Favorite quotes from the Vampire Academy series
It’s been over two weeks and I’m still on a Vampire Academy high. I can’t help it, Richelle Mead is just so awesome! Since I can’t get the books off my mind, I figured I might as well make an entry which consists of favorite quotes and moments from the series. Enjoy!
VAMPIRE ACADEMY
“Hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face. If you’re going to think about me naked, do it on your own time.” –Rose
”You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?” – Rose
“Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies.”
“I love pity parties. I wish I’d bought the hats.” –Christian
“I couldn’t be Mason’s girlfriend because when I imagined someone holding me and whispering dirty things in my ear, he had a Russian accent.” -Rose
Lissa : What are you doing here?
Christian : Taking in the sights, of course. That chair with the tarp on it is particularly lovely at this time of year. Over there, we have an old box full of the writings of the blessed and crazy St. Vladimir. And let’s not forget that beautiful table with no legs in the corner.
Mason : Maybe they were hooking up.
Rose : He was a SAINT.
Mason : So? Saints probably like sex too. That ‘brother and sister’ stuff is probably a cover. See? They were ‘bound’ together. It’s code.
“The Battle cry sort of gave you away. Try not to yell next time.” -Dimitri
“I like him.”
“Like or like?”
“Oh, there’s a difference?”
“Yes. Like is when you date a big, blond moron and laugh at his stupid jokes.” Then, out of nowhere, he leaned forward and kissed her. It was hot and fast and furious, an outpouring of the rage and passion and longing that Christian always kept locked inside of him. Lissa had never been kissed like that… he made her feel so much more alive than Aaron or anyone else could. Christian pulled back from the kiss but still kept his face next to hers. “That’s what you do with someone you like.”
“No. If I let myself love you, I won’t throw myself in front of her. I’ll throw myself in front of you.”-Dimitri
FROSTBITE
“What’s your name?”
“What?” I asked, squinting at the light.
“Your name.” I recognized Dr. Olendzki peering over me.
“You know my name.”
“I want you to tell me.”
“Rose. Rose Hathaway.”
“Do you know your birthday?”
“Of course I do. Why are you asking me such stupid things? Did you lose my records?”
Dr. Olendzki gave an exasperated sigh and walked off, taking the annoying light with her. “I think she’s fine.”
“Do not do that again,” he said stiffly.
“Don’t kiss me back then,” I retorted.
He stared at me for what seemed like forever. “I don’t give ‘Zen lessons’ to hear myself talk. I don’t give them because you’re another student. I’m doing this to teach you control.”
“You’re doing a great job,” I said bitterly.”
“Sweat isn’t a bad thing. Some of the best things in life happen while sweating. Yeah, if you get too much of it and it gets old and stale, it turns pretty gross. But on a beautiful woman? Intoxicating. If you could smell things like a vampire does, you’d know what I’m talking about. Most people mess it all up and drown themselves in perfume. Perfume can be good…especially if you get one that goes with your chemistry. But you only need a hint. Mix about 20 percent of that with 80 percent of your own perspiration…mmm. Dead sexy.” -Adrian
“Not into older guys, huh?” asked Adrian once we were alone.
“You’re imagining things,” I said. “Clearly, my stunning beauty has clouded your mind.”
“There’s nothing worse than waiting and not knowing what’ll happen to you. Your own imagination can be crueler than any captor.”
“We can’t stop living because other people are dead.”
“Rose only hangs out with guys and psychopaths,” said Mia.
“Well,” he said cheerfully, “since I’m both a psychopath and a guy, that would explain why we’re such good friends.”
“Too bad. Family members hit you by accident. Psychopathic whores tend to come back for more.”
“I felt like someone had ripped my heart out and tossed it across the other side of the room. There was a burning, agonizing pain in my chest, and I had no idea how it could ever be filled. It was one thing to accept that I couldn’t have Dimitri. It was something entirely different to realize someone else could.”
Across the room, Christian met my yes. Somehow, his face looked even gaunter than it had a couple of hours ago. Hunger burned in his gaze, and I knew I wore the complementary one : a desire to sate that hunger. God. We were so screwed. I think Christian realized it at the same time. His lips twisted into a bitter smile.
“You never looked so good Rose,” he managed, just before the guards told him to shut up.
“I’ll see you later Roza.”
“At our next practice?” I asked. “We are starting those up again, right? I mean you still have things to teach me.”
Standing in the doorway, he looked over at me and smiled. “Yes. Lots of things.”
SHADOW KISS
“My cigarettes and I are going outside. At least they show me respect.” -Adrian
Adrian: ”Oh my God. A kind word from Rose Hathaway, I can die a happy man.”
Rose : “What are you saying that I’m normally an ungrateful bitch?” (silence) “Hey! Not cool.”
Eddie : “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you just defended Christian’s honor. Isn’t he a pain in the ass?”
Rose : “Yes he is. But for the next 6 weeks he’s MY pain in the ass.”
Adrian: What do you think, little dhampir? I was pretty badass with that plant, wasn’t I? Of course it would have been more badass if I’d, I dunno, helped an amputee grow a limb back. Or maybe separated Siamese twins. But that’ll come with more practice.
Rose: If you want some advice-which I’m sure you don’t-you guys should lay off on the magic. Christian still thinks your moving in on Lissa.
Adrian : What? Doesn’t he know that my heart belongs to you?
Rose : It does not. And no, he’s still worried about it, despite what I’ve told him.
Adrian : You know, I bet if we started making out right now, it would make him feel better.
Rose : If you touch me, I’ll provide you with the oppritunity to see if you can heal yourself. Then we’d see how badass you really are
Book Review : Bloodlines
I’ve already stated numerous times here on my blog how much I loved the Vampire Academy series. But there were so many unanswered questions at the end of the last book that even though I wasn’t ready to let go of Rose and the other characters, I immediately picked up Bloodlines just to find some answers.
Basically this is a spin-off of VA and it picks up right around where Last Sacrifice left off – with Lissa elected as queen. Bloodlines focuses on Sydney, the alchemist that Rose met in Blood Promise during her search for Dimitri. With the discovery that Jill is half Dragomir, Lissa gains full power over the Moroi court. Unfortunately, some refuse to accept her and will do what they can to remove her from the throne, including murdering the Dragomirs. As queen, Lissa is heavily guarded at all times, presenting her as a difficult target to those who wish to get rid of her, so the assassins go after Jill. Until a new law is passed which will allow Lissa to rule without the presence of living relatives, Jill needs to remain alive and safe for Lissa to hold the throne. For her safety, Jill is sent to a private human boarding school in Palm Springs, along with Eddie, Adrian and Sydney – posing as siblings – to protect her.
MY THOUGHTS:
Okay, I have to be honest here, while I still believe that Richelle Mead is a wonderful writer, I wasn’t as impressed with this book as I was with the Vampire Academy series. Yes, it did have plenty of mystery and a decent plot, but that was about it. It lacked action, magic, romance and strong characters. I’m not saying it was horrible, just that it wasn’t really what I was expecting, especially after VA.
I suppose the main reason I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I should have is because I’m just not a huge fan of Sydney. Sure I thought the concept of Alchemists were interesting, but she never really stood out for me in Vampire Academy, so I don’t really understand why the author chose her to be the main character for Bloodlines. She was likeable enough, but she wasn’t someone I grew to love in the story. I found that as I read the book, I seriously began to miss Rose’s confidence and snarky attitude. I enjoyed reading about her because she was someone willing to take big risks for people she cared about. And the fact that she can kick major Strigoi butt definitely made me love her more. In comparison, Sydney’s character was a bit too straight-laced and (for lack of a better word) boring. She was unsure of herself and was a strict follower of rules. Even she herself acknowledged that she behaved more like a mother than a friend or “sister” to Jill and Eddie. I understand that this mainly has to do with how she was raised by her father and the Alchemist society, and I suppose this makes her a responsible role model for many young girls out there, but as a reader I still prefer reading about characters who are confident (and a bit badass). On the plus side, I did see a lot of personal growth from her in the story. As the book progressed the readers could she that she’s slowly starting to accept that not all Moroi and Dhampirs are evil creatures, and that not all magic is bad. And although she’s nowhere near as impulsive as Rose, she did take some risks in the story to uncover what was really going on with the tattoos and the mysterious Moroi deaths. I think the time away from her father and the rest of the Alchemists is doing her a lot of good, and making her question everything she’s been taught as a child. I’m hoping this will continue in the next books.
Week 18/52 : Little Dhampir
Another Vampire Academy inspired self portrait. I’m still obsessed with the books and I’m currently rereading the entire series 
Anyway, those tattoos are photoshopped of course. They’re symbols that are often mentioned in the book. Dhampirs (half human – half vampires) often get tattoos on the back of their necks to mark their achievements. They call the “S” shaped tattoo a promise mark and it indicates that they have agreed to serve the Moroi (the good vampires) and protect them from Strigoi (the bad vampires). The little “X” marks are called molnija marks (which means “lighting” in Russian) and they represent how many Strigoi that dhampir has killed so far. The main character in the story has a lot of these, and she even has the star-shaped “zvezda” tattoo which indicates that she’s been in battle and has killed countless Strigoi.
My title came from the main character’s nickname, which was given to her by a Moroi who was in love with her. He was one of my favorite characters 
Week 17/52 : Shadow kissed
Recently I’ve been obsessed with this book series called Vampire Academy. I just finished reading the final book (Last Sacrifice) last week so I decided to make this vampire-inspired self portrait. I’m not really that pleased with how this turned out, but I’ve been editing it for the past two days and making itsy bitsy changes. I figured I should just upload it since I don’t think I’m ever going to be completely happy with it.
In the books, vampire bites give their victims a huge rush of endorphins, so people actually volunteer to give blood. When a human does it, they’re called feeders and are accepted by the Moroi (vampire) community. The Moroi only drink little amounts of blood each day so its safe for the humans (aside from the fact that it turns them into junkies). However, when a dhampir (half vampire, half human) offers their blood to a vampire, it’s considered kinky and erotic and society looks down on them for it. But some dhampirs still do it for the rush.
If you want to know more about the books, you can read my review on the series HERE. Although I must warn you that it contains a lot of spoilers so if you’re planning on reading the books, you might want to skip the section where I summarized each book and just read the intro (where I basically just tell you how much I loved the story ^__^).
Bite marks brushes came from HERE.
Book Review : Vampire Academy Series
I’ve been *so* obsessed with this series! I found it while browsing through a list of popular young adult books a few weeks ago and decided to give it a try. I started reading the first book and I just couldn’t put it down! It usually takes me a few chapters to really enjoy a story, but this series had me hooked from the first few pages. I couldn’t stop reading until I reached the last page of the sixth book. I was so tempted to write a review for each installment, but my desire to continue reading wouldn’t let me put the books down long enough to do so. Now that I’ve finished them all, I can get down to writing this entry.
Now before you go “oh no, not another vampire story“, hear me out first. I admit, I’ve always been sort of attracted to vampire stories ever since I can remember, but I also know that not all of them are good (I’m guessing I don’t have to name any examples here …) Vampires are extremely over-rated these days so I was a little hesitant to start reading the books. It just seems as if most vampire stories I’ve come across recently had similar plots and themes. I gave this series a try with the idea that I could always just stop reading if it bored me, but I ended up being totally addicted. The books had the perfect balance of action, romance, friendship and humor. I love how the main character is a strong girl who is willing to put herself in danger to protect the ones she loves. (And when I mean put herself in danger, I don’t mean rushing into doing stupid and suicidal things without thinking, I meant chasing after enemies to save her friends’ lives.) She’s a girl who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to take action to get it.
Before I continue my review I think it would be best if I first tell you what the books are about. There’s really no easy way for me to summarize all six books without giving spoilers, so if you plan on reading the books, you might want to stop reading this now. But first let me paste this short summary of the first book which I stole from the author’s website to give you an idea of what its about:
Two races of vampires walk our world. One, the Moroi, are alive and wield elemental magical. The other, the Strigoi, are undead and evil–feeding on the innocent to survive. Rose Hathaway–a half-vampire with poor impulse control–is training to be a bodyguard for a Moroi princess. Learning to decapitate and stake is hard enough, but Rose’s real danger may lie in an illicit romance with one of her instructors…
I know that that summary makes it sound like the whole book is about a taboo relationship between Rose and Dimitri, but the story is actually much deeper than that. Sure it contains a lot of romance, but friendship is also a big theme in the book. The story focuses on Rose, a dhampir (half vampire) who is a student at St. Vladimir Academy training to become a guardian for her royal Moroi best friend, Lissa. Lissa’s family were recently involved in a car accident, leaving her the only Dragomir left. Rose was in the same car during the accident and all evidence suggests that she should have died along with the rest of Lissa’s family, but somehow Lissa’s spirit magic was able to bring her back to life, creating a special bond between the two friends. And I don’t mean a something like “you saved me, you’re now my best friend forever” kind of bond, but an actual connection that allows Rose to have constant access to Lissa’s emotions and thoughts. In some instances the connection is so strong that she can enter Lissa’s mind and see the world as Lissa sees it. It’s a useful thing to have since it lets Rose keep a close eye on Lissa, especially since several strange incidents at the academy suggests that somebody out there is out to get her.
The series is comprised of 6 books:
- Vampire Academy
- Frostbite
- Shadow Kiss
- Blood Promise
- Spirit Bound
- Last Sacrifice
Vampire Academy – This was where the whole idea of the Moroi (good elemental vampires who are mortal), Strigoi (bad immortal vampires who feed on Moroi) and dhampirs (half human and half vampire beings who live to serve and protect the Moroi) was introduced. I absolutely loved the world and the different classes Richelle Mead created and the concept of mortal vampires that needed protection, as opposed to immortal creatures who gets what they want through seduction. I was also really intrigued by the spirit element and the idea of being shadow kissed.
This first book focused a lot on high school life. In a way it reminded me of Gossip Girl (even though I’ve never read the books) in the sense that Rose and Lissa had to deal with a lot of school stuff (classes, rumors, popularity, etc). And I also loved how we were introduced to the forbidden romance between Rose and Dimitri (her guardian instructor), as well as the complicated friendship/love story between Lissa and Christian. I loved this book because there was so much mystery about the spirit element and I enjoyed reading about it played out in the made up world that the author had created. There was also plenty of humor, action, and romance which is good. And I liked that the ending wrapped the story up pretty nicely and can stand alone if readers don’t feel the need to continue reading the other books in the series. I’m not sure why they would decide to stop after this book though, because although I can say that this is probably my favorite out of all six books, the rest are just equally as good.
Frostbite – The story starts off when the Moroi community is thrown into chaos after several consecutive Strigoi attacks on royal Moroi families. St. Vladimir decides that the best way to keep its students safe is to stick together, so everyone is forced to celebrate the winter break together (along with other Moroi and dhampirs) at a ski resort. A few new characters are introduced in this book : Janine Hathaway (Rose’s mother), Eddie Castile (he is mentioned in the first book, but plays a bigger role here), Tasha Oreza (Christian’s aunt) and most importantly Adrian Ivashkov (another spirit user who has the ability to walk dreams). I loved Adrian’s character immediately, he was charming and a bit of a rebel (the kind of guy most girls would probably want to avoid). With Adrian’s help, Rose and Lissa learn more about Spirit and its uses. In this book, Rose and her friends get caught up in a horrible situation which leaves one of them dead. It came as a shock, especially since the character who died was portrayed as someone strong, but I did like the way Rose and her friends fought the Strigoi and eventually ended up killing them. It is also in this book that the idea of Moroi fending for themselves instead of relying on guardians was introduced. I liked it because although Moroi are weaker than Strigoi, they still have the ability to control certain elements and can learn to fight.
Aside from the first, this is the only other book in the series that has a solid ending, one that wraps up the book nicely. The following books all end during pretty climatic events which will have the reader running off to get their hands on the next one to see how things will turn out.
Shadow Kiss – This third book is a lot darker than the first two of the series, with Rose mourning over the loss of a friend during their previous encounter with Strigoi. Soon, Rose starts seeing ghosts following her as a result of her being shadow kissed. To top it off, the senior guardians at St. Vladimir take their field test and are assigned one Moroi to protect for six weeks. To Rose’s shock and dismay, instead of being paired with Lissa as she expected, she is assigned to protect Christian instead. It is in this book that Rose finally understands the true weight of the guardian motto “they come first” (“they” referring to the Moroi). She is used to being the center of attention, and we can see that being forced to become a mere shadow to a Moroi bothers her a lot. The only thing that keeps her going is her love for Lissa and desire to protect her.
I liked how Rose and Christian’s friendship develops in this book, especially since they had a lot of animosity towards each other in the first one. Their love for Lissa and shared ideas of Moroi fighting Strigoi bring them together. When a group of Strigoi attack the academy, the two of them work together to bring them down. I also loved how Dimitri’s and Rose’s love story finally got somewhere. After three books, they finally admit their feelings to each other.
Out of all six books, this is the one that caused me a lot of emotional turmoil. I didn’t bawl like a baby or anything, but I definitely shed some tears at the ending, especially the very last line.
K-drama Review : Protect the Boss
I started watching this drama months ago, but I didn’t finish it until a few days ago. This review will be shorter than usual because I forgot most of what happened in the beginning of the story already.
THE PLOT:
Noh Eun Seol is a girl who is in terrible need of a job, however her background as a high school delinquent doesn’t do much to impress future employers and she always ends up getting rejected. Finally sick of the whole thing, she throws a mini tantrum during one of her interviews and informs the people interviewing her that they were being unfair and that she’s no longer the same girl she was in high school. Impressed with her little speech and fiery attitude, Director Cha Moo Won decides to hire her and assigns her as secretary to Cha Ji Heon, his irresponsible and rebellious cousin. She does her best to get Ji Heon back on track and at the same time helps him with a couple of his own personal problems.
THE CAST:
No Eun Seol (Choi Kang Hee)
The lead actress in the series. I found her a bit annoying and over dramatic at first, but she eventually grew on me. She is portrayed as a strong, confident woman who’s trying her best to leave her messy past behind. She gets a job at a top company and is assigned to the worst boss, but she eventually finds her own way to handle him.
I think Choi Kang Hee did an okay job in this role. It was funny seeing her character interact with her boss, and how she handles his little temper tantrums. After watching the show, I’m still not a huge fan, but based on what I’ve seen, she’s a decent actress.
Cha Ji Heon (Ji Sung)
He plays “The Boss” in this series. He is portrayed as the spoiled rich guy that is so typical in Kdramas. Think Kim Joo Won from Secret Garden or Gu Jun Pyo and Yoon Ji Hoo from BOF, etc. All arrogant yet adorable sons of rich businessmen and therefore could pretty much get away with anything they want. Another thing these guys have in common is their weird quirks/phobias. Joo Won was claustrophobic, Ji Hoo had a fear of driving, Jun Pyo was … well … I can’t remember if he had any strange phobias, but he definitely had his own weird things going on. In PTB, Ji Heon was a germaphobe, had ADD, OCD, and had a fear of crowds. Seriously, do all rich cute guys have weird phobias/habits?
Anyway, I really liked Ji Sung’s acting in this drama. He was annoying, rude and weird, but he was also adorably immature and playful.
Cha Moo Won (Kim Jaejoong)
Alright, it’s time for me to be honest – the only reason I watched the show was because of this guy. More specifically, this post that I saw on Tumblr:
Haaaawt~ You can’t really blame me right?
Week 9/52 : It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart
The other day I posted a mini review of the Hunger Games trilogy, so you probably have an idea on what my inspiration was for this shot
I just love the books so much! It took me four days to finish the set, but now I’m rereading the entire thing again. I finished the first book again the other day and gave it to Ckloy so he can get started on it. I told him he has to read the entire thing by March 23, because that’s when the movie will be out and there’s no way I’m going to miss it.
My title this week came from a quote in the third book. I’m not going to tell you which character said it because some people may consider even that tiny bit of info a spoiler. But I can tell you that he/she was one of my favorite characters in the story.
I don’t own an actual archery set in real life so these were Photoshopped in. I wanted the final picture to be colored, but I couldn’t get the lighting right during editing to I had to convert it to black and white to cover up some of my mistakes. The bow came from HERE and the quiver from HERE.
Book Review : Hunger Games trilogy
My boyfriend and I bought these books the other weekend because a lot of people have been recommending them. I let them sit on the shelf for about two days before deciding to read the first book, but with just a few pages in, I knew that there was no way I was putting it down. I spent the past four days locked up in my room trying to finish the entire trilogy. I wasn’t really planning on writing a lengthy review, but I just couldn’t keep my thoughts to myself, so I decided to make a quick entry.
WARNING: There will be plenty of spoilers in this review so if you haven’t read the books, you might want to close this page now.
THE CONCEPT BEHIND THE BOOKS
The whole idea of the Capitol, the Districts, the Hunger Games, the resistance, etc. is so brilliant, and Suzanne Collins did a magnificent job of painting a clear image inside people’s minds of what it’s like to live in that world. I could clearly imagine the pain and suffering that many of the people go through due to their lack of freedom. These books are obviously not something you’d pick up for some light and feel-good reading. The situations that the characters are in are so serious and horrible that I just couldn’t put the book down because I needed to see that they would turn out alright. The idea of two helpless kids being thrown into an arena for a fight to the death while their family watches every year is so horrible that I had to keep reading because I had to know that after all the fighting and the deaths, something good would come out of it. And the same goes for the resistance and the rebels – I had to finish the books because I needed to see that all that effort and all those deaths were worth it. Which brings me to my next topic …
K-drama Review : City Hunter
This drama came highly recommended by my sister so I finally gave in and watched it despite my busy schedule. (I couldn’t help it, she knew my weakness. She lured me into her room and showed me some scenes with Lee Min Ho in it, and I just caved in.) Anyway, I really enjoyed it so I decided to make a short review.
Just a quick warning : I will be posting A LOT of spoilers below, so if you haven’t seen the show you might want to stop reading now.
Plot summary :
The show begins in 1983 when North Korean soldiers planted a bomb meant to harm the South Korean president during his visit in Myanmar. The president was unharmed, but several high ranking officials were killed due to the explosion. To retaliate, five South Korean officials planned a covert operation to sneak into North Korea and kill several high ranking officials. Twenty one well-trained South Korean soldiers were sent to fulfill the task without the president’s knowledge. However, while the mission was being carried out, the South Korean officials who ordered the attack changed their minds and decided to kill the 21 soldiers on their way back to Korea and hide all evidence of the raid mission. One soldier, Lee Jin Pyo, managed survive after his good friend and comrade, Park Moo Yul, took the bullet that was meant for him. Filled with anger, Jin Pyo managed to make his way back to Seoul and kidnapped Moo Yul’s newborn son, Yoon Sung to make him a pawn for his revenge. He escaped to the Golden Triangle and became a drug lord while raising Yoon Sung as his own and training him to become a strong fighter and bounty hunter of some sort. When Yoon Sung turned 28, Jin Pyo sent him back to Korea to track down the five officials who betrayed him and kill them.
The Cast:
Lee Min Ho as Lee Yoon Sung
So once again I was lured into watching a drama because of this dude. But Lee Min Ho is not just some guy with a pretty face, he’s a decent actor as well. I thought that his acting has improved a lot since Boys Over Flowers. It was a bit hard to tell at first because Yoon Sung’s character is very similar to Goo Jun Pyo’s, but as the drama progresses you can see him add more depth to his role. I was quite impressed with him in the scene when his ajusshi almost died after getting ran over by a car, as well as his final scenes in the last episodes. Yoon Sung was a very conflicted and confused character, and Lee Min Ho portrayed him really well I think.
Park Min Young as Kim Nana
This is the first drama I’ve seen of her, (well, the first complete drama – I tried watching Sungkyungkwan Scandal but I wasn’t able to finish it) and I found her absolutely adorable. I loved Kim Nana in this drama. She was cheerful, kind and strong. She helps out others, is a good friend to those who need her and can even pick herself up when life knocks her down.
I really like how she wasn’t one of those clingy and helpless girls that often appear in dramas. She can take care of herself (most of the time – there were some moments when Yoon Sung had to rescue her despite being a strong fighter) and she’s very honest with herself, which is another thing I liked. When she realized her feelings for Yoon Sung, she didn’t go around denying it or trying to hide it. She went up to him and openly admitted it. And despite being rejected many times, her feelings never wavered.
Lee Jun Hyuk as Kim Young Joo
I thought he looked a bit like Big Bang’s Seungri at first glance, but that’s just me XD He was a new actor to me, I’ve never seen any of his other works before and again I was fairly impressed. (EDIT: I just found out that he was in Secret Garden! I never realized that he was in it until I checked his past dramas on Wikipedia, lol. He played Oska’s friend in one of the flashback scenes.) Anyway, I really liked how he portrayed his character. Sure, there were a couple of times that he was a bit annoying – following Yoon Sung around all the time, trying to prove that he was City Hunter – but that’s just his job.
Like Yoon Sung, he played a conflicted character that was torn between his loyalty to his father and his sense of justice. I think the scene that best showcased his talent was the hospital confrontation with Yoon Sung after his father’s accident. I could really feel his anger radiating from the screen at that point.
Kim Sang Jung as Lee Jin Pyo
He looks happy and peaceful in the picture above but in the drama he was portrayed as a strong military soldier with a burning desire for revenge. He was quite scary and heartless at times, but I thought that he was still very cool. He did a lot of terrible stuff throughout the drama (like stealing Yoon Sung away from his mom when he was just a baby, blackmail, murder, etc), but I still connected with his character in some way, and I’m sure many of the audience did so as well.
I like that you can tell that he cared a lot for Yoon Sung despite his hard exterior. I wasn’t sure about this at first, and there were a couple of times when I started to wonder if he truly saw Yoon Sung as anything more than a pawn in his path to revenge, but it all became very clear in the last episode how much he cared. I don’t want to give too much away, but I can tell you that his final scene in that episode made me bawl like a baby.
Current Obsession : Pretty Little Liars (*ahem* Tyler Blackburn *ahem*)
So about a month ago I was browsing Tumblr and I came across a picture of this guy:
As well as this:
I’m used to seeing hot guys and screencaps/gifs of different shows on my dashboard, but these two really caught my attention (I doubt I need to explain why). With a bit of research I found out that the guy’s name is Tyler Blackburn and he plays Caleb Rivers on Pretty Little Liars. My sister’s a huge fan of that show and she’s been trying to get me to watch it for a couple of months now, I guess all I needed was the right incentive XD (If she had mentioned that the show was full of hot guys, I would have given in way earlier.)
J-drama Review : Ikemen Desu Ne
A couple of months ago I posted an entry about how Japan was doing a remake of the K-drama “You’re Beautiful”, but I didn’t get around to watching it until a few days ago. Since I had some free time, I figured I’d make a review as well. I’ve got to warn you though, I was a HUGE fan of the Korean version, so if you’re not up to seeing comparisons between the two, then you might want to stop reading now.
Being a fan of You’re Beautiful, I was a bit hesitant to watch the show at first because I was worried it will only disappoint me. After all, it’s not the first time it happened. But I decided that the best thing to do was just to watch the show with an open mind and try not to compare it to the original too much.
Quick summary:
The story begins when a top idol group, A.N.Jell, decided that it needed another vocalist and chose Sakuraba Mio. Unfortunately, right before his debut, Mio got in a fight which resulted to a broken nose. In order to keep to schedule, the band’s manager decided to get Mio’s twin sister, Miko, to take his place for three months while he heals. She is told that she must live with the other 3 band members to establish a strong bond between the group, and that her true identity must be kept secret at all times.
General thoughts:
I loved how this version managed to stay true to the original while incorporating its own flavor into it. I’ve been reading some reviews on Dramacrazy and some people thought that the producers shouldn’t have followed the original version too closely and changed it up a bit more, but what’s the point of doing a remake if you’re going to change all the details right? If they wanted something original then they should have just gone with a completely different concept.
Anyway, the main plot remained the same (of course, it is a remake after all) which impressed me because they had to condense 16 episodes of YAB into 11. The show changed the way certain events happened in the story, but everything still played out nicely. I was fairly impressed by how they did it actually. For example, in episode 2, the show combined three important events into one huge one – Ren’s allergy attack at the restaurant, followed by the hunt for the missing ring in the pond, followed by the fan’s acceptance of Mio after she “rescued” Ren from almost drowning.
I also thought it was great the way they incorporated certain small details of the original version into this new one. The clothes that A.N.Jell wore in this version were something that could easily have been from the original. They’re not the exact same ones of course, but they could be from the same collection. Even Miko’s nun uniform and the pig rabbit plushie was the same. And I absolutely loved that they kept some of the original sound track as well. I really didn’t expect it at all. When A.N.Jell started singing “Promise” (in Japanese of course) in the first episode, I just got chills and made me want to keep watching the show to see what other songs they kept.
Mio with her pig rabbit
Week 40/52 : Aim for the stars
I was *so* tempted to have this in black and white. I don’t know, I’m just really in to black and white photos these days. But I could already hear Brinks screaming “ANOTHER black and white SP???”, so I resisted the temptation and uploaded the colored version instead. (A few people have been telling me that they’re getting sick of my blue wall too. but I still love it after all these years. I tried shooting some of my portraits in Ezra’s room since she has pink walls, but I don’t like it that much. I mean I love pink, but I prefer cooler tones in my pictures.)
Anyway, this is supposed to be a tribute to Yamashita Tomohisa (AKA “Yamapi”). I wrote an entry about two weeks ago about his (and Ryo’s) decision to leave NEWS. Ezra and I were really big fans of the band, so we were extremely sad to hear this, but we respect their decision.
In case you’re wondering how this photo is connected to Yamapi, it has to do with my earrings. Yamapi wore the exact same one in one of his dramas called Dragon Zakura (his was gold though). My sister and I watched the show a few years back and we noticed Yamapi’s earrings. We thought it was really cool so we searched for it online and found it on Ebay (they have everything there these days, LOL). It wasn’t that expensive so we both ordered one (in silver).
Here’s a closeup of the earring:
And a screenshot of Pi wearing it in Dragon Zakura:
And because I couldn’t resist in the end, a black and white version of the photo:
The title I chose is the English translation of one of my favorite songs from NEWS, Hoshi Wo Mezashite. It was their comeback single after their short hiatus in 2006/2007. I’m going to miss them T__T
Review : The World God Only Knows (Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai)
About a month ago, my sister started bugging me to watch this anime. She kept going on about how great it was and how she was sure that I would enjoy it. I was quite busy with my thesis at the time, and whatever free time I had was spent watching old Family Outing (Season 1) episodes. But I managed to get some free time a few weeks ago and I ran out of FO episodes to watch, so I decided to give it a shot.
Summary:
The story focuses on Keima Katsuragi, a high school student who dedicates all his free time playing dating simulation games, earning him the title “The God of Conquests”. His vast experience in dating games allows him to “capture” or “conquer” any girl in the 2D universe. However, in real life, he is known as a dweeb and a loser. (His classmates call him otegame, which is actually “otaku” and “megane” combined, due to the fact that he wears glasses.) One day, he receives an email which challenges him to “conquer” girls that are supposedly difficult to catch. He willingly accepts, not knowing that the email was actually a contract from a demon named Elsie and that she was referring to actual girls, not 2D ones. She explains that loose souls have managed to escape from the underworld and that it was her job to catch them. She tells Keima that the loose souls like to take residence in the heart of different girls, and that the only way to chase them out is for somebody to take their place in the girl’s heart. Keima has absolutely no interest in 3D girls, but not honoring of the contract will result in his and Elsie’s death, and therefore he had to accept. He uses his knowledge of games to help him conquer the hearts of different girls and capture loose souls
Yamashita Tomohisa and Nishikido Ryo leave NEWS :(
Ryo-chan, Pi-chan : Whyyyyyyyyyy? T___T
For those who haven’t heard, Yamapi and Ryo have decided to leave NEWS to pursue other activities.
On October 7th, Johnny & Associates Inc. announced that two NEWS members, Yamashita Tomohisa and Nishikido Ryo, withdrew from the group on the same day. Yamashita will pursue his solo activities, and Nishikido will focus on his activities in Kanjani∞. Consequently, NEWS will continue their activities with four members: Koyama Keiichiro, Kato Shigeaki, Masuda Takahisa, and Tegoshi Yuya.
(source : tokyohive.com)
My sister and I are both very sad to hear this. I mean, it’s true that we’ve been a bit out of touch from the Jpop world ever since our favorite subber (newshfan) decided to shut down her site, but that doesn’t mean that we’ve stopped being fans. NEWS was the very first jpop band that my sister and I obsessed over. They were the start of our jpop/j-drama madness (which soon expanded to kpop/kdramas and cpop/taiwanese dramas as well).
To be more specific, it was Yamapi who got us hooked. My sister introduced his dramas to me (it’s a long story how she discovered him – it actually started with anime, which we loved at the time), and ever since then I’ve been obsessed. And believe it or not, my sister and I have Yamapi to thank for the super close bond that we share nowadays. I actually wrote a journal entry about this on my deviantart waaaaaaaaaaay back in 2008, for Yamapi’s birthday. I suppose I’ll just paste what I wrote back then:
Happy birthday Tom Felton!
Our dear Draco turns 24 today
I’ve been seeing birthday greetings for Tom on Tumblr since this morning. I reblogged a couple of them, but I figured I should post an entry for him here as well.
Here’s a mini picspam for all you Tom Felton fans out there:
(None of these pictures belong to me, obviously. Found them all on Tumblr. I linked them all to their original owners.)
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K-drama 49 Days (AKA Pure Love) Review
SYNOPSIS:
Shin Ji Hyun is a carefree and innocent heiress in the middle of planning her dream wedding when an accident puts her in a coma. She is informed that it wasn’t her time to die, but she was simply at the wrong place in the wrong time. In order for her to wake up, she must find three people (non-relatives) who would be willing to cry genuine tears for her. She is given 49 days to complete the task before her soul is permanently separated from her body. In her search for her three genuine tears, she borrows the body of Song Yi Kyung, a young woman who is completely unhappy with life.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE CAST:
Lee Yo Won (Song Yi Kyung)
I think she did a good job acting in this drama. You can clearly tell when she’s Song Yi Kyung or Shin Ji Hyun in Yi Kyung’s body. She’s much brighter and happier when she’s Ji Hyun. I didn’t like her at first because I found her character too emo and depressing, but as the story progressed, she grew on me. I like the fact that she didn’t try to be overly cute like some girls in most K-dramas. And I really like that she wasn’t stupid. For some reason, girls in K-dramas are usually depicted as stupid and clumsy, but Yi Kyung wasn’t like that.
Nam Gyuri (Shin Ji Hyun)
Honestly, I didn’t really like her. I thought her acting was terrible and that she looked too plastic. As in literally “plastic”, like a doll. Usually when someone says that a person looks like a doll, it’s meant to be a compliment, but not in this case. There’s just something really unnatural about her face. She’s exceptionally pretty in pictures, but once she starts speaking and having emotions, it just doesn’t look right. I looked it up and it turns out that she’s had a number of plastic surgery over the years, which probably explains why her expressions seem so fake.
I didn’t really like her character either. She’s shown as this innocent and naive rich girl. At the very start of the show she’s seen crying and whining about being late for her engagement party while her friends had to calm her down and think of solutions on how to get there on time. I suppose the writers intended for her to be a loveable character, but she really irritated me. However, it might just be the actress, because I did like Ji Hyun when she was in Yi Kyung’s body.
If Harry Potter was an anime
I saw this on Tumblr and I just had to share it with you guys. I normally don’t repost stuff here on my WordPress blog, but this took my breath away.
I wish I knew who the drew it so I can credit them properly. If you’ve seen this before and have an idea who the artist is, please comment below, preferably with a link to the artist’s gallery.
I love how each character was drawn, but my favorite(s) would definitely have to be Snape, Lupin, James and Sirius. I’m a bit biased though – I LOVE the Marauders XD
EDIT: Here’s more fanart I found on Tumblr. Again, I wish I knew who the artist was. A visitor linked me to the artist’s site HERE (Thanks Liz ). I think he/she drew the two images below, but I’m not sure if he/she also drew the one above. You may want to drop by their site and browse through other cool fanart there.
(click image for larger size)
I love Luna, Harry and the twins in the top image, and Sirius, James, Lily and Lucius in the bottom one
You’re Beautiful : Japanese version
It was announced earlier this week that a Japanese remake of the K-drama “You’re Beautiful” will be released this July 2011. JE fangirls have been going wild with the news that the three ANJell members will be played by their beloved Johnny boys. Tamamori Yuta will be playing Hwang Tae Kyung, Fujigaya Taisuke will play Kang Shin Woo and Yaotome Hikaru will take Jeremy’s role (I’m not sure what their Japanese names will be though). The lead female role will be played by Takimoto Miori.
I’m pretty excited about the remake, but it’s making me a bit nervous as well. This whole thing seems too familiar. I remember how excited I was last year about the news that a Korean version of ISWAK was being made and that Kim Hyun Joong would take the male lead. I waited for the show for months, but I just ended up being disappointed because the remake wasn’t as good as the Taiwanese version (in my opinion at least). It was too bad because I really wanted it like it since I’m a big KHJ fangirl. Anyway, “You’re Beautiful” is another one of my all-time favorite dramas, so I’m worried that the I wouldn’t enjoy the Japanese remake as much as I did the original. But I sincerely hope that my predictions will be wrong and that the show will be a success, especially since I want the JE boys to do well.
There have been rumors that cameo offers have been made to the original Korean cast. I really hope that they’re true
Source:
Brown Eyed Girls – Sign (piano cover)
One of my favorite songs from BEG. It’s so catchy. I love BEG. Especially after watching the Adam Couple on WGM
I messed up by playing it a bit too fast I think. But I still decided to upload it since I’m too lazy to record again.
You can get the sheets from http://smrr00.blogspot.com/
Park Shin Hye and Jung Yonghwa – together again!
They’re baaaaack~ I can’t wait! ”You’re Beautiful” was one of my favorite K-dramas - I loved the story, the characters and the whole A.N.Jell idea. I know that it was just a made-up band for the show, but I truly wished that they were real because I loved them so much. You can imagine my excitement when I heard that two A.N.Jell members will be acting together again in an upcoming drama.
Jung Yonghwa and Park Shin Hye will be reunited and given a second chance at love in a new drama titled “You’ve Fallen For Me”. (I’m not sure if that will be the final title, they’ve changed it a few times already.) Many fans are happy that Yonghwa has gotten his first lead role. I hope he’ll do well. I loved him as Kang Shin Woo, and I became a bigger fan after seeing him appear in We Got Married and Running Man (as a guest).
“You’ve Fallen For me” is supposed to be a love story between two music students. Jung Yonghwa will be playing Lee Shin – a band vocalist with a cold demeanor, and Park Shin Hye will take the role of Lee Kyu Won – a cheerful student studying traditional Korean music. The two supposedly get into some kind of argument at first, causing them to strongly dislike each other, but they eventually end up falling in love. Pretty common plot if you ask me, but hopefully the producers will add some new things to make it interesting.
I really hope this drama will be good and will meet the fans’ expectations. I’ll definitely be watching out for it. The pilot episode will air sometime around the end of June.
Millionaire’s First Love mini review + Secret Garden Parody by Big Bang
It’s been a week but I still haven’t gotten over my Secret Garden/Hyun Bin obsession.
The other day I watched A Millionaire’s First Love for my daily dose of Hyun Bin. I know that it’s a pretty old movie, but I never had the chance (or reason) to see it until recently. Honestly, I didn’t like it that much. The plot is pretty common for an Asian movie – a rich arrogant guy is placed in a situation he doesn’t like, guy eventually ends up adapting thanks to some girl, guy falls in love with girl, guy finds out that girl has an incurable disease, guy tries to make girl happy before she dies, girl dies, cry cry cry – but I still watched the entire movie from start to finish, just for Hyun Bin. I’ve seen many other Asian movies with the same storyline, and I found that most of them were better than this one. Surprisingly I didn’t cry over this movie. I mean usually I cry over every sad thing that happens in movies and dramas, and this movie was definitely sad, but it didn’t have the same effect on me for some reason. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood to cry that day, or maybe I just wasn’t feeling the movie. But I did like the pills scene, and that little twist at the end. If I had to rate it, I’d give it a 2.5/5 (but I’d give Hyun Bin a 5/5 – just for being himself, LOL.)
Anyway, aside from Hyun Bin, I find myself constantly searching for Secret Garden related stuff on youtube. The other day I came across this Secret Garden parody by Big Bang, and found it hilarious so I decided to share it here on my blog:
Part One:
Favorite lines from Secret Garden (and some animated gifs)
I know I’ve just posted a review of this kdrama, but I couldn’t help making another entry about it. I was browsing through Tumblr and saw that a lot of people have been blogging their favorite quotes from the show, so I decided to repost some of them in this entry. I’ll probably add more when I find other ones I like.
“Is that the best you can do? Are you sure?” – Joo Won
“The thing about women is, the most common of women can become a queen, and the most rarefied woman can become a maid – according to how she is treated by the person she loves.” – Seul
“She drives like a car racer. If she witnesses someone’s purse being snatched, someone she’s never met in her life, she’ll throw fists. She has no money and her body is covered in scars, but she doesn’t want to spend even one second of one minute with people like us. She’s that kind of woman. I’ve never seen a woman as cool as her. That… is my answer.” – Joo Won
“At what age did you become so pretty?” – Joo Won
“Munja Washo!” – Ra Im/Joo Won
“I’m thinking of doing everything now, including this stupid act of waiting for someone in front of their house so you should do the same. You have no thoughts of becoming the little mermaid, so that’s why I’ll be come the little mermaid instead. I’ll be right next to you as if I am not there and disappear like foam. So right now, I am the one shamelessly hanging on to you.” – Joo Won
“For all the hugs I didn’t give you I’m paying it back all at once.” *kisses Kim Joo Won* – Gil Ra Im
“All around the world there are 230 countries, and among those people I can speak 5 languages. Nevertheless, I can’t find the exact word to define our relationship.” – Joo Won
“Open your eyes. You did something strange and stole my heart, you made me drink something strange and stole my body, showed up at someone else’s party and stole even my lips. If it wasn’t for that, there is no reason for you to look so pretty in my eyes.” – Joo Won
“It’s not because I love you, but because I only love you. If I don’t have you, then I won’t have any other choices.” – Joo Won
And of course this one too:
Joo Won: So who raised you?
Ra Im: I grew up alone. As a “poor and unfortunate neighbor”.
Joo Won: How about money?
Ra Im: I had what the government gave me.
Joo Won: So … all my huge taxes went to you.
Ra Im: Why? Does it seem like a waste now?
Joo Won: … I would’ve paid more if I knew I was raising you.
“Why did you come out so late? I walked slowly from here to there, looking totally pretty from the back” – Gil Ra Im
Oska : How is it with the 21-year old Joo Won? Do you see him often?
Ra Im : He’s energetic and perverted. He’s absolutely adorable
Ra Im : I get discharged tomorrow
Joo Won : Are you telling me to take you home?
Ra Im : Because you’ll want to see me again tomorrow, I’m giving you an excuse to come
I also stumbled upon the fyeah Secret Garden tumblr account, which was filled with gifs from the show. I didn’t make these, I found them on that account and wanted to share my favorite ones with you guys:
Joo Won in Ra Im’s body XD
LOL Oska
K-drama Review : Secret Garden
A friend recommended this drama a few months back (while it was still airing), but I didn’t really get the chance to watch it until this week. This was partly because I wanted to wait until the show was over so I could watch it all in one go.
The show originally has 20 episodes – each about an hour long – but due to its popularity, two additional episodes were added after the show ended.
SYNOPSIS
The show focuses on the lives of Kim Joo Won, a wealthy CEO and Gil Ra Im, a stuntwoman. It’s the typical “rich dude meets a poor girl” kind of story. They fall in love and must overcome various obstacles to be together. Perhaps one of the most challenging obstacle they must face is the fact that they end up switching bodies somewhere along the story. From this, they learn more about each other’s lives and become closer as they try to figure out how to get back to their own bodies.
NOTE: LOTS OF SPOILERS AND PICTURES AHEAD. STOP READING IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH THE SHOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Happy Birthday Yamapi
Our dear Pi-chan turns 26 today~
I became a Yamapi fan back in October 2007 (yes, I remember the month and the year). It was the end of the semester, I just finished computing my student’s grades and my sister dropped by my office. She was hunting down her professors to find out what she got in her subjects but she learned that most of them wouldn’t arrive until the afternoon. She didn’t want to go home and come back in a few hours so she asked me if she could watch Kurosagi on my laptop to pass the time. I wasn’t really into Asian dramas back then, but it was my lunch break and I didn’t have anything to do so I said yes and watched with her. Thus the start of my Yamapi (and J-dorama) obsession.
Here’s a mini picspam for the man who turned me into such a fangirl:
The famous Pi-pout
Looking so peaceful
