Thursday, January 26, 2012

Bu Bu Jing Xin News Articles (Kenny Lin) [Under construction]

Source: Ent. QQ
-Kenny answers questions about Bu Bu Jing Xin 2.
-Kenny has received a massive boom in popularity--both from fangirls and from people in the idustry. He's had many more offers coming in to him.
-Some people predict that he will become the Hu Ge (a Chinese actor from Shanghai, known predominantly by his roles in wuxia works) of this next generation.
-Nicky had given Kenny Lin the gist of the situation for Bu Bu Jing Xin 2. Whether or not it'll be in a modern setting is still unknown; not many things have been confirmed yet--not even an offer to star in it*. However, Kenny is leaving his schedule opening just in case.

*As of 1.26.2012, only Liu Shi Shi, Nicky Wu, and Kevin Cheng have been confirmed form BBJX2.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Bu Bu Jing Xin Variety Show (Ruo Xi, 8th Ce Fujin, 14th Prince)

This is just the first so far, so I'll add the second on here because the second half is just a game that isn't all that interesting. This appearance on New Face (from November 9, 2011) was very Kenny Lin (Lin Geng Xin/14th Prince)-centric.



Monday, January 23, 2012

Bu Bu Jing Xin Interview (Ruo Lan, 9th, 10th)

A fairly quick interview with three cast members of the Chinese period drama, Bu Bu Jing Xin (2011). This interview was conducted on November 18, 2011. Check after the cut for translations.



Thursday, January 12, 2012

Review: Ouran High School Host Club Live-Action Drama (2011)

Characters
Haruhi: Frugal, hardworking scholarship student. Independent, but somewhat fragile.
Tamaki: Ostentatious president of the club.
Kyoya: Treasurer of the host club. Only does things that will maximize profits for the club.
Hikaru & Kaoru: Straightforward but humorous twins. Uses their twin status to toy with people.
Hunny & Mori: Members of the host club: one who loves sweets and cute things, and one who is masculine and quiet.
Nekozawa: President of the Black Magic Club. Loves dark things/the occult.

Character chart - Click to enlarge
Plot
Haruhi enters the prestigious Ouran Academy, where, while she searched for a quiet place to study, she comes across the school's host club. After breaking their antique vase, Haruhi cross-dresses as a boy to join the host club and settle her debt. However, after she joins, they seem to attract new problems every day. In this 11-episode manga adaptation, hidden pasts are revealed and love blossoms...

Review
First things first: original plot. Shoujo manga adaptations have been done and done again, so Ouran's plot wonderfully refreshing. The perfect balance of silly humor and strong direction. The outgoing cast, though with a slight miscast in one or two roles, brings the Ouran world to life. The outrageously exaggerated scenes are hilarious, and the serious scenes are taken, well, seriously. Special mention goes to Yamamoto Yusuke (Tamaki), who had the original character's bright personality and odd tendencies down to a tee. Overall, this drama remains true to the original plot and style of the manga, and is thoroughly entertaining (read: has rewatchability). I'd recommend watching this with some friends, or some snacks--whenever you're looking to kick back, relax, and have a good laugh, but still want a strong story behind it.

Overall: 4.5/5
Acting: 4.5/5
Plot: 4/5
Production (Direction & Screenplay): 5/5 (kudos for staying true to the original!)

Review: Mou Yuukai Nante Shinai (2012)

Characters
-Shoutaro: A man whose dream as a child was to become a superhero.
-Erika: Hanazono Clan's boss's daughter.
-Koumoto: Shoutaro's senior from high school.

Plot
-Erika runs away from home to see her hospitalized half-sister, who is in need of an expensive operation their mother cannot afford. She runs into Shoutaro, who was recently both fired from his part-time job and evicted from his home for not paying rent and is currently selling baked yams out of a van as Koumoto's employee, during her escape, and asks him to help pretend-kidnap her for ransom (to pay for the operation). However, after the ransom is collected, it disappears. Shoutaro gets this chance to have his dream realized, but is being a real-life superhero all it's cracked up to be?

Review
Ohno's acting never fails to impress, though Aragaki occasionally drifts in and out of her role. In terms of the plot, it's half-original/half-cliche, and is [only] somewhat interesting to see play out. While not very lighthearted, there are hints of humor in an otherwise serious story. A certain depth to the film is lost, though due to the ambiguity of the connection between Shoutaro wanting to be a hero and him going along with the kidnapping plan. My greatest criticism has to be that there was no real climax. For a story with so much potential (it's a novel adaptation), I would've liked to see a bigger confrontation at the end. Other than that, it was a rather nice, straightforward film, something to watch while eating dinner.  I'd recommend watching this if you're looking for a laid-back movie. 

Overall: 3.5/5
-Acting: 4/5
-Plot: 3.5/5
-Production (Direction and Screenplay): 3/5

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

For the first time in my life, winter break was a month long.

Hello everyone! I hope everything has gone well.
My head hurts like crazy right now--maybe because I've been sleeping at 4AM every night--so I'll make this short and sleep earlier tonight.

Saturday morning I'll be heading back to school, so here's a bunch of pictures of me eating food from this past month.


I went to the cafe across the street from my house. Their place is modern, but also hippieっぽい。I like it. *U* They close late, so that's nice too. Pretty much nothing in my town is open after 7PM, so it's cool. I got the honey milk ice cream. A little pricey, but then I found graham cracker-like bits inside and all was forgiven. So. Good.

 

I went with my friends from camp. We volunteer every summer at a summer camp for kids to learn about Taiwanese (and Chinese, when there's a difference) culture. Here's a picture from one of the many days... I was the DJ and group activities leader that week...


But I was also photographer. =_=; I miss those shoes... That's practically every single job possible at this camp...What the heck? Anyways, the friend that took the last three pictures is this personnnnn~


...Alice!!! We've been volunteering together for the last 5 (now going on 6?) years. We all act pretty stupid at camp, but it's always fun. :) My mouth was full...


Anyways, at the end of 2011, my teamies from Michido came over and I showed them around. We got to plates of karaage, thinking that it wouldn't be enough, but these plates were GIANTS. T__T I ended up taking some home... It was really good though! Pic credits to my teamies *U* <3


After that, I took full advantage of the two Final Fantasy Type-0 demos. They were in Japanese, but there wasn't anything I couldn't figure out. Nine's the best-looking guy, I think. At the very least, in the top 3. Trey and Izana are the other two in the top 3...probably. Crap, my space bar is starting to squeak when I press it. I only use my left thumb to hit the space bar so that could be why. I'll train myself to use my right thumb. >|


But as I was playing the demo, I got nostalgic and wanted to play Crisis Core again. I don't have my old PSP or my old memory card anymore, so I had to start all over. =_= It's kind of stupid how I couldn't skip the cutscenes. At least they were pretty.


This break I also started watching some anime. Namely, Ao no Exorcist. I finished it in three days, so I'll probably start the manga soon. Right now I'm trying to find what the hype was behind Durarara, but I'm not quite there yet, I think. I drew AoE fanart. =_=; That's all.


Again, Korean food with the family. Always...so much food. Though we managed to finish, so that was kinda creepy.


Last of alllll~ I got this Christmas card in the mail! It's from my aunt in Taiwan. :) It didn't make it to me before Christmas (around 2 days after), because the post is always flooded this time of year, but I don't care. I was so moved when I found out the card was postmarked for Dec. 7. She mailed it out so early!! ; A ; I'm so thankful she's always thinking of me, even though I don't go back to Taiwan to see her that often.

The only grandkids on my dad's side are me and my sister, so my grandparents, uncle, and all my aunts really care about us. T_____T I wish to make them proud. Next time I go back, I will properly show them how much they mean to me.

I should sleep now...My eyes are giving up on me. I'll post again when I'm back at school and bored out of my mind, for now, I gotta get ready to pack my stuff back up again.


My school's gate, decorated for The Big Game. Can you tell where I go based on this picture? That'd be really impressive...

じゃ、
明けましておめでとう!新年快樂!Happy new year!
I'll see you all next time~

All the Dramas I've Watched

I love watching dramas...Perhaps too much? Well. =_=; I'm very picky though, so I tend to drop dramas as quickly as I pick them up. Even then, though, it's a long list. I'll be writing short plot-blurbs and reviews for them as I go. They'll be linked here. :)

= Watched
- = Watching
* = Will Watch