Open Thread #875
by DB Staff
Happy Friday everyone!
Here is your Open Thread, which is here for you to chat about anything you want, whether it be drama-related or not. Nothing’s off-topic here! Spoilers may be rife, so proceed accordingly.
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1 welh
July 26, 2024 at 5:05 AM
We live more and more in an on-line world but there are times where brick and mortar stores seem more safe and secure. This week in Korea two online shopping platforms face potential bankruptcy because of reported delays in payments to sellers and refunds to customers.
The sudden financial troubles of the struggling shopping platforms were precipitated by poor financial management by Qoo10, a Singapore-based e-commerce giant that operates the two Korean subsidiaries. Some commentators claim the company kept the cash payments in order to expand its business by purchasing other platforms and grossing up its balance sheet to become a listed stock company. Since earlier this month, TMON and WeMakePrice have failed to disburse earnings to sellers on their platforms. This week, Sellers began to leave the platforms in droves due to mounting fears that they will not be paid. Customers who purchased online tickets for flights and hotel reservations using these platforms are also encountering difficulties in obtaining refunds since they did not receive their purchased items.
I remember when Amazon first started selling products. No one thought people would buy clothes on-line but Amazon gained trust by giving customers a free return policy. Now you can buy just about anything through the Amazon platform. But in other countries, payments and service can be suspect. It may take months for Sellers to be paid. I would assume some Sellers or end Vendors will not confirm product shipping or tickets until they are paid, leaving the customer in a bind - - - paying for something they did not receive. Korea Times story indicated that several customers who purchased tickets for theme parks or air & vacation travel have not received refunds on failed purchases. Consumer protection laws vary from country to country but the old adage still applies “Buyer Beware.”
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welh
July 29, 2024 at 7:56 AM
Update: the two companies filed for bankruptcy protection today disclosing more than $150M in debts and claims.
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Minnie🫘👩🏻🚀Pioneer and Teacher 👩🏻🏫🌱🏹
July 30, 2024 at 8:59 PM
Wow! While not completely surprising, still.....thanks for the news.
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2 Gum Shoe
July 26, 2024 at 5:10 AM
For those of us in the US who had been living with a sinking despair the pas few months, especially the last one, the sense of hope that has suddenly appeared this week has been great. Nothing is for sure, but it has been wonderful to have the weight of impending doom lifted and be able to look forward with a sense of possibility for the future. Hwighting!
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Clios Servant
July 26, 2024 at 8:47 AM
Confirming. God bless the youth vote.
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wonhwa
July 26, 2024 at 12:20 PM
100% agree - the shift from doom-scrolling to joy-scrolling has been lovely.
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bbstl 🧹
July 26, 2024 at 9:05 PM
Perfectly said 👍🏽🥥🌴
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wonhwa
July 27, 2024 at 9:36 AM
Coconuts!
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Islander north
July 30, 2024 at 7:53 AM
I don't come here for divisive political comment. There are other places for that.
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3 9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
July 26, 2024 at 5:24 AM
9TAILED VIXEN'S NOTES FROM THE SECOND-TO-LAST WEEK OF HER SABBATICAL:
1. Go Kamala Harris! Go forth with making history by SMASHING THAT GLASS PRESIDENTIAL CEILING!
https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-fundraising-democrat-president-biden-trump-434a55ea1eb29e5da92cc9b1f9cb401f
2. Jimin from BTS's latest single WHO is giving me late 90s/early 2000s vibes and it is stuck in my head:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av9DvtlJ9_M
3. This week in Korean Women's News
(a) South Korea names female economist as aide to tackle world's lowest birthrate
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol named an economist as a new senior secretary to boost the country’s birthrate, which ranks as the lowest in the world and threatens long-term economic prospects.
You Hye Mi, a professor at the College of Economics and Finance at Hanyang University, was named as the new senior secretary for low birthrates, the presidential office announced on Thursday.
You, who holds a doctorate from the University of Rochester, has written extensively about economic issues facing families, and becomes the only woman among Yoon’s senior presidential aides. You is a mother of twins, the presidential office said.
https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/720382
(b) Korean archer Lim Si-hyeon breaks first world record of Paris Olympics
Korean archer Lim Si-hyeon broke the first world record of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday, scoring 694 out of a possible 720 points to finish first in the ranking round for the women’s individual competition at Les Invalides in Paris.
Lim’s score surpassed the previous world record set by fellow Korean Kang Chae-young in 2019 by two points. It was the first world record broken in any sport at this year’s Olympics.
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-07-26/sports/olympics/Korean-archer-Lim-Sihyeon-breaks-first-world-record-of-Paris-Olympics/2099090
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 8:28 AM
These lady archers are not to mess with for sure))) I wonder if there are any kdramas/movies about this sport specifically? Personally I find it more interesting, practical and beautiful than many others
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hacja
July 26, 2024 at 9:49 AM
I've seen a weak rom-com movie My Bossy Girl starring a very charismatic Lee Elijah as a wheel chair bound archer and Ji Il-joo as a charmless engineer who, not surprisingly given the Korean obsession with men's mental frailty has a somewhat trivial car accident psychological trauma deemed of equal significance to Lee Elijah's character's loss of her legs. For me, watching the lovely and charming Lee Elijah made the film worth 90 minutes of my time, but I wouldn't recommend it for anything else, even for the archery. The film does feature cameos by several of Korea's paralympics archery team, so that's something, at least.
I find S. Korean women's archery domination pretty interesting, because its not as if there is a long tradition of women's archery in the country, and from what I've read, there aren't that many more facilities than any other country. Instead, it seems to have happened kind of like the success S. Korea has had in international women's golf--there were a couple of big early stars who gained national prominence, that attracted some interest among girls, (or their parents), and then corporations funded their training from a young age, which for better or worse is key to success in many endeavors. I say for worse, because as a former youth sports parent, I've seen the pressure early sports specialization can put on children, but of course, as we see with S. Korea archers, it does bring talent forward.
As an aside, I'm a little worried, @gikata that you find archery a "practical" sport. You aren't plotting some sort of Sagittarii military action, are you?
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 11:45 AM
Thank you. Doesn't sound like a movie I'd enjoy, for archery or otherwise indeed.
Interestingly, I think - based on it being rather prominent trope in school manga/anime - I think female archery is also quite a thing in Japan nowadays, esp in privileged/rich and conservative families. Unlike with naginata glaive which was a weapon women of samurai clans traditionally learnt (mostly for self-defense in case things go REALLY south, I believe), I'm not sure whether there is OLD tradition around girls with bows, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was, even if not all that common. Wait a day, pls - I'll be on the phone with my dad tomorrow and ask him, he's an expert.
Answer 1: not atm, but the night is still young, who knows)))
Answer 2: When I grow up - in 90s - every single respectable household here owned a baseball bat but so very few actually played any baseball... Let's just say we did not either, but our bat wasn't exactly collecting dust either^^
Answer 3: I am from ~600 years (likely more, but before that it's all undocumented) old warrior clan descending from Central Asia nomads - yunno, THE Horde guys. It would've been non-filial and simply weird if I didn't find a sport featuring weapons practical...
Answer 4 (finally a serious one): If I were to plot some offense, archery would be out of a question for sure - I have no training in that
unlike with other ranged weaponry, our only bow is way too big/heavy for me to handle and I'm currently nursing an injured shoulder on my main arm on top of that (it's been 5+ months but bitch still hasn't recovered, ugh).Required fields are marked *
DancingEmma
July 27, 2024 at 9:25 AM
Love your come back “not atm, but the night is still young, who knows)))”.
Gikata
July 28, 2024 at 8:47 AM
So @hacja, @marcusnyc20, @kiara, @9tailedvixen, @dncingemma and everyone else who's still interested in this topic - thanks to yall I've got a whole 1 hour lecture regarding female archery (and weaponry in general) of Ancient Korea and Japan))) Compressed version below:
- there absolutely WAS such tradition in Ye Olde Times in both countries. Not as common as with male fighters, ofc, but since in pre-20s century eras due to poor food (lack of meat precisely) there was no huge size difference between average men and women (certainly not like nowadays), meaning that a well trained lady with the right weapon could have little problems kicking her equally tiny and skinny male enemies asses. In Korea this was mostly prevalent during 3 Kingdoms and Goryeo era, with bow and short sword being the usual weapons of choice for female warriors.
- you can already guess what happened next - Joseon era came and ruined it all, among with most other women's rights. So now SK's female archers are doing pretty much the archeological work of rediscovering the martial arts tradition they once lost.
- the link provided by Kiara is right: archery style in Ancient Korea was closer to that one in China (who themselves picked up a lot of pointers from their aggressive nomadic neighbors like Manchu) with thumb ring, size/shape of bows, technique etc.
- while in Japan, perhaps due to geographical isolation, traditional archery is ENTIRELY different not just from Korean/Chinese, but pretty much everything else - no thumb rings, size and shape of the bow, gripping/drawing/shooting technique etc are all unique to the point that even people well-trained in other countries styles would be totally hopeless when they tried to replicate it for the first time. There was also a hilarious anecdotal story of my dad and his like 20 apprentices (all highly athletic huge men and NOT a newbies) visiting Japanese archery school and being collectively humbled by a bunch of middle school girl students there who basically wiped the floor with guests in a friendly competition^^
- which brings us to the point that Japanese bow and archery technique is VERY female user-friendly, even if the girl in question is like 150cm tall and below 40kg - as long as she diligently trains with a qualified teacher since childhood. And yes, this sport is indeed crazily popular over there among school girls atm.
- re: other weapons in Japan - I was slightly corrected that there were actually more female warriors in Ancient Japan than it's widely known and female cavalry soldiers with naginata glaives were 100% a thing, with horses and length of the weapon helping to even their chances in battle against slightly stronger men. Unlike in Joseon, this tradition declined more gradually with cold weapons becoming less and less common for everyone, so Japanese female warriors turned into athletes over time with minimal struggle unlike their Korean counterparts.
- also my dad...
Gikata
July 28, 2024 at 8:49 AM
Aaand I was cut off 1 sentence before the finish, as usual)))
... also my dad fiercely loathes Joseon period for being "boring, inauthentic and regressive in all possible aspects", so all of you gat haters have a kindred soul in him^^
DancingEmma
July 28, 2024 at 9:41 AM
I enjoyed what you wrote about the East Asian traditional female archery so much but also saddened because of the erasure of this history. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
Gikata
July 28, 2024 at 10:12 AM
@dncingemma you're welcome! I also had fun learning and writing it, while my father got a great birthday gift by being able to share some of his professional knowledge with me)))
If it wasn't a phone talk I bet the lecture would've last many hours more... who do you think I got my wordiness from?^^Sad indeed, esp since any historical and otherwise records from pre-Joseon era are already scarce to begin with. At least basic technique was still preserved by male practitioners, so now anyone interested has something to start relearning from - only skills with zero demand are truly lost forever.
hacja
July 29, 2024 at 8:45 AM
@gikata As always, I appreciate your knowledge and enthusiasm. I always enjoy reading your posts, especially the very informative ones on what I consider totally insipid Chinese pop music (sorry--my old school Motown and rhythm and blues upbringing still determines my tastes).
But, as far as female archery, I must respectfully and cordially disagree that the fact there women warriors in Goryeo Korea and ancient Japan constitutes an archery "tradition." First there is the specific point about the origins of Olympic women's target archery, which dates more from nineteenth century England. As you point out, the social circumstances of the gender benighted Joseon era prevented Korean women's participation.
Also I have noted as a fan of Olympic sports that though S. Korean men have been very good in Olympic archery, they have not been nearly as dominant as S. Korean women. So appeals to ancient traditions are not a good explanation of women's success. (Not saying you were making this argument--just defending my point that tradition is not really a factor compared to 1980s youth encouragement.
But, archery aside, let me go way far afield and say the idea of what constitutes a tradition is more than just semantic quibble to me, because in order for "traditional" to be a meaningful explanation of modern circumstances, I feel it has to be kept alive in some way through generations--there are have to be active forces and institutions that encourage it. Something that is believed in or practiced in the past just doesn't lie dormant as part of a cultural gene pool.
I'm in fact very skeptical of tradition as the main explanation for a lot of things in modern national cultures, because of the power of global corporate capitalism to shape societies, and also to really go way off topic, because invented "traditions" are often appealed to by authoritarian dictators such as Putin, Xi, and Kim, not to mention would be authoritarians in the U.S!
Gikata
July 29, 2024 at 12:37 PM
@hacja well, female rifle snipers are also often doing better than their male peers (let's just say I know this from competent and reliable sources) - they're said to be more patient and precise overall. Why is another question and I'm not sure I can answer it. You're right it's certainly not long-largely-lost tradition of pre-Joseon archery that is responsible for SK girls team breaking records left and right while men's does not fare equally well - if that was the case, it would've been men winning because they were the ones who had access to said practice all these centuries. I do think there is something important hidden there - perhaps a genetic predisposition formed many generations ago, which SK men kinda lost by focusing too much on their scholarly achievements and ignoring arms workout days?))) Joseon women certainly did not lack physical exercise thanks to daily house chores, from what I know...
Pls lets' not. That direction of our previously fun and innocent discussion and especially human-skinned reptiloids you mentioned are NOT what I'd like to talk about here on DB or anywhere else without developing murderous mood for real. Which I have more than enough of offline, tyvm...
kiara
July 31, 2024 at 8:43 AM
@gikata,
Most of Korea's official history was written by Confucian Scholars centuries later—biased as heck, especially towards women.
3 Kingdom era: Samguk Saji by Kim Busik, a Confucian scholar.
Goryeo - The Goryeosa by Confucian Scholars.
Joseon - Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty by Confucian Scholars.
Given their freedom, women could have been proficient in archery during the 3 kingdoms and the Goryeo era, but we will never know.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 2:43 AM
Waaa... 😱😱😱 I love ALL your answers Gikata. I vote for all of the above. 👌👏👏👏
DancingEmma
July 27, 2024 at 9:23 AM
Is the term derived from Sagittarius?
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Gikata
July 27, 2024 at 9:29 AM
If my long-dusted knowledge of Latin is correct (it's been 15+ years!), @hacja simply used the plural form of that word)))
DancingEmma
July 27, 2024 at 12:06 PM
@hacja: Thank you for teaching me a new word!
I looked it up! Sorry for being lazy.
“ Sagittarii is the Latin term for archers. The term sagittariorum in the title of an infantry or cavalry unit indicated a specialized archer regiment”.
bong-soo
July 26, 2024 at 11:22 AM
@gikata, In the Great Sageuk Year of 2019 there was one JINXED fusion/time slip sageuk whose main character had been a national archer: TV Chosun’s JOSEON SURVIVAL. During production ML Kang Ji-hwan was arrested for sexual assault of female staff members. My log tell me I watched through episode 8. If memory serves I believe I watched JS on Viki but after the scandal broke it was pulled never to reappear although the drama did finish production with a change in ML and episode cut from 20-16. I have read that the 16 episode JOSEON SURVIVAL is available on the dark side. Google ‘joseon survival drama scandal’ and all the info is out there.
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 11:52 AM
Oh, ty! Yikes, jinxed indeed((( Why these days it's sooo often way more drama behind the scenes than in actual script? It's not supposed to be this way!
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kiara
July 26, 2024 at 8:37 PM
The only movie I'd re-watch when it comes to archery is WAR OF THE ARROWS, aka ARROW: The Ultimate Weapon. It's a fictional story based on the 2nd Manchu Invasion of 1636. The cast has some of my faves: Park Hae-il, Moon Chae-won, Ryu Seung-ryong, Kim Mu-yeol.
Koreans have been known for their archery skills since ancient times. JUMONG and The LEGEND covered that myth, or maybe it's not a myth.😄
I think we had a bow and arrow discussion in MY DEAREST recaps.
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kiara
July 26, 2024 at 9:02 PM
https://www.manchustudiesgroup.org/2021/01/23/the-war-of-the-arrows-as-seen-through-qing-archery-manuals/
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💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
July 31, 2024 at 9:43 PM
We did, I went down a massive rabbit hole... lol
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kiara
August 1, 2024 at 6:09 AM
@sicarius,
That was fun, but those threads took forever to load, so I gave up. LOL
I hope you are doing well.
9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
July 26, 2024 at 8:44 PM
ROOKIE HISTORIAN GOO HYE-RYEUNG has this hilarious scene where the ML challenged the FL to archery after he caught her and another historian sniggering at him whne he kept missing.
She nailed the bull's eye in one try and everyone was agog and he was forced to grant her what he promise hahahahaha!
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🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 2:39 AM
The FL in Call it Love was an archer. Sadly we don't see any scenes and she busted her shoulder when she was young. 😔
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🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 2:50 AM
Also iirc the ML taught the FL archery to protect herself in Destined With You Joseon flashback / past life.
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9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
August 1, 2024 at 4:41 AM
I felt that was a great visual shorthand showing just how much he loved her and that he knew just how much was at stake for both their lives.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 5:08 AM
@9TailedVixen True, true. Also somehow that Joseon story had a bigger impact on me. 😄
9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
August 1, 2024 at 5:09 AM
@seeker I was pissed that PD-nim and Writer-nim left that to episode 14. WTF? Should have shown it earlier for context!
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 5:26 AM
@9TailedVixen How the story was progressing I was quite sure that we would have a flashback in episode 6. Then I thought okay latest by episode 8. But it was too less, too late. *smh*
9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
August 1, 2024 at 5:50 AM
Honestly, if they had put it as episode 8, the drama would've been even better as people would have cause to root for the OTP.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 6:18 AM
@9TailedVixen I honestly wanted to like the drama much more than I eventually did because it seemed like a good mix of romance and supernatural. The toxic coworkers, 2FL and gardener psycho became too much "plot" amounting to nothing. A longer Joseon flashback or preferably two timelines shown concurrently would have made it a masterpiece.
9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
August 1, 2024 at 6:36 AM
It was amusing viewing but it would have had some depth too if PD-Nim and Writer-Nim did what you listed out.
That series also introduced me to Rowoon and Jo Bo-A so it wasn't a complete waste. I like watching both of them in dramas. Always entertaining.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 7:14 AM
@9TailedVixen 💯 spot on. Amusing viewing indeed. I knew both leads from earlier but if it was your introduction I'd say well done. 😂
9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
August 1, 2024 at 10:33 PM
I think Rowoon is underrated as an actor. He's miles better than Cha Eun Woo at emoting and has the potential to become an excellent actor if he keeps working at his craft.
Jo Bo-A, on the other hand, is very good. She's different in every role I see her take.
Both of them tend to choose dramas that I like watching too so that's a plus.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 11:40 PM
@9TailedVixen 💯 Rowoon is much better and he has been working quite hard. We will probably just have one drama before his enlistment. I'm sure he'll do well after he comes back from the military.
Jo Bo-ah is practically a veteran now. 🤭 She's really good. I'm looking for to see her in Hong Rang with Lee Jae-wook and Kim Jae-wook. 😊
9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
August 2, 2024 at 12:15 AM
I have a nagging feeling that Rowoon is quietly feminist. His choices of roles and dramas over his career seems to back this up.
The biggest clue is him choosing to star in TOMORROW. But all his other dramas also are quite progressive (even DESTINED WITH YOU) with regards to FLs and themes related to women.
So I happily watch his dramas.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 2, 2024 at 1:21 AM
@9TailedVixen I do think your feeling is correct. 😊👌 Heck, he even did that cameo in A Time Called You. Two popular MLs Ahn Hyo-seop and Rowoon playing a couple in a mainstream drama must have taken quite a bit of courage. Granted of course Ahn Hyo-seop is Canadian but for both it was quite a risk in SK where even the slightest of things can get one canceled.
By the way did you see Tomorrow. How did you like it.
9TailedVixen (formerly 9TailedFox)
August 2, 2024 at 1:44 AM
I have indeed watched TOMORROW and I cried during some of the episodes. The cast, PD-Nim, and Writer-Nim did a really good job of addressing violence against women and misogyny through the drama. I cried during the episode on Comfort Women. The Japanese were really brutal on Korean and Chinese women during World War II.
As a longtime anti-violence against women activist/advocate, I often recommend TOMORROW to folks asking for shows that treat the issue with respect, depth, and with no punches pulled.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 2, 2024 at 2:00 AM
@9TailedVixen I don't think Tomorrow can be watched without crying. 😢 I'm amazed that such a drama could be made. They have handled sensitive subjects very respectfully and Rowoon was particularly good in the flashback.
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 2:52 AM
Thank you for a very very enlightening discussion Gikata. If I wasn't already, I'd become your life-long fan just for these comments. 😘🤗
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Gikata
August 1, 2024 at 6:42 AM
You're flattering me too much, but thank you)))
P.S. I was a bit shocked at the amount of notifs when I opened the site just now lol.
4 Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 8:17 AM
Happy Friday, Beanies! You may not notice that I finished tonight's playlist unusually late – last minute, honestly
totally not because I was using bad weather and slight toothache as an excuse to laze around. In other news, it finally cooled down a bit here thanks to few storms one after another. Not yet in Hengdian tho – they still suffer over there afaik. But LYN seems in very good spirits – all smiley and playful, sometimes even a bit too playful – like what the hell, boy?! That's FL as a main audience, btw – the screen wife gets some truly nice privileges...https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GTP-c6DaYAIP4sO?format=jpg&name=large
Aside of never ending ADWAD leaks fun, main event last and this week has been OUR SONG, which is still not subbed, wtf((( I watched it anyway and read all translated bits here and there, but that's not the same! This season show abandoned their previous rule of pairing up veteran and newbie singers in permanent duos – wonder what was the reason since such concept did well enough to run for 5 years – but now it's all about well-known stars (Yuning is literally the youngest in lineup – both by age and debut date, I believe, a team baby!) in different combinations. Ofc that doesn't mean show was not going to milk his reunion with S3's partner Penny Tai dry lol – of all the cheesy love songs they've performed together there, this “Love drawing board” is probably the worst offender, I think I need a lemon drink rn)))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUHNMze2O9c
To compare – their last stage from S3, “Run without care”. Chemistry certainly has gotten better since, imo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Be9dY7JP0
Since lasting duos and vets choosing rookies aren't a thing anymore, there was no need for anyone to do a “pick me” performance either. Which is a pity – I'd do with less talking and endless jokes about him towering over anyone on set, however funny that was, and more singing... But he'll sing twice in Ep2 – in opera-styled duo and what I call “menfolk trio” with MBY and ZDW (they totally are not competing with Danish guys this way, are they?), yay! Back to introductory performances, his in S3 was him doing his own tearjerker “Ah, tacit understanding” (I shared it before – the breakup one with a pretty MV, remember?). For some weird reason the audio was muted/altered in official episode's upload, so here's a proper version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOEN925X2jI
In S1 he also initially chose his
sad afsong - “Beggar” (was shared before as well). I'm glad we seem to broke said emo streak this time around – who said LBFAD love theme OST next week? Didn't hear that^^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn4G5WW8Cj0
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 8:20 AM
Also he was first tried by another veteran – rocker lady Luo Qi, but they didn't work somehow. It's been a while since I watched S1, so the reason why is already blurry, I'm afraid. Imo, she didn't seem genuinely impressed by his most sexy rocker timbre – unlike Richie Ren lmao))) Anyway, I'm glad he ended up with Richie instead, they were truly a great metal match! Him and Luo Qi still did a “testing” stage together though - “I will never understand your tenderness”. It's OK sound-wise, but yeah, no real chemistry, and certainly not because of his lack of effort:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9L9dqTBNBk
Actually the 3 of them did another stage too – it was significantly better that way, but everyone still needed a better stylist asap, not even sure who was the worst lol))) Song is “Back here again”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p7jU_DxStQ
I keep forgetting how baby-faced Yuning was back then – at few weeks shy from 30! - it's eternally distracting. Again, you can see a difference in chemistry – it's just Ep2, but he and Richie just clicked despite unfamiliarity and all. Examples include sweet ballad “Heart too soft” (those bits of infamous Police song were kinda random - why even?):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FztG45BBkms
And less sweet/soft one “Afterwards”, to wrap this week up – I'm tired and you're probably too...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsknDeCP4bU
Bonus: filming the show vlog. BGM in the beginning was certainly a choice^^
I'm still wondering why the seal avatar...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2A_BpnjBcE
Bonus 2: pretty boy with prettiest smile during an actual episode. That amused eyebrow worked overtime – they all kept trolling him every other second, it was quite hilarious even without understanding what exactly was being said.
https://x.com/Orenji_XZ_LYN/status/1816453970371731876
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 8:20 AM
@kiara, @jillian, @zindigo, @isagc, @wonhwa, @seeker, @mochakat9, @wishfultoki
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jillian
July 26, 2024 at 6:09 PM
Thanks again for taking time and sharing these LYN goodies!
I am happy he is in better spirits filming in Hengdian despite the heat.
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 6:38 PM
You're welcome)))
They're mostly focused on night scenes rn, so it should be a little less hot. Then again, those are action scenes in full armor (well, with shorts underneath lol).
jillian
July 27, 2024 at 1:18 AM
He survives the heat despite being in costumes because he wears shorts underneath. 😅
Gikata
July 27, 2024 at 5:28 AM
@jillian I do love this chain of logic we have here, it can potentially lead to so many
forbiddenexciting places^^ Should we make a bet whether he'll scold fans for making and sharing those pics in his next stream?jillian
July 27, 2024 at 5:33 AM
😂😂😂 that may happen @gikata
kiara
July 26, 2024 at 8:58 PM
Thank you!
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🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 2:56 AM
I don't think you're late already all, I'm just glad I made it in the nick of time and didn't miss these delicacies.
Thank you so much for your time and effort. Much much appreciated. 🙏❤💕
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5 Clios Servant
July 26, 2024 at 9:25 AM
Two-part open question this Friday: re: dubbing in cdramas
1. Is there some way to tell that a cdrama actor/actress has been dubbed by another voice? By that I mean, is there a notice, or credit listing or some such that tells you the ML, or FL, or main cast member has been dubbed by actor/actress and who was dubbed by whom? Still getting my feet wet in cdramas, but the dubbing has become apparent and regardless of the reason, I'm wondering if that is openly acknowledged.
2. Searching for recommendations for cdramas where there is no dubbing or the actors/actresses have dubbed their own voice (because of uncontrolled set noise or whatever). Suggestions welcome.
Anyone who wants to weigh in on how this trend of dubbing is waning (or not), have at it. I would welcome history and context.
And, this bit of news from Variety explores how the major k-pop studios have corrupted the industry and what that might mean going forward. Variety does not ordinarily do extensive coverage on their stories, so it lightly touches on the last ten years in the industry.
https://variety.com/2024/music/asia/kcon-k-pop-agency-stock-prices-1236086173/
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Isa is always time travelling
July 26, 2024 at 9:58 AM
I'm very interested in that information too (the C-dramas dubbing credits), if it exists.
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Ahjummaaa
July 26, 2024 at 12:07 PM
The dubbing thing is one of the reasons I'm still circling C-dramas. I watched a lot of old school Taiwan dramas, specifically those written by Qiong Yao in the 80's and 90's, and the standards were so high back then that it seems like half of her leading men and women are dubbed. While I do appreciate the professional voice actors a lot, they really acted their hearts out in dramas like Ghost Husband, what I don't like about dubbing is the pristine studio dead space and lack of background noise. It's so unnatural and takes away a lot of the enjoyment of watching a drama for me, all the lively noises in the background. Dubbing makes dramas feel less real and dynamic and more artificial. The thing with acting, especially in Chinese, maybe the language is more demanding in some ways being so melodic, is that you'll have 10 really talented actresses with expressive faces and are great on the screen but only 4 who can also speak their lines clearly to meet broadcast standards. It might also be that they're born with middle of the range soft speaking voices, neither squeaky cute or sexy womanly enough and that don't have as much dramatic impact as someone with a rich deep voice like Zhou Xun or Barbie Hsu (I love their voices and the way they speak in general) Acting is both getting the expressions right and also the lines inflections & pronunciation right, and the best actresses have both in equal measure and earn my respect.
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 12:47 PM
The answer to your problem is easy - stan c-actors who ALWAYS dub themselves!
And kindly ignore their costars who do notWorked for me so far)))Zhou Xun, yes! When I tried to watch her famous harem epic, that voice alone made me drop the show like 15 episodes later than I would've otherwise... Still hoping to hear her again in a drama more fitting my tastes.
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kiara
July 26, 2024 at 8:48 PM
Zhou Xun is a talented actress with a unique voice that makes her stand out. I finished RUYI for her.
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wonhwa
July 26, 2024 at 12:31 PM
DramaWiki will often list dubbing credits for C-dramas, and in my experience it's generally openly acknowledged. Some shows do it better than others, and a lot of it has to do with the incredibly linguistic diversity of China and the fact that so many actors have strong regional accents or speak first languages other than Mandarin.
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 12:39 PM
1. Locally I believe such info is listed on Baidu pages of dramas. For non-Chinese speaking crowd like us the best bet would be DramaWiki, which mentions VA artists for certain roles along with regular actors. If there is no "voiced by" addition in that column, then role is self-dubbed. Example:
https://wiki.d-addicts.com/White_Cat_Legend
As you can see, ML, one supporting lead and few minor characters dubbed themselves while everyone else has listed VAs. There may be incomplete info, esp for small roles, but when it comes to the main cast DW is mostly trustworthy. I also use them for production info like OST lineup and crew members names that other sources often neglect.
2. It would've been easier to list actors who regularly dub themselves (it's kinda all or nothing situation in that aspect) than ALL their dramas per se. Among recent shows, unfortunate mess of a script that was FOLLOW YOUR HEART had nearly 100% of their cast doing self-dub, except for 2 people, iirc - a veteran Hong Kong actress with thick accent and someone else, I forgot what their excuse was... LYX's breakout drama ASHES OF LOVE was also once a hot topic for rare situation where all 3 main leads of xianxia dubbed themselves (other 2 being Yang Zi and now cancelled Deng Lun). So dubbing by VAs, esp on historical drama sets where regional accents is a no-no, is still super common. But!
A year ago or so Chinese government - who seems to lack better things to do than constantly poke their own cinema industry like a bored child with a stick - decided that dubbing went out of control and presented a new regulation: if actor cannot do their own dubbing for whatever reason, they have to pay fully for VA's work from their very own pocket. This meant to encourage self-dubbing and I believe to a certain extent it worked, since afterwards we started to see even people who never bothered to do so before attempting self-dub - to varying success, ofc. I believe in few years self-dub in cdramas would be much more prominent than it is rn. Perhaps at some point only veteran actors who cannot/won't learn something new this lately in life will remain needing VAs. Who, btw, tried to protest said regulation as a union - it went just as well as you might've guess...
There are also a few currently in production dramas that lowkey promote themselves with "we are mostly going to use on-set audio" (meaning self-dubbed cast too), but I'm not sure whether THAT is a rising trend too or I just wasn't paying enough of attention to it before.
Some incomplete lists:
https://mydramalist.com/list/3rWaVnm4
https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/comments/1bcnhef/actors_who_always_dub_themselves/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/comments/198vg36/dramas_that_are_dubbed_by_the_actors/
Plus an educational topic:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/comments/1e958c2/chinese_language_and_the_need_for_voice_dubbing/
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 2:05 PM
Upd: small correction as I reread some stuff - the "self-dub or else" regulation was implemented 2 years ago and seems like it excludes non-mainland c-actors after all (makes sense - they weren't taught standard Beijing-style Mandarin in schools while growing up).
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Clios Servant
July 26, 2024 at 2:22 PM
Thanks to all. Followup questions:
If I understand what you are saying correctly, and from what I was able to read otherwise, the earlier Hong Kong/Taiwan productions were more likely to use actors voices, yes?
But because mainland China has plethora of dialects, and many actors reflect that, the practice of using voice actors for Chinese-made productions became not only prominent, but prevalent?
And, now that the Chinese productions have become more professional, better quality productions and perhaps seen by a wider audience (the Netflix effect), there is change underway for many performers especially in key roles to voice their own roles?
Am I on the right track here? If all that is basically somewhat correct, there is one thing that still baffles me.
Really fine actors/actresses convey so much with their voice. They also convey much with their body language, and facial expressions -- but the voice is key to their performance, part of the package. Substituting someone else's voice for a fine actor's must be really crushing to their professionalism. Kudos to those actors, actresses and their directors who demand their own voices be used in their work.
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 4:35 PM
Cannot be fully sure, but I do think that T/HK old dramas who didn't suffer much from mainland's heavily hammered "one standard Mandarin" policy paid far less of an attention to the issue altogether (I mean, the always presented Chinese hardsubs in old cinema was there for a reason, right?). Ofc, when their actors ended up in a mainland production, things could've been very different... If anything, I often stumble upon such veteran actors in recent - mainland - dramas and many of them are still re-dubbed. Which doesn't seem to affect their respectable aged star status as much as it'd probably do with stars current...
I think it all boils down to the money issue tho - a lot of recent government regulation regarding cinema were made as a reaction to egregiously prevalent there money laundering (and taxes evading, which is the biggest sin in c-gov's eyes). Likely that was it - to trim down numbers of people in drama crews, prevent unnecessary bloating and lessen possibility of precious yuans going where they aren't supposed to go by law. Also may be a prestige reason, as you said - current young actors rampant inability to deliver their lines in "proper" Mandarin despite being systematically taught it from young age doesn't look very good from unification of all Chinese propaganda standpoint...
100% agree about the importance of voice acting in the grand scheme of cinema. It matters a lot objectively and it matters even more to me personally - I may not speak the language to discern right or wrong accent, but I still CAN hear the difference between decent and less so emotional delivery. Not saying that VAs should be done away with altogether - why? they have their niche with foreign cinema/actors, animations etc - and I understand that this might be a tough challenge for truly not young anymore actors, but others? I mean, good for them that there is a whole industry out there designed to cover up this professional shortcoming of them, but I will never wholeheartedly stan a mainland actor who relies on dubbers all the time for no reason other than "too lazy to hire a speaking/language coach".
I have a few faves who are currently 50/50 in that aspect, switching between self and VA dub because their Mandarin/delivery still needs some polishing, but at least they are actively trying, right? Most c-actors I like are doing their own dubbing regularly and this is a big part of why I love them on my screen, despite NONE of them being originally from Beijing or anywhere near.
Heck, I'm a language/literature major myself and can do multiple dialects in 2 languages fluently despite being from a province with THICK accent as well, not to mention 10+ other languages I studied at some point - and not even once was I spared from hardcore pronunciation lessons just because it's not easy...Required fields are marked *
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 4:30 AM
🫶
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
July 26, 2024 at 5:24 PM
Hong Kong dramas shown in Hong Kong were never dubbed, and the dialect spoken in Hong Kong is Cantonese. In recent years, more and more Hong Kong dramas have been shown in Mainland, and these have been dubbed into the Mandarin dialect and vice versa (I watched a Cantonese dubbed version of the Mainland China drama, “Princess Returning Pearl”, when I was little in the 90s in Canada on a Hong Kong media tv channel).
In Mainland China, up until 5-6 years ago, many dramas (about 80%) would have their cast be dubbed over in productions due to a plethora of reasons:
1. The surroundings of the filming site had too much unnecessary noise and it was less work to get it all edited out and the cast dubbed over than to re-work the entire audio of the drama to take out the noise.
2. Unified accent: Standard Beijing accented Mandarin (Mandarin being the prevailing dialect spoken and taught in China) is what China considers the “most perfect and correct” accent— as my friend from Sichuan has told me— and is also what voice actors learn in their craft, therefore, it was also the standard across all medias in China for a time. It wasn’t until about 2019/2020 when the infamous “Chinese entertainment government crackdown” took place did regulations get changed up and the cast of a drama was required to do more of their own dubbing, with a few exceptions— but really, it’s all politics. With that said, there are a good handful of C-actors/actresses who have done 80-90% of their own dubbing throughout their careers even before the regulation changes. Typically, to the “untrained” ear of a viewer, you can find out if a cast member is dubbed in the ending credits of a drama— the cast’s name will be a column that indicates the VA’s name if they have been dubbed by one or the VA’s name will be in parentheses, or nothing will be beside the cast member’s name if they have dubbed themselves.
3. Costume/historical/mythological dramas use to be 100% dubbed due to the above 2 reasons in addition to a third: Such dramas are majorly filmed at indoor sets with CGI screens, and in the background of the filming site (typically a warehouse specifically for filming dramas), there will typically be the construction happening across the way in the same room, because the same or another production crew is building the drama set of the drama or another drama. For outdoor scenes, the dubbing for such dramas help with the noise cancelling (as explained above) as there sometimes will be the odd incident wherein a sound from modern civilization may constantly interrupt the quiet noise that the drama requires (e.g. car alarms, helicopters, cars just driving by, etc.). Nowadays, more and more of such dramas have begun to not use dubbing for the cast except for maybe a few moments here and there of a drama or for a really dramatic and loud scene wherein it’s hard to capture sound. As with everything, there are exceptions, but they are rare. It’s just gotten harder for the production crew...
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Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
July 26, 2024 at 5:25 PM
… to find ways to extract clear and crisp audio for such dramas due to all the factors, but they find ways to do it— they sort of don’t have an option 😅
At the end of the day, whatever a production crew of a drama/movie/variety show does, it all has to go through the review of the NRTA, China’s media censorship board, before it is released. If a production is lucky, they will get a pass during their first review, but that isn’t always a case. In addition, different production types have different standards and criteria they must meet in order to get a pass— e.g. movies have it the easiest because the government also understands that movies are more for an international audience. A drama production has the choice to decide if they want to apply for their drama production to be strictly a web drama (easier to get a pass with the NRTA), next would be tv dramas (the most critiqued). At the same time, a production can apply to have their drama be both a web drama and a tv drama, but many times, this results in a single drama having different versions of itself— a tv version vs. a web version— and all of the contractual terms that comes with it being as such (i.e. the episode for the web version not being allowed to be uploaded until the episode for the tv version has aired).
I hope this helps!! 😊
Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 6:08 PM
I think there is also a growing trend of doing multiple dubs from the get-go - for example, somewhat recent BLOSSOMS SHANGHAI had two - in Mandarin and Shanghainese. Ofc only big budget and ambitious productions could afford that. I also watched a mainland/Hong Kong collab movie few years ago with mixed cast who self-dubbed Mandarin and Cantonese versions of it in their respective languages.
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
July 26, 2024 at 6:18 PM
@gikata
Yes, I agree!! There are the rare dramas wherein there will be 2 versions, each version featuring a different dialect. I remember that Huang Xuan did a drama a few years ago— even before Blossoms Shanghai— wherein there were 2 different versions, each version featuring a different dialect. I think this must be possible because it’s either a super big production with a higher budget or the drama has a way smaller cast and more of the budget can be used elsewhere after cast salaries.
It makes sense that a duo project such as one that features a cast from Hong Kong and Mainland China would have 2 dubbed versions
Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 6:54 PM
@bebeswtz at the time I wasn't aware of the dubbing issue in c-media so I though it was a normal practice... It was not a blockbuster movie tho - an action thriller with moderate budget and kinda famous actors/PD, but nothing grand. I don't even remember which version I saw, not being as knowledgeable as I am now, ouch))) Probably Cantonese one - iirc, events of the movie happened in HK so that was the main option for international release with Mandarin as a DVD bonus...
Clios Servant
July 27, 2024 at 3:44 AM
My gosh, thank you both so much for taking the time to offer these detailed explanations providing so much context. Lots to digest here. If and when you have time to offer up your shortlist of actors who you watch because they consistently use their own voice, I'd be schooled once again.
And thank you for explaining the byzantine process by which productions are certified for broadcast. This helps me understand why so many productions seem hung up after the filming has been completed, but they sit on the shelf (literally) and never see the light of day. Also helps me understand better why so many actors get crosswise of authorities for so-called tax violations.
Finally, lordy I have enough trouble with one language. My hat is off to you for facility with so many languages. I consider that to be a portion of the brain I was born without and have always been in awe of people who are multi (not to mention multi multi) lingual. I bow to you!
Midnight
July 27, 2024 at 4:15 AM
3. I... am dumbfounded, honestly! I don't understand how a country as huge as China, with such a huge diversity in landscapes (so so beautiful!), films most of their historical/mythological dramas inside in front of cgi screens??? It feels so strange...
It must be a money issue, right? I can't find any other explanation for not using those amazing natural scapes they have!
At the same time, they seem to spend so much on costumes and jeweleries... So is money an issue or is it not??
Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
July 27, 2024 at 8:00 AM
@cliosservant1846
No problem! I’m always happy to help where I can, I just hope I don’t sound arrogant or like a know-it-all, because I truly DON’T know it all, and what do know is just from years of observing and gathering information. C-Ent. and all its parts is such a mammoth that keeps changing from time to time, so I’m also still always learning new things, too! 😊
@midnight A lot of the indoor CGI is used on mythology themed dramas in order to create scenes that nature doesn’t really offer 😅
E.g. A fight scene between characters wherein they are fighting in or on clouds or with mythological creature.
It actually costs MORE time and money to film using CGI—since it requires the cast and filming crew to really use their imagination, be really spot on in technique, and it also takes longer to edit, and longer work means more hours which means more pay and money spent—so it’s definitely not a money issue.
Haha I actually find their props—especially for clothing and jewelry— to be very touch-n-go for me, personally. Sometimes, a drama can be a big budgeted one, but then I’d look at their costumes and props and wonder what went wrong there 😅
Gikata
July 27, 2024 at 10:22 AM
@bebeswtz , @cliosservant1846
It also should be noted that few last years shooting at outdoor locations practice was hindered by covid and now things are slowly becoming less artificial again (of course, only for productions rich and dedicated enough to bother with it). I recall a hit drama from 7-8 years ago, before all that, being criticized heavily for overuse of CGI in outdoor scenes with no reasonable explanation provided why they needed so many shots of basic fake forest etc instead of just driving a bit to the nearest real one)))
P.S. I'll work on that list, give me time until next Friday or so^^
Midnight
July 27, 2024 at 10:33 AM
Ahh right!
Gikata
July 27, 2024 at 10:38 AM
Omg, @midnight , sorry, forgot to tag you as well!
🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 4:43 AM
Which is this "fighting in or on clouds" drama. How very exciting!! 🤩😃
sirena
July 27, 2024 at 2:23 PM
I was not aware of this practice and I admit that the sometimes "artificial" quality of the actor's voices turned me off from watching C-dramas. My first C-drama that I watched in its entirety was Love Between Fairy and Devil. I did not realize that Dylan Wang was dubbed until I watched a youtuber's review of the drama. The youtuber was of the opinion that Dylan Wang should never dub his own work because of his accent and/or way of speaking. I am of the opinion that you loose an element of the actor's performance when resorting to a VA.
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Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
August 1, 2024 at 7:22 AM
Yea, the person who dubbed him in that drama had a voice completely different than his— so deep!! At the same time, I do understand why he’s dubbed, and it’s because he doesn’t have proper— let alone perfect— enunciation of words when he speaks. But I agree that dubbing— if one has the ear that can tell the difference— does take away an element and the nuance to a drama unless there’s not much of a difference between the actor’s real voice and the voice of the voice actor. A good example of a good dubbing pair would be the person who dubbed Xiao Zhan in The Untamed (the only drama ever wherein XZ didn’t dub himself when dubbing was required), because XZ’s voice and the voice of th voice actor are really similar— well, were similar at time time, but since then, XZ’s voice has changed a bit because he did theatre
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Gikata
August 1, 2024 at 7:24 AM
I think I know which youtuber you're talking about... *sneers* And while I somewhat disagree with her aggressively snobbish take on the issue, I do think that particular role was such a huge success largely because of VA - accent aside, WHD's real voice just doesn't have that depth and "villainous protagonist" rizz that made DFQC as a character so beloved. More experienced actors can even modulate their timbre to fit the role but he seems still far from getting there yet. I see no reason why he shouldn't use his own voice in other, less dramatic roles - as long as he works on his accent and line delivery ofc... Anyone can improve. Almost)))
P.S. Now there's two of us here^^
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Kitsune Moon
July 28, 2024 at 1:01 PM
i don't know any chinese except for ni hao but i've seen a handful of chinese movies and i thought some actors sounded dubbed! glad to know i'm not imagining things!
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Clios Servant
July 28, 2024 at 3:31 PM
Right? Me too.
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6 Britney
July 26, 2024 at 10:51 AM
I saw Deadpool and Wolverine and one of the thoughts that came to mind was: am I about to become a fan of Kpop? Haha
Even though I watch dramas, I don't typically listen to kpop but man, the times when it is apart of a soundtrack, it is so catchy! I don't even know who Stray Kids are but I know they have a song on the soundtrack and they were wanted for a cameo but the scheduling didn't work out.
Another thought that came to mind is how even though it makes sense why people don't go to movie theaters as much anymore, it *is* kinda sad to lose that communal experience of watching a movie together. People reacting to the same moments does kinda enhance the experience and it's nice to just have that little bubble where you're all just locked into this particular thing.
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tabong
July 26, 2024 at 12:32 PM
This explains why Ryan Reynolds was on their new video. And why him and the other actor are invading my YT recommendations. Now everything makes sense.
Idk what type of music you usually listen to, but I would say kpop is diverse enough for everyone to find an artist or two of their liking. If you become part of the fandom, I hope you enjoy it.
I agree. Even a bad movie can become a nice experience in the movie theater.
The power of people.
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Britney
July 26, 2024 at 1:21 PM
I've listened to more Korean ballads because the actors I watch tend to be ballad singers. But I never listened to idol groups until recently. I first heard an Aespa song because it was featured in The Midnight Studio. Before that, I *only* knew that a member of the group had been involved in the dating kerfluffle with the guy from Alchemy of Souls. I listened to a Twice song only because Lee Joon Gi covered it during his fan meets. I think a Blackpink song was on Amphibia during a boss battle.
I didn't even know of BTS until like 2022. I can maybe 3 members right now haha (and one of them is only because it's a letter)
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Britney
July 26, 2024 at 1:29 PM
I can maybe name* 3 members right now
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tabong
July 26, 2024 at 2:33 PM
If you like ballads, I would recommend the group 2AM. You may recognize a few members that are also actor. Also, they sing the classic OST "Like a Fool" (Personal Taste). Or idol bands (lots of actors there too).
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Mugiwara
July 26, 2024 at 5:38 PM
Wait did you just say the other actor??? Noooo way, thats hugh jackman the wolverine, dont you know the x man? how cant you dont know him? He is also a very good actor , havent you see the prestige, les miserables, prisoners, logan, etc?..im sorry for overreacting but is hugh jackman , everyone knows him (sorry for my english)
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tabong
July 26, 2024 at 6:02 PM
I know he exists, I just couldn't remember the name at the time. I kept thinking of the name "Hugh Graham" but I think that's either the guy from Hannibal or I'm mixing names.
So "the other actor" was simpler.
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🌸 Cera (@Seeker) 🌸
August 1, 2024 at 4:46 AM
Spot on T - that's the Hannibal guy. 😂
bbstl 🧹
July 26, 2024 at 9:22 PM
I whooped when I read “the other actor”, partly because I’d just watched a Tonight show bit where Reynolds and Jackman were trash talking each other and Reynolds said “okay, Boomer” to Jackman. But also because he’s, ummmm, Hugh effing Jackman 😆
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tabong
July 26, 2024 at 9:38 PM
I didn't know (or I forgot) he had so much hype. Sorry if I offended fans. LOL
DancingEmma
July 27, 2024 at 3:19 PM
Don’t be sorry T.
I regard Rupert Murdoch as one of Earth’s public enemies and the fact that Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman agreed to be the godparents of his third set of kids made me write both off. Any personal association with that vile and pernicious capitalist who has propped up bigots for decades is a step too far for me to take so no dice.
bbstl 🧹
July 27, 2024 at 8:36 PM
@enriquequierecagar nonono, no offense! I’m sorry to give that impression, not at all.
Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 12:54 PM
Kpop is a diverse crowd music-wise. Like that label covers a lot of genres, styles and people of VERY varying degrees of talent. Even me, who firmly believes kpop as a whole went seriously downhill with 2 latest generations, as they are called in the community, still occasionally enjoys some OST, often despite knowing NOTHING of that artist and not liking the drama/movie at all. Hell, I have beloved OSTs in my collection from shows I did NOT watch...
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Britney
July 26, 2024 at 1:35 PM
The first OST I really liked was Gu Family Book. I don't usually notice or pay attention to the OST but that one stood out to me on an emotional level for some reason.
I have since critcisms about how the musicality has gone significantly and more focus is on visuals. That must be disappointing to music fans who appreciate actual talent and vocals.
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 1:51 PM
I didn't last long with that show, so don't remember music from it either, I'm afraid. But many sageuks of that era had great OSTs, instrumentals included.
I'm not blaming it on visuals alone - I'm blaming it on social media and its trends culture which is often either pure luck, deliberate media manipulation or both. Visuals has been a big thing in this industry for far too long, let's be honest.
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Gum Shoe
July 26, 2024 at 1:12 PM
Ryan Reynolds became a fan of Stray Kids after they did a Deadpool inspired performance on Kingdom which was fantastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCrDgMZ7cDI
Also, two of the Stray Kids members are Australian. So during the recent Deadpool and Wolverine press tour in Korea, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman met up with them to promote.
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Britney
July 26, 2024 at 1:41 PM
That interview or at least a bit of it was featured in the preshow at the theater I was at and it is part of the reason I was thinking "am I about to become a kpop fan" haha.
The idols seemed kinda charming and fun and they didn't even do much! Just their rapport with the actors was nice.
And Hugh was like "we can speak Australian" haha.
It made me think maybe I should look up Stray Kids videos or something; especially the deadpool related thing.
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Ally
July 28, 2024 at 2:06 PM
Look up EVERYTHING about Stray Kids. They dance so well. They sing so well. THey're athletic and BEAUTIFUL too. (Yeah, they're one of my favs.) Hyunjin's dance to Play with Fire is one of my favorites. They also just had a collab with Charlie Puth called "Lose My Breath" that is good too. Helavator is a great song (older) and right now, I'm OBSESSED with Chk Chk BOOM! and its choreography. Next level, I'm telling you.
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Isa is always time travelling
July 26, 2024 at 1:44 PM
A friend of mine went to watch the movie two days ago, and she wanted to listen to Stray Kids, obviously (she's a fan). She waited for all the end credits to finish but she said their song had not been included. Or maybe she didn't notice it 🤷♀️
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 2:07 PM
Perhaps it was for SK release only?
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Isa is always time travelling
July 26, 2024 at 2:18 PM
That could be a reason! She was so disappointed 😅
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 3:43 PM
How unfortunate((( That was literally me watching that RESIDENT EVIL movie for LJG's tiny role, but at least he WAS in the international cut, if with barely any screentime/lines and insultingly to his talent flat character...
Britney
July 26, 2024 at 2:42 PM
I don't know them enough to recognize them but it's possible she could've missed them. I saw on youtube that a clip of their song was used during a fight scene
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jillian
July 26, 2024 at 6:18 PM
Stray Kids are really a talented group. I liked the songs played when I was watching the music variety show Kingdom. Well except for the heavy rock, I liked most of it as well as the other contestants.
I havent seen the new Wolverine movie. The only time I went to the movies, after the pandemic ended, was to watch another Marvel movie. The prepandemic movie going days feel were definitely missing since the cinemas was barely full. I feel nostalgic for that time before the pandemic.
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Gikata
July 26, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Wait, they do heavy rock?!
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jillian
July 27, 2024 at 1:23 AM
They dabble in various music genres so their songs are not ur typical "kpop". I can only describe it as such when I heard it.
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Ally
July 28, 2024 at 2:02 PM
They are the anti-Kpop Kpop, because they do EVERYTHING, are amazing dancers and performers, and are very irreverent to their agency (JYP) actively mocking its CEO routinely. I think all in good fun, though. I'm not a huge fan of JYP, but LOVE Stray Kids.
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Linarrick
July 27, 2024 at 1:38 AM
Stray Kids seem somewhat famous in Australia, I think cause there are a couple of Aussie members? Quite a few times when I went to a boba shop there seemed to be some event about Stray Kids (like swapping photo cards, it’s a kpop thing). I’m not in tune with the newer gen, mine was the 2nd gen (think 2pm). Tho whenever I hear a jam on a kdrama I just add it to my music playlist
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7 tabong
July 26, 2024 at 2:59 PM
Happy friday, beanies de mi corazón.
I hope you had a lovely week.
The promos for Hae In x So Min's new drama are EVERYWHERE I go, and that's stressing me out because they look super cute together and that's making me have expectations.
For me it's better to just click wtv and find a good show, than getting excited about some pictures and then end up disappointed by the real thing.
My kdrama-schedule is already empty, so I don't want to get excited thinking that I'll have something good to watch soon. I just want a pleasant (and consistent!) surprise. Is that too much to ask? Sigh.
Anyway, have a nice weekend, beanies. 💚
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8 Britney
July 27, 2024 at 12:03 AM
I find it kinda crazy that Deadpool & Wolverine was released in the US on Friday (July 26) and on that SAME day, I saw spoiler filled breakdowns and recaps.
I'd already seen it so I didn't care about spoilers but just the fact that these videos were made so freaking fast! I know it came out somewhere else a few days ago and I actually saw it on Thursday but to have clips and breakdowns by the time it officially comes out?! I mean the press interviews are still being uploaded.
It reminds me of those ____ works fast but the internet works faster type memes (I could've gotten that phrasing wrong haha)
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9 too_much_tv
July 27, 2024 at 6:32 PM
Hi @reply1988! I read Jeanie Chang's book How K-Dramas Can Transform Your Life today, thanks to you! What did you think of it when you read it? I think your tastes in dramas overlap with the author's quite a bit, but I don't know whether you agree with her about which dramas are "healing." Probably my favorite thing in the book was her acknowledgement that reading subtitles is "a welcome distraction from your thoughts." It took several years of watching dramas for me to realize that reading the subtitles was a source of active pleasure.
Anyway I am happy that I requested the public library buy the book. It is one of the most K-drama-ish things I've read.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️ Underpants buddies for life. 😎
July 28, 2024 at 10:26 AM
Wow, I have not finished it yet as I got distracted by the audiobooks, but I am back on it and will get to you when I do. My choice and her choice of dramas often don’t match as some I feel would be too different for someone new to K drama or have not aged well and some of the healing dramas she has mentioned on her Instagram account I have chosen not to watch.
I am glad that the book will now be available for other’s searching for info on K dramas☺️
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too_much_tv
July 28, 2024 at 6:56 PM
Her second favorite drama is Reply 1988! Her most favorite is My Mister. I can see why, even though now I wonder whether I can watch it and not feel intense sadness over the death of the lead actor.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️ Underpants buddies for life. 😎
July 28, 2024 at 9:26 PM
Yes, I saw that she led with Reply 1988 so from that alone she is in my good books☺️
I started My mister years ago but I was not in the right place for that level of bleakness and didn’t make it past episode 1. I tried watching Pasta but had to stop because I felt so bad looking at that face thinking about his poor family living with the reality that was left behind when everyone else had moved on to the next story. He was the only character I liked from Coffee Prince which I watched years ago before I gave myself permission to drop shows I didn’t enjoy.
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too_much_tv
July 29, 2024 at 4:58 AM
Yeah, I wonder whether his work is going to be ruined for a lot of people by his death. He was also in Parasite, which I've been afraid to watch in spite of how wonderful I know it is. (Speaking of bleak!) The ending of My Mister is so redemptive and hopeful that I hope someday you will be able to watch it. (Honestly, since it is a TV show and no one will know, you can just skip to the resolution episodes and deduce the problems they were solving! Ha ha!)
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️ Underpants buddies for life. 😎
July 29, 2024 at 6:33 AM
I didn’t think about just watching the last episodes for the wrap up! Where would you suggest the best point to start watching from?
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too_much_tv
July 29, 2024 at 8:39 AM
I was going to say to watch both 15 and 16, but you could really just watch the 16th episode from the start. I know it won't give you the time to learn to love all the characters, but most of the backstory is effectively explained. There is still a little suspense left, but only a little. Essentially this is a show about the ideal vs. the real in this Confucian society. The premise of the show is that this young woman, who is a temp worker in the office, bugs her boss's phone as part of a shady deal to earn money. She has inherited debt and a disabled grandmother. When she bugs the phone, she learns what kind of person the boss is and develops a crush on him. But...I think it's the kind of crush where you also want to be like the person. Anyway, you could do worse than to cry a lot through the last episode of this show.
Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️ Underpants buddies for life. 😎
July 29, 2024 at 11:26 AM
@toomuchtv thank you ☺️