Crossword Genius

Incompetent fusion of Japanese and short musical dramas (2-5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

no-hoper

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'short musical dramas' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'incompetent fusion of japanese and' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hoper' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for no-hoper that I've seen before include "Person expected to fail" , "Useless person" , "One with little chance of success?" , "Or phone (anag.)" , "One has nil chance of success" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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