mysecretsoul

Hello, and thanks so much for the friend request! :)

You should! George is wonderful. They were saying his popularity reached a crucial point, which means projects basically fall into his lap at the moment. For instance, he had yet another major project this year -- though it seems as though it won't be subtitled.

Looking back on the episodes as a whole to this point, few were truly bad. I feel that reading up on the history would make those that were much easier, though.

As we near the end, my curiosity about it has expanded. My hopes for the story are for the Zhou invasion and Xue Wu/Fourth Lord eloping (historically accurate or not). Did you find whether Zheng Er appeared in his records? I figure that she must, though probably as "Feng Xiaolan."

I actually dislike the character so much, I find myself losing objectivity about the actress. She does such a great job as a force of misguided, yet spine-tingling evil. @.@

Hearing George Hu speak English is wild! You can definitely tell he learned in America, though a cute Chinese accent colors his speech. From what I garnered from some of his interviews, he's kind of a ridiculously cute nerd too. Am I crazy or does English change the tone of a voice? He sounds so much deeper~

I just continued and I almost screamed, oh my gosh. With the lengths to which they took things, I thought for sure Fourth Lord was...! Everyone jokes about wanting a pretty guy in a dungeon, but this is a shade too far. >.>

I'm excited, but also kind of sad. There are only a hand full of episodes left ;A;

At the moment, I'm nearing completion with Prince of Lan Ling. It has various wuxia elements, while being pseudo-historical.

There are several others which appear interesting as well, such as Bu Bu Jing Xin. Unfortunately, I'm still feeling the genre out; most of my experiences with it have been film length. It's such a refreshing break from the usual in any case. :)

The dubbing practice confuses me somewhat. While I can understand doing so with a foreign actor whose Chinese is poor, it's done with native speakers as well. There is nothing stranger than realizing later a person has a completely different voice. Do they place a great deal of importance on dialect or something?

I'm kind of a turtle when it comes to dramas, haha. It would be fun to marathon something again soon, though. Just need to find the time.

Ah, do the books set up the mystery then? That sounds like a fascinating mixture.

It would be incredibly fun to know all three, in my opinion! Though I know very little of Korean and Chinese, their film, music, and literature is fascinating.

With the current level of quality, Taiwanese dramas may end up scaring me off as well. Unfortunately, several of the actors and actresses are so pleasant it might be a hard break. Many of them have also started work in Chinese drama though, so that's lucky.

Today was actually when I was going to start Soratobu Kouhoushitsu, but Prince of Lan Ling took a sudden exciting turn. This close to the end, I might as well finish it off before starting something else.

By the way, you recently finished Biblia Koshodo no Jiken Techo. You enjoyed it, right? Would you say a person more invested in literature would find it more fun than someone that isn't? The book theme excites me, but I was wondering how important that aspect was.

From the emotional turn the last few episodes have taken, I can only imagine. Xiao Dong sacrificing himself for Xue Wu actually had me in tears, while other recent scenes were close. ;A;

I'll probably start Bu Bu Jin Xing soon then. There was another, more modern romance I've heard good things about: Sealed with a Kiss. It sounds great as well, though it is something of a long melodrama apparently.

Ah, I always forget about the "four" superstition! Thank you for reminding the proper usage to me. :) It's somewhat shameful how often I make tiny mistakes like that, haha. And also for the resources, as these flashcards in particular seem very useful indeed.

I wonder, do you plan to branch out to the other major Asian languages after mastering Japanese? What you learn studying the onyomi would undoubtedly be useful to that end, though I imagine it could get confusing quickly. Korean has various similarities to Japanese, for instance, since both are distant descendants from Chinese.

Whenever games revamp their graphics, it's a gamble. Sometimes it's a huge improvement and others...not so much. I agree completely with you on the Sims 4, though I am curious as to what they might add in the future.

I stopped briefly at 38 to collect my thoughts; the last few episodes have been so emotional. Around 36, the drama truly finds its second wind, and hopefully will continue with the new groove. The tone is very different than the first half, but at least we're out of the Zheng Er/Gao Wei doldrums. So great to be able to continue enjoying this.

Several scenes until now had me weepy, such as the brush scenes with Fourth Lord or desolate Fifth Lord. But what happened to Xiao Dong actually produced tears. He really was the best sidekick, right until the end.

Xue Wu has been surprising me in a good way; whenever she said she wanted to kill her enemies for what they'd done, just wow. It'll be a pleasure to see where her character continues through this pain. And thank goodness she has Yu Wen Yong to protect her. His intense threat before court, to even go to war if need be? Ah, my heart.

...That's it. I'm going to be courageous and marathon today until His Majesty has a major resurgence (or I hit episode 38. I'm not that brave LOL).

If I die from overexposure, please complete the series without fail. Warn the others to use the skip button on Zheng Er~

Yoku yarimashita! Gomen, machigai ga areba odorokanaide. Watashi wa mou obasan desu. Jodan desu yo! Niju-shi sai desu. XD

Unfortunately I cannot read Kanji or Hiragana for beans. You're very lucky to have Japanese friends to communicate with! Most of my practice comes from music and drama, so about half of my vocabulary isn't really functional. It's good to start learning young, because you'll retain everything better. Keep at it~ :)

Ah, I also like The Sims! Still need to pick up the most recent expansions, though I think the series is moving up soon. Do you generally like zombies? Honestly, they scare me, haha. If there was a real invasion, I'd be eaten right away.

If you're interested in Arashi, Maou is another great drama. Their Ohno Satoshi was incredible in it; he even had several scenes which left me breathless.

I agree so wholeheartedly it hurts. ;A; Things might have been different had their story had more weight before, or even if they'd balance their scenes properly with other characters. Perhaps it was also a bad idea to marry LLW and Xue Wu so early. Feels like they've run out of things to do with their relationship, so they show them less, ugh.

Need that Zhou invasion in force, ASAP. XD

Ah, thank you~ Hopefully my reviews are useful; I try to stand back and remain objective, since I feel ones inspired by knee-jerk reactions aren't as fair.

We have a lot in common! Japanese can be a little difficult, ne? Much of what I learned is from my grandmother, but it can be a real pain to keep up with it. What sort of video games do you play? If I'm honest, I'm currently working through the newest Pokemon installment, haha.

Medical Top Team is definitely the type that would be easy to marathon. I actually wait for subtitles from Hulu, so the wait can be even little longer; it's so frustrating. The entirety of the younger cast feels off, but Kwon Sang Woo struck me as fine (for now). He's got likable down, but should a powerful scene come and he can't deliver...my tune will change.

Kazoku Game was my first Sakurai Sho drama too! Previously I only knew him through Arashi.

Both are somewhat typical of all Taiwanese romantic comedies; Love Around had a really charismatic lead couple, but general concession says Love Now is stronger despite its own failings. Honestly, I feel like every Taiwanese drama from this year has been difficult; at least what I've found subbed. The series replacing Love Around looks very promising, but I'm not sure whether I'll try it. The male lead has a poor reputation in real life, which may hamper my overall enjoyment.

I feel you on that, though I luckily don't have an internship to worry about. Work eats up a lot of my free time on certain shifts. ;A;

My own darker mood has recently passed somewhat with the completion of Scandal: A Shocking and Wrongful Incident. The title promises makjang, and it's as wild as they come, haha. I'm really looking forward to Soratobu Kouhoushitsu now; the change in pace will be refreshing.

No problem whatsoever! I hope you're well; it's easy to get overwhelmed when one becomes busy. I'm fine myself, though going through a pretty intense wuxia phase, haha.

That's a wonderful way to listen to them! Because you're inclined toward literature, I feel you'll enjoy it well. Thank you for the information; I'll probably check him out right away.

From my experience with the subber for Kurokochi, they can be trusted to complete; it just may take some time. Unfortunately, your fear is very justified; have you seen where some are fully subtitled, with just the final hanging? It's downright cruel, haha.

Wow, those would all be amazing articles; each of those actors is simply wonderful. You have a great style and perspective, so they're sure to be useful too.

I decided to rush Just You when nearly all of the episodes are completed. In my experience, Taiwanese dramas are easier to swallow all at once; with Love Around, I wanted to scream when it was like "Haha, just kidding, there's one more."

Prince of Lan Ling is definitely worth it! The feeling is very wuxia in the best way, with gorgeous cinematography and style. The story drags occasionally, but the experience has generally been enjoyable. And Daniel Chan is a vision in it.

Thank you kindly for the friend request! I noticed you were watching Medical Top Team and Kazoku Game; how are you finding them?

Initially I was surprised, since even in otherwise historically accurate dramas, they tend to beautify the hair. For instance in samurai-centric ones, they'll allow the actor to wear the topknot without a shaved pate. It's a little refreshing to see the proper style in BBJX. I'll probably find the acting most attractive as always anyway; give me some expressive eyes and I'm happy.

Jafar! XD I agree completely though. Like his bat = ghost strategy was even pretty smart, but Zheng Er, please. Gao Wei also has me feeling sad for him, since he's the type that sincerely wanted to do his best. Competent or not, his father should have paid more mind to the way he treated both Fourth Lord and the Prince in public. It didn't seem like he thought much about what might happen after he died.

Ah, which? There was one (Kurokochi) I took a recent interest in as well, since the subtitles are slowly becoming available.

While I do enjoy Japanese mysteries, my understanding of specialized terminology is pretty weak. Therefore, things like detective/medical/historical dramas are difficult to keep hold on. Funnily enough, the focus on romantic/family dramas makes me twice as sad -- because I don't really need subtitles for those. If I had time, I would sharpen my skills and sub the interesting ones myself.

Btw, I enjoyed your article on Jackie Chan! Will you be doing similar ones for other classic stars? It'd be interesting to see one on Toshiro Mifune, for instance. You're really building up the film experience.

Ugh, the extension for Just You is even the frustrating +1 kind. Right now, I'm working through Medical Top Team and finishing up Prince of Lan Ling.