Bromance

This was another series that started off good but by the 6th episode I was bored or really started to lose interest. Yanuo grew up as a boy but she constantly behaved like a girl which was actually annoying and would be uncharacteristic for someone in her position. I mean this curse she's had to live with up til now would make her more cautious not less even if she was falling in love for the 1st time.

The positives of the series is that the friends and family were accepting of Yanuo and Zi Feng's relationship from the onset even if they were uncomfortable at first. Those aspects of the series were done really well. And we did get some comedy gold out of a lot of the innuendo and compromising positions.

Another really great part of the story was the father/son dynamic between the villian, Han Sheng and his father Wan Hao. Han Sheng was unlikeabke but you understood his motivations. Surprisingly enough I found the climax to that storyline sad but meaningful and well acted.

WHAT I DIDNT LIKE:

The Na Na character was super annoying. I guess we are supposed to like her b/c she is dying but she came across as rude and obnoxious from the onset and I couldn't even care enough about that storyline. I only watched some of those scenes b/c Qing Yang was so damn cute and that was the only way for me to see him.

I also didn't like Du Zi Han sexually harrasing Yanuo or treating Guang Chao like shit just b/c he worked for her. Then they end up together. Definitely didn't like that either not b/c she treated him like shit but b/c she "saw the error of her ways" so that makes it all better but it was just a stupid couple. Not everyone in these thing have to get together.

The soundtrack was too repetitive and the same song seemed to play over almost every scene.

Read More

Absolutely bizarre. I honestly can't remember much about it, which is a shame, but this is set within the same universe as "Refresh Man" and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It had me laughing and smiling throughout the whole thing, and it was a refreshing change from Korean drama, which generally makes the women either incredibly hot-headed and irritating, or weedy, girly things. This MC did a great job of maintaining the balance between being too irrational and bad-tempered, and sticking up for herself, all without compromising her femininity.
It's definitely worth a watch, and you'll probably know after the first couple episodes if you'll like it.

Read More

The cast is something. The actors that they chose to play each one seems to be chosen carefully. They played out their parts perfectly, especially Megan Lai (Pi Yanou) and Mandy Tao (Du Zi Han). The way they expressed each character must have been hard. Also, the gender bender for Megan Lai was apparently common as she played a lesbian in the movie “Cafe Waiting Love.” I think the story plot was good, the only problem is how many coincidences there were. (Yanou saving Zifeng as a child, Nana just happened to live around where ZiFeng worked, etc.) It is not a gay drama! It’s just a gender bender, Yanou is actually a girl. This is not a spoiler, because in the first episode, she explains her situation. I would definitely watch this drama over but I don’t really have the time ???? The music hit me hard, I loved it, especially “Quietness” by Miu Chu and Andrew Tan and “Tender Love.” Fun fact, the opening song, “Epochal Times,” “Back In Time,” and “Tender Love,” were written by Bii, Wei Qing Yangs character. Andrew Tan, Bii, Dino Lee and Ian composed Epochal Times together. Sorry, I’m dragging the songs on. Anyway, yes it’s a good drama but their is a lot of tension at the end. It might make you a little anger too. It’s a great drama, please watch it!

Read More

It was alright. Some scenes were boring as they dragged on a little. This one is a little different than other gender bender dramas though, which was good. The acting was okay. Everyone goes on about how the kiss scenes were so amazing. Um, I actually don't agree. If you love someone, you're supposed to kiss them nicely. But in this drama, there was a lot of kiss scenes which looked more like angry kisses. I don't like kiss scenes where it looks like they're trying to do a scene out of fight club. Another thing I really didn't like was the music. There was nothing that stood out to be in the soundtrack at all, it was sub-par at most. Other than the angry kiss scenes and the music, the rest was okay.

Read More

Rom-Com with a huge slice of Cheese

LIKES:

Cinematography (no shaking camera even during action scenes, zoom in & out well done) and beautiful landscape shots of Taiwan. Soundtrack aka OST was good and fit the mood. I really enjoyed Bii singing acapella and he contributed some beautiful songs. Theme song was overplayed. I liked the storyline of Nana and Qing Yang, and they had good chemistry. There is one part where Katie Chen’s character overhears something and misunderstands what is being said, which becomes a gut wrenching moment for Nana. It was so well done, that as the viewer I could really feel her pain. The actress did really well in that scene. I also liked the friendship and family aspect of the storyline. There is a part where Baron Chen’s character questions his sexual orientation and Bii’s character is understanding and supportive. I truly liked that whole scene and how it was handled, including the bit of comedy that was inserted too. The bare upper body shots of Edison Wang as Han Zheng, showed off how much work he puts into his physical appearance and I’m sure the female viewers appreciated it.

DISLIKES:

AUDIO ISSUES: background noise that even drowned out what the actors/actresses were saying. There is a camping scene where they are supposed to be in the mountains/wilderness, yet you hear a barking dog. LIGHTING ISSUES: happened here too, as it’s supposed to be night time away from the lights to see the stars (Nana & Qing Yang moment), but it’s like a spot light is shining on them as if they are camping on a ski hill with all it’s lights [but there is no ski hills in Taiwan. Mountain peaks get snow, but no ski hills.] Also a lot of cheese and CLICHES, but it was more funny than annoying to me. Others will probably hate it though. The WARDROBE DEPARTMENT should’ve been fired, especially how they dressed Pi Ya Nou and Xing Tian. I hated how they only gave two or three outfits to Nana and they weren’t good. ACTING was okay, but Mandy Tao was way over the top (probably the director’s fault) and her voice was annoying. The adults were mostly irritating, especially Pi Ya Nou’s mother. LIMITED CHARACTER GROWTH: FL started out as a strong character and as the show progressed she only existed for the ML and often was very childish. The rest of the characters really had no character growth, they only had semi-completed storylines. Zi Han’s supposed character growth seemed forced and thrown in at the last second. CHEMISTRY: it was lacking between the ML and FL, even the kiss scenes seemed the chemistry didn’t work. Their kisses held no romance and passion seemed to forceful. WRITERS FAILED: the reason for the FL to pretend being a man from childhood to an adult, was completely stupid. It was supposed to be the main story, but became a sub-plot to the “gangster” storyline. It was like the writer(s) got confused with what they wanted to make the main storyline. Most of the adults were annoying and added little to the plot. Even the “gangster” aspect was very low key (and a lot of cliches). Also if Qing Yang was supposed to be Zi Feng’s Enforcer or investigator, they didn’t execute it very well. The Villain was a boy playing at being a gangster, or that’s how it was delivered. Then we have the attempted triangle love story between Pi Ya Nou, Zi Feng and the vet. It was pathetic and the vet only served as a catalyst of truth for the ML & FL. Also the writers gave up on the story towards the end or maybe they just rushed it to get the series done. Either way it came across as empty.


OVERALL: It’s a decent rom-com, with some heartfelt moments and simple romance. I have re-watched it, but mostly for the Qing Yang and Nana story. I would recommend it.

Read More

I'm always really hesitant about gender-bender dramas because they become homophobic and misogynistic so easily. But this drama did surprisingly well in tackling the topic, and I loved the main lead for that. For a gang leader, I thought he would be a tsundere, cold, rude male lead—but he was surprisingly affectionate, kind, and open, and I loved how refreshing the relationship dynamic between the main characters were. There were no stupid fights and misunderstandings. Pi Ya Nuo could also pull off both male and female looks, which was a relief because I never once face-palmed and thought, "How could you NOT tell?"

There were some moments that were a little cringey, and there are definitely a lot of cliches that are in this drama. It never got unbearable though. I also have to admit that I really didn't like the ship of Na Na and Qing Yang at first, because it felt so incredibly cliche and they had that one misunderstanding. Their acting was also a little robotic at first, and I felt like Na Na was annoying. They grew on me over time, but didn't match up to the main ship at all.

Read More

Okay I watched this drama because I was in a drama slump and I have to admit that this is my first Taiwanese drama. I honestly didn't have much exceptions and maybe that is part of the reason why I enjoyed this drama so much.

I've previously watched the c-drama Arsenal Military Academy and in terms of gender/bender this drama is so much similar to that. The story is about a girl masquerading as a boy and nobody knows except her parents and a cousin. The plot is fuuuuuuuuuull of cliches and I mean at every turn. You definitely have to watch this drama with an open mind because **spoiler the ML falls for the FL believing the FL is a male. spoiler ends** I think what I loved most about the drama was that this was sort of like true love where the ML falls for the nature of the person than the looks/gender. I definitely found the drama cringe-y and I had to shout at the screen several times "this is not how a man behaves with another man". And the FL really looked liked a man so you might feel like you are watching a bl drama. Some scenes were just so cheesy but they were hilarious too. PS I have to add that I just found the second leads story unnecessary and just skipped through them. They had all the usual troupes!

**spoiler: So they actually revealed that the FL is a female only in the last episode but the ML actually knew about it half way through the drama! This made me re-watch those episodes and I understood why the ML behaved the way he did**

And so like I said previously you need to watch it with an open mind and just for laughs. It doesn't have a serious story but maybe a moral. I would re-watch it if I needed some mindless fluff and for Baron Chen (hehe).

Read More

I started watching this drama since it was a recommendation from another gender bender. I ended up liking this one alot more than I thought I would. I think the chemistry between the 2 leads was hot!! Lol I think if there chemistry wasn't as good I probably wouldn't have kept watching it. There were parts of the storyline that I thought kinded dragged on or I didn't really see the point of why they included those scenes. Also the 2nd lead couple were kinda boring lol I'm sorry to say I did fast forward most of the parts they were on the screen, sorry! Some of the acting was over the top but I am kinda getting used to that with any asian dramas I watch. Woulld def recommend but do go into it with low expectations and I think you would enjoy it more. Would def think of rewatching if just for the fact (possible spoiler ahead but I need to explain why I would rewatch) that I want to see the scenes where they were together after he had already found out "the secret"

Read More

I didn't expect much, and this show didn't give me much.
I didn't listen to the sound so I gave it a one. I had to put an answer for rewatch value, but my honest answer to that question would be 0%.

(This is the half episode, the one that only showed the ceremony):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6qCcFWdfZw
The actors were not at all appealing, to me, and the main girl's acting was horrible. I only got 59 seconds into the first episode, "Sworn Brothers", and I instantly regretted starting at all.
I know that it is hard for an actual female to look like a male if you are making this type of genre, but the main girl looked like she didn't try. With or without breasts, she was obviously a female. You may say "But DongMei, it's a story. The main male can't know she is female", but making it a little more realistic or trying harder would help. Especially when the actors still wear makeup that straight up shows, like this show for example.
Back to the topic where I called the actors "unappealing", that is my opinion. I extremely disliked their clothing, and the girl was not pretty. She looked like an old lady, but not old enough to have wrinkles.
As the first episode progresses, they decide to make a traditional ritual and the main lead's acting is still bad. When she tries to cut her hand she tries to act cool and holds it in a way that it is impossible to cut yourself, unless the shattered glass was crazy sharp (it wasn't). Her wince was so obviously fake, it disgusted me.
Not every actor had bad acting skills, it was just mainly the girl.


Caution, spoilers may be below:

Episode one:
(Some of this might be rants I have because I dislike it so much)

When the young boy jumped at the man, to stop him from shooting, he knocked him down. What kid of that small size could knock a grown man down? It's quite unrealistic. I understand the book, but this was just far fetched. The large scratch he received on his hand was also unbelievable. He barely hit the ground, why would his hand be destroyed?

The wound isn't even bleeding, why would you wrap a random handkerchief around it.

This might be explained later, but how the heck did that random monk know the little boy was an orphan. That's kinda creepy.

This was obviously gonna happen when the two adults stared at each other:
Man: This kid saved my life, i'm gonna adopt him ;D
Wife: Come home with us darling, you were oddly in the right place at the right time!

"Would you like to come home with me and be Du Guang Zhu's child?"
"Aww yeah, free food!"

I really didn't like the acting while coming up with a name for the boy. It was unrealistic and just weird. I understand it in a cartoon and maybe a less serious scene of a CARTOON, but not here.

I, personally, don't think that Autumn-Maple Leaf boy looks anything like the actor who plays him as an adult. I really don't like that. One thing I noticed the most was the distance between his eyes. I know it is hard to find a kid actor that looks just like an adult actor, and they might have their own reasons, but try harder atleast.

When Autumn-Maple Leaf man, other version of the first boy, starts remembering crap from his childhood, he starts remembering a time his dad slapped him. Like wtf. Apparently he slapped him, because he answered a question wrong.

When Atumn-Maple Leaf man said, "We must be fearful when we worry about our family and gang brothers", it threw me off. Aren't you supposed to treat you "Gang Brothers" like family? You just mentioned two different types of family and wasted your brother. Just say family.

I don't even know if the main girl was doing karate moves or something like that, but it looked like she had a spaz attack while fighting. I think she might've even gotten stuck in between the bars. (xD)

(Cussing below):

Mother: "Oh no, a strange man who says he can see the future said if our daughter grows up to be a girl she will dieeeeee!"
Mother: Damnit honey, you're gonna be a girl now."
She is still gonna be a girl, even if you pretend she isn't one. What do you think? She is gonna magically grow into a male?

Isn't 26 an oddly specific age he mentioned.

Then the mom says something along the lines of, "We have to hide her from everyone", but they aren't. You are just hiding her gender. Get a brain check or fix your grammar, Jesus.

I was watching and I remembered, what about her breasts? They have to be to big for her binder by the time she is 26. And if she wants to stay sworn brothers with Autumn-Maple Leaf man, then she will have to bind them forever. Not a risk worth taking.

I just love how her opponent has to mention that she is a guy, like that is really suspicious. "Although he's a guy, he is young...", you could've just said, "He is to young..."

And it is almost impossible for a girl to be stronger than a grown (and big) man. She might be able to out smart him, but no way she could beat him in a one-on-one fist match. Sorry to all those feminists and the people who are gonna call me sexist, but it's true. I have no reason to be sexist, because I am a girl.

Oh my god, I had to rewatch a scene it was so stupid. While she was fighting the dude, she pushed him back and screamed. The scream sounded like she yelled "Traillalala"

That neck chop she did just before 8:31, that was unbelievable. That scrawny ass hand couldn't chop him that far back.

At 8:44 she pushes his jump back, sending him flying towards the other side of that mat. That is way more unrealistic, you can't push him that far without launching yourself. All you did was move your wrists and maybe a little bit of your arms.

To be honest, I am hating on the main character because I dislike her so much. I don't like the actor, I don't like the role, and I don't like the character in general. I think the actor is really ugly, no offense.

I am not going to watch anymore, because this show was horrible. I'm not going to waste and one hour and twelve minutes when I could be finding a show that is actually good. No offense to the writers or actors, but I strongly disliked this. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I only got past eight minutes and forty-four seconds.

Read More

Bromance (Taiwan) (2015) - I like this drama. To think na nay nag ask sako regarding this drama, I think it’s quite famous compare sa other Taiwanese drama na ako nakita. What I like is that convincing kayo ang girl ani na laki, ang iyaha features kay murag jud pud og laki, which is pakpak kayo ko. Gamay ra ang maka portray ana nga role na maconvince jud ang mag tan-aw (*and she won best actress because of this role). This drama is really engaging and I think it’s because the main leads did really showcase their roles, I like their roles as well, not common. Although ji bet jud ang mga side characters ani nga drama, sige nalang. Overall I would gladly watch this again if I have time.

Read More