Good lord, people on here really, REALLY don't watch JDrama here, huh?
Just finished Kazoku Game, which was pretty awesome, though I felt a little sick from it when I woke up in the morning.
Good lord, people on here really, REALLY don't watch JDrama here, huh?
Just finished Kazoku Game, which was pretty awesome, though I felt a little sick from it when I woke up in the morning.
"Leaving hell is not the same as entering it." - Tierce Japhrimel
I stopped watching J-dramas a while back. They got really formulaic and copied each other, so each season had 2 or 3 shows with the same theme. I think the season I stopped watching was all hospital dramas starring the same 3 or 4 actors and actresses, and super-sleuth crime dramas where some super detective figured out cases that no one else could solve.
There's a reason that J-dramas only last 10-12 episodes each... they get stale real quick because the Japanese don't cover more controversial topics. They like to pretend they live in this fantasy world where people don't do dumb things, don't commit crimes, and the only source of drama are unfortunate illnesses.
“For God will not permit that we shall know what is to come... those who by some sorcery or by some dream might come to pierce the veil that lies so darkly over all that is before them may serve by just that vision to cause that God should wrench the world from its heading and set it upon another course altogether and then where stands the sorcerer? Where the dreamer and his dream?”
@Ani: Not sure why, but the same jdramas we wrote about in 2007 are still big now, kinda without many new good ones to take the spot light. Kazoku Game was a pretty good deviation from what you're saying, though. I actually ended up being kinda disturbed. You should check it out, you'll know if you like it within the first hour.
I'm definitely using jdramas to improve my Japanese. Some of the leads are toooo sexy, though. *cries* I DON'T NEED TO BECOME A SQUEEING JPOP STAR FANGIRL.
I can, however, appreciate the sexiness of my fellow Jdrama females:
Above is Helter Skelter, a movie full of style and sexy mc sex sex. A classic [spoiler]'plastic surgery gone wrong' movie.[/spoiler] It's on BakaBT.
I have never seen a Japanese full length feature film with sex scenes. NEVER. Where do I get more!!!?one!
@Haru: Which kdramas?
I watched You're Beautiful, but that devolved into a super melodramatic love triangle and I had already gotten enough from cross-dressers-need-love-too plots since Hana Kimi, Ouran, etc...
Korea does movies right, though. I recently watched You Are My Pet (with the You're Beautiful guy) and Old Boy again. My Wife is a Gangster and Innocent Steps are good. I have yet to go wrong with a Korean movie.
Last edited by Sapphire; Tue, 12-31-2013 at 09:40 PM.
"Leaving hell is not the same as entering it." - Tierce Japhrimel
@Saph:
I got extremely addicted to Prosecutor Princess (2010) a few months back. The female lead was really good at the comedy parts to it, as was the actress playing her mother. It's not quite a straight-up comedy, nor is it a straightforward romance series, and there are even some detective aspects to the story. A lot of character growth as well. Overall, it was a very well-rounded series.
It spends a lot of time making you think it will be one thing, then doing something else.
The only downside was that they play two songs from the soundtrack over and over and over, often in places it doesn't seem to fit.
So I've been watching a lot of international (for me) shows in the past few months, and right now I'm watching some K-Dramas through Netflix and DramaFever.
Any recommendations on that regard? I usually prefer when they have some action and mystery/thrillers. Don't mind romance, but not as the sole focus which seems what is most abundant around.
So far I've watched:
Descendants of the Sun - Liked it
Forest of Secrets (Stranger) - Excellent, but have a couple of episodes yet to watch.
Mr. Sunshine - Enjoying it so far.
City Hunter - Enjoyed what I've watched so far.
Strong Girl Do Bong-soon - It's OK, but has some fun parts. Hated the two male leads.
Black - Watched about 4 episodes, but hasn't grabbed me yet. Feels quite disjointed so far, and female lead is not that good.
Man to Man - It was alright, didn't care for the female lead, and I thought they dropped the ball at the end with a particular character I liked.
Will try some JDrama, but not yet.
I started watching JDramas some years ago. Then the major site where I could get info on shows had to stop linking to download sites/torrents and I stopped caring.
Team medical dragon was fun for example.
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
Someone requested this, so here's a bunch of Korean films and TV series I've watched recently. Almost entirely through Amazon Prime Video.
Coin Locker Girl - This was a very brutal crime drama that I really enjoyed. Characterization and development was good. Plot isn't that revolutionary, but it felt very rooted.
The Villainess - Similar vein, but this is one hell of a crazy revenge movie. It's somewhere between Nakita, Hardcore Henry, and Hanna. Amazing cinematography and fight choreography.
THE IDOLM@STER.KR - Initially, I thought it would be stupid. It's IdolM@ster, right? But this tv series hits the right notes because Korea's idol group culture really is that weird. There's personal drama of course among the girls and their manager has his own issues, but it handled the whole kpop culture really well. The characters were each well developed, their character arcs solid, and it's really hard to dislike anyone in the series.
How to Use Guys With Secret Tips - This movie was bizarre. It's funny, it's a typical Korean romantic comedy, but some of the story elements feel more in like with Katamari Damacy. It's funny, the comedic timing is great, and it's just weirdly funny.
The Handmaiden - I love pretty much all of Park Chan-wok's work. This movie is...incredible. It's a thriller, it's a bit more mainstream than the rest of the stuff in this post due to the awards it has won, but this is a film that needs to be watched. Surreal, maddening, satisfying, breathtaking.
Our Little Sister - This one is Japanese, but was a very solid family drama.
Love Clinic - This was a really stupid Korean romantic comedy (I want to reiterate here, that like....95% of Korean movies are romantic comedies) about two doctors. It's stupid, but it was funny as hell.
I'm now used to Japanese dubs and when I tried Korean shows I lost some/most of the fun watching.
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
@Munsu, I don't subscribe to the DramaFever channel, so I have better access to movies than dramas. That said, I am considering it. $4.99/month...is remarkably tempting.
More to come, because I have a strange addiction to k-dramas and Korean movies.