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idol drama

It Came from the Sinosphere: My Lucky Star, Part 2

March 12, 2013 by Sara K. Leave a Comment

luckystar

Welcome back. You can find Part 1 here, and here is the opening song again (yes, I do like the song).

Background on the Actors

For an idol drama, this drama has remarkably few idols. It rose to popularity mainly on the strength of the story. The only actor who really qualifies as an idol is Jimmy Lin, who plays Zhong Tianqi. This role was pretty made for him, for in addition to being an actor, he is a real-life professional car racer. However, his most famous role as a actor was not in an idol drama, but in wuxia (specifically, he played Duan Yu in the 2003 version of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils).

Jimmy Lin as Duan Yu, Prince of Dali.

Jimmy Lin as Duan Yu, Prince of Dali.

Arguably, Leon Jay Williams (who plays Zhong Tianjun) is also a quasi-idol, since he is a professional model, and quite easy on the eyes, even compared to most idol drama stars.

Interestingly, they cast a Korean actress, Yoo Ha-na, to play Xia Zhixing, which occasionally happens in Taiwanese television. It seems that her lines were dubbed, and I’m not sure who the dub artist (which I think is a pity, since the dub artist deserves as much credit as Yoo Ha-na). While I think their acting is okay, I think there are a number of Taiwanese actresses who could have played the role even better (I would have cast Barbie Hsu). There is a scene where Zhong Tianqi overhears some very soap-opera-ish dialogue, and Xia Zhixing claims “Oh, it’s just a K-drama.” I found that line doubly funny because the very character claiming that it was just a K-drama was being played by a Korean actress.

Location Location Location!

This drama features Ruifang, Wulai, and Pingxi, three of the top tourist attractions in the Taipei region.

However, rather than setting the story in Ruifang/Wulai/Pingxi, the story combines all three of them into the fictional village of “Mingde,” which is Xia Zhixing’s hometown. As someone who is familiar with Ruifang, Wulai, and Pingxi, this is a bit confusing, since sometimes the characters are in Ruifang one moment, and then they are in Pingxi the next moment.

However, I don't think the drama shows the *really* beautiful parts of Pingxi, such as this spot, which just happens to be one of my favorite spots in all of Taiwan

However, I don’t think the drama shows the *really* beautiful parts of Pingxi, such as this spot, which just happens to be one of my favorite spots in all of Taiwan

Actually, Ruifang, Wulai, and Pingxi are more than just tourist attractions: they are important symbols of Taiwanese culture. Pingxi is often held up as being an idyllic Taiwanese rural town, which is why is it often featured in commercials, movies, etc (part of You Are the Apple of My Eye is set in Jingtong, which is in the Pingxi district). Wulai is the location of northern Taiwan’s highest waterfall.

The town of Wulai (I am resisting the urge to share even more photos of Wulai).

The town of Wulai (I am resisting the urge to share even more photos of Wulai).

However, Ruifang in particular has an important place in Taiwanese culture. The towns of Jiufen, Jinguashi, and Shuinandong are all in the Ruifang district. Jiufen was once so prominent as a cultural center that it was called “little Shanghai.” As I’ve mentioned before, Jiufen and Jinguashi are the location of Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s A City of Sadness, which not only a famous Taiwanese film, it’s often ranked as one of the best Chinese-language movies ever made. Furthermore, Jiufen inspired Hayao Miyazaki to make Spirited Away, which is why the town is almost always full of Japanese tourists.

My own photo of the Thirteen Levels

My own photo of the Thirteen Levels

The “Thirteen Levels,” one of Taiwan’s most recognizable landmarks, is in Shuinandong, and it appears in this drama (it also appears in Fated to Love You). One of my favorite works of art in the Tapei Fine Arts Museum permanent collection depicts the Thirteen Levels, and it’s featured in many films, both professional and amateur. I have never been inside the Thirteen Levels since it’s technically forbidden to enter, but I know someone who has been inside, and he said that he saw other people inside too, so apparently a lot of people ignore the restrictions.

In other words, watching this drama is a bit like taking a tour of the most popular destinations in rural Taipei.

Okay, I can't help it, here's a picture I took in Shuinandong looking up at Chahushan, which is in Jinguashi (if you're confused, just know that this is all in the Ruifang district).

Okay, I can’t help it, here’s a picture I took in Shuinandong looking up at Chahushan, which is in Jinguashi (if you’re confused, just know that this is all in the Ruifang district).

Fashion

I mostly find the costuming choices in Taiwanese idol dramas uninteresting, but this drama is definitely the exception, which is what you would expect from a drama which deals a lot with jewelry. And the guys’ clothes are just as interesting as the girls’ clothes.

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See Zhong Tianqi and Xia Zhixing together. They’re clothes are not boring. I think Zhong Tianqi’s checkered collar is a particularly nice touch.

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See Xia Zhixing and Han Zhiyin together. Again, their clothes are not boring.

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Xia Zhixing and Han Zhiyin together, again. You can’t tell from this picture, but this outfit makes Xia Zhixing look a little pregnant. I actually like that, since it emphasizes her motherly qualities.

The Silliness and the Sadness

Whereas Fated to Love You has tongue-in-cheek humor, this drama is straight-up silly. In fact, part of the appeal for me is seeing just how far the drama will go. Just as protagonists are fearlessly themselves, this drama is fearless in is silliness.

Xia Zhixing and Zhong Tianqi are sitting on a toilet, and it looks like they are having sex, even though they are actually not.

Zhong Tianqi and Xia Zhixing get into awkward positions.

(Tangent: in a world free of rape culture, I would think it is totally funny that certain things the characters happen to be doing seem to be sexual assault, even though that is not the character’s intent at all, just I would think it’s funny if the characters seemed to be murdering somebody when actually it’s just an innocent mistake. But victims of sexual assault are so often disbelieved and told that the assault was “just a misunderstanding,” in fact, I can tell you from personal experience that victims sometimes tell themselves that it’s just a misunderstanding so that they don’t have to face that they are victims of harassment/assault, that I’m not completely comfortable with laughing when it’s revealed what certain characters *reasonably* suspect is sexual assault really turns out to be a misunderstanding).

Some of it gets pretty corny, but that, weirdly, is part of the charm.

It’s also full of melodrama (this fan music video, featuring the theme song, offers a good taste of the melodrama). Many of the plot twists are awfully cliché, but, well, it’s boldly cliché. And considering that a five-year-old girl gets Xia Zhixing to spend 8 hours publicly handcuffed to the hot and handsome Han Zhiyin, I am willing to overlook a couple cliches.

And I think this drama just might have the saddest moment of any idol drama I’ve watched. Specifically, the scene where Ou Yaruo listens to the MP3 player.

luckystar26

Why is listening to the contents of an MP3 player sad? Part of me wants to explain the context, but I do hope that this drama will eventually get licensed in English, so I don’t want to spoil it.

Someone on Youtube claims that (spoiler warning, especially if you understand Mandarin) this is the most moving scene in My Lucky Star, but I found it too cliché. Okay, I’ll be honest, I got totally emotionally invested in that scene too, but at least I’m embarrassed that such cliché melodrama got to me.

However, the moment which really got my tears flowing was when Xia Zhixing falls down on the road between Jinguashi and Shuinandong (even though I know this is supposed to the fictional village Mingde, I still can’t help but think of these places as being Ruifang/Pingxi/Wulai). There is nothing original at all about this scene, but the story is so bold, and so sincere, in its melodrama, that I really could not help myself. Even if I forget everything else in this drama, I don’t think I’ll ever forget this particular moment.

Availability in English

Currently, there is no legal way to watch this drama in English. It would be really nice if someone changed this state of affairs.

Conclusion

When I first started watching idol dramas, I stuck with idol dramas adapted from Japanese manga, since the stories were familiar to me, and I didn’t have enough confidence in my Mandarin comprehension skills to delve into completely new territory (and how is it that I have yet to discuss a single idol drama adapted from manga?)

This is the first idol drama I watched which a) was not adapted from a manga and b) had a plot that was totally unknown to me. I was not just concerned about my language skills, I was also concerned about whether or not it would be a good story (if I had read the manga, at least I could reasonably predict whether or not I would like the drama). Not only was I totally capable of understanding this drama, I fell in love with it.

It definitely has its flaws, and overall, I have to say that Fated to Love You is a higher-quality production. Nonetheless, this is one of my top favorite idol dramas, and when I say that somebody should license this in English, I’m serious.

Next time: The Nine Provinces (novel)


An earthquake is happening right now as Sara K. is writing this. Many Taiwanese people expect Sara K. to be freaked out at every single earthquake. Sara K. then points out that she grew up in San Francisco. She does feel a lot less earthquakes in Taoyuan than in other parts of Taiwan (such as Taipei and Hualien), most likely because Taoyuan has more stable ground than Taipei, and the faults around Hualien are more active.

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: idol drama, Jimmy Lin, My Lucky Stare, Pingxi, Ruifang, taiwan, Wulai

It Came from the Sinosphere: My Lucky Star, Part 1

March 5, 2013 by Sara K. Leave a Comment

luckystartop

Jewel thieves! Car racing! Beautiful scenery! Melodrama! Silly sexual humor! This drama has a lot going for it. Let’s set the mood with a song:

Now, a scene from the first episode.

Example Scene

Ou Yaruo is getting married today. Or at least that’s what she thinks.

lucky01

When the door opens, she assumes that it’s her fiance.

lucky02

Actually, it’s her ex-boyfriend.

lucky03

Clearly, this is not good news.

lucky04

Ou Yaruo tells him to get out.

lucky05

He does not get out.

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In fact, he gets closer to her. She apparently broke his heart when she dumped him.

lucky07

He’s very interested in her necklace.

lucky08

The sneak tabloid photographer has arrived on the scene…

lucky09

… and he’s just in time to take a picture of them kissing.

lucky10

After the kiss, he leaves, leaving her wondering what the meaning of this encounter was. Does she still love him? Did he come to take back the jewel of her heart?

lucky11

Then she realizes, no, he did not come to steal the jewel of her heart. He just wanted to steal the big jewel in her necklace, which he has slipped off her neck while kissing her.

The Heroine

lucky14

From all of the Taiwanese idol dramas I’ve seen, I think Xia Zhixing is my favorite female protagonist. She’s one of the most honest and compassionate characters in the entire drama – which is ironic, considering she’s a con artist dating another con artist.

Well, Zhong Tianqi catches her in the act, and she gets sent to prison for two years. Not only does she spend two years in prison, but when she gets out, she discovers that she’s lost her con artist boyfriend.

But wait! She catches Zhong Tianqi stealing a jewel too! He got her sent to prison while he’s a thief himself. No fair!

So why did Xia Zhixing become a con artist in the first place? It’s revealed that she’s an orphan, and she grew up in poverty. Being a con artist was the only way she was able to find out of her poverty, and after leaving prison, she finds herself back in financial distress. The fact that she now has a criminal record makes it hard for her to make an honest living which, ironically, is the only thing pushing her back into a career of crime.

Because of her own difficult experiences, Xia Zhixing has a lot of empathy for other people in unfortunate circumstances, especially people who ended up in them through no fault of their own. At one point, she makes a HUGE sacrifice for the sake of an innocent child she barely knows.

When she’s not trying to pull off a con, she is not afraid to be herself, even when this might make people uncomfortable. For example, she does not try to hide her criminal past to anybody that she cares about.

Many of her cons revolved around selling fake jewels. During this “job,” she learned a lot about jewelry, and developed an interest in jewelry design. Is this the path to an honest living, or will her past hold her back? Or will she put others’ needs before her own?

The Guys

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Much as I love Xia Zhixing, this drama is make even better by a good set of male protagonists.

Guy #1: Zhong Tianqi

lucky13

He is the black sheep of his rich family. He’s handsome, he speaks French, and he races cars. Most of all, he’s fearless, whether that means defying his father, standing up for what he feels is right, or car racing while blindfolded.

I am not kidding about the blindfolded car race.

He also takes things very, very deeply to heart. That means that, when somebody is important to him, he will dedicate himself to that person 100%. On the other hand, when he feels betrayed, he gets very, VERY nasty (see the above scene where he ruins his ex-girlfriend’s wedding).

It’s a common trope in Taiwanese idol dramas for Guy #1 to turn into a jerk at some point, and in my opinion Zhong Tianqi does this better than any other Guy #1. First of all, it’s clear that he becomes a jerk because of intense personal suffering, but most of all, I like that he’s a colorful jerk. He is the standard to which I hold up all other Guy #1 jerks. If the male protagonist must turn into a jerk, he at least should be as much fun as Zhong Tianqi.

Oh, and he’s also a prince.

lucky16

Guy #2: Zhong Tianjun

lucky17

Zhong Tianjun is Zhong Tianqi’s older brother. He is one of the sweetest male characters I have encountered in a Taiwanese drama, He’s patient, forgiving, understanding. He protects people from sexual harassment. And he tries very very hard to be romantic. Oh, and he’s handsome and wealthy.

He’s the perfect romantic hero. In fact, he’s too perfect. That is why there is Guy 2.5.

Guy #2.5: Han Zhiyin

lucky18

Han Zhiyin is hot celebrity from Thailand who is, ah, flirtatious and promiscuous. However, he finds himself having deeper feelings for her than he’s felt for anyone else. And while he’s a hotshot model, he grew up in the slums of Bangkok, so he can relate to Xia Zhixing’s background in a way that Zhong Tianqi and Zhong Tianjun cannot.

He also does things with as much, if not more, flair than Zhong Tianqi. Then again, as a celebrity, it’s his job to do things with flair.

The Bechdel test highlights the lack of deep female-female relationships in fiction, but in Taiwanese idol dramas, there is also a dearth of male-male relationships too. However, the relationship with the Zhong brothers is quite touching and interesting in its own right, and the relationship between Zhong Tianqi and Han Zhiyin is also quite fun.

Not that female-female relationships are completely neglected. Though Xia Zhixing and Ou Yaruo most certainly are not friends, I actually think their relationship is one of the most intriguing in the entire story.

Ou Yaruo

lucky20

Ou Yaruo is a jewelry designer who works for the company owned by the Zhong family. She loves her job, she’s a rising designer, and she is Zhong Tianqi’s first love. Seems like she has exactly the kind of life Xia Zhixing wants, doesn’t it?

Well, on the surface that’s the case. But Ou Yaruo has a terrible secret.

Her past is possibly even sadder than Xia Zhixing. Xia Zhixing is an orphan who grew up in poverty, but at least she was cared for by a loving uncle. Instead, Ou Yaruo wishes that she had been an orphan, and least then she would not have been traumatized by her abusive father, who currently is in prison.

She is terrified by the thought that somebody will find out the truth about her family, and that if the truth comes out, she’ll lose career and that the people who love her will hate her. In fact, she is literally willing to kill to protect this secret.

The people close to Xia Zhixing, on the other hand, know that she was a con artist, and that she has a prison record, so she has no dark secret which may cost her livelihood and the love of the people around here.

Ou Yaruo has the career Xia Zhixing wants, and possibly the heart of the man Xia Zhixing is in love with. But Xia Zhixing has the integrity, bravery, and emotional security that Ou Yaruo wishes she had.

But Wait, There’s More…

You have probably figured out by now that this is one of my favorite idol dramas, which meant this post was getting a bit too long. I hope this post has piqued your interest enough to bring you back next week, when I will talk about this drama some more.


Sara K. saw swarms of purple butterflies in Maolin last week. Some of those butterflies flew all the way from Japan. Maolin itself is a gorgeous place. On a different note, she also has a guest post up at Yago.

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: idol drama, Jimmy Lin, My Lucky Star, taiwan

It Came from the Sinosphere: Full Count

January 1, 2013 by Sara K. 1 Comment

Oh goodness. It’s Giddens again.

Story

Li Ke with a baseball bat

Li Ke with a baseball bat

Li Ke (Ah Ke) is a young man who works at an electronics store (he also has a passion for baseball). He has a big crush on his boss, Yu Wenzi.

His boss, Yu Wenzi

His boss, Yu Wenzi

He wants to confess his feelings on Wenzi’s birthday but, understandably, he’s extremely nervous. Ah Ke’s friend, Bao Luo, recommends that he gets over his nerves by practising – confess his feelings of love to 100 women before he confesses to Wenzi. Since Wenzi’s birthday is just the next day, Ah Ke can’t be picky – he confesses to old women, young girls, basically any female he encounters.

Ah Ke awkwardly practises confesses his feelings of love

Ah Ke awkwardly practises confesses his feelings of love

Most of these people reject him as a creep, which suits Ah Ke just fine since he doesn’t want a relationship with them. But – if know anything about romantic comedies, you know this is going to happen – when Ah Ke makes his 100th confession to a pretty young woman called Su Xiaoxue, she accepts.

Su Xiaoxue

Su Xiaoxue

Oh dear.

Oh, and to top it off, another colleague, Meng Xue, does confess his feelings to Wenzi on her birthday.

Background

This idol drama is adapted from the Giddens novel of the same name. I have discussed Giddens before here and here.

This is an early Giddens novel, in fact, I think it’s only the second romance novel he wrote (one of the main characters from his first romance novel makes a cameo appearance in this one). In the introduction, he says that he wrote this novel while his friend was in the hospital, so he wanted to write a light-hearted story.

For an American, I am extremely clueless when it comes to baseball, thus all references to baseball in this story are lost on me. Baseball is actually reasonably popular in Taiwan. Since Taiwan does not have its own major leagues, many Taiwanese baseball fans keep track of the major leagues in the United States (some also choose to keep track of Japanese baseball).

Novel vs. Idol Drama

The fundamental story is mostly intact, but there are actually a lot of changes between the novel and the idol drama, and there is a significant change in the ending. I don’t want to catalogue the differences, so I’ll make general comments instead.

Some of the changes seem to have no point whatsoever. I don’t mind them, since I don’t think they made the story worse, but I also didn’t why they bothered (production reasons)?

Some changes seem to be there to make the story longer i.e. add filler. As far as filler goes, I think most of it is okay, but it also doesn’t improve the story.

I did not like the way they changed the ending. They basically tried to shoehorn the ending into a typical idol-drama ending … and one of the things I liked about the novel is that it did not pick the most conventional ending for a romantic comedy. There are enough idol dramas which follow the standard formula – and do so with more flair – that I don’t think this drama should have forced the story down that route.

Storywise, though, the change I liked the least (spoiler warning, even though I think this is so predictable that it shouldn’t count as a spoiler) was Xiaoxue’s crime spree. In the TV show, she is a graffiti artist. In the novel, she burns mailboxes. I think burning mailboxes is much more interesting. And it also makes more sense in the context of the story – I think a mailbox-arsonist is much more likely to appear in the news multiple times. Furthermore, I think it’s more in character for Xiaoxue to be a mailbox-arsonist than a graffiti artist (okay, maybe I feel that way because I read the novel first). Maybe they changed the crime to graffiti art because they wanted to make Xiaoxue to be more likeable … but I think mailbox-arson adds much more zest to the story.

Actually, I think that reflects the overall change in tone between the novel and the TV show. The novel kept the readers on their toes by inserting all kinds of bumps of while keeping the story coherent. The TV show smooths out the bumps for a more conventional, idol drama ride.

About Bao Luo’s Homosexuality

This is another change from the novel.

A picture of Bao Luo from the opening song.

In both the novel and the idol drama, Bao Luo identifies as gay. However, in the novel, his romantic/sex life is completely off-screen. I know there are issues with having gay friends in fiction whose romantic/sex lives are never shown, but what the TV show does is definitely worse.

In the TV show, he gets a crush on a woman.

Now, I know that sexuality is fluid, and that sexual orientations are not as fixed as some people claim they are (this is an example). However, this plot change doesn’t seem to come from great sensitivity to the full range of human diversity. Instead, it feels like a denial of Bao Luo’s non-heterosexuality. In other words, the TV show is saying that he’s not *really* gay, and by extension, implies that homosexuality isn’t a *real* sexual orientation.

On the one hand, Taiwan is probably more tolerant towards queer people than any other large society in Asia (this is mainly because that’s a pretty low standard). The Taipei Gay Pride Parade is the largest gay pride parade in Asia, and there are many civil organizations run by and for queer people. Queer people in Taiwan are probably less likely to be targeted for violence on account of their orientation than their peers in the United States. Most Taiwanese people under 30 who I’ve met will at least say that there’s nothing wrong with being gay, even though they sometimes display a certain degree of discomfort.

On the other hand, I have been astonished by how ignorant most Taiwanese people are about queer people. Granted, I grew up in San Francisco, so I may underestimate most of the world’s ignorance of queer people. Still, this ignorance leads many Taiwanese people – even the people who claim that they have nothing against gay people – to enforce heteronormativity. Taiwanese queer people say they still face plenty of discrimination.

I think making a Bao Luo a “gay man” instead of a gay man reflects this ignorance. Thank goodness Giddens didn’t do that in the original novel.

Location

The story is set in Taipei, and as such, much of it is familiar territory to me. What I want to point out is Core Pacific City, which is described by Lonely Planet as:

Some people call it Core Pacific City. We like to think of it as The Great Golf Ball of Taipei. Designed by Jon Jerde, the Pablo Picasso of the architecture world, Core Pacific City is quite probably the weirdest shopping mall in Asia. An inspired (by MC Escher or perhaps LSD) building to say the least, from the outside CPC looks like a gigantic golf ball being embraced by a stone sarcophagus.

Ah Ke being interviewd by news reporters outside of Core Pacific City

Core Pacific City is used as a background for some of the scenes in this TV drama.

I personally was underwhelmed when I visited Core Pacific City, though I thought the puppet museum next door was very informative.

Nonetheless, I think it’s appropriate that Core Pacific City is used as a location for this odd story.

Did I Enjoy Watching This?

The short answer is yes.

Overall, the acting is pretty good, and even the music grew on me after I heard it enough times.

And, to its credit, it actually does not follow the standard idol drama plot formula (despite the last-ditch effort at the end). Plenty of the quirkiness of the novel still comes through, and makes for a refreshing change. But it’s not just the quirkiness. Most of Giddens’ work have a certain sincerity, and I think that’s one of the reasons he’s so popular. The sincerity also comes through in the TV series.

Availability in English

As far as I know, there is no legal way to watch this idol drama or read the novel in English.

Conclusion

I actually do like the novel (quite frankly, I like this novel more than You Are the Apple of My Eye). It’s off-beat and a nice change from what I usually read.

I even like the TV show. While I complained about the changes, I think a lot of what I like about the novel is also present in the TV series. And … I think that there should be more Giddens-inspired idol dramas. He influences the genre in a good way.

Next Time: The Eleventh Son (novel)


Sara K. wishes everybody a happy new year.

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: Full Count, Giddens, idol drama, Love is Full Count, Taiwanese drama

It Came from the Sinosphere: Ài Shā 17

November 6, 2012 by Sara K. 8 Comments

A picture of Zou Kejia, one of the characters of this drama

So, the official English title of this drama is Bump Off Lover, but I dislike it so much that I am just going to use the Mandarin title Ài Shā 17 (Love Murder 17) instead.

Many people comment that Taiwanese idol dramas are always cheery, always romantic, always upbeat, and are overall a light-hearted, bubbly, pop (junk) culture genre. First of all, I’m very wary of make distinctions between “junk” culture and “high” culture. And it also turns out that there are quite a few rather dark idol drams out there. I’ve even discussed one previously—The Outsiders. But the darkest, most disturbing idol drama I’ve ever seen is, without question, Ài Shā 17.

TRIGGER WARNING: This TV drama presents stalking, sexual bullying (including a male victim), under-age prostitution, rape with drugs, child-kidnapping, victim-blaming, people defending the perpetrators, suicide, and other disturbing topics. Consequently, these topics are also come up in this post.

Now, in order to set the mood for this post, I suggest watching the opening song before continuing.

The Story

The story starts with two 17-year old twin sisters, Yizhen and Yijing.

Yijing (left) and Yizhen (right)

Yizhen’s high school teacher, Yang Renyou, had tried to rape her, which is why the school fired him. However, Yang Renyou is apparently now stalking Yizhen.

Yang Renyou is watching Yizhen’s family

Meanwhile Zou Kejie, another student at their school, is being bullied. Because of this pressure, Zou Kejie joins a mysterious BBS called “Heart of Darkness” for social support. He also becomes good friends with Yijing (actually, he has a crush on her).

Kejia and Yijing having a good time together

One evening after school, Yizhen spots Yang Renyou running around the school grounds. Later that evening, she hears her sister Yijing cry out for help. While running towards her sister’s voice, somebody pushes Yizhen into a swimming pool—and she can’t swim. She is rescued by her boyfriend, Jiawei, but it’s too late; by the time they find Yijing, she’s already dead.

Jiawei pulls Yizhen out of the swimming pool

In the trial by media, Zou Kejie is presented as being Yijing’s murderer. While he professes his innocence, he refuses to cooperate with the police. Even his own brother, Zou Kejiang, begins to suspect that he is the culprit. Eventually Zou Kejie cannot handle the pressure of everybody and the media accusing him of being Yijing’s murderer, and commits suicide.

Kejia (left) and his brother Kejiang (right)

After the suicide, Zou Kejiang regrets not believing his brother, and is determined to find the true murderer in order to clear his brother’s name. Meanwhile, Yizhen suspects that Yang Renyou did it. Yizhen, Kejiang, and Jiawei work together to solve the mystery … and what Yizhen learns is more disturbing than anything she imagined.

Jiawei, Yizhen, and Kejiang in a hospital

Taiwanese Online Culture

Last week, I discussed Taiwanese online culture a bit. This idol drama depicts it too. In 2007, it would not be very credible if a bunch of ordinary (as in non-geeky) people in the United States decided to casually join a BBS, but in Taiwan BBS are still a dominant way to socialize online. They’ve even survived the popularity of Facebook.

Angela Chang and Shen Shihua

Idol dramas are called “idol dramas” because they present “idols” (usually music idols) in “dramas.” The “idol” of this drama is clearly Angela Chang, the popular Taiwanese singer who plays both Yizhen and Yijing.

First of all, I must give some credit to the hair-and-makeup people, who did a really good job of distinguishing Yizhen and Yijing.

Angela Chang as Yizhen and Yijing

Of course the bulk of the credit goes to Angela Chang and the scriptwriters. This was an excellent way to demonstrate Angela Chang’s acting skills—there is nothing which proves that somebody can act better than casting them as two different characters in the same story. I ought to watch another Angela Chang drama.

Angela Chang, in addition to playing both of the main characters, also sings the opening and ending songs for the drama.

For an example of an Angela Chang song not directly related to Ài Shā 17, check out Bu Tong (No Pain). The pinyin lyrics with an English gloss can be found at Chinese Tools.

Shen Shihua as Liang Yajuan

Yet I think the very best acting performance in this drama was given by Shen Shihua, who played Liang Yajuan, the mother of Yizhen and Yijing. She even won the 2006 Golden Bell Best Supporting Actress award for this performance. In some ways, Liang Yajuan is a more difficult character to play than Yizhen or Yijing. Liang Yajuan actually grows more as a character than either of her daughters, and has to convey more subtlety. She just doesn’t get as much screentime.

The Whodunit Murder Mystery

The whodunit murder mystery is one of my least favorite genres of fiction. I only watched this drama because I received multiple recommendations. So how does it hold up as a murder mystery from a non-fan’s perspective?

Yizhen in an alleyway

I generally was less interested in the story when it was more purely a whodunit, and more interested when it was focusing on something else (like the relationship between Yizhen and Yijing). This probably says more about me than the drama itself. And of course, much of the story seems contrived. I find that is almost always the case with whodunits (then again, a fan of whodunits could probably point out the many ways the fiction I love seems contrived too).

A shot from one of the interrogation scenes

However, even I can recognize that this is a very well-crafted whodunit. There are several likely suspects, it’s very well set up, and plenty of surprises for the viewers. I had predicted one of the “shocking” plot twists pretty early, which made me cocky. The denouement, however, caught me completely off-guard. At first I was so shocked that I thought I had misheard something … yet looking back on the drama, it made so much sense, and even explained some things about the story which had seemed a bit odd. That is good writing.

Rape Culture

If you don’t know what “rape culture” is, this is a good introduction.

A 17-year old prostitute prepares to jump off a balcony

Unfortunately, this drama is a reflection of reality in Taiwan. Older men really do prey on teenage girls and child prostitution really does happen online in Taiwan. Of course, these atrocities also happen in the United States. It’s hard to tell whether this is really more prevalent in Taiwan, or whether Taiwanese people (or more specifically, the Taiwanese people I encounter, which is not a random sample of the population) are just more willing to talk about it. It is worth noting that there was a drastic reduction in child prostitution in Taiwan in the 1990s when the government started to actually enforce the anti-child-prostitution laws … and it was not a coincidence that the government cracked down on child prostitution at the same time that Taiwan transitioned to democracy.

The police arrest a client of an under-age prostitute

I, luckily, have yet to be directly threatened, and I think I am actually at much less risk of being sexually assaulted here than when I was living in San Francisco. Nonetheless, the local rape culture does affect my life in Taiwan too, just as it affects everybody else’s lives. I don’t think this is the place to discuss that, though that might be a good topic for my personal blog.

a woman is very upset

In some ways, this drama gets things very right. Most rapes are not committed by strangers, and none of the crimes in this drama are committed by strangers (the only crime which seems to have been committed by a stranger turns out to have been perpetrated by someone who is not). The drama also clearly shows how many people are ready to defend rapists, which unfortunately is very realistic. The drama also makes clear that in a society where saving face is more important than stopping abuse, abuse will flourish.

A man solicits sex from Yizhen, and Yizhen clearly does not consent

Now, I am uncomfortable with the way the drama depicts some things [SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS PARAGRAPH]. For example, I think the drama shows just a little too much sympathy for Yang Renyou. Sure, he was tricked, and he was lied to … but you know what? He also tried to have sex with one of his teenage students—multiple times—and when she was obviously not-consenting, he still continued. That is 100% Yang Renyou’s fault, and nobody else’s. The drama doesn’t exactly try to defend Yang Renyou—it presents the “facts” pretty clearly and he does die a horrible death—but I think the drama should have made it clearer that, regardless of the circumstances, Yang Renyou’s acts were utterly despicable and totally his responsibility. Also, I don’t like that Yijing, the victim of the most abuse (kidnapped as a child, drugged and raped, and finally, murdered) is also the main villain. In the context of a society without rape culture, this wouldn’t bother me … but victim blaming is so virulent in both Taiwan and the United States that it makes me very uneasy when the kidnapping/rape/murder victim just happens to be the Big Bad.

Availability in English

This drama is not legally available in English. That’s too bad. This would make a great addition to Dramafever’s line-up *hint hint*. That said, the first episode is crafted in such a way that I would have been able to follow the story even if the dialogue had been exclusively in Old Church Slavonic.

Conclusion

As I said before, this isn’t really my kind of thing. Therefore, it is not a personal favorite. But, in spite of all of the contrived stuff, I can’t deny that this is one of the best-written idol dramas I have ever seen. The mere fact that I watched the whole thing is a testament to its quality.

Yizhen and Jiawei in the special school assembly announcing Yijing's death

And while many people dismiss idol dramas as “junk culture,” I have found that the better idol dramas discuss some very important issues—in this case, rape culture. While I have my reservations about the way it’s handled in this drama, I still think it is a worthwhile addition to the conversation. The very fact that these dramas can make these important conversations accessible to a wide audience, in my opinion, makes them more valuable than works of high-falutin’ culture which are only accessible to an elite group.

Next Time: Princess Pearl (novel)


Sara K’s life is returning to “normal.” Of course, her “normal” life is not necessarily very normal at all and, much as she appreciates the opportunity to rest, she looks forward to the next time that her life will stop being “normal.”

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: Angela Chang, idol drama, rape culture, taiwan

It Came From the Sinosphere: The City and the Drama (part two)

September 25, 2012 by Sara K. 3 Comments

One of the main characters is making a funny face.

So last week, I introduced Black & White, one of the few idol dramas set in southern Taiwan, and the idol drama most closely associated with the city of Kaohsiung. This is a continuation of that discussion … starting with certain personal observations.

The Taiwanese Pride/Shame Complex

Two characters from the drama are laughing and embracing each other.

You all probably know this about the culture of the United States, but I’m going to spell it out to make the contrast with Taiwanese culture clearer.

The society of the United States is very proud. Proud to the point that it is unwilling to accept criticism, especially from outsiders. The United States is #1, regardless of objective evidence. It is difficult for the United States to pick up lessons from other societies. In other words, the United States goes beyond pride into the territory of arrogance.

Even in pockets of the United States such as, oh, San Francisco and Berkeley, which openly criticize “mainstream” American culture, getting people to accept criticism aimed at them is pretty tough. People in San Francisco and Berkeley are just as assured that they are #1 as anyone else in the United States, and I say that as someone born in Berkeley and raised in San Francisco.

Taiwan is different. In this respect, Taiwan is very different.

Taiwanese people are certainly proud of some parts of their society. They are generally proud of the local tea, for example. Many are also proud of how they have preserved “Chinese” culture (though how they define “Chinese” varies from person to person—some are proud of the continued use of traditional characters, whereas others are proud of the preservation of, say, Hakka culture, so one also has to be careful of what someone means when they say “Chinese”). Many are also proud of the beautiful local scenery, such as Yushan, the highest mountain in East Asia.

However, the two things which are most apparently successful to a casual outsider—the technology industry, and the development of democracy —tend to elicit more mixed feelings from the Taiwanese. It’s not that they aren’t proud of their achievements in technology and democracy (they are) but their awareness of the continuing problems in both tempers their attitude. Perhaps this is wise.

But when I bring up many aspects of their society—education, comics (manhua), child care, fashion, once in a while even the food (which mystifies me, as someone who prefers Taiwanese food to “mainstream” American food), Taiwanese people tell me that Taiwan is not [as good] as [some other society, particularly Japan, the United States, western Europe and, sometimes, South Korea or even China].

I think some of this is just being polite. In Taiwan, being boastful is considered rude, and the proper way to respond to praise is to claim that one does not deserve such praise.

On the other hand, Taiwanese often seem to feel they have been abandoned by the world. They aren’t a part of the UN; many people don’t know the difference between Taiwan and Thailand; and when they see media from the outside world (and they see a lot—the movies come from United States, the comics come from Japan, the TV dramas come from South Korea, etc.) they rarely see/hear Taiwan being mentioned. So when some Taiwanese people claim that Taiwan is not such a good place, I think I sometimes do perceive a lack of confidence which goes a bit deeper than common etiquette.

I think that this humility has its positive side. Taiwan the most gender-equal, queer-friendly, and religiously tolerant society in Asia, as well as having one of the lowest levels of inter-ethnic strife among multi-ethnic Asian societies. I think this can largely be attributed to the Taiwanese people’s willingness to admit that their society has problems (I don’t think it can be explained by democracy, since South Korea and Japan are also democracies yet are further behind Taiwan when it comes to gender equality and the treatment of queer people).

But just as having low self-esteem in oneself takes a psychological toll, having low esteem in one’s own society also takes its toll.

And for Taiwanese people who come from less privileged regions (in simplistic terms, anywhere outside of Taipei), the sense of shame seems to go just a little deeper.

Which Kaohsiung Is In the Drama?

The Kaohsiung featured in Black & White is the newly cleaned-up Kaohsiung, beautified by international designers, with trendy cafes, contemporary art, good public transit, and plenty of space for recreation. As the story progresses, the drama also addresses some of the less glamorous aspects of the city, such as homelessness and corruption. ‘

Pizi and Yingxiong outside a trendy cafe.

But what I found particularly striking was what was not shown in the drama.

In The Outsiders 2, there is a character from Kaohsiung, and the way they rub in that the character is from Kaohsiung is that all of his dialogue is in Taiwanese. It is part of idol drama logic that everyone from the south speaks Taiwanese. And when I ask (northern) Taiwanese people to describe southern Taiwan, one of the most common things they say is ‘everyone speaks Taiwanese’ or ‘Taiwanese is the main language’ or something along those lines.

Yet, in all of Black & White I don’t recall a single dialogue in Taiwanese.

I’m not saying there was zero Taiwanese in Black & White—most Taiwanese people put some Taiwanese words in their Mandarin speech—and there could have been some dialogue in Taiwanese which I simply missed. But I am confident that more English than Taiwanese was spoken in the drama.

And for a TV series which so prominently features southern Taiwan, that seems wrong.

Or is it?

I was just a visitor in Kaohsiung, so I didn’t get to observe the city in a deep way. I did notice that people in my age group would usually talk to each other in Mandarin—even if they had spent their entire lives in Kaohsiung, and they weren’t talking to me (I don’t speak Taiwanese). I needed interpretation into Taiwanese only once during my entire trip … and generally, I heard a lot more Mandarin than Taiwanese spoken (this may reflect the fact that I was mostly hanging around people in my own age group. When observing older people, I heard a lot more Taiwanese).

some people are playing some game on a table

This is a picture I took in Kaohsiung. I don’t remember what language they were speaking in, but they look like the kind of people who would speak in Taiwanese.

This drama is clearly aimed at the younger generation, as opposed to dramas such as Fated to Love You which are made for a wider age range. As such, I have to say that the choice of using Mandarin almost exclusively was appropriate.

Yet there is a broader issue at hand.

Sure, in Kaohsiung, I saw the shiny new stuff, including the cleaned-up Love river, the MRT system, the renewed harbor-side area, the parks, other recreation areas, etc. But I also saw some of the interesting old stuff. I stayed in Fengshan, an older area, and visited Cijin Island, a historic district, and the Zuoying district, which, aside from the shiny new HSR station, has the highest number of temples per squre kilometer of anywhere in Taiwan. These are all tourist draws (even Fengshan gets some tourist action because of the night market) … yet I don’t recall seeing any of it reflected in Black & White.

A Taiwanese deity walks in the street

This is a picture I took in the Cijin district.

Indeed, it seems that Black & White doesn’t show any aspect of Kaohsiung which is older than the Tuntex Sky Tower (completed in 1997). No historic districts, no Taiwanese language, no sign of heavy industry (Kaohsiung was once the center of heavy industry in Taiwan).

A picture of a temple

This is a picture I took in the Zuoying district.

Again, I must stress that I was just a visitor in Kaohsiung, I am not deeply familiar with the city, and that my thoughts are based on what I saw and heard. I’m sure I missed a lot.

To me, Black & White‘s depiction of Kaohsiung seems shallow. While it thoroughly explores the new Kaohsiung, it shows almost nothing of the old Kaohsiung. And since, as a causal visitor, I still managed to see some of the old Kaohsiung (and not necessarily on purpose), the makers of Black & White must have made an effort not to show any of that. And that absense sticks out to me.

It’s almost as if they are trying to hide the old Kaohsiung.

The Effect on the City … and the People

So far, I have been talking about how the city has influenced the drama. But how has the drama influenced the city?

Based on my observation, quite a bit.

While more people have seen Fated to Love You, I have seen Taiwanese people express much more enthusiasm for Black & White. And I think it’s because it’s helped fill in a hole in their psyche.

I don’t want to spoil the story but, so I’ll just say that, even though Pizi and Yingxiong are now star cops in the Kaohsiung police force, they had previously suffered neglect. Their confident exteriors cover up psychological wounds which haven’t fully healed. This can be interpreted as a metaphor for Taiwan as a whole, and southern Taiwan more specifically. Taiwan now has shiny tall buildings, sophisticated electronics manufacturing, and is a cultural exporter (Ang Lee is the best known cultural export in the United States, but there are many others who are well known, in one way or another, in many Asian countries). Yet in spite of all of the smartphones, DSL lines, and other high tech, many places still don’t have a modern sewer system. This kind of juxtaposition feeds into the pride/shame complex I have observed in Taiwanese people.

I think, by validating their experiences, this drama resonates with Taiwanese people who had to leave their hometowns for economic reasons, as well as the people who stayed behind and directly suffered from this neglect. In other words, it resonates with the majority of the (younger) Taiwanese population.

And the city itself has taken the drama and run with it. I could see Black & White paraphernalia all over the place, including stuff produced directly by the city government.

Availability in English

The DVD set has English subtitles, and is available for sale at YesAsia.com (among other places). It’s a bit pricey, but then again, it is cheaper than a round-trip full-fare high-speed train ticket between Taipei and Zuoying.

Conclusion

I travelled to Kaohsiung with friends who live in Taipei, but who have family ties to Kaohsiung. When they got their Kaohsiung transit cards, they were excited to see that all transit cards had a Black & White theme. They visited some places specifically because some scene from Black & White had been filmed there (whereas I generally had to see the interesting old traditional stuff on my own). Being with them shaped the way I viewed the city … and the way I view this drama.

Indeed, I think the fact that, not only was their city featured in an idol drama, but in one of the highest-quality idol dramas every made, means more to the people of Kaohsiung than all of trendy cafes and public art spaces.

This drama has helped lower the shame and increase the pride Taiwanese people feel towards their society and, by extension, themselves. And that is why it is important.

Next Week: Fluffy Fluff Fluff


This was the hardest post yet for this column. Sara K. simply must write something very fluffy for next week (otherwise, she would have to go on hiatus). She is also afraid that she has grossly misinterpreted Taiwanese culture, and that this post will haunt her forever. On the other hand, if she never said anything at all due to fear of exposing her misinterpretations, she would never blog. On a completely different note, she saw monkeys today. Wild monkeys. In the wild. That happens once in a while in Taiwan.

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: Black & White, idol drama, Kaohsiung, Mark Chao, taiwan, Vic Chou

It Came From the Sinosphere: The City and the Drama (part one)

September 18, 2012 by Sara K. 2 Comments

The promotional post for Black & White, featuring all of the main characters

If you asked me what the most important idol dramas ever made are, I would answer Meteor Garden (adapted from Hana Yori Dango) and Black & White. Meteor Garden, of course, as the first idol drama ever made, defined the entire genre, and was extremely influential not only in Taiwan, but also Japan, South Korea, China, the Philipines, Thailand, and beyond. However, while Black & White has not had Meteor Garden‘s international reach, its effect on Taiwan itself, based on my subjective observation, has been deeper. Most of this post is about this effect, rather than reviewing the drama itself.

Quick Story Overview

Kaohsiung Police Department’s top two crime solvers are Chen Zaitian (nicknamed Pǐzi – “Ruffian”) and Wu Yingxiong (Yīngxióng means “Hero”). Pizi goes around wearing snazzy white suits, hanging out at trendy cafes, sleeping with women, and working the sleaze circuit in ordet to ferret out clues. On the other hand, Yingxiong, who usually is wearing black, is brave, has a very strong sense of justice, personally sets out to right wrongs and, well, he generally acts like a hero. Unfortunately, he’s not very patient or subtle.

The Kaohsiung Police Department assigns these two to work on a case together. Oh dear.

Actually, this description makes this story sound a bit like something else I’ve discussed in this column. I guess there are no new plots.

About the Main Actors

The main actors, of course, are Vic Chou as Chen Zaitian, and Mark Chao as Wu Yingxiong.

Vic Chou as Chen Zaitian (Pizi) and Mark Chao as Wu Yingxiong

Vic Chou is one of the top idol drama actors ever. He debuted in Meteor Garden as Huazelei (Hanazawa Rui). However, he didn’t really show his full potential until he was cast as Ling (Rei) in Mars. I think his popularity is justified, and I have a lot of respect for him as an actor. While he needs a good script to show his talent (most actors do), his performances in both Mars and Black & White are excellent.

Vic Chou as Ling in Mars

Mark Chao, on the other hand, is better known as a singer than as an actor. This is the only time he has ever appeared in a TV drama … yet he won the Golden Bell Award (the Taiwanese equivalent of the Emmy Award) for Best Leading Actor. His other notable acting performance is as Wenzi (the main character) in the blockbuster film Monga. When I say Monga was a blockbuster, I mean that it was the #1 film in the Taiwanese box office during its run in theaters … and it ran in theaters at the same time as James Cameron’s Avatar. Mark Chao also sings the opening song for Black & White.

Mark Chao as Wenzi in Monga

But, while Vic Chou and Mark Chao are both celebrities and play the main characters, neither is the true star of the drama. The true star, of course, is Kaohsiung.

The City

Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second-largest city, Taiwan’s largest port, and the largest city in southern Taiwan. Over the last ten years, Kaohsiung has gone through a great transformation.

In older accounts, Kaohsiung is called an ugly, highly-polluted, boring hellhole where the tap water is laced with heavy metals (including lead and arsenic), and which should be avoided unless one must be there for economic reasons. However, nowadays people are always telling me about how nice Kaohsiung is.

What changed? Mostly, government policy.

For a long time, Kaohsiung, aside from some key business interests, had been neglected by the government, which is one reasons why the city had such severe problems.

Then a funny thing called democracy appeared in Taiwan. In fact, most historians say that the ‘Kaohsiung Incident’ was a turning point for the Taiwanese democracy movement. It is worth noting that Kaohsiung suffered more under authoritarian rule than Taipei did, so it was not a coincidence the human rights activists were organizing there.

Of course, governmental reform took decades – Taiwan didn’t have its first free and fair presidential election until 1996. And even then, it took time to shift policies. But shift they did (to what extent, of course, is a subject of heated debate).

The major changes to Kaohsiung happened under the leadership of Mayor Frank Hsieh, and continued under Kaohsiung’s current mayor, Chen Chu (Chen Chu was one of the “Kaohsiung Eight,” and is the only woman to have ever been mayor of a major Taiwanese city). The government reduced pollution, improved the sewage system, built an MRT system, created many parks and recreation areas, hired international designers to beautify the city, and otherwise turned Kaohsiung into a much more livable place.

Of course, it wasn’t only the government that was neglecting Kaohsiung. It was also the cultural media. The vast majority of Mandarin-language dramas are filmed in northern Taiwan – either in Taipei itself, or, if they want to have a more rustic feel and/or reduce filming costs, neighboring areas such as Taoyuan or Yilan county (I do not know enough about Taiwanese (Hokkien) language dramas to comment on them, but most younger people in Taiwan don’t watch them anyway). I think this type of cultural neglect has a psychological effect on people.

North vs. South

Like almost every inhabited place on Earth, Taiwan has regional divisions, and the big one is north vs. south. In Taiwan, the north is definitely richer, more powerful, more economically robust, better infrastructure, etc. It is telling that when many people think of Taiwan, they think of Taipei, Taiwan’s northernmost major city. And Taipei also happens to be the capital (political power).

Northern Taiwan is also the center of ‘Chinese’ culture in Taiwan. When I say “Chinese,” I mean the culture of the people who moved from China to Taiwan in the middle of the 20th century. For example, Mandarin is spoken more in northern Taiwan (ex-Yilan) than anywhere else in Taiwan. Likewise, Taiwanese/Hokkien is less spoken in northern Taiwan (again, ex-Yilan) than anywhere else in Taiwan.

However, southern Taiwan is the center of Taiwanese/Hoklo culture (note: some people prefer to refer to it as “Taiwanese” culture because they consider it to be the true heritage of Taiwanese society, whereas other people prefer to refer to it as “Hoklo” to emphasize that it is only one of Taiwan’s traditions, and that the other cultural traditions are just as ‘Taiwanese’ as the Hoklo one – I am trying to be neutral, so I will use both terms). In particular, Tainan, Taiwan’s oldest city and former capital, is considered the heart of traditional Taiwanese/Hoklo culture.

A further wrinkle is that many residents of nothern Taiwan are originally from southern Taiwan. Due to the better economic and educational opportunities, many people from other regions of Taiwan move to the north, but still have family and cultural connections to their native region. And many have moved from Kaohsiung to the north (especially Taipei). The reverse is a lot less common. Thus many people in northern Taiwan actually identify with the south on some level.

While Kaohsiung does not carry the historical and cultural weight of Tainan, it is also a symbol of the south, and for many Taiwanese people, arguably a majority of Taiwanese people, the south is their ‘native’ land.

Kaohsiung’s Own Idol Drama

Black & White is not the first idol drama set in Kaohsiung. For example, Prince Turns into Frog, another popular idol drama, is also set in Kaohsiung. However, in Prince Turns into Frog, the setting seemed incidentle – though they occasionally included shots of Kaohsiung’s landmarks, it could have just as easily been filmed in northern Taiwan.

That most certainly is not the case of Black & White. It has Kaohsiung all over it. The opening song features Kaohsiung prominently; the ending song also features the city prominently. The first episode features Formosa Boulevard Station, Kaohsiung’s most notable MRT station. There are some scenes in the Yuansu Yujhu fashion area, which is Kaohsiung’s equivalent of Taipei’s Ximending and Tokyo’s Harajuku. The climax of the story takes place in the middle of Kaohsiung’s most famous feature, it’s harbor. The city is clearly featured in every single episode. I have seen no other idol drama which puts as much emphasis on place as Black & White.

In fact, I wonder if the MRT system was featured so prominently in the drama to encourage people to ride it. I know that it has been a disappointment due to the low ridership. People (both Taiwanese and foreign) have told me that the Kaohsiung MRT ‘sucks’, but I found it very useful. If I had spent more time in Kaohsiung, I might have figured out why it ‘sucks’, but for now it seems to me that the problem lies in people’s attitudes rather than the MRT system itself (granted, there are also claims of corruption in the construction of the MRT system, which is a totally different issue).

This has very high production values for a idol drama. I don’t just mean the special effects and cinematography; the producers pulled in top acting talent (see above), got really good writers on the project, and had a very clear commitment to quality across the board.

It’s as if Black & White tried to compensate for decades of media neglect in one fell swoop.

So, What’s Next

This is one of those posts which ended up being a bit long, so I’ve broken it into two parts. Normally, I try to post two-parters in the same week … but this week I’m really busy, so part two will be posted next week. In part two, I discuss, among other things, how the drama depicts the city, how the city depicts the drama, how to get this drama in English (hint: it can be done legally), and some personal observations.

See you next week…


Sara K. spend a couple years living in Oakland, California. When she thinks of Oakland, she thinks of the majestic cranes at the port (when she was a kid, she thought they were dinosaurs). So when she sees the cranes of any port city, she always feels a tinge of childhood wonder, as will as a light, wispy, fleeting sense of home.

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: Black & White, idol drama, Kaohsiung, Mark Chao, taiwan, Vic Chou

It Came From the Sinosphere: Fated to Love You

August 21, 2012 by Sara K. 11 Comments

This drama has the distinction of having the highest TV ratings of any idol drama ever. Every Taiwanese person I have asked has seen at least part of this drama. I have gotten middle-aged Taiwanese men who claim that K-dramas are too feminine for them to admit that a) they have seen Fated to Love You and b) that it’s good.

Why is this drama so popular? Maybe this (abridged) scene will give you a clue…

Example Scene

Dylan is playing hide-and-seek with the kids at the church. He decides to hide in the confessional booth.

Chen Xinyi walks in to make a confession. She tells Dylan that she had sex with a stranger … and that it was the first time she ever had sex.

Dylan tells her to go home and tell God “sorry.”

Chen Xinyi then tells her about how she’s been throwing up a lot in the past few days.

Hearing this, Dylan urges her to go buy a pregnancy test – but to do it on the sly.

Chen Xinyi takes his suggestion to heart, and disguises herself so no one will recognize her when she buys the pregnancy test.

By sheer coincidence, there is a robber who disguises herself just like Xinyi, and appears on the news right before Xinyi walks into the store.

The store clerk tells her she doesn’t need to pay. As soon as she leaves, he calls the police.

The police corner her in the bathroom. There’s also a TV news reporter with them.

Right after Chen Xinyi has used the pregnancy test, the police open up the bathroom stall and point guns at her.

She is so startled that she loses hold of the pregnancy test-stick.

The TV news reporter picks up the pregnancy test-stick … and congratulates her. It is announced on television that Chen Xinyi in pregnant. So much for doing things on the sly.

Chen Xinyi’s mother just happens to be watching the news at that moment…

… and the stranger she had sex with notices the news on TV too.

Sara K. Loves Joe Chen

Joe Chen in my favorite actress working in Taiwanese idol dramas.

First of all, she’s versatile. For example, in Prince Turns Into Frog, she plays a girl from a poor fishing village, whereas in My Best Pals she plays a hip teenager from Ximending who jumps off buildings into cars (I am not kidding). Whereas her character in Prince Turns Into Frog dreams of gold-digging her way out of the boondocks, her character in My Best Pals would rather kick than kiss a rich guy’s ass. Joe Chen plays both roles very well.

Obviously, you can’t judge her acting based on the theme songs, but the theme songs of Prince Turns Into Frog and My Best Pals do offer a sense of how the two dramas feel different—and I assure you the characters Joe Chen plays in those dramas are just as different as the theme songs. In addition, Joe Chen has been cast as Dongfang Bubai in the new The Laughing Proud Wanderer TV series, which is a really different role from the others I have see her play (for starters, Dongfang Bubai, having been born with testicles, is not a cis female).

Her role as Chen Xinyi in Fated to Love You is quite different from all of the roles I mentioned above. Chen Xinyi is an office worker with low self-esteem. She is completely convincing in the role. She is extremely true to what Chen Xinyi is feeling, and skillfully demonstrates how Chen Xinyi changes during the course of the story. I think Fated to Love You would have moved me to tears a lot less if they had cast a lesser actress.

Messing With Idol Drama Tropes

If you have seen several other Taiwanese idol dramas, you already know what the story is because it’s the same as 90% of idol drama stories, and just when you are sure what’s going to happen next … Fated to Love You goes in the other direction.

Ha ha ha.

Sure, yes, it does follow the standard idol drama plot. It does so with irreverence. Sometimes it uses the standard tropes, but in a totally silly way. Sometimes it uses the standard tropes, but with a wink in its eye, telling the viewers “Yes, we know you have seen this in five other dramas, but we do it with more flair.” Sometimes it makes the viewers think it’s going to use the standard tropes, but pulls a fast one and does something completely different. And sometimes it uses the standard tropes in a totally straight way, so the viewer doesn’t get too used to the twists.

This is actually why, much as I love this drama, I’m not sure this should be somebody’s first Taiwanese idol drama. If you haven’t seen other Taiwanese idol dramas, you might not always notice it when Fated to Love You sticks out its tongue and makes funny faces. On the other hand, this is one of the best idol dramas ever made, so if you are only going to see one Taiwanese idol drama ever, this might be a good choice.

Let’s Get Serious

Before you get the idea that Fated to Love You is a spoof or a comedy (well, it is a comedy, yet it’s more than that…), I assure you that there is a totally serious story being told here. I probably cry as much laugh when I watch it (notice that I’m using present tense—I’ve seen this drama twice, and I am sure I will watch it again).

In particular, this is a story about Chen Xinyi, who has spent her entire life helping other people instead of herself. During the course of the story she discovers that she has her own distinctive artistic voice.

Actually, all of my favorite idol dramas are about women who are discovering their artistic voice. Maybe that’s a coincidence, or maybe that’s a reflection of my personal tastes, or maybe idol dramas about women discovering their artistic voice are inherently more awesome.

In fact, this is why I consider this idol drama to be feminist. Just as sexism says women are not as important as men, everybody (except her father, who is dead) says that Chen Xinyi is not important. After going through a lot of suffering, it is demonstrated that Chen Xinyi is just as important as every other character in the drama, and that she important purely on the basis of being herself.

Location, Location, Location

I realize that there is so much I want to say about the locations in this drama that it’s better off in a separate post.

Fun with Language

Once again, I realized there is so much I want to say about this that it’s better off in a separate post. (Read Fated to Love You -Special Post.)

Chen Xinyi Talks to Joe Chen

There are a couple scenes where Chen Xinyi talks to Joe Chen.

Wait a minute … isn’t Chen Xinyi played by Joe Chen?

In addition to being an actress, TV host, and writer, Joe Chen is also a model. In fact, right now there are ads featuring her in Taipei train station which say (in Chinese) “[brand name] loves Joe Chen”. Thus it is entirely believable that Chen Xinyi would encounter ads featuring Joe Chen in the hip Xinyi district (note: the “Xinyi” in “Xinyi district” uses different Chinese characters than the “Xinyi” in “Chen Xinyi”). However, the ads featuring Joe Chen have never talked to me.

Music

I generally don’t find the music created specifically for this drama that interesting, but the exception is the song “Wǒ de Kuài​lè​​” (My Happiness). In particular, I appreciate when they play the piano score without the singing. The song is played so much that, even without the singing, the viewer (at least a viewer who can understand Mandarin) can hear the words of the song. It contributes to the mood of the series, and the sadness of the song often counterbalances the sillier scenes.

Availability in English

The good news:

DRAMAFEVER HAS LICENSED FATED TO LOVE YOU.

The bad news:

None of the episodes are available yet. Also, this only helps people who are in North or South America.

Conclusion

Fated to Love You is one of my favorites. Just when I’m wondering why I keep on watching idol dramas, I stumble on a drama like Fated to Love You, and my interest in idol dramas is revived. Finding these dramas makes watching the mediocre ones worth it (and I’ve noticed that even the mediocre dramas are generally improved by the presence of Joe Chen).

I love Fated to Love You so much that there is going to be a special post about it, hopefully on Friday. The purpose of this post is to convince you all (in North and South America) to watch it (when Dramafever makes it available). The purpose of the next post will be to offer commentary for people who are not too familiar with Taiwan and/or the Chinese language. In fact, I suspect one reason why Dramafever is taking so long to release episodes is that some of the things the characters say are really difficult to translate into English. Hopefully, that means that when the episodes are available, the translation will be really good.

Read Fated to Love You (Special Post).

Next regular post: Xuanji Tu (novel)


Sara K. wishes to give whoever is translating Fated to Love You for Dramafever a pat on the back. She understands how frustrating it probably is. She would also like to see Dramafever (or somebody else) legally bring out some of her other favorite idol dramas into English.

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: Ethan Ruan, Fated to Love You, idol drama, Joe Chen, taiwan

It Came From the Sinosphere: Autumn’s Concerto

July 24, 2012 by Sara K. 3 Comments

Ren Guangxi and Liang Mucheng hold hands on a bed while the screen says 'Next Stop, Happiness'

I have no idea why this drama is called Autumn’s Concerto in English. I much prefer the Mandarin title Xiàyīzhàn, Xìngfú (Next Stop, Happiness).

Anyway, this is widely considered to be one of the best idol dramas ever filmed.

The Story

Liang Mucheng is an orphan raised by her aunt and uncle-in-law who run a lunch box business on a university campus. Her uncle-in-law tries to peek at her whenever she changes her clothes, secretly takes sexual pictures of her, and seems to be waiting for an opportunity to sexually abuse her in a more severe way. Meanwhile, Mucheng encounters one of the university’s most brilliant law students, Ren Guangxi, who is also the son of one of the univerisity’s trustees. He acts like a playboy, but has actually lost sight of the point of life. His mother wants him to marry the daughter of a business tycoon, He Yiqian, who also happens to be a brilliant medical student herself. Mucheng is also friends with another law student, Hua Tuoye, who secretly has a crush on Mucheng. Sadly for Tuoye, there is no doubt in the viewers’ minds who the main couple is going to be as soon as Mucheng and Guangxi meet each other.

It is hard to say more than that without getting into spoiler territory, but the above feels a bit too incomplete to me, so I feel the need to say [SPOILER WARNING] Ren Guangxi loses his memory. Six years later, a village hires him as a lawyer to defend them from the corporation that wants to buy them out and evict them. This happens to be the village where Tuoye grew up, and Mucheng also happens to live there with her son, Liang Xiaole. The mayor asks Mucheng to act as Guangxi’s host while he stays in the village. He has instant rapport with Xiaole, but he is unaware that he had previously met Mucheng and finds her behavior really strange. Little does he know that he is, in fact, Xiaole’s biological father. [END SPOILER WARNING]

Liang Mucheng looks amused.

“I already told you, the lawyer from Taipei is not your father.”

Liang Mucheng sees Ren Guangxi.

Then Mucheng sees who the ‘lawyer from Taipei’ actually is …

Liang Mucheng looks shocked

Cue music.

Connections to Other Idol Dramas

First of all, there are quite a few connections between The Outsiders and Autumn’s Concerto. The most obvious is that the female leads of both dramas are played by Ady An … but it’s more than that. For one thing, in both dramas, she plays a character who knows how to play the piano. And Autumn’s Concerto recycles some of the soundtrack from The Outsiders (since The Outisders has one of the best idol drama soundtracks, it is a good source for recyclable material).

On the other hand, Vanness Wu, who plays Ren Guangxi, played one of the F4 in Meteor Garden (the Taiwanese version of Boys Over Flowers), which is the mother of all idol dramas. Meteor Garden launched the acting careers of three of the most prominent idol drama stars (Barbie Xu, Vic Chou, and Rainie Yang), but Vanness Wu rose to acting stardom relatively late for a Meteor Garden actor … in fact, he didn’t become a proper acting star in his own right until he was case as Ren Guangxi. Fun fact about Vanness Wu: he was born and raised in California and is a native English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, just like me.

Tiffany Hsu, who plays Ren Guangxi’s fiancee He Yiqian, also performed in It Started With A Kiss (Itazura na Kiss), where she also played the male lead’s alternative romantic interest.

Other connections to other idol drama is right in script, or cinematography. At one point, one of the villagers mentioned that they can resist the corporation just like the village that resisted the Senwell corporation, and another villager points out that they don’t have a cuckoo flower. This is, of course, a reference to the story Prince Turns Into Frog in which the Senwell coproration’s plans to buy out a village are foiled by the discovery of the endangered cuckoo flower within village limits. Prince Turns To Frog is one of the most popular idol dramas ever made. At one point in the story the Ren family gets inquiries from iFound, where My Queen’s Shan Wushuang works. Yet another My Queen connection is that, in the last episode, there is a magazine featuring He Yiqian as a star doctor … the other doctor featured is Lucas, My Queen’s male lead.

Location, Location, Location

Ren Guangxi running around in a north coast fishing village.

Many of the early scenes seem to take place in the fishing villages on the north coast (probably in Shimen or Sanzhi) where Mucheng has to help her uncle-in-law at a fish market. I suppose it might be in Danshui, though it seems a bit too sparsely populated to be Danshui to me (I happened to mention Danshui’s Fort San Domingo last week).

A photo of Minsheng Hospital

Some scenes are also set in Minsheng Hospital which is in … Taoyuan City. Hey, I’m in Taoyuan City too! While I’ve never entered Minsheng Hospital, I have shopped at the Carrefour across the street. Minsheng Hospital is, among other things, a medical tourism hospital, and generally caters to people willing to pay a little extra money for nicer care (me, I go to Taoyuan Veterans’ Hospital for my medical needs, which is quite close to one of the locations where My Queen was shot).

Mucheng holds Xiaole in a flower field in Cihu.

This has got to be Dasi Flowering Oasis.

And at least some of the village scenes were shot in Daxi township which … is in Taoyuan county. Daxi has such an interesting history that I do not have space to discuss it in full detail, but I have to mention that Fong Fei-fei was born and raised in Daxi township. Like the village in the drama, one of Daxi’s main industries is growing ornamental flowers. The “flower fields” in Autumn Concerto look like they were filmed at the Dasi Flower Oasis, which is “the holy land of idol dramas” and a tourist trap farm. Dasi Flower Oasis is in a part of Daxi called Cihu, which has a lot of interesting history in its own right. Personally, I think the coolest thing about Cihu history is that there is a former secret military headquarters which was built in case People’s Republic of China troops ever landed in Taiwan (the headquarters was built to be difficult to detect so that military leaders could direct troops in safety).

A Few Words About the Opening

Unlike most idol dramas, Autumn’s Concerto does not have an opening per se. Right after the recap of the previous episode, it jumps straight back into the action. It has an opening song, but it’s always played in the background as the story gets moving. “I Love Him” is a beautiful, haunting song which fits the theme of the drama very well.

The Symptoms of Idol Drama Jadedness

While watching this drama, I kept on thinking “this is just like what happened in drama x.” There is ONE basic standard idol drama plot which all but a few dramas follow. Autumn’s Concerto follows it so closely that when somebody told me about some of the later events before I got that far in the drama, I could not even claim that it was a spoiler. I have seen so many idol dramas that any drama which follows this plot too closely—unless it puts a truly fresh spin on the plot or is very well suited to my tastes—will trigger Idol Drama Jadedness Syndrome in me. Autumn’s Concerto is so well-made that it maintained my interest in spite of seeming completely unoriginal to me, but my jadedness is so deep that I could only like it, not love it. It seemed more like going through a ritual drill than discovering something exciting or new. The very fact that I am spending so many words discussing the location and other meta instead of the actual story is a symptom of Idol Drama Jadedness Syndrome.

Then Xiaole appeared.

Xiaole looks really adorable.

At the time I was watching the drama, Xiaole was the only thing which made the drama seem truly alive to me and not just the product of skilled story-crafters. Xiao Bin Bin is a delightful child actor, and … well, I love kids. Xiaole’s scenes are definitely the ones I enjoyed the most, and the only ones which did not make me think about other idol dramas or make me think more about the meta than the actual storyline. Well, that’s unfair, I did get involved in the story, I just did not lose myself to it.

The last story arc irritated me, mainly because Ren Guangxi turned into an asshole, but Mucheng was annoying stubborn too. If you must turn your male lead into an assole, at least make him a gloriously fun asshole (I am referring to one of my favorite idol dramas, which handles the male-lead-turns-into-asshole gambit a lot better).

But the last story arc still has Xiaole, so I shouldn’t complain too much.

Another picture of the adorable Xiaole.

Much as Xiaole was the most enjoyable part of the drama for me at the time, reflecting back on the drama, Xiaole is not what stays with me the most. It’s the theme.

The Theme

It took me a while to consciously realize it, but Autumn’s Concerto has a very consistent theme, which is: it is better to tell the painful truth than to cover it up with lies. Aside from Xiaole (who is too young to lie), pretty much every main character (and some minor characters) at some point lies in order to “protect” someone from a harsh reality. In fact, Xiaole’s simple honesty serves as a sharp contrast to the adults’ contorted thinking. Mucheng’s aunt tells herself that Mucheng seduced her husband so she won’t have to admit that she’s married to a sexual predator; Guangxi tells Mucheng that he doesn’t love her so that her heart won’t be broken when she finds out that he is going to die in a month; the corporation tells the villagers that it needs them to leave their lands so the villagers won’t find out that the corporation poisoned the water; Mucheng tells Xiaole that his father is an extrateresstial so she won’t have to tell him about what really happened with his father; and if I tried to list every lie told in the course of the drama, this list would be really long (and extremely spoilerful). And the lying … generally does not work out well. I can only think of one lie in the entire drama which has a partially positive outcome. On the other hand, when the characters choose to come clean, even though there is initial pain, things tend to improve. This is the theme which keeps the story glued together, and makes the difference between a series of soap operatic events and a memorable story.

Anyway, that’s rather serious, so here is some more Xiaole as an antidote.

Xiaole looks absolutely excited.

Availability and Accessibility

Autumn’s Concerto is available for streaming with English subtitles in North and South America via Dramafever.

If you don’t live in North or South America, YesAsia sells the Malaysian DVD set which supposedly has English subtitles.

Also, for Chinese learners … I have to disagree with Jade and say this is actually good for Mandarin practice. I would say only 10-15% of the drama is in Taiwanese (I don’t know why Jade says half of it is in Taiwanese), and I think anybody whose Mandarin-listening ability is at B2 or higher would do just fine.

Conclusion

I favor idol dramas which are either a) mischevieously screwbally or b) seriously dark. Autumn’s Concerto does not fall into either category, therefore it is not one of my personal favorites. Still, even though I’ve only seen the drama straight-through once, I re-watched many parts in the process of preparing this post, and some scenes are more enjoyable the second time around. I have to admit that this is indeed one of the finest idol dramas out there. Even if you suffer from Idol Drama Jadedness Syndrome like me, you should watch it. Recommended.

Now I Have a Dilemma…

Ever since I started this column, I’ve really wanted to discuss [Drama A]. In fact, I planned to make it the second idol drama I reviewed after The Outsiders. [Drama A] happens to be legally available with English subtitles. But then I decided I had to discuss My Queen because it was a new addition to Dramafever, then I felt I had to discuss Autumn’s Concerto because it was another new addition to Dramafever, so my post about [Drama A] got delayed twice. Even though [Drama A] is not a personal favorite, I think [Drama A] is up there with Meteor Garden among one of the most important idol dramas ever made—certainly more important than The Outsiders, My Queen, and Autumn’s Concerto, and I really want to discuss it. It was next on the list … until I just discovered that [Drama B] one of my favorite idol dramas has JUST BEEN LICENCED!!!! I want to celebrate the licensing of [Drama B] by putting it next on the list and finally squeeing about it and getting the Manga Bookshelf community to watch it … but I am loathe to delay discussing [Drama A] yet a third time. So here is the question for you…

Do you want the next idol drama post to be about [Drama A], or [Drama B]?

Next time: The Fox Volant of Snow Mountain (novel)


Readers of this column might be under the impression that Sara K. speaks good Chinese. They can disabuse themselves of this notion by signing up at Lang-8 and reading Sara K.’s Chinese-language journal entries (even people who don’t know Chinese can see how much her Chinese needs to be corrected). To the best of her knowledge, she is the only Lang-8 user who talks about gardening in San Francisco. Manga Bookshelf readers who are brushing up their Japanese, please note that Lang-8 has many Japanese users.

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: Ady An, Autumn's Concerto, idol drama, taiwan, Vanness Wu, Xiao Bin Bin

It Came From the Sinosphere: The Outsiders 1 & 2

June 5, 2012 by Sara K. 9 Comments

Hi everyone. This is a new column on comics, novels, TV shows, films, and who knows what else from the Chinese-speaking world. As a resident of Taiwan, I’m going to put a disproportionate emphasis on Ilha Formosa, but I’m not going to restrict myself to it. For this first post, I am looking at a Taiwanese idol drama: The Outsiders.

A collage of all of the main characters from The Outsiders (first drama).

Even though The Outsiders is not based on the S.E. Hinton novel, like the novel, it is a story of gang youth getting into more trouble than they bargained for.

The Story

Three orphans, Ah Hao, Shanzi, and Ah Qi, are sworn brothers and have taken care of each other (with the guidance of a sympathetic police officer) since they were children. Ah Hao and another student at their senior high school, Xiao Yanzi, fall in love with each other. The problem is that Ah Hao, along with his sworn brothers, are poor and “delinquent,” whereas Xiao Yanzi is a sheltered piano student from a nice upper-middle-class family.

Things go downhill from there. Hong Dou, a tough girl with a crush on Ah Hao, threatens violence if Xiao Yanzi gets too close to him. Xiao Yanzi’s parents do not approve of Ah Hao, and put a lot of effort into keeping them apart. Shanzi eventually also finds himself in love with Xiao Yanzi. And we’re not even halfway through the plot.

Ah Hao is unusual in that he is a male lead in an idol drama who is poor. For real. He’s not secretly the son of the CEO of some large corporation or otherwise high-ranking man. Even male leads who are merely upper-middle class are not too common in idol dramas. But this is not the only way in which The Outsiders is an atypical idol drama.

In most idol dramas, the main couple runs into a problem and they overcome it and become closer, then there’s a bigger problem and they overcome that and become even closer, and so forth. At first, it looks like The Outsiders is following the same pattern—Ah Hao and Xiao Yanzi run into problems and deal with them. But instead of gaining strength, resilience, and confidence, the very opposite happens. They bond with each other and their faith in themselves becomes more and more precarious. It eventually dawns on the viewer that this might not end well.

So, is The Outsiders a tragedy, or is this a setup for a grand climatic recovery where Ah Hao and Xiao Yanzi’s love for each other conquer all? The answer to that question, of course, is a spoiler. But regardless of the outcome, the mere fact that The Outsiders goes so far into dark territory makes it stand out from other idol dramas.

Acting

The actor who stands out the most, to me, is Ady An as Xiao Yanzi. It’s not because of her acting—though I think her acting is alright in this drama—it’s her looks. It’s not so much that she is pretty (she is, of course, pretty) as that she is blessed with looks which light up on camera. She is also blessed with the best role. Out of all of the characters in the drama, it is Xiao Yanzi who grows and changes the most. Come to think of it, her acting in this drama actually is pretty good since I found Xiao Yanzi’s character change convincing.

The actor who I admire the most based on ability is Xie Chengjun as Ah Bao, the main villain. Ah Bao’s dialogue is more like the way TV villains talk than real people, and his sidekick, Laoshu, is quite irritating because of the writing. However, Xie Chengjun managed to make Ah Bao a bit more like a human being with his performance. He sometimes downplays the role, making Ah Bao seem all the more chilling, while punctuating his performance with violent bursts of energy. I think the intensity and believability Xie Chenghun brings to the role saves the character from mediocre writing.

The acting in The Outsiders does not excel as much as the acting in, say, Mars. Still, I think most of the actors generally perform adequately.

The Music

Considering that one of the main characters is a piano student, it should no come as no surprise that music is an important part of this drama. In fact, The Outsiders has the most eclectic selection of music of any idol drama I’ve seen. Naturally, there are many piano pieces throughout the show, well-chosen to contribute to the atmosphere of the drama. Furthermore, the drama includes a Tsai Chin song (Tsai Chin was a very popular Taiwanese singer in the 1980s). I am not a Tsai Chin fan, but I appreciate that the song fits the mood, and I appreciate that they decided to include some older pop music.

The best known song in this drama is most likely the ending song, “Lydia.” It is a song by FIR, one of Taiwan’s most popular pop bands. You can hear what kind of song it is in the first few seconds, where the opening strings are joined by an underlying rock beat. The song breathlessly ascends in pitch … at least the lyrics seem breathless due to the creative use of Mandarin. For example, here’s a part of the lyrics:

He left (you still) bear, not having left, your own heaven
After the wind-drying there can remain rainbow tear light

If the translation does not make sense, it’s because the lyrics in Chinese do not entirely make sense to me and I tried to keep the translation as literal as possible. For people who are really interested in the song, there is a gloss of the lyrics into English at Chinese Tools.

The song fits the story, as it expresses passion rising, without pause, pushed by a strong beat, just as Xiao Yanzi and Ah Hao are pushed forward at a pace faster than they can handle.

Fighting

I really like the violence in The Outsiders. Yes, romance comes before action, but the action is still pretty good. First of all, I like the free, raw, unrestrained energy. It really feels like violence. One reviewer claimed that the fights were not choreographed. As someone who knows a few things about fight choreography, I know the fights actually are choreographed, but they feel like they are not. I also like the atmosphere—broken windows, dark alleys, abandoned buildings. The best thing, of course, is that the characters are vulnerable. Many action flicks forget to include the vulnerability. The fighting in The Outsiders is short and to the point, but a short fight in which Xiao Yanzi (the piano student) gets hit by a baton makes a deeper impression on the viewer than 30 minutes of inconclusive fighting by invincible heroes.

If you want to get a feel for the fighting, watch the opening to Outsiders 2 – it shows quite a bit of fighting.

And, of course, people who cannot watch brutal violence on screen should avoid this drama.

Outsiders 2

Much of what I have to say about The Outsiders also applies to The Outsiders 2, so I will stick to comments which only apply to Outsiders 2.

The problem with making a sequel to The Outsiders is that the ending does not lend itself to a sequel. The writers get around this problem by setting The Outsiders 2 during the 5-year gap in The Outsiders. However, this setup limits what they can do with the story since they have to keep things consistent with the first drama. For example, they cannot do much to get the characters from the first drama to grow and change beyond what is shown in the first drama. Because of these limitations, The Outsiders 2 largely revolves around some new characters. Because I know the new characters do not show up in The Outsiders, I figured out pretty quickly that things do not end well for them.

In a way, the constraints are good, because they forced the writers to be more subtle about how they handled the characters. Considering the constraints in place, I am impressed that the main characters had as much development in The Outsiders 2 as they do. Nonetheless, Outsiders 2 does not manage to have the resonance of the first drama.

Huīsè Kōngjiān (“Gray Space”) is one of my favorite idol drama theme songs. It’s the song I linked to in the “Fighting” section. It is not so much the song itself as the way it fits the clips chosen for the opening and the way it fits the overall atmosphere of The Outsiders. The ending song, Nǐ Shuō (“You Say”), is also lovely. Whereas “Lydia” is the more popular song, I like that these two songs are quieter and feel more melancholy.

Overall

For all its flaws, The Outsiders is one of the most memorable idol dramas I have seen. I think what makes it stick out more than anything else is that it has some truth. I am not saying that it is realistic—it is most certainly not—and I’m not saying all of it is true (the villains in particular are not true to life). But there is enough truth to make an impression.

First of all, The Outsiders is almost entirely filmed in humble, ordinary neighborhoods (even the neighborhood of Xiao Yanzi’s faimly feels very ordinary). Many idol dramas are set in posh houses or tourist destinations. That’s not a bad thing—I have a lot of fun trying to identify locations—but it reflects fantasy, not the way most people in Taiwan live.

Most idol dramas are a retelling of Cinderella—humble girl gets swept up by wealthy guy and he takes care of her problems. However, most women, Taiwanese or not, are not going to get swept up by princes, let alone have their problems solved by them. This does not stop Ah Hao from trying to be Xiao Yanzi’s prince.

And that is the core conflict in their relationship. Ah Hao wants to be Xiao Yanzi’s prince, but Xiao Yanzi wants to be his partner. Their relationship gets even more strained when it becomes apparent that Shanzi wishes to be Xiao Yanzi’s partner, and a girl who really wants Ah Hao to be her prince appears. This is a problem that happens in real life, and it is this aspect of the story which stays with me the most.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to legally watch The Outsiders with English subtitles. Somebody ought to license this drama.

Next time: The Book and the Sword (novel)

Sara K. is not sure whether or not she will be able to make witty remarks about her life every week, but she will try. Since she is recovering from a cold, she certainly does not feel very witty right now.

Filed Under: Dramas, It Came From the Sinosphere Tagged With: idol drama, The Outsiders

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