In the limited Russian Roulette of Taiwan actor and actress pairings, Vic Zhou and Janine Chang doing two dramas together already not that surprising. I loved both their characters in Black & White, and was rather disappointed they didn’t have even a what-if love line. A few years ago Zai Zai and Janine filmed Coming Home, a Taiwan-Mainland China collaboration war drama set during the latter days of World War II. The drama is gritty and intense, with a huge push for authenticity with the characters in Taiwan speaking both Taiwanese and Japanese (since it was nearing 50 years of Japanese occupation by then), and even having language barriers when the Taiwanese soldiers were conscripted by the Japanese to fight in Mainland China against the KMT Chinese army. Zai Zai plays a doctor who volunteers to join the Japanese army when his older brother is conscripted to fight, in part to avoid dealing with the fact that he is in love with said brother’s fiancée played by Janine (and she also loves Zai Zai). After he returns home from the war, he gets accused by the KMT of being a spy for Japan having served in the Japanese army. Great – the guy can’t win either way. The drama has already aired in China but I didn’t watch because it was fully dubbed in Mandarin. The original voices required Zai Zai and Janine to speak their dialogues in Taiwanese and Japanese as necessary, and I felt like forced dubbing for this drama would destroy its cultural importance. The drama is set to air in Taiwan this month without dubbing and I’ll check it out then. Or maybe not, war stories really are not my cup of tea. Zai Zai and Janine have been out promoting the drama in Taiwan and they are looking so cute together. The drama airs daily on FTV after the Lunar New Year holiday. Continue reading →