Best movies & TV Shows like Eenyobo

An effervescent musical about one of the most unlikely couples seen on screen: two Otaku intent on hiding their nerdiness from their colleagues!

In June 1945 Yamauchi Fusako goes alone to Manchuria where her husband, Setsuo, a second lieutenant of the Kwantung Army, is based. At that time, 200,000 Japanese had settled in Manchuria, a Japanese occupied territory, as settler communities. Fujita Hideo’s family worked hard to clear the wilderness, but the Soviets are lying in wait for an invasion of Manchuria from the North. Fusako is safely reunited with her husband at the headquarters of the Kwantung Army’s Fifth Training Squadron in Manchuria’s Dahushan. Setsuo also takes good care of his beloved wife, but his position is an instructor to the young soldiers who will eventually carry out suicide attacks. He wonders if he should have summoned her and speaks of these mixed feelings to his commanding officer, Michiba Kazuo, a first lieutenant. Michiba is concerned about Setsuo’s attempts to cherish his wife before the coming showdown on homeland. Fusako learns about life in Manchuria from Michiba’s wife, Etsu.

Follows the personal and professional lives of a group of doctors at Seattle’s Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Ken is a brilliant physician with no bedside manner. He is always trying to be a good doctor, as well as a good husband and dad to his two kids. However, these good intentions have a way of driving everyone crazy at both work and at home. Luckily, his therapist wife Allison is just the right partner to keep things sane.

Kozue Ogawa is a housewife and has been married to Hideo for seven years. They don't have any children, but as they live with her parents at their flower shop, every day is still lively. She is happy with her life and her husband, but she wonders if it is enough. From time to time, she is gripped by this doubt that she cannot raise with anyone. Kozue starts a part-time job in the editing department of the magazine where she used to work. Her former colleague is now working hard as the editor-in-chief. One rainy day, Kozue meets a young man. He is Takuma Fukazawa, a high school student. He seems somehow shrouded in sadness. He is a dance teacher. In the dance studio, there is just the two of them. Takuma curls his hands around Kozue's body, and his dance instruction begins. Their unexpected closeness causes Kozue to hesitate. With her heart pounding, she pushes Takuma's hands away and runs home. But the throbbing in her chest continues. It can't be. But what is this feeling?

Ohisama is a Japanese television drama that aired on NHK in 2011 in the Asadora time slot. Set in Nagano prefecture, "Ohisama" covers the life of Yoko Sudo (Mao Inoue) through World War II. Yoko Sudo with her smile is able to bring brightness to those around her & she follows her mother's motif to laugh through the hard times. During the onset of WW II, Yoko is a high school student and "Ohisama" follows her as she eventually becomes a teacher and then gets married and has a child. Yoko then opens a soba restaurant with her student. --asianwiki

The story follows the 20-year-old Tsubasa who dedicates her life to her family and their shop. Her life is turned upside down when her mother who was missing came back home. To pay of her mother's debt she starts to work at a small radio station as a DJ.

Kishi Minetaro is a skilled and serious-minded plastic surgeon. He looks down on doctors earning money through cosmetic surgeries as well as on women asking for such medical procedures. However, having to repay his father's debt, Minetaro chooses lucrative work at a clinic specializing in aesthetic plastic surgery. The clinic is full of beautiful women, including the director Yukawa Mari, who is well known for her skills in breast reconstruction, a highly-trusted doctor Ichii Mutsumi, and a cheerful nurse Kishitani Aoi. But most of them have already had some work done to their faces, and they strongly believe that “faces are for lives.” Various types of patients visit this clinic. As Minetaro needs to keep this job to continue paying off the debt, he has no choice but to respond to the patients' selfish requests, such as, “I need my previous face back because my husband suspects that I may cheat on him now that I have a surgically-altered, young-looking face,” or “I want to change my face and look different from my twin sister.” But their wishes makes him wonder...If they change their appearances, will their futures become brighter? Will their worries disappear? “Beauty” is the keyword set in this human drama, depicting the true feelings of women through the eyes of a surgeon who isn't attuned to reading a woman's mind.

Reiko Himekawa is a female detective at the Metropolitan Police Department. Reiko doesn't come from an elite background, but she has risen fast through the ranks with hard work and gain the respect of the policeman.

Amachan is the 88th 2013 NHK asadora written by Kankuro Kudo (Tiger and Dragon, Unobore Deka). It's about Amano Aki (Nounen Rena), a 16 year old girl from Tokyo who goes to her mother's former home in Sodegahama, a fishing village in Kitasanriku, Iwate prefecture for the summer break. She falls in love with the sea and its people, and decides to stay on to become an Ama (women divers who fetch clams and sea urchins for tourists) just like her grandmother, Natsu (Miyamoto Nobuko). Her decision is welcomed wholeheartedly by Natsu and the other locals. However, her mother Haruko (Koizumi Kyoko) does not like the idea at first. She has a strained relationship with Natsu, and her extreme dislike of the sea, diving and the countryside is one of the reasons why she left her hometown 24 years ago. Eventually, she decides to stay in Sodegahama with Aki, considering that she is contemplating on getting a divorce anyway and does not want to go back to her husband in Tokyo. She also notices that it might be good for Aki for she seems livelier and happier in Kitasanriku than in Tokyo. The road towards becoming a full-fledged Ama-san is tough for Aki as she encounters tests and hurdles. One day, a video of her as an Ama gets uploaded in the city's tourism website, transforming an ordinary high school girl into an overnight Internet sensation. Suddenly she is called upon to use this opportunity to attract tourists to a city suffering from depopulation.

A Japanese girl from a poor family named Hanako went on an adventure to study in a girl's Christian school in Tokyo. She found her passion in English and step by step made her dream come true.

Umechan Sensei is a Japanese television drama series. It debuted on April 2, 2012. It is about a girl named Umeko Shimomura who, despite being overshadowed by her talented older brother and sister, and despite being thought of as a clumsy child, decides to follow in her father's footsteps and become a doctor. It is the 86th NHK Asadora.

year after manga master Fumiya Ajima's death, 50 unpublished sketches are discovered. The sketches appear to be the work of Fumiya Ajima, but the sketches shows details from several missing women cases that occurred 35 years earlier. Fumiya Ajima’s wife asks the Department Head of Yukihide Ozawa to find out if the sketches are the work of her late husband. Ex-police officer Yuki Mizuno receives a request to investigate the origins of the 50 sketches. Yuki Mizuno then enlists the help of Shinji Daigo, an expert of the manga world.

Mare is an elementary school student. She lives with her family in the city, but, right before her father goes bankrupt, they run away and settle down at a fishing village in Noto. The family rents a couple's home who run a salt pond. Mare's father starts a new business, but it also fails. Her mother supports the family by working at the salt pond. 8 years later, Mare, about to graduate from high school, decides to work for the Wajima local government. She wants to have a steady job, unlike her father. Her job is to support people who move to Noto.

Emiri Yoshii begins work at a general trading company. Due to her family's failure in business, she had to give up her dream of earning a MBA in America. Now, she hopes to become an executive of a company. Emiri is sent to the general affairs department at the trading company. She freaks out when she learns that lower level employees have to wear uniforms and she has to deal with everything from changing light bulbs to ordering business cards. Nonetheless, she works hard to pay off her family's debt. Emiri then finds herself in the crosshair of coworkers. Senior female employees are perturbed that she doesn't drink coffee with them and skips their gatherings. Meanwhile, the male employees like working with her, but only when they need an attractive women for matters like entertaining clients. The male employees do not give her serious work. Emiri, who appears popular among the male employees, soon becomes an outcast among the senior female employees. She becomes fed up with her situation and takes action.

Pegasus Bookstore is going through hard times due to competition from internet bookstores. Kitamura Aki and Nishioka Riko are employees at Pegasus Bookstore. Aki is 23 years old. She has a strong will and freewheeling personality. She places her job and dreams above marriage. Riko is a 40-year-old single woman. She is the vice-manager at the bookstore. She has pride in her work. The two women have completely different personalities.

Junko Sakuraba dreams of working in New York, but she currently works as an English conversation teacher. She's about to have her 29th birthday. Junko Sakuraba works hard to achieve her dream, but New York seem far away. She has also not dated in a long time. Junko Sakuraba attends a funeral held at a temple. During the funeral, she makes a mistake and throws ashes onto a monk chanting a sutra. She feels apologetic and embarrassment. Later, Junko Sakuraba's family deceives her into going on a blind date. The man she meets on the blind date is Takane Hoshikawa. Her date is the monk whom she accidentally threw ashes on.

The 56th NHK Asadora Renzoku Drama is Agri. Story's settings include Okayama and Tokyo (Ichigaya). This renzoku chronicles the life of a Showa period hairdresser, and is based on a true life story of Moshizuki Agri. Agri has worked for over 70 years as a beautician. She is a successful business woman who survived the war by becoming a farmer. During the war, going to the beauty salon was considered a frivolity, so many such businesses went bankrupt as Japan suffered from the energy spent as all the yen was fueled into the war effort.

In 1930 and as a young child, Tsuneko Kohashi lives at Enshu in Shizuoka Prefecture. She has a happy life with her parents and two younger sisters. Things change after her father dies from tuberculosis. Her father asked Tsuneko Kohashi to take care of the family in his place. Due to financial difficulties, her mother Kimiko decides to move the family to Tokyo where Tsuneko's grandmother lives.

A rich, handsome businessman, Hokuto, proposes marriage to Chiwa, whose father has a large debt. Hokuto apparently has a secret reason for marrying Chiwa. Will this marriage work out?

The 95th NHK Asadora is about Sumire, a girl born in the uptown of Kobe in the early Showa period. In the wake of wartime devastation, she works hard toward making children's clothes for a living, and later establishes a first-ever children's goods store in Japan. -- NHK

Tsukasa Kobayashi has the appearance and educational background of an elite and earns a good salary, but he is actually incompetent at his job and makes mistakes frequently, earning the ire of his co-workers. Tsukasa was about to quit his job after much humiliation at work when he learns that his wife is pregnant.

Jun to Ai is a Japanese television drama series. It debuted on October 1, 2012 and was broadcast until March 30, 2013. It is about a girl named Jun Kanō, raised in Miyakojima, Okinawa, who moves to Osaka to work in a hotel. There she meets a man named Itoshi Machida, with whom she falls in love. It is the 87th NHK Asadora.

Ririko Takemura has worked as a prosecutor at the Yokohama District Public Prosecutor’s Office for the past 2 years. She is 29-years-old and single. Even thought she is not good at her work yet, she tries hard. Dealing with the various cases, Ririko Takemura grows as a prosecutor and a woman.

With the first place in a university business competition and a father running a time-honored leather bag store, Yusuke Tsuruta is in the "outstanding" category among university students. After graduation, Yusuke decides to start a business with his classmate Kengo Sato. After declaring that "Company is not school!", he works hard every day to make his business successful.

Suzume is a girl born to a family running a small restaurant in Gifu Prefecture. She loses her hearing in one ear from a disease. Encouraged by her loving parents and childhood friend, she lives through an eventful life with a tenacious spirit.

Minato Shindo has savant syndrome. His memory is amazing, but he has difficulty communicating with other people. When Minato was little, he dreamed of becoming a doctor. He met Doctor Akira Shiga and he wanted to become a pediatric surgeon. Akira was surprised by the 7-year-old's memory of the human organs and he decided to support Minato in achieving his dream. Eventually, Minato graduated from medical school and passed the national exam for medical practitioners. Now, Akira works as a director at a large hospital. He suggests to Minato to work in the pediatric surgery department at the hospital where he works.

Based on true story of the wife of Ando Momofuku, the businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd. and the inventor of instant ramen, the 99th Asadora follows the life of Tachibana Fukuko, a young woman who tries to survive tough times in Osaka with her husband from before WWII to the rapid economic development era. Together they overcome various setbacks before they succeed in creating instant noodles. (Source: MDL)

Tsukumo Katsumi is a surgeon who lost his job after causing the death of a patient in a medical mishap. He comes to work for Miki Clinic on the recommendation of Professor Mimori whom he studied under. The clinic’s director Miki Shoichiro opened the practice for VIPs who want to receive medical treatment in secret. Tsukumo tries to get accustomed to his new workplace but discovers another side to Miki Clinic. It will do everything possible to fulfil any request, based on the belief that if the anxieties and major concerns of patients are solved, their emotions will stablise and they can to focus on their treatment. Together with the other doctors of the clinic, Tsukumo takes on patients’ off-the-wall requests.

Born in 1937 in Osaka as the eldest daughter, Kawahara Kimiko moves to Shigaraki with her family at the age of 9. She works to support her family from a young age. Eventually, she jumps into the male world of pottery and becomes a pioneer of female ceramic arts. After marrying her husband who is also involved in ceramics and owning her own kiln, she raises her two children while struggling to create unique ware.

Nanase Sakura is a 23-year-old rookie nurse. She met Doctor Kairi Tendo several years ago and fell in love with him. To meet him again, she studied hard and became a nurse. After 5 years, she finally meets Kairi Tendo again, but he has a totally different personality than what she imagined. Kairi Tendo, who is 31-years-old, is commonly referred to as the "Devil" at work. He is a level-headed perfectionist and often makes biting remarks to doctors and nurses. Nanase Sakura works hard to receive recognition from Kairi Tendo and she also expresses her feelings honestly to him. Due to her persistence, Nanase Sakura becomes well known at the hospital and she picks up the nickname of the "Warrior." Meanwhile, Kairi Tendo becomes attracted to Nanase Sakura.

Inoue Momoko admires her late father, who was a pilot. She begins work as a co-pilot at a low-cost airline. Under Captain Shinkai Kohei’s instructions, who knew her father, Inoue Momoko works hard to become a captain and her boyfriend Umino Daisuke supports her dream too. One day, Inoue Momoko has a problem with a passenger complaining about the limit for carry-on baggage. At that time, Katsuki Tetsuya looks at the situation.

Ayako is a 35-year-old detective who is hardworking and has a strong sense of justice. However, she is inflexible and works too hard, which causes her to fail often. One day, she arrested a wanted suspect for a murder case, but, unfortunately, her soul was exchanged with the suspect just when she was looking forward to her rewards.

A collapsed woman, wearing white clothes, is found at a park in the early morning hours. The woman introduces herself as Byakuya. Except for her name, she doesn't remember anything else about herself. She doesn't know general stuff either, but she holds extensive medical knowledge and has a genius-like diagnostic ability. With just the smallest amount of information, she is able to diagnose any disease. She begins to work with a diagnosis team at a hospital.

Iwakura Mai lives with her parents Kota and Megumi and older brother Haruto. Her father Kota runs a small factory in Higashi Osaka, a district that is known for its craftsmen. Mai is shy and withdrawn. But when she visits her grandmother Shoko who lives on Nagasaki’s Goto Islands which has a rich natural environment, she is entranced by the Baramon kites that catch the wind and soar high in the sky. Wanting to fly high in the sky like these kites, Mai’s longing swells into a dream to become a pilot. Even though she works hard, the path to getting there is tougher than she had imagined. As Mai deepens her ties with the people living in her two hometowns of Higashi Osaka and Goto, her dream eventually takes a new form. She gathers enthusiastic friends to build a small electric plane that can fly to and from the islands. Her dream becomes a wing that carries everyone’s dreams and takes off.

Natsumi is a literary editor married to a man who works at a rival publishing company. The childless couple spends their days working hard until he confesses that he’s having an affair. Though heart-broken, Natsumi meets a young post office worker and falls in love. This stylish love tale uses the alphabet to explore romance, marital stress, and the career woes of a woman in her 30s – from A2Z.

In 1924, a time when both steam engine trains and early Showa Era's first train stations are just beginning. In the waiting room of Asumoe Station, a small country station, a passenger finds an abandoned baby and rushes to tell the station master, Tokiwa Jiro. The news quickly spreads and soon friends of Tokiwa's along with other townsfolk are saying that this baby must be a gift, it is Tokiwa's recently departed beloved wife reborn as a baby.

The 4th NHK Asadora. Starring Michiko Hayashi as a woman born in poverty who lives a brave life. She lost her husband in war and now must take care of their 5-year-old child alone. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Fumiko Hayashi.

The 57th NHK Asadora Renzoku Drama. Story's settings include Kobe and Sasayama. It is a story about the conflicts between generations and the relationships within families. A strong mother-daughter theme and a sister-brother theme exist.

This drama is the tale of one high spirited, strong-willed young woman and her struggle to fulfill her lifelong ambition of becoming a carpenter and building homes. The story takes place from the later part of the Showa era to present day Heisei rule. The heroine of the story, Kawashima Urara, lost her father at the tender age of seven and this drama depicts her life as she grows from a young school girl, through puberty and adolescence and on into her adult years as an independent woman who owns her own carpentry business. As Urara grows into a beautiful and strong woman and a talented carpenter, her family around her goes through many difficult and trying times. This story of becoming an independent businesswoman in the male-dominated world of carpentry accurately reflects the lives and struggles of the young women in present day Japan who are trying to make a career for themselves in addition to balancing the demands of family obligations, friends, and lovers.

Fight is a story about fifteen year old Yuu, whose family becomes separated after an incident involving her father's spring factory. With her undying spirit to "fight" off every obstacle arising in life, Yuu maintains her positive attitude and moves forward in hopes of the day when her family will reunite again.

Born over a tofu shop in Osaka, twin sisters Reiko and Kyoko have very different characters. Reiko is diligent, and longs for a secure, middle class lifestyle. Kyoko is a free spirit, who seeks thrills and adventure.

The story is about a young woman who becomes a landscape gardener following her father's wishes. Wakaba, born and brought up in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, lived happily with her parents and younger brother until the Great Hanshin Earthquake shook and destroyed the city in 1995. In the disaster, Wakaba loses her father, who was an architect and moves with her mother and brother to Obi, old castle town in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, where her grandmother lives with her uncle and aunt. Living in Obi's rich natural environment, Wakaba learns that plants can heal people's hearts. She makes a resolution to return to Kobe and reconstruct the city abundant in greenery.

The 61st NHK Asadora Drama is Asuka. Set in Kyoto in the home of a traditional Japanese candy-maker, Asuka is the story of one young girl's dream to one day walk in her father's shoes and become a top candy-maker in the male-dominated world of wagashi (Japanese confectionery). Asuka grows to be a healthy, adventurous young girl with a deep curiosity and, a desire to become a candy-maker like her father. This NHK drama is one of the best in years with an excellent cast, a well-developed story based on extensive research into the traditional worlds of candy making and the tea ceremony in Kyoto, and beautiful scenery and settings in Kyoto and the surrounding areas.

The year is 1947, August. Ono Junko's family is being evacuated to Wakayama and the father is going to war. A few years later, the father has returned from Manchuria but he also brought a boy that had been abandoned by his mother. The boy is Yuta and the family will adopt him.

A successful screenwriter looks back on her life when she learns her husband has cancer. A year-long series, starring Narumi Yasuda.

This is the story of a young mother, Kitayama Nazuna, and her son Taiyo from Ohma, a small town at the tip of a peninsula in Aomori. Taiyo's father, Murai Kento had aspirations to be a professional boxer but due to a detached retina he was forced to abandon his dream. Leaving Nazuna behind, he left for America, with another woman, to get treatment for his eye-problem, unaware that Nazuna was pregnant. As his life is boxing he quickly returns to the ring after the operation turns out to be successful and once again he dreams of becoming a professional boxer. However, success eludes him and he returns home to Japan. Nazuna meanwhile has given birth to her son and moved to Tokyo to search for Kento. By chance she finds Kento. When discovers he has become a father, he tries to make up for lost time. The show picks up their story as Nazuna, Taiyo and Kento begin family life together. Of course things are not as simple as they appear.

The series takes place in 1962 Osaka. Hanaoka Machiko, 37, is single and works at a hardware store in Osaka City while doing literary work. One day, she falls ill due to overwork and falls in love with Tokunaga Kenjiro, the doctor who examines her. Kenjiro and Machiko marry. But Kenjiro, who lost his first wife to illness, lives not just with his five children, but his brother, sister, and parents. In a comical and heart-warming way, the drama depicts Machiko's struggle with the new family while pursuing her career as a novelist.

A young woman Chiaki whose family runs an old miso company in Nagano Prefecture, the only daughter of old traditional family. For generations, they were making soybean paste for living. Now she needs to take over this business and rebuild it. She lives through the hardships of postwar Japan.