10. Hey, I know that guy/girl!

You hear that all the time when someone starts watching J-drama. Get into it for years, and you'll know the actors names by heart. Japan picks from a small group of television actors for these shows. They usually do their job well, changing from one character from the next, but you can't help but think of the character they were in the last drama you watched. Unfortunately, tweezing their eyebrows and changing their hair color doesn't help you to forget their last role. In one example that was really hard to shake, actor Ikuta Toma played a funny guy who questioned his own sexuality in Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. This last season, the same guy played a detective that watched his family die around him in Maou.

9. Hey, what's with the boy band music?

The unwritten rule of J-drama: if you're an actor/singer, your musical group's latest song is going to be the theme song for the show. Even if you don't follow Japanese music, watch a few seasons of drama and you'll have some idea of who is in what band and what songs they sing. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on your musical tastes. The most recent example I can think of is the song "Beautiful Days," the Arashi theme song for the pretty good show Ryuusei no Kizuna. Band member Kazunari Ninomiya plays the lead role.

8. Ugh, this song again?

And while we're on music, get used to that theme or "insert song," because you'll be hearing it often. There's something about j-drama direction where they feel they have to force a song or two inside your head. Sometimes it's for the purpouse of promoting a single. And that really works. In the case of popular drama Hana Yori Dango, Hikaru Utada's "Flavor of Life" topped the musical charts after being heavily used in the second season of the show. Other times, like in Iryu (Team Medical Dragon), a surgical drama, the same dramatic orchestral instrumental plays at least twice every episod, sometimes not even matching the on-screen mood. In any case, don't make this a drinking game -- you'll get alcohol poisoning.

7. Someone will pass someone else going the other direction, in slow motion.

How dramatic! You see it all the time: character A has a falling out with character B. Perhaps they've broken up. Or one killed the other's father. To show the viewer that they don't like each other anymore, there's always this cliched shot of one walking past the other in opposing directions, with the obligatory slow down when they pass, shoulder to shoulder. They never make eye contact, though.

6. There's always that wise advisor.

You see it in manga an anime, too.  It's that character that's always willing to help out the main character for whatever reason. They know more. They sense the situation and watch from the shadows. Sometimes they'll give cast members that gradual push toward the climax, often being unsung heroes. Maybe it's the (gay) school nurse, maybe it's mom at home during breakfast, maybe it's the girl from work. In the last episode, you'll always see this person looking on, giving an approving look at the final outcome.

5. That mean/bitchy character will soften up in the end.

You have to have that one mean, judgmental hates-the-world character in every drama. They usually hate the main character with a burning passion, sometimes causing them trouble. But no worries. Someone will help them out, unprompted. Or save their life. Or say nice things about them that they will overhear. Or fate will step in and teach them a lesson in the end. They're never a strong enough character for the focus of a drama, but that hasn't stopped anyone.

4. One of the love triangle members will bow out gracefully.

That's never how it would happen in real life. But, in every love drama, there's a triangle. If you were to step back and look at it objectively, you'd know who would end up with who. But you never do, and end up watching 12 episodes anyway. And in the end, that one guy/girl realizes that he's not the best fit for the main character, and gives them their blessing to be with the other person. Yeah, right.

3. Live without regrets. Again.

That's the overall moral theme of the majority of J-dramas. Say what you feel. Do it before its too late. Hell, go back in time if you can. Forget the tragic love story -- even in the over-the-top comedies, there's still that underlying theme, and it always takes 11 or so episodes for the characters to realize it. And if the show becomes really popular, that lesson may not be learned until the television special that will air next year. 

2. One character needs a good kick in the ass.

These days, its usually a female lead. Her insecurities usually add one to two episodes to the total count. Just confess your love already! It's annoying to watch fifty minutes of hand wringing and stalling in every drama, but you get used to it after awhile. It's all a setup to that dramatic happening that gets character A to realize what character B wants them to know. Unfortunately, sometimes it's so annoying that you just want to stick your head inside the television and tell them yourself.

1. Running. They're running again.

There's always running. This is every J-drama. I don't care if I haven't seen it yet -- there is running in it. Dramatic running is the essence of Japanese television drama. If they've left before you say goodbye? Run. You've finally realized how you've been wrong the whole time? Run. Need to protect your loved one before they kill themselves? Run, man. Run! I can't think of a show where someone didn't dramatically run to someone else. They might not always make it in time, but it still happens, and they arrive, out of breath but relieved. What's always funny is how drawn out and slow things are when they finally arrive. Might as well have taken a cab!

[bonus points to anyone who can name the dramas from the pictures]