Welcome to a brand new year of Asian dramas! I'm kicking off the new year sharing a few of my favourite dramas from the past few months and as much as I tried to expand out of my Korean drama bubble it sucked me right back in (there's just so many good ones!) but I did find an absolute gem of a drama from China so I will definitely be looking into watching more Chinese stuff in the future. Be sure to leave me your recommendations for the next edition in the comments and if you've watched any of these be let me know what your thoughts are below.
수요일 오후3시30분
Sun Eun-woo is dumped by her boyfriend on Wednesday 3:30pm a time that is said women are at there ugliest, she meets up with her childhood friend Yoon Jae-won who agrees to help her get her ex-boyfriend back by taking her on dates every Wednesday at 3:30pm and creating a fake "lovestagram". This is such a sweet mini-drama that I came across because of Hong-bin who's a member of one of my fave KPop groups VIXX, I've watched him in a drama before but this one I enjoyed a lot more because he was just the sweetest little bean, I would love a friend like him! Ok so the storyline isn't anything special and you know exactly what's going to happen but it was such a sweet enjoyable watch and I think I'm an even bigger fan of Hong-bin after this, seriously where can I get me a Hong-bin?
The U-Prince series has now finished airing in Thailand and I'm a little sad because I really enjoyed it, there's a total of 12 mini-series and I've already talked about some of my previous favourites but here's a couple more. The Extroverted Humanist: Pinyin is an introvert who prefers to spend time alone, she's anxious and doesn't have a lot of friends (she's me basically!) when Kiryu who's outgoing, talkative, and basically the complete opposite to her decides to befriend her she finds him overwhelming at first but then they begin to fall for each other. There's some pretty harsh moments in this (as with all Thai dramas) but I guess I liked this one because I related to it, being an anxious, shy, introvert I gravitate towards those type of characters as I can empathise and understand them more. The Crazy Artist: Mel B (yes I know lol!) is a science geek who is dumped by her boyfriend who says they're too similar, Hippie, a musician, witnesses the break up and tries to comfort Mel B then asks her if he can have the Beatles T-shirt she is wearing, Mel B agrees on the basis that he dates her for 5 days as an experiment so she can see what it's like to date someone the complete opposite to her and see if her ex was right. This drama started off pretty damn cheesy at first but then it hit me right in the feels, in fact I think it's my second favourite U-Prince after T-Rex so if you don't want to watch all 12 mini series (even though they're only 4 episodes each) definitely go for The Crazy Artist and The Lovely Geologist.
クズの本懐
I mentioned this anime in my previous post and found out they made a live version of it which aired at the same time as the anime so I thought I would see how it compares. Surprisingly it's almost shot for shot identical to the anime I mean they even recreated the opening! The sexual content has possibly been tamed but I was quite surprised to see how far they took it as it's unusual to see so much kissing in a JDrama let alone sex. Although it's very faithful to the anime I would recommend the anime over the live version as some of the beauty was lost making it feel almost as if it was "fan made" rather than TV produced. I mentioned in my post about Japanese Dramas that the overall cinematography seems low quality compared to other Asian dramas and I think this is why it didn't seem as aesthetically pleasing which led to some of the mood being lost but the acting was pretty good aside from a certain "princess" who I kinda wish they'd left out. It was interesting to watch though and I wonder if in the future they will simulcast more anime series along side live versions?
幻城
This series follows the war between the Ice Tribe and the Fire Tribe as they fight for power, peace and revenge over the loved ones they've lost in battle. It's very epic fantasy Game of Thrones meets Lord of the Rings with all the magic, mythical beings, tribes and journeying between realms to form alliances to fight in the war and restore the Ice Wall, yes there's a giant mythical wall of ice in this to! Firstly this series is 62 episodes long so that's a big commitment and it took me a couple of months to actually get through the whole series but I really enjoyed it! It's the first time I've watched a Chinese drama like this and the costumes, weapons and settings are so beautiful and well done although I will admit the special effects can be a bit low budget at times I mean there was a moment where I could clearly see someone running with a sheep plushie but I things like the Ice Lion I will forgive because it's an Ice Lion and that's so cool! The fight scenes of course are done very well being a Chinese drama, I always was a fan of martial arts movies so it was great to see some of these techniques used in this drama amongst the traditional sword fights. The cast are beautiful and it's well acted, I loved how each different tribe had a distinct look to them and I after watching this I definitely had the urge to do some cosplay! And yes fellow Kpop fans that is indeed Victoria from F(x) you see up there, she has quite a major role and was one of my favourite characters so it's worth checking out if you're curious to see her acting skills. After watching this I will definitely be checking out some more Chinese dramas, if fact I think they made a follow up to this series based in the modern human world so I may have to check that out as even after 62 episodes I still wanted more!
하백의 신부
So Ah, a psychiatrist who owns her own practice but on the verge of losing it because of debt. Her family is cursed to serve the gods, however So Ah is a realist who doesn't believe in the supernatural, So when she meets Habaek, a man who claims to be the legendary water god that has come to Earth to find a magical stone which will grant him immense power and expects her to be his servant, she believes him only to be delusional. I think the supernatural romance genre is my favourite of all Korean dramas, I love learning about different culture's stories and also seeing the juxtapositions between the old worldly legends and how relevant they are in the modern world. I also enjoy the humour these series always have with the gods adjusting to life on Earth and dealing humanity. I loved Nam Joo-Hyuk in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo but he was so different in the role of Habaek that I hardly recognised him, that being said he played the part of the narcissistic commanding god quite well. I wouldn't rate this one as high as Goblin or Legend of the Blue Sea as it almost seems a little rushed in comparison and I wished they had shown a little more background in the other world but overall I did enjoy it and I can't wait to see what legendary gods we see in the next drama.
What dramas have you been watching?
Love & Cookies
Cate
xoxo
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