MONSTERS is finished already!? Geez, I’d better catch up with reviews. This season has felt much more disorganized than usual from my end – I’ll figure out how to get things smoother before the start of the season next year.
As for the ratings themselves, there’s no longer much to say. Doctor X is the runaway winner of the season, Priceless is second, and Aibou 11 is third. MONSTERS was a mild disappointment and Ooku even more so. Resident must have been announced for that time slot before Doctor X, because there was no way it was ready to go head-to-head against the Yonekura Ryoko hit in the same genre. Looks like viewers in that time slot saw a choice between two medical dramas and decisively chose one of them.
Otherwise, no big surprises this week.
You can get information on all of this season’s dramas (and plenty of prime time variety shows) at the most recent of the TokyoHive ratings articles here.
Prime Time Shows
Doctor X (01) 18.6%, (02) 17.6%, (03) 17.4%, (04) 17.1%, (05) 17.7%, (06) 18.7%, (07) 20.1%
Priceless (01) 16.9%, (02) 18.8%, (03) 15.2%, (04) 18.4%, (05) 15.7%, (06) 18.1%, (07) 17.2%
Aibou 11 (01) 19.9%, (02) 17.3%, (03) 16.5%, (04) 15.0%, (05) 15.4%, (06) 16.4%, (07) 15.7%, (08) 14.0%
Akumu-chan (01) 13.6%, (02) 10.7%, (03) 12.9%, (04) 10.4%, (05) 12.8%, (06) 11.5%, (07) 11.5%, (08) 11.5%, (09) 10.4%
MONSTERS (01) 13.8%, (02) 13.4%, (03) 11.2%, (04) 11.5%, (05) 11.0%, (06) 10.3%, (07) 8.0%, (08) 13.5% (Finished)
Tokyo Airport (01) 14.0%, (02) 9.4%, (03) 9.3%, (04) 9.6%, (05) 8.3%, (06) 8.1%, (07) 9.7%, (08) 12.0%, (09) 9.6%
Ooku (01) 11.6%, (02) 10.6%, (03) 7.9%, (04) 7.6%, (05) 8.9%, (06) 9.0%, (07) 7.1%, (08) 7.0%, (09) 7.0%
Perfect Blue (01) 9.0%, (02) 7.1%, (03) 9.2%, (04) 7.7%, (05) 7.9%, (06) 8.6%, (07) 6.2%, (08) 8.8%, (09) 8.6%
Koukou Nyushi (01) 7.7%, (02) 6.3%, (03) 7.0%, (04) 4.9%, (05) 7.2%, (06) 5.9%, (07) 7.3%, (08) 6.9%, (09) 7.8%, (10) 5.2%
Resident (01) 8.4%, (02) 6.2%, (03) 9.7%, (04) 5.6%, (05) 7.3%, (06) 4.4%, (07) 5.6%, (08) 5.6%
Late Night Shows
Poison (01) 3.7%, (02) 3.5%, (03) 3.0%, (04) 3.3%, (05) 3.4%, (06) 4.3%, (07) 3.3%, (08) 4.5%, (09) 3.1%, (10) 2.5%
Piece (01) 2.5%, (02) 3.4%, (03) 2.0%, (04) 1.8%, (05) 1.3%, (06) 2.5%, (07) 2.0%, (08) 2.2%, (09) 2.3%, (10) 1.6%
Not much to say, really. At least MONSTERS ended on a strong note – nearly reaching the number set by its first episode. I wonder where all those viewers were for the bulk of the series?
On the flip side, Piece fell below 2% again. While the show started to show signs of promise in the fifth episode, we still don’t have a good reason to care about the mystery. It’s not a murder mystery, as far as we know, and this is a lengthy process of discovery for something that didn’t involve murder, or even a clear crime. As far as I can tell, that’s the main fault of the story, because the characters are all better crafted than in the predecessor series, Sprout.
We’re getting close to the point where I get together the list of next season’s dramas. If there’s something you’d like to see me review, feel free to mention it in the comments here, or on the upcoming dramas list when I post that. If I determine which dramas I’m going to review earlier, I’ll be able to do a better job of keeping up with the series. As always, though, I’ll be reluctant to review a series without subtitles, so dramas involving Johnny’s members are probably a better bet.
J-Everything 
Priceless last ep reached 20.1% I don’t think it will catch up with Doctor X, as that one seems to be really stable while Priceless is more unpredictable but at least Priceless is putting up a good fight. I’m looking forward to your list of next season drama. I haven’t watched much this season as there’s nothing that really intrigue me. I gave Ooku and Doctor X a few tries, the first, while not bad, didn’t work for my current stress level. The latter was just well good, but really i can’t see why it got such good ratings. hopefully next season will be more exciting.
It’s been an odd season all around, and except for Priceless, the dramas I’ve been intrigued by have turned out flat, so I don’t blame you for not finding much to watch this season. I, too, am baffled by Doctor X’s success.
Indeed, there are some better offerings in the works next season, so it’ll probably be a lot more fun than this iffy Fall.
Thanks for commenting!
This season was a particularly flat one. I like Piece – the characterization and acting is better than Sprout, but I agree that their problem is making a compelling mystery or developing story to get people to want to keep watching. I also think they might have missed their target market a little.
MONSTERS’ weird jump makes me really curious about the actual episode.
For next season, I’m thinking about Nagase’s drama “Nakuna, Hara-chan” because I love most of his acting. The number one on my list is “The Karamazov Brothers” because the book by Dostoyevsky is one I’ve read a few times, and I’m really curious as to how they’ll adapt it. I do wonder if that one will get subbed, despite its great cast, because it’s without a single Johnny’s name attached to it. I’m also looking forward to Tamamori’s “Nobonaga no Chef” because the premise is ridiculous enough to get me curious, and I’m a sucker for Kis-my-ft2.
Nagase-san’s always good, but I’m always a bit wary of romantic comedies. They can be good, or they can be painfully dull. The premise for “Nakuna, Hara-chan” is a curious one, and it’ll be interesting to see if they can pull it off. That will definitely be clear from the first episode.
I’ve read “The Brothers Karamazov”, too, and if it gets subbed, I’ll probably review it. No chance without subtitles, though – it’s a dialogue-heavy story.
I’m definitely going to do Tamamori-kun’s “Nobunaga no Chef”, pretty much for the same reasons you’re looking forward to it. Also, I like historical dramas about the Warring States period, even when they’re bound to take extreme liberties with the history. Anyway, it should be fun.
Thanks for those ideas!