Musings of the Obsessive Kind

We are less than a minute into the first episode and we see the hero and the heroine do this:








That's more action than kdramas get all year, all put together.

This is pretty tame compared to ( enter for youtube goodness from other twdramas )

But still. I've been watching too many kdramas and thus found my eyes get o_O.

Anyway, pervy fun aside, the first ep is adorable. It's cute and funny and shippy. I liked Janine Chang in Black & White and I am a huge fan of Mike He - he's not the world's greatest actor, but he's good-looking, charismatic, and has scorching chemistry with his leading ladies. Fun fun fun.

As of now, I am actively watching 7 dramas - this, 3 Kingdoms, Jade Palace Lock Heart, The Holy Pearl, Endless Love, Young Warriors of the Yang Clan, and New Tales of the Gisaeng. Only one of these is non-Chinese/Taiwanese. It makes me feel like old times - Taiwanese dramas were my gateway drug after all.

We are less than a minute into the first episode and we see the hero and the heroine do this:








That's more action than kdramas get all year, all put together.

This is pretty tame compared to ( enter for youtube goodness from other twdramas )

But still. I've been watching too many kdramas and thus found my eyes get o_O.

Anyway, pervy fun aside, the first ep is adorable. It's cute and funny and shippy. I liked Janine Chang in Black & White and I am a huge fan of Mike He - he's not the world's greatest actor, but he's good-looking, charismatic, and has scorching chemistry with his leading ladies. Fun fun fun.

As of now, I am actively watching 7 dramas - this, 3 Kingdoms, Jade Palace Lock Heart, The Holy Pearl, Endless Love, Young Warriors of the Yang Clan, and New Tales of the Gisaeng. Only one of these is non-Chinese/Taiwanese. It makes me feel like old times - Taiwanese dramas were my gateway drug after all.

So, year 2009 has been very good for me OTP-wise, providing many a drama OTP for me to swoon over.

But let's see how I did in the "happy ending for the OTP" stakes - do I go for the tragic ones that break my heart or fluffiness?

( Here - obviously spoilers for endings of dramas in my tags )


Hmmm. 11/20 happy

1. Say what you will about Taiwanese dramas, they certainly deliver on the kissing front:



From Easy Fortune Happy Life - now that the drama is over, I'll probably watch it with help of fast-forward to mitigate the heroine's horrific mugging. I love my angsty twdramas but most of the cracky ones leave me scratching my head.

2. Speaking of crack, there is an upcoming Mike He/Charlene Choi drama Calling for Love whose hero is supposed to be a big idol star who actually is only doing it to pay off family debts and secretly yearns to be a graduate student. I mean, as this and upcoming Summer of Bubbles indicate, if you are broke or otherwise in monetary trouble, the easiest thing to do is to become an idol - after all, everyone seems to do it. HA.

3. Mark Chao (from Black and White *swoon*) apparently has an upcoming drama filming where he is the lead. Thank you, drama tptb.

4. I will never stop laughing at the concept of panda superheroes drama. Yeah. Go go go go you fierce Pandamen!

5. Have a little Vanness/Ady (Next Stop Happiness in few days YES):



In conclusion, I am not watching a single currently-airing drama. However, it's about to change with the near-simulataneous arrival of Next Stop Happiness (Taiwan), You're Beautiful (Korea) and IRIS (Korea). Still, my goal is to finish Smile before that - I love my Matsujun.

1. Say what you will about Taiwanese dramas, they certainly deliver on the kissing front:



From Easy Fortune Happy Life - now that the drama is over, I'll probably watch it with help of fast-forward to mitigate the heroine's horrific mugging. I love my angsty twdramas but most of the cracky ones leave me scratching my head.

2. Speaking of crack, there is an upcoming Mike He/Charlene Choi drama Calling for Love whose hero is supposed to be a big idol star who actually is only doing it to pay off family debts and secretly yearns to be a graduate student. I mean, as this and upcoming Summer of Bubbles indicate, if you are broke or otherwise in monetary trouble, the easiest thing to do is to become an idol - after all, everyone seems to do it. HA.

3. Mark Chao (from Black and White *swoon*) apparently has an upcoming drama filming where he is the lead. Thank you, drama tptb.

4. I will never stop laughing at the concept of panda superheroes drama. Yeah. Go go go go you fierce Pandamen!

5. Have a little Vanness/Ady (Next Stop Happiness in few days YES):



In conclusion, I am not watching a single currently-airing drama. However, it's about to change with the near-simulataneous arrival of Next Stop Happiness (Taiwan), You're Beautiful (Korea) and IRIS (Korea). Still, my goal is to finish Smile before that - I love my Matsujun.

While I am not sure how much I will love Kim Tae Hee's profiler heroine, I am already in love with Kim So Yeon's bad-girl rogue assassin who falls for Lee Byung Hun's agent on the run.



Oh yes yes YES.

I am hoping she will be even more badass than Black and White's heroine extraordinaire Chen Lin.

Twdramas were my first drama loves (Mars and Meteor Garden were my first and second drama, respectively) and you never forget your first love, do you?

That is why, much as I might love the slickness of kdrama and the understatedness of jdrama, few things will get me as giddy or emo as a well-done twdrama.

So, after I’ve done my Top Dozen Jdramas and my Top 25 Kdramas, the next logical step is the Top 10 Twdramas/Cdramas, isn’t it? So I did one over a year ago, but have found that I need to majorly revise it.

So here is my updated Top 10 twdrama/cdrama list. Once again, same thing applies: only finished ones (or nearly), as unspoilery as I can make it, blahblahblah.

( List, with summaries, reasons, pics, and vids )

In conclusion, yes, Vic Zhou is still my favorite drama actor, all these dramas later.

Twdramas were my first drama loves (Mars and Meteor Garden were my first and second drama, respectively) and you never forget your first love, do you?

That is why, much as I might love the slickness of kdrama and the understatedness of jdrama, few things will get me as giddy or emo as a well-done twdrama.

So, after I’ve done my Top Dozen Jdramas and my Top 25 Kdramas, the next logical step is the Top 10 Twdramas/Cdramas, isn’t it? So I did one over a year ago, but have found that I need to majorly revise it.

So here is my updated Top 10 twdrama/cdrama list. Once again, same thing applies: only finished ones (or nearly), as unspoilery as I can make it, blahblahblah.

( List, with summaries, reasons, pics, and vids )

In conclusion, yes, Vic Zhou is still my favorite drama actor, all these dramas later.

because I couldn't wait and

OMG

OMGOMGOMG

( Big spoiler for something specific )

1. I am glad to note that after Jandi cruelly dumped him, Ji Hoo went on to a big and happy career as an Asian Pimp Daddy:



Ahahahahaaa.

Haaa.

2. In other news, ep 22 of Black and White was amazing. (1) MuSha scene (2) Zai Tian and Chen Lin rescuing Ying Xiong scene (CPR!!!!!!!!!) and (3) I can see why the Bad Guy (trying to be non-spoilery here) handcuffed Zai Tian - you and me too baby, me too!



And the above scene? Made my heart go pitter-patter. Chen Lin always knows just what to say :)

( Larger version with more )

3. Lastly. They are remaking Full House, the famous kdrama, as a twdrama, starring Wu Chun. Mmmmm. MMMM.