A Decade of Asian Dramas

This year marks my tenth year of being an Asian drama fan. It's been a decade since Meteor Garden graced my television screen and spurred a passion in me to obsess over fictional worlds and characters unique to Asian dramas. Over the years the pile of fave dramas, fave actors and favorite genres have accumulated in my drawer of good stuff that I almost didn't notice that I've come back full circle to my predicament ten years ago. That is to wave the second male lead flag knowing he will never get the girl at the end. Yes, the second male lead syndrome is strong with me.

A crackless 2013 in Dramaland

I feel like Kdramaland has betrayed me big time this year because when I was asked what's my top 3 korean dramas of 2013, I had to stop and think hard on my answer. After a full minute I am still not quite sure with my answer, I even asked if it's okay to include a Japanese drama? pfft!, I knew right then and there that 2013 is not a happy ride for me in Kdramaland.

It came to a point where I can't even call a certain drama a crack no matter how much I enjoyed watching it. I am always searching for that one tiny ingredient to make it click but I couldn't find that in any of the drama I watched this year. I also have a serious case of second lead syndrome. That's the problem when one writes a swoon-worthy second lead that overshadowed the main lead. It's just natural to root for the guy who will never have the girl, fist pump and all! Maybe that explains why I didn't write even a single drama review this year... or maybe I'm just lazy.

Very Merry Xmas from Tohoshinki

Very Merry Xmas, everyone!

I'm so excited for my boys' comeback in Korea to celebrate their 10th year anniversary! Wee~~~ A decade of beautiful music, jam-packed concerts, awesome music videos, hilarious variety shows, addictive dramas and a lot more. I love these guys so much that no matter how rough the road is, no matter how much tears I shed, I'm still keeping my faith.

TVXQ's anniversary will be on the 26th but they will have their comeback early in January next year so for now I'm going to quench my thirst of Dong Bang Shin Ki awesomeness with this beautiful song. It's season appropriate!

[Movie Review] The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Waiting is normal for a fan. Be it waiting for a new book from a favorite author, a new album from a favorite artist, a new season of a favorite show, the next installment of a movie series... once a person brand herself as a fan, it goes without saying that she should have the patience to wait for what comes next.

It is never easy. Especially if what you're waiting for is a follow-up movie adaptation of a book trilogy you've read a long time ago. It's like torture.

But waiting comes with a reward. The feeling of finally being able to check a movie off your list is strangely gratifying. What more if the movie is not just good, but better than you think it would be. That everything you imagined while reading the book is faithfully translated and the movie still has a lot to offer. That's what happen with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It's awesome! It's definitely worth the wait!

TEAM CHILBONGIE!

It is said that you're not a true Answer Me 1994 fan if you don't choose which team you are part of, no in-between, no protecting your shipper heart. It is full on dance of joy or a weeping mess at the end of this drama. So let me say it out loud that I am TEAM CHILBONGIE! For better or for worse.

Even before I started watching Answer Me 1994 I am always Team Chilbongie or to be precise, Team Yoo Yeon Seok. I like Yoo Yeon Seok, I like him a lot. He played undesirable characters before (Architecture 101, A Werewolf Boy, Gu Family Book) but I never really had the heart to truly hate him even if he tried his hardest. How can I hate that pretty face, right? (and yes, I am shallow. HAHA) What I did is the opposite, I became his fan and I waited for drama production companies to offer him a leading role because that face and talent is male lead material. Anyone who said otherwise will be dead meat. Lol

When news broke out that he got a part in Answer Me 1994, I got uber excited. This is it! Finally! Yoo Yeon Seok as the leading man... or is he?

Answer Me Strikes Back

When I wrote the post Drama Expectation 2: Answer Me Future Top Team Heirs I used the poster of Answer Me 1994 as the featured image. I put it out there as a sign of good faith that the drama will be awesome and that it would satisfy my expectation if not exceed it. Among those four dramas I talked about I would give everything for AM1994 to be a success, ratings-wise and story-wise, because I love its predecessor with all the good stuff it has given me last year and I'd like to witness that kind of craziness once again.

Well well well... I'm happy to report that Answer Me 1994 did it! It has exceeded my expectation! Story-wise it's as good as the Answer Me drama we had last year and ratings-wise, it's raking in double digits in real-time. Hooray! Congratulations Team!

[Book Review] The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

The House of Hades is the continuation of that damned cliffhanger in The Mark of Athena. Together, Annabeth and Percy must battle their way through Tartarus to locate the Doors of Death and seal it while the rest of the group must go to the House of Hades in the mortal side and seal the door there too. The question is, if they sealed both sides, how can Annabeth and Percy escape?

They know the plan is flawed but they have no choice. If they don't seal the Doors of Death Gaea's minions will never die and all attempt to stop them from raising Gaea will be pointless. To top it all, the Romans are on their way to Camp Half-blood to start a war. Needless to say, they must succeed or else.

The story is told by the seven demigods alternating between the group left in the Mediterranean and the pair in Tartarus. This is the ultimate test of courage, strength and determination. The stakes are even higher and sacrifices are made by the most unlikely characters in this fourth book of The Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan.

Drama Expectations 2: Answer Me Future Top Team Heirs

Here I am again to blab about my drama expectations of win. I have decided to make this a series of posts so that I can look back and assess how that excitement paid off at the end. On my first post I talked about how I hope sageuk will be my drama crack this year and it turned out to be a sour taste in my drama watching this year.

Over the last two months I have only watched ONE drama because I'm lazy I don't find the other currently-airing dramas as interesting as Master's Sun. I also got my hands full with variety shows. I'm currently addicted to Dad Where Are We Going, Our Neighborhood's Master of Sports and Variety, Running Man and Grandpas Over Flowers. I love these shows to the bones.

She's just being Miley

From the music video of We Can't Stop to her twerktastic performance on MTV Video Music Awards, Miley is the trending topic for a while now. But she didn't stop there, on September 13 she released the music video of Wrecking Ball and, dude, did we all watched it slack-jawed. Miley is yet again the topic of conversations online and even offline.

[Movie Review] Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

For better or for worse, Sea of Monsters is a movie I have waited a long time to be released and no negative reviews stopped me from watching it. I've procrastinate for two weeks, but now it's really time for me to review Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. 

This review can take one of two roads. One would be a full-fledged rant on how disappointing it was for not being faithful to the books (again!), which I'll admit would be too exhausting to write and a major pain in the ass. The second one would be a half-baked rave on how awesome it was, all things considered, which I'll admit would be a difficult task because it would require a little bit of imagination on my part who found the movie just okay. So I'm not doing any of the two. HAHA I'll just review Sea of Monsters as best as I can.

[KPOP Review] Incredible MV by Xia Junsu

Oooh! The wait is definitely worth it. And no effin' distribution company can ruin Oppa's comeback because I'd still celebrate the release of his 2집 even if he did his showcase in a dingy pub in nowhereland. As long as there's internet, I'm ready to go!

[Jdorama Review] Last Cinderella

The first (and only) Jdorama review I posted here was that of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge starring the awesome Kamenashi Kazuya and after three years (it's that long ago?) I'm back to write another one. It's not that I didn't watch anything Japanese in three years but rather it's been that long since I became so invested in a dorama. Anyhow, here I am going to talk about Last Cinderella starring Shinohara Ryoko, Miura Haruma and Fujiki Naohito.

[Review] The Vampire Diaries Season 4

The Vampire Diaries Season 4 aired its finale a few weeks ago and I have to say it was filled with FTW moments and epic WTF moments too. Season 4, among many other things, is when the wind shift with regards to our main characters and I've come to call it Season "Elena Had A Change of Heart, Score for Team Delena!" or the violent one, Season "Elena Had A Change of Heart, Team Stelena Screamed Murder!"

I am obviously going to favor the more violent one and go on writing about how disappointed I was with the turn of events in Season 4, but that would be a waste of time and frankly I don't want to stress over Elena's choice anymore. I've come to accept that they'd eventually play that game and see how it will pan out. I've tweeted enough violent reactions over it and we all know there's more to TVD Season 4 than just the love triangle of heartache and headache.

I found the perfect Wedding Song

I realized that the title of this post is a bit misleading. It implies that I've been searching for a perfect wedding song, found one and is therefore getting married. So before this blog is flooded with shocked comments, violent reactions, swearwords and whatnot, let me get this straight, I AM NOT GETTING MARRIED!

Seriously.

Kim Woo Bin is in Heirs

The drama which stars Lee Minho and Park Shin Hye is not due until October. At this point the casting crew is hard at work with finalizing the cast and we've heard quite a few names added and then subtracted from the list. It's still crazy right now but that's the beauty of pre-production, the fans are kept on edge.

The one that created a buzz so far was the casting of Jung Yong Hwa. I got excited over that, you know, but then he quit and I'm left hanging. But never fear! One flower boy out, another one comes in!

Kim Woo Bin is officially part of the drama and I couldn't be happier!

I'm sure he will be awesome! I'm going to watch Heirs come hell or high water for the love of Woobinnie!

Please, drama gods, let it stick this time!

Wins to celebrate in the 49th Baeksang Arts Awards

By the time I publish this post I'm sure there will be hundreds of articles written about the 49th Baeksang Arts Awards out there. But that's not going to stop me from writing this one. The purpose of this is not to report the winners and whatnot but to celebrate the win of the people and shows that I cared about in Korean Entertainment. This is my blog after all. Here we go!

SHINee's Wonderful Day

SHINee is gearing up for their 2013 comeback. There going to release their 3th album "Dream Girl" on the 19th and I'm so excited along with the legion of Shawols out there.

Before that though, SM decided to give them a few precious days off their busy schedules. The five members of SHINee went to the country of their choice, stayed there for 4 days and 3 nights and took the time to relax and have a vacation that they deserve.

Running Man's Couple of Destiny

Episode 142 of Running Man is entitled "The Couple of Destiny". That would be the appropriate title given that their guest is the nation's best couple --- Lee Sang Yoon and Lee Bo Young from the hit drama  My Daughter Seo Young. Yay! From the title itself, I knew good stuff is coming my way!

True enough! If Running Man is to have a "Best Couple Race", it goes without saying that they would  acknowledge the Monday Couple as the show's best couple ever. Even real-life relationship can't stop the  squee-fest that is the Gary-Jihyo love line!

First Impression: Gu Family Book

I know it is still too early to sing praises for Gu Family Book but dang it, I'll sing praises as early as now if it meant that for its whole run the drama will continue to be as awesome as the first two episodes!

Percy is my new Harry!

The Harry Potter book series ended more than five years ago. Back then we still had the movies. Then on 2011 the movie franchise finally waved its goodbye. To say that I cried bucket of tears would be an understatement. But what can I do? It's the freakin' end!

Well... Thank the gods I found Percy!

Drama Expectations: Sageuk will be my crack of the year... I hope.

If my tweets tells me anything, it is the fact that the first quarter of 2013 has gone by without giving me my drama crack! The first quarter is usually the time when dramaland is full of new shows to get the fans excited. I remember 2011 gave me Dream High and 2012 gave me The Moon That Embraces The Sun and Shut Up Flower Boy Band. Good times, good times.

Monday Couple returns

A picture paints a thousand words so what does this picture (or screencap. whatever) paints???

*incoherent spazzing after the jump, proceed at your own risk*

[Book Review] Northanger Alibi by Jenni James

Time for another book review!

I'm going to write about The Northanger Alibi by Jenni James. A contemporary retelling of the classic novel Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen with a sprinkle of Twilight. Who's ready for a story of an Edward Cullen fantasy come to life?! Here goes...

Claire Hart is your typical sixteen year-old who wants to be out there and experience her firsts in life. First kiss, first boyfriend and first out-of-a-book romance. For the summer break she landed herself in Seattle  Washington, home state of Edward Cullen nonetheless. While in Seattle she experienced everything that she ever wanted except it's a lot better because she got to experience it the way Bella did with vampires and werewolves... or so she thought.

Oh my Yoo Seung Ho!

I first saw this young man in the 2010 drama God of Study. A smart high school student who took the challenge of getting admitted in a prestigious University with sheer hard work...

I watched him next in Arang and the Magistrate as the mischievous Jade Emperor. Despite the hideous wig, I held on to Arang because of him.

[Movie Review] A Werewolf Boy

"A loner girl moves to a new town and finds herself entangled in the life of a mysterious boy that gave meaning to her lonely world."

~

Sounds like the entire plot of Twilight eh? In that context A Werewolf Boy is similar to Twilight but the similarity between the two movie started and ended within that description. A Werewolf Boy in its entirety is no Twilight...

#F4ever

It's the love month and to celebrate heart-warming moments and because February starts with the letter F (hahaha!), I want to dedicate my first post for this month to the first Asian boy band that captured my teenage heart, my 4ever first love:

F4!!!

[Movie Review] The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

I can still remember having nightmares after watching the first film in which Gollum appeared. Yeah, I'm a scaredy-cat that way.  But in all fairness, creepiness aside, I think Gollum has the most tragic story among the characters in LOTR and among any other things I feel truly sad for him. That said, I am most happy to see him back in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The film makers who launched the words "My precious" into super stardom is back with the story that preceded the events in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I can't tell you how elated I was when I learned that The Hobbit is going to be a movie. I missed everyone in LOTR trilogy and wouldn't miss it for the world!

School 2013: A Pseudo-Review

because I can write pseudo-review, right?

School 2013... I ask you for something and you didn't give it to me, but instead of holding it against you I hanged around because I knew you are more than meets the eye.

Looking back, I'm glad I held on until the finale. With a bunch of dramas out there, you are that drama that speaks of real life. You spoke of life as something that doesn't have a happy ending because life as we know it, goes on. People struggle to live everyday. We surpass hardships and take on new ones. It's an endless cycle of ups and downs. Life is unfair and life sucks but at the end of the day we know the sun will rise again tomorrow and tomorrow is another day.

Most of all thank you for giving me a lot of scenes with my favorite model-turned-actors, Lee Jong Seok and Kim Woo Bin.

I love these boys in Secret Garden and White Christmas respectively and I'm so glad to see them in School 2013 together. I didn't specifically asked for a bromance between them but you did and for that I can't thank you enough. But that's not to say that I didn't appreciate the chance you gave them to show off their depth as actors because they are as awesome in front of the camera as they are in the runway.

Thank you, School 2013!

Wait!

[Read the caption below...]

This is a love line that could have been interesting if given the chance to bloom.
In fact this is the "thing" that I asked from School 2013.
 Maybe in the next season? or in another drama? T___T

TVXQ, force behind Another Wedding

"TVXQ's song Humanoids is blasting through the car stereo. A young woman is on her way to meet the wedding planner. It's a beautiful day to start planning an event that will change a girl's life forever.

The groom is 12 years older than her. When asked what she has to say about that, she'd say... "Age doesn't matter when you're in love. All I know is that because of him I cried for the first time since TVXQ disbanded."

A few days later, together with her Cassiopeia friends, the young woman flew off to Singapore to attend TVXQ's Asia Tour Concert. After all, she has to say goodbye to them before she got married. Especially to Yunho-oppa.

When she got home she married the man she love as much as she loved the rising gods of the east... And they lived happily ever after."

... well, sorf of.

Actually, that's not entirely the plot of Another Wedding. It's just the tip of the iceberg. But that's how I want to promote this drama because I'm a Cassiopeia like the girl in the story and hell if I won't egg on that story line. hehe

Another Wedding is a Drama Special by KBS. A one-episode drama that aired last December. The story is, in fact about Chae Ha Kyeong, a wedding planner, who is given the job that can land her a managerial post. The job is to plan the wedding of Eun Minse, daughter of a huge Japanese investor. The daughter is the young woman in the story above and the fiancé is Ha Kyung's ex-husband, Seo In Jae. Ha Kyung and In Jae has that case of "right love at the wrong time", and they divorced five years ago. Seeing each other for the first time after the divorce brought upon a bag full of memories and hard realizations. Hmmm... If you want to know the ending, happy or not, you have to watch Another Wedding to find out! :D

Now this is the part where I'll drew up the fact that the mention of TVXQ's name in this drama is not entirely random at all. This is a well-planned scheme to give Cassiopeia a taste of nostalgia. And if you caught on that hint, I'm proud of you sister! You are DAEBAK!

Here it goes...

The three main actors, Hong Soo Hyun, Fujii Mina and Jin Yi Han, have all made a project together with TVXQ. Ranging from the latest to the not-so-latest.

Jin Yi Han portrayed the role of  Young Hwi in the 2012 drama Time Slip Dr. Jin. Young Hwi is the best friend of Kim Kyung Tak, Kim Jaejoong's character in the drama.

Fujii Mina appeared in the music video of Tohoshinki's どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう？(Why did I fall In Love With You).  The MV tells the story of a man who fell in love with the girl but the girl got married before he could confess his feelings.

and Hong Soo Hyun worked with the boys of Dong Bang Shin Ki earlier in her career. She co-starred in two of TVXQ's SBS Banjun Drama in 2006. Finding Lost Time and Tokyo Holiday.

Finding Lost Time with Yoochun

Tokyo Holiday with Yunho

So there it is people! Isn't that awesome and so not random at all?! I knew this will be a drama worth watching the moment I heard Humanoids in the background. ^_^

What do you think of this drama and its connection to TVXQ? Please let me know in the comment box below. AKTF!

OTP is back together in Ad Genius

I'm so happy!

Jo Hyun Jae and Han Chae Young are back together in a drama!!!

This is too much! They are the K-Drama couple that I shipped so hard in my early years of being a K-drama fan. I mean, who wouldn't?  Their chemistry is so above the charts I can literally feel the sparks when I see them together. They were the couple that I wished would get married and have dozens of babies. If only Han Chae Young is not married yet. Aigoo!

Anyhow, I loved them in the 2005 drama Only You. It was the primary cause of commotion in our dormitory before. Everyone would be at the TV room and all kind of hell broke loose. After 8 years, I never thought that they would be paired up again! Drama gods, I love you!!!

Jo Hyun Jae and Han Chae Young will star on Ad Genius Lee Tae Baek together with Jin Goo and Park Ha Sun. I don't care what this drama will pull this time, whatever it is I'M 101% IN!!! But please, drama, just give me lots and lots and lots of cute scene with them together! and probably, some other nasty little scenes, if you know what I mean, *wink wink* I'll promise you, I'll spazz around like crazy! I've done crazy in the past week actually. I'm back lurking at Soompi. OMG!

Ad Genius will premiere on February 4. Alarm, SET!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omnQjBaRBB8&w=400&h=225]

Fighting!

[KPOP Review] Mine MV by Kim Jaejoong

Without a doubt January 2013 is a Jaejoong month. I just recently watched The Jackal Is Coming which is full of Jaejoong-awesomeness that I felt a certain level of euphoria watching every scene that he's in. Today, he released the MV of Mine, the second track of his latest mini album that blew my mind. And next week he will celebrate his birthday.

But before Jeje gets the chance to blow his candles, I'm going to put on my KPOP fan girl hat and review the Mine MV. Why in the world would I do that? Well, "그냥..."

[K-Drama Review] White Christmas

"Are monsters born or are they made?"

If you want to know the answer to that question, you have to watch White Christmas or you can read this post. *wink* I promise you it will be a fantastic K-drama experience. It will play with your psyche and you'd eventually ask yourself, will I become a monster or am I already?

Hello, 2013!

2012 is a bag full of mixed surprises.

Some are FTW moments while some are major WTF! I won't look back and regret over the unfortunate events that took place in my 2012 but rather rejoice on the good things that came my way and be thankful on the blessings that I receive thus far.

In 2013...

More dramas to tweet and blog about...

More movies to watch...

More books to read...

More songs to sing...

More fan girl rants and raves...

More love to share...

... there's more to life in 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR Blogosphere!