New Drama Announcement: First time pairing of Marcus Chang 張立昂 & Vivian Sung 宋芸樺 in new drama Lost Romance 浪漫输给你

Just because I haven't been watching a lot of Taiwanese dramas lately, doesn't mean I don't constantly keep one eye out for Jasper projects (A Jasper update is needed!) or any good pair ups. This one is set to be interesting, both in the pairing and actually story line. New Sanlih drama, Lost Romance sees Marcus Chang and Vivian Sung star paired together for the first time. Both actors come from the same agency, Star Ritz (The same agency as Eugenie Liu and Megan Lai), so they know each other well and have worked on a number of projects together, most notably Cafe. Waiting. Love. However, this is the first time they've worked opposite each other in romantic lead roles. 

Here's a selfie they took back in 2016 at the 18th Taipei Film Awards, when  Marcus was starring in Back to 1989 and Vivian Sung had just found huge success with Our Times, both extremely good projects to check out if you haven't done so already.

Lost Romance is looking to be a fun drama - a romantic comedy that actually pokes fun at the big romance tropes and conventions often found in Asian dramas. Th story follows an overly romantic girl who wants to fall in love and have a romance with a CEO (the modern day equivalent of a prince in Asia). Somehow getting transported into a romantic novel setting, she meets the overbearing CEO of her dreams and uses her romance knowledge to make him fall for her. The plot twist is that she is apparently not the heroine of the story, but it turns out that she may not be the heroine, but the evil second female character in this story. So hijinks ensues! The literal translation of the Chinese title to English is 'Romantically losing to you' which also gives a hint to the story.

The drama had it's official opening ceremony and press conference recently with the drama set to be released for 7th June, 2020 after the current drama ends. Second leads are looking to be Simon Lian from Taiwanese boy band speXial and newcomer, Tsai Jui-hsueh, also known as social media personality, Snowbaby. It also looks like Deyn Li from Pleasantly Surprised and When I See You Again is back as a supporting character too.

A few funny things about the press ceremony: It's lucky that Taiwan seems to have had a good control over coronavirus, but this is definitely one of the first ceremonies where so many people are wearing face masks while they do the rituals to bless the new drama. The second funny thing is that the cast are all wearing white T-shirts with a picture of Marcus Chang on the back!

Marcus Chang and Vivian Sung both mention in the interviews that there are many romantic tropes in the drama - just about every one you expect in a romantic drama will be there. When asked about working as a  pairing, Vivian said she was worried at first about doing romance scenes because they have been friends for so long that she thought it might be weird. but it turned out to be really easy as they have a good understanding of each other/ have good chemistry. Also they signed Marcus' t-shirt (on him) and Vivian said she signed at the spot where his heart is to give her love to him. Haha. They also joked about Marcus' body, with Vivian saying when she signed his shirt she could feel her writing getting bumpy because of the ridges of his body (meaning he is ripped), with Marcus saying she was exaggerating!

For more articles and Pictures:
UDN
SETTV
Epoch Times

New Drama Announcement: Jasper Liu 劉以豪 & Puff Kuo 郭雪芙 reunite for new drama Before We Get Married 我們不能是朋友

Hello, hello! I'm back. After more than a year and a half on hiatus...I've still been watching Asian dramas, and following news on the Asian entertainment industry - In Taiwan, Puff, Jasper, Ivy and in Korea, Park Hyang Sik, Park Bo Young etc...but I've had so much going on in life that it's been hard to find any time to blog...until now. 

I've been pulled back into the blogging world due to the announcement of a NEW Taiwanese drama a month ago featuring both my favourite actors, Puff Kuo and Jasper Liu as a pairing again. Yaaayyyyy!!! It's been ages since I've written about both of them, but both have been doing a fair number of projects out in China and other countries. Jasper, especially, has grown his fan base out in Korea as well...I'll need to do a catch up post at some point, but let's get back to the BEST news ever, shall we?

The new drama is called Before We Get Married 我們不能是朋友 (although that Chinese name literally translates to 'We can't be friends') and it'll be very different to Pleasantly Surprised 喜歡·一個人. More dramatic, a darker story line with some really flawed characters and a sex scene?!

Before We Get Married 我們不能是朋友 is based on a book A Yamei. The premise of the story is that a male, Chu Kehuan (Jasper) and female, Zhou Weiwei (Puff), both in serious relationships, are stuck in in a state where they're unable to start a relationship, but are more than just friends, after a chance meeting where they are drawn to each other. The drama looks at the idea of choosing between the person you love and the right person. The story is said to be darker than the average drama, but it will be relatable and realistic, not erotica. Although I like the light fluffy stuff, I also like gritty tales, so I'm really looking forward to this storyline.

As usual, there's so much footage of the press conference that it's hard to cover everything, but Jasper said that when he first read the script and came across the bed scene, he joked that he thought he was mistaken and even had to ask his mum to confirm. 

Another interesting thing mentioned on the day was that Puff recommended Jasper to the role after reading the script...This totally made me happy as I think it shows the level of their friendship - Jasper has always wanted to play darker characters and to break away from being stereotyped as the warm, sunny character that he's often slated to play in Rom-coms....And Puff knowing this flagged Jasper down with the role. It also makes me so happy that she wanted to act with him again, this being her first major drama project back in Taiwan after 2-3 years in China....Anyway, please enjoy the pictures and videos from the press conference and let me know if you're looking forward this new TTV drama with Puff and Jasper!

New Drama Announcement: The Perfect Match 極品絕配 with Ivy Shao 邵雨薇 and Chris Wu 吳慷仁

It's officially confirmed that Ivy will be staring in a new Friday night SETTV drama. The title and co-star have been confirmed and it's different from what was previously going around (It was first believed she would be starring opposite Baron Chen and the drama would be called 'Yes! Queen'!) Ivy's new drama is called The Perfect Match 極品絕配 and she'll be acting opposite to Chris Wu (Rock Records in Love, Inborn Pair, A Touch of Green)...So no Baron Chen this time!

In terms of story line it's looking to be another cooking title with Chris Wu playing a really talented high end chief and Ivy playing a night market food stall owner. It's great to see a series focusing on food from the night market angle - despite Taipei being well known for its numerous food markets, I feel like a lot of the foodie dramas have been about chefs at cafes and restaurants. Have a look at the trailers which have just been launched.

From Ivy's point of view

From Chris' point of view

First episode trailer

I'm really looking forward to seeing Ivy after her long break last year following Back to 1989 and I think Chris Wu is a great actor, definitely more senior than Ivy, so it'll be interesting to see this collaboration take place. The pair have collaborated before, so they're familiar with each other. It's funny to hear that there's a 7 year age gap between the two with Ivy often teasing Chris by calling him 'Shu shu' which translates roughly to uncle/middle-aged man in Chinese (I guess it'd be like calling him ahjussi in Korean). He's also much more experienced than her and has starred across a number of other acting veterans and popular actresses including Rainie Yang, Annie Chen and Tiffany Hsu, just to name a few. 

Other confirmed cast members include: Ben Wu, Suan Wang and Nylon Chen, who you might also know as the singer, but also the fiance of Lene Lai from one of my soft spot dramas, Pleasantly Surprised. 

New Drama Announcement: Jasper Liu 劉以豪 to star in new 2016 web drama 迷徒 Chloe

Just when I thought I could take a drama break, a press conference broke out the other day with Jasper announced as staring in web series 迷徒Chloe with  Nana Lee, Chris Wu, Enson Chang, William Hsieh, Crystal Mu and Emily. The series is like a second series, or an unrelated follow-up to another series called 迷徒Claire featuring Tia Lee and Xiu Jie Kai. I must admit I'm so relieved that they didn't pair up Jasper with Tia. That is perhaps my worst nightmare pairing. To be fair, I probably will be on a drama break as the official Facebook page for the series says it's to air in November.

Anyway, the story will follow a 30 year old woman, Chloe, who is strongly devoted to her job in the media, but is unable to move forward in her own love life. After working hard for 5 years, she is achieving her dream of creating her own program - a program purely dedicated to giving musical artists the space to perform and do live broadcasts. But just when things seem to be progressing smoothly, she is suddenly forced to encounter the person she wants to encounter the least - her ex-boyfriend from 5 years ago Wang Shi Qi. He has brought his only daughter home to settle back in Taiwan. Despite hoping to get rid of her past connections, she ends up befriending her ex. Chloe is also being pursued warmly by another guys such as, Luo Shao Yang. What will she choose for her life and her happiness?

Jasper will be starring as Luo Shao Yang (who appears to have the English name, Rex). Filming has already started with Jasper looking like his suave musician, Morning Call self! You can check out filming stills below...

To be honest, the drama's story line doesn't sound too different from the typical mid-life crisis female dramas, but I'm looking forward to a new Jasper project, with a nice looking cast...And Jasper also has to sing, which he has always been nervous about doing...Haha, you should have seen him at the Morning Call concert this year when he and Sui Ling had to perform French Film live! So nervous, but so cute! What do you guys think of this new Jasper project?

New Drama Announcement: Jasper Liu 劉以豪 to star in new 2015 drama When I See You Again 他看她的第2眼

What has Jasper Liu been up to since the end of Pleasantly Surprised? Most of you will know that he's been filming for Tudou's drama, "My Ghost Friend" 我的鬼基友, which is yet to air. But that Jasper...he really does not sleep! Between performing with Morning Call, doing advertisements and modelling for his solo SPOP photo shoot, it's just been announced that he'll be staring in a new drama at the end of the month!

Paired up with Mandy Wei of "Say Yes I do Again", Jasper will be the leading man of the drama "When I See You Again" 他看她的第2眼. The synopsis is yet to be confirmed totally, but it seems Jasper will be playing a Director of an investment firm, handsome, clever with good taste in clothes, while Mandy will be a B&B owner with a big heart and lots of personality. It seems like Mandy and Jasper's characters meet either in high school or university and Mandy's character saves Jasper's character from some bullying, but for some reason, they don't think they should get together. But 10 years later they meet again...will sparks fly this time? If you ask me, the story sounds like it'll be somewhat similar to Rainie Yang and Show Luo's "Hi, My Sweetheart!"...

The cast has been confirmed as well and the line-up sees him reunited with Pleasantly Surprised cast member, Zooey Tseng (who played Linda in the Figaro Crew)! Zooey has been in two projects with Puff (Just You, Pleasantly Surprised) and now two with Jasper...Great to see a familiar face on this new project! Other cast members include Jet Chao and Ivy Shao. 

In case you're wondering...This is the selfie they took...Haha, cutting out the shorties, I see:

The usual press release and related photoshoot was held at SETTV today. Jasper and Mandy had fun with some silly poses. There was also some joking around. Jasper said that he likes girls with long hair, they can be cute, but also sexy. Mandy said she'd lost 5 kgs and blamed Jasper jokingly because she said that he was the youngest or one of the youngest actors she'd worked with (and still she is 2 years older than him) and she had to keep up a strict diet to look slender and young. They also had some funny poses leaning against the wall looking at each other. Jasper posted an Instagram picture talking about how he looked like a pervert in that pose. Haha! What's my opinion on this pairing? Scroll down...

Mandy posted a cute picture on her Instagram..

And of course, Jasper posted one with a trolling expression on his Instagram and Weibo account:

Haha! Do I like this pairing? I'm not sure. Despite all my picture spamming, I'm not overly excited. I had no interest whatsoever in "Say I do Again" and I have heard that Mandy can play the type of character that I don't like. I am also biased because I just loved the Puff and Jasper combination (Which you might have guessed...). I feel Mandy does seem like a slightly more mature actress and there like there are a number of stars they could have matched up with Jasper that would have triggered better ratings? Nothing against Mandy herself, she seems fun as an actress. But I am curious about how TV producers minds work. Am I willing to give this drama a try? Probably. It's Jasper! And he's going to be well-dressed...and playing a conventional businessman role?! 

We'll see how we go! What do you guys think of this pairing?

If you want to read more, you can check out the original news articles here and here. And the Facebook site here.