Well, this was a delight. This has all of the elements you want in a drama. A very cute main couple with no slap kiss elements, nice and relatively well developed secondary characters, and kind parents/parental figures. Obviously Cin's stepmother and stepsister are horrible to Cin, as per what you expect after reading the synopsis, but it was nice to have the main pairing just able to be together without his or her parents getting in the way.

As we all know, Bomb isn't exactly the greatest actor in the world but I would say he did a decent job with this role. Playing a camp gay ghost gave him room to try out some facial expressions, which he mostly succeeded with. He could sometimes look creepy when he was meant to just be smiling, but Bomb is Bomb, lol. The rest of the cast was generally satisfactory, nothing really leaps out at me as something to be picked on.

I'd say the fantasy aspect of it went a tiny bit haywire nearing the end, but it did make sense for the most part. There were no unanswered questions about how exactly this happened or why, which was appreciated. And there wasn't so much possession that you were confused over whether it was Cin or Mark that Mate actually loved. The possession was also rarely awkward to watch. It was usually just funny, and you didn't feel too much second hand embarrassment for Cin.

Overall, I'd say this is one of the better Channel 3 offerings in the last year, and was consistently funny and cute and sweet right to the end. I'm not sure it's a drama you would rewatch but it's definitely worth watching at least once.

Leggi di Più

I was thinking about my rating for this drama, and it made me want to write a quick review. I gave it a 7 originally, but thinking back to it now, I think that's largely to do with the first 5 episodes, which almost deserve a 10/10. But then, the rest of the show is more like a 6. So i feel like it doesn't even deserve a rating of a 7, but when I think about the quality of the first 5 episodes, I feel like I can't give it less than a 7.

The kids were fantastic, and the mystery and story set-up of their episodes was enough to draw me in completely. I was waiting impatiently each week for the next episodes. But even with the adult actors being who they are (I was very ready to love this drama, with just the actors alone), that couldn't stop the drama from dragging its heels for all of the middle episodes, because they apparently only had one very thin plot point to go on (first love). The show was so focused on the main pairing that everyone and everything else fell by the wayside.

It was a very pretty drama, and got better towards the end, but I think this was one of the most overrated shows of 2012, and did not deserve to hit 40 in the ratings. It wasn't a bad show, not at all. It just wasn't as good as it could have been, or as the reviews and ratings suggest it is.

Leggi di Più

I really enjoyed this drama. I haven't read the manga but i've seen the Korean version, and they're both similar enough that I figure they followed the manga pretty closely.

I do think Joe Cheng has some room to improve, acting wise. I know the character is supposed to be cold and taciturn, but sometimes when he was supposed to be cold & taciturn while still showing some other kind of emotion, he failed. You could tell that something was supposed to be there, but his face just wasn't expressing it well enough.

But apart from that, he did a good job. When he needed to be loving and cute and protective, he could do that fine. The rest of the main cast was mostly fine (Tiffany Hsu is beautiful, although maybe add her to the Needs Improvement list too), and I do find Ariel Lin impossibly adorable.

30 episodes is always a bit long for a TV series. As someone who watches far more Korean and Japanese dramas than Taiwanese, by the 30th episode, i'm generally pretty happy for it to be over, no matter how much I've enjoyed it. But with this, while I was still happy for it to end, I'm still looking forward to watching the sequel. I like these characters, and i want to see them through their marriage.

Definitely worth watching.

Leggi di Più