New Breath Of Love

I don't know how to classify New Breath Of Love (26 episodes), is it a Taiwanese drama or a Mainland drama?

New Breath Of Love Synopsis: (from Yari's Blog)
New Breath of Love,
There is Breath of Sweetness,
But Also Sadness’s Bitter

Lam Jing Wai (Tammy Chen) is a thirty-years old financial trading assistant, and once encounter advertiser Tsui Hoi (Raymond Lam) whom is humor, handsome and romantic. After meeting Tsui Hoi her life change from peace and calm to an up and down roller coaster. On the other side, Wong Ming Zheng (Alex Fong) whom is a business man but has totally different personality from Tsui Hoi also fell in love with Jing Wai. Unlike Tsui Hoi whom is a playboy and surrounded by girls, Ming Zheng’s heart only contains Jing Wai and no other women. Should Jing Wai choose Ming Zheng that is stable or Tsui Hoi that gives her sweetness and also bitterness? Can Jing Wai really ignore the fact of having Lisa (Ady An) by Tsui Hoi’s side, and Sophia who tolerate everything that Ming Zheng does?

Cast:
Tammy Chen as Lam Jing Wai
Raymond Lam as Tsui Hoi
Alex Fong as Wong Ming Zheng
Ady An as Lisa Fan
Jiang Hua as Ching Ling

My comments:
I watched the Cantonese version of New Breath Of Love with Raymond Lam and Alex Fong's real voice and with pretty much everyone else dubbed. It's interesting to see Raymond and Alex in a non TVB production working with non TVB actors/actresses. The leading actresses are Tammy Chen and Ady An, both from Taiwan.

It's a trendy modern city romance type of drama about different people's perceptions and perspectives of love set in Shanghai. This drama centers mostly on Lam Jing Wai. Jing Wai is the goody good girl who is boring, serious, conservative and leads this routinery life (sounds 80% like me :D). Tsui Hoi is completely the opposite of Jing Wai as he's spontaneous, carefree and romantic. Wong Ming Zheng is like a mirror of Jing Wai so it seems like they are the perfect match but if they are together, it makes two boring persons together while Tsui Hoi can provide a lot of surprises to the boring Jing Wai. Although that Tsui Hoi is very sweet and does a lot of romantic things to dote on Jing Wai, I can't help to think about Lisa, who supposedly is together with him for seven years. It makes Tsui Hoi a two timer, even though he later explains that he only treats Lisa like a sister and cannot upset her because of her disease so he cannot break off with her that easily. Lame excuse if you ask me...and he's a guy who is afraid of commitment so if you ask me, Ming Zheng is a better choice.

The drama can be slow moving at times so patience is required. A lot of time is focused on Jing Wai's confusion and insecurities about her relationship with Tsui Hoi. When she slowly opens up to him, you a different side of her but it's also sad to see the professional and confident Jing Wai performing badly at work and desperately waiting for Tsui Hoi's calls. I'm touched by the ending although that I'm a bit disappointed that it's not the guy chasing the girl back. Guys can learn tricks from Tsui Hoi about how to win a girl's heart and can learn what not to do from Ming Zheng, especially that classic proposal line: "Are you willing to be buried at my backyard?" (~faints)

The other couples are interesting to watch too. I think everyone acted well in this drama although overall chemistry wise, it's lacking. However, Raymond and Tammy make a compatible couple and I've never seen Raymond this charming (I didn't watch Heart of Greed and Moonlight Resonance and I still have no intention to do so) so yeah...

* Themesong of the drama

Fated To Love You

Finally, after more than 2 months of waiting, I finally finish Fated To Love You (24 episodes) since I joined the hype when it aired the 12th episode in Taiwan and since then it’s pure torture to wait for ONE episode per week…

Fated To Love You Synopsis: (from Dramawiki)
A really unfashionable working class girl Chen Xin Yi has the desire to tie down her handsome boyfriend to be with her. Due to certain reasons, her boyfriend gets her to go on a love cruise and she started to ponder on how to lose her virginity and tie down her boyfriend. Xin Yi ended up taking cold medicine which made her drowsy and went into Ji Cun Xi's room. Cun Xi is the sole male heir to his family's company and has been in love with his girlfriend, Anna, for a long time. He planned to propose to Anna on the boat but she didn't turn up on the cruise. An island owner added drugs into Cun Xi's drink and Cun Xi became disorientated and returned to his own room. Xin Yi and Cun Xi end up having a one night stand. Xin Yi later finds out that she's pregnant and Cun Xi's grandmother forces them to get married. Will a couple forced to marry for the sake of their unborn child find love with each other?

Cast:
Chen Qiao En as Chen Xin Yi
Ethan Ruan as Ji Cun Xi
Baron Chen as Dylan
Bianca Bai as Anna
Tan Ai Zhen as Ji Wang Zhen Zhu
Na Wei Xun as Anson

My comments:
Hoho…I was very curious about the hype surrounding Fated To Love You because it broke all rating records in Taiwan and it’s now the highest rated series, dethroning its previous record holder Prince Turns Into Frog, starring the same main actress. I even read the novel version before watching the drama and when I started the drama, the impatient me read the comic version to ensure that it’s a happy ending. I really like the novel, it’s short and sweet and the drama followed faithfully the book until the miscarriage part.

I absolutely loved the first 14 episodes but the last 10 episodes gave me a headache most of time. It dragged a lot at the end and the story just turns around in circle. Fated To Love You is still a Cinderella story but it’s more mature than most of Taiwan’s idol dramas. It’s a shame that it started so powerful and mature but ended so childish, lame and corny. I agree that since Cun Xi treated Xin Yi like dirt at first; therefore, he should suffer a little and must have a hard time winning her back but the way it played out is just tiring. The drama could have ended in 18 or 20 episodes since a lot of scenes could be omitted and it wouldn’t hurt the drama (eg. such as Steven Chou’s second mistaken abduction, Cun Xi pretending to be blind, etc…~roll eyes) However, I was all teary when Cun Xi and Xin Yi finally had a proper wedding at the end.

The biggest discussion of the drama is who should Xin Yi end up with: Cun Xi or Dylan? I’m a supporter of Cun Xi right from the beginning although I do think he’s a jerk sometimes. When he’s a jerk, he’s really a jerk; when he’s sweet, he’s really sweet. When he’s with Xin Yi, you see the chemistry and sparks whereas Dylan and Xin Yi seem more like siblings to me. So when Dylan and Xin Yi were temporarily together, it just didn’t seem right to me. Character wise, Xin Yi is a character that I can relate to, physically or behaviorally. I just cried with/for Xin Yi a lot of times whenever Cun Xi treated her badly. She’s sometimes too selfless that it can be annoying. Cun Xi is one flawed character. He’s wishy-washy, indecisive and acts sometime like a kid. I just want to knock his head for being so indecisive that he ended up hurting both Xin Yi and Anna. I don’t really agree with his way of handling things such as being engaged to Anna and “chasing” Xin Yi at the same time. Dylan is like the most perfect character; however, because he’s so perfect that I don’t have much feeling for him. I just find it funny the way he walks, like he’s going to throw a fight anytime. I believe Anna is not evil, she’s just selfish and manipulative. She’s not the sole responsible for the miscarriage incident because the parties involved had a certain responsibility to it. She won a bit of my sympathy at the end. All the side cast seem like they came from cartoons, their performances are so animated (or exaggerated) that can be tiresome and irritating. Maybe that’s not my type of humor.

I wondered if Fated To Love You would turn out to be my #1 Taiwanese drama…but I guess not. The top spot for me is still Mr. Fighting!

* Themesong of the drama

Hana Kimi

I just completed Hana Kimi, a 15 episodes Taiwanese drama. I only watch Taiwanese dramas occasionally because while watching them, I have to endure a lot of things. The things that bother me in general about these idol dramas is the actors/actresses’ comic-style portrayal of their characters (a simpler word => overacting) and the use of annoying and unfunny sound effects.

My little summary:
One day, Rui Xi (Ella from S.H.E) saw Quan (Wu Zun from Fahrenheit) high jumping on television in the U.S.; she was so amazed that she decides to return to Taiwan to meet and to be close to her “idol”. In order to do so, she has to disguise as a boy to attend the same school because Quan attends an all boy school. She is successfully transferred to the same school and even better becomes his roommate.

At first, Quan is annoyed by her behavior but discovers that she’s a girl very early from an accident. The same accident makes the school doctor know about that secret as well. Quan keeps silent about knowing the fact that Rui Xi is a girl (he didn’t even tell her that he knows); thus, he covers her up and comes to her rescue whenever there’s the danger of her identity being exposed. Of course, his love for her grows stronger as it goes on.

At school, Rui Xi becomes friends with a few guys; the closest one is Xiu Yi (Jiro Wang from Fahrenheit). Xiu Yi never knew that Rui Xi is in fact a girl but started to have “special feelings” for her very early as well. As these feelings grow stronger, the poor guy is confused about his sexual orientation and even thinks that he’s gay! As the drama went on, a few people know Rui Xi’s secret but they kept silent too after knowing her reasons. So will Quan and Rui Xi have a happy ending?

Cast:
Ella as Lu Rui Xi
Wu Zun as Zuo Yi Quan
Jiro Wang as Jin Xiu Yi
Tang Yu Zhe as Liang Si Nan
Tang Zhi Ping as Mei Tian


My comment:
I didn't read the manga so I cannot compare how faithful this adaptation is. Judging the drama alone, I think Hana Kimi is an above average drama. 15 episodes is a good length, not too short and not too long. One of my friends is absolutely head over heels over Wu Zun after this drama, but strangely I’m not. Yes, I know…he’s cute, is tall, has a good body and has cool tattoos but…Even more strange is that I was more drawn to Jiro Wang’s character because he’s more fun although he can go overboard with the silliness. Nope, I’m still not a fan of Fahrenheit…yet. My absolute favorite character is Mei Tian, the school doctor. Every scene with him is guaranteed to have laughter. The ending can be a major letdown to some people but I find it acceptable.