All my gushing over In A Good Way on Friday nights makes it seem like the only TW-drama airing that night but there is actually The Pursuit of Happiness with Sonia Sui and Tony Yang over on GTV that just ended last Friday. TPoH was from the production team behind the popular hit In Time With You with Ariel Lin and Bolin Chen but sadly TPoH never garnered the critical acclaim or ratings win of ITWY. I watched a few episodes of TPoH and the drama is lovely and well-made but I was bored and it’s not very gripping even if its really watchable. TPoH ends this week and up next is the long completed drama Chocolat (Chinese title 流氓蛋糕店 Gangster Patisserie) with Blue Lan and Japanese actress Nagasawa Masami. I was surprised when I heard Masami was making a TW-drama back in 2012 and now that this drama is premiering in two weeks I’m still having a hard time believing its real. She’s an A-list actress in Japan so it kinda feels like she’s slumming it in an odd-ball Taiwan drama about a reformed gangster who turns his gang followers to a life of baking. The drama is an adaptation of a Japanese manga of the same name which has already been made into a J-dorama back in 2003.
This adaptation will involve a female Japanese college student played by Masami who runs away to Taiwan and gets involved with a young gangster played by Blue Lan who just got out of jail after five years. He is ready to dive back into the gang life but discovers that his gangster boss lost his wife to an illness and has decided to turn over a new leaf and become a legit businessman by starting a bakery that employs all his former gang members. His beloved deceased wife’s daughter from her previous marriage is the Japanese girl and she arrives in Taiwan and ends up living with her step-father who dreams of being a master baker but sucks big time at baking. The entire gang of misfits all live and work together and presumably heartwarming hilarity ensues along with romance between the two leads. The first trailer is out and other than the horrible music the rest of the stuff actually looks interesting. It’s a manga adaptation so I already see the ridiculous heightened sense of realism paired with an absurd but sweet humor. One major bonus point is hearing Masami speak Chinese since she learned to say her own lines and won’t be dubbed over. She sounds fine with a cute Japanese accent when is exactly in character. I’m definitely checking this out and hopefully it’s good so I can have a double dose of Friday cuteness.
Preview for Chocolat:
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hmmmm, I don't know if she's really a A-lister anymore. I think she always was more famous for her figure then her acting skills.
Her recent projects really haven't been hits (don't know about her last dorama)
Maybe venturing abroad will be a good choice.
I am so glad Blue Lan's stylist has not monumentally screwed up his hair this time...
The Pursuit of Happiness... I thought they were just going in circles. And behaving like teens contemplating their first relationship rather than 35 year olds. Boring and annoying, particularly because the drama was so insistent on that women must marry to be happy. (I think it already finished btw.)
Chocolat: I thought the trailer looked pretty awful – clichéd and trying a bit too hard. Blue Lan has been underwhelming in everything I have seen him in (pretty face but limited acting). Not familiar with Nagasawa Masami. Then again, I struggle with TW dramas most of the time and usually end up dropping them, In a Good Way is a rare exception.
they have jun's chocolatier and now another chocolat title drama. i guess if for the coming valentine.
Actually TPoH finished last week and I really liked it. Although the first few episode was kind of underwhelming because of the ex boyfriend and love scenes but after episode 6 it was just PREFECT.
The OTP was amazing, Tony and Sonia had great chemistry and have done a fabulous job with their acting in the drama <3
TPoH was really boring for me too. The female character did nothing except be mean with the male character... In Time With You was really better! The story and the alchemy between the characters!