Trailers and Stills for Love Around with Annie Chen and George Hu Premiering this Sunday

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I’m probably one of the few people out there totally and completely worn out from the King Flower journey. It’s both a feeling of intense satisfaction and utter depletion. That’s what a Terry-less existence does to me, but as usual the drama churn moves on and this Sunday SETTV unveils its next Sunday night idol-drama offering Love Around. Starring George Hu and Annie Chen, this one is an exercise purely to reunite them in a drama with a story that comes across as tailor written for them without any greater purpose. Annie and George did the daily drama Love, Now late last year which garnered great ratings in its time slot and their combustible onscreen chemistry made them a popular pairing that only fanned more fires when rumors started leaking that they were dating in real life as well. Throw in some scorned former lady love scandal involving Gui Gui (who costarred with George in Summer Fever), this had all the makings of a juicy tabloid love triangle. Things have since then calmed down and neither George nor Annie have ever confirmed a relationship though they publicly admit to working well with each other.

The second leads for this drama are Elleya Tao and Jack Lee, neither of whom have ever made an impression with me and are clearly here to fill in some blanks. SETTV is playing it safe after the Chris Wu/Terry runaway train ordeal in KF, ain’t nothing or no one in LA going to touch the OTP. Hilariously enough, Chris Wu guest-starred with Annie in her even earlier daily drama Inborn Pair with Chris Wang and he totally stole the other Chris’ thunder as well. He’s deadly and needs to be kept away from drama leading men. George plays the reformed son of a former gangster clan while Annie is a plucky radio DJ. They are both dumped by their respective exes at the start of the drama and find themselves constantly bumping into each other and hanging out to get over their heartache. Of course they will fall in love, but watching the long 7-minute trailer I was totally underwhelmed. Bii’s track “Come Back to Me” was the best part of it, and I love seeing the return of kick-ass George unleashing some action moves. Other than that, it was a big fat yawn. I’ll check it out this Sunday and see if the actual episode changes my mind. Continue reading →

First Look at Uhm Tae Woong and Kim Ok Bin in Sword and Flower

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I confess to finally succumbing to sageuk fatigue. Even someone like me who grew up on period dramas and love sageuks big and small (as long as its done right and stays good) is finally hitting that tipping point. It’s not necessarily caused by the double crap of Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love and Gu Family Book, though those are the most recent two sageuks I watched. It’s just been so many all happening at the same time that I need a bit of modern rom-com lightness to change it up some. I’m also making room for the new batch of sageuks to come along, namely Goddess of Fire Jeongi and Sword and Flower. I confess being more into the former because of the cast (Moon Geun Young! Kim Bum!), but the latter actually sounds more up my alley based on the story alone. Starring Uhm Tae Woong, Kim Ok Bin, Choi Min Soo, and Kim Young Chul, the drama has recently gotten a more poetic English title of The Blade and Petal, which actually sounds like a romance novel title if you ask me. Airing on KBS Wed-Thurs following The Fugitive of Joseon, the story centers around Moo Young, the daughter of King Yeongnyu of Goguryeo, who disguises herself as an assassin to infiltrate the usurpers camp led by Yeon Gaesomun, and there she falls in love with Yeon Choong, the son of her father’s killer.

Nice. Talk about some pretty big daddy issues looming for the both of them. Everyone has already pointed out that this sounds like a reverse The Princess’s Man in many ways, and indeed it does. The era is different since TPM was a Joseon period story while this one takes place in the earlier time period of Goguryeo. Expect lots and lots more fighting and intense battle scenes, especially as the two daddies engage in epic warfare for control of the country. I love Uhm Tae Woong but his last sageuk foray in Queen Seondeok was a massive dud. He was the first male lead and was so underwhelming both in character and performance that Kim Nam Gil‘s second male lead ended up with all the screentime in the latter half of the drama. I also thought Uhm Tae Woong didn’t look great in sageuk garb, but I might have to rethink my opinion because the first peek at the two leads for Sword and Flower are out and both look absolutely stunning. Kim Ok Bin especially blows me away with how beautiful and intense she looks. The chemistry is also crackling between them just in the poster filming alone. I also love how the drama is giving Uhm Tae Woong two looks, the well-groomed warrior and the mane of glory dark assassin. There are also a whole lotta swords and flowers in the poster filming alone. Oh Korea, always so obvious. Continue reading →

Monstar Episode 3 Recap

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Episode 3 of Monstar is so good I literally got chills down my spine after watching it. Just the right amounts of everything that has made this drama so addicting from the get go, but then taking all the characters and their intertwining stories and moving it forward decisively. The music was exquisite once again, and the characters try to open the channels of communication, sometimes successfully but mostly giant pits of failure. Thankfully there are tons of great adult figures hanging around this drama to add some hard knocks and give some perspective. While the kids are crushing and/or hating on each other, the teachers and manager and one very weird trench coat dude is looking on wondering how best to get everyone back on track. Turns out all it takes is a little Poop, and honestly that might be the most innovative and gut-bustingly hilarious blackmail attempt in the history of musical extortion. I love watching Monstar because the story just feels very charming and fun, with Seol Chan’s growing fascination with Se Yi absolutely hitting every one of my happy buttons.

I don’t think Yong Jun Hyung is good looking (maybe cute in a funny looking way), but his Seol Chan is absolutely the star of this show for me in terms of how his emotional growth really underscores what this drama is all about. He’s a Star, and never fails to remind everyone of that, but he doesn’t act like one and instead is really just trying to lead his chosen path in life but finding himself constantly off-kilter because of Se Yi. No one here is really all that dysfunctional or broken, but everyone is hurt and trying to soldier on. In between there are laughter and tears, and lots and lots of singing from the heart. All of Seol Chan’s little gestures around Se Yi make me love him more, because he’s just this little boy doing things subconsciously hoping to get the attention of the girl he likes. It’s so juvenile, and so apropos of his personality and what little we know about his childhood. When he pulled her into the van, that might be all sorts of wrong on a boundary and respect perspective, but it was so stirring and sexy I gasped out loud and started to hyperventilate quite like poor Manager Hong. And when she cried on his face, that was one of the most perfect OTP moments ever in a drama, and one that isn’t even inherently romantic but is instead utterly raw and from the heart. That’s just what this drama feels like. Continue reading →

Vanness Wu Joins Ady An and Chris Wu for Another Autumn’s Concerto Getogether

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OMG Ady An I hate you! Wait, let me amend that, OMG Liang Mu Cheng I hate you! How can you still be sandwiched between those two gorgeous guys four years later? Why is there no justice in the world? For me at least, because I would be in a state somewhere between swooning and grabbing if I were her. A week after Director Chen Hui Ling led some of her cast and crew from her mega-hit award winning SETTV drama Autumn’s Concerto down to Yilan to visit her leading lady Ady An on the set of her new GTV drama with Mike He, she went back to Taipei and organized an even more jam-packed reunion dinner for AC. This time leading man Vanness Wu made it, and above is the picture of Vanness with Ady and second male lead Chris Wu. LOL, the two Wu boys – those two had tons of fun filming AC, too bad their characters had very few scenes together. A few notables were missing, namely Tiffany Hsu who played the second female lead doctor/fiancée to Vanness’ character (and one of the rare awesome second female leads ever to grace a drama screen) and Amanda Zhu who was the third female lead and nursed a crush on Chris’ character in the drama.

Eagle-eyed fans have asked where Xiao Le is, and the consensus is that Xiao Xiao Bin must be at home sleeping since it was a weeknight. LOL, not having Xiao Xiao Bin around in an AC reunion is like a sundae missing the cherry on top. It’s been awhile since Director Chen did an idol drama, not since Material Queen which was insanely gorgeously filmed, and I’m hoping she’s working on a project. Vanness has been her leading man in both AC and MQ, but she discovered Chris and cast him when he was just an unknown in AC so those two are also very close and I wouldn’t be surprised if he lands as the leading man in her next drama. Director Chen has quite the eye for genuine acting talent, she also discovered Jian Man Shu and cast her in the PTS drama The Year of the Rain. She’s also a phenomenal directing talent in getting the most out of her actors – Vanness, Ady, Lynn Xiong – all of them were weak to terrible actors before working with Director Chen and in those dramas everyone improved immensely. It’s rare to see a cast this close after filming a drama, which goes to show that something made with love and affection holds up well with time indeed. Check out all the cute pictures from the dinner getogether! Continue reading →

Preview and Stills for Upcoming Episode 4 of Monstar

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My poor discombobulated Seol Chan! One moment he’s a Star riding high on his popularity and potential, and the next minute he’s smitten by a Sheep Girl and stuck playing the tambourines in a cobbled together ensemble reluctantly collaborating because of the mutual threat of Poop. Can his life go from bad to worse? Around Min Se Yi, it probably will, and he’ll secretly love every minute of it. Monstar is so addicting I’m already floundering thinking about all the great narrative avenues for this drama to explore. The OTP is but one aspect of what makes this show great, the high school rivalries and hidden stories about the main set of characters are all so compelling. I neither love nor hate Sun Woo, his passivity when it comes to stopping the bullying of Kyu Dong probably has a reason but he shouldn’t be held responsible more than the bullies Jae Rok and Do Nam. I like his backstory with Se Yi, but he’s a bit too hovering for my taste. I feel like Seol Chan is all id and that I like, because the poor boy can barely function now without Se Yi popping into his mind, and increasingly in the form of ever more elaborate and hilarious fantasies. We’re only up to episode 3, but at the rate he’s going, he might be torpedoing his idol career because of her by episode 7 and then ripping his heart out for her by episode 10. Too bad he ranks way WAY lower than sheep in her mind, though I love that he’s the only one who can jostle her out the walls she has constructed around herself. I can’t wait to watch Team Poop perform at the charity event, because you know they are going to somehow get their ass to work together and knock one out of the park. Continue reading →

Bii Drops Fantastic New Album After 2 Year Break for Military Service

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HE’S BACK. Oh my god what rock have I been living under. Oh yes, a King-sized Flower rock, but goodness my radar should have pinged! One of the most talented singer-songwriters of the last few years in the Taiwanese music industry, other than Yen-J, can only be Bii. It has been two years since Bii has released an album after he was snatched from our arms because of something called mandatory military service! Kyaaaaaa, he left Korea and came to Taiwan and still he got nabbed. There is no justice when such a gorgeous and talented young man is gone for 16 months. Funnily enough, Bii still looks like a little boy, and no, you are not imagining it, he looks just like Sung Joon. Bii’s 2010 full album Bii Story was a runaway best seller and got tons of exposure being part of the SETTV drama Zhong Wu Yen (starring Cheryl Yang, Ming Dao, and Chris Wu). This time his return is already top of charts since it was released 3 weeks ago, but I bet money that it’s going to get even more crazy wide exposure after this Sunday when the title track “Come Back to Me” plays as the theme song for SETTV’s Sunday night new idol drama Love Around (starring Annie Chen and George Hu). Bii’s second album is called Come Back to Bii and this time he’s back in the music industry using his Chinese name Bi Shu Jin (畢書盡), embracing his Taiwanese side even more. For those of you just making Bii’s acquaintance, he’s an uber-talented half Taiwanese (father side) and half Korean (mother side) singer-songwriter. The title track off this album “Come Back to Me” is SO INSANELY GOOD I need everyone to listen right now and then start gushing over with him (he also wrote the score and lyrics for this track). Another track “Meteor Passed” is also amazing and the title song for the Taiwan broadcast of The King 2 Hearts. That’s like mushing together two of my favorite things! Bii is back and he’s here to stay. I couldn’t be happier. Continue reading →