Japanese+TV+Drama

Japanese TV dramas, also known as "jdrama, jdorama, or j-drama" (JDorama.com) are broadcast once a week over a two to three months season. Most jdramas have around eleven episodes and each episode last from 40 to 50 minutes. There are six nationwide Japanese television networks which produce Japanese dramas: Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), Fuji Television (Fuji TV), Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), Nippon Television (NTV), Television Asahi (TV Asahi), and Television Tokyo (TV Tokyo). Jdramas are produced with high budget for better quality and they have become influential over Asia since the two famous jdramas //[|Tokyo Love Story]// (//東京ラブストーリー//) in 1991 and //[|Under One Roof 1]// (//ひとつ屋根の下 1//) in 1993 (DramaWiki). Many fans have become so fascinated with jdramas that they have become fascinated with Japan too. TV networks in places such as Taiwan and Hong Kong have long broadcasted jdramas. However, since 2000, jdramas have faced challenge from Korean tv drama as Korean TV dramas have become popular over Asia as well. Below are some odd and interesting sub-genres and characteristics about Jdramas but for more general information on jdrama, please refer to [|Japanese television drama].

When speaking of Jdrama, people usually refer to the nighttime drama aired weekly between 9pm to 11pm. But besides the nighttime drama there are also "the morning serialized television series," (Asadora drama) known as the Asadora drama and the "annual, year-long historical fiction television series," (Taiga drama) known as the Taiga drama. Both Asadora drama and Taiga drama are started by Japan's public broadcaster, NHK or the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. The Asadora drama is aired fifteen minutes around 8am everyday from Monday to Saturday over a six months season. It was launched in 1961 and features mostly topics about how some hardworking females worked their way out of their difficult situations with a typical example in 1983 called //Oshin// (Asadora drama). On the other hand, Taiga drama began in 1963 is usually aired for 45 minutes during prime time on Saturday evenings. Taiga drama often features topics on historical event or a particular period of time in history with serious and verifiable contents. However, since the rating of Taiga drama has dropped considerably in the past few years Taiga drama now often adds plots that vary with history and starred with young idols. This has lead much dispute that some people even think NHK should stop producing Taiga drama (Taiga drama).
 * Asadora Drama and Taiga Drama**

Specials or SPs are jdramas but usually only with one, two, or three episodes. Each episode usually last around an hour and half. And they are often broadcast once in a while between seasons. There are three kinds of SPs: single, continuation of a previous jdrama or movie. Single SPs are like movies. Continuation of a previous jdrama is just another episode, or two, or even three, broadcasted a while after the series ended. They are usually continuation of previously ended popular jdramas that audiences have been dieing to see again. SP as a continuation of a movie is perhaps the most recent change to jdramas as the SP, //[|Angel's Ladder]// (//天使の梯子//), was broadcasted recently on October 22nd by TV Asahi, as a continuation of the movie //[|Angel's Egg]// (//天使の卵//) which was in theaters on October 21st.
 * Specials**

Jdramas have previously incorporated various styles such as "romance, comedies, detective stories, horror and many others" (Japanese television drama). But personally, I think besides the recent change of SP as a continuation of a movie, another change to jdramas would be more and more comedies are being produced as jdrama faces competition from Korean TV drama which is perhaps one of the reason why jdramas are beginning to adpat from japanese comics as well. Many jdramas over the past few years are adapt from Japanese comics or manga including //Police Station Rashoumon, Doctor in Lover, Nurse Aoi, Dr. Koto, Damens Walker, Conan Special, Chibimaruko Special// and many others. It has been quite common for jdrams to be adapted from novels and movies but I believe it was not until the past few years that jdrams started to adapt from manga.
 * Japanese Dramas and Comics**


 * Reference**
 * 1) //Asadora drama//. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 30 Nov. 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asadora_drama >.
 * 2) //DramaWiki//. 20 Jul. 2006. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Nov. 2006 < http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Main_Page >.
 * 3) //JDorama.com.// JDorama.com. 4 Nov. 2006 < http://jdorama.com/index.htm >.
 * 4) //Japanese television drama//. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 Nov. 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_television_drama >.
 * 5) //Taiga drama//. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 30 Nov. 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiga_drama >.