C-Drama: Parallel Love (1st impression)

Parallel Love is a time travel drama, and I really love time travel dramas, so I decided to give it a try. It’s about a woman who is a company director that out of the blue goes back in time when she opens a door. Then she gets a message saying that she has to help a guy become president of his company or she will disappear forever.

The first episode is a little wonky. The door time travel happens really fast and did not make a whole lot of sense. And there was no explanation for why she had to help a random guy get a promotion at his families company.

Also, the female lead did not make a great first impression, on me, or on the male lead. She ran into him during the doorscapade, since he was going through it at the same time that she was. She knocked him over and he told her she should apologize for it. She didn’t. She told him she was late for something, but her speech about being late was longer than any apology I’ve heard so far, so it sure seems like she could have said she was sorry.

The female lead continued to annoy me – and the second lead when she came across him again as he was about to give an important speech at an important event. She bumped into him again, ruining his shirt right before he had to go on stage. And again, she didn’t apologize. The male lead was forced to improvise, but his efforts were ruined.

Of course, he turns out to be the guy the female lead is supposed to help make company president. That was predictable.

When the female lead goes to his company looking to work with him she doesn’t know he is the same guy she bumped into multiple times. But when she finds out and hears that she ruined his important event she continues to be rude to him and still doesn’t apologize. I am a strong supporter of manners so it made it really hard to like her all that much.

The female lead also seemed oblivious to common sense on more than one occasion. She spent a long time opening and closing the door that she time-traveled through, trying to go back to 2020, which she came from. But when the staff approached her asking her to stop she couldn’t make up a good story for why she was doing it and was kicked out so she couldn’t keep trying in the future.

The male lead is actually likeable. He has a dry humor that is pretty great. His only major fault is really the fault of the shows stylist(s) who gave him godawful clothes and very dated hair. The hair I could deal with. The clothes, not so much. His main flaw was being in a career position he might not have been ready for.

There is also a twist to the story where the female lead who went back in time ten years is living at the same time as her ten years younger self. I think this is the most interesting part of the story. My favorite scene was with her ten years younger self and her ex-boyfriend who had apparently dumped her ten years later. Both characters seem like they will remain constant in the story since the ex-boyfriend works at the same company as the ten years older version of the female lead who I assume will have to avoid him.

If the whole drama was about that I would really enjoy watching it, but the show is mostly about the romance between the leads and the first two episodes more than set that up. There were interesting scenes between them about a wedding they had to plan, which involved some petty theft by the leads. It was fun(ish) to watch. But the rest of the lead up to romance involved throwing every single drama trope at the wall. This included the leads falling on each other, pressing up against each other, the female lead having to stay with the male lead at his house, him carrying her, covering her with a blanket and seeing her with new eyes.

This is the reason I paused watching the drama for now – or forever because I couldn’t take it anymore. There were so many ridiculous, corny moments that I can’t even count them all. If I was given a dollar for every time I rolled my eyes during the first couple episodes I would be a thousandaire by now.

This show could get better. It’s pretty highly rated so far. I do think it will probably have an interesting business plot with a female lead who does some cool problem-solving. And the leads might even be good together, although I don’t know how that will work with the whole time travel problem. I am also interested to see what happens with the ten years younger version of the female lead. But is it worth watching the stupid uber predictable cheeseball moments that happen every few minutes to see the rest of it? That it is what I am going to have to decide and honestly, I am not sure that it is.

My Absolute Favorite Male Actors from Asian Dramas

These are the guys who I consider the very best at their jobs, which are to interest me, make me laugh and/or cry, keep me entertained and sometimes make me swoon. They are the actors I anxiously await new work from because they are amazing.

They are listed in no particular order, since I like them all pretty equally. What they all have in common is an ability to act. probably beyond what they have been allowed to do. They are all expressive, most can do comedy as easily as they do drama, and they all fully immerse themselves in the characters that they are playing.

Park Seo Joon (Korea)

There are not enough adjectives to describe why I like Park’s work. He is basically the total package. He plays humble just as well as he plays arrogant. He was not just especially hot (which is not a requisite for this list btw, though I would like to commend him for his perfect abs and make out abilities, which seem to be on point). He was also oh-so-humble and sweet in Witches Romance (which I only recommend for his performance), and in Fight for My Way (one of my favorite dramas of all time), while he was completely conceited in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim. He was also hilarious and made me laugh during every episode. His comedic timing is also showcased in Midnight Runners, along with his ability to do action. Basically, he can act in anything.

My only problem with Joon is that he does not act in nearly enough stuff. And I refuse to watch any interviews with him or the show he’s in in Spain. This is because he could turn out to be an amazing person, and not just an amazing actor. Than I might start viewing him as a prospect, not just an artist, which would be deeply problematic.

2. Aaron Yan (Taiwan) (China)

Although typecast first into youth shows, since he started acting so young, and then romantic dramas, I believe with all my heart that Yan could act out any genre presented to him. If I were a producer I’d bring him to the U.S. and give him something Oscar worthy, but I’m not one, so a girl can only dream. That said, I love him in a romantic drama because he’s truly believable in whatever character he plays, and his love for the female lead looks completely sincere (because 🌟 acting). I think his seeming sincerity is what sets him apart, along with his expressions (that I’ve referenced on this blog before), which are incredible. As a viewer I can see what he is trying to convey at all times even when he has no dialogue.

My favorite Yan show is Just You (one of my fav dramas ever) because it is cutesy and interesting and entertaining (plus I really love his co-star Puff Kuo and think they make a great team). In Just You he manages to be a character (Qi Yi) that is multi-dimensional. Qi Yi is anal retentive, hard working, bitter, lonely, mature, youthful, responsible and kind, all at once. That is not an easy feat, especially in a drama that is fairly lighthearted. Yan is also (in my opinion) the very best male actor kisser in all of Asia (major feat, right?) and the fact that he may not be the least bit attracted to any of the ladies he has kissed, despite getting all 10’s from me for it, makes him an absolute rockstar actor in my book. And during the only time I have ever watched a behind the scenes of a show video (since they are not normally my thing), I saw that he is a consummate professional who goes from being himself into character the second the cameras are rolling. Lastly, he gets no acting points for this, but he is also the actor I would most like to have a conversation with because he seems like a fun, funny, and intelligent person, and I’m impressed by his personal strength.

3. Puttichai “Push” Kestsin (Thailand)

First off, this man could have chemistry with a rock, as observed after he was in a show where he spent over a dozen episodes falling in love with a bird (Leh Nangfah). Watching that, I really wanted to be that bird. I’m guessing most viewers did. Kasetsin clearly took his role seriously because he talked to that bird and cuddled that bird like it was a person and made a story that is fantastical and kind of crazy totally believable.

As an actor, he is not only capable of delivering perfect dialog, like Yan he has great facial expressions and like Joon he is great at comedy (Wannueng Jaa Phen Superstar had me laughing out loud). He can play anyone from a student to a CEO and can play a romantic lead like no other.

He gets no extra points for this since it’s not about his acting, but from a aesthetic dental perspective Kestsin has the most perfect smile (even better than Park Bo Gum’s). I also appreciate his willingness to be exploited into taking off his clothes in all of his lakorn’s so his fans will be happy.

4. Seo Kang Joon (Korea)

I was first introduced to Seo in Cheese in the Trap (the show version). I didn’t love the show, but he gave me my very worst case of second lead syndrome ever. His character, although a technical bad boy was just so everything, and the girl still fell for the sociopath (which sadly happens in real life way too often). And although I liked the character, I think that if another actor played him I wouldn’t have been as receptive, because Seo played him just right. He was able to play sincere, angry, sweet, responsible and irresponsible at one time. And later in Are You Human Too, he plays two completely different characters with different attributes, and does an amazing job. I really think this ability, to create such multi-faceted characters is what sets Seo and my other favorite actors apart.

Seo is also a professional, which I gauge from the fact that he seems so mature when he acts. I’m sure this comes from his years of acting experience, but I genuinely cannot believe he is 25. This is a compliment to him because it’s not easy to seem mature at that age. I’m sure I didn’t seem half as grown up as he does at that age.

5. Ahn Hyo Seop / Paul Ahn (Korea)

Ahn’s acting stole my heart in Thirty But Seventeen (see my review here). He was adorable. And like Seo, he managed to take a character and elevate it,making a character that was not meant (by the writers and director) to be my favorite into my very fav of the drama.

I also love Queen of the Ring, which is cutesy with a positive message and Ahn stole my heart (as a viewer) in that too. He is just charming, even when he is meant to be conceited, musical (Top Management) or back from the dead (Abyss) which is why I will basically watch him in everything he does from now to eternity.

C-Drama Comedy: Proud of Love (8.7/10)

I’m constantly having The Big Boss withdrawals because, as I mentioned in another post, I love the show so so much. To help curb my withdrawals, I recently watched C-Drama Proud of Love which has some similar elements to The Big Boss.

Proud of Love stars Vivian Sung, star of the much vaunted movie Our Times and Tong Meng Shi of historical drama and Basketball Fever fame. It is about a body switch between college students, a plot line I never get tired of.

What makes this different from other body switch shows is the following:

The characters don’t conform their personalities and mannerisms to the body and identity they were switched to, so they pretty much act like themselves while inside the other persons body.
There is a focus on the realistic effects of switching genders, like when the guy (He Zhi Zhou) in the female (Shen Xi’s) body gets his first Aunt Flo or when Zhi Zhou gets aroused as a guy for the first time (in the boys locker room -whoops! 😳)
This show is also a little more explicit than most c-dramas with lots of body talk and some about sex.

Truth is, calling this a drama is wrong, It is much more of a dramedy. and it’s very best feature is that it had me laughing the whole way through. All the akward moments, and the great acting by Sung and Tong made the show hilarious. Note: Big Boss is still the king of LOL moments, by far, but Proud of Love is definitely funny.

Honestly, with the exception of a few special effects, there was only one thing I didn’t like about the show. They made their second lead too lovable. He is played by Darren Chen who played Hua Ze lei in Meteor Garden. And unlike that drama, where I was ambiguous towards him and his character, he is adorable in this and watching his character be sad made me sad. It is the only reason I’ve resisted watching Season 2 because I can’t decide whether the endless funny makes up for the sads from his sad face.

I highly recommend this if you like dramedy and you don’t get easily embarassed since there are dozens of akward situations where you will likely be peeking out from behind your hands. Because I love to laugh, even at the akward stuff, I give it a pretty high rating overall, which is 8.7/10.

Choosing a Drama

Choosing a drama is a lot like deciding what to eat for dinner or where to go on vacation. There are a lot of variables and in the end it’s usually about what I’m craving most. Some days a light, fluffy romace is the best thing on earth and other days something with more depth or comedy is up my alley. In this vein, I thought I would share with you all my steps for choosing a drama.

What am I craving? i.e. what type of drama am I in the mood for. Whatever it is I am a happy ending girl, so anything I watch has to have that.

2. My first choice is usually Chinese. The irony in this is that Korea has more dramas and they’re generally better and there are good Thai and Filipino dramas too, BUT, I’ve been learning Mandarin so I try to find c-drama’s whenever possible so I can practice.

3. Does the plot sound good?

4. What rating does it have on My Drama List, since I’ve found that the ratings and reviews are usually on point (with a few exceptions). I try to stay at 7.7 and up unless I really love the plot and/or the actor/actress so I don’t waste my precious time.

5. Is the lead guy even remotely attractive >>> because I’m superficial I have a hard time watching romances where the guys are not my cup of tea.

6. How many episodes is it <<< Since I have to plan how I spend my precious time

7. Can I find it eng subbed

I dont know if anyone else uses this method, but it works pretty well for me.

My B-Day & C-Drama Comedy: The Big Boss (9.9/10)

Yesterday was my birthday, and it validated something for me. I am completely arrested development i.e. a kid at heart. The only reason you dont see me skateboarding down the street, playing on a big wheels or hanging at the mall with my friends is that I am adult 😦 which means responsibilities and public shaming if my inner kid comes out too often.

I am technically told old now to watch high school shows or read YA (young adult) fiction and yet I persist because I have apparently never passed that age mentally.
I’m like Tom Hanks in Big, a kid parading in grown up clothes. Because of this, I have no idea how I’ve somehow become a good parent and professional. It’s magic.

Anyway, what did I want to do more than anything yesterday? The answer: Watch one of my favorite shows. One whose viewer demographic is most likely half my age because it’s based on a manhua, and about school age kids, but it makes me laugh – A LOT!

It’s a Chinese show called Big Boss, which is about a girl named Ye Mu Xi who is basically a fun slacker who cant seem to get away from her very smart neighbour Liao Dan Yi, who she considers her shadow, and her enemy. Plus the hijinks they and their classmates get into.

Every episode is hilarious (makes me LOL) and very cute. I love the lead character,
Ye Mu Xi, maybe because she reminds me a little of myself at that age or maybe because she’s just awesome. I will be a fan of Eleanor Lee who plays her forever. The lead boy is completely lovable despite being overly serious and studious. Maybe because he refuses to give up on Ye Mu Xi. Plus he (or more accurately the actor Huang Jung Jie) is really good looking. I say this as someone who isnt blind, not as a cougar or anything (which I am not, except for 6 out of 7 days of the week;). I think they might be my favorite on screen duo.

The OST is also really good.

I really want to recommend this show to you all, but honestly if you aren’t 16 or suffering from arrested development like me I have no idea what you’ll think of it. Me, I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT and am only sad that it doesnt have endless seasons, because I would watch them all! So I’ll have to be satisfied repeatedly marathoning it every year until I grow up 😉

What is the WORST drama you’ve ever seen?

I am VERY curious to know what drama you dropped almost immediately or kept watching even though you basically hated it? All comments welcome.

Mine was Rush to the Dead Summer, which is a c-drama from 2017.

The sad part is this drama has a high production value and the acting is pretty good, but I still hated it.

I think the kiss of death for any drama is unlikeable leads or supporting characters that are more likeable than the leads. That’s what what was wrong with this show.

I spent the whole drama trying to figure out why the lead was so special – and failing. She was fairly average, self absorbed and completely insensitive to her best friend. And maybe because of this, the best friend, although not perfect, was multi-dimensional, and an underdog, which made her more interesting to me.

I won’t give away the whole plot, just say it was a coming of age drama that started in high school (with actors that looked college age. sigh.) and showed their development as professionals. And as adults who, in my opinion, didnt always make the best decisions.

And as the drama came to an end, and a happily ever after seemed imminent for people I wasn’t that invested in, I lost complete and total interest in it, even loathed it a little and with 2 episodes to go, ditched it completely.

Boss & Me & Shan Shan’s jacket

Boss and Me is another classic drama which I feel obligated to review, because it’s a classic, and because it gave me the title for this blog.

The title comes from the lead females clothes, which are fantastic – the cutest! Especially her jackets, the kind I have always loved. What I associate most with C-Drama’s are the perfect smile of my secret crush and one of Shan Shan’s amazing jackets. Since one of these great things is a secret, my blog name came from the other 🙂 See some of her adorable clothes here: https://hui3r.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/boss-me-fashion-accessories-pictorial/

The show (for all 2 people in the world who haven’t seen it) is about the head of a company (note: Youngest company leader in China or something like that) who falls in love with an assistant named Xue Shan Shan at his company who got the job because she donated her rare blood to his sister.

The guy (We’ll call him Lǎobǎn) falls for her after watching her eat lunch outside his window in a simple, joyful way which makes him feel happy and less alone, since it’s apparently lonely at the top.

The assistant is less sure about her feelings for Lǎobǎn and then of course after feeling more sure of them, the oh-so-popular love triangle begins.

There are a number of cliches in this show, but there is also a level of depth (which I love) and it plays on some very modern themes (which I also love).

I don’t know how I feel about Lǎobǎn. I wanted him to get the girl despite the fact that he wanted a girl who wasn’t his intellectual equal (not a fan of this) and looked kind of like a walking zombie.

I give this drama the same score as My Drama List, an 8.3/10.

Aaron Yan – How I went from flinching at him to fangirling.

My introduction to Aaron Yan was in the drama Fall in Love with Me, which I found on Netflix.

To be honest, my first impression wasn’t great (don’t tar and feather me yet #Yanfans). In the first scene the man had more makeup on than a pageant queen and his clothes were just as frilly. For this reason, I didn’t find him at all attractive. I also assumed he was a boy who liked boys. I don’t know if that was based on his costume or if my uber fantastic gaydar, which is always on point was going off. Either way, I found out about the scandal with his bf later on and it all made sense.

Truth is, I believe wholeheartedly in #loveislove so I am neutral on his orientation, but feel heartbroken for him that he got kicked out of the closet the way he did. I also feel bad that he has to make a living kissing girls, although that won’t stop me from watching him do it (bad me ;). That said, I will hope beyond hope he does a BL drama one day which would be the most epic BL ever.

After my introduction to him, Aaron Yan grew on me FAST. The first half hour of Fall in Love with Me included a shower scene, where his six pack abs were in full view, and if you all haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a MAJOR sucker for some rock hard abs. Then Yan switched out of the froofy clothes since he played an Ad Exec. pretending to have a doppelganger – for a fringe, glasses and student clothes, which, although not my type, made him way more attractive to me.

Then I was acquainted with, what I now think is Yan’s very best quality. He has the ability to act using only facial expressions. It’s amazing!

Basically, what I have realized is that despite being typecast into certain kinds of dramas, he is a really and truly talented actor. He is the reason why I watched every episode of Fall in Love with Me, despite the story getting overly dramatic and draggy towards the end, because he continued to wow me. I also recently found out that he did the OST, which is pretty good.

I followed it up with a Yan weekend, which included Just You and Refresh Man. I liked both plots slightly better than Fall in Love with Me, although I did like FILWM’s actress Tia Li.

Refresh Man was interesting to watch, with an actual plot involving a company where people actually did work (hard to find in dramas amirite?), and of course Yan repeatedly did his yearning face, which is all it took for me to root for his relationship with Zhong Yu Tang, played by Joanne Tseng.

Then I fell completely in love with Just You. Aaron Yan + Puff Kuo are a fantastic combination, one I hope beyond hope to see again. The story was cute, interesting and funny. It is my favorite Yan drama so far and one of my favorite dramas period.

Oh and apropos of nothing, I give Aaron Yan the prize for best kisser of any Asian drama star. Let me know if you have other nominees (My runner ups are Koreans Ji Hyun Woo and Lee Min Ki and Thailand’s Off Jumpol Adulkittiporn and Lee Thanat Lowkhunsombat). Not that I pay attention to any of that lol. Yan is also the very best at “whoops, I accidentally fell on you and now we’re in lust”, which he has perfected into almost a stunt move. His only downfall, in my opinion, are his clashing suits and his dancing on fast songs, which is just too awkward to watch.

In short, I’ve become a giant #YanFan, desperately waiting for his future projects to come out. The next one I am watching is Please Give Me a Pair of Wings where it looks like he gets to highlight his acting abilities in a more serious drama focused on a really important topic, and I can’t wait to see it.

A Love So Beautiful (with a bonus book)

This show is so precious. The plot, which was originally a book called To: Our Pure Little Beauty written by Zhao Gan Gan is absolutely charming. I give it a 9.6/10. It showcases the sweetness, and embarrassments of a high school crush. And is, in my opinion, one of the best c-drama’s of all time.

I have a hard time believing that anyone reading this post hasn’t seen it yet and an even harder time believing that you all didn’t love it as much as I do. On the off chance you haven’t seen it, it’s about a girl who is both adorable and bumbling, who is absolutely certain about her feelings for her neighbor and shares them with him regularly. While the neighbor, who manages to be both popular and awkward has a much harder time admitting to his feelings for her. It recounts the many, often embarrassing and very hilarious, but somehow charming experiences these two and their friends have while in high school and college and how they navigate these relationships.

I think this was the major debut for actress Shen Yue (also of Meteor Garden 2018 fame) who did a phenomenal job as the female lead. I rooted for her character every single episode, and will watch anything she’s in from now to eternity.

The lead boy played by Hu Yitian also did a great job playing someone who is both awkward and popular. He was very believable. Kudos to him on his first main role.

The only criticism I have is that the love triangle loser’s character (a pro swimmer) was so like able and sympathetic that I would have been just as happy if he won the girl. That is a clear plot failure. Luckily the lead male pulled off one very, very sweet act, reading the ending of a book that was confiscated from the lead female by a teacher, over the school intercom, so she would know what happened. That warmed my heart to him forever.

FREE PRIZE:

http://https//teaquilashot.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/a-love-so-beautiful/

This is an English translation of the book this drama is based on that some ladies, who are now my heroes, ceaselessly transcribed. It is possibly more addicting than the show and hilarious, so I highly recommend reading it. I finished it in less than a day.

You’re welcome in advance!