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March 20244/3/2024 《与凤行》I’m so touched by the strengths exhibited by the 2 lead characters in 《与凤行》- 沈璃 & 行止. Their strengths remind me of that of 安乐 & 韩烨 in 《安乐传》 —— a novel that I loved. I finished the original book《本王在此》the show《与凤行》is based last Saturday. Having watched the 1st 10 episodes of the show during the week, I was instantly hooked, and simply wanted to know more of what happened. So I started the book on Friday evening and finished it on Saturday 1st thing in the morning. Something soooooo touching to me about their story, and about these 2 characters. The music in this show is so moving. It makes the progression of the story so powerful. I loooooooove the opening hymn in 熾心. It is short but is pure perfection. It perfectly embellishes a magical yet heartfulness around the character 沈璃. It is definitely her theme song. But this piece in the soundtrack has something beautiful, mythical and feminine about it. It suits her character very much. The epic 碧苍战歌 is so good, make sure to listen to 世世 by 刘宇宁, & 熾心 -- I adore the serene soundtrack dedicated to the two of them whenever they are living the human life as 2 deities in the human world. This track can be found in this clip: Each of these 2 occupies an irreplaceable position in their own world, known by “realm”.
沈璃 is the only Phoenix in her world - 灵界, and is the leader of the army. 行止 is the only remaining God left in the world. He is incredibly important and is considered the sole guardian of all 3 worlds - 天界 (the heavenly realm), 灵界 (the realm of the 妖), and 人界 the realm of the humankind. They first met in the human realm. where he was experiencing life as a mortal man. She was in her weakest state and looked after her as she recovered her strengths. She was so pulled to his serenity. He seems unfazed by anything, and has a way to foretell events. Yet he has no supernatural powers in anyway. The interactions between them is hilarious when they were in the human realm. No matter what, he remains this calm, reliable presence to her. After he returned to the heavenly realm, he had his duties as a God and she had hers. Many times he finds her heavily injured in battles and he’s the one that catches her when she falls, and starts to remain by her side until he realises he really needs to put a stop to his emotions. As a God he is not supposed to fall in love, or have feelings for anything at all. She knows this, so even though she cannot help her feelings herself, she holds back and remains dutiful to her realm and the people she gives her all to protect. No matter how much they both try to put their feelings aside, He just can't help but be pulled back to her and always ends up turning up next to her. After he lost her in a battle over the Eastern Sea, and he thought she had died, He uses his godly powers and freezes an entire ocean in order to find her. This is exactly why Gods are not allowed to fall in love. Their powers are too much for the world, If they abuse their godly powers, it could bring havoc to the world. Some months after he has unfreezed the ocean in absolute despair for losing her, she has been rescued by her most trusted general, and he has found her right by the ocean. Picking her up again and nursing her back to health, they get to live an ordinary quiet life in the human realm again. It’s the only place where they both can shed their responsibilities and be their true selves with each other. The human realm is of course our own world. It makes it beautiful that it’s the only place where they can just be and love each other, and is a good reminder that we should appreciate our life on earth. That our world is one that can bring peace and serenity to your soul, like he is her shore, and she is his reason to remain in this world. He can’t help but care for her because she always does so much for her people that she gets herself very injured, and doesn’t look after herself enough. In Chinese they are a pair of 男O女A, where the woman is sharp-edged, the man is in turn the more rounded character. He is soft-hearted but only towards her. He has been the only person in the world that sees her as a woman. Others just see her and treat her as a general, the leader of the army, the one that would protect the realm. They rely on her. But she can depend on him and be weak when she needs to. He’s of course the strongest being in the whole world. His powers are beyond other beings’ imagination. He holds the force that keeps the world in balance. I admire their strengths. Each of their strength is different in their own way, They are both incredibly strong. Each of them can carry the world in ways that others simply cannot. But to each other, they can just be themselves. To her, he is a partner, one that she can fall on to when she’s hurt, She understands him. She recognises that he is the only person that really isn’t free in the heavenly realm, because he is bound to his godly powers, and therefore can not exercise his own will to let himself feel what he wants to feel. To him, she is a girl, he would cover her eyes to protect her from looking at a harsh sight, he would make all kinds of food and is extremely good at cooking a delicious meal; She wouldn’t fuss over the little things or self-care in anyway, whereas he would look after her in every attentive way possible. So their dynamic is wonderful. Together, they give each other a resting place and freedom to be true to themselves. I love that.
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February 20242/19/2024 1. 세작, 매혹된 자들 - 魅惑之人This has to be the star of the month. It's a beautiful and gripping story about two people who love each other while one constantly fights the urge to revenge the other for her lost friend and father. The lead actress is my favourite Korean actress, ever. The lead actor - i've never encountered him before - but his acting is fantastic! The child actor is likely THE best little actor I have ever come across, to-date! He has a long way to go! He's just amazing... The story can really dig into your brain a bit. At first it was a slow start. It took some time to build up to the moment when they do meet each other. But it was needed in order for the later events to take place. You do see the two characters become drawn to each other, the future king - still the prince that had at last returned from China then - did not even know that she was not a man, but already considered her his closest friend - 忘形之交 - the highest and closest form of friendship between two people there can be in Chinese culture. But already then, they were so drawn to each other that she had already fallen for him - for his character, for feeling so close to him by heart as friends. And he, also, without knowing why he was so drawn to her, and so trusting of her, as she only appeared as a man, and a male friend. they treasured each other and their friendship. One day, she was determined and stood up for him in a crisis of false allegation, it had gotten her imprisoned, She was then framed by a long-time suiter as having produced a false claim about him. At the same time, he had lost his brother - the king, to poison. He was grief-stricken. And she became imprisoned. The last time they saw each other, was when she kneeled in bondage and said to him she did not make these claims at all, although he turned her down on the spot in front of all the other people, as a new king, he couldn't do such a thing, of course, not without going through a whole series of trials for her and likely further time in the prison. So he stated in public right then and there to cut off her tie to him, that he had no friend, he could not, as a king now. “寡人”嘛, a king is ultimately a lonely spirit. When he tried to rescue her behind-the-scenes, as she was being sent away - to exile, she had tried to escape already and fell down a rock cliff into a waterfall. She didn't know he did this, even though it was so obvious to the audience. She survived, rescued and helped by her servants, but had hidden away from society ever since. In grief of losing her, he never touched any of the wives that had been married to him. So she returned, 3 years later, full of the resoluteness for revenge, as she had lost her dear friend on the journey of exile, not knowing what he tried to do to set her free from that tribulation. And she found the opportunity to enter back at court again, as he had missed a chess mate, and had begun a recruitment in public in search for the best one to play chess with him. Of course she won. She came back, the king could summon her every day any time as he wished. But he does find out she's in fact a woman of course. Episode by episode, things become more and more interesting. It's a love story ultimately, but also one about mindgames, righteousness and sense of duty. It's great. I highly highly recommend it! 2. 薬くすり屋やのひとりごと - The Apothecary DiariesI LOVE this story.
If there were anyone who I could not relate to more in an alternate universe it would be 猫猫. The glow in her when she encounters new Chinese medicine items or steps inside a herbal medicine store is the same reaction as mine whenever I arrive at a Chinese medicine store in China or anywhere else. I loooooove the smell of herbal medicines all mixed together. You can just tell it's her true passion. Offer some herbal medicinal ingredients, and she'll be up for doing anything. In the plot of the story, she plays quite a detective role which makes the story interesting as she unravels various mysteries and uncovers the truth behind every case that's been handed to her to deal with. I love the vibe between her and 壬氏 The two of them always make me beam or chuckle. This is the follow-up season from last season's release. I was more than happy to see it come back and continue on. Next time I'm back in Japan, I'll definitely grab the latest manga that comes out then. November12/4/2023 1. PlutoWow... There are not enough words to describe Pluto. It is a thought-provoking piece. Rather slow as it helps you remain reflective. It is a sombre story with heart-warming main characters most of whom are robots - the best kind there are, and seem to carry more humanity in them than the humans. I don't often side with robots. But in this story, you can't help but find them far more loveable than their human counterparts. And that's why this story is thought-provoking, too. Subject matters like this has strong philosophical connotation to it. The robots themselves have existential introspections. They have families, they have friends, they take care of orphans, rescue the big cats, they can scan a crime scene and identify all the traces left behind by the suspect instantly, they want to take a vacation with their life partner, they want to retain their memories with their partner despite them being destroyed. They have depression, they have sorrow, they live to protect and serve, they are self-sacrificial for their humans. It's really really hard not to like all of them. And that's what makes it so important to be extra alert of our own humanity. To what point is the development of A.I. technology ENOUGH? At what point of human society will we also need to have a constitution about Robotic rights? Will there be billions of people who are extremely aggressive & exclusionary towards robots? I do love the stylisation of this animation. It is beautiful to say the least. The main boy in particular certainly already resembles Astro Boy in the design of his look & character. He, to me, is the centrepiece of this show just as much as the detective. As a character, he has strong dimensions, and 张力. He is righteous, cautious, and extremely caring. I watched AstroBoy when i was probably 1-year-old, so I have no memory of the show. But I can still sing the theme song. I wonder it'd be a time-well-spent to actually watch the original anime from start to finish. Each episode is an hour long. So there is a lot of content in each episode. You really need to have the mind-space and heart-space to go through each episode. It can be a littel heavy, and definitely has scenes that take some soul-searching and deeper introspection. I could not recommend this story more. Go watch it wherever you usually source your anime. 2. 《宁安如梦》This is based on my favourite book with my favourite male protagonist to-date. AND it has 1 of my favourite actors to play the male lead. Myself and probably the young generation of Chinese audience had waited a year to watch this show. As it was originally scheduled to air in March. But it backed off due to "technical difficulty". And it stayed silent and out-of-sight since then. But I assure you, it was definitely not out-of-mind. I've been waiting and waiting for this. The 看点 of this show is most definitely 白鹿 & 张凌赫's actoring and pairing. 白鹿's acting has always been 没得挑. She can deliver her teary scenes in up to 20 different ways, each different and has subtleties that find their ways to stir your heart. 张凌赫 is an up and coming actor who's been acting in lead roles ever since he started. It's impossible not to find him in lead roles. He has a presence that makes his on-screen character felt and captivating. He is also amazing at crying scenes. Tears come out like a water tap, 白鹿 shared. Most importantly, he is soooo easy on the eyes. It's amazing how many beautiful people China produces in the entertainment industry. As a science grad, his switch to an acting career couldn't be more far away than his intended path. He is really good as an actor though, certainly the kind of student who would be at the top of his grade no matter what he does. 谢危 as a character is very multi-layered. The entire book is almost 姜雪宁's journey of discovering who he truly was, and who loved her the most - 谢危 did. There are many reasons why he is my top favourite male character, ever. And I believe he will remain as my No. 1 person. His end in the past life was certainly a beautifully tragic one. But in this life, it has such a heart-warming scene at the end. One can't help but beam and chuckle. 谢危 truly is worthy of all the love and peace and security in the world. This story is also her 2nd chance of finding out the truth, and making amends for all that she'd done wrong. And she did so so well, so whole-heartedly. I wept a lot when the dreary scene finally came as she held the body of her friend, who she did her best to rescue from the start... It's definitely a tale of redemption and protecting all the ones you hold dear and love. It's about recognition and being aware of what is right, what is wrong. It's about knowing how 1 simple wrong step could lead to a lifelong of wrong turns. Something we almost always must take care on on our own path of life... I was SO glad 《宁安如梦》was the show that accompanied me throughout the November month. No better story deserved being turned into a show. Finally, I appreciate that every actor got to keep their own voice for the show. There's nothing worse than listening to another human being's voice to your favourite characters/actos. September 20239/18/2023 1. FLCL: GRUNGEI loved the FLCL "pronounced as FhooleeKoolee" It's fast paced and omnipresent good vibes are incomparable. So cool to see a new season of it came out. The animation style has a strong 3D feel, which usually I find repulsive, but this one seemed like the production company is going for a middle-ground - where the 2D animation still feels like handdrawn pictures with the 3D CGI movements. It still feels awkward to watch, but FLCL is too good for me to be bothered. 2. "My Journey To You" - 《云之羽》郭敬明导演's work is worth watching no matter how full of flaws they can be. 云之羽 is as full of flaws as it is full of lovely aesthetics. The actors are easy on the eyes. ;P The cinematography for this story is impeccable. The sets are gorgeous! If you watch a lot of 仙侠剧 like I do, you'd be able to identify some locations that were used in other epic shows. The pace of the acting and storyline certainly feel quite slow, but I don't really feel annoyed by it. I actually don't mind slow-paced stories, I don't really appreciate super-fast-paced ones that a lot of shows these day have. Actors were recorded live and the show used the live recording, which made the story feel real and helps the audience feel present throughout the story. But I find that they almost speak a little too softly - it's as if they're always whispering. Perhaps this is the director's intention - as the characters are either always scheming against each other, or hiding the truth about themselves from others. 郭敬明 certainly proves again that he has quite the way with presenting his characters, and is good at beautifying scenes and his actors. I think, even on set, he's super strict with all the actors' diets, even the 盒饭 prepared for the cast have little to no no salt and offer all cast on-set with very oil-less and rather healthy choices, so everybody could keep their weight down for the camera! The choice of actors for this show are pretty good.
I can't really find fault in most of them except 宫紫商’s actress 金靖's "本色出演". Her comedic style certainly alleviates the drab pace and darker mood of the story, but her body movements and facial expressions can be too overboard, I don't think including her own style was necessary to the story in anyway, and almost reduces the elegance and beauty of the cinematography. When she's serious, she's actually a really good character. Any of those extra body movements and comedic acts -- i find - don't serve well to the show. Other actors chose to play the other characters really fit their individual roles, their performance certainly feel more mature and well directed compared to their previous work July7/1/2023 Ryo - 龍 "Dragon"They are the offspring of samurai.
They lost everything to war with England as children. So their lives begin again with the help with these warriors who teach them how to become strong again. Ryo didn't have a name. So he was given one by one of the other Ryos here. They have "Ryo" in their name. Ryo demonstrates his strength and tact as well as a heart of gold from the outset. I look forward to following his journey of growth and development. June6/30/2023 <<偷偷藏不住>>No love story gets better than this.
If you've liked somebody since day 1 when we you met, if you always support each other and protect each other and look after each other in every little situation if you are the sunshine for the other person in their darkest hours if you care about each other like family since you were young adults when life brings you together in one place after a year or so of separation if you find joy and peace in each other this is meant to be your love story. And this is theirs. 純愛劇天花板. It's based on a book that I ended up reading in one go in one day. It was SO good, I couldn't stop reading it. Perhaps this is my ideal love story. I truly appreciate theirs. May5/31/2023 <<护心>>The show is better than the book for sure. The story is of course original and unique by the author whose works have been adapted into sooooooo many live-action series that swept through China heat wave after heat wave. This one is another one that gathered a huuuuge amount of audience. This show is sure to set the two main leads off into forever fame. They started off not knowing each other's intentions,
coming together because of their need to stay As they journey through their adventures and various encounters with all kinds of people, they find themselves in all kinds of rut, they end up rescuring each other's lives, and forming the strongest alliance of love and friendship. Their love and bond is one of self-sacrifice, complete trust, and unbreakable dependence. When asked in an interview, are you a dog person, or a cat person, 侯明昊 replied, cleverly and straight-up as always, I'm a dragon person. And he couldn't be more right. April4/7/2023 1. Skip & LoaferI can already tell this is gonna be a really good series. A girl who can only study, easily gets lost on the Tokyo trains. She's not from here, but she's got a grand plan for her whole life's career. Stumbling across the kind-hearted bright-spirited protagonist, she sees him as the mother-duck, and she herself - the lost duckling. She made her speech at the opening ceremony without blinking, and immediately went off stage and barfed out all her nervousness. I laughed throughout the 1st episode. It's a great beginning! Can't wait to see the characters build up and develop into interesting relationships. The lead characters are so easy going, they make everyone else around them feel at ease, too. Ultimately, this is one about making friends and friendships and Tokyo - nothing better than that. 2. 魔法使いの嫁 The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2It's been too long since the last season, it feels so much so that I've forgotten most of what happened in the last season. I just remember that Chise had a lot of devastating things happening to her because she tried to save people, and sacrificed a lot of of herself in the process. Compared to the initial beginning stories when it first came out, the last season was dark, and a period of a lot of growth for Chise - she was no longer the little girl. This new season is much different. It's brighter, lighter, happier, easier. Chise's gone to college and met a lot of new people at college. Even Elias joined her just to keep an eye out for her safety. I love the scene of them sleeping on a picnic mat under the canopy of a tree, and harvesting pumpkins. It's definitely an idyllic good life out in the countryside. 3. อย่าเล่นกับอนล - Bed Friendwow... I have a MAJOR crush on Net Siraphop. He's one of the most good-looking well-styled actor I've ever seen, and incredibly sweet as a person. King - played by him - is everything a girl could ask for. He's very attractive to my eyes, he's very protective of his other half, he's easy-going and takes care of things for you when you most need it, he's very understanding and honest as well. I guess it's Net himself that does it. but he does it so consistently - he never takes his eyes off of his other half. Even in life, as actors, they seem very close. And as actors, I even envy how a pair could have friendship and bond like Net and James after this show. It's like Chalamet and Hammer's after CMBYN. It's a life-changing show for them. THe bond also. This show is 🔥 and Net is incredibly 🔥 I've never seen someone could make a bathroom stall scene look so good. This 1 will go far and go well. This is my 1st time watching a Thai show. And it's a BL. If you don't have an iQiyi account, you can watch the whole thing for free anyway on Youtube . Girls that love BL and some boys perhaps - those with a soft spot for things like this, would enjoy this one. 2023.11/29/2023 1. Lupin Zero - prequel to the Lupin III series 2. In/Spectre 虚構推理 ("Kyokou Suiri") - Season 2 3. Bungou Stray Dogs 文豪ストレイドッグス - Season 4! 4. Tsurune - Tsurune: Tsunagari no Issha - Season 2! It's the Season of Season 2's !! ^0^ Amazing series' season 2, no less!
I started watching Lupin Zero in December 2022. It was first screened as part of some New York festival. But I was able to watch it on my usual streaming channel since the day of its release. It's really good!! Perhaps even a little better than the usual series. It's centred on Lupin as a teenager, still in his high school days, i.e. a story about how he started off his adventures as the later Lupin III. The growing voice of teenage Lupin was so well depicted, too. And the old school cartoon feel is so nostalgic and gives you a real sense of the anime world. The main characters are quickly likeable, character designs are robust and actions fast for the 2020s generation. It also carries all the fun you'd expect in a Lupin III series. As a long-time fan of Lupin III, I could not recommend this Prequel series more.
I loved the first season, and was so glad to see this coming out, & that the story has continued with more excitement to offer the audience. The highlight of Season 2 of In-Spectre is most definitely Yuki-Onna - 雪女 She quickly became my favourite character. The introduction of this new cp - I can already sense - may steal quite a lot of attention away from our main protagonists. From the moment of her appearance in Episode 2, you can already tell 雪女 is more than just gorgeous on the outside. Her ease, kind-heartedness, appetite and lust for life are characteristics that I identify a lot with. I cannot identify with her fair skin though. Though I may look strange with blue eyes & I'm not a fan of invisible lenses, sorry, Contact Lenses (I was converting words directly from Chinese). I'm going to adopt her hairstyle for sure this year! Especially as white is the color of the year that I've picked for this year. This also reenforces my desire to visit Japan in the snow next year. It's a high priority on my travel-list in the 12 months ahead. So I expect that I can pay Keiko & Kyoto a visit at this time next year! If you get to Episode 3 - at 22:22 - that part filled my eyes with tears. I 🤍 this character 雪女 so much.
This story made such a strong impression on me
that I could never forget the word Tsurune so the momenet I saw this series came back I immediately recognised it by its title. The main character has a certain stillness to it that harmonises with the Art of Archery itself. I particularly love their shooting hall, the long court yard, the protagonist's green eyes, their sensei, and the white owl. Soak in the stillness and deep meaningfulness of archery through this series. I've been a lover of archery since a long time ago. I should start practicing again soon, especially as I live in walking distance from an archery court. Make sure to check out the OST, the music in this series is incredibly beautiful !! I've linked it here. 2022.1111/21/2022 1. Chainsaw Man - チェンソーマンThis anime is so thoroughly entertaining the moment I saw a guy dragging a suitcase on Shijo city street with the chainsaw dog ポチタ"Pochita" 's plush toy of on top of his luggage, my heart jumped in excitement upon recognising that cute thing. I spent the rest of my trip keeping an lookout for the chainsaw dog plush toy to bring home, because I wanted one so much once had I seen the anime's first 4 episodes on Netflix Japan (not available in NZ) but I never eventually saw one at all. This anime is pretty much in Tarantino style, but more. It's a pretty nasty start in the 1st episode - as far as Tarantino often goes, gory and irrationally cruel, and suffocatingly painful - which I don't like, but it gets so good at the end of Ep. 1 it makes you look forward to the next episode so much. The protagonist Denji's teeth are exaggerated, but he's supposed to have turned into a half-悪魔 ie he's become a 魔人 "manji" after ポチタ merged with his body. ポチタ was his puppy growing up. After they both were killed - Denji got slaughtered to pieces, and ポチタ was pierced right through his stomach with a katana - ポチタ woke up after Denji's blood had dripped into his mouth, awakening and reviving ポチタ. As Denji's puppy, ポチタ loves Denji so much, they had both grown up in a shabby place often starving everyday, malnourished and uncared for by others. Seeing Denji has died, ポチタ decides to give Denji his own life by merging with Denji's body. Hence, Denji came back alive, complete in his body and strong with ポチタ's powers. This is how Denji turned into a Chainsaw man, because ポチタ was a puppy with a chainsaw on his cute little head. I am still going to be on the look-out for ポチタ when I'm back in Japan. Their story is just so cute despite all the violence and bloodspill. What I particularly enjoyed throughout my trip this time was I kept seeing promotional posters in subways and shopping centres with the main デビルハンター characters' on the wall, as if the Bureau is still recruiting for more デビルハンター. It was so cool and really fun to spot them around the city. :) Pochita is sooooo cute, and Denji is the chainsaw man because of Pochi. His life was altered and completely renewed. This bond is something that we probably all wish to have with our own puppy. To live together forever i guess is that romantic notion our heart desires. I wonder if the creator came up with this idea this way, if they had their own puppy. 2. The Ship - formally titled as 1899 on NetflixProduced by the same crew as the German series Dark,
this show is as European as it goes. Multi-lingual with cast from several different countries. Everybody speaks their own native language, a subtitle is provided. This was key to the creators' concept - to paint an image of Europe as it should be - everybody together, working as one. There is definitely a lot of historic backdrops that are clearly hinted at but never explicitly pointed out - e.g. the scar on Krester's face in reference to Conversion Therapy back then. Krester's character is a deeply painful one to watch. You can almost see pain throughout his being, and the torturous journey within him. His mother is a strong force, a religious force to say the least. This would have made his life extremely difficult, the scar on his face is as symbolic of his journey as his being. I think that's why the Spanish counterpart rather cleverly named as Angel who is too overly charming and blatant with his desires, who is so drawn to Krester right from the beginning. Because of the 2 of them are such polar opposites. My own favourite character is of course, Olek. He seems to be the only pure being throughout the story. He's gentle and kind without fail. You almost want to approach him for help and support when you need it most. The mystery of the story unfolds slowly, 1 episode at a time. The symbology is dramatic and obvious. And, this is definitely a sci-fi despite having a period piece backdrop. PlatformsiQiyi 爱奇艺 Archives
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