People. I hereby decree that Fondant Garden must be watched. This is the drama that’s pulled me out of my drama slump and period novel fascination. After a slew of meh to ehhh dramas, who knew that a totally under the radar TW idol drama from the godmother of TW idol dramas (Producer Angie Cai) would hit me that hard with the cuteness and sweetness double whammy. FG premiered last Friday on CTV, a pretty dead time slot, though it did yield the ratings bonanza that was The Fierce Wife last year around this time.
FG has started off with a great first impression from the fans but super low ratings of .61. I think this is a bona fide TW idol drama that blends the usual combination of great character chemistry and interactions with easy breezy situational comedy. Paired with a fantabulous leading lady in Jian Man Shu (this girl, she’s going place, and I’ve been eyeing her since she got a Golden Bell Best Actress nomination for The Year of the Rain), watching FG is like eating delicious airy bon bons. But be forewarned that I’m already all over the alterna-shipping of the heroine Mi En with second male lead Han Xiang played by Kingone Wang. OMG, swooning forever for their chemistry.
FG is about as typical a TW-drama as it can get, with a Korean twist. SS501‘s Park Jung Min plays Park Hee Hwan, a Korean-Taiwanese (his grandmother is Taiwanese but he grew up in Korea) second generation chaebol heir who is cheerful and carefree and just wants to enjoy his life and not have to take over the family business. Jian Man Shu is Cheng Mi En, a talented young patissier who has lost both her parents and finds herself running the bakery her father founded. Kingone Wang is Yen Han Xiang, Hee Hwan’s cousin who runs the family business division in Taiwan and is a little annoyed that younger cousin is uninterested in taking over the business yet might inherit over him. Lia Lee is Chen Ai Lin, the daughter of the owner of a pastry conglomerate in Taiwan and also Mi En’s college best friend.
Turns out Ai Lin invested money in Mi En’s bakery to keep it afloat, but in turn Mi En has been baking goods for Ai Lin to pass off as her own creations since their school days. Ai Lin isn’t a bad person, she’s just always looking for the easy way out and her scruples aren’t very high. But she doesn’t think anyone gets hurt by this little charade, and she is genuinely wanting to help her friend Mi En out. Episode 1 starts with Ai Lin getting entered into a cake competition in Korea because her family thinks she’s an excellent patissier, so she drags Mi En along with her to the competition since Ai Lin can’t bake worth squat. At the airport, Ai Lin spots Han Xiang, who she has been crushing on since college.
In Korea, Mi En has cute and successive run ins with Han Xiang and Hee Hwan. In particular, the first meeting between Mi En and Han Xiang is so perfect I have no words. Ai Lin has ditched Mi En to go shopping, so Mi En goes to have some samgetang. The restaurant is packed, so when Han Xiang arrives, the owner asks if he can sit at the same table as Mi En. She thinks he’s Korean so when Ai Lin calls her, they proceed to talk in Chinese about him and it’s the cutest thing ever. Afterwards, they have this totally wordless meal where Han Xiang shows Mi En how to eat the array of dishes that came with the meal, and then he pays for her afterwards. After he reveals he’s Taiwanese as well, he walks her back to the hotel. She’s so adorably nervous and when he introduces himself to her, she’s a little sad he didn’t ask her name. He reveals that he can’t know who she is, because she revealed she’s here for the cake competition, and he happens to be a judge.
Turns out Hee Hwan is being forced on matseon after matseon, so he finally gets fed up and decides to book it. During his cute run in with Mi En, and later Ai Lin, he finds out they are Taiwanese. He reveals his Taiwanese heritage and his longing to visit since he’s never been. For some reason, Hee Hwan finds Mi En super adorable (don’t we all), and I love how he’s genuinely so charmed by her. Episode 1 had most of the action in Korea, but it looks to be set in Taiwan for the most part as all the characters head there soon. Park Jung Min speaks his own Korean lines, but he’s dubbed in Chinese, as his character is fluent in both languages. The dub is actually pretty decent, once you get over the slight disconnect knowing its two different voices. It’s not jarring, and actually makes it feel as kooky as his silly character is.
The drama is so breezy, has a delightfully catchy OST, and the acting ranges from decent to solid. Park Jung Min isn’t the best actor for this role (I keep picturing Donghae, who is just killing it as Shang in Skip Beat right now, in his limited screentime), but he’s trying so hard and I do find him harmless to watch. Kingone has the worst hairstyle I’ve ever seen on him, but I adore his character and his chemistry with Jian Man Shu is pitch perfect. Lia Lee is actually an adorable second female lead that I don’t hate, and her acting is nice to watch. Its leading lady Jian Man Shu that I give the most props to. She’s like a Rainie Yang who doesn’t mug, with shades of young Ariel Lin. I simply love her. I enjoyed episode 1 so much I’ve seen it twice, and am totally looking forward to episode 2 this Friday.
Preview for episode 1 (English subbed):
Preview for episode 2:
The title cards reads as thus.
She: the real Mi En, the fake Ai Lin, the real champion.
He (referring to Kingone’s character): fell in love with the fake Ai Lin.
He (referring to Park Jung Min’s character): fell in love with the real Mi En.
A really hard triangle problem to solve.
Opening Credits (SO CUTE):
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Because you recommend this I am going to try to watch it! Now I just have to find it!!
Thanks koala :)
Kingone Wang playing second lead again? I like that guy!
I know I totally want him as the lead!!! He's adorable.
I know right? Why is Kingone always playing second lead? And especially second lead to Rainie Yang (see: Why why love, devil beside you, drunken to love you). I mean, how weird is it that 10 years after he first played second lead to Rainie Yang, he's STILL playing second lead to her???
I couldn't get to watching Drunken to Love You because I can't bear to see him not end up with Rainie again. If there ever was a drama starring Rainie and KingOne, I would be all over it. He did manage to play the lead in the movie, Love 50%
I haven't watched Fondant Garden yet, but does it have the same feel as Sweet Relationship?
I watched all three. Was really disappointed when I saw him again in DTLY as the 2nd lead (to make it worse he was like floating in and out of the series when they brought in Xiao Gui XD).
Glad to hear that he snagged a leading role in a movie. Would love to see him as the lead in a drama after this. :)
I watched this last saturday only because I like Jian Man Shu and Wang Quan Yi and I must admit, began watching with the thought of "not another typical frothy Taiwanese idol drama with a sub-par storyline and so-so acting with godawful dubbing" especially when i saw the over-cuteness factor of the opening sequence. But I was really pleasantly surprised. The story has enough of originality to make it refreshing from the normal formulaic idol drama recipe. Acting by all 4 leads were on the level. Jian Man Shu was pitch perfect in her role managing to give a refreshing take on the typical sweet/cute female heroine character by shying away from overplaying the cuteness factor that would normally make me gag. She was really natural and her acting was really unaffected. Great stuff. The Korean actor also pulled in a decent performance. I cannot wait for the next episode.
Jian man shu has a long acting career ahead of her, loved her debut drama of 2010.
Mrs Koala, i'm so glad you got hooked on this one (hehe an accomplice of addiction). I saw first ep and was sucked in. The yummy opening (i want that giant sugar cane !), the funny (what language is actually spoken by each character, very clever). PJM reminds me of the reluctant boss of PTB, and this role fits him like a glove. And i love Kingone : He looks koreanized with that hair. I think i'm going to rewatch it too.
@sunshower3 : you can find it at viki, dramacrazy and sugoii i think. Welcome aboard !
omg! sis, i watched the clips and i am IN! how could i pass up on something you recommend. is fondant garden available for streaming?
Didn't know Jung Min was doing a drama!! He is fun to watch (I mean, his real life persona). I can picture him in the character you described. Silly, but charming. I've seen Kingone way a lot times but can never really 'like' him with lead (I guess, it has more to do with Mike He than him, hehe).
Sidenote: I'm totally loving Donghae as Shang. I think he is doing a pretty good job! Too bad, he's MIA. it would be so awesome if they did the valentines day arc..
Yey! Another Taiwanese drama to get excited about ^^ But, OMG, really? Is there some sort of rule in Taiwan that once a second-lead, always a second lead? Kingone T^T
My friend told me to check it out last week after she saw the premiere. I was relunctant to start yet another drama with dubbed Korean lead(s) but the opening is so cute! And Park Jung Min doesn't bother me as I thought he would (based on the opening).
And then I see Prince Turned into Frog's chaeol-amnesia-and-becomes-pauper, really never enjoyed that ><
I think I will wait for more eps to be out to see.
He doesn't have anmesia. He pretends he does so he can glom onto Mi En and because he's homeless and needs a place to crash in Taiwan.
Just watched both eps over at Viki. Why do you think he's faking amnesia? He got slammed with a fry pan, passes out and gets a CAT scan showing damage and bruising to his 'memory lobe' (for want of a better description). One of the last scenes in ep 2 shows
MJ looking at a pic of the cake contest winner and his father - but it wasn't clear if this jogged his memory. Did we miss something in the translations? Otherwise, for now I don't think he's faking.
He has a real amnesia. Otherwise the doctor would know.
At first he really got amnesia but when his head hit the sofa's handle in the little hotel room, he remembered everything but didn't say anything to Mi En.
Saw you raving about this drama in the comments section of a prior blog post and I know I just have to check it out! Especially now that I've got more background info on this sucker...
I can already tell that I'm going to be a second-male lead shipper than a first-male lead one. I've only watched the above vids but I'm already loving the chemistry between Kingone Wang and Jian Man Shu!
I have a feeling I'm going to hate Park Jung Min in this role. He seems way too out of place, and that's just the poster shots. For some reason, he looks like he's got way too much make-up on that he looks more like a drag queen from the neck up... maybe it's the smile or the eye make-up. I hope that he won't have as much make-up in the drama or have his hair completely made-up that it looks like he's supposed to entering a pageant in drag rather than play a male lead.
Agreed. I also think Park Jung Min has too much make-up on.
Kyaah.. so cute. I wanna watch. Problem is, I'm already watching Inborn pair without subtitle. Is anyone subbing this? Plus I love Kingone even if it sucks to be him coz he's always second lead. :))