mysecretsoul

Nee-chan! I was checking and realized my last response to you never posted. How are you doing lately?

I recently came across another Chinese historical/romance fusion; it's called Introduction of the Princess. Everyone raves about the leading man (Wallace Huo), so I was excited to see it subbed.

Work can be such a pain sometimes. Hopefully, he'll cut you some slack soon. Though there's one bright spot to your situation: enough will be waiting to ensure something to watch :)

Besides the ongoing shows I already follow, I'm close to finishing The Equator Man. It's pretty standard revenge fare, though Uhm Tae Woong and Lee Joon Hyuk do wonderfully. Apparently it's from the same director as Sword and Flower; you can really tell, too. The cinematographic choices bear strong similarity and for the first couple episodes I had no idea what they were thinking with the music. XD

Seinaru Kaibutsutachi or Introduction of the Princess might come next. It depends on where my mood swings after completing The Equator Man.

As to that memoir, which country did the person originate from? That sounds like an interesting read. Sorry to keep sending double comments; I'm pretty long-winded it seems, haha.

Wow, Guillermo del Toro? That sounds wonderful; between his talent and love for the series, one can probably expect something in the proper spirit of Monster. Has there been any headway with the project? I would much rather hear about this happening than the chronic looming threat that is live action Akira.

The stage plays sound insane, right? Somehow they make it work by focusing on the strategy/politics/character building; when a battle can't happen "off-screen," innovative projectors and screens are used. Theatre is pretty amazing these days, though I prefer my fleets animated, haha.

We wholly agree on cutesy live action. I've started avoiding anime/manga adaptations for the very reasons you listed. There are also several I tried and became irritated with for other reasons; for instance, in most adaptations of Zettai Kareshi, they skip the silliness but tread on the story.

Absolutely. Though I can't deny snappy art and bright colors do attract me (as in, say, Gankutsuou), even stick figures are okay if the story is good. It surprises me to hear the style of Monster is a problem with viewers; despite its natural tones, it looks rather clean and suitable.

Would you enjoy it if Monster were made into a full-length live action? With things like this, I think it'd be hard to manage good casting. Forgive me for using it as an example again, but Galactic Heroes had a series of stage plays aviailable -- it was somewhat difficult to accept some performers.

Though it's hard to find positive body images in the mainstream media anywhere, I wager Asian men and women have it bad indeed. From idols to games to dramas and even legislation, there's constant bombardment. What's worse, the "fat" size isn't even really all that big. I couldn't living through it.

Oh, I do that too. Sometimes I'll just be cruising around the site, see something, and then it's like "Wow, this looks great--what do you mean this is already on my list?!"

If you enjoy Sakurai-san's acting, you should try The Quiz Show 2 (though I would recommend the first as well, it isn't 100% necessary). His character is similar, but not quite as um...Sensei-ish, haha. XD

Wasn't he wonderful in The King of Dramas? I'd recommend something, but I'm still in the process of working through his filmography. With my favorites I tend to reserve certain titles for slow drama/movie periods; that way I have a secret weapon to ward off boredom, haha. Thankfully he and Shin Ha Kyun have huge resumes, so I have many.

As to Yakou Kanransha, I finally finished it today. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see something subtitled as this finale. XD

Right now, I'm trying to compose my thoughts on the series. It offered so much more than I expected and others have let on. I may end up writing a review if I can ever focus enough to say more than, "Oh my god, that was awesome." XD

That game! Otometeki Koi Kakumei Love Revo. I actually tried it, just to see how offensive it was. Sure enough, the game is chock full of body shaming.

The worst part is that even if the "target" has all of his love events activated and he seems to care about the "player," the romantic ending will not activate unless the weight parameter is absolutely *perfect.* Such a cruel premise.

Definitely try the manga if you get a chance; Keiko Takemiya has quite the unique touch. I also agree the story was ultimately hopeful; the real tragedy might be how little attention it received the year it aired, while things such as Lucky Star rose to the top. I'm sure it's a fun watch, but still....

Monster sounds like something I'd love, especially if it uses its length in order to fully tell the story. In that case, it would be similar to Legend of the Galactic Heroes: complete without filler. Thank you for taking your time to tell me about it; when my time opens for it, I'll let you know what I think.

Scheherazade looks like a lot of fun! Glad you pointed it out. I also love finding new things. Especially when it seems like there's nothing else quite as wonderful as the last thing, you know?

What a wonderful education though! I wouldn't regret that either; the experience was probably worth every penny. My own parents would react similarly, though I figure that my father would likely kill me before succumbing to the heart attack. It's so hard to convince parents that artistic degrees are worth anything.

From the feeds, I see that you've been enjoying Down With Love. Ella is a strange leading lady, right? She has some weird magnetism that typically manifests itself after the drama kicks off; it seems to happen in every show she leads in.

Jerry Yan, though. He's one of my favorite Taiwanese actors. Is it because he's good looking? I'll never tell. XD

Kazoku Game really is wild; I remember gasping after that slap in the first episode, because it was wholly unexpected. Sakurai Sho surprised me as an actor, since when you hear about Arashi and acting it tends to be Matsumoto-san or Ninomiya-san.

There are lots of shows I'm planning on, but at the moment I'm trying to diversify a little. Right now I'm working on a very long adaptation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but most memorable among those I've completed recently was Yakou Kanransha. It was utterly breathtaking, and I'm still trying to compose my thoughts on it. It was just, wow.

I'll need to pick up The Queen's Classroom soon; I'm really in a mood for mystery right now, haha.

Terra E really affected me quite deeply; I cried some during some of the later scenes, especially when the Mu were leaving the planet they'd settled down on. It was such a unique take on old themes, and the adaptation actually improved the flow of the manga. As to Bokurano, I have to agree; there was an article, if I remember correctly, where the writer expressed irritation that his ending had been changed.

Monster grabbed my attention, but I kept putting it off after completing Legend of the Galactic Heroes and all of its related media. Would you recommend it? The next time I become bored with dramas, it might be the perfect opportunity.

Otome games can be fun, but I agree not many are well-made; the last I played was Sweet Fuse, though it had cute elements and paths, it was too simple. To The Moon! I also loved the soundtrack for that one. Do you enjoy many indie titles then?

Hello! It's been quite a while since I last checked in with you, ne? How have you been?

I noticed you started Kazoku Game recently. Are you enjoying it?

Delighted to hear that you're enjoying this drama! We hoped that others would find a good experience like we did. :) Chinese dramas really do have a totally different feel from Japanese and Korean, ne?

Hello again! Though it's been a while since I've seen anything new in anime, my best genres are science fiction and fantasy. Some of my favorites include Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Toward the Terra, Le Chevalier D'eon, Mononoke (it has such interesting experimental animation!), and Bokurano. The most recent show that left a good impression was Psychopass. Honestly, I should finally make an MAL account, haha.

As to games, I love Japanese-style RPGs and visual novels! There are also some western titles, like Dragon Age, that I play as well.

How about you?

I know that feeling. One of my favorites, Kim Myung Min, tends to choose incredibly strange and varied projects too. Sometimes they're outside of my preferred genres, but because his acting is good they're still worth watching. Talented actors must really enjoy expanding their horizons (or just don't know how to pick their projects, haha!)

Thank you for the recommendation. Since it's gotten cold here, a romance film will probably do me some good. It should be interesting to see him in a completely different role than Dororo too.

Ah! Yakou Kanransha is almost caught up now, by the way; there are currently 9 translated episodes available and the last should be up this week or next. From what I've garnered from your tastes, I really think you're going to adore it! I was going to do episode by episode reviews, but it's so good I get tongue-tied, haha.

That would be too cute, haha! If only I could draw well.

Absolutely agree on Cha Seung Won. The first time I noticed the difference was between Murder, Take One and Secret, which was totally flooring. Though I feel a little guilty: the second I read "chameleon", I started imagining an anime lizard with the personality and voice of Dokko Jin. XD

Definitely the top villain for me too! I would typically hate that kind of character, but sometimes I just felt like throwing up my hands and being like, "Okay, just give her the throne." XD

I remember those scenes! Another memorable one was in Queen of Reversals; the lead starts out as kind of an evil boss, and the girls working under her say she's like Mishil. She overhears and she's like, "Oh, I'll SHOW you Mishil." XD

Definitely watch Nine! If I were to make a list of dramas that people should have seen this year, it would definitely make the cut. It's the only time travel story to work for me in ages. *_* And there's eye candy, oh yes. LOL

No problem! Glad to hear from you again; I hope you've been well?

Japanese dramas have a completely different flavor, right? They can be a great break from Korean dramas; recently, I've found a similar oasis with Chinese dramas. Please do recommend interesting shows to me; I love to hear what other people are watching to expand my own horizons. Kaneko Misuzu Monogatari looks rather interesting in particular!

At the moment, I'm picking through San Guo with a friend; it's almost flawless as an adaptation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but very difficult to marathon. It feels like an epic novel sprung to life, so taking one's time with it is a must.

The last few dramas I've seen include Saikou no Rikon (8, quirky with a great cast but uneven atmosphere/soundtrack), DOCTORS ~ Saikyou no Mei (8, unique but too short), and Legal High (9, very funny but somewhat emotionally lacking).