The Best of Asian Drama Moms (aka Happy Mother's Day)

So let me say something before we even begin:

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

This a gentle reminder for everyone with moms to give her an extra special hug today, and for those of you lovely ladies who are moms, well… as I said before, Happy Mother’s Day! What am I doing for Mother’s Day? I’m leaving the state and going on vacation without my mom (aiigoo.. eoma mianhamnida!) But because I knew this was happening, I decided to make this special tribute to her and great moms like her, who just so happen to be from the dramas. No evil conniving women in this post - this is dedicated to the best moms of Asian drama (that I have had the fortune to meet with).



Read on for my list of favorite NICE and FABULOUS drama moms on Mydramalist.com

The Best of Asian Drama Moms

 

Halfway Report: The Pursuit of Happiness (2013)

The Pursuit of Happiness
愛的生存之道

Episodes Seen: 7/16 ♥♥

I’ve been on a small Taiwanese drama binge of late – part of my broader plan of self-education. And what I’ve discovered is that when it comes to the Twdrama, I usually love it, or hate it. And when I find one I love, I think ‘That’s it. There’ll never be another one just as good!’ - Says me upon finishing In Time With You. So wait, the currently airing Pursuit of Happiness is produced by the same team?!? I’m in!

Read the rest of my halfway impressions on Mydramalist.com

"Currently Watching: The Pursuit of Happiness"

TwDrama Review: Devil Beside You (2005)

Devil Beside You
惡魔在身邊
3/10

Another "classic" lets me down. Lured on the promise of extra lovey-doveyness and that always sought after 'chemistry' between leads, I got to cracking on this 20 episode monster.

Verdict: It's 18 episodes too long.

Now, before I'm murdered in my blogger-sleep, I could try to explain some of my reasoning. It might even be as simple as, I was never in the mood for what this story was trying to tell. Or, the old drama bad quality meant nothing ever looked good on screen. However, after dropping it several times, and then redetermining to finish, nearly 4 months passed between when I started and when I stopped. And I was never in the mood for it. 

Here's the Story in a Nutshell

Qi Yue (Rainie Yang) loves Yuan Yi. He kind of likes her back. But devil boy Jiang Meng (Mike He) takes an interest in her as well. They fall in love. However, their parents have already fallen in love. They're about to become step-siblings. Kissing happens.

ewwwwww!

Before I start in on spoilers, and my disgust of the leads' romance, let me disect a few other plot points. I realize that Devil Beside You has a wide cast that is supposed to leave viewers loving all the connections and friendships/frenemies/family trials/etc. but to me side plots were nauseatingly boring, mostly for their lack of subtlety. Our show here is adapted from a manga, and I've already discussed some reasons why these plots usually don't entice me. Creepy clingy girls and totally stalkerish perverts (most of whom are completely redeemed by the end) do not make for a good story of human emotion. They're plot devices, through and through. So they make the leads grow and learn. Good for them.

Drama, if you want to get my attention - you need something better than caricatures. I'll take the devil concept any day. It's hot, and it usually works in a lead drama male. I don't even mind him teasing the girl in devilish fashion. I also have a relatively high tolerance to whiny spineless females. Bbbut...

Read on if you dare. I look at what's wrong with the lead couple, why I usually love this kind of concept, and confess at least one thing I thought was good. After all, I did finish it..

TwDrama Review: Easy Fortune Happy Life (2009)

Easy Fortune Happy Life
福氣又安康
4/10

Three quarters into this drama, I complained and got scolded by a Chinese-speaking friend, for watching a Taiwanese drama I’d never heard of, that wasn’t directly recommended to me. She’s right. I started this on a whim, and it sucked so badly, so I think I’ve learned my lesson.

Country bumpkin and herbal medicine specialist Xie Fu An (Joe Chen) meets the cold and ruthless Yan Da Feng (Lan Blue), presumed heir to a billion dollar corporation that sells eastern medication. It’s not exactly love at first sight because he’s looking to buy protected herbs off the black market, and our spunky lead girl just won’t stand for such things. However that’s nothing a quick plunge into quicksand won’t fix. While our leads are stuck in an awkward position plagued by caterpillars, Xie Fu An’s grandmother’s home is being burned down by black marketers. The OST switches between love-inducing happy sounds to dramatic chords as grandma tries to run to safety. Should I be amused by our future happy couple, or concerned by grandma dying? And this was only the first time I thought to myself, “wtf.” 

And why am I still sitting here watching this crap?

Easy Fortune Happy Life is a basic love story with your basic characters: good second leads, conniving bitches, remorseful grandpas, caricatured aunts and uncles, evil hapless ‘financial advisors’, a curly haired kid, a dog and a sugar glider. Take out the sugar glider and it’s like every other rom-com out there, except that I haven’t seen a drama with such bad acting, atrocious production, or asinine plot devices since… ever.

Yes, those are fighting kiwis.

No, this wasn’t some kind of side plot. This was a legitimate knife fight and one of these kiwis ended up hospitalized. I wish I was making this up. For all the lameness I decided to go ahead and marathon the rest in ultra-fast forward mode. I even found a few things to like about it, and a ton more to hate. Because sometimes a bad drama is just as much fun to talk about as an awesome one.

Vague spoilers ahead, but seriously – it’s not like no one knows how a drama like this is going to end.

TwDrama Review: Summer's Desire (2010)

Summer’s Desire
泡沫之夏
7/10 ♥ 

Summer’s Desire is pure crack. A guilty pleasure like no other – a shameless soap opera chock full of birth secrets, back stories, long flashbacks, hideous characters, dangerously dramatic scenes, and a whole lot of romance mixed with revenge, and revenge mixed with romance.

It’s a classic love triangle. What else? Boy loves girl, girl likes guy, new guy likes girl, girl loves new guy? Uhm, it’s kind of confusing, but for sure I know one thing. Both male leads are and always have been head over heels for Yin Xia Mo, played by the gorgeous Barbie Tsu. Peter Ho plays the rich young master Ou Chen, heir to a fortune, and hopelessly jealous and possessive of the girl he met and loved as a child. Huang Xiao Ming is Luo Xi, a briefly adopted son in Xia Mo’s family, now a top movie star and heartthrob to a generation.

More than that, however, viewers cannot be sure of. Summer’s Desire is captivating in its buildup, and sizzling in its prime. Why did Luo Xi leave Taiwan all those years ago before he became famous, and why is Ou Chen already suffering from amnesia – no secret as of the first episode. What’s more, he can’t even remember the girl he loved and lost (?) all those years ago, or why. Will he recover his memories first to recover his most prized possession, and will it be in time, before Luo Xi’s own feelings reawaken? Hey, it’s a Taiwanese drama. That’s anyone’s guess!

Hang on there.  I'm not sure whether I like you or love you anymore...
Just let me think about this for a few more episodes. 

Read more for the rest of my mostly Non-Spoilery review!