Drama Index

My 2011 Drama Review  

Mainland Chinese TV Series

         
Beauty World
Tang Gong: Mei Ren Tian Xia
美人天下		 Zhang Ting, Li Xiaolu, Ming Dao, Mickey He, Zheng Guolin
Beijing Love Story
北京爱情故事
 Chen Sicheng, Li Chen, Zhang Yi, Yang Mi, Tong Liya, Zhang Xinyi
Bu Bu Jing Xin
步步惊心 		Liu Shishi, Nicky Wu, Kevin Cheung, Yuan Hong, Lin Gengxin
Emperor's Harem
 Royal Harem
Hou Gong
后宫 		Ady An, Feng Shaofeng, Tavia Yeung, Patrick Tam, Lu Yi
Great Tang Dynasty's Female General:
Fan Li Hua
大唐女将樊梨花		 Qin Lan, Hawick Lau
Gong 2
宫锁珠帘		 Yuan Shanshan, Mickey He, Du Chun, Shu Chang, Zhang Jiani
Hidden Intention
Abandoned Secrets
藏心术
被遗弃的秘密		 Gan Tingting, Jiang Mengjie, Mickey He, Guo Jin, Qiao Zhenyu

Inner Palace: Zhen Huan Biograhy
后宫:甄嬛传 		Betty Sun, Ada Choi, Chen Jianbin, Li Dongxue
My Sassy Girlfriend
牵牛的夏天		 Eddie Peng and Zhang Meng
My Splendid Life
我的灿烂人生		 Jerry Yan and Yedda Chan
Ru Yi
如意 		Yang Mi, Hawick Lau, Liu Xuehua
Related Links: Character Guide
Sealed with a Kiss
Qian Shan Mu Xue
千山暮雪		 Hawick Lau, Ying'er, Wen Zhengrong
Related Links: Character Guide, FAQ, Novel vs. Drama, Understanding Final Episode, Wallpapers, Recaps,
Deleted Scenes
Sealed with a Kiss Miniseries Sequel
Qian Shan Mu Xue
千山暮雪微电视剧续集		 Hawick Lau, Ying'er, Li Zhinan
Tian Ya Ming Yue Dao/Horizon, Bright Moon, Sabre
天涯明月刀		 Wallace Chung, Baron Chen, Zhang Meng
Too Late to Say I Love You
来不及说我爱你		 Wallace Chung, Li Xiaoran, Qi Fang
War of Desire
Phoenix Totem
凰图腾		 Zhang Han, Bai Bing, Zheng Shuang
Wipe out the Bandits on Wulong Mountain
新乌龙山剿匪记		 Pu Bajia, Choo Ja Hyun,
Ady An

Hong Kong TV Series

Bottled Passion
我的如意狼君		   Niki Chow and Raymond Wong

Korean TV Series

The Princess' ManMoon Chae Won and Park Shi Hoo

Taiwanese TV Series
Skip-Beat
华丽的挑战		   Ivy Chen, Choi Siwon, and Lee Donghae

Popular Posts

Understanding the final episode of Sealed with a Kiss

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Are you unsatisfied and frustrated with the final episode? Expected a happily ever after? Apparently, the scriptwriter succeeded in getting us all hooked onto this series for 28 episodes and suddenly bombarded us with a really CRAPPY open ending. My reaction when I first finished watching the final shot of Mo Shaoqian  walking lonely toward the police station was like this...   I so expected the last scene to be the novel's ending where Tong Xue cried at the airport, and not Shaoqian at the police station!  At minimum, I think they should have put Shaoqian's police station scene before Tong Xue's airport scene. Then show us Shaoqian at the airport watching Tong Xue's cries from a distance, as described in the epilogue. To cure my poorly frustrated mood, I rushed to reread the dreamily happy epilogue that the author wrote for Sealed with a Kiss novel. After reading various analyses by different viewers online and the scriptwriter's comments about the endin...
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Character Guide to Nirvana in Fire 2: Wind Blows in Changlin

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Like Nirvana in Fire I, Nirvana in Fire 2: Winds Blow in Changlin has a plethora of characters that are not strictly good or evil. In terms of story execution, the sequel can be split into three phases, each driven by one of the three leading male characters. The central figure of the first phase is Huang Xiaoming's Xiao Xiaozhang whose intelligence and political shrewdness are well exhibited from Episode 1 to 25. The second phase is led by Liu Haorang's Xiao Pingjing. Although Xiao Pingjing also figures prominently in the first phase, his moment to shine is actually from Episode 28 onward. The focal character of the last phase is undoubtedly the antihero, Wu Haochen's Xiao Yuanqi. His slow progression into darkness and moral conflict bring the story into a new climate. This drama is officially being subtitled by DramaFever and Viki. You should go check out the series if you want to watch something that is not cheesy and has substance. Xiao Pingjing 萧平旌 - Second Yo...
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Nirvana in Fire Character Profiles

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The political plotting and myrid of characters in Nirvana in Fire or Lang Ya Bang may get a little overwhelming for non-Chinese speakers. When I was first exposed to the story, I got drowned in the many names and relationships of the characters. I hope the character profiles will give you a better understanding of the story as well as the trailer. 
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Ru Yi: The drama that brought Hawick Lau and Yang Mi together

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I'm sure many of you have heard the surprised announcement on January 8th about Yang Mi and Hawick Lau admitting to their romantic relationship on Sina weibo.  Personally, I always wanted Yang Mi to hook up with her Gong co-star, Feng Shaofeng, but that's wishful thinking. Real life is totally different from onscreen pairing. Trivia : Yang Mi was actually the producers' first choice to play Tong Xue in Sealed with a Kiss. I think she was offered the role, but she turned it down to accept another project, Beijing Love Story. I remember during the casting phase, the casting decision for Tong Xue was announced last while it was publicized pretty early that Hawick Lau would play Mo Shaoqian. Thus, many fans speculated for a long time that Yang Mi was cast as Tong Xue. Before Sealed with a Kiss ever started shooting, fans actually created a MV with Hawick as Mo Shaoqian and Yang Mi as Tong Xue, using previous existing materials from their individual series. Now I come to think...
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Tribute to Classic Chinese/Taiwanese Romantic TV Series by Qiong Yao

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Before the advent of popular internet novels or even romantic "idol" dramas in general, Chinese television was once dominated by romantic series created by Qiong Yao.  She is a famous Taiwanese romantic novelist who adapted many of her novels into popular TV series and movies for decades. Her first movie screenplay brought major success in 1960s. She is also renown for hand picking countless beautiful women and bringing these aspiring actresses to super stardom. They include Bridgette Lin, Vicki Zhao, Ruby Lin, Fan Bingbing, Jiang Qinqin (Shui Ling), Chen Hong, Chen Derong, Qin Lan, Leanne Liu Xuehua and etc.These women were completely unknown to the general audience before filming Qiong Yao's TV series/movies. I don't think I know of any prominent writer who has as much monopoly or "power' over her TV series as Qiong Yao.
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