Fantazzztic!

Last  3 episode to go before freeing myself from the slavery of watching the latest adaptation of Jinyong’s literary masterpiece the Legend of the Condor Heroes (????? also known as Eagle Shooting heroes ). I am not a newbie when it comes to the series so I will be writing my thoughts now; Aside from that the novel has been adapted into numerous TV series and fortunately I managed to see one of them the 2003 TV adaptation.

The Synopsis

If a so called “righteous” Taoist priest in his own way, made an oath of brotherhood between 2 heroes what will you get? Doomsday!

“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.”

So basically the story revolves around 2 guys Guo Jing and Yang Kang, One becomes good and one joined the dark side, a typical setting in an epic slash heroic story.

You need a little bit of understanding about the rich history of china to be able to avoid some “what the hell is this?” And some “what on earth is that?” shock that you will find in this drama, we’ll you know the Philippines rarely imports wu xia oriented drama to the local television for some reasons they rather show those cheesy Korean/Taiwanese romantic comedies than those historical/fantasy/wu xia themed series. Oh well here comes the “pang masa” factor I’m glad that I paid attention to my teacher during our Asian history class.

Time to introduce some characters:

Guo Jing – The fictional main protagonist of the series played by a Chinese super star Hu Ge, Many pinoys will notice him for potraying Li Xiao Yao in Chinese Paladin (aired locally by ABS-CBN).  Guo Jing is righteous, heroic and almost a saint character with an unparallel martial arts in Jiang Hu (a fictional place where usually a Chinese wu xia themed story takes place) the catch is his really stupid.

Speaking of stupid, every time I watched him act Guo Jing’s stupidity scene on screen I have the urge to throw something in front of my LCD monitor. In short he succeeded on portraying the character. I really love his “clueless” facial expression during those scene. Hu Ge can act stupid, stiff and cute at the same time.

At some point in the drama his stupidity stepped into the next level when he handled an army against the Jin Empire.

Huang Rong – “if you die, I’ll die too. We’ll die together“, If there’s a leading man there should be a leading lady and her name is Huang Rong portrayed by a popular actress/singer in Taiwan Ariel Lin. Pinoy will surely recognized her for portraying the lead female character in a Taiwanese drama called “It’s started with a kiss”.

Huang Rong character is spoiled, witty, mischievous yet sassy with an uber imba intelligence, Photographic Memory anyone? To the point that you can write a WHOLE BOOK just by taking a glance on each and every page of it. Ariel perfectly fits her character, her facial expressions her action, her stature! It is really Huang Rong! Although Zhou Xun portrayal gave justice to Huang Rong’s Character at the 2003 adaptation, Ariel Lin no doubt tripled it!

By twist of fate Ariel Lin looks like the actress who played the aged/mother version of Huang Rong (Kong Lin) in the 2006 TV Adaptation of the Return of the condor heroes (sequel) popularly known in our country as Love of the condor heroes.

So what can you expect about the drama?

First of all if you love to see some jaw dropping wu xia fight scene, well this drama is for you, I really love those acrobatic moves, almost dance-like swords play and those random witty babbling during their fights. Thanks to the wonders of the technology the CG in this drama is superb compared to the earlier wu xia dramas, you cannot see an overused colorless chi blasting in this drama instead the chi of the characters are colored according to their personification for example. Huang Yaoshi or the Evil heretic of peach blossom island, father of Huang Rong has a color pink chi and aura, Color Green for Ouyang Feng or Old Venom chi.

One of the things that I noticed when I watched wu xia genre drama are the “internal damage after effect”. If you know what I mean then give yourself a pat on the head. For those who don’t this is the exaggerated vomiting of the blood after an enemy hits you. I’m glad that this drama didn’t apply it too much.

On the contrary there are too much alteration in the story that almost destroyed a plot or another! Some characters who supposed to be weak becomes so powerful! There are even some characters who almost stole the limelight away from the main character because of those “too much focusing” syndrome and there is this character whose suppose to be dead before the climax but managed to become alive up to the last episode! Anyway we cant help it since an adaptation is an “adaptation”.

Isn’t it amusing that I talk about wu xia dramas now when last week I keep on talking about “nobody nobody but choo” well I have a reason why which I will reveal later on.

If you are looking for something to watch something new then why don’t you give this drama a try and be amaze?

More about this here.

1 person likes this post.

Unlike

Remember Xiao You from Meteor Garden? The loving best friend of San Chai (Barbie Xu) in the Taiwanese adaptation of a popular Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango (Boys over Flower).Well I recently heard that “Miss No Good” a Taiwanese romantic comedy drama will be dubbed and aired on ABS-CBN.  That was a nice catch! Really nice catch for the network!

Imagine a Kikay Betty La Fea and thats what Miss No Good looks like a walking Christmas tree!

Jiang Xiao Hua (played by Rainie Yang) is an accessory store owner, a curly fashionista with no sense of style (she’s over decorated and colorful). When prince charming Jia Si Le (A childhood who used to be a fatty bully material played by Dean Fujioka) came back from Japan wishing to marry her, she blackmailed Tang Men (Wilber Pan), a poison-tongue style guru, into helping her become a refined lady.

You will experience a lot of ROFLMAO as well as Face palm moments while watching the drama. Even though the storyline twist is close as what a typical “Pinoy Soap Opera” it will surely worth your time.

On the tagalized version, the main character will be dubbed by none other than comedienne Meryl Soriano which is actually a good choice. I wish that ABS-CBN can give justification to the localization of the drama because there are a LOT of scripts and scenarios there that only some Taiwanese at least Chinese natives can understand such as the bad pronunciations (e.g. she pronounce Tang Men as Tang Mun that totally changed the meaning of the lead actor which become an inside joke of the show) and I wonder if ABS-CBN can air the bloopers of the shows per episode that sometimes can run up to 30minutes  as well as the compilation of Tang Men’s poisonous tongue dialogues . I’m sure pinoy’s will surely enjoy that portion since its “Laitan to the Max” Wilber Pan gives a meaningful definition as a Simon Cowell of Asia at least in that drama.

The drama has a sentimental value for me. Since it helped me smile during one of the darkest days in my life. On a side note, I got my latest online moniker Mister No Good or Mr.NG from this fantazzztic drama. I highly recommend this drama especially to “Emo” people.

Like

Unlike

Of  all the things that I need to write first in my blog, why should it be about her? Way back in 2005 she became a hit like an intense tsunami that strikes the nation (Philippines) with her dorky way of presenting herself cum entertaining us. It is none other than the person who popularize the novelty hit songs such as “In or out” and “Ang Ganda Ko” and a person who somehow captivates a part of us. From the land of the morning calm South Korea  Sandara Park.

Truly it is quite a phenomenon; coincidentally the nation is yet to recover from the abundance of Asian dramas way back then as i may say “Good Timing”. But the P-word pays a price. She became a favorite target of the celebrity critics; Because of her lack of talent etcetera a part of us knows the story.

Popularity, consider it as a great opportunity if you’re in the peak of your career, a thing that you need to grip real hard. Do not let it pass; do not let it slip in your hands. Sadly she let it slip away by choosing to “study” in her motherland rather than to pursue her rising career. We can’t help it here she’s still an “alien”.

After that she returned to our shores, she tried so hard to take the center stage again. Cold reception as the saying goes shit happens. She have no choice but to come back again in her motherland and the marvelous hands of YG Family a waits to embrace her.

After 2 years of her absence she made a debut (together with the girl group she belonged 2NE1) in South Korea not as the “a dorky barbie doll (like what she is in the Philippines) but as the person who deserves to have a center spread in VOUGE. Like what I’ve read in an online article about her. “The best revenge for the critics is success”.

As a member of the female BIG BANG “2NE1” her improvement is visible to our naked eye. She is not a born singer but unlike here in the country where her vocal cords is equal to “pa cute”. Her singing ability is now acceptable, It may not be her best yet but it’s now acceptable nevertheless there’s a room for improvement and she’s getting better and better as seen in her live performances on MNET, SBS INKIGAYO and MUSIC BANK and various live radio shows as for her dancing skill its superb.

It doesn’t mean that shes safe from meticulous slash conservative(?) eyes of the Korean Netizens who keeps on digging her past such as her UNO sexy pictorial ( it’s the ribs man!) as well as the rumor about her alleged ex’s. Good thing she knows how to play it. Good or Bad it is still a publicity.

Do not hate Boy Abunda for attacking her so much during their SCQ days, Even the YG Sajangnim (President) Yang Goon admitted that shes talented but shes not there yet. “Sandara Park’s capabilties only almost made it. I thought she would not debut”. But there is a room for improvement.  She is now dubbed by her president as the toughest among the group. Look at her now. Jjang! I really admire her for her determination.

As expected as how the media works in this realm. Their group is making a buzz! From write ups about her in various tabloid, broadsheets and websites to your showbiz news in TV and last but not the least their digital debut single “FIRE” is still on the number 1 spot in MYX ( a local music video channel ).

Aside from that she also performed her hit novelty song in front of the Korean audience in “Yoo Hee Yeols Sketchbook”. A Pinoy novelty song passionately performed in front of a foreign audience by a native is equals to priceless. They seems to be enjoying right?

She was recently interviewed by Bianca Gonzales for her OMG segment in Entertainment Live and yes she can still speak in Tagalog fluently.

I really love the way on how she shows her “Pinoy side” during the interview. My favorite part will be the sarcastic laugh she did when Bianca opened the topic about Hero Angeles, Dara’s former love team partner.

Whatever success she’s experiencing right now, she deserves it! Watching their live performances every week and winning various awards. I really can say that they set the roof on fire.

I really don’t get why some people hate 2NE1 just because of her. Admit it she made us laugh in a certain point of our life and your wrong i am  not her fanboy but i am a 2NE1 fanboy.

Reference:

AllKPOP

YGLADIES

Like

Unlike