Apparently Kamenashi went viral because ppl mistook his photos for jungkook 😆 and then there is me …who likes jungkook from the start because jungkook looks like Kamenashi 😀
I was looking up new dramas by kame, didn’t find any. But I found the Kamenashi replacement – takeru sato making rom coms lately 😜 both his dramas are on Netflix now. They both suck lol 😆 but he is great. Very handsome. He is a famous action star actually.
He was the star of the rurouni Kenshin movies 🙂 playing a legendary samurai. These movies are great 👍 if you guys ever get a chance and are on Netflix 😊
Girl disguised as a boy. In Beatrice, everyone knows her as a girl who likes to dress like a boy. Petite and youthful, Chloe, the disguised princess Beatrice ends up as Alessandro’s personal maid. Of course he falls in love with her, knowing she is a woman, but not knowing she is the captured and enslaved princess of a conquered nation. The premise reminds me of Arya Stark, working for Tywin Lannister. There is no second lead, the obstacle is Alessandro’s status, position and father.
CAMELLIA
Disguised as a boy again, the illegitimate child of a high ranking noble, makes two of the male leads fall for her. One of them knows she is a woman, whereas the other one pulls a Nakatsu from Hana Kimi and loves her regardless. Obviously misconception ensues in this one as well as both male protagonists are suspected of being attracted to men since no one else know Camellia is a woman.
Both Manhwas have breathtaking art style. I love Chloe more but I love the male lead of Camellia more than Alessandro. Both male leads have other better suited leading ladies vying for their attention. Other than that, it is nothing complicated. Nothing much to write home about. I can’t say it tugged at my heart a lot. It was just a cute story where you just wait for the moment of reveal or the moment of confession. In Beatrice, it was the moment she realized that Alessandro might actually be in love with her. And in Camellia, well it was when he realized her to be a woman.
The storylines of “The villainess is a marionette” and “crowning a spoiled prince” aka ” my second life as a trash princess” are two very similar stories. They both have a princess as the protagonist who has been reincarnated a few years prior to her first death, a bratty spoilt prince who is her brother. Who she must control or learn to subdue. And a hot guy Duke who is going to be the savior to our princess with whom she makes a pact.
And both series probably have the most gorgeous art I have ever seen in any manhwa ever. Marionette has an art style that is flowy, whimsical, LOTS of patterns and details in the background. Lots of lines and shapes. Where the trashy princess has shadows. Such attention to shapes and angles and shine of surfaces! While both art styles are breathtaking in their own way, they are easily the manhwas with the best art ever.
Duke Kedrey & Prince Regef
Coming to the plot, while the characters are the same, and they share the same destination the storylines are actually exactly the opposite of each other. Kayena – the puppet princess was a foolish pretty girl in her past life. And was executed after being used by her family – namely her hot younger brother – prince Regef. She had also interfered in the love between Duke Kedrey and Olivia – the protagonist of her original life, whom both male leads took a fancy to. She was sort of the villainess on that front.
So in this life, she decided to mend her ways. Instead of being a pretty fool she becomes a cunning strategist who must first get her brother under her control – by being extremely subservient to him, or pretending to be. Then she must mend her connection with Duke Kedrey who she used to fawn over, and completely distance herself from him to gain his trust and bring him to her side. Raphael Kedrey of course falls in love with the reformed princess while they strike a pact to find her a husband so she can escape the palace.
Trash princess starts off similar with a reincarnated princess a few years before all hell broke loose. Our princess Regina Alpere, was assassinated by her fiance. The main villain though is a sorcerer that controls him. The bad guys had Regina’s younger brother, Theore under their spell after the emperor was assassinated. In this life, Regina seeks to bring up her brother as a brat, instead of subduing him like Kayena, and herself become a bratty spoiled airhead or at least wants the reputation of one, completely contrary to Kayenas plotline. To extend the uncanny inversion, she decides to make a pact with Duke Aaron – and asks him to allow her to fawn over him to further spread the reputation she wants to craft for herself.
Duke Vestein & Prince Theore
Not only is the character dynamics, exact opposite — Aaron is blonde and Raphael is black haired. Kayena and Regef are blonde whereas Regina and Theore are brunettes. Both girls were killed by their fiance/husband in their last life. But the real big bad was someone else that controlled them. The dudes that kill the princess are both blue long haired. The emperors start out not liking both girls but eventually they both manage to win his favor, although by the exact opposite means. Kayena by displaying moral fortitude and intelligence, Regina by ignoring him and using passive aggression.
I decided to rewatch one of my favorite Josei Animes lately – Akatsuki No Yona. I had seen it way back in 2015 and I remember it being a treat. I wanted to know if there was a follow up season. Sadly – though the manga has progressed ( and I read upto chapter 200 ) there is no more seasons. I found that unfair. Was it because it was a Josei anime, I wondered. But it was quite popular.. oh well. I resorted to just reading the manga and hoping they release a new season in the future. I mean they made a new inuyasha season and a new geass movie to tie up loose ends, 10 years later – so there is hope!
Akatsuki No Yona
At its core – it’s a story of betrayal. And a banished princess who must seek vengeance and reclaim what is hers. The antagonist – also happens to be Yona’s first love/childhood crush. In a struggle for power to the throne, he betrays her and her family and sends people to kill her if needed. All this is episode 1. So that, in my opinion is quite different a start to a Josei anime. We don’t get many Josei animes with a revenge plotline. Much less when hime sama herself has to train in weaponry to gain skills of combat ( instead of relying on her harem of handsome men ). So I quite liked this new age Josei and was rooting for the show to keep up the awesome.
And it did not disappoint. Because if the warrior princess protagonist was not enough – let’s talk about her harem of yandere bodyguards – who are not only all extremely handsome ( except yellow – who is the shota ) but are also ancient Dragon spirits who have been incarnated through generations to be eventually found by Yona – the Crimson Dragon spirit herself and rallied to her cause to protect the empire originally founded by the Red Dragon. Princess out to find warriors – Ninja Senshi Tobikage with Princess Romina feels. The whole experience of locating the Silver, the Emerald, the Sapphire and the Gold Dragon itself was a rewarding journey to watch, specially the remarkably stark contrast in the life stories of the White and the Blue Dragon. I am pretty sure you cannot watch the Blue Dragon arc without crying. And I am glad they made one of the dragon symbolize that part of society which would not necessarily treat something different to be something holy and would only ostracize the different. The Green Dragon is my favorite though – since he is the bad boy who gets tamed and becomes the direct rival – in jest – to Hak.
Which of course brings us to Hak – our male protagonist – and boy oh boy is he good. Dark haired, tall, silent, strong Tsundere Hak – but sometimes a yandere – to a clueless Yona. Reliable, faithful, loyal and someone who will protect her with his life. Hak makes the whole show better. Love watching his one sided display of attention – the usually strong silent protector who lets his guard down to woo his princess – something that was missing in shows like Blood+ – where the silent guardian was just a glorified butler with an invisible class wall separating them from their ward. I am glad this is not the pattern in this show – and Hak is not tormented to suffer in a one sided unrequited love. Because yona will never realize his feelings otherwise given how dense she is and how hopelessly in love and simultaneously in pain she is over losing Soo-won.
Fushigi Yugi
Speaking of dragon warriors of the past – we cannot not mention the original isekai manga/anime – Fushigi yuugi or Curious Play, the second anime I ever watched. Back then it was a 19+ anime happily being shown to kids – with a heavy focus on romance. I saw that it had a bunch of hot dudes, ( it is once again a reverse harem after all ) and some hot sultry women with colorful hair and an aura of danger and seduction. Many more women than Ninja Senshi had. But what I didn’t know – is that it had actual sex scenes in it as well. Several of them in fact – and it suggests that the female protagonist Miaka slept with more than one male lead, Takashi and the Hotohori other than Tamahome, and even one of the antagonists. My favorite however was when Nakago’s gf tried to seduce and sleep with Tamahome, the male protagonist – that scene was so hot and heavy it stayed in my memory for a long time despite not depicting anything explicit at all. Other than her own celestial warriors, warriors from the opposing faction have also at some point tried to seduce Miaka on more than one occasion. That’s a lot of action if you ask me. I mean the number of love triangles in this show is countless. everyone is included in at least one maybe two and for Miaka is probably 10. 0_0 But I digress. Let me try that again! 😛
Watching Yona, reminded me of ancient dragons, who established or protected kindgoms in ancient history and a chosen woman, a priestess in this case who has to go and gather all the celestial warriors she needs to rally to her cause. In this case, the priestess Miaka is a girl from the modern world, who gets ‘isekai’d into the story of the book she has never read. Along with her, her BFF gets transported as well but she gets picked up as the savior of the rival kindgom. Now Miaka is revered as the legendary priestess foretold – who shall appear and gather all the legendary celestial warriors and save the kingdom from destruction by summoning the Grand Guardian – The Crimson Phoenix. Meanwhile Yui, her friend is to save the other kingdom by summoning the Blue Dragon after she gathers all her celestial warriors. Now, animes these days do not always pit women against each other. So this plot seems a bit dated, not to mention they both crush over the male protagonist – the Star Warrior – Tamahome.
Since I brought up Tamahome, can I just say he is probably my most favorite anime hero of all time. And I don’t just mean the looks, the voice, the personality but the character he actually is. I mean, he has the aura, charisma of a bad boy – Alladin like street urchin vibes who can always be relied upon to appear and beat up the bad guys and rescue Miaka. Not to mention, kind hearted enough to rescue her friend and treat her well just because she is Miaka’s friend. But as if that was not enough, he had to be someone who respected miaka;s choice when it came to become one with him. He was okay to wait and asked her to take her time despite looking forward to it so much. Not just that, but when Miaka was violated by Nakago he asked her to forgive herself and told her she was still beautiful to you. And if even That was not enough to secure his place as the best male hero ever – towards the end of the series, he realizes he is but just a character of a story. Quite the meta moment that causes him to lose his mind momentarily and have an existential crisis quite literally. But he comes back from that, in the same episode, with the realization – that he was created purely to love and protect Miaka. And he was okay with it, he said, if that is his truth – he can make peace with that. I mean, if that does not win your heart I don’t what will. The scene was quite emotional as well, elevated by the music.
The music of the show is just on another level as well. I mean, I only remember watching the opening and the ending here and there when I was at my cousin’s who used to subscribe to the TV channel that aired the anime at that time. I remember how shocked she was to find out it showed naked people in the openings. I could never watch the whole thing because there was always a sex scene or two or so it seemed. Nevertheless the music of the show is on another level altogether. It drives home those feelings so beautifully, friendship, longing, youth, adventure and most importantly pure undiluted fated love. I so wish love like that could be found. its all possible and its all real. It does not have to be a hero – the loyalty and devotion that Tamahome shows at every way every turn – he should be a Disney hero and known to all children around the world. Miaka on the other hand is a disgrace. A ditzy clumsy clueless girl who seems to be overflowing with lack of common sense and a misplaced sense of doing good for everyone, putting herself at risk every-time. she is not the example of a clever female lead. Is she lovable? yes.
I had seen this one, when I was in my late teens. Decided to re-watch when I was bored, and also because I thought, the final act might just give me the closure I never got. Also, it was on Netflix. Where do I even start with this one…
You can say this story started when the Girl leapt across the time well. But, I think this started when Kikyo uttered the words “die Inuyasha” and pinned him to a tree. The priestess Kikyo and the Jewel of the four souls. That, is what this game is about. And the demon Naraku that coveted the jewel and the priestess that guarded it.
But then of course, Kikyo died. And was reborn as Kagome. Along with the Jewel, for that was the jewel’s wish. Kagome then leapt across centuries to land in the Feudal Japan and resurrected ( sort of ) Inuyasha from the tree. And their story continued. I mean, this is one hell of a love triangle. Yet it makes no sense. If Kikyo gets to be with Inuyasha, she would be at peace, and if Kagome gets to be with him then Kikyo need not worry – she will fulfill her heart’s desire in another life. Why quarrel over one man. Especially when Kikyo could set her eyes upon an even better – Inuyasha’s old brother – DaiYokai Sesshomaru. Or who knows, maybe even Naraku – naraku loved her enough to start this damn tall tale to begin with.
Love triangles aside, th estoryline of inuyasha and Sesshomaru and the swords of their honorable father, are also very interesting. While Tetsaiga’s transoformations are very shounen anime trope, the twist in the end, the role Tenseiga plays, and in turn its wielder and his love hate relationship with it, is very intricate. Even when I rewatched it, it was clear, that Sesshomaru was the other central figure of the story. And unlike Kikyo, who perishes once more, to make room for Kagome, Sesshomaru continues to live on, as both the strongest as well as the most enigmatically charming character of the story.
Sesshomaru and the many women that love him are another story arc altogether. And as if Rin and him wern;t shocking enough, Kagura’s feelings for me, and him coming to her last moments were just … outsanding for me. Kikyo and Sesshomaru are definitely the main protagonists of the show. Naraku being the antagonist, Kagome and Inuyasha and Sango and Miroku are just …characters. In fact everyone else is a side character. Even if it doesn’t feel that way.
Between Kagura, Kikyo, Kagome and Sango and her Cat Carrier – this show had its fair share of amazing female characters. That’s when you know it was written by a woman. The men arn’t that bad, And Sesshomaru is definitely the best of the lot. Leaving you with my favorite pictures.
I used to love gender bending TV shows where the girl dresses up as a guy and has the lead fall in love with her but this one was different. This is the a reverse gender bend. But I have to say I have never laughed so hard watching a kDrama before. The acting and the script set such a high standard at the beginning of the year that I do not think I will watch any dramas after that, until I have satisfactorily forgotten about this one. Both the main leads deserve the highest acting awards.
There is one thing I did realize watching this, is that perhaps gender bending was a means for gay people to otherwise enjoy a chemistry that doesnot normally cater to their interests. I mean, here we have a man in a woman’s body, with a disinterest in all things male and avid interest in all things female. A lesbian can watch this show and be able to relate! And is that not what stories are all about? Entertainment through relatable emotions? And I now, I understand the hidden dual role these stories play in our society. Hana Kimi, Coffee Prince, they all make sense now.
And this is not just gender bending, it is also time traveling! Two tropes rolled in once! And we get to see a modern day chef try and adjust to life in the Josei dynasty. As well as people around her trying to make sense of her ways and mannerisms and most importantly the colloquial slang! No-Tachi!!
Leaving the main premise aside, I love the costume, the set design and even the supporting characters. The music, the sound effects the exaggerated almost manha like gestures, this was definitely a show I thoroughly enjoyed after a long long time. I binged 8 episodes all at once, do not remember doing that for a while. 🙂 11/10 would rewatch.
And this is not just about a modern chef remaking Michelin recipes in the Josein era to solve life’s challenges, there is also sedition, hidden identities, a King like robin hood, and a whole lot of historical reference and politics that usually goes along with ruling a king dom.. Some people say it is not exactly that historically accurate, but who cares about that.
funny guy. CEO fantasy. Rich guy poor woman trope. Second leads and leading ladies. Briliant personality and humor throughout. Melodrama but not quite. lot of quirkiness and amazing script writing – Comedy & Romance Gold with a mystery whodunit thrown in.
Rarely do I love, no obsessively adore a TV show as much as I now do The Master’s Sun. Romance, comedy (it can be REALLY funny), mystery, a little bit of horror, and drama make up this entertaining supernatural K-Drama. The Master’s Sun is a South Korean drama about a woman who sees dead people ever since an accident a few years back. With frightening ghosts always coming to Tae Gong-shil for help, she can’t get any rest or relief until she meets the arrogant and rich Joo Joong-won, the CEO of a shopping mall called Kingdom.
At first glance it seems similar to any other Rich CEO falling for poor woman with high standards. But the CEO is actually different, mainly because his arrogance isn’t simply that – he is just very confident. He is compassionate. And he is funny. Taeyang, on the other hand – sort of becomes his special weapon – kind of like Midnight Secretary. And the two of them have a relationship that is similar for a while. Indispensable to each other. yet not admitting to either their real true feelings for each other.
The ending has a memory loss to make the readers go through an emotional rollercoaster where the CEO re-falls in love with her all over again – so its like building a relationship – it almost gets to the end, and then like a sandcastle it gets destroyed – and the readers get to watch it rebuild – although a lot faster this time once again. So you get two for one drama! Bonus. The ghosts and the episodic nature of the start – one ghost per week made it very unique and interesting to me. I like dramas that utilize plot points given to them outside of the normal ones. Brings variety and the relationship development is a lot better. I hope they make dramas like this more.
I like watching Reality shows sometimes. Two of my favorite ones, till date are a Cooking Reality Show – Masterchef Australia. And Fashion reality show – America’s next top model. Basically all things Venus ruled!
So I picked up two that were available on Netflix recently – The Final Table and Next in Fashion. They lack the strong competitiveness I am used to, and maybe the credibility of judges is not that high leading to some wrong decisions – but they were fun nonetheless.
Can’t say the plates were works of art that I am used to. Even though the contestants were professional chefs as opposed to home cooks in masterchef, still. It seems, every season, towards the end, the cooks step up and produce amazingly inspiring works of food art.
I didn’t agree with the decisions, but the clothes were pretty to look at. The stow-stopper of the end was the best. I agree with that much at least, yes.
Yeah so, after picking up Tale of Gumiho – and being led down halfway through the series ( because the actress just dies not have an expression – more like she can only be the happy expression ) I needed to satiate this Lee Dong Wook craving I had developed ( because omg he Fiiiiine ) I decided to pick up his one drama that introduced him to me and also made him a super star. Goblin. I remember Goblin having its moments of funny spread apart by its moments of melancholy aka boring. So I just skipped past the scenes involving the two main leads and only watched scenes with Sunny and the Reaper. And wow – what a feast for my eyes.
But that made me crave Sunny and LDW – so I re-picked up “touch my heart” or whatever it was about those two being main leads and LDW being a lawyer where the actress comes to be an intern. It was Really boring – but more realistic strangely as far as couple dynamics go. I think they tried to capture the dynamics of an innocent man, inexperienced in love – being smitten by Sunny – a charming beautiful quirky lady – who is not cynical yet innocent when it comes to love. I think the reason it did not work, because LDW’s vanilla persona in Goblin was somewhat balanced by the Spiciness of Sunny’s Quirky character. None of their interactions were conventional. Granted they were not conventional characters, but without enough personality there was not much more to experience. The drama also lacked other plot – that involved interesting law cases – that could have intrigued the viewers and used as a backdrop for their growing romance, but the producers seemed intent on milking their fans’ worship for the duo – and to others who loved this pair for the content – were disappointed. There just wasn’t enough spark.
Unsatisfied – I went searching for anything else he might have starred in the past – and I was pleasantly surprised to find a good KDrama which was once on my watch list but had somehow slipped my mind. Scent of a woman. What an emotional Rollercoaster. Just like Kdramas used to be a decade ago. Every episode was worth it. Every little unrealistic interaction, overacting by the mom or interference by the in laws – made me realize how I missed the old Kdramas. The actress I am not a big fan of. But have to admit she did a remarkable job. I almost watched My lovely Sam Soon, too. But Scent of a woman, was great – very fulfilling. Had a great message. Something that life coaches are trying to make popular these days. The power of positive thinking. Affirmations and living your life everyday as if it were your last – without fear – without baggage or limiting thoughts. To be truly free – when one can achieve that – one can truly live their life to the fullest!
But I will say, Tale of Nine tailed, surprised me – at HOW SEXY he can truly be. If you watch Goblin, you will never believe what a sly cunning fox – no pun intended he can be. He is a great actor indeed. I feel like his true personality os not from Scent of a woman, or Goblin, but this. I mean, this drama was all smirks and cold stares. Who said real people can’t look like Animes. He truly looks like he was drawn – the perfect proportions and the perfect expressions. Exceptionally flirtatious – I mean I might just finish the drama because I want to see more of him. But who thought of pairing him with her? Such a perfect opportunity to create Kdrama’s next hottest thing – wasted. Feel sorry for him, I hope his agents do a better job next time. Till then, I shall feast my eyes on this eye candy. I mean, middle part log straight hair and eyebrows is all what you needed. pair that with his deep voice and omg. Although, if I am honest, I would take him as reaper over Gumiho. That touch of innocence and melancholy to his mischievous grin is something else entirely.
Monogatari 