Love Or Bread

Rating: ****

Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 12
Cast: Joe Cheng, Ariel Lin, Bryant Chang, Wu Jian Fei, Zhang Jia Hui


SYNOPSIS:
"Joe plays a person who looks rich and elegant on the outside but is in reality poor."






REVIEW:
What to do?  I thought I reviewed this drama months ago!  Why is it not in my review blog? 0,o  I mean, I remember watching it.  I'm so lost. T.T  See, this is what happens when you are lazy and don't review the drama right after you finish.  You just assume that you reviewed it already, so it never gets done.

This drama is wonderful.  I can't remember too many details, as it's been too long since I've seen it, but I enjoyed it.  I tried watching this several times, but it never really clicked.  I don't know why I didn't watch it before.  In any case, that's all I have to say about this drama.  Well, except for "Why does he have her pet in the last episode?" 0,o

P.S. Can you spot the "I <3 Ariel" hat in the last episode?

What did you think of this drama? Comment below!


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Fairy From Wonderland

Rating: ****

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 39
Cast: Ariel Lin, Hu Ge, TAE, Dou Zhi Kong, Lv Yi

"This drama is a retelling of the well-known love story between a goddess and a mortal.
Goddess Xiao Qi commits a major crime. She is punished by having her powers stripped away and is banished to the mortal realm. She can only regain her goddess status by accomplishing 100 charitable acts. Dong Yong rescues her and teaches her what it's like to be a mortal. However, she also learns how to love even though love is forbidden between goddesses and mortals. When their love affair is discovered, heavenly guards descend onto the mortal realm to separate the two lovers. However, they are willing to do anything to stay together."

As someone who has never heard or watched the story before, this drama is entirely new to me.  That being said, I cannot say whether or not the drama stuck with the story or not.  The main problem with this series, though, is there are two versions.  The one I watched wasn't the 39 episode series, but the shorter one.  That being said, I think you should be careful when finding the episodes.  Although the scenes that were cut were virtually meaningless, they forgot to remove flashbacks that contained deleted scenes.  That really irked me.

Although Ariel Lin and Hu Ge seem to match their characters pretty well, I have to wonder if they ever think of acting as other types of characters.  Ariel always plays a spunky girl and Hu Ge always plays a nice (but a little naive) guy.  Does anyone know of a drama or movie that they have done that wasn't the same type of character that they always play?  It really kind of bothers me when I see an actor stuck in the same role time and time again.  For me it says that they have no desire to improve upon their acting.  Although I like the main actors, I feel that they could grow as actors if they just stepped out of their comfort zone.

 As far as the actual drama was concerned, I liked it.  There's this one point about love that I really liked from this drama.  The drama basically says that you can still love someone even if you say you don't.  You see, no matter what we say, it won't change our feelings for other people.  We can deny love a million times, but that love will not change.  True love stays the same whether you want to love that someone or not.  Even if loving someone is tough and gives you great pain, feelings don't easily change.  Just because you decide not to be with someone doesn't mean you stopped loving them.  I think the only thing I can't really decide on is the ending.  I'm not sure how I feel about the ending, or if I like it at all.  On one hand it's sad, but on the other hand it's kind of happy.  It kind of made me want to know what happened next in the story.

Question: Didn't they say he could be reincarnated into a god?  What happened with that?  Is that just a translation error?

Funny Note: Something is missing on Episode 11 at 7:01

Legend of the Condor Heroes 2008

Rating: ****

Genre: Wuxia
Episodes: 50
Cast: Anthony Wong, Ariel Lin, Hu Ge, Liu Shi Shi, Yuan Hong

"When their husbands were killed by the Song army, two pregnant women found safe haven in foreign lands. Li Ping gave birth to Guo Jing, a sturdy but blockheaded young man who roamed the Mongolian prairie with the family of Temujin. Bao Xi Ruo gave birth to Yang Kang, a smart and crafty young man who became the son of Wanyan Hong Lie, a successor of the Jin empire. When a pact between their martial arts masters brought them together and the truth behind their fathers' deaths was revealed, one found martial arts enlightenment and a cause greater than his own while the other descended into darkness and destroyed everything and everyone around him."

 Although this drama was an interesting watch, they did not keep the integrity of the original story.  For viewers like me that has never read the trilogy or watched any of the previous versions, we can enjoy the story without the pain of having to see all the changes in the series.  However, for those viewers who have read the series, you will probably find this series bothersome.  Also, if you plan on watching all three stories in the series (The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber), it's probably best if you pick a different version.  This tv series was made to be one complete drama.  It wasn't written with the thought that they would be creating the sequels.

Although enjoyable, there were still some visual effects that weren't very wonderful.  For instance, did you see the stuffed condors in the nest that they used as props?

As far as the characters were concerned, I found Guo Jing hilarious.  I really don't know if his character was originally supposed to be like that, but the way Hu Ge portrayed him made him look like he was a complete idiot.  I mean, I know that Jing'er is supposed to be dumb, but this one was beyond dumb.  I don't know how anyone would be able to fall for him.  I really enjoyed Ariel Lin as Huang Rong, though.  She really fits well with the character.  Spunky, smart, and mischievous is just the style that works for her.  I like it better when she plays a smart character.

Love Contract

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 20
Cast: Ariel Lin, Mike He, Bryant Chang, Petty Yang, Phillis Quek

"Outwardly, Xiao Feng (Ariel Lin) is a stubborn tomboy and the captain of the Kendo Club at her college. In her group of friends, she is the leader with her demanding nature and abrupt ways. Inwardly however, Xiao Feng is a girl scarred by her past and searching for what she wants most, love. Her friends, Ah Kai (Zhang Rui Jia), Xiao Bai (Lai Zhi Wei ), Mu Tou (Lin Yi Hong), Xin Lei (Zhong Xin Yu, and, Xiao Xiao (Yang Pei Ting) don't know about that part of her past but they are all loyal friends to Xiao Feng; that is, until Xiao Bai and Ah Kai leave the Kendo Club for the Swim Team. Xiao Bai and Ah Kai are immediately regretful when the captain of the Swim Team, Ah Ken, turns out to be a captain as grueling as Xiao Feng. When one night Xiao Feng announces to her friends she wants love the most, Xiao Bai and Ah Ken devise a prank called the love contract. In exchange for finding swim team members to recruit, Ah Ken must court Xiao Feng."


What should I say about this drama? Although I liked it, I really don't know where to begin with all the problems it had.

This drama has a slow pace. Unlike most dramas, though, this drama had a steady, but slow, pace that can make you want to fall asleep if you're not interested in the story. I don't recommend this drama to anyone who doesn't like plain romance stories, as you will get sleepy. I also thought that there was a lot to the story that happened off screen and too much that didn't happen on screen. There will be long scenes of characters staring into the distance and thinking, but sometimes they didn't show important scenes. This causes confusion for the viewers. If it weren't for those few scenes they left out, I think this series would have been a lot better.

The acting and production was good, but I think that there could have been better scene selection.

It Started With A Kiss 2

Rating: ****

Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 20
Cast: Joe Cheng, Ariel Lin, Danson Tang, Jiro Wang, Tang Tsung Sheng

"The sequel of It Started With A Kiss begins with Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu's wedding and honeymoon. Even after marriage, they experience problems and interferences within their marriage such as mistaken pregnancy, misunderstandings, and a run-in with a girl from Zhi Shu's past. Xiang Qin and Zhi Shu switch to medical school to become nurse and doctor. During that time, Zhi Shu meets new rivals who wish to outdo him and Xiang Qin makes four new friends, and one of them likes her and wishes to replace Zhi Shu. How will their lives turn out to be?

It Started With a Kiss

Rating: ****

Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 30
Cast: Joe Cheng, Ariel Lin, Cyndi Chaw, Jiro Wang, Tiffany Xu

"After an earthquake destroyed Xiang Qin's house, she and her father moved in with the family of her father's college buddy, Uncle Ah Li. To her surprise, the kind and amicable aunt and uncle are the parents of her cold and distant schoolmate Jiang Zhi Shu, a genius with an IQ of 200 whom not too long ago rejected her endless crush on him. Will the close proximity give her a second chance to win Zhi Shu's heart? Or, will her love for him end under his cold words? What happens when there is competition for his heart?"