~!.Asian Drama Reviews.!~

Visitors!

2008-03-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

This is a post dedicated to all the viewers/reviewers who come to this site to read up on reviews about their favourite or potential dramas to watch.

Thank you very much for coming! Please feel free to post in the shoutbox to let us know that you visited our blog! It gives us great pleasure to acknowledge that there are many people out there who find this site a good read. Please tell us what you think!

Also, feel free to comment anytime! Comments are still on moderation, but it seems like moderation is not needed yet. After a few comments are posted, moderation will be taken off. :)

If you're wondering why there hasn't been a review update in a while, it is because I am currently very busy with schoolwork and other priorities. I will try to update at least once a week from now on. Look forward to a new drama update! ;) Bull Fighting Episode 4 will also be updated as well, I am almost finished reviewing the episode. :)

Okay folks, I'm off to do some other stuff. ~

Thanks again for visiting. =) Oh, please give feedback as well if you have any suggestions!

The X-Family: Episode Six

2008-02-26T16:33:00.000-08:00

Yay, new drama added!

Summary: Xia Tian gets overly angry at the presence of Xiong Ge's soon-to-be husband, and annouces that he will not accept having two fathers. Xia Tian quickly runs into his room to pout and kick about. Xia Yu and Xia Mei try to calm him down, and accidentally pull of his Feng Long Tie. Surprisingly, nothing happens and Gui Long does not appear. The three siblings go to investigate the Yi Neng disrupter-machine, and find that it was not turned on. They then find out that the Feng Long Tie did not release Xia Tian's Yi Neng, because there was a stronger force within the house. They begin to speculate Uncle Vincent for carrying a mutated Yi Neng. There speculation leads to spying on him while Xiong Ge is busy.

After numerous attempts of different spying techniques, they finally find out that Uncle Vincent is indeed, the stronger force. Xiong Ge steps in right at the discovery, but before the four could question Vincent further, he holds them all hostage under the control of his vocal commands. They then get down on their knees, while Yi Se Ren makes an entrance, but gets caught by Vincent and is forced to beat himself in the head with a baseball bat.

Yi Se Ren manages to get out of his vocal grasp, but is then forced to get down on his knees along with his family. Xiong Ge is then forced to strangle Yi Se Ren, until Xia Tian confesses that the Feng Long Card is actually in his Feng Long Tie. Xiong Ge is released from Vincent's control, and Xia Tian hastily walks up to Vincent to get his Tie peeled off. However, Vincent stops and assumes that Xia Tian was just trying to get his Yi Neng released, so that he could fight back, but he tells him that it's not possible, because he is stronger.

Just in time, Dong Cheng Wei's Xiu comes to the rescue and voices the command for Vincent to strangle himself. Unsure of how long this could happen, Vincent warps himself to the darker world to avoid destroying himself.

The family then thank Xiu by having dinner with him and a chord. They have take-out, after refusing to eat Xiong Ge's stinky food. Xia Mei desperately tries to get Xiu's loving attention, and a chord tries to get Xia Yu's attention.

Xia Yu then mentions how Xiong Ge talked about the Feng Long Card. Xiong Ge tries to deny the question, but Ah Gong intervenes and tries to give his input on the Card. However, Xiong Ge steps on his foot and tells him that she will go help him find his bubbletea.

After dinner, Xiu and Xiong Ge step outside to have a little talk about Xia Tian's potential to be the Ultimate Tie Ke Ren. Xiong ge denies the possibility, and expresses her feelings for Xiu not to force Xia Tian to activate his Yi Neng to become the Ultimate Tie Ke Ren. Xiong Ge then asks for him to promise her that he won't activate the Yi Neng on purpose.

Review: I thought this was a very short episode. There wasn't a lot of character development here, as the entire episode was kept within the boundaries of their household.

I did not think that they would be able to find out about Vincent so easily, and what surprised me the most that even Xiong Ge wasn't putting up a strong front when she unexpectedly found out about him.

I thought a lot of the painful and agonizing scenes were quite comedic, I could tell it was for the purpose of comic relief, which was good, but there was such an excess of it that I couldn't bare to see anymore of it.

I'm definitely anticipating the next episode, as the episode ended off with the cliffhanger as to whether Xiu would make a promise with Xiong Ge. I guess I'll find out soon.

Bull Fighting: Episode Four

2008-02-20T15:27:00.000-08:00

Episode Summary: At the 13 streets, Sheng Xue and her family hold a celebrative barbecue extravaganza for the residents of 13 streets. Unbeknowst to them, Ruo He is actually spying on them on the sidelines. He sees their displays of affection for one another, and realizes that perhaps happiness can stay as long as everyone is together. However, he shakes off that thought and remembers how he said that winning and losing is important.

Taking out his anger on his Trio brothers, Ruo He challenges them to a game of bull fighting. After the game, the brothers ask if he's in a bad mood because of work. Ruo He replies that he needs to get Yi Sheng Xue, and the guys mistaken this for him showing some interest in her. Ruo He gives a hint that he's doing it for his father, and the boys tell him how Yi Sheng Xue makes them feel guilty of getting the 13 streets court. They mention how Sheng Xue loves the court more than they do, which makes Ruo He think. One of the brothers tell Ruo He that they don't agree with hurting Sheng Xue. But Ruo He declares that as long as he closes the deal, he will win, and that nothing else matters.

Ruo He stops his car in the middle of the road, causing Zi Cong to slam the breaks. Both Zi Cong and Sheng Xue step out of the car to talk with Ruo He. Ruo He requests for a date with Sheng Xue, telling her that she still owes him. Sheng Xue tells him that she's changed her mind, and would rather dance like a monkey than go on a date with him. Ruo He then challenges Zi Cong to a bull fighting match. If he wins, then Sheng Xue will go on the date, and if he loses, then she doesn't have to.

The game commences and every student is cheering Ruo He on, except for Sheng Xue. She cheers for Zi Cong and encourages her classmates to do the same.

Meanwhile, Shao Qi's men go to find Wu Ye to talk to them. They find him at the 13th streets court watching some boys play basketball. As they approach him, Wu Ye fights them off of him and the boys help him out. Shao Qi calls one of his henchmen's phones and speaks with Wu Ye. He tells him to come so that they can discuss the secret behind Zi Cong's parents. Wu Ye, unable to refuse, quietly follows the henchmen to see Shao Qi.

Back at the basketball game, Zi Cong has 20 seconds left to score a basket. Reflecting on the past, he declares that Sheng Xue's future boyfriend needs to know how to play basketball, so no matter what, he will win. At only 1 second left on the clock, Zi Cong manages to take the ball and score a basket.

...to be continued

The rest of the episode summary will be up soon. Review is also pending. ;)

Bull Fighting: Episode Three

2008-02-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

Edited: I made a mistake when referring to Ruo He's father as 'Shao Qi' it should actually be 'Guo Chen' instead. I have fixed it. =)

The summary for this episode is much longer than episode two's. It actually covers most of the whole episode. I'm still deciding on whether I enjoy writing a brief one paragraph summary, or several paragraph ones. So, the future blog reviews may be somewhat inconsistent.

Summary: Ruo He carries Sheng Xue to their tutoring session as Sheng Xue hastily tries to get out of his grasp. He tells her that she stinks, and that he won't let her go until she finishes the next 30 test questions. Sheng Xue gets hungry so they go to a cafe and order a burger and drink.

At the cafe, the two discuss the horrible things that were done to Ruo He's bag and shoes just before the game. Ruo He says that his bag was slashed by Sheng Xue's people. Sheng Xue disagrees and says she will ask them if they did it or not. After their little argument, she runs home, refusing a ride from Ruo He.

Ruo He receives a call from his father to meet up with him. When meeting up, Ruo He finds himself on an arranged date with a girl who is from a rich family. Ruo He scares the girl off, and his father gets furious. Ruo He is then told by his father that their family is in huge financial trouble, and asks him if he knows anything about a girl named Yi Sheng Xue. Ruo He tells his father that he will do something about it in his own way.

Meanwhile, Sheng Xue arrives home, asking Zi Cong and the other bodyguards about the slashed bag. Zi Cong openly admits that he commited the crime. Sheng Xue slaps him across the face, asking him once again if he really did do it. Yet again, he admits he did it, but the other bodyguards try to take the blame.

The two get into an argument about whether the Ruo He's feelings are more important than their brothers. Sheng Xue says yes, and Zi Cong gets into a rage, kicking a chair broken. Just in time, Wu Ye and his wife come in to loosen up the tension. Wu Ye asks Zi Cong about the chair, but Jie Mei blames Ah Jia for being so fat, that he sat on it and broke it.

Sheng Xue and Jie Mei have a talk about how Zi Cong finds Sheng Xue as the most important girl in his life. Jie Mei also explains how Zi Cong was beat by Wu Ye in the morning. Sheng Xue decides to go find Zi Cong in his room, but is hesitant to come in because Wu Ye is tending to his back wounds.

Wu Ye and Zi Cong talk of the past. Zi Cong tells Wu Ye that meeting him was the luckiest thing in his life, and that after meeting him, and being taken in by him, that he now has a home. Wu Ye also tells him that he is glad he has him by his side as well. Zi Cong is asked by Wu Ye whether he would like to study at Dong Shang as well, he accepts the offer, so that he can keep an eye on Sheng Xue.

Ruo He reminisces of the past after having a bad dream. He reflects on the times with his ex-girlfriend, and declares that he will obtain 13 streets, but not be moved by Sheng Xue.

The next morning, Sheng Xue prepares some porridge for Zi Cong's breakfast. The other bodyguards sneak in and observe her cooking. They are amazed at how well she can cook until after they see her dump a whole bottle full of chili sauce into the porridge. Without knowing what trouble she may have done, Sheng Xue feeds the porridge to Zi Cong. Zi Cong, relaxed and ready to take a bite, starts crying and sweating after eating the first bite. Sheng Xue asks him why he was crying, Zi Cong simply tells her that he is moved to tears, because it is the first time she has ever cooked something for him. Sheng Xue responds by giving him a hug. She then tells him that she's never thanked him properly before. The two has their faces so up close to each other's, that Zi Cong tries to lean in to kiss her, but Ah Jia sneezes and interupts them.

Zi Cong transfers into Dong Shang, and surprisingly, into the same class as Ruo He and Sheng Xue. He introduces himself to the whole class as the bodyguard of Sheng Xue, and tells Ruo He that he will protect Sheng Xue, whenever he tries to bully her.

Meanwhile, Qian Na's mother meets up with Ruo He's father and tells him that starting the next day, he will have to clear his debts to their bank. Guo Chen decides to call Ruo He and tells him to meet up with him and Qian Na's mother. Ruo He gets to the office and finds that the 1.2 million loan they received from the bank has just gotten cancelled. Guo Chen forces himself on his knees, Ruo He intervenes and says he will compensate for the company, and that he will need at least 3 days to think of a way to take over 13 streets. He Feng Bank agrees, but tells him that if he cannot do it within 3 days, then the Qing Tian group will have to surrender. Guo Chen agrees, saying that he definitely trusts that his son will protect everything for him.

He Feng Bank gives Guo Chen one piece of information that may help him. In the envelope, Guo Chen discovers that Zi Cong's father is actually the 13 streets drug dealer, Jing Yi Xian, and that the death of Zi Cong's father was caused by Yi Quan Wu. Guo Chen tells Shao Qi that Ruo He cannot find about this, and begins to take action immediately.

Review: Well, I have to say that this episode did not actually show me what the preview showed me... o_O I was expecting a hug from Ruo He, and for Zi Cong to walk in, feeling jealous. Nope, none of that happened. -_-

I realized that Wu Ye's irony is most likely going to be consistent throughout the series. I can't believe that he actually applied medicine on Zi Cong's wounds, being that HE was the one who INFLICTED them upon him... I guess it somewhat makes sense though, he is seen as a fatherly figure in Zi Cong's eyes and heart.

It was cute seeing Sheng Xue make porridge for Zi Cong and feeding it to him. I found Zi Cong's facial expressions quite humorous after he took a bite of the cajun porridge. =P I would probably do the same too if someone I liked made me eat a hot chili-filled porridge. o.o

Shao Qi isn't the best father, but you can see that he has a lot of respect for his son. He acts like the stereotypical asian father though, expecting his son to do everything he says and wants for him to do. Nuh-uh, Ruo He loves his father and will do anything, but he is still someone who has compassion for other people.

I honestly can't wait for the next episode, even though there is most likely going to be a lot of unwanted abuse from Ruo He to Sheng Xue. I know he doesn't mean what his actions are, but to carry them out is just really shallow of him... oh but hopefully we'll see a different, non-abusive side of him in the fourth episode.

Bull Fighting: Episode Two

2008-02-16T22:41:00.001-08:00

Alrighty, this is the first official drama review on this blog. Yay! I know it's not the first episode of Bull Fighting, but I will have that up sometime later... or I might not. Like I've stated in the introduction, I review dramas at random episodes. However, there will be occasional times where I do review all of the episodes. =)

Anyway, onward with the summary:

Sheng Xue transfers into East Side college to beat up Ruo He. However, she finds out that he has to be her tutor since she's a transfer student. Sheng Xue slowly purges her anger towards Ruo He after finding out that his bag was played with, and that his shoes were one size smaller, causing him to lose the championship. Sheng Xue goes after Roma and challenges him to a basketball game. She tells him that if she wins, then the court will be given back to East Side. After being beat, Roma develops a tantrum and tries to stab Sheng Xue. However, Zi Cong and Ruo He run in time to kick Roma down. After that, Sheng Xue tries to leave the court, but is stopped by Ruo He. He tells her that she is all his for after-school tutoring, and that she owes him, so she should go. Sheng Xue tells him that she's tired and wants a day off. Ruo He grabs Sheng Xue as she attempts to leave again, but he gets grabbed by Zi Cong. Zi Cong then question's him of his expectation for Sheng Xue to be all his. Ruo He doesn't reply and grabs her to be tutored, but Zi Cong grabs her other arm. Sheng Xue finds herself being pulled in both directions by two of the most influential boys.

Review: I felt that this episode was much better than the first one. The characters developed really well throughout the episode. I didn't expect for Sheng Xue to lay down her anger for Ruo He though... but later in the episode it shot back up. =P There was something ironic about this episode that kinda made me laugh. It was really ironic to see Wu Ye beating Zi Cong, while also threatening to beat his wife too with a stick. The ironic part was that when Zi Cong collapsed after getting beat, and trying to protect Wu Ye's wife from getting beat, Wu Ye actually was sympathetic, put down his stick and showed some concern for Zi Cong. Now if that isn't ironic enough, then I don't know what is.

The school doctor was probably one of the new funny characters introduced. He's got a great sense of a humor, but his ease-dropping on Sheng Xue and Ruo He kinda portrayed him as some kind of perverted old man. o_O

Roma really scared me when he pulled a knife out. I was thinking, "Are you serious?" when I watched him ransack his backpack just to find it. I'm really glad and kind of charmed that both Zi Cong and Ruo He worked together to stop Roma's utter madness. Also, the grabbing arms and pulling in opposite directions was really amusing, yet funny, and very heartwarming... I say that because I found it really cute how they both kept fighting over where Sheng Xue would be for the day. xD

After seeing the preview, I am really pumped to see the next episode. I'm really looking forward to the loving relationship between Sheng Xue and Ruo He, and the hateful relationship between Zi Cong and Ruo He. =P

Asian Drama Reviews: New Site Up For Display

2008-02-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

Hey all, my name is Ichiya and I've decided to open up a site that reviews the asian dramas that I watch.

This blog will feature reviews for asian dramas typically broadcasted from Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. I don't watch any other dramas from other asian countries, so they won't be reviewed here, unless suggested.

Each review will contain a brief summary of the episode, and my thoughts on it. Thumbnails of each episode will not be displayed for now, because I usually watch episodes with subs, subbed by fansubs. However, if I have the raws available, I will post screenshots.

My reviews may be of a bias perspective, in no way do they have to be objective. This is my blog, therefore my opinions will be openly expressed. Other opinions are welcome in the comments section.

Not all episodes of a drama will be reviewed, I tend to skip alot of time during episodes, or I skip episodes to get to the main point.

I may occasionally blog other asian media, such as newscasts or candid clips/skits of different events the actors and actresses are featured/participating in.

This blog is open up to suggestions and recommendations.

Currently, I am the only one blogging, but I will be looking for some co-bloggers in the future.

All of that aside, I hope you enjoy reading my reviews!