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dangermousieApologies for turning this LJ into a Hana Yori Dango zone for the last week or two!
filmi-girl and I watched eps 3 and 4 of Meteor Garden. Such love! I always forget how much I love this drama!
1. Is it me or is Shizuka awfully passive-agressive in this version? Ugh. You can so tell Lei's trip to Paris is wasted.
2. Barbie is, hands-down, my favorite version of Makino, as written and acted. She is tough and won't crumple or be embarassed (unlike the jdrama or kdrama ones) but she is also more grown-up and mature, however clueless and thickheaded she might be emotions-wise - there is no OTT acting or too much yelling, thank God. She and Dao Ming Si actually have nice interactions where she is amused by him or even caring (when he gets sick). She is just...awesome.
3. Vic Zhou is the most beautiful man I have ever seen. I think Chin (this version's Shizuka) is insane for not wanting him.
4. So many frank comments about sex. Thank God.
5. I love Shan Cai's (Makino's) dorky male friend. He is awesome. He and Dao Ming Si are the same mental age, which is 5 yrs old. Combined.
6. Lee Min Ho can probably act circles around Jerry Yan but...the latter's character is better-written, IMO and I adore him to bits - the fact that he is so tall, gorgeous and good at being a dork, doesn't hurt. Neither do the dimples. The scene with their 'date' was adorable - when he lies on her lap and looks like he cannot believe it that he got so lucky. AWWWW. But he is also genuinely dangerous and I can buy why Shan Cai wants to stay away or why she probably can't process he really likes her because his behavior seems to veer so much from extreme to extreme. It also all reminds me (in general about Domyouji, not just about this version's one) that this is probably the first time in his life he is beginning to realize other people have desires and needs not necessarily congruent with his own. Before, it's all 'well, I like her so she must like me' but he is learning the world doesn't work like that. I like how Hanadan is rather different from the usual "good girl reforms bad boy" trope (not that I am not a sucker for that one, in the safety of fiction). Makino has no desire to reform him - he reforms himself because she basically refuses to take him as a boyfriend until he is "acceptable" and because of wanting to be "acceptable" and, IMO more importantly, because of the growing experience of loving somebody, he grows up and changes. On some level, it's rather realistic to me on a personal level. I never bashed people's heads in and was always pretty socially well-adjusted. But Mr. Mousie was my first love (yes, I know how kdrama) and falling in love with him and wanting to make him happy, and paying so much attention to someone else's needs actually made me in general a lot more understanding and concerned about other people and a lot more considerate - you can't just open your heart to one person it sort of lets the world climb through too.
In completely unrelated news (except that Vic was Lei in MG), I bring you Silence picspam.
Silence is a spectacularly angsty Taiwanese drama (I sobbed like a little girl) but it also hits all my kinks. All.
Park Eun Hye plays a young half-Korean woman living in Taiwan who has been mute since a traumatic experience in her childhood. Vic Zhou (oh, SWOON) plays an icy, ruthless young businessman whose paths cross with hers. As they antagonize each other and then slowly fall into delicious love, neither knows that the other is that childhood friend they had, lost, and were searching for ever since. Oh, and did I add in that Eun Hye's foster brother is in love with her, that Vic Zhou's family is beyond awful, and that...yeah, he is dying of cancer? It's basically a kdrama as done by Taiwan. Oh, so very gorgeous. Behind the cut is one of my all-time favorite scenes, early on, from ep 3.
The indomitable Shen Shen:
Gorgeous, gorgeous Vic:
Who is not feeling well:
Perfect rendition of WOOBIE is achieved!
Excuse me while I swoon.
He goes to thank her with flowers!
filmi-girl and I watched eps 3 and 4 of Meteor Garden. Such love! I always forget how much I love this drama!
1. Is it me or is Shizuka awfully passive-agressive in this version? Ugh. You can so tell Lei's trip to Paris is wasted.
2. Barbie is, hands-down, my favorite version of Makino, as written and acted. She is tough and won't crumple or be embarassed (unlike the jdrama or kdrama ones) but she is also more grown-up and mature, however clueless and thickheaded she might be emotions-wise - there is no OTT acting or too much yelling, thank God. She and Dao Ming Si actually have nice interactions where she is amused by him or even caring (when he gets sick). She is just...awesome.
3. Vic Zhou is the most beautiful man I have ever seen. I think Chin (this version's Shizuka) is insane for not wanting him.
4. So many frank comments about sex. Thank God.
5. I love Shan Cai's (Makino's) dorky male friend. He is awesome. He and Dao Ming Si are the same mental age, which is 5 yrs old. Combined.
6. Lee Min Ho can probably act circles around Jerry Yan but...the latter's character is better-written, IMO and I adore him to bits - the fact that he is so tall, gorgeous and good at being a dork, doesn't hurt. Neither do the dimples. The scene with their 'date' was adorable - when he lies on her lap and looks like he cannot believe it that he got so lucky. AWWWW. But he is also genuinely dangerous and I can buy why Shan Cai wants to stay away or why she probably can't process he really likes her because his behavior seems to veer so much from extreme to extreme. It also all reminds me (in general about Domyouji, not just about this version's one) that this is probably the first time in his life he is beginning to realize other people have desires and needs not necessarily congruent with his own. Before, it's all 'well, I like her so she must like me' but he is learning the world doesn't work like that. I like how Hanadan is rather different from the usual "good girl reforms bad boy" trope (not that I am not a sucker for that one, in the safety of fiction). Makino has no desire to reform him - he reforms himself because she basically refuses to take him as a boyfriend until he is "acceptable" and because of wanting to be "acceptable" and, IMO more importantly, because of the growing experience of loving somebody, he grows up and changes. On some level, it's rather realistic to me on a personal level. I never bashed people's heads in and was always pretty socially well-adjusted. But Mr. Mousie was my first love (yes, I know how kdrama) and falling in love with him and wanting to make him happy, and paying so much attention to someone else's needs actually made me in general a lot more understanding and concerned about other people and a lot more considerate - you can't just open your heart to one person it sort of lets the world climb through too.
In completely unrelated news (except that Vic was Lei in MG), I bring you Silence picspam.
Silence is a spectacularly angsty Taiwanese drama (I sobbed like a little girl) but it also hits all my kinks. All.
Park Eun Hye plays a young half-Korean woman living in Taiwan who has been mute since a traumatic experience in her childhood. Vic Zhou (oh, SWOON) plays an icy, ruthless young businessman whose paths cross with hers. As they antagonize each other and then slowly fall into delicious love, neither knows that the other is that childhood friend they had, lost, and were searching for ever since. Oh, and did I add in that Eun Hye's foster brother is in love with her, that Vic Zhou's family is beyond awful, and that...yeah, he is dying of cancer? It's basically a kdrama as done by Taiwan. Oh, so very gorgeous. Behind the cut is one of my all-time favorite scenes, early on, from ep 3.
The indomitable Shen Shen:
Gorgeous, gorgeous Vic:
Who is not feeling well:
Perfect rendition of WOOBIE is achieved!
Excuse me while I swoon.
He goes to thank her with flowers!
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 03:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 03:07 pm (UTC)If only he miraculously survived in the end, Silence would be in my all-time Top 10 - it was so wonderful. But as is, it's too much agony all at once.
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Date: 2009-01-23 03:16 pm (UTC)Vic Zhou is mind-blowingly good-looking. Sigh.
She and Dao Ming Si actually have nice interactions where she is amused by him or even caring (when he gets sick). She is just...awesome.
The way she is always calling him idiot/stupid, "buta" or whatever the Mandarin word is, is just too darn cute! Was reminded of this when rewatching that scene from ep 8. Maybe it's that it's the first version of Hanadan I know but for whatever reason that feature of MG always makes me smile and feel more special and genuine than the other two drama versions and her calling him idiot there.
Shancai's friend was such a goof but in a fully awesome way. :D
Also, I wonder what it is about relative honesty about sex when it comes to twdramas.. ISWAK2 had a pre-lovemaking scene, Mars had one (plus they eluded to the awesome secondary OTP sleeping together) and I know the comedic teen drama 18 Jin Bu Jin had these honest, semi-educational bits about sex and whatnot. Jdramas and kdramas have stuff too, but in comparison they seem relatively prudish.
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Date: 2009-01-23 03:26 pm (UTC)Yeah, twdramas are pretty open, comparatively speaking: Devil Beside You also had a before-and-after scene etc. I rather like it - jdramas usually turn people into these weird asexuals. Kdramas are better about it, at least in dramas dealing with 'grown-ups' (Lovers, Que Sera Sera) but when it's a mainstream team drama, forget it (see Goong).
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Date: 2009-01-23 03:19 pm (UTC)3. AGREE! Chin is stupid. Yeah. I mean, who doesn't want Vic Zhou? *o*
5. LOL I love Ah Si and the rest of F4 with Qing He! So cute!:)
re: Silence. Heartbreaking! But the cast did a really good job. Like
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Date: 2009-01-23 03:23 pm (UTC)Oh, yeah. Chin must be insane!
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Date: 2009-01-23 03:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 03:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 05:56 pm (UTC)Thanks for the picspam though! I love the ones where Zai Zai looks angry/confused. He's so amazing. Everytime I think I can't love him more...
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Date: 2009-01-24 04:18 pm (UTC)Vic!
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Date: 2009-01-23 07:44 pm (UTC)btw, Jerry has only 1 dimple. he and Zaizai only has one; their complementary actually. :D
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Date: 2009-01-24 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 12:56 am (UTC)But, however annoyed I was with the format (and with some characters), the emotions got to me anyway and I was completely bawling through several scenes and episodes :P. I suspect I saw only about half of the last episode, because I was crying so badly while watching it... :P
Angsty Vic Zhou is just too gorgeous!!! And I loved Shen Shen! Such a great character!
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Date: 2009-01-24 04:19 pm (UTC)But yes...so much bawling. I am not really up for a rewatch.
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Date: 2009-01-24 03:12 am (UTC)Don’t apologise! Same old LJ rule applies - if it doesn’t interest anyone, they can just skip past it. :-)
1. Is it me or is Shizuka awfully passive-agressive in this version?
She is, really, isn’t she? Shizuka is always quite a hard character for me to wrap my head around; I’ve come to think she enjoys the control she has over Rui and does deliberately (but not maliciously) manipulate him quite a bit. I do intend to have a good hard think about all these characters at some point and write some analyses; she’s going to be a tough one, alright!
2. Barbie is, hands-down, my favorite version of Makino, as written and acted... she is also more grown-up and mature, however clueless and thickheaded she might be emotions-wise - there is no OTT acting or too much yelling, thank God.
What I’m finding so refreshing about rewatching MG at the moment is the complete and utter lack of cutesy-poo from her, which is something I find off-putting in both the Japanese and (especially) the Korean versions. But Emotionally Dense certainly sums up Tsukushi’s character in every version ;-).
3. Vic Zhou is the most beautiful man I have ever seen. I think Chin (this version's Shizuka) is insane for not wanting him.
He definitely wins the crown for Taiwan, and I can’t think of any Japanese guy to really beat him (hmm, Takeshi Kaneshiro? Probably not in terms of sheer beauty. And he‘s half-Taiwanese anyway). But then Korea’s got Joo Ji-hoon, who’s beautiful in an entirely different way…
4. So many frank comments about sex. Thank God.
Yes, thanks tw-dramas, for leaving the sex in. It truly isn’t the same story without it.
5. I love Shan Cai's (Makino's) dorky male friend. He is awesome. He and Dao Ming Si are the same mental age, which is 5 yrs old. Combined.
Kazuya/Qing He! I’m so fond of him, and I love his interactions with DMS. You're right; you can see exactly what they were like as little kids, because they’ve never really left that age group ;-).
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Date: 2009-01-24 08:35 pm (UTC)off-putting in both the Japanese and (especially) the Korean versions.
Oh yes. Japanese version wasn't too bad, but Jandi is beginning to get on my nerves. I've seen complaints that the story is told too much from Jun Pyo's side, but it isn't - they certainly get equal screentime. It's just Lee Min Ho is a lot better than Go Hye Sun. I think that's where the age comes in - she is trying to overcompensate for being 24.
Korea’s got Joo Ji-hoon, who’s beautiful in an entirely different way…
True. JJH is very very icy while Vic, not so much. Mind boggles though,imagining him beinga random engineering student before all the MG stuff.
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Date: 2009-01-25 08:14 am (UTC)You're right, and it's making me sad; I don't want to feel irritation at half her scenes! The sad things is, she's so good at the intense, angry or angsty scenes; I really wish they'd tone the 'comic' stuff down. Jun-pyo's had plenty of funny scenes himself, but they come across as natural.
I got the sense Shizuka paid attention to him when they were kids precisely because Rui was troubled - she seems to really like to come across as magnanimous and healing, if it makes sense.
Now this is an interesting take, and it's something I'm going to have a good think about it. I do think she's basically a good person, but there's a lot more ego there than you'd think, I'd say.
Mind boggles though,imagining him beinga random engineering student before all the MG stuff.
What a stroke of luck that was for the casting director!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 03:16 am (UTC)6. Lee Min Ho can probably act circles around Jerry Yan but...the latter's character is better-written
Yes and yes, to both points.
That scene with their 'date' was adorable - when he lies on her lap and looks like he cannot believe it that he got so lucky.
This might well be my most-watched sequence in MG. It’s so simply done, and so effective. There are so many things I love about it: he looks miserable and worried while waiting in the rain for her (awww) but still barks at concerned passersby to piss off (to which the newly arrived Shan Cai rolls her eyes, ha!); they have that blaring argument in front of the restaurant at the top of their lungs which is SO CUTE; when they’re stuck in the stairwell she’s flashing back to that assault, is justifiably nervous and so thumps him a good one when he reaches for her (double ha!). Then we get the second ‘my poor woobie!’ bit when he casually reveals that he basically lives alone and doesn’t see his family (and I like that he’s not fishing for sympathy here at all), and you can see her kind of soften. Then she grins at him for trotting out his ‘apologies/police’ line, and he’s kind of embarrassed; I think this might be partially because this is the first genuine smile she’s ever given him as much as because she‘s laughing at him. And I mustn’t forget the dimple! Oh, and the height difference when she’s supporting him the next morning; she tucks herself under his arm and is practically engulfed by him. Ah, good stuff… Dammit, I’m going to watch this bit RIGHT NOW!
It also all reminds me… that this is probably the first time in his life he is beginning to realize other people have desires and needs not necessarily congruent with his own.
Yup, and because he’s a slow learner (and also because he’s been allowed to go his own way for so long) this is a very gradual process indeed. And he’s always going to be high-handed and proud, because it’s not like he’s been neutered ;-). But when you compare him at the start and near the end, you see how far he’s come.
But he is also genuinely dangerous and I can buy why Shan Cai wants to stay away or why she probably can't process he really likes her because his behavior seems to veer so much from extreme to extreme…. Makino has no desire to reform him - he reforms himself because she basically refuses to take him as a boyfriend until he is "acceptable"
That’s why I can never get too frustrated at her wavering about him; the fact that he adores her so much doesn’t change the fact that he’s so very unpredictable and capable of some shocking behaviour.
i>because of the growing experience of loving somebody, he grows up and changes… you can't just open your heart to one person it sort of lets the world climb through too.
I’ve always liked how good he was with Yuuki in the later parts of the manga, and not just because he needs to get in good with Tsukushi’s best friend (in fact, I don’t think that even enters his head).
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Date: 2009-01-24 08:37 pm (UTC)still barks at concerned passersby to piss off
That waspriceless.
Oh, and the height difference when she’s supporting him the next morning; she tucks herself under his arm and is practically engulfed by him. Ah, good stuff… Dammit, I’m going to watch this bit RIGHT NOW!
Oh,I love this bit so much. And I also love that they included the exchange about him living alone -because it does explain a lot of his oddness.
can never get too frustrated at her wavering about him; the fact that he adores her so much doesn’t change the fact that he’s so very unpredictable and capable of some shocking behaviour.
Exactly, he is no Prince Charming. If I were in her shoes, I'd hesistate a lot too.
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Date: 2009-01-25 10:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-26 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-31 02:05 am (UTC)Off-topic: It broke my heart when he and Barbie broke up. Really, it did.