Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....
no worries, im happy to answer. and, if i happened to already answer sth, I'll link u to it.
so, fav medias... hmm...
book(s): the radiant emperor duology
ik it just came out and was only recently finished (like, finished Sept 2023 lol) so this is probably bias speaking but i am extremely taken by She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World, these books are fckn phenomenal. the gender-fuckery, the exploration of gender and sexual performances, the hidden message of embracing ourselves in all our ugliness and 'deficiency' and making a place for ourselves and ppl like us when others shun us. these books are just!!!
documentaries: immortal egypt (Joanne Fletcher)
i really really love documentaries and this mini series hold a special place in my heart bcs i love history and I've always been fascinated by egypt and Joanne's enthusiasm is just so joyous and infectious, i love it. i put this on repeat in the background when i was doing my graduation project in 2018 lol yea, just me listening to egyptian docu while working my ass off on AutoCAD lol
anime: sarusuberi/miss hokusai
idk how to explain but there's just a quality to this animated film that got me going... like, i adore howl's moving castle but miss hokusai is sth else. it's so peaceful but also deeply profound and visceral somehow.
tv series: aircrash investigation
i love planes, i love the Concorde in particular, but it has nth to do with how cool planes are but with how child-me saw riding planes as a thing that only ppl with money could do. it evolved from there.
i also love mysteries and aircrash investigation is both lol
i remember watching it on tv when i was an adolescent and i was fascinated with the mystery and problem-solving of it all ever since.
movie: the prince of egypt
it's a story about love; love that forgives, love that creates hate, love that divides.
drama: nirvana in fire (c-drama), beyond evil (k-drama), kluen cheewit (thai soap opera)
bl-specific: old fashion cupcake (anime AND manga)
the plot of these dramas is impeccable (tho kluen cheewit is extremely dramatic so pls beware lol), the character developments are fckn amazing, and what's even more important is the platonic relationships between the characters!!!
also, special shout-out to thai bl soap opera khun chai/to sir (with love) as well! the drama is off the charts, the characters are flawed & human & infinitely relatable & Tian & Yang's brotherhood is EVERYTHING
just one of the best bls out there and I've consumed A LOT of BLs/yaois... ALL SORT of em lol
the story is really grounded in reality, the plot is so mundane and relatable, the characters are mature but extremely flawed, and the art (in the case of manga) and the acting (in the case of the series) are amazing.
song: queen bee by vannda (contemporary music from my country)
i DO NOT agree with the lyrics AT ALL but i adore the melody. i absolutely love, love, LOVE how he blends traditional khmer music with the modern one. it's not a necessarily modern take but it's sth different. this artist is very good at blending the old w/ the new and i applaud him for that. his music is so pleasing the ear but the fkcn lyrics... urGH
well, a song of his with message that i completely agree with is time to rise with master Kong Nay... though the mixture is too in my face lol which is why i prefer queen bee
this is hands down, the best drama series I’ve watched this year.
Kleun Cheewit, or known in English as Waves of Life stars lead actress Urassaya Sperbund as Jeerawat and lead actor Prin Suparat as Sathit.
Summary: Jeerawat is a hardworking woman, who is a famous model and actress. Her mother married a smarmy but rich man, who secretly lusts after his daughter-in-law. After he attempts to drug Jeerawat, she manages to escape by driving away. Unfortunately, she hits a young woman in the road, who later dies at the hospital. The dead young woman has a fiancee, Sathit, who happens to be a lawyer. He vows revenge on the female driver who killed his beloved fiancee. Unfortunately, Jeerawat’s stepfather and mother use their influence and money to hide and hush all evidence. Sathit decides to stalk and bother her to find the evidence that she’s an evil and manipulative temptress. But in the end, he finds out she’s actually a good and kind person, despite her lowly beginnings, and gradually falls in love with her.
My comments: Sounds scandalous, doesn’t it? Yet it was precisely the summary which drew me into watching it in the first place. The question of how and why in the world would someone come to love a person who killed (despite it being an accident) their lover first appeared in my head upon reading this and of course, my search for an answer led me to start watching. I read the reviews first - a lot of people recommended it and it had an extremely high rating to which i trusted and started diving in.
The episodes are available on Youtube with English subtitles (link here), and though the video didn’t have the best quality, there were so many other factors which were enough to hook me in very very quickly.
The lead actress was the one who got me to stay at first. The details in her acting was so undeniably amazing to a point where its hard to assume that she’s anyone else outside her character (don’t even get me started at how beautiful she is!). At the beginning her character came off as bratty, proud, selfish and inconsiderate but as the episodes go by, her true personality unravels and her kind, compassionate, loving, friendly and thoughtful self began to appear. This was one of the reasons why I fell in love with this drama too - that it allowed us to unravel her character episode by episode instead of revealing everything all at once. And its got the audience screaming at the lead actor to realize that she’s actually so, so good all the way until the end. Audience interaction? Definitely there.
Then the main actor - maybe it was because of how blinded by hatred he is that I completely looked over the fact that he was rather good looking too (scowling and anger just wasn’t a good look on him) but when he started smiling I think I just went soft?? Aside from visuals, his acting is equally as good as his co-star’s was. The audience could easily relate to him and understand the reasons for his actions (though we still wanna yell at him for being an idiot). His acting was definitely on point, all those pent up frustration could be seen through his eyes and the words he spits in anger towards Jeerawat has all of us fearing for her life. He really, really, really hated her. His body language, his eyes never leaving her’s while they exchanged insults after insults, all that came across incredibly well. There was never a dull moment between these two. It also caused the question I had at the beginning to come back to me again and again - how in the world is this supposed to end in a happily ever after between them?
This is where the magic happens - the script. Oh the lines were so beautifully written, every word had their purpose of being there and it made every second of the main characters’ interaction both intense and dramatic. It conveyed every thought and feeling of each character appropriate to their situation, and it just really hits that sweet, sweet spot, especially during their arguments. Misunderstandings were a plenty, the anticipation of when the truth will appear has us locked in our seats and in the end I find myself finishing this almost 30 hour drama in less than a week (I could’ve been quicker but school was being terrible to me ugh). The transition of them being enemies to lovers was so quick I think I missed it at first, but when it hit me I think I screamed for a good minute - FINALLY! That feeling of satisfaction will never be forgotten.
All in all I’d rate this a 9.7/10, the 0.3 mainly due to the overall quality of the drama in terms of how its filmed. Technical stuff, really, but nothing to do with how fantastic the drama is. If you’re interested in watching a suspense filled, enemies to lovers drama series this is definitely the one I would recommend!
If you guys are interested in watching it the links are HERE and HERE - if you end up watching it do drop by and talk to me I’d love to have someone to talk about it to!
