Oh…one more thing…the slug invasion of 2024 has begun…
Unknown (2024)
This was actually a surprise that showed up on my YouTube feed. It is a Taiwanese BL drama based on a novel by Priest. At 12 episodes and 1 episode per week, it will take a while to fully air. I hesitated to start because of the timing, because as everyone knows, I have no patience while waiting for shows. However, I was skipping between shows anyway, so I decided to start it. With only one episode, I think it’s a much better start to a BL story than other Taiwanese BL dramas airing lately.
The story is about Wei Qian, his biological younger sister, and an “adopted” younger brother he “picked up” from the street. Wei Qian and his sister “lost” their parents at a very young age and were left to fend for themselves. Wei Qian, to survive, joined a local gang and worked to support himself and his younger sister. One day, on his way home, he met a young boy sleeping in an alley. Being the person he is, Wei Qian left food for the homeless boy and continued to do so from that day on. Finally, one day, Wei Qian invited the youngest boy to live with them.
This young boy is called Wei Zhi Yuan.
In this family is Wei Qian’s best friend, San Pang, who helps the children’s family in what he and his parents accomplish. The whole first episode is about how this family became a family and how Wei Qian finally left the gang and started moving his life in the right direction.
I read the review for this novel, and almost everyone said that the story, despite being a BL novel, focused on the idea and definition of a family. And the first episode certainly got that theme across. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
Love for love
It actually came out in January, but I only found time to watch it recently. And I was able to watch all 8 episodes and get through them in one day.
The story actually begins quite mysteriously, with Tae Myung Ha talking to one of his seniors and his novel. Tae Myung Ha complains that the book didn’t treat Cha Yeo Woon very fairly or very well, and that of all the characters who deserve a happy ending, it was Yeo Woon.
The next thing he knows, he wakes up at age 19 (10 years in the past) in this novel where his ultimate mission is to make “Cha Yeo Woon happy”, and his failure to do so in the prescribed time limit. will lead to its disappearance.
Cha Yeo Woon is a young man who experienced very similar situations to Tae Myung Ha growing up, having been abandoned by a parent and living with his grandmother. His talent is in athletics, but his “life” situation began to bring additional stress in his high school years.
Into this group comes Cheon Sang Won, a boy on the other end of the wealth spectrum who falls in love with Tae Myung Ha. And there is Ahn Kyung Hoon, shy and intimidated, who becomes the link.
The story was pretty good, mainly focused on friendship and the influences they can have in a person’s life. But the real theme of this story was that you have to love yourself to love someone else. Tae Myung Ha was looking at a mirror of himself in Cha Yeo Woon. It was very nice and has some great advice. I really enjoyed this and the ending left me with a very good feeling.
Marriage impossible
Since we started with a Korean drama, let’s continue with another one! This appeared on Viki about a little over a week ago. And I started this for Moon Sang Min, who I really liked in The Queen’s Umbrella. So far, I’m only a little bit into episode 2. Like other Korean dramas, each episode is about an hour long, so that’s 12 in total and 2 episodes per week.
It’s more of a romantic comedy, at least that’s how it starts, between Na Ah Jung, Lee Do Han and Do Ha’s younger brother Ji Han. Our FL, Ah Jung, is a struggling actress who is very determined to try and get a break in her career. Her best friend is Do Han, who she doesn’t know is the heir to a very rich family. Do Han was called back to Korea by his grandfather to enter into a marriage alliance and take over the business. The reason he needs this marriage? Because Do Han and Ji Han are illegitimate. Their mother is their grandfather’s daughter. However, the wedding has to take place on Do Han for a reason we find out later.
Ji Han fully supports his older brother’s marriage to Yoon Chae Won, as he has ambitions to help his brother take over the business away from his cousins. While his older brother doesn’t care and has no desire to take over the business. But Ji Han can only rely on him because his grandfather apparently won’t allow Ji Han to be the heir.
There’s just one small problem… Do Han has no desire to marry… a woman. And his sexual orientation is something only Ah Jung knows. Under pressure to get married, Do Han “proposes” to Ah Jung, saying that she will be starring in the role of his life, that she will be the lead role and that it is a job that will take 3 years to complete.
Let’s see how this story plays out. Ah Jung trying to protect her best friend. Do Han trying to find a way to avoid having to marry someone. And Ji Han who is determined to convince his brother to marry the “right” woman so that he can inherit. It’s an interesting setup, and I kind of like how awkward Ah Jung and Do Han are when they’re together. Fingers crossed.
Legend of the white cat
No one should be surprised that I started this… There’s Ding Yu Xi in a period drama solving a crime. All episodes have been deleted but I only have episode 6.
The story begins with Chen Shi, new to town, and finds himself in the middle of an investigation aided by a cat who can write. Unfortunately, Chen Shi doesn’t know how to read (it was funny, when the cat rolled its eyes). This “investigation” unit is led by Shangguan Qin, who has a group of not-so-large male subordinates. They each have a quark which defines their character.
Chen Shi is “accused” of being the culprit and is thrown into prison. When a series of events occurred that caused the “cat” to escape, the cat takes Chen Shi with him. The “cat” turns out to be Li Bing, the son of the last chief inspector who “disappeared” years ago while accompanying his father’s coffin.
The irony of all this is that the investigation keeps saying that there are no supernatural causes when Li Bing is “supernatural” since he can transform into a cat!
The first 6 episodes set the stage and explain how Li Bing is appointed by the empress to head the investigation unit.
I like the stupidity of the characters, especially the scribe, who is the “black cloud” and who always attracts disasters. Let’s see how it goes.
Eternal Brotherhood
I wasn’t going to start this because it sounds like a war drama that would require me to pay attention. But in the end, I wanted to find out what it was about and I also like Liu Yu Ning.
