A name change for a novel to drama adaptation is so common these days, and increasingly the character names are changed as well and only the story outline remains the same. It’s likely to avoid Chinese censors if the story fictionalizes the lives of real life historical or cultural figures. Upcoming fantasy period drama adaptation of Tong Hua novel Once … Continue reading →
New C-drama alert, and this is capturing my interest from the outset. Production will soon be underway for the C-drama adaptation of the popular romance novel A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to Be Appreciated (孤芳不自賞 Gu Fang Bu Zhi Shang). It’s actually more aptly translated as A Fragrance Does Not Appreciate Oneself, meaning that a catch requires an equal soulmate to … Continue reading →
I’ve always preferred traditional wuxia dramas over the skewing younger fantasy wuxia with more special effects that come across like an RPG visual. It’s pretty telling that many of the recent years fantasy wuxia dramas have been adopted from popular role playing video games as both the games and such dramas remain quite popular in China. Not as common as … Continue reading →
Lee Jong Seok is taking a page from the rising Hallyu star playbook and doing a C-drama intended for a much broader audience. Even a C-drama as stupid as Diamond Lover was a big hit in China and helped cushion Rain‘s continued popularity and recognition there. Lee Jong Seok picked as his first K-drama the big budget and highly promoted … Continue reading →
Consider me pleasantly surprised and not at all unhappy that the initial gloom and doom prognostications for upcoming otherwordly C-drama Ice Fantasy may not have been warranted. The first teaser trailer is out and does not look bad at all, and in fact look much better than I could have imagined possible. Still iffy on the story and acting but … Continue reading →
This Sunday SETTV premieres a new idol drama after wrapping up the highly successful run of Bromance. I normally love cross-dressing hijinks but that particular drama had me in the minority of not digging it. I also like Taiwan drama takes on workplace romances which fits the bill for upcoming Refresh Man. The English title is so random since the … Continue reading →
C-dramas are starting to feel like two degrees of separation with the same actors and actresses pairing up in varying combinations that still feel slightly incestuous. It may be my impression in that I’m interested in only certain dramas that star the actors or actresses that I like. In that respect, I’ve decided to be more free flowing and accept … Continue reading →
Okay, this drama looks soooo cute, and in the cute I mean that unique Taiwanese idol drama definition of it. The first substantive teasers are out for upcoming SETTV Sunday night drama Refresh Man, which feels a bit late since the drama premieres this coming Sunday after Bromance finished last week. Refresh Man stars popular singer-actors Aaron Yan and Joanne … Continue reading →
There has been so much Chinese and Korean entertainment product exchanges in the last few years alone I’m starting to feel like both sides of the border deal with the same issues whether successes or failures. Chinese fans love a breakout success story and the nation’s “insert role here” moniker as much as their Korean counterparts. The last few months … Continue reading →
The cross-border couples on previous iterations of variety show We Got Married and it’s Chinese counterpart We Are In Love have all been by and large successful despite of any language barriers or cultural differences. That means the pressure is on for TW-actor Bolin Chen and K-actress Song Ji Hyo as their embark on their made for television romance in … Continue reading →
The first teaser is out for upcoming SETTV Sunday night drama Refresh Man with Aaron Yan and Joanne Tseng and it brings back all the right feels. It has the same bright effervescence of Just You, the drama with Aaron and Puff Guo which launched them into the top tiers of Taiwan drama stars. It also gives off the earnest … Continue reading →
C-dramas remain notoriously hit-or-miss for me, even with last year yielding a bumper crop of watchable ones like Nirvana in Fire, The Disguiser, and My Sunshine, among others. Overall it’s still mostly duds and the recently started The Imperial Doctress with Liu Shi Shi and Wallace Huo has me headdesking at the stupid and boring writing leading to a waste of everyone’s … Continue reading →
TW-drama Marry Me or Not wrapped up its compact 15-episode run last Sunday with a nice flourish. A tidy bow if you will, for the OTP at least, and really that’s all I cared about. Roy Qiu made a triumphant return to drama land with this drama and role, his lawyer Justin was hilarious and ever evolving, a man who … Continue reading →
