Meteor Garden and Fushigi Yuugi. Oh My.
Feb. 10th, 2006 11:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI am continuing my watching of Meteor Garden and it's interesting how the same storyline I've seen so recently in anime form comes across a little differently when it's live action. And hey, I still love it. The biggest intended differences so far that I can tell is that in MG it's a mini-mystery as to who took those photos of Shan Cai entering a hotel with a foreigner (who in this version doesn't seem to be in on the scheme) while in HYD we knew at once (and of course, in MG they combined the characters of Sakurako and Makiko to make one character, who is both the girl Shan Cai saves AND evil scheming hussy which makes it rather more melodramatic).
The interesting thing to me is how knowing the story changes my opinion on certain things. I am thinking of the scene with the forced kiss/ripped blouse (btw,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
koalathebear, you'll be glad to know my subtitles also read 'his eyesight is not normal' ROFL). When I got to that scene in HYD, I almost gave up, because all I knew from later eps was that Tsukushi and Doumyouji (Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai equivalents) ended up together and I was horrified. I almost gave up on the show (and boy, am I glad I didn't). But here, I watched it, and it was deliciously angsty what-not but I didn't have the same reaction, in part because I knew exactly how the story was going to go and I already loved both their characters as a result of HYD. Of course, there was also the fact that he pushed her against the wall, and while you can obviously have sex with someone standing up, for some reason the fact that on HYD they were on the floor felt more threatening. And there is the fact that in MG he sticks around afterwards, and tries, even though very badly, calm her down. It's kinda sweet. (I would love an icon of that image of them slumped in the hall). I do think it's because it's live action that they toned down a lot of extremes that wouldn't work in live action stuff and it includes the levels of violence and sharpness on both the main characters' parts.
I was mightily amused by her reaction to his present of a dress (I guess as an apology of sorts). She almost throws it away and then stops herself and goes 'if I send it back to him, he can't wear it' heeee and gives it to a friend.
And I still like the scene of him waiting for her for four hours (here it's in the rain) and then them getting locked out (this time it's on a staircase) and then she ends up taking care of him when he is sick and stroking his hair (where I am torn between 'awwwww' and 'ugh, don't touch that horrible hair of his' :P)
I was also amused at her 'impressed girl' act when he said he can speak 5 languages because she wants to get the foreigner away from him and distract him (and how hilarious is it that he buys it and you can almost see him puff up with pride. In many ways, Dao Ming Si is just a big kid. Just look at him when she snarls at him that they aren't dating later on. He looks like a kid who's had his bycicle stolen). And then when the guy is away she drops the act and is all 'I can't believe you can speak foreign languages but your Chinese still sucks" :P
And of course, I loved the scene where he rescues her from the bad guys on the school oval (once again, here she isn't tied behind the car, she is just being beaten up by the gang of guys) and he is so shockingly gentle and tells her he believes her (despite photographic evidence to the contrary) and then he takes her back home and then he admits he is jealous and there is kissing. Sooooo melty.
And then he is off early in the morning to get revenge on all those who abused her. Heee. It's like having a mastiff? Or a gangster. At your beck and call. It's hilariously adorable and not that I condone violent guys, but he so clearly doesn't think it anything out of the ordinary and is trying to please her so hard and so clumsily (and he bought her a new scoooter) and hey, they were physically assaulting her. Seriously, he is like 5 year old kid anxious for approval with her.
I also LOLed when he gives her a cell-phpne with 1 as his speed dial number and 'you'll come to me when I call' and that is his way of showing concern perhaps, but he has no idea how to court and she is all 'am I a call girl?'
You can tell their lack of budget at the party on a boat where there aren't any other people than the core cast ones, but I don't mind. I have also realized I've seen 3 members of F4 in other things before I saw MG, since I watched MARS, Magic Kitchen and Star Runner ages ago. Hm.
I am also continuing in my Fushigi Yuugi watching and it's clear clear love on my part. Come on, with so much angst and so many pretty men, how could it not be?
I am also coming to the conclusion that it's a good thing Miaka fell for Tamahome, because half the men appear to have dedicated themselves to a 'love that dare not speak its name' except that they speak it loudly and repeatedly. Not only is there Nuriko, who yes, I realize later turns out to be bi, there is this delightful bit where Miaka first meets the bandit leader Tasuki and he half-heartedly attempts to have sex with her and when she hits him he accepts it really readily and with "I don't even like girls that much" and then his friend Koji shows up and they are all dancing together and Miaka is "what IS it with these guys?" Heeee. Not to mention the fact that when Hotohori and Nuriko pretend to be girls (not that Nuriko has to try hard) one of the bandits starts making up to Hotohori going "you are kinda flat-chested, but I don't care, you are so pretty" and when it becomes clear later on that Hotohori and Nuriko are men, the bandit's reaction? I don't care if you are a guy. Heeee. Seriously, this is the gayest show that isn't actually gay.
One of the reasons I like FY so much is that it doesn't take itself dreadfully seriously, but pokes fun at its own plot-holes or conventions: at one point, the brother reading the book exclaims "is the Priestess of Suzaku really Miaka? I don't get why she is so popular!" and it's both a very brotherly comment (who ever thinks their little pest of a sister is the bestest thing ever?) and I think a little shout-out to those who think Miaka is overrated as a heroine. Or there is the bit where the bandits muse that they didn't act like bandits at all. Or when the bandits (and later Tamahome's kid sister) mistake not only Nuriko but Hotohori for girls because 'they are so pretty' and certainly 'prettier than that Miaka' which is sort of like poking fun at the anime's unparalleled fascination and ability at creating bishounen (with amazing hair, too). Or when Hotohori breaks down at Miaka's bedside and it's all very melodramatic except for Nuriko and Tasuki listening outside and Nuriko going "what is with the great love scene all of a sudden." I choose to treat it all as post-modernist fun. It's just great.
I am definitely falling more and more for both Tamahome and Hotohori. Tamahome is ultimately such a decent guy. My favorite scene with him is actually when he is with Yui (because the ultimatum was that if he surrenders himself, the enemies will withdraw from certain villages. I guess Yui wants him real bad). And he lets slip that he knows what happened to her and she breaks down and he just tries to comfort her to the best of his ability and he is so at a loss and doesn't know what to do and just wants to make her stop hurting. I also like his family, they are soooooo cute (well, the little kids are. His father isn't in the cute category, heee). They are also dirt poor and I like how they kinda have that in the background for Tamahome's character, in addition to his obsession with money (like when Yui gets him a new suit of clothes and he is awed that it's silk).
I am continuing to ship Miaka/Tamahome because so much pretty angst. I loved the scene in her room where he tells her he loves her and about the symbol on his forehead and how he's hated it since he was a kid but he doesn't now because it means he can protect her and it's all very Bollywoodish and then Hotohori comes in with a sword at his throat and it's very dramatic and tense and Tamahome is being all heroic and then as soon as Hotohori leaves he slumps and goes "boy, I was so scared" Heee. Not to mention he tries to sneak out with her earth stuff to sell it. He makes me both swoon and giggle.
Oh, and how much do I like Hotohori? You have no idea. The fact that he knows M/T is OTP and still protects and loves Miaka? Whoa. I really really want for him to get someone who loves him back and whom he loves because I like him and I don't want his love to be hopeless, even if I don't want him with Miaka. I love the scene where she asks the Senshi to kill her and he orders everyone out of the room and is about to do it with his sword but he simply can't and ends up falling on his knees by her bedside, sobbing (oh, and later he kneels to a doctor to save her. So hot). Plus, men with swords are....grrrrrrrr.
But the thing is, he still has his vanity and I love that because it's that that makes him fun and not a Gary Stu. I love it that when Chichiri changes into him so he, Hotohori, can go adventuring, Hotohori's reaction? An indignant 'I am prettier than that.' And my favorite exchange so far is between Hotohori and Tamahome's very kid sister.
Child: Are you Big Brother's wife, Miss?
Hotohori (smiling): I am a man
Child: But you are so pretty!
Hotohori (hugging the child): Even though you are poor, you are a good and truthful child.
ROFL.
I also like Mitsukake. Poor man, not only is he the only short-haired one, but he had this horrible angst with his fiancee and that OTP is soooo sad.
Also, the Tamahome/Miaka perviness continues with them both waking up naked in the same bed with one sheet. Heeee. But no sex. Why must you tease me so?
The interesting thing to me is how knowing the story changes my opinion on certain things. I am thinking of the scene with the forced kiss/ripped blouse (btw,
koalathebear, you'll be glad to know my subtitles also read 'his eyesight is not normal' ROFL). When I got to that scene in HYD, I almost gave up, because all I knew from later eps was that Tsukushi and Doumyouji (Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai equivalents) ended up together and I was horrified. I almost gave up on the show (and boy, am I glad I didn't). But here, I watched it, and it was deliciously angsty what-not but I didn't have the same reaction, in part because I knew exactly how the story was going to go and I already loved both their characters as a result of HYD. Of course, there was also the fact that he pushed her against the wall, and while you can obviously have sex with someone standing up, for some reason the fact that on HYD they were on the floor felt more threatening. And there is the fact that in MG he sticks around afterwards, and tries, even though very badly, calm her down. It's kinda sweet. (I would love an icon of that image of them slumped in the hall). I do think it's because it's live action that they toned down a lot of extremes that wouldn't work in live action stuff and it includes the levels of violence and sharpness on both the main characters' parts. I was mightily amused by her reaction to his present of a dress (I guess as an apology of sorts). She almost throws it away and then stops herself and goes 'if I send it back to him, he can't wear it' heeee and gives it to a friend.
And I still like the scene of him waiting for her for four hours (here it's in the rain) and then them getting locked out (this time it's on a staircase) and then she ends up taking care of him when he is sick and stroking his hair (where I am torn between 'awwwww' and 'ugh, don't touch that horrible hair of his' :P)
I was also amused at her 'impressed girl' act when he said he can speak 5 languages because she wants to get the foreigner away from him and distract him (and how hilarious is it that he buys it and you can almost see him puff up with pride. In many ways, Dao Ming Si is just a big kid. Just look at him when she snarls at him that they aren't dating later on. He looks like a kid who's had his bycicle stolen). And then when the guy is away she drops the act and is all 'I can't believe you can speak foreign languages but your Chinese still sucks" :P
And of course, I loved the scene where he rescues her from the bad guys on the school oval (once again, here she isn't tied behind the car, she is just being beaten up by the gang of guys) and he is so shockingly gentle and tells her he believes her (despite photographic evidence to the contrary) and then he takes her back home and then he admits he is jealous and there is kissing. Sooooo melty.
And then he is off early in the morning to get revenge on all those who abused her. Heee. It's like having a mastiff? Or a gangster. At your beck and call. It's hilariously adorable and not that I condone violent guys, but he so clearly doesn't think it anything out of the ordinary and is trying to please her so hard and so clumsily (and he bought her a new scoooter) and hey, they were physically assaulting her. Seriously, he is like 5 year old kid anxious for approval with her.
I also LOLed when he gives her a cell-phpne with 1 as his speed dial number and 'you'll come to me when I call' and that is his way of showing concern perhaps, but he has no idea how to court and she is all 'am I a call girl?'
You can tell their lack of budget at the party on a boat where there aren't any other people than the core cast ones, but I don't mind. I have also realized I've seen 3 members of F4 in other things before I saw MG, since I watched MARS, Magic Kitchen and Star Runner ages ago. Hm.
I am also continuing in my Fushigi Yuugi watching and it's clear clear love on my part. Come on, with so much angst and so many pretty men, how could it not be?
I am also coming to the conclusion that it's a good thing Miaka fell for Tamahome, because half the men appear to have dedicated themselves to a 'love that dare not speak its name' except that they speak it loudly and repeatedly. Not only is there Nuriko, who yes, I realize later turns out to be bi, there is this delightful bit where Miaka first meets the bandit leader Tasuki and he half-heartedly attempts to have sex with her and when she hits him he accepts it really readily and with "I don't even like girls that much" and then his friend Koji shows up and they are all dancing together and Miaka is "what IS it with these guys?" Heeee. Not to mention the fact that when Hotohori and Nuriko pretend to be girls (not that Nuriko has to try hard) one of the bandits starts making up to Hotohori going "you are kinda flat-chested, but I don't care, you are so pretty" and when it becomes clear later on that Hotohori and Nuriko are men, the bandit's reaction? I don't care if you are a guy. Heeee. Seriously, this is the gayest show that isn't actually gay.
One of the reasons I like FY so much is that it doesn't take itself dreadfully seriously, but pokes fun at its own plot-holes or conventions: at one point, the brother reading the book exclaims "is the Priestess of Suzaku really Miaka? I don't get why she is so popular!" and it's both a very brotherly comment (who ever thinks their little pest of a sister is the bestest thing ever?) and I think a little shout-out to those who think Miaka is overrated as a heroine. Or there is the bit where the bandits muse that they didn't act like bandits at all. Or when the bandits (and later Tamahome's kid sister) mistake not only Nuriko but Hotohori for girls because 'they are so pretty' and certainly 'prettier than that Miaka' which is sort of like poking fun at the anime's unparalleled fascination and ability at creating bishounen (with amazing hair, too). Or when Hotohori breaks down at Miaka's bedside and it's all very melodramatic except for Nuriko and Tasuki listening outside and Nuriko going "what is with the great love scene all of a sudden." I choose to treat it all as post-modernist fun. It's just great.
I am definitely falling more and more for both Tamahome and Hotohori. Tamahome is ultimately such a decent guy. My favorite scene with him is actually when he is with Yui (because the ultimatum was that if he surrenders himself, the enemies will withdraw from certain villages. I guess Yui wants him real bad). And he lets slip that he knows what happened to her and she breaks down and he just tries to comfort her to the best of his ability and he is so at a loss and doesn't know what to do and just wants to make her stop hurting. I also like his family, they are soooooo cute (well, the little kids are. His father isn't in the cute category, heee). They are also dirt poor and I like how they kinda have that in the background for Tamahome's character, in addition to his obsession with money (like when Yui gets him a new suit of clothes and he is awed that it's silk).
I am continuing to ship Miaka/Tamahome because so much pretty angst. I loved the scene in her room where he tells her he loves her and about the symbol on his forehead and how he's hated it since he was a kid but he doesn't now because it means he can protect her and it's all very Bollywoodish and then Hotohori comes in with a sword at his throat and it's very dramatic and tense and Tamahome is being all heroic and then as soon as Hotohori leaves he slumps and goes "boy, I was so scared" Heee. Not to mention he tries to sneak out with her earth stuff to sell it. He makes me both swoon and giggle.
Oh, and how much do I like Hotohori? You have no idea. The fact that he knows M/T is OTP and still protects and loves Miaka? Whoa. I really really want for him to get someone who loves him back and whom he loves because I like him and I don't want his love to be hopeless, even if I don't want him with Miaka. I love the scene where she asks the Senshi to kill her and he orders everyone out of the room and is about to do it with his sword but he simply can't and ends up falling on his knees by her bedside, sobbing (oh, and later he kneels to a doctor to save her. So hot). Plus, men with swords are....grrrrrrrr.
But the thing is, he still has his vanity and I love that because it's that that makes him fun and not a Gary Stu. I love it that when Chichiri changes into him so he, Hotohori, can go adventuring, Hotohori's reaction? An indignant 'I am prettier than that.' And my favorite exchange so far is between Hotohori and Tamahome's very kid sister.
Child: Are you Big Brother's wife, Miss?
Hotohori (smiling): I am a man
Child: But you are so pretty!
Hotohori (hugging the child): Even though you are poor, you are a good and truthful child.
ROFL.
I also like Mitsukake. Poor man, not only is he the only short-haired one, but he had this horrible angst with his fiancee and that OTP is soooo sad.
Also, the Tamahome/Miaka perviness continues with them both waking up naked in the same bed with one sheet. Heeee. But no sex. Why must you tease me so?
