The Land of Pineapples

Secret Garden

2011-03-04T10:14:00.004-06:00

Secret Garden (시크릿 가든) is a 2010-2011 Korean romantic/fantasy drama that has the basic framework of any other Korean romantic drama, but adds things that makes it different and just that much more refreshing. It stars Hyun Bin, Ha Ji Won, Yoon Sang Hyun, Kim Sa Rang, Lee Philip, Lee Jong Suk, Yoo In Na, and Kim Sung Oh. The summary is as follows:

The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won, an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im, a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the object of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies.

You know what bothers me? Even though summaries give you a hint of what goes on, it's really not that accurate. I don't know why I started this drama, but I do remember that I began it approximately two weeks before my arrival date in Korea (yes, I'm in Korea now and have been for the past two weeks). No wait, I was stuck on hulu.com for dramas because of the good quality of the videos; the commercials I could ignore and if I could see the pores on the actors' and actress' faces, all the better. Anyway, the summary didn't really pull me in though it did intrigue me. What? Romance and some fantastical idea all in one? O_o So I decided to try it out.

First off, the acting's superb. The switching of the bodies showed their talent and when Joo Won reverted back to his 21-year-old self, that was a testament as well. The plot was great as well, even though it seems a bit generic at first. I mean, it's a poor, orphan girl who gets noticed by some privileged guy. Then you learned a bit more: it's a stunt woman (who's pretty kick-butt if I may say so) who has a firefighter for a dad with a CEO for a lover and to-be husband. There are plot twists and I love how the roles are reversed where you see the guy going against the very fabric of his being and chasing after the girl. It's so romantic. Personally, the 17th and 18th episodes are my absolute favorites and you know what? The ending isn't all happiness and butterflies in a meadow full of blooming flowers. They're together (which is what's important - it seems like the main theme was how love could surpass all in the end solely by itself) and it shows a bit of life after marriage, but - well, you'll see. ^^

Anyway, I highly recommend it. One more thing: the body-swapping seems completely random at the beginning, but it all makes sense towards the end (sort of). :) It also links in references to fairy tales via Disney princesses which is sweet.You can watch it on hulu (but as hulu doesn't stream outside of the US, I finished it here).

Sungkyunkwan Scandal

2011-01-04T22:24:00.003-06:00

Sungkyunkwan Scandal (성균관 스캔들) is a 2010 Korean period drama; a romantic comedy following a girl who disguises herself as a man in order to make ends meet and the group of friends she meets while masquerading in a Confucian school, known for producing government officials. It stars Micky Yoochun, Park Min Young, Song Joong Ki, and Yoo Ah In. The synopsis is as follows:

Sungkyunkwan Scandal is set in Sungkyunkwan University in the late Joseon era during the reign of King Jeongjo, revolving around the exploits and love stories of four youths. When her younger brother's illness worsens and their family is in danger of being evicted from their house for lack of money, Kim Yoon Hee enters the school under his name, disguised as a boy in her desperation to support him. There, she becomes friends with the intelligent and upright Lee Sun Joon, the playboy Goo Yong Ha and rebellious Moon Jae Shin.

First off, what drew me to this drama was not the cast - though I surely grew to love them as the drama progressed - it was the plot. I'm a sucker for girl-masquerading-as-a-guy plotlines and having a straight guy question his own sexuality and all the humorous events that ensue in due course. That being said, although I know of DBSK and I do like some of their songs, I don't know much about them. Now, I can say that I definitely know Yoochun, though. ^^ My favorite's still Yoo Ah In... but that's not the point. There were a lot of comments about Yoochun's lack of acting skills, or so I remember when it had first started airing. Even so, I didn't see it as a hindrance. I still loved the drama and it tickled me funny. He's not the most expressive guy, but when is that important? The message got through. Cute moments are plenty but it also touches upon the more serious topics of social and gender equality, which was fairly nonexistent in the time setting of the drama.

I have to say it wasn't all that painful to watch, romantic-wise, so don't be afraid to watch it if you hate the roller coaster ride of feelings romantic dramas tend to take you on. There's unrequited love, for sure, but I seriously had no love for the other girl - she annoyed me - though I did feel for the other guy. It wasn't unbearable, though, since that left him all to myself. ^_^ Anyway, I love the plot and the plot twists and the riddles here and there; it keeps you guessing. There is action as well, so it's not all fun and games and such. As usual, I'm surprised she stayed a secret for that long, but it is a drama, so it's a given. All in all, I really did enjoy this drama - the filming, the message(s), the plot, the eye candy...

I watched it on hulu, since the videos are high quality, though there are commercials.

Playful Kiss

2010-11-05T00:02:00.005-05:00

Playful Kiss (장난스런 키스), or Mischievous Kiss, is a 2010 Korean romantic comedy and the Korean version of the Taiwanese It Started With a Kiss (2005) as well as They Kissed Again (2007) and the Japanese Itazura na Kiss (1996). It stars Kim Hyun Joong, Jung So Min, Lee Tae Sung, Lee Si Young, Jung Hye Young, and Kang Nam Gil. It also features Korean indie band Bye Bye Sea (안녕바다) that I rather like. The summary is as follows:

Based on the popular manga, Oh Ha Ni is a clumsy student who falls for the perfectionist, Baek Seung Jo. However, Seung Jo is indifferent towards her and rejects her love. When Ha Ni's house collapses, she and her father moves into his long-time friend's house. It turns out that Seung Jo is the friend's son and Ha Ni is given the opportunity to be near the guy she loves. Will she be able to move Seung Jo's heart?

When I first caught wind that a Korean version of ISWAK would be coming out, I decided that I absolutely had to watch it; there was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Of course, this doesn't mean that I wasn't apprehensive. ISWAK took us on for a long ride and there were plenty of moments where I experienced a lot of second-hand embarrassment, courtesy of the female lead, but I guess it was her "charm." It doesn't hurt that Kim Hyun Joong would be playing the male lead either. ;) The ratings for the drama weren't very good at the beginning due to other popular dramas (i.e. Kim Tak Gu) and some comments weren't very positive about Kim's acting, but I still went on with it and I'm glad I did.

The drama pretty much squeezed most of the events from ISWAK and a part of TKA into 16 episodes when compared to the 40 or so total episodes of the Taiwanese version combined. Because it was shorter, it wasn't that painful watching Oh Ha Ni finally catch Baek Seung Jo's eye, but I feel that the ending could have ended with more closure. Then again, I was watching this drama with the Taiwanese series in mind which was much longer. The acting wasn't horrendous - isn't he supposed to be a cold and stoic guy anyway?? - and I felt that the foreign girl, Chris, was rather likeable and her Korean sounded much better than the foreign girl in the Taiwanese version, but I'm not an expert in Korean so that's just how it sounded to my inexperienced ears. ;) The last episode didn't leave you hanging - it did show snippets of everyone else's love life, which I thought was cute, but it really was just a hint. Hints are nice, but I also like nice, long stories that show you everything; you tend to get more involved. ...On the other hand, it's a good thing that Playful Kiss was shorter. I really can't have my Internet lagging for too long. >.>

To sum it up: if you love ISWAK and want some semblance of it back, you should totally watch this. If you haven't watched ISWAK, you should still watch this (as well as ISWAK). If you're just lazy and don't want to go through the 40-odd episodes of ISWAK + TKA, then you should watch this just to get a good idea of the plot. When you have and decide that you want to see a more in-depth version, then watch ISWAK. :] This seriously hooked me in, haha. And even though it took me a year to complete ISWAK and TKA because it was that painful to watch the girl for the first couple of episodes, it really is a good series.

I watched it on hulu because the quality was excellent as well as the subtitles. I attempted to watch it on MySoju and DramaCrazy but the videos kept on getting all wonky. :/

My Darling is a Foreigner

2010-10-21T19:13:00.003-05:00

My Darling is a Foreigner (ダーリンは外国人/Daarin Wa Gaikokujin) is a 2010 Japanese romantic comedy film based on a manga of the same name written by Oguri Saori, based on her own life experiences with her foreign husband. It stars Inoue Mao and Jonathan Sherr. The following is the synopsis:

"My Darling is a Foreigner" tells the quirky story of a Japanese woman and an American man as they enter into a relationship and eventually marry. Saori is a manga artist. She meets language geek Tony, who has arrived in Japan after falling in love with the language. As the couple become closer, Saori is inundated with strange questions about the language from Tony. Are these weird questions a trait of his foreign background? Or is it because of his linguist preoccupation? More importantly, can their relationship survive?

I heard of the film early last year and I'm happy that I finally got to watch it. :) I love how the story is told, seemingly with parts of it in a documentary-type format with a few other real life (?) mixed couples amidst the story of Saori and Tony. It's really cute and I'm pretty impressed with Sherr's Japanese, though from what I saw, he is based in Tokyo so it would make sense. It was a little shorter than I expected (only 6 parts on dramacrazy) but it does a good job of going through realistic problems that may occur between a couple from different cultural backgrounds as well as things that may occur regardless of racial/cultural differences within the time allotted. I also love how the term "foreigner" is seen as something to be displaced - after all, the word "foreigner" is generally used for the minority group, so it's interesting to see it change when Saori meets his family and is, in turn, the foreigner. But then you see the line blur a bit when the two sides come to the middle as they take steps to accept one another.

I especially love what Saori's mom said about being foreign doesn't mean that a relationship wouldn't work, since being in a relationship is about compromising. Well, she said something that amounted to that, haha.

All in all, this is now a favorite of mines (so cute!) and all I have to say is that you must watch it!

You can watch it here.

Lady Daddy

2010-09-30T15:19:00.003-05:00

Lady Daddy, also known as Dad Likes Women (아빠가 여자를 좋아해) [HanCinema, AsianDramaWiki], is a Korean romantic comedy/melodrama that was aired in early 2010. It stars Lee Na-young, Kim Ji-seok, Jung Ae-yun, Kim Hee-su, and Lee Pil-mo. The summary is as follows:

In the comedy "Lady Daddy," a young child from a divorced family searches for his father. What he doesn't know is that his father is now a woman after having sex reassignment surgery. His father Ji-hyeon (Lee Na-Young) was a medical student but is now a photographer ...

And this one as well:

Ji-hyeon (Lee Na-young) is enjoying a perfect life as a beautiful photographer following a sex-change operation, until a young boy claiming that she had fathered him comes knocking at her door. Trouble ensues as Ji-hyeon tries to act like a conventional dad while her boyfriend (Kim Ji-seok-I) grows increasingly suspicious.

I'm supposed to be doing homework, because the stuff never ends even after graduation, so I automatically happened upon a movie that sounded like it had tons of potential - this one. Honestly, the main reason was because it touches upon the sensitive topic of sex change, not to mention how it's a Korean film. Next thing you know, I had opened up a window for it and I was watching it. I have to say I loved it. The acting was great, the interactions were adorable, and Lee Na-young makes a really, really feminine guy. I commend the fake mustache and goatee, though. :) There are tons of laugh-worthy scenes as well as ones that make you just a little frustrated, but it does touch sex change fairly well, even though it was mostly a background thing, albeit an important topic. Scenes from life before the change occurred in flashbacks and the fact that the "guy's" dad wasn't approving of it at all represented the This Is All Wrong side. Then there's the best friend from high school to stood by her side all the time and the idea of love regardless of what's on the outside was a big message towards the end. For a majority of the film, though, it's mainly about the dad-turned-female getting along with her new-found son and I absolutely loved the onomatopoeias. ^^

You can watch it here.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

2010-09-25T00:35:00.003-05:00

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, or 誰かが私にキスをした/Dareka ga Watashi ni Kisu wo Shita in Japanese, is a 2010 film that was a joint-American-Japanese production with American and Japanese staff and actors/actresses and based on a book of the same name. It stars Horikita Maki, Matsuyama Kenichi, Tegoshi Yuya, and Anton Yelchin. The summary is as follows:

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn't have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn't have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn't have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia. She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She would understand why her best friend, Will, keeps calling her "Chief." She'd know about her mom's new family. She'd know about her dad's fiancée. She never would have met James, the boy with the questionable past and the even fuzzier future, who tells her he once wanted to kiss her. She wouldn't have wanted to kiss him back.

But Naomi picked heads... And now she can't remember the first 4 years of her life.

I honestly decided that I absolutely had to watch this when it came out due to several fairly simple reasons: (1) it stars some of my favorite Japanese actors/actresses [well, Tesshi's just special because I used to be very much obsessed with NEWS], (2) I loved Anton Yelchin in Star Trek [2009] and I wanted to hear him speak in un-accented English, (3) I wanted to hear all of the Japanese actors/actresses speak in English, and (4) I wanted to see how the co-production came out. In the end, their acting was pretty good and I was impressed since I know how hard it could be to act and show emotion at the right moments in a language you're not familiar with, but they did it. Tesshi's English is still pretty interesting and the strongest out of all of them, which reminded of Tegomass's song, Miso Soup. Even so - thumbs up for it! :) It's also interesting how they portray "normal" high school students. Well, mainly, my interest pertains to Kenichi, since he tends to go for the interesting roles and I keep on seeing him as L, because he's an amazing L.

The way it was filmed was pretty interesting - I keep on seeing pictures popping up everywhere now - and the plot was very much that of a female high school student attending an international school and her life, though it focuses more on school because, well, school is life. It goes through some romance and friendship and it really makes me wonder what the book's about, but it was entertaining and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I suppose it spoke about change? O_o It's too late for me to think up of a good, rational theory as to the hidden meaning of the plot, but perhaps I'm just thinking too much. Anyway, just know that the acting's great, the English that is present is good (the English-subbed version also subs the English spoken by the non-native speakers, which is largely unnecessary), and the plot doesn't make you think much, but it's interesting enough that it keeps you going till the end. Perhaps it's not something I'd go for if I were to pick a book up for leisure reading, but I like it all the same.

You can watch it here.

King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu

2010-09-22T21:45:00.003-05:00

King of Baking, Kim Tak Gu - or Baker King, Kim Tak Gu (제빵왕 김탁구) - is a 30-episode long, 2010 Korean family and romance drama with a ton of melodramatics thrown in, as if that's a surprise. ;) It stars Yoon Shi Yoon, Eugene, Joo Won, and Lee Young Ah. The following is the synopsis:

Kim Tak Goo is the eldest son of Goo In Jong, the president of Samhwa Enterprise, a legend in the baking industry. Although he is an extremely talented baker and seemed destined to succeed his father as president, Goo In Jong's family plotted to rob him of his inheritance because he was born to In Jong's mistress. Tak Goo's determination to become number one in the baking industry drives him to rebuild his career from scratch despite the many trials he faces.

This is actually one of the few dramas that I decided to watch while it's still airing; in fact, the last episode aired last Thursday and I just finished it late last night when I found out that the subbed version was finally out. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, based mainly on an article I found that speculated on how one of the OST songs was sung by Kyuhyun of Super Junior and then another article that confirmed it. ^^ Anyway, I decided to give it a try and I had to admit that the first three or so episodes were a little too melodramatic for me, but I kept on going. It was just heartache after heartache, obstacle after obstacle - but then again, the entire drama appeared to be that way with the exception of half of episode 16, which was probably my favorite. I think what made it different was that the first couple of episodes detailed the background information of the four main characters of the younger generation and followed three of them as they grew up. I do like how we got to know everything as it "happened" and not just through flashbacks, though those did occur, but at the same time, it was like a hammer just banging down on the head of the nail, not letting up for one bit. It was when the kids were all grown up that I got really into it. ^^;

The drama basically follows around the members of a certain dysfunctional family due to the idea of competition and the idea of "I must win, for if I don't, it means I lose" that half of the members had as their motto. There was a ton of that between the mothers as well as the brothers, though it was more one-sided when it came to them. It was sort of frustrating as it was basically one person trying to one-up the other while the other may or may not do the same all in the name of revenge and/or being the Top Dog. Then there was the love from within the "sides" that enabled all of it. Even so, I loved every minute of it; I even ventured to watching some parts of the raw episodes in an attempt to know what would happen next. It really was torture to wait for the episodes to air in Korea, then get subbed and released. There was a moment where the Chinese-subbed versions were released days before the English versions so I just stuck with those -- until they stopped, that is. Anyway... like I said, it was a ton of frustration wrapped up in a 30-episode drama with a sprinkling of light-hearted moments as well as some budding romance and love triangles all about. There's also a lot of bread that made me want to make bread, haha.

Anyway - and here are some spoilers - it actually ends happily. Well, for most of them, at least. The last episode had quite a bit of waterworks, though not as much as there could have been. The "evil" characters got their dues for the most part and those that were "evil" but only due to circumstances eventually found their happiness as well. However, it struck me as odd as how the two main rivals acted like they were best of friends, exchanging sidelong glances and secret smiles. Don't get me wrong; it made the fangirl in me all giddy, but at the same time, the more realistic part of me was all like, "What? Is this some alternate universe?" I could see it happening, but not without a longer timespan in between - there wasn't even a subscript that stated "[Insert Number Here] Months/Years Later" - they were just happily working together. Perhaps I'm just thinking too much and making it more complicated than it is, haha.

In short: I loved this drama and it was pretty good. The acting was good, the plot was very nice (though the backstabbing never seemed to stop), the romance was there but it wasn't the focal point, the characters were well-developed and some were very complicated (i.e. Ma-jun, Yu-kyung), and the bread was delicious. Well, at least they looked it. If you're one of the ones that goes for good ratings, it ranked as the number one drama for its timeslot from the 6th episode onwards.

You can watch it at both MySoju and DramaCrazy.

Dear Friends

2010-09-06T10:36:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends (ディアフレンズ), a 2007 Japanese film, is a story about friendship and cherishing said friendship. It stars Kitagawa Keiko and Motokariya Yuika. The summary is as follows:

Dear Friends follows a high-school student named Rina (played by Keiko Kitagawa) who believes that friends are not necessary and that they can only be used in times of need. Thus, she is unable to maintain a decent relationship with her friends and classmates. Her family's relationship is also lacking; her father does not care much about his family and her mother is over-protective. Rina eventually discovers that she has a terminal illness and becomes hospitalized for an indefinite amount of time. In the hospital, she is not visited by her family, but by one of her classmates named Maki (played by Yuika Motokariya). Although Maki tells Rina that they were friends in primary school, Rina does not remember her, so Maki takes the opportunity to re-connect with her. A young girl (played by Mao Sasaki) who is also hospitalized tries to become friends with Rina, but she holds fast onto her mantra of friends being unnecessary. Throughout her hospitalization, Rina begins to lose hope as her well-being falls apart, and she decides to jump off the hospital rooftop as she feels that no one no longer cares about her. However, she is stopped by Maki, who stabs herself in the chest with a knife and declares that she will share the same pain as Rina and that she does not want to lose her friend. Rina shows some hope again when she realizes that she can find friendship in Maki.

I like sad films and coupled with the fact that this movie got good reviews on dramacrazy, I decided to try it out. The synopsis does a good job of telling you what the story's about, so I'll refrain from reiterating. However, Maki doesn't technically stab herself in the chest; more like she tries to cut off her left breast. >.> Anyway, it's a sweet story of a rude and callous girl that everyone envies (and hates) who has no true friends, as her idea of a friend is someone that you use and she doesn't think friends are necessary, to someone who realises the value in having friends when she goes through some rough spots. The acting was good and in the beginning, you'll hate her but towards the end, you're more sympathetic. It's also a story full of people getting sick everywhere (sort of) - and remember the disease featured in 1 Litre of Tears? You'll be seeing a bit of it here though not to that extent. :) It is sad, but it ends somewhat positively - at least for Rina.

You can watch it here. It's in 14 parts, which annoyed me, but there you have it.

Rinne no Ame

2010-09-03T00:56:00.002-05:00

Rinne no Ame (輪廻の雨), or Rain of Reincarnation, is a 2010 Japanese tanpatsu showcasing bromance. :) It stars Yamamoto Yusuke (Atashinchi no Danshi, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) and Seto Koji (Atashinchi no Danshi, Koizora). The summary is as follows:

The Brothers, Kohei and Shuhei Mikami were abandoned by their father, after the mother passed away years ago. The intellectually disabled Shuhei is working in a factory, where he is violently abused by the manager on a daily basis. When Kohei finds it out under unpropitious coincidences, he kills the man in affect and deprives money. He buries the corpse in the mountains with his younger brothers help. During the criminal investigation is it Shuhei who soon draws the attention of the Detectives on the Mikami brothers through his diffus behavior and words. Even through he is unable to comprehend the murder of his older brother and doesn´t understand the situation, the Police uses Shuhei as deciding factor in arresting the culprit.

I heard this was a tearjerker and so I tried it out. First off, it was short - really short. Like within-an-hour short. That was good since I have to go to bed now. Anyway, this drama special won many awards and when you watch it, you know why. I mean, the two act really well. You'd pretty much think that Seto Koji was actually 'intellectually disabled' if not for the fact you know he's acting, as it's a drama and all. Second off, it's all about the love between two brothers who had a hard life - an abusive father, a mother who died early, the fact that one of them was 'intellectually disabled' and was abused by his boss - but they loved each other. For such a short program, it did a fairly good job of showing what happened in flashbacks and you can see the struggle that the older brother goes through when his life gets further complicated due to his younger brother, who doesn't even know that he did anything. The ending is sad, though cut off somewhat abruptly, letting you figure out what happens next yourself (unless there was more), but it all comes together once again via brotherly love - bromance. <3

It's short and sweet as well as intense; it does deal with a murder after all. If you've got a little bit of time and want to see superb acting, go for it! However, although I did feel for them, there were no waterworks on my end. In fact, my eyes remained pretty dry. O_o Or maybe that's because I'm sleepy that they feel like they need re-wetting drops, haha.

You can watch it at dramacrazy.

Picture taken from here.

Spy Girl

2010-07-29T17:23:00.004-05:00

Spy Girl (Geunyeonleul Mooleumyeon Gancheob/그녀를 모르면 간첩) is a 2004 Korean romantic comedy featuring a female North Korean spy and a goofy, head-over-heels guy. It starts Kim Jung Hwa and Gong Yoo. The synopsis is as follows:

Go-bong has a huge crush on Gye-soon who works at a fast food restaurant. He puts her photo on their internet and she becomes the hottest girl in town. But she is frustrated because she is a spy from North Korea to catch a betrayer...

I was browsing around and next thing you know, I spot someone and my first reaction was, "Is that the dude from Coffee Prince??" My second reaction was, "I thought he just got back from the army!" haha, then I saw the date the movie was released and it all made sense. Anyway, I was hoping it would be one of those cool spy movies, but not quite; I don't know why I even had that expectation anyway, considering the fact that it's a romantic comedy. Kim Jung Hwa plays this kick-butt spy who displays a mix of innocence and a separation from everyday things. I don't know if they're trying to say something about North Koreans and how cut off from the rest of the world and sheltered they are, but there you have it. I particularly liked the paint balling scene that she treated as a shooting exercise. Then you have Gong Yoo's character. He's a rather goofy guy that's pretty average; he couldn't get into college because he slept during the entrance exam, is constantly teased by old high school friends, and he has this humongous crush on the girl of everyone's dreams. The good thing is that they're eventually together, the bad thing is that she only did it in order to get his friends to take her photos off the net. In the end, you see her slowly becoming fond of him and it's rather sweet, but it's not your traditional relationship. In a way, that made it even better because it was something different, even though they couldn't truly be counted as officially together until the very last bit. Even then, I still wonder.

It was pretty funny and entertaining, though I couldn't help but see it as a bit dramatic and generic; some moments (the fighting scenes) reminded me of anime - or old kung fu movies. It's also pretty interesting to see this new side of Gong Yoo after I was used to seeing him in Coffee Prince as someone who's suave and is talented (when he puts it to use).

You can watch it here, but keep in mind that it's out of order (or at least it was when I watched it), so watch it in this order: Part 2 -> Part 3 -> Part 4 -> Part 5 -> Part 6 -> Part 1.

Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu

2010-07-05T15:42:00.005-05:00

僕たちの恋愛には、タイムリミットがある。

There's a time limit on our love.

Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu (僕の初恋をキミに捧ぐ/I Give My First Love to You) is a touching 2009 Japanese romantic film that focuses on the love of two kids that grew up together - but one of whom has an incurable illness. It stars Inoue Mao, Okada Masaki, Harada Natsuki, and Hosoda Yoshihiko. The summary is as follows:

Takuma, a boy who is told he will die before he’s 20, and Mayu, a girl who is in love with him… The story begins when they are little kids. Mayu, whose father is a doctor, meets Takuma, who is hospitalized in her father’s workplace. They develop feelings for each other, but Mayu learns of Takuma’s grave illness and that he will die before he turns 20. The distraught children make one promise for an uncertain future. Time passes, and the girl becomes a young woman, and the boy, a young man. Mayu continues to support and love Takuma. On the other hand, Takuma, who knows his days are numbered, pushes away his feelings for Mayu and distances himself from her. He cannot stand to see her cry or hurt her more than he already has. Then Mayu meets another man who has feelings for her, and Takuma meets a woman who has the same illness, and their feelings for each other begin to waver. Misunderstandings, unsaid thoughts, the frustrations and chagrin of youth… What will become of their love while the clock keeps ticking away in Takuma’s life?

I'm a sucker for tragedies. It also helps that I like Inoue Mao and I still remember Okada playing Sekime in Hana Kimi. :) So I wondered how they would be together in a movie with a storyline that could even be said borders on being overdone, but I have faith in them. ^^ Well, I actually began watching this without subs, but even though I understood some, it wasn't much. I finally found a subbed version, so I watched it again - much better. It's really cute and I love the development between the characters from when they were little kids up till their first year of high school. You don't feel like you're missing out and the acting didn't make me cringe. Instead, it just made me feel all giddy inside - and incredibly sad at those moments. I enjoyed it greatly and I admit that I was tearing. A lot. It's a bit uncomfortable when people are around you and it's at one of those moments in the movie, even with the headphones on.

And your dad making strange comments like, "Is that you? She has your hair! Wait... her face is also like yours too!" My parents seem to think Inoue Mao and I resemble one another; it happened with Hana Yori Dango as well and they asked me why I took a picture of my eye and posted it online. -__- I had just started watching the first scene where they shot a close up of her eye. I think she's too pretty, haha. Plus, my hair is never manageable. Sorry, off topic.

Like I said, it was sweet and endearing and it was touching and heartbreaking at other moments. It touched upon topics like death, organ donations, and love - it was especially memorable when you see an 8 year old make up his will, all colorful-like with drawings and such. There are the mandatory ups and downs and all in all, I loved it. :) Plus they look really good together, haha. I kept on rewatching my favorite scenes.

You can watch it here.

My Girlfriend is an Agent

2010-06-23T20:56:00.003-05:00

My Girlfriend is an Agent (7급 공무원/7 Geum Gongmuwon/7-grade Civil Servant) is a 2009 Korean romance-comedy-action film reminiscent of Mr. and Mrs. Smith - well, if I've ever watched the movie, that is. :) It stars Kim Ha-neul, Kang Ji-hwan, Ryu Seung-ryong, and Jang Young-nam. The summary is as follows:

A Russian organized crime group is set out to steal an advanced chemical weapon from Korea and two secret agents are out to stop them. One is a veteran secret agent named AHN Soo-ji who is a master of all forms of martial arts and envied by her comrades. Another is a rookie named LEE Jae-joon who’s never been out on the field and always goofs up on the job. The two agents don’t know each other’s secret identity. All that they know is that they hate each other. As a couple that is... Soo-ji and Jae-joon were once a passionate couple until Jae-joon couldn’t take her lies anymore. But all Soo-ji was trying to do was hide her secret identity. Nonetheless, the two went on their separate ways and by coincidence bump into each other years later while out on the job. As the two work out their screwy relationship, they go behind each other’s backs to fulfill their mission to save the world.

I actually have to say the synopsis is pretty spot-on. Anyway, like I mentioned before, when I read a description of the movie, I was intrigued for it reminded me of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, or at least of what I thought it was about, having never had watched it myself. I like comedy and I like action - a little romance thrown in for fun doesn't hurt either - and so I was pretty enthusiastic about watching this. I got what I wanted as well. Despite the fact that they're supposed to be saving their country, sometimes things just happen at the most inopportune times (for her) or because of unfortunate decisions (him). It's cute and funny though sometimes makes me do a facepalm, because, really, if the intelligence service of my country actually ran like how it did in this movie, I'd be amazed it's still standing.

However, there is a fair share of action and violence that is interspersed with humor (i.e. losing a gun in a middle of a room full of "real" guns loaded with bb's and shooting bb's at each other while trying to find the real one) which got me cracking up on occasion. I do like the touch of real Russian actors/actresses as the villain, not because I see them as villains though they are usually portrayed as such, but because I've always liked the Russian language and how it sounds. Of course, I could only spot one word: spasiba meaning thank you. Oh yes, and the whole love and romance thing - it was utterly ridiculous and all the troubles came due to pure misunderstanding. -__- I hate that, but I suppose. It's also ironic how in the end, he's also lying to her as well for the same reasons. They also end up breaking up about three or four times. -dies-

You can watch it here.

26 Years Diary

2010-06-21T16:16:00.004-05:00

26 Years Diary (Japanese: あなたを忘れない/Anata wo Wasurenai; Korean: 너를 잊지 않을 거야/Neoreul Ijji Anheul Geoya; I Won't Forget You) is a 2007 Japanese film with both Japanese and Korean actors and elements is a film tribute to a 26-year-old South Korean international student in Japan. It stars Lee Tae-sung, Maki Onaga, Seo Jae-kyung, and Hamaguchi Junko. The summary is as follows:

The film details the 26-year-old Korean student's experiences in Japan, including going to school and his developing romance with a Japanese student (Mākii). He died on January 21, 2001, along with a Japanese photographer, Shiro Sekine, while both were trying to save the life of a man who had fallen onto the tracks at the Shin-Ōkubo Station in Tokyo.

I like films that show cultural differences (not to mention linguistic differences). It might be the budding anthropologist within me speaking, but I just like it - and that was why I decided to watch this. Oh, and the plot sounded sweet, touching, and had a good chance of entertaining me. Ah - and I like things that are based on real events, which this is. (Here's a little article on the aftermath of what happened.) Anyway, because it's been made into a film, it may be based on a real person, but what happened may not be. Even so, I enjoyed it anyway. It showed the differences between Tae-hyun and Yuri from family life, culture, and their own different personalities and how they got together anyway. He was more traditional and immersed within Korean culture whereas she came from a more dysfunctional family and has lost most of her traditional Japanese traditional practices. It's pretty interesting, though like the Japanese drama, Smile, it also showcases some of the prejudices against foreigners that may occur within Japan, and for that, I give it props.

All in all, it's a nice bridge between both Korea and Japan, which has had its rocky history, and Japan had used this guy's heroic story for the sake of saving someone in order to bridge the differences that may still be present. For the entertainment and melodramatic factor that is mandatory in Asian cinema, it was a sweet and touching story about a budding romance that was never meant to be and the far-reaching effects he gave to the people around him.

You can watch it here at MySoju.

Kimi ni Shika Kikoenai

2010-06-20T13:55:00.004-05:00

Kimi ni Shika Kikoenai (aka Only You Can Hear Me and Calling You/きみにしか聞こえない) is a 2006 supernatural/romance Japanese movie starring Narumi Riko and Koide Keisuke. The summary is as follows:

Shy, quiet, and unsure of herself, Aihara Ryo (Narumi Riko) doesn't quite fit in anywhere. Though she wants to make friends, she has trouble speaking up and holding a normal conversation like everyone else. It seems that whenever she talks, the words just don't come out correctly. Gradually, Ryo has gotten used to living life in silence as a lonely and introverted student. With no one to talk to, Ryo also has no need for a cell phone. Longing for friends to talk to, she creates a cell phone in her mind for imaginary phone conversations, and much to her surprise, one day Shinya (Koide Keisuke) picks up on the other side. For the first time in her life, Ryo has found someone she can talk to

I decided it's been a while since I've watch a movie or drama, mainly because I was working full-time for the past two weeks, so I decided to break the monotony today and randomly browsed DramaCrazy and picked this. I didn't know what to think of this but it had potential to be really cute, so I decided to give it a go. Plus I like supernatural/fantasy things. ^^ I also admit the lead girl looked really familiar and I finally figured it out: she plays Aya's little sister in 1 Litre of Tears. Anyway, at first, the plot seemed pretty tame - an interesting friendship between an outcast and a guy who, although wasn't an outcast, wasn't exactly in the in crowd either. And honestly, you don't know his deaf-and-mute status until the very end - but I knew it because I like spoiling myself before watching something, not to mention the summary in DramaCrazy tells you - but it doesn't really mean anything since you don't need a voice to use telepathy.

Towards the middle, it grew on me and towards the end, I loved it. :) Their friendship starts to hint at something more - though it really doesn't go anywhere - and one more person is included within the whole mental telephone deal, though accidentally. This new person comes in from time to time, but there's a small secret/surprise within her role in the movie. And it all leads up to the growth and change of all the characters and how they all influence each other for the better (though we don't really see it until the very end) and the main climax is when the two finally meets one another. I will also say that something really big happens here. ^^ All in all, I enjoyed it, even though most of the dialogue was "all in their minds" but you soon get over it. Or at least it didn't bother me.

You can watch it here.

Down With Love

2010-05-27T18:03:00.006-05:00

Down With Love (就想賴著妳/Jiu Xiang Lai Zhe Ni) is a 2010 Taiwanese romantic drama starring Ella Chen, Jerry Yan, Kelly Huang, Michael Zhang, Chen Zi Han, and Amanda Zhou. The summary is as follows:

Xiang Yu Ping, an expert divorce and inheritance lawyer, is seen by others as cold, selfish, and ruthless. After Yu-ping’s older brother dies in a car accident he has little choice in taking in his brother's two orphaned children, Fei and Ting. Every nanny he hires to care for them is either scared off by the mischievous children or ends up falling in love with him. Fed up, Yu Ping asks his secretary, Yang Duo, to find a nanny that meets his requirements. Having lost all their wealth when their mother passed away and being abandoned by their father after racking up heavy debts; Yang Duo can not ignore the fact that she needs the money and recommends her younger sister, Yang Guo, for the job; assuring Yu Ping that her tomboyish sister will not fall in love with him by lying that she does not like men at all.

This has been on my list of dramas to watch ever since I heard that Ella was going to star in a drama. And I finally finished it yesterday afternoon. I have no complaints when it comes to the acting although some of the characters seriously got on my nerves - but when is that something new when it comes to dramas? There were your normal ups and downs as well as comedic antics that occurred that made one go "aww" and any other variations of said phrase. There seemed to be people pairing off every which way and a main love triangle that just kept on adding people onto it that I almost got a headache when friends asked me about the drama - I'm just not good at explaining things - but I highly enjoyed it.

However, one thing I noticed was that none of the sites I went to were set on agreeing with the amount of episodes the drama contained; some said 16 whereas others listed 25 episodes for it. Then I remembered that while it was airing, some episodes were leaked and I also read somewhere that the leaked version was 28 episodes long but what was actually officially released totaled to 16. O_o I have no idea if it's right or not but either way, I think the fact that the drama was leaked rushed the ending. On that note, I'd like to elaborate and say I really loved the drama although it had its fair share of infuriating parts as per usual, but then it suddenly seemed to end and everyone came together in a happily ever after epilogue set 6 years later. Basically, it was rushed. I wish they could have spent some more time on the ending and perhaps even elaborated more and such on their courting and even the wedding ceremony itself instead of a kiss and then - bam! - she has a 4 year old son and is pregnant with her second child.

You can watch it at Drama Wiki (28 listed episodes but only works up to 16) and My Soju (16 episodes). Although the ending was a bit of a flop, I still recommend it. ^^

Kiss Me, Kill Me

2010-05-09T15:47:00.005-05:00

Kiss Me, Kill Me (킬미/Kil Mi) is a November 2009 Korean romantic dramedy film, focusing on a woman who's intent on committing suicide and a man who's a professional assassin. It stars Shin Hyun-jun and Kang Hye-jung. The summary is as follows:

A professional & quiet killer, Hyun-jun. He arrives at a house where he expects a man to be killed by him, but he only finds a girl to expects him to help her suicide. She shouts at dazed Hyun-jun. "What's the matter? It's your job, so you just kill me" She decides to kill herself after the loss of 7 years love, but she feels unfair that she just commits suicide calmly with overdosing sleeping pills. "You should do it by yourself. I am not a helper for suicide." He gets angry at her, forgetting what he does. Hyun-jun & Jin -young begin to meet like this. While they continue to meet, quiet Hyun -jun gets talkative, and Jin Young only dreaming of death begins to think of tomorrow. What a shame for both! Why do they meet day by day in spite that they always argue in vain?

Although this film is categorised as romance, I didn't really begin feel it until the middle and you don't really see it until the very end and even then, it isn't delved into that much. There are several funny moments, but they're not the obnoxious in-your-face humor, which I rather enjoyed. I'm also all for morbid humor, which was why I chose to watch this in the first place. However, within the dynamics between the two main characters, one of whom is still suffering from a break up who seems to just go by each day reluctantly and indifferently, and the other who has a job killing people and comes home to a mother who seems to be constantly intoxicated with an overworked toilet - it's interesting to see how they affect the other at the end. There's also a theme of how sometimes, the things you least expect will happen (mini spoiler: like his mother being diagnosed with uterine cancer instead of liver cancer - in fact, her liver was fine). I did love the two characters though - they amused me. ^^

All in all, I give it a 7.8/10. I don't know where I got the 0.8 from, but it feels like a good score.

You can watch it here.

Hear Me

2010-05-08T19:57:00.005-05:00

Hear Me (聽説/Ting Shuo) is a Taiwanese romantic movie that was released in August 2009, coinciding with the Deaflympics. It stars Eddie Peng, Ivy Chen, and Michelle Chen Yan Xi. The synopsis is as follows:

Cheerful delivery boy Tian Kuo delivers lunch boxes to a local hearing-impaired swimming team. He holds a torch for hearing-impaired cutie Yan Yan, who's often at the pool to cheer on her older sister Xiao Peng. Yang Yang wholeheartedly supports Xiao Peng's dream of competing in the Deaflympics, even if it means working multiple jobs and giving all her time to her sister. Yang Yang slowly falls for Tian Kuo's goofy charms, but the burgeoning romance opens a rift in the sisters' relationship.

This movie is full of everything: drama, love, and laughs. Oh, and a slight hint of angst. A majority of the dialogue is in sign language, so it took me a while to get used to silent dialogue and it got to the point that when background music came on, I was slightly startled. O_o So yes, subtitles are a must. Also since some lines are in Taiwanese and I believe one line was in Cantonese. However, love blossoming between two people using only sign language to communicate is pretty interesting. Honestly, the somewhat silent nature of half of the film gave me a glimpse as to how life could be if one lost one's hearing.

But anyway - it's amazing how much emotion can still be conveyed even if it were all communicated through hand motions and facial expressions - I give all the actors and actresses props for that. I also love the twist at the end of the film and I will say nothing more on that note. ^^ I rewatched that part three times before I could move on, haha.

You can watch it here.

My Girl

2010-05-08T16:22:00.003-05:00

My Girl (マイガール) is a 2009 Japanese family drama starring Aiba Masaki, Yuka, and Ishii Momoka. The summary is as follows:

The story revolved around a 23-year-old man named, Kazama Masamune. During high school, he had a girlfriend four years older than him, but she suddenly leaves to go abroad. Six years later, he receives news that she has passed away. In addition, she secretly gave birth to Masamune's daughter. Now the five-year-old daughter, Koharu, is returning home to Japan, and Masamune must raise her.

I had actually started this drama two months or so ago, but then I got distracted and school got into the way. Now that school has ended and I have several days' break before finals, I watched the two last episodes and completed it. ^^ Anyway, like the synopsis says, it's about a young guy who suddenly realises that he has a daughter. It suggests that a lot of hilarity may ensue - but not really, though I'm not trying to say that there weren't any. It's more of a drama with a lot of cute and sweet moments, focusing on the trials and tribulations of being a young and single father suffering from the sudden loss of his one love and pursuing his dream as a photographer as well as the cute antics and dynamics of having a new family. The topic of sacrifices for someone you love is also a major theme towards the end.

First off, the girl is absolutely adorable. I like kids from afar, but they tend to grate on my nerves if they're in my presence for too long. lol... however, the girl is just cute! And it makes sense that she won an award for her role in this drama. :) Secondly, although I didn't speed through the entire drama (I attribute that to the fact that I've been in the mood for more fast-paced, action-filled material), I did enjoy it. I liked seeing their relationship progress from "OMG, I have no clue what to do" to "I love you and I want you to be happy."

You can watch it here.

Stage of Youth

2010-04-26T17:39:00.005-05:00

Stage of Youth (青春舞臺/Qing Chun Wu Tai) is a January 2009 Mainland Chinese drama starring Han Geng (from Super Junior and Super Junior-M), Joey Yung, Huang Yi, Kenny Kwan, Yumiko Cheng, Zhang Jun Ning, as well as a cameo appearance by the rest of Super Junior-M in the last episode. The summary (taken from here) is as follows:

Xia Lei (夏磊) is a young man who loves to dance. His father is a top archery athlete and because Xia Lei's mother passed away, he missed the opportunity to compete in the last Olympics. His father wants him to follow in his footsteps, yet Xia Lei only has a passion for dancing. After going through conflicts with his father, meeting constant challenges and tribulations, and gaining determination, he finally reaches his dreams and becomes the new generation of dancing stars.

I've actually been watching another drama on and off but I've also been busy with school. HOWEVER, at the same time, I've become increasingly enthralled with Super Junior. ^^ So when I found out that a member of the group was in a drama, next thing I know, I found myself looking for said drama, and here I am. Anyway, dramawiki has this listed as a romance, but honestly? It isn't. :] There does seem to be some unrequited love floating around and we'll leave it at that. It's also a mere 12 episodes long and is done for Chinese-Korean relations as well as for the Olympics.

Anyway, everyone's Chinese accent is different with Han Geng and Huang Yi (and Zhang Jun Ning, but he's only there half the time) having the only Mainland/Beijing accent and it sometimes threw me off - turns out it makes sense since everyone else is from Hong Kong. You get used to it though. Anyway... I didn't expect too much out of this since I was merely watching it for Han Geng and the fact that Super Junior-M was guest staring (but only at the very end -__-) - and to practice my Chinese. However, I admit that I still came back for more. ^^ The plot is pretty interesting but I honestly don't get how a 2-person duo turned into Super Junior-M (why didn't they all star in it???), but I suppose. You do get a glimpse at how hard it is to make it big. There are the usual conflicts except this time, it's between the father and son instead of coming from some sort of romance (though there is a smidge of that). You do see a lot of dancing, photography, and archery. The singing only comes at the end. I have to say that Geng's acting isn't all that bad either. So yay! The people are also very nice to look at. :)

You can watch it at DramaCrazy, but half of them (mainly the last few) aren't subbed in English quite yet.

My Sassy Girl

2010-02-28T13:45:00.004-06:00

My Sassy Girl (엽기적인 그녀) is a 2001 highly successful Korean romantic comedy film. It stars Cha Tae Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun. The synopsis is as follows (taken from HanCinema):

Based on a series of true stories posted by Ho-sik Kim on the Internet describing his relationship with his girlfriend. These were later transformed into a best-selling book and the movie follows the book closely. As the film opens we are introduced to Kyun-woo, a kind-hearted but at times naive college student who seems to keep getting into trouble. On his way home one night he encounters a beautiful but completely smashed young woman who causes a scene in the subway, calls him "honey", and then passes out. With the eyes of the other subway passengers upon him, he has little choice but to take responsibility for her. Thus begins his relationship with the at-times charming, at-times violent damsel who steals his heart.

Much of the film is structured around the bizarre antics of Kyun-woo's newfound girlfriend. After she passes out yet again, Kyun-woo looks at her blissful face and promises to himself that he will save her, and right whatever it is that troubles her. This proves to be much more of a challenge than he expects.

Honestly, the only reason why I finished this movie was because it was my homework to do so for my Pop Culture class. That's not to say it was bad. The first time I watched it, I never went past the first 35 minutes - something just didn't reel me in. I don't know why exactly, it just didn't. I told my friends that and they told me it all came together in the end and so this time, I made sure I watched everything 'till the end. :) As the synopsis says, the film focuses on the strange relationship between a guy and a girl. It was funny and I experienced a good amount of second-hand embarrassment which made me cringe, but it was highly enjoyable. Even so, I did not get sucked in until the second half of the movie. Truth be told, I didn't even love it until the last "two parts" of it (because MySoju had it separated into 8 parts). Perhaps because it didn't make me feel involved and though I was watching it, I was merely watching it and doing so does nothing for the audience. Sure, they went into the most ridiculous situations and the girl was most amusing, but I suppose the further into the movie we got, the more we learned about her.

No, for some odd reason, I can't seem to string together the words in my head adequately enough to express my feelings for this movie. I agree with my friends: the ending certainly tied it together neatly with a neat little bow, though "tying it together" may not be the proper word choice. It was more like it concluded the film perfectly. It was sweet, it tugged at me, and I really want an epilogue. But I have to give it props for not being like every other romantic comedy; there was also a little something hanging over everything and I like that. Well, once I got over the first half. :) I have to say even though my start with this film was rocky, I'm glad I finished it and I can see the hype about it.

You can watch it at MySoju (because at DramaCrazy, the videos aren't working).

The Host

2010-02-27T12:22:00.004-06:00

The Host (괴물) is a 2006 Korean monster movie - but don't let that fool you; it's more like a dramedy as well, just set in a situation where some toxic "chemichers" created a genetically mutated fish-creature. It stars Byeon Hee-bong, Song Kang-ho, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona, and Ko Ah-seong. The synopsis is as follows (taken from Rotten Tomatoes):

Gang-du (SONG Kang-ho) works at a food-stand on the banks of the Han River. Dozing on the job, he is awakened by his daughter, Hyun-seo ( KO A-sung), who is angry with him for missing a teacher-parent meeting at school. As Gang-du walks out to the riverbank with a delivery, he notices that a large crowd of people has gathered, taking pictures and talking about something hanging from the Han River Bridge. The otherwise idyllic landscape turns suddenly to bedlam when a terrifying creature climbs up onto the riverbank and begins to crush and eat people. Gang-du and his daughter run for their lives but suddenly the thing grabs Hyun-seo and disappears back into the river. The government announces that the thing apparently is the Host of an unidentified virus. Having feared the worst, Gang-du receives a phone call from his daughter who is frightened, but very much alive. Gang-du makes plans to infiltrate the forbidden zone near the Han River to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the horrifying Host...

I try to not write up little blurbs on movies I've watched in relation to school, but it's always nice to be able to look up what films/dramas I have watched and what I thought about them at the time if I ever do want to know. So, here I am. I didn't quite watch this specifically for my South Korean Pop Culture and Media class, but it is on the list of films I could watch and do my second paper on. I didn't have too many expectations when I agreed to watch it (I had just finished studying for the night at my friend's place and we decided to celebrate by watching a movie - this movie) except how I was informed how it was a "horror" film. In theory, I suppose it is. Once I watched it, I had no idea how to categorize it. The movie was done in a way where all of the people within it seemed incompetent - the people because they're always idiots when it comes to monster movies and the [American] doctors/pathologists because perhaps the movie was trying to say something (turns out it was). This serious lack of brain cells made me want to just let the monster roam free and have at everyone, but besides that one complaint from me, it was fairly entertaining.

I liked how the main characters was made up of an ordinary family who could have been more extraordinary and used their brains - but didn't. I liked the creature which was rather adorable, then again, I have a strange sense of what's cute and what isn't; the effects were pretty good as well. I was sure that the entire film could have been poking at the incompetence of several groups of people, or was a sort of satire, which was pretty neat - in this sense, the film wasn't completely lacking within the intelligence department. Overall, however, there was only a handful of moments where you might have been startled but for the most part, I wouldn't have considered it a horror film. I just couldn't stop thinking about how the opening scene would be a huge nightmare for environmentalists and animal lovers alike. All in all, although most people seemed to love the movie, I have to say that I didn't love it, nor did I hate it.

I have to give them one thing: that family's pretty resilient and the ending scene was somewhat touching.

My friend had Netflix so I didn't have to search for this online - so sorry, no link. :/

Saigo no Yakusoku

2010-02-05T21:41:00.003-06:00

Saigo no Yakusoku (The Last Promise/最後の約束) is a 2010 Japanese tanpatsu, a special [movie-length] drama. It stars all five members of Arashi (Matsumoto Jun, Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, and Ninomiya Kazunari) as well as Kuroki Meisa, Fujiki Naohito, and Otsuka Nene. The summary is as follows:

"Saigo no Yakusoku" is described as a human suspense story involving the hijack of a major building. The members of Arashi play five young men who happen to be inside, and the story depicts their attempt to escape and their interactions with the other people caught up in the incident.

I'm not a diehard Arashi fan, though it's been known that I like a number of their songs. :) Therefore, I can say that the reason why I decided to watch this was not solely based on the fact that all of Arashi were in the production, though I can't say that it did not affect my decision at all. Even so, I believe this was pretty good, even for someone who's not a rabid fangirl. ;) The plot is pretty good and I can attest that it is suspenseful - I just kept on wanting more until the completed. The interactions between the characters were enough for us to know their background stories but not too much that it became too much and confusing. The acting wasn't bad, either. Not to mention the huge twist towards the end of the film/drama.

However, it was a bit fluffy at times. Everything was done for a good reason - not only "good" as in it made sense (which is always a plus), but "good" as in "too good to be true." I mean seriously - fireworks? There was only what, one or two of it anyway. It does give one somewhat of a happy feeling in their tummy, so I suppose I can deal with it. I still think it wasn't a waste of my time so I'll let it have four of out five stars. Maybe three-and-a-half, but only because of the fluffyness of it all. I did enjoy the plot twist immensely. :)

You can watch it at both DramaCrazy and MySoju.

Ohitorisama

2010-01-14T19:41:00.004-06:00

Ohitorisama (おひとりさま) is a 2009 Japanese romantic comedy drama between a man and a woman that have a ten-year difference in age. It stars Mizuki Alisa, Koike Teppei, Matsushita Nao, Tachibana Keita, and Maya Miki. The summary is as follows:

33-year-old Akiyama Satomi is a history teacher at the prestigious all-girls high school she once attended. She has earned the nickname "ohitorisama" (meaning "one person") for her perfectionism and capability to handle any work by herself. At the same time, the name also refers to her lack of romance. One day, a young man named Shinichi arrives at the school as a temporary instructor. He's ten years younger than Satomi, has only worked part-time jobs, and has neither money nor status. Although the other female teachers and students find him cute, he is completely not Satomi's type... or is he? Will love blossom between this unlikely pair?

I was actually supposed to finish this drama two weeks ago, but the last episode wasn't really subbed until today. And even then, only 80% of it was subbed. It was enough, though annoying. :) Well, as for the reasons for my decision to watch this: it was short (10 episodes long), it seemed cute, the plot was somewhat refreshing with the traditional roles reversed, and Koike Teppei was in it (he's just adorable). When I finally watched it, it didn't lose me, though Teppei's character did annoy me half the time, but made me want to pinch his cheeks the other half. The romance is gradual and when it finally gets there, it sort of plateaus off but it isn't really elaborated until the last 15 minutes of the last episode. I'm somewhat disappointed about that but really, what was I expecting with only ten episodes? For that, I'm quite content that nothing was rushed and you sort of get an epilogue type thing. An epilogue of about 2 seconds long, that is, which really isn't an epilogue at all.

The only thing was that it was obvious the woman was older and at some points, the relationship seemed to even border on being categorized as "wrong" - not that I have anything against age or anything. Just with Koike's boyish looks and innocent charm, lets just say the director and whoever casted him for the role did really well. I did like the conflicts the two had as well as how they differed due to age and maturity (as well as personality) but in the end, everything worked out. My reaction to this? It was cute, entertaining, and their chemistry was somewhat there (I suppose), but I'd say it isn't the best, nor is it something to completely ignore - especially if you've got some time on your hands. After all, it's not like there are too many dramas that center on a 33-year old woman and a 23-year old man.

As of now, all of the episodes are up on MySoju (though the last one needs to get better subs) and only 9 are up on DramaCrazy. Oh wait - DramaCrazy has all of them, but the last one is done by the same subbing group as MySoju.

Mulan (2009)

2010-01-08T23:35:00.005-06:00

Mulan (花木蘭/Hua Mu Lan) is a November 2009 Mainland Chinese film depicting the adventures of Mulan - minus the talking Mushu and the partying ancestral spirits. It stars Vicky Zhao Wei, Chen Kun, Hu Jun, Jaycee Chan (Jackie Chan's son!!), Liu Yu Xing, Nicky Li Jiu Zhe, and Vitas. The summary is as follows and is largely taken from here, with the exception of the italicised word which I edited myself (the synopsis off of Wiki includes some spoilers, though shorter in length):

In Northern Wei Dynasty, little Mulan (Xu Jiao) has ambition to become a soldier fighter for his kingdom one day. However, since she is a girl she is not permitted to join the army. As a grown up Mulan (Vicki Zhao Wei) suddenly finds an opportunity when his retired soldier father Hua Hu (Yu Rong Guang) gets drunk and soon she dresses as a male army and takes over his place.

After entering the army barracks, Mulan has to undergo harsh and intensive training, making herself courageous and soon win the respect of the battalion’s Vice Commander, Wentai (Chen Kun). During the training session Mulan meets up with her childhood friend, Xiao Hu (Jaycee Chan). One day Wentai suspects there’s a woman among the male army troops and a strip search is required.

In order to avoid her identity to be exposed to everyone Mulan finally reveals her real identity to Wentai after she confessed of stealing the jade pendant. Her punishment is execution but is later released when the Rouran tribe invades the kingdom for tin and iron. Mulan’s first real battle ends with a success and soon she is promoted to be the Vice Commander and always fight the battle along with Wentai.

It is friendship at first for Mulan and Wentai but later turns into romance for both of them. The Rouran tribe then strikes back with a stronger army under the leadership of Modu (Hu Jun). The attack arrives unexpectedly and the Wei’s army is significantly reduced and Mulan now faces the toughest battle of her life. She must choose whether to surrender her kingdom to Rouran or sacrifice her love for the sake of her kingdom…

I remember Disney's Mulan. I thought it was rather cute and funny, entertaining, and it touched upon war but honestly? It was obvious that it was aiming towards a younger audience. So when I heard of this new movie coming out and saw the trailer, I decided that it was definitely more realistic. :) Not to mention I know that Zhao Wei's a good actress. And so I watched it once I saw it online - and I dragged my sister along as well. She actually (initially) kept on comparing it with Disney's Mulan. I have to admit, it was good. Real good - I greatly enjoyed it. It wasn't a blood bath nor was it absolutely devoid of the gore and grit of war, but it portrayed it fairly well (not that I've ever been to war, but as far as I know, it was a good reenaction of it). In addition to that, it also played out the psychological aspects of it as well as separating emotion away from warfare. There was a good deal of it dedicated to Mulan's struggle between her female 'need' to express emotion and what she had to do. At this point, I should also say that there are some humorous lines... of course, I find humor in some of the most morbid of things, so it may just be me. ;)

Although there's no historical proof that Mulan actually existed, this movie certainly made it realistic enough. Of course, there was some romance in there but a lot of it was inhibited due to war and one's duty. There was a lot of that actually; the ideas of duty, sacrifice, patriotism, and the 'greater good' came up quite a bit. I admit I was touched and there was a moment in there where I felt like my friend who I met in China; she had announced, most impressed, that she was proud to be Chinese whilst we were trekking on the Great Wall. I was all gung-ho for the Wei to win as well. ^^ HOWEVER, I enjoyed this movie for its realism and realism you'll get - the ending isn't a clear-cut, Disney-styled happy ending. My sister learned that soon enough and she was sniffling like mad starting from halfway through the film and ended up having to blow her nose at least five times. She also repeatedly asked me if she had to watch it and made frequent trips to the restroom. Anyway, aside from the content, the acting, and the reaching-across-to-the-audience, there were other factors that lead me to watch it. First off, Jackie Chan's son is in it. I knew he had a son, but I didn't really know much more than that so I was curious. Second of all, Nicky Li's in it too - his Xiang Tai Duo/想太多 is a classic! Third point: Vitas (aka the Russian dude whose Chinese isn't all that bad) has a set of impressive vocal cords and I give him props for that. Even though his lines in the film are limited.

You can watch it on DramaCrazy.

Take Care of the Young Lady

2009-12-23T01:00:00.004-06:00

Take Care of the Young Lady (아가씨를 부탁해/Agassireul Pputakae) is a 2009 Korean romantic comedy drama. It stars Yoon Eun Hye, Yoon Sang Hyun, Jung Il Woo, and Moon Chae Won. The summary is as follows:

Of the high-rolling top 'hot celebrities' of the wealthy upper class in Korea's high society, Kang Hye Na is the one desired by the men, feared and hated by the women. Being the only successor to the largest conglomerate company, Kang San Group, Kang Hye Na has both the looks and the background. She is the owner of the ‘Lady Castle’ and lives a ‘princess-like’ life with her servants. Until one day, out of pure coincidence, she comes across Seo Dong Chan who turns her life upside down. Not only does he make her do community service, he even kidnapped her... and now he's the new household manager!!! Even after stepping on him, crushing him and biting him, he still doesn't run away. She may have finally met her match...

I originally decided to watch this because Yoon Eun Hye was in it and after watching her in Coffee Prince, she became one of my favorite Korean actresses and I felt like I should support her. Plus, I knew that her role in this drama was completely different. It also helped that the summary appeared to have some potential. :) Well, I have to admit that the first 3 or 4 episodes dragged a bit for me but I'm fairly sure it was because I was still stuck on the last drama. Another factor was the fact that it took some getting used to Eun Hye's character - she was rude, arrogant, and pretty much had the biggest attitude problem ever, although it changed throughout the series. I did like the feisty-ness of it, but compared to her old character as Go Eun Chan, it was opposite in most every way. Anyway, once I got into it, it turned out to be pretty good. The acting was good (as if it could be bad with Yoon Eun Hye in it) and the romance going on was a bit different in a sense but she did eventually end up with the main male character. There were the characteristic cute and sweet scenes that I never get tired of, no matter how many dramas I watch, and I loved how the two eventually got together (even though I was originally rooting for Guy Number 1).

All in all, I have to say this drama wasn't a waste of time and deserves to be seen and at only 16 episodes, it's not that long. You can watch it at MySoju (with bordering-on-mediocre subtitles) but as of today, episodes 1-5, 10, and 15-16 are all listed as "broken" so I downloaded those particular episodes.

You're Beautiful

2009-12-13T22:55:00.004-06:00

You're Beautiful (미남이시네요/Minami Shineyo) is a 2009 Korean romantic/comedic drama. It stars Jang Geun Suk, Park Shin Hye, Lee Hong Ki, Jung Yong Hwa, UEE, and Kim In Kwon. The summary is as follows:

Tae Kyung and On Yu are in search of a new member for their idol group, A.N.JELL. However, Mi Nam suffers an injury at the last moment. So Mi Nyu, his twin sister, is asked to step in for her brother. The rest of the drama follows the behind-the-scenes life of an idol group.

I've actually heard of this since it first came out because I listen to FT Island, of which Lee Hong Ki is a member, but when I first heard of the synopsis, my first thought was "...behind-the-scenes life of an idol group...?" Well, I finally caved in and as my first drama after over a month of being drama-less, I say it's a good pick. First, the actors (and actress) are not all that bad to look at. The OST just ROCKS (I immediately got hold of it after just the fifth episode and it's currently on my playlist). The acting is quite good as well. And the plot? Well, it seems like there are more and more dramas out there with a girl playing a guy (which is sort of ironic since historically, males played both female and male parts) but I like it. The whole "idol group" part of it made it different instead of having school as a setting. Of course, there are the mandatory cliche obstacles found in dramas and I was so fed up with [insert person's name here] that I fired off my mock gun at [insert person's name here] several times.

HOWEVER, I can guarantee a happy ending (big surprise), though with a large amount of twists and turns to finally get there. Park Shin Hye, who plays the twins, makes a good girl and guy. My sister actually got it right the first time and saw her as a girl, but the next time around, she totally mistook her for a guy - in fact, she went all "That guy in the glasses is SO CUTE." She's also adorable. All the guys have their trait characteristics and brings flavor to the story... although it's strange that [spoiler] they all end up liking her [end spoiler]. Anyway, I couldn't stop watching this even though half of it does scream of a generic drama and even though it took me a grand total of three days to complete, I blame it on the fact that amidst all this, I was packing and coming back home as well as hanging out with the family. And I was busy for half of today.

Favorite points:
(1) It made various parodies of songs with dance routines to go with it. ^_^
(2) It acknowledged the existence of fanfiction (or panpick). haha...
(3) I seriously love that scene in the market in Episode 11. That made me squeel.

You can watch it at either MySoju or DramaCrazy.Net and there's a total of 16 episodes.

Daremo Shiranai

2009-12-13T22:33:00.003-06:00

Daremo Shiranai (誰も知らない), or Nobody Knows, is a 2004 Japanese film that's based on a true story of a group of children who were abandoned by their mother. It stars Yagira Yuya, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu, Hanae Kan, and You. The summary is as follows [taken from here]:

In Tokyo, the reckless single mother Keiko moves to a small apartment with her twelve years old son Akira Fukushima and hidden in the luggage, his siblings Kyoko, Shigeru and Yuki. The children have different fathers and do not have schooling, but they have a happy life with their mother. When Keiko finds a new boyfriend, she leaves the children alone, giving some money to Akira and assigning him to take care of his siblings. When the money finishes, Akira manages to find means to survive with the youngsters without power supply, gas or water at home, and with the landlord asking for the rental.

Like the synopsis says, the story was about a group of half-siblings who end up getting abandoned and having to get by on their own. I thought it sounded like a good plot, especially since it's based on a true story - but it's not as sad as the true version, odd enough (movies tend to overexaggerate things). When I watched it, I constantly compared things to the real story so the movie didn't seem as sad as what really happened. It went through from the beginning until the end and nothing is truly hard to take in - besides the fact that the oldest child is around 12 years old and he needs to take care of the bills and his siblings. There's a scene where he gives into his own needs but you easily see the growing hardship they go through and though it ends rather ambivalently, it's not as if they're dying from malnutrition.

I say it was a pretty good movie depicting a water-downed version of what could happen if children were left on their own with only limited funds. The kid actors and actresses played their parts well and you could see the struggle between their own child-like needs and what is necessary for life.

You can watch it here.

Smile

2009-10-29T22:42:00.003-05:00

Smile (スマイル/Sumairu) is a 2009 Japanese romance drama. It stars Matsumoto Jun, Aragaki Yui, Nakai Kiichi, Koike Eiko, Tokuyama Hidenori, and Shun Oguri. The summary is as follows:

Hayakawa Vito has a Filipino father and a Japanese mother, but he was born and raised in Japan and has never visited the Philippines. The ever-smiling Vito works at Machimura Foods during the day, and at night, he works a part-time job trying to make his dreams come true. One day during an incident at a bookstore, he meets a girl named Mishima Hana, who lost her ability to speak due to an accident. But even though she can't speak, Vito is drawn to her beautiful smile. However, Vito becomes wrongly suspected by the police for a crime, and after meeting the lawyer Kazuma, the issue begins to grow... Together, Vito, Hana, and Kazuma will go through challenging times and have to overcome many obstacles.

I watched this because (1) Matsumoto Jun is in it and (2) it deals with more serious issues in Japanese society such as prejudice and discrimination against foreigners as well as criminals. Although this drama is categorized as "romance," there's also an equal amount of justice/law in it. It's about a boy who, due to his mixed race, is brought through hurdle after hurdle, first joining a gang, then repenting, then being pulled back into it and suspected because of his race, even though his nationality is Japanese and has never stepped foot in the Philippines. Not to mention his name's foreign - written in katakana and everything (ビト, or Bito). It was sort of frustrating at points where fingers were automatically pointed at him if anything went wrong - or even when he was just walking down a street, a policemen stopped and asked for his ID. I think the drama condensed all prejudices all into one so this was probably a lot, but it probably does happen quite a bit. Not just due to race either - people's view of someone also changed due to their background history or even due to familial relations.

The way this drama was made, you get a glimpse of what happens in the future (2015) and the "present" with flashbacks, all contributing to the full story which is revealed in the end. It is revealed at the beginning when you see the lawyer visiting Vito who is in jail. They reminisce and laugh and as they do so, we go back to the beginning where everything started. The rest of the drama is also shot in this kind of format. I found it pretty interesting because even though you do get hints, there are some surprising spots. I could even say it was inspirational. :) But yeah, all in all, it's a pretty good drama. Oh yes - the romance in the film is present, but it isn't the only thing.

You can watch this at either Drama Crazy or MySoju.
Picture taken from here.

Lost and Found

2009-10-24T11:05:00.003-05:00

Lost and Found (달콤한 거짓말/Dalkeumhan Keojitmal) is a 2008 Korean romantic comedy. It stars Park Jin Hee, Jo Han Seon, Lee Ki Woo, Kim Dong Wook, Jo Jin Woong, and Choi Eun Joo. The summary is as follows:

TV writer Ji-ho has been secretly in love with the same man for 10 years. After a night of binge-drinking, she wakes up to face the worst day of her life. She wakes up to find out she got fired for low viewer ratings. Her bag gets snatched on the way home and while pursuing the snatcher, she gets hit by a car. But the chain of unfortunate events turned out to be God-sent present. The man who hit her with the car turns out to be the very man she’s been in love with all these years. After bumping her head on the car, she pretends that she doesn’t remember anything and Min-woo is left with no choice but to bring her back home with him. Ji-ho’s childhood friend Dong-sik is worried as Ji-ho doesn’t come home for two days. He goes out on search and miraculously finds her and brings back her home. After learning that Ji-ho is suffering from amnesia after the accident, Dong-sik is determined to help her get her memories back.

First thing's first - although the summary (and the first half of the movie) gives you an impression of a regular romantic comedy where the girl (eventually) gets the guy and they'll live happily ever after, it doesn't end that way. :) Because of that, I found this film rather refreshing. We don't really go in-depth about each character's background history - we just get little tidbits and that's that - something that I'm a little bummed about, but all in all, it came together pretty well. There's also an epilogue-type sequence in the end so it doesn't quite leave you hanging, which is also nice. Besides those main points, it stands like a normal romantic comedy and although entertaining to watch, it only had me hooked half the time.

You can watch it here.

MW Chapter 0 - Akuma no Game

2009-10-14T14:42:00.004-05:00

MW Chapter 0 - Akuma no Game (MW第０章 - 悪魔のゲーム) is the 2009 tanpatsu prequel to a movie, MW (2009). It stars Sato Takeru, Tanimura Mitsuki, Koide Keisuke, and Tamaki Hiroshi. The summary is as follows:

The drama is is set several months before the actual story in Tezuka's manga. The main character is a man named Takashi Morioka, who has lost his job and his home due to a recession. He ends up falling into a trap set by the diabolical Yuki Michio, and in order to protect the things important to him, he is forced to stain his hands in evil.

I admit a reason why I decided to watch this is, well, 'cause Sato Takeru's cute. ...Another reason is because I wanted to know what evil he's "forced to stain his hands in" - and I really wanted a break before I study for my midterm tomorrow. It started off at the beginning and with everything he went though - loss of a job and eviction - it made me forget he's younger than me (by only a year!). Anyway... his acting in this drama was pretty good - it made me think of a young man who was out in the world and really had all these bad things happen to him all at once, until I wiki'ed him and was reminded just how young he was (in order words, he's younger than me).

I liked it quite a bit. It's different than most other dramas/movies where good triumphs over evil. Then again, this is the prequel and since I haven't watched the movie, I can't really say anything and things have to get bad before they can get better. It touches upon what someone would do in order to survive and protect his way of life; the line of kill or be killed, though perhaps a little less extreme. The format of the film switches from "before everything became worse" to "worse" so the readjusting of your mind may be necessary, but it isn't hard to understand at all and in the end, everything comes together.

I just really want to know what effect his sacrifice had on everyone and because of that, I'm going to find the movie online. :)

You can watch it here. You can download it here.

Baby and I

2009-10-09T12:48:00.003-05:00

Baby and I (아기와 나) is a 2008 comedic Korean movie that centers around family - more specifically, a high school student who suddenly finds himself a single father. It stars Jang Geun Seok, Kim Byeol, and Moon Mason. The synopsis is as follows:

Jun-su is a popular but rebellious 19-year-old. One day, his parents give him an ultimatum, leaving him alone in the house to rehabilitate his life. He doesn't mind the independence until a six-month-old baby Wooram is delivered to his doorstep. He has no choice but to care for Wooram and attend to his demand for breast milk. Where can he find a nanny?

I wanted a comedy, so I decided to watch this. What really struck me was how this movie focuses on a male single parent instead of the 'usual' female single parent. Also, I would like to point out that I like babies (just far away from me) but the little kid who played the baby was absolutely adorable (turns out his father's Canadian and his mother's Korean)! Anyway, the entire movie does not focus on Jun-su finding breast milk for his new-found baby. Well, it does start out like that, but it's mostly on the trials and tribulations he goes through as well as how it changes him (for the better, in my opinion) and the growing relationship between baby and father.

And, well - there's a little twist that's thrown towards the end as well. The girl genius who has a crush on him was sort of random but helpful and though there's a one-sided romance from her end, it wasn't really acted out until the end. What also really amused me was how parents and children usually end up dealing with the same things - they are related, after all. :)

I pretty much like this a lot and it was cute, funny, and it touched on some serious themes as well.

You can watch it at either Drama Crazy or MySoju.
Picture taken from HanCinema.

Ghost Friends

2009-10-08T20:30:00.004-05:00

Ghost Friends (ゴーストフレンズ ) is a 2009 Japanese supernatural, romantic, comedic drama. It's also noted as horror for the topic of ghosts and death... but nothing really bad. It's pretty PG, in my opinion. :) It stars Fukuda Saki, Nishijima Takahiro, Iriyama Noriko, Irie Jingi, and Katase Nana. The synopsis is as follows:

A comedy story about a teenage girl who runs into mysterious happenings through her communicating with ghosts. Asuka suddenly develops her supernatural ability after her traffic accident. While trying to help make ghosts' wishes come true, she falls in love with a mysterious guy named Kaito who turns out to be an incarnate ghost.

I decided I was on a roll with relatively short (10 episodes) Japanese dramas on supernatural topics. I actually would have finished this last weekend but for the last episode which didn't get subbed until last night... where I took a nice break while studying for my quiz today. :) Anyway, it started pretty tame and normal-like and then everything took a turn for the strange. It went through questions of death and regret but there are also light hearted moments that even border on ridiculous - but there's a fair amount of balancing between the two. As for romance, there's a sprinkling here and there, but it's a constant underlying theme but nothing really serious and it doesn't really overtake the entire plot, which is sort of refreshing. The last episode ended fairly realistically as well and I found it a bit bittersweet - I'll leave it at that. :) There is a sort of epilogue thing that went on so the audience gets to know what happens. Amazing how in 7 years, she still looks the same... ;)

Also, I don't know about you guys but the main character (played by Fukuda Saki) reminds me of a Japanese Hilary Duff... well, while she was in her Lizzie McGuire years.

You can watch it at either Drama Crazy (you can choose the videos) and MySoju.
Picture from Crunchyroll.

Koishite Akuma

2009-09-30T21:52:00.003-05:00

Koishite Akuma (恋して悪魔), otherwise known as The Loving Demon, is a 2009 supernatural romance Japanese drama. It stars Nakayama Yuma, Kondo Masahiko, Kato Rosa, Kyo Nobuo, Sakuraba Nanami, Nakajima Kento, and Irie Jingi. The summary is as follows:

Ruka has yet to mature into a full-fledged vampire. His canines have yet to fully develop, which means he still hasn't tasted human blood — or, at least, human blood that he's drawn himself. In order to get him prepared, he is cast down into the world of humans, where he boards with Jiro, the owner of a Chinese restaurant, and enrolls in high school. His homeroom teacher is a cheerful, though meddlesome, young woman who catches the fledgling bloodsucker off-guard. Is he actually falling in love with a mortal?

I'm a sucker for vampires. No, I'm not one of those people who, if perchance, may find a vampire and throws herself onto him. O_o Rather disturbing, really. Anyway, it's sort of like an interest (like how my roommate likes zombies and I like vampires and werewolves) and so, I had to try it out. I did skim around the Internet before I started to make sure I wasn't making a mistake and some people had noted it as a sort of 'Twilight' theme - forbidden and unlikely romance between a vampire and a human. The unlikely romance part isn't unusual at all in the world of Asian Dramas... but yeah. I watched it while going "I can't believe I'm watching this but I can't stop." Not to say it's bad - the plot is something that's entertaining for me - but some of the acting's a bit melodramatic. And I swear there was a bit of pedophilia in it (I mean, it's a teacher and a student - 11 years apart); not to mention I felt it slightly wrong that he's 6 years younger than me.

Anyway, the acting's not half bad and Nakayama has a great bad boy image and I really want a pair of those fake fangs they wore. Of course, like every other Japanese drama, it ended with a moral-filled and inspiring message. Not that I mind... but they could just let up on it a bit. Even though it's a vampire drama, it's pretty light hearted and the ending was a bit realistic so I'll forgive the writers. :) What I liked best was this drama had only 10 episodes so I could have a nice drama break without using too much homework/study time. Like I am now.

You can watch it at both MySoju and DramaCrazy (I find that Drama Crazy has pretty high quality videos and subtitles for the most part so I switch back and forth).
Picture taken from here.

That Fool

2009-09-27T11:18:00.003-05:00

That Fool (그바보), also known as The Accidental Couple and Six Months (식스먼스), is a 2009 Korean romantic comedy drama with a total of 16 episodes. It stars Hwang Jung Min, Kim Ah Joong, Joo Sang Wook, Lee Chung Ah, Lee Soo Young, Baek Sung Hyun, and Jun Mi Sun. The synopsis is as follows:

Goo Dong Baek is an honest and good-hearted postman. One day he encounters with Han Ji Soo, a top celebrity. However, an ordinary man gets no chance to show his feeling to this top actress who everyone loves. Six months period of time with her elapses like a midsummer night's dream. But he cannot just end up his love like a “dream”. Shouting out love! His love has just begun.

At first, I saw this with the same plotline as other dramas such as Full House and Smile Pasta where a celebrity and a "commoner" meet up in certain disastrous circumstances and are thrown together in a marriage contract or something of the sort that causes them to live together for a period of time - then romance blooms. Generally speaking, the plot is based on that but it's the little things that make it different. The main male lead is a good, kind man who works as a civil servant and is always thinking of others - and I mean always (perhaps too much). The main female lead is a normal girl turned celebrity who is cold at first but turns out to be playful and somewhat childish when one gets to know her better. The way their relationship devlops can be connected pretty well so there are no surprises and though I believe Goo Dong Baek could grow a backbone at times and a female admirer and co-worker of his could just butt out, it's really quite nice. Even though the drama lasts for 16 episodes, I didn't feel like it was dragging or too excessive.

Of course, it helps that Han Ji Soo's younger brother (played by Baek Sung Hyun) is rather easy on the eyes... nevermind the fact that he's younger than me by a year. :)

You can watch it at either MySoju or DramaCrazy.

Lust, Caution

2009-09-20T22:24:00.003-05:00

Lust, Caution (色, 戒/Se, Jie) is a 2007 Chinese film based on a short story by Eileen Chang. It stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tang Wei, and Wang Lee Hom. The summary is as follows (taken from here):

Spanning the late '30s and early '40s, the movie introduces us to Hong Kong teen Wong Chia Chi, a shy college freshman who finds her calling in a drama society devoted to patriotic plays. But the troupe's leader, Kuang Yu Min, isn't just a theater maven -- he's a revolutionary as well, and he's devoted to carrying out a bold plan to assassinate top Japanese collaborator Mr. Yee. Each student has an important role to play, and Wong puts herself in a dangerous position as Mrs. Mak; she befriends Mr. Yee's wife, and slowly gains trust before tempting him into an affair. While at first the plan goes exactly as scripted, things suddenly take a deadly turn and Wong is emigrated from Hong Kong. Later, in 1941, the occupation shows no signs of ceasing and Wong is simply drifting through her days in Shanghai. Much to her surprise, the former actress finds Kuang requesting that she resume the role of Mrs. Mak. Now, as Wong again gains intimate access to her dangerous prey, she must struggle with her own identity in order to pull off the performance of a lifetime.

I always planned on watching this and I finally got to it... the reason why I decided to do this in the middle of doing homework is currently unknown, but I have my suspicions. One of the first things I heard was in my Chinese class when it first came out and how much "thrusting" it contained. Since they only spoke of that part, I had no interest in it but after I looked it up, mainly because Wang Lee Hom's in it, I decided the plot was pretty intriguing and there was a 84% chance that I would end up liking it. So when I watched it, I expecting the thrusting, but I didn't expect to see how explicit it was, especially over reading articles on Hindu women. However, the acting was all superb and after the 2 plus hours of watching all the character interaction, I came to the conclusion that it was well-written and the actors and actresses all played their parts well. Of course, there were moments where I thought Wang Chia Chi was acting rather suspiciously but I just decided it was because she was female and females are usually ruled by their emotions; a fact that annoys me greatly. Especially since [spoiler] when it came time for Mr. Yee to sign the execution papers, he didn't really hesitate even though he was in pain afterwards whereas she hesitated, saved his life, and was still in pain. I also thought the atmosphere of what could have been there between Wang and Kuang was sort of never really there, but was - it never actually went anywhere. Then again, I suppose that when choosing between assassinating a 'traitor' by seducing him as opposed to finding romance honestly, there are certain sacrifices that have got to be made for the "greater good".

It was realistic and I liked that. However, you'd think that considering all the explicit sex scenes that made it NC-17 in the States, it would actually show the [spoiler] execution itself besides it just being implied.

I downloaded the torrent and couldn't find it at my usual streaming video sites.
Photo taken from here.

Niini no Koto wo Wasurenaide

2009-09-14T22:04:00.003-05:00

Niini no Koto wo Wasurenaide (にいにのことを忘れないで) is a 2009 tanpatsu starring Nishikido Ryo, Tanaka Rena, Yamada Ryosuke, Kuroki Hitomi, Jinnai Takanori, and Shirakawa Yumi. The summary is as follows:

Kawai Keisuke is a young man who aspired to become a physicist since he was young. His hopeful parents send him to an expensive college prep school, but at the age of 15, during his third year of junior high, he is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Told that he only has one year to live, he falls into despair, giving up on treatment and even lashing out against his own mother. Ultimately, with the support of his family, he struggles with the tumor for eight years before dying at the age of 23.

I seem to be on a roll with watching movie-length 'dramas' based on a tragic story of someone who dies way before his/her time. Anyway, because it's movie length, it doesn't go into great detail like 1 Litre of Tears did, but then again, I mainly watched it because Ryo was in it. :) The acting was pretty good and it does focus on what the family goes through. What made this stand out to me is how the main character actually got angry, threw some things around, and even got around to using physical violence to get his frustrations out instead of the [somewhat] docile acceptance of their fate that is present throughout the other tragic tales of a terminally ill teen.

I suppose because of that, it was more "real" - not that the others weren't but this one showed the denial stage of the whole process as well as the sinking acceptance that was more than just crying and asking the heart-breaking question of "why me?" Other than that though, it was similar to the other dramas of the same genre - but I still watched it for Ryo. ^_^

You can watch it here.

My Lovely Sam-Soon

2009-08-25T19:07:00.003-05:00

My Lovely Sam-Soon (Nae I-reum-eun Kim Sam-soon/내 이름은 김삼순), or My Name is Kim Sam Soon, is a 2005 Korean romance/comedy drama. It stars Kim Sun Ah, Hyun Bin, Jung Ryu Won, and Daniel Henney. The synopsis is as follows [episode-by-episode synopsis here]:

Kim Sam Soon is a baker who has a talent in making pastries and cakes. On Christmas Eve, she caught her boyfriend, Min Hyun Woo, cheating on her and breaks up on the same night. On that same night, she accidentally went into the men's restroom and met Hyun Jin Hun, a somewhat callous fellow but sometimes considerate guy. By sheer coincidence, Jin Hun needs a baker for his restaurant Bon Appetit and Sam Soon is unemployed. Sam Soon is hired as the restaurant's chief baker and the two fights like cat and dog. Nevertheless, they started to have feeling for each other and Sam Soon agreed to post as Jin Hun's girlfriend so his mother would leave him alone. Things got complicated when Jin Hun's ex-girlfriend Yoo Hee Jin came back from the States intending to win him back.

This drama has been on my list of dramas-to-watch for quite a while and I finally got to it. :) Since today's the last day of my summer break (school starts again tomorrow!), I decided to just relax because once school starts, school is life. It's a pretty cute movie but with some stereotypical characteristics (i.e. a guy and girl who get together because they'll "never" be together, an illness, love triangles and squares) but on the other side, it's tweaked a bit.

For instance, the main female lead isn't one of those obviously pretty and slim females who turn heads wherever she goes. She's slightly plump and 30 years-old and she has an attitude to go alone with it. Of course, she's also pretty as well and it's not like she has rolls or anything, just a little squish. Then there's the 27 year-old male lead who's just great to look at and owns a high-class restaurant, where all of the female staff have a crush on him. Honestly, Jin Hun's ex looks more like the stereotypical "other half" but anyway, I like this inconsistency. :) The romance grows gradually and it's really cute and funny and there are several funny constants throughout the drama like the men's restroom, a certain blind date that is always interupted by Jin Hun... Ah yes, and English is also spoken in the drama, and it's not the Korean-accented English either and it's not only one small conversation but entire scenes were filled with it.

Anyway, even though it's a drama with all the usual things in it, it hooked me in it and I ended up finishing it in two days. I highly enjoyed it and I thought the acting and the chemistry was there.

You can watch it here.
Picture taken from here.

L-O-V-E

2009-08-21T21:58:00.003-05:00

L-O-V-E (Ai Dao Di/愛到底), or here, is a 2009 Taiwanese romance film. It stars a large cast including Van Fan, Megan Lai, Blue Lan Zheng Long, Annie Liu Xin You, Ethan Ruan, Alice Tzeng, Tracy Zhou Cai Shi, Alec Su, Ken Zhu, Wang Zi, and Modi. The summary is as follows:

L-O-V-E contains four short films centered around love.
Determined to look after his girlfriend if he dies on the operating table, the terminally ill Van Fan searches for a man who has exactly the same voice as he has to take his place.

Blue Lan, a reticent music video director, re-encounters old flame Annie Liu and realizes a car accident has erased her memories of their love.

Movie stuntman Ethan Ruan dashes out the door after a lover’s spat with his flight attendant girlfriend, Alice Tzeng.
Plain homebody Tracy Chou turns to a fortune-teller for love advice, who tells her she’ll meet six guys sporting bangs with the last being Mr Right.

Like the summary says, the film consists of four stories that have to do with love. I pretty much refer to it as the Taiwanese version of the British film, Love Actually - except all the stories are completely independent and not interconnected in any way to the other stories. Each story starts out with it's title, starting with 三聲有幸 (3 voices, good fortune), 連命都不要的人 (People Who Don't Care About Their Lives), 幸運 (Lucky), and ending 第六號劉海男生 (The Sixth Guy With Bangs). A more elaborate synopsis of all stories can be found at Asian Fanatics. I actually thought the first one was sweet, the second one rather painful and bittersweet, the third one confusing and somewhat pointless, and the fourth one pushing the line into "over the top" but amusing and sort of frustrating, nonetheless. :) I would have liked it better if the stories were all interconnected since this way, it seemed like just a compilation of stories about love written by four completely different writers - you know, sort of like those books that compile short stories by different writers on certain genres like horror, etc.

I say it was all right - showing all the different facets of love and what it may mean to be in love.

You can watch it here.

Zeni Geba

2009-08-21T00:30:00.003-05:00

Zeni Geba (銭ゲバ) is a 2009 Japanese drama a bit on the tragic side of the spectrum starring Matsuyama Kenichi, Saito Ryusei, Mimura, Kinami Haruka, and Miyagawa Daisuke. The synopsis is as follows:

Gamagori Futaro has been poor since the day he was born. As a child his recklessly wasteful and abusive father sunk the family into debt and disappeared, leaving Futaro and his sick mother to fend for themselves. With no money to pay for medical treatment for his ailing mother, she eventually died. After her death Futaro became obsessed with money and willing to do anything for it. Several years pass and Futaro finds himself working at "Mikuni Shipbuilding" where he meets the company president's daughters Midori, who was his former classmate, and her younger sister Akane, who is disabled, and like Futaro, has a scarred face. In a plot to acquire their fathers company, Futaro begins to get close the sisters...

The plot is rather dark, focusing on money and how much it controls people - after all, nothing's free in this world (one of my mother's favorite things to say to me). Matsuyama, who is one of my favorite actors, plays someone who grew up in poverty with a father who didn't deserve to be called as such and a loving mother who died because they did not have enough money to pay for her medication or any other medical services. Because of the circumstances he was under, he soon realized that money was "everything" and instead of most other characters who still sees good in most everything, this particular character went the opposite direction, doing anything for money, thinking that while doing so, he had gotten one up over money, when in reality, it had taken control of him and beat him at his own game.

One main thing: Matsuyama plays a character that could be considered evil and twisted. I heard of that and with his acting skills, I decided I must watch it. Even though some people are killed throughout the drama, it's not graphic at all though it's implied. I wasn't disappointed. I watched and finished all 9 episodes in one day (today, in fact) and it was great. It was slightly disturbing seeing Matsuyama who was once L, someone who lived for justice, play someone whose morals were twisted and stripped to nothing. What was also interesting was the way some shots were shown upside-down and sideways, perhaps alluding to his own warped ideals and some of the shots had him in light and in shadow, perhaps displaying his two sides: his potential and the reality.

It all came together in the last episode when the "what if" scenario is shown, portraying all the people he encountered in 'reality' where he grew up poor in different circumstances when they're all middle-class. Watching the drama was like having the message that "money isn't everything" pounded into me; good thing I prefer simplicity and I truly dislike shopping. The music soundtrack was sort of over-dramatic at times so it sort of bothered me, but oh well. Either way, I highly enjoyed it - and the acting (not only from Matsuyama).

You can watch it at DramaCrazy and MySoju. :)
Picture taken from here.

Give Love

2009-08-08T10:01:00.003-05:00

Give Love (愛得起) is a 2009 Hong Kong romance film, with a smidge of comedy and a good bit of drama thrown into the mix. It stars Gigi Leung, Wilson Chen, and Shao Bing. The summary is as follows [taken from MySoju]:

Gigi Leung stars as Leslie Chan, a marketing manager who has your usual movie romantic problems. In the opening scene, she meets airline employee Yutong (Wilson Chen), who is immediately smitten, but he’s so bookish and shy that he can only privately vow to woo her if he ever sees into her again. His chance arrives one year later when she fortuitously comes to stay with him in his Hong Kong apartment. The problem: she’s newly-married to his brother Hilton (Mainland star Shao Bing), meaning she’s technically unavailable. However, a cutaway to China shows Hilton getting it on with his over-emotional secretary, meaning that Yutong should now have a chance with his houseguest, who’s becoming a distraction already because she likes to wander around the apartment in short shorts and high heels. She also acts in a girlish sitcom manner that would charm any fan of Meg Ryan movies. How can Yutong resist?

I decided I had been ignoring the Chinese entertainment industry for too long - not to mention I'm starting to forget all the Chinese I learned. Not good. Anyway, this movie sounded like an interesting romance that might entertain me for an hour or two. It turned out to be a chick flick of a sort - not saying it's bad. Chick flicks aren't quite my things but having a dose once in a (very long) while is nice. The main female acted way too much like a socialite who liked getting what she wanted and annoyed the heck out of me (hence why it's a chick flick). She also has her moments, though. On the other end of the spectrum is the guy who is rather mature and serious, believing in responsibility - a gentleman in all aspects, but perhaps more timid. He was sweet but I thought he should have been more aggressive, just a smidge. I believe that her feelings for him could have been more developed - it sort of appeared, then stayed.

All in all, I did enjoy it while I watched it, but thinking about it, it lacked some depth. It got the required reactions out of me (i.e. amusement, laughter) and had the ups and downs but I wasn't really moved within it. I do find, however, that I like how HK movies usually utilize both Cantonese as well as Mandarin - or at least that's how it seems in the movies I've watched. I also find the random sprinkling of English humorous and I wonder if that's really how people in Hong Kong talk. Anyway... I'd say if you had a couple of hours to waste, watch it. It's not bad, but not incredible either. In fact, I'd say it's just like another chick flick. No offense. :)

You can watch it here.

Sukoshi Wa, Ongaeshi ga Dekitakana

2009-08-05T18:00:00.004-05:00

Sukoshi wa, Ongaeshi ga Dekitakana (少しは、恩返しができたかな) is a 2006 tanpatsu based on a true story. It stars Ninomiya Kazunari, Otake Shinobu, Murata Takehiro, Ikewaki Chizuru, Katsuji Ryo, and Takahashi Issei. The summary is as follows:

Kitahara Kazunori was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma in the fall of his second year in high school, and thereafter spent a year and ten months battling the disease. Although he studied hard for the university examinations and was successfully admitted to his first choice, [the prestigious] Tokyo University, he only managed to visit it for a day before passing away. After that, last January [i.e. 2005], Kazunori's mother compiled the thoughts he had left behind and published it as a book, and it was adapted into this drama. Even as Kazunori had to fight his serious illness, he received support from his friends, school teachers, and family members, and had warm relations with many people. This drama illustrated the 1 year and 10 months young Kazunori persevered together with the people around him.

I actually came across this drama-movie when I was browsing through Asian Fanatics and came across this "article" on Actors That Brings Tears to Audiences and the person who posted it made a comment on how this particular drama did it quite well and how Ninomiya definitely deserved a place on the list. I happen to like watching dreadfully depressing things, and so I had to watch it. I'm actually amazed at how young Nino appeared in the drama when he was in his early 20s when it was filmed, but there you go. It was touching, moving, sweet and sort of reminded me of 1 Litre of Tears except the terminally ill person is male. There is no romance involved though. However, what I liked was how half of it showed what the family members (and friends) were going through - usually, these types of things focus on the patient whereas the other players in his/her life is sort of a side story. Well, it's not like the family dominated, but it showed a little more than usual.

Not to mention it seems like Nino actually sacrificed all his hair for a majority of this movie.

The bad thing is that this is not available streaming online. It once was but the fansubbers threatened to stop giving their services if random people just shared it out like that... so I had to go download the torrent. I hate doing that ever since I downloaded so many dramas that my harddrive... was no longer the same. Anyway, you can download it here.

Watching these dramas makes me wonder if all terminally ill patients are really this generous and kind or is it done this way for the drama's sake. Perhaps, though. After all, staring at death may change some people.

Sweet and Sour "Chicken"

2009-08-03T19:46:00.005-05:00

I have been craving Sweet and Sour anything. Actually, no. Not ANYTHING. Being a semi-vegetarian (with my only exception being sushi), it's hard to find sweet and sour anythings besides tofu. I love tofu and all, but sometimes, I'd like something harder for my teeth actually be of use... and soy protein. And so... I saw a recipe online using Boca's chik'n nuggets and I found a pretty good recipe for a sweet and sour sauce and I merged them together...

Sweet and Sour [Faux] Chicken
About 3 Servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 package (~10 oz.) of veggie chicken nuggets (or any other veggie meat)
About 2 cups of assorted vegetables (broccoli, red bell pepper, carrots, water chestnuts...)
8 oz. of [fresh or canned] diced pineapple

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/3 cup of white or rice vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch mixed with 4 teaspoons water

DIRECTIONS:

Bake the nuggets as directed on the package. Stir-fry your vegetables for a couple of minutes, then add the pineapple (drained, if you bought canned ones), and continue to cook until done. Add the fully baked nuggets to the vegetables. If you plan on eating it with rice, you can start cooking it now, as well.
In a small sauce pan, mix together the vinegar, sugar, ketchup and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Stir in the corn starch mixture in order to thicken the sauce and cook for another minute.
Pour the sauce onto the cooked vegetable (and pineapple) and nugget mixture and stir around to coat.

PERSONAL NOTES/COMMENTS:

Since I'm a college student, I brought a 16 oz. bag of frozen, assorted vegetables as well as a can of pineapples. It took me approximately 20 minutes to cook. I stir fried my vegetables with about a tablespoon of canola oil and baked my nuggets instead of sticking them into the microwave. Ah yes - I used the Morningstar brand of nuggets (10 1/2 oz.) instead because they were on sale AND I had a coupon for them.
I used a little more than 1/3 cup of vinegar, probably close to 1/2 cup of vinegar, in the sauce and I adjusted the rest of the ingredients by tasting it periodically. It ended up being the perfect amount for my veggies.
On the original recipe for the sauce, it's noted that using rice vinegar makes the sauce taste better. I can say that I loved the end product. Perfect tang and sweetness. ^_^

My first attempt with it still in the wok. And yes, there is a reason why I'm not a professional photographer of any sort. Plus, the quality of my camera isn't all that good... But it does the job. ^_^

Chocolate [Thai]

2009-08-03T19:00:00.004-05:00

Chocolate (ช็อคโกแลต), a review, review2 from someone who watched it at the premiere in Bangkok, is a 2008 Thai martial arts movie; it's also the first Thai movie I've ever watched. It stars Nicharee Yanin "Jeeja" Vismistananda, Ammara Siripong, Hiroshi Abe, and Pongpat Wachirabunjong. The synopsis is as follows (taken from here, which also has the movie trailer):

‘Chocolate’ stars newcomer Nicharee “Jeeja” Vismistananda as an autistic girl who learns how to fight both by absorbing her martial arts skills from what she sees on TV and from the Muay thai boxing school next to her home. When she finds a list of debtors in her sick mother’s diary, she decides to go collecting. Her quest leads her to confrontations with criminal gangs and also her father, a member of the Japanese mafia.

First off, I like organised crime organisations - not that I want to join one or anything. I just like watching the interactions, not to mention they usually involve butt-kicking. This movie had that. Another factor that lured me in was I had never watched a Thai movie before. I have a couple of Thai friends and my hair cutter person is ethnic Chinese who was born in Thailand, but I guess I never got around to it. Another interesting thing is that Hiroshi Abe was in it and I wanted to see how his Thai was (never mind the fact that I don't know how it's supposed to be). Ah yes, I'm also really big on medical conditions and the main character is diagnosed with autism. A really big thing that led me to this movie, however, was a friend who was at Hollywood Video and saw the DVD cover of Chocolate and decided we looked alike with his other friend who was with him, then proceeded to send the picture to me with the caption "I didn't know you acted in movies." O_o The cover had those usual quotes from that basically told me it was a martial arts flick and I saw the really strange title: Chocolate. I looked it up online and it got pretty good reviews and so the hunt began.

First off, the "English" subtitles were really bad, even though it was supposedly ripped off a DVD. Thing is, the English was all grammatically wrong and I swear that half the time, instead of English, there would be Mandarin Chinese pinyin. Good thing I know pinyin. After I got over the horrendous subs, it was great. :) The plot's pretty sweet (Possible spoilers: The girl's mom has a relationship with the dad who's a member of the yakuza, then because of her mom's jealous mobster boyfriend, tells the dad to return to Japan. They still exchange letters. The jealous ex tries to get back at her while the mom is diagnosed with cancer so the girl and her adoptive brother goes out to collect money from people who owed a debt to their mom in order to get enough money for treatment. Then there's the showdown "battle" at the end where her dad shows up just in time for and they meet for the first time.) and the fighting that goes on is neat. I mean those noises and the scene at the meat butchery?? ^_^ Either way, I definitely enjoyed this movie. It had action AND a plot. Not to mention the butt-kicker is FEMALE and according to all the butt-kicking I saw, she knows her stuff.

While the captions roll, there are behind the scene clips that show you how the action scenes led to a good amount of injuries all around. They earn my respect and attention. I wonder if it's a common thing for Thai action movies...

This is actually not available streaming online (I know, 'cause I checked and I was THIS CLOSE to buying it online but I ended up not - I hate the shipping and handling) so I ended up downloading the torrent here. I also had a problem with the subs playing until I downloaded VobSub, then it worked perfectly - well, at least there were subs though they could have been better...

Picture taken from here.

Dream

2009-08-02T16:00:00.004-05:00

Dream (Bi Mong/비몽), review, is a 2008 Korean film of the supernatural kind. It stars Joe Odagiri, Lee Na Young, Park Ji Ah, and Kim Tae Hyun. The summary is as follows:

Jin wakes up from a nightmare of a traffic accident. It drives him to the very spot where a real accident took place. He follows the police to the suspect’s home and watches as Ran denies the hit-and-run accusation since she was asleep the entire night. Jin explains his dream to them and asks to be charged instead. The police dismiss him and arrest Ran. Jin is convinced that there’s an unexplainable connection between the two. They discover that when he dreams, she acts out his dream in her sleep.

I decided to watch this mainly because it sounded interesting - I mean, a sleepwalker acts out someone elses' dream? It started out tame enough, when we're first introduced to it, but once the two interacts more with one another and they even make a futile attempt to stay awake at all times, in an attempt to stop the dreams, it gets more intense. There seems to be an underlying message that's hidden pretty deep down, with a statement (白黑同色; 'black and white are the same colors'), blending together what's reality and what's fantasy. Towards the middle, there was some graphic self-torture, akin to the Saw movies though not quite to that extent (in short, it may be disturbing to some viewers) that may bring this movie towards more mature audiences, among other issues that are portrayed.

However, if you're looking for something with a clear-cut conclusion, this is not a movie for you. It sort of raises more questions and makes you think at the end. It is a bit of a roller coaster though, with twists and turns, as well as additional puzzle pieces. In the end, there's a sort of tragic romance feel to it that sort of reminded me of Butterfly Lovers, a movie about the Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet - but don't get me wrong. This movie's dark and provocative and has a high possibility to be confusing; I mean, Odagiri speaks Japanese throughout the entire movie - he's the ONLY one to speak Japanese in the entire movie - and no one seems to notice. On the other side, the acting was pretty good. :)

You can watch it here.

Now and Forever

2009-07-26T20:38:00.003-05:00

Now and Forever (연리지/Yeonriji), or here, is a 2006 romantic, Korean film. Let me give you a hint: it's one of those really sad stories that Korea's known for. :) It stars Choi Ji Woo, Jo Han Seon, Choi Seong Gook, and Seo Yeong Hee. The summary is as follows:

Min-su, a playboy who believes that there's no such thing as true love and it's all just a game, can't stand even a single relationship that continues on for long. However, fate leads him to a dazzling beauty, Hye-won, who had just escaped from an oppressive hospital. She makes a strong impression on him. Later, chased by a nurse, Hye-won sneaks into the men's room at the hospital and their second encounter takes place. Soon Min-su becomes totally captivated by this bold woman. At first Hye-won resists their love, fearing that losing her to her terminal illness will hurt Min-su too much.

This got on my list of movies to watch, and so I finally got to it. :) I admit, I have a thing for tragic stories and even though I can usually predict what would happen next, I still hold onto a hope that something would surprise me. The good thing was that one thing happened in here that rather surprised me (hint: the girl is not the only one with a fatal malady) and so I have to say I liked this one. It's also nice since there's another side romance going on that acts as a counterbalance to the main (and doomed) romance but it sort of gives a bit of 'light' to the whole sad factor of it all. Especially since they're best friends of the main couple but also totally different. For one, the other guy is rather unconfident - you could even say timid and shy - and the other girl is a bit more "serious."

In addition to the usual plotline of a playboy male who tries to woo saucy female (who also has a little terminal illness that gets in the way), there's also a good amount of cuteness and humor as well as a good dose of periodic angst. I personally enjoyed the last scene quite a bit. I admit that my eyes FINALLY shed some drops at it.

You can watch it here.

Departures

2009-07-25T12:35:00.002-05:00

Departures (おくりびと/Okuribito), or here, is a 2009 Japanese movie dealing with death. :) It won several awards. It stars Motoki Masahiro, Yamazaki Tsutomu, and Hirosue Ryoko. The summary is as follows:

A story of love, of discovery, of revelation and of the transcending human spirit, "Departures" will linger in your heart and mind long after viewing.

I first heard about this movie when I was taking Japanese about a month ago. A classmate had watched it and during a break, we watched the trailer. It seemed to be pretty interesting since there was still some humor going on, even though the subject may be a bit on the serious side. O_o What that short little summary doesn't say (the longer, more detailed plot can be found on the official English website as well as on wikipedia) is that the main character is an ex-celloist turned encoffinator/mortician (I'm sure that's not a word, but it sure does sound cool - he basically tidies up corpses and puts them in a coffin; there's a great deal of ceremony that goes with it). Frankly, I'm interested in this kind of stuff, seeing as I've taken two classes before that dealt with death and I signed up for a senior seminar in it, but it's always interesting to see how people regularly react to the dead.

At the beginning of the movie, he needed a job and once he realised that the misleading ad (something about helping people on a journey) really meant helping them into the afterlife. It was pretty amusing since his first job consisted of an elderly woman who was found dead in her house that was in the second week of decomposition. Well, as the movie progressed, he began to show more respect towards life, as well as a more profound understand of death. Towards the end, an old childhood friend of his who has once ignored him because of his chosen profession also realised this, as well as his wife, who has left him for a period of time because of it (calling him "filthy").

It's not one of those movies that have intense twists and turns, though there are obstacles that pop up, but it's generally a human drama about love, life, and death and how it's adviseable to just accept it all.

You can watch it at MySoju (for now) - the movie is copyrighted and will be available in the US shortly. It used to be up on DramaCrazy until it was copyrighted.

Picture taken from here.

Sparkled Ginger Cookies (Vegan)

2009-07-14T15:25:00.005-05:00

I took Japanese the first half of the semester and one day, my sensei brought baked cookies to class - these, in fact. I liked them a lot so I asked for the recipe and she sent it to me. I love them 'cause they're soft and moist - not to mention I love ginger. :) According to her, this recipe's adapted from "Vegan with a Vengeance" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

Sparkled Ginger Cookies (Vegan)
Makes about 2 dozen Cookies

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons turbinado or demerrara sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets and place the turbinado sugar in a small bowl.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a separate large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, molasses, soymilk, sugar, and vanilla. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and combine well.
Roll into 1-inch balls and flatten into 1 1/2 inch-diameter disks. Press the cookie tops into the turbinado sugar and place one inch apart sugar side up onto the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 3 - 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

NOTES AND COMMENTS

I reduced the amount of sugar to between 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup. The molasses should sweeten the cookie well enough.
I sprinkled the sugar on top instead of pressing it down.
There's no need to grease the cookie sheet - the canola oil contained in the 'dough' is quite enough. :)
I actually prepared the dry ingredients in a large bowl, stirred it around to incorporate everything with a whisk, then added the wet ingredients one by one into that. I then mixed it by hand and it worked just as well.
Even though this is a vegan recipe (since my sensei's vegan), I'm not. I also didn't have soymilk, or rice milk (what my teacher used), on hand so I used skim milk instead. At least it's organic?
A 10-minute baking time makes the cookie slightly soft, whereas a 12-minute baking time makes it crunchy. [taken from my teacher's memo] I like it soft, so I only baked it for roughly 10 minutes.

Crows ZERO

2009-07-12T15:18:00.005-05:00

Crows ZERO (クローズZERO/Kuroozu ZERO), here and here, is a 2007 Japanese movie based on a manga set at a high school where gang life rules. It stars Oguri Shun, Yamada Takayuki, Kuroki Meisa, Kiritani Kenta, and Daito Shunsuke, among others. The synopsis is as follows:

The film centers around the character Takiya Genji, a newcomer to Suzuran All-Boys High School who aims to 'conquer' Suzuran. Genji makes a deal with his father, Hideo Takitani (Kishitani Goro). If he can conquer the school, he will be allowed to succeed his father as the head of his syndicate. But first, he has to defeat Serizawa Tamao, the "King of Beasts" and closest to conquering Suzuran.

I was browsing on DramaCrazy and I came across this movie and it sounded promising. Not to mention I was in the mood for some butt-kicking. AND it stars a number of people I've seen. It has a good number of fight scenes but it's not as bloody as it could have been. I'm not saying there wasn't any blood - there was some blood flying about - it was just not graphic; there was also a good amount of sound effects. Even so, some of it looked rather painful. I must also point out that the only time you even SEE any school administrators/teachers at the school is in the first 15 minutes of the movie, or so. Suzuran is definitely not a school.

Even then, I enjoyed it, relatively speaking. Even though the yakuza played a role in it, it wasn't only centered on fighting and "getting to the top." There were some morals involved (i.e. do not kidnap or otherwise gang up on females) and there was even a hint of romance. Ah yes, there were light-hearted moments and other scenes where the fact that they're human appears obvious, even though they all seem to have a bit of a problem with controlling their tempers and had no qualms about mortally hurting others. The acting was pretty good. For instance, when getting the life kicked out of them, they actually stumbled realistically instead of popping up miraculously even though they should be near-death, or there already.

There's also a sequel that has generally the same cast (with the addition of other actors like Miura Haruma) by the name of Crows ZERO II (2009). The synopsis is as follows:

Several months after "Crows: Episode 0" trouble brews again when thugs known as "The Army of Killers" from rival high school Hosen Academy threaten Suzuran High aka the School of Crows. The ruthless Hosen gang go after Suzuran alumni Sho Kawanishi after his released from reformatory for killing a Hosen member two years back. Kawanishi turns to his younger Suzuran gang members for protection. The Housen gang then seeks out right revenge on the entire Suzuran school, while in-fighting at Suzuran High makes them even more susceptible to the Housen threat.

You can watch both at DramaCrazy or the first one at MySoju.
Picture taken from here.

My Favorite Recipes

2009-07-12T00:51:00.010-05:00

Since I'm on a roll with recipes, I decided I might as well make a list of my favorites that I've made (several times) and liked (which is why it's a reoccurring thing in the first place). I have way too many recipes bookmarked that I sometimes get mixed up, and I would hate to lose these. It's about time I figure out which ones I loved and which ones I've yet to try and test out and organise it all. This post will be updated from time to time, once I come across something new that I like. :) Keep in mind I'm vegetarian.

ENTREES

Caprese Tart
Herb Vegetable Orzo Salad
Ja Jang Myeon*
Japanese Curry (using S&B Golden Curry)*

Kale and Mushroom Quinoa
Okonomiyaki*
Omelette (I only use 2 eggs though and no milk's added)
Sweet and Sour "Chicken"*
Tomato and Egg Fried Rice*

V8 Spanish-Style Rice
Xi Hong Shi Chao Ji Dan/西紅柿炒雞蛋 (site in Chinese) - so simple a recipe isn't necessary

SOUP

Delicious Mushroom Soup

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Minestrone Soup

BREAD
Cinnamon Bread (sweet)

French Toast
Irish Soda Bread
Tibetan Bread (good with honey smeared on top ^^)

DESSERT
Chocolate Tofu Pie
Daifuku (the 'dough') and Anko (the filling)
Green Tea Pound Cake
Otoki Tofu Chocolate Mochi Brownies
Sparkled Ginger Cookies (Vegan)*

DRINKS
Bedtime Milk with Ginger and Nutmeg
Cardamom-Rosewater Lassi
Matcha Latte

FAVORITE RECIPE SITES
Chinese Recipes (site in Chinese)
foodgawker
Joy of Baking

*Recipes I've adapted and made my own.

Okonomiyaki Recipe

2009-07-12T00:15:00.006-05:00

This is another one of my favorites. It's a quick meal that fills you up just right and isn't time consuming. It's actually pretty common in Japan, especially amongst students, and I saw it in the 2006 Japanese drama, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, and I decided I must try it. I don't quite remember where I adapted it from, but either way, it's good. :) You can also very easily make it vegetarian, since it's also known as "Japanese Pizza" - you can put whatever you want in it.

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き)
About 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS:
Batter

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
About 5 cabbage leaves, chopped
4 to 8 ounces of chopped whatever you'd like (mushrooms, zucchini, etc.)
1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2/3 cup tempura flakes (tenkatsu) [optional]
Topping(s): mayonnaise, okonomi sauce, seaweed

Vegetarian Okonomi Sauce

1 cup vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup vegetarian oyster sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Mix flour with water in a medium bowl along with the eggs.
Stir in the cabbage and other ingredients of your choice.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan and pour in the batter (~6 inches across, 1/2 inch thick).
Cook on both sides over medium heat until golden brown (~5 minutes).
Transfer to a serving plate and add sauce, mayonnaise, and seaweed.
Repeat until all the batter is used up.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

I usually cut the recipe in half since when I make this, I make two: one for lunch and one for dinner; I feel that okonomiyaki would taste much better fresh, instead of in the fridge overnight, then microwaved. I usually put in zucchini and/or mushrooms, but I've also added in veggie "beef" balls that reminded me of fish (I've no idea how that works).
The batter is somewhat thin, but it still thinly covers the ingredients.
When chopping the cabbage, try to avoid the white stem - they take longer to cook and the batter might be burned. Remembering to cook on medium heat helps.
The hardest part is to flip over the okonomiyaki without flinging the uncooked (and, therefore, unattached) toppings about. The most time-consuming is chopping everything. All in all, it's easy and simple once you get the hang of it.
Store-bought okonomi sauce has fish extract in it, hence the neat little recipe I found online that I added to this. The mayonnaise is the Japanese kind in that squishy bottle (Kewpie) with the red cap.

My first attempt at this. That's miso soup in the upper left corner.
I'm surprised I still have these photos on my computer.

Ja Jang Myeon Recipe

2009-07-11T20:57:00.005-05:00

I've actually made this around five times now, but just in case I lose the recipe, I'll have it online. I used the recipes from here and here, but modified them to fit my wants and needs (vegetarian and onion/garlic-free, while trying to make it as authentic as possible). I saw it in Coffee Prince and I just had to try it (Yoon Eun Hye made it look so delicious!). Now, I make it at least once a month and I never get tired of it.

Ja Jang Myeon (짜장면)
About 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS:

About 1 cup each of diced zucchini, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and fried tofu
1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar
7 tablespoons of black bean paste
2 to 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water
3 cups of water
Noodles
Oil

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat small skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and add the black bean paste. Stir-fry for a minute and set aside.
In large pot, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute the diced ingredients (carrots, potatoes, and tofu first for about 2 minutes, then add the zucchini and mushrooms and stir-fry for another 2 minutes).
Add 3 cups of water or until all the ingredients are submerged. Close the lid and boil for 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the fried black bean paste and stir. Now add in the sugar.
Mix 2 to 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with the 2 tablespoons of water and add it to the boiling soup. Stir immediately. It will turn sticky.
Cook the noodles and place the sauce on top. Serve hot.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

The fried black bean paste resembles tar but it's fine once incorporated into the 'soup.' Remember to immediately run water into the sauce pan so it will save some cleaning time.
I boiled the ingredients for a little over 15 minutes and the vegetables came out not too hard, not too soft.
When stir-frying the potatoes, don't over do it or the starch will come out and it'll make the end product even thicker.
I put in about 3 teaspoons worth of sugar.
There's actually a specific noodle that's specifically for Ja Jang Myeon, but I didn't have it on hand so I used buckwheat noodles instead. It tastes just fine. :) You can also eat it over rice, but then it's no longer Ja Jang Myeon - it's now Ja Jang Bap.
The sauce looks like black goop with unidentifyable lumps. Don't mind the looks. It tastes delicious.
Even though you place the sauce on the noodles, you mix everything up before you eat it. Refer to the Korean Drama, The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince.

CULTURE NOTES:

Ja Jang Myeon is seen as a comfort food in Korea, especially for those without significant others. [Wiki]
China also has their own version (Zha Jiang Mian/炸醬麵) but I haven't tried to make it yet. There several differences and the main one is that the Korean version adds sugar. There are others but since I haven't made it, I can't really say.

A picture of my first attempt, before the mixing. :)

Fly High

2009-07-01T23:41:00.004-05:00

Fly High (사랑하니까, 괜찮아/Sa-lang-ha-ni-kka, Kwaen-chanh-a), or here, is a 2006 Korean romantic movie. It stars Ji Hyun Woo and Im Jung Eun. The summary is as follows:

It's school festival day and Min-hyuk is busy dancing and singing. However, it is not the stage but a toilet that binds his destiny. He is bewitched by a daring high school girl, Mi-hyun, who comes into the men's room because the women's room is full. From that day on, Min-hyuk woos her, escorts her home at night, stuffs her locker with roses, and clears passages for her in the morning after a snow fall. For all his efforts, he doesn't get much more than a tender glance from Mi-hyun. When she suddenly vanishes "sorry" are the only words she leaves behind.

I don't quite know why I decided to watch this, only that I did. Wait - scratch that. :) I looked it up online and I realised that there's one important detail the summary leaves out, which makes sense, or it would have spoiled the plot for those who likes finding out things for themselves. This movie would fit into the tragic romance genre that is quite prominent in a good amount of movies and dramas.

It's cute - I know I say that a lot, but it is. There are some funny parts to it, mostly because of the characters' personalities but as they grew older (by two years or so), they also matured. Well, in comparison to before. The first half of the movie focused on the guy's efforts to woo the girl. The second half had its moments of angst but there was also a good amount of happiness as well. Her death is implied, so there's nothing graphic and her illness isn't really elaborated on. It focused mainly on the couple's relationship. In short, it was a pretty standard movie; not bad, but not outstanding either. What really got me was the rather unique way they met one another. :)

You can watch it at MySoju and at DramaCrazy. Just a warning, though: the quality of the videos are not very good - at all.