The 40 most popular japanese drama TV shows, ranked. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon
2012 · JP
Daimon Michiko is a 37-year-old freelance surgeon who is part of a questionable “doctor placement service” that has her wander from hospital to hospital. The harsh environment at the hospitals led many doctors to retire from their positions, forcing hospitals to make use of said program to fill the empty spots at least temporary. However, Michiko doesn’t look like a doctor at all with her flashy clothes and eccentric attitude. In the first episode she raises objections to a certain operation which is planned to be done by the head of a hospital who hasn’t performed an operation for a very long time. This causes Michiko to incur odium at the hospital, however, everyone becomes frozen when Michiko points out the outdated skills of the director. She also holds a scrupulous compliance when it comes to her working hours, never does any unnecessary chores that don’t require a medical license, and couldn’t care less about the power struggles within the hospitals. Nobody knows how she acquired such a top-level skill that allows her to claim exorbitant sums as reward, but her private life is an even greater mystery to everyone around her. Tanaka plays a rookie surgeon, Uchida an anesthetist, Kishibe the head of the placement service, and Ito the head of the surgical department of this institution.


Wandance
2025 · JP
Kabo is a high school student with a stutter who struggles to express his feelings. He finds himself drawn to his classmate Wanda, who pursues dance without worrying about how others see her. Seeking a form of freestyle expression, Kabo takes on the unfamiliar world of dance.


Black Kite
2013 · JP
Yasu's mother passed away when he was very young and his father abandoned him. Yasu's wife, Misako, also lost both her parents when she was young. The two spend their days in happiness, watching their young son, Akira, grow up. Unfortunately, a freakish accident occurs that results in Misako sacrificing her life to protect her son. Yasu loses himself in grief and remorse, but recovers as he vows to raise his 3 year-old son as best as possible.


Kamen Rider
1971 · JP
Takeshi Hongo is a promising young man with a passion for motorcycle racing. However, his dreams are suddenly ruined when he gets kidnapped by Shocker, the evil secret organization planning to dominate the world. After being remodeled into a cyborg, Takeshi escapes and swears to protect the world from the inhuman monsters.


New Japan Pro Wrestling
1972 · JP
New Japan Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese promotion founded by Antonio Inoki in 1972. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, it is the largest wrestling promotion in Japan and one of the largest in the world.


The Apothecary Diaries
2023 · JP
Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she's sold as a lowly servant to the emperor's palace. But she wasn't meant for a compliant life among royalty. So when imperial heirs fall ill, she decides to step in and find a cure! This catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. Now, she's making a name for herself solving medical mysteries!


AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo
2002 · JP
Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.


Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song-
2021 · JP
In the near future, Vivy, a diva-type A.I., went up on stage each day with hopes of putting her heart into her song. One day, the A.I. Matsumoto, who claims to have arrived from 100 years in the future, appears before Vivy with an important request...


Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-
2016 · JP
Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, is on his way home from the convenience store when he finds himself transported to another world. As he's lost and confused in a new world where he doesn't even know left from right, the only person to reach out to him was a beautiful girl with silver hair. Determined to repay her somehow for saving him from his own despair, Subaru agrees to help the girl find something she's looking for.


Chihayafuru
2011 · JP
Chihaya Ayase has spent most of her life supporting her sister’s model career. When she meets a boy named Arata Wataya, he thinks Chihaya has potential to become a great karuta player. As Chihaya dreams of becoming Japan's best karuta player, she is soon separated from her karuta playing friends. Now in high school, Chihaya still plays karuta in the hope that she will one day meet her friends again.


Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
2023 · JP
After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity's mortality. She takes on a new apprentice and promises to fulfill old friends' dying wishes. Can an elven mind make peace with the nature of life and death? Frieren embarks on her quest to find out.


The Witch and the Beast
2024 · JP
Guideau is a young woman who was cursed by a witch, forced to carry a dark secret. Ashaf is a tall, soft-spoken man with a coffin strapped to his back and secrets yet untold. Together they venture across the land on their quest for vengeance. Appearances can be deceiving, and each step could be their last. In a dark fantasy filled with adventure, will unlikely heroes find the vengeance they seek?


Monster
2004 · JP
Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, finds his life in utter turmoil after getting involved with a psychopath that was once a former patient.


Monogatari
2009 · JP
Koyomi Araragi, a high school student, finds himself constantly encountering girls afflicted by supernatural "oddities." He dedicates himself to helping them, often with the aid of the eccentric specialist Meme Oshino. Each arc talks about a different girl's unique struggle and the mysterious cause of their affliction. The series explores themes of adolescence, personal growth, and the complexities of human relationships. It's known for its witty dialogue, stylistic animation, and unique narrative structure.


World Wonder Ring Stardom
2011 · JP
Stardom World is the VOD network for World Wonder Ring Stardom. WWR Stardom is a Japanese women's promotion started in 2011 featuring matches of many varieties including high speed octane action, long brutal brawls, and even costume battle royals. In 2019, the promotion was acquired by Bushiroad and has since become one of the top wrestling promotions in Japan.


Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
2009 · JP
Disregard for alchemy’s laws ripped half of Edward Elric’s limbs from his body and left his brother Alphonse’s soul clinging to a suit of armor. To restore what was lost, the brothers seek the Philosopher’s Stone. Enemies and allies – the corrupt military, the Homunculi, and foreign alchemists – will alter the Elric brothers course, but their purpose will remain unchanged and their bond unbreakable.


Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You.
2025 · JP
It’s the year 2020, and Mizuho is having the worst 17th birthday ever. Her parents forgot it’s her birthday, she still can’t seem to get close to the senior she likes, and all her school trips and tournaments are canceled thanks to a new disease going around. She’s convinced she’ll never have the kind of youth she’s always dreamt of…until her childhood friend, Kizuki, suddenly asks her out.


Haikyu!!
2014 · JP
Inspired by a small-statured pro volleyball player, Hinata creates a volleyball team in his last year of middle school. Unfortunately the team is matched up against the "King of the Court" Tobio Kageyama’s team in their first tournament and inevitably lose. After the crushing defeat, Hinata vows to surpass Kageyama After entering high school, Hinata joins the volleyball team only to find that Tobio has also joined.


Classroom of the Elite
2017 · JP
Kiyotaka Ayanokouji enrolls at the prestigious Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Academy, but is assigned to Class 1-D, where students with behavioral problems are housed. The school awards points equivalent to 100,000 yen per month and allows unusual freedom in classes, masking a more complex system.


March Comes In Like a Lion
2016 · JP
This is a gentle tale about people trying to regain something. And it is a tale of battle. Rei Kiriyama had lost his family in an accident when he was young. Now he is a 17-year-old pro shogi player who is burdened with deep loneliness. Rei lives alone in an old town in Tokyo, but after becoming acquainted with three sisters, Akari, Hinata and Momo, he begins to change little by little...


The Ancient Magus' Bride
2017 · JP
Hatori Chise has lived a life full of neglect and abuse, devoid of anything resembling love. Far from the warmth of family, she has had her share of troubles and pitfalls. Just when all hope seems lost, a fateful encounter awaits her. When a man with the head of a beast, wielding strange powers, obtains her through a slave auction, Chise's life will never be the same again. The man is a "magus,"a sorcerer of great power, who decides to free Chise from the bonds of captivity. The magus then makes a bold statement: Chise will become his apprentice--and his bride!


Kingdom
2012 · JP
In the Warring States period, young orphan Xin vows to aid King Zheng of Qin in his quest to unify China by becoming a general himself.


Initial D
1998 · JP
Takumi’s job as a tofu delivery boy has turned him into one of the most formidable drivers around. Behind the wheel of his Eight-Six, he’s one with the road—and his life shifts into high gear when the underground street racing world takes notice. Drivers from across the region are lining up for a shot at the new guy. Takumi’s not just focused on winning—he’s out to prove he’s the best.


Tokyo Revengers
2021 · JP
Takemichi Hanagaki is a freelancer that’s reached the absolute pits of despair in his life. He finds out that the only girlfriend he ever had, in middle school, Hinata Tachibana, had been killed by the ruthless Tokyo Manji Gang. The day after hearing about her death, he’s standing on the station platform and ends up being pushed over onto the tracks by a herd of people. He closes his eyes thinking he’s about to die, but when he opens his eyes back up, he somehow had gone back in time 12 years. Now that he’s back living the best days of his life, Takemichi decides to get revenge on his life.


My Husband is a Cartoonist
2010 · JP
The 82nd NHK Asadora is Gegege no Nyobo. The story is based on a 2008 autobiography by Mura Nunoe, the wife of Gegege no Kitaro mangaka Mizuki Shigeru. The story revolves around the life of the married couple, told from the perspective of Mura. --Tokyograph


Tokyo Ghoul
2014 · JP
Ken Kaneki, a bookworm college student, meets Rize, a girl his own age with whom he shares many interests.


Fighting Spirit
2000 · JP
Makunouchi Ippo is an ordinary high school student in Japan. Since he spends most of his time away from school helping his mother run the family business, he doesn't get to enjoy his younger years like most teenagers. Always a target for bullying at school (the family fishing business grants him a distinct odor), Ippo's life is one of hardship. One of these after-school bullying sessions turns Ippo's life around for the better, as he is saved by a boxer named Takamura. He decides to follow in Takamura's footsteps and train to become a boxer, giving his life direction and purpose. Ippo's path to perfecting his pugilistic prowess is just beginning...


Black Butler
2008 · JP
In Victorian London, 12-year-old business magnate Ciel Phantomhive thwarts dangers to the queen as he's watched over by his demon butler, Sebastian.


Urusei Yatsura
1981 · JP
The invasion of an alien race known as the Oni begins a new life for Ataru Moroboshi, a lecherous trouble-making tenth grader in the small town of Tomobiki. After unwittingly proposing to the Oni princess Lum Invader instead of his sweetheart Shinobu, Ataru becomes a conduit for aliens arriving on Earth, causing all sorts of havoc for him and his companions, not to mention his own reputation!


Fruits Basket
2019 · JP
After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, 16-year-old high school student Tohru Honda takes matters into her own hands and moves out… into a tent! Unfortunately for her, she pitches her new home on private land belonging to the mysterious Soma clan, and it isn't long before the owners discover her secret. But, as Tohru quickly finds out when the family offers to take her in, the Somas have a secret of their own—when hugged by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac!


TsumaSho
2024 · JP
Keisuke Niijima has lived in grief since his wife, Takae, passed away 10 years ago. But when a young girl visits, claiming to be Takae reincarnated, Keisuke and his daughter, Mai, are drawn into a miraculous reunion. As the girl reveals intimate details only they could know, the Niijima family slowly begins to heal, rediscovering love and warmth in the most unexpected way.


Aikatsu!
2012 · JP
Ichigo Hoshimiya is a regular, ordinary middle school girl. But when her best friend Aoi invites her to join the idol training academy, Starlight Academy, her whole world is turned upside down. As she encounters all kinds of rivals and learns what it takes to be an idol, she uses her Aikatsu Cards to challenge countless auditions.


BLUE LOCK
2022 · JP
High school soccer players from across Japan gather for a controversial project designed to create the best — and most egoistic — striker in the world.


Land of Tanabata
2024 · JP
Yoji Minamimaru, known as Nanmaru, is a university student with a supernatural ability to create small holes in anything. One day, Yoji finds out that the professor of folklore studies has gone missing. Together with his classmates, he decides to search for the professor.


Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
2006 · JP
Japan has been invaded and conquered by the Britannian Empire. Japan is now known as Area 11 and its citizens known as Elevens. The Britannian Empire takes away Japan's autonomous power and imposes its rule through the use of Knightmares. The Empire's rule has never faltered, but cracks have begun to show...


Ahiru no Sora
2019 · JP
Sora joins the high school basketball club, but his unmotivated teammates don't care about the game. To get anywhere, he has to change their minds.


Fist of the North Star
1984 · JP
It's the year 199x, and Earth burns with the fires of a nuclear holocaust. On the charred remains of the planet's surface, humans struggle desperately to survive a fearful world. The young wanderer Kenshiro rises to stand against the violent reality. Upon his chest are seven scars in the shape of the North Star!


Aquarion
2005 · JP
Set in the future, a giant fighting machine called the Aquarion is humanity's only effective weapon in the fight against the technologically advanced species called the Shadow Angels.


Saiyuki
2000 · JP
Many years ago, humans and demons lived in harmony. But that unity ended when demons started attacking humans and plotted a mission to unleash Gyumao - an evil demon imprisoned for thousands of years. Now, Genjo Sanzo, a rogue priest, must team up with three demons - Sha Gojyo, Son Goku, and Cho Hakkai - and embark on a perilous journey to the west to stop these demons from resurrecting Gyumao and restore the balance between humans and demons on Earth.


Ascendance of a Bookworm
2019 · JP
When a sickly young girl suddenly becomes obsessed with inventing new things, her family and friends are all puzzled. "What has gotten into Myne?" they wondered, never dreaming that the answer is not a "What" but a "Who": Urano Motosu, a book-loving apprentice librarian who died in an earthquake in Tokyo who somehow found herself in Myne's body! And since Myne's world is still in a medieval stage, where books can only be owned by the elite, the new Myne intends to do everything she can to bring her beloved books to the masses in the time she has left.
Japanese television is dominated by anime and the dorama — short, tightly-run seasons that rarely outstay their premise. Anime in particular has become one of the most globally exported forms of television there is.
Television drama is where the medium made its case as film's equal, from the cable era's antihero epics to the current streaming wave. Long-form gives character change room to actually happen.