Registration allows you to download movies, music, and full TV series for free and you gain access to parts of the site that are hidden to many non-registered members. Furthermore, registered users can win prizes and enter contests. What are you waiting for? REGISTER NOW! Current time: 12-03-2008, 06:34 PM
Hello There, Guest! (Login — Register)
Want to learn An Asian Language? Visit our Asian languages section. Free to browse, but you must have 15 posts to download. *SECTION STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION*
ANNOUNCEMENT : We are looking for Super Moderators to help with our language section. Please visit here.
Amped Points can be used to win prizes. Click here for more info.
Want Access to our Downloads? You must have atleast 15 posts. You will get access to 1000s of Asian movies, dramas, music, etc. Click here for more info.
!WARNING! The following review will spoil the viewer's anticipation of watching this drama. It is not recommanded for viewers who terribly wants to watch it.
Main Cast
Annie Wu (An Da Tao):
Xiao Tao is a girl who has dark skin and light hair, giving others the impression that she is a "beach bunny" and sexually promiscuous.  Many have thought that she isn't a good person.  On the contrary, she is a shy and insecure girl, though she has a fierce temper. She swam in high school thus her dark complexion.  Since high school, she has liked Dong Si secretly.  When she learnt that he dislikes girls who have a dark tan, she intended to reveal her feelings to him when her tan is lighter.  But when she finally gets into the same university with him, she is often framed by the evil angelic looking Sha Hui and their romance ends quickly.
I feel that she is too mature for the role although her cheerful personality and healthy physique fits the manga character's image.  The others look young and innocent but she looks at least a few years older than all of them.  Her acting is raw and it is unbelievable that she is bullied by a girl who is thinner and smaller in size.  She is incompatible with Vansess as lover, overall.
Ken Wu (Dong Si Sen Yi Shi):
A basketball player who has been Xiao Tao's crush since high school and he knows Xiao Tao from high school. But being hesitant and an introvert, he missed many opportunities to confess his love for her.  He incidentally hears her confession and is overjoyed.  But being deceived by Sha Hui, he has many misunderstandings with her which causes her to suffer in silence.  He has a good heart, but tends to be hard-headed and oblivious to what's in front of him.
Because his final choice is Sha Hui, many viewers don't know whether to hate or like him.
Vanness Wu (Gang Ah Li):
A popular and carefree schoolmate of Xiao Tao's. He has the reputation of being a playboy.  Xiao Tao once saved his life when he almost drowned at the beach; his interest in her is renewed when Sha Hui spreads rumors about them being a couple.  Xiao Tao's inevitable "kiss" with him is her first kiss.  No matter how she treats him, he guards beside her and never asks for anything in return.  When she gets bullied or her relationship with Dong Si is threatened, he tries to be their mediator.
Although Vanness proves to be suitable for the role in being active and sociable, I feel that he is reprising his role as Mei Zhuo in "Meteor Garden".  His fans claim that he gave an overall refreshing feeling as Ah Li, but I disagree.
Michelle Gu (Bo Lin Sha Hui):
Xiao Tao's "best friend".  Her fair features (pale skin, black hair) serve as a contrast to Xiao Tao; her "innocent" appearance belies her scheming, manipulative nature.  She is a double-headed snake, when she is in front of others, she is like an angel.  In reality, she has a strong sense of possessiveness.  When she sees that Xiao Tao is slowly becoming the centre of attraction, she became increasingly upset over it.  She pretends to get close to her but tries to create discord between her and others.  When she knows that her beloved Dong Si likes Xiao Tao, she frames Xiao Tao but Ah Li reveals her evil nature in the end.
Michelle stole Annie's limelight as her roleplaying skills are better than Annie.  She was a newcomer then.
Synopsis
From my research:
Based on the shoujo manga by Miwa Ueda, this is a story about jealousy, revenge, the powers of love and friendship and the ties of fate that bind people together...
An Da Tao aka Xiao Tao is an undergraduate who transferred into Dong Si, her secret crush's university.  From the start of the semester, things subsequently went wrong for her...  She falls at the beach and sprained her ankle; she had unwittingly made it as the university's ball queen, angering the post ball queen, Sha Hui, her enemy.  Xiao Tao's life is further complicated with the introduction of Ah Li, a wise-cracking playboy who is determined to make her his because Xiao Tao saved him from drowning the summer before university started.  These proved to be just about too much  Xiao Tao till she was visited by lady luck; she and Dong Si begin to date!  This happiness is short lived as the calculative Sha Hui is determined to be the numero uno Miss Popularity, even if it means destroying Xiao Tao in the process.  Things became even more complicated when Sha Hui, in an attempt to make Xiao Tao miserable, forced Dong Si to break up with Xiao Tao by threatening to discredit Xiao Tao with her newly acquired access to the mass media. Though Dong Si was defiant to begin with, he reluctantly broke up with Xiao Tao in order to protect her.  Xiao Tao was terribly heartbrokened and traumatised.  Especially the fact that she didn't know it was part of Sha Hui's schemes.  However, Xiao Tao soon reciprocate Ah Li's love and began dating Ah Li, whom she had previously considered annoying.  Their love eventually ran deep...  When the Health Education teacher finally revealed to Xiao Tao what had happened and why Dong Si broke up with her, Xiao Tao was left to choose between Dong Si and Ah Li.
Standing on the sidelines is Ah Li who had made known that Xiao Tao is the only girl for him.  She decided to choose Dong Si, who in her mind was the right one for her even though Ah Li is totally commited to her...  Can Dong Si and Xiao Tao manage to keep their relationship afloat?  Will Sha Hui succeed in her devious plans?  Or will Xiao Tao realise that the Ah Li is the man for her?
My Opinion (Review)
Wang Li Hom sanged the opening theme, Wei Yi Ai De Jiu Shi Ni.  The English translation of the title of the opening theme sucked so I put down the Hanyu Pinyin.
"Behind the Scenes" of this drama is definitely more interesting than the drama (stick with the manga, seriously).
According to sources:
The role of "Dong Si" was initially given to Jerry Yan of F4. It was believed that only Jerry Yan could present the coolness of Dong Si.  However, Jerry Yan fell ill at that time and rejected the role.  The company decided within 2 days to use Ken Wu.  It was Ken Wu's first time in acting in a serial. He was used to acting on stage productions, but, the producer was satisfied with his performance.  They felt his shy and scholarly nature fit the role.
The second obstacle came from Michelle Gu.  As many like Vanness's role as "Ah Li", it became a hot topic that caused disturbance to her.  She suddenly went missing for a few days and they had to stop filming.  The company nearly went mad and she only appeared days later.  She had a talk with the company and decided to continue with the work.  She was so upset that she was afraid to step out of her home, she wanted her character "Sha Hui" to be killed.
Michelle had to be pacified.  Others scolded her for she acted too well as the evil "Sha Hui".  Many were taken aback as Michelle was normally cheerful and her sudden disappearance made all shocked.  It was impossible to change her to be a nice person all of a sudden, they had to make her acts justifiable.
The scene where Xiao Tao saved Ah Li was filmed in the aftermath of a typhoon.  The beach was littered with rubbish and the sea had floating logs. As the actors, actresses had to walk barefooted, the crew had to clean the beach spot-clean.  Despite Vanness being a good swimmer, when it came to the saving scene, it was NG'ed for more than 10 times. Annie and Michelle nearly froze as their clothes got wet, dry and wet repeatedly! Vanness could feel nothing in the kissing scene because his lips turned purple due to the cold.
It was raining when it came to the pool saving scene.  Annie didn't look like saving someone - she looked like harming someone! Thus, she was laughed at.  She too was unsatisfied when she previewed the clips.  Vanness was grateful to the crew for treating him to a hot soup after filming the scene so that he would not catch a cold.
The first episode had the ball scene. The crew spent NT$200,000 to find 50 over extras to dance in the pub.  Vanness and Annie had practised Latin dance for 2 days.  The scene when he spins her 360 degrees terrified her.  She kept asking him if he could carry her.  He consoled her continuously that it would be fine.  But the actual filming made all saw how he threw her on the dance floor for several times.  He sweated profusely as his limbs and arms went numb.  For over 10 times, he swayed her body.  The last nearly gave her a brain concussion.
The whole studio was filled with her screams. After the filming, she had blisters so Vanness finally took a good look at her.  He was attracted by her sexy appearance in the dance dress instead!  Annie was very nervous to take up the role.  Many had to give her lots of assurance to continue filming.
The manga's author is Shang Tian Mei He.  She wasn't that famous but the creation of this manga created popularity.  Her mangas are mostly on romances with happy endings and encouragements.  Most of the female characters have big eyes and love crying.  This manga is different from the rest as Xiao Tao is unique, wild and healthy - different from the other gentle charactered girls.  Sha Hui must be her most evil character and it helped her to win the 23rd annual girl comic awards.  Even 'Friend' magazine also chose it as #1.
The serial version created a new ending for Ah Li and Xiao Tao to be together.  It seemed as the viewers all dislike the supporting actor to wish his lover well and give her away to someone else.  It didn't get good viewership as many dislike the storyline and the lack of famous artistes in the serial.  Many picked on Ken Wu and Annie Wu's acting, saying that they still need a lot of guidance to do better.
MY CONCLUSION
The acting done by Ken and Annie were stiff and unreal.  The scheme/ ploting scenes were deliberate, fake and literally childish.  The producers are surely "skillfull" enough to be satisfied by the cast's performance.  The lack of chemistry between the actors and actresses, the lure of the viewers to the drama, the unattractive storyline and unacceptable acting render the drama a failure.
Only watch it if you are a faithful F4 fan or you wish to see Vanness acting as the lead for the first time.
however, i read the manga, but i dont really like it, but still i finish reading it all 16(8 vol of the first and 8 vol of the second) meanin plus the ending part where you know who and who gets who
I didnt really like the acting. &I dont know, I didnt really like the actors either.
The only thing I like about it, was the story line. Even then, there was something iffy about the story line... =[
True~
Yeah, well, the Manga is kind of "splitted" into 2 parts and several spin-offs...
Eh...
What a waste of production costs... Such lousy storyline.
ken wu? ish that Kangta's name or did u get mixed up lol? isn't dong shi Kangta? lol.... but yeah i thought this series was only ok....lol wow i never knew that Jerry was suppose to be Dong shi! that would of been cool and werid haha. I thought vanness was cute in here tho tehee. =p
didn like this series at all. The actress was unsuited for the role as she looked too old and stiff! The actor playing the role of Dong Si looked simply pathetic at some points because he couldn't portray his emotions appropriately. I guess the only saving grace for this movie is Vaness and his coolness. In fact, at some point i was left wondering if the only person serious about this drama and keeping the serial going was Vaness.
No chemistry between actors, and lousy plot. Definitely a thumbs down.
Search
Member List
Calendar
Help
