Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

I just read from Manga Book Shelf and well, to no surprise the novel was more tragic than the 1982 adaptation and its remake in 2001 . Now for some bits and tidbits on the more tragic side of Romance in the Rain from the novel: First the tragedy of Lu Mengping the misguided bratty teenage daughter. I know she's done a lot of bad things but she was only 16 and hey she DID NOT murder anybody. During that time she got raped and got pregnant, I really think it was really bad for her father Zhenhua to actually disown her. Another of my complaints was that well she's a bitch but the original novel had her isolated, she stayed in a shelter and later she got out finding out she hasn't reconciled with her father, she finds her maternal half-brother Erjie in the orphanage and Erhao had gone penniless. Also, Erjie was never recovered from the orphanage in the second novel to be reunited with his legal family. In the 1986 version, Mengping got married despite her state while in 2001

The Lu family is the center of Romance in the Rain which was utterly dysfunctional.  So we have the following according to the 2001 remake: General Lu Zhenhua- He is the patriarch of the family who has had a series of failed marriages.  During the start of the series, he already had seven ex-wives and he randomly picks Fu Wenpei for his eighth wife (and had two daughters, one who died young and the other was Ruping the protagonist) and then he immediately picks up Wang Quexin which was a bigamy then divorced Fu Wenpei for Wang Quexin which was a bad decision.  Of course, karma is a bitch when it hits him that after he and Quexin had three children namely Erhao, Ruping and Mengping the youngest Erjie isn't his but the son of his latest wife with another man who was a criminal.  Later we realize that Zhenhua was once a lowly servant who fell for a rich man's daughter, he became a general and later found out his girlfriend had committed suicide to escape an arranged marriage.

I think some Qiong Yao dramas deserve a remake.  Here they are: The story of Yang Shuo Chong Lou which speaks of the tragedy of Meng Han who is married to a bum from the Ceng family.  The son dies and however, Meng Han is under the authority of her wicked mother-in-law and suddenly she falls for her brother-in-law Yu Hang.  I think the remake might do well with Vic Chou and Liu Yi Fei as the love team.  For the mother-in-law?  I think Zhen Xiu Zhen or Linda Liu could do the job. Another would be the classic Seagull's Home.  My choice would be a Jerry Yan/Liu Yi Fei tandem.  I would actually try to get old actors back like Qin Han maybe to play as Jerry Yan's father, Liu Xue Hua as Jerry Yan's mother and Brigitte Lin as Liu Yi Fei's mother. Courtyard Deeply or Ting Yan Shen Shen might be another one in the list.  I think Qin Han's part could be better played by Jerry Yan than by Vic Chou, but Vic Chou could still play the part of the blind guy looking for hi

Here's my hypothesis of how Toshiki Inoue will write the Gatchaman movie.  So here's how I think he will write the movie script in itself: First I think he might actually make the characters multidimensional than one-dimensional.  My WMG is that he might actually make Joe the Condor closer to Gai Yuki or maybe he might want to convince the producers and directors to get Yasuka Saito to play the part instead!  Maybe he might make Ryu the Owl wear glasses like Raita, maye even make Jun the Swan a rich girl or Ken the Eagle drink milk as a reference to his cast in Chojin Sentai Jetman. My bigger concern however is if Joe Asakura will end up becoming more of a real douchebag like Masato in Kamen Rider Faiz or will end up as a comedic jerk like Nago or will he be a jerk who's a nice guy like Gai Yuki?  Seeing how Inoue has a love for putting douchebags into his scripts, he could end up making Joe Asakura too much of a jerk.  Well he might also die at the end of the battle

Well I am yet to critique on the Gatchaman film (which I heard had pretty bad reviews) and I am yet to see it but here's my wishes for who would have been in that film!  Hmmm with Toshiki Inoue burned out, I doubt it he could save the film as well! Yasuka Saito as Joe Asakura/Joe the Condor- Well I did enjoy his performance in Boukenger as Masumi Inou who was similar to Gai Yuki in a way.  I think he would have been a stronger Joe the Condor! Rin Takanashi as Jun the Swan- Well I think she could have been a stronger Jun the Swan.  Hee hee. Just for a bit of nostalgia I think Toshihide Wakamatsu should have been Dr. Nambu.  My reason would be this- he was literally a live version of Joe the Condor in Chojin Sentai Jetman with his role as Gai Yuki!  I really think this guy could help!  If Toshiki Inoue wrote the film, I think he would want this guy! Jun Yoshida as Berg Katse (male form)- Okay Jun Yoshida may be quite older already but I thought he would make a really good

Well no doubt sometimes senior actor Qin Han still appears at times to play as an important parent.  Now here are the possible people I wish he will work with. I think he and Vic Chou would work together in contemporary Chinese drama.  I mean, Vic Chou is probably close to establishing himself close to Qin Han's ranks in the 80s with having projects per year and having various chemistry.  Personally I think Qin Han should play as his father in any project they could be together. The other person would be Jerry Yan who could act as his son, seeing the two seem to have facial similarities.  Possible partners for him here might be Liu Xue Hua or Zhen Xiu Zhen to play as his wife and Jerry as his son. Penny Lin could play as his daughter if Brigitte Lin would play as the mother. Liu Yi Fei could play as his daughter with either Brigitte Lin or Liu Xue Hua playing as her mother.

Another classical actress that deserves much tribute is Liu Xue Hua.  Okay I haven't seen much of her Chinese drama or Qiong Yao series but from looking at some of them via rentals, Youtube, etc. I am pretty convinced she is a legend. She frequently was paired with Qin Han and also with Kenny Bee.  Int he past she had played the roles of the suffering daughter-in-law with the abusive mother-in-law who was seldom played by Ma Qi Xin.  She also played as the protagonist Lu Yi Ping in "Love in the Rain" which had a better remake IMO which was later acted by Vicki Zhao.  Behind the scenes, she is also a talented dancer and singer. So she did later get married to director Deng Yu Kun.  Too bad she never had children of her own though at least she adopted two heirs to inherit her fortune she would leave behind when she's dead.  I really had my thoughts her taking on less serious roles like "Girls Marching On" where she was paired with Sun Xing (who she was