Lalala, real life? What?
Mars
Wow. This is my first Taiwanese drama, and it was phenomenal. I remember getting the manga recced highly to me a while ago, and I think I'll definitely check it out now. I *loved* the editing. The lead man was hot and could act well. I loved the two lead characters. I just loved them. It dragged a bit toward the end, but overall, solid storytelling techniques and a good story. Also hotness. It was fun for me to try to listen for onyomi cognates and hunt for matching-meaning kanji in the (Taiwanese?) subtitles. Because yes, I am a dork.
Ao no Honoo
This was a good film. Quality. It was also INCREDIBLY DEPRESSING. The visual metaphors were great--some beautiful shots--and the acting was good. Impressive for pop stars. Though heh, we know that Johnny's Boys have to be monkeys of all entertainment venues. I think that sequence with the lead boy and girl exchanging long looks through the glass was hotter than most sex scenes. I'm having trouble stopping thinking about this film, because it was GOOD, but. Sad. This is a film class kind of film, and I definitely appreciate it as such.
Tokyo Tower
I ADORED the main story with Okada Junichi. It was such fantasy-fulfillment, man. (Although why the lovers in the great love stories we tell ourselves all verge on insanity I don't really know. Heh, just look at Majo no Jouken where she's actually diagnosed by a psychiatrist. I, uh, actually have been rewatching it lately. I KNOW. It's even worse to like it now that I'm a teacher.) I loved the cinematography. Amazing in places.
I didn't find MatsuJun's plot or character relevant or interesting. His head looked like a muskrat died on it. Perhaps it was supposed to be his hair. It was like an early-60s women's bob, but then it was the long J-boy mullet in back too and just DEEPLY ODD. Jun cannot act with his whole body like Okada can, and I don't think he's capable of the intensity (/insanity) that Okada brought to the role. Also Okada is hot. He's not pretty and his face reminds me of Ioan Gruffudd, but he's scorchingly hot. I guess the Jun story was supposed to offer contrast and show how the Okada story was the right way to do things--actions motivated by love--but Jun's story just seemed unfocused and pointless. I know that when I rewatch this I'll skip all the Jun parts, which is ironic because I started watching this film because I knew Jun was in it. (The rabid MatsuJun fans on the crunchyroll comments piss me off all OMG JUN IS SO HOT AND GREAT. He kind of sucked in this film, not that the script gave him a lot of opportunity to shine, and he was way not hot compared to his other roles.)
I was also impressed to see all the sex and touching in this movie. This *is* Japan. (The only "sex scene" we got in Anego was them embracing on the street--not even kissing!) I was amused at crunchyroll's rating of "M17+! omg!" because it was all just making out--no naughty bits were shown or even implied to be touched, even through clothing. It was basically the level of sex scene that would be shown on primetime American dramas. But I was still happy that there were lots of them. And the acting of Okada and his lady were very good--convincing. (Okada's angst is *pretty*.) I will definitely watch more Okada in the future.
Aishiteiru to itte kure
Hello pretty deaf man! So hottt. And God he could really act well--enough to make me cry from the expression in his eyes. Plus I learned some Japanese sign language! Yay! The stuff that kept the couple apart was a little contrived, and the girl was kind of stupid, but they were hot enough together to make up for it. I thought the character development was well-done, though. Definitely fun to watch!
Koukou Kyoushi
I've wanted to see this ever since I heard how landmark a drama it was in Japan. And then like the answer to a prayer it recently appeared on Silent Regrets. Yay! Wow does it ever live up to its reputation. I truly think this is the best drama I've ever seen. In terms of acting, writing, editing, storyline, character development, and "issues," it really outshines everything else. Such a wonderful and complete package. And it was made in 1993! I know about the remake, but I don't really have an interest in seeing a knock-off when the original is *so good*.
Tree of Heaven
This was really *good* in all the ways a romance drama should be good. It had strong emotions, and also a splash of predestined tragedy to it. I think I'll be thinking about these characters for awhile. But this praise is all apart from the last episode, which as far as I'm concerned never happened.
The acting was pretty good. These actors can cry! A lot! It was good crying. The lead girl was an awesome actress at 15--I was convinced that her character was 18 and then 20. She didn't look too young to me. Too bad she couldn't kiss the lead man because of her age--would there be prosecution or something? Geez. Kissing on the lips is such an artificial distinction. They did other stuff that was way sexier. And I wish they had done more! They were really hot together. It was kind of stupid that just like in "Summer Snow" the leads had this big romance but never even kissed each other in life.
I liked the first half better, when they had a real relationship, before they each became warped into such paragons in the other's mind.
I think the biggest weakness of this drama was the plot holes. There were some strange language issues, with all the Koreans speaking Japanese and vice versa, but I can pretend that an actor doesn't have an accent, and I can pretend that native speakers of one language would always speak in a foreign language just because they like it better. Whatever. There were some contrived reasons why the lead couple couldn't be together and other random puzzling events. The comedy scenes with the Amazing Housecleaning Yakuza were SO FUNNY I was HOWLING. Christ, just thinking about them make me giggle like an insane person at work. But again the scenes didn't really fit with the tragic atmosphere of the rest of the drama, nor the deadly and violent nature of some of the other gangster scenes. How can these adorable vacuuming guys be in the same group as people who assassinate dear friends without a care? I feel like these plot issues weren't really thought through or explained well.
But the biggest plot issue I had was the ending. It was disappointing because it was so cliched, I didn't feel it was worthy of the rest of the drama. I was really invested in these characters and I feel like they just smacked me in the face with this stupid ending. Like mocking all the care I had for these characters as people and turning them into cliched drama cutouts. It made me angry. I couldn't believe it, couldn't suspend my disbelief.
I could follow the writers to an unhappy ending, but if it's going to be unhappy, then make it unhappy, make it a real tragedy where everyone dies, or have Hana just have to live forever with her grief, not this organ transplant copout pretending to be a happy ending. I had ENOUGH of this with "Summer Snow." This is *not* the way I want Oppa to be inside Hana and with her forever. I don't believe in mystical auras connecting people through organs. People can form a mystical connection without exchanging body parts. I wish dramas would stop using that device. It's sad and stupid and it creeps me out.
Loveholic
Ah, it's the student-teacher thing again! This drama was fairly well-done overall, even if it did drag a lot and feel like torture sometimes.
This had some woobie moments and some seriously painful moments where I had to look away, like when Kang Wook sung a lullaby to himself in prison after he told Yool Joo to fuck off and not come to visit him anymore. Or when he told his friend that he wanted to go back to prison because it was less painful than seeing Yool Joo. He's such a good boy, and I love hidden angst. Yes I definitely watched this for Kang Wook.
On the whole this drama was SAD. It had some good angst moments, but it also had some really depressing parts. But it had a happy ending, which is something I didn't get from Tree of Heaven, so I'll forgive Korea for now.
It Started with a Kiss
This is the only drama of all the ones I've reviewed that I'm not downloading after streaming. There's not great acting or writing or very sexy people or interactions. It's not really something I would want to watch again, but it IS *entertaining* to watch once. It's more like ER or Friends to me--not something I would want to preserve as a work of art, but long and relaxing to have around and keep up with. I *would* recommend skipping to the end, except that I think it was just the sheer amount of *time* I spent with these characters, being denied this happy ending, that made the happy ending SO SATISFYING. God. I was like giddy. I'm still a little floaty from it. I'm actually looking forward to see what they'll do with the next series, where they're married. HEE. I can't get *enough* of Zhi Shu behaving like a real person--and moreover behaving like a real person in love! They're both so much more ADORABLE now that they're together. EEEEEEE.
OMG seriously, what WACKY HIJINKS will Qian Xin get into that Zhi Shu will have to deal with? I can't wait! I anticipate a somewhat "I Love Lucy" feel. I wonder if they'll both move into Qian Xin's room--hah, with all that lace. And I'm CERTAIN that Zhi Shu's mother will try to set up a hidden video camera in their room to tape their sex life. Ah, hilarity.
Hanadan finale
Hanazawa Rui is my boyfriend FOREVER. THE END.
Also did you SEE the mad Akira/Rui flirting? It came out of NOWHERE! I know Soujiro and Akira are usually all up on each other, but that's just their sexy player cameraderie and *extreme easiness* because hey, mass orgies are just another night out for them together. But Akira like TOUCHING Rui's CHEEK when they first got to the ski resort, and then throwing a snowball at Rui and them just smiling and FLIRTING--I was so torn between squee! and confusion! and jealousy! (because Rui is mine). I like Shizuka though because I like seeing Rui act like a devoted puppy, but I wish she would keep him instead of letting him go. But did you see him give up his violin of unrequited love? Yay! Now he can be happier... alone.
Oh yeah, there was some stuff about Makino and Tsukasa in there. That was good too.
I didn't like the huge staged proposal thing. How did they all know the same dance, etc. Too teen-movie-ish. Very odd. Looked awkward and unnatural. Why didn't they just have them dance at prom like in the manga?
Hee, I loved the beginning of the previous episode, where the boys were being all "We're tenka no F4, bitches!" doing their badass secret handshake you KNOW they invented when they were 12. And then being full of support and love for each other. Just awww, MY BOYS. These sexy dorks trying to act like hot shit but still taking care of each other like huge softies. ::smushes them together::
I haven't been reading lj or watching American TV AT ALL for *weeks*. Dramas are like a sickness in my blood. I plan to catch up, though. Soon, really...