The Problematic of the Unproblematic

After the excitement of episode 23, we wind down with a few explanations in this one.... only to start some next excitement immediately. No, we get no rest with this show! And we haven't even got to the worst excitement yet ... but no spoiling. First, let's see how Big Sis blows a few fuses in this episode and Ming Tai gets his pretty little tush massaged... JoAnne: Maybe because it's been a while but I almost can't remember Ming Tai as the super observant super quick to pick up spy kills guy, and mostly only remember him as the spoiled baby brother. In my head - and I think we can thank Eleanor for this - Ah Cheng is the spy, Ming Lou is the mastermind, and Ming Tai is just sort of along for the ride sometimes. Eleanor: Haha, well I am a little Ah Cheng biased ;P Ming Tai can be an excellent spy sometimes yeah, but he lacks the experience and maturity that Ah Cheng and Big Bro have. And it tells. Oh well, Ming Tai is adorable and funny and I love him too. 

SakiVI: Welcome to the Fatty Wong Show! And we're still in the tomb. We don't leave it except to occasionally look at High Jr and Chastity Chen, and let's face it, those two are useless for the story. kakashi: The show reaches new heights of being very bad at telling a comprehensible story and explaining anything about anything. It actually makes me think a lot about how understanding the logic of a fantasy-world is quite cruc ial for feeling at home in a story ... and caring about characters. Here, there's just a lot of "oh, look, there's a creepy thing" and "hey, who cares, let's just move on to the next scene".  

SakiVI: A (bad) explanation for the tomb is given us along with some seriously creepy hijinks. kakashi: Cheap creepy but very effective hijinks. At least the tomb is big, so there is no claustrophobia. In fact, claustrophobia is about the only thing that is missing here. Also, at one stage, Uncle Three simply disappears ... and does not appear again. I don't approve. It's clearly the worst episode yet, but why am I so entertained?  We see Uncle Three briefly in flashes, but, yes, he's gone after the first part. They wasted a lot of time on what the seven coffins were or were not. And yet, this episode, if you're not trying to write what happened, was very entertaining!

kakashi: So many new KDramas this week! JoAnne: Something is bound to catch your eye, right, Kakashi? Let's hope so!!!   

SakiVI: I have nothing else to do during a snow storm, so I'm pushing along for now! kakashi: This episode was a tiny little bit less scary than episode 2, but only because nothing crawled. I can tell you, I am really glad I did not become a tomb raider. I am clearly not well suited for that line of work. It was more set-up with a bit of action.

SakiVI: All I can say, is good thing I feel safe with Little Master around! kakashi: OMGalmighty, this episode SCARED ME shitless (no, autocorrect, I don't mean shirtless)!! Saki, why did you not properly warn me :OOOO. Luckily, I watched it in broad daylight. If all the episodes are like this, I cannot watch this at night. Anyway, our Tomb-Robber team sets out to ... rob some tombs. But the way to the tomb leads through... some other tomb. A friggin scary one. 

SakiVI: I started watching this show randomly, as one does, during a bad flu and then couldn't stop. Luckily, it's only meant to be 10 action-packed episodes! Woohoo! kakashi: A new recapping project! Woohoooo! This one is entirely on Saki/Jaehyus, who seems to have fallen under this drama's weird spell all of a sudden. It's on viki, it has ten episodes, and this is the first of planned 8 seasons. The Grave Robbers' Chronicles / Daomu Biji is an internet novel and extremely popular in China. If I could get an decent translation, I would read this. Let's get cracking! Episode 1 is the "get-together" of (part of) the gang; much more exciting things are in store for you in episode 2 .  

Most people know by now that #OperationKaiKai was a raging success. The curse has been broken! I saw an Asian Star!! Yaaaaay! From here, the moon and the stars :D Who is next? Hu Ge?

Ah! What an adrenaline spiking, but ultimately heart-warming episode! Yes, the beginning is bloody and violent ... maybe a bit too violent?, but in terms of interactions between the Ming Bros, this one is a gem! Ah Cheng gets a prize for being the most reasonable (at least today) and for keeping things sane. We get some kind of closure in this episode and it is nice to see that as brutal as that kill-order was, family bonds are strong enough to endure this. Indeed: what does not kill you makes you stronger. Warning: many gifs in this post! JoAnne: That's okay, I feel like I don't have much to say. We can just watch silently, all together. Well, the warning was more for people with low-data allowances on their phones :D   Eleanor: Most definitely my favourite episode so far. Maybe it will be my favourite always.  

Jaehyus: I have flu, so I'll say Hello and Goodbye like this mysterious gege does in the first episode of The Lost Tomb.  JoAnne: He only shows up once? That seems a waste. Girls these days have all the luck! becca: One of my wishes for 2016 may be coming true! It's possible that Sooyoung will make a drama comeback. On OCN. With the Bad Guys writer. And Seo In-guk and Ma Dong-seok. If anyone wants me, I'll be in the corner, crying tears of joy. :') kakashi: I'm post-Milano and yeah, I'm already planning whom to stalk next. Suggestions?   We are completely out of whack, schedule-wise. Well, I am completely out of whack in pretty much every regard. I'm having a hard time holding on to what day of the week it is. What a weird start to the year, really. I find myself thinking I want a really good closet-cleaning. That should put my head to rights again, right? Cleaning. Not a good subject . 

If Santa (or the tooth fairy or ... anybody) would grant KDrama wishes, which ones would you have?

Joyce has drawn a Disguiser relationship and identities chart - thanks so much!!! Be careful though if you have not yet seen the drama, it's very spoilery . You can zoom into the picture once you've clicked on it.  

"The Hunt" begins. I love and I hate the Ming Brothers, especially the two older ones. That's some craaaaaaaazy shit they are pulling in this episode O_____________o And get ready to press play again right away after this one ends, because the Operation is far from over. JoAnne: Will you LOOK at how sexy he is. Just LOOK at him. Rrrrrrrrawr... Eleanor: This episode. I think I'm still hyperventilating. Can't breathe. Too much tension!  Yeah, plus... You Saw Wang Kai this weekend! In person!!!  

The Fourth Song 第四首歌 Wow I made it! :D This is the last of the 4 official songs in the Nirvana in Fire series. Also I found a new GIFing software and I'm not afraid to use it! This particular song is actually the official theme song for the Nirvana in Fire Mobile RPG game (wow!). If you're interested in having a look follow this link . I found this song quite by accident but immediately loved it after listening – the lyrics so well written, the music such flare. I was once again impressed by the series’ production values, even the song for the game is good XD. The singer for this song goes by a nickname called 音频怪物 “Sound Wave Monster”. He’s actually a pretty famous online singer who does both original and remakes of songs and has release 2 albums according to my research. Some Commentary (Rants) on the Game 说说游戏那点事儿 Firstly I'm very unhappy that I cannot download this game from the Australian Apple App store. It's limited only to the China App Store. :(

Yeah, shit. This episode drops a bomb on Ming Tai, which leaves him in that very uncomfortable place between a rock and a hard place, both trip-wired with deadly explosives. Any choice will cost somebody's life, so how will you make such a decision?! In addition, there is some excitement about Big Sis, who suddenly is in danger and I tell you, I am GLAD I am not one of the Ming siblings. Too stressful. Far too stressful. But at least they're all so damn good looking. Honestly, I sat here for this episode and the next just thinking how on EARTH could anyone make a decision in Ming Tai's position, and believing whole-heartedly that he'd find some way NOT to. I should have known better. Eleanor: This episode. I needed heart pills during and after it. Like big time. Holy crap. 

Why so grim, dear Ah Cheng? Things are going quite well for you guys, I'd say ... and little Ming Tai is still cutely in love, which means he is far less annoying than usual. Things are quiet right now, but we all know what that means ... JoAnne: Yep. Someone's gonna screw something up. It's the quiet before the heart attack . Eleanor: At least we got to see lots of Ah Cheng :)

If you know me well, you know that I am the world's worst stalker of Asian stars. I have tried twice and failed spectacularly. 1) I managed not to see Lee Jun-ki even though he pranced around in Switzerland for days (details about Adventure 1: here ); 2) I managed to dress up as Santa for Kim Ji-hoon who did not even come here in the end (details about Adventure 2: here) . Oh, and about a gazillion other Korean stars come to Switzerland regularly and I miss them. Case in point: There is a picture of Joo Sang-wook sitting at a spot which is 300  meters from where I work. Kyuhyun (though not one of my biases) filmed a whole MV at the university I work at and I never even noticed a thing. Etc. Etc. Etc. 

I'm sure we've all had them.  I just had one last night.  It was weird and unsatisfying and thus I must share.  I dreamt I was an undergrad (thank you, Cheese in the Trap) and a Candy (so, so far from the truth, but so is being an undergrad at this point) and that TOP was my Oppa. Mind Blown! TOP was working as a delivery Candy Boy, but was secretly a rich Heir:  TOP wasn't in Heirs, so Kim WooBin is filling in. and he was that nice Oppa that I relied on for an occasional "Fighting!" Like in IRIS. And I was the only one who knew he was a rich Heir in disguise, Kim Woobin again. and not a delivery boy.   Self-explanatory. Min Hyorin was there too.   I didn't recognize her in Persevere, Gu HaeRa. looking like she did in that Song Jieun video where she sets BAP's Himchan Again, self-explanatory. on fire, Yep, she burned that face alive. and she was the Unni I trusted and who I needed eventu

While Ming Tai is quite happy in this episode (he for once does not mess anything up and is sweetly in love), Ah Cheng commits a grave mistake, which has quite severe consequences. Facing exposure and arrest, Ming Lou and Ah Cheng come up with a daring plan to save the situation, their position, and much more. I'm afraid. On the other hand, I could for the life of me not hate Trainwreck in this episode. If only all the episodes with her would have been like this!  JoAnne: Even considering the mess that Ah Cheng creates - more about my feelings about that later - the scenes with Ming Tai and Trainwreck were so nice that they did tend to leave you feeling a bit sparkly, it's true. Dammit. Eleanor: Yes to everything you said. Poor Ah Cheng. Man, this episode makes me so nervous for how this is all going to work out or not work out. And I also actually enjoyed the scenes with Ming Tai and his lady friend. 

kakashi: Hiiiiii everybody! It's a new year and we are baaaaaaaaaaack! And we are watching things again. Did everybody have a good break? I'm excited about 2016. I like the beginning of the new year, it's always so full of potential! Until it isn't, but that's another story. We're baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack