Freebento Blog

“Itazura na Kiss” I haven’t finished reading this manga. It hasn’t been completely scanlated yet. I’m not sure if I will finish it. It’s quite long (23 volumes) & unfinished due the the author’s death. But here’s an idea of what it’s about. A head strong, “dumb”, idealistic girl finally works up the courage to confess to her uber smart, cold yet handsome crush. He coldly ignores her. Later, they bump lips on accident in the hall. He’s still cold & she’s still a dummy. THEN, her home is destroyed and she and her father are taken in by the father’s old school friends. Who just happen to be the crushes parents. Chaos ensues. Keep in mind this began in 1990. The manga reflects the styles of the day. Same goes for the Japanese drama, made in 1996.

The Japanese drama version is only 9 episodes long. Short and sweet, to the point. It only covers the years from high school to a little bit of college, when they get together. I’m sure if there’s a wedding in it or not (I forget the most amazing things). The opening sequences mimic the pages of the manga. The lead actress, is super cute and I shake my finger at any person who calls her monkey-girl because of her ears. It’s pretty easy to watch despite the over the top character of the girl and the pompousness of the guy. I enjoyed watching this one. It’s cute & the fashion, those track suits, omg!

As for the Taiwanese version, titled “It Started with a Kiss”, it’s a little bit longer… 30 episodes. But the styles show are a bit more current, since this one was made in 2005. Staring Joe Cheng & Ariel. It also features Jiro Wang (who was in “Hana Kimi”, he basically plays the same exact character in ISWAK). The opening theme song is super catchy “Say U Love Me”. It’s in my head and surprisingly, it’s not annoying. Okay, so… It actually conveys, overall, the same sorts of feelings as the Japanese version. Except- it’s a lot more over the top. The girl is a little extra crazy, the guy is about the same amount of cold and the love rival (if you can even call him that) is way outrageous. Would I watch it again? Dunno, there are a lot of shows I would re-watch first.

Oh yeah, there is the sequel/season 2. It finishes airing this month. The season cover the Wedding & Honeymoon & stuff. It’s 20 episodes. I haven’t watched any of it yet. It has all important original cast (not sure about the more minor parts). More chaos ensues.

more coming soon

toygirl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ps.

Dear David Archuleta,

I noticed that you flubbed the “RENT” song last week. Please work on your ability to sing up tempo songs. I mean, your solo part was what? 3 lines? Come on. Give a girl a break. What will you do if you get an album? Sing 8-12 ballads? That’s so boring.

I could be wrong. Maybe it’s because you haven’t practiced these songs a hundred million times & sung them for years and that’s why you mess up the faster tempo songs.

Just work on it, dood. Cause, when I’m flippin’ radio stations, I don’t want to hear inspirational, breathless ballads for months on end.

Work hard, I know you can do it!

Shaunna

Asian Dramas, I watch them. Not as much as I used to. Maybe it’s because this season’s dramas aren’t catching my eye? Dunno. As a creature of habit, I’m sure I will catch up the next time I get sick.

But, the reason for writing this is because I was thinking of how many dramas I had watched that I had also read the manga/manhwa. It’s quite a few. So I’d thought I’d do a little list.

The first drama I watched was “Full House”. I found it on eBay while I was searching for the next book (which never came out) . I just wanted to know what happened next, so I bought the DVDs instead. It was pretty good. It kind of followed the story of the first three books. The show was much better than the somewhat strange feeling translation of the books. The female lead Song Hye Gyo & pop-star Rain suit the parts pretty well.

The next Korean show I watched was “Prince’s First Love” (not sure if this one was a manhwa), it was pretty much the same show as “Full House”. People gush over “Full House” & I think it is only because of the fame of the leads. Because, my conclusion was “Full House” however cute, didn’t bring anything original. It was more of the same. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to watch and you’ll stay engaged.

While looking through the other shows I noticed that there was a drama of “Remote”. This one I really liked. I thought the handling/changing of some sensitive topics went very smoothly. Shingo’s character is slightly less jerky, which I thought was a plus. The only real issue I had was Domoto Koichi/Himuro Kosaburo had uncomfortable hair. If that makes sense? But, that’s not much of an issue. Since I mentioned the boys… To be fair- Fukada Kyoko, playing Ayaki Kurumi, was really cute.

Now I know that there a places to get dramas without the use of eBay. So, I smack my own hands for not finding it sooner.

“HanaKimi” is a pretty good manga series. It’s probably going to be the only one like it I read. A girl pretending to be a boy in an all boy’s school. It’s pretty far fetched but the characters are pretty compelling. The last book comes out soon, I’m a little sad, but oh well. As for the dramas made from this, I’m not so sure about. The Taiwanese version followed the books pretty closely. I find the Taiwanese acting in general a little over the top and slightly uncomfortable for this type of show. It is actually a really decent version. But, as I watched I hoped the Japanese would do the show as well. They did. Although there was much larger budget and had tons of ‘pretty’ boys, it was WTF, for sure, like totally. I didn’t get it. It almost hung on the the plot. Maybe it got better after the 3rd episode, I couldn’t keep watching. So I dunno. If you REALLY feel the need to watch one, go Taiwan. If REALLY want to enjoy the story, reread the entire series next month when the last book comes out, vol. 23!

“Nodame Cantabile”, a surprisingly fun manga to me. I really wasn’t sure when I got it as a present. But, it’s excellent. So is the Drama. All the actors suit their parts very well. The smacking around of people is done with a very cartoon way without looking lame. The actors pull off ‘playing’ their instruments well, lol. I don’t think many of them actually play instruments. The soundtrack is fantastic, hearing the music makes a lot of difference and the opening credits says it all. (two of the guys from “Remote” are in this. Tamaki Hiroshi & Eita). Overall I would rate this as *Fantastic.* Eventually I will get around to watching it over again & finally get around to watching the Special as well. Noda is so much fun in the books and on the screen. Should I try the anime? I’m a little worried about it for some reason. I’ll probably skip it…?

Okay, so the count is 4. There is more. I’ll keep going later. Who likes to read crazy long messages on the computer anyway. I know I can’t. But it’s usually that one person in a forum going on and on and on forever without getting too a point. I can read the news just fine though.

toygirl–unicorns forever!