Charbonnel

Thank you so much! I’ll definitely take a look. :)

I did quite enjoy Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteru myself, although agree they could have done a bit more with the ending, but it still fit for me.

I think I get what you mean by being pushed “to confront certain realities that might not be easy”, I very much felt that with Before We Get Married in terms of themes.

Are there any of these you’d recommend as a started for getting into mature Japanese dramas?

Ooh, I really liked Before We Get Married… would you also consider Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteru as a mature drama?

I’ll probably look through this list because I really like the mature dramas I’ve seen, but it’s also hard to find the right ones for me.

I think I should have watched it when it aired. Mistakes, starting to watch it now though.

I originally planned on watching it way back when it was first announced, although it took so long because of the plot changes and pandemic that I gave up, but it looks like it’s a must watch.

The conversation between Sun Bo and Li Cheng killed me! Nice to see Wilson Liu again! It felt like that scene got cut short, so maybe we’ll see more of the MODC cast next week? Also, the friend that Mei Fang and Li Cheng were comforting, it sounds like another sneaky MODC reference, being that one of the CP died.

I really appreciated this week’s episode. It felt very much like everything is finally coming together. I particularly liked the scene between Xing Si and his father, that was very touching and realistic, it hurts how long they had left that unresolved. It isn’t that uncommon a situation though.

Having reached this point in the story, it feels strange. I feel like my initial judgement of Yong Jie’s mother was correct, albeit harsh. She knew what he planned to do and did nothing, however she is also ready to accept any consequence coming with it.

Xing Si’s father has been waiting for the opportunity to speak with his son, and his reaction to Yong Jie made sense, it was probably the shock of the fact that Yong Jie did confess to deliberately taking advantage of his son, and I’d say that’s enough to shock any parent. I feel less like that was a homophobic reaction with the added context.

Meanwhile, Mu Ren and Li Cheng’s progression is fitting of character and pleasant to watch, their storyline being enjoyable as usual.

You know what? I think I’ll respect this as a title in the HIStory series, it has delivered and been enjoyable. And, as much as people complain about the writer, she’s definitely consistent in the characters she writes, more so than many romance writers - considering how many ‘strong female leads’ are suddenly also weak damsels in distress.

Interesting, if the novel is so good, makes me wonder what the HIStory team were thinking when they rejected it and gave us MODC... unless thematically it is too similar to Trapped? But even so, Trapped focuses on comparatively older characters in their working lives.

Did you read a translation or the original?

A great first article. Someday or One Day is the only one of these four that I’ve seen (an indescribable experience for sure), but I think I’ll give the rest of them a go. I’ve been wanting to see more of the new Taiwanese dramas but wasn’t sure where to look, thanks for the ideas!

It might have been that Aoey asking Gene to ‘help’ him get closer to Nubsib was trying to hit two birds with one stone. If Gene had said yes, that would have meant getting over Nubsib. Aoey could then easily try ‘practicing’ stuff with Gene in a way similar to Nubsib in the early episodes but with different pretext..? It would create a window to bring them closer if Gene didn’t have feelings for Nubsib to begin with.

That’s the most logical explanation to me, although I’m seem to recall (vaguely) Aoey also mentioned wanting to practice lines etc. with Gene at some point quite early on. Still, it’s a very surprising and odd approach to take.

Is this a Sitcom? Well, it’s fun either way.. :)

Have you heard about KinnPorche too then?

Or can he..?

Strangers from Hell is one of my all time favourites - I thought of it when Neung said that too.. :)

I very much like where this is going!

I liked this week’s episodes more than the previous. I had enjoyed the show up to this point although it felt turbulent and indecisive. It feels like the story is now hitting its stride.

I actually found Yongjie pretty funny and surprisingly insightful this episode. I know how he did horrible things, and that I won’t forgive, but he is clearly a very intelligent and observant character. I found his smirk at Muren through the mirror hilarious, and I can’t help but find his little moments like that entertaining.

Meanwhile, thank you for being CONSISTENT with Lichen, he’s a pretty straightforward guy and even when he gets confused, once he has his answer, he bravely plunges toward his goal. A denial phase would not have fitted the character they’re trying to portray, and thankfully he didn’t have one.

The friendship that Lichen and Muren have with Xingsi is also lovely to watch, I very much love their friendship as a thing of its own. Yongjie’s jealousy of Muren’s friendship with Xingsi is irritating, but I can’t complain because it fits the character they have written well.

I’m finding the character writing here to be pleasantly consistent, to the extent that I think a disliking of the show would be more because of the tropes and plot. I have to say though, Xingsi forgiving Yongjie, whilst fitting for his character, irks me a bit.

Also, the whole “sexual harassment” line was weird and I don’t get why that got put there, but other than that I am happy this week.

The novel is going on sale soon and I’m pretty sure that it can come with behind the scenes, cast introductions, and OST. It’s a box containing all of these things going on sale. If behind the scenes exists, chances are filming has long since begun.

Crossing The Line sequel was going to happen, but it got cancelled due to the cast’s schedules never lining up, and being that it’s part of HIStory series and Lin Pei Yu left the company and is now focusing on a different network, that might never happen.

However, surely Miracle has more of a chance after her proving she can succeed without the HIStory umbrella. There’s also a chance of this riding the popularity wave from We Best Love. The script may have also been fine tuned since its HIStory disappearance. I’m hopeful for this going ahead soon, depending upon where Lin Pei Yu pitched it, it may succeed?

I wouldn’t know anything about how sponsorships work though?

I hope this doesn’t come off as passive aggressive, it just wouldn’t make sense for the novel special edition to come with behind the scenes and OST if the show isn’t going to happen.

HIStory 3 was originally advertised as ‘Trapped’ and ‘Miracle’, but somewhere in preproduction things changed. Then when it came time to air we got ‘Make Our Days Count’ instead, different writer and plot.

It isn’t a spin-off; Miracle is written by Lin Pei Yu, but it’s a standalone, unrelated work. It will also not be affiliated with the HIStory series, although that’s where it was originally going to air.

It’s very different to this plot wise; it’s a student and a gangster and it takes place over 3-4 years. There’s a trailer on Adam Uni’s FB with English subtitles.

An interesting observation is that Trapped was also originally meant to be HIStory 2, after ‘Crossing the Line’ and ‘Right or Wrong’ aired, and then it disappeared. It resurfaced for HIStory 3 and thankfully we got to see it. Miracle however, was not so lucky, originally for HIStory 3 but never happened, then Lin Pei Yu left HIStory and must have pitched it somewhere else, possibly in the wake of her recent success with WBL.

It must have been irritating for things to end up in the air for Lin Pei Yu’s scripts not once, but twice with the same series and production team.

EDIT : Date wise, all I know about April 20th is that the novel version is being released then, I don’t know if that’s when the drama will start, because it’s only just been announced with a trailer, usually announcement is a few months before airing. Then again, it says 2021/4/20 in the trailer.

(If you look at my recent feed from my profile, there’s more information)

There’s a scene where Shu Yi and Shi De are at the offices, sat in front of the computer, and the cut in the show is very brief. The original scene has been uploaded somewhere and it’s got 5 more minutes, it’s arguably the most important moment of explanation and forgiveness in the original script. Instead, we were given the unnecessary episode 6.5.

Here’s a link to the scene :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1Iw83qDT58

I loved it! Very happy I checked up on what projects Lin Pei Yu had on the go and found this. Hard to put to words how much I have enjoyed this series in its entirety, but it was exactly what I needed to get me through the first quarter of 2021.

Also, the ending song just hits different for me, I very much enjoyed all of the OST songs, but the ending song really is special.

Tone wise, I like how this was split as a story, with season 1 and season 2 having different themes but carrying them well. The 6.5 episode and the important scene that got cut were the only gripes I have, but they weren’t writing or acting related, but production related.

Thank you to everyone who worked on this nonetheless, it was a privilege to watch.

Accidentally binge watched it thinking it would be 15-20 episodes. I really liked it, season 2 was clearly set up, but equally it’s not terrible to leave it where they did. I’d love a season 2, although it looks unlikely, because unfortunately this does feel like the beginning arc of something bigger...

I was a big fan of everyone in this, and I started it without any expectations, really enjoyed all of it! Angie was well done as a character and I’m glad they didn’t tone it down as the show went on, meanwhile getting to know Ling Yun and Yan Bin was surprisingly pleasant all things considered. Very enjoyable show overall, I would recommend this to anyone.

There might be one somewhere once it finishes airing, although I’d say the main pair is worth watching, even if the premise doesn’t sound super exciting. It’s very nice to watch so far.

Also, I know they’ve said there’ll be a BL pairing, but there’s also a chance of a GL pairing, since the FL’s other assistant/employee is lesbian.

I very rarely watch mainland dramas, but I can definitely enjoy the experience of watching Taiwanese dramas as they air. I’m more used to one episode per week, with Thai shows and Taiwanese being the ones I most frequently watch while airing. Kdramas are more varied, but most that I watch while airing have been one episode per week.