News Update: Renovation

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Kim Jin Ho (SG Wannabe) & KCM – Gashiri

Finally, back and running again! I know that I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on here updating all you out there about the dramas and the actors and actresses, but school is finally winding up and time has become more and more abundant as summer rolls around. I am going to go through some major renovations and extension on this blog hopefully in the next couple of moths.

If you haven’t noticed, I like to put a lot of pics and videos on every post and I spend of lot of time looking for these and posting them here so that hopefully you guys will enjoy the post more with some visual aid. Currently, I am trying to learn how to embed music from imeem here that that music will be another option (if anyone want to help, that would be great). So for now, I’ll just have videos attached on the posts that may or may not be relevant to the post topic because it may be there just for the music… Next on the list is organizing all the drama OST soundtracks that I have been collecting and haven’t had a chance to put up here. I just want to let everyone know that some of the downloads are the work of other forums and hopefully I have given credit to everyone that I should and if not, please contact me. Instead of having all the soundtracks in different posts and then collecting them into a category, I have organized it into two pages; one for Taiwanese dramas and one for Korean dramas (currently under construction ). Also on the list, is creating a whole new category just for info. on actor and actresses, kind of like the post I did on Jang Geun Suk. Maybe maybe maybe I will find time to summarize one of the TW dramas starting in the summer if I can find time… I trying all these new ideas to make the blog seem more organized and make everything easier to find. If anyone has any suggestion, please speak up! Thanks for those who have commented and I know this sounds weird, but almost have 1,000 blog hits! Yay! Hopefully I’ll get to plan a a big surprise for all of those who have contributed!  PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT A DRAMA OST THAT YOU CANNOT FIND!! I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO UPLOAD IT HERE!!!!

Big Bang and Wonder Girls – Lies & Tell Me

 

A Journey Called Life Review

Rating: 9.2/10

This drama is really and truly inspiring and even though it is only the second Hong Kong drama I have ever watched, it has really impressed me. I recommend this drama not for anyone specifically because anyone from teenagers to parents to grandparents would be able to enjoy this whole-heartily.

Linda Chung plays Sze Ka Ka who, since her mother’s death, has been involved with bad boys, drugs, and sex because her father marries again to a women who supposedly broke up their family. Steven Ma plays Sing Yat On, a quarrier, who has a kind heart and helps to support his mother, a middle aged widow, and his two sisters. Sing Yat On (referred to in the future as “On”) meets Ka Ka and helps her to change into a better person, after the death of her best friend Hana who died as a result of drug overdose while illegally selling drugs at a party. As On watches her change into a sophisticated and caring women, he begins to fall in love with her and vice versa. Meanwhile, On’s sister Sum risks her life as the girlfriend of business tycoon who is known for his multiple affairs while On’s other sister Yee becomes pregnant. In the midst of all this chaos and confusion, love and hope still prevail.

As for the pros of this drama, there are too many to count, but some really impressive highlights include the chemistry, the plot line, and the organization of the drama. Steven Ma and Linda Chung’s chemistry was great and they really played their roles extremely well, as well and the supporting couples. The plot line was really unique and even though there were a lot of characters running around at the same time, there was always a feeling of organization and I wasn’t always asking myself “What happened to the other person?” or “Ok…that’s important because…” lol. The director and producers should be applauded for keeping the scenario really clear and understanding. There weren’t any boring episodes that made me doubt any part of the storyline; nice flow and pace that didn’t cram all the action into the last thirty minutes of the drama. In addition, I like the transformation of Ka Ka from a lost street girl to a beautiful kind and caring wife which wasn’t like bam! in your face, but more gradual. Tension and suspension were kept intact most of the time and was evenly spread out through the entire twenty episodes so that even the last episode was exciting, brownie point! Then, there were episodes that made me find tears crawling up the edge of my eyes, especially the miscarriage scene… The music was great, except I think that the same song was used for the beginning and ending credits and the instrumental was used for the rest of the drama.

Despite being an excellent drama, there are some cons as well. The opening credits to every episode was not really a smart move, because I could tell half of what was going happen in the drama by watching the opening to episode one. A lot of dramas have that problem and I’m not pin-pointing this one specifically. In addition, I put a lot of emphasis on the kind of soundtrack that comes with a drama, because I personally feel the music really contributes to effects of a drama. I was kind of disappointed with a one song soundtrack, but brownie point to linda chung and steven ma for a great duet.

Here are the opening credits to the drama:

Drama Note 11: Rumored Couple to be True?

snowflower 

According to some sources, Big Bang’s rapper T.O.P. is rumored to be going out with Shin Min Ah (The Devil, A Love to Kill). This is based on just rumors for now, so don’t get too excited… The agents for Big Bang and Shin Min Ah deny this rumor, but some photos tell otherwise. However, maybe they are just friends caught at the wrong moment since paparrazzis tend to twist the story sometimes. Looks forward to more news!

Drama Note 10: More Unexpected Casts

It seems that this year is going to see a lot of actresses and actors return to the drama screen after being dormant for a couple years. Lee Dong Gun, Kim Sun Ah and Lee Soo Kyung will be casted in the new drama “When It’s At Night” planning to air on MBC in June 2008 after Yi San. The plot line isn’t really detailed, but apparantley Lee Dong Gun plays an art scholar who is crazy about virgins and is a supervisor of property assets. Kim Sun Ah’s charater is a 29 year old woman who is mistaken as someone who is crafty because of her appearance. The story will be about how these two cross paths and how their chance meeting will cause turmoil for the both of them. This will be Kim Sun Ah’s return to the drama screen after her 2005 hit “Kim Sam Soon”. This is will be Lee Dong Gun’s new 2008 drama after his 2006 drama “Smile Again” and four-episode serioes “Perhaps Love” with Lee Hyori. Lee Soo Kyung is most renowned for her role in Soulmate where she played the opposite of Shin Dong Wook and as Choi Mi Jin in the 2007 KBS Drama “Golden Era of Daughter-in-law” where she was the co-star of Kim Ji Hoon. Hopefully we will be able to see some wonderful acting to brighten the summer!

Drama Note 9: Two Returns to the Small Screen

 

 

 

 

    

For those Kim Sam Soon and Full House fans, this is truly a dream come true! Hyun Bin and Song Hye Go have confirmed their positiion in an upcoming KBS2 drama “The World that They Live In”; a story about two PD in the television business. This will be Hyun Bin’s return to the small screen two years after his somewhat unsuccessful drama Snow Queen in 2006. For Song Hye Go, this is will be her first drama in four years since her 2004 success in Full House. “The World That They Live In” plans to air in November of this year, so hopefully we will all look forward to it!

 

 

I Hate You But It’s Fine Review

Rating: 9/10

Many people are suprised that I would watch dramas that are considered “ajumma” dramas by some; those KBS dramas that are 160+ episodes and obviously 100 times the size of miniseries. However, my experience with these “ahjumma” dramas have always turned out well and I haven’t been disappointed with Pure 19 and As Much as Heaven and Earth, the two dramas before I Hate You But It’s Fine.

As usual, this drama intertwines two families and defines the meaning of being a family and true love, etc. Kim Ji Suk (The Vineyard Man) plays Kang Baekho, a carefree bachelor who starts out as a sort of bum who is always risking his money on shakey investments and hore races. Han Ji Hye (Cloud Stairs, Sweet 18) plays Na Danpung who is a teamleader for Bonjour Foods and is a cautious and somewhat of a workholic. The drama revolves around this couple who don’t have the best first impression of each other, but grow fond of each other and fall in love. Of course, there are many different side plots to make this drama complicated and somehow unfold in the end. Danpung’s brother, Seonja, played by Jo Dong Hyuk (Snow in August), starts as college student who is love with his girlfried, Hwang Ji Young. However, he decides to spontaneously abadon his girlfriend to marry Bong Soo Ah, the daughter of the CEO of Bonjour foods. Throuhout the drama, we watch how successful Seongja is with this ambition-driven marriage and how Ji Young forgets about the jerk who left her. To make things even more exciting, Baekho is Soo Ah’s stepbrother and everthing gets more and more complicated as all these love stories intertwine.

First off, I must applaud the superb acting done by these new actors/actresses and of course Han Ji Hye. I admit at first I wasn’t going to give this drama must thought because I had just finished As Much as Heaven and Earth and another 160-170 episodes seemed like another long 6-8 months of drama addiction. However, after watching the first couple of episodes, I was officially captured. I was really impressed by the especially high rating at the start of this drama which had a peak rating of around 43% (another Kim Sam Soon?) The chemistry between the Danpung and Baekho was truly admirable and attracting and I give my hat off to them (if i had a hat on…   One of the interesting aspects of this drama was the finalization of the main couple in this drama. What I mean is that in most of these dramas, the couple realizes their love for each other and such around episode 99-101. So here I am around episode 102 and so excited because I was thinking, come on, you need to get together by now. By episode 115, I was like, “did I miss something?” Finally in episode 121, it happened. Not too flashy (brownie point) and not too flatly either. Very interesting and capturing. The only cliche in this drama was the whole deal towards the end with the father figuring out Seongja’s bribing scheme and suddenly fainting and getting paralyzed and such. Besides that, there wasn’t much treading water on Baekho and Danpung’s part. Ironically, this is the first drama that I laughed at the attempted break up scene in episode 139. No crying, no pleading. Danpung’s first reacting was quite unique, but you’ll have to see for yourself :-D I recommend this drama on all levels even if you think that long dramas are a waste of time, I really really really recommend this for teenagers and even parents…

LInks:

Complete w/Chinese Subtitles: http://co2r.wordpress.com/category/i-hate-you-but-its-fine

EP 108-END w/English Subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=WannieSarang

                                                     http://www.veoh.com/users/xraymind 

 

 

  

Drama Note 8: Super Junior M – Chinese Style

                  

        

In April 2008, Super Junior M was officially established as a sub band to the popular Korean band Super Junior. Also under the contract of SM Entertainment, Super Junior M consists of Han Geng, Donghae, Choi Siwon, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun from the original Super Junior and two new members, Henry and Zhou Mi. With their debut at the 8^th Annual Music Chart Awards with their single “U”, they hope to spread their music throughout Asia, including Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. (The M at the end is supposed to stand for Mandarin, but I think it’s just there for some randomness and style.) Unfortunately, not all Super Junior fans are happy with this new band because of the two new singers that are introduced. Even before the official release of Super Junior M, protests were set against Henry and Zhou Mi because they were the only singers not from the original Super Junior. At the end of October 2007, about 400 fans sat outside the SM Entertainment office to support singers only from the original thirteen members of Super Junior. After the official release of the band, over five thousand protesters invaded Super Junior M’s official blog; forcing SM Entertainment to lock the comment box.

 

I really loved the protesting, especially because all the protests were Chinese fans who were protesting against Chinese singers (that’s a kicker). Maybe I’m new at this, but usually I listen to music for the quality of the singing and the not the face singing. Given, most people calculate the face as an important factor, but seriously, Super Junior M already has five original Super Junior members and two newbie aren’t going to kill the music unless they are bad at singing. Protesting outside the SM Entertainment headquaters? A little extreme, no? But heck, Chinese people can all protest against their own singers, to advocate Korean singers that they can’t even understand! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Super Junior semi-fan as well, so I can understand how they are addicting, but I’m also willing to give the new guys a shot at this. Look forward to Henry and Zhou Mi’s singing in the future!

 

Super Junior M – U