In spite of being poorly executed and poorly updated thus far, I still continue to play the online game Final Fantasy XIV in hopes it will redeem itself in the near future. I don't mind it thus far, as there is no monthly fee and the graphics are as good as it gets for any MMO out there, but still, the developers over in Tokyo, Japan had better get their butts off their seats and start shoveling all the excrement they have produced lying underneath the Square Enix building.... So, while in the dark realm of despair and hopelessness for the future of FFXIV's continent, Eorzea, I am sure the creation of Mor Dhona was the tip of the iceberg for darker maps to come.
I was able to visit Mor Dhona for the first time this week as a friend, Xhile, was able to teleport a group of us to a nearby camp, so that we could attempt to scurry our way to the top of a hill to view the ancient carcass of a "flying ship" and the dragon(?) that destroyed it. Screenshots below~
Wow so Britney Spears is back (again)... yeah mhmm, i can hear ya'll be like, say whu===??? But actually, I must be like, an in the closet Spears fan cuz I actually kind of dig her new single, "Hold it Against Me"... Well, I think why I like it is cuz she's utilizing the techno aspect into the song, and when the chorus breaks into a very breakbeat interlude at 2:10, I'm really liking it then. But I still dislike her voice and think she's terrible as a singer, but for this song, I think she could fit into all those female vocals that sing for the vocal trance music. Haha~
Ohh why does drama pull my heart so~~! The most recent episode of Secret Garden, episode 17, really loves to make people cry... I mean, everyone is crying, and people are sacrificing things you wouldnt expect... it's that common theme of how delicate the human condition is and how far love will stretch for it. But I won't go on about that, you'll have to see the drama for yourself to understand what I'm talking about.
What I really wanted to say is that Hyun Bin, the leading actor in Secret Garden, (and uber hotness) finally released the male vocal version of "That Man" (female version is "That woman" by Baek Ji Young) which I listen to at least 5 times a day while this drama is running. This song just makes me all torn inside, bittersweet, and I'm sure if I could understand Korean, I'd probably tear up every time I heard this song. But at least, I'm happy, that they made a song for the men, for all the men out there, who felt as Hyun Bin's character had felt, for a woman, felt so much for a woman, and it was put into a song, sung by a male vocal rather than female~
Ahhh!! Some crazy news today, well more like this week~ All in the world of Asia as well.
So starting with some old news, our happy-go-lucky Lee MinHo is becoming the ever so famous City Hunter, the Japanese manga about a detective/cop who is a womanizer but also trips when he sees a beautiful woman. I was reading that he was preparing for the City Hunter role by 'becoming a powerful man' since his last two dramas, Boys Before Flowers and Personal Taste, he was rather fruity and a pretty boy in both.
Lee Min Ho from Boys Before FLower
I haven't seen any images of the City Hunter drama nor know if they have even started shooting it, but since another Hallyu star, Rain (Ninja Assassin, Full House), aka Bi [in Korea], came out with his drama, Fugitive Plan B, there have been lots of talk that Lee Min Ho cannot live up to the 'powerful man' standard. The Rain drama not only has a 'powerful man' in the story, but the stories are both so similar, in which womanizing detective/cops are carefree and go the own way to solve cases while falling in love with a beautiful woman,' the station producing City Hunter is scrambling to find ways to counter such early critiques. Then again, I don't believe there have been any dramas of such nature (detective, thriller, unsolved cases, womanizing, action, etc) that it's really easy to compare these two.
...and then changing into a cop detective in the upcoming City Hunter
But I can see how City Hunter may fall where the current Fugitive Plan B is successful. Besides Rain's all-encompassing stardom, not only within Korea, but internationally as well, he has got to be in most people's eyes, a pretty good image of a 'powerful man.' I mean, his worked out body for Ninja Assassin blew me away. And even if his English was terrible, at least it was super eye candy for me. Lee Min Ho on the other hand, is purely face-eye-candy. I mean, unless in the past 6 months he's also been working out like mad and gained 50 lbs of muscle, I am not sure if he will be able to get City Hunter the 20-30% ratings that Fugitive Plan B has been enjoying until the very end.
Rain's workout for Ninja Assasin
Kdrama: Fugitive, Plan B
Well, I guess it'll just have to wait and see.
Onto more pretty boys~ in the currently airing Secret Garden, which has also been enjoying 20% ratings, I've just found out that Hyun Bin, the leading man who plays a powerful and rich asshole from the nethers of the Asshole Kingdom (joke) is going to be singing the male counter version of "That Man" by Baek Ji Young. I love this song and since I'm rarely a fan of many love songs, I think this is a song with a melody sung in Korean with a beautifully haunting and little sad voice, that fits so perfectly for the theme of the drama which seems to revolve around the idea of The Little Mermaid (the unhappy version).
Speaking of Hyun Bin, on that note, it seems that another sad thing is that he's to be leaving early next year for his military service for South Korea. Because of this, he's been giving it his all to the Secret Garden drama, and it shows, from the body swaps to the complete asshole role, to even kissing his male cousin on the lips (in the story that is, not real life). I think it's pretty crazy but I guess artists need to go all out and crazy on their work before going through the kind of discipline such as military service.
For a while there, I thought the run of good J-dramas saw its end nearly after the Boys before Flowers boom was over. There weren't a lot of strong, captivating storylines surfacing and nearly everything was trying to milk the teen romance/comedy theme until the dead horse was just a bloody pulp.
So I guess it explains the few Korean culture and drama posts I had written. Korean dramas are always good to fall back on when nothing good is on tv or I've exhausted my Youtube surfing. But now awaiting the next Korean dramas (Secret Garden, City Hunter with Lee Minho!!OMG, and trying to work on Fugitive Plan B with Rain), I delved back into trying out some new season premieres of J-drama this fall~ it looks like the writers in Japan realized they needed to work on better plots and characters and they did deliver!
First up is ギルティ 悪魔と契約した女。 Besides having Tamaki Hiroshi in it which is always a total sell for me no matter how bad the drama is... well, hmm, no, I wouldnt finish the bad drama but I'd still like to see his work; This drama is all about revenge! yes, good old revenge 12 years in the making. And any revenge story that takes over 10 years to craft, should always be good. Let's hope...
Then, just today as I was refreshing the Mysoju site, I saw 獣医ドリトル which stars Oguri Shun and Inoue Mao (both stars from Boys before Flowers) and i just love Oguri Shun because of his chill personality! After blogging this, I am gonna go watch the first episode! heh!
And lastly, or thirdly really, is 黄金の豚 which stars Shinohara Ryoko, the heroine from the popular Unfair series and movie. I'm not really a fan of her, well, somehow I don't think she's really star material because she just doesn't seem unique or beautiful to me but maybe that's the attractive point about her to people in Japan. Well, nonetheless, as far as acting skills I think she is better than the average J-actor and for females out there, she certainly does a good job with the masculine tomboy type. So I'm curious to see how she will do in this drama. The story is interesting but not sure where it will go. (long story short: Ex-con woman hired by gov to catch ppl who cheat on taxes, etc.)
I'm so happy about having some good stuff to watch and kill time with again! (since the failed ffxiv doesn't keep me as occupied as I would have liked... but that's another blog post for another time)
And so happy Tamaki is playing sexy, badass and cool!!! <3 XoXOoxXOXXoXx drool....
I do enjoy Conan O'brien over that 'other tv dude' and am so glad he's back in the business and using what happened to him in the last year to his advantage! I think he's in a higher and better place this time than if he had stayed host of the Tonight Show to this day. And he gets to be his own creative now too! Now creativity! that's the best stuff!
Mysidia・ミシディア
リムサ・ロミンサ
守護神:Azeyma, the Warden
