ShortCircuit

They actually improved VERY much in the last few years.

Recs (not in your list):
Not Me
My Stand-In
Top Form
Spare Me Your Mercy

Not BL, but worth it:
Peaceful Property

So let me tell you. There's this Chinese danmei rebirth novel called Rebirth of a Movie Star (重生之朗朗星空) written by someone with the pen name of J112233 (they always use pseudonyms because China). It's AMAZING!! And happily it has been TLed into English, and TLed very well, kudos to the translator!!

If this kind of stories are appealing to you (or anyone reading this) do yourself a favour and look up that novel. It's so worth it.

I'm not going to throw shades because even in the first ep, RESET diverged from the same story (while having some initial similar settings) and hopefully it will diverge more. I'm just going to note that the actual TL was finished in 2019 and the Thai novel was written in 2020, so at least the publication order is clear enough. If there's any inspiration, I don't really mind, as long as it doesn't directly copy that danmei novel.

But I would've given SO MUCH to see that novel put into drama, LOL. Maybe sometime soon, if this one's successful, here's hoping :D

I liked the preview, LOL. So TD dares Armin to drop trou and he DOES and then TD almost swallows his own tongue hahaha~

Better be careful what you're wishing for :D

Did anyone else find it so funny that whenever they meet SOMEHOW Armin ALWAYS faints in TD's arms? Like... OMG he's Armin's kryptonite :D

I am so very mad they DIDN'T just buy the license for (ETA: Chinese danmei) Rebirth of a Movie Star directly. Reset seems to be heavily influenced by that novel (and if not, then two different people had the same general idea LOL and I don't mind it one bit. Except that I really LOVE that one novel and if they made an adaptation I'd be here for it all.)

Anyway - not bad at all. I liked all the MC's reactions to the rebirth, he's all shooketh up and not just instantly into planning revenge/a better life (I like rebirth novels, but most danmei rebirth goes something like - hero is reborn, calmly accepts the situation, locates the System, if any, gets instructions, starts planning LOL). So this is kind of a fresh take on rebirth for me. Also, it definitely seems TD also remembers, doesn't it? And LOL, his initials - Thada or The Devil. What can I say, if the shoe fits...

Let's hope somebody actually saves Achi from his fate, he's cute. Heheh.

In the preview, Pond/Armin with his new self-done haircut (like... GIRL SERIOUSLY WTF LOL, DON'T EVEN TRY THAT AT HOME LIKE, EVER!!!) looks SO MUCH like Kimura Takuya young, I almost did a double take.

Actually, this kind of digs up a lot of memories from the turn of the millenium. That kind of jeans OMG I had just gone over the trauma. And the Nokia ringtone is nostalgic - I had the same kind of phone for 20 years (eventually got a smartphone too, but kept the old bugger and it refused to ever die. I still have it and it's working, and I have a charger for it too, anyone wants a Nokia old enough it's legal to drink already? :D)

There is an anime series for the whole manga (it covers the same story that the RuroKen movies 1-3 also cover, with some skipped or added arcs - amazing soundtrack!!!! amazing seyuu, amazing story, but it's an older anime and it's been 35 years, it kind of shows a bit in artwork - AND a few Original Version Anime (OVAs) that cover some of the arcs that are not in the TV series (movies 4-5). One of those OVAs (not all are the best) is Tsuioku-hen, the best OVA ever made IMHO. (Note there's a re-make anime series that just aired in 2023 or so, but TBH I am nostalgic for the older one and didn't really got caught in the new one, myself.)

I don't know where the OVA is still available to watch, maybe Prime? The DVD set is on amazon, it has to be somewhere online (either as Rurouni Kenshin Tsuioku-hen or Samurai X Trust and Betrayal). Also, if you find them somewhere (NF, Prime, or places like aniwatch or something), only watch Trust&Betrayal from the OVAs, LOL, the others don't matter.

PS: the original anime also has the BEST music, here's an example: Departure (Noriyuki Asakura) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3YhVNyHMMw

For a general impression on how PPL works in Thailand, LOL. Everybody's driving a Toyota, no exceptions. (I'd fit right in hahaha~) That is precisely the reason why there are ONLY hit-and-runs in dramas. If the driver would stop, everybody would obviously notice he's driving a Toyota, and there goes the PPL budget LOL. So they don't ever, EVER stop.

So, NewGuy KNOWS how the doctor evades the curse. How does NewGuy do it, then? Does he use the same tactic? Or is he living like a hermit, never getting close to anything living just to escape the curse? (I fear for next-door cute neighbour, she seems to be civil to him. Danger alert).

I wonder why NewGuy didn't approach Day directly and came to Ozone. If he tried to talk rationally to Day I think he'd have understood not to tell Night the secrets or something. But now they managed to make yet another blunder and push Night into maybe talking to the doctor again...

Anyway. Here's hoping for a happy ending, still.

LOL, it's not about being stuck in a role for watchers - it's that he took that role and made his own so that nobody else will ever top it should they remake that same story.

I don't know if JoL2 was even offered though, given the timing of when it was going to pre-production and the delays the pandemic caused. Sometimes things don't work out.

Just to add - I've no idea what his music goes for, though I have a few songs of his that I really like, from the latest album included. But music is a more restrictive medium than acting, in terms of exposure. In all media though, I wish him well :)

Vagabond is the first one that ended so badly, remained unfinished, and I don't think there'll be a second season to complete the story in the end. Even if they make it, I won't be watching, I'm still mad about that one. Arthdal Chronicles followed it to the same messy ending (I still couldn't bring myself to watch the actual sequel, despite liking LJG quite a lot). D+ at least seems to give actual endings to dramas they produce, even if they make them shorter than the norm.

ASFK happens in just one long night (and a lot of flashbacks) and it's basically non-stop action (amazing fight choreo, too). So I doubt it would've worked in a longer format. TBH, there are a lot of short format kdrama (by which I mean the traditional 16 eps run) that are needlessly lenghtened to fill the time, and would benefit from a harsher edit. That doesn't mean a lot of the new OTT-produced dramas wouldn't also benefit from a longer run... They're still hit and miss in quite a lot of instances.

I think he wouldn't have directly answered that even if the reporter insisted. Everybody is aware what role they're hinting at, and he doesn't have to go there if he doesn't want to. He already proved he's going to diversify his roles and change from his initial starting point, from the idol-type to serious actor (especially when he took the theater role for so long). But I like that he confirmed he's decided on acting being his main focus (not that I don't like his music, I just want to see him act :) )

Both Moving and A Shop for Killers are rounded up and fine all on themselves. The second seasons they're getting will have different stories probably (maybe ASFK will tell a story in the same timeframe that all watchers wanted to see for themselves :) )

I watched both and want second seasons for both, if they can get the same cast :D

As for the announced dramas - I want to see Murky Waters and maybe Fabricated City (curious what they change from the movie.)

You changed your pfp... So. Much. Skin. :D

There are lots of local dialects, LOL. It's a huge country. But the dramas are supposed to use the "correct" and official language, so they can get to as many people as possible. So they use the Mandarin for media, including support hard-coded subs to help people understand what's being said.

Usually when there's use of dialects in dramas though it's precisely because it helps to better point where the characters are coming from or what their social status is. And then there's the ancient style of talking.

MDL just published an interview with XZ where he says they did live-recording on this drama, maybe that's what you caught as different - if they recorded as they went, then they had to be much more careful with the wording and accents than usual (when they'd re-do the sound in studio).

I quite like Zang Hai, but LOL, I don't think he REALLY expects people to forget WWX. Because that's an impossible task :D

He'll always be associated with playing that character - but Zang Hai is quite different than WWX and that's great. I have no problem separating the two, and even in his other roles, there's no superposition IMHO.

... XZ as a detective. Hmm, yes please!

Try the donghua (the main and the chibi) too, they're so worth it. And they have some of the same voice actors and amazing soundtracks too. Oh and there's the audio drama too :D

It's perfect, if it continues like that, it's going to be one of the classics.

Here after ep 7 because I said I was going to pace myself (due to Youku's airing shenanigans, I wanted to have a reserve of eps when they do their usual song and dance) but it turns out I'm a liar. I can't help myself.

Anyway... I also used to think I'd LOVE to see more of XZ's smiles, because he has such a great smile. It also turns out that him expressing quiet despair even in victory is just as amazing. Yes, I don't mind. He'll smile later... now that victory-but-at-what-cost tearful look is my go-to. He looked so young and fragile, poor Zang Hai, I hope not all his victories come with loss.

This is an amazing and addictive series so far - we're only in the beginning but it has the slow pace I loved with NiF and most of my favourite stories, I'm cheering the MC on, the love plot (if there's going to be any of it later on) is not in your face, and there's potential for at least some bromance (though TBH given his third teacher's teachings... I wonder.)

Try Rurouni Kenshin - The Beginning then. (This is the 5th and last movie in the series, but it can be watched as a stand-alone and it's much different than the first 4 anyway.)

I ventured in, but there's a release schedule only until the 25th of May, I DON'T trust Youku not to pull a staggered release schedule and torture us with breaks and whatnot. I'm gonna pace myself and have a backlog of eps even if that means I can't join on the comment section, LOL.

LPT Seriously, don't trust Youku. *performing an exorcism on their scheduler LOL*

I'm calling that the DODGE THIS scene, LOL, because it feels amazingly like that one, hahaha~ SO SATISFYING!!! (Though I really like KJW, sorry, his character deserved it and then some :D)

That's the point though, IMHO. I really wanted to recc' Black Out as a drama that could connect to this one - the small town feeling, the "trapped inside" aura, that are kind of similar, though the dramas are completely different. I thought that's what makes this one stand out, actually. There are princes, but they're cut off from the capitol or any political games, there is violence but nobody bats an eye, as if it's the norm for them, like everybody's just slugging through mud trying to escape and unable to.

I guess that's the whole idea - the horror with a lot of less gore than usual, but horror nonetheless kind of drama. (Which doesn't mean to say there's no gore, because there's plenty.)