Draagon

It's okay! Confusingly enough, sometimes a Taiwanese actor's "native name" will be written in Simplified, whereas "also known as" is in Traditional (and vice versa, of course). Jiro Wang's page is set up like this, for example. It makes sense to get them mixed up if you can't read the characters :)

I think Vic Chou has done some Chinese dramas, but not as prolifically as Jerry Yan, hence the disparity in popularity (or maybe Vic's dramas just weren't as well received, or played on lesser known TV stations - I'm not very well-versed on how the Chinese drama scene works, to be honest). Also, looking at his page now, Vic's definitely not as active in the drama/movie scene as he once was, and has taken some long breaks, so I guess that could also explain it. It's just funny to see two actors who basically start from the same point (getting intensely famous from Meteor Garden), but end up having such different trajectories, probably due to a variety of factors ^^

I've never watched Inborn Pair, basically because the longer (and older) Taiwanese dramas, in my experience, have the tendency to go downhill by the end. But I'm glad you're enjoying it! I might give it a go sometime in the future (if it stays on Netflix :p). It took me a fair amount of time to get used to Chris Wu's unique style of acting, but now, I appreciate how devotedly he seems to put his whole self into the character he's portraying.

Nice article! (I do kinda wish Traditional characters had been used to write all of their Chinese names, since that's what's used in Taiwan, but that's just a small nit-pick ^^)

While I wouldn't say that all of these actors are the most "talented" per se, I can see why they're so popular - especially since the majority have either chased the money across the way into China, where they can ramp up their international/broader appeal, and/or have been around for some time, allowing their popularity to ascend over time.

From this list, I like Jasper and Aaron's acting most, though I've also heard good things about Wallace (I've only seen one of his dramas). I have a soft spot for Jiro Wang and just find him a likeable guy in general and fun to watch in dramas, but I'm not sure how talented I would actually describe his acting to be... I'm also a little surprised Jerry Yan is ranked higher than Vic Chou - I consider Vic to be the much more talented of the two, but, of course, talent doesn't always equal popularity, and vice versa.

Actors I wish could gain more popularity despite only working in Taiwan would be: Wu Kang Ren (Chris Wu), Marcus Chang, and Lego Lee (though his performances can be a little hit and miss sometimes).

Thanks for making this list! Always nice to see Taiwan getting some love :)

Sends a powerful message about a social problem that has no easy fixing.

I wanted to like this, but... the male lead has basically no acting chops, and though the female lead did pretty well with portraying the dual identities, she also fell short of being effective in most scenes. The romance between the two was also handled pretty horribly.

In the end, my favorite characters were Lt. Muadprin (he at least had an interesting background and plotline, though I hated the conclusion of it), and Khaopoon's dad, the ultimate sweetheart father figure.

My least favorite character by far was the sous chef - I absolutely despised every scene he was in, though the other three chefs were pretty good, if overall useless to the story in general. I found it quite funny how they would just up and leave the kitchen - every single one of them - in the middle of the workday when there were clearly still customers present waiting for their food. Like - it's an open kitchen! They can see you all leaving! Or when someone would go out to get an ingredient and get side-tracked for like three hours. Those unintentionally funny scenes kept me sane as I slowly progressed through this mess of a drama.

Reported.

It looks like it's getting an international release on Taiwan's new platform - Taiwan+! It's available on their website and will also release on their YouTube and Facebook pages.
(Source: https://focustaiwan.tw/culture/202108290004)
(Website: https://taiwanplus.com)

A very introspective movie. I liked the directing style in this - a lot of the time, it focused more on the listener in a scene rather than the person talking. Also, the quote the Chinese teacher told Eun Hee is definitely the idea the story revolves around: 相識滿天下，知心能幾人 (“Full of people whose faces we know, but how many of those do we really understand?”)

(It's streaming for free on YouTube at the moment, at least in the US!)

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I'm normally not a fan of Roy Chiu's acting, but he did well in this one. Him and Tiffany Hsu had excellent chemistry. I liked the progression of the story, though the ending took me by surprise. I appreciated the realistic progression nonetheless.

There were some parts I really enjoyed and appreciated - like Hwan-gi's introversion and general shyness as something that didn't need to be erased per se, but rather understood by his employees/friends and worked with - but other parts I really had a hard time swallowing. I felt the climatic parts weren't climatic enough, and in the end, the drama kind of fell into the habit of depicting characters as almost too good, like saying as long as you had good intentions, all the harmful things you put others through can be overlooked. Nobody was ever really called out, or had their quality of life majorly affected by their actions, at least not in the long-term.

I also ended up disliking how they treated the main conflict storyline and especially the resolution between the two leads. They were cute together, don't get me wrong, but they had a tendency to forgive a bit too quickly and move on from the truly painful things that had happened in the past. Also, I hated the message that you have to forget someone who passed away in order to move on. What a terribly disrespectful way to treat the memory of loved ones who have left first.

Lastly, I didn't like the rewriting of the female lead. I felt she had a good deal of spunk at the beginning that was just power-washed into a typical "weak girl with some spice tacked on sometimes" personality that felt really bland towards the middle and end. At first, I appreciated how understanding Ro-un was towards everything, but later it became a crutch and a detriment to her character development.

Basically, all my good feelings in this drama go towards Hwan-gi and his general awkwardness. That boy is a blessing and Yeon Woo Jin played him perfectly.

No, that's how I really feel. It may be my own unpopular opinion, but I ended up liking Kyro's character and his character arc much more than Badz for several reasons. I also felt like Kyro's pursuing of Liz was handled more maturely overall than Badz' of Smile. To each their own, right?

I agree completely with your review. The relationship in this drama also felt off to me and never genuine enough - especially from the ML's side. You basically put everything I thought when watching this into words, so thanks for the review ^^

The chemistry between the characters was undeniable, but the story and character motivations were often head-scratching and could have used a bit more thought and detail put into them.

I liked Kyro and Liz's story a bit more than Badz and Smile, just because by the end, Badz turned out to be one of the most wishy-washy characters I've had the displeasure of watching. I can kind of understand why his character acted the way he did, based on his background, but it still doesn't excuse how I felt, by the end, his feelings for anyone weren't genuine, just propelled by a need to be loved no matter who it is.

I watched it on Netflix (in Korea - I don't know if it's available in other regions) ^^

Full quote to the caption above; I think it really incapsulates the core message of the story:

Qi Ming: "Life is so mysterious. You need to make choices all the time. On one hand, you have your dream. On the other hand, your family. I don't want to turn my back on my family, yet I don't want to break my promise to the team. What should I do?"

Hsiao Wu: "That's life. You think you're the only one who has to make choices? We all do. We're all afraid we might make the wrong decision. But if you don't make the choice, how are you going to continue your life?"

This was a lovely drama that I looked forward to watching every week. Not too serious and dramatic but also not too overly fluffy, it has a good balance and some nice themes and messages it explores. It’s a good one to watch when you just want to relax and soak in some good vibes.

Phenomenal actress. Her performance in Green Door is worth the watch just for her.

This drama had some interesting ideas and layered plot, but all in all the execution was a bit lacking. It could’ve done with either a more focused plot, or more episodes to devote to its cast of characters and the mysteries at hand. There were some really outstanding performances, though, especially Hsieh Ying Shiuan as Yu Hsiu Chi. The director also used some interesting shots.

[rewatch]

A little painful to watch at times with the excessive breaking up storyline, but I still enjoy the overall theme of this drama, and how it emphasizes that everyone is deserving of love no matter how “broken” you are. Also, that mental illness is not a death sentence, but something that can be treated and dealt with if you have the courage to do so.

I just rewatched this for maybe the third or fourth time, and it's just as lovely and heartbreaking as I remember it. A truly remarkable drama with wonderful character growth and an excellent portrayal of the havoc mental illnesses can wreak on our lives, and how much strength it takes to extract ourselves from their unrelenting stronghold.

I enjoyed this season much more than the previous one. I thought they did a better job of portraying and exploring the themes in a more natural way and it was a bit more nuanced than the previous season. Also, there was more emphasis on the hospital side of things; as such this one could more be classified as a “medical drama”, while the first one was more of a psychological character study.

It definitely had me tearing up by the end and was overall a beautiful story about the brave souls who confront corruption. I really liked the overall message (Never give up!), and they also did a pretty impressive job of giving equal screen time to its rather large cast of characters.