Because I haven't updated this in 2 or so years, I've decided to launch a pseudo-comeback to xanga by making a list of Asian dramas I'm currently watching or following and my thoughts on them. I don't get to watch dramas very often anymore, so it usually takes me forever to finish one series, but when I get some free time I'll watch a couple of episodes of something.
Recently, I've been watching J-dramas more than K-dramas, C-dramas, or TW-dramas, but my big watching project is Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義, 1994, C-drama). I've been watching this 84-episode long series since May with my parents and we're somewhat more than halfway through.
Anyways, onto the list and my comments!
**SERIES I AM CURRENTLY WATCHING/FOLLOWING:
三國演義 (Romance of the Three Kingdoms): C-drama, 1994, 84 Episodes My Rating: 10/10
This is an EXCELLENT drama, especially when considering the series is 15+ years old (they started filming in 1990 to be exact and it took 4 years to complete this project). This series actually got me extremely interested in Chinese history, namely the Three Kingdoms period. The acting is wonderful, the plot is truly epic in the way only historical dramas can be, and the overall appearance of each episode is really quite amazing (the costumes are beautiful and accurate). This drama is seriously addicting even despite its age. My only gripe about ROTK is the weird actor changes in the middle of the series, but I can understand that sometimes things happen and people decide to leave the project - not to mention this series took hella long to complete... If I could give this series more than the max 10 points, I totally would! (Note: this series/story is extremely complex and long, so giving a plot summary would be awfully difficult!) http://wiki.d-addicts.com/San_Guo_Yan_Yi
MR. BRAIN: J-drama, 2009, 8 Episodes My Rating: 7/10
Okay, so I decided to watch this drama because of two things: 1. I am a big fan of detective/mystery dramas, 2. Kimura Takuya played the eccentric main character. In my opinion, this series was only mediocre in the first point (repetitive plot, unoriginal crime settings, easy to deduce conclusions) and KimuTaku's character was eccentric to the point he was almost annoying to me. Mizushima Hiro, who plays Deputy Detective Hayashida, amused me a lot since the last character I saw him acting as was incredibly formal (go Google the series Mei-chan no Shitsuji for more information), but overall, the slowness of each episode and the fact that Ayase Haruka's character, an assistant to KimuTaku's character, was rather dumb (there were no lead female scientists, which annoyed me greatly) put me off somewhat. I liked how the focus of MR. BRAIN was on the forensic scientists instead of the actual detectives though. http://wiki.d-addicts.com/MR._BRAIN
アタシんちの男子 (Atashinchi no Danshi): J-drama, 2009, 11 Episodes My Rating: 8/10
The premise of this series is really weird, but interesting. Horikita Maki plays Mineta Chisato, a homeless girl who has been saddled with her father's debt after he runs away in a bout of irresponsibility. She ends up marrying this crazy rich toy inventor (who has adopted 6 sons) who offers to pay off her debt in exchage for her marrying him for the last month of his life. After he dies, Chisato is faced with the task of uniting the 6 extremely uncooperative and opinionated adopted sons as a family as per the crazy rich guy's will. Despite the extremely odd plot, this drama comes together nicely due to a good blend of humor and good-looking guys. The strangeness of everything is somewhat difficult to get used to (which is why I rate this drama an 8 instead of anything higher), but once you get past that, you are left with a solid series. http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Atashinchi_no_Danshi
꽃보다 남자 (Boys Before Flowers/Boys Over Flowers): K-drama, 2009, 25 Episodes My Rating: 9/10
You've probably heard of this drama already, since the whole Hana Yori Dango franchise is so popular - especially nowadays with all of the Asian countries making drama versions of the manga with the same HYD name. I'm about 2-3 episodes from the end, and although this series does have a very K-drama feel to it (super emotional/heavy in the middle), it was still quite enjoyable! Not to mention I think the Korean F4 is possibly the best looking F4 in all of the Asian drama versions of HYD. You can tell the budget for BOF was quite large - it certainly has a very high quality aura to it. Not going to say much more here because if you haven't already heard of this series, you've been living under a rock. :O http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Boys_Before_Flowers
ブザー・ビート (Buzzer Beat): J-drama, 2009, ? Episodes My Rating: 8/10
Keep in mind that this drama is still airing so there's only a few episodes out so far, and I've only seen the first episode. Buzzer Beat is about a basketball player (named Kamiya Naoki), played by Yamapi, who does poorly when under pressure. This series follows this person as he deals with issues in his career and his relationships. Judging from the first episode, I believe this drama is mainly centered on romance with the occasional exciting sports action interlude (you can decide for yourself whether this is a good thing or not). Kamiya has a girlfriend, played by Aibu Saki, who appears to be an "ideal woman" when she's actually this really awful person who smokes, has a bad attitude, and cheats on Kamiya with a new player on the team. Kamiya also meets a budding violinist who encourages him in his basketball endeavors and they develop a pleasant relationship. It's pretty obvious who's going to end up with who, especially if you look at the relationships chart on dramawiki or watch the OP, but I'm sure there will be some interesting twists later on. As a side point, Aibu Saki's character really annoys me. BEWARE OF THE HORRIFYINGLY PINKISH-PURPLE COLOR SCHEME OF THE BASKETBALL TEAM. It will seriously scar your eyesight. http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Buzzer_Beat
オルトロスの犬 (Orthros no Inu): J-drama, 2009, ? Episodes My Rating: N/A
This drama is currently airing and since I haven't quite finished the first episode, I can't really comment on this drama thus far quite yet. But I can say that both Tackey and Nishikido Ryo are in this drama AND the premise of this series appears to be extremely intriguing! Hopefully Orthros no Inu will prove to be a really awesome suspense renzoku drama - I would love it if it were! It definitely looks promising. http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Orthros_no_Inu
オトメン (Otomen): J-drama, 2009, ? Episodes My Rating: N/A
Otomen started airing 2 days ago, so I can't really say much to comment on it except...GO READ THE MANGA RIGHT NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T. It's so freakishly hilarious...I was actually LOL-ing the entire time I was reading it! It's basically about a guy who is masculine on the outside (appearance, kendo captain, etc.) but is an extreme girly girl on the inside (sews cute plushies, cooks cute foods heinously well, etc.). SO FUNNY! The drama will probably not live up to my expectations since I love the manga so much, but I think it'll be fun to watch! http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Otomen
When
I first heard this song, it strongly reminded me of the Sasuke - Naruto reunion in Shippuuden. Therefore, I cut, mixed, and edited the
beginning to fit the song and to show only the Sasuke - Naruto parts. This is
just a quickie vid that popped into existence...not my best work, but
I'm rather fond of it. =) The sound mixing was ridiculously complicated
for such a simple video...and it kept messing up. Ahaha.
Wahhh! My parents are coming to visit this weekend! I'm so excited! ^_^
I've changed the video at the top of this xanga site. YAY FOR AN AWESOME NARUTO FANTRAILER. It is REALLY well made! The music and dialogue and video overlay is AMAZING. (Some of the subtitles are a bit off, but that doesn't matter! It's GREAT!)
On a side note: I installed photoshop elements on my tablet! I'm reading to draw quality pictures now! WHEE! NO MORE USING PAINT! YAY! <3
BokuWaShinigami2
