Musings of the Obsessive Kind

But it's soooo good!

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Heeeeeee. Isn't it awesome? It manages to be both sweet and dark.

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jpookemon.livejournal.com

Related to Hana Yori Dango... I was wondering if you would support the idea of a redo/remake of BOF (KDrama) shown on another broadcast channel, done by a different production team, with a whole new cast.

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Honestly, I am kinda BOF-ed out. There only so many adaptations a manga needs (I liked Jade Palace because it was not a proper adaptation but an AU).

I really wish I could mix the casts in the existing versions -LMH would have made a perfect Domyouji if the script let him but GHS was very miscast and I wish Barbie Hsu from twdrama was female lead instead etcetc.

I'd probably be more into it if I didn't already find MG a perfect adaptation.

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akosikae.livejournal.com

MG is enough & perfect already.

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darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com

I said "other" because my favorite type of drama is a mystery. If I have no idea what's going on, I love it. :D

WHERE'S THE APPRECIATION FOR CRYING HEROES?

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ambergold.livejournal.com

eh. I like my men tortured and suffering silent manpain, not out-and-out crying (unless it's Jang Hyuk, who is somehow still insanely beautiful and masculine even when he cries).

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momosan.livejournal.com

A good shower of despair is always welcome.

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LOLOLOL

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I do not approve of wimps - plus red eyes :P

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I see red eyes ALOT on Do You Hear My Heart.

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ambergold.livejournal.com

depends what you mean by "watching", because I am literally watching Lie to Me only for the makeouts - I skim the recaps to see if there's a makeout, if so I watch the ep, if not I pass.

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LOLOLOL that is a v v valid way of watching.

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sisterjune.livejournal.com

Curse you for using the radio buttons! I wanted to pick romcoms AND school tales! I ended up just picking rom coms though. I love a good school story however, especially from Japan.
Its funny I am really getting into kdramas now but most of my watched and loved dramas are still jdramas so i picked that as the one that makes my fave dramas but honestly its very close cause I've enjoyed the majority of kdramas I have attempted though I am attempting alot more now so that may soon change. Plus there is that abominable length of most kdramas.

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Heee, decisions are tough :P

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rectherapyfreak.livejournal.com

I can't choose favorite drama type...too hard. Same with favorite country. I watch mostly only korean dramas because the site dramafever has barely any dramas that are not Korean and I love that site. If I am super excited for a drama they do not have I will watch it somewhere else.

LOVE Lee Da Hae!

Meteor Garden is my FAVORITE version of HYD (it was the first LA version I saw...). I even love the horrible stupid 2nd season that no one likes...

I see City Hunter ending with GLOOM!!! I would love it if it didn't but with so much gloom in the 1st episode I don't see it ending happy.

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But second and third eps are cheerier. There is hoooope!

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rectherapyfreak.livejournal.com

there is hope! I will be SO happy if it has a nice ending!! 49 days has made me put my guard up for happy drama endings!

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popaddict.livejournal.com

I see death, death and more death for City Hunter.

I love romcoms and action revenge dramas but could only pick one so romcom got my vote.

I'm only watching city hunter (due to a LMH obsession) from the currently airing dramas. I really didn't like any of the recaps for the others, I find I get bored more easily lately.
Ariel belongs with Joe Chen. This is not in doubt!

I really like Taigas (though I chose wuxia) but taigas are a verrrry close second.

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So, how are you liking CH so far?

I can never get into Taigas for some reason, which is weird because I adore sageuks and wuxia.

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popaddict.livejournal.com

Taigas tend to be extremely slow and wordy, sometimes I finish an episode and I don't know if there was any narrative movement whatsoever, so I can completely understand your neutral feelings towards them. I just find them fascinating and usually end up researching the characters to familiarize myself with the people they're documenting.

From: (Anonymous)

Same to me ! I don't dislike Taiga. In my view they are fascinating. I watched some 60 and 70's japanese ancient movie like "Kwaidan", "kozure okami", "the 47 ronin", "seppuku", "lady snowblood", "Hitokiri", "jigokuhen" ect... and they are very good.

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popaddict.livejournal.com

CH?
I really disliked episode 2. There were more coincidences in that hour than in any other hour of television e-ver! The musical score is severely overused. I like the lack of pop songs but they don't allow a scene to settle before they start playing the music essentially telling the audience what to think: "cute scene", "action scene", "woe is me scene".
Alas, episode 3 was good and action-packed and though a quick skim of ep 4's raw file was meh, I'll wait for the subs to make up my mind.

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lightsjustright.livejournal.com

I really hope City Hunter/Miss Ripley have satisfying endings, they look so good and could probably fill the whole Bad Guy left. But this time I'll wait it out until they've finished airing just in case. XD

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I am impressed by your patience!

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My fav dramas are from Hong Kong, but lately the Hong Kong stations are being lazy..

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Lazy how?

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See, Hong Kong only really has one major national TV network - TVB. There's ATV too, but pretty much the whole HK population tunes in to TVB. They've been hogging all the business for so long that the word "competition" isn't even in the dictionary anymore. There's a small group of actors/singers, and a great deal of them are signed with TVB, who adds exclusivity clauses to their contracts so that they can't appear on ATV - I've even heard of them being forced to dub the entertainer's voice if they happen to show something that includes a TVB artist.

So basically, since everyone's stuck watching TVB and it simply isn't worth ATV the money to throw production costs into a large-scale drama when they have very limited casting options and the chances of them beating TVB for ratings are slim to none, TVB's the only one producing dramas. They've become so lazy in the last few years that drama scripts are absolute DRIVEL featuring the same few actors/actresses that the big guys at TVB particularly favour.

For example, I remember having to sit through A Watchdog's Tale one year when I was in Hong Kong. It features Linda Chung, whose acting makes Gillian Chung look like Meryl Streep, and the story's basically about a bunch of people who love dogs and the main guy who doesn't. It's absolute BULLSHIT.

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Yes! The plot are becoming ridiculous, like they can't find any other occupation to build their plot on. Practically EVERY occupation has been featured in a TVB show. Taxi driver, fashion designer, everything!! And Linda Chung, omg don't get me started on her, how she hogged my cabletv for 3 consecutive tv seasons, how she's ALWAYS paired with dearest Steven Ma and...oh gosh! ARGHHHH. Haha, ok, enough. I've been refraining from commentijng on her lest her fans start bashing me for doing that and for being a Tavia fan (oh, the conclusions they draw when they discover that....).

The only show I remember from ATV is My Date With A Vampire I and II. Those were big hits, but too bad they were the rare gems from ATV.

From: (Anonymous)

I would say the same about kdramas. Frankly look at their storyline especially the so called "gems of May" -according to fan- if this is not lazy writting tell me what it is !

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Wasn't there one recently with Kate Tsui about... traffic police or something? When Lanes Merge? I can't remember.

Re: Linda Chung. Oh god, I KNOW! Who on EARTH keeps coming up with the idea to pair her with Steven Ma? I really don't get it; there's no chemistry whatsoever, he looks heaps older than her, etc. etc. I've been wanting to see him in something ever since watching Steps, but he keeps getting casted in either something with Linda Chung/Fala Chen. When he isn't, it's something that sounds dreadfully dull. Did you watch the drama last year with Wong Hei and Linda Chung? She played a ghost there and she was surprisingly not that annoying, but once again Wong Hei/Linda Chung... how does that work?

Oh yes, I really have to get around to trying My Date with a Vampire! You recced it to me awhile ago, I think. And it's pretty revealing that that rare hit was back in 1999, isn't it? These days ATV has pretty much given up and are concentrating on buying the rights to Korean/Mainland dramas, LOL. Though I shouldn't complain; it's thanks to ATV airing First Wives Club that I got to watch the hotness that is Lee Sang Woo!

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Yeah, I was refering to When Lanes Merge...the one with Raymond Wong (Oohh I so loved him in Sweetness in the Salt).

Oh, is it the one where Wong He acted as a detective or something? *shrugs* I actively avoid shows with Linda as the lead....so....I might not know the kind of progress she has made in terms of acting. Now that you mention, it's quite true! She often gets paired up with people from 'the generation before her'. In fact, Wong He is like...two generation of actors before her. Oh well.

Haha! You can watch ATV from Down Under?

Yes go watch it!! It's good!!!

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I love Raymond Wong too. ♥ He was hilarious in that drama with Wong Hei and Linda Chung that I was talking about. Too bad it was a supporting role, but those are mostly what he does anyway.

Yep, the one where he was a detective! Well, I think he was a P.I., but I wasn't paying too much attention - it was on TV every night while I was in Hong Kong last year, and who am I to wrestle the remote from my grandma? :P Like we said with ATV, it's not like there's anything else to watch on other channels anyway, LOL. I wonder whether pairing her with older actors has anything to do with Virginia Lok trying to keep dearest Linda away from scandals? It's generally the same with the rest of the TVB fadans. Once in a while you get one of those Bosco/Myolie things, but now that I think about it, it's comparatively rare.

Haha, who needs the actual channel when you can find anything on the internet these days? :P I even managed to find the 1993 version of Bao Qing Tian, it's awesome. The childhood memories!

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Oh, but Raymond Wong seems to be the next thing to look out for. TVB's placing him in a lot of dramas, since he switched from ATV (if I don't remember wrong). I loved him in Sweetness In The Salt, but the ending was crap...something like 49 Days - he recovered miraculously from diabetes and ended up dying in the hands of the evil. =.=

I had thought that TVB was trying to promote the Linda/Raymond Lam pairing so as to milk all the advertising money! *shrugs* I'm not so interested in her anyway haha! But seems like the string of scandals that hit Raymond Lam has affected his relationship with TVB...he's not getting as much roles as I'd expected him to get with his rise in popularity last year. Count Moses/Bernice in too!

There is one show I've been trying to find for years but cannot - Tough Side Of A Lady. Heard of it? Wong He and Marianne Chan. I think that was the show that got me into Wong He. Pretty thin plot, but I remember waiting for each episode impatiently as a kid. Oh, those were the days!

Yeah, you said it.

We grew up with TVB!

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Oh, really? Clearly I haven't been paying much attention to TVB in the last few years, LOL. I haven't watched Sweetness in the Salt; was that the one with Tavia and Steven? I think I've heard of it. With that kind of ending though, guaranteed I'm NOT watching it. XD Even though (objectively) the 49 Days ending was perfect logically, that kind of ending always leaves me feeling cheated. One moment I'm brought sky high by the promise of a happy ending (when she wakes up) and then next thing I know, she's kicked the bucket and I feel like I watched her struggle and rooted for her needlessly.

They were pushing Linda/Raymond for a while, but it seems they gave it up rather quickly. Otherwise they'd have been paired up for a drama like Kevin/Charmaine! Hahaha, Moses/Bernice is pretty old though, isn't it? I honestly can't believe how they took off after Love Bond; I watched the drama myself and didn't see anything particularly worth squeeing about their pairing.

Haven't heard of it, but I just found MU links on AsianEU! Do you remember how it ended? I love Wong Hei, so I'm tempted to watch it.

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Haha yes! And the thing is, Tavia was paired with Raymond/Steven, but in the end, she ended up no one! Knd of ridiculous, no? I've not been watching TVB drama much too. kdrama and cdrama are taking up all my time!! Oh 49 Days, that final date was so heartbreaking. T.T So is the farewell scene between Yi Kyung and Yi Soo. The writer do know how to cause us heartbreaks!

Love Bond? I didn't even watch it!! The mere title art looked so cheesy that I didn't care to give episode 1 a go.

I can't remember, but it was a comedy, so I guess it had a happy ending? Can you shre the link?

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It's not just ridiculous; poor Tavia! Two reasonably attractive men and she doesn't get either, LOL. TVB dramas aren't known for their sensible/satisfying endings though, so it doesn't surprise me anymore. Steps probably had one of the most satisfying endings ever, which is plain shocking considering TVB's track record. I still remember Sonija Kwok suddenly falling into a coma at the end of The Last Breakthrough, or Frankie doing a 180 and falling for Selena Li in The Herbalist's Manual.

LOL the whole thing is really cheesy, but it had a really nice, low-key family atmosphere that I liked. My impression of that drama is that it was a nice enough way to spend a couple of hours, but it's not particularly memorable.

Sure thing! 8D I'll PM them to you.

From: (Anonymous)

About the TVB actresses my fav is Kate Tsui. She is not the best actress in the town but she is the only one who really appeals to me and I love her since I saw her in the "four". I don't understand why people hate her so much -like I don't understand what people see in Charmaine sheh, I mean even her smile is unappealing. What I like about HK drama is this is not centered on love, romance and I prefer their ancient dramas to their modern ones.

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They've been lazy for years. D: Have there been any decent TVB dramas lately? I think someone told me there was one with Bosco that was decent, but I can't remember the name.

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Is it Grace Under Fire? My friend's currently watching it fervently. Not me though. =D

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I figured it out after staring at Bosco's DramaWiki page! It's 7 Days in Life. I haven't tried it yet, obviously, but I've heard some good things about it. :O

I've heard about Grace Under Fire! I have no interest in it based on the synopsis, though, and Kenneth has the middle parting of doom, LOLLL.

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7 Day in Life! I watched it for about 10 episodes, and then dropped it. The 'episodic'/'manga'-like editing got on my nerves. Because there're just so many minor characters, there were a lot of random scenees thrown in just so we can get to know each and every one better. Ok, I'm bad with words...but in a nutshell, it feels like the Japanese movie "The Uchouten Hotel".

HAHA, middle parting was the in thing! I remember liking someone from A1 who had a middle parting. And the most popular guy in school had that parting too.

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Oh, so it's pretty slapstick? Hmm. I've had pretty bad experiences with slapstick, to be honest, but the cast looks pretty good. Steven Ma! Sonija Kwok! Bosco! I might give it a try one of these days and see how it goes, but knowing how badly I've reacted to overdoses of slapstick in the past makes me wonder whether I'll get past the first few episodes. :P Since we were talking about reading, have you read the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum books? Or I suppose jdramas with a lot of slapstick like Hana Kimi or Q.E.D? They really make me cringe.

LOL omg, seriously? I really don't remember back to my younger primary years, but I'm pretty sure the boys in class had moved past the middle parting thing. There were a few mommy boys with bowl cuts though, poor things.

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My tolerence level for slapstick humour isn't very high...Unless there're other compensating elements like...a great OTP, hot actors (hehehehe) etc etc. I took a glimpse at the trailers for Hayate the Butler (or sth), a tdrama starring Park Shin Hye, and I nearly fainted. It's like.....ok, it's what it set out to be - a live-action manga - so I can't fault it for being so. But no way am I going to watch it. =(

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