Category: Reviews

Webnovel Reco: Rebirth of Malicious Empress of Military Lineage (重生之将门毒后)

Webnovel Reco: Rebirth of Malicious Empress of Military Lineage (重生之将门毒后)

by eastasianlover ♥ 2 Comments
Rebirth of Malicious Empress
Picture Credits: Novel Updates

Ahhhh!!! I finally broke the streak, didn’t I? Unfortunately, I hadn’t even decided on what novel to review and hadn’t started writing the post in advance. Damn last week was busy. I don’t have another completed novel in my library of webnovels (actually I have one but I am really hesitant to review it for now). So, today I will write about a novel which is almost ending and will be done by the end of the year if the translation pace keeps up.

Since we’re nearing the end for this particular novel, and spoilers do predict a happy ending, I will go ahead and review “Rebirth of Malicious Empress of Military Lineage” being translated by zazajunnie from ChubbyCheeks Translations.

Written by Qian Shan Cha Ke the novel runs for 230 chapters and some short stories. Currently 221 chapters have been translated. I started following the novel when only 150 or so chapters had been released. Wow, it has been some time. But there was no looking back. It’s hands down one of the best reincarnation stories I have read till now.

The novel is the story of a girl called Shen Miao whose whole family has been serving their country as prominent military generals. Both her parents and her brother lead their own armies and have brought many wins to the country. Shen Miao, being foolishly in love with the youngest prince of the country, chases after him, marries him and becomes empress of the nation only to destroy her family by her own hands, including her own children, the crown prince and princess. She is disposed off by her husband, the emperor and his favorite concubine and Shen Miao reincarnates into the body of her own 14 year old self, with all her memories intact from the past life.

She vows to take revenge on everyone who led to the demise of her family in her past life. Along the way, she ends up helping people who suffered the same fate as her own family. Son of another general of same status as her family in the same kingdom, Xie Jing Xing, starts taking interest in her and becomes the male lead of the novel.

Pretty cliche, right? Not really. There is a reason why I call this novel fantastic read. One, it’s short. Less than 300 chapters and a captivating plot? Sign me up! Since there are such few number of chapters, the novel is devoid of any fillers. Each and every step Shen Miao takes, leads to her resolving something from her past.

Two, a strong female lead. It is not a story where the female lead is sitting around being helped by her male lead behind the scenes. She does get help from him, knowingly or unknowingly but she devises her own schemes and execute them by her aides most of the time.

Three, it’s a fast paced story. It is not like the story drags on and on. Well, I did say there are no fillers. But also, once there is an end to some character, they are uprooted with the family, not to be mentioned again in most of the cases, unless they’re important characters. So, you don’t have to keep revisiting characters from previous arcs again and again.

Fourth, the translations are consistent. Well, it’s less than 15 chapters left, so it might not matter some 15 weeks from now. But zaza is really consistent with her pace, Mon and Thu are the set days but if she crosses a particular amount of donation for the week, she releases additional chapters on Fri and Sat.

Fifth, the novel actually explains the mechanism of rebirth. It’s not just like before dying she made a vow and heavens granted her wish and reincarnated her and that’s it. The author spends full 3-4 chapters on how Shen Miao came back to her 14 year self, what changed and what remained the same, which I really liked. The rebirth novels that I have read till now are so focused on revenge that they don’t delve deeper into this stuff at all. Here you really get to look into what happened in Shen Miao’s original timeline after she died, which is pretty cool.

The only caveat I would add is the translation itself. The translation, is not bad in any sense, but it’s kind of hard at first. You might even think if it’s just machine translation. Trust me I have read machine translated raws for this novel and they don not make sense at all. So, I really appreciate zaza to translate it how she’s doing it. To be honest though, the translations might not be for beginners though. There is a lot of paraphrasing and grammar is all over the place. So, just give it a try and see if you can get accustomed to it. Once you are, you won’t be able to stop, trust me.

Another thing I can say I didn’t find much intriguing is the second part of the novel. I cannot write about this thing without giving huge spoilers, but I am finding Shen Miao’s life after revenge a bit boring. It is just last 30 chapters or so, and I do want a closure. But I am just not feeling it right now. I’ll stick to it anyway because it’s near the end. BUT, this can also be one of the positive points. Usually in rebirth stories, once the revenge is over, the authors rush through the ending and finish the story in one chapter saying male and female lead lived happily after. Not here!

Also, one caution. It’s a fan translation, so it might be that in the future, zaza would need to take down her translations should the author demand so or if it’s picked up by any official translation websites like Qidian. But for now, enjoy at the link below.

Favorite Quote:

“Good people always blame themselves and bad people always blame others. But it is the bad people that live better off than the good people. If one can let one be happier a little, then what is there to be sad about being resentful of others?”

Shen Miao

Conclusion: It is a meticulous story of revenge done right, one step at a time. And I highly recommend it.

Final feelings: ♡( ◡‿◡ )

Read here: Rebirth of Malicious Empress at ChubbyCheeks

Personal Front: I am so sorry for missing the Saturday posting day this week to my readers. It’s just that I have a new project at my work and I have to learn a lot of stuff which I already don’t know. That’s been taking up quite a bit of my time. Also, apartment hunting. I hope I can finally move out of my current apartment after 3 years of staying here.

Anyway, I have got something to advertise a bit. There is this company trying to put out an event where you predict the rankings of the current seasonal anime series and if you score top points, you win free prizes. I have won twice and am getting the stuff I won pretty soon (I hope at least). So, you guys can participate as well. I will do a separate post with pictures as and when I get the free merchandise. Here is the link if you want to participate: Crystal Ball from BlockPunk

This is the same company which I mentioned in my last post, stating that I got to talk to their founders and all. Try your luck out! Good luck!!

Today’s Song: Let’s go with ever popular BlackPink’s recent comeback

Anime Reco: Natsume Yuujinchou (夏目友人帳)

Anime Reco: Natsume Yuujinchou (夏目友人帳)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
Natsume Yuujinchou 1

I thought really hard what anime I should review this week. I even went to my myanimelist account to see if I should give preference to any of the anime I have watched previously and rated highly.

Then I was thinking of recommending “My Roommate is a Cat” airing this season. But as much as I would love to review that one, I usually don’t like reviewing on-going series, just in case I might have to change my rating. *Cough* The Golden Eyes *Cough*

Natsume Yuujinchou, by far, is one of the best anime I have ever watched. I eagerly wait for its new seasons and movies every year. (Thank God people actually pick it up for making next seasons rather than just letting it be (Skip Beat, I see you). I guess, it’s rather popular in Japan.

Everyone needs magic in their lives, and this one is the magic which can melt away all your worries and disappointments of the day and make you count your blessings in life. All you need is a hot chocolate, your warm bed and your laptop with this anime playing. What you’re going to read further is a rather long plot followed by a rave review, but it’s worth it, trust me.

Natsume Yuujinchou 2
Ah, the floof and the love and the happiness ❤

So, the anime is about this orphan boi Natsume Takashi who has power to see ayakashi and youkai (Japanese spirits and demons). He inherited it from his grandmother, Reiko Takashi. First season lays down his background and tells how he has to move from relatives to relatives because of his weird behavior as a kid. He would tell his foster families that there was an additional person in the house or would daze off into the space, much to the frustration of people around him. They would call him weird or creepy and sometimes, even question his sanity.

Finally, Natsume settles down with Fujiwara family who’re a childless couple and treat Natsume as his own. Initially, Natsume is distant from them, just in case they come to know of his ability and shun him as in the past. But he comes to realize that he truly cares for them and is hiding his abilities because he doesn’t want the youkai to hurt them.

Natsume Yuujinchou 3
Although, everything in this anime is lou, his foster family especially is all the feels

He inherits a powerful tool to control youkai called Book of Friends from his grandmother Reiko. Reiko was a lonely soul, ostracized by humans because of her ability, and hence, sought solace with youkai. She would challenge them in some kind of game and being powerful, ask them to give her their names on losing the game, thus obtaining absolute power over them.

Now Natsume takes upon him to return these names, because it’s a dangerous artifact, if it falls into the hands of any dangerous youkai or human alike. He has the aid of extremely powerful youkai called Madara (named as Nyanko-sensei by Natsume) who has promise from Natsume that he will get the book once Natsume dies.

Natsume Yuujinchou 4
Returning the names.

The story revolves around Natsume’s interaction with humans and youkai, him trying to find a balance between helping youkai and letting them be destroyed by humans since he had a rough childhood because of them. In the end, he realizes that he cannot really choose one and there are both good and bad youkai as well as humans.

Oh man, that plot took up so much space. And the anime spans 6 seasons and a few specials and movies as well. While it seems an arduous task to follow this anime, trust me, as soon as you get into it, you’ll experience the ultimate peace. From the OSTs to the soft coloring in the animation, everything is just mellow and peaceful and happy and just, life. The OSTs have been one of my favorite playlists and I listen to it whenever I am feeling down.

Natsume Yuujinchou 5
These two guys are friendship goals!!

Ah, I am melting away just thinking about it. But anyway, I only have praises for this anime. People whom I have recommended this anime had two extremely opposite reaction, either they really like it and felt really good after watching it, just like me, or they just couldn’t get into it. Some said it was too long, some said it couldn’t compare to Mushishi and hence, they dropped it.

I’ll urge everyone who wants to drop it or already has dropped it, to just give the whole first season try. If that doesn’t work, you really don’t have appreciation for slice of life anime T_T. Also, character development is too strong in this one. Not only Natsume evolves as the anime progresses, the characters around him do too, both humans and youkai. And their bonds too. At the end of the season, if you see all the youkai friends of Natsume gathered around him, you cannot help but cheer for him, and yourself for some reason lol.

Natsume Yuujinchou 6
Nyanko-Sensei who claims that he’s not a cat…

The only con I can think about it is the anime being too slow for some people. But that’s also the beauty of the anime. It’s made to make the audience slow down and reflect on life. That’s what slice of life is all about and this anime is the very definition of the genre.

Conclusion: As you can see from the review, I love the anime. There was a time I was watching it at least monthly to get through the tough times. Nyanko sensei is the most adorable character out there and you’ll fall in love with the oldie. The fur ball is also the comic element, so it’s not all serious or light-hearted. Don’t let the enormous number of seasons deter you. They all contain 13 episodes each, so it’s not that long. This marvelous piece of work needs more attention!

Final feelings: (o˘◡˘o)

Watch here: Crunchy roll has all the seasons. Start with first three here: Watch on Crunchyroll.

Personal front: I am late again today but I finally got my learner’s permit. Went to the same place. Good thing I went coz I was eyeing visiting this Payless Shoesource store. Sad that they’re closing down since I loved their collection. I went ahead and bought 4 pairs today. Guess I splurged too much but no regrets. I wanted to do my due, bidding goodbye to the chain. If I find some store not closing soon enough, I might buy more.

Anyway, time to learn driving soon and get that driver’s license. Been too long now.

In other news, I finally got a new module to work on at my company and have to start working with Arduino. Sounds exciting and I am waiting for my kit to arrive so that I can get into circuit building and stuff. I don’t have anything else to talk about tbh.

Since next Saturday is 5th Saturday of the month, it will be a full personal post. If you guys have any questions, comment below or send them to easasianlover@gmail.com. See you guys next week!

Today’s Song: Since this is Natsume Yuujinchou we’re talking about, time to post some cute OSTs. You will also get a feel of this anime through them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOmVEIdYmeg&list=PLzN14_DsGxhQYf6-Cn7iyATo6D5o8zrzs
Webtoon Reco: My Boo (투명한 동거)

Webtoon Reco: My Boo (투명한 동거)

by eastasianlover ♥ 5 Comments
My Boo 1

This week, I am recommending another short-sweet-love and slice of life webtoon from South Korea. It’s been very very long since I finished any manga/ manhwa/ manhua tbh.

I might review Barakamon when its last volume comes out late July. But otherwise, I’ll have to really dig out all the manga I have finished and probably read them again to review. I might actually do that someday but right now life is hectic and I will, perhaps, continue reviewing ongoing webtoons.

Webtoons are the craze these days anyway. Not only Naver’s original webtoons.com have it, but apps like Tapas and Tappy Toon have ever increasing collection. Not to mention, the Chinese webnovels being converted to colored webtoons have taken over the world by storm as well. People who’re already paying to read novels are now also engrossed in their respective webtoons, pouring in more money. *Cough Cough* Qidian is getting richer by the day… *Cough*

My Boo is the love story of a human girl and a ghost guy. When love transcends the boundary of dead and alive, that’s when you get My Boo. It’s not a new concept and I am following another webtoon these days on a similar theme called Ghost Wife.

My Boo 2
I ship ❤

Anyway, the protagonist of this story is a girl names Yuri So who can see the ghosts for some reason. She has had traumatic past with them and tries to avoid them as much as she can. She finds it hard to maintain a balance between her powers and her urge to help when she sees one in distress.

She works as a freelance translator and moves into a new house whose previous owner was our ghost, Jun Ko. He died in the house and is stuck there for past 3 years. First Yuri avoids him and outright rejects him just to not involve herself with him. But slowly she starts understanding him and herself and they become housemates in real sense, ultimately falling in love for each other.

My Boo 3
My Boo 4
I love the dialogue delivery too. Peaceful yet powerful.

What I like the most about this webtoon is how maturely it’s been written. Each chapter starts with a glimpse from Yuri’s past, especially her traumatic experience after which she decided not to involve herself with the ghosts.

It also gives the POV of both Yuri and Jun and how their feelings change for each other. With just 47 episodes, the story is fleshed out so well, I can just feel all the feels again. The emotions in this webtoon are so real and so relate-able, I just can’t. I ended up binge reading it again.

As I said, you can just feel it all with just two characters. Like the whole 47 chapters is majorly with just two characters. OMG, I have whole new level of respect for the author Jeongseo. How can they make something so good with just two characters? You can feel Jun’s helplessness when he can’t save Yuri from falling from stairs or when he can’t drive her to hospital like her ‘human’ friends or when he can’t touch her or when he can’t hold her.

My Boo 5
I feel so helpless just reading this one dialogue, dammit!

Same for Yuri, she can’t save him. She can’t bring him back. She can’t help falling for him either. But fate has something else for them. Their interaction is so fluffy, so awkward initially and turning into sweet moments later. Anyway, I’ll warn beforehand, this webtoon has a bittersweet ending, one which would make you cry and smile at the same time.

And the next best thing about the webtoon is art. Realistic, simple, cute and just amazing. I wish I could draw like that. There is also a 3-D effect about it. The author has real understanding of angles and perspective. Since Jun can pass through objects, most of the scenes need to be presented from unusual angles and I personally feel that Jeongseo-nim has done an excellent job regarding that.

I don’t really have anything negative to talk about. I loved the webtoon to the core.

Conclusion: Giving this like 110/10, highly highly recommended from me. It’s max 2 hours read and is so very engrossing. It has a rating of 9.77 at webtoons.com!!! So, it’s just not me lol. Also, forgot to mention earlier, it also has cute cats. Now I want a boo of my own.

Final feelings: (❤ω❤)

Read here: My Boo on Webtoon for free

Personal Front: I had a very rude awakening this week. So, I was telling some juniors of mine how since they’re in college, they should not be wasting time like how I did and they really have golden opportunity right now and of course I was rambling on and on. It’s actually become a habit to be lecturing those people because I thought I cared and didn’t want them to repeat the mistakes I did but well. And one of them really opened my eyes.

So, if I, as a person who’s like perhaps 6 years senior to those kids, tell them stuff like this, I am acting like their parents and lecturing but if another person who’s just 1-2 years senior to them says exact same thing, they listen. I realized two things then and there: the power of peers vs. anyone else and plight of parents.

We listen to our peers because we think that they relate more to us and understand us better while blaming our parents for generation gap yada yada. I do admit that parents’ way of telling us about adulting might not be the nicest and their advice might not really be suitable for the current economy and circumstances and times etc., but we can always mold their advice to suit ourselves. I guess I would be paying more attention to my parents’ teachings and try to understand them more from now on. Thanks for the valuable lesson whoever the person was.

In other news, I might have to update my last review for the Golden Eyes because the plot went downhill way too fast. After 18th episode, I am so frustrated but I cannot drop it because I have seen further trailers and they’re yet to tell the secret behind the power. Aarrghh, such decisions in life, I tell ya!

Today’s Song: I don’t remember if I have posted this song before but I am back to listening to this song since I have been watching Lay’s drama:

C-Drama Review: The Golden Eyes (黄金瞳)

C-Drama Review: The Golden Eyes (黄金瞳)

by eastasianlover ♥ 7 Comments

Edit: Updated the review to rant about it. The earlier review was till ep 12 and I really liked the concept till then, although there were flaws. 50 eps later, I am so disappointed that I can’t even bring myself to watch the finale. But I have read enough spoilers to know what happens and hence can complete this review. Also, note that I have changed it from reco to review unfortunately.

Updated Review

Okay people, results are in and the verdict is that this drama sucks. From plot being all over the place to less to no character development, I am just honestly so sad for this drama. It had great potential. At this point of time, I can’t even say if it had an excess of episodes and they stretched the story quite a bit or if there were too few episodes that they could’ve done better if they gave time to each character. I am just speechless at the bad quality of plot.

For plot, please read the original review below.

As I have said in some later post, I hate it when the scriptwriters think of the audience as fools. In this story, anything and everything happens. One moment the MC is acting so foolish that the truth is laying before him but he refuses to believe it, the other moment, he becomes so intelligent that most villainous person cannot escape his schemes.

The villains in this story are so torn between their feelings for MC (our typical kindest guy you’ll ever see) and their greed that they cannot really choose a side till the end. One can argue that it’s the actual human nature but in the end you have to choose a side. And till the end, you just cannot make out what’s gonna happen with whom.

My Google search terms tell me that there is a novel for this series and I would really like to read it to know if the drama did justice to the novel or not. If they did, then I am sorry to say, but please choose better plots to convert to drama.

Anyway, as I said, I am quite disappointed by the fact that Zhang Yixing would choose such a lacking script. If he did it just because the MC follows the same life philosophy as him, then I am sorry, gonna stay away from his other dramas from now. I personally think the producers of this drama were trying to ride the wave of popularity of media related to tomb raiding. And they probably succeeded because a lot of reviews I read on Viki really appreciate the drama.

Heck it doesn’t even look like tomb raiding because you cannot find a single cobweb in the tombs shown in this drama. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? Those tombs are supposed to be laying there for thousands of years. If you can show blood sucking creatures there, how come the paths to the tombs are without any spiders even? Common sense?

I really appreciate adaptations of Daomu Biji series (The Mystic Nine, The Lost Tomb and The Tomb at the Sea) for this. They at least took care of such details, even if their graphics were lacking. The Tomb at the Sea is doing great in that aspect as well. Although that is another series I need to rant about.

But seriously, my rating fell from 7/10 to -100/10. Please do not watch if you cannot bear plot holes. Oh wait, this plot in itself is a hole, a black hole of frustration.

Actually, you know what, the whole premise itself is something that I don’t understand. The rich heiress sent thieves in a pawnshop to steal a worthless piece of jade. This is the first episode. The jade breaks and injures our MC giving him the golden eyes. If the girl was so rich, she could’ve just bought it. Why send thieves. OMG, what a realization!!

So, in the end, only good thing about the series remains the identity of actual villain. You just won’t ever imagine that they were the people behind whole drama in MC’s life. Anyway, I’ll directly skip to last episode maybe and watch it at 4x speed just for myself, that I actually finished the series lol. Read for the plot and everything else below. I’ve edited my conclusion and final feelings section as well. And I would really like to apologize to people who read my earlier review and started the series already.

Original Review

I was trying to refrain from posting the review before the drama was fully released. B-but I just could not stop myself. As I said in my last post, my two tomb raiding posts are popular as ever. And I have been on lookout for similar kind of dramas and novels. And I am sure my readers are dying to find similar stuff as well.

Unfortunately, there is so much dearth of entertainment media like this. So, although this drama is still being subbed, putting my trust in Zhang Yixing’s fans, I decided to review this drama. Let’s begin.

I watched the trailer for the golden eyes in another C-drama I was watching last year. Well, it’s the combination of Zhang Yixing and oriental mystery, so why not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIiLB4c6i_A

Except that I completely forgot about it till now and stumbled across it again 4 days back. As expected, I finished 7 eps released in 2 days and have been following the releases since then. And of course, thoroughly enjoyed the marathon. However, the drama comes with its usual annoyances.

The drama follows Zhuang Rui (Zhang Yixing), a simple and naive worker at a pawnshop, who has a degree in history and archaeology from Peking University. One day, some people broke into his employer’s shop and tried to steal an antique piece in shape of the eye made out of jade stone. By accident, the piece shatters and injures Zhuang Rui’s eyes, only to gift him with the golden eyes, eyes that can see through everything.

He ends up using his newly found power to do antique and jade business, archaeologically exploring tombs and learning about stuff along the way and meeting all sorts of people; people, who seem friends but might not really be and vice versa as well.

Those pretty ❤

He also gets to know about his long lost family it seems. Apparently, there should exist a dragon clan where two people also possess the same pair of eyes, but they haven’t been introduced till 11th episode, so I cannot say. (Edit: no dragon clan till 50th episode, sorry.)

Now, the plus points. I really enjoy Zhang Yixing’s acting (not a new thing, I guess my readers must have become accustomed to it by now). The story has been okay so far, slow to develop but the mystery is still there and the characters are developing slowly but at a good pace.

Graphics have been great despite it being an iQiyi drama. And music is absolutely fantastic, background music goes so well with the situations and some of the trot songs used are such honey to the ears.

And I also like the subtle comedy the drama puts in between which doesn’t look too forced given how serious some situations can become when the main villain and the protagonist interact. Oh yeah, this drama also has a lot of face slapping. Since our Zhuang Rui sees it all, he doesn’t give any face to the cheaters in the business.

But, as I said, the drama is not devoid of its flaws as C-dramas usually all have. First is some of the poorly written characters, especially females. There is this policewoman who is always on Zhuang Rui’s case for some reason. I see this character becoming the main love interest of Zhuang Rui in future.

But for now, the character is absolutely trash. The lady, despite being a policewoman has absolutely no skills of a detective. It seems to be a character there just for the sake of it. I hope they give her some more substance otherwise she’ll just remain as an annoying b**** despite having such a great potential.

The other female character, Bing Bing, she’s supposed to be heir to some very rich person, but she doesn’t exude that charm or elegance of a rich heiress at all. All she does is give orders to this one underling and just overall, trying to avoid the villain guy who’s set to make her his girlfriend. Like please give her something else to do, eh?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9pGC05aRHk

Same with all the professor characters. They’re not annoying but might use some more development. Since I am writing the review based on 12 episodes out of 56, I do hope my wish comes true. And that they properly finish the story this time rather than hanging us audience with the hopes of a second season that would never happen. I will make sure to update this review once the drama finishes.

Conclusion: Changing from original highly recommended to don’t watch it for your sanity. It might satiate people still struggling with withdrawal symptoms from The Mystic Nine and The Lost Tomb (I do hope they sub the sequel in Lao Jiu Men series, The Tomb of The Sea soon). But this drama pales in comparison to other two (and I really did not like The Lost Tomb that much either, trust me).

You would only like it if you can ignore the plot and just wanna look at Zhang Yixing’s acting in the main role, supposedly action. I personally felt like it was a waste of time to invest myself in this drama. Do comment how you would rate it.

Final feelings: (◣_◢)

Watch here: The Golden Eyes on Viki

Personal Front: I am running late with the schedule again! Actually, I went for getting my driving learner’s permit today, and it being a weekend, there was just too much crowd at the center. And I didn’t even get it because I still don’t have my new authorization card. Ugh, life is tough in another country. And I really wanted my learner’s permit today so I could practice driving and get my license by the end of the month TT_TT

Anyway, since I and my friend went too early in the morning, I came back and slept for like 4 hours. I could have prepared my post in advance, but last few days have been really hectic somehow. It’s the tax season in US and so it’s been more busy. Gathering all the documents, ensuring everything is in correct order and then sending them away is not easy after all. I hope all my US readers get huge tax refunds.

I don’t think I have anything really exciting to tell other than I almost got my learner’s driving license but just at the last stage, I could not. See you guys next week then!

Today’s song: I got one from the drama and really really love it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tkel9QgZcU
Webnovel Review: Lost Treasure (失落的宝藏)

Webnovel Review: Lost Treasure (失落的宝藏)

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment
Lost Treasure Cover

Sorry for the delay readers! I have been sick since Monday and working is really hard right now. More on it in the personal section later. Wait, did you think I finally missed on writing this week? Damn, I believed so too but ended up finishing the post yay!

Also, happy March everyone! A new month and a new cycle starts here for reviews (I have kept it up for four weeks! Phew!! It’s a record for me!!!)

Anyway, given the huge popularity of tomb raiding reviews I have done previously on my blog (The Mystic Nine and The Lost Tomb), I decided to review this novel which I started reading to satiate my thirst for thriller mysteries in C-novels. Gotta share good stuff with the readers no?

If you guys still haven’t discovered this, half of my blog posts are reviews and half are recommendations. The difference is, I recommend something when I am absolutely sure of it and am totally in love with it, enough to overlook all its flaws.

Although I take name of both tomb raiding dramas in this post, this novel has less to do with tomb raiding and more with just the general mystery and the desert and the *foreigners did some experiments and tried to take our treasures long long time ago but we gotta find it now because it is still a national treasure* kind of theme. If it is still keeping your interest, read on!

The novel is a short 58 chapters novel, written by author Shen Taiya. It follows an earnest small time reporter called Shen Yu who, unknowingly gets entangled with an army officer called Tang Can. Tang Can and his team have been working to find a special kind of gold which is said to come from space and is superior in quality but very fragile. As usual, it is also being coveted by greedy villagers and then there is mystery of Shen Yu’s and Tang Can’s past and other shady villagers involved.

Shen Yu is the protagonist here. She has parents who don’t seem to be all that normal. They have their own pasts and involvement with the gold matter. Not to mention, all the comrades of Tang Can involved in the major expedition in the novel have their fates connected with each other.

Plotwise, I think, the author has tried to include too much in too short a novel. This is the first and probably the last time you’ll hear me say this but the novel could have really really benefited from having more chapters. The mystery was great, if only the author had fleshed out a bit more details and not ended it in a rush.

And why would you rush on a novel with such a great potential anyway? Like, initially the story is too slow. Shen Yu’s mood swings are too much. Some of the more *this guy is my childhood sweetheart and only I have the right on his heart, how dare you even look at him* females are too annoying. In that way, it’s good that the drama has been kept short. But what started as very intriguing story went downhill really fast.

Till like 55th chapter, I was wondering how the author’s gonna tie everything and give it a good ending. They didn’t actually. The last reveal was ultimate though. Just that this. novel. needs. more. chapters.

As I said, there was real potential here when it comes to character development as well. Romance is a bit bland too. You would keep scratching your heads as to when Tang Can actually fell for Shen Yu. And whenever there is any scope of them being alone, something or other happens. I guess it was just there for the sake of it or that the author is not very experienced with romance.

The translation for the novel is impeccable. Sanguine from volare novels has done a great job with the terms and everything. Grammar is good and as usual, in the latter half of the novel, I was basically following it daily as the chapters came out.

Conclusion: As I said, I started reading the novel because I was looking for something related to tomb raiding. I ended up reading this because it mentioned all the mystery keywords found in a typical tomb raiding mystery webnovel like army, desert, mystery, gold etc. Ultimately, I was disappointed. But I still won’t dismiss it as such and since it is very short, I would recommend it to the desperate souls out there, just like me. Finally, I would give it 4.5/10.

Final feelings: (눈_눈)

Read here: Lost Treasure on Volare Novels

Personal Front: I woke up on Monday with a high fever, without any reason. I would have understood if I had gone outside any of the previous days, but I was home on Saturday and Sunday. I just couldn’t understand the reason for me suddenly developing a fever. And the whole week is blurry in my mind because all I was doing was sleeping. Work from home policy is just too good for any office. I also feel guilty but I wouldn’t have accomplished anything in the office anyway.

Even after 1 week of meds and sleeping, I am not exactly okay but getting better I guess. My voice is literally gone though. Anyway, during this time, I finished so many cliche rom com dramas (I even finished a J-drama which I seldom watch because of their exaggerated acting). And then I stumbled upon this drama called the Golden Eyes starring my fav Zhang Yixing. I had watched its trailer once but I completely forgot about it till now. It has all the elements of being a famous mystery, so I hope it doesn’t end up being like the previous two dramas I have reviewed.

Anyway, since I successfully finished the post, I will go sleep again. Happy reading everyone.

Today’s song: I ran out of songs to post. Let’s see. I don’t think I have posted any IU song yet. Last year she released one and became my favorite really fast. The lyrics are witty and give you such confidence in life:

Anime Reco: Chouyaku Hyakkuninisshu Uta Koi (超訳百人一首 うた恋い)

Anime Reco: Chouyaku Hyakkuninisshu Uta Koi (超訳百人一首 うた恋い)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Oh God! I started this post in 2014. Can you imagine? It’s a five year old post basically. Never got to complete it!

I am pretty sure it’s just another anime which never found the fame it deserves. Why? Of course because it’s a slice of life anime. Like I seriously don’t understand why that whole genre is so underappreciated. Please someone, solve this mystery for me.

Anyway, who wants a Japanese history lesson? Chouyaku Hyakkuninisshu Uta Koi, also called as Uta Koi, is a fun spin on the famous Japanese Hundred Poems (Hyakunin Ishhu) which are used for the famous Japanese card game Karuta. If you don’t recognize the name of the game, think the anime Chihayafuru.

Uta Koi 5
Is what Fujiwara no Teika said

And do you know who this anime features? The different poets of some of these 100 poems and the one who created the anthology – Fujiwara no Teika. Fujiwara no Teika tells the stories behind the poems, who wrote them, in what context and how.

Interestingly, they have chosen only the love poems for the anime (uta koi). But the hilarious take on these stories, especially our narrator Fujiwara no Teika makes the anime very lighthearted. Now that I am writing the review, I feel like watching it again. It might give me a new perspective on the anime and brush up my memory a bit, before I finish this review. Be right back.

All right, I am back after the first marathon of 2019. It was nice to refresh my memory of the anime. So, yeah. I love its OSTs. The opening and ending sounded so nice after so long. Passionate, Fiery, Historical.

Some people might be put off by the animation. It is inconsistent, the characters have very thick outer lines and when the characters walk, you can see that it’s the pattern of their clothes that moves rather than the character itself perhaps. So, people who have grown up watching the advanced development in current animation scenario, might not appreciate it that much.

But if you can overlook that part, this anime has much to offer. Apart from history lessons and the comedy, there are of course small heart breaking and lovely romance stories. Not to mention the wallpaper worthy backgrounds.

Gotta write a poem now!

I personally dig historical stuff, so I am going to totally recommend this anime to anyone and everyone. But I still reckon that this anime might be more for a seasoned anime watcher rather than newbies although I watched it in my 2nd year of anime watching and have had it in my hard drive since then.

Conclusion: I give this anime 11/10 just for the sounds and the comic history. I wish all my history lessons were this hilarious. Highly recommended for my readers. I actually picked up the translated version of the Pillow Book in my undergrad after I finished watching this anime. But that could just be me.

Final feelings: Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→

Watch here: Watch Uta Koi on CrunchyRoll for free

Personal Front: This week I celebrated my birthday and I had my two friends drive to Pittsburgh from far far away. These are the two friends whom I have given a shout out many times before on my blog. But I especially want to thank them this time. I can’t express anymore how much I love and cherish them. Words fall short when I want to tell them that. I just wish all the happiness in the world for my two buddies. ❤

Apart from that, I and my roommates went to an expensive restaurant to celebrate my birthday. The food was amazing though. Overall, this week had been full of fun and sleepless nights lol. I am using this weekend to finally complete my sleep so that I can recharge myself.

I also bade farewell to a lovely junior of mine yesterday. She’s shifting to California and was the last person I knew from my department. Seems like all my personal connections from my department at CMU are gone far away now. How I wish I could leave the city too. But I am actually very excited for the work I am doing currently. So, all is well. 😀

Today’s song: What to do, what to do, what to do indeed? An anime club friend of mine got me addicted to this LOONA’s newly released song. I got goosebumps the first time I saw the MV. Here it is:

Webtoon Recommendation: Super Secret (슈퍼 시크릿)

Webtoon Recommendation: Super Secret (슈퍼 시크릿)

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment
Super Secret Webtoon

This post was supposed to be the first post of 2019 but I somehow ended up reviewing a webnovel first. So, although I had written this post in the first week of January, I had to change the whole intro again, (basically write everything again). Oh well. I have moved some parts of my intro to the personal section of the post, if anyone’s interested

Anyway, today I bring this super cute 4-panel webtoon for you guys. Completed just a month back, it’s one of my favorite webtoons, kind of. I feel so happy for the characters. But damn, I’ll miss my Wednesday update every week.

Written by author by the name of “eon”, it is a rather short webtoon with 144 chapters only and a webtoon rating of 9.82!! So I guess it comes highly recommended from webtoon readers?

It is a heartwarming slice of life romcom (interesting combo tbh but I am seeing this combo popping up again and again these days) about a clumsy girl called Emma Ji whose parents live abroad and her childhood friend Ryan Nam who has been taking care of her, performing all duties of a mom, a dad and her best friend.

Super Secret funny 2
Lol, Emma admits it herself

As *two childhood friends who fall in love with each other but the girl doesn’t have a clue* cliche as it sounds, what sets it apart from other stories like this is that Ryan and his family have a secret. They’re supernatural beings. Ryan himself is a werewolf, his two sisters are witch and a nine tailed fox (Trust me, it’s not a spoiler! It is just a secret for Emma, not the readers XD XD). These guys helping Emma with her normal life while trying to keep their super secret a secret from everyone including Emma and her friends create real hilarious situations.

More than that, you really feel for Ryan. He is hopelessly in love with her. While our airhead Emma tries to just live her life, she’s totally obvious to Ryan’s or her own feelings. Added to the mix are problems that arise from Ryan’s secret, since in this universe, humans are not allowed to know about the existence of the supernatural beings.

There are of course ways to evade that rule but it involves so many complications that it often poses danger to Emma and her other hooman friends. Her friends also get involved with other super beings.

Super secret funny
Like you’re ever gonna do it >.>

What I really like about the webtoon is the art, which is super cute and fluffy despite being based majorly on humans (super beings in the form of humans, but you get my point, right?). And the author has really not bound the story and characters by any boundaries in the sense that even Ryan’s family contains all kind of beings, which is interesting in terms of procreation (Can you think of a Frankenstein and a Korean spirit/ Goddess with children who are nine tailed fox, witch and a werewolf? Unless they’re all adopted? No information there). I mean, it’s fine, don’t wanna go into nitty gritty stuff.

I also liked the comedy part. It’s not laugh out loud kind of comedy but just funny. You feel good reading it. I wouldn’t comment on character development because it’s not really a plot driven webtoon. I mean there is an overarching theme of how Emma discovers Ryan’s secret and their feelings for each other. But it’s not like you get to see people grow beyond their flaws and stuff.

Super secret 5
From the author’s postscript…

What I don’t like about the webtoon is that it wasn’t originally supposed to be this long. Near the end, there was a lot of stuff in the plot which seemed unnecessary to me, and the author admits it in the last chapter. They had planned it only for 50 chapters but it went on to become almost 100 chapters more. They’re not unbearable and I won’t know how it would feel to binge read it. Perhaps it would make more sense reading it all together?

But somewhere I did get lost in the plot. It seemed to be like every Korean drama where a point comes and you just want to skip to the end. It was not possible for me because I was obviously following it while it was publishing and reading one chapter per week.

Super secret funny 3
Uh, I might be slave to this cutesy art too XD

Conclusion: Personally, despite my reservations about the unnecessary additions of characters and plot to keep the editors happy and just for the sake of it, I really like it. In my weekly schedule, for months, this was the only webtoon that I followed that updated on Wednesday (I have started 2 new webtoons now, so Wednesdays don’t seem empty anymore). And I really looked forward to it every week.

So, I would still recommend my readers to give it a try. It’s not that long that you would feel that you’ve invested too much time reading it anyway.

Final feelings: (o˘◡˘o)

Read here: Super Secret on Webtoons.com

Personal Front: Well, as I mentioned earlier, this post was to go up in mid-Jan as I came back from India to US after a vacay of 3 weeks. I was feeling a bit of non-belonging-ness to either US or India, although I have lived some 23 years in India and 2.5 years in US (time indeed flies!!).

Like you know, I have mentioned this before but I don’t really get attached to places. Not my undergrad college, not Thailand, not my previous place of work, not here. And Pittsburgh is actually the place where I have spent 3rd longest time of my life at one place. It all seems very interesting to me.

Anyway, there is nothing much to tell on personal front otherwise. I am 1/5th through this book called “Common Stocks, Uncommon Profits” and I am loving it so far, more so because I finished those 60+ pages in 2 hours, thanks to an online friend.

I asked her to work for an hour on some project without getting distracted and being accountable to each other for the work we decided upon. It actually feels good to be accomplishing something like that. I see myself using this technique of productivity more often in the future.

Today’s song: Somehow got hooked to Taemin’s new song. Although I don’t like how changed he looks with regards to body (too thin and a bit shorter compared to before? I feel like he doesn’t have bones in his body anymore!), I am loving the sound. It feels okay putting on repeat and listening at length, plus the lyrics are so narcissist, that it inspires some confidence in otherwise under-confident me (Today I realized that the meaning of the song could be quite sensual as well):

Disclaimer: All the images used here are property of author eon and webtoons.com and have directly been taken from the website. Nothing belongs to me or the blog.

C-Variety Reco: Idol Producer (偶像练习生)

C-Variety Reco: Idol Producer (偶像练习生)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
Idol Producer S1
Season 1 Trainers

To the uninitiated, as the name suggests, it is a show where 101 trainees from different idol companies in China compete to grab a spot in a 9 members group. They get training from the trainers of the show and through weekly missions, they show their talents to the viewers. And the viewers then vote for their favorite trainees.

Now that we have got that out of way, I am pretty sure fans of Korean Produce 101 series would bash me for recommending a blatant copy of the concept, but hear me out. There are two types of copies according to yours truly, one which fails to even be at par with the original and another that surpasses the original.

I claim that Idol producer belongs to the latter category. There are tons of idol/ singer/ rapper producing shows in the world, why this one you ask? First, as you guys might already know that I am a big fan of Zhang Yixing’s philosophy and attitude towards life, which is also portrayed in his book Standing Firm at 24.

This show draws on that philosophy and starts with very inspiring quotes and flashbacks on idol lives. I would rather say it’s replete with those kind of moments, where you just cannot help but be so encouraged that you wanna start working hard right at that moment. If you’re looking for some inspiration, please do watch it.

Second, the editing. Mnet of South Korea has been criticized heavily for their evil editing, where they portray a few trainees as a character who either are unhelpful or rude or something. Then those trainees get bashed a lot for no reason and then either they’re eliminated or rank very low even with great talents (Yoo Yeon Jung from I.O.I. anyone?)

The editing here is funny. Like I am laughing just thinking about the show lol. It’s full of comedy. I haven’t seen any trainee in bad light, even once. Plus their background music and the funny subtitles add icing on the cake. All these elements come together to become such a comic spectacular (Did I praise it too much?)

Sure, producers and directors are biased towards some popular trainees and they get even more screen time, but where does that not happen? I even suspect that they already have some people in their minds to debut and hence show them more on purpose.

Season 2 Trainers. Jolin Tsai ❤

Anyway, third is handsome bois *drools*. I am sorry, but apart from the 101 trainees in the show, the mentor themselves are so handsome and so….. handsome (Li Ronghao (❤ω❤) ). Not to forget Zhang Yixing. First season features Got7’s Jackson and pretty Kyulkyung and Cheng Xiao as mentors. Second season has got Xu Minghao from Seventeen and prettiest ever Jolin Tsai. Anyway, let’s not get into personal reasons here, shall we? ヽ(￣～￣　)ノ

I definitely dig the combo of inspiring and comedy when it comes to variety shows, or any other drama for that matter. It has helped me go through some of the toughest times in my life. And I would gladly come back to this particular show if, God forbids, I go through such times again.

Conclusion: So, my dear readers, if you’re lacking some encouragement in your life or are depressed about small stuff, do give this show a try. I guarantee that by the end of the show, something inside you would have changed. The best part is that it is entirely available on YouTube.

Final feelings about the show: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

More info: This show has a second season going on right now called Youth Has You(?) ( 青春有你). Three episodes out currently, it is as good as season 1.

Watch here: They had the whole thing english subbed on youtube and I cannot find it. But the same people have those uploaded onto FB. Here: Watch Idol Producer Season 1.
On their Youtube channel, there is a lot of content, so I am linking it here as well, just in case anyone is interested: Idol Producer Subs Channel on YouTube.
And here is season 2: Qing Chun You Ni Subs 2.

Personal Talk: Did you guys notice the change in the format of my posts? There aren’t enough yet to notice any pattern or anything but I am hoping to set a schedule, so that people who are not interested in one particular type can easily enjoy others, albeit it will work on the condition that I write regularly. I am hoping to keep the schedule as follows:
Saturday 1: Webnovels
Saturday 2: Dramas
Saturday 3: Webtoons/ Manga
Saturday 4: Anime
Saturday 5 (If any): Personal update/ Travel posts/ QnA if I receive any (If you guys have any questions to ask me, please do comment or send me at eastasianlover@gmail.com).

Today’s song: It’s hard to be searching for a song when I am not listening to any right now! Since we’re talking about idol producer, let’s go with a song I liked from here (It is actually Jolin Tsai’s classic and I love the original better. Original after this rendition):

Webnovel Review: Bringing the Nation’s Husband Home (国民老公带回家)

Webnovel Review: Bringing the Nation’s Husband Home (国民老公带回家)

by eastasianlover ♥ 5 Comments

I know, weird choice for starting webnovel reviews. But it’s the only Chinese webnovel that I have ever finished. So, I thought let’s begin with this. Please note, it’s a review and not a recommendation. I personally wouldn’t read any novels from the author of this particular novel including this one. But well, there are a lot of people who really like this kind of stuff.

Anyway. Written by Ye Fei Ye and serialized and translated by webnovel.com (Qidian), this romance fiction contains 973 chapters in total.

It’s the story about two people, very pretty Qiao Anhao and the most handsome guy of the nation, Lu Jinnian, who fell in love with each other on a rainy afternoon in their school days. However, they never got to confess about their feelings to each other. They chase each other in school and in professional world (both are in entertainment industry), never letting their true feelings out.

Through a series of misunderstandings and circumstances, Qiao Anhao gets married to Lu Jinnian but they keep thinking that the other person has a third party in their hearts. The story follows both of them, their families and friends and how finally, they get to realize that they are made for each other.

Now, it is fine till here. But any person with a brain would question how it can take 900+ chapters for two people, who by the way, are married to each other since the beginning of the novel, to understand that they actually like each other? Like, I really applaud this author to stretch the story so much just based on a simple misunderstanding.

The characters say one thing and hold back the important stuff, thinking it internally. What’s the use? A novel that could have been a great story and could have finished in like 100 chapters became an almost 1000 chapter novel. Indians will sympathize, but it beats Ekta Kapoor’s dramas.

Apparently, most of the novels from this particular author are like this. Not to mention the angst and rapey vibes of all novels (I personally haven’t read those but the synopsis of all of them screams the same thing) . Like the guy cannot talk about his real feelings yet he takes out his frustration of the girl not liking him back (do remember that it is all in his mind) through raping her time and again.

And the girl? Of course she doesn’t voice her opinion because she is content with the fact that she has the guy’s body at least, if not heart (again, it’s all in her mind). More than anything, you as a reader feel so frustrated that you just want to hold their heads and let them talk.

*Kiss Talk* This is how, you, as a reader, are going to feel at every point in the novel. Trust me!

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not really hating on the novel or the author (actually I am). I have immense respect for her. She fleshes out back stories of each and every character really neatly. Some cliches are unavoidable, like evil mother/ mother-in-law, clingy people who have main characters as their love interest and stuff.

But puh-lease. You both characters belong to rich background, just use your resources and for God’s sake, no for readers’ sake, just talk OMG!!! And please be done away with the guy forcing himself on the girl. It doesn’t even qualify for a smut, nor does it for what the fans of webnovels like to call it, snu-snu. *Alright rant over*

As is usual for a romance webnovel like this, there are a lot of faceslaps as well, satisfying ones at that. But they are not really able to climb over the high wall called frustration that one as a reader faces. Plus, all the characters barring Lu Jinnian’s step brother are really after tearing the couple apart. Like I don’t really know what’s going on in their mind. If you understand that two people are in love, why not just leave them alone.

I agree with some of the comments on NovelUpdates that state that the female lead is such a hollow character. Yeah, if you’re reading this review and you’ve reached here, you would say why did I even write this review. No, it was by no means to rant my feelings out. I read this novel like almost a year back. I just need to tell people that despite its popularity on Qidian, it’s not what you would want to start.

Conclusion: I would rate this novel as 1/5, just for the detailed writing and giving justice to most of the characters without a lot of loose ends. I would highly recommend people to stay away from it. It has no relation with reality at all and I personally think this might be the only love story (I don’t know about others by Ye Fei Ye) worse than Twilight.

Final feelings about the novel: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

More Info: This novel also has an ongoing webcomic on Qidian itself and a Chinese drama called Pretty Man (I started it only to drop it at 2nd episode I think although it starred one of my favorite actors Dylan Xiong).

Read here: Bringing The Nation’s Husband Home on webnovel.com (Readers discretion is advised).

Personal Front: I celebrated my New Years at home which I visited after 1.5 years. It was a good vacation and I have been recharged. As I said in my last post, I have been focusing on myself and my learning lately and I feel much more positive than before. I guess meditating works after all. Once again, shout out to my friend who told me about a particular app for meditation

Anyway, nothing else has been happening and life is still going on and time is still flying by. Which reminds me, why is everyone on internet saying that January passed by very slow and it felt like years? Like people, 2019 started just yesterday and one whole month has gone by in a blink of an eye. Is it just me?

Today’s Song: I am back to podcast game and not really listening to songs these days but this particular one has stuck with me since I am following this anime this season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hZ4_Kh_1Lw
Webtoon Recommendation: unTouchable

Webtoon Recommendation: unTouchable

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

unTouchable 1

Time for the first review of 2018! Yay!! I am sorry that the first review is coming out in June itself. I just needed to figure my life out, which hasn’t really happened yet, but baby steps 😀

I have been mentioning for quite sometime that I have been religiously following some webtoons since last year. The introduction of Naver’s own English translations of their original Korean webtoons has made access of quite a few of these to the non-Korean audience way easier. Not only that, they have now original creations in English as well (Sarah’s Scribbles anyone?).

So, today I bring a vampire based story. The fans of Orange Marmalade would definitely appreciate this one. Also those people who were disappointed by the open ending of that one would totally love this series.

Pfft, such an interesting start

Plot: The story is about a modern vampire Sia Lee. In her world, vampires live by touching normal people and absorbing their energy. Yup, no blood involved (except a few nasty vampires, as usual). So, Sia finds this guy called Jihoo, whose energy is so delicious that she is unable to absorb energy from any other person after she tastes his. Jihoo on the other hand, has OCD. He hates touch and is quite a mysophobe. They end up becoming neighbors and falling for each other. But Sia’s vampire background and Jihoo’s childhood and germophobia, Sia’s childhood friend Baryu, and of course, the villain whose real intentions are unknown till the very end, pose real obstacles to the development of their relationship. Are they able to cross those and be together? That you can find out on reading the webtoon.

Characters: There is a vast variety of characters in this webtoon. You would find yourself changing your opinion about everyone with the progress of the story. Sometimes, Sia is too clingy and you can’t help but pity Jihoo. Sometimes, Jihoo is a jerk. Their families are no better. You end up developing a love-hate relationship with each and every character. You want to punch them in face but also get to see the other side of their story and empathize with them. This is especially true for Sia’s family; her sister and her dad. Their overprotective nature towards Sia makes you root for Sia’s rebellion but then you get to know why they do what they do.

I love the way the author has weaved the plot to give a happy ending to everyone, even the villains. And, that my friends, I would say is the biggest strength of this series. There are some loose ends, as usual. You would struggle a bit relating to the villain, because of lack of background, but it still works. You’re too engrossed with the main couple that you wouldn’t really feel like delving into this side character’s story. I mean, it doesn’t really affect the flow of the webtoon, and that’s the best part.

Has comedy too!

Not to mention, it has that element of mystery to it. One keeps guessing the motive of the villain till the end. And how our two MCs would end up as well.

Art: Art is just beautiful!! There is a consistency in the drawings and backgrounds are just amazing. The use of subtle colors keeps it easy on your eyes. That is another reason to read this one.

unTouchable 4
Colors ❤

Adaptations: So, the webtoon has been adapted to a Chinese Drama called ‘I cannot hug you’. I have watched the drama and might review it sometime in future. It is pretty close the story of original webtoon but deviates a bit when it comes to the villain and actual ending. But still a good adaptation.

Final verdict: The webtoon comes as highly recommended from me. More so, because it’s completed now, so one can just binge read it on a weekend. And you won’t need to wait for the episodes each week! It is rated at 9.69/10 on webtoons.com. You can read it here completely free: unTouchable on webtoons.com

Today’s song: I think I’ll still put another Jolin Tsai’s song here. From next post though, I might start putting spring anime’s OST. I am hooked on some, and gotta find them soon on YouTube!

 

New Fever: Chinese Webnovels

New Fever: Chinese Webnovels

by eastasianlover ♥ 4 Comments

Well, it was webtoons two years back, and it’s Chinese webnovels now. I wish Japanese and Korean webnovels got as much attention as Chinese webnovels (in free translation sphere that is), but let’s just be happy with what we have.

So, today I thought that since I have been lamenting about how I have got addicted to Chinese webnovels since last year, I could make an introductory post for these after all.

If you have been reading my posts, last year I said that my fascination with the webnovels started after I fell in love with all those tomb raiding dramas I was watching: the lost tomb, mystic nine, etc. While these introduced me to some amazing actors and actresses, they also made me frantically search for webnovels they were based on, since this is C-dramas we are talking about: abrupt endings and no news of new seasons. To my dismay, I couldn’t find the tomb raiding novels, but I did find novels in other genres.

One of the first I read was when a snail falls in love. It’s a detective story and I do have a review prepared for it, I hope I’ll be able to clean it up soon. Anyway, that’s how I got hooked. Waiting for translations of each chapter is similar to waiting for webtoon/ scanlations chapters each week. That’s just talking about websites that are able to release less chapters per week. Websites like Qidian release somewhere between 1-3 chapters per day for almost all novels.

Coming to sources, where you can read those, one of my go to places is webnovel.com (Qidian). You would need to sign up to read the stories and there is a payment system, which, if utilized properly, doesn’t require any form of money out of your pocket.

Qidian
My library at Qidian. I don’t even know why I read what I read, anymore

So basically, to unlock the chapters of some premium novels (read: all popular novels) you need something called spirit stones (SS). You get some as a welcome gift, you can earn some by daily check-ins, watching an ad, voting for the novels etc. With everything, you manage to earn anywhere from 25 to 40 SS per day. If you are not reading that many premium novels, you spend about 3-20 SS per chapter. If you’re still falling behind, you can always invite yourself and make another account. Double the SS, double the fun. Here is my referral just btw: http://wbnv.in/k9FzVG

The problem with Qidian is the sheer amount of similar novels. There are two types there, one is romance novels with super high EQ/ super awesome abilities male-female pair out of which one has to be super rich, even on positions of CEO (if set in modern era) or God/ Emporer (if set in some fantasy would). Other type is fantasy martial arts/ cultivation stuff. A lot of them also involve transmigration of the lead to some other world. One gets really bored after sometime tbh.

Other favorite source of mine is novelupdates.com. This website curates all the translations at one place. It directs you to the respective website, of course, but you are able to keep a track at least. They also have a collection of Japanese fan-translated novels. Which makes it much more awesome for you can find different genres.

The only actual fan-translation group I follow is Meraki translations. They put so much love in their posts and provide really high quality in translation as well as novels themselves. They were the one who actually got me really into all this Chinese webnovel scene.

Meraki
Meraki, in general, is louu. Can you resist that cute mascot?

Any recommendations for first time readers, you ask? Well, I would probably go with “When a Snail Falls in Love” for now, since I haven’t really read that many. Another one that I have finished recently is “Bringing Nation’s Husband Home”. It’s a love story, very frustrating at that, so I wouldn’t really recommend it per se. Honestly, there are so many novels that I feel so frustrated reading but they are insanely popular.

Anyway, they are good for time pass, and you might be able to find real gems. I don’t know how they are written in Chinese, languagewise, but in English translations, the language is rather simple. Anyone with basic English skills can read them easily. Why don’t you guys give them a try and let me know how you found them?

Today’s song: I have gone into song rut and don’t have any new songs after Amber’s playlist. I went into podcast mode and don’t listen to songs at all these days. But I can always go to my previous playlists and so, I’ll post one from this amazing pop-star Jolin Tsai. I love her songs, bold lyrics and bolder MVs. She was on my playlist for 2 months before Amber’s mixtape release.

C-Drama review: The Lost Tomb (盗墓笔记)

C-Drama review: The Lost Tomb (盗墓笔记)

by eastasianlover ♥ 9 Comments

I am finally back to write about the sequel of the drama I wrote about few days ago (I was supposed to publish that two weeks back but my trip back to home took up all my time. More about that later). Also, I did ask my Chinese friend and there are novels for both The Mystic Nine and The Lost Tomb. Called as Dàomù Bǐjì in Pinyin, this series is about the journey of a guy who comes from the family of tomb raiders (basically part of mystic nine, though he doesn’t know this in the beginning) called Wu Xie. In the novels, he is an antique shop owner, in the series he is an international student who has just returned to China to hand over an antique from Germany to his country. He feels strongly about foreign countries possessing Chinese artifacts.

The Lost Tomb Li Yifeng OMG
Li Yifeng as Wu Xie (so handsome *drools*)

Plot: So, in the drama, Wu Xie (played by Li Yi Feng) comes back from Germany and encounters some bad guys who are after this relic. It turns out that this relic has a part of a map to some tombs which might contain huge treasures. He is helped out by a fat guy in shaking the enemy off initially. He later finds out the other half of map from a girl who claims to be one of the mystic nine families and it turns out to be a location of a famous tomb.

Wu Xie’s uncle gathers some men and they all set off to find treasures in the tomb. The men include a mysterious person called Zhang Qi Lin (played by Yang Yang) who doesn’t speak much and has some incredulous techniques with him. He always comes to the rescue of Wu Xie later when the adventure actually starts. He is successor of Zhang Qi Shan in the mystic nine.

The Lost Tomb Yang Yang OMG
Yang Yang as Zhang Qilin (more handsome *double drools*)

Anyway, they go into the tomb, only to face countless questions and weird enemies including man eating bugs and zombies and of course, the previous group, led by a foreigner as usual. They lose some people, get to know more about the mystic nine and of course…….. no spoilers 😐

Second part of the plot deals with Wu Xie discovering the real identity of the girl who gave him the other half of the map. He also gets a typical turtle from the tomb about which he wants to find out the truth. He has to get in touch with Huo grandma who is the only one from her generation remaining from the old mystic nine. She is a wicked lady who still exerts power in the antiques and tomb raiding area and refuses to entertain his party. Wu Xie finds himself in the clenches of his foreign enemy again and the end. THE END!!

That….. tha…..AAAAAAAAAAAA

Characters: Not much here. We get to know about Wu Xie a lot. He’s the main character after all. There is no other development at all. Last part of the plot ends so abruptly that I still cannot process what happened. Li Yifeng has portrayed  a naive, kind character very well but I am not sure about diversity in the roles he takes. The other drama I watched, The legend of Chusen Season 1 also has a similar character portrayed by him.

The Lost Tomb The Annoying girl
Li Yifeng, some teammates and the annoying betrayer

The best acting though is by Yang Yang. That mysterious character of Zhang Qilin he portrays, draws you so much that my most of the frustration as a viewer is that I really wanted to know his background. Although, after watching Mystic Nine, one does come to know who he might be, but I still want to know. There is this chemistry between Li Yifeng and Yang Yang. People have speculated that there is definitely something between them and some people claim that there are author’s notes in the novels which do confirm this. However, bromance or not, their chemistry is amazing. I am no fujoshi but the subtle hints in the drama, I somehow like those.

The Lost Tomb Bromance
THE BROMANCE!!!!!!!!!!

Other actors are veteran, their portrayal of characters is as usual. However, there is not much in the background of those people. 12 episodes are not enough. There is as usual that annoying fatty uncle (that’s how he’s called in the series) who is greedy for the treasures and ends up creating trouble for everyone. Then, I am not sure if this foreigner villain is descendant of the one in mystic nine but the villain in the movie of this series which I’ll review sometime later has same surname as the one in the latter series.

The Lost Tomb Third Uncle
The Resourceful Third Uncle

Wu Xie’s uncle’s character seem so very pitiful. He wants to take out the treasures and help Wu Xie at the same time but he is unable to do both to the full extent. I still won’t comment about the Huo family as the next season should be the one to reveal their secrets. I am looking forward to next season though they are not going to cast Yang Yang as Qilin (*cries in a corner*).

The Lost Tomb The Wicked Huo Family
The Wicked Huo Family and Fatty

Good stuff: Only Yang Yang and Li Yifeng

Bad Stuff: I have too much to complain about in this series. Their music is not good, especially the bg. They build up so much tension with bg music that the viewer is compelled to think that an important moment, a discovery, a monster, something is gonna happen only to find it a normal moment in the drama. I don’t remember the openings and endings at all as opposed to the mystic nine whose OSTs I still listen to, even after a month.

Then their graphics are not upto par at all. It’s like they hired all the newbies to do post production editing. The graphics seem like those in 2000s, probably 2000s had better graphics in their dramas which confuses me a lot. They do a better job for a variety show like Happy Camp, how could they do this to a large scale drama production like this.

Plot of course. Who would like that abrupt ending, there is no talks of season 2 although the producers have said that they would adapt 8 novels in 8 seasons. Plot wise, I am not even sure if I should criticize the drama or wait for next season as I am waiting for many other. What is wrong with Chinese Drama producers??? Ugh

And there are confusing movies which adapt the arcs but change the actors, and it’s so hard to let go the first set of actors to appreciate the second set in movies. I would rather go for animations than live actions, just because of this reason.

The Lost Tomb Start of adventure
This was the start of their adventure

Then there is no clear female protagonist as of now. There are two potential people who come into mind. One is the girl Ah Ning who is the villain in this season but gets softer towards Wu Xie because he saves her life. Second is the Huo’s granddaughter. The intentions of both of these girls are unknown (AND I AM STILL WAITING FOR NEXT SEASON, DAMN IT!!). But then why can’t a female person go into tombs to search for the treasures? Same was in the Mystic Nine. (However that changed in the Candle in the Tomb).

Other things: All in all, I would rate this drama as 4/10. It has great potential if only they tie the loose ends, make subsequent seasons and hopefully cast the same people. Otherwise, it remains a mystery to everyone. I WANNA LEARN MANDARIN JUST TO READ AND UNDERSTAND THESE NOVELS!!

I will not recommend this drama until and unless:

  1. You are going through withdrawal symptoms of Mystic Nine and want to see more tomb raiding.
  2. There is some news about the second season of The Lost Tomb.
  3. You have already read the novels and want to compare them with the drama just for your satisfaction sake.
  4. You want to see Yang Yang’s and Li Yifeng’s chemistry (which happens in first part of the drama only coz Qilin disappears after their quest in the tomb).

You have been warned. But if you still want, you can watch the drama here: The Lost Tomb

Just for the sake, here is a trailer:

Today’s Song: The usual

Side Story: I wanted to do so much after coming back but I am still trapped into the cycle of long hospital visits and the medications. I don’t feel like doing anything anymore ;-;

And as I said before, I am hooked to the tomb raiding series and I finished another drama called Candle in the Tomb. I have all the praises for this one. And then I started another drama called My Mr. Mermaid while in between I finished 2-3 more dramas like When a Snail Falls in Love, Secret Forest etc. etc. I hope I’ll get to review all of these soon. Let me know if you guys want any one of those done first.