Westside Story

Westside Story, perhaps my favorite 5566 drama of all time.  I would like to give credit that without "My MVP Valentine" but there is something about Westside Story that made it my favorite.  So where does it start?  So it feels like Anime but there is no Anime, it seems that Taiwanese people prefer live over animation and this show does it quite right.  It has the Anime feel without the need to be animated.  And yup this show caused me to like watching live shows more than Anime.

The characters of the script You Ya Yu (acted by Tony Sun) is one who lives with his delusional mother Yao Lan Lan (acted by Zhong Qin) and his maternal half-brother You Ya Wa (acted by Wu Huai En) who was born from an unknown man.  Well from an irresponsible mother who is obsessed with Hello Kitty stuff, it does get more disturbing than funny.  Then there is Xing Wang (acted by Wallace Huo) who is a young genius bored with life, the feisty Lan Yu Yi (played by my favorite Chinese actress Esther Liu) and Shen Yin He (played by Cyndi Wang).  So it kinda gets interesting as how the characters interact especially with how Jason Hsu, Zax Wang and Sam Wang (playing the characters of Feng Ai Shen, Wang Xin Jie and Gu Tian Le) are involved in fighting crime in a gangster-ruled city.

Sot he story of You Ya Yu does get complex because while he falls for Lan Yu Yi, he first believes that they are half-siblings (on the father side) believing Lan Feng Shu (acted by Li Zhi Xi) to be his father.  However when they do discover that they are not (since it would be incest if they were).  However it raises from objection after objection especially that You Ya Yu is a ruffian gangster and no sensible father would want his child to be with that kind of man.  And there's also how Xing Wang has become the frequent rival of You Ya Yu while he does have some interactions with Lan Yu Yi and Shen Yin He.  He of course is what you'd call the women's man vs. to that of You Ya Yu and I liked the idea of what if he and Lan Yu Yi ended up together.  And I do admit I did get Sentai nostalgia with a few characters like how You Ya You would remind me of Gai Yuki and Lan Yu Yi would remind me of Ako Hayasaka in some way.

I could actually evaluate how the 5566 have improved their performances since "My MVP Valentine".  However my token of appreciation goes to Tony Sun for being able to bring his character You Ya Yu to life in such a CONVINCING manner.  Yes I admit he lacks the looks but his talent is really good.  And I have to admit that You Ya Yu's complex character of being an adult of rebellious character with a good heart. Yeah, I sort of say he does bring the Gai Yuki type of character who is a jerk with a heart of gold.  And he of course, was the best choice to play the main character while the other characters were doing their best with the parts that were suited for them.

I'd like to talk about how Esther Liu's portrayal of her character of Lan Yu Yi.  She was merely 15 years old when this was filmed, making me 18 years old back then.  Yep she is hot but that's not what makes her so special.  Beneath that beauty of hers is a rising talent that I'd like to say really had potential.  I however wasn't very fond of the idea that she was paired with an adult, that is Tony Sun.  But still, she did manage to display her different emotions in the show as if she were a Tokusatsu babe (she does bear resemblance to Haruka Suenaga, only hotter) and she just grabbed my attention.  And in the long run, she does improve over while other characters who had just passable acting seem not to improve at all.  However she does get overrated due to her looks and not her talent which can be sad, very sad.

Well just to avoid spoilers, just watch this Anime-type soap opera and perhaps you'll get a different experience.