ROOKIES! <3
I finished watching ROOKIES (drama all the way through to the movie) and I can't describe how much I loved it! I won't spoil anything (and I'll do a big squeefest post another day) but it's been a really long time since I have been that emotionally invested and interested in a J-Drama. (Nodame Cantabile was probably the last one and that was around 3 years ago!) I was on the edge of my seat in some episodes! XD
I should probably explain that I've enjoyed a lot of J-Dramas since, and there are probably ones that I enjoyed more than ROOKIES but it's one of the best J-Dramas I've seen...if that makes any sense. The story may start off as something typical in Japanese high school dramas, but it definitely doesn't finish that way.
The cast was really, really good. Even though I'm pretty sure none of the main "kid" actors were under 20 in real life, they all managed to portray that "I'm not a child but I'm still not an adult" kind of feeling to the roles. There were a lot of times when their reactions to certain things made me go "of course they'd behave that way, they're still kids" rather than the usual "wtf do you think you're doing, stupid kid!?" that most high school drama characters get from me. XD Sato Ryuta was awesome! I'm so used to him playing Master type characters, this is the first time I'd seen him a real "grown up" role! And Koide Keisuke! Holy crap, did he surprise me! I never would've recognised him if it wasn't for his voice! XD He was the complete opposite in Nodame Cantabile!
Go! Nikogaku! Go! :D