Pride (Season 1)

Pride (プライド, 2004) is a Japanese romantic drama series you can watch online on iFILM. Takuya Kimura plays Haru Satonaka, the star captain of a professional ice hockey team who treats love with the same calculated detachment he brings to the rink.

Haru keeps his personal life on a short leash — women come and go, no one stays. Aki Murase has been waiting two years for a boyfriend who went abroad and stopped calling. They agree to a no-strings arrangement, which is the kind of deal that never stays no-strings. Both carry old damage that surfaces the closer they let each other get.

Broadcast on Fuji TV in 2004, the series was one of the season's standout dramas — partly because Kimura in hockey gear works better than it has any right to, and mostly because the writing understands that pride is the one thing neither lead can afford to put down. Stream Pride online on iFILM.