@ 351 / 352 Samsooki

ROFLMAO!!!!!!
Clearyly, YOU have too much time on your hands, and
thus, can fit CitC recaps into your [not busy enough] schedule. ;)

@ ockoala

Did you read o-cha's post in soompi (yesterday) translating some news that your "I LUB YOU" Jung Woo Sung and Jang Hyuk were the front runners for Dae Gil?! O_O

Sure, JWS return to dramaland would've been awesomesauce...but I just can't picture anyone other than JH as Dae Gil.....especially as the swaggering, smirking [seemingly heartless] slave hunter (not even JWS!).

@ hjkomo

Dae-gil: pre- and post- tragedy version - is and only can be portrayed by Jang Hyuk. His turn as the conman turned man with a conscience in Robbers was just the opposite of what's happened here, but it must have been his warm-up routine, because JH is brilliant in Chuno so far. His smirky hooded gaze conveys enough menace and desolation, it's yet early, but I'm hoping mopey OJH will bust out and become manly beefcake enough to keep up with Dae-gil.

My "I lub you" may well be transitioning from sageuk to wuxia, what with his turn in Rain of Swords, and I really got good vibes from him in The Restless (not from anything else in that production, unfortunately), so I'm just a happy happy camper.

And I'm totally fangirling over my newly discovered acting talent in the mainland Chinese young fella Yuan Hong. Exact same vibes I got when I discovered JWS in AMTR, CSW in City Hall, SJS in MiSa, KJH in HGD, and Im Joo-hwan in Tamra. It's like you just do "wow" I can't stop watching this person when he is on-screen, everything else kinda fades into the background like the camera focuses on him.

I adore JH, and he's doing the same thing in Chuno, but then he's not a new discovery for me. :-) Just a total rock star actor is JH!

@ ockoala

Correction: o-cha's post was this morning - http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=303202&view=findpost&p=15231517

@ Samsooki

perhaps, the OT passive-aggressive begging can persuade JB to do Chuno recaps ;)

If not, it's okay, JB. You need rest even more than I do. *bows to your awesomesauce-ness* :D

"I AM SO TIRED ARGGG TOO MANY DRAMAS TO COVER TOO LITTLE TIME CAN’T CHOOSE TOO MANY CHOICES BRAIN OVERLOAAAAADDD……"

LOL Time to outsource recapping duties to India? :D

Do you live in India, belleza?

Oh, and I'm *this close* to checking out of WISFC, inspite of Kang-jin oppa's awesomesauceness.

Mild spoiler:

2 years later!!! WTF, worst and unnecessary time jump EVER from where I'm sitting, which is on the sofa! And mid-way through a drama, has the writer drunken some lamesauce of her own? And they gave my Kang-jin oppa JIW lego-helmet hair from the drama written by gerbils. Sigh, so weird, just awkwardness all around.

belleza and ockoala

LMAO! You guys do have scintillating sense of humor! This is the best place to come for a good laugh for my exhausted brain. Have to pack for Japan for business and family stuff both. So frazzled corresponding with my clients and customers in Japanese, I never really have learnt to type in Japanese and it takes forever and can't get anything done.

JB!

Please! don't be exhausted. You are the source of the best re-caps for me as I can't watch any dramas for now. But I know exactly what you mean... Sending tons of warm fuzzy feeling your way.

@ockoala ,

"Do you live in India, belleza?"

LOL you wouldn't want me to recap a show. For example, I would lie. (i.e. "And then Jang Hyuk runs nekkid behind a floating cloud as he hunts down another slave . . ." )

"2 years later!!! WTF, worst and unnecessary time jump EVER from where I’m sitting, which is on the sofa! "

Oh, no doubt. Figured as much. It looks like we're getting What Happened in Bali without the "Arggghhhhhhh-fist-in-mouth" fun.

@ celestialorigin

javabeans serves to share and educate us on the beauty and entertainment value of k-dramas.

I merely have a right leg twitching ability to amuse at my own expense. :-P

@ belleza

" I would lie"

Since I'm smack dab in the middle of three sageuk/wuxia drama-watching (CitC, Chuno and LoCH), I shall borrow a pithy saying from one Yang Kang to his dumb as a doorpost sworn brother Guo Jing:

"Sometimes you have to lie to continue to allow the person you love to be happy, and then you're only lying because you love them, and then the lie is no longer a bad thing because it serves a good purpose."

1. Lie to me, belleza, because your lies surely only serve to make me happy.

2. Wicked, wicked sense of distortionist intelligence that YK guy has, huh?

As for WISFC - yeah, all the mind-f*ck, none of the fun of WHIB (which you and I seem to appreciate on the along the same wavelength). Just a ponderous drama at this point. I'm tired watching HYS act like Sisyphus.

@cingdoc, how long will u be back in HKG? I'm heading back in couple wks.. if u need help with anything, please just holler. ( half of my bestfriends r docs in various hospitals in HK...but I'm good with food crawls)

*sigh* I'm saving CitC for a marathon on the 14hour flight.... u guys r beyond tempting. btw wouldnt it be ultimate fanservice say hjkomo, samsooki and belleza alternate eps in recapping (and The JB IF can squeeze time for TWO eps after the splitting)?!?! *I can dream, can't I?*

I skimmed bits of Pasta2 just now... um.. somehow it's deflated in awesomeness. GHJ is still spot on. I dunno, maybe I should be giving it my full attention to be fair?! what I got: the dialogues r trying a tad hard (esp btn Honey and Alex), or maybe they r just unconvincing as cool friends/soulmates in sth vaguely platonic OR 'with benefits' (?). Pasta1...a lot of the restaurant shots r exact replica of mnikss.

@ockoala.. lol there's no turning back fr madfangirling over Yuan Hong now, been there. u need to somehow squeeze some alone girltime to squeee thro his YLQ in Young Yang Clan. he's a handsome-r Nagase.
I too agree with ~80% of that comment u quoted fr crunchyroll, interestingly the reception fr mainland audience: hot over HuGe ( that's a given he's not unlike a JGS in popularity, given he's a recording singer as well) and Lee Jie (OuYangKe) they dun really care for YuanHong as the new YK, part is the loyalty over RoCH (and how this YK totally screwed the premise)... but for all us 'foreigners' it's totally YuanHong>>>LeeJie. I've heard of that drama with Janine Chang and LiuShishi fr hubby, those 2 r his current TW and China reigning babes.
L08 written by QY?! nooooooooo freaken way... I can't be a mile near a QY (gf, u r being cruel now, I'm so freaking tempted to rewatch Loch08...and I'm no Belleza) somehow this was also a perfect mesh of wuxia and idol angsty goodness for me, and your description of it being a this close to perfect fusion pf saguek+wuxia+pureidoldrama streamlined and craftily edited to a precision that's just perfect for a LC 101 intro...WORD.

@belleza: now I have hair touching visuals...tsktsktsk.. but I need binnie+JDG and knowing binnieboy, he'll tongue-waggingly grab the Jake....and at least one shirtsniffing has to be on SOME torso, no wirehanger! the only lines they spoke should be repeated 'cant quit you + *glare*/ *sniffsniff*.'
I've seen binnie in too many flannels though in WW....how about just the bordello circa 1911 'A Time for Freedom' fr HHH's 3Times?!

food for thought: what is WHiB without the fistinmouthfun?!

You know, I'm a crazy drama addict and I admit it. Nothing wrong, I don't need no DA Anonymous. But what got me started on path (novels and mangas aside), really were the supreme wuxia adaptations from TVB in the 80s. Gotta start somewhere, and really, no better place to start for me.

So, @ mookie, what LoCH 2008 means for me (oh, I'm up to episode 17, out of 50, and I may not make it, if I perish from hyperventilation beforehand) - is the most profound collision of everything I hold dear and use to compartmentalize.

Imagine loving fried eggs, panna cotta, juicy steaks, and uni-nigiri, and someone made a dish with all of the very ingrediants you hold near and dear to your heart - and comes up with a better dish than you can ever imagine.

LoCH 2008 combines the fresh-faced raw appeal of TW idol-dramas (a cast of kids acting like kids learning life's hard knocks), the mind-scintillating action moves of classic HK movies/dramas, and the unparallel k-drama angst and melo when everyone and everything is less black and white but shades of grey and circumstances and inevitables. Louis Cha certainly DID NOT write LoCH this way, and when you watch, you are hooked on the stories of the parents to the children and you ache for the shit to hit the fan (because its gonna) because all I want to do is watch my darling two couples grow old together and for Yang Kang and Huang Rong to insult each other all day long because otherwise they'd give into the temptation and ditch GJ and MNC to be together. [Seriously, one reason Huang Rong CANNOT stand Yang Guo is because he is literally the son she and Yang Kang spiritually had together, not an ounce of Mu Nianci in that boy].

I know mainland China folks lurve Hu Ge and Huang Xiao-min, and in my view, that's like loving Dreyer's vanilla ice-cream in a bucket when you freaking have fresh Hazelnut Gelato some Italian dude just hand mixed in a batch off his diary in Tuscany offered to you. Like....what? I'm just so confused, Yuan Hong reminds me of a young So Ji Sub, with less bedroom eyes, definitely way more untried and inexperienced at this time, but so talented I'm just.....really impressed.

I saw the Yelu Xie vids from YT, and everyone seemed to adore him, and that's all I need, I don't want to slog through Young Yang's Clan just for snippets of Yuan Hong. Like you said:

"lol there’s no turning back fr madfangirling over Yuan Hong now, been there"

I guess I'll have to ride this ridiculous mad-love for this boy until I finish LoCH 2008. (the only 3 times I cried in LoCH1982 version was (1) when Guo Jing's 5 out of 6 masters were killed, (2) when Nan-Di, the Southern Emperor, refused to save the infant his queen had with Zhou Buo-tong, out of wedlock, and her hair turns white overnight, and that song played, and (3) when Yang Kang died (yup, Michael Miu is god, he can make me cry for a 1000% bad to the bone YK). Now imagining what Yuan Hong is going do with a YK that is not bad but completely a man too intelligent to blindly choose fidelity and filial loyalty to a country and a father that abandoned him.

And if Chuno heats up soon, it's a two-fer, I'm calling a hiatus on drama watching until my mental stability can be restored.

337 cingdoc : I'm so sorry to hear about your mother... I hope she'll soon be feeling very much better. Certainly she'll be happy to have you there. What a good daughter you are!

Beginning of term so I'm just skimming through this week... Thanks for the Lotte clips (such a catchy song... and some very competent tux-wearers, too, mmm-mmm). And important question, where are you guys watching Chuno?

@mookie,

"but I need binnie+JDG and knowing binnieboy, he’ll tongue-waggingly grab the Jake…"

Oh, you mean "Friend (With Benefits): The Legend" ;)

"food for thought: what is WHiB without the fistinmouthfun?!"

Sex without foreplay, foreplay without romance, romance without a crazy pain inside to be loved by the other, the other without fear of the Other -- that nagging sense that your soul may be revealed to be a completely empty suit stuffed with pretty, empty things.

Jo In Sung screams "I am not without a soul!!" But he is without a soul. Jo In Sung screams "But I can love!!" But he cannot love. Jo In Sung screams "You make me a better person!!" But he turns further into the madness.

Bali is Caliban not able to see himself in the mirror. Jo In Sung is Caliban's rage. Thus the fist in the mouth. AARRGGGHHHH!!!

@ mookie

"they dun really care for YuanHong as the new YK, part is the loyalty over RoCH (and how this YK totally screwed the premise)… "

I'm mad about that actually. Zhang Ji-zhong's adaptations of LC novels (from LoCH, to RoCH, to Duke, etc.) are all his own unique universe. Therefore, it's like Superman and Bizarro Superman, alternate universes. Ergo, what happened in LoCH 2008 in terms of YK's story does not affect ZJZ's RoCH 2006 remake, and LoCH 2008 needs to spawn its own RoCH in the next few years - and if the director is ballsy enough, he needs to cast Yuan Hong as Yang Guo!

We know YG is his father's son in everyway, and was this close to being bad, before being hidden away in the Tomb for a few years. I've always secretly felt that YK and YG needed to be played by the same awesome actor, to achieve the full effect of Louis Cha's seminal grandfather-father-son story. Just more fan-casting dreams of mine.

Oh, I've always felt that Janine Chang was BORN to play saguek-wuxia-olden times dramas. She looks like she stepped out of the frame of a old ink painting. Unlike a Ha Ji-won, who's really too sultry to play sagueks, but succeeds inspite of the modernity that envelopes her because she's a great actress. Lee Na-young is also someone seemed to be born to live in sagueks, her tiniest gesture in CitC commands your attention because her stillness evokes movement in the mind.

I'm not planning to watch Clothing World, but if your hubby does some fangirling for Janine and Liu Shishi (who are twins, btw, I can barely tell them apart in the trailer, I was like, wait, which one is she, the seamstress or the princess?), let me know if its any good.

I'm glad you may marathon CitC on the plane to HK, that would be perfect viewing environment. Undivided attention is required.

@368 cingdoc

Well, at least Singapore air is known for their gracious services and slender cabin crew members. You'll be able to relax a bit and sleep for next 14 hours. Please take a good care of yourself as well and enjoy being there even during can be stressful situation. At least you are blessed in terms of being surrounded by your extended family members. And food is plentiful and great. I'll miss you seen here on OT. I haven't been able to participate in actual drama discussions lately as I've been swamped with work. No, dramas, for now. So many on my list... Sigh. But I still come here for Belleza's deadly witty comments, ockoala's advises on everything from fashion to drama recommendations. To have glimpses on Samsooki's family life and his deep, earnest and sometime totally one sided critics of dramas and other stuff and so on and on. And JB's fabulous Re-caps and commentaries on dramas and other things. A real Oasis! and so many others here on this thread! You are totally appreciated!

Whoops, I, myself, is leaving tomorrow. and haven't finished packing at all. Better get going. Pressure is on me!

@javabeans

"I AM SO TIRED ARGGG TOO MANY DRAMAS TO COVER TOO LITTLE TIME CAN’T CHOOSE TOO MANY CHOICES BRAIN OVERLOAAAAADDD……"

JB, in dark times like this I ask myself, "What would Hwang Tae Kyung do?"

Answer: Create a matrix table with the X's and O's, thats what.

I've already decided to pass on WiSfC, Smile, You and the entire monday/tuesday lineup. My most eager wait was "God of Study" but looks like I will pass on that as well as much as I love Bae Doo Na. I am also looking for something fresh and challenging so holding out to catch the perfect banana fish. I'll watch Story of a Man and then maybe CitC next if I'm not already too tense and depressed after SoaM.

Chuno doesn't look like my thing but I'll wait and see what people are saying. If its action packed and saeguky, my husband may want to watch it.

@ cingdoc, have a safe trip. sending your mom our regards as well, speedy recovery and quality time w/ cingdoc (priceless :) )

@ Belleza:
'Oh, you mean “Friend (With Benefits): The Legend” '
Yes, PD HHH please, I just love me spinning panting droolzing squeeing OMGs while they r playing some slowmo pool then eventually ever so snailspeed almost hold hands...or just keep writing poetry to each other, no words... and me back to my own corner drawing hearts.

'Sex without foreplay, foreplay without romance, romance without a crazy pain inside to be loved by the other, the other without fear of the Other — that nagging sense that your soul may be revealed to be a completely empty suit stuffed with pretty, empty things.' lolz, this prose goes quite well as words to AveMaria @ white piano scene. *bow*

@ockoala
'I’ve always secretly felt that YK and YG needed to be played by the same awesome actor, to achieve the full effect of Louis Cha’s seminal grandfather-father-son story. Just more fan-casting dreams of mine.'
2 words: wuxia twin!! u know the greatest thing with Cdrama fandom is, these things DO happen. and Yuan Hong as YG, or lets go cheesier with NianChi as XLN (truth: she's tagged as 'the little LiuYF)...*&^@*#% me want now!!

I dun think I can stomach that Clothes/DJG ripoff. trailers looked bleh plotwise... Janine was better in artsier angsty stuff, here her cuteness is oh.so.forced. I think I'll watch it like I watched YoungYangClan though... see YYC was perfectly designed for fangirling.. story is threadbare simple. each ep: fightfightfight +some romance of token bro of that ep and 5 min of mad YLX fangirling and he's children kipnapping, Thaidrama-style predatory, aninalistic almost rapist, yet got the most squee/faint/romantic lines and *swoon* scenes ever for a baddie. I'm quite embarrassed of the no shame fangirling of PD and writer (not me) actually.

I bet u've seen these:
(sorry fellow OTers, this is for my own fangirling at work tmr)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMBRoJbmvWU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjTwRypjc20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGh5hT6DUDk

u know I ff thro LoCH06 like mad and caught some little things that make it just this awesome:
1. HR flirting with GJ going 'Jing gege, u r sooo handsome!' 'me,really?' ' yes' *HR squee* *giggle giggle giggle *
2. NianChi goes *sobsob* 'I'm so nice to him, y does he pour venom on me... I just like him so' ....against a tree, pouting like a real 16 yo.

@ cingdoc

What an itinerary but have a safe trip and get plenty quality time with your mum!!

@ Tamra Island Lovers

Now that I finished Tamra. I'm eager to get the full length (21 episodes) DVD set. Anyone knows where to buy it? Just checked previous DB post on this topic but nobody seems to know the answer.

@ Autumn's Concerto watchers - did this show get extended??? i thought it was supposed to be 13 episodes and ended right after Christmas? I stopped at episode 12 because I'm currently travelling and haven't done any drama watching in 2 weeks but i thought i'd check into viikii to sneak in a little and saw that there was an episode 14....?!?! so confused.

in other news I paid tribute to hana yori dango tonight and visited ebisu garden place and it is so so pretty at night!! also had the most delicious toro fresh from the tsukiji fish market...and SO CHEAP!! for the price of 3 decent pieces of toro i would have gotten in a good jtown restaurant, i got 8. holla. that's what i call a satisfying breakfast :)

off to hakone tomorrow!! even though bathing naked with strange women is not my cup of tea, it's an experience that cannot be missed my second time around in japan.

how are all my OT friends doing? i miss you guys! i'll have to work doubly hard in keeping up during next week's thread.

@cingdoc

Take care and journey mercy! Whadda y'know? My 77yo mum has been very sick for the past month, and been weak had a few falls. And my work place is a 'storm in a teacup'! I am just tired out and don't come to OT much except to see @belleza and co-hosts live awards commentary. :-D

I just drop by to 'see' how everyone is and also to be cheered up by all of you. Glad to catch you before you fly to HK. God bless.

@ockoala
Glad to know baobei is okay. :-)

@celestialorigin
Have a safe trip too. Take care.

@ cingdoc

Hafe a safe trip. The weather forecast here is cloudy but no rain on Saturday. Hopefully, there won't be too much fog to cause any delays for you. Good luck on Air China (I once flew it from Beijing to Shanghai, and it was the scariest flight I've ever taken).

@ epyc

There still may be some copies left of the Korean dvd release (can't remember the info for the vendor), but if you wait until April, YA Entertainment's going to release it (including English subs & Region 1).

@ lovenyc52 - yups there was an episode extension (I'm not sure how many though). Maybe that's why the past few episodes have dragggeeddd so much. I’d be distracted with pretty close-ups of him (I want), gorgeous close-ups of her (I want to be). and then awing moments with Xiao Le (my son-to-be many yrs from now) then the episode would end and you’d be like..waitaminute..did anything actually happen? Thankfully the last episode picked up the pace a little and we *finally* see some plot development. Don’t want to give any spoilers, but how awesome is Vanness acting?!? So intense and strong, yet you can see the lonely lost boy inside that just wants to be held and loved.

@ TVB discussions – man, brings back so many fond memories of my childhood. Of late nights sneaking down to our basement to watch the latest episode for the umpteenth time with the volume turned down so my parents wouldn’t find out. Good times. ^^ I used to consider myself a pretty die-hard fan, but after seeing the discussion here, I can’t even call myself a tween fangirl. I bow to your superior wuxia knowledge.

Someone mentioned classic modern series of the 90’s as Cold blood Warm Heart. That is a series that I love, but the ALL.TIME favorite at my house is Greed of Man (Thoi Dai Bo Gia). It’s such a classic we rewatch it ever other year or so. It gets our blood boiling everytime Adam Cheng’s onscreen (but what an amazing actor..)….but we have to see the ending..to see him get his just deserves. Sean Lau may not be the most handsome leads, but he’ll always have a special place in my heart from this series. Has anyone else ever seen this?

@ cingdoc - Take care and have a safe trip!! I didn't come early enough to catch what happened...but I hope everything works out for you and your family. *virtual SQUISHES sent your way*

@ epyc

Welcome to Tamra Islanders withdrawal support group, OT. I'm glad you like it so much you want to find the full-episode DVD release. I've heard on soompi that the cut portions were mostly scenes with other people, and not so many scenes between Beo-jin and Park Kyu were cut. Nonetheless, the smooth contininuity of the drama was halted with the cut, and I cannot wait until April to sit down with my YA version and have a nice reunion with my Park Kyu.

@ simplesim

Yeah, baobei is fine, a cut on her hand insteand of her head bashed open (a bookshelf fell on her and she ended up wedged between the shelf, the bed which stopped the shelf, and the ground, in the only tiny space available - it truly was god's will because I still shake when thinking about how she could've been smushed).

All is well, she's not even shaken, all the adults are, and her brother has been severely punished as the instigator of said chain of events.

@ hjkomo and cingdoc

Air China or China Air? Different beasts, same life-flashing-before-your-eyes flying experience.

@ mookie

Can you watch with me, pretty please. If you can't tell by now, the experience is so discombobulating and addicting, I kinda need a sounding board on it. In addition to the Yang Kang transformation, what they've done to Ouyang Ke's character is nothing short of revelatory.

It's like I'm watching a 100 million dollar adaption of Robotech the live action drama/battlestar galactic-esque epic. Starring everyone samsooki wants for the roles. Perfect casting. So, that still means Minmei is a shallow, simple-minded pretty singer, right? Wrong! In this version, Minmei is a girl who grew up knowing she could sing but always been cut down, who enters the Miss Macross pagaent as her last chance to make her dreams come true, who loves Rick and appreciates him for his devotion to her, who cannot chose Rick over her singing career because she cannot fathom a life as the wife of a pilot, knowing she'll be stifled and lose her songbird wings. She may still make the same decisions, but she's put a lot of thought into it, make hard choices and accepts the consequences.

If that version of Minmei exists, I cannot say I would remain unwavering in my Rick-Lisa shipping, because I would worry that Rick would then never be able to completely move on from Minmei, and because Minmei would feel so real to me, choosing her dreams over her love, and that is a hard choice.

Yeah, so that's the insane revision going on in LoCH 2008 and I've turned into a complete heretic. @ mookie, in this version, I'm bored senseless by the Guo Jing-Huang Rong scenes (when in the past, it's the only ones I wanted to watch). By making YK a complex and richer character, the producers have inadvertantly highlighted a GIANT problem with LoCH the novel, which is the main lead GJ is a really, really boring character. Things happen to him is the story of his life, he is one-dimensional (you pick a situation, I'll correctly predict how he will respond), and so the only thing keeping me grounded to the GJ scenes (even on Plum Blossom Island - one of my fave sequences in ANY drama) is Huang Rong. Oh, and Ouyang Ke, he's just.....I'm speechless, Li Jie is singlehandledly turning a throwaway secondary character into a man I'd look at twice and maybe more.

I'm appreciate some fangirling with me. MNC needs to step it up, otherwise, I'm going to steal her man and become a Jin.

@ lovenyc52

Yes, AC has been extended to 17 episodes, we're almost at the finished. We're seeing mean, angry Guang-xi, but it won't last, he's a totally marshmallow inside, and how can you be angry with Xiao-le is around. Have fun in Hakone, I love the hot springs there. But next time you go to Japan, I suggest a trip to Hokkaido, the hot springs there are unparallel, my absolute fave.

As for AC, the ratings are already double anything on TV right now in Taiwan, and double even Black & White at its highest (B&W never got stellar ratings actually).

Some are suggesting the finale may actually meet/beat Ethan Ruan's rating for the Fated to Love You finale. We'll see. But Vanness is tweeting like mad about how excited he is. I'm totally over AC, but its still cute.

@cingdoc
I hope you have a safe trip and that your mom gets well soon!

The TVB convos are interesting (as well as the other convos)...I think I'll have to give LOCH 08 a try. I heard mixed reviews so didn't watch it earlier, but hearing good things here is making me reconsider my decision. I do agree that Ariel Lin is talented and is one of the most talented compared to actresses of her generation. And I thought she was really good as Xiang Qin (I can't imagine anyone else doing a better job).

I dled the first episode of Chuno and will watch it raw tonight. Oh and I started watching Assorted Gems (so when do the grandmothers do the Abracadabra dance?) But hjkomo, you were right...the food porn....I'm always hungry when I watch this show even after I already had dinner. Though I'm going to try making my own bibimbap tonight for the first time. I hope that goes well...

So . . . who plays Minmei?

(And if you see Sung Yu Ri, I'm going to start a MINMEI MUST DIE compaign. ;) )

@ belleza

"So . . . who plays Minmei? "

Ask samsooki, I've kinda forgotten, but I remember he wanted Kim Ha-neul for Lisa Hayes, and the more I see of her in On Air, the more I concur, she's both cool yet brittle.

@ samsooki

Thanks! I wish I had the imagination to come up with it, but I was really inspired by what the producers of LoCH2 2008 did with a classic LC novel character, and I realized that strict adherence to canon is not always a good thing.

Robotech was always an anime, albeit a life-changing, kick-ass anime, akin to a Watchmen for anime fans in my mind. So the fact that certain characters may have been made more one-dimensional by the genre and the target-audience, kids and young teens, is understandable.

So Minmei, the one we've all met, is really very one-dimensional, and the refusal of the producers to give her a transformative arc or allow her some introspection was probably because it would angtsify the story AND the producers set up Lisa to get Rick, and it would hardly have allowed all the male viewers to accept Lisa any easier had Minmei been a flesh and blood girl with her dreams, loves, and fears all made more complicated and less black & white.

But any attempt to remake Robotech, live action or anime, would I believe necessitate a re-evaulation of Minmei (and all the characters for that matter) in order to not insult the intelligence of the viewers in 2010.

It's been a long time coming since a thoughtful remake of LoCH (or maybe even future remakes of other LC novels) dared to mess with canon, but only the parts where it really didn't make much sense if you think about it carefully (as it appears mookie and I have too much time on our hands and do).

So, I believe it dovetails very well into our Robotech discussion from last week, making me think about how I would change the Minmei character and really make the love triangle on three equal legs instead of two adults and one Minmei.

@ ockoala,

"Robotech was always an anime, albeit a life-changing, kick-ass anime, akin to a Watchmen for anime fans in my mind. "

Oh no, that's (still) Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Actually if you want a good treatment of the Macross franchise, check out Macross Plus. In that one, that Minmei is a virtual idol named "Sharon Apple" (kinda like Song Seung Heon, but no really a robot thingie.) Well executed romantic triangle focusing on loss of innocence (and integrity with that.)

"if that’s not Minmei, then I’ll be daddy to your F4 babies."

Oh that reminds me -- more than 10 years ago, FinKl-era Sung Yu Ri played Belldandi from Ah My Goddess on a banjun skit. That actually worked, given that she was already a practitioner of OPW (Oppa Pixie Wand.)

I suppose the modern Minmei is . . . Sohee???

"That’s probably the closest you’ll get to a real singing voice with the cuteness and probably the one-dimensionality of a Minmei… Taeyeon of SNSD."

Taeyeon's way too dorky to play SNSD. I actually thought of Yuri from SNSD (happy, bubblegum personality), but she can't sing that well.

"I’ll be daddy to your F4 babies"

belleza now has quadruplets in addition to her twins, or did the twins turn out to be quads that missed detection in utero? And one of the quads was born with a pama, the other with one facial expression, another with the tendency to overact in dramatic moments that he will surely learn to refine, and the last who was born to walk Andre Kim's runway with a noona.

Sung Yuri is just the prettiest OPW princess to walk the earth, if she wasn't born to play Bora, no one else can. As for playing Minmei, ten year ago, yes. I would've picked Minmei if played by 2000 SYR circa Paekjae princess whats-her-name.

"belleza now has quadruplets in addition to her twins, or did the twins turn out to be quads that missed detection in utero?"

No no; Samsooki has me confused with that massive family paraded around by a wack-a$$ guy. Who were they again? Oh that's right -- JYP and his "Wondergirls." ;)

"and the last who was born to walk Andre Kim’s runway with a noona."

My sons will be born noona killers. They'll learn to sing Noona is My Woman and recite The Book of Kim Sun Ah and they'll all dress in tuxedos when going to preschool.

"My sons will be born noona killers"

I'm sure they will, b. As I'm sure Baby Ji-hoon will be their hyung and teach him all the tricks he learned from his daddy.

@ mookie

Wow, the chinese viewers go as insane, if not more so, than k-drama viewers (and definitely way more insane than us overseas viewers) on tributes to their beloved characters.

I completely understand the love for Li Jie as Ouyang Ke. Imagine my dismay in knowing I'm a billion times more invested in the story of a bad guy/flirt/formerly portrayed as a pervert, than a hero who shoots two condors with one arrow.

Li Jie to me is a more experienced actor than Yuan Hong in LoCH 2008 and it shows, he's impeccable as Ouyang Ke. But Yuan Hong has more natural-given charisma and lead actor gravitas, you can't learn that in acting class.

I've seen more fanvids for Ouyang Ke than for Guo Jing, and I laugh so hard about it, anyways, a treat for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjkvekRWHPk&NR=1

A wonderful song, but Richie Ren should stick to singing and never be allowed to act in a wuxia drama ever again. Oh yeah, and Li Jie needs, nay MUST, patent that wink of his, it's fast, flirty, and oh so swoon-inducing. I can re-watch that wink over and over again.

@ WISFC episode 10

Couldn't help myself and checked it out, or Go Soo has mind-bewitching powers, but.......the latest "obstacle" placed before KJ-JW is quite possibly ranked 1 or 2 up there in sheer preposterousness and lameness.

Snarking about it is now kicking a dog when its down, too cruel. Good luck to the perpetually bedeviled couple. Don't blame me, blame the writer for this one.

@391 belleza

My sons will be born noona killers. They’ll learn to sing Noona is My Woman and recite The Book of Kim Sun Ah and they’ll all dress in tuxedos when going to preschool.

LOL! :D
Then the next steps would be to put them in the entertainment business, sit back and enjoy the ride...

"Then the next steps would be to put them in the entertainment business, sit back and enjoy the ride…"

Oh hun, I've always worked out the business plan through Youtube clips.

3 years old: Jung Pyo and Ji Hoo will retell the story of Stairway to Heaven ("and then she and car went BAM and she lost her mind and . . . ")
4 years old: Jung Pyo will sing Stairway to Heaven .
4 years old: Ji Hoo (he's the quiet one) will just do the Kara Butt Dance while wearing diapers
5 years old: Jung Pyo starts giving advice on pama-wearing for toddlers.
5 years old: Ji Hoo will replace Nagahiga.

Is Belleza an evil stage witch? Why yes!! :D

can I just fangirl swoon (what I should do for a living) a little bit on Obama manning up responsibility, FWIW.

@ockoala,
now IF somebody really can redo your MinMei successfully, I think we'll have eternal world peace
I predict, with 100% guarantee u will be one pool of messy but ohsogood fangirl swoon last like 10 eps of L08 (with ffing HR/GY...we're past the pt of pretense). haha watching u watching L08 is not unlike watching our YK tittering back and forth fr dark side to redemption....I can't look away fr the trainwreck. I have to thank you though, it's nice to off the load and be out of the closet (or lets share the closet) of being a pathetic heretic of LoCH.

I said this couple days ago:
....and brace yourself for later LoCH08 coz at the end of it
I’m totally shipping YK and NianChi (omg)
I’m even fangirling and mourning over OuYangKe

See I started out just saying Ariel is a terrific HR+coz that's really the only presentable part of my fandom over L08, I would never expect u to bother....and now we're holding hands happily watching fanvids of OuYeungKe. You know the producers behind it DID set out to narrate the story fr YK's pov, but I honestly dun think they know they will come up with this.

This drama watching is revolutionary (do join us Taohua and others), it is so outrageously non-canon (on OMG LC!) on sth so set in stone. In a way it's perfect for us with a decade+ of passionate fandom with the book. We'll go in a skeptic, watching with many grains of sniffing salts, we won't take it seriously (it doesn't), ample ffing (we can recite blocks of the story anyways), but led down a 4D LC universe we've never imagined possible/plausible, let alone so invested, addicted and utterly discombobulated as ockoala said. It's a drama experience I'll never gain again, I dont have a literary work this close to lovehate in my heart, and because now I know it CAN be done, I can have an unconscious brainmeld with some unknown producer/director/scriptwriter and make me one fanfic to every tiny bits of my specification...now it set my mind racing not unlike ockoala's: what IF Eclipse went thro a LoCH08 and it came out DECENT?!? nth is impossible now.

@ockoala, yes Lee Jie is a more seasoned actor, but it's also the writing. I do have to jab that the road to perdition of YK is still NOT perfect, given that they did a flawless job making us sooo fangirly invested in him, YuanHong said in many interviews as a hardcore LC fan *drawing hearts*, he's not fine and felt completely disengaged with bits of the writing later on, as a person, he can't justify a lot of YK's later evil deeds (baby nobody can *swoon*)and he had the hardest time.

hehe rewatching is FUN, the dialogues have a lot of *wink* to it lolz
see I'm liking this NianChi more in a rewatch, I like the thinning of her damsel-ness, she is forward and ahead of her times, saying things I wished I have balls to say.. even in idol dramas set in modern times, do we ever hear the following?!:
(end of ep12 ie SUPER early on and definitely no bun in oven aka YG) ( this is so written with the purpose of making us forever shipping YK/NC):
YK(somewhat dying, in NC's lap): NC, I know.. how sweet u've been to me, all the sweetness...I know it all. I don't want u to marry GJ! It's good that I'm dying...after my death, u won't be hurt, played by me ever again. (NC: NO! *sob*) NC: No! I don't MIND! (me: bwahhahaha!!!) Don't die! I... I love you!

and I rem HR said sth like this to YK @makeshift communal home, dinnertime, YK's parents in toll:
'geez, u still looked like u've just gobbled on sh*t when she's this nice to you!'

"Put a jacket on him and he wails like there is no tomorrow."

That's actually a good thing. If your child was very quiet, he may be autistic.

@ mookie

"haha watching u watching L08 is not unlike watching our YK tittering back and forth fr dark side to redemption….I can’t look away fr the trainwreck"

Shall I laugh in despair at mine own insanity? Perchance, but you caused it! By dangling the carrot of a well-portrayed HR by Ariel Lin in LoCh 2008, and knowing how much an avid fan I am of LC's works and previous TV adaptations, you let me step into the landmind of mind-scintillating heaven/hell that is Yang Kang via Yuan Rong circa every fanfiction every conceived about this "too crafty to be good, to smart to bad" boy.

I do believe you can only take this version of YK so far into the "on the edge territory", then he steps into the dark and steps back to the light time and again. And right now, I'm so invested, so completely loving this boy/man, I literally have heart palpitations and pains when he's making yet another decision that he knows is not the right thing to do but may be the best think to do.

When we get to the Plum Blossom Island episode and when Yang Kang becomes the Leader of the Begger Sect, what will become me, how can I watch my baby boy be wrong because the world had literally made and pushed him into this position. I worry about this YK like I'm his mom.

As for the newest member to my personal manrem (hi, boys, welcome our first mainland member Yuan Hong!, move aside a bit Joe) - I can understand how hard it is to portray the subtleties that flicker across YK's face every moment, he thinks 2 steps faster than anyone other than HR and her daddy. Yuan Hong is really invested into the role, you can tell with his every scene.

Some of the funniest interactions in the entire drama: the amazing and too few scenes where YK-HR are mocking each other. I love the scene when HR plays Guo Jing (omo he's so dumb) and YK looks on with a bored smirk, and then seconds later, HR baits YK with news of MNC, and his face immediately takes on a restrained eagerness. These four are just kids living in a dangerous world being asked to take on the burdens of their parents sins and the weight of the world on their shoulders - no wonder YK buckles and can find no way out, he was born to shoulder this tragedy.

Your quote from HR to YK: ‘geez, u still looked like u’ve just gobbled on sh*t when she’s this nice to you!’ - instant classic!

As for Eclipse - its the only book in the series worth its weight on paper, it can be made good. And if the LoCH 2008 production team can get their hands on it - I fans myself. Now to make Breaking Dawn good is a whole nother story - I don't believe it can be done in this life as I know it.

@ mookie

Barbara and Michael in my fave of their series I've seen: MM as Chor Leu Heung and BY as his princess: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiG9k8q3CXc