Subbing ...

Been watching Asian dramas now for almost two years. In that time I've watching hours and hours of subbed dramas .. some fan subbed, some company subbed, some professional subbed and all with a bit of lost of translation going on. The fan subs are by far the worst but when you are desperate enough you take what you can get (Roger that). The company and professional subs are similar in that either a site (Netflix or Viki) will have more seasoned people go through the eps and translate it. It comes as close as it can but again ... everything gets lost in translation. 

The most frustrating thing I've encountered with watching Asian dramas has been the lack of subs on certain series. If a popular actor/actress is not in it or the subject matter isn't of interest you could be waiting for some unknown time for subs. The disappointment for me is the amount of K dramas that get subbed, they have endless amounts of subbers for them. Endless. And sadly K dramas are not my bread and butter. The only real pleasure I get is watching HK dramas subbed because I actually get most conversational Cantonese so the subbing is just additional information to me since I get usually most of the conversation :)

Posting ...

I wanted to post everyday or at least as much as I can for 2019 but given it is already 1 am that ship has sailed. I'm going to attempt to watch a movie a week this year. It seems like a small feat but given the two kiddos and time and lazy factor we shall see. I miss watching movies sometimes and I think I'm burnt out from all the drama watching. I completed at least 11 dramas and a few more that are very very close so the number could be more like 15 dramas. Drama watching can be a bit of a chore at times and with bad subs, it gets too hard to get through. I'll see how I do this year but I feel like I'll be scaling back some, hence my thought to maybe do movies instead.

2017 drama review

So I began this C drama journey last year when I was getting bored with US TV programming and the lack of Asian representation. I decided hey let's check out Asian TV series and venture into that realm. A year later, after going down that deep dark rabbit hole that is C dramas and the crazy nutty world it is I've watched little to none US shows and countless hours of Asian dramas. The amount of hours boggles the mind truly.

In review I ended 2017 with 12 completed dramas and countless uncompleted ones and more knowledge of C dramas and actors and actresses than ever before ... and I'm still greatly behind and in need of more. It has been fun and some dramas will have a special place with me always. When A Snail Falls In Love will always be my all time favorite drama for the introduction to Wang Kai Wai (the actor) and C dramas overall. 

For modern C dramas, though Pretty Li Hui Zhen and The Fox's Summer were silly, they were fun and I enjoyed them both ... even though they were over 40 eps and dragged at times. More school dramas were A Love So Beautiful, which was sweet and cute and Where the Lost Ones Go, which I found impressive. From the way it was shot to the acting to the storyline, it was very well done and independent. It definitely wasn't as formulaic as the rest of the C dramas I was use to watching. For historic C dramas, Three Lives Three Worlds aka Eternal Love was the drama of the year in China. It was very good and entertaining but it dragged at times with over 58 eps. Love Lost in Time sadly was not as entertaining even though it was well done and at 56 eps it was too much, I am still trying to finish. 

For K dramas, Fight My Way was my favorite for being the most slice of life and realistic as far a dramas could be. Strong Woman and Because This is My First Life though enjoyable had some issues, especially Because This is. For T dramas, Fated to Love You, although dated, was close to perfection in chemistry of leads and storytelling. That was a well done and executed drama. I found Behind Your Smile enjoyable as well but Attention, Love less so. The plus side of K and T dramas is the brevity of eps, most of them under 20 eps. I have yet to finish Bromance, a T drama, but I know upon completion this will be one of my favorite dramas due to the excellent chemistry of the two leads and fun gender bender storyline. 

Goals I have for this coming 2018 is watch more dramas to completion and try to always watch at least one HK drama so I can get better on my Cantonese and just be exposed to more HK stuff. 

Fated to Love You (T Drama review)

- Fated to Love You 24 episodes total / around an hour and 10 mins each. Chen Xin Yi (Joe Chen) is a lowly office girl nicknamed "sticky note girl" - someone who is helpful but unnecessary and easy to throw away. She goes on a cruise with her low life boyfriend who takes the time to meet an older richer woman. On the same cruise is Ji Cun Xi (Ethan Ruan), a wealthy heir to a soap and cleaning product company. He plans to use the cruise to propose to his long term ballerina dancer girlfriend Anna (Bianca Bai). Unfortunately, she is heading to NY for an opportunity of a lifetime, unknown to Ji Cun Xi. In a silly mix-up involving drugs and carelessness, Xin Yi and Cun Xi end up sleeping together and only realize their mistake the next morning. They agree to dismiss the whole incident and move on with their respected lives, until a few weeks later Xin Yi discovers she is is pregnant. Cun Xi learns of this and insist on an abortion only to change his mind and raise the baby as his own. In the process, they reluctantly get married and try living and dealing with each other. Ultimately it is unsuccessful and during one of their misunderstandings Xin Yi is hit by a car and loses the baby. Devasted Xin Yi takes this chance to move to Shanghai with her art dealer friend Dylan, who is attracted to her and Cun Xi patches things up with Anna but continues to search for the whereabouts of Xin Yi. Two years later, through a random occurrence the two run into each other in Shanghai and all the unresolved pains and issues come flooding back for the two of them. Cun Xi has realized he has always loved Xin Yi and wants her back and Xin Yi is dealing with moving on from her love for Cun Xi. In the end, the two reconcile and get married again and have a baby together.

I was on the fence about watching this since it was from 2008 and felt and looked super dated, however I'm glad I watched. Although silly at times, it was a strong drama with two amazing leads. The chemistry and connection between Joe Chen and Ethan Ruan was so spot on. When Xin Yi loses the baby, her cries and grief were so heartbreaking and Cun Xi's devastation of not being able to protect Xin Yi and the baby was tragic. The storyline with Anna and Dylan being long lost brother and sister was a bit dull and flat, mainly because I didn't care much for Anna. Dylan was alright and a good friend to Xin Yi. I appreciated how he helped her to gain the confidence she needed within her life. I really enjoyed the interaction of Xin Yi and her mother and sisters, even when they were over the top and silly they watched out and cared for each other. Same could be said for Anson, Cun Xi's loyal and trusted assistant as well as Cun Xi's grandmother, who was so welcoming and loving.

The Fox's Summer (C Drama review)

- The Fox's Summer (Fox Fall in Love) 44 episodes total / around 45 mins each. Li Yan Shu (Tan Song Yun) is an independent free spirited woman who plays by her own rules even if that means lying to get what she wants. She is considered a fox by some. She has recently returned to Beijing to work as a designer. Gu Cheng Ze (Jiang Chao) is the president of a large department store and adopted grandson of the Gu family who owns and operates the department store. Gu Cheng Ze is extremely OCD and can tell when people are liars, to a point where he has allergic reactions. He is considered the rabbit because of how clean and clever he is. Gu Jinyu (Daniel Zhang) is the rightful heir to the department store corporation but is lazy and spoiled. Cheng Ze and him have a brotherly and loving relationship. Jinyu changes his ways once he learns Lin Yan Shu (his old high school sweetheart) is one of the designers at the department store and begins to pursue her. Through various twist of events Gu Cheng Ze and Li Yan Shu's lives intertwine and they fall in love.

Due to lack of proper subbing it took me awhile to finish the series, around five months. Overall, I enjoyed the drama but it had very strong Mainland China vibes, from the clothing to mannerism. The biggest selling point of the drama was Tan Song Yun. Her personality and acting was contagious and entertaining. She came off very cute and fun loving and never annoying or dull. On the other hand, some of Jiang Chao's acting in the first half was so stiff and robotic it was painful to watch. He improved greatly the second half when he was more casual and relaxed. The interaction between the two leads during the drama were so heartbreaking, they really cared and loved each other but had family issues they had to overcome to get there. I hugely enjoyed watching them together. Sadly then there was the two second leads, who were just awful in the first half of the series because they had such childish and flat storylines. Luckily the writing changed cause the second half they were much more tolerable and I actually really grew to like the Gu Jinyu character. By far the worst characters were Li Yan Shu's mother and Jiang Chao's adopted grandmother, they were petty and shrewd and just plain narrow minded. I didn't get their line of thinking or lack there of. There was additional storylines with the male sectary, which was a real bore and the next door neighbor who was a delight!! The OST was cute but the opening one for the drama reminded me a lot of a Mentos commercial, it was so much like a jingle.

Fight For My Way (K Drama review)

- Fight For My Way: 16 episodes total / around an hour and 10 mins each. In the first ep, we are introduced to the Fantastic Four - Ko Dong-man (Park Seo-joon), a former taekwondo player who had a bright future ahead of him until a match ruined everything and made him a nameless fighter. Choi Ae-ra (Kim Ji-won), a department store employee who has big dreams of becoming an announcer and working for the major news outlet. Kim Joo-man (Ahn Jae-hong), a marketing manager trying to move up the ranks at the home shopping network company. He has been dating his girlfriend Baek Seol-hee , who works at the same company, in secret for six years. Baek Seol-hee (Song Ha-yoon), the pure and innocent one in the group who works in customer service at the home shopping network company and has been dating Kim Joo-man in secret.

As the series progresses, Ae-ra and Dong-man begin to move out of friend realm into being in a relationship and adapting to that change given their 20 plus years of friendship. That was sweet to watch because the dialogue between the two was so honest. It is hard not to be upfront to someone who has known you for more than half your life. On the flip side, Seol-hee and Joo-man are seeing the cracking in their six year relationship, especially when a pretty and young intern starts to aggressively pursue Joo-man. Although the main leads/couple was Ae-ra and Dong-man and their relationship and reaching their goals in life, Seol-hee and Joo-man's relationship was great to breakdown and analyze. Here was a couple who seemed perfect on the outside but were suffering and had issues. It was only after they split up did they go and find themselves and better their relationship. When Seol-hee confessed all she wanted in life was to be a good wife and mother, though it seems simple to others, it was so fitting for her and heartwarming. She was by far the sweetest and purest character and her change and development over the series was great to watch.

Overall, this was refreshing to watch for a number of reasons, the biggest one being there was no rich CEO, these characters were NOT well off and they dressed terribly. If felt very real to life or at least a snapshot of what life is like for 30 year olds in Korea. Yes some parts were a bit much (like the landlord being Ae-ra's long lost mother and the random adopted son storytelling) but hey this is still a K drama. The OST for this series was fun and had some great songs.

Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon (K Drama review)

- Strong Woman Do Bong-soon: 16 episodes total / around an hour and 10 mins each. Do Bong-Soon (Park Bo-Young) was born with superhuman strength; passed along only to the women in her family. She dreams of working for a video game company and developing her own game based on a character with her super powers. She secretly has been crushing on her long time friend and cop In Gook-Doo (Ji Soo) who has no clue she is interested in him. Along comes rich gaming company CEO Ahn Min-hyuk (Park Hyung-sik), who witnesses Do Bong-soon strength one day and hires her as his personal bodyguard since he has been getting anonymous treats and blackmail to his business. While all this is happening, a series of kidnapped women in Do Bong-Soon's neighborhood is going on and there is business with gangsters and high school kids treating Do Bong-Soon like their master.

This was my first attempt at a Korean drama and I was on the fence. I only started it because the premise and the interaction between the two leads was interesting. I enjoyed the strong female character who was trying to figure out how to use her powers for good and basically not hating the fact she had this special gift of incredible strength. The interaction with the mother, who was powerless, and her father and twin brother, added another dynamic. The mother had lost her power because once it is used for personal gain or if someone innocent is harmed, the strength is removed.

The strongest part of the series had to be between the two leads - Do Bong-soon and Anh Min-hyuk. Their fondest and growing attracting to each other was just a joy to watch and you couldn't help finding yourself grinning and smiling like a doofus. They were just so stinking cute and not in an annoying way. Park Bo-Young is so small and adorable she played the role perfectly and Park Hyung-sik was goofy and oddball at times that the two were a great match. It was refreshing to see the male lead act like the female, being all silly and giddy and at times insecure with his affection and love for Do Bong-soon.

The weakest part of the series was the endless goofiness of the mother and her friends visiting the fortune teller, the endless gangster interactions, the pointless conflict with the gaming director and the high school kids who worshiped Do Bong-soon. Those all got tiresome very quickly. Thankfully the main leads saved what could have been a disaster of a series. As for the OST for this show, it had a few good tunes but nothing I found myself listening to all the time.

Behind Your Smile (T Drama review)

- Behind Your Smile: 19 episodes total / around an hour and 10 mins each. Zhao Yi Ting (Marcus Chang) has spent the last 12 years seeking revenge against Lin Man, the woman who caused his family much unhappiness with the lost of his father and family farm. On the day Lin Man is to report herself to the authorities, her daughter Lei Xin Yu (Eugenie Liu) arrives from studying aboard.Through various chance encounters Yi Ting and Xin Yu lives end up intertwining and slowly Xin Yu's naive, gentle and kind ways melt Yi Ting's cold heart.

This was my first Taiwanese drama. The show took some time warming up to. It was unclear Yi Ting's intentions with Xin Yu were and Xin Yu came off too naive, almost stupid. After a few eps. you realized he never planned to harm her but just use her as an end to a means and they toned down Xin Yu's behavior. The two main leads had great chemistry and played off each other well. You cheered and rooted for them in the end. Yi Ting's relationship with his brother Zhong Qian Ren and his mother were sweet and heartwarming. The family dynamic was really nice to watch and I really enjoyed most of their interactions. Xin Yu's relationship with Jian XiaoYue, the roommate, was fun. They were such a great fit for each other given their different personalities.

Marcus Chang was very handsome and all the suits and outfits they put him in made it easy to watch him. Eugenie Liu was cute and not in that annoying cutesy way. I will say at some points I questioned the production value because it came off very low budget during some scenes. Like Yi Ting's office was a joke when he was suppose to be CEO of a company, it was pretty sad.  The strongest thing about this series had to be be soundtrack. They had some of the best songs and it fit the scenes in the drama well. I find myself listening to it way after the show has concluded.

Pretty Li Hui Zhen (C Drama review)

- Pretty Li Hui Zhen: 40 episodes total / around 45 mins each. Li Hui Zhen (Dilmurat Dilraba) use to be pretty, but years of declining family fortune added much pain to her life, and her looks slowly started to fade. Her childhood friend Bai Hao Yu (Peter Sheng), on the other hand, was once a chubby fat kid who was bullied and picked on as a youth has grown up to be a suave and successful business man. When they cross paths to meet years later, Li Hui Zhen is too embarrassed to show her real self so she has her stylish good friend Xia Qiao (Sierra Li) to pretend to be her. The only down side is Bai Hao Yu is actually her boss at her new job. Over time Bai Hao Yu begins to fall for Li Hui Zhen without realizing it is his true long lost childhood friend. At the same time coworker Lin Yimu (Zhang Bin Bin) is also developing feelings for Li Hui Zhen as well.

This series is a remake of the 2015 Korean one She Was Pretty. They made it more than twice as long at the Korean one but I think it worked to flush out the characters. Although I didn't watch She Was Pretty, I enjoyed this series quite a bit. Dilmurat was so charming as Li Hui. She made the character likable and cute and dorky at the same time. It was funny because Dilmurat is so pretty it was hard to find her "ugly" as she was suppose to be in the drama. Her good friend Xia Qiao, on the other hand, wasn't very likable given she deceives Li Hui by continuing to pretend to be her to Bai Hao. This just adds confusion to Bai Hao who continues thinking Xia Qiao is the real Li Hui, his long lost childhood friend. In the end, the friendship was saved but in real life it is unlikely it would have played out that way. Zhang Bin Bin did an amazing job as Lin Yimu, the coworker who falls for Li Hui. The range of emotions and confessions he give to her is heartwarming and breaking. He loves her so much and yet can't have her. Unfortunately the weak spot was Peter Sheng as Bai Hao. Although a good looking guy, Peter could not express his emotions as naturally or well as Zhang Bin Bin. He often came off as stiff and robotic. It was a real shame because he was the main lead but was often overshadowed by Zhang Bin Bin's character. There were a few scenes were Peter did a great job but it wasn't enough for the drama. I still enjoyed watching the two main leads but Dilmurat really saved most of those scenes.

As for the additional cast who played the office coworkers, all of them were great and so fun. The office dynamic enjoyable even when sometimes it dragged and went on too long. The soundtrack for the series was great especially with that one duet.

Sherlock

- Sherlock: Episode 1 Season 4 / 90 mins After a three year hiatus (if we don't count the one off Abominable Bride ep in 2016), Sherlock comes back with Watson and Mary expecting their new baby girl and Sherlock solving various cases until post-Moriarty shows back up. I have to say this episode was a bit tough to watch. They made Sherlock extra maniac and all over the place and Watson was wanting to step out on Mary and even the relationship between Sherlock and Watson felt strained. I was having a hard time enjoying the episode. It could be also due to the writing which felt flat, the case which felt forced or the lack of chemistry with all the characters. Apparently due to the various busy schedules of Cumberbatch and Freeman, it was difficult to find the time to make the series. Yet I am reading they have signed on for Season 5 so I am curious to know when they are going to have time to film it.

Commercial break ...

11 TV shows we quit watching

This article was pretty spot on regarding shows I no longer watch.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jaimieetkin/tv-shows-we-quit-in-2016?utm_term=.la5Md5Grov#.wwDxGD1K9b

Daredevil - Season one was so so good (I was enjoying how hot Charlie Cox was) that I thought for sure Season two would be great. And the first few eps were but then it slowed down and it got tough for me to get back on board once I stopped. I would still like to finish S2 but not sure when. I think the whole lawyer/trail stuff was just too dry and they started to take themselves way too serious.

Empire - In complete agreement about this show, it just got boring and slow and more boring. It wasn't fun anymore and even Cookie's comments could not save it.

The Flash - In complete agreement here as well. The episodes just piled up and with Arrow I just could not get on board. Speaking of which, I'm even dropping Arrow and I invested over 5 seasons for that show but it is getting so tough to watch now. Sigh.

How To Get Away with Murder - Never watched

Modern Family - Stopped watching after Season six and so glad I did. The kids were getting old and the stories were getting boring.

Pretty Little Liars - Never watched

Outlander - I watched the first few episodes and really enjoyed what I saw but didn't get a chance to pick it back up. I think part of the issue for me was it played on Starz and we didn't really have access to that so I had to relay on the Internet. I even tried to read the book but couldn't finish that either. Sad face.

Quantico - Never watched

SNL -  I haven't watched a full season of SNL since the early 2000's maybe. I did watch the Dave Chappelle ep but only for him. From what I can gather on the Internet it has gotten bad due to poor writing and only a skit or two is ever funny, if that.

Unreal - I loved Season one. I found it smart and empowering for women and scary about the view of women and romance and reality TV. Sadly, Season two was not as clever and got too soapy/reality TV for its own good. A real shame since Shiri Appleby and Constance Zimmer are amazing as Rachel and Quinn.

The Walking Dead - I watched Season one and got through part of Season two and never picked it back up. Here we are at Season six and from what I can tell not a whole lot has changed. I like how people are hate watching this show now and hardly anyone from the original cast is on this show now.

Represent

Representation matters .. indeed ..

https://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberleydadds/diego-luna-shared-an-emotional-star-wars-fan-story-and-its-g?utm_term=.xcLrv6JwVz#.cvnpQ0lqAk

C dramas (cont.)

 - Love Me, If You Dare: I have watched 8 of the 24 episodes total/around 45 mins each. The show follows the romantic relationship between a criminal psychologist, Professor Simon Bo/Jin Yan (Wallace Huo) and his assistant Jenny/Jian Yao (Sandra Ma) as they solve mysterious and violent crimes. Since I've only watched a few episodes I can't give my full verdict on the series. From what I have seen there are plus and minuses. The show tries to be a bit like Sherlock (UK version) even going so far as to play their theme music in one ep. Jin Yin is by far the most interesting character and his friend Fu Ziyu (Andrew Lin) provides great comic value. Although I have nothing against Yao Yao I don't find her to be as clever as Jin Yin seems to think she is and she has the annoying cutest Asian girl thing going (even the way they dress her at times) that bugs me. I'm sure the series will pick up and I just need to plow along. At least Wang Kai is in the series playing Xun Ran a long time/old friend to Yao Yao.

Insecure

- Insecure: Episode 1 and 2 / 30 mins I watched ep 1 awhile back but didn't get a chance to watch more. Just re-watched ep 1 and checked out ep 2 and am enjoying it so far. I love the scenes of LA and the honest dialogue from the characters. Issa Rae is great and pretty funny.