Just in Case You Need More Reasons to Watch Cruel City/Heartless City......Here's A Few
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Liar Game! Liar Game! Liar Game!! What is your Pleasure?
Liar Game!! What a Mind Trip!!
I don't think I've watch a series of dramas EVER whereby once I found that there was other seasons, that I watched one episode after another after another after another! What a MIND GAME! I have constantly said it but this is the genre that the Japanese excel in. The Liar Game (ライアーゲーム) is a Japanese manga series originally written and illustrated by Shinobu Kaitani. The manga was first published in 2005 in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Young Jump. The TV adaptations began airing on April 14, 2007 on Fuji TV. The sequel, Liar Game 2, ran from 2009 to 2010 and was followed by two live action films: Liar Game: The Final Stage in 2010, and Liar Game: Reborn in 2012. Each drama/movie continued the story behind the games. And every game explored and revealed the secrets behind the game and their originators.
Liar Game (2007)
Main Cast
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Matsuda Shota as Akiyama Shinichi
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Toda Erika as Kanzaki Nao
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Plot
Kanzaki Nao (Toda Erica) is an honest college student who receives a hundred million
yen one day, along with a card saying she has been chosen to take part
in the "Liar Game". The aim of the game is to trick the other players
out of their hundred million dollars. At the end, the winner gets the
hundred million and the loser is a hundred million yen in debt. The next
day, she receives notification that her opponent is her former teacher,
Fujisawa Kazuo (Kitamura Soichiro). She goes to him, seeking help, but ends up getting
tricked into handing her money over. Desperate, she approaches the
police for help, but they are unable to do anything. However, she is
told of a mastermind swindler, Akiyama Shinichi (Matsuda Shota), who is to be released
from jail the next day. Desperate, she goes to him for help.
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| Some of the players from season 1 |
Players vote to pick the WINNER:
And only one WINNER (or so we think!!)
I watched from episode 1 to 11 in one day! I couldn't move, I was so riveted to the screen. Every time I think I figured out the game, I'm so far off the mark, it is ridiculous! What a great idea for a manga/drama! I really couldn't stop watching!
Liar Game Season 2
Main Cast
Matsuda Shota as Akiyama Shinichi
Toda Erika as Kanzaki Nao
Plot
The naive Kanzaki Nao and expert swindler Akiyama Shinichi have not
heard anything from the LIAR GAME organization since the end of the
previous game, so it seems they may have actually escaped. But Nao
suddenly gets another invitation and is once again caught up in the
game. This time, she has to team up with Shinichi and one of their
previous rivals named Fukunaga, facing off against three more opponents
in new games of deception, such as "24 Rensou Russian Roulette" and "17
Poker."
Whole New Players and Some More Twisted Games
Creepy as HELL M/C!!
The Bait!
Their True Intent!
Some seriously wicked games!!
Deception, my name is Fukunaga (or is it?)
How can the second season be MORE intense?!!
Day 2 and again I marathon watched season 2! I couldn't believe that the games could get even more sadistic and of course, the stakes kept getting higher and higher. As you watch, you didn't know who you could trust. Poor Nao was getting deceived left and right. Again, a great continuation of a great series!
The Dramas Spawned Two Movies, A Special and a Spin-off Drama
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| (2010 Movie) |
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| (2012 Movie) |
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| Alice in Liar Game Spin-off (2012) |
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| Liar Game Reborn Special - Fukunaga VS Yokoya (2012) |
I have not watched all of these yet as I haven't found a more reliable place to watch. But even though the main cast is not necessarily in all of this, my curiosity is high. With such a great franchise, it's my hope that they continued the greatness that is Liar Game!
Trailers for Liar Game
Can be found on Dramacrazy and some can be found on YouTube.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Thanks to All-Happy 2 Month Blogging Anniversary
I want to take the time to thank all of you that make time to visit my blog. I remember awhile back, I kept telling myself how I wish I could do that, write about the dramas that I love! I would never have guessed that I would actually do it. It turned out easier than I thought. What really surprised me is how well it has been received. Sure, it is still in its infancy and I don't necessarily have a lot of followers but I am always pleasantly surprised when I look at the statistics and see who in the world is actually reading my blogs.
From the US to Canada; from Europe to Russia and lastly from the Asian continents to as far as Australia; THANK YOU ONE AND ALL!!
As promised, you will probably see more discussions on what others are NOT talking about. Just continue to pick and choose the blogs that interest you. As time goes on, I hope to get better and better: from grabbing screenshots to better writing. But without an audience, I am nothing. So again, many thanks to my friends everywhere and keep watching this spot; you never know what I might talk about!!
Currently Watching:
Mandate of Heaven
Shark
Special Affairs Team TEN Season 2
Plan to Watch
Goddess of Fire
The Queen's Classroom
Last Cinderella
Friday, June 21, 2013
Drama Thoughts: Crazy Love-The first 40 Episodes (We watch so you don't have to!!)
Crazy Love- One of the Hardest Drama I've EVER Watched in my Drama History (Ep 1-40)
**Contains SPOILERS**
*******WARNING*******
***Having finished this mess, save your 50 hours and I rather you watch Ugly Alert, so much better drama!!***
Park Sun Young as Yoon Mi So
Go Se Won as Seo Kyung Soo
Heo Tae Hee as Lee Min Jae
Choi Dae Hoon as Baek Jae Hyuk
Kim Yun Joon as Han Na Young
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| Mi So |
Episodes 1-40 shows you how crazy the households of both our future OTP, Mi So and Kyung Soo as well as introduces us to all of the characters in this drama. This is the first time ever that I've felt so sorry for both the male and female lead characters! As you watch these first episodes, you are hoping and praying that they will find happiness in the future.
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| Hae Ram and Mi So |
Mi So loves her daughter, Hae Ram and is an amazing mother and daughter-in-law. The care she takes to maintain her family life despite the daily persecution by her MIL (Mother-in-law) is sad to watch. As I watched these episodes, my feelings have shifted from dismay, anger, sadness and downright disgust at Mi So and her acceptance of the treatment by her husband and especially by her MIL, the worse human being in the drama world.
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| Go Yoo Jung-Mi So's MIL |
Mi So's MIL has the distinction of being the worse one I've ever seen! I've watch A LOT of these type of dramas and Kim Young Ran's portrayal of Go Yoo Jung is truly the worse! Her hatred and disrespect for her daughter-in-law as well as her indifference to her grand-daughter are stunning! Her constant yelling, screaming, complaining, more yelling, even louder screaming would drive most sane people INSANE!
Mi So is such a loving and caring doormat. I cannot classify her as anything else. The fact that I have to assume that this is the way a lot of Korean women live their lives in deference to their own happiness is amazing but this is one of the worse you'll see. She is constantly tormented by the loan sharks about her idiotic father's debt. It is utterly amazing to see the loan shark hoodlums, take it to the level of harassing Mi So at her husband's home. To say that the MIL doesn't take the abuse to another level would be an UNDERSTATEMENT!
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| Min Jae-Mi So's Husband |
Min Jae's existence as Mi So's husband is...I have no words. From the very beginning, you get the feeling that he just 'goes along to get along'; meaning, he really makes no efforts (or little) to protect his wife. His constant threats to move out are just that; threats. My opinion on him as a man in these first few episodes is pretty much dismal! By the end of this first 40 episodes, I really want the man to die! And to add insult to injury, the fool is having an extra-marital affair with none other than Na Young whose sole purpose in life is to totally ruin Mi So's life!
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| Na Young |
Na Young's character has now put the character of Se Na from Rooftop Prince in the 'pussycat' category. Her pure hatred of Mi So is unbelievable and totally unreasonable. Everything is based on the fact that they were at the same orphanage and because of Jae Hyuk switching the records around and Mi So getting adopted instead of Na Young, she unreasonably blames her horrible life on Mi So. Sure, you say to yourself 'HUH?' The girls were around 5-6 years old but that shows you how screwed up Na Young is mentally and that becomes apparent in these first few episodes as she goes about destroying Mi So's life.
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| Baek Jae Hyuk |
Jae Hyuk's character starts out a total mystery. He works as an enforcer for Kyung Soo's FIL(Father-in-law) and to classify him as mean and uncaring, initially is about accurate. To watch him abuse Mi So and invade her home to ransack it for a loan payment was shocking!
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| Younger Baek and Eun Sun (Mi So) |
But little does Jae Hyuk knows that Mi So is none other than Eun Sun, the little girl he cared for at the beginning from the orphanage. the girl he cared for so much that he switched records and helped her to get adopted.
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| Poor, poor Baek, the realization really hurts! |
Surprisingly, by episode 40, you have gone from hating his character to literally feeling sorry for him as he comes to realize Mi So's real identity.
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| Oh Hae Ryung |
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| Car Tantrum? |
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| Office Tantrum? |
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| Bedroom Tantrum? (I could do this all day!) |
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| Kyung Soo |
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| Mi So and Kyung Soo |
These are definitely spoilers to the story-line so far. As I've stated, I have seen a lot of these super-melos as I like to call them before but never have I seen subject matter like this. Here are some examples:
1. Adultery of the worse kind. A husband knowingly and willfully having an affair with a subordinate at work and then continuing said relationship even after his wife finds out.
2. A Mother-in-law who initially encourages said adulterous relationship to the point of making plans with the woman to replace the wife; all with the wife standing there.
3. MIL abuse on STEROIDS! The constant screaming of this actress is unheard of. I'm amazed she still has a voice after 40 episodes.
4. One of the most disgusting kidnapping (and possibly murder) ever to be seen! No, I refuse to say what, just in case you are watching.
5. A father who you have no sympathy for his current situation. Mi So's father is the picture of a loser you would see in the dictionary; totally useless man.
6. A man and woman, you so desparately what to see have happiness together but with only 40 episodes gone so far, you know you have a long way to go.
7. A character whose revenge you want to see to be death at the end. Na Young deserves to die; it's as simple as that.
8. A woman who GPSs her husband's phone and car because she has to know where he is at all times. If that doesn't work, just follow him!
This drama is such an emotional one, I only watch it every 2 weeks. I don't think my emotions can take more than that. Overall, I don't have a complaint about the acting but with most dramas of 100+ episodes, as usual, they tend to drag when you don't want them to. But as a glutton for punishment, I have no intentions of stopping!! Stay tuned for the next 40 episodes! And just enjoy the tweets as me and missienelly console each other as we watch.
WARNING******* Having finished this mess, save your 50 hours and I rather you watch Ugly Alert, so much better drama!!*********
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