Taiwan

Review: Oh No! Here Comes Trouble [Taiwan]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

This is a pretty unique and refreshing show – if you’re able to tune in to Show’s vibe.

Show is quirky and heartfelt, with equal amounts of poignance and deadpan humor; supernatural stuff and regular human relationship stuff.

It’s refreshingly balanced, and tightly written in a way where you can feel that our writers knew every narrative piece by name, and had prepared each narrative piece lovingly, for a particular purpose.

Some of our cast isn’t as strong with the delivery, but I found the most important roles to be delivered with nice amounts of nuance and heart. The standout for me was Tseng Jing Hua as our protagonist Pu Yi Yong; such a memorable character!

Also, even though some of the visuals might hint at horror, this isn’t horror at all.

Altogether very worthwhile – again, if you’re able to tune in to Show’s vibe (more on that after the jump).

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Flash Review: Lesson In Love [Taiwan]

| kfangurl

This.. was a weird one, for me.

I guess this really is a case of “your mileage may vary,” because a quick scan of viewer reactions on MyDramaList tells me that lots of people really, really enjoyed this one, and think it’s truly one of the best things, ever.

The thing is, I found this weirdly watchable, which is how I ended up finishing it, and yet, coming away from the finish line, I still don’t think it’s a very good drama. 😅

I’ll elaborate on that in a bit – hopefully in a way that actually makes sense, because right now, my thoughts are all over the place, kinda like how I feel this drama is all over the place. 😁

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Review: Someday Or One Day [Movie][Taiwan]

| kfangurl

If you guys have been around the blog for a while, you’d likely know that I loved – like, really, really LOVED – 2019/2020 drama Someday Or One Day (review is here!).

It was basically my drama of the year, in my 2020 year-in-review, coz I felt like it was THE best drama that I watched, in 2020. 🤩

So much so that I picked it as a group watch in December 2021 (Open Threads listed here), and loved it just as much, on my second watch.

(If you haven’t seen the show but are now tempted to give it a go, my advice is to go in as blind as possible; you can use my Open Thread notes as a guide, as you watch it.)

Which means that OF COURSE I’ve been waiting for the movie follow-up, ever since it was announced.

The only thing better than finding a show to love, is finding friends who love the show as much as you do, so today, I’ve got Elaine and MC (who LOVE the drama like I do!) joining me for this review.

AND, as a bonus, we’ve also got a special podcast episode, brought to you by some of our friends on Patreon, Michele, Leslie and JJ, who are huge fans of the drama as well, to talk about their thoughts on the movie.

Yay for this turning into a community sort of response to the movie! Thanks for making the time for this, ladies! 🥰❤️

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Review: Rainless Love in a Godless Land [Taiwan]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

I do think that Rainless is a pretty special snowflake of a show, in that I don’t think I’ve come across a similar drama, among the hundreds of dramas I’ve checked out, in the last 15 years.

Show manages to weave its story, while providing a good amount of educational insight into Taiwanese indigenous culture, and it also manages to make statements about environmental issues without being preachy. That’s pretty impressive.

I think it’s helpful to mention that you either really love this one, or you don’t. And you’ll figure out which camp you fall into, reasonably quickly.

Even though I appreciated Show’s strengths, I have to confess that this one never stole my heart. Still, I would say that this turned out to be a worthwhile watch.

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Flash Review: A Thousand Goodnights [Taiwan]

| kfangurl

Shout-out to MeriJ, who was the first person to mention this show to me, and get it on my radar. I honestly wouldn’t have known about this show otherwise; it flew under the radar for most people, I feel like.

I think most people either love this show, or find it really boring. Those are such extremes, eh? In my mind, whether you love this show, or feel bored by it, depends a lot on what you look for in a show.

At the same time, I also think it has a lot to do with managing your expectations, which is something that I can definitely assist you with, now that I’ve seen the show in its entirety.

I’m thinking that with the right lens adjustments, this one might turn out to be a bit of a sleeper hit for you yet.

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Review: Someday Or One Day [Taiwan]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Smartly written, deftly executed, and wonderfully acted, Someday Or One Day is a gem of a show that feels like it’s head and shoulders above its peers.

Intricate and clever, yet full of emotional heft, Show is a rare creature that does an excellent and consistent job of engaging both the mind and the heart.

Our main cast is strong and unfailingly delivers well-rounded, faceted performances, but the stand-out for me is male lead Greg Hsu, who crept under my skin and stole my heart when I wasn’t looking.

Altogether fantastic, and well worth the watch.

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Dropped: Meet Me @ 1006 [Taiwan]

| kfangurl

There were two main reasons why I thought I would enjoy Meet Me @ 1006.

The first one was, several of you spoke fondly of this drama, which piqued my interest. So I looked up the show online, and saw lots of other positive comments from other viewers as well. Which made me think, hey, I might like this one too.

The second one was, I’d watched C-movie How Long Will I Love U on a flight, which sounded like it had a somewhat similar premise, and I’d found it warm, sweet and funny. Which also made me think, hey, I might like Meet Me @ 1006 as well.

Sadly, after 10 episodes of this show’s 26, I’m gonna hafta say, I’m just not feeling this one, I’m afraid.

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Flash Review: In Time With You [Taiwan]

| kfangurl

Sometimes an oldie really is a goodie, my friends.

In Time With You had been recommended to me by several of you, and I’d dutifully put it on my list with the best of intentions, but as you might have guessed, I kept putting off actually checking it out, because there was always something newer and shinier to watch.

So what was the catalyst that finally drew me into watching this 2011 modern classic?

Well. My interest was first kindled not too ago, when my friend DDee started spazzing about this show on Twitter, as she embarked on her personal first watch of it. That made me bump this show up my list by a lot, in my head.

But THEN, she finished the show, and promptly announced on Twitter that this show had officially unseated Coffee Prince from the #1 drama spot in her heart. Woah. That’s a BIG statement, coz DDee loves Coffee Prince, and so do I. I just couldn’t not watch it now, could I?

And now that I’ve finished my watch, let me just say, THANK YOU, dear DDee.. this truly was a gem of a drama. If not for your wholehearted, enthusiastic spazzing, I might’ve never gotten around to checking this out, and that would’ve been such a pity. ❤️

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Flash Review: Our Times [TW Movie]

| kfangurl

You know a movie’s making a real splash when someone like me, who doesn’t have a clue (yet? I know I’m starting to pay more attention now) about TW entertainment has heard raves about this show.

From happy spazzy mentions on Twitter, to real-life enthusiastic recommendations from friends, I’d heard only good things about this movie. Considering how I don’t even generally pay all that much attention to movies except for Korean ones (and I’m not that thorough, even then), that’s no small deal.

I finally managed to watch this recently on a flight, and I must say, all those happy tweets and enthusiastic endorsements were so right. This one does get you right in the feels. <3

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Flash Review: Bromance [TW Drama]

| kfangurl

Have you ever loved a drama in spite of its multitude of shortcomings? Like, it’s got so many flaws that you can’t help but roll your eyes sometimes (or maybe more like a lot of the time).

And yet, it’s got That One Thing going for it, that’s so awesome that it makes the watch completely cracktastic.

Which is how you end up watching an entire Very Flawed Drama, for the sake of that One Thing?

Yep. Exactly what happened here, you guys. I was literally hooked on Bromance for a good part of its run, so much so that it was the show that I looked forward to the most, each week.

This, when I usually have a ridiculous amount of trouble getting into Taiwanese dramas as a general rule, and therefore typically don’t even bother checking them out anymore.

Woah, right?

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