Week of October 26th – 4Walls by f(x)

Dope by BTS

This song is stuck my head T__T

Love Me If You Dare: Chinese Sherlock!

As a big fan of psychological crime dramas such as Missing Noir M and BBC/American Sherlock Holmes, I undoubtedly wanted to try Love Me If You Dare. Complete with the harpsichord-esque background music that appears in all Sherlock-y dramas (I’m looking at you, Korean I Remember You), our Holmes and Watson in this Chinese version are Simon (Bo Jin Yan) and Jenny (Yao Yao).

Simon is a brilliant criminal profiler who acts as consultant to cases for the local police force. However, he is self-centered, eccentric, and unsociable to the extreme. He cares passionately about his work, and also seems to have gone through a traumatic incident not long before moving to the rural town he is staying at now. Meanwhile, Jenny is his assistant, hired at first as a translator for documents, but proving her own skills and talents in case deduction.

Sassy Go Go! : Cheering Me Up!

I came in with low expectations as I’ve watched several school dramas this year and wasn’t sure if another one would keep me interested. I am most definitely glad I took this one up! This drama is breezy with a dose of teenage angst. While the story and themes are not new, it is the characters that make up the heart of this piece. This drama focuses on two rival groups at Sae Bit High. The White Tigers which consist of the top 5% of the school are intelligent, smart and have wealthy parents to back them up or storm up the school. They receive all the resources of the school. Meanwhile, Real King consists of students who are less intelligent than the rest of their peers and are more focused on friendships and dancing instead of academics.

Ugly Duckling Perfect Match Episode 9 (Final)

Finally at the end of this recap journey! I enjoyed every bit and pieces of it as I totally fell in love with this lakorn.

The wake up call for Joo is rough but much needed. While everyone is dancing or flirting the night away, Joo is having her pity party in the bathroom. Bee texts her to let her know that he left the party with the sexy guy he met. Our Bee might have just found love! 

Meanwhile Seua looks for Joo, asking Tui and Nui about her. No one seems to know where Joo is.

Wanida: Still in Love With This Lakorn!

After watching Wanida for the xxxx time, I decided to finally write about it. This has to be one of my favorite lakorns. The music, acting and pace is perfect. I mean how could this drama fail with Tik in it??! I am not a big fan of Aff, but this drama made me fall for her acting. I found her annoying in Jam Leuy Rak – sorry but not sorry.

Set in the 1950s, this drama is about the arranged marriage between Wanida (Nid), the daughter of a rich businessman and loan shark, and Major Prasak Mahasak (Yai). The latter is forced to enter the marriage with Nid to repay the debt of his younger brother although he is dating someone – Pisamai. When Nid moves in to live with Yai, she encounters difficulties after difficulties. Yai’s mother hates her with a passion, Yai himself neglects her and Pisamai is always there to stir trouble.

A Final Word on Destined To Love You 2015 / 偏偏喜欢你

Destined To Love You 2015 has definitely taken the number one spot in my heart for Chinese dramas. As a pretty underrated drama and one that is largely unsubbed, it has not garnered a decent fan base just yet. As I am a sucker for Revolutionary era dramas and some handsome sausagefest, this drama hooked me right from the start!

Plot: The drama focuses mainly on three characters’ journey and growth through an elite military academy. Baobao, the main female lead, was a circus troupe performer who acted her way into the academy. She takes the place of a psychology instructor who “died on a train accident” in order to get her ailing mother medical care from the military facilities. On the way she meets Xiang Hao, rebel student soldier who is being dragged back to the academy after a year of freeroaming due to a tragic accident. Finally we have Wen Tao, straight-laced ace student of the academy and rival of Xiang Hao, though they were tight buddies once. While Xiang Hao and Baobao butt heads on every issue, Wen Tao takes a liking to Bao Bao and protects her even when he finds out her real identity. Now the Dean of the school and his devious son are trying every which way to eliminate or kill these power three in order to get the son in the Captain position of the future elite squad. The rest of the episodes give us great scenes of how these three unwittingly work together to overcome all the obstacles thrown at them. We see growth in their personalities and skills not only in these three characters, but in the other students/instructors of the school as well. Bonds are strengthened, misunderstandings unknotted, and romance is developed. Of course, as it is a Revolutionary era drama, they ALWAYS MUST end with a devious attack from the Japanese forces (hello Lady&Liar and Cruel Romance). With one last tragic and patriotic boom, the drama takes out some of our most important and loved characters. I for one, bawled my eyes out for our second lead. Two, I am not so keen on amnesia tropes as that negates all this wonderful growth and bond between certain star-crossed lovers.

Ugly Duckling Perfect Match Episode 8

Joo continues to see Ryo. He takes her on fancy dates – restaurant and movies. But her mind is constantly going back to all the simple and yet enjoyable things she did with Seua.

Seua is still going on a jealousy spree. He goes as far as to tell Ryo that he needs to back up because Joo is his girlfriend. Possessive much. Seua doesn’t stop there and even throws a few punches. I have to say that this scene is the one that made me totally dislike Ryo. I found him not trustworthy since the beginning and he just showed his true colors. Ryo reminds Seua that he’s only “a temple boy” – meaning he [Ryo] has more money and a better social status. That was just so low SMH. Joo should have let Seua punch Ryo to his heart’s content 😈.

The situation escalates and leads to a big argument between Joo and Seua. The latter questions Joo about her going out on dates with Ryo. Joo answers that she is free to do so since there is nothing between Seua and her. Seua insists that she shouldn’t be saying that after all they’ve been through. TRUE TRUE TRUE. Joo keeps lying to herself. Seua asks if Joo would be alright with him taking another girl out. Her answer: Yes. Seua says that alright. It’s clear that Joo has been treating him like an option the all time but he can’t do that. He also wants Joo to admit that her going out with Ryo is because he can buy her everything and anything. Ehh, he went a little far with this one. We know our Joo isn’t like that. Seua adds that she’s like other girls – obsessed with men and their money.

I Have a Lover: The Grass Isn’t Greener on the Other Side

This drama is not on my top watch list. As a matter of fact I’ve been skip-watching it: I press fast forward in the blink of an eye. Yet, I do appreciate the lesson that this drama carries.

Hae Kang is a lawyer who is always killing it in the courtroom. Losing a case? Humm, it’s rare for her. She’ll go really far to make sure she wins. But her success as a lawyer doesn’t quite reflect her marital life. Hae Kang and her husband Jin Eon have been going through a rough patch for quite a while. Jin Eon blames Hae Kang for putting her career above all, not caring enough about their marriage. The couple has experienced the loss of a child and Hae Kang primarily focusing on her career might be the result. Despite all, Hae Kang deeply cares for her husband. Yes, she hasn’t shown it as much as she could or should but she does.

Ahhh instead of understanding her, going to a counselor, trying to solve the problem, Jin Eon goes and has an affair. Great, isn’t that the best solution? Jin Eon, who is a professor, starts meeting one of his students. The student, Seol Ri, knows that he is married but doesn’t care much. Let’s make it short: Jin Eon continues his affair and then asks for a divorce. Hae Kang refuses at first but then let it go. Soon after, Hae Kang loses her memory after an accident/murder attempt. When she wakes up, she starts living as Yong Ki – her twin sister (I’ll keep calling her Hae Kang in this post).

Nang Rai Tee Ruk

I am a big fan of Kim, but since her Raeng Pradtanah days I haven’t enjoyed her lakorns as much. Maybe I am not a big fan of the Kim-Mark pair? I find them cute as a real life couple but their on screen chemistry just doesn’t cut it for me.

I am happy to see Kim paired with Boy in this lakorn! Kim’s character, Pim, is a famous actress known for her nang’rai roles. On screen, Pim is always about some good hair pulling and attacking other women who attempt to “steal” her man. In real life, Pim is strong and determined, but also kind-hearted and loving. That could come as a surprise for many, including Boy’s character, Natee.

Natee is a police officer, who pays no attention whatsoever at daras (celebrities). He finds celebrities to be as fake as one can be. So when he is sent on a secret mission that involves Pim, Natee is not too happy about it. He will have to protect Pim, who has been receiving death threats. Let me tell you, those threats are no joke. Every time Pim is on the set of her lakorn, an incident happens, making the crew wonder if this lakorn is cursed. I would be worried too. From a real gun being used during a scene to a chandelier falling, it gets creepy. No worries though, Natee is here to save the day!

So who is after Pim’s life? Pim is highly suspicious of the wife of Danai, an entertainment businessman. Pim starts getting close to Danai despite him having a wife, which spurs jealousy. What the wife doesn’t know is that Pim only wants to get close to her hubby because she suspects that he might be involved in the murder of her sister.

On the other hand, given Pim’s popularity, anyone who is interested in being a leading nang’rai is a potential suspect.