I wouldn't call Chiung Yao a particularly strong writer, but she is one damn good storyteller. Even with the melodrama, cheesy dialogue, and full-out "wtf just happened" character reversals, Huan Zhu Ge Ge remains one of the most beloved dramas in Chinese TV history. It's just SO MUCH FUN. I was almost literally rolling on the floor with laughter while watching -- it's that good.



Like many other Chinese kids in my generation, my earliest memory of watching cdramas is HZGG. I was seven when it was broadcast in China, and probably a little older when it aired in the US. At the time, I didn't know enough Qing Dynasty Chinese to understand what the hell was going on (I don't think I even knew that a "ge ge" was), so I don't remember much apart from learning how to curtsy to the emperor.

But even without knowing the plot, I enjoyed it a lot and would credit it (as well as The Switch) for my continuing love of c/twdramas. You know what they say, brainwash 'em while they're young. To this day, I always think of Vicki Zhao Wei as "Xiao Yan Zi," and I don't think I've ever called Alec Su anything other than "Wu A Ge."

( Thoughts on HZGG now that I actually understand the plot )

In the first ten minutes of episode 21, two ridiculous things happen:

1. Qin Ziqi gets a text message from the witch Zheng Kai'er, in which she writes "save me" because she's being attacked or something.

2. Shen Xingren drives by in a taxi right after Kai'er jumps on Ziqi because her ordeal was "soooo scary." Prior to this, Xingren had received a text message saying Ziqi was cheating on her with Kai'er (although Kai'er was actually the one who sent this, from an anonymous SIM card).

Two problems:

1. If Kai'er really was being forced by a client to go to a hotel, she wouldn't have had time to send him a text message saying "save me." Unless said client was really clueless, in which case Kai'er wouldn't have needed help. Ziqi isn't stupid and shouldn't have fallen for this scheme -- so why did the writers make him rush out to save her? Oh, because of the plot.

2. I don't think Xingren has ever taken a taxi in her life, and she most certainly would not take one just to confirm a shady text message. So why is she in a taxi in this episode? Oh yeah. The plot.

Writers, you disappoint me. Episode 19 was a dud. Episode 20 was surprisingly good. Episode 21 better not go back to being a dud.

Episode 19 of Office Girls had a good share of cute scenes between Roy Chiu and Alice Ke, which I'm pretty sure is one of the only things keeping people watching it right now. It also featured a surprising but sweet serious moment from Patrick Lee's Shi Telong, who is known for providing the slapstick and humor. Patrick is great at humor, but the director and scriptwriter seemed to be banking on it a bit too much in recent episodes, so his role got annoying pretty quickly.

But in today's episode, when Qin Ziqi and Shen Xingren got into a little argument, Shi Telong advised Ziqi to hold tight to Xingren and reminded him that you only miss someone after you've broken up with her. Ziqi asks if he should do like the idol dramas do and chase after her, and STL gives his standard response of "guan kuai" (hurry up), but without the harassed tone he usually puts in. Such a short scene, but perhaps my favorite from ep19 because it was so unexpected.

Okay, this was super cute too... not as heart-warming, but pretty close.


Ziqi also had a great quote, after his mom tried to pry into Xingren's family background to see if she was worthy of her son. She was also criticizing the appearance of the oyster omelettes that they were eating (btw, Ziqi has now upgraded to eating wen de sheng hao -- I wonder what Yu Chengfeng thinks ;D), because she's used to eating fancy fancy food. Ziqi says it's more important that the food taste good, and they can just package the omelettes differently. Then he delivers this beautiful line:

"The inside is more important than the outside. One's personality is more important than one's family background."

I LOVE YOU QIN ZIQI. ♥ ♥ ♥

( So with all this wonderfulness, what can be wrong with OG? )

2011 has been the year in which I've caught up with technology in terms of watching currently airing dramas. I used to watch only dramas that had finished their run, because then I could control how much I wanted to watch at a time, but that all sort of fell apart when my to-watch list for 2011 dramas started getting longer and longer. Watching multiple airing twdramas wasn't so bad, since they're only once a week, but the two-eps-per-day thing for cdramas got pretty crazy at times. But I successfully kept up with three cdramas, which I consider an accomplishment. Heh.

Anyway, without further ado, my very first yearly recap!

Total Number of Dramas: 15 (7 cdramas, 8 twdramas)
Breakdown: 9 finished, 3 still watching, 3 given up

( Read more... )

It's been dragging for sure, due to the extension, but I've become so enamored with Roy Chiu that I will really watch him do anything. So despite the unnecessary misunderstandings that are dragging down the plot (not to mention the unnecessary existence of Tia Li), these past few episodes have still been enjoyable in that they've multiplied my love for Roy and his character Qin Ziqi.

In episode 18, Ziqi's mom returns and demands that her ex-husband upgrade her beloved son Ziqi to general manager status. Ziqi, however, is perfectly happy where he is and has already come to understand why his father made him start from such a low position. So even though his mom tries to pamper him, he stands firm. It's wonderful to see how much he's grown, and although he's still a lazy bum deep deep down, he's now learned to work hard. I love you, Qin Ziqi.

And when his mom starts laughing about Shen Xingren's name ("xingren" means almond), Ziqi is there to defend his girlfriend as well:

Qin Mama: Just find that extremely unsophisticated group leader to go to the meeting for you.
Ziqi: Her last name is Shen. She's called Shen Xingren.
Qin Mama: Sh...Shen Xingren?
Ziqi: (nods)
Qin Mama: "Xingren" as in almond tofu and almond tea?
Ziqi: Yes.
Qin Mama: (laughs) I told you she was unsophisticated! Look, even her name is so ridiculous.
Ziqi: I think her name is very cute.
Qin Mama: Cute? It's so unsophisticated, so unsophisticated! (continues laughing)
Ziqi: (narrows his eyes in a somewhat angry manner)
Qin Mama: Why are you so protective of her? Who is she to you?
Ziqi: (slight pause) She's my girlfriend.

And when Qin Mama thinks he's telling her a big joke (because she doesn't think a young master like him would like a village girl), Ziqi sticks to his guns and says, "I'm not telling a joke she is my girlfriend and I like her a lot." And then he coldly excuses himself to attend the meeting.

Qin Ziqi, I never thought I would be able to love you more than I did before, but I sure do now~ ♥ ♥ ♥

I've always been particularly susceptible to fandom-related merchandise (I own three or four lightsabers, and don't even get me started on Yu-Gi-Oh! cards), and a recent post from the official Office Girls blog is giving me the merchandise itch again, just in time for Christmas. This drama may not be the best drama out there, but it's making a killing on the Sunday night drama ratings, and it definitely knows how to market itself too.

Latest on their line... official Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma plushies imported from Japan. Can I get an "awwww"?



I was fond of these two fellows before, but watching Office Girls has pushed this to near-obsession. If you haven't been following the drama, Rilakkuma (boy bear) is owned by the female lead (Shen Xingren), and Korilakkuma (girl bear) is owned by the male lead (Qin Ziqi). Rilakkuma is pretty much a stand-in for Qin Ziqi, which means Xingren will beat up the bear and twist his ears when Ziqi's being naughty. Korilakkuma is like a silent female friend of Ziqi's, who gives him relationship advice.

Cute, huh? I was seriously considering buying Rilakkuma, who I think is much more adorable (besides being a stand-in for Ziqi, which is just a bonus), but... well, there's the downside of it costing 2000NTD. That's about US$66. And since I don't live in Taiwan, I'd have to pay for it to get shipped to the U.S., and I don't even want to guess how much that'll cost.

The promise of a signed Office Girls poster (which comes with any of the four purchases that the site is offering) is tempting, but I still can't afford to shell out that much money. :(



The funniest part about all this was reading the first comment on the blog post: "Even in the drama, Qin Ziqi said $1000 was too expensive... and you're still selling it for $2000 @_@"

Just realized that I haven't updated in a really really really long time. School is cruel, and will continue to be cruel for the next two weeks as I study/cram for finals. And then four weeks of freedom! But first studying.



Anyway, I finally got around to watching Beastly about two weeks ago, when I had some spare time. I previously shared that I was expecting a really dumb movie but that I still wanted to watch it because I've had a soft spot for Alex Pettyfer ever since he played Alex Rider.

Well, somehow, with such low expectations, I was still disappointed. The story was as meh as I expected, and the acting was okay -- nothing spectacular, not even from Neil Patrick Harris. Still wish they'd let Alex stick with his British accent -- it's so much hotter than his American accent. But that's not the main point.

After the trailer for this was released, and I watched it about ten times, I started to get really bothered by the following exchange:

Beast/Kyle/Hunter: (pulls off hood to reveal his face) Pretty gruesome, huh?
Lindy: ...I've seen worse.

Why am I bothered by this? ( Why indeed? )

So yeah. That's my main beef with the movie. In terms of entertainment, it was like Stormbreaker: good fun, but not much substance. Oh, and Alex is hot. That's about it. I might watch it again for the lulz, but if I want a retelling of the B&B story, I'll stick with the perfection that is Disney. ♥

I haven't posted about Office Girls in a while, but don't think it's because my interest in it has cooled. I just haven't had the time to post every week about how freakin' awesome it is. I wasn't planning on posting about episode 11 either, but while I was watching it, I had a goofy grin on my face for the entire episode. If the drama continues being this awesome, it'll be a shoo-in for my favorite Taiwanese drama, and a serious contender for favorite drama of all time.

Anyway, what made episode 11 so awesome?
- THE KISS. I won't say anymore, since this isn't under a cut, but the kiss scene. OMG. I loved it.
- "Even idol dramas wouldn't use this!"
- Roy Chiu and Patrick Lee alternating between buddy-buddy and assistant-superior
- References to Harry Potter
- Almost-confessions
- Roy speaking Taiwanese
- Roy with a Band-Aid on his head
- Patrick Lee and Yao Yao watching Autumn's Concerto in the elevator. PRICELESS.
- Patrick repeating Roy's lines about offering his shoulder to the girl he likes... and then farting. LOOOL
- Roy wearing the strawberry helmet again
- Dollhouse! ♥
- Shen Mama fangirling over Roy (who is really at his most adorable when around her) and shipping Ziqi/Xingren

The one bad thing? Tia Li. I can't stand her, her acting, or her character, and I wish she'd just disappear. This drama would be so much better if someone else was acting Kai'er.

But to end on a good note... THE PREVIEW FOR EPISODE 12. I WANT.

Edit: And the ratings agree with me! Episode 11 hit 5.35, a new high. Congrats to the cast and crew~

I just checked out the officially subbed version of Zexal, since I'd watched the dub premiere over the weekend (why is Shark so awesome?) and wanted to compare it with the original. I'm thrilled that 4Kids is offering subbed episodes, and apart from a few timing issues, I think they did a pretty good job.

Well, for the most part.


Also, the episode summary needs editing:

Yuma Tsukumo aspires to be the world's best Duelist. Despite this, he is not a good Duelist. When he ends up Dueling, Shark, a student known to have pro-level skills, odd things begin to happen and Yuma's story begins.

BTW, I'm as amused as everyone else is that "kattobingu" is just translated as "kattobing." lol.

I said I'd post HQ photos from Waking Love Up, since there are a ton of shiny share-worthy stills at Tieba. Like usual, there is a strong Roy Chiu and Tang Yan bias, although I'm not entirely to blame, seeing as the majority of the higher-quality pics are of them. I've tried to include cuter moments from Qi Wei and Izz Tsui, though. And I may include a few behind-the-scenes pics when I can't help it... like with this one, for example:



( Pics and summary behind the cut )