The QUEEN Of Japan’s 2019 Dramas?

It’s much too early to be calling out the best 2019 Japanese drama, but no matter what comes out this year, Japan’s latest law drama, QUEEN, will be a strong contender. Himi Ko is a crisis management lawyer and always fights to the bitter end for justice to take place.

From the story to the cast, everything about this drama is gold. While the cases focus on women in scandals and address serious societal issues, the group dynamic adds a nice comedic touch. From the beginning of the first episode, you get a good observation of how great their teamwork is.

Thoughts

Himi Ko is their leader, and while she’s slightly a comedic character, her leadership and dedication really shine in her work. In the first episode, she successfully convinces Japan’s top idol group, Forest, to disband as their company is undergoing a crisis. The members’ willingness to protect each other is hurting not only the group but also themselves.

TV producers are not actually producing shows. We’re guessing people’s thoughts.

QUEEN

Fujieda Shuji is the only male on the team. He’s a clumsier character that obediently follows instructions from his female colleagues. He has a “newbie” feel to him and probably doesn’t have a lot of experience in the workforce. I guess you can say he’s a bit of a “try-hard” character who’s adorable to watch.

In the first episode, he hurts his wrist as he accidentally steps on a rake that hits him in the face while attempting to capture a suspect. Though it does pay off as the moment was enough to stall the suspect.

In another episode, he innocently gets involved with another man for the sake of information. The LGBT is a great comedic touch. LGBT is also present in the second season of Ie Uru Onna. Wonder if the upcoming Japanese dramas will also have more LGBT themes. If so, I’m all for it.

Mano Seiko is the “computer genius” of the group. She gave me a Garcia-feel from the American show Criminal Minds when she is the first introduced due to the more colourful makeup and glasses. But Seiko’s a much more serious character than the rest of her colleagues. Not much is known about her. At the end of episode two, it’s suddenly revealed she has a son, a fact no one knew about.

What makes a show great is often the plot and the cast. But for this one, the beginning is one unique aspect that stood out to me. The aesthetic is jaw-dropping, and the music is a track I’ve been looking for a while now. It’s one of the best-edited themes I’ve seen. Japan’s really upping their game in this area. Since I saw the beginning theme for the Japanese version of Suits, I was in love with the black classy theme.

Interesting, realistic cases and greatly presented themes aside, a must-say about this drama is the female empowerment. This time, there’s only one male protagonist on the team, and technically he’s an underdog compared to his female colleagues.

Will You Be Watching QUEEN?

If I haven’t made it obvious enough, I definitely recommend QUEEN. I’ve only watched three episodes and am eagerly anticipating the next one. Haven’t been this enthusiastic for upcoming episodes for anything in a while.

Let me know if you’ll be watching QUEEN and if you have any thoughts or hypotheses on themes in upcoming Japanese dramas!