J-drama Autumn '09..
Okay so what is everyone watching this season? Compared to the past recent seasons there is something that I would definitely watch this time, all thanks to LIAR GAME 2. Even though the first season was not perfect, it was a rare gem of a "thinking drama" (ala Death Note).. which doesn't come around too often in live-action form. I'm looking forward to season 2 and the inclusion of Rinko Kikuchi may prove quite interesting..
The other main draw this season is Tokyo DOGS. The combination of Oguri Shun, Hiro Mizushima and Yuriko Yoshitaka surely can't go wrong (can it?).. but to be a good cop drama, they usually need a strong line-up of good guest stars as the weekly antagonists or at least a bad-ass "main villain" to match the leads. Tokyo DOGS (seemingly) doesn't have this.. maybe it would focus more on the police squad side of things.
An intriguing one is JIN. It's about a brain surgeon who gets transported back in time to the Edo period, and tries to get back to the present. A period medical drama? Well the synopsis sounds like something from a movie, and has good movie actors too with the likes of Takao Osawa (I've never seen his drama before, but it seems he has been in a lot in the 90's), Miki Nakatani, Ayase Haruka and Koide Keisuke.
On to the "unlikely" dramas, Samurai High School sounds like a sentai show, except the main character transforms into a samurai. This one has some good young actors though.
Lastly, Bocho Mania 09, about people whose hobbies are watching courtroom trials, doesn't sound very appealing. But I'm kind of "interested" in seeing Akkina act xP