news: Upcoming dramas and my current reality

My Anticipation

So I know I haven't really been on the Asian drama scene in a while. Well, I sort of have and sort of haven't. For one, I'm not pushing myself to blog regularly, only because it keeps me from being able to actually enjoy watching certain series without wondering what I want to write about it. I guess I'm really not cut out to be a drama series blogger, but I'll try to keep things going as long as I can. I just really like to write and I have opinions about certain series, scenes, celebs, actors, idols, etc... that I can't seem to NOT share.

For example, I actually have a LOT of opinion pieces written (as a rough draft, a final draft ready to be published, random thoughts on a piece of paper or WordPad file...). It's a matter of formalizing them to my standards so that they can be published for all to read.

It's just unfortunate that I have such anal perfect standards that it keeps me from publishing because I'm not sure it's good enough. Well, I know it hasn't kept me from posting some terrible articles in the past (look at me talking like I've been drama blogging forever), but I have my moments of spontaneous "I want to share with the world!" bloggings.

But anyway, it IS true that I haven't quite been in the Asian entertainment scene very much in the past couple weeks. While I have managed to view to completion some series (The King 2 Hearts, Rooftop Prince, Crime Squad, The Locked Room Murders, etc...) I have also stumbled across many series that I haven't been able to get into enough to finish (Kimchi Family, I Do I Do, Three Kingdoms RPG...). And while I've been at it, I've been watching American television series dated back to a 90s premiere (Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as well as American series that aren't that old (Supernatural, How I Met Your Mother). And surprisingly, reading books hasn't quite been my thing in the past month, which really bugs me since I have a Reading Challenge to finish within the next five months.

Aside from all of that, I have also had a lot of REAL LIFE situations come up that take precedence over silly little Asian entertainment obsessions... Yea. I'm a grown adult and real life DOES take priority and I can't ignore my responsibilities and duties. That's life, I guess; and that's why I like to indulge in the fictional world so much.

As of present, the only "most recent" Korean drama series I've been able to finish watching was Big, the romantic comedy body swap plot device created by the infamous Hong Sisters who are well know for their quirky rom-coms (Delightful Girl Choon Hyang, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho). And to be totally honest, it had been a while since I was able to follow a series so intently, because a lot of them have been kind of boring, while others I just started watching when they were already finished broadcasting, so I didn't have to wait for the next episode as I'd done with Big. But I may give a post about this one a lot later when I can collect all of my thoughts. But as a teaser, let's just say, some series are decently executed and you find yourself loving everything about them; then something goes horribly wrong with the script and, well... sometimes the quality of an ending can either make or break a good series.

Moving along into my next big watch... well, if flopped from the beginning. I should have known better than to expect anything too extraordinary out of Hong Kong's TVB. Three Kingdoms RPG has been on my radar since the very day that it was announced two years ago in preview presentations (as I have already mentioned again and again). I even wrote a first impression of it to emphasize my excitement... or rather, I guess my disappointment at what's taking place. After so long of anticipation, the series was a flop from the beginning... or maybe I'm too demanding because my parents seem to be enjoying it. What little snippets I've seen of it while walking through the living room while Mom and Dad are watching... well, none of it makes much sense to me. For one, our main character is able to use his cell phone to communicate with his sister through this space-time lapse thing. So we're fairly certain that there's some mystical, non-scientific explanation to this entire deal. But still, it doesn't seem to make any sense, even as far as the series' story line logic goes. It feels as if the writer/producer team just decided "This is going to be a possibility, but we won't give any explanations as to how cause we'll cover that later. It will be so because we say so." And thus, Sze-ma Shun is able to change history by using modern historical textbooks via communicating with his academically nerdy sister from the future. Um... what about repercussions about changing things for the future? Do you think that if you don't put your two-cents into the ordeal, things will will just screw over? So... no, the dramaverse of Three Kingdoms RPG isn't working very well for me.

On the other hand, I've found that I DO like the Hong Kong series Tiger Cubs, which gives focus on criminal investigation, crime thrills, and the Special Duties Unit of Hong Kong police, which is akin to a SWAT team in America. I have a first impression post in the works, so hopefully I can get that one written and posted soon. The series is coming into its last few weeks and I haven't quite gone back to watch it even though I'm certain I won't be disappointed too much.

My most recent Asian entertainment forays have actually been more into an area that I regret not having discovered an obsession for until now. I stumbled upon TVXQ a while back and thought that their music was really good. And at the time, the only thought that came into my mind was: "I guess I get why they're so popular." But no... that wasn't good enough. A few weeks ago, I finally TRULY discovered why the infamous and widely celebrated Dong Bang Shin Ki (aka DBSK, TVXQ, Tohoshinki, etc...) are so popular and are the Korean group with the largest fan base in the world.

As my sources have come up, these five guys began their career in 2003 as an A Capella group. So while they all have great voices and perform well on their CDs and the like, they can also perform live, acoustical, and still sound wonderful. And all I could think of was "Wow!"

It's only unfortunate that I only now know of them after their big split due to legal issues and the like. Currently three of the former TVXQ members have formed their own group called JYJ, and the remaining two members have had their comeback as a two person group, still going under the name TVXQ. It's fine and all for me since I never followed them from the beginning. So the split doesn't affect me as much as it does a lot of their other long time fans. I like them as a five-member group, and I still like them as two separate groups; and mostly, I also like them individually doing their own things.

So yea... my past couple of weeks have been wrapped in perusing the online communities about these guys, listening to all their music (together, apart and individually) and watching some variety programs they have been participating in. I have a large desktop wallpaper on my computer of Xiah Junsu (who has become my favorite of the members), but I've found that the rest of the group all have their own charms as well. Maybe, like the Lee Seung Gi article, I might write something as a tribute to them as well.

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And now to explain the last item on my list: The opening picture for this blog. Here it is again:

Clicky for larger image... or just look at the one at the top.

This little picture could have been explained earlier, but I get carried away (as I always do). Basically, I have a couple K-Drama series I've been looking forward to. And courtesy of all Asian media blogs and websites, the hype is just getting higher every time I see more news about them. Those of you who follow Korean drama will know all four of these series. But for those who are as sporadic in K-drama viewing as I am (and I don't have posters or anything, but I'll include some links:

Faithis Lee Min Ho's (City Hunter, Boys Before Flowers) newest drama series. It is blurbed as a time-skipping, historical fantasy with an epic level mystic telling about it. For more information, click on the link to see all of Dramabeans' articles about it (and same goes for the rest of the series mentioned below.

Arang and the Magistrate stars Shin Mina and Lee Jun Ki (in his come back drama after army release!!) in a retelling of a classic Korean folktale about a ghost named Arang who haunts magistrates of a certain village in order to get someone to hear her story. In legend, Arang was the daughter of a magistrate who was murdered, but everyone, including her father, believed that she had run away with a man, bringing shame to her family. As Dramabeans mentions in news articles, there are some quirky new twists that are going to be incorporated that might make this series intriguing. For one, Arang will not remember why she is dead and so we've got ourselves a nice little mystery going on here. Fun stuff and exciting!

Nice Guy is Song Joong Ki's first ever main lead role in a drama series (he's been a main lead in films before and a rom-com at that!). However, I have my reserves about watching this series despite it also casting Moon Chae Won (Princess' Man, Brilliant Legacy) as the female lead opposite Song Joong Ki and Park Shi Yeon (Coffee House, My Girl) as the other main female lead. It's a melodrama; and if it's one thing I truly do not like, it's melodrama. I prefer my romances happy and funny or exciting and action packed. Crying vehicles that involve a lot of pain and suffering... really not my thing. Of so many rising young actors out in K-drama land, every time I think: "I can't wait to see this guy lead his own rom-com as the main character!" I end up getting him for a main character... but in a melodrama. Song Joong Ki gets Nice Guy and Yoo Seung Ho had gotten Operation Proposal (which was also categorized as a melodrama).

But anyway, the other series listed on my "I'm looking forward to this" list is Ma Boy which I just saw on Dramabeans today. It sounds interesting enough and it's only 3 episodes long about a guy cross-dressing as a girl. Yes, if you are tired of the girl cross-dressing as guy cliche (something I've never gotten tired of), then there's some fun to be had here with a role reversal.

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Anyway, this news post got a bit long (as they always do). I'm hoping to get back into a more regular blogging routine, but I promise nothing. I've been making notes and editing articles and the like, but I just don't know how dedicated I can make myself. I have phases and unless the Asian drama blogging phase brings me back into that first "giddy drama viewing" attitude, I'm not sure if I can promise two or three posts a month even.

Here's to hopes with all the new anticipated series that I've got lined up. Otherwise, you know I'm probably just watching some old-school American series or the newest season of How I Met Your Mother (which premiers on September 24).

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This is my current desktop wallie!  :D :D!!!
Excuse me as I become less than professional....

first impression: Three Kingdoms RPG (Hong Kong)

First of all, I think I’ve seen plenty of time-travel drama series lately to realize that the mechanism for time-travel is really hard to grasp in each series. The only storyline in which I can one-hundred percent agree with the time-travel mechanism is TVB’s A Step Into the Past. At the very least, in this particular storyline, we aren’t dealing with some strange mystical magic that causes the main character to time leap for “some writer/producer given reason that still needs a lot of explanation.”

A Step Into the Past involves futuristic technology wherein our main character is asked to return to the past, take a simple picture, and then return to his present-day. We make use of scientific methods to force the time-travel storyline. Sure, the fact that this technology was tested on HIM of all people is highly for story progression reasons, but it still makes more sense than a mystical, magical explanation. In this case, Hang Xiao Long (main character of A Step Into the Past glorified by Louis Koo) being sent back in time by some rich man and his team of specialized scientists propels the story, then further stabilizes it by instigating that our time-machine instrumentation still has some imperfect kinks (a more realistic gesture) when he is sent three years earlier into the time period that everyone was hoping he’d land in. When his time-machine remote’s battery dies, he realizes that he’ll probably have to wait three years to get to the correct time frame while he tries to figure out how to make his remote time machine work again. And so the adventure begins and we all end up loving it (save for a few cliched and blocky moments in his journey).

Thus far, I’ve been watching time-leapers go from the Korean Joseon time period into modern society. The mechanics of that time-leaping is still undeterminable, usually some sort of magical sleight of the heavens, or the like... I haven’t finished watching Queen In-Hyun’s Man, so I really don’t know if they talk about the time-traveling mechanism; but I know for sure that in Rooftop Prince, the time-leaping isn’t even really explained, but is blown off with an indirect explanation: That this was a decree of fate.

Operation Proposal (which I also haven’t finished watching) makes use of a human conduit who creates the opportunity for our main hero to leap into the near history of his younger high school life topped with a lot of non-explanation save for the word “miracle”. On some levels, it works, but on others, it’s still a little sketchy.

Other time-traveling series I haven’t quite bothered with: Time Slip Dr. Jin, Bu Bu Jing Xing, Palace... etc...

Coming back to Three Kingdoms RPG, I had been looking forward to this series for a LONG time (BIG emphasis on the word “LONG”). We were talking about combining an obsessed gamer as the main lead with the historical Three Kingdoms MMO that he loves playing so much and a time leap back to that exact era. In essence (if games are as historically accurate as gamers believe them to be), then throwing this guy into the time period he plays with regularly would be kind of awesome. After all, he gets to show off his strategic gaming skills in a real life situation (and in this case, he gets to meet his most revered idol, Chu Kot Leung of historical infamy). I was always a fan of A Step Into the Past, and to be honest, if TVB sticks with their normal chops, then the storyline of Three Kingdoms RPG could be a good one.

And then we also combine Raymond Lam, Tavia Yeung, and Kenneth Ma into one setting and I’ve got all my favorite cast members in place (well, at least two of them).

And so we step into Three Kingdoms RPG with a lot of hype (at least on my part) and expectation. Kenneth Ma is the main character who gets sent back in time to the Three Kingdoms era and meets his revered idol Chu Kot Leung (Raymond Lam) and shares a romance with a character role played by Tavia Yeung. And technically, this is the only summary anyone can really dig up at this point. What the main reason for his time-travelling is, I’m not sure anyone knows yet. At least in A Step Into the Past, Hang Xiao Long’s time jump was due to human means, although the fact that he landed three years prior to the target time and ends up needing to “make history or cease to exist” when things in history seem to go wrong tells us that there may have been some sort of heavenly interference in his initial mission.

The first episode of Three Kingdoms RPG took me 40 minutes to actually start enjoying. This is actually a first for a TVB series. Typically, TVB is really good at hyping up the introduction and then giving you a great impression from Day 1 of broadcast. The first episode for most TVB series is usually the best one. If it’s one thing that TVB knows how to do, it’s hooking the viewer with that very first episode as well as doing their research wonderfully for the series to take off without a hitch.

Okay, so they did their job... they just did it kind of half-assed.

I will admit that TVB has a good idea of what its viewers like to see. And thus, they know that we don’t like to spend too much time dragging on with build-up. So I expected that by the end of the first episode, we would be time-leaping to the past with our main lead, which is accomplished quickly. Unfortunately, all of the build-up for our main lead, Sze-ma Shun (Kenneth Ma) was so agonizing to watch that I almost gave up. I mean, this is the first episode. I should not be rolling my eyes and “meandering” through it while playing Minesweeper. My attention should be completely focused on the storyline and its opening (though for its benefit, the opening sequence had a good theme sung by Raymond and the first few frames depicting the actual Three Kingdoms RPG game was pretty neat). For TVB, this was actually a little disappointing, because even with series that I have no intention of watching because it sounds stupid, the first episode is STILL a hook-line-and-sinker type.

I dread the rest of the series because I don’t know if things will just get worse; but then I also anticipate watching the rest of the series because maybe TVB’s writing and production man-power was placed in the rest of the story and things will get better. Maybe that expositional build-up was simply a quick hash together to get the main lead where he needs to be. But then the production staff is really going to have to put in beyond 100% effort to make up for it in the long run. Especially explaining the time travel mechanism which already didn’t make any sense.

For the first 40 minutes of this episode, I found that I absolutely do NOT like our main character already. He’s a game obsessed lazy layabout who feels like he’s entitled to luxury just because... well... just because. He doesn’t even have a good reason for being a bad son who has no stable career at his age (which I’m assuming is somewhere nearing his thirties, because, let’s face it, there is no way that Kenneth Ma is getting away with being an early twenties), spends all of his days playing MMOs, online chatting with several web-girlfriends, and just being a pain in the ass to his family. He’s fortunate that, at the very least, his little sister (played by Cilla Kung) seems to think he’s a decent human being. I feel sorry for her already, because she’s either going to figure out that he’s a leeching worm and disown him which will break her heart, or she’s going to forever idolize him for some unknown reason other than the fact that he’s her big brother.

I’m not saying that Sze-ma Shun is a bad person. On the contrary, I’m sure he IS a decent human being underneath all of his lazy, good-for-nothing immaturity. At the very least, he won’t leave a stranded stranger to die on the side of a mountain, and he values his friendships. He’s not the type who will go out and commit illegal acts even for his own benefits. But let’s face it, he’s a thirty year old man stuck in a sixteen year old mindset. He thinks he should be entitled to being a lazy teenage boy when, at his age, he really should be getting a job, making his own money, and at least NOT giving his family any grief.

But this might be the standard immature asshole to noble hero trope as our character plot device. Sze-ma Shun, through time-leaping backwards into the Three Kingdoms era, learns the values of family, ambition, and maturity before he gets catapulted back into his own time. So this, my friends, is more than likely a lovely TVB-ified story of one man-child’s growth in character. I see nothing less happening because TVB is predictable.

The entire first episode of this series had been a little hard for me to swallow, probably because Sze-ma Shun is made out to be such a spoiled brat. I welcome the fact that he’s got SOME appreciation for history through his gaming, and the fact that he values his friends and the code of brotherhood honor (this will all come in handy for his convenient time-leap back into an era where brothership is extremely significant; especially during war). At least he’s got something he can play off of. I mean, we can’t ALL be Hang Xiao Long and start off as the genius warrior who just keeps getting smarter and stronger as the show progresses. (Also, Louis Koo is a much better actor than Kenneth Ma, by all standards).

So here’s a quick run-down:

Sze-ma Shun gets into fights regularly with his father who tells him he needs to work to earn money while the guy practically scolds his father for not straight out just giving him money. Sze-ma Shun spends his days slacking off from work, treating his friends to his father’s restaurants good food, and works as an extra on filming sets (you know, the type who play a random citizen or soldier and die in multiple frames but no one ever notices the same guy playing different roles who appear for a whole of two seconds). Sze-ma Shun has slacker friends as well and together, they spend their time playing video games, slacking off together, ogling girls' and their legs, and making trouble like putting sticky rat capture glue on an expensive car after breaking into it and finding a little packet of illegal substance. And then this is where we find the value of Sze-ma Shun’s friends who both point fingers at him dealing in the illegal while getting themselves off the hook. And believe me, I don’t feel sorry at all for the rat bastard, though I kind of wish he was being punished for his own wrong-doings rather than being framed for something some other asshole in the present did.

Basically, if Sze-ma Shun’s entire progression is to become a better man, then he has A LOT of work to do; otherwise, I may not be able to relate with his plight at all.

Finally, while on the set of an historical drama and/or movie playing the role of a soldier who probably dies after his scene is over, that freak storm hits Hong Kong and magical stuff happens. Due to being framed for possession of illegal substance and obstruction of justice, Sze-ma Shun runs away from the police who are trying to arrest him and ends up in some mountainous cavern where our time-traveling mysticism takes affect with some shoddy CGI (and some shoddier acting from Kenneth Ma where I wince and cry at the same time, because, Dude, I know you can do better than that!). The last five minutes of the series shows Sze-ma Shun walking around thinking that he's still in filming set when he runs across others in historical garb and speaking in historical tones (and he's still in his historical soldier get-up as well). And when people are killed and an army rushes passed his line of vision on the trails below, he finally realizes that he's probably not in modern-day Hong Kong anymore.

Clearly, the series has a direction. It just had no idea how to get us there without pleading that we give into a full-out suspension of disbelief at all costs. We have a despicable main lead who is being over-acted to death by someone who knows better what acting should look like; and then there are shoddy CGI and really cruddy magical components at play. I'm not sure I'll be able to get over the magic bubble thing being a time warp portal. But I'll persevere...

Fortunately, there’s also Raymond Lam who is more than likely the other main male lead (as per typical TVB standards, they wouldn’t cast this guy aside for the other one so easily; and also, his character is the first to be presented in the opening theme sequence which usually means that he's the true main character). He will make his role bearable, at the least, and maybe now that we're in the proper era of the series' setting, the story will take off with better pacing.

The last five minutes of the first episode is what actually got my excitement all hyped up finally, bringing me back to where I’ve been standing all this time about Three Kingdoms RPG. Sze-ma Shun, by some strange force of nature (literally some freak storm approaching Hong Kong and what looks like magical force field bubbles and some terrible directing and acting conveyance), somehow gets sent back into the Three Kingdoms era. We don’t know how or why this happened, but it does, and as far as time-traveling series goes, I would bet big bucks that the time-travel mechanism will be left in the dust as the series progresses. TVB’s aim is to get the hero where he needs to be, no matter how tacky or unbelievable. Explanations will either take place a lot later on after we quit caring about the whys and the hows, or they will never be addressed again.

But anyway, I’m excited because the adventure is now about to begin. I expected no less of TVB, but I had at least expected to be able to relate with the main guy from the beginning. I guess that plot point will just have to be addressed later. I also expected a little more from Kenneth Ma as well, but it seems like he’s in that “the director needs over-extreme comedic acting exaggerations NOW” mode; which is painful coming from him when you know (and I repeat again and again) he can do better.

For the meantime, I look forward to seeing my beloved Raymond Lam in his revered Chu Kot Leung role -- a man who was known throughout China as the best war strategist... well, EVER. And then once Sze-ma Shun learns how to man up and mature, I expect some good old lovey-dovey bromance to take place. Ever since their last series together (The Four), I’ve missed seeing some of these young TVB stars gather in one series to present their bromantic awesomeness-es. (Okay, enough of the fangirl-ing.)

As far as cast goes, I’ve been a little wary of Kenneth Ma taking center-stage next to Raymond Lam. For one, Ray is going to outshine Kenneth Ma no matter what; no questions. Kenneth Ma isn’t a terrible actor or anything, but he’s also not the most natural either. He has his moments. He settles into his characters really well, and he conveys emotions decently. But sometimes, he tends to flatline it and I’m forced to ask myself “Does this situation suddenly feel like he’s trying too hard to convey his character’s feelings?” In other words, if I have to ask that question, then the answer is most likely a big fat “Yes.”

A lot of TVB actors and actresses have a tendency to overdo their acting a little bit under certain circumstances (especially comedic situations). I don’t know if this is something to do with the directing or maybe a misconception of what is acceptable as a form of acting. But even the best of the best have had their flaws, and the ones who manage to break out of that mold usually end up leaving TVB in pursuit of movie roles (others just get lucky that I can still suspend my disbelief that he or she is in character). Kenneth Ma has his bumpy moments when he can get so into character that I appreciate his rapport with his role, but then sometimes he falls out of sync and I’m shown that he’s just some actor doing his job.

Oh... but it would appear that he is definitely in character this time around. Unfortunately, the agony of his character is probably part of directing and writing flaws. Too tacky, too fake, and too much... so I hope the atmosphere of the series tones him down a little bit now that he’s done his time leap.

I’ve gone and watched a couple other series from TVB recently, and Three Kingdoms RPG is the big one I’ve been anticipating. So maybe my love for this little station’s productions will be rekindled soon. It’s not like TVB has dropped off of my radar; I just wish that they would return to their former glory from back in the 90s to SOME of the early 2000s productions. Or maybe my ranges have just expanded way too much now that I’ve included Korean dramas, Taiwanese dramas and Japanese doramas into my scope.

We will see how this works out as I have my eye on two other TVB productions that are currently airing as well. On the other hand, there are a slew of Korean dramas that are about to premiere in the next month and I don’t know if I have that kind of time to try appreciating everything.

As far as Three Kingdoms RPG goes, it seems like the next episode is really where the story’s adventure will begin. The first episode spent its entirety building up our main character to be the lazy, immature sleaze bag we will learn to either hate or love, depending on his development. Not much to go off of, but maybe by the third or fourth episode, I’ll have an idea where this series is heading.

news: I'm back... well... sort of...

A sincere bow and apology conveyed through Bo the Chicken

And we won't know for how long this will last; however, my desire to continue blogging is quite strong. I'm just going to take it easy because I completely overwhelmed myself. I admit that I went into K-Drama overload like a crack addict and overdosed a little (or a LOT) and so I needed a holiday (or rehab). I sincerely apologize for going absent for so long and I understand that I may have lost the few readers I DID end up procuring. So if you're reading this, thank you so very much for staying with me and having faith that I would return.

For the past month (or two? three?) I actually spent reading books. It was actually pretty nice and kind of refreshing. For some of my book reviews, hop on over to my personal blog (which is slowly becoming a book blog).

After that, I then discovered something interesting: I hadn't completely given up on TVB yet. Well, to be fair, I don't think I ever assumed that I'd given up on TVB (my mother ship). I just started becoming disappointed in them and the fact that I couldn't even finish one series since 2010. But lo and behold, I picked up a medical drama starring my favorite Hong Kong actress in TVB (not depicted in the photo above) and watched the series until its disastrous, bitter end. I may or may not include a short review of the series as well as a separate post about the ending that hadn't quite satisfied, but at the same time wasn't at all THAT horrible (terminal illnesses and couple curtain calls and all included).

Following, I decided to indulge in some recent Hong Kong series from TVB that I had actually enjoyed (questionable endings and all). The thing about TVB series is that they aren't perfect and even if the series have great build-ups, awesome acting and attention to detail, there is always a point where the series will turn for the worst -- usually either half-way through when the writers get into a "writing blockade" or nearing the end where a "trend-setting funk" takes over. And so either the series doesn't know where its going, or the series decides to head straight into angsty K-Drama territory on weed wherein it involves the right elements, but is executed completely (and unnecessarily) wrong.

But I digress.

I think I maybe watched three TVB series before I ended up leaving town for vacation and couldn't seem to get back into that "reminiscing" stance anymore. So I spent another day or two in that floating "I don't know what I wanna do" period until I stumbled across the Taiwanese Drama savior to my boredom as well as renewed interest.

Ti Amo Chocolate, which I will talk about in more detail after I finish watching the series, had the elements for my cure-all of all things entertainment: cross-dressing girl as boy, let the romantic comedy and sticky situations ensue! There is nothing that grabs my attention more than this particular cliche and to be totally honest, I don't know why I love this plot device so much, but I do and there's no changing that. Yes, I was a wee bit more excited that I am willing to admit, but upon the viewing of episode number one, I think I hooked myself just for the sake of the girl-disguised-as-boy basis (which doesn't always work, but is usually one of the best attractions -- I will refrain from bad-mouthing such series as Taiwanese Drama called Boy and Girl). If anything, I may or may not throw in a first impression post soon even though I'm probably already half-way through the series. But who cares, really?

Ti Amo Chocolate gave me that flare I had for beautiful men, romantic comedies, and all things fluffy all over again. Or maybe I just needed a reprieve from angsty K-Drama tropes for a while.

And so my new obsession? Vanness Wu, Wu Jian Hau. He's so lovely that I just want to squeal. And the funny thing is, he's not particularly THAT good looking, but he's got some sort of charm about him that MAKES him extremely attractive. I don't know what it is (Eyes? Style? Onscreen charm? It might be the eyes, really.), but it's there and I love it!

And so on with the romantic comedies of Taiwanese Idol Drama galore. I finally managed to finish Love Keeps Going (painfully) and jumped back into the Skip Beat! wagon, finishing that series with a bit of amusement and some hard laughter that I never thought I could find in the comedy of Skip Beat!. It was quite shocking actually, especially after I totally dismissed Taiwanese Idol Drama's penchant for comedy in the first impression post of Skip Beat!, saying that they just don't know how to do comedy correctly and saying that it all just ends up being awkward and tacky. SOMEONE must have been listening.

I have plans to also watch Material Queen (90% because of Vanness Wu; 10% because of romantic comedy faithfulness). I may or may not continue hovering the Taiwanese Idol Drama scene.

I managed to marathon Autumn's Concerto, picking it up 80% because of Vanness Wu and 20% because of the story, which is started to change ratios to somewhere more around 50% story after the story started to pick up a bit more half-way through the series. Watching this series is a total shock to myself, because if I had to place a label, I would call this series a melodrama with all the right cliches, executed quite reasonably. I'm not saying they're the best tropes nor is the story line really that great. But I like where the story is going and I like the pacing and the developments (despite how predictable a lot of it is), and there's this sincere feel to it that just makes it hard to stop watching. It also doesn't help much that the entire basis of the series has already been laid out in the summaries found anywhere as well as from the short cut-scenes for commercial breaks, and so while watching this series, you know exactly what's going to happen from day one until the end. HOWEVER, you still direly want to know how it gets there because you get to watch two people fall in love, separate through angsty cliches and then reunite somehow.

I'm enjoying it a LOT. It's a sweet love story with a LOT of feel. And I usually DON'T like melodramas. Or maybe I'm a clost melo-romance fan. Hard to say.

More on that series after I finally finish it, however.

I have no definite plans for the moment right after posting this particular news article. I have the desire to simply write the short reviews (the intro info pieces) for everything I've been watching lately. Alongside those will also be the less "spoiler" friendly discussions (which I call discussions even though I'm the only one doing the discussing of) of those series. Such articles may or may not end up being posted:

Dream High 2 -- thoughts and final verdict -- wherein I will be doing a LOT of criticizing and will explain why I ultimately dropped this series for good.

The Hippocratic Crush -- thoughts and intro info -- I just feel like I have some things to say about this one.

Ti Amo Chocolate -- first impression and final verdict -- because I can.

Ode to Vanness Wu -- this might just be a squealy picture-fest as well as the officially banner changing ceremony wherein this blog's banner finally gets a new look after I come around to creating a new look.


As for the rest of those Korean Dramas that I had started and haven't quite finished yet, well, just to be sure no one is disappointed in me, I DO have a desire to finish those series. I'm still recovering from my K-drama overdose and will just have to take things slowly. It's not that I don't want to finish them, it's just that I don't know where to start. And now with some really good looking new series out in a winning line (Lee Seung Gi as a prince in The King 2 Hearts; a quirky time-traveling romance piece that seems to be making quite the hit) as well as others that are coming into the light soon (Gong Yoo's comeback in a Hong Sisters' production anyone?; Lee Jun Ki's comeback with the lovely Shin Min Ah in a historic setting?; Song Joong Ki and Moon Chae Won, together, as a main couple?), I'm almost afraid that I might go into overload again and have to take an even longer holiday to recover.

On top of that, TVB is finally ushering out the one series I've been anticipating since the first time I saw the promotion clips, Return to Three Kingdoms, which has been renamed Three Kingdoms RPG (which works with the series' basis, but still sounds tacky no matter how hard you try to make it work, to be totally honest). But given the premise of the series, my two favorite TVB stars Raymond Lam and Tavia Yeung, as well as one actor who grows on me if his character is agreeable... I've been in this tent for a long time coming already.

But anyway, life in the Asian Drama world is thus and I really DO hope that I can continue to enjoy as well as share my thoughts while I'm at it. It would be pretty awesome to be able to continue blogging and watching drama series as well. There are also some really nice Korean movies I'm interested in partaking in too. Blogging movies, however, has always been a bit hard for me depending on how I manage to NOT spoil anything (since I plan on having NO intro info posts for movies at all).

first impression: The Moon That Embraces the Sun (Korean)

What better way to start off a series than with a short legend about the moon and the sun, some assassin killings in the night, a dash of political intrigue, a few significant deaths, a tragic prophecy, and some juicy court conspiracies? It's always a good sign when the first few minutes of a series manages to rein you right in, living up to all the hype that we've been hearing about over the past couple weeks. It's exciting and you get that spine-tingling thirst to keep watching (much like I had had when I was watching Tree With Deep Roots). While it's not the most original of plot devices hovering the first episode, it's really the atmosphere, the actors, the premise, and the tragic romance that's reeling me in (it's all about feel for me, really).

And yes, I know that I'm probably way late in putting out a first impression post for The Moon That Embraces the Sun, but I guess the term to use would be: "Better late than never." Right?

I DO apologize though (and we may skip the next two or three paragraphs if no one cares to hear my excuses and rantings) -- I had been planning on watching The Moon That Embraces the Sun since the very moment I heard about it. I mean, who could forego a series that was slated as a "from the makers of Sungkyunkwan Scandal" type of series? I loved Sungkyunkwan Scandal in all it's insightful, witty, beautiful and idealistic glory (shoddy ending included). And then after boarding the Dream High train and riding it all the way through to the end within two nights, I was hooked on the next Kim Soo Hyun project (because Song Sam Dong rules, doncha know!). Add the ever awesome Jung Il Woo into the mix right after I finished falling in love with him from Flower Boy Ramyun Shop.... I'm totally and permanently onboard this one!

And so it was unfortunate that so many factors had made it so hard for me to even start touching this series. And now I regret that I hadn't tried harder. The first English subbed online streaming version didn't even show up until about five to six episodes into the series. By then, I was in the middle of wrapping up thoughts on other series (which doesn't show since I've finished my articles and have yet to "complete" them enough for publishing). On top of that, I had this really overwhelming feeling that settled on my shoulders the moment I thought about watching The Moon That Embraces the Sun after I had already chosen to pick up Wild Romance, Color of Woman and Skip Beat! (none of which I have bothered to touch for a few weeks now).

I was under the impression that if I started watching The Moon That Embraces the Sun, I would have to blog about it (at the very least, a first impression post and some random thoughts as the series progressed). By the time I was resigned to start watching this series, the girls over at Dramabeans as well as all the media about ratings on this series had raved so much about the grandness of it all that I was worried I wouldn't know WHAT to write about it for myself. For me, it was a matter of: What good would I be if others are already putting such great recaps and thoughts on this series out for the public to bask in? Nonetheless, I still wanted to put my own two-cents in anyway and so I conflicted over how I would approach the series as a blogger. (Ultimately, I may end up rounding up the first impression post followed by random discussion articles, much like I had done so for Warrior Baek Dong Soo which was completely finished airing by the time I decided to get back to it.)

And then the following three series decided to start airing, all at the same time: Dream High 2, Shut Up: Flower Boy Band, and Operation Proposal. All three of these, I had been anticipating just as much as The Moon That Embraces the Sun; and while only two of them are really showing good promise to the series' progression and the story line development, I still had my plans to blog about them.

Finally, I told myself, I should just jump into this and not really think about it (it also helps that I've already gotten my first impression posts for the above three series posted). I'm not a professional critic -- I just write about drama series, movies, etc., because I like to write about them. The reason I stopped writing in my anime blog was BECAUSE I overwhelmed myself by trying to get too serious and too "professional" about posting regularly and in specific form. I told myself before that I would NOT do that with this drama zone blog and I intend to stick within my comfort zone.


***

So what did all of that above really mean?

It meant that I wanted to make sure I had enough filler to meet my "articles should at least be this long" quota. That way, I'm not tempted to reiterated in different ways how much I'm enjoying just the first episode of this series already. Vague phrases such as: "I really love this series!" or "The series is onto a good start." or "I will totally continue to ride this exciting train of mysticism and wittiness!" type of redundancy can tell just about anyone what I'm thinking so far. But that only gives me so many sentences to include in the article and then what good would it be for me to have a blog. Because we ALL know that I'm going to continue watching The Moon That Embraces the Sun, no matter what.

But anyway... enough about me and back to the actual series now, no?

On a side note, the scenes are all really pretty, from the interior scenes of the palace, to the outside references to the moon, etc.... Sungkyunkwan Scandal had the same feel to it as well, sometimes giving even the most hilarious moments a beautiful backdrop.

As an introductory, we start off strong with a nice little court conspiracy. The dowager queen tasks her court lacky, Lord Yoon Dae Hyung to get rid of the other "Sun" who may threaten her emperor son, Seongjo's position as the current (fictional) king of the Joseon era. And so the Prince Uiseong's death is planned along with some framework set to make the death out to be an act of suicide via guilt of treason. Our first encounter with a shaman, Ahri shows us a woman who senses "murder in the air" and rushes off to Uiseong's only to witness his death; escaping her own imminent demise at the hands of assassins, Ahri rushes off and ends up falling off a cliff. We cut to Seongsucheong, the Office of the Shamans wherein the Chief of the Shamans seems to sense something amiss in the air, confirming her discomfit with the absence of Ahri. We learn from a conversation between the dowager queen and Lord Yoon that Ahri may have been in a forbidden romance with Prince Uiseong since she used to be his slave and so decide to throw her into the conspiratorial framing of treason as well. Since the Chief of Shamans (for whatever reason) serves the dowager queen loyally, they task the woman to confirm that Ahri had part in wanting her "lover" to become king and had created talismans for this to occur.

We learn a whole lot of things within these first ten minutes of introductory story building (which is really nice because there would be a lot of questions otherwise). And the best part is that there is no dragging moment and we get through it all rather quickly; it doesn't seem rushed either since we're in the midst of WANTING to move onto the "present-day" story line (even IF the next part involves the kids instead of the anticipated "adults" of the series).

And so what else happens? Ahri escapes the assassins with the help of a noblemwoman, Lady Shin who is pregnant and kind. But it seems that the fate of Lady Shin's unborn child has already been written. Ahri foresees a tragic end to the noblewoman's unborn daughter, but cannot say anything about it. When we get flashes of the future, our suspicions are confirmed: the unborn child will be the future Wol (Han Ga In) who is known as Heo Yeon Woo until she is stricken with tragedy and loses her memory. Her life plays a huge role in the lives of two boys, Crown Prince Lee Hwon and his brother Prince Yang Myung, as the "moon" to both "suns".

With this event set in place, the story line takes off with a strong, solid foundation that I'm sure will continue to satisfy and fascinate (according to reviews and ratings) as the series progresses. While this wasn't exactly the best of the best in crop of pilot episodes, it had its attractiveness, though it feels as if it'll take another episode or two for the rest of the story line's excitement to pick up. Granted, there was enough excitement to kick-off the build-up of our world and our story, it doesn't stray far from standard historical court conspiracies and talk of fate and destiny and the like.

What I like about this first episode are the characters and a slight feeling of the mysticism, set up for all that symbolism of the Moon and the Sun references. Of course, I really DO hope that we don't overplay the Moon/Sun symbolism; because, well, I get it and there's no need to keep hammering in the connection of the Moon's (Wol) fate with the two Suns (Lee Hwon and Yang Myung). Don't get me wrong, the symbolism is excellently set in place, but too much harping about these Moon/Sun connections and it could get to be too annoying.

For the latter half of the first episode, we very quickly meet our three main leads in their "childhood" versions: Kim You Jung as Heo Yeon Woo, Yeo Jin Ku as Lee Hwon, and Lee Min Ho as Yang Myung. The three quickly become stand-out characters (of course with the excellent acting talent behind them, we've never had a doubt). More symbolism comes into play as each of the three have their own thoughts about each other's encounters: 1) Lee Hwon wonders if he'll ever get to meet Yeon Woo again; 2) Yeon Woo, upon learning that the boy she met is the Crown Prince, is relieved she'll never have to meet him again; and 3) Yang Myung watches Yeon Woo from afar, thinking to himself that it's great to be able to meet her again.

So it's another play on a forbidden romance in standard tragic rom-com glory with a couple who are fated to fall in love but cannot be together. All the while, we've got our third and fourth wheels diligently standing off to the side playing their parts. Of course, somehow I feel like Yang Myung's part will be much more significant than the part of the "other girl" who has yet to make her presence in the story line. But then again, what do I know since I've just started watching. I'm just going by simple standard romance tropes to make my predictions.

Other kids are also introduced as well, but not as in depth such as the teenage version of Seol, who is to become Wol (Yeon Woo)'s bodyguard in later story progression; Yeon Woo's brother Yeom, and the last boy to make up the best friend group a boy named Woon.

And already I'm loving the interaction between these kids. If I hadn't been anticipating this series in the beginning, after the appearance of these kids, I would be totally sold on this train. For instance, Yeon Woo starts off quiet and all-noble-like so I didn't have much of an impression of her. But then she starts talking and I'm taken aback at how spunky and brave she is. She's a young girl filled with ideals, wit, logic, and tons of spunk to boot (and she kind of reminds me of a younger version of Kim Yoon Hee, only with less bitterness and pride). Lee Hwon is showing us how quickly he can go from Crown Prince mode, to "just another young boy with his own ideals" mode and I'm sure it will be intriguing to continue following him. As for Yang Myung, he's created very much for the role of the good man -- I'm already feeling kind of heart broken for him because of all the "illigitimacy" issues he's had to go through as well as all the hardships he will be incurring for the sake of his beloved little brother.

The kids are so much fun and so in depth already that I know I'm going to miss them when they're gone. I look forward to seeing the appearance of Kim Soo Hyun and Jung Il Woo, but the "kids" of this series are already laying such a great foundation that it'll be hard to decide what I prefer to be watching more.

Again with the common phrase: "This series is starting off on very solid ground." And I mean it too. And seeing as how people have been raving about the rest of the series, I know I won't be disappointed for its progression at all. Of course, I only hope that I will have more thoughts to come soon (and that I can find a healthy balance between five different drama series and a book I'm trying to finish).


On a side note, there is a fascinating connection between two of our Moon/Sun cast members. My parents had just recently finished watching Giant which featured Yeo Jin Ku and Kim Soo Hyun playing the childhood versions of two of the main male roles, a set of brothers. And so it comes as a surprise to me that these two were actually cast as a set of brothers in one series, but now, in Moon/Sun, Yeo Jin Ku plays the child version of Lee Hwon while Kim Soo Hyun gets to carry on the "adult" version. The age difference is NOT at all that big between both boys, so it's kind of interesting and I wonder what type of basis the production staff used for this casting. I mean, I'm not complaining since both are excellent actors; I'm just wondering how this happened. Yeo Jin Ku, while able to pull off many child versions of main male leads, I would have never placed him as the child version of a character who's "adult" version is played by Kim Soo Hyun, just because neither of them look like they're passed the stage of young adult-hood anyway.

No biggie though; just a connection that I found amusing.

Anyway, I'm now off to finish the rest of what I can for The Moon That Embraces the Sun with high anticipation for its glory.

***

Props to Ahri (Jang Yeong Nam) who turned in a really creepy awesome performance in her dying  moments during torture.

first impression: Operation Proposal (Korean)

As many would expect, I have been looking forward to 'Operation Proposal' since the first time I heard news of it from Dramabeans. For the record, while I haven't seen everything that had cast Yoo Seung Ho in it, I have most definitely picked up two drama series and one movie because of him. And one of my thoughts for the future of this talented young one was that I hoped he would star in his own romantic comedy sometime in the future when he gets older (he's currently only eighteen... oh, so young!). And so I was fairly ecstatic when I learned about Operation Proposal because, while it isn't listed as a rom-com, it's close enough and Yoo Seung Ho gets to be center stage.

The first episode starts off with a little monologue/feel-good moment of sorts with a bunch of kids bullying a young boy. Not soon after, a girl shows up and chases the other boys away with a broom. The two then walk away hand-in-hand after one of the bully boys gets pelted in the head with a snowball, promptly cueing him to run off bawling. And then we get a little voice over by the man who's been watching this introduction; we later learn that this man is the Conductor played by Ki Tae Hoon who will give our leading man the chance to travel back in time.

Currently, there is a bit of speculation that the Conductor may or may not be Kang Baek Ho (Yoo Seung Ho's character) at a later future come back to help his younger self redo his past. Of course, there are a lot of flaws in that theory, because if the Conductor really were Kang Baek Ho from the future, why on earth would he come back to tell Kang Baek Ho to go back in time? Why not just go directly back to his high school self to redirect the future's turn of events? Or are there a lot more rules to time travel than I actually understand? I mean, setting aside the obvious fantastical elements, of course.

But anyway, back to the series...

"Miracles. Extraordinary events that occur without explanation. We call these miracles. A miracle could also be our urgent desire ringing like a bell. All of us have the chance to ring that bell at some point in our lives. Whether the bell rings or not depends on our choices and effort." This is what we hear as the scene ends, which cues in that we will be seeing a LOT of the philosophical ideals based off of fate, miracles and whether or not one would take the chance to change his or her life given the chance. But it also emphasizes that even with miracles, people do not necessarily have it in them to take that chance to change anything.

The series is already starting off on solid ground, with witty, meaningful dialogue and exchanges between the characters. The interaction between the characters are done very well from the group of friends to our main couple, and also between Baek Ho and his love rival. It also helps that the characters are presented wonderfully by their respective cast members. The story line is already headed where we expect it to go and the pacing is keeping time with the story line. The cast are doing great with their line delivery and timing of emotions and comedy. I especially like the interactions because, in this sense, it isn't just two people talking to each other to narrate event. Instead, you actually see more than just dialoge through Baek Ho's conversations with various people; we get a feel for both his own repressed feelings as well as a glimpse at the ideas that could have been.

The conversations that Baek Ho has with Yi Seul's father and with the groom, Kwon Jin Won, separately really speaks loads about what the present could have been if Baek Ho had acted differently in the past. Because Ham Yi Seul (Park Eun Bin) and Baek Ho had been best friends since they were young, probably everyone who knew them thought that they would end up together. Yi Seul's father even says as much. Kwon Jin Won voices his insecurities as well, telling Baek Ho that he'd always been jealous of the best friends' relationship and history: "If you had liked her too, I would never had had a chance."

It realy puts into perspective the entire situation within those two simple exchanges coupled with Yoo Seung Ho's emotive melancholy and his narration throughout the first episode. There is just so much hinged on these conversations that make us realize how much the present would have been different. Yi Seul would probably be marrying her best friend instead. Baek Ho wouldn't be saying the words: "I had twenty years to make up my mind. In those twenty years, I kept looking for that right moment. The perfect time to confess my feelings to her."

Because it is a frustrating situation at best. On the one hand, we feel bad that Kang Baek Ho just lost his first love to another man and had to watch as they got married right before his eyes. But on the other hand, we wonder what the heck he's been doing all this time pre-wedding that he still couldn't decide to at least let Yi Seul know how he felt about her.

And THIS is what I've been worrying about for our main male lead. A lot of people have voiced scrutiny about the main male lead being a non-ideal man for the fact that he happens to be too wishy washy about his feelings. Why had he never bothered to say anything in the past? And so now he's hoping to go back in time and try to win back the girl he loves? So what about the man Yi Seul is marrying? What happens to him? Just push him aside and give a half-hearted apology? And so, yes, I feel like the main male lead pretty much dug his own grave and has no one to blame but himself for losing his first love. And so this main male lead (despite being Yoo Seung Ho) already has a pretty disadvantageous character trait going for him as the series opens on the first episode. So we are under the impressio that: A) Either he develops greatly into a much better person that we don't care that he'd lost his chance already and should just live with his non-decisions; or B) He DOESN'T get the girl in the end and learns a valuable lesson about not taking what you have for granted. Since this series is categorized as a melodrama, I have a feeling tht the conclusion can go either way.

Nonetheless, being Yoo Seung Ho, I DO hope that the story line works in his favor, because there is still so much vagueness to the relationship between Baek Ho and Yi Seul. We have only seen what is on the surface: Yi Seul gets married and Baek Ho laments the fact that he never told her that he loved her despite being with her for twenty years.

This set-up (upon following the story through to the end of the episode) is done in such a way that you cannot completely condemn Baek Ho for having been too late. Because what I started to understand is that even Yi Seul had been in love with Baek Ho, but had never had the courage to confess her feelings either. And so basically we have a set of best friends who love each other, spent twenty years skirting the issue, and finally just letting what could have been a traditional romance slip out of their hands. And so this isn't simply a journey of Baek Ho returning to change the fate of the future, but we also are given a chance to see how their friendship had progressed to the point of no return. Why did neither party ever attempt to take that initial step? How could two best friends, in love with each other, never feel the other party's feelings despite knowing each other so well? Somewhere, something must have gone wrong. Or was it truly just the plain and siply mutual misunderstanding propelled by the entire "falling in love with my best friend" taboo wherein the two individually worried about ruining their harmonic best friendship?

This is a very touchy subject and I guess that only through the rest of the story line will we be able to see how things turned out (or rather, how things will end up changing, hopefully for the better). It's probably better that we've set up the relationship between Baek Ho and Yi Seul in this way so that we don't feel that Baek Ho was the jerk who should have stepped up earlier; or that Yi Seul was the one who chose to leave Baek Ho in the dust. There may have been more to the story than what is being let on and I'm interested in knowing what that story is.

By the end of Episode One, we've successfully brought Baek Ho back to his freshman year in high school. The cars are all out on the table now and he needs to figure out how to play them properly. And maybe if he redirects his fate (as well as the fate of others around him, I'm guessing), we might be enticed to feel a little more resolute in rooting for him to win the girl. Because I'm feeling a tug-of-ship-wars pending due to the fact that Baek Ho had been indecisive about his feelings and because Kwon Jin Won seems to be created as the perfect husband type (with money, education, status... and all that Prince Charming jazz that we get to see in every rom-com male lead). Lee Hyun Jin is a recent favorite of mine ever since seeing him in Heartstrings as a side character with more substance than the main characters; so it'll be a slight fangirl crisis for me if I find that I can't be completely devoted to Yoo Seung Ho's main male lead.

So we will simply just sit back and wait and see how the love triangle dukes it out. I've been playing hopscotch with ships lately and I really hope I don't have to do so with this one too much. I could drown really easily and it doesn't help that I don't know how to swim.

But anyway...

On a side note, the high school setting is really a part of the series that I am really looking forward to; as always, those dratted, all-too-dramatic teenage years are some of the most amusing, exciting story lines to follow along with. Youth going through growth and developing into young adults, loving, dreaming, fighting and just plain having fun with all of their friends and their frenemies and their rivals... It's a nice little innocent change from watching adults lament over crises that they know better can be easily fixed with some control. But watching a bunch of teenagers make mistakes and go through their high school turmoil -- somehow, this is where the fun is always at!

It really DOES help that our cast are young enough to actually play high school kids (because watching those twenty-four to twenty-seven year olds TRY to pull off being sixteen is sometimes a bit painful). The cast is young enough to pull it off which helps in the asthetics department. And as far as acting goes, I'm really loving it; everyone pulls off their characters very well and I haven't had any complaints about any of the cast or characters yet. The series is already showing a lot of promise and substance in just the first episode alone. We don't dilly-dally around with filler material; it's all straight up: wedding, regret, reminiscing, crying and then BAM! Time-travel and we are back in high school! And by the time you realize what's going on, the main basis of the story line has already begun. As far as pilot episodes go, this is probably one of the better ones I've seen in a long time, getting the set-up and the backstory taken care of all in one episode without any lag or drag and it also doesn't even feel too rushed either.

Yoo Seung Ho defintely lives up to my expectations (and anyone else's who happen to love him and picked up Operation Proposal because of him). His range is so great that he can go from emoting depression, to full-out bawling, to comedically exaggerated expressions, and then to that young, high school boy excitement. He truly does not disappoint.

As for Park Eun Bin, I don't have previous series to refer to for her, but as far as I can see, she's presenting her character quite well. The only unfortunate thing about Ham Yi Seul, as far as I can see, is that she was created as a perfect and flat Mary Sue type: giving, loving, caring, smart, pretty... I hope that there's more depth to Yi Seul as the story progresses through their high school years because I have issues with Mary Sues and tend to check out of their plights rather early (especially if the actress pegs the Mary Sue character too well, because then I don't even have anything to complain about aside from the character BEING a Mary Sue). Then again, if this series is fully Kang Baek Ho-centric, then maybe it won't make too much of a difference whether or not Yi Seul is a perfect princess type; this formula certainly seems to work for a lot of people when the genders are reversed...

I'm interested in seeing how the relationship between Yi Seul and Kwon Jin Won might start as well. Because as we are given backstory, Kwon Jin Won is a teacher at the high school that our kids attend; a young coach of sorts (I'm almost hoping that he's just a student coach or something cause Lee Hyun Jin standing next to Yoo Seung Ho in this first episode looked like two same-aged kids hanging out more than a teacher/student combo). And no matter which country you're from, a teacher being in a romantic relationship with a student has always given off a squicky factor that many people cannot accept. So even with Baek Ho trying to change his future, I'm still wondering how a student would end up with her teacher and everyone be able to accept this type of relationship. Then again, the kids from present-day are supposed to have graduated from college and all, so the idea of Kwon Jin Won still being at teacher-status might be a moot point by the time the wedding came around.

But anyway, I guess we just kick back and see how things will develop and unfold. Whether it'll be worth rooting for Kang Baek Ho to win his best friend's heart, or whether we'll continue to think that this journey of his is just a big, glorified, fantastical lesson on life for him will be up in the air for another fifteen episodes. At this point as the very beginning of the series starts the story, I think I'd be able to accept the conclusion either way. This series is labeled as a melodrama after all, so I'm sure the ending may not necessarily be all flowers and sunshine (my typical preferences).

Finally, as much as I don't really like narrated voice overs, the one that occurs through out main male lead's point of view isn't too awkward. Yoo Seung Ho meanders around in thought very naturally that makes it easy to follow rather than seem like a distraction from the rest of the series (like action, dialogue, and the like). While I'm hoping that there isn't too much of the first person narration, if it's done adequately, I don't think I'll mind too much.

The series is shot in what I feel is sort of a melodramatic, comedic flair, which is doing very well in setting the mood from the random flash-back scenes to the background music. The computer effects for the time-travel sequence was a little weird, but it's not like there would be other ways to make it happen. Otherwise, direction, setting, lighting... it's all done very well.

As far as this series is concerned I'm on board and ready to conquer the next episode. I don't know if I'll ever be disappointed in a Yoo Seung Ho project (even God of Study had it's good points; Warrior Baek could have been grand if the story line was tweaked a little; and Blind was just extraordinary). I haven't seen the Japanese version Proposal Daisakusen, so I won't be doing any comparisons; and I've seen Yamapi acting before, which was always a bit flat at best, so I'm not too bothered about seeing the Japanese version or anything like that. So I'll be able to watch this series without too many biases (the only big one being my admiration for Yoo Seung Ho which will probably ultimately cause me to lean in his favor).

Here's crossing my fingers and hoping that we aren't too disappointed with the outcome!

***

news: My P.S. Partner, Rom-Com Movie

Clicky to read at Dramabeans

This just sounded interesting.

Too bad Korean movies aren't as accessible to me as K-dramas are. It'll probably be a few months after the movie hits the big screen before I'll be able to get a hold of it (online streaming, downloading or buying the DVD from YesAsia.com). It was a long time for me anticipating Yoo Seung Ho and Kim Ha Neul's crime thriller Blind before I even got to watch it at all (with English subs).

I'm interested in this one if only because I enjoyed Ji Sung's comedic portrayal in Protect the Boss. And the premise (though a little strangely kinky for a rom-com) is pretty intriguing.

This could be a fun one.

thoughts: Dream High 2 (Korean) -- Ep. 2: First Impression follow up

So, okay... There are specific reasons why the random musical numbers worked in the first Dream High. And now there are less specific reasons why the random musical numbers aren't working as well in (specifically Episode Two) of Dream High 2.

Let's start with the latter:

It starts off rather cutely. First we have the 'Trouble Maker' music over while OZ President is explaining the new rules to all of our Kirin students (the non-idol status ones). Basically he's going to forbid anything related to having fun, which pretty much would kill the mood of an arts school created for the sake of breeding future entertainers. But I'm sure OZ Agency has already got in mind what they're going to do with the original students of Kirin anyway -- the good ones may get to stay, but for the most part, Kirin has just become another branch of OZ for the sole purpose of letting their pet idols continue practice, training and have a place to stay. It's more business-oriented than it really is a place for youngsters to fulfill their dreams, so this will probably be a point that is addressed in coming story progress (if we get there). I thought the musical number for this was kind of neat; of course, it was also a bit strange, but in a more comedic sort of way. The OZ President and his assistant are doing a little twist on an MV-like number with dancing included. So I went with it -- it didn't cost me anything and it got its point across.

But then we enter into the second random musical moment in Episode Two... and somehow, we go a little overboard. And to be totally honest, I thought it was cute... the first part of it. The Kirin students welcoming the idol group with a little MV-style performance of T-ara's Roly Poly. It was pretty ingenious because it is a means of presenting a random music number in a 'musical drama' type fashion that suggests that, yes, Dream High is a musical drama after all. And it pays tribute to both T-ara members who are part of the Dream High franchise, Jiyeon and Eunjung. And it was cute.

But then it just kept going...

Onto yet another music video-like rendition of a song with our JYP's character Yang Jin Man in center stage.

And then even more continued musical numbers, fake microphones, different stages, backgrounds and dance numbers included.

It got annoying fast and the next thing I know, I'm sitting with my chin propped on my hand wondering what was actually going on and whether or not I'd stepped into a whole different series. There was no point going across except for "Extremely Long Welcoming Ceremony Comprised of Mashed Musical Numbers in MV Format." I was okay with the first part of it; I really DID think it was really cute. And I would have been okay with the part where two members of HershE sang back to the Kirin students. But any more than that and we find ourselves asking: "What the heck? What's the point in all of this b.s.?" Because unless those musical numbers served another purpose, it was just plain silly and a waste of time. We could have gone into more story development with those wasted five to ten minutes.

I mean, right now I'm dying for some more of the developing self-conflict that Hye Sung has been given: her pursuit of a dream that she might not be able to accomplish because she doesn't have even the basic talents to back her up. I found myself wondering, "Aww... So what's gonna happen to her?" In standard "Fight For Your Dreams" genre, we hope that something will happen and Hye Sung will either get an epiphany and suddenly have a better singing voice so that she can fulfill her dream. Or we hope that the story will come up with some other form of dream she can pursue in the same category so she doesn't feel like she's lost out. Or are we going to dash all those dreams altogether and just wonder whether or not she'll end up picking up a completely non-related dream and end up going for that?

I'm interested in what'll happen to Hye Sung in that aspect. Dream High 1 had given us a bunch of already pretty talented kids who just needed a chance to debut. Everyone from Jin Gook to Jason had decent singing chops and dancing talents, and even Sam Dong, the country bumpkin, ended up being a musical prodigy. I'm interested in seeing how Dream High 2 will deal with Shin Hye Sung's lack of musical basic skill and whether we'll be able to cultivate her from a talent-less dreamer into a top star. But in Episode 2 I wish we would have had a little more development and see some more emotional insight rather than just presenting the situation and then letting it roll right over. Give us more story so that I can care more about Hye Sung than the little that I care about right now (which doesn't really amount to much, honestly).

Instead, all we get is a whole lot of "let's dump all the characters' issues into a pile after the silly extended MV and try to go somewhere with it in one hour". And so I'm confused as to whether or not Dream High 2 really cares to show us what's significant in a more eloquent way, or if it's confused as to what conflict it wants to make use of first.

Because the only other aspect of this series I care for so far is truly the budding love line (or lack thereof, presently) between Hye Sung and Yoo Jin. I'm under the impression that these two will be the main couple already. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it because the promotions as well as the chemistry makes it quite clear. Yoo Jin is already showing signs of care (and possibly more?) towards Hye Sung, because if a guy like him didn't care about a girl in his school, he wouldn't be making such a strained, concerned expression about her well-being. He's already shown signs of annoyance at her fangirl love for JB, and then he goes and offers her his sleeping corner when she can't get back into the dorms. If he really DID find her that annoying, he wouldn't care that Hye Sung's dreams had just been shattered; he'd just jeer at her for picking up a dream she can't possibly fulfill. It's getting somewhere already, the love line, and it's cute enough for me to get little smirks in here and there.

And so because of that, in my mind, this series has just been downgraded to standard rom-com set-up with nothing much else to look forward to aside from our main couple coming to terms with their feelings, and then a few randomly scattered side plots to propel the story forward. It just so happens that this rom-com takes place in the Dream High alternate universe with music, talk of dreams, and the like.

And so, at least I'm liking the two main characters even if I don't care a lick about the rest of the kids in this school (except maybe Jiyeon, but that's because I'm being biased). I'm glad that these two have great chemistry together and that, as I'd already mentioned in the first impression post, we're not averse to showing a sillier, less elegant side of Kang Sora as Shin Hye Sung (cue random seance scene gone bad). It's also a plus that Jung Jin Woon is showing the world that even idols can present good enough acting skills for you to follow him through; coupled with Kang Sora, I'm not at all worried for the fate of emotions being tied in with both their respective stories as well as their love line. They're delivering just fine, even if not the best (at the very least better than the rest of the idol/actors in the series).

And that's about it.

I mean, I see the main conflict... but it's like all I really see is a recapped summarization of it. Jung Jin Woon is carrying his half of the character conflict really well, and so despite Jin Yoo Jin being a pretentious prat, I'm sailing in his camp because I'm feeling HIS dilemma. On the other hand, JB... I see his point. However, since I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel for this guy, his character does not make a very convincing, passionate, self-confident argument. And then what it ends up coming down to is that I really just DON'T care about the conflict at all now. Although I DO see the potential of it now that the idol group has moved in with the underdogs and maybe some light will be shed between one side and the other with Hye Sung propelling a possible "make up and get along" movement? I don't know, I'm just making random predictions, but this is the typical course of action for a lot of set-ups like this.

Which is why I'm not excited about it.

But I'm still holding out that Dream High 2 is just starting off on rocky footing like the first Dream High had done. Despite the fact that I was hooked immediately to Dream High 1, I will admit that it wasn't the best of build-ups, although by the time Episode Two of the first Dream High rolled around, we already had some foundation to work with: the Misfits class, the more emotionally deep rivalry between Baek Hee and Hye Mi, the love line developments, a more convincing anticipation of our Underdogs' dreams, and the side love line with Jason and Pil Suk...

Right now, in Dream High 2, I'm not exactly sure I know WHAT I'm looking forward to seeing aside from the love line (because, and I repeat, even the central conflict between the two leading men does NOT entice me). I'm hoping that JB can contribute to his role a little bit more; he has a cute little scene wherein he's scared to death that someone has found his questionable CD with possible adult-rated material on it (yes, I blanked at that one too, but it WAS extremely hilarious in a silly way; and Kang Sora's expression is great upon discovery of what the CD has on it) and he plays that role rather well. But give him a lot of angsty emotion and the like and I'm head-desking (if everyone thought that Suzy was unable to emote, at least HER character role was written to actually BE robot-like and emotionless). JB is a well-thought out character with a great central conflict and some interesting little personal quirks that can be seen in hindsight; but JB as an actor is just not grasping that part of the role very well. Which is disappointing because I WANT to know how he's feeling and what he's thinking.

But let's do some back-tracking to my intended point of this article to begin with: the musical numbers.

In Dream High 2, Episode One, the musical numbers made sense. Two stage performances, one street performance, a random serenade... In Episode Two, the musical numbers were cute... But what the, huh? The extended music video was lost on me. Completely.

In Dream High 1, I don't think I had a problem with ANY of the random musical numbers. The auditions were purely a talent contest so singing was a must; same goes for the examinations. So they weren't really random since Kirin Arts School in the first Dream High really was a school that tried to cultivate young talents for the entertainment world. Even the random street performance by Sam Dong and Hye Mi was cute and served a purpose -- the kids were lost, needed to find a way back to their hotel, needed money for taxi fare and food, and so they did what they did best: they sang and performed on the street for money. I mean, it would have been a lot cooler had the series allowed an acapella performance for that, but I bought it anyway because it was fun and cute (and didn't last for twenty minutes). The random dance off that happened afterwards was... well, it was random, but it was also really cool and ALSO served a purpose. I mean, as much as I love Sam Dong and Hye Mi, they really were trampling into the Japanese street performing group's turf to begin with and so the dance off wasn't too bad.

Some of the musical numbers may not have made sense; but for the most part, they were actual musical numbers performed by our kids in the series rather than like that long-drawn out mash of music video in Dream High 2, Episode 2. The musical performances in Dream High 1 may not have all been purposeful, but at the very least, they were presented in a way that made sense to me. The street performance of SNDS's Genie by our Misfits was golden! The school showcases were pretty nice to watch, and otherwise, the only other random musical number that I remember from the first Dream High was in the beginning when Hye Mi sang 'Only Hope' while trying to go to the bathroom out in the middle of nowhere (because no matter what, I wouldn't be able to carry a tune very well if I was taking a dump).

Dream High 2 is only into its first few episodes, and I guess it's still too early to give it so much grief. But the fact is, if this weren't part of the Dream High franchise and hype, or if it wasn't a sequel or if it were some other series altogether with no connection to Dream High... I might have already checked out of it. I understand that a lot of people are saying: give it some time to get better. But really now, with so many other series airing in the next few weeks and so many other series currently airing that I haven't gotten to, do I really have time to waste on a series that's not going where it had promised to go in the first place?

Nonetheless, I will admit that for the mere fact that I'm waiting on Hye Sung to have her dream realized and for the resident love line, as well as even for hope that Jiyeon's role will become more significant with time, I'm sticking with Dream High. I just hope I'm not putting too many false hopes into this; and I'm also really doing my hardest not to make too many comparisons, but damn if it isn't a difficult task. And so I apologize for not being more objective, but then again, did anyone really expect the comparisons NOT to be made in the first place?

I will say that I liked some of Dream High 2's "behind the high school idol" concepts, such as the entertainment news at the beginning of Episode 2 interviewing the OZ kids, HershE and Eden, about transferring to a new school. It incorporates things like this rather well only because I'm sure this is how things are in the entertainment world anyway. I also like how Ri-an's (Jiyeon) conflict is coming about too: the fact that she has wanted to become an actor, does not have the skill for it, and so debuted as a singer in order to short cut into acting, but is getting her opportunities dashed because her acting skills are NOT improving. And so this ties into the same boat with Hye Sung's desire to be a singer, although not having the vocal chops to make it happen. At the same time, JB is shown as wanting to be a "true" musician rather than an idol who dances along to techno-style music with flashy lights in the background -- he wants the talents that Yoo Jin has, but lacking that, he takes the short cut to stardom as well to try getting there.

It's a great concept that I wish the story would just jump into rather than dragging out so much build-up detail for two episodes straight. A lot of things could have been cut, down-sized to Episode One, and then we'd be able to start the heart of the story line and the conflicts in Episode Two. I would totally be less frustrated.

But I guess, to be fair to the Dream High franchise overall, I admit that there's a big difference between one series over the other. My mindset, walking into Dream High 1 was of the bored and "Do I really want to watch this teeny-bopper dribble?" type of thoughts. And so it was surprisingly satisfying when Dream High 1 ended up being such a great sixteen hours worth of cracktastic fun. My mindset walking into Dream High 2 was of a more expectant type akin to "Yay! Dream High, redux! More musical fun!!" crossed with "Let's let the glory of Dream High continue one!" with a dash of "I hope all this hype lives up to its expectations." And so unfairly, I might have actually expected a whole lot more of that grandness and glory that I had not expected from the first Dream High.

However, it still doesn't deny the fact that, even by the end of Episode Two of the first Dream High, I was already feeling the heart that it had; whereas in Dream High 2, I'm really wondering where that heart went, which DOES make things a little disappointing.

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first impression: Dream High 2

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