Hormones 2 (วัยว้าวุ่น ) Episode 1

Promiscuous Romance is the talk of the town. It’s a lakorn portraying the behaviors of teenagers when it comes to sex. We get a glimpse of the lakorn within the first few minutes of the episode – a drama within a drama. Two teenagers – Pat and Ken – meet in the back of a taxi cab and things get heated pretty quickly. Pat convinces Ken that no one will know about what’s going on between them, especially his girlfriend Min. Plus if he is going to be as stiff as a plank of wood he should have no come. Ken quickly gets in the mood… Promiscuous Romance reminds me a lot of Hormones. I am sure the director of Hormones is trying to send us a message.

The episode with Pat and Ken in the taxi cab is being discussed by everyone at school in the following days.  Tar walks in school and notices that everyone is talking about the show. He walks toward Mhog, and asks him about the show. Is it that good? Mhog confirms that yes it is. He’s been watching it too. Mhog then asks him how his new song is coming along. Tar says nothing much so far. One of Tar’s bandmate is out of town so it’s been hard to coordinate. Tar then spots Pop, one of his friend, with a girl. If I am not mistaken, Pop is the one always doing the little podcasts and news videos at school. Or is it someone else? Anyway, Tar explains that Pop gave him a fake rendez vous and now he is flirting with a girl. Tar and Mhog walk toward Pop and the girl.

Week of July 28th – Creation by JYJ

The Rising Sun (Part I): Chemistry, bromance, and a little craziness

I just started The Rising Sun. After Sanaeha Sunya Kaen I needed a new lakorn. So far, I am enjoying it. The costumes are beautiful and the cast gorgeous. It also is a little more realistic than I thought it would be. Sorry, the Cubic disaster is still fresh in my mind :-D. I was a little worried that the drama might be a mess since the actors don’t speak Japanese and that there might be some cultural discrepancies. I am sure there are some, but not that bad though :-P. What I have noticed is time and context discrepancies. I had the feeling that the drama was taking place in the past – 1980s or 1990s – but the outfits look so modern sometimes (i.e. men’s suits).

Plot
The Misawa and Onizuka families are two prominent families in the southern part of Japan. The families’ ancestors used to be samurais who were in charge of protecting the Emperor of Japan. Although there are no more samurais, both families still hold a certain influence in society. They own major businesses and preserve order. Furthermore, both families uphold high moral values.

Takeshi from the Onizuka family and Aiko from the Misawa family are meant to be married. The marriage decision was taken since both were young. Takeshi isn’t interested in Aiko, but the latter is head over heels for him. Aiko is ready to go after anyone who is romantically involved with Takeshi . Here come the craziness -___-. Aiko is more obsessed than in love. She even goes as far as to have Seiko kidnapped and sold. This deal does come at a heavy price for Aiko.

The worst part is that Aiko’s father clearly wants the union between Takeshi and Aiko to go through although Takeshi doesn’t feel anything for Aiko. What a wonderful father -___-. At first I wondered why Aiko’s father wanted to move forward with the union so much, but it perfectly makes senses especially after watching the latest episodes. He has always been jealous of Takeshi’s father and the influence of the Onizuka family. He wants the Misawa family to dominate and is ready to sell his daughter if needed.

I am currently at episode 4 and things are getting serious. Takeshi’s father, mother, brother, and sister-in-law, have been killed by Sato.

Sato is a yakuza, who is increasing the number of clubs, drug smuggling, and gambling houses in the areas under the Onizuka and Misawa families. He also forces shop owners to pay a “protection fee.” He wanted to get rid of the Onizuka family because they are preventing his illegal businesses to thrive.  Takeshi, who is now the head of the Onizuka family, and his cousin Ryu are still looking for more proofs to incriminate Sato, but so far nothing much. They are no proofs that Sato is the culprit so it will be hard to put him behind bars.

It’s Okay, That’s Love

It’s Okay, That’s Love / Gwaenchanha, Sarangiya

Wow! I very much adore It’s Okay, That’s Love after watching the first two episodes! At first, I was apprehensive about watching this Korean drama, but its great cast drew me in. It has an Indie feel to it, while still giving off a slice-of-life type of feel to it. The OST they chose also is unique in the way that you would think it would not fit with the drama, but it does in its own way. In this drama, Jo In Sung plays Jae Yeol, a mystery fiction novelist/DJ who has a touch of OCD and is bit arrogant. The other half is a compassionate and sharp-witted psychiatrist Hae Soo, played by Gong Hyo Jin, who doesn’t seem to care very much about her own personal life. Both of these people seem to have deep-seated trauma in their past which very much affects their behavior in the present. I may or may not be wrong, but Jae Yeol seems to have another disorder beyond his OCD which may be linked to his traumatic past where his father was killed and his brother is now in jail.This is where Kyungsoo or D.O of EXO comes in to play a figment of his imagination (rather himself when he was younger, I think).Meanwhile, Hae Soo is deeply affected by witnessing her mother cheating on her father when she was younger.

Put these two together in the same house and add another psychiatrist sunbae with his Tourettes affected patient (played by Kwangsoo, rather Soo Kwang in the drama, haha), we have ourselves a chaos soup as everyone steps on everyone else’s toes, literally!

Week of June 14 – Time Boils the Rain by Wu Yifan

T.T The Memories…..

The Crucible (도가니)

Kang In Ho is hired as a art teacher in a school for deaf children, outside of Seoul, in Mujin. He is looking for a change; his wife passed away and his daughter now lives with his mother. In Ho knows sign language and hopes to connect with the children at Ja Ae Academy. Yet, his cheerfulness and enthusiasm quickly deem as he discovers that children are reserved and seem to be scared of something.

Through multiple conversations, In Ho realizes that Principal Lee and his twin brother seem to care little about the children’s well being. It’s all about being strict and disciplining the children. Yet, there seems to be more than that. Principal Lee and his brother are not the only ones spreading terror among the children.

In Ho sees Yeon Du, one of the students, having her head shoved down a laundry machine by one of the teachers. When In Ho takes her to the hospital he finds out that she was sexually assaulted at school. Young girls are not the only victims. Young boys are also assaulted.

Other alarming signs include teachers repeatedly beating children who try to run away. Children who run away are immediately brought back by a police officer, who is bribed by the principal.

In Ho is touched by what he sees, but he is worried about losing his job. In Ho’s mother has been supportive of him and helped him follow his dreams to the point of giving up her house. The mother is also the one raising his daughter Sol, and that is even harder since Sol is asthmatic.

In Ho is helped by Seo Yoo Jin, a young activist who helps bring the story to the attention of media.

Campus Confidential

So having just finished Campus Confidential, a recent Taiwanese movie, I realize that this zany piece was and wasn’t what I had been expecting. What I had expected was a cute little movie about how the prettiest girl on campus realized that the perfect match for her was actually in the form of a sweet ultra-geek. Without being too spoiler-y, I did get that, but with a sharp twist near the end. The story starts out with Kiki (played by Ivy Chen) fluttering about campus, half journalist student and half model, the flower in everyone’s eyes. To add the cream upon her dreamy life, she is dating a tall basketball playing medical student. Seems like the perfect life and couple, right? Due to an accident, she becomes involved in a campus legend where if two people meet each other on the day that the lake on campus dries up, they will fall in love and be together forever. Of course, who does she land in the mud with? Lucky Wu (played by Bolin Chen), the other half of this odd couple. Kiki, who had despises nerds, tries her hardest to research this legend and tries to find a way to break it. Kiki drags along Lucky Wu on this grand adventure and meanwhile falls in love with him on the way. She wasn’t the only one. What should have been the cutesy ending to the movie then did not come. For a second I was like, WHAAA?! But don’t worry, the movie is like a Warhead candy, sweet, sharp tang of sourness, but ultimately sweet again at the end.

-phoenix

The Story of Our Lives – god

This song made me cry so much…..

Week of June 7th – Good Bye Bye by Nu’est

Fated To Love You – Korean Version!

Fated To Love You ft. Korean Style

While we often start with a Korean drama that later gets adapted to another version in a different country, often China or Taiwan, it is a rare sight to see the opposite happen! Fated To Love You, a very popular Taiwanese drama that came out in 2008, is getting the full Korean remake! The original, played by Chen Xiao and Ethan Ruan, while the Korean version is played by Jang Hyuk and Jang Nara (Jang Squared!). Both are about how a naive, plain, and overly nice woman accidentally has a one night stand with the president of a big company who was about to propose to his ballerina girlfriend before she decided to pursue her career. In a series of coincidences, the two are brought together again by her pregnancy, but must face the multiple challenges that lay ahead. I don’t wish to give away too much of the plot for those who haven’t seen the Taiwanese version.

Overall, the drama will take your feels on a roller-coaster from getting a stitch due to laughing at the insanely cute parts or bawling your eyes out at the parts that tug on your heartstrings. As for the Korean remake, so far it has been sticking pretty closely to the original plot. However, the Korean version moves a bit more slowly than the Taiwanese version and gives more opportunity to develop its characters. Furthermore, the Korean version has a bit of a slapstick humor feel to it, though not as much as to annoy the viewers. Instead, we just giggle at Jang Hyuk’s comedic expressions and his no doubtedly insane cackle (it really is something). And man, that mane of his….I am still not sure what the stylist was thinking, but hey, it makes him all the more a diva. Really, I MEAN DIVAAAAA. As for Jang Nara, she really can’t do any wrong in my eyes. She was cast perfectly in this role and portrays the meek Mi Young cutely, making us root for her! I really look forward to watching more of the Korean remake and how Jang Squared will take this adorable piece to new levels!

“Life is like a gamble. You can’t win every game. But if the chip is in your hands, you will always have hope.” -Cun Xi (Taiwanese Version)

-phoenix

PS. This drama is definitely in my TOP 10 dramas of all time.