Saturday, November 22, 2008

Chinovela Marathon

Some of the chinovela series from TW that I watched the past few months:

Romantic Princess

Adopted by middle classed parents, Xiao Mai has always had a dream to be an heiress. Suddenly it was discovered that Xiao Mai's biological grandfather is the head of a prestigous aristocratic family and after many years of searching, he finally finds his long lost granddaughter. As she starts her life as an heiress, everyday is filled with excitement, and there she meets Jin, the supposedly succesor for the aristocrat clan.
-> Review: visually appealing, the setting, wardrobe and all goodlooking artists. All I can say is that Wuchun is amazingly gorgeous. Unnecessary kissing scenes, the theme actually doesnt need any kissing scenes for Wuchun (or was I just scrutinizing biasedly haha) I finally got to see him in person when he promoted his movie 'Butterfly Lovers', which I find the storyline to be disappointing. It's supposedly a remake of the most famous chinese tragic love story 'The Lovers', and yet it failed to move me, nor even was I convinced that they are in love.



Corner with Love

Xin Lei (Barbie Xu), a girl from a wealthy family, and Qin Lang (Alan Luo), a guy who came to Shanghai to pursue his dream of becoming an artist, meet by accident at a corner when her car and his bike crash into each other. They meet again when Xin Lei goes to the restaurant that Qin Lang works at. They truly get to know each other when Xin Lei asks him to teach her how to make oyster pancakes. Then, Xin Lei's parents' company goes bankrupt. Without telling her, Xin Lei's parents go into hiding, leaving only a plane ticket and a key to their house in Taiwan. To make matters worse, Xin Lei's fiance breaks the engagement, due to his parents' wishes. The only two people she has now are Qin Lang and her best friend Xi Xian. Qin Lang then tells her that he is leaving for Taiwan, so they bade farewell. When Xin Lei arrives in Taiwan, she finds out that Qin Lang's family has been living in the house for years! After much controversy, Qin Lang's grandmother finally lets her stay. Thus begins a magical love story.

-> Review: Watching the series made me crave for oyster pancake (o-a-chian)! Barbie is stunning and she exactly looks like a princess and acts like one. (did I hear that our hair is similar lol) Alan is charming and portrays his role very well, a guy who obviously loves the girl so much but lacks the confidence to admit because they live in two totally different worlds. Barbie's decision choosing Alan over her rich fiance is applaudable. The essence of love, following one's heart despite practicality and social pressure, is just that. Though sometimes easier said than done, but people like that do exist so never underestimate the power of love.



Fated to Love You

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?

- Review: My o my, after like 5 years, I finally found a series that made me stay late till 4am 5am watching because I can't control myself. I was just simply HOOKED. I like the martyr Xin Yi, willing to bear a child and leave and always giving out wholeheartedly and selflessly. After their separation, she became strong, learned how to dress up and became confident, sweet revenge comes knocking. I like how Cun Xi would be torn and guilty (karma :p), childish and yet sweet, and that the more he denies, the more his feelings are assured. The whole story has a lot of funny elements that just keeps you giggling and wondering what happens next. And everything seems to be a destiny, it's not a coincidence, they are just simply meant to be. I fell in love with Cun Xi! :p Oh btw, this is by far the highest record-breaking viewership drama of 10.+, beating Meteor Garden and other famous series aired on TV.

The first 12 episodes is a 4 THUMBS UP for me (including my feet :p) Storyline is very fast. Then they switched to Shanghai but still okay. I seriously think there's no need to drag the ending by putting unecessary conflicts like they get kidnapped and the lead guy goes blind, the funny element is going overboard. Good acting and musical score. Still, a recommended one from me.

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