Top 25 Japanese Actresses on MDL
Hello everyone!
Missed us? Hope you did, because we are back with another article. As everyone knows on 14th February it was Valentine's Day, but did you know there's also White's Day on 14th March as a response to it? And it all started in Japan in 1977 as Marshmallow Day. If you are curious, you can find more about this here and here. As a result, we decided to have Romance as the main topic of the article and have it published between the two holidays. ^~^
We've also added new staff this year to help keep us on track and add more variety, so here's a little about them:
Hey, I'm noona (sorry about the weird username, I honestly couldn't think of anything interesting sooo...)! I've already written a couple of articles, so my name may be familiar, but I only recently become part of ASK MDL and this is my first one with them. I started watching dramas seriously 3 years ago, and before then I had only seen a couple. I really enjoy the deep meanings and also the innocence that you can really only see in Asian series and movies, I also love to watch how differently each country takes the same subject and creates their own tone with them. I'll be helping with Hong Kong and Taiwan, I hope you'll enjoy all the romantic recommendations and try them all.
Hajimemashite! (はじめまして！) Hi, I'm ReikaBleu. I first saw Golden Bowl, a Japanese drama, around 2006 or 2007, but I only started watching doramas religiously since mid-2016. I am currently watching dramas and movies from Japan ONLY. I am helping out with Japan since I only watch stuff from Japan and the Philippines since I am a Filipina. Dozou Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu! (どぞう よろしく おねがいします!)
Hi, I'm Abzzski. I would watch Japanese Dramas at school because I learn Japanese as a language subject. My friend was obsessed with Descendants of the Sun. So I watched it, and that's how my drama journey began. I've been watching dramas since 2016. I watch Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai and Taiwanese dramas. Since 2018, I mostly watch Chinese dramas. I love historical, wuxia, fantasy and romance dramas.
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| Ossan's Love A typical office romance with an atypical couple. More than a love triangle, there is a love square! | Q10 Sometimes it takes something non-human to make us human again, after tragedy strikes. | Long Vacation His ex-roommates jilted fiance winds up moving in with him and the rom-com takes off. Reika's pick | Honey (Idol Pick: Hirano Sho) Sickenly Sticky Sweet this movie has become a guilty pleasure and a fave. |
Bonus:
Romance on my watched list: OAL's Custom Romance picks
Reika's Picks: Pride, Bow Then Kiss, Clover, Good luck!!, My Little Monster, Sumika Sumire, Tonight At the Romance Theater, Zettai Kareshi
Suggested on the feeds:
Drama: Last Cinderella, Suki na Hito ga Iru Koto, Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu, Stepmother and Daughter's Blues, Kono Koi wa Tsumi na no ka!?, Date - Koi to wa Donna Mono Kashira , Dokushin Kizoku, Piece, Beautiful Life, Gomen, Aishiteru, Kekkon Dekinai Otoko, Kimi Wa Petto, Yamato Nadeshiko, Soratobu Kouhoushitsu, Kahogo no Kahoko
Movie: One Week Friends, Strobe Edge, Senior and Her, Today's Kira-kun, Yell for the Blue Sky, Love Exposure, The 100th Love With You, My Love Story!!
For more here is a link to the post.
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A different take on a cliche storyline of Rich Woman meets Poor Man. | A wedding photographer and a wedding coordinator find love on a bet. |
A simple girl works as a nanny for a wealthy widower's family in the hopes of becoming a flight stewardess. | (Idol Pick: A funny, different take at romance with unconventional leads, this movie was shot in Sapporo, Japan |
Bonus:
Dramas: Pangako Sa'yo (original and remake), Got To Believe, On the Wings of Love, Mula sa Puso (original and remake), Someone to Watch Over Me, My Destiny,
Movies: That Thing Called Tadhana, Starting Over Again, May Minamahal, Vince and Kath and James, Imagine You and Me, English Only, Please, Labs Kita... Okey Ka Lang? , Sana Maulit Muli, Kung Ako na Lang Sana
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This is the Taiwanese version of Itazura Na kiss, spanning two seasons. Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu are polar opposites - one is an airhead and the other, a boy genius. After an embarrassing failed confession and an earthquake, Xiang Qin finds herself moving into the house of the boy who rejected her. She then starts her pursuit of being acknowledged by Zhi Shu. This version has one of the best chemistry between the leads - Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng. | This is a love story between a single father and a university student. Shi Yi Jie is a workaholic college professor who is divorced and a father of an 8-year-old. He meets Fei Sheng Zhe, a student of his, who helps him take care of his daughter. And thus begins a love story between the two. Also, the kid is adorable. | This is the movie adaption of a children's novel by the same name. The book was about a girl with a strong imagination, and that follows through in the movie. 12-year-old Mei meets her new neighbour in the class named Jay. She quickly has a fascination full of curiosity for the young boy. After an incident of bullying, together they form a relationship that's more than a simple friendship. They become each other's safe haven from their bad home lives and go through the days with sweet innocence and imagination amidst their dark lives. |
Bonus:
Dramas: MARS, History- Obsessed, In Time with You, Autumn's Concerto, Bromance, Meet me @1006, Attention Love, Miss in Kiss
Movies: Secret, Hear Me, 100 Days
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Sina, a professional stunt woman pretends to be her twin sister and marries the younger brother of her sister's lover to solve the mystery surrounding her sister's accident. Will she be able to find out who tried to kill her sister, or become a pawn in the game? The show is a must watch because it has a very strong headed female lead with amazing chemistry with the male lead. | The third of the Khun Chai series, the story revolves around a young doctor who has led a disciplined life, and a poor girl who is forced to enter a beauty pageant to support her ailing father. Circumstances lead to a fake marriage and slowly the young doctor is moved by the girl's kindness, and their story begins. | Kadesurang is a chubby archaeologist. She suffers an accident, meeting Karakade's ghost and goes back in time to the Ayutthaya era 300 years ago. She wakes up in Karakade's dead body right after she died. Karakade is a mean and selfish person. She is betrothed to Date but Date loves someone else. Everyone is confused over the different Karakade and Date eventually falls for her. | Aom is a writer who got swindled out of her house during her trip to Korea. She finds out that her house was sold to Mike and in an attempt to get her possessions back she enters a marriage contract with Mike for one year. Though she lost everything, Aom remains optimistic and takes things a stride. What started out as a business relationship becomes a real romance. |
Bonus:
Dramas: Our Skyy, Sotus, Love By Chance, Ugly Ducking - Boy's Paradise, Bunlang Dok Mai, 2 Moons - The series, Game Sanaeha, Gasohug
Movies: Love you you, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, May Who
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While working as a server at a banquet, Kam witnesses ballroom instructor Namson Lau pull Tina into a dance. Enchanted by their moves, Kam falls in love with the art of dance and scrapes up enough money to learn at Namson's studio. She works hard in hopes of one day being able to dance with Namson. I started this randomly but I absolutely loved it! It was fun, cute and had the handsome Andy Lau. I think I'll probably end up watching all of his movies. ^~^ | Wah and Kinki both working at the same department of a computer company. Both of them are not getting on very well initially, but a friendship develops when they get to know each other after a while. When Wah starts to realize his emergent fondness for Kinki, his ex-girlfriend reappears and plans to gain back his affection. The female lead was a bit crazy but funny. | Athena works with aromatherapy and helps her students to create their own scents. She lives all alone after her husband passed, but she still misses him every day. Her life is changed when an angel falls through her roof with a broken wing. He ends up staying with her and as they live together, they begin to fall in love. | Kei (Idol Pick: Louis Koo) decides to help his older sister to find someone to date so that he can marry. He's not allowed to be married until the oldest sibling marries first. Yu Chu, the sister, falls for the new man quickly, but he's already in love with another girl. The simple scheme ends up a mess as everyone's feelings are different. |
Bonus:
Movies: All About Love, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, And I Hate You So, Give Love, Happily Ever After, He's the Woman, She's the Man, Romancing in Thin Air, Chungking Express
Dramas: The Seventh Day, Love in Time, Wish And Switch
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Amidst the Sino-Japanese war, the Hu family strives to survive the best they can. Gu Qing Min tries to prove his worth, doing what is right and always placing the good of the many before his own, but soon his own ways change a little when Xue Jun Shan introduces Qin Min, his trouble-maker sister-in-law, Hu Xiang Xiang. | Bo Jin Yan is a brilliant criminal psychologist, but a very cold-hearted man. Jian Yao works as his assistant diligently, giving him the support he needs at his work, but also trying to get through to him and maybe see him open-up even if it's just a little bit. | Wang Xiao Xia is a chef working hard to raise her nephew, but gets tricked and ends up homeless. Chen takes her in, but his family confuses Xiao Xia as his girlfriend. They decide to keep the facade going, but Chen's brother doesn't seem to buy the story. | (Idol Pick: Shu Qi) Chin's a not-so-good-looking middle-age bachelor going out in a series of blind-dates in hopes he could meet the right someone. When Xiao Xiao comes along and she's everything he could possibly dream of, but wouldn't she be too much out of his league? |
Bonus:
Movies: A Beautiful Life; Lust, Caution; The Wild Strawberries; You Deserve To Be Single
Dramas: Say That You Love Me; Beijing Love Story, Bloody Romance
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Eun Ho devoted his life to find the one woman he loved, Eun Dong. When they first met they were still very young, but Eun Dong touched his heart. They get separated, but Eun Ho promises to find her. The day he meets this girl again, he will immediately recognize her, and he will never let her go, but what happens if Eun Dong just lived on and lead a different life now? Why did she disappear? Why did she never search for him? | One morning Min Joon is late, she gets into an unlucky situation with a guy. Unfortunately, this guy turned out to be her new boss, Robin. She is assigned as his assistant. Min Joon hates how arrogant this man treats her and decides to seduce him. When Robin sees her clumsy efforts he starts to teach her how to seduce a man she really wants. But while working on her love life Robin realize maybe he does not want Min Joon to be with someone else. | This is a love story between two men, a hitman ‘Flying Dagger’, and a young boy, ‘Wild Dog’ who carries a secret he cannot let his lover know. What will happen when they fall in love amongst taboos and gangsters, and secrets that might separate them. A rare gem in Korean BLs, this short drama is about fighting for true love, and when I say fighting, I mean it literally. | This romantic comedy with a pinch of thriller revolves around Do Bong Soon, a woman with superhuman strength. She is employed as a bodyguard by Ahn Min Hyuk, a CEO of a gaming company who discovers her powers, and needs her to find the person who threatens him. Meanwhile, a serial kidnapper haunts the town, and Do Bong Soon, Min Hyuk and her friend and policeman, Guk Doo try to catch the culprit. |
Bonus:
Dramas: Reply 1997, Descendants of the Sun, Full House, Oh My Venus, 20th Century Boy and Girl, Flower Ever After, I am not a Robot
Movies: Always, Like for Likes, Penny Pinchers, My Love, My Bride, Love 911, Mood of the Day
Did you enjoy the article?
- Have you seen any of our recommendations?
- Which recommendations are you eager to watch?
- What are your own recommendations for the team and fellow watchers?
- What topics would you like us to cover in the next articles and how often? Or is it enough once per month?
- Do you have any suggestions or constructive criticism regarding the content of the article (how to improve, what you would like to see etc.)?
