^ I'm also guilty of bookmarking dramabeans.com and clicking on it everyday. Happy new years everyone! Have fun and be safe!

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE, MAY 2010 BE A HEALTHY, PLEASANT AND FUN JOURNEY TO ALL OF YOU.

Oh Open Thread, you have no idea how anxiously I have waited for you. To the point that this is a copy and paste document. Thanks Javabeans and crew for that wonderful 2009 kdramas year in review, we all enjoyed it. It was after reading Javabeans and the rest reviews of 2009 kdramas, I realised that I wanted to say something too. But what I wanted to say covers just about everything in relation to Asian dramas and not kdramas alone.

Therefore before you read any further, be prepared for the following:-

1. This is may be the longest post I have ever done on this site or any site ever, please be patient. These thoughts have been brimming in my head for a few days now what a relief felt now that I am able to talk. “I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SITE AND OPEN THREAD”. I’m in a writing mode; this is divided into 4 parts.
2. I am a self proclaimed Asian drama addict who visits dramabeans.com, soompi.com, viikii.net and d-addicts.com everyday. Similar symptoms anyone? Raise your hands. Is there an Asian drama addicts anonymous out there, please let me know, I need to reduce my addiction.
3. What I may write may entertain, amuse, inform and offend some or all. What can I say, it’s my personality.
4. I am a Caribbean island girl and proud of it. I therefore acknowledge having no expertise on the Asian culture at all. I am a graduate from the anime genre into the dramas who never looked back.
5. I do not consider myself a ‘feminist’ but an ‘equal opportunist’, though that’s not necessarily the case in some parts of the world, I have to say watching these shows has made so glad to be born in my country “Hail up Jamaica and Jamaicans everywhere, especially the jam drama addicts you know uself”.

Part 1

With all the above said, let’s get on with my personal reviews and observations of Asian dramas on a whole. I wanted to do this as a response to the year in review by our fellow writers, but I realize there is so much more I wanted to cover so here we are in Open Thread.

Best streaming site discoveries for 2009
1. viikii.net – without a doubt. There are so many praises that I have for this site, I’m choked up. The one word I have for this site “BEAUTIFUL”. It’s the cornucopia of the world dramas to watch and allows all of us drama addicts a place to be ourselves, participate, learn and enjoy dramas from other parts of the world. It’s here I learn about Philippines, Thailand and Indian dramas, already into Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese & Chinese dramas leaning more towards Korean shows. It’s also here where I experimented with the European & South American dramas as well; hands down the Asian dramas win.
2. ovguide.com – this site allows you to explore other streaming sites for just about any type of entertainment i.e. music, movies, anime or dramas that you are interested in. I like that factor a lot, just enter your interest and ovguide gets you there very easy place to be.
3. dramastyle.com – this site is not bad at all, their search feature is great and you can view both movies and dramas from all over as well. Though I haven’t been there recently, the times that I have gone to site I have enjoyed using it.

To the fansub sites, I and the rest of the world thank you for giving us the opportunity to enjoy the dramas that are out there. Without you we would be living in total ignorance – a very sad thing to happen to us all. YOU ARE DEFINITELY MOST WORTHY & THEN SOME.

With all that said I am repeating this advice to all those sites that provides these wonderful gifts to us and then on occasion request a donation to support the site though it’s free.

I do not have a problem with the request; my main problem is how limited are the donation options available on the site. All of you should keep in mind that the sites that you host are not just serving your country; you are actually serving the world which can explain the numerous hits that you get. As such this credit card option limits a lot of people who are willing to donate but do not have one. Please find some solution to resolve this as I am sure that you will all benefit in the long run. The economy is bad worldwide so every mikkle mek a mukkle. My and other fellow watchers mikkle, surely can help you make that mukkle. As we say out here at times - one one coco full basket.

Happy New Year JB and follow Dramabeans readers!

Part 2

Rating of other Asian countries dramas that I have watched, what was liked and disliked.

As previously stated I am a drama addict, I also like exploring other country’s shows to ascertain adding it to my watch/not watch list, so thank you viikii.net for giving me the opportunity to do so – isn’t this site beautiful.

Korean dramas – love them (the majority of the dramas that I have watched are from this country, they are not doing a bad job at all). My tastes here are eclectic but I like watching the historical, contemporary and fusion sageuk. I like sleeping, so no horror shows for me. What I like most about Korean dramas is their variety there something for everyone. I have introduced many people to this genre as well, the feeling was mutual, love at first watch.
Japanese dramas – like them, they do have fun shows to watch. Have not watched much as I did in the past, but they are interesting stories that allows you to think. For those into melodrama, mix up mix up and romance. These shows are not for you as very little of that is shown on their screen.
Taiwanese dramas – like them, though them have a tendency to use the same storyline a lot to the point of boredom. I was pleasantly surprised to actually have 3 dramas that I have enjoyed and am enjoying watching this year. Hands down Taiwanese dramas provide the most realistic love scenes especially when it comes to kissing, they have a few mishaps compared to other shows (its little) but when you see a couple kiss they are into each other, sometimes hot, on occasion tasteful & nice not the typical blah kiss scenes from the other Asian dramas for that I thank them. Plus it’s not in every episode, its’ usually few, but when its’ done, its’ done well. PDs from other countries watch & learn from the Taiwanese, in my opinion they have this aspect down pat. Any naysayers out there please tell me.
Chinese/mainland dramas – do not mind them. For those into the wuxia, fantasy stuff with lots of fighting, 30 – 40 episode long show. This is for you, don’t watch them as much because they can be boring and dragggged out, its like – get on with the story already ‘dang’ and I’m being nice here. Just start to watch one now – The book and the sword it’s new so we’ll see. You can get them from d-addicts.com for those interested.
Philippine dramas – like them, they are good shows. However, my biggest peeve is that I have yet to watch a completed, subbed drama. Why – because from what I have seen those who bring the shows to us end up stopping at some point. Dislike this much, just when you are getting to the good stuff & enjoying the show it just stops and ends up ruining the whole meal, what a big downer. Don’t spell sense watching it in the first place. I am enjoying the one that I am watching right now – ‘Because There Is Only You’ which is currently being shown at viikii.net, its 110 episodes – 85 has been uploaded to date. For those segmenters and subbers who may stop by here please complete this show myself and the rest of the fans thank you from our hearts if you do so. It would be the first Philipino drama that I actually completed watching, should I be so lucky. For those who want to volunteer go to the site i.e. viikii.net and offer your services, thanks. There would be more watchers of these type of dramas if they could just complete one.
India dramas – don’t appeal to me, they tend to bore me at times. I am sure that there are very good shows, watched some movies and loved them. However I am not into continuous singing and no kissing policy whatsoever especially when these shows are romantic, there are times to me when a hug does not suffice, one or two kisses would do. Don’t think I’m asking much, but it’s more personal taste especially with a romance drama as said sometimes hugging do not suffice, wonder where is the passion of these people? Don’t feel it. Though I am aware it’s a culture thing so that’s why I can see with it, but these are not for me.
Thailand dramas/lakorns – dislike them a lot. As previously stated I’m an equal opportunist and not a feminist. But any show/set of shows that have the hero rapes the heroine and everyone is okay with it is a huge huge turn off for me. They appear to do so with the main couple that’s married as if that justifies everything – rape is rape no matter how you look at /word it. These so called heroes and heroines of the shows are supposedly educated, sensible and intelligent people (though that remains to be seen) and you are telling me that they cannot have an “intimate” relationship without this scene in the show at all that’s sad and very disgusting. That’s the lakorns that I have seen to date, I stopped after I think the 3rd one could not complete any of them because of this factor. Did a rant on viikii.net and not gone back since, do not miss this at all. Another factor is that they have some of the female leads so stupid I have to wonder at the culture of this country and what message are they trying to send out there to the world about themselves on a whole. I particularly feel sorry for the women who go through this and if possible try to report this to the police there. I do understand that it’s not reality and a drama, but it’s sad all the same. For those who enjoy this genre – different strokes for different folks.

So that’s it in relation to Asian dramas ratings.

Part 3

Observations of Asian dramas – cross the board, common occurrence for all/most of them, no matter the country – Japan, Korea, Philippines, China & others I think. It is here I may offend some readers; these are just my views. Dramas are that dramas, real life are put on such a backburner it’s hard to reach at times. We do love to be entertained, but some things when watched don’t make much sense, never the less we are entertained so we bear with it or ignore it, more times than not they are ignored. We try to/ignore the illogical flow of the storyline and its characters most times, there are times I want to go these places in question and shake the writers hard or knock some sense into them, in this case ‘the beam me up Scotty transporter from Star Trek would work here and be very handy’, can u imagine how many of us would use that machine? I will be using Korean dramas as examples as it’s the type I watch the most, but these also occur in other Asian dramas as well. Beginning now.

1. Why does everyone have to study in the US? Yes the US has excellent schools but so does their own country and other parts of the world as well, it’s especially difficult to believe that the character has studied overseas at an English speaking country at that for over a minimum of 2 years and their speaking skills are very weak. It is especially hard when they have the character getting excellent/high grades and awards. I am sure based on that a lot of public speaking had to be done and as such their English spoken or used is weak. This is also the case when these characters having supposedly lived in these countries for over 5 years of their lives. As such my expectations are that yes you can speak your own country’s language well but if you have been to an English speaking country over a good period of time i.e. 2 years or more your spoken English should be fair at best, not poor/very poor. I do understand how difficult it can be to learn a new language and culture – speaking from experience here though it was 4 months some years ago, I spoke the basics after that time it wasn’t poor, it was fair & then went home,. However, I do not think that I’m asking for much. I had an issue with Sons of Sols Pharmacy, not a bad show – Brutus’s family because of it. According to the storyline they have lived/grew up in the US for over 15 years their child and adulthood was spent there yet the English was spoken – very poorly by Brutus with smatterings about the place, none by the children who were born & raised there, and none by the sister an international lawyer at that who spent her child & adulthood there. I could not believe in this family at all because of it. It’s also the case with Bokshil as well, I don’t think I heard her speak any English in the show at all, though it appears that she understood it, through books that were shown & watching the shows, this aspect of her I could not believe in. In the medical profession in that country understanding and speaking Basic English is a must. After these factors were put in place, cannot in full sincerity believe the characters with the end result shown.
2. Do these shows have something against birth control, does it exist over there, I wonder. It appears that hardly anyone or no one practices safe sex, STD’s/AIDS anyone? Are they saying that these do not exist in their country? They have characters cheating on the other in some of the dramas (in some cases it is frequent), what are they bringing to their faithful spouses when they come home I wonder? Yes I understand it’s not real, but get real, these things happen a little dose of reality & prevention helps. It does not have to be obvious some subtlety would do. Do not sweep this aspect under the rug and its not tasteless/vulgar when discussed or used in the show in the right manner. Its’ like they want us to believe that everyone is purer than snow – not. Despite doing a lot of stuff, they are still very pure including the partners as well- pleeaze give me a break here.
3. Where do all the clothes come from? It amazes me at times when watching a drama, the character supposedly coming from overseas after being there for a serious length of time or moving to someone’s house and all they carry is a carryon bag/mini suitcase/knapsack and yet everyday or sometimes more than once a day they are wearing a different or new outfit coming out of this magical luggage with an endless supply of clothes, bags, accessories and shoes. Oh yes, and gifts to give people. Plus they are not shopping for these items. These characters are now living at these homes for not one week; we are talking in excess of a month here or forever. It’s the same with the closets as well. It never ceases to amaze me, whoever manufactures these magical luggage’s/closets please give me a link to your website, I want one – bottomless mini suitcase & endless closet. Do me a favor PDs, if one don’t exist, please give the characters a real huge suitcase/s with wheels to carry around, it can be empty for all I care, make me believe in something in this area. Most of the times I ignore it but its one of the reasons why I stopped watching Creating destiny, silly it may be but frankly this aspect was getting on my nerves.
4. Why do the cultures appear to over value their sons and under value their daughters? This is just not right, there are many cases where when watching these shows it’s the sons who can do no wrong and the daughters are Jezebel to the limit. As for the mothers/moms-in-laws – they even give the devil the jitters, be very very afraid. Not that there are no Jezebels mind you, but there are a lot of raw diamonds and gems as well. It’s the female that gets blamed a lot for the wrongs/situations that occur in the show as said before not all are blameless, but over 70% of the time she gets blamed, not the guy, he’s just at fault or is the contributing factor to the crime. These women are expected to be wives, mothers, daughters and then some. How can they expect them to learn to love and appreciate themselves in order to pass than on to someone? To make matters worse, it’s the mothers who spoil the child doing every/all things to the point that they are either of use, rotten, useless or decent. This is the explanation of the mama boys that exist over there. When the male decide to become his own man and choose a female of true worth, the mother objects and all hell breaks loose. Love/cherish your mothers, yes respect and listen to them totally agree but do not let them control all of your lives, your worthy girlfriend or wife is your future and continuation to your next life guys word of advice here. How would you feel if someone treated your daughter like that? I am so glad that I was not born there or live in that culture, it makes me appreciate myself and country more, I feel sorry for the girls who has to deal with this component. But that’s how the world is, we tend to undervalue our daughters but without them how would a future exist, it’s the same for sons as well. Please show us that the daughters have as much value as the son. Though there are few of the dramas that I have seen where the daughter is valued as much the son.
5. Why must there be an immediate pregnancy? Usually the character gets pregnant after the 1st night of ‘passion’ or just a look ‘miracle baby anyone?’, what happened to ‘couple time’ doesn’t that exist? Its more a personal principle of mine than anything else, children are a blessing yes but to me its more important for the couple to be a couple especially when they just got married for at least 6 months. Once children come into the picture, the couple time is significantly reduced. I like the idea the couple being a couple going through the quirks of daily life and dealing with each other adjusting to moods, arguments etc appeals to me more than an immediate pregnancy story. In Assorted Gems – I was pissed at BiChiwi for advising Kang Ji to get pregnant so soon after marrying Sanho, its not completely 3 months yet, she’s in her early 20’s and with a husband who does only studies all day. They were still adjusting to each other give them 1 year please. What’s the big rush to get pregnant or be a parent immediately after marriage, you just getting to know the other is one measly year too much to ask for? I still did not like it that they got pregnant either, but slightly (key word slightly) forgave them due to her father issues, may be he’ll live long enough to see his grandchild prior to his death, the pregnancy in this case would be Kang Ji’s family hope. Once Bichiwi or Ruby marries, I really do not want to see an immediate pregnancy, please give them one year.

That’s it for my overall observations of the typical stuff you see in the dramas. There may be more, you can name them.

Part 4 – finally phew!!

Ratings of dramas watched in 2009

Korean dramas – agree that it was an improvement over 2008. I started watching them in summer 2007. There were more watched than dropped this year.

Favorites - would watch more than one time, if and when I find time that is

Story of a Man – very smart show
Return of Illijimae – my second favorite for this year. Numero 1 is a tie and goes to City Hall and Story of Man.
Queen Seon Deok – fan of historical dramas so therefore its #my 1 historical compared to the others that were shown earlier this year
Assorted Gems – it is a gem indeed
Smile, You – the chemistry between the leads is just “Special and natural” its very hard to copy, looking forward to their future work
City Hall – the best romantic show of the year. Plus they show a couple dealing with different types of growth in their own way. For the PDs out there, that how couples suppose to kiss, like they are into each other and like to kiss. Learn that please, none of that foo foo/paste lips on person ½ second crap. I do not mind the innocent kisses now and then when appropriate it should be used but they need to show that the woman actually liked to be kissed by the guy she likes & the guy really likes to kiss her.
Family Honour

Liked – The weekend dramas has made a leap this year, there were so much to enjoy and it was difficult to pick and choose which ones to drop and which to keep.

Sons of Sols Pharmacy
Brilliant Legacy
You are Beautiful
Cain and Abel
Invincible Lee Pyung Kang – its sneaky, has a unique way of growing on you. Check it out.
Will it snow for Christmas – like it so far
Temptation of an Angel – its my kcrack for the year.
Romance Zero – a sleeper about the matchmaking industry in Korea, surprisingly funny little show, check this one out as well. It’s really nice.
Tamra the island – pleasant surprise

Disappointed – these shows I started to watch with good expectations but could not finish it because it either got boring or lost interest with the storyline at some point. Wait a minute, I did finish one.

East of Eden – what a huge disappointment, it had so much potential and just went to waste after 40 episodes or is it before? I removed this show from my PC, to think I was saving for future re-watch, bummer.
Boys before Flowers – the writers just messed up Geum Jan di’s character. In terms of comparison of idol type of shows – You are beautiful definitely beats it by far.
Creating destiny – will not go there
Hot blood – too much broken links do make one lose interest.
Empress Chun Chu – just stopped & could not go beyond #13.
Ja Myung Go – after just watching Kingdom of the Winds (Song II Gook fans out there? Me a hail you up!! Hello). This show just disappoint could not get past episode 1
Dream, Heading to ground, Strike Love and Triple – the sports dramas which I usually enjoy did not do anything for me especially when trying to balance both sports and love. They were all hard watches, which end up not being watched at the early part of the show. Watch Buzzer Beat – Japanese one which is a good sports show to watch.
My Fair Lady – painful to watch, waste of talent and stupid story to boot
Style - terrible

Could not get myself to watch even if you paid me
Cinderella man – the age gap was too hard for me to ignore with the leads
The Three Brothers – though it get great ratings the mama boys issue is too much
Don’t hesitate – admit to starting it stopped at #8 then it has become the only show that I watch via soompi readers at the site, the storyline and the complete stupidity of the leads never cease to amaze me, no one on the supposedly good side has any sense, its safer for all to watch it this way.
Loving you a thousand times – will not go there
He who cant marry - as above

Just by this listing alone, I realize that I have watched too much computer and very little TV. My 2010 goal is to reduce the number of dramas watched, gone excessive here.

Japanese dramas – much less watched than the previous year as I have leaned towards the Korean types more so. Their type of dramas usually about work /suspense/ very little comedy & romantic storyline, occasionally they can be a good watch, so with that said -

Overall liked
Buzzer Beat – favorite jdrama, light and sweet. The romance component was just right
JIN – smart show
Real clothes – food for thought on how clothes affects a person’s everyday life and their outlook on themselves as well as people’s perceptions of them based on how they dress. Did not get the significance until one of the leads advise the person “Look at yourself in the mirror a little longer, what do you see?/ is it do you like what you see?” something along those lines. I thank the team for subbing this drama, though it has ended, am highly anticipating subs for ep 8 to 11.
Liar Game 2 - its good though, I have stopped watching because there’s too much drama being watched, have to slow down

Other
Mr. Brain – not bad I like the actor Takuya Kimura, he does good work
Tokyo Dogs – could not get pass episode 1
Gyne – all about babies etc, did not hold my interest for long
God Hand Teru – not bad, liked that it was just 6 episodes
Shojoko Seira – the little Princess, the girl gets a commendation for sainthood (character) and acting (actor). Though I did have an issue with the English aspect, she grew up in India a country cornucopia of languages, spoke French & Japanese only. She also read stories to the Indian staff in Japanese, they supposedly understood her.

Taiwanese dramas – they usually have the same storyline which has eventually put me to sleep and turned off their shows. But there were surprises this year.

Favorites
Black and White - the best ever to come from this country, I was wondering where they were hiding this show; it was such a refreshing change from the usual stuff that this country brings. Looking forward to the movie coming this year.
Autumn’s Concerto – it’s a nice love story. The kid Xiao Le is adorable you will love him and it’s a good ensemble. The PDs from other countries may need to go there in order to see how a first time couple should kiss, it was sweet and later got hot. We can eliminate the hot if necessary.
Momo Love – fun story especially about the 4 brothers and 1 girl in the family, and how they deal with her love life; it will be finishing in 2 weeks. If you are a fan of the group Fahrenheit this is the show for you two of the main guys are in there as leads – Jiro and Calvin.

Other
Roseate Love – not bad, but this show can be so tiring on the viewer
Knock Knock Loving you – started okay, but went downhill could not finish it at all.
Easy Fortune, Happy Life - typical Taiwanese drama
Hi, my sweetheart – its okay, but I’m not into the show

In terms of the Hana Yori Dango story – it has so far been done by 4 countries i.e. Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. Seen them all.
Japan, Hana Yori Dango 1& 2 – the best out of all four though the movie was messed up to me it made me glad that I watched the series first, Taiwan, Meteor Shower 1 & 2 – not a bad watch but they dragggged the storyline forever & a day could have ended earlier, Korea, Boys Before Flowers – what a shame they did to this story line as well as the characters, the one thing I enjoyed about this show was what they did with the side characters i.e. Soeul couple, I felt there more chemistry between them than the main leads in the latter part. China, Let's watch the Meteor Shower - this show like the Taiwanese one dragged, but it had the best behaving F4 of the bunch and the female ‘Makino’ was actually smart, other factors were that it had a more balanced family life aspect out of all the previous set watched , there was more involvement of the fathers/males figures in the children’s lives which I liked. What I did not like was the constant repeating of the same clothes by lead characters, expect it for the poor but not the rich or very rich as this F4 is suppose to be. If you are very rich make us believe that you are.

So there you have it my review of Asian dramas for 2009 and then some hope you all enjoyed, the very very very long post, the rants and the raves etc. Thanks Javabeans and thread. ALL THE BEST FOR 2010, HOPE ITS FILLED WITH BRIGHT HOPE AND NOT HOPELESSNESS, JOY AND NOT SADNESS, SUCCESS AND NOT FAILURE AND LOVE. I gone for now.

@18, emeldy -

The most frustrating thing is opening a diaper you JUST changed, and see it soiled by mustardy poo, and see it has run up his back - now you have to change his diaper, his clothes, wipe him down, and do it before his pee fountain goes off ramdomly.

Still, jihoonie is healthy and relatively happy. Although hjkomo gomo reminded me that CitC is not rated "G" and so good parenting does not include watching rated PG-14 dramas with an infant... :D

I am still learning to parent!!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I don't even think I'd be able to list the 2009 Korean dramas I watched this year let alone the Japanese or Taiwanese or Chinese. I honestly don't think I watched that many that were actually 2009 dramas.

I can only really list a few (Korean - Taiwanese - Japanese) :

Assorted Gems: Five Stars; My review of it would totally echo Hjkomo's.
Return of Iljimae: Four Stars
Loving You 1000 Times: Since I stopped watching at episode 24 (for now, I will go back to it), I can't really give a good review of this. But it's one of those dramas that definitely isn't the best out there, but it doesn't suck either, and for one reason only do I keep watching: The Main Couple.
Will it Snow for Christmas: Four Stars (for now...it'll go up or down depending on if the main characters get together in the end or not...).
Autumn's Concerto: Such an adorable drama based on one little character that I fell in love with within seconds of his first appearance. The main leads would also make a very adorable couple and I hope that happens soon! Definitely Five Stars here, especially since it's not the stereotypical Taiwanese drama.
Black & White: I don't think I need to say anything about this...that hasn't already been said by multiple people in multiple open threads. Five Stars.
BOSS: The only Japanese drama I watched this year that was actually from 2009. Well, the only one I finished. I'm a bit behind on Mr. Brain and Love Shuffle. I'm hoping for a season season, but I don't know if that will happen. Five Stars.

I hope I can actually manage to watch all the 2010 dramas I have on my list before the end of 2010.

Happy New Year to you all! May we all have a happy and healthy 2010.

I hope you all have your New Years meal underway - ours is hoppin John, cabbage and sausage this year. The blackeyed peas bring luck, the greens money and the meat strength....or something like that. It's a good hearty first day meal anyway! (food obsessed much?)

Someday I'll out myself here to explain just how I ended up as momosan. LOL! Because if any of you meets me IRL, you are going to be going WHAT?! especially given my rant about Dru Hill in the last OT. 8-)

I'm reaching back into my Abe Hiroshi locker and queuing up Change for the next j-drama; and I'm going to try Invincible Lee Pyung Kang while waiting for Chuno. The kid is back at her homebase as of tomorrow, so my journey down j-drama highschool stories is hopefully drawing to a close. I tell ya, when you find Nobuta wa Produce a serious tearjerker, it's time to grow up and watch some saguek. Whew! Actually many of them are quite good - rewatching Dragon Zakura was fun (and has probably ruined me for God of Study), as was Gokusen 1 - that and scary stuff are genres that j-drama does quite well - but mentally I'm about 12 now from watching too many of these in a row.

Actually, I believe I'll queue up some Torchwood and enjoy a little John Barrowmen before watching the end of The End of Time and the exit of one of the best Doctors ever. Ah Ten, it's been fun. Sigh.

Other than Chuno, what's coming up on the radar?

Happy New Year!! Thank you so much for the past few dramabeans.com posts with the reviews and awards recaps and episode recaps. I feel a bit spoiled! =D

And I had managed to watch Black and White (tw drama) before 2009 ended- began it last weekend and finished it a couple days ago. I didn't think I was going to live up to my goal. The drama was addictive and the acting and plotting was very suspenseful. However, there were some really annoying logical holes and Ying Xiong's behavior was out of line for me at times.

I've also been watching the j-drama Untouchable- which is another there-is-a-conspiracy-by-a-higher-power type of drama. It's been pretty good so far!

are there any upcoming taiwan/japanese/korean romantic comedies coming out within the next week or two? I sort of miss following dramas in real time with the crazy suspense of waiting for episodes to come out week after week.