I wanted to make this a wiki but I don’t think I have privileges. I thought it would be good to have a thread for Japanese TV shows and movies programs available on streaming platforms outside of Japan. Strictly legal resources only, if you have to use a VPN to get it or the copyright holder didn’t put it on YouTube then it doesn’t count.
For me I’m mainly talking Netflix and Prime because that’s what I have but I know Hulu, Crunchyroll, Kanopy and others all have content. I thought it would be good to have a list, Prime’s search is particularly bad and Netflix isn’t much better.
I’ll kick off with a few shows I like.
リラクマとカオルちゃん - Netflix - Stop motion animation series. Kaoru lives with two bears and a bird; working a dead end office lady job. Pretty adorable animation with relatively simple language - I can pretty much understand it using Japanese subtitles although not audio alone.
Aggretsuko - Netflix - Very funny Sanrio anime about a レッサーパンダのオフィスレディー working a dead end job in Tokyo by day and easing the stress of everyday life by singing death metal Karaoke by night.
東京女子図鑑 - Amazon Prime - probably my favourite live action drama I’ve seen. Fairly warts and all portrayal of the experience of being a career oriented women in modern day Tokyo. Aya is not a 100% sympathetic character but Asumi Mizukawa plays her fantastically.
深夜食堂 - Netflix - definitely a contender for favourite drama and I love this in manga form as well. Slow moving drama centred on the emponymous 居酒屋. Each show is a different vignette on the life’s of one of customers. Sadly only the first series’s has english subtitles on Netflix, there are three more series three movies and a tonne of mangas.
Miss Sherlock HULU -TV14 • Mystery, Drama, International • TV Series • 2018
Miss Sherlock is a talented detective who works alongside the police department to solve crimes plaguing the Tokyo area in this series.
Galileo Crunchyroll - Galileo is a Japanese based on the Detective Galileo book series by Keigo Higashino. Debuting in October of 2007, the series ran for two seasons, plus two TV specials and two movies.
Samurai Gourmet - Netflix - Retired man discovers a passion for eating and lunch inspired by his Samurai ancestors
Kantaro the Sweettooth Salaray Man - Netflix - Guy goofs off from his boring sales job to eat sweets around Tokyo - very informative about Tokyo sweetshops.
昼のセント酒 - Prime -Netflix - Guy goofs off from his boring sales job to visit Sento around Tokyo and then drink beer - very informative about Tokyo sweetshops.
Jimmy - Netflix - Biopic series on Jimmy Onishi, a kid with learning difficulties who finds a home in the world of comedy and then a later career as a highly respected artist. I found this really interesting if slightly hagiographic. I basically know about Sanma Akashiya because of this show.
Fukyado Honpo - Prime - very soapy drama about the 14th generation of a Kyoto sweet store. Would be resolved in 15 minutes if everyone sat down at the beginning of the show and talked about their feeling; instead we get 10 episodes of smouldering looks Andy misunderstandings. Somewhat saved by some awesome kimono patterns.
That’s a good start and if love to see other suggestions
I don’t think they’re acting bad. It’s the pacing of the show, which is a lot different from the usual shows. I know most of those actors from other shows and I know they’re not bad actors. But I understand not everyone feels the same
HULU
Miss Sherlock Miss Sherlock TV14 • Mystery, Drama, International • TV Series • 2018
Miss Sherlock is a talented detective who works alongside the police department to solve crimes plaguing the Tokyo area in this series.
ChruncyRoll season one
Galileo Galileo is a Japanese based on the Detective Galileo book series by Keigo Higashino. Debuting in October of 2007, the series ran for two seasons, plus two TV specials and two movies.
I tried watching episode one with just Japanese subtitles but I couldn’t really follow along. I didn’t really enjoy it much, but maybe that’s just because I was having trouble understanding it.
I believe the only Ultraman on Netflix is the new anime, which is… different. It’s based on the manga, which is about the son of a former Ultraman who gets a suit of power armor to defend Earth.
I’ve been watching this week 夫のちんぽが入らない (My Husband’s Penis Won’t Fit) on Netflix. I must say it has been one of the most overlooked shows on my behalf.
Great pace, great acting, and overall feels really down to earth with common issues and easy language too.
Actually, following a recommendation, I’ve been watching it using the audio description track and is been like such a game changer, it feels it was made for japanese learners (and blind people of course ) . A soothing voice reinforcing exactly what’s happening, great to see verb usage and overall understand the nuances of some vocab. Not many japanese shows have that track, but I recommend you give it a shot if it’s available.
There’s Viki.com, it’s legal and has options to sort by region e.g. Japan 10/10 would highly recommend although there isn’t much there yet.
No Japanese TV thread should ever fail to mention Terrace House, the new series starts in a few weeks on Netflix … depending on your country you may get it a little later though but all the series should be on there.
Netflix has a new j-Drama out this week worldwide. It’s called ‘followers’ and it’s awesome. The interlocking stories of a successful follower and an aspiring/actress model. I won’t spoil the plot but the look of the show is awesome, amazing use of colour and they super saturate a lot to make it look like Instagram post.
(and blind people of course 
) . A soothing voice reinforcing exactly what’s happening, great to see verb usage and overall understand the nuances of some vocab. Not many japanese shows have that track, but I recommend you give it a shot if it’s available.