I haven’t been much of a jdrama fan, until last year, though I was mostly into manga-based jdramas, especially those I’m already familiar with. There’s Hana Yori Dango (it’s 2005, but I just watched it last year), and Nodame Cantabile, for example. If we’re going to include movies then add Lovely Complex and Honey and Clover to my “watched jdramas list”.

There’s nothing special with mangas being turned into jdramas, as it’s been done so in the past, though the number of these adaptations are considerably less compared to manga turned animes.

Other notable adaptations in 2006 include Kurosagi, Iryu, Teppan Shoujo Akane, and Sapuri. Upon further checking, I discovered that there are a total of 13 manga-based jdramas in that same year, though most of the titles it was based on is something I have yet to come across with.

Things changed in 2007, particularly during Spring and onwards, where the influx of manga-based jdramas became evident. There’s a total of 30 of these adaptations in this year alone, more than twice as much as last year’s. The year started off with only two(2) manga to jdrama adaptations for the Winter 2007, before the influx kicked in: Spring (9), Summer(11), and Fall(8).

I noticed this sudden rise in the number of manga-based dramas this year during Summer, as it was the season where Hanakimi aired. My brief stay in Japan also allowed me the convenience of seeing a glimpse of the dramas airing during this time, such as Yamada Tarou Monogatari, LIFE, Hotaru no Hikari, Boys Este, and Tantei Gakuen Q in its jdrama forms, whose mangas I’m fairly acquainted with. I was surprised to see Hotaru no Hikari and Boys Este among the jdramas, as they are not one of the mainstream ones, yet whose mangas are something I was able to read a few months back.

Another thing I noticed is that, shoujo mangas have more chances of being turned into jdramas (most of the adaptations are actually shoujo mangas, if you haven’t noticed), particularly those involving the lives of OL people, or normal slice-of-life ones, most likely because it’s easier and cheaper as compared to adapting action-packed shounen mangas.

Here’s a detailed list of these adaptations I’m talking about, a comparison of some sorts for the year 2006 and 2007:

In all this, I think this post will all boil down to the message…

See how well the little microbes blend with the 3D world? It just has to be made into a jdrama!

I want to see Moyashimon jdrama-fied! \o/

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