Tag Archives: Asian dramas

Twdrama In Time with You Review

film & television June 29, 2015 Comments: 2

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Taiwanese drama In Time with You is one of my favorite dramas of all time – I watched it in a glorious summer haze two months ago when I was in the middle of a mild depression, and watching this in between and around bouts of baking and cooking was therapeutic. It’s a story of best friends falling in love, and a rare story in that it’s both slice-of-life with a close attention to the daily details of how people live, and also fast-paced and incredibly romantic. Chen You Qing (Ariel Lin) is a highly driven and capable retail manager of a high-end shoe company. She’s been with the company for years and handles her taxing job with mostly calm aplomb, committing long hours to it with a smile. Lin Da Ren (Bolin Chen) is her long-time best friend, the kind whom she casually picks up the phone and calls any hour of the day and who drops by her house for her mother’s cooking. Da Ren is a manager at an international airline, equally successful in his own right.

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Thoughts While Watching the Thai Version of Full House

film & television January 31, 2015 1 Comment

fullhousethaidramaLike many people, my introduction to Asian dramas was with 2004 Korean drama classic Full House. The one, the only, the fairly low-budget, unadorned romantic comedy that has the visual appeal of a documentary and the addicting quality of peanut butter M&Ms, caramel corn and pistachios rolled into one; the drama that started the entire drama and Hallyu movement. I marathoned the whole thing in a few days, and have never looked back since as far as watching Asian television shows. I have a huge amount of affection for it, particularly certain scenes like the “meet-cute-hey-I’ll-throw-up-on-you” on the plane scene and the learning-to-ride-a-bike scene. Having said that, it’s hopelessly dated both thematically and especially in production value, so I was interested to try the recent Thai remake of the drama. Here is my very brief reaction toward episode one.

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Favorite Asian Dramas #6-8

film & television June 19, 2014 Comments: 2

Continuing the series as we count backward, see the previous post Favorite Asian Dramas #9-12

6)Devil Beside You (Taiwanese)

I know some people who love the other Mike He/Rainie Yang drama Why Why Love a good deal more, but for me this was the first drama I saw them in and one of my first Taiwanese dramas ever, and while it could be argued that WWL has a more consistent plot, DBY has my heart. It was love at first fight when Qi Yue(Rainie Yang), after gathering all her courage to hand a letter of confession to her long-time crush Yuan Yi(Kingone Wang), hands it by accident instead to bad boy Jiang Meng(Mike He), the school troublemaker known as “the Devil”. The exchange sparks the Devil’s interest and he begins pursuing her, to her horror, which becomes even greater when she realizes that he’s the son of the man her mother’s going to marry and that they’ll be living in the same house from then on…

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Favorite Asian Dramas #9-12

film & television April 4, 2014 Comments: 2

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Once upon a long, long, time ago (okay, it was about three years), this girl was obsessed with Asian dramas. Mostly Korean and Taiwanese with a smattering of Japanese. A Taiwanese friend in college introduced me to Asian TV series, widely available with English subtitles via various streaming sites, and the rest, as they say, is history. Throughout college, I went on a long spiral of total obsession, and even spent two years doing freelance writing for Dramafever.com, the U.S.-based “Netflix for dramas”. Be that as it may, the spark eventually faded and I’m largely moved on, but I still have a huge amount of fondness in my heart for this genre. So here is my list of my 12 favorite dramas, culled from the hundreds I watched or experienced during that time period. Will be split into three parts; this part covers #9-#12.

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If wishes do really come true, can love be forever?

this & that February 18, 2014 1 Comment

Back when I was having a love affair with Asian dramas, I thought this song was the most wistful I’d ever heard. (I was a teenager, y’all). But I still have a fondness for it. The melody is evocative of loss somehow.

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Boys Before Flowers/Korean Hanadan quotes

film & television December 30, 2013 Leave a comment

 “Just because you’re gone doesn’t mean chaos will erupt in South Korea”-Goo Jun Pyo

Episode 2:

“The moment I see your face, it feels like bugs are crawling all over my body” – Jandi

Episode 4:

“Since I was with you for one whole night, tell them that I’d take responsibility of you.” – Junpyo

Episode 5:

“How can a tiny and skinny person have such a loud voice? Did you eat a train’s heart?” – Jun Pyo

Episode 6:

Episode 7:

“The type of guy I hate the most?” – Junhee
“A disgraceful guy, A stingy guy, A guy that can’t let go of the past.” – Junpyo
“A guy that brags about himself? – Junhee
“A disgraceful guy.” – Junpyo
“A guy that never forgives his friends? – Junhee
“A stingy guy.” – Junpyo
“A guy that can’t accept his defeat? – Junhee
“A guy that can’t let go of the past.” – Junpyo
“Okay, then.” – Junhee
“If you were the friend who remembered that we watched this 11 times, then it wouldn’t have gone this far.” – Junpyo

Episode 8:

“Just once…tell me that you like me. Then all of this will be over.” – Jun Pyo

“If everything can be settled by the word sorry, why would then law and police exist?” – Ji-Hoo

Episode 9:

Goo Jun Pyo: “What are you, the little match girl? why are you without your gloves?”
Jandi: “I have gloves!”

“There’s no such thing as Jun Pyo’s world or Jandi’s world. Just like you and I are of the same world.” -Ji Hoo

“I liked him better when he was messing up proverbs.” – Yijung

“I’m so busy that I don’t even rememeber that you didn’t call me for 3 days and13 hours!” -Goo Jun Pyo

“You.. you get touched by such trivial things!” – Goo Jun Pyo

Episode 11:

“Does she have an ancestor who died on a date?” – Jun Pyo

Episode 12:

“What’s this?” – Jandi
“Can’t you tell? It’s a necklace.” – Junpyo
“Hey, this won’t do. I know you have weird taste, but this is a girl’s!” – Jandi
“You dummy. It’s yours.” – Junpyo
“What?” – Jandi

“I said it’s yours. There’s only one in the world, so if you lose this one, I’ll really kill you.” – Junpyo

“You do this every time. Whenever I try to get closer, you trample my heart like it’s nothing. Do I still mean so little to you?” – Jun Pyo

“I came to find your heart. I didn’t lose it on purpose.” – Jandi

Misc:

Jandi : “It’s strange. “
Ji-hoo : “What’s strange?”
Jandi : “Whenever the emergency bell rings in my heart, you always appear. “
Ji-hoo : “Then let me be.”
Jandi : “What?”
Ji-hoo : “Let me be Geum Jan Di’s honourable firefighter.”

Episode 20

“Just let me stay like this for five minutes…then I’ll get up” – Junpyo

Kamenashi Kazuya Profile

film & television December 18, 2013 Leave a comment

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*Post adapted from an original Livejournal post

Kamenashi Kazuya, better known as Kame, is a Japanese actor, singer and TV host. He is one of the most widely known, admired, and successful Japanese performers of his day.

Overview:
Kame is a member (the “K”, specifically) of uber-popular boyband KAT-TUN. He is also a drama actor whose has acted in 9 dramas and been the lead in 8 of them (not including cameos and specials and one-episode appearances). He also works as a talkshow host, sports broadcaster, and does oodles of the promotional stuff that comes with being one of Japan’s most well-known stars.

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Caffeinated Links: Colin Firth, Ken Follet, Breaking Bad

film & television September 13, 2013 Leave a comment

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One must always share the trailer for a new Colin Firth film. Methinks forgiveness and hatred and suffering and revenge and love are all a part of this and all for the better. Also – great cast. RT

Did you know that there was more than one miniseries adaptation of Ken Follet‘s books? I did not. Adding World without End to my watchlist asap. (Also – Ben Chaplin!)

How the Bard would end Breaking Bad –

“In Shakespeare’s works, each of us has a certain destiny. We can try to thwart it or challenge it, but ultimately we must align ourselves with it. The consequences of doing otherwise depend on the world in question. If the world is benign, you get slapped around a bit and fall in line. If the world has a malignity or malice toward you, you’re going to get slapped around and die. What can you do about it? Nothing. In either case, once Shakespeare’s characters discover who they really are, the world harmonizes; it falls into place.”  RT The Atlantic

North America is so woefully behind the times transit-wise. New study shows living near convenient transit increases your happiness.  “Well-planned transit can be more than a ride — it can be a positive emotional force.”  RT The Atlantic

A damning Steven Lloyd Wilson film review is one of my favorite things.  “I’m at a loss to say what the director was even aspiring to do. Whatever it was, he failed. Catastrophically.” RT Pajiba

Dramabeans is having a meetup in Seattle September 21st. If Korean dramas are your thing (and they should be) go to this. RT Dramabeans

Spring Waltz Recap Episodes 3-5

film & television July 9, 2013 Leave a comment

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Spring Waltz is beautifully shot, carefully arranged, filmed in stunning locations around the world and set to hauntingly lovely classical and indie music(Loveholic’s “One Love” is the main theme). It is so sophisticated and restrained, in fact, that I am sick to death of it. Spring Waltz is so consumed with how it looks and feels that it forgets about the part where it’s supposed to draw viewers into the plot and lives of the characters portrayed.

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