First part of Black Devil and White Prince - as she tries to escape his uses his foot and hands to try and stop her - so ashidon and kabdon aplenty! lol!
Thanks so much for your comment! :)I totally agree with you on She Was Pretty. It was really hard for me to like…
No problem - it was the truth; it WAS a brilliant article. :)
Likewise with Shin Hyuk - we all knew he was destined to be disappointed but, oh my Lord did I have a seriously strong case of SLS with that drama. I mean he even crashed his motorcycle trying to get to her and then basically all but walked it off. He was such a totally decent guy that really deserved her and I just have this idea that, if the male lead hadn't been there or if she didn't know he was her CS, then she would've given Shun Hyuk more of a chance and perhaps fallen for him instead. It's the only way I could make my peace with ending. The Chinese version was even worse though. lol!
Yeah, with Gu Hai - to me at least - he almost forced Bai Luo Yin to love him . I loved the drama but his almost psychotic obsession was very alarming to me. the Bulldoze Method is so right in this case. I agree about Devil Beside You too - I think Gu Hai gave up with that because he felt it wasn't forceful enough....because nothing says 'I love you' like kidnapping.....
I am so sad that drama was banned - did you know the two actors, Huang Johnny and Xu Wei Zhou have permanent lifetime ban on ever being seen in public together and even from being together alone? Just so sad....but it seems the Chinese authorities didn't like the chemistry we all did.
Absolutely BRILLIANT article. Well laid out, excellent examples and easy to follow explanations....the little gifs were the cherry on this cupcake. Have to say i was rooting for Editor kim from She Was Pretty too. I get Hye jin was the lead's childhood sweetheart, but he ONLY started liking her AFTER her makeover...shallow much? No, Editor Kim was my favourite...i rooted for him right to the end. He loved her unconditionally....T_T
I was Team Shin SeGi from the start - I actually got tearful when he lost her.......Cha Do hyeun was basically a manchild, SeGi was the real man and the MOST tortured. ACK! it annoyed me he didn't get Oh Ri jin; but I think she chose Do Hyeun because he was just easier to deal with....calm, docile easily pleased; SeGi was way too challenging and passionate for her. She struck me as a bit of a coward to be honest, and just took the easy path in the end....she loved SeGi too, but he was too difficult and she just didn't want to do all the sparring he loved and the steamy way he approached her. SeGi deserved better.
I saw you also had Heroin (aka addicted) and I agree - Zhang Johnny's character in that basically veered heavily into psycho stalker territory; to the point you feel his love interest fell for him more from Stokholm Syndrome than any real romance.... I mean I felt sorry for Zhang's character as it was clear he was so desperate for love but.......yeah.....he was batshit crazy in the beginning, and only marginally better towards the end. :$
Thanks again for a great read....and so spot on too. :)
I'm British and I HATE sad endings too, especially BL sad endings - I always expect more from Thai BL dramas as,…
My husband said I'm like that dog in UP! ("I am such a good....SQUIRREL!!") I'd like to be insulted, but he's probably right. lol! My mind, even with the braindamage, is usually two subjects ahead of what I'm saying.....great for me, not so great for who I'm talking to.
I think youngsters have it way tougher than generation did. We didn't have the pressures of social media for one thing and there was NO cyber-bullying. Once we escaped home from our tormentors we were safe.
Oh it's terrible here in the UK - we're just not used to hot summers, we're generally a really wet country....we're used to floods and thunderstorms through our summers with summer itself occuring on a wednesday morning, for 3 hours at the end of the July. Everyone rushes out for the weak rays that break through and then that's it.
A line from the 2006 King Arthur movie said "when it's not raining, it's snowing, when it's not snowing, it's foggy - and that's just the summer" - summed up my country in one line!! XD
This year it's been in the mid 30s for the last three weeks and we are NOT coping. I prefer cold weather anyway, so I'm hiding too. lol!
Technically it's not release until 27th of this month. However, a few months ago China made a raft of new 'modesty…
This is why I love talking to you - you and your man have SUCH an interesting life. :) Listen if you're happy, then what you do is interesting enough, right? I get it, a little bit, with the heat - this is our hottest summer here in the UK since 1976 and we've been in the mid 30s for three weeks - we Brits are NOT built for this heat, I am a cold loving person anyway so *I* personally think I'm dying.lol! Mind you, the memes doing the rounds here are hilarious. LOL!
Mind you, I defy anyone to work their beauty magic on me, I'm like quasimodo's uglier twin sister, quasimona!! I haven't had a photo willingly taken for about 6 years - I've always been ugly, but yikes it's got worse as I've got older.
The two of you take care - I consider you friends now, I hope that's not creepy, but you're so nice to talk to, debate with and such.
I'm British and I HATE sad endings too, especially BL sad endings - I always expect more from Thai BL dramas as,…
No it's fine I really do waffle - drives my family mad and it's why we have a fam chat group because there's just no way I can do it then! LOL!
HS isn't much different now though, to be fair, ANY kid that's 'different' (whether from sexuality, look or other reason) is fair game - rather than being picked on because they're gay.
Yupple, we're fine - I made that word up; it's a happy yup! Hope you and yours are the same. Take care my friend, take care - the world needs more nice people like you. :)
Technically it's not release until 27th of this month. However, a few months ago China made a raft of new 'modesty…
Yeah, not bad - it's my usual yearly round of specialists, but I'm in remission of various illnesses so I'm in for just the usual Dracula blood draining for tests and lots of lectures. lol! Easy year for me! I hope you and your boyfriend are doing well and you're not working too hard, sometimes we forget to look after ourselves when we get busy....well, I know *I* do. :) Take care!
Okay so, firstly, as mum to a 20 year old ARMY daughter I MUST shout out to a fellow ARMY. Clearly the BTS love is strong here because of the BT21 little touches - I saw Van and was immediately "OOH, Van! - BT21....do I see an ARMY here?" then at the end I saw RJ, Koya and Cooky and thought "yeah, definite ARMY." So shout out to a fellow ARMY on my daughter's behalf (though she's got me into the boys music too and they are lovely boys - dorkable, humble and supportive, of each other and ARMY. To me they're like adopted sons. lol!)
As to the dramas - I agree with a lot of what you said; I do think there's some things that are so wrong. She Was Pretty was a case in point - I know that Ji Seong Jun (played by the always good Park Seo Joon) was just coincidentally suddenly nicer to Kim Hye Jin (portrayed by Hwang Jung Eum) AFTER she underwent her mokeover to make herself more 'MOST'.....but to me it sent entirely the wrong message anyway - mistaken or not....you MUST be beautiful and look and behave like everyone else to be 'included' and loved. (Only after her makeover did all the staff start being genuinely nicer to her despite her being just as good at her job before).
I know Seong Jun was the right guy, her childhood sweetheart and all that, and yes it did get better with him and I did like him at the end....but I so wanted her to end up with Kim Shin Hyeok, her 'Editor Kim', (played by Choi Shi Won) because HE fell in love with her BEFORE the makeover and ADORED her BECAUSE she was an accident prone dork. He genuinely did NOT care about her looks, her clothes, her clumsiness - if anything he loved her BECAUSE of it. In fact he was GENUINELY upset and offended when she decided to 'blend in' and just join the herd and I was right there protesting with him.
HE loved her regardless and I do wonder if Seong Jun would REALLY have chosen her without the makeover and despite his protestations of 'not caring' about her looks and 'not judging' her on them. Editor Kim would've, but I was never completely sold on Seong Jun. Sure he went to great pains to remind us all he fell for her as herself this time, and not just his childhood sweetheart - but it was really AFTER her makeover and no one will convince me different on that. It really jarred with me and spoiled the drama a bit. I loved it, hell I even splurged and bought the (subtitled) dvd - but yeah that is still a prickly point.
Genderswaps/soulswaps drive me MAD - they've been done to death and yet still keep being lobbed out with alarming regularity - I never understand how the genderswap female pretending to be male happens with such dramas as Bromance, where the woman CLEARLY has boobs and, even if bound, they are THERE and yet they're hugged, squeezed and generally held very tightly and thisclose proximity to the male characters and NO ONE notices.....I facepalm EVERY time. lol! Also with soulswaps wouldn't SOMEONE be at least a teeny bit alarmed when your usually demure daughter starts strutting around like a testosterone fuelled teenage boy and acting like they're on drugs or their usually bratty/jerk teenage son (usual modus operandi) starts suddenly dressing properly and precisely and acting like a demure giggly teenage girl overdosing on Kpop idol swoon pills? But no - it seems most families just accept these sudden, inexplicable and nonsensical changes in their offspring/siblings/friends as nothing out of the ordinary. Again facepalms abound for me....
Really great article and I really enjoyed reading it. Well done ARMY!
god then you HAVE to watch Boku dake ga inai machi (erased) if you havent already. he was brilliant in that
Ah see I could cope with that - it's a nicer transition from Irie-kun.....whereas the last one I saw him in he was VERY animated and laughed and smiled a lot....completely creeped me out! XD But he's SUCH a great actor...it's nice we're seeing more his work now.
Do you know what happened to the actress who played Kotoko?
god then you HAVE to watch Boku dake ga inai machi (erased) if you havent already. he was brilliant in that
He's in that? No not watched it yet....now off to do so! XD I must admit though if he's animated and smiley I get really creeped out! lol! He is a really good actor though.
Oh holy mother of chocolate! This is like all the stars of Ugly duckling, SOTUS, Love Sick and a couple of other Thai teen dramas have all got together to do a drama!! XD Definitely got to watch it though!
I saw the trailer for this on youtube and it looks brilliant - so I am definitely up for this, especially as it has Wang Jiro in it.....I've liked him since 'It Started With a Kiss' - he's certainly shown his acting skills since then. :)
I'm already shipping the couple even though it's only the first episode and I probably shouldn't ship a stalker…
I agree with you - but in both our defence the young girl is actually HAPPIER with him than her own family, who are abusive and cruel.....so I think this is a slightly different scenario to the usual. ;)
In this order ---- MY LITTLE MONSTER (not on this list, but my most anticipated as it was my first anime and then I went on to read as much of the manga as I could find....lol!); Gintama 2 (Oguri Shun.....my bias breaker); Sachiiro no One Room (LOVED the manga and can't wait for this); Hibiki (both my bias breaker Oguri Shun AND Kitagawa Keiko from the wonderful Nagareboshi are both in it, so watching it is a no brainer); Meteor Garden (latest version and so one I MUST watch it - I haven't missed a version yet!); Love Rerun (Yuki Furakawa - will he be scarily animated or thankfully still irie Naoki cold and calm?); You, I Love (just want to see this, not seen the manga and does anyone know if it had an anime? It's just this would be the sort of anime I love); Stepmother and Daughter's Blues (because Takenouchi Yutaka who was so wonderful in Nagareboshi)
I've seen some of Yareta Kamo Iinkai - it was DREADFUL. Even by the barking mad offerings that we all know and love coming out of Japan this was truly TERRIBLE.....
Likewise with Shin Hyuk - we all knew he was destined to be disappointed but, oh my Lord did I have a seriously strong case of SLS with that drama. I mean he even crashed his motorcycle trying to get to her and then basically all but walked it off. He was such a totally decent guy that really deserved her and I just have this idea that, if the male lead hadn't been there or if she didn't know he was her CS, then she would've given Shun Hyuk more of a chance and perhaps fallen for him instead. It's the only way I could make my peace with ending. The Chinese version was even worse though. lol!
Yeah, with Gu Hai - to me at least - he almost forced Bai Luo Yin to love him . I loved the drama but his almost psychotic obsession was very alarming to me. the Bulldoze Method is so right in this case. I agree about Devil Beside You too - I think Gu Hai gave up with that because he felt it wasn't forceful enough....because nothing says 'I love you' like kidnapping.....
I am so sad that drama was banned - did you know the two actors, Huang Johnny and Xu Wei Zhou have permanent lifetime ban on ever being seen in public together and even from being together alone? Just so sad....but it seems the Chinese authorities didn't like the chemistry we all did.
I was Team Shin SeGi from the start - I actually got tearful when he lost her.......Cha Do hyeun was basically a manchild, SeGi was the real man and the MOST tortured. ACK! it annoyed me he didn't get Oh Ri jin; but I think she chose Do Hyeun because he was just easier to deal with....calm, docile easily pleased; SeGi was way too challenging and passionate for her. She struck me as a bit of a coward to be honest, and just took the easy path in the end....she loved SeGi too, but he was too difficult and she just didn't want to do all the sparring he loved and the steamy way he approached her. SeGi deserved better.
I saw you also had Heroin (aka addicted) and I agree - Zhang Johnny's character in that basically veered heavily into psycho stalker territory; to the point you feel his love interest fell for him more from Stokholm Syndrome than any real romance.... I mean I felt sorry for Zhang's character as it was clear he was so desperate for love but.......yeah.....he was batshit crazy in the beginning, and only marginally better towards the end. :$
Thanks again for a great read....and so spot on too. :)
I think youngsters have it way tougher than generation did. We didn't have the pressures of social media for one thing and there was NO cyber-bullying. Once we escaped home from our tormentors we were safe.
Oh it's terrible here in the UK - we're just not used to hot summers, we're generally a really wet country....we're used to floods and thunderstorms through our summers with summer itself occuring on a wednesday morning, for 3 hours at the end of the July. Everyone rushes out for the weak rays that break through and then that's it.
A line from the 2006 King Arthur movie said "when it's not raining, it's snowing, when it's not snowing, it's foggy - and that's just the summer" - summed up my country in one line!! XD
This year it's been in the mid 30s for the last three weeks and we are NOT coping. I prefer cold weather anyway, so I'm hiding too. lol!
Mind you, I defy anyone to work their beauty magic on me, I'm like quasimodo's uglier twin sister, quasimona!! I haven't had a photo willingly taken for about 6 years - I've always been ugly, but yikes it's got worse as I've got older.
The two of you take care - I consider you friends now, I hope that's not creepy, but you're so nice to talk to, debate with and such.
HS isn't much different now though, to be fair, ANY kid that's 'different' (whether from sexuality, look or other reason) is fair game - rather than being picked on because they're gay.
Yupple, we're fine - I made that word up; it's a happy yup! Hope you and yours are the same. Take care my friend, take care - the world needs more nice people like you. :)
As to the dramas - I agree with a lot of what you said; I do think there's some things that are so wrong. She Was Pretty was a case in point - I know that Ji Seong Jun (played by the always good Park Seo Joon) was just coincidentally suddenly nicer to Kim Hye Jin (portrayed by
Hwang Jung Eum) AFTER she underwent her mokeover to make herself more 'MOST'.....but to me it sent entirely the wrong message anyway - mistaken or not....you MUST be beautiful and look and behave like everyone else to be 'included' and loved. (Only after her makeover did all the staff start being genuinely nicer to her despite her being just as good at her job before).
I know Seong Jun was the right guy, her childhood sweetheart and all that, and yes it did get better with him and I did like him at the end....but I so wanted her to end up with Kim Shin Hyeok, her 'Editor Kim', (played by Choi Shi Won) because HE fell in love with her BEFORE the makeover and ADORED her BECAUSE she was an accident prone dork. He genuinely did NOT care about her looks, her clothes, her clumsiness - if anything he loved her BECAUSE of it. In fact he was GENUINELY upset and offended when she decided to 'blend in' and just join the herd and I was right there protesting with him.
HE loved her regardless and I do wonder if Seong Jun would REALLY have chosen her without the makeover and despite his protestations of 'not caring' about her looks and 'not judging' her on them. Editor Kim would've, but I was never completely sold on Seong Jun. Sure he went to great pains to remind us all he fell for her as herself this time, and not just his childhood sweetheart - but it was really AFTER her makeover and no one will convince me different on that. It really jarred with me and spoiled the drama a bit. I loved it, hell I even splurged and bought the (subtitled) dvd - but yeah that is still a prickly point.
Genderswaps/soulswaps drive me MAD - they've been done to death and yet still keep being lobbed out with alarming regularity - I never understand how the genderswap female pretending to be male happens with such dramas as Bromance, where the woman CLEARLY has boobs and, even if bound, they are THERE and yet they're hugged, squeezed and generally held very tightly and thisclose proximity to the male characters and NO ONE notices.....I facepalm EVERY time. lol! Also with soulswaps wouldn't SOMEONE be at least a teeny bit alarmed when your usually demure daughter starts strutting around like a testosterone fuelled teenage boy and acting like they're on drugs or their usually bratty/jerk teenage son (usual modus operandi) starts suddenly dressing properly and precisely and acting like a demure giggly teenage girl overdosing on Kpop idol swoon pills? But no - it seems most families just accept these sudden, inexplicable and nonsensical changes in their offspring/siblings/friends as nothing out of the ordinary. Again facepalms abound for me....
Really great article and I really enjoyed reading it. Well done ARMY!
Do you know what happened to the actress who played Kotoko?
For those wanting the trailers I saw - here's the links,......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd3pEryze_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XCw8FQvvFg
https://mydramalist.com/23806-my-little-monster
MY LITTLE MONSTER (not on this list, but my most anticipated as it was my first anime and then I went on to read as much of the manga as I could find....lol!);
Gintama 2 (Oguri Shun.....my bias breaker);
Sachiiro no One Room (LOVED the manga and can't wait for this);
Hibiki (both my bias breaker Oguri Shun AND Kitagawa Keiko from the wonderful Nagareboshi are both in it, so watching it is a no brainer);
Meteor Garden (latest version and so one I MUST watch it - I haven't missed a version yet!);
Love Rerun (Yuki Furakawa - will he be scarily animated or thankfully still irie Naoki cold and calm?);
You, I Love (just want to see this, not seen the manga and does anyone know if it had an anime?
It's just this would be the sort of anime I love);
Stepmother and Daughter's Blues (because Takenouchi Yutaka who was so wonderful in Nagareboshi)
I've seen some of Yareta Kamo Iinkai - it was DREADFUL. Even by the barking mad offerings that we all know and love coming out of Japan this was truly TERRIBLE.....