Shafted, shafted, shafted: A Story of Female Second Leads

This is Janine Zhang, who plays Lan Xiying in Black & White (she’s basically an expert on everything having to do with the law, medicine, and a damned good sharpshooter into the bargain). I would love to be her, but yeah. I’m not that awesome.

A long time ago Thundie wrote an article-essay on the treatment of male secondary leads in kdrama, and I felt inspired enough that I promised myself that I would write up a similar one about the female ones.

This is just something I’ve noticed, but the amount of hate towards female characters almost always beats the hate for male ones. And while on one hand it’s seriously not cool, on the other hand I think the tired old tropes women keep being thrust into have something to do with it.

Without further ado:

Spring 2010, Trailers!

Upcoming:

Hong Lou Meng/Dream of Red Mansions

– Okay, I don’t actually care for this version because the 1989 one was like, the end-all be-all of Hong Lou Meng adaptations, but after the clusterfuck of the selection process and the general pretty, I’m curious to see where this goes.

Summer’s Desire

(My god, the trailer comes in 2 parts!)

– As for as I can tell from dramawiki, it’s about 2 people in love with a manipulative second male lead trying to separate them. (He had money, it helped.) Honestly, if it wasn’t Huang Xiaoming and Barbie Xu, I wouldn’t even look, but… the opportunity of a TWdrama, with an actress who’s not, you know, the type to fake idiocy.

Dong-yi

(This thing is just so gorgeous.)

– Han Hyo-joo! Bae Soo-bin! Ji Jin-hee! Pretty historical clothing and intrigue (though at 50 episodes it’s a bit heavy)! Bae Soo-bin doesn’t get the girl, again!

Personal Taste

– Ahh, what would a girl be without her fake-gay roommate? (Apparently missing all those rainbow-sparkly moments.)

Cinderella’s Sister

– The summary’s somewhat sketch on details, but it’s Moon Geun-young being sexy and angsty. I’m really not going to pass that one up.

Oh! My Lady!

– Romantic hijinks between a male star and his housekeeper! With added age difference! I mean, I’m not expecting any Oscar-level acting, but it sounds fun.

Already Airing:

Down With Love

– He’s a snotty lawyer who has no time for anything, she’s that hard-working girl who carries fridges on her back to earn money. This is a drama just waiting to happen. (Having actually watched all 26 leaked episodes, I can honestly say that this is a joy to watch.)

Who’s who in Prince of Tennis?

I thought, just so we stop being confused, that I would post this here for ya:

These are only the main players on the Seigaku/Qing Xue team, but it’s still better than nothing!

Oh, and a list of the Chinese vs. Japanese names of the people.

Coach Lin Qi — Ryuzaki Sumire
Long Zheng Nan — Echizen Nanjiroh, Ryoma’s papa
Long Ma — Echizen Ryoma
Guo Guang — Tezuka Kunimitsu
Zhou Zhu — Fuji Syuusuke
Chen Hai Tang — Kaidoh Kaoru
Qian Zhen Zhi — Inui Sadaharu
Ju Wan — Kikumaru Eiji
Da Shi — Oishi Shuichiro
He Chun Long — Kawamura Takashi
Zhou Yu — Fuji Yuuta
Tao Cheng Wu — Momoshiro Takeshi
Lin Ying (Nickname: Xiao Ying) — Ryuzaki Sakuno
Xiao Peng — Osakada Tomoka
Xiao Bo — Street Court dude
Seigaku — Qing Xue
Hyoutei — Bing Di
Fudomine – Yi Lin

Love,

Sevenses

Prince of Tennis Live Action: Episode 5

The live action is officially AU now, I think. I much prefer this version to the anime, though Long Ma needs some work. (By work I mean a large hammer and lots of humility, but character rewrites will do.)

Correction: The coach’s name is actually Lin Qi, not Tian Qi as previously assumed.

Episode 5: In Which There is Yet More Angst, Will It Never End?!?

Tao Chen Wu and Hai Tang exercise at the same time, as much as to snark at each other as to actually build muscles. Cheng Wu urges Hai Tang to retry the match, while Hai Tang looks down on him for being too enthusiastic about everything and everyone. (Yeah, but how else is Long Ma’s cold, neglected little heart going to melt?)

In the school caf, Xiao Peng grabs Long Ma for an interview, only to have him walk off when it’s apparent Xiao Ying won’t show up. Xiao Peng is chagrined. (Serves her right.)

In English class, the rest of the team muses on whether they like having Long Ma around (answer: obvious no) – angst about Inui and Kaidoh ensues. The two don’t really help, as they do their soulful gazing thing in the gym. I would like to remind them that it’s not the end of the world – just one ranking match, dudes! There will be others, like, next semester. Aww, brotherly bonding (or not, you slashers, you) totally occurs.

zOMG Zhen Zhi breaks down and says that data isn’t everything. OMO. Hai Tang feels cheated, and super under pressure. Also, he dislikes Long Ma. What a newsflash.

Prince of Tennis subs

Since so many of you have been asking!

Prince of Tennis, the Chinese live action version, is being subbed by a very friendly group of people over at Livejournal.com, and to date they have released episode 5.

The group is called dramapuri_subs, here’s the link to the released fansubs. You’ll have to register at LJ (it’s free) and the particular community (also free), but think of it as an enriching experience. 😀

Sevenses

Prince of Tennis Live Action: Episode 4

Having realized that, hey, they use Chinese names, I thought it would be a better idea to start using them too.

So just for your reference:

Coach Tian — Ryuzaki
Long Zheng Nan — Nanjiroh, Ryoma’s papa
Long Ma — Ryoma
Guo Guang — Tezuka
Zhou Zhu — Fuji
Hai Tang — Kaidoh
Zhen Zhi — Inui
Ju Wan — Eiji
Da Shi — Oishi
He Chun Long — Taka
Zhou Yu — Yuuta
Tao Cheng Wu — Momo
Xiao Ying — Sakuno
Xiao Peng — Tomoka
Xiao Bo — Street Court dude
Seigaku — Qing Xue
Hyoutei — Bing Di

Episode 4: In Which Heavy Objects of an Angsty Nature Fall

Prince of Tennis Live Action, Episode 3

It’s been a long time, folks. Gomen, gomen, was not really in the mood until now.

Episode 3: In Which Fuji Angsts and Ryuzaki Spits Out Her Tea

Momo and Kaidoh get into another off-the-sides match. Inui and the rest of the team watch on the sides, commenting that with the arrival of Ryoma, the team has felt the pressure of the ranking matches. Tezuka comes in at an intense point in the match to stop them and to award the rest of the team with laps. Disciplinarian and moasochist? Maybe.

The next day, Momo meets Ryoma in the locker rooms and tells him to do well, and Ryoma shows his arrogance once more by muttering that he had wanted to be in the same group as Tezuka and Fuji (otherwise known as the ‘Death Block’ for obvious reasons). When he finds his rackets stolen by jealous teammates, he goes into snark-competitive mode. And skips practice. (Genius, dude.)

When Ryoma skips practice, he goes to Sakuno’s art room. (And they say romance is dead.) He compares his skill and confidence to her assurance in drawing, yada yada yada, he is sure of winning, what else is new?

Prince of Tennis Live Action, episode 2

That was a weird cutoff. Apparently the DVD cuts are quite different from what aired, and thus we have all this confusion as to where proper episodes are supposed to finish. Anyway.

Episode 2

Ryoma starts off with a twist serve, but he can tell Momo’s injured. The other replies that it’s perfectly fine, and tells him to keep going. Ryoma smirks and anticipates winning.

Meanwhile, Nanjiroh is trying to flirt with Ryuzaki, with tea, of all things. Then he gets down to business, talking about his precious son. Ryuzaki is a little unsure as to what he really means by sending a fourth-time champion son to be a member of Seigaku’s team, not that she doesn’t welcome that, she adds, but it’s a little odd. Nanjiroh replies that Ryoma is born to be a tennis player, but being in singles and winning all the time has made him into an isolated person who doesn’t care about anything than tennis (not in so many words, but we get the point). Ryuzaki jokes that she is still the coach and will not let her team become Ryoma’s personal training ground, but promises to keep an eye out on him.

What a father.

Legend of Condor Heroes 2008, episodes 23 and 24

So for those of you who found my episode 1-12 really confusing, irugnotmis is doing a more comprehensive recap. Hopefully one of us can explain what’s going on. 😀

Episode 23

Huang Rong and Guo Jing go in to make the kill, but Wanyan Honglie is riding away with Wanyan Kang. They are stopped at the door by Ouyang Ke, who woke up at the noises they were making, and wasn’t there when Wanyan Kang came.

Ouyang Ke knows now that the prince is making a getaway, so he stays to combat Guo Jing. Huang Rong stands on the side, gritting her teeth.

In the woods, Wanyan Honglie shows that he doesn’t altogether trust Wanyan Kang just yet – which must rankle, as the other has basically thrown away everything to join the prince’s side. He does the same ‘kill me if you can’ stunt and Wanyan Honglie listens to him for the moment. Unfortunately, Mu Nianci is watching in the woods.

They make a pit stop as Wanyan Honglie refuses to go further, and a messenger from the place they were staying at brings the news that Guo Jing and Huang Rong had snuck in and killed the guard impersonated as the prince. Wanyan Honglie is now convinced of Kang’s loyalty.

Legend of Condor Heroes, Episodes 21 and 22

I am alive, yes, don’t worry. 😀 Precious little time to do anything, though.

Worked from 5 to 9 yesterday, and may never recover.

Episode 21

Just as they reach a truce, Guo Jing’s six teachers have to butt in and contest her. At this point, Guo Jing claims responsibility for Mei Chaofeng’s husband’s death, which means he gets the brunt of her anger. Huang Rong tries to stop them, but is less successful this time, and has to settle for hinting at Guo Jing to use the Dragon Subduing Palms.

(I’ve just realized that one part of their soundtrack sounds really like the Pirates of the Caribbean – which has been throwing me off every time I hear it because I get sidetracked to the dashing Jack Sparrow, and that is just not on for recapping something Chinese.)

Anyway, with the Dragon Subduing Palms, Guo Jing is holding his own with Mei Chaofeng. Thing is, she doesn’t stop when she should have, and injures him. She’s poisoned him, and his masters rush up to ‘avenge’ him. Huang Rong and master #2 team up to get the antidote from her, while the others distract her.

Yang Kang, interestingly, is defending his teacher and not his brother.

Along with the antidote, master #2 gets something that looks like a scroll. But they really could care less as Guo Jing is suffering from the poison, so they give him the antidote first.