Various things that make me happy.

[dangermousie]

1. If there is anything cuter than Yang Mi and Feng Shao Feng (a.k.a. my current obssession Qing Chuan and Eight a.k.a. period Makino and Domyouji in JPLH) singing together on some variety show, I have yet to see it.

I don't care about the weird background/dancers or the fact that FSF, while he sounds nice for not a professional, should stick to acting. I don't care. Because OH THE CUTE, IT KILLS ME. I want to squish them into one adorable ball of squee. When is the JPLH sequel coming out again? Not that I finished JPLH itself yet. Though I should probably stop haunting withs2 for more Jade Palace Lock Heart subs - if I check every few hours, the status won't change.

Semi-related, from browsing on-line, I noticed people either really love JPLH and think upcoming BBJX is not their cup of tea, or really dislike JPLH and really look forward to BBJX. There is not much overlap. Hmmmm. (Disclosure - I am fully in the former camp).

2. Speaking of cute couples I adore, I continued with twdrama Endless Love with Wilbur Pan and Sandrine Panna.



I saw the first three eps, fell madly in love, then got sidetracked and was waiting for a lot of dlable files/subs so I could binge. Well, I started the binge, am on ep 4 and still - I have no words for how much I love it. As ockoala is to Happiness is a Sunny Day is dangermousie to Endless Love. Most of my love is motivated by my ridiculous, irrational, protective love of Wilbur and Sandrine's characters - they are such lovely and realistic people (I especially love Wilbur's character - I feel ridiculously emotionally overinvested in him) - and their explosive chemistry. Nobody does a romantic drama quite like twdramas. I know this one is going to break my heart before giving me the inevitable happy ending, and I am ready for the ride.












And speaking of the two of them, even though I posted this MV before, I love it so much, it merits a repost. I dare anyone watching it not wanting to check out the drama.

3. I only had time for one ep of Young Warriors of the Yang Clan today. I finally understand why some fangirls ship Lady Blacksmith with Yelu Xie.



They do share a great deal of chemistry plus Yuan Hong is a good-looking and charismatic guy.

But I am still on the Five/Blacksmith ship. Seriously, hotness or not, Yelu Xie is sworn to invade and destroy Blacksmith's country, likely killing scores of her friends and acquiantances in the process. Not to mention he's palling around with the guy who killed her parents and has no problem with said guy offing tons of innocents to help him invade. Good boyfriend material he's not. Also, Five is not only righteous and upright but totally adorable.



Love them:




Yelu Xie and Lady Blacksmith do have some mondo chemistry though:




Plus, he's good-looking. Too bad he's a bad guy. Lady Blacksmith is miles too good for him.



I guess I just always go for the good guys.


4. Dream High ended today. I completely lost interest in it during the second half (I think I am just too old for those types of stories). But I do plan to check out the concert special tomorrow. Singing and dancing yay.

5. The first two eps of The Holy Pearl are subbed on viki.

6. O-M-G. Unless I am very much mistaken, the below is Yu Yutong-centric MV from the 2009 version of The Book and the Sword a.k.a. the only Louis Cha novel I've read. Talking to hamster428 reminded me how much I liked the guy - he was basically my crush from the book. I mean, the scholar/fighter/flute player/likes to cut himself is a combo made just for moi.

I know that Jiang Hu is subbing this. Off to look as soon as I finish Yang Clan. Qing hairstyles bother me less and less.

7. And speaking of wuxias on my short list, my raging obsession with Peter Ho shows no signs of abating so I got my DVDs of Men and Legends out and plan to get on them after I finish Yang Clan - it will make a nice counterpoint to The Book and the Sword. Turn of the century! Dylan Kuo and Peter Ho! OTPs! From what I am aware of, Peter Ho and his OTP, who's a plucky reporter, are cute for most of the run of the drama until they get hit with the angst hammer and are beaten into bloody bits with it. Ah, yes, it's a Peter Ho drama all right.



Spoilery:

Unspoilery:

8. Despite my misgivings, I decided to give the first ep of Midas a try. We'll see how it goes. Oh, Jang Hyuk, see what you make me do!

OK, this is getting very long, so good-night, everyone!

Comments

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Re Dream High: I wrote what happens to everyone in 2018 at my journal. You might be happy to know its happy ending all around, with a bit of open endedness about what happened between 2011 and 2018. I think they did that because the ratings were so high, and they didn't expect that. Rumor has it a Season 2 might be in the works. Maybe.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Just read. Interesting. I sort of lost any interest in the characters midway but it seems fairly consistent. It was one of those dramas where "it's not you, it's me" kicked in.

I have yet to see any talk of s2 of kdrama ever come to fruition.

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

I have yet to see any talk of s2 of kdrama ever come to fruition.

True. Well, sort of. I've seen dramas have a second season, but with a whole new cast and storyline: Jungle Fish 2, the High Kick Through the Roof sitcom franchise, that sort of thing. The closest I saw was Last Scandal, but, of course that was canceled. Besides, out of the six lead characters, four of them are in boy/girl groups, and one is a solo singer. I doubt they have a whole lot of time to do another series - at least right now. It would be hard to get all six schedules together, as they all have other activities on their plates.

I wouldn't mind the producers doing another drama similar to Dream High, though. Maybe one set in an acting school?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

There are about 3 of us who prefer the blacksmith with Five, I think. BTW, Five's character in Patriotic Knights is rather Yang Guo-ish. You'd likely like him. (Heroine is the crossdressing sister of a villain.)

I watched a bit of the first ep of Book and Sword, but was mehed. I'm told it isn't really very good anyway, and that the 2002 version is much better. (It's a Guoli series, so not too surprising, I guess. Or at leastm Guoli tends to be "Melodrama! Women! Dramatic Love! Pretty!We mentioned the melodrama, right?")

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Fandom loves its angsty bad boys. Me? Much less so (unless they are supposed to be smart villains but not lust objects - see Cao Cao in Three Kingdoms).

Somehow I did not realize Five was in Patriotic Knights! This really moved up my list!

I saw you were looking for wuxias. I am sure you probably watched it by now, but if not, how about Legend of Condor Heroes 2008? So good! (Also Jade Palace Lock heart but that one is not done subbing yet). I also really enjoyed Da Ren Wu with Nic Tse. How about Demi Gods and Semi Devils with Jimmy Lin? I've heard really good things about it and it's on my short list.

Re: The Book and the Sword. I am probably going to do a selective viewing because I didn't care for the main character in the novel anyway - pick which sister you like, already! But I did like a number of secondaries and I'll watch for them (flute-playing guy being one of them). I am very shallow and visuals go a long way for me, and 2009 version looks prettier. Though if 2002 version has subs, I may be tempted.

Are you on am-a? They have a great wuxia/period cdrama selection.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

He is! The lead, even. Though it was a bit jarring because I didn't realize it and I watched the 2 series relatively back-to-back.

I'm actually flipflopping between those 2, Lotus Lantern, and Chinese Paladin 3 to try out next, unless I end up doing Madame White Snake as a group watch.

BTW, with Bu Bu Jing Xin (another Guoli-notable by his obsession with Liu Shi Shi) I'll likely watch both it and JPLH, but my concern is that she's, uhm...in someone else's body. THAT GIRL WILL WANT IT BACK! AND BE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT WAS DONE WITH IT!

[cha-maeri.livejournal.com]

I actually find myself in that rare camp of both liking JPLH (a lot) and looking forward to BBJX, although I do think they will be COMPLETELY different watching experiences. I suspect my enjoyment of the latter will depend in part on my ability to dissociate it in my mind from the former.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am looking forward to seeing your take on BBJX - it'll probably decide if I check it out or not.

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

Five + Blacksmith all the way!!!!!

I think I passed you on YWOYC (*gasp*). Am on ep 24 now. This episode makes me happy (despite the really gross biological warfare stuff... ick!)---Four sorts out his issues with Papa Yang (and I think Five is starting to accept him), Five and Blacksmith FINALLY sort things out, and the episode ends with Four and Five heroics. Four is rising steadily in my charts lately (probably because he's so much in the spotlight in the last few eps). I don't know how I'd rank them in terms of liking---Papa Yang is always going to be at the top, but I feel bad ranking the rest of them because I adore all of them equally!!!

Also, now that it's more or less settled with Five, it's your turn, Six. Promise me to propose to the Princess when we get home, ok?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I started on ep 23, so yup, you passed me. I had a crazy day today so little drama watching, but I shall try to catch up :)

Yesss re: Blacksmith and Five. They are so adorable. And double yay on Four. I think he's currently my favorite of the siblings.

Six/Princess Chai - honestly, they are perfect and fun and clearly fancy each other. How thick is he not to realize what he feels? Come on, boy, you are so smart, figure it out!

My fave Yang is Mama Yang and then the rating varies from ep to ep :)

Btw, I just saw you guys released more eps of Three Kingdoms. When do you sleep, with the subbing and watching this? Seriously, am in awe.

[lady-wu.livejournal.com]

LOL, actually I'm more in awe of you, following like 10 dramas at once and finding time to post and reply to comments and taking care of family.

We've actually translated up to episode 60-something, but the various steps of putting a translation on screen take up a lot of time (and that's really where our bottleneck is). I do translation and quality checking, so I get a bit of a break when waiting for things to be processed in the middle. I mean, I could go and keep translating, or I could worship the Yangs. Hmm...

I think I'm going to keep looping that section where Four and Papa talk over their feelings. I've watched it 3 times already and bawled my eyes out every time. I'm very easily affected by family affection talk. Given how perfect things are in this episode I fear upcoming angst and I really want things to stay where they are right now (except Six should still go home and propose to Princess Chai).

Btw, are there good Russian period dramas that you can recommend? (I need subs in either English or Russian--my aural comprehension is crap.)

[yuran3.livejournal.com]

I noticed people either really love JPLH and think upcoming BBJX is not their cup of tea, or really dislike JPLH and really look forward to BBJX.

I want both!

I personally think, beside it is about a girl who goes to Qing dynasty, Gong and Bu Bu Jing Xin are different. Gong is lighter, on the other hand Bu Bu Jing Xin is more complicated. I loved Gong, and I watched all 35 episodes in 2 days lol;;;

How I wish.. if only Yang Mi was in Bu Bu Jing Xin, instead of Gong.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

35 eps in two days? OMG.

I love both Liu Shi Shi and Yang Mi, so either one is fine with me, but I prfer (a) LSS as spunky and (b) paired with Yuan Hong :P

[yunhalove.livejournal.com]

Am definitely in JPLH camp- your posts got me absolutely addicted, btw. The lack of subs is killing me though. I'm used to watching mostly k-dramas and j-dramas and seeing as I'm fluent in the former language and can understand most of the latter, this wait is a new, cruel and unusual torture for me. I don't want to give in to viki subs, so like you I am constantly refreshing. :/

RE: Dream High- I also didn't feel as enthusiastic about the drama ending as I would've liked, though I did appreciate the parallels the writer made with the SamdongxHyemi kiss scenes/bus scenes (as illustrated in fanvid below):



It's always nice to see continuity/some attention to detail. :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is nice. DH really was well-made.

I think subs for 10-12 are almost out in withs2. I saw some of 10 (because I watched a little bit of raws earlier) and you are going to love it.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Yang brothers yay! I have watched 2 eps yesterday and am fully on board. This is a cross between family drama and wuxia = the recipe for my pleasure. Plus it is very intelligent and full of nice twists.And of course Five/The smith lady OTP is great. I love Five in general, he is lovely. The evil dude is played by a hot actor (I have seen him somewhere but don't remember where) but he is clearly a sore looser , so I don't think I will ever like him, hot or no hot.

I feel a big wuxia binge coming.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly - it's like a wuxia family drama, which is perfect for me, because it provides a bit more conflict than a family drama typically does but with the family drama interactions that I love.

Evil dude is played by Yuan Hong (who is a real-life best friend of Hu Ge, who plays Six in this). I loved him in Legend of Condor Heroes 2008 where he was one of the protagonists, who played Hu Ge's best friend who slowly is driven to the dark side but gets redeemed at the end. He and Liu Shi Shi (who plays Peter Ho's OTP in Yangs) in LOCH were one of my favorite couples.



Let me know if you need any wuxia recs :)

[(Anonymous)]

Watch "the Four"HK version to change a bit...

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry for bing like that I just want somebody to share thoughts about this show lol

[karened.livejournal.com]

Watch the Vincent Zhao version of The Book and the Sword!! LOL (shamelessly promoting) My OTP in that story is Chen Jia Luo and Huo Qing Tong...so half my heart died when the guy fell for that Princess Xiang Xiang at the later half of the story.

I think the sequel to Gong comes out in Winter? Not sure either...and I agree. My very first thought when I watched that performance was 'Feng Shao Feng should stick to acting!' hehe..but bring on the cute!

[karened.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'm in the same camp as you!

I'm just sad that Gong has to bear the shadow of being accused of copying from BBJX. =(

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I don't think that one has subs.

I am not a Chen Jiuliao fan. He's too fickle :(

[ockoala.livejournal.com]

Buh? Oh squee, I got a shoutout from the Mousie!~

Man, my SH addiction is pretty out of control, luckily I roped an group of people in with me, and now I'm no longer the only crazy one.

I'm really tired of crazy dramatics recently, MP kinda went in the crapper with it, so SH and its brand of calm, even-toned, discussion heavy relationship development, with lots of cute but not OTT moments, is just what I am craving.

Glad you're enjoying so many good dramas that make you happy! ^__^

I think JPLH and BBJX have made peace with each other. It's hard for JPLH not to be accused of lifting the entire concept from BBJX the novel, since the novel was out first.

But with a different execution, there is room in the dramaverse for both to co-exist happily.

[(Anonymous)]

Why wherever I go everytime someone promotes this drama with sub-par actings called Dream High they bring "My Princess" here ? are they broadcasted at the same time slot ? I am not a fan of MP (I think the acting here is as bad as in DH) but I don't know why Dream High fan(atics) compare it with MP.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

:P

I really like Sunny Happiness five episodes in. I'd probably marathon it, but Your warriors have got my marathon slot with JPLH being the understudy. I do find a certain low-key loveliness of it refreshing. I love crazy dramatics in their place but I find a lot of dramas insert it wrongly (also, no kdrama romcom has worked for me in years, for some reason).

I am enjoying too many dramas! I am like a zombie today due to lack of sleep. :)

I agree, despite the similarity of the basic premise, JPLH and BBJX look nothing alike. I plan to check out BBJX and see if I like the eps more than I did the trailer. Wouldn't be the first time it happened :)