Asian Dramas

[Celgress]

Thanks for the recommendations. I haven't gotten into the K-dramas yet, but I'm sure that's coming, as I've watched a few Korean movies, and they were amazing. I mostly like costume pieces, so I'll definitely watch The Kingdom, though I've a watched a few modern shows / movies, so I'll try some of the others. Train to Busan was modern, and a great zombie movie.

I've also seen Squid Game, which was beyond awesome. I'm looking forward to the 2nd season.

Train to Busan is my third favorite zombie movie of all time beat out only by Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Night of the Living Dead (1968). It is a true modern classic.

Squid Game is perfection. I never guessed the final reveal of season one (the only season thus far) until it happened which is rare for me. That reveal was *chef's kiss*.

[kidfresh512]

Watching My Name now I like it. Pretty dark and engaging so far 4 episodes in.

[LordMikel]

Train to Busan is my third favorite zombie movie of all time beat out only by Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Night of the Living Dead (1968). It is a true modern classic.

Squid Game is perfection. I never guessed the final reveal of season one (the only season thus far) until it happened which is rare for me. That reveal was *chef's kiss*.

Did you watch Alive? It is another K-drama about zombies. A video blogger is trapped in his apartment during a zombie apocalypse. That is equally good. That is a movie.

All of us is Dead is a series, also good.

[Celgress]

Did you watch Alive? It is another K-drama about zombies. A video blogger is trapped in his apartment during a zombie apocalypse. That is equally good. That is a movie.

All of us is Dead is a series, also good.

I've watched the latter but not the former. I'll be sure to check out Alive when I can. I loved All Of Us Are Dead. Although, I'm a bit skeptical of the proposed season two because I feel it will either be repetitive or so different from season one that it will lose the flavor of the series. Season two will be a tough balancing act considering where the surviving characters ended up.

[Reviresco]

A few updates since my last on No Boundary. My IQiYi trial ran out, so I ventured over to Viki and Netflix. Watched my first K-drama, a historical called The Crowned Clown. It's leaving Netflix in August, which is why I picked it. Got lucky again, cause I really enjoyed it. It was thankfully shorter than many C-Dramas, 16 hour+ episodes. It's basically a Prince and the Pauper plot, with a poor commoner who makes a living as a 'clown' (really more like a medieval actor / entertainer in a traveling troupe), replacing a bad prince, who has a host of problems not helped by a drug addiction supported by his political rivals.

It's far more grounded and less extravagant than most the C-Dramas I've been watching, though there's plenty of over the top drama and acting which I love. There's some action, but it's mostly a court intrigue and romance story. The acting is top notch, especially for the young lead, Yeo Jin Goo, who has to play two characters, and one of them is trying imitate the other, but still seem different. The Chief Secretary, Kim Sang Kyung, and the Eunuch Jo, Jang Gwang, who manage / shepherd the 'clown' through his role in the palace are also great. Also enjoyed the score, especially the drums.

It is a little anachronistically preachy as far as the message of helping the poor people, but at least it makes more sense for the 'clown' to have that idea / motive. Also the romantic female lead really has little to do, except stand by her man. I really kept expecting her to do something, like at least help the clown navigate the court, like Eunuch Jo. Fortunately, there's the Dowager Queen who chews the scenery better, and plots away equally with her male counterparts.

Side note. This drama is a remake of a 2012 Korean movie called Masquerade with Lee Byung-hun. Jang Gwang also played the same role, Eunuch Jo, in the movie! Likewise, Yeo Jin Goo played a version of this king (non-Prince and the Pauper) a couple of years before this series in a movie called Warriors of the Dawn. Needless to say, I'll be tracking those movies down to watch.

[Reviresco]

Train to Busan is my third favorite zombie movie of all time beat out only by Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Night of the Living Dead (1968). It is a true modern classic.

Squid Game is perfection. I never guessed the final reveal of season one (the only season thus far) until it happened which is rare for me. That reveal was *chef's kiss*.

Did you watch Alive? It is another K-drama about zombies. A video blogger is trapped in his apartment during a zombie apocalypse. That is equally good. That is a movie.

All of us is Dead is a series, also good.

I've watched the latter but not the former. I'll be sure to check out Alive when I can. I loved All Of Us Are Dead. Although, I'm a bit skeptical of the proposed season two because I feel it will either be repetitive or so different from season one that it will lose the flavor of the series. Season two will be a tough balancing act considering where the surviving characters ended up.

I'm actually not all that into zombies or horror, but I'll watch them for other stuff like the characters, aesthetics, actors etc. Which is why I watched the Walking Dead and did love Train to Busan. I even tracked down the 'sequel' to Train to Busan, Peninsular, but it really had little to do with Train. It was more of a post-apocalyptic take on zombies.

I will check out your recommendation of The Kingdom, for sure, as that looks like a mash-up that would entertain me.

I'll look into Alive also. Thanks for the recommendation!

[Reviresco]

Been watching the Chinese costume drama, The Longest Promise, piecemeal, mostly daily, on Netflix, since that's how they are releasing it. This is a new experience, since I've been bingeing already released shows. It's kind of nice, definitely a different experience, though it helps that the plot is SLOW.

But I did watch the recommended Korean costume zombie drama The Kingdom. Loved it! Was definitely the sort of mash up that I enjoy. But where is season 3???? Yes, I did watch the movie, The Kingdom: Ashin of the North, but that doesn't answer the questions left from the season 2 finale. That said, the plot lines and arcs of the two seasons were pretty much wrapped up, so I'm not left feeling like the story was unfinished.

Like Train to Busan, these aren't your typical slow moving or slow spreading disease zombies. Also, they have that creepy, joint cracking waking up moments. Like Walking Dead, the zombie threat starts out small, with just one / a few zombies being a terrifying threat, in part because of ignorance. Once they learn more about them, especially how to kill them, the threat is upped by the number of them, and then the evolution of the creatures. But of course, it's how the humans deal with each other and the zombie threat that makes the show. While I enjoy palace intrigue, I didn't think it intruded that much on the main plot and action. Also enjoyed seeing how characters changed under the stress, especially Cho Beom Pal, the bumbling, cowardly new magistrate. Being Captain Oblivious I enjoyed the twisty reveals of character motivations and schemes. Except for one, huge betrayal. That was heartbreaking. Also didn't expect the Prince to make that final decision, considering everything he went through, and that situation is notoriously bad for most kingdoms.

It had a manageable cast of interesting characters, whose backstories played well into the plot. The acting was great, and I enjoyed all of them, especially the female physician, the prince and his guard. Was cool to learn about the Tiger Hunting Guards. Finally, I did not realize that Ju Ji-Hoon, the actor playing the crown prince, was in Among the Gods as the younger guardian. Wow! Completely different look and vibe. I guess that's why they call it 'acting!'














I thought it was a nice touch in Ashin of the North, that once again, we can blame Clan Cho for the whole mess, with the a reprise of the Cho minister's son, this time, being the one who prompted the invasion of the Jurchen by massacring the Jurchen wild ginger hunters. Most of the movie didn't really deal with zombies, until the end, but is the back story of the woman who will be the antagonist of season 3, if it shows up.

[Reviresco]

My viewing is running far ahead of my reviewing / posting. But re-watched two older movies I really enjoyed. Brotherhood of Blades(2014) and what turns out to be a prequel even though it came out after the first movie -- Brotherhood of Blades 2: Infernal Battlefield (2017).







This probably falls under the wuxia umbrella, but it's more than just action -- though that's good, in a more realistic fashion. It's set in the Ming Dynasty and is about a member of the Jinyiwei, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who are like Imperial secret police, which means they are like the left hand of the Emperor. Not people you want to meet, much less cross. I was completely ignorant of these guys, so it was interesting to learn about them. Anyway, Lieutenant Sheng Lian and two of his 'brothers' in the guard and how they get roped into a political plot, in part because of their personal goals leading to a mistake of the lead Chang Chen's Shen Lian. Being an Asian film, you know what that means -- people are going to die. ;p

The second movie is also about Shen Lian and it's the events (once again being dragged into political plotting) that lead up to him being demoted from captain to lieutenant. There's really no 'brotherhood' in this movie, however, it's all about Chang Chen -- which I'm fine with, given he's very good in this.




I actually hunted down these movies because I was looking for stuff with this guy, Zhou Yiwei, who was the general in Rebel Princess. Quite a different role, and he isn't in the movie that much, as he is actually an antagonist of sorts for the "brotherhood." But he does a good job and is very memorable. He's listed on the cast for the 2nd movie, but it's barely a cameo at the end of the movie, like a cookie for those who watched the first movie.


Trailer for the first movie:




Trailer for the second movie:

https://youtu.be/zw6E5J6KOCc

[Reviresco]

Took a break from my costume dramas to watch a Korean "sports" movie called Dream.

It's sort of a soccer movie, and just released on Netflix, but it's been on my radar since I saw the trailer. I blame Ted Lasso, though this coach is like the anti-Ted Lasso. LOL! It's about a professional soccer player (Park Seo Joon) with anger / emotional issues, in part because his mom is a fugitive from the law. The last game of the season ends badly for him and his talent agency tries to 'reform' his image by forcing him to be the coach of a Korean Homeless People Soccer Team that will participate in an international competition, while a tired female film maker (IU) makes a "documentary" / reality show of the two month journey.

I thought this was a hilarious (mostly at Park Seo Joon's expense) and heart warming, if predictable "sports" movie. I'm quoting the sports aspect, because it really isn't about soccer, since we are talking about people that literally can't play soccer. That's one nitpick I have with the movie, is that at the "World Cup" the Korean team is the only team that looks like it is made up of homeless people. All the other countries look like they are fielding fit soccer players -- or as one of the Koreans complains, "Those other countries must be feeding their teams beef every day."













Here's the Netflix trailer, but I think it reveals too much of the film.

https://youtu.be/bIjRJjpeg-c

[bruceleegreyhulk]

[Panic]

Moving



This is a Korean Heroes, only it sticks the landing. It’s a great production with some excellent action scenes and a good cast, and its rating on IMDb is current 8.5. I’m surprised no one here is talking about it as it’s top quality stuff.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

[K7P5V]

I used to watch a ton of Japanese shows when my Mom had TVJapan, but it's been several years since then. But I've always liked a variety of Asian shows and movies.

Same here. Dunno if yorudora (よるドラ) counts, but a recent one I've seen would be Miwa-san Narisumasu (2023).
Sadly, I never had the chance to read the manga series. But, the TV series was most entertaining (IMHO):

[bruceleegreyhulk]

I enjoy season 2 of Sweet home. One thing I notice well watching is that Season 2 seemed to borrow some elements from the Shotgun Boy Manhwa. Such a little girl being able to monsterized and feel their thoughts like Zero from Shotgun Boy, and the Lab rats who are obviously based on the Variants from Shotgun Boy.

[Zauriel]

I am watching a Korean drama called Coffee Prince. It is an interesting concept.