The Best J-Dramas Available on Viki.... whether you'll love them for the good actors/actresses, cute stories, slice of life genres, or more (or hopefully all of it combined), here are the best J-dramas on viki.

Although there are a couple that aren't perfect, they are still enjoyable despite the minus points.

The Best J-Dramas on Viki

Five years ago, Sakura Nanase (Mone Kamishiraishi) was one of a number of witnesses who watched as a handsome young doctor stepped in at the last minute to save the life of a stranger. Enamored as much by his charm as she was by his professional skill, Sakura could stop herself from immediately falling in love. Determined to find a way to meet this heroic doctor again, Sakura decided rather quickly that the only way to do so would be to go into the medical profession herself. Now, at twenty-two, Sakura is a rookie nurse who has just taken her first position at a local hospital.

Working hard at her new job, Sakura is surprised when she learns that the doctor she fell in love with all those years ago is working in the same hospital. But what’s even more surprising is the fact that Doctor Kiari Tendo (Takeru Satoh) is nothing like she imagined him to be. Often referred to as the “Devil” at work, Doctor Tendo is a cold perfectionist who has no qualms about making snide comments and biting remarks to his co-workers. Despite this fact, Sakura works hard to gain Doctor Tendo’s recognition at work and has no problem expressing her feelings about him openly and honestly. Her persistent nature earns her the nickname, “Warrior Chick” at work and, as she refuses to back down, Doctor Tendo can’t help but take notice.

Despite his numerous efforts to resist, Doctor Tendo finds his heart softening towards the tenacious nurse, Sakura. Will her dedication to her work and her persistent declarations of love be enough to finally win him over?

Adapted from the manga of the same name by Maki Enjoji, “An Incurable Case of Love” is a 2020 romantic comedy drama directed by Fuminori Kaneko, Ryosuke Fukuda, and Kenta Tanaka.

An Incurable Case of Love

Fuji TV

Misaki Sakurai (Mirei Kiritani) is down on her luck. Her dreams of becoming a top-level pastry chef with her own business seem as distant now as they have ever been and her love life appears to have stalled. To top it all off, she has just been fired from her job, and could find herself out of money and out of a home. But just when things are looking like they couldn’t get any worse, she finally gets a lucky break when her old high school flame Chiaki Shibasaki (Shohei Miura) appears on the scene and not only offers her a part-time job at his restaurant over the summer, but also a place to stay – in the house where her and his two younger brothers the cooking school dropout and womanizer Toma (Nomura Shuhei) and the unflappably patient Kanata (Yamazaki Kento) also live there.

The brothers, also talented cooks in their own right, and are as full of charm as Chiaki Shibasaki. And as Misaki Sakurai starts to live with them, she starts to realize that she might have romantic feelings not only for her former flame, but also his siblings. Will true love end up on the menu for Misaki Sakurai – and can she get her culinary dreams back on track?

“A Girl and Three Sweethearts” is a 2016 Japanese drama series that was directed by Hiro Kanai, Ryo Tanaka, and Tomonobu Moriwaki.

A Girl & Three Sweethearts

🍰Sweet Treat🍰-Team

Totono Kuno (Masaki Suda) is a quiet, intelligent, highly observant, and introverted student with no friends or girlfriend. He enjoys peace and quiet and spends his time at home quietly observing the passage of the seasons and cooking curry. But the tranquillity of his daily existence is shattered one day when – while he is cooking curry – a police detective comes knocking at his door.

Totono Kuno is told that one of his classmates has been killed in a nearby park and that he is the only suspect. All of a sudden, he is forced to use all of his natural gifts to discover what really happened in order to prove his innocence. As he listens to the police’s case against him, he begins to mentally gather data that may help him clear his name. Things get more worrying still when a weapon apparently bearing his fingerprints shows up. And as well as the case he is involved in, other crimes are also taking place – with many of them requiring his attention. It looks like Totono Kuno’s formerly peaceful life will have to give way to a much more eventful way of living!

“Don’t Call it Mystery” is a 2022 Japanese drama that was directed by Hiroaki Matsuyama, Shunsuke Shinada, Hideyuki Aizawa, and Hiroyuki Abe.

Don't Call it Mystery

🧣221B Baker Street Team🕵🏻

With the motto, “Quick, cheap, and delicious” Tokyo Seimenjo has been serving affordable, delectable udon to customers since the day their doors first opened. With a steady flow of customers and more than their fair share of regulars, the restaurant is clearly a local favorite. But with the manager two months into her maternity leave, and the most reliable of the staff having just quit, the stability of the remaining restaurant staff is deeply shaken.

Completely uneasy about their two most reliable members now gone, the remaining staff, Haruto Aoi (Shuntaro Yanagi), Yoshio Midorikawa (So Okuno), Rin Momota (Shiori Akita), and Setsuko Kimoto (Keiko Enoue), aren’t entirely sure what to do next. To make matters worse, the restaurant’s parent company has just sent them a new manager, Kotaro Akamatsu (Hokuto Yoshino). At twenty-seven, Kotaro has all of the confidence of a successful manager, the only problem is, his area of expertise is hotel management, not food service.&nbsp;

Painfully aware that Kotaro has no experience in the restaurant business, the staff of Tokyo Seimenjo are left feeling uneasy, to say the least. Will their new manager find a way to return their beloved restaurant to its former glory or will his awkward mannerism and lack of experience drive them into ruin?

A story of noodles and new beginnings, “Tokyo Noodle Factory” is a 2021 comedy drama directed by Keisuke Kondo.

Tokyo Noodle Factory

The 🍜Noodles 4 All 🍜 Team

Once a model student with a bright future ahead of her, Harumi Junko (Kyoko Fukada) should be living the dream. But after she was denied admission to Tokyo University, her life started to take a very definite downhill turn. Struggling to find a job and failing at every relationship she’s ever had, thirty-one year old Harumi is now living a very different life than the one she once imagined for herself. Taking work as a teacher at a private cram school, Harumi wonders if her life could possibly get any worse.

As if the universe was determined to answer that question for her, one-by-one Harumi’s cram school students begin dropping her class, leaving her superiors to wonder if it isn’t time to let her go. To make matters worse, her mother won’t stop hounding her about her non-existent love life. Ready to give up on everything, Harumi confides in her long-time friend, Masashi Yakumo (Kento Nagayama) who unbeknownst to her, has secretly harbored a crush on her for the past twenty-years. While Masashi tries to work up the courage to confess his feelings, an unruly high school student by the name of Yuri Kyohei (Ryusei Yokohama) steps in and does just that. Enamored by the only teacher who has ever stood up for him, Yuri can’t hide his feelings for Harumi, but he isn’t the only one vying for her affection. Smitten by the woman who helped him graduate, all those years ago, Yuri’s high school teacher, Kazuma Yamashita (Tomoya Nakamura) has decided the time is finally right to confess his love.&nbsp;

With three men now trying to win her heart, Harumi has no idea what to do. How can she know which man is her one true love when her heart is pulling her in three different directions?

Based on the manga of the same name, by Aki Mochida, “A Story to Read When You First Fall in Love” is a 2019 romantic comedy drama directed by Ryosuke Fukuda and Ken Yoshida.

A Story to Read When You First Fall in Love

 💖True Love Team 💖

Abema TV

When Kamiya Manaha (Riko) was very young, she attended a beauty contest with her family, and got separated from her mother. The stunning beauty queen winner of the contest took pity on the young child, and brought her on stage to help her find her family. This incident bewitched her, and ever since she has harbored secret dreams of becoming a beauty queen herself, much to her family’s displeasure. Now aged 17 and in high school, she has grown up shy and lacking in self-confidence, convinced that she is a plain Jane who wouldn’t stand a chance in a beauty competition. When a local cultural fair organizer announces that it will hold a beauty pageant for high schoolers, she dreams of entering, but dare not – convinced that the school’s most stunning students will be crowned king and queen.

But when a chance occurrence takes place at a bus stop, she gets to talking to Tachibana Keigo (Kamio Fuju), an incredibly handsome, but preening and vain classmate. Over time, she starts to form an unlikely friendship with him. She also meets a newcomer to the scene, Shimamura Sora (Mizuki Itagaki), an equally dashing recent transfer student that few in the class know very much about. Against all odds, the two boys start to develop feelings for her, and she starts to consider entering the pageant – but will her beauty dreams ever come true?

“Black Cinderella” is a 2021 Japanese drama series that was directed by Kawamura Taisuke.

Black Cinderella

What would other people do in the situation? Sumire Iwaya (Noriko Iriyama) is a well educated, successful journalist who has a string of misfortunes.

Sumire graduated from Tokyo University and Harvard and works as an editor for a renowned newspaper. But her fiancé dumps her because he becomes tired of living under the shadow of her greater achievements. Then, Sumire fights off the advances of her drunk boss and gets demoted at work.

After the series of bad events, Sumire comes home one day to find a homeless young man, Takeshi Goda (Jun Shison), in a cardboard box outside her apartment. Takeshi resembles Sumire’s beloved former dog, Momo, and she has a strong desire to take Takeshi in as a pet.

What will become of this strange new relationship between a woman and her human pet?

“Kimi Wa Petto” is a 2017 Japanese drama series directed by Izuru Kumasaka. It is based on the manga “Kimi Wa Petto” written by Yayoi Ogawa. Two previous adaptations of the manga originally aired in 2003 and 2011.

You’re My Pet - Kimi Wa Petto

Fuji TV, FOD

At sixteen years old, Hana Nonomura (Aisa Takeuchi) was the last person you’d ever expect to be going on a blind date, especially one meant for finding a suitable marriage partner. But when her older sister, Yukari (Arisa Deguchi), refuses to go, Hana finds herself forced to be her stand-in, or risk bringing shame to the entire family. With no other options, Hana agrees to go, hoping to get the entire thing over with as quickly and peacefully as possible; but when she meets Takane (Mahiro Takasugi), everything changes.

The heir of the Takaba Group, 26-year-old Saibara Takane is the epitome of perfection. With killer looks and a fabulous career, he’s the man every woman dreams of having. There’s just one problem, he’s a haughty, arrogant snob who thinks of no one but himself. With such a nasty attitude, his plans to ruin his impending blind date would be easy enough, he just had to be the right amount of awful to chase her away. His plan should have been perfect, but he never expected to meet someone as fiery as Hana Nonomura.

Intrigued by Hana’s complete lack of concern over his looks, position, and money, Takane finds himself drawn to this most unusual girl. When fate brings this spunky girl back into his life, Takane finds himself falling for her but can such polar opposites really attract?

Based on the manga series, “Takane to Hana” by Yuki Shiwasu, “Takane and Hana” is a 2019 romantic comedy drama directed by Yusuke Ishii.&nbsp;

Takane and Hana

💕 Trapped by the Love 💕

Makino (Inoue Mao) is a student at the super-prestigious Eitoku Academy, a seat of learning for some of the children of Japan’s wealthiest individuals. Somewhat intimidated by the school and its rich-kid students, she wants nothing except to stay below the radar and unnoticed during her time at the school. She has one girlfriend at the school, but does not speak to anyone else.

All that changes on the day her friend spills juice all over the pristine white shirt of Domyouji Tsukasa (Jun Matsumoto), the most aggressive and spoilt member of the so-called “Flower Four” or “F4.” This unofficial group comprises the good-looking but bratty sons of the most powerful businesspeople in Japan. The F4 are ruthless bullies, and often pressure their victims into dropping out. But when Domyouji Tsukasa snaps at Makino’s friend, Makino stands up to him. The F4 instructs the entire school to bully her in revenge. But when she snaps and gives him a taste of his own medicine, Domyouji Tsukasa unexpectedly falls for her. All of a sudden, the pendulum swings in favor of Makino – but things get very complicated when fellow F4 member Hanazawa Rui (Oguri Shun) also takes a shine to her!

The drama was based on a hit 1992-2008 manga series that was authored by Yoko Kamio.

“BOYS OVER FLOWERS” is a 2005 Japanese drama series that was directed by Yasuharu Ishii.

BOYS OVER FLOWERS

🍡 A Bouquet of Dango 🍡 Team

Rinko Amaki (Takada Kaho) is a successful 27-year-old woman who works at a busy wedding planning agency. She excels at her job to such an extent that she is promoted to lead her unit. She is popular, beautiful, and hard-working, but there is just one thing that frustrates her: Despite being surrounded by loved-up couples and romance all day at work for years, she is still single. And on top of that, she has never made love. She wants to lose her virginity, but has never found the right man.

In a twist of fate, her male co-worker Gen Kamisaka (Totsuka Shota), another wildly successful wedding planner is in the exact same predicament. Also aged 27, he has never had any intimate relations with a woman. The duo, having discovered they share the same “problem,” decides to do something about it. But they soon discover that work and physical intimacy are not easy to balance. And while they might have initially envisaged a quick and fuss-free fling, Cupid might have other plans for them...

This drama was based on a 2017 manga series of the same name, which was created by Mio Fujita.

“Rinko-san Wants to Try” is a Japanese drama series that was directed by Keijiro Tsubakimoto.

Rinko-san Wants to Try

Try to ❤ Team

Growing up in an extraordinarily wealthy family, Mamoru Hyoga (Noriko Eguchi) has never wanted for anything in her entire life. Born and raised with the world at her feet, Mamoru has never had a financial worry in her life but that doesn’t mean she grew up with everything. Having lost both of her parents at a young age, Mamoru grew up without ever knowing the warmth of her parents’ love.&nbsp;

Despite her loss, and the moments of loneliness and sadness that occasionally plague her, Mamoru has done quite well on her own. The CEO of an e-book company, Three Star Books, Mamoru and her business partner and longtime friend, Ryo Ichinose (Shigeyuki Totsugi) have made their company a huge success. Drawn to the success of the company, Yu Haruno (Eiji Akaso) applies for one of Three Stars Books' open internships. Working part-time to support his family as he studies, Yu sees this internship as an opportunity to change his life. Little did he know just how much things would change, the day Mamoru walked into his life.

With one never knowing a family’s love and the other never going a day without it, Mamoru and Yu find themselves inexplicably drawn towards each other; but can their stark differences really be what brings them together or will they eventually drive them apart?

A timeless tale of opposite attraction, “SUPER RICH” is a 2021 drama directed by Shin Hirano, Hideyuki Aizawa, Toshiyuki Mitsuhashi, and Masakazu Abe.

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