INITIAL THOUGHTS: DRAMA GO GO GO (EP 1)





Without any shame, I’d be the first to admit that I’m watching this purely for Lin Geng Xin fresh out of my newfound adoration of him in Bu Bu Jing Xin. Apart from him, the cast doesn’t really appeal to me. I’d always seen Ruby as more of an ancient/period actress and Jiro has never appealed to me, especially post-plastic surgery. However, with my completion of the first episode, I can see myself warming to the series.

There is still a very distinct Taiwanese Idol drama flavour to the series, and that’s expected, though I’ve thought myself to have outgrown those. However, with our lady protagonist well into her 30s, we hopefully won’t be getting any teenybopper high school romances because I can’t stand how Taiwanese dramas portray those (I much prefer how Japanese dramas approach them, and hopefully, how School 2013 will tackle them). Ruby stars as Ming Ming, a scriptwriter who is unlucky and slightly inexperienced in love. Jiro takes the male lead role, a fallen idol that ends up being a street vendor before being whisked back into stardom thanks to Ming Ming’s recommendation. She is emotionally attached to him because during a tough break up, she turned to HE (his idol group) and their music for consolation. They run into each other a couple of times prior to becoming properly acquainted, and this sends Ming Ming all over the place with her fantasies. Despite her experiences, she still optimistically (or naively?) believes that one day a Prince Charming will whisk her off her feet.

Now, enter the breath of fresh air – Lin Geng Xin as the second male lead Shao Tian (sigh!) who has known Ming Ming since young because he’s the son of her writing teacher. The reason why he’s a breath of fresh air to me is because he’s already carved out a bit of a character already – he’s OCD, he’s snarky and he has no qualms with “accidentally” kissing guys. There isn’t much background on him so far, except that he seems to take care of Ming Ming and is probably going to end up being one of those second leads that make you feel extremely torn over. Already kind of hoping this series will break out of the mould and let him get the girl already because I love the jabs he and Ming Ming take at each other. The second lead actress rounding out the love square is Maggie Wu. This is the first drama I’ve watched her in and she’s quite pretty, though rather stiff at times. Her first official appearance (as Pei Ni, not the lead actress of Ming Ming’s drama) sees her confronting Ming Ming over the plausibility of the script of the first episode. Her remarks are rather reasonable, but it makes me question why she signed on to the drama when she already has so many problems with it. Don’t they have synopsis and scripts written well before embarking on drama productions at the very least? It just seems like they’re trying to establish that she’s an actress who is strict with her craft and strives towards perfection.

The episode leaves us with Ming Ming’s encounter with one of her jerk ex-boyfriends who used the “I don’t believe in marriage” card to get out of his relationship with her. The twist is (can you call it a twist when you can see it coming though?) that she meets him when he’s preparing for his wedding… to someone else. She’s gutted and Shao Tian watches in the background. Or does he? We see someone punching or slapping the ex-boyfriend, but don’t find out who yet.

THOUGHTS

Whilst retrospect usually means I’m able to deconstruct different elements of the drama I found unappealing, the feeling when watching the drama is usually different. In other words, this is one of those feel-good and light-hearted dramas and is an easy watch. Ming Ming is somewhat typical, yet to her favour, she remains likeable. Jiro and his mother are rather comical yet genuine. Lin Geng Xin is natural in his role and moves the story along. So far, Maggie Wu is just pretty, but it’s the first episode so I don’t expect her to be stealing the spotlight yet anyway.

I adore the interactions between Ming Ming and Shao Tian because they are so comfortable with each other, their shared history and their understanding of each other means they are much more natural. Conversely, the interactions between Ming Ming and Eason are a bit grating to me. There’s something off about the transition between the dramatic romantic tension between their almost kisses to the “reality” and it’s a bit off-putting so far. I guess it’s commendable that they’re being upfront with the romance and Ming Ming’s crush, but that usually means there will be leaking faucets towards the end of the drama.

I have heard good things about the drama, but I have increasingly found it difficult to buy the romances that Taiwanese dramas sell viewers. It seems a bit unrealistic and contrived once you’ve actually dated. However, since I want something fun to watch and this seems headed on that path, I’ll stick with it. Besides, I enjoy it and am probably not as disappointed as I’m coming across. Going completely off-topic, I feel it’s a pity that Jiro got plastic surgery, not because I’m strictly opposed to plastic surgery but because it’s so obvious and didn’t turn out that great. It’s so obvious whenever he wears sunglasses because once you cover up his eyes; he’s barely recognisable as Jiro. It looks a tad unnatural, but I guess I’ll just have to get used to it because he’s obviously not going to get surgery to appease my insignificant complaints.



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