Finished Full House! And hey, Hana Yori Dango Final w/ subs is out!

Just finished Full House! It was super good and cute, and OMG I loved it to death.

From about episodes 11-14 I was terribly anxious over the whole thing. The misunderstandings, the miscommunications, the whole thing was stressful. But the ending was worth it.

Also, on episode 13, Hye Won redeemed herself, and I totally don't hate her anymore. I do still feel bad for Min Hyuk (the scene where he goes back to his empty apartment after Ji Eun tells him she can't marry him... I was so sad for him then, but he knew it was inevitable, really), but I'm glad at the end there was a hint of him and Hye Won getting together, because they'd make a good couple. Plus, happy ending for everyone!

My biggest issue with it was the kiss scene. Rain and Song Hye Kyo had such great chemistry through the whole series, so to see the climax of their cinematic relationship as a relatively cold kiss (Japanese drama style, ne?!) was pretty disappointing. Still, it's a minor thing. The part of the ending where they walk around, eating food, taling, and stuff (alas what Ji Eun told Young Jae she liked to do) was far more satisfying, and showed their fantastic chemistry better.

So yeah, it was a great show. I totally marathon-ed the last 5 episodes too, because I couldn't imagine going to sleep and not knowing what happened with these characters.

I rarely watch kdramas, but when I do, I seem to have this visceral reaction to them. I watched Coffee Prince NONSTOP. Seriously, while I was at work and everything. I managed to watch Full House in the space of three days (technically four, but I finished the last episode at 1am, so I'm not going to count that extra hour), which is pretty impressive for me. I tend to get distracted by other things, so I usually don't watch stuff THAT fast. I think I watched Coffee Prince like that... and definitely HYD too.

ANYWAY, what to watch next... I have no clue. I want/need to finish watching The Rose and Tokyo Juliet at some point.

Oh, and I also started reading a new manga; La Corda d'Oro (Kin'iro no Corda). I don't know why I keep starting new mangas, but then totally don't finish any of them (I'm seriously STILL reading Love Com). But I like it so far. The art is pretty, and the manga boys are definitely teh hotness. Plus, there's a fairy, and it's totally based on a dating sim, which makes it awesome because it's SO geeky.

AND yeah. It's really late, and I still have to do push ups (damn you push ups! DAMN YOU TO HEEEEEELLLLLLL). Soooo okay!

( Drama/Anime/Manga List update 05Jan09 )

Didn't add much (only manga/anime), but I changed formats again

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hana Yori Dango Final has been subbed!!!!! Why do I always discover these things in the middle of the night?! (Granted, it JUST came out at 9:30pm (2130) this evening while I was marathoning Full House, so it's not like I could have helped it) Gah! I'll have to take it with me to work. Also, Boys Over Flowers starts airing today. I'm going to be watching it real time (and by real time, I mean I'm not going to wait until all subs are out, I'm going to watch each episode as soon as the sub comes out), because I'm just THAT excited by it.

Just watched the first ten minutes of the HYD movie, and I so love it already. It's FABULOUS!

So Links!
Hana Yori Dango Final (On Sars Fansubs; torrent, irc, and direct download available)
Boys Over Flowers (On the Soompi forum. I don't know if you have to be signed in to view... I think the DDL's will be on there when available)

Hana Yori Dango Final!!

I'm about half finished with Hana Yori Dango Final. I've been watching it on my tiny little ipod screen...

I'm going to write up a formal post/review later, once I'm done, but I had to share this awesome tidbit.

I was watching it, and there's a hotel owner character in it, and I was like "Wow! Hotel guy is hot!", and then I got a better look at him, and I was like "....is that Takano?!" (Takano = Fujiki Naohito's character in Hotaru no Hikari... I didn't know the actor name, but I totally know his character!). Turns out I was right. It totally IS him! I LOVE it when I recognize actors!

Other things from the first half;

- There's a flaming foot. Seriously. A foot is on fire.
- In Nevada, Domyoji and this big ass trucker dude get in an argument (and Domyoji cutely says "What the fuck are you doing"!! It's so not threatening in a japanese accent), that culminates in them hugging, and the trucker getting an autograph. Oh Japan, you kill me with your cuteness!
- Rui is made of awesome. I will never not love him.

More Taiwanese entertainment news

A few news points;

Cannot lose to Ethan Ruan; Joe Cheng & Ariel Lin have another bed scene
This story is amusing to me only because it contains the phrase "there is no passionate skin contact whatsoever"...

5566 to Dissolve, New Faces to Take Over
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!! I can only hope this is a rumor, but if it isn't... well I suppose they had a good run. Still... meh. Also, wtf?! "Sam Wang might be shifting his career into the bread making business to fulfill his dream"

Not going to link the whole article, but hello, best quote ever; "He is a veteran at bed scenes, and resulted in gaining the title of ‘asthma sex stick’." (BTW, they're talking about Ethan Ruan)

Arron Yan acts "handsome", kisses for 5 hours, becomes an adult in Fahrenheit’s MV
First of all, SQUEE! Aaron!! He's so cute! Second, wtf is it with female fans?! First Alan Luo, now Aaron?! Are they really THAT upset by them kissing other people while acting? Seriously people. So yay! New MV (though it's not one of my favorite songs)! But exactly why are they standing under a dangling car?

Fahrenheit promotes new album, Arron agrees to parade around Hong Kong
Poor Aaron! They're always picking on him! "The three of them forced Aaron Yan to wear swim trunks to swim in Victoria Harbour for celebration if the album sales in Hong Kong broke 50,000 copies; Aaron Yan asked them why and the three of them feel that since he is the youngest, he has to satisfy the younger fans. Aaron Yan could only agree to it unwillingly." Aw, Aaron! Ever since I saw the video of him doing that ridiculous cat dance, I've just wanted to squeeze him! It's kinda weird, because it's not like he's a kid... he's only 2/3 years younger than I am (there seem to be conflicting reports on what his birthyear actually is...)

*snort* "When Wu Zun was asked if he would imitate Aaron Kwok who showed his chest muscles at the concert if the album sales are good, he said, 'Nope! I don’t have a figure as good as him, and also not a status like him, wait until we have it then will show it!' " .... Oh Wu Zun... how I wish you would change your mind...

The ending of HYD rocked my socks

I'm probably going to write my review of the HYD movie tomorrow (during work! Yay for slacking off!), and do the screencaps tomorrow night. I'm a little too tired for the full undertaking tonight.

That being said, three things;

1. I adore Rui with all my heart. He's one of the best characters ever, and is one of the only ones who can compete with Kei-kun for my heart (you know, if they existed). Seriously, ALL the Rui scenes made me inordinately happy. It also reminded me just how freaking much I love Oguri Shun. He was my first drama crush. I still blame the blonde..
2. That being said, Domyoji and Tsukushi are perfect together. More then perfect, they're destined. I always had difficulties with the manga and the dramas, because I love Rui so much, and naturally want him to be happy (in the anime this was never an issue. In fact, I didn't much like Rui in the anime... he ended up with Shizuka anyway). But despite all this, I can't deny that Domyoji and Tsukushi belong together.
3. It ended very nicely. It was not true to the manga ending at all, but whatever. I kinda don't care at this point. I like how they portrayed Soujiro and Yuuki at the ending. It was terribly cute. I felt bad for Rui though. Oh, that damn character breaks my heart. But I had to share this, because I thought it was an adorable ending, the last scene.


The last scene, the wedding picture, which transforms into a manga version. It's obviously drawn by Kamio Yoko too, which makes it all the more special. I nearly started crying when I saw it. It was perfect. The most amazing, perfect ending to an amazing story.

I can't satisfactorily convey just how happy this movie made me. I've had limited experience with japanese movies, and was previously disappointed (I'm looking at you, Lovely Complex), so to have this one exceed my expectations was fabulous. I'm significantly tougher on movies than I am on dramas (I think this is because I've studied film theory. If I were ever to get another bachelors degree, it would be in film studies), so yeah, just happiness all around!

Oh, speaking of, wiki just told me this; "Also, in one of the first volumes of Cat Street, Yoko Kamio admitted that she planned to start a sequel to Hana Yori Dango in the near future." I hope it's true. As much as I'd like to think that I'd be satisfied with things ending as they are, I want more, damn it. *greedy*

I bought the 100 userpic thing today. I currently have 55. 8 of those are of Ikuta Toma (more than of anyone else)... I'm not exactly sure why... I mean, I love him and everything, but I love Zai Zai more, and I only have 4 of him. Whatever.