TV Drama Review #24 - It Started With A Kiss 恶作剧之吻

Episodes: 20
Yr of telecast/TV Station: 2005/GTV&CTV
Main Cast:
Joe Cheng -- Jiang Zhi Shu
Ariel Lin -- Yuan Xiang Qin
Wang Dong Cheng -- Jin Yuan Feng (Ah Jin)
Xu Wei Mi -- Pei Zi Yu
Summary: Xiang Qin has been secretly in love for Zhi Shu for 3 yrs in high school. They are graduating soon, so she decided to give him her loveletter. However, he ignored her. Xiang Qin's house was destroyed by the earthquake & together with her father, they moved into her father's good friends' house, which happened to be Zhi Shu's house as well. Thus, they started their lives "cohibiting" with each other. Soon, the story moved on to their university days. Here comes Zi Yu who liked Zhi Shu so much that she was willing to follow him in any way. Ah Jin also came into the way to stop Xiang Qin & Zhi Shu from getting too close to each other.
Comments: Quite alot to say. Basically I am a super fan of the japanese version "itazura na kiss" by Kashiwabara Takashi & Sato Aiko. That drama has only 6 epis, thus the pace was super fast, yet interesting. The taiwanese version was much longer, but closer to the original manga version, which included the university part of the story. The taiwanese plot was quite different from its counterpart, though some parts of the story are similar in a way. Thus, you wont feel that this drama is copying the other which was filmed in 1996. That's a good try from the taiwanese side. Though the plot started to drag after epi 10, the drama was still quite funny & watchable.
About acting. I would still prefer the japanese actors coz' they were just suited for the characters. Some improvements from Joe Cheng...this was the 2nd drama i watched with him as the male lead. His mandarin accent is less stronger than in the past & he looked cool enough to act as Zhi Shu. But I think Takashi is still the more handsome guy lah..hehe! Joe's acting was still kinda expressionless, but lucky his character did not need him to be very expressive. hahaha! First time watching Ariel Lin in an idol drama, she's not very pretty but her efforts in acting Xiang Qin were quite clearly seen in the drama. Not bad la gal! Xiang Qin was supposed to be a very "thick-skinned" character, but the taiwanese version made her more "humble" in a way...not so exaggerating as compared to Sato Aiko. Thus, in a way, Ariel's Xiang Qin lost some marks coz' she's just not kua zhang enough! Not crazy enough for Zhi Shu! Hahaha! Xiang Qin was quite an energetic gal, but Ariel seemed to make her looked tired to me. Also, Ariel looked quite weird in some scenes. (think the prob lies with the angles or make up) Dont make her looked worse lah...haha! A bad choice for Yu Shu, why picked a chubby but not cute guy? The japanese Yuki was so much shun yan lor! Hahaha! Other characters were quite fine with me, though they were nt very exaggerating as well. The part when Zhi Shu started to work in hid dad's company was kinda boring to me though. Ending episode was really a funny one, kept laughing at Zhi Shu who wore the wedding gown..lol!
The themesong is very nice!!!! Just like it so much....after hearing it for only once! Ho!
Ratings: 8/10 (One of the better idol dramas i have seen. Could be better if there were more interractions b/w Xiang Qin & Zhi Shu at the later part in the drama. There's gg to be a sequel in 2007)

Tv Drama Review 15 - DBS, OPSBSY, WHIB

[恶魔在身边 Devil Beside You] CTV Actors: He Jun Xiang, Yang Chen Ling, Wang Chuan Yi, Cai Pei Lin, Yu Xiao Fan, Yuki, Zeng Shao Zong etc
Quite abit to say for this drama. Firstly, thank goodness the drama was short..14 episodes. Next, the plot was average. Initially, the plot was like "meteor garden" leh. Hahaa! I thought i am gg to see another dao ming si ah. Jiang Meng (HJX) was the son of the sch president lah. He and his gang of pals were the gangsters in the school. Qi yue (YCL) wanna confess her love to Yuan Yi (WCY), but end up Jiang meng got her letter and wei xie her to be his "servant". Qi yue fell in love with jiang meng at such a fast speed man. What the heck? I find this part ridiculous. I mean u an lian someone for so long, suddenly all these feelings can be forgotten ah? Hahaha! So qi yue's friend Qing Zi (CPL) fell in love for yuan yi after he and qi yue broke up. Then here comes the weirdo gal Li Xiang (YXF) who liked Jiang meng, but there's Yuan Ping( Yuki) holding a torch for her. Jiang Meng and qi yue would become half-siblings as their parents were getting married. Hah! what a plot..Jiang meng's bro Ah rang (ZSZ) would come in as a high sch student who confessed to qi yue in school. Another weirdo..haiz! Misunderstandings appeared again when jiang meng's match-making gal and qi yue's first love came into the pic.
The worst part of the drama was the ACTING! yes..He Jun Xiang's appearance was really not handsome when he pinned up his hair and looked like dao ming si..somehow. And i couldnt stand the way he showed his "evil smile"...what are u trying to show? sad or really smiling? Dont keep give such smiles when the situation is not right mah. Wang Chuan Yi was alright in the show though, what a surprised! Rainie yang was still the cute gal lah, some of her hairstyles were super "act cute" but suited her leh. Acting wise i think she had improved a little. The other support cast was average too, except zeng shao zong. His first appearace with a super spiky hair (can be a broom liao) was really ugly. Luckily he put his hair down...phew! Looked so much better. I dont think gangsters had such hairdos too..yaks!
Another flaw was the ost..kept playing "li xiang qing ren" and "ai mei" until i am sick of it. "Chou nan ren" by Yida was the theme song. I had said before that taiwanese idol dramas lost alot to other dramas cos their music lacked variety.
Not really gg to reco it to u guys, though SCV will be showing it in May. The choice is yours.
[必胜!奉顺英 Oh! Pil-seung Bong Soon Young] KBS Actors: Ahn Jae Wook, Chae Rim, Park Sun Young, Ryu Jin
Waited so long for Chae rim & Ahn jae Wook's comeback drama! This drama had an average plot, but the cast did a great job to add marks to the whole thing. Pil Seung (AJW) was a slacker in Pusan when he came to Seoul to siam those gangsters (shld be loansharks..) So he found himself a job at the West side supermart and became Soon Young's (CR) colleague. Soon Young's parents and bro opened a low-class restaurant and she was always being dumped by her bfs lah. Bad luck gal...so somehow she met the mkting chief of the supermart Jae Woong (RJ) who was interested in her. Hoho! But then Pil seung also liked her lah..
So now, the director of the supermart found her grandson to succeed her supermart, and it turned out to be pil seung. Jae woong was eyeing for this position as well and his dad was the secretary of the director. So now the director wanna trained pil seung up and got Yoo Jung( PSY) to become his assistant. Yoo Jung's fiance died in an accident and somehow liked pil seung as well..and later on soon young would realised that she fell for pil seung too.
Plot was simple and predictable, but there were so many funny parts b/w pil seung & soon young and also when pil seung undergo his training. Hahaha! Lucky he cut his hair and wore better clothes ah..or else Ahn Jae Wook really looked like an "ajossi" (uncle) to me man! Chae rim acted well too and looked like a xiao nv ren now..so pretty!
Reco to pals who like light-hearted dramas...
[巴厘岛的故事 What Happened In Bali] So Ji Sup, Jo In Sung, Ha Ji Won, Park Ye Jin
Watched the back part of the drama as i just subscribed SCV then. The whole drama was on the "dark" side..as in it was a very sad drama lah. Soo Jung (HJW) was a poor girl who fell in love with In Wook (SJS). However, becoz of money and some other reasons, she chose to be with Jae Min (JIS) who was a rich guy and was crazy for her. In Wook would took revenge on Jae Min when they worked in the same company. Young joo (PYJ) was in wook's ex galfriend but she dumped him and married to Jae Min, who dont like her. Young joo kinda jealous when she knew that both in wook and jae min liked soo jung. So basically, the whole plot revolved in this 4 love-triangle.
I think the characters first met each other in Bali ba..then the story would end in bali as well. In wook and soo jung were together but they were kenna killed by jae min, who later took suicide by the beach. Surprising plot right? Something new though, but i dont like the ending.
As for acting wise, I think Jo In Sung did a good job as that crazy fella. Though i think it was a little over, but at least it was convincing enough. The other 3 was zong gui zong ju lah.
Would only reco to ppl who like the actors and sad plots. For the others, i think you may find it boring or too depressing to watch lah. Hahaha!

电视剧小论坛 1 - 格斗，王子，西关

[前奏] 想必我这个“电视迷”已是众所周知啦。最近没东西写，所以决定介绍一些我看过的电视剧给大家。我会先从我最近看完或还在看的剧集下手。剧情我不会多讲，只会写一些感想和评语。
[格斗天王] 三立/台视偶像剧 演员：孙协志，王仁甫，刘品言，曾之乔，唐家豪 etc
5566之前的“西街少年”。。有点失望。格斗在故事概念上，算是有新鲜感。 至少，我不会在别的电视剧里，看到关于格斗的剧情。30集是有点长，中间部分有点拖泥带水，但是最后10集还挺精彩的。尤其是当阿彩夷过世后的剧情，相当好看。演技方面，依旧是夸张了点（要不然不叫台湾偶像剧）哈哈！ 剧中的坏人段研浩， 反倒引人注意。。
不喜欢导演用多种angle, 重复拍一个动作，比如说掉杯子。我觉得很多余，而且浪费时间。ost 方面，音乐似乎太少了，整部剧，总是听到一样的歌曲。（应该参考韩国的ost..) 不过，5566 在这张ost里的歌真的。。很好听；“永不放弃“和 “原点”。
[王子变青蛙] 三立/台视偶像剧 演员：明道，陈乔恩，王绍伟，赵虹乔，黄玉荣，Gino etc
很难得，有这么一套戏，可以让我那么迷上它。哈哈！说真的，我很少看偶像剧，到现在印象比较深刻的，应该是“流星花园”吧。王子的故事其实老套，甚至有抄袭某韩剧的剧情。但是，演员和其他 factors, 让王子变得超好看。我觉得两位男主角的角色，挺好发挥的。明道饰演的 “单均昊”和 “dang ou" ，在性格上完全不相同。明道成功的把这两个角色分开来，演技还不错。他和乔恩的戏更是精彩。。哈哈哈！绍伟的角色，变化很大，很快“徐子骞”将会使我觉得很厌恶。。绍伟其实长得ok,但是他的声音破坏了“徐子骞”的形象。。哈哈！有点可惜啦！他和乔恩的戏也很可爱。。尤其是他笑的时候。乔恩的角色“叶天瑜”。。总让我想起她在“千金百分百”时的角色，新鲜感少了点，但是如果不给她演，我也想不到谁可以代替她。。哈哈！虹乔演戏经验较少，这次演坏女人，好像不够坏，又不够可怜。。（overall 还可以啦) 她的造型其实不错，可能是角色无法有所发挥吧，所以“范云熙 ”就好像其他剧的坏女人一样。
我不是很喜欢剧中的sound effect, 但又觉得挺可爱的。哈哈！王子是胜在剧情好，有吸引大家继续看的factor。ost 方面，跟“格斗”一样，音乐不够多。。但是， 歌词写出了剧中人物的意境。三立得在ost 下多一点功夫。
[西关大少] 香港无线电视台 演员：刘松仁，赵雅芝，张智霖，佘诗曼， 韩君婷， 陈剑锋， 郑嘉颖
无线03年台庆剧。前15集，松哥的戏份较重，Chi Lam 和阿佘 的部分很好笑， 我想是要让整套戏的气氛缓和一点吧。松哥角色死后，主角就是 Chi Lam 啦。。不过，后半部的剧情有点草率。 一家船行倒了。。有这么快雨过天晴啊？哈哈哈！而且，周家的人在最后才看清谁是好人。。也太假了吧，大家突然都认错了。。好假。（典型港剧剧情。。）不过，幸好最后结局大团圆。。相当好看啦。阿佘在里面的造型还挺美的。。Chi Lam 还是那张娃娃脸。。哈哈！剧情整体算ok,没有复杂的关系。。不过，会有很多不喜欢的角色。。哈哈！ （都是坏人嘛！）