MARS: Episode 1 thoughts
Jul. 27th, 2006 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieSo yeah, Day One of the Mars watchalong, with its star-crossed lovers, fast motorcycles, dysfunctional families and more angst than you can shake a stick at. First off I have to say that this remains my favorite dorama (yes, more than MG) and watching just one ep is like that ad for potato chips they had running a while back. Impossible. I strove womanfully though and won through.
Rewatching this is a very interesting experience. Glad to say that it really holds up and knowing the twists doesn't ruin it (though that makes sense, as I've read the manga already by the time I saw this for the first time).
Also, on a very shallow note, Chen Ling=HOT. I don't know if it's the looks or the bad boy/wounded child combo he is totally working, but yum. Especially when he pulls his hair back. And I just want to hug Qui Luo, but then what else is new. Also, because this doesn't deal with the world of the uber-rich like MG, the sets feel more realistic (the rich houses in tdoramas, just like rich houses in Bolly movies always feel like converted hotels to me). Also the clothes in this one, while not gorgeous, don't make me want to poke my eyes out.
I am such a sucker for 'boy saves girl and girl saves boy right back' scenarios and Mars hits that kink dead center. Because at first it starts out as this popular outgoing guy gets interested in this really shy and messed up girl but of course it turns out he is even more messed up than she is. I am a total sucker for those storylines. Total.
And you know what I've forgotten? Ling is fun. I can see why people want to hang around with him. And whatever his issues (and there is a multitude), he might be thoughtless but never malicious. And he has a strong protective streak. And is pretty perceptive. And can be quite gentle.
Favorite moments:
Fave Moment No 1: Ling poking Qui Luo on the side of the face, going 'ding dong' as if he is ringing a bell.
Fave Moment No 2: His borrowing money from her. And then pulling her scrunchy off and saying he'll borrow it too.
Fave Moment No 3: It's my fave this ep. Saving her from the sexual molesting teacher (if the teacher is a sexual predator of some sort, it would make sense he is drawn to QL as he can sense her vulnerability, someone he can exploit). QL freezing because she is flashing back to her rape and then Ling being scary and getting rid of the guy and then gently telling her she shouldn't be helpless because that would make people take more advantage of her and he is rather sad.
I just feel so bad for Qui Luo. She is petrified of the world and she walks with her head hunched in and flinches from any bodily contact. The first moment in this ep, halfway through, when she raises her eyes to look at Ling, is actually startling. Of course, he has his own PTSD if he flips in front of mirrors. Their med bills are going to be huge.
A few more general things really caught my attention this time:
Probably because it's based on a manga, and manga is really good about it in general, I love the fact that the story really doesn't expect us to think Ling and Qui Luo are an OTP because they are the leads but shows them as really compatible. Of course, this gets developed much more through the episodes (this is only a first ep for goodness' sake) but I want to mention how much I love that fact.
There is the fact that both of them are very physically attractive, of course. Ling, even though a victim of feathered hair of which I do not approve on principle but which seems to rule the Asian dramas, is quite quite sexy. And Qui Luo, even bundled in her shapeless outfits and with no make-up has gorgeous skin and is doll-like in her prettiness.
But it's not just that. I can see why they are attracted to each other despite dissimilarities. For the shell-shocked Qui Luo, shy and scared of the world to the point of dysfunction, Ling's very reckless confidence and thoughtless good nature is a magnet. It's something she lacks but also something she is drawn to (as to his violence problem, she makes a spoilery comment later on but yes, it's also something that resonates). More importantly, only someone as confident and even pushy can drag her out from behind the mile thick walls she's built to protect herself from the world. And as to Ling, as the show develops it really seems Qui Luo is his Good Angel, but even early on, I think he is drawn to her because he responds to beauty and emotion (I don't necessarily mean her looks, I mean in her art. Especially since the first drawing of hers he notices is a Mother and Child which we find out is something that would resonate). In a way, he is just as locked up emotionally behind barriers as she is, only his barriers take the shape of outward agression, and I think her fragility and her talent wake something up in him that's been put away (well, I don't know what the spoiler attitude is so I'll just say since certain events in his past). In a way, Ling needs someone to protect. It's not a macho thing really, but it gives his life some meaning outside of self and some structure. The boy lives by himself, isolated and rootless. Caring for someone else, even on a rudimentary level, is a step on a way to rejoining society. And I think also both of them recognize each other's messed-uppedness, in an instinctive way. They are both misfits, fitting into the world at wrong angles, but together they just might work.
The other thing that I noticed is what a turn around these characters are from their characters in Meteor Garden. Most people have seen MG first but I came to MG from Mars and I remember thinking no way could they play their MG characters. They are polar opposites. Where Lei in MG was a passive pensive dreamer, Ling is a a 180 degree turn, all loud and outgoing and agressive. And I loved Shan Cai (just as I loved Tsukushi in all HYD versions) because she was so strong and fearless but Barbie Xu is completely different as Qui Luo who is so withdrawn and shy she can't function.
Also, I love the theme song for this. Love.
Rewatching this is a very interesting experience. Glad to say that it really holds up and knowing the twists doesn't ruin it (though that makes sense, as I've read the manga already by the time I saw this for the first time).
Also, on a very shallow note, Chen Ling=HOT. I don't know if it's the looks or the bad boy/wounded child combo he is totally working, but yum. Especially when he pulls his hair back. And I just want to hug Qui Luo, but then what else is new. Also, because this doesn't deal with the world of the uber-rich like MG, the sets feel more realistic (the rich houses in tdoramas, just like rich houses in Bolly movies always feel like converted hotels to me). Also the clothes in this one, while not gorgeous, don't make me want to poke my eyes out.
I am such a sucker for 'boy saves girl and girl saves boy right back' scenarios and Mars hits that kink dead center. Because at first it starts out as this popular outgoing guy gets interested in this really shy and messed up girl but of course it turns out he is even more messed up than she is. I am a total sucker for those storylines. Total.
And you know what I've forgotten? Ling is fun. I can see why people want to hang around with him. And whatever his issues (and there is a multitude), he might be thoughtless but never malicious. And he has a strong protective streak. And is pretty perceptive. And can be quite gentle.
Favorite moments:
Fave Moment No 1: Ling poking Qui Luo on the side of the face, going 'ding dong' as if he is ringing a bell.
Fave Moment No 2: His borrowing money from her. And then pulling her scrunchy off and saying he'll borrow it too.
Fave Moment No 3: It's my fave this ep. Saving her from the sexual molesting teacher (if the teacher is a sexual predator of some sort, it would make sense he is drawn to QL as he can sense her vulnerability, someone he can exploit). QL freezing because she is flashing back to her rape and then Ling being scary and getting rid of the guy and then gently telling her she shouldn't be helpless because that would make people take more advantage of her and he is rather sad.
I just feel so bad for Qui Luo. She is petrified of the world and she walks with her head hunched in and flinches from any bodily contact. The first moment in this ep, halfway through, when she raises her eyes to look at Ling, is actually startling. Of course, he has his own PTSD if he flips in front of mirrors. Their med bills are going to be huge.
A few more general things really caught my attention this time:
Probably because it's based on a manga, and manga is really good about it in general, I love the fact that the story really doesn't expect us to think Ling and Qui Luo are an OTP because they are the leads but shows them as really compatible. Of course, this gets developed much more through the episodes (this is only a first ep for goodness' sake) but I want to mention how much I love that fact.
There is the fact that both of them are very physically attractive, of course. Ling, even though a victim of feathered hair of which I do not approve on principle but which seems to rule the Asian dramas, is quite quite sexy. And Qui Luo, even bundled in her shapeless outfits and with no make-up has gorgeous skin and is doll-like in her prettiness.
But it's not just that. I can see why they are attracted to each other despite dissimilarities. For the shell-shocked Qui Luo, shy and scared of the world to the point of dysfunction, Ling's very reckless confidence and thoughtless good nature is a magnet. It's something she lacks but also something she is drawn to (as to his violence problem, she makes a spoilery comment later on but yes, it's also something that resonates). More importantly, only someone as confident and even pushy can drag her out from behind the mile thick walls she's built to protect herself from the world. And as to Ling, as the show develops it really seems Qui Luo is his Good Angel, but even early on, I think he is drawn to her because he responds to beauty and emotion (I don't necessarily mean her looks, I mean in her art. Especially since the first drawing of hers he notices is a Mother and Child which we find out is something that would resonate). In a way, he is just as locked up emotionally behind barriers as she is, only his barriers take the shape of outward agression, and I think her fragility and her talent wake something up in him that's been put away (well, I don't know what the spoiler attitude is so I'll just say since certain events in his past). In a way, Ling needs someone to protect. It's not a macho thing really, but it gives his life some meaning outside of self and some structure. The boy lives by himself, isolated and rootless. Caring for someone else, even on a rudimentary level, is a step on a way to rejoining society. And I think also both of them recognize each other's messed-uppedness, in an instinctive way. They are both misfits, fitting into the world at wrong angles, but together they just might work.
The other thing that I noticed is what a turn around these characters are from their characters in Meteor Garden. Most people have seen MG first but I came to MG from Mars and I remember thinking no way could they play their MG characters. They are polar opposites. Where Lei in MG was a passive pensive dreamer, Ling is a a 180 degree turn, all loud and outgoing and agressive. And I loved Shan Cai (just as I loved Tsukushi in all HYD versions) because she was so strong and fearless but Barbie Xu is completely different as Qui Luo who is so withdrawn and shy she can't function.
Also, I love the theme song for this. Love.
