Where has all the romance in Japan gone????

[koi.no.michi]

meh Korean romances are overrated. because seriously, there are like three or four standard plots and after that, everything just seems repetitive.
and in Japan there are romances, mainly romantic comedies, and they keep them innocent and interesting.
i mean, if we want to talk about a drama about romance, i highly recommend Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu.

but i think the biggest factor is that Japanese dramas have romance, but they prefer not to just have that straightforward, lacking all other form of plot type of romance. they tend to weave romance into plots, so that it isn't the only component but it is there. just like IS ~Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei~. i think that it is clever because it keeps the plot from getting boring or singular.

[JanieP]

I like JDramas about their deep lessons that i can learn just by watching them. I'm also pleased with the way the romance is, it's not much like KDramas that make me feel sick, it's soft and innocent but still, it make viewers feel content.

[boutux]

i like the fact that j-dramas are not dominated by romance. there is more variety from what i see when compared to k-dramas. in a season there would smtng for everyone. part of the reason i stay away from k-dramas is that most seem to be romance dramas.

[amrita828]

While I agree with everyone who said romance isn't and shouldn't be the only topic of a drama, the poster's question is why j-romance has decreased, not what we feel about it.

Since romance has been portrayed in many j-dramas in the past, and the best selling novels in Japan are love stories (see Kyoichi Katayama, Takuji Ichikawa and others), I think we can safely say it's not a cultural thing. Like someone else said, love is a universal language, and the fact that Japanese and in general Asian are showing it less in the open than Europeans or Americans, doesn't make them less romantic.

I'm inclined to think the Korean wave is mainly responsible for J-drama concentrating on other issues. The usual target of romantic dramas, young females, are raving about K-dramas and mostly K-actors, so the Japanese entertainment business targets a different, more varied public: families, more mature viewers, males.
Furthermore, the entertainment business in general is very much influenced by trends. There's the medical trend, the cynical main lead one, the time-jump, the incurable desease trend and so on.
If so, I suppose we will have a re-blossoming of romantic dramas as soon as the times are ripe... again.

[Rubyy]

I pretty much agree with what everyone is saying.

Although my favourite genre for Jdramas is police/Mystery/Detective, i do like the odd rom com here and there. But it seems that there aren't as many in the last few years.

I dont know if its because of Korean dramas or whatever, but i certainly hope they come back.

I was actually expecting a lot more Romance dramas this season. Last summer we did have a few. And also, are there and gender bender dramas this season?? Last summer there was like....3?

[HAVA-RAVA]

Originally Posted by Rubyy

I pretty much agree with what everyone is saying.

Although my favourite genre for Jdramas is police/Mystery/Detective, i do like the odd rom com here and there. But it seems that there aren't as many in the last few years.

I dont know if its because of Korean dramas or whatever, but i certainly hope they come back.

I was actually expecting a lot more Romance dramas this season. Last summer we did have a few. And also, are there and gender bender dramas this season?? Last summer there was like....3?

I don't know if there are gender bender dramas for this summer :O

[Rubyy]

Originally Posted by HAVA-RAVA

I don't know if there are gender bender dramas for this summer :O

I have yet to start the summer dramas but i hadn't heard of a gender bender one so i was a bit confuzzled :S
How could there not be one????

[amrita828]

Originally Posted by Rubyy

I have yet to start the summer dramas but i hadn't heard of a gender bender one so i was a bit confuzzled :S
How could there not be one????

They are out of actresses who only look like males in the eyes of the characters, while the rest of the world sees they are females from 30 km distance?
Just a thought...

[HAVA-RAVA]

Originally Posted by Rubyy

I have yet to start the summer dramas but i hadn't heard of a gender bender one so i was a bit confuzzled :S
How could there not be one????

Korean side has Hana Kimi Korea starting in August ~~

[Rubyy]

Originally Posted by HAVA-RAVA

Korean side has Hana Kimi Korea starting in August ~~

Meh... I dont know if i'm going to watch that though. Think it'll be good..? It took me ages to get myself to watch the 2011 version (I ended up loving it as well :P)
And i've still got to watch the Taiwanese version. Dont know why i've been putting that off :/