Silence, manga, and a Hong Kong film festival
I ended up watching about two-thirds of Silence episode 3 on my computer last night. Didn't finish because my eyes wouldn't keep open.
I just love it. Actually, I think barring any drastic change in tone or style, if it keeps on going the way it has, it is going to replace Mars as my favorite dorama ever. I just love how low-key and yet not draggy it is. It's rather leisurely paced (which makes sense, it's almost twice as long as Tokyo Juliet), which is both its greatest strength and its biggest potential weakeness.
Why strength? Because we aren't treated to a cascade of dramatic events, making the thing improbable. We are treated to small moments which feel real and I feel that I really get to know these characters. It's not all 'emo moment! emo moment! emo moment!' (though even big moments so far have been delicately understated).
Why weakness? You have to really like these characters for it to work, otherwise you are bored twiddling your thumbs. You have to like Shen Shen to get a kick out of watching her reorganize the hotel room she has to share with Zuo Jun. You have to like Wei Yi to watch him give an interview to his fiancee and then stop the tape and try to figure out where the personal stuff comes in. If you don't like the characters, you'll be bored stiff. But I do, I love them, and it's little real scenes that make me care. Like the scene where Wei Yi's fiancee teases him about how even his home computer is password protected and then fake-pretends to be an industrial spy. It's funny and it's fun and I can see my friends doing something like that.
Let's see, other things I love. I love that I am interested in all the characters, not just Wei Yi and Shen Shen (though the show gets extra sparkly when they are together and TPTB know it and they tease me with small moments, yes they do). I like that Wei Yi is rather a bastard at work, as he'd have to be to be good at what he does at his age, connections or not. Actually, I think if and when his employees find out he is terminally ill, I can see some of them going 'serve the bastard right.' And yet I like the fact that he is still a character I care for. I love that I have a huge girl-crush on Shen Shen who is adorable (and a great contrast to TJ's rather tiresome heroine). I love that they seem to have explanations for why WY and SS keep bumping into each other so I don't have to swallow it completely on faith. And I love that the relationship between WY and SS is developed very gradually and is being built all over again, not just based on 'OMG!childhood love. Eleventy!'
But my favorite thing really is watching WY and SS together. He is at his most human and she is at her most delightful when they are together. And the whole dorama really gets even more of a silent movie feel. My favorite scene so far is when he gives her flowers as a thank you for getting him medicine the day before. I love everything about it: the way he nonchalantly gives her a huge bouquet of red roses and starts to walk away. The way they end up in a small cafe and she bosses him about not having coffee if his stomach bugs him. The way they both end up writing in her notebook because he tells her that it's unfair that he has to talk when she isn't. The fact that by the time they are done it's raining and after not being able to wait it out, he takes off his jacket and makes an impromptu umbrella out of it and they both run to his car and his fishes an umbrella out of it and gives it to her and she walks off smiling.
But the thing I like the most, and it probably exemplifies why I like Silence so much, is a very little scene at the beginning of that encounter. After giving her the bouquet, he starts to walk away when she grabs his arm. He turns to look at her and she is pointing at the light, which is red. And then the camera pulls back and you just see those two figures standing by the crosswalk, not talking or touching or even looking at each other: a young man in a business suit and a young woman in a white dress. By themselves. And it's so quiet and pretty and right.
And in less analytical news, it's rather scary how pretty Vic Chou who plays Wei Yi is. He is prettier than I am. Sometimes I just caught myself staring at his face and going 'this can't be right!'
Also, browsing in B&N last night, I started reading Yuu Watase's hilarious Absolute Boyfriend. Watase is the author of such famous mangas as Fushigi Yuugi (the anime of which ate my life a few months back), Ceres: the Celestial Legend (ditto), FY: Genbu Kaiden (which I really love but it's still unfinished), Alice 19th (short but good) etc. What all these mangas have in common is a rather intricate plot and (even more famously) incredibly cool and hot guys who fall and will gladly die for the heroine.
Well, in AB, Watase parodies herself and her tendencies and it's hilarious. Our heroine, Riiko, has been turned down by so many guys, her heart is resembling days old salad. But all of a sudden, Riiko's life changes around completely. Now she has this amazing boyfriend: he is gorgeous, he will cook her breakfast in bed, he will compliment her, he will hold her all night if she so desires and he will perform great feats to rescue even her lost cell-phone. No woman could ask for more. He is perfect. He also arrived in a box. With a manual. Because he is an android. In her funk, Riiko went online to a page she thought was a joke and ordered an 'ideal boyfriend' (she also programmed everything into him, so he is a bit confused). Night (the android) is an absolute darling of course, and quite quite hunky. He is also not really real and is preventing her from noticing the attractive if decidedly imperfect guy next door who likes her. It's totally great and I want to continue to see how it all turns out.
And for anyone who is in the Washington metro area and is interested, wanted to let you know that the 11th Annual Hong Kong Film Festival is currently going on in the Freer Gallery of Art. This Friday at 7 and this Sunday at 2, they are showing 2 Young, next week (same schedule) it's Divergence and the week after that (once again, same schedule), it's Perhaps Love, which I am madly in love with.
I just love it. Actually, I think barring any drastic change in tone or style, if it keeps on going the way it has, it is going to replace Mars as my favorite dorama ever. I just love how low-key and yet not draggy it is. It's rather leisurely paced (which makes sense, it's almost twice as long as Tokyo Juliet), which is both its greatest strength and its biggest potential weakeness.
Why strength? Because we aren't treated to a cascade of dramatic events, making the thing improbable. We are treated to small moments which feel real and I feel that I really get to know these characters. It's not all 'emo moment! emo moment! emo moment!' (though even big moments so far have been delicately understated).
Why weakness? You have to really like these characters for it to work, otherwise you are bored twiddling your thumbs. You have to like Shen Shen to get a kick out of watching her reorganize the hotel room she has to share with Zuo Jun. You have to like Wei Yi to watch him give an interview to his fiancee and then stop the tape and try to figure out where the personal stuff comes in. If you don't like the characters, you'll be bored stiff. But I do, I love them, and it's little real scenes that make me care. Like the scene where Wei Yi's fiancee teases him about how even his home computer is password protected and then fake-pretends to be an industrial spy. It's funny and it's fun and I can see my friends doing something like that.
Let's see, other things I love. I love that I am interested in all the characters, not just Wei Yi and Shen Shen (though the show gets extra sparkly when they are together and TPTB know it and they tease me with small moments, yes they do). I like that Wei Yi is rather a bastard at work, as he'd have to be to be good at what he does at his age, connections or not. Actually, I think if and when his employees find out he is terminally ill, I can see some of them going 'serve the bastard right.' And yet I like the fact that he is still a character I care for. I love that I have a huge girl-crush on Shen Shen who is adorable (and a great contrast to TJ's rather tiresome heroine). I love that they seem to have explanations for why WY and SS keep bumping into each other so I don't have to swallow it completely on faith. And I love that the relationship between WY and SS is developed very gradually and is being built all over again, not just based on 'OMG!childhood love. Eleventy!'
But my favorite thing really is watching WY and SS together. He is at his most human and she is at her most delightful when they are together. And the whole dorama really gets even more of a silent movie feel. My favorite scene so far is when he gives her flowers as a thank you for getting him medicine the day before. I love everything about it: the way he nonchalantly gives her a huge bouquet of red roses and starts to walk away. The way they end up in a small cafe and she bosses him about not having coffee if his stomach bugs him. The way they both end up writing in her notebook because he tells her that it's unfair that he has to talk when she isn't. The fact that by the time they are done it's raining and after not being able to wait it out, he takes off his jacket and makes an impromptu umbrella out of it and they both run to his car and his fishes an umbrella out of it and gives it to her and she walks off smiling.
But the thing I like the most, and it probably exemplifies why I like Silence so much, is a very little scene at the beginning of that encounter. After giving her the bouquet, he starts to walk away when she grabs his arm. He turns to look at her and she is pointing at the light, which is red. And then the camera pulls back and you just see those two figures standing by the crosswalk, not talking or touching or even looking at each other: a young man in a business suit and a young woman in a white dress. By themselves. And it's so quiet and pretty and right.
And in less analytical news, it's rather scary how pretty Vic Chou who plays Wei Yi is. He is prettier than I am. Sometimes I just caught myself staring at his face and going 'this can't be right!'
Also, browsing in B&N last night, I started reading Yuu Watase's hilarious Absolute Boyfriend. Watase is the author of such famous mangas as Fushigi Yuugi (the anime of which ate my life a few months back), Ceres: the Celestial Legend (ditto), FY: Genbu Kaiden (which I really love but it's still unfinished), Alice 19th (short but good) etc. What all these mangas have in common is a rather intricate plot and (even more famously) incredibly cool and hot guys who fall and will gladly die for the heroine.
Well, in AB, Watase parodies herself and her tendencies and it's hilarious. Our heroine, Riiko, has been turned down by so many guys, her heart is resembling days old salad. But all of a sudden, Riiko's life changes around completely. Now she has this amazing boyfriend: he is gorgeous, he will cook her breakfast in bed, he will compliment her, he will hold her all night if she so desires and he will perform great feats to rescue even her lost cell-phone. No woman could ask for more. He is perfect. He also arrived in a box. With a manual. Because he is an android. In her funk, Riiko went online to a page she thought was a joke and ordered an 'ideal boyfriend' (she also programmed everything into him, so he is a bit confused). Night (the android) is an absolute darling of course, and quite quite hunky. He is also not really real and is preventing her from noticing the attractive if decidedly imperfect guy next door who likes her. It's totally great and I want to continue to see how it all turns out.
And for anyone who is in the Washington metro area and is interested, wanted to let you know that the 11th Annual Hong Kong Film Festival is currently going on in the Freer Gallery of Art. This Friday at 7 and this Sunday at 2, they are showing 2 Young, next week (same schedule) it's Divergence and the week after that (once again, same schedule), it's Perhaps Love, which I am madly in love with.