jasmine's drama blog

My update on dramas:

In a Good Way

I'm still ardently following In a Good Way. I would definitely recommend this even though it is not done airing. So far, all the episodes that were released are superb and excellent. I really love the character developments and the storyline.

Trick Season 2

New Three Kingdom

Sherlock Season 3

Trick Season 2: Episode 3-5

Main Cast:

Nakama Yukie as Yamada Naoko
Abe Hiroshi as Ueda Jiro

Guests:

• Gin Pun Chou as Suzuki Yoshiko
• Ito Toshihito as Osabe
• Masu Takeshi as Shimizu

The case of the fortuneteller spans a whole three episode. At some point, it was getting a bit draggy but it quickly picks up as it introduces new murders and mysterious impossibilities. The case ends with a shocking revelation with the man Mr. Osabe, who holds a bag of yams throughout the three episodes, being the main "antagonist" of the story; he actually outsmarted the other two known antagonists.

His motive: To avenge his dead fiancee.

His plan: To take advantage of one of the seven deadly sin, Greed, to trigger the fortuneteller Mrs.
Suzuki Yoshiko to murder Mr. Shimizu since he betrays her. To prove her "powers", she plays a game with Yamada and Osabe volunteers to join. There are three glasses of water and only one of them contains the poison. One of the spectators will move the glasses around and all three of them must choose one glass. Yamada, realizing which is the poisoned glass of water, chooses first. Osabe then chooses and suddenly has a seizure as he reaches for his throat. Yoshiko, seeing that Osabe have drank the "poisoned" one, grabs the last glass and drinks it voluntarily while Osabe stops his act and smirks evilly.

So, the case ends there. My question is: Did Osabe committed anything illegal? He didn't kill them directly but can he be charged with murder? He played mind games with the two antagonists and eventually succeeded in his revenge. His acts are immoral but are they legal?


YOU CAN WATCH IT ON http://www.gooddrama.net/japanese-drama/trick-2

During this month-long winter vacation, I've nothing better to do then watch dramas. I've recently finished watching Beauties at Crossfire (Chinese Title: Feng Huo Jia Ren). Currently, I am watching TVB's Coffee Cat Mama, Japan's Trick, Taiwan's In a Good Way and Deja Vu and Mainland China's Shining Days.

Well, I haven't been watching all the episodes in Shining Days since it's mainly my parents that are watching it. Once in awhile, some scenes caught my attention. When I went home from college for the break, I realized my whole family has been watching this drama. Coincidentally, I've watched the beginning largely due to its impressive trailer. The child actress that plays the young Yu Fei is incredible. I cried just by watching the trailer because of the child's magnificent acting skills (and probably emotional storyline too). After watching past the childhood parts, I kind of gave up. However, my family, particularly my dad, continued on with this lengthy (82 episodes, no joke) drama. Current Status: Episode 76 (6 more episodes to go...)

I'm haven't been catching Deja Vu weekly premieres because I am entirely engaged by Taiwan's other drama In a Good Way. The cast chemistry, the storyline, the actors and actresses, the music, etc are superb! If I have to choose, I would recommend In a Good Way more.

I don't really watch many Japanese dramas but since I am learning Japanese, it would benefit a lot to watch them. After watching Galileo, I've found recommendations that suggested checking out the drama Trick. Luckily, I found it with English subs on gooddrama.net. Pretty good so far but wouldn't recommend watching it all alone at night because I was freaked out at some parts.

TVB's Coffee Cat Mama is actually watchable. I have to say TVB comedies are usually watchable. Their other dramas are either a hit or a miss. I think the success of this drama derives from the cast.

Out of all the dramas I'm juggling right now, I know I will definitely complete In a Good Way, Trick, and Shining Days(this mainly because my family is watching or else I wouldn't devote hours to it --> Legend of Zhen Huan has 76 episodes but I have no regret watching it).

I was trying to look up some series about the famous phenomenon detective Wesley. Coincidentally, I spied the first episode of this series lingering around the "recommended videos" area. Noting the title, I already knew it was about mysteries since I've watched HK drama The Mysteries of Love which was loosely based on the this drama. The whole series was also Cantonese dubbed so I didn't have to hook my eyes to the TV to catch every subtitle.


The series started off with the mysterious case of a young man's head suddenly bursting into flames. It was the question "Can this really happen?" that kept me glued. Unlike TVB's "The W Files", the phenomena are proven to be illusions by our physics professor Galileo. In "The W Files", the phenomena such as reincarnation and aliens are scripted as real encounters by our protagonist Wesley.

After the first episode, I was hooked to the drama. All the episodes were done wonderfully. However, the last two episodes were somewhat anti-climatic. It was not as captivating as the prior episodes. The romance was not the main focus, as commented by few reviewers. But it was nice witnessing subtle changes in the two main characters' personality for one another. I actually quite like this since not many series will heavily focus on the main topic and diverge into the romantic aspect to gain more viewership.

Out of all the cases, my favorite cases include Episode Three (Missing Husband and House Cursed by Ghost), Episode Two (Astral Projection), Episode Six (Fantasy Love), and Episode Eight (Spiritual Ghost).

Rating:

Series *****
Characters ****1/2
Storyline ****1/2
Cast Perfomance *****

Overall: ****1/2 (4 1/2)

Planning to continue my venture into more Japanese series. :)