7 best shows like The Yen Family (1988)

Set in the early 1980's, Moyuru (Yuya Yagira) is a student at an art school in Osaka. He is full of passion and desire in his pursuit to become a manga writer. He also doesn't lack confidence in his abilities. Morinaga Tonko (Yamamoto Mizuki) is Honoo's senior at school and the manager of the badminton team which Honoo belongs to. Right before summer vacation, Moyuru makes a decision. He decides to take his manga manuscripts to a publishing company in Tokyo.

Junko Harumi was once a model student during her middle school and high school days. She failed to enter prestigious Tokyo University and her life has not gone smoothly since then. She has a hard time finding a job and having relationships with men. Now, at the age of 31, she works as a teacher at a private institute. 3 men, who vary in type, appear in front of her. Masashi Yakumo is smart and a cousin of Junko, Kyohei Yuri is a disorderly high school student and Kazuma Yamashita is Kyohei ’s teacher in high school.

Shinigami-kun, alias grim reaper #413, is a rookie who pronounces the death of those scheduled to die and brings souls to the nether world. He would appear with the signature phrase “Congratulations! I’m here to call on you” although it is hard to say how this can be a happy occasion, and watch over the dying. To a grim reaper, persuading people attempting to commit suicide and preventing unforeseen deaths is also an important task. But because #413 is new to this grim reaper work, he has a tendency to lean towards humans in his judgments, break the rules of the nether world and get reprimanded by his superior.

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.

A high school girl finally gets her own apartment, but she has to share it with the most popular boy in school. No one can know they're living together.

A series of events leads single, 25 year old Mikuri Moriyama and 36 year old Hiramasa Tsuzaki to marry as a cover.

Satoh Aya, a temporary office worker who never bad-mouths about others no matter how much she is fooled, is conveniently used in her company as a 'sticky woman'. Such an ordinary office lady ends up meeting Ichijo Kei, the young successor of a large company, who was eager to marry early because of his grandmother, the chairman. The destiny plays with their fates and both meet each other in an unexpected situation which is going to change their destiny.