One Year Against Destiny (Korean Drama)
One mysterious phone call informed one detective and one well known author the opportunity to go back a year into the past. Desperate to change the one fateful thing that ruined their lives, both of our leads join several others on a trip back to the past only to find out what they thought was an unbelievable gift has a hidden cost that none of them wants to pay.
Hmm…the first episode was decent but it wasn’t enough to keep my interest. From the looks of it, this one will probably be more of a mystery thriller but there should be romance between our two leads as well. Sigh, I am always intrigued by time traveling stories but for some reason, I never end up following them.
A Piece of Your Mind (Korean Drama)
I will just warn you right now this one is going to be really confusing at first, so much so, I really didn’t have much desire to keep watching by the end of episode one. Thankfully, the show did eventually start to make a little sense…by the second half of episode two.
The story, as far as I can figure out up to this point, is going to be how our heroine accidentally gets pulled by our hero into his unfinished epic first love. As our heroine tries to help our hero to mend the heart that has never healed, she herself will find salvation out of her own trauma.
Hmm…my summary makes the story sound so simple but it really is not. It is not exactly a melo, not really a comedy, not just a story about first love, and not just a story about finding new beginnings. Sigh, I am at a loss of how to describe this show. Anyhow, as I mentioned, I spent the first two episodes being mostly confused, so I will probably give this one another two episodes to actually figure out where the story is actually heading.
Update: I guess the confusing and slow pacing of the first two episodes scared most viewers away. tvN announced today (4/8) that the show will be shortened by four episodes, which means A Piece of Your Mind will end at 12 episodes instead of the originally planned 16. The show’s rating has dropped to 1.2% viewership in the last bit. Considering the prime time spot it occupies, it seems tvN is going to cut its losses. Judging by the reviews online, those who managed to stick it out past the first two episodes seem to genuinely be enjoying the show so I hope for those viewers’ sake, the show can manage to wrap the story up nicely despite the episode cut.
Once Again (K-daily)
If a parent’s greatest wish and joy is to see all of one’s children married off then Mama and Daddy Song have achieved great success with their four children…that is until all four of their children come moving back in after getting a divorce.
I was pretty surprised to see actress Lee Ming Jung back in a K-daily but her character looks pretty fun here.
Somehow Family (K-daily)
From the team that gave us Unstoppable Highkick (this one is very well known K-daily aired back in 2006), Somehow Family has the same wacky humor. Actually, Somehow Family reminds me quite a bit of the Reply series as well.
The story is set around a boarding house located near an airport which is why most of the borders are airport employees as well.
I really liked the first episode for its wacky fun vibe so I am for sure putting this one on my list for now…if I can find subs. Several popular Chinese drama sites got shut down today so I sure hope either Netflix and Viki will license this one eventually.
Serenade of Peaceful Joy (Chinese Drama)
Actor Wang Kai plays Emperor Renzong who lived his whole life striving to be a good king for his people as he carefully tries to balance introducing reforms that would benefit ordinary citizens yet not push the nobles over the edge. Despite living most of his life being careful not to create conflicts with his nobles, the Emperor is met with a difficult decision when his precious daughter begins to lash out due to her dissatisfaction with her marriage and her love for a eunuch.
I gave this one five episodes…and while it looks like it has a solid cast, I realized the show’s alternative names of “Held in a Lonely Castle” or “A Lonely City Closed” are a much better description of what the story is about. In essence, while Emperor Renzong was a great emperor for the people, he achieved it by sacrificing his own personal desires and wants. The palace was his prison and ended up trapping all the women who loved him as well. Like I said, the cast is solid and the story is quite good if you don’t mind the heartaches. I only watched five episodes but my mind won’t stop replaying the lonely struggles of Wang Kai’s character and my pity for the bright young women who are like moths to the flam as they each try in their own way to help the trapped Emperor.
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Thank you. So I have a routine. I have a list of sites I visit on a daily basis to see what’s new. Maplestage was one of them…. they have now shut down due to the pandemic. Makes me sad. I wish there was a way to say thank you for all these years. So don’t you pull a disappearing act again anytime soon. My little heart can’t take it. Take care.
I too was stunned that Maplestage got taken down. Sounds like a couple of US companies filed international lawsuits against Mapglestage so the Taiwanese government ended up arresting the two men who started Maplestage. A bunch of other similar sites must’ve gotten scared and immediately shut down their sites within the same day. Maplestage was extremely nice for the fact that it gathered all the dramas in one place but it looks like we now have to go back to playing the game of “who licensed which drama” OR hopefully someone can come in to fill the void Maplestage left…legally of course.
Dear writer of Ninja-Reflections,
I just wanted to ask something about your translations of the novel The Rise Of the Phoenixes:
At Webnovel.com there is a translation of something like 5 chaptes… Prolog 1 at the very beginning seems to describe the very end of the whole story. Is this true?!
Please let me know, since I cant read chinese and only know the drama-series which is quite different (in a good way but still very resentful after a certain point). I want to understand the authors intent about this story – for what would she write such a long tale with an end like this? “The route is the goal”? Within the beginning lies the end? I have never thought that she is that kind of person who’ld leave no hope at all.
No fear, the prologue is just more of a reflection of the awesome conflict of emotions between our two leads. I actually translated the ending before I started translating the novel. Foolish me for thinking the fans would just be good with the ending. Anyhow, if you don’t mind spoilers then go search for the ending translation posts on my site.