Back during Quarantine for Series Opinions and Translations!

I've been pretty in and out with this blog the last couple of years, admittedly, and I watch dramas on a similar basis due to leading a busier life style now (Haha, no more flying off overseas for last minute fan meets). But during these depressing pandemic days, I've been brought back to the joys of not only watching dramas, but wanting to talk about them and fan-girl over the actors. So I've decided to create more content - nothing super new, but like I always promise, I will try to finish off unfinished translations for Taiwanese dramas Behind the scenes videos and magazines as well as compile content for Korean dramas.

Admittedly, I haven't found a Taiwanese drama I've loved in recent years. I was really, really happy when they paired Puff and Jasper up again for Before we get Married last year, but was also going through a weird part of my life, so didn't appreciate it as much as I could have aside from talking about it on Soompi forums and watching interviews here and there. But aside from that, I'm catching up on drama news and Jasper news - I'm happy to share what I find and my experiences on fan meet type stuff I didn't post up from a few years back.

I find myself watching Korean dramas more and more these days. I have always been a Korean drama fan, but in terms of blogging, I feel like I can't provide as much content on Korean dramas as other blogs are more up to date with actor/drama/casting news and translations. But I'm happy to picture spam and add links to videos and news if people like. I'll also be writing some series opinions on things that surprised me, or that I liked/ disliked about certain series. Hope you'll still join my drama adventures and read along :)

I'm currently catching up on Crash Landing on You, which I'm really loving, so expect some late fan-girling from me.

Welcome to another year of Taiwanese dramas (& a bit of Korean too!)

Welcome to the first week of 2017! In recent months I haven't been as active here as I use to be...I think it's just the curse of being a grown up. Real life can be so hectic that you can't just be watching dramas, following celebrities, taking trips to fan meets and writing about all these all the time :P

The good news is...I always have this blog at the back of my mind and plan to do updates whenever I can...The bad news is that I can't always fulfil my promises, so make sure you check the blog for updates....but don't hold out hope for translations that may not see the light of day.

I'm also confused about the state of Asian dramas and why there's a large 'gaps' in Taiwanese drama programming...it makes me worried - is this the slow phasing out of Taiwanese dramas, since ratings have been dramatically dropping over the last couple of years? There hasn't been anything to replace a couple of shows except re-runs. Hopefully that's not the case!

All this has led me to start watching the new Gong Yoo series, Goblin: The Great and the Lonely God. To be honest, I've always loved Gong Yoo since Coffee Prince, my first Asian drama series. But recently the love has been intensified once again as I found Train to Busan one of the fun horror movies I enjoyed the most last year. I don't know any Korean, so a Goblin post would be about my opinions of the series (I find the story, at times, very stupid, and the female character irritating. BUT I also feel quite drawn to certain aspects of the narrative and I feel like it'll get better as it gets on. I've just caught up to episode 9 and the humour in that episode was sharp! I also find the concepts behind this fantasy world interesting and kind of quirky. And of course, Gong Yoo is major eye candy! Haha.)

What are my plans for this year? Well, there are the posts I'm planning to make. Hopefully I get to do this and you get to stick around to read them! See below:

Morning Call (band)
1. New photo book
2. 2017 tour
3. Morning Call Hiatus
4. 2016 tour when I went to meet the band in person

Jasper Liu
1. New drama! (I need to start watching this on LINE!)
2. Catch up on any missed major activities

Baron and Megan 
1. Golden Bell last year

Marcus and Ivy
1. Sanlih awards

Gong Yoo
1. His achievements in 2016
2. Goblin

What's New for These Dramatic Days? #8 Just Checking In...And My Newest Obsessions...

Hi! I took a long drama break and now I'm back! But maybe things have been a bit different...here's a Q and A with me to answer all your questions :)

Why has there been no Bromance posts? Don't you care about Megan and Baron anymore?

I can just hear my Bromance online family crying. Sorry for the lack of posts! I do care and am still interested! And I still want to complete more Bromance translations and posts etc...But I will also admit that I'm fickle and I'm not just a fan of one star (except Jasper always seems to have my attention...), so it takes time to balance my posts between everyone. Also, I'm more of a drama fan than the fan of single stars...If I'm hooked on a drama then I tend to post about it. At the moment, having just completed Back to 1989 and going through the real-life dating rumours of the 2 main stars, Ivy Shao and Marcus Chang...I'm addicted! Along with this, Megan and Baron are both on drama breaks and I'm not a big fan of musicals (Sorry Megan!) ...But I have seen some pretty photos and interesting news floating around, so look out for some Bromance related posts soon!

So...There will be more Back to 1989 posts even though the drama is now officially finished?

Yes definitely! I regret not following this show in real time when it was airing, but I was so busy...also the temptation to attend those fan meets would have been huge....haha. But since I'm not interested in any of the dramas to air soon, I'll have time to finish translations for Back to 1989, Bromance and even old Pleasantly Surprised ones that I never got around to...

What do you mean you're not interested in any of the dramas on TV? What will you watch?

For what feels like (but probably isn't) the first time in my life, I'm not even remotely interested in any of the dramas that are currently airing or about to air. Back to 1989 was the last drama I wanted to watch and now that I've finished it, there's a little hole in my heart and I don't care for anything that's on. Although Eddison Chen and Amanda Chou (of Bromance) are both in Love @ Seventeen, and I don't have any problems with Lego Li, I'm just not very interested in the series. Same goes for Better Man with Jolin Chien. I have a very strong dislike of both Yao Yao and Roy Qiu, so that definitely rules out Golden Darling.

As for the dramas that are about to air, I have no interest in Prince of Wolf, which takes over from the time slot of Back to 1989. First of all, it should be Prince of Wolves to be grammatically correct...And secondly, I just don't care for the 'beast and creatures/ Tarzan' genre of Asian dramas. I also don't really care for 'Sports' genre Asian dramas, which rules out Swimming Battle, the drama taking over from Refresh Man. To top it all off, I'm still not a huge fan of Mandy Wei or Kingone Wang, I dislike Amber An and don't know anything about Derek Zhang. The only thing that might have tempted me is that Dewi from Our Times and Ba Yu from Pleasantly Surprised make a return to dramas in Swimming Battle...but I really don't think that that temptation is strong enough. So my guess is that I'll be off dramas until at least September or October, when some of these shows start to wrap up and new ones pop up.

What I will watch is probably a series of 20 different one-episode stories called Rock Records in Love. The show aired in April this year, but I've only just heard about it recently. I'll blog more about it later, but the show featured a number of my favourite stars including Puff Kuo, Rainie Yang, Dino Lee and Annie Chen, just to name a few! So get ready to hear about that in the coming weeks too!

What's New for These Dramatic Days? #7 100 Jasper 劉以豪 Posts ...And my Bromance 愛上哥們 Love continues...

Hi hi hi! It's been a looong time since I've done one of these Blog Update Posts...So I thought I'd pop one in since there's been a number of milestones and events ~

100 Jasper Liu (劉以豪) Posts

First thing's first...I've written 100 posts about Jasper Liu. Yayyy!!! If you asked me, when I started this blog, if I ever thought I'd get to this stage, I'd have probably told you no. I also didn't think I'd attend 4 Fan Meets/ Concerts and complete so many translations. But we're here now and I'm happy to have done it all. I've also noticed drama friends have started to take a notice in Jasper through my 100 posts, so I'm very happy to have spread the word about him through my blog! Admittedly, I've been a bit slower in posting about Jasper since I've been posting obsessively about Bromance. Buuuuttt, I'm catching up!

The Bromance Love Continues!

My most recent of obsessions, Bromance, has come to an end. But is it really the end on this blog? Of course not! There's still a lot of translations I plan to do. There's still the special content coming up this Sunday for starters...And then I'm hoping that SPOP/ Show Biz will release a full video of their SPOP photo shoot, as is customary with SPOP (But there's no guarantee with that as Bromance has broken all the SETTV/ Sanlih drama conventions and pretty much hasn't followed any of the standard drama practices with fan meets or promotions this time around...) But these are the things I plan to do anyway...

- Bromance Special Behind the Scenes

- Any Show Biz videos relating to Episode 18

- Any SPOP Behind the Scenes (if they don't release a full video, I'll translate the snippets)

- Men's Talk 9

- Men's Talk 10

- Show Biz Episode 11 (Tailor shop/ Snow scene)

- Finish off that Baron fan meet story I meant to write in Jan!!!

And that's about all of my projects lined up, which leads me to my last topic...

What are you watching after Bromance?

No idea really. I kind of hate saying because the last two times I said I was definitely going to blog about shows (Boysitter and Murphy's Law of Love), I turned out disliking the series...and then one time I didn't announce that I was going to start translating for a series (Bromance) I ended up translating EVERYTHING. So best to leave my next drama series a bit of a surprise!

Since Jasper, Puff, Jet, Baron and Megan aren't really slated for projects yet, I may just take a drama break. I'll still update you with news and finish the translations I never finished on this blog, so do keep your eyes on this space, but I may not essentially focus on a new drama till one catches my eye. I like the look of Back to 1989 (As you may recall, I liked Ivy Shao from When I See You Again and I'm glad she got the lead for this project.) But I may not start that one till later. I also never finished watching Jasper's other drama, I'm Sorry I Love You, mainly because I was so busy at the time. So those series might be where I'm headed (unless one of my favourite stars announce a new project).

What's New for These Dramatic Days? #6 Instagram Competition Winners!

Yayyyy!!! Thanks everyone who participated in this competition. I've been taking a drama blogging break, and just been busy in real life, so there hasn't been that much content floating around here lately, but it's hopefully going to pick up again soon!

Anyway, thanks once again for entering my competition. I wish I could give a prize to everyone entering, but I promise there will be future competitions as long as I'm still running this blog and I have readers :)

So the winners are....

k4ice4thu

jazz638

Please email me at thesedramaticdays@gmail.com with the SPOP magazine you would like from the list, your name and postal address. Thanks again for entering and keep your eyes out for future competitions. 

And if you're a fan of Jasper Liu or Jet Chao, why not follow me on of my instagram accounts? :)

Jasper fans: @these.dramatic.days

Jet fans: @jetchao.fans.united

What's New for These Dramatic Days? #5 Celebrating 100 Blog Posts...Win a SPOP Magazine!!!

Yay! 100 Blog posts in just over a year! I feel like I've done a lot as a fan and as a blogger. Well, since I've started this blog: I've been to 2 fan meets for Pleasantly Surprised and When I See You Again (I'm almost done writing part 3...), met Jasper Liu twice and handshaked and Hi-5'd him and gotten his autograph on a book and SPOP magazine, I've also met Puff Guo and Jet Chao. Jasper has also liked and shared one of my photos on Instagram and Jet Chao follows a fan account I (and a friend) created for him....so I feel pretty happy and accomplished for a fan! 

If you're a reader, and a follower, of my blog, Instagram account or Facebook page, thank you very much for your support! I enjoy sharing content and fan commentary with you guys and I hope you enjoy everything I post! To show my thanks, I'll be running a competition where you can win a copy of an SPOP magazine....And you can choose which copy you want from the ones below...

Instagram Competition Time

Win an SPOP magazine - Choose 1 title from the 6 titles listed below!

Entry and Rules

There are 2 ways to enter. You don't have to do both, but if you do, you get more chances to win!

1. Follow me on Instagram: jetchao.fans.united (predominantly about Jet Chao) and/or these.dramatic.days (predominantly about Jasper Liu)

• Following = 4 entries into the draw to win a prize
• If you choose to follow, you have to follow without deleting. If you follow just to enter the competition and delete me afterwards, I'll have to ban/ blacklist you from any future competitions (and I do plan to hold more competitions in the future). I  know not everyone is a Jasper Liu or Jet Chao fan, so if you don't want to follow, you're not being forced to...please just enter using the second method (below)

OR 

2. 'Like' any 2 photos on my Instagrams: jetchao.fans.united and/or these.dramatic.days

• Liking any 2 photos on Instagram = 1 entry into draw to win a prize
• If you like more than 2 photos = 2 entries into draw to win a prize

I will draw the winner and announce it here on my Blog, but also on Instagram and Facebook on November 14th, 2015. 

If you have won, please email me telling me the SPOP magazine you want, your name and address: thesedramaticdays@gmail.com 

Please keep your eyes on my blog, Instagram or Facebook. If you win and don't respond within a week, I'll have to give the prize to another lucky person, so please respond as soon as you see your name as winner. I'll only ask for your address if you win so I can send your prize to you. I'm not a business, just a blogger who enjoys sharing and giving away prizes, so after the prize is sent, I'll delete your details for your privacy :)

Prizes...Winner gets to choose 1 out of these 6 titles!

   

What's New for These Dramatic Days? #4 Personal Stuff

Hello everyone! I haven't been blogging much because I had a family member in hospital and I had a lot of stuff to deal with. But I'll be back up and at it soon this month...probably later this week even. My copy of Jasper's photobook finally arrived, so I'll be talking about that, as well as finishing the translations I started and promised to finish.

Thanks for those who've left nice comments in my absence!

What's New for These Dramatic Days? #3 Competition Winners + Translation Updates

Competition Winners!

Thanks to those who entered my first ever blog competition...I'm sorry I couldn't give you all prizes, but I'm thinking of holding another competition sometime, so stay tuned. The winners are:

Pleasantly Surprised/ Puff magazine: Elaine Ng

Murphy's Law of Love/ Danson and Ivelyn magazine: Rachel Lin

Say Again Yes I do/ Mandy magazine: Rose Kwanjai

Congrats guys! Thanks again everyone else for entering.

Winners, please read below. If you fail to contact me within the next week, I may redraw the prize! So please contact me asap, thanks!

For the Winners: Please email me with your full names and addresses, including street address, country and postcode to my email: these.dramatic.days @gmail.com. I may ask a question about how you entered to ensure you're the right winner. Once everything is checked, I will post your prizes out to you later this week (By the latest, I will post by Thurs-Fri)

Translation Updates

I've been up to a lot of different translating lately, though if you follow me, you may know that I don't always post my translations in order :D (Just a personal preference to keep things in chronological order). Anyway, Here's an update of my projects:

Pleasantly Surprised Translations

I'm halfway through both these translations. They should be done soon:
Episode 13 BTS with Puff and Jasper and the Figaro Crew
SPOP photoshoot 1 July 2014 with Puff and Jasper

Morning Call

New Lyric translations and also fixed up audio/video links for old songs:
Behind Youth (我們背對著青春)
Silent Poem (無聲之詩)
Everything is Asleep (一切都沉睡了)
Green

What's New for These Dramatic Days? #2 Win an SPOP 華流 magazine!

Hi Everyone,

To celebrate the success and fun of this blog and related Instagram and Facebook accounts, I'm holding an SPOP competition! Ever wanted to own an actual SPOP magazine? Well, now you have a chance...All titles are 2014-2015 titles and come with freebies (Puff magazine comes with a mini cartoon Pleasantly Surprised bag, Murphy's magazine comes with a Murphy's mousepad and Many Wei's magazine comes with a Pleasantly Surprised 2015 Calendar [Hehe, seems random to be giving away a calendar...but you can use it for the next 6 months!]

Why is there no Jasper magazine?! Actually he features heavily in both the Puff and Mandy magazines. It was by accident that I didn't get covers with him on it. Sorry! (Please note: The prizes will only be these titles. No changes, unless I say so. I get these magazines from a friend, so I don't know where she buys them from.)

To win One of these magazines, you just have to do one of the following:

 

To enter the competition via These Dramatic Days Blog, do all these things:
1. Click the 'Follow' button on the right side of my home page under my name
2. Then leave a comment on this blog post and tell me which magazines you want in 1,2,3 order. The comment can be a simple 'Hi!' or 'Thanks' or anything relating to the post. Please nothing rude or inappropriate or you'll be excluded.
(Please do not leave contact details on your comments! If you already follow me, simply compete 2 and 3. I'll find your name when I check followers before making the draw)

OR

To enter the competition via These Dramatic Days Instagram, do all these things:
1. Click the 'Follow' button
2. Like a picture and comment to tell me which magazines you want in 1,2,3 order
(If you already follow me, simply compete 2 and 3. I'll find your name when I check followers before making the draw)

OR

To enter the competition via These Dramatic Days Facebook, do all these things:
1. Click the 'Follow' button
2. Like a picture and comment to tell me which magazines you want in 1,2,3 order
(If you already follow me, simply compete 2 and 3. I'll find your name when I check followers before making the draw)

I'm not asking for any personal details, So just ensure that you keep an eye on my blog to see if you've won. Then email me at these.dramatic.days@gmail.com and I'll get your details and send your prize out to you.

You only have to enter in one way, but you have to do all the steps to be entered into the draw. You can enter in more than one way if you want a greater chance of winning.  I will try to match each winner's preference, but I only have one of each magazine, so please don't ask to swap prizes. I'll draw first from those who entered on my blog, next those who entered on Instagram and last those who entered on Facebook.

I won't keep your details after the competition or send you junk mail or anything (I'm not a business, just a girl with a hobby). But I simply need a way to contact you if you're the winner.

I will draw the winners on the 28th of June, 2015 and I will announce the winners across my Blog, Instagram and Facebook. Good Luck!

What's New for These Dramatic Days? #1

Hey Readers!

I'm still here, translating and blogging :) I feel like I should do a bit of a Q&A though to explain the future of my blog...

I requested something awhile ago, but still haven't seen it up. Will you still put it up?

I have a bunch of requests that I'm going to try to fulfill mainly:

• Translating the first SPOP photoshoot with Puff and Jasper
• Episode 10 and 12 BTS translations (Now completed here)
• Putting up the videos I recorded of my last fan meet experience.
• Scans of my beloved SPOP collection

Although these days, since the drama has ended and since, at the same time, my life has gotten busier, this will be gradual...Sorry for the wait! Please follow me on G+ if you still love Puff, Jasper and the Figuro Crew and are interested in watching these videos/ reading these translations

Will you be blogging about other dramas or movies now?

You're probably thinking, but surely, as much as you love this drama, you're not going to be blogging about it your entire life. That's definately true too. I will definately blog about other Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean series that I watch...but that's depends on when I watch something - I'm not a regular watcher. I guess I go through stages of mad obsession and then, interest in other areas of my life. But I will blog when I watch something.

What's the next drama you plan to watch?

Oddly enough, I'm thinking of watching the TVBS drama Bad Romance/Boysitter (I hope they keep the name as Bad Romance. Boysitter sounds stupid and I feel like Bad Romance is a better description of the drama plot) with Annie Chen and River Huang. I love Annie. I'm not sure about River, and I miss George, but I feel drawn to it. The storyline sounds interesting because Annie Chen is playing a single mother?

The main actors of the drama. It's currently filming and you can follow it's progress on Annie's and River's instagrams :)

As far as I know, both these leads are relatively new guys in the drama world.

Have you heard much about this drama? Are you guys going to check it out too? If you're interested, the current facebook page for the drama can be found here, the current chinese wiki page here and the current website here