Summer Heat Sunday, May 25 2008

Name:
Summer Heat

Genre:
Modern/mystery, suspense

Released:
2004

Episodes:
20

Casts: Watch this a long time ago and don’t remember any of the characters’ name so I will use their real name in this review.
Joyce Tang
Joe Ma
Mark Kwok
Victoria Jolly
Margaret Chung
Mok Ka Yiu
Raymond Cho
Sharon Chan
Law Lan (superstitious lady)
Kwok Fung
Law Kwoon Lan
Cheung Chung Chi
Natalie Wong
Ching Hor Wei
Ursule Wong (sister)
Low Man Kit

Plot:
Joyce’s dad, Kwok Fung, always wanted her to return to the village to introduce her to someone. But Joyce being a career centered woman never had the time to return to the village with her dad and when she finally did after talking to him on the phone, she witnessed her dad’s boat blown up. She thought this is not an accident but a scheme from someone from the village who wanted to kill her dad because she had too suffered numerous coincident “accident”. They found Margaret unconscious next to the crime scene but when she wakes up, she forget everything that happen that day. Together with her boyfriend, Mark Kwok, which is a policeman, they began to investigate her father’s death by digging through the history of all the people in the village. Joe Ma is the head of the village who Joyce truly believe is the bad guy because he’s constantly stand in her way of investigating. But each time when she finds some new clue leading her closer to her father’s death, it always turn out to be a fluke. Victoria Jolly acted as Joyce’s cousin coming back from overseas for the summer. As the series progress, each villager reveal to hold some kind of grudges against Kwok Fung. Who is the murderer among these villagers and what causes he/she to do such thing? What was the meaning behind Joyce’s constant nightmare? And what really happened that night of Kwok Fung’s accident?

Joe’s plot:
Joyce happens to saw Joe pushes her dad before the accident and when she knows that he is the head of the village, she accuses him of trying to cheat her dad. When Sharon Chan’s calls Joyce to her lawyer office for some legal issues after the incident, Sharon and her father told Joyce that a week before Kwok Fung’s death, he came to the lawyer office to change the contract of a piece of land in the village that he currently rented out to Joe for $1 a month. As a financial consultant she thought this is too good of a deal to be true. She also found out that before her dad died, he withdrew $200,000 from his bank account but what he did with the money is a mystery. When Joyce overheard Joe wrote a check to Margaret for $200,000, she accused him of bribing her for losing her memory. But it was reveal that the money is his and she needed the money to save her son.

Margaret Chung and son’s plot:
Joyce discovers that her bras went missing and complains to Joe for not doing anything to prevent a pervert from entering the village. When Victoria went to the changing room after a volleyball game, she notices someone took her bra and when she screams for help, everyone arrive to find Margaret’s son holding the bra. They suspect that he was the pervert but Joe Ma and Margaret stand firm that Margaret’s son is not that type of person. Victoria decided to lure the pervert out by dressing very revealing while Margaret’s son help her record any suspect around. They successfully caught the pervert and Margaret’s son returned the video back to Victoria. When Mark Kwok and Joyce Tang curiously turned on the video, they discover that after the Victoria’s video, is a video of Kwok Fung being follow. They went asking around and discover that Margaret’s son hold grudges against Kwok Fung because Kwok Fung caught him stalking girls and drew graffiti onto public walls. They also found out that on the day of the accident, he purchased 2 big containers of gasoline. When Mark and Joyce went around looking for him, Margaret and Joe protect him by sending him away but Mark and Joyce caught up to him. When they questioned him, he confessed that he did stalk Kwok Fung but didn’t do anything harmful. He just wanted to find faults in Kwok Fung’s character. He admits that he did buy the gasoline container but he only use it to store urine to throw onto Kwok Fung’s boat. At the time of the accident, he was caught by the police for fighting so he have the prove of not being present at the crime scene.

Law Lan’s plot:
When Joyce asks her to do one of those religious thing for her dad’s soul and upon hearing Kwok Fung was Joyce’s dad, she quickly rejected saying her birthdates and his does not match and therefore couldn’t perform the “ceremony” for Joyce. But as the series progress, she keeps seeing Kwok Fung following her and frighting that he will harm her and her family. When her grandson was sent to the hospital, she asks Joyce for forgiveness but when her grandson was fine, she quickly excuse herself. Joyce and Mark found it weird that Law Lan asks Joyce for forgiveness and decided to investigate further. They found that she secretly confess that it’s because of her that Kwok Fung died and before they got hold of her, she ran away. In her saving box, they found a piece of cloth containing lots of blood and $200,000 cash, they quickly jump to conclusion that she might be involved in Kwok Fung’s death. But when they found Law Lan, it was only a misunderstanding. Law Lan thought she killed Kwok Fung because she performs one of these vodoo thing on Kwok Fung’s using his birthdates. Joyce thought this is a ridiculous superstition thing and told Law Lan that the birthdate wasn’t her dad to make Law Lan feel better.

Mok Ka Yiu’s plot:
People in the village discover something is strange with Law Lan and it turns out that she is “possess” by Kwok Fung. When Joyce accompany her one night, Kwok Fung “possess” Law Lan again and drew a picture for Joyce. The picture contains a bird cage, with little pills on the floor as bird foods. Joyce and Mark went to the bird cage and discover a bag of viagra that have the market value of almost 1 million. At the beach, Joyce saw a stranger pull Mok Ka Yiu to the side and thought it looks suspicious so she follows them. She overheard the stranger asking Mok Ka Yiu for $200,000 for losing the bag of pills worth 1 million dollars. Victoria found the bag of viagra in the kitchen and Joyce had no choice but to tell her about it. Victoria took the picture to the villagers and told them that Joyce found the viagras. It was actually a bait created by Victoria and Joyce to lure the owner of the pills to come to the house to get the viagras back. When Mok Ka Yiu went to the house, he got caught on the spot by Joyce and Victoria. When he ran away, Joe went back into the house to steal the viagra, while they ended up in the middle of a shoot out between the police and the smugglers. Mok Ka Yiu got taken back to the police station for further questions. He had no proves that he wasn’t at the crime scene but was released on bail. Victoria & Ursule ran into Mok Ka Yiu’s ex girlfriend and from her they found out that he was with her on the night of the accident.

Raymond Cho’s plot:
The “possess” Law Lan told Joyce to look over all the important papers like the insurance and the mortgage that Kwok Fung left in the desk. When Joyce look through the paper, she realizes the house insurance went sky rocket high after paying for an accident. She went to the cleaning lady, you receive the insurance money for being injured, and the cleaning lady told Joyce that she fell in front of the house one time but being poor she couldn’t afford the medical bills so Raymond Cho supposedly a lawyer, told her to lie that she fells in the house so she can receive the insurance money. Joyce told Joe who then confronted Raymond who then told Joe that he’s no longer a lawyer because he’s on probation for violating the rule. From Sharon, Joyce found out that her father knew of Raymond’s fraud and told him to tell everyone in the village that he’s not a lawyer or else he will tell everyone himself. Joyce believes that it could be this reason that Raymond might want to kill her father. However, he confesses to Joe that on the night of the accident, he was having a one night stand with a woman that he is too scared to reveal because of his reputation.

Natalie Wong’s plot:
I don’t remember much except that Joyce recognizes the ring Natalie is wearing belongs to her father so Joyce thought that Natalie is the person her father was trying to introduce her to. But it wasn’t it and it turns out to be Joe’s mother whom Kwok Fung is trying to have Joyce meets with.

The ending:
By this time, you must really want to find out what happen to Kwok Fung and who killed him. Well the moment you’ve been waiting for finally arrive, yup, Kwok Fung is still alive all these time. He didn’t die in the boat or went missing or stranded on some island. He was totally fine and better yet, he was the one giving Joyce’s clues throughout the series to find out who wanted to kill him. He was knock unconscious on his boat but fortunately woke up in time before he discovers the boat is going to blown up and quickly jump into the water. But who is the murderer? No one could have guess, well maybe you can. Let’s do the process of elimination. It wasn’t anyone of the villagers because they have proves for not being there, it can’t be Joe because that would be too obvious, couldn’t be his mother because she loves him dearly, so the only person left is Joe’s aunt. Yup, it was her who went around causing disaster. And her reason so doing so? Out of hate. She hates Kwok Fung for not loving her but her sister, she hates him for marrying someone else, and after so many years away, he came back and still want to be with her sister and not her. She lied about having married and a daughter who are all died in a car accident. In reality, she was at times stayed in the mental hospital and was only discharge recently. Is she connected to Joyce’s nightmare? Of course, she’s the one who pushed Joyce into the water. What else did she do? Well, a lot, like stalking Joyce in the beginning, messing with her car brakes, pouring slime onto the parking lot to make Joyce’s loses the wheel balance, killing all the pigeons at Joyce’s house, and many many more but the major thing she did is of course trying to kill Kwok Fung.

Comments:
I personally find this series interesting and good in its own way. I didn’t expect much when I rented it, I didn’t even care if it was Joyce and Joe who were the main characters. I was basically bored in the midst of summer doing nothing at home with nothing to watch. I didn’t know it was suppose to be suspenseful or a detective show, therefore I’d no hope in how this series is going to turn out. Many complain that the title is misleading and the series was advertised as a mystery series but the show is nothing like it. I guess I didn’t have any high expectation so the series turn out good to me. I was surprised that Joe Ma and Joyce Tang were leading because they’ve never lead before but I found their performance above average. I admit that this series tried too hard to have the mysterious and thriller feel to it but it doesn’t come out the way it intended to.

Performances/Characters:
Joyce Tang – I think Joyce carried out the strong willed and career centered woman very well and she looks gorgeous being the character. Her appearance gave contrasting views to the characters in the village, almost like urban vs. suburban. I find her character is believable when she starts to accuse everybody for having kill her father, wanting to kill her father, or hating on her father. She always devote her time in her work and barely have any time to spend with her father. When she finally have the chance, it was a little too late. It is apparent that she wants to find out who did this to her father as a way of repaying for the time she’s not there. Even if it’s an accident, she cannot accept that it is, so cognitively she wants to blame someone for it. And when she discovers bits by bits of information related to her father, she starts investigating hoping she will find the murderer. But even till almost the end, she still doesn’t believe her dad had died, because clearly there is no reasons for her to believe so. Everyone in the village hated her for causing havoc among themselves and for continuously accusing people. I found the reason for their differences is not Kwok Fung but the social differences. Joyce couldn’t accept the primitive lives these people are living and they couldn’t take her prejudice views of them. When Joyce spends more time in the village, she began to adapt to their lifestyles and learn to accept them. Joyce performs this character well, being sadden by her father death, annoying for going around causing destructions, and become likable toward the end.

Joe Ma – I hesitated after knowing that Joe Ma is also leading this series because this is a big step for Joe since he had never given such big role. I think he’s a miscast for this series because he looks nothing like a villager who spent all his lives living in the village, growing crops and raising livestock. He appears to be like a surfer coming to the village for a summer vacation. As a village chief, I saw he did nothing for the village and most of the time, he appears to be jobless and so carefree. I do wonder how or where he get money to support himself. Even though his acting is ok most of the time, I think his character is unnecessary and irrelevant to the whole story. This is the first series that I actually think the main actress shouldn’t be with the main actor. I actually hated him for coming into Joyce’s relationship with Mark. Till the end, I was wishing that somehow Joyce will return back to Mark but of course that never happened because this is a typical TVB stuff where you have to be the lead to get the woman.

Mark Kwok – I really pity this character and the actor who played this character, I really do. He had never given a decent role where he acts as a gentleman. He always acted as the bastard boyfriend or a horrible man (except Time Off) and the audience usually link him as a bad guy whenever they see him on television. But Mark’s character is nothing like a jerk or better yet, I think he’s the best boyfriend Joyce could ever have. Being as unreasonable and hot temper that she is in the beginning, how can any men tolerate her? She changes for the better when she’s with Joe but it was Mark who like her for who she really is. He’s trying to be the perfect boyfriend anyone ever wanted. The man came right to the crime scene after getting off the plane when he heard Kwok Fung’s accident. He spent days and nights accompanying her and do really unnecessary things that he could have done so much with his free time instead of going around accusing people for no apparent reasons. There was a scene when he drove Joyce home and waited for Joyce to ask him to come in but Joyce simply disregard him because she was tired. When he was still downstairs, he saw her worrily drove by and decided to follow her to see if he can help her. It turns out there was an illegal immigrant intrude into Joyce’s house in the village and try to harm Victoria. Joyce came seeing a man on top of Victoria thinking he’s a rapist so she knocks him unconscious. It turns out to be Joe helping Victoria and at this time the real suspect try to attack them with a knife and guess who was there to save the day, Mark. And at this time, he wasn’t her boyfriend and yet he cares so much and do so much for a girl that neglect his feelings all these times. It is ironic how Joyce honoring Joe for saving her so many times yet she blindly ignore all the things Mark did.

Victoria Jolly – Her scenes time are limited but whenever she appears, she looks very wooden and stiff, or to make any of her fans feel better, a barbie. The how time I was watching Summer Heat, I really try to find out if her character is even necessary or she just got the role because she’s some miss HK. Then when I saw scenes where she’s in her bikini playing volleyball on the beach while Joyce just sit there fully clothes and watch, I realize why she’s there.

Margaret Chung – The only other series I saw her was Detective Investigation Files 3 where she plays semi main role. Compare to this one, her role is rather small. I think she fits the role of a young mother working hard to give the guy a good life who never appreciate her presence because she’s not his birth mother. I feel Joe should be with Margaret because they matches better, personality wise, and because she’s a really sad character. She did her role justice and one of my favorite scene involve her yelling at her son for being an ass his whole life. Very well done by this actress.

Complaints:
The inconsistence in Joyce’s character. One moment you see her strong willed and aggressive attitude, the next you’ll see her crying her balls out. She supposes to be the modern girl growing up in the city with broad mind about everything, yet when it comes to wearing bikini at the beach, she accuses Victoria for dressing so revealing. One moment she calls Joe her prince charming for coming to her rescue so many times, but the person who really do so much is Mark, yet he never receives any credits. The first few episodes she is all into let’s find my father’s body, he’s still alive yet later on she suddenly doesn’t pay much attention to finding her dad.

The best scene:
On Kwok Fung’s birthdates, Joyce took Joe to the playground where her father took her there after work when she was little. Then she tells him her mother passed away when she was very little so the relationship between her and her father are very closed. But when she grows up and started working, they grow apart because she is so busy with work. Only after his death did she began to learn about her father. It is this scene that her character become vulnerable and demonstrate that she is capable of having feelings.

The worst scenes:
None that I can think of.

Should you rent this serial?
Yes, sure why not. If you looking for an interesting storyline with average acting, then sure, you might enjoy it. If you’re looking for something like DIF1-4 then no, you’ll be disappointed. If you’re a Joyce’s fan, then I would say you should, Joe’s fan? Maybe.

Rating:
6.5/10

Leave a Response »

 

Hana Yori Dango 1 Sunday, May 25 2008

Casts:
Inoue Mao as Makino Tsukushi
Matsumoto Jun as Doumyouji Tsukasa
Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui
Matsuda Shota as Nishikado Soujiroh
Abe Tsuyoshi as Mimasaka Akira
Sato Megumi as Sanjou Sakurako
Nishihara Aki as Matsuoka Yuki
Seto Saki as Asai Yuriko
Fukada Aki as Ayuhara Erika
Matsuoka Emiko as Yamano Minako

Synopsis:
Makino Tsukushi is the only poor student at Eitoku Gakuen, the school of the ridiculously rich and privileged that is ruled by Flower 4 or F4, a group of four boys who come from extremely powerful families: Domyoji Tsukasa, the leader and heir of the Domyoji World Finance Group; Hanazawa Rui, the introverted son of a large company; Nishikado Sojiro, a player who is the heir of a tea ceremony school; and Mimasaka Akira, a madam killer with ties to the underground. If a student gets on the F4’s bad side, he/she gets a red notice and is bullied and driven out of school.
Makino hopes to pass her days quietly– without drawing any attention to herself– but one day, she stands up to Domyoji in defense of her friend. The next day, Makino gets the dreaded red notice. Even though she is harassed, Makino decides to keep going to school because she is a “tough weed”. She declares war right back on the F4. Her resolve gets the attention of her crush Hanazawa Rui and oddly enough, rouses romantic feelings in her worst enemy, Domyoji Tsukasa.
The series is based on the Japanese shoujo manga “Hana Yori Dango” (Boys Before Flowers) by Kamio Yoko.

This is honestly the first Japanese drama I’ve ever watched in my life (not counting A Million Falling Stars b/c I never finish it). This drama is also the reason why I am so into Japanese drama right now. I admit even though it is a little late for entering the world of Japanese drama, I really don’t mind the catching up since I will have lots of drama to watch. My friend told me a lot about this Japanese version of Meteor Garden but I never pay any mind to it because honestly speaking, I don’t really like Meteor Garden. Being a typical teenager that I was when it first came out, I admit I was really hype about it but then when I really take time to think about it, I realize how crappy Meteor Garden is. I wonder how F4 gets so famous after the released of Meteor Garden since they’re not even “hot”. But that’s not the point, the point is, I found this version 10x better than Meteor Garden minus the chemistry of F4 in Meteor Garden.

Inoue Mao as Makino Tsukushi
I’m not really sure why but I was never a fan of Barbie Hsu regardless of which character she plays so when I saw Inoue Mao playing the same role, there is no doubt I would think Inoue is better. On the physical appearance, I think Inoue fits the character more because Barbie is too short compare to F4 whereas Inoue has a lesser difference in height. Barbie always show this irritating and annoying look on her face whilst Inoue has this adorable and innocent look. I know it’s not fair to compare them since i’m pretty sure there is difference in the script description of their character but I can’t help to enjoy watching Inoue’s acting.

Matsumoto Jun as Doumyouji Tsukasa
When he first appeared I couldn’t hold onto to my laughter because my first impression of him is “how gay.” His curly hair makes him look gayer too and worst when he smiles. It took me quite sometimes to get used to his face and his acting but because his character is likable, I didn’t dislike him for long. beside from better acting, I think Jerry fits better with this role. But if I have to pick, I would pick good acting over good looking any day.

Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui
As much as I like how Oguri Shun portrayed Rui, I have to admit Vic Chou is hotter and way cooler when he doesn’t talk. They both have a special personality that if I were to pay the main girl, I would too fall for them. In the beginning, I really hope Makino would end up with Doumyouji but after how badly Doumyouji treated her and how Rui is so caring I was hoping she would develop feeling for Rui instead. But that’s beside the point since it occurs frequently in season 2 than it is in season 1. This character doesn’t require much acting so I think Vic would be best to play this role.

Other characters:
Maybe it’s just me that the F4 in the Taiwanese version have better chemistry than the F4 in this version. When I watched Meteor Garden, I actually feel their friendship as if they knew each other for sometimes but when I watch this version, I don’t feel anything. it seems to me that Tsukasa beats the other F3 whenever he feels like it whereas I don’t remember when Jerry hits the other F3. A drama will grow on me when the characters are interacting with each other and by the end of this drama, I saw that the relationship between the characters develop a little bit.

I like the fact that this drama is a lot shorter than Meteor Garden because if I remember correctly, Meteor Garden is a little bit lengthy. I like how this drama doesn’t waste any time and go straight to the main storyline. There are several minor differences between the dramas but not a drastic change that will deviate the main plot.

Leave a Response »

 

Hanazakari No Kimi Tachi E Sunday, May 25 2008

Also known as: Hana Kimi

Cast:
Horikita Maki as Ashiya Mizuki
Oguri Shun as Sano Izumi
Ikuta Toma as Nakatsu Shuichi
Ishigaki Yuma as Tennoji Megumi
Mizushima Hiro as Nanba Minami
Yamamoto Yusuke as Karashima Taiki
Kimura Ryo as Senri Nakao
Kyo Nobuo as Himejima Masao
Iwasa Mayuko as Hanayashiki Hibari
Matsuda Madoka as Kishizato Juri
Kiritani Mirei as Amagasaki Kanna
Kurose Manami as Imaike Komari
Taira Airi as Abeno Erika

Plotline:
Ashiya admired high jumper Sano ever since she first saw him on television and determined to help him jump again after his injury trying to save her in the States. She returned to Japan and enrolled herself in Osaka’s High School for boys to help motivate Sano to jump again despite her parents opposition. Her admiration slowly grow into affection for Sano whilst Nakatsu, also began to develop feelings for her. At the same time, she entangled herself with many events occurred within this school particularly in many competitions between the 3 dorms.

Personal Opinion:
I am consider myself very difficult in choosing what I want to watch and what I will finish. I haven’t watch a drama in the longest time that I actually watch till the end and at the same time enjoying it. This drama is considered my favorite drama of the year surpassing Romantic Princess and Hana Yori Dango 1 which I recently watched. I have yet to finish the Taiwanese version of the same title because it simply wasn’t as captivating as this drama to get me to finish it. I admit I started Hana Kimi – the Taiwanese version that is with great expectation since I heard many good words about the drama but I quickly felt disappointed when I began watching it. I had no choice but to stop watching it altogether because 1. I was busy with school work and so I want to devote whatever free time I have no something worthwhile and 2. Ella isn’t the most beautiful girl there is to be compatible with the adorable Wu Chun. I agree it was a little shallow on my part but I really expect chemistry between the actors before I can get myself to like them. Anyway, so during the week of finals, I started surfing the net because god know studying would be the last thing I wanted to do, and I came across this. I hesitated at first but then I gave in because I saw Oguri Shun name in the cast list and after watching Hana Yori Dango 2, I felt in love with his character as Rui so I thought I wanted to see more of him. Let just say I ended up finishing this drama for none of the reasons I started watching it. I felt in love with the casts, every single one of them, and more importantly, I am in love with Nakatsu’s character. I also like the fact that this drama is only 12 episodes because it goes straight to the main point without having any boring details attached. As of the moment I’m writing this, I rewatch this drama 2 times already and will watch more when I have more time.

Characters:
Ikuta Toma as Nakatsu Shuichi
There are so many characters in this version that I absolutely love but the one I truly love is Nakatsu. I’m not sure if it’s the actor that play the role or the character in the general that make the character Nakatsu lovable. From the moment he appeared till the end of the show, I want to know what happened to him. I think his character is the most developed one of them all, more than Sano and Ashiya. He went from being mean to Ashiya, to care, and finally to love. His character is charming, funny, and cute. I can’t think back to any scenes that he appeared that he is not funny. He simply dominate the screen whenever he appeared and this is one of those drama where I wish that the main girl do not end up with the main guy and for once let the 2nd guy have the girl. The reason I finished watching this drama is because of him.

Oguri Shun as Sano Izumi
Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking when I thought he was cute. This realization help me understand that a character in a show can influence the way someone view an actor. This was indeed misleading since I felt in love with his character as Rui in Hana Yori Dango and thought that he would be as handsome and as good as he was but wow, am I wrong. After watching this drama, I don’t think I want to watch anymore of his drama. Honestly, he’s not cute at all, and his character is really boring to watch. Every time he appears, he ruins the mood of everybody. This character acts as if the world owes him something, like he’s the only one suffering but in fact it is his own decision to quit high jumping. I have no idea why Ashiya would fall for someone like him. Is it because he is “cute”? Or because he saved her? Love is blind i’m telling you.

Horikita Maki as Ashiya Mizuki
I admit she is better looking than Ella but besides that, I think Ella makes a better character than she is. This girl didn’t know what she wants from beginning till end. She claims that she comes to help Sano jumps again with no other intentions but after he jumps, she decides to stay. It is clear that she is in love with him since the beginning but she didn’t realize so until the end. I do want to know what she sees in him. It is clear that every time she face any problems either emotional or social, Nakatsu comes to her rescue yet at the end, it’s Sano that she likes. I have no problem with her liking Sano’s character either, except this version portrays his character is a cocky, proud, cool character whereas everyone else in the show is down to earth and friendly.

Other Characters:
Like I said above, beside from Nakatsu, I also watch it for everybody else excluding Sano. I love the 3 dorm leaders and they have their fair share of good parts. For example, the dorm leader #1 is very good with handling girls and everyone recognizes him as the player type and every time he appears, everyone asks him for his opinions regarding girls. Dorm leader 2 and 3 are very funny in their special way. Every time they appear, the whole serious atmosphere from Sano disappear and everything turns into a comedy. They are unique in their own way and when they work together to defeat their enemy, they’re invincible. Their summer vacation working at the beach where they compete with other high school is really fun to watch.
Then there is Yamamoto Yusuke acting as Kayashima Taiki. Even though his character is weird sometimes, as I continue to watch, I realize his character is perfectly normal. He just talk really less but every time he says something, it really start me laughing. I like the whole “I can see the aura” thing that come out of his mouth. Love his chemistry of Nakatsu too, especially the scene where Nakatsu is in the midst of debating whether or not he’s homo, he asked his roommate, Kayashima “What happen if you find out i’m a homosexual?” Kayashima have this blank stare like he usually does then reply “I would ask to transfer out of the room.” Then Nakatsu gave him a nod like he would done the same too. Such great chemistry that I love every time they interact.
There is of course the doctor who is there for Ayashi every time she is in trouble or face a problem within the school. I find that their relationship is realistic and the doctor growing from a women phobic to finally learn how to accept woman. He himself didn’t realize this transformation until the end when Ayashi leave. She slowly change him without he knows that he is changing.
Let just say I miss the cast more than I miss Ayashi and Sano.

Leave a Response »

 

Father & Son Sunday, May 25 2008

Casts:
Bobby Au Yeung
Wong Hei
Yoyo Mung
Tavia Yeung
Halina Tam
Anne Heung
Ha Yu
Fung So Po
Lee Kwok Lun
Lee Seng Cheung
Chow Chong
Evergreen Mak
Mary Hon
Lai Lok Yi
June Chan
Oscar Leung
I told myself never to watch any of Yoyo Mung’s series after her character in The Ultimate Crime Fighters but then I can’t resist not watching this serie. I have to admit that I am not a fan of either of the main casts. As a matter of fact, I’m not even fond of Tavia. But I was in the midst of Winter Break with nothing better to do with my free time but to watch series, I ended up watching Father & Son. I didn’t have any expectation for this serie, I was just hoping it turns out to be average so I can at least make my time worth watching it. However, as soon as I started watching it, I can’t help but to continue to watch it until I finish it in 2 days. If you ask me what is so special about Father & Son, I honestly can’t answer you. It wasn’t so much of the cast and the acting but it is the relationship between the characters that got me into finishing it.

I am a sucker when it comes to relationship between family members such as father & son, mother & daughter and so on. I love to see how their relationship developed and strengthened. It bores me when a serie or movie portrayed a happy family with no problems, no fightings, no arguments, and etc… I believe such relationship do not exist in the real world and if it does exist, it probably won’t last long. I think it is through argument and fighting will the members of the family realize their difference and only then will forgiveness kicks in to make their relationship stronger.

There are many relationships between parents and children in Father & Son and I guess this is also why I like this serie so much. Ha Yu’s love for his children, Bobby and Wong He is what I called unconditional love. He is willing to give all he has and what is best for his children. He tries every ways he knows best to make his children happy and satisfy them. Of course there is some exaggeration in Ha Yu’s deeds but I believe every parents is capable of doing the things Ha Yu did for their children given the same opportunity under the same circumstance. Some children can have the heart to abandon their parents but I truly believe the parents won’t give up their children.

Then there is the relationship between Bobby and his real father. I’m really glad Bobby forgives him and finally accepts him as his father again. His dying scene is very sad in my opinion because even though he has all those children, only Bobby comes at last to see him. Evergreen is the most horrible person of all because he’s willing to give up the last chance to see his father alive. I really wanted to see him regret it but apparently TVB gave him a better ending than I thought he deserves.

Beside from parents and children relationships, there is love relationship. I like Yoyo and Bobby’s character together. I saw how they went from being just friends, to being really close friends, and finally to lovers. I enjoy every moment they on screen together and i’m glad they have a good ending. But their relationship is kind of weird taking that Yoyo almost marry and was pregnant with Evergreen who is happened to be Bobby’s brother. I thought Bobby’s character was horrible in the beginning because I generalize that any men who doesn’t like kids are not husband material. Of course everything changes when he knows he’s a father.

Honestly, Wong He’s relationship with his wife and daughter bored me. He is too calm when he found out his wife is cheating on him and too nice to let her go. Is such guy exist now? I call such guys in real life, coward. And what’s up with his wife returns back to get the daughter. What a b****? Seriously, how cruel can you be? She just bluntly told him that the daughter is not his. No show of remorse? guilt? And how dare her to give up the daughter to a guy she knows is not the father and then come back to claim the daughter with the reason that the daughter is not his. If she never met with an accident and her new husband didn’t die, would she ever come back? My goodness, if I were Wong He, I would have slap her many times let alone live with her at the end. And for what reason, for the daughter that is not even his? Fine, is not about the daughter being his or not, but still? Can he really tolerate his wife, forgive her that easy, forget about Tavia, accepts the daughter, and satisfy with his life abroad? Too many questions with no answers. I feel unjust for Tavia and i’m glad she didn’t end up with him. She deserves a better man, who truly loves her and who is actually a man.

Lastly, I enjoy watching every Tavia scenes either alone or when she is with her mother. She is the independent type that I wish I can be. Her character is strong and determine. She knows what she wants and how to cope with her feelings. She is too good for Wong He and I wish she find a better man but unfortunately the serie didn’t show who she ended up with. Honestly, she is too good to be with Lai Lok Yi too. This guy is a spoil brat who really didn’t grow up much even at the end. When I thought he is changing, he said something like “I want to do this to prove that my brother is wrong. How can he look down on his own brother?” So he’s not doing it for his father but only to prove that his brother is wrong about him? Without Bobby’s help, his brother would be right, he is afterall a kid who wants to show that he is capable of doing adult stuff.

Rating:
8/10

Leave a Response »

 

Life Art Sunday, May 25 2008

Name:
Life Art

Genre:
Modern; drama

Released:
2007

Episodes:
20

Cast:
Kevin Cheng
Gigi Lai
Astrid Chan
Paul Chun
Ben Wong
Natalie Tong
Queenie Chu
Yvonne Lam
Kathy Yuen
Josephine Shum
Vinci Wong
Sam Ho Yan

This is a lighthearted family drama from tvb this year and since I don’t really follow up to what genre tvb releases are, I have no clue how many of this type of drama are out this year but I can tell you that i am a fan of lighthearted family drama. I am also a fan of Gigi Lai and Kevin Cheng so there is no way in the world I would miss this drama not even if the drama itself is plotless (which all lighthearted dramas usually are). From the synopsis, I learned not to expect much from Life Art because I just can’t find anything interesting about calligraphy, painting, or art in general. But since it is lighthearted it really doesn’t hurt to watch.
The synopsis do give this drama justice because there is really no overall plot. There are plots, not big but little plots throughout the drama, just not big enough to cover the whole 20 episodes.

The Kevin & Gigi’s plot:
Kevin misjudges Gigi for being ruthless when she doesn’t help his mom when his mom falls but he soon realizes that her right arm is disabled due to an injury caused by her father years ago. After they become friends, he encourages her to seek doctor’s help for her arm, helps her gain back confidence in her drawings, and recommends a comic drawing position to her. Gigi steadily falls in love with Kevin but she doesn’t find the courage to tell him because he’s in a long distance relationship with his girlfriend. But after his girlfriend breaks up with him, he realizes that Gigi is always there for him and unknowingly discovers that he has feelings for her too. Thus they get together at the end and since their relationship is fully established in the beginning, the appearance of Kevin’s ex-girlfriend at the end did not break them apart.

Kevin and the company’s plot:
In the beginning, Kevin is a workaholic, who would spent day and night at the company trying to write or fix computer programs for customers. His hard work never pay off, despite the fact that he gets compliment from times to times from his boss, because he never receive credits for his work. The big boss always praises Kevin for his good work but ended up taking all his credits in front of the bigger boss. Ben Wong in the other hand is a very lazy person but because he is the brother in law of the boss, he shares some credential from Kevin. Not only that but in front of everybody, the boss shows disappointment and disapproval of Ben’s work but behind the closed curtain, they secretly laugh at everybody else’s stupidity. When Kevin discovers the truth about their relationships, the boss fired him. But at this same time, the company going through some ownership changes and it turns out the new boss, Astrid, not only like Kevin and willing to let him stay, but she disapproves of the way the company run. Ben and his brother in law lost their power within the company and thus Ben comes up with a “genius” plan to save their asses by courting Astrid. Ben goes through many unsuccessful attempts to please her which only ended up in favoring on Kevin’s part. However, the new software program is stolen and someone have to be responsible for the loss. Kevin decides he doesn’t want to work under such hostile work environment any longer so he leaves and starts his own company. Astrid is demoted for her inability to run the company so the company is going back to Ben’s brother in law. After what Ben thought was all good and better now, he suddenly gets fired by his brother in law. It turns out the brother in law is the bad guy who stole and sold the programs to the black market, frame Kevin for doing so, snitched on Astrid to the biggest boss, and now sacrifice Ben to save his position.

Natalie and Kevin’s colleague’s plot:
There isn’t really anything interesting about this couple but since it is one of the subplot, there shouldn’t be a reason not to mention it. Natalie is Kevin’s younger sister who is one of those immature, young adult, who just grow up and doesn’t know what is life and what is respect and who unintentionally toy with other feelings. She uses Kevin’s colleague shamelessly to the point of breaking his heart. She basically treats him like a slave, call him when she pleases, and ignore him when she doesn’t need him. He soon realizes this and confront her to which she childishly apologize but I still see she treats him the same but of course he’s willing to be treated that way now because they’re officially together.

Evergreen & Yvonne’s plot:
This is probably the most developed plot of all the other plots because it has the past, the present, and the consequence. Evergreen and Yvonne supposed to marry years ago but on their wedding day, they argue over some saving amount of money that Evergreen let his friend borrow which have yet to return and thus cause the wedding to fall apart because Yvonne cannot tolerate Evergreen to trust his friend over her. So fast forward to the beginning of the story, he have to paid her off her share of the money by selling his art work to her store. They disgusted with each other’s site but deep down inside, they still love each other very much. When the friend reappeared and say he couldn’t return the money because he’s poor and what not, Evergreen padded him on the shoulder and say it is all good. But Yvonne knows better that this friend is a faker, who pretended to be poor so he won’t have to pay the money back. This cause Evergreen and Yvonne to have another argument and Evergreen slaps Yvonne while she vows to never put her mouth into his business again. Paul Chun however, believe in what Yvonne said so he pulls Evergreen out to stalk the friend. It turns out the friend is making a lot of money now, but he refuses to pay because Evergreen is so gullible and easy to deceive. Disappointed and apologetic, he wants to seek Yvonne to say sorry but it is a little too late because she left to China with another man. However, they reconcile and become a happy ever after couple.

Complaint:
I seriously thought this whole drama is about the process of one person (possibly Gigi) who gifted with drawing and painting talents to go further in her life with them like making a difference in her art. I was disappointed that none of it was in there. While the title state Life Art, there is so little art in here that make this whole Life Art title as a false advertisement. Yes true Paul and Yvonne own an art shop, Evergreen paints for a living, Gigi used to draw, and many people learning calligraphy but what is lacking is the process of drawing itself. I know I can’t expect these actors and actresses to be professional artist over the course of filming for this serial but at least found a real artist who drew for the viewers. I expect it to have lots of exhibits of the art or going into the history of drawing and painting but there are none of that. As a matter of fact, I learned more about art from When Rules Turn Loose from Ha Yu than I can acquire from this entire serial. One scene really disappointed me was the scene at Yvonne’s shop where a guy walk in looking at the paintings and I thought they will introduce a little about the painting but instead Yvonne just recommends him a random painting and the scene is over. When Evergreen declare that is Mona Lisa is better than the original because he drew the position of her eyes differently, I was hoping he would explain why and what’s so spectacular about it but he ended up didn’t. The one scene that I actually enjoy is when Paul took Gigi to the mountain where he sat and slowly drew the scenery. Although it doesn’t reveal the step by step process, Paul’s explanation to Gigi about people’s ignorance of art is pretty interesting.

Most hated character:
You would think the boss who frame Kevin because he’s the only one who really did some evil in here or you would guess the lady who starts rumor about Paul and Kevin’s mom being a couple. Yeah they’ve done wrong things but I can tolerate their behaviors but the one person I can tolerate is Natalie’s character. What a spoil brat? In the first episode where Kevin and their mom were teasing her about the way she talks, I thought she would stop, but the girl still think she’s a child or something, continues to speak in that annoying way. There was a part where she was frustrated at something and when her mom ask her to take the thread out of some dress and sew together something because her mom is busy with some other important things. She didn’t want to but I guess she did it anyway to irritate her mom so she ended up messing all the tasks her mom ask her to like sew the legs from the pant together. The mom had to go buy new cloths to redo the dress for the customer. If I were the mom, I would’ve beaten this girl so badly or at least give her a good slap. How hard it is for her mom to raise 2 kids all by herself by sewing days and nights to support them financially and now when her mom need a favor from her and this is how a good daughter suppose to act? It doesn’t matter if you mad at the world, but the mom had done nothing to you let alone to do that to her. Maybe I am exaggerating because messing up the dress is something small and not as trivial but the way she did it annoys me. When her mom shows her the mess up part that she sew together, she just give that annoying face like yeah i told you i don’t know how to do it so don’t tell me to do it again. Then of course the way she treated Kevin’s colleague, i won’t go into details as I already did under their subplot. I really hope she would grow up but unfortunately I see she remains the same till the end.

Most annoying character:
Once again, Natalie’s character is also one annoying b****. I recalls several occasion when she calls herself beautiful and no she didn’t do it in a playing tone or at least that’s what I perceive. Are you serious about thinking you’re pretty? Like when she is debating whether or not to go out with Kevin’s colleague, she was talking to herself saying how can such a beautiful young girl like her go out with him. PSH!

Most pitiful character:
I would say Kevin’s ex-girlfriend and Kevin’s colleague, the one dating Natalie. I didn’t understand why she broke up with Kevin in the first place. I mean, I saw how she just say she’s going to marry that guy from the webcam, but then when she returns, she says it was all fake. I was confused but then I pity her for losing the one guy that she thought would be hers. I mean they dated for 7 years, that’s a long time, and suddenly this one person, Gigi, come in and steal his heart away in 1 month, or months.

Favorite character:
Kevin? Gigi? Nope. I actually enjoy Ben’s character the most. Although I know he and his brother in law used Kevin in the beginning, I never see Ben as an evil guy. There are many times he tries to get rid of Kevin but I think he does it simply to save his job. I never see him as a comedian earlier but he makes such a fool out of himself in here that I cannot resist laughing. Afterall, he’s a good guy at heart, especially at the end when the truth is reveal. Everyone thought he was the traitor who stole the program but he never did it. He clarifies to his brother in law that no matter how much he hates and wants Kevin out of the company, he would never use dirty tactics and illegal ways to get his mean. That’s what I call a person with character.

Favorite scene:
The scene when the company hold a ball and everyone is invited. Ben after digging through Astrid’s profile read that she loves this one song because it reminds her of her first love, Ben paid the guy to pay the song while he will ask Astrid to dance with him. His plan work out great until he went to the bathroom and accidentally locks himself in there while the song played outside. When he climbs his way out, rips his pant and break his neck in the process, he saw Kevin and Astrid were dancing with each other. The next day at work, he shows up having casks on his neck and hand, his foot is broken while his other hand hold a bouquet of flowers and slowly walk up to Astrid to give her the flowers. The scene was hilarious. The best I have seen this year.

Rate:
6/10
Do watch it if you’re a fan of Kevin and Gigi. They look so good with each other and Gigi seems so young. She’s gorgeous in her outfit to the ball with Kevin.

Leave a Response »