BuyMeThisDress wrote:

...or the character freezes like hypnotized...

Variation on a theme: Someone is so lost in thought while they're pouring a drink (tea, coffee, whatever) the cup fills up and stuff is pouring out onto the floor and someone has to yell at them before they snap out of it.

And for the smokers, there's the person with a cigarette so lost in thought, he's got about six inches of burnt ash hanging off the end.

I love this thread. There are so many clichés in Japanese dramas.

One that strikes me as SO cliché: Whenever a character is gathering courage, you see him or her clenching fists. (It�fs like watching subtitles without words.)

Another one: When a character is hungry, his or her stomach sounds a balloon being stretched out. (This one is like �ghearing�h subtitles.)
_________________

I'm sure it has been said before but I still wonder why all the women in Asia dont complain about being cast as clumsy. Its a miracle when in any stress situation in a drama that some actress doesnt fall down.
_________________

^ Japan has a long way to go

Two cliches I noticed recently.

- The same Metropolitan Police Headquarter is used in every other mystery drama - we always get the same shot from above ... let me not get started on Sky Tree shots.

-Slapping people (often forehead) in normal day-to-day situations - whether it's for comedy purpose or to show a banter between couples or colleagues, I feel it's always wrong. Unless the purpose is of course to portray DV, a fight between criminals etc

EstherM wrote:

^ Japan has a long way to go Two cliches I noticed recently. - The same Metropolitan Police Headquarter is used in every other mystery drama - we always get the same shot from above ... let me not get started on Sky Tree shots. -Slapping people (often forehead) in normal day-to-day situations - whether it's for comedy purpose or to show a banter between couples or colleagues, I feel it's always wrong. Unless the purpose is of course to portray DV, a fight between criminals etc

Sky Tree shots. LMAO!

EstherM wrote:

- The same Metropolitan Police Headquarter is used in every other mystery drama - we always get the same shot from above ... let me not get started on Sky Tree shots.

Sorry EstherM, but the other day I read this synopsis for this season's "Hancho 6"

It�fs the sixth season of the popular police drama starring Sasaki Kuranosuke. This time Azumi (Sasaki) and his team have to work together to solve various cases under the shadow of Tokyo Sky Tree in Oshiage, Tokyo.

^oh dear well no Hancho 6 for me

I'm just curious. If I ever go to look for a job or an apartment in Japan, am I supposed to put a big 'X" thru an ad when I get rejected?

That's what they do in every drama I've ever seen.

^ well, in real life you contact a real estate agency, they show you a few places and done! Then you go home and cry over your bankbook because you have to pay 1 month rent worth keymoney as a gift for the landlord and up to 2 months deposit. You can most certainly say sayonara to the former and often to the latter too.

Same goes for jobs I would say, internet and recruitment agencies are mostly used. But one cliche that is true is the handwritten CV. People still have to bring a handwritten one, even if you are a senior manager, IT expert etc

This one showed up at the end of episode 8 of 'Tokyo Bandwagon': coughing up blood. It's the only way we know someone has a terminal disease. Don't they have TB vaccine in Japan??

gaijinmark wrote:

This one showed up at the end of episode 8 of 'Tokyo Bandwagon': coughing up blood. It's the only way we know someone has a terminal disease. Don't they have TB vaccine in Japan??

Apparently not.
_________________

Trade or Distro
It's all good!

Check out my drama trade list: http://www.freewebs.com/evendrama/

Eve wrote:

Apparently not.

At least in the world of dramas.

I don't know if this has happened enough to qualify as a cliche, but I've seen it in "Hotman", "Heisei meoto jawan" and a couple others that I can't remember right now, it's the "father that ran out on the family 20 years ago returns".

He's now an old man, his son (the current drama's protagonist) is still mad at him, but the grandkids think he's great. He usually is only around for one, maybe two episodes and then he dies (just in time to reconcile with the son). Usually from cancer.

I noticed this one while watching episode 4 of "Shokuzai". Anytime someone falls down steps, they die. I've seen several people fall down steps and the worst that ever happened was one guy broke his arm. Those steps in Japan must be made of awfully hard material.

30-something single girl (most of the times) or guy taking part at an arranged meeting (omiai) after being pressured by a relative! Almost everytime they end up disliking the person that they met through the arranged meeting, or they deny for a while the fact that they dont actually like the person that they met ...

Watching "Nigeru Onna" and ran across one that's become popular the last couple of years.

If a character has elderly parents, one of them is guaranteed to be suffering from some form of Alzheimer's or dementia.

In the restroom at work. There will be two or three people gossiping, if it's men, they'll be talking about some guy that's incompetent and about to get fired, if it's women, they'll be talking about someone that has a reputation of sleeping with anybody and that's how she's gotten where she is.

They leave, one of the stall doors opens and lo and behold, it's the person they were talking about!

Two toothbrushes. When a couple start living together they always show a shot where there are now two toothbrushes in the cup. And the woman's is almost always pink.

I guess if the guy comes home and only finds one toothbrush it means she hit the road. Better check that bank account!

gaijinmark wrote:

Two toothbrushes. When a couple start living together they always show a shot where there are now two toothbrushes in the cup. And the woman's is almost always pink. I guess if the guy comes home and only finds one toothbrush it means she hit the road. Better check that bank account!

We're watching Boku no Ita Jikan (ALS show) and sure enough the female protagonist asks the brother of the male protagonist if he's ok with her toothbrush being left there. It was pretty well done in this case, though. I think it's one of those cliches I really like actually haha.

gaijinmark wrote:

Two toothbrushes. When a couple start living together they always show a shot where there are now two toothbrushes in the cup. And the woman's is almost always pink.

Remember that! The pink toothbrush is MINE, the blue toothbrush is YOURS!
_________________

"They're real and they're spectacular"