Music & TV Current Guilty Pleasures

Ok so this post is about my current obsessions.These are the things that I've been enjoying lately in the pop-culture- media world.

MUSIC

G-Dragon is my new K-Pop guilty pleasure. G-Dragon is the leader of the Korean boy band Big Bang, who are great in their own right. However, G-Dragon released his first solo album in August and I have been loving all of the music I have heard. Yes, it has been tainted with many plagiarism rumors, but who knows how it all went down. All I know, is that I am enjoying the album & G-Dragon's crazy fashion. I adore that boy.



I also really like 2ne1's mini album. Their music is really catchy. They debuted this year under the same label as G-Dragon, YG Entertainment, and I've been listening to them a lot this past month.

TV

Like many others, I am loving Glee. I was so excited when it came out. It takes 2 of my favorite things, TV series & musicals, and puts them together with a dash of comedy. I've enjoyed all 4 episodes that I have seen and I can't wait for more. Here is a clip-

Another tv series that I have become addicted to is the Taiwanese drama It Started With a Kiss (2005-2006 series) and it's sequel They Kiss Again (2007-2008 series). It's about a girl in her last year of high school who adores the intelligent, cool guy in school, but he turns her down. She ends up living with him and his family because her house gets damaged in an earthquake and her father is good friends with his parents. He eventually softens up to her. The sequel picks up in their first year of college until they begin their careers.

Although acted well by Ariel Lin, the female character sometimes gets annoying because of how super clingy and dependent she is of the male character, Jiang Zhi Shu, especially in the 2nd season. However, a big part of that season was Zhi Shu trying to make her become more independent, so that she didn't rely on him so much. He also had to deal with his own commitment issues and his coldness towards her.

The show is addictive. It draws you in and even when you get frustrated at the characters, you still can't turn away. I loved the chemistry between the 2 main actors, Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng. It's one of those dramas that I would rewatch over and over again. Here is a fan made video with scenes from the sequel They Kiss Again. If you are interested in the series, you can stream it on sites like MySoju www.mysoju.com/it-started-with-a-kiss/ & Dramacrazy www.dramacrazy.net/v/taiwanese-drama/it-started-with-a-kiss/

Mei-chan no Shitsuji (Mei-chan's Butler) Season 1 Review

Last night I watched the last episode of Mei-chan no Shitsuji
( メイちゃんの執事). The English translation is Mei's Butler or Mei-chan's Butler.
For more info and links to the episodes, you can go to MySoju

SPOILERS AHEAD

Mei-chan no Shitsuji is about a poor girl, Mei, whose parents die and she finds out that she is the heiress to a fortune. She then goes to a school for rich girls and every girl has their own butler, including her. Mei's butler is called Rihito and he is played by Mizushima Hiro, who was also in Hana Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) and Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend). Rihito's younger brother Kento is actually Mei's childhood friend. He ends up going to the school to become a butler in training in order to stay close to her.





The show was cute, although sometimes it had its corny moments. I think it's worth checking out if you are into Japanese tv series. It's much more directed to a younger, teenage audience though, so be warned if you don't like that type of thing. If you want something more mature, check out the series Love Shuffle. All of my students know Mei-chan no Shitsuji and think that it's funny that I watch it too. lol. Story of my life. Anyway, the end of the series was cute and creepy at the same time. In the last minutes of the final episode Rihito kisses Mei and then says "This is our little secret". He says that because it's forbidden for a butler and student to have a relationship at the school. However, since he plays a man much older than her, ( I mean he is a butler of a teenage girl) its also kind of creepy. If Mizushima looked older and not as cool, it would have looked uber duper weird. However, since everyone thinks he's cool here, the ending was perfect for a lot of viewers and it opened up the doors for the next season, especially since Kento went to study abroad in England to be a high class butler, like his older brother, in order to steal the girl, Mei, away for himself. Ok, so although I'm not sure how I feel about the end of season 1, I still want to see how it continues on to season 2.

Music Listening to At the Moment: the Veronicas- "All I Have"