Category: Reviews

Manga Reco: Hira Hira (ひらひら)

Manga Reco: Hira Hira (ひらひら)

by eastasianlover ♥ 2 Comments

This brilliant work by Ame Arare  is an awesome collection of four stories related to “Geishas” (courtesans).

Hira hira

Hira hira itself depicts the waving sound of handkerchiefs, flags, paper etc. in Japanese. It is also associated with frilly and lacy things related to girls.

All the stories are basically historical tragedies, set in Edo period. The first story called “Strings of previous existence” tells the story of  a girl Akane who falls in love with Tadaaki, servant of a feudal lord who is frequent guest of her. What does she do to charm him when he doesn’t show any emotion towards her?

Second story, “Dream mirror”, deals with a girl Miyuki, who leaves her house for her sick younger sister Yukie. Her family is not well enough to continue Yukie’s medical treatment. So she becomes a courtesan to earn easy money. But what happens when she receives a letter saying Yukie is getting married when she doesn’t find herself in a condition to show herself to everyone?

Third story, “Jade’s bird” is about Hisui, a girl who has been raised by Shinza Emon, a person of great authority and post. Hisui grows up to become a courtesan under his supervision and falls in love with him. But Shinza gets engaged to daughter of some feudal lord. Does he realize his feelings towards Hisui?

In the fourth and the last story, “Flower Lantern”, Hotaru is someone who doesn’t get many customers. One of her frequent customers is Shigezou, a flower seller. Hotaru snaps after an ex-customer of her, insults her in  front of younger ones. How does Shigezou help her? Is he really coming for her or is there some other reason?

Find out here: http://www.mangahere.com/manga/hira_hira/

In terms of art i’ll give this manga 4.5/5, stories 4/5 and emotions 5/5. This manga shows you that these girls are not just selling their body for fun. They may have circumstances which compel them to do such work just like present world. People have to do something to fill their stomachs, sometimes unbelievable. You and me are in far better off place than many others. And it teaches that they have emotions too. They are human beings after all (I’m writing this particular sentence, a lot lately….. Obviously, some people are being treated like animals, some worse than that and some, who don’t even deserve it, are being treated as Gods. No one is being seen as human being…..that brings me to the question…. what is a human being…….. but this is becoming too philosophical……… no offense to anyone!)

Oh well, this was my first manga review and I chose tragedy for that, I don’t know why. But oh well!

The family reunites on GU FAMILY BOOK

The family reunites on GU FAMILY BOOK

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

No. I won’t let the cat out of the bag. I am on 20th episode and I won’t say anymore about what is going on right now in the story. That you have to find out yourself!

I missed this series sooo much when I didn’t have net. And I finished its 10 episodes in two days in a go. So interesting this series is! The plot is awesome and the actors are my favorite – Lee Seunggi and Bae Suzy.

GuFamilyBook

MBC’s historical drama, Gu family book, is about a half human and half beast whose dad was a Gumiho (a nine tailed fox) and mother human. The main character’s dad, Wol Ryung falls in love with a girl from a noble family, Seo Hwah while saving her from the men of her father’s murderer who wants to make the girl his. Wol Ryung marries Seo Hwah without telling her, his true identity and seeks help from his only human friend to become a full human. The priest suggests him a hundred day fast where he can’t show his true form to any other human and can’t eat flesh. Just days before the hundred days were going to finish, he has to show his true form to Seo Hwah while saving her once again from her chasers. The girl gets scared, dumps him and instead asks the general in the chasing team to kill him. The guy dies and the girl finds out that she is pregnant with her dead husband’s child. She gives birth to a sweet baby boy, who turns out to be human. She abandons the child to go back to her father’s murderer in order to take revenge. He kills her too and the baby in a basket goes to river. Irony of fate, he is found and raised by the friend of the same general and named Kang Chi. He receives much love from the family, becomes good luck charm for them and is unaware of his powers. The history repeats itself and Kang Chi’s master and his family fall victim to the same fate as Seo Hwah’s family, due to same person, twenty years later. The master and mistress die. His beloved, the master’s daughter, is sent to gisaeng house like Seo Hwah. And tragedy goes on. Kang Chi’s powers come out and he is sent to get training under the same general who murdered his father. He now has a beautiful daughter, also master in martial arts skills. Now Kang Chi has to get trained, defeat the conspirer, save the master’s daughter and his wealth, clear his master’s name and above all, control his Gumiho powers. How he manages to do all that, this is the story.

Pretty complex right? But this drama has swept whole of South Korea with ever increasing ratings and going above 20% many a times. This drama, as usually happens in K-drama, gets a little slow in the middle episodes but that’s excused. After 16th episode, the story gets more and more interesting and now,  I can’t wait for the next episode (which is due tomorrow according to my time zone >.<). Here is the link for the episodes:
http://www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/gu-family-book/

And here is one of the OSTs, by Baek Ji Young:

Intimate Note: Bringing K pop idols together since 2008

Intimate Note: Bringing K pop idols together since 2008

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I was watching the episode of intimate note starring Super Junior for like the twentieth time! It makes me laugh whenever I watch it.

Okay, so what is Intimate Note? It is a reality show which aims to bring people (basically idols but nevermind) together and (sometimes) finish the awkwardness between them. Now since I have been able to watch the episode with very famous idols only (Subbing problem. *Sigh* Oh Lord! Why don’t I understand Korean properly? >.<), I can tell you about them only. But trust me, they are worth spending your time. The happy ones will make you roll in the aisles and sad ones won’t leave you without making you cry. I have watched the episodes only for Super Junior, Fly to the Sky (took a lot of effort to find but I was successful, anything for my love!), SNSD and the one involving one of the former members of DBSK (there are more and I’m starting to go to them too regardless whether i know the groups or not, considering the entertainment the show provides). The staff members give the hosts and other members (if present), instructions to give the concerned pair various missions and the pair has to accomplish them.

intimatenote

절

As far as Super Junior one goes, Leeteuk with Heechul talks to the producers about awkward relationship between Kangin and Sungmin and asks them to help the group in bringing them together. Surprise follows as there is one more couple with uneasiness between them. The weird missions and their reactions turn everything into hilarious situation. What comes after is Miss Intimate contest for the four members and you will fall down your couch when you see their witty and funny performances. You will also watch Hangeng’s perfect (err…?) Korean and Kyuhyun’s humorous love for his hyungs. Gotta love it!

200905-12-183811-1

Next is SNSD. Yeah, that was alright. Not as good as SuJu but for those who love these girls, you’ll get to know their weird habits and more, as they take their anger out on each other with much love. Eight girls out of nine are able to do the show and tell you more about stories related to their day to day life on this episode.

The DBSK one was not related to all the members (I wish it was but bad luck). Xiah Junsu was invited to someone else’s episode in order to find friends for this lonely soul. It was so-so, too. But the fans like me get treat to their eyes watching him complete missions.

The episode in which Fly to the Sky duo was featured, was totally heartbreaking. It was Brian Joo’s and Hwanhee’s last vacation before they were to go solo and break the duo. The friends around them asked the producers for help. Both of them had a lot of misunderstandings and this was the reason why they decided to go on their own paths. They had grown so apart that they had o record their last album separately as they didn’t want to see each other. When they meet on the show and have to do various activities together, they get a chance to talk it out with each other. Towards the end, the tears are shed (I was one of them TT_TT) as they reminisce about their journey and resolve the differences. This episode will make you laugh and cry. And if you exactly know their story (which Brian told himself on Strong Heart), you’ll cry more.

I haven’t watched more but these four were more than enough for me (No, actually, first and last were). If you wanna watch more, try now:
http://imeimo.wordpress.com/variety-shows/intimate-note/

For Fly to the Sky one:
http://koreapopshows.blogspot.in/2011/11/intimate-note-english-sub-w-fly-to-sky.html

Enjoy!

New form of comics: Webtoons

New form of comics: Webtoons

by eastasianlover ♥ 11 Comments

Have you ever read a webtoon? Of course you must have! You haven’t? You are definitely missing a lot! A lot!

Webtoons from Korea are becoming very popular these days. They are very easily accessible and are free of cost. And since they consist of colorful pictures, they are more appealing to the audiences. The effects sometimes are awesome. They go in a long panel, not pagewise. This, in many situations, helps to have more continuity in the chapter and provides more impact and weight in delivering the right emotion.

Orange Marmalade

Some of the authors talk about how they make them through their webtoon itself. In one of them which I finished recently, The Friendly Winter, there was a chapter in which author told that he had used his own clicked photos as the base for backgrounds. That included his neighborhood buildings, shopping malls, streets etc. We can very well assume we are seeing a different kind of South Korea (real may be?) through those pictures.

The freelance translator community for webtoons is ever increasing too. There are a lot of groups and translators working on them like people on webtoonlive.com (at least they don’t need scanlations, that’s why the translation and all is economical too!)

And the plots! All of the stories I have read till now are fresh and out of this world. Be it ‘The Friendly Winter’ or ‘Nineteen Twenty one’. There is a vast variety of genres too, just like manga. Each one seems to give some message also. There are a lot of famous movies from South Korea which are adaptations of various webtoons. The examples include Apartment and Hello Schoolgirl by Kang Pul and Secretly Greatly released in 2010. Flower Boy Next Door, the K-drama starring Park Shin Hye and Yoon Shi Yoon, is also inspired from a webtoon called “I Steal Peeks At Him Every Day”. It also has elements related to webtoon making. You can easily see the characters in the drama (I have just watched the drama, not read the webtoon) using photoshop to draw the characters.

The Friendly Winter

Webtoons are replacing the expensive Manhwa and Manga making. Both the forms of comics have seen a fall in sales in the recent years. The international craze for these is not going down since a lot of material is available online free of cost. But the home business is facing losses. And this is encouraging more people to take up this new introduction in the market. I am not saying manga reading is inferior or something. It has its own charm. It is a lot of hardwork. (Watch or read Bakuman and you’ll find out!) But seeing the trend, webtoons and similar forms may take over the other two in terms of popularity and fandom, in the coming years.

In the end I will say, the webtoons are totally changing the meaning and essence of comics making and reading. You try too. You easily find them on manga sites or see here: http://www.webtoonlive.com/

J-Drama Recommendation: Bunshin ( 分身)

J-Drama Recommendation: Bunshin ( 分身)

by eastasianlover ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

So I was reading my posts and I realized that till now all I wrote was about things related to South Korea (well yes it’s my newly discovered love but even so), so I decided to write about this short drama which was I think my first J-drama. I have my exam in less than 4 hours but I am writing my blog. What the hell am I doing? (-_-メ)
Why do you get all new and interesting ideas during exams? After exams, you don’t know what to do. ┐(´ー｀)┌

Anyways, Bunshin as such means Doppleganger. I’m sure you must have heard the term a lot of times if you are a Naruto fan. His favorite jutsu is (or used to be?) Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

This is one of the stories which show the potential of human mind going beyond impossible. I mean, who can think about identical twins being born one year apart! And it’s not like it can’t happen. Doesn’t seem unrealistic in the story. (I’m not sure if it actually can happen. You can’t be sure of such things, can you? Technology evolves way too fast. )

Bunshin

This is a sci-fi serious drama based on novel of same name by Higashino Keigo. The protagonist is Mariko, a woman who is tangled in her past of people stating that she doesn’t look like her parents again and again and her mother kind of hating her. On the other hand, Futaba is a college student who wants to pursue a career in music and performs in a band. Things turn upside down in Mariko’s life when she sees Futaba on TV because they look totally alike. Through fateful chances, they get to know more about each other and are shocked to know that they are similar, not only their faces but interests also, despite having no connections. But they lose hope of being connected as Futaba is one year older in age.  But their identical nature and not having a clue of their about their birth compel them to go further and they discover what is unimaginable. There is a lot more to their story than it seems. Involvement of forbidden medical techniques and dirty politics doesn’t deter them from their path of finding the truth about their identity. What is the reality? Find out here : http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-drama/bunshin/

Now about the drama, acting is okay. Masami Nagasawa has done quite a good job playing triple role here (Mariko, Futaba and their mother). Drama as a whole is a little slow. They could actually have made a movie rather than drama. But since it contains only 5 episodes, it is worth it. Story, as you can see, I’m quite impressed. Things are unpredictable till episode 3 and I think, for 5 episodes, it’s a success.

Hmmm. Now I’m thinking what song I should include today. Should it be Japanese? Oh this song is good. (Actually, suddenly, the videos have stopped working here. Probably due to exams, they put restrictions. Yes, they do that. ＼（－－）／
I have heard the Korean version. Not sure about Japanese version though. But I’ll post both versions and listen to Japanese version myself later.)

Purple Line Korean Version

Purple Line Japanese Vesrion

K-Variety Recommendation: Stalker (스토커)

K-Variety Recommendation: Stalker (스토커)

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment

No, no. I wasn’t being stalked or anything. I am talking about SS501’s mini-series “Stalker” which aired on Mnet from 19th January 2006 to 16th February 2006. This 5 episodes series shows how popular idols and groups are stalked by some people and how, sometimes, it becomes so dangerous that people get hurt, not only mentally but physically too.

Stalker

The series starts off with a girl being carried on back of a person with members running along and you instantaneously know that this is some serious shit. Then they start introducing events which make them reach the conclusion that they are being followed each and every minute. Their house is messed up, their clothes go missing just before their stage performance, they receive threatening mails and calls, their staff member is attacked etc. etc. They try to solve the mystery of this person. They take help of cyber police, install CCTV cameras in their dorm and watch old tapes of their filming to track down any suspicious element.  And they do catch some people in the process but whether they are the actual stalker or not, that you can find out after watching the series.

mnetss501stalker

It’s actually scary stuff. The series is based on events which have actually happened in their lives and some other idols too but it’s not like real real. And it has been shot around the time when they were actually being tormented by someone like that. The series is to prevent such happenings in their real lives and tell people that it’s burdensome to them. Obviously, it is a kind of torture to a normal person too. If such things happen to someone, they can’t focus on anything. And human intuition is such that you get to know one way or other if you are being watched. Either you get chills or feeling of being constantly watched or some other form (I have experienced first two only but if you have other responses, I would love to know).

Thus, this series actually has a deeper meaning. It lets your imagination run wild and come up with various reasons why someone would do such thing. Is it just a crazy fan or someone who holds a grudge against them or some attention seeker or just some other maniac whom they have unfortunately fallen victim to? And you are compelled to think about human psychology and how their minds work. How can someone be like that?

What do you think?

Here is the link where you can watch the series with English subs : http://ithetimes.wordpress.com/mnet-ss501-stalker-eng-sub/

Enjoy!