Mei chan no shitsuji

My J Drama for the summer and June. I ranked it a B drama, second last to Honey and Clover. I learnt a lot from this drama. Funny how considering it's only ranked B while the others were all As except for Honey and Clover.

Mei chan no shitsuji can be translated as Mei chan's butler. Through research, I learned that it is from a manga, but I suspect the entire plot was changed a lot. Anyway, I have never read the manga before so I can't comment on that. But anyhow, here goes:

Shinonome Mei(Eikura Nana) lives happily with her parents selling udons for a living - until her parents passed away in an accident. Suddenly, she discovers that she is actually from a wealthy family, she has a S rank butler, Shibata Rihito(Mizushima Hiro) serving her and she is enrolled in the prestigious St Lucia Academy to learn how to be a lady. You may think waahhhh so fairytale like...it's always like that anyway in dramas. So she went there unwillingly and her classmates aren't too happy with her anyway. She dresses poorly and does not have the slightest lady like look on her at all. Not to mention, our top antagonist, Lucia-sama who is secretly plotting to rid Mei from the school. Right from the start, you get a feeling that our heroine is going to be in deep trouble. How will she fare and thrive in this new desolate environment, without any friends?

No fears, we have our S ranked butler, Rihito who does his best to guide and protect his lady. LOL....the  plot is there but it wasn't up to my expectations. The fight between Rihito and Kento for example, was meant to be emotionally serious but I can't help but to let out a chuckle. It was poorly acted out, with no suspense at all!!! Come on, the guys don't look like the fighting type to begin with. Rihito is the standard anime prettyboy type, goodlooking with a skinny body. Definitely not the macho type. Kento is like a rash schoolboy going head first into fights. Still, it was great just recognising the actors from HanaKimi.

Rihito(Hiro) is Nanba Minami from Hanakimi. Nebucchi is Masao from Hanakimi. Izumi is Hibari from Hanakimi. Shinobu is Mayama from Honey and Clover. I learn that the twin butlers are going to be the Hitachiin twins in Ouran. It's been like a drama where I wish I can be like the heroine, fitting in the school and making good friends with everyone. Idealistic I know, but one can always dream, no?

A post on the upcoming J drama Ouran High School Host Club! http://pixyl.tumblr.com/post/5791788356/ouran-high-school-host-club-drama-update

Otome Youkai Zakuro - Splendidly refreshing!

I found someone who has a rather nice blog about the show here.

Okay, I had relatively low expectations of this anime at first since the drawing of the guys isn't exactly my type. But I gave it a try anyway and boy, I didn't regret!

It's about an alternate version of the Meiji era where the Japanese is slowly getting westernized and the military sort of form an alliance with the spirits to tackle spirit issues. So the military sent over three soldiers to be partners with the spirit peeps. The spirit girls, half spirits as they are called had mixed feelings too but they go with it anyway. So there were three teams altogether.

Team 1: Agemaki Kei and Zakuro
Team 2: Riken Y and Susukihotaru
Team 3: Ganryuu Hanakiri and Bonbori and Hozuki(twins)

As expected, each team ends up together but what's cool is the plot. How each team got to know each other and their chemistry. How each side tries to understand the other party. I love the fighting song.

Watasha hanaka, chochoka oni ka - feels like some folk songs.

Good show and a must watch!

Kaichou wa Maid sama - Memorably Delightful!

The second anime I watched this summer, it's about the Seika High School President, Ayuzawa Misaki who is determined to revamp the school's filthy image to a cleaner and more pleasant image. The reason:

Seika High was actually an all boys school before it turned co-ed. As such, the female students' population is low and the boys are, well, dirty, foul-mouthed, perverted, boisterous, loud, actively involved with fights....all the nasty associations. Therefore, Misaki aimed to change the school to a better environment where the female students feel more comfortable and relaxed. She worked hard in her studies and martial arts and earn the teacher's trust to be appointed the school president. This involves constantly nagging the boys to dress properly, behaved in more polite manners, etc..earning the wrath of almost all the boys.

However, she does have a secret. She is working as a maid in a maid cafe as her part time job!!
Naturally, being the president and maid doesn't really seem to go together considering how much she hates that kind of guys. However, the pay is good and she comes from a poor family. The story doesn't waste much time. Right from episode 1, her secret was discovered by Usui Takumi who happened to pass the cafe while she was throwing trash.





Now Usui Takumi is the most popular guy in school who seemed nonchalant in almost everything. After the encounter, he listened to Misaki's explanation and began to seem to have a life. Which is stalking Misaki. From there onwards, it was a funny watch!! Usui finds himself attracted to Misaki's oddities and personality and seemed to 'stalk' her - she is always around and he can't help but observe her. He also frequents the cafe she works at.

the three idiots

We also have the idiot trio - Shiroyan, Ikkun and Kurotatsu who hates the president at first but then adored her after they met her in the maid attire. They provide a lot of the relief gags. I could go on and on for there are a lot more characters but I'll stop. For an anime with a lot of side characters, it proved to be a highly enjoyable and entertaining show!

I'm kinda happy as this is the first anime which I can catch up with. It's fairly recent and the manga is still running. I'm catching up on the manga itself and I planned to catch up with the manga of my favorite animes. Next will be Ouran and Fruit Basket!

Special A - Humorous but slightly forgettable.

So the first anime I watched this summer is Special A. It's a funny light-hearted shojo anime which reminds me of Ouran High School Host Club. Special A is actually the top class of the school where the top 7 of the school are placed. They are ranked:

No1 - Takashima Kei
No2 - Hikari Hanazono
No3 - Akira Toudou
No4 - Yamamoto Megumi
No5 - Yamamoto Jun
No6 - Tadashi Karino
No7 - Ryu Tsuji

Their class is different from the rest in the sense that their 'class' has a greenhouse where they have lotsa tea parties, a kitchen and a lounge. It's very relaxing and the class members are free to do their own thing. Each have their own little cliche and quirks but each of them held their classmates with high regards and love the class in their own way.

Takashima vs Hikari
These two are constantly competing to be no1 but Hikari always seem to lose out. The kind of chemistry they have is kinda baffling - we have Kei who harbors feelings for Hikari but he shows it only very subtly and he is always willing to play along with her competitions and teased her in his own way. Hikari, is a complete BLURCASE who never seem to realise Kei's feelings or her own feelings. She is just someone very innocently honest who believes that one can achieve their dreams by working hard and if you don't, you just didn't work hard enough. A very nice girl, her ONLY desire is to beat Kei at least once in something, but through the fair means of a competition.

Akira x Tadashi
My fav pairing! Here's two really funny characters who *spoiler* actually liked each other since young but never really said it out to each other. Akira loves baking and cooking and having tea parties while Tadashi enjoys roaming around and eating Akira's cooking. Someway or another, Tadashi always ends up saying something which infuriates or annoys Akira and she will just bash him up. He is so used to it that when she doesn't, he feels oddly out of place. Akira values her friends, especially Hikari and will do her best to protect Hikari and the people she values. A childhood friend of Kei and Yahiro.

Jun ~Ryu ~ Megumi
These trio are always together. Ryu is the eldest of the lead and loves animals. He has this special ways with animals and the animals loved him too!! Jun and Megumi are always jealous whenever Ryu shows affection to the animals. They are very close. Megumi communicates through writing on a notepad because she wants to protect her voice. However, everyone who hears her singing almost always got a dizzy spell due to the power of her vocals. Jun has a secret to hide and it is revealed in the anime but not here! :)

Side characters worth mentioning:
Yahiro Saiga
Childhood friend of Kei and Akira. He does his best to protect Akira but he is always misunderstood.

Sakura Ushikubo
Casted in a marriage interview with Kei, she switched her affection to Jun after realising he resembles her idealistic version of her prince.

As usual with shojo plots, we'll see the lead couple going through all sorts of trials and tribulations before they get together. In this anime, I was constantly annoyed by the thickheaded Hikari who never seemed to get the slightest hint. However, it was saved with the funny scenes and the lovable acts of the entire cast. The last episode was good as well the way everyone contributed to the infiltration of Kei's palace. Hohoho. All in all, it was a good watch but not really memorable. Still, the takeaway moral is that, we must work hard!

Goong - Character Analysis

 Crown Prince Lee Shin
This is such a lovely picture of him. Because he is smiling. 80% of the series,he was either sulking or moody with neither a smile or a flick of happiness in his face. He grew up a lonely boy whose alter elgo is Alfred, his teddy bear given to him by the late King, his grandfather. He turned reserved and cold in his palace until he met Chae Gyung, who slowly melted his ice cold heart and turned him into a regular happy young chad who is able to open his heart to people and be able to smile happily. Because he was always moody, his wide beaming face in the last episode was a joy to see. =)

Another reason why we can't hate his jerk behaviors: He simply does not know how to reach out to people or how to say the right things. BUT, he does tries his best to fulfill his role and responsibilities, even if it means making himself seem despicable. Still, he's so nice, till he is willing to let his love go as long as she is happy. THIS is why he is MORE deserving of Chae Gyung than Yool. Woots!





 Min Hyo Rin - She reminds me of Sonija Kwok with that look. Anyways, it was funny how she relate her situation to Prince Charles and Camilla. Still, she was poisoned and influenced by Yool's Mom but kudos to her for letting go of the Prince and realizing her true dream : to be a famous ballerina.

 Awww this was one of my fav moments when they both relaxed and just have pure fun. The theme song was very apt and it remained one of my favorite K couple moments.

This smile is so rare. We can see Shin being truly happy and he deserves his happiness - for being patient and giving and of course, the Prince. It's like a fairy tale where the Crown Prince and Crown Princess have their happy ending! =)

Goong Fan Pics

Fan Pic

Fan Pic2

Alfred Wedding

Alfreds

Wedding with Emotions

Fun with Grandma!

Goong/Princess Hours

It took me a week to finish this drama. 24 episodes. It is not my favorite K drama yet - but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Being a picky drama watcher, I select my K dramas carefully since they tend to have many episodes. I would admit that initially, I have misgivings about this drama as I thought it was hyped up. However, seeing as it was a hit in 2006 and Yoon Eun Hye's performance in Coffee Prince was great so I decided to give this drama a try. And as usual, K leads are not exactly that good looking but as you get to know their onscreen personality, you will end up rooting for them. They shine in their character and in particularly, the lead in this drama, Lee Shin. At a first glance, he look very ordinary and very Asian/Korean-ish with those eyes. But as his personality unveils, I began to cheer for him and was glad that the lead look normal rather than be superbly attractive without looking anything but Asian. But hey, not to say Asian's are not good looking! Just that he has the Asian look rather than some superstars with plastic stuff but no offence!

Spunky Chae Gyung!

Cool Shin Goon

 So, to recap, this drama in short is about a fictional constitutional monarchy which Korea still have. The King is ill and the royal family decided to get the Crown Prince Lee Shin a wife. The twist was that the King's father had arranged for the Crown Prince to be wed to this best friend's granddaughter. Here comes Chae Gyung, the bubbly persona who agrees to marry the prince to save her family from the loan sharks and bankruptcy. Arranged marriage in the 21st century? The conflicts lies when the Prince's ex gf, Hyo Rin is not satisfied and is determined to get the Crown Prince back while Yool, the former Crown Prince who has lived in isolation in England with his mother returns and is determined to regain his once-owned throne and seat of Crown Prince. His scheming mother thickens the plot as our young couple is faced with so many uncertainties, dilemmas and issues. How will they survive through it and learn to love one another? Haha I made it sound so dramatic but it isn't that bad.

Crown Prince Lee Shin by Joo Ji Hoon

Crown Princess Chae Gyung by Yoon Eun Hye

Former Crown Prince Lee Yool by

Ballerina Min Hyo Rin

CG Dad - Househusband, excellent cook, wacky

CG Mom - insurance agent

King

Queen

Queen Mother - Sassy Grandma!

Yool's Mother - Scheming Lady

Shin's sister, Princess Hye Mung

Royal Family

 Since there are so many pictures,  I will post more fan pictures in the next post!! XD Have I mentioned Alfred? =p

Goong - Shin and Gwendal

Hahaha I felt like I needed to say it though I don't think many will appreciate it unless you watch Goong and Kyou Kara Maoh before. Lee Shin reminds me so much of Gwendal - the way they both play with their soft toy(s). The best line by Chae Gyung so far after he got pelted with eggs : "You're just like the shin ramen with an additional egg". LOL