partner for a cute sunshine should be a cute sunshine and not the cold jerk xD

I found the stories and their connections really heartwarming and well made, but the delivery kinda felt lacking. they had too many character and too little time, tbh I want a 2nd season ;(


p.s I never rewatch stuff, and I don't think jdrama OSTs are as extravagant as kdramas..

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This is such a perfect example of why I love Japanese dramas. The story is heartwarming and the cast is solid, delivering characters that you can't help but cheer on. It follows the everyday challenges that the characters face at work in publishing, and in life. Kurosawa, the main character who is full of passion, was fun to watch, and her cheerfulness never came off annoying or exaggerated. The side characters were also well explored, given the short length of the drama. This just goes to show that you can have a great story without stereotypical villain characters. Instead the characters are seen struggling against their own fears and weaknesses, each dealing with them in their own way.

If you're looking for a feel good drama, look no further. Every episode left me smiling in the end.

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Just like the words coming softly from Bob Dylan: "How many roads must a man walk down, Before you call him a man?... The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind"
Most realistic presentation of how manga's a re made.. plus an adorable leads that take you on a wonderful and heartwarming journey - one of the reasons why I first started watching Jdrama, and why I keep coming back for more.
And, yes: I am a HUGE fan of the art!
Seeing "How it's made" was an honor.

WHY I LIKED IT?
The premise is an easy one: our FL is no longer able to compete in judo and therefore was pushed into blue collar world, yet somehow (oh, and you'll see HOW exactly, that was delightfully done!) ended up in a world of manga editors. From there, we're embarking in a journey of episodic tales of "how manga is made", and for me - that was a great ride!
I loved how Show portrayed each and every character, not leaving anyone behind, giving all the backstory, and made everyone push toward an end goal (also the title of the Show): "additional printing". Both sides are covered elaborately: the mangakas and the editors, even the sales department.
Hey, and I absolutely LOVE that they actually WORK in this Show (unlike a lot of kdrama, where ML, thought he is a chaebol working in a million dollar company spend 90% of time chasing FL, where does he get the time?!). This is a Show about WORK and work it gives us - the struggles to get the "name" (something like a "blueprint" for the following issue), the personal issues, the reasoning behind decisions that are being made to push the sales up.
You learn from this Show: about some terms you never knew, and never bothered to know - not many of the fans of manga actually care to know HOW exactly they are made - this Show gives us that. Just that.. plus, the quirkiness of Bear Cub. :)
(ehmmm, yeah, *caugh, caugh* and there's Odagiri Joe, so... yeah)
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE
I'll leave this one empty.
I wouldn't give this a 10,0 unless I was purely amazed by it. And moved. And inspired to give myself another push toward doing my own job better.
THE MUSIC
The song is called "Echo", performed by Unicorn. (to me, the music in this one was Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the wind, for some reason - maybe because they do sound alike, so my mind was instantly pulled in that direction). To say that was fitting would be an understatement, since the music was a perfect portrayal of what this Show was all about.
OVERALL
A shining GEM!
You love manga - then this is a MUST SEE.
You need inspiration - then this is a MUST SEE.
...damn, I need to read some manga now. Bye.

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This is one of those dramas that end up making you feel good. Where there aren't any major problems and stupid villains trying to make everything bad.

Actually I started watching just by chance after seeing Sakaguchi Kentaro on the cast list but boy am I glad I started it. The story is pretty simple with it being based at a magazine company but even those simple things are given in a beautiful manner. It's not that Kurosawa does her work amazingly and takes these life changing decisions. It's her simple decisions that make the show more charming.

Actually through out the series I was honestly jealous of Kurosawa XD The fact that she found such a nice place to work at. After graduating recently I've been at job hunting for many weeks now (One can say weeks aren't a big thing XD others go for years job hunting) so to see how Kurosawa is doing was nice and at the same time sad. Sad cuz I don't know when I'll be able to enjoy my job like that. I'm stuck in a profession I do not like and Wishing I can do something more. AT the same time I also noticed how I can;t change the situation but to enjoy what I'm doing to the best of my ability as that is the best thing I can do so far. Ha ha so I shall finish on that note of self realization.

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I didn't expect this ... it's one of the best

At first, I just go for this drama because of high rating but didn't expect much.
But after first episode, I got completely fed up with this drama and couldn't stop.

Best story about Mangaka and Manga industry I've ever watched. Really love this one.
I've been searching story about Mangaka since I encountered "Bakuman". I love Mangaka and really want to know how they do things and why Manga is a huge success all over the world. Now I'm completely satisfied after watching this drama.

Really glad I've encounter this one.... really.

Main protagonist, sweet and really optimistic, type I love the most.
It also has many problem that Mangaka and editor has and Japan publishing industry.
And also a success story, inspirational one, that I loved too.

Hope everyone who read my review go for this drama and got many many sparkling moment in their life.

Thanks for making this drama too.
Hontoni Arigatogozaimasu.

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"Times change, so do we"

Juhan Shuttai turned Vibes’ publishing world on its head with the addition of a force of nature to a manga editing department in the form of Kurasawa Kokoro, a former judo star. Surrounded by men day and night, Kokoro used her training to learn the ropes and forge professional relationships with the oddball crew of writers and editors.

After an injury causes Kurosawa Kokoro’s judo career to end she decides to work in manga editing. Twenty interviews later she lands a job at the manga magazine Vibes, the #2 magazine. Before long she is training with the rational Iokibe and butting heads with the cynical Yasui. She meets a successful senior manga creator who is struggling with his artwork and an eccentric hat wearing writer whose volatile love life threatens deadlines. Kokoro cheerfully helps to come up with solutions to the deadline and creative problems. Her mantra is always “Do your best!” Now she needs to develop her own writers and fulfill her desire to publish a sleeper hit.

This was a strange world where most women, aside from Kokoro and a couple of others, lived on the periphery. Most of the work was about the men. Kokoro seemed to be hired because she was an unorthodox woman. In real life she would be exhausting to be around. She stayed aerobically fit by running, always taking the stairs and talking so loudly, so enthusiastically, and so fast she often gasped for air. She lived in a world inhabited by mostly men. I come from a place where the majority of publishing editors are women so seeing the editing and sales departments with zero women except for Kokoro was staggering. Management was entirely male. Only one of the ten manga writers was a woman which was interesting given that 66-70% of mangaka are female. And the sole female artist was repeatedly said to have “hangups” and was only there to be taken advantage of. None of the eight manga assistants were women. The invisibility of women made it all the more visible they weren’t there when they should have been, at least as artists.

Juhan Shuttai discussed the changing environment for mangas, how e-books and closing bookstores affected the business. Lower sales caused the bottom line to be critical for the triumvirate of manga artists, publishers, and booksellers to all stay in the black. The editors and booksellers fought to keep manga relevant and selling in an ever changing market.

The problems that arose weren’t earth shattering and usually had simple solutions that fixed everything. This was a joyful, carefree watch where good actions and positive thinking were stressed. Luck could be accrued by acts of kindness and most characters learned lessons about life and happiness. If you are down and need something encouraging this would be a good choice. Despite me wanting to find the volume button to turn down Kokoro’s unrelenting enthusiasm at times, it was a nice “pick me up” drama to watch.

12 May 2024
(7.75)

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Daily dose of sunshine....

I think that the Japanese are the only ones who actually know how to make a gripping, bingeable drama without evil characters and murder subplots. I don't know how they manage to do it? Maybe solid writing?

Sleeper Hit is a drama I just finished watching and it has left me with a huge, happy and silly grin on my face.

It is a story about a weekly manga magazine, the editors working there and the mangakas providing the content. The whole set up is shown from the point of view of Kokoro, nicknamed Bear Cub by her coworkers, a former judoka who turned editor, as she learns the ropes of the trade and as she wins the tough editors over with her sincerity and inspires others to be proactive.

What puts this drama above the rest are the characters not plot. And they are a quirky lot. There is Kokoro with her eternal smile and optimism, open-mindedness and ingenuity. She is fearless and kind. Her mentor is Iokibe, always ready for a constructive advice while being mysteriously aloof, the chief editor Wada who is a baseball fan but has an incredible eye and instict for manga, striped T-shirt wearing cynical but with a heart of gold editor Yasui, there are also a group of mangakas of all ages and attitudes....The whole drama is character driven and it is so much fun to watch. The editor's work is explained to the minute details through production of weekly manga episodes: how the mangakas work and the input the editors give.
We do not know much about the characters' private lives or their background stories: only the details important to the drama plot are given and they are scarce. The important is the present!

It is also a story of books and how they are losing their place faced with internet onslaught: bookshops closures, book shredding, magazines not published anymore. "Books made me human!" How true!

The writing is perfect, the acting also, the music was nice but... Actually that is the only problem I had with this drama: the music. The soaring orchestral music at crucial moments made me think of those western movies when the leads reach the top of the mountain and the music just soars to heavens. It was a bit too much here! And the songs sounded very much like rearranged well known western songs (could not think of the name but they sounded extremely familiar! NB I do not listen to japanese music so it is not that I might have already heard them before!).

Each episode except for the last one, was told in a voiceover by one of the characters and that character is featured in the opening credits' animations (too cute)!

Just go watch this and have some fun! If you need a pick-me-up, this is a perfect solution!

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