Asian Addicts Anonymous

I know. I didn’t do any updates last week because I was on vacation. The first half of the week was spending time with my sister’s family and dealing with horribly sluggish internet. The second half I was watching and recapping dramas which I hope to continue on a more regular basis. Don’t expect any simulcast recaps from me for awhile. I won’t apologize for that. It can be really hard sometimes.

Okay, so let’s get on to the new releases in anime, Asian dramas, and Asian movies. YouTube updates to come when I have the time (I’m going back down to my sister’s again this weekend…sigh).

DramaFever

They have rolled out a newly designed site. You can still use the old one, but I don’t know for how much longer. This site actually resembles the redesigned Roku app they’ve had for awhile.

Newly added is Korean drama Save Me starring Ok Taecyeon, David Lee, Seo Ye Ji, Jo Sung Ha, Woo Do Hwan, and Hwe Jung. The drama is based on popular webcomic Out of the World by Jo Geum San. Taecyeon is the weak son of a governor who vows to become stronger, so when a young woman asks him to save her from a cult, he rounds up three friends and sets out to do just that. Only…it’s a lot harder to get out of a cult than to join. Can this group of friends survive and complete their mission? OCN usually churns out really good dark and gritty dramas.

If you’re a fan of Go Kyung Po, his latest drama Strongest Deliveryman is now streaming. The show also stars Chae Soo Bin, Kim Sun Ho,  Go Won Hee, and Nam Ji Hyun. Two delivery workers born from poor families strive to become the best in their field and lift themselves out of their humble world. They become rivals in business, but are soon attracted to each other. Can they find both success and love?

And for those waiting, the second season of Chinese drama My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend has started streaming. I haven’t watched the first season yet. I see people either hated it or loved it. The drama continues the story of our otaku and two robots—a male and a female. What will happen to this bizarre love triangle?

Supposed these movies are coming on Friday…but I swear they don’t all always show up on Friday even though they are on schedule for that date…The Truth Beneath, Socialphobia, Shameless, Black House, Attack on the Gas Station 2, Shadows in the Palace, Guardian, and INGtoogi: The Battle of Internet Trolls.

Netflix

Netflix adds Chinese-Hong Kong crime film Operation Mekong which stars Eddie Peng, Zhang Hanyu, Carl Ng, Ken Lo, and Pawarith Monkolpisit. A narcotics officer sets out to uncover the truth after a drug raid on the Mekong River results in thirteen deaths. Also available is Chinese-Hong Kong suspense film Sky on Fire starring Daniel Wu, Amber Kuo, Zhang Ruoyan, Zhang Jingchu, and Joseph Chang. Daniel Wu plays a security officer who must prevent a cure for a deadly disease from falling into the wrong hands.

If you are a Wang Kai fan and haven’t caught his crime drama When a Snail Falls in Love on DramaFever of Viki, you’re in luck because it’s now on Netflix! Xu Xu is a new criminal profiler who is taken under the wing of the no-nonsense Ji Bai who forces her to approach things in a new way. If you would like to see a story with two different outcomes based on two different paths chosen by a woman faced with a difficult decision, check out Taiwanese drama Life Plan A and B starring Rainie Yang and Yan Yulin. This is the second story arc in the Q Series.

Ah…Netflix and English titles for dramas. They have a drama called Love Storm. Just know this is not Vic Zhou and Ken Zhu’s 2003 Taiwanese drama. This is really a 7 episode story in the Taiwanese Q Series called Love of Sandstorm. The Lin family are in the middle of a crisis as their parents are divorcing and already have their eyes set on new partners. In Singaporean drama Bountiful Blessings the Kitchen God (a former mortal) stirs up trouble when he opens up a restaurant with his reincarnated wife. The third story of the Q Series, Have You Ever Fallen in Love, Miss Jiang? finds a teacher put in a tough position when she witnesses a troubling interaction between a student and administrator. In the fourth story of the Q Series, Close Your Eyes Before It’s Dark, a group of friends are reunited to unearth a time capsule. Unfortunately it unearthed old hatred and a killing game begins.

A mother finds it hard to keep her vow to not meddle in her children’s lives after their marriages like her mother-in-law did in in Singaporean drama The In-Laws. When two children become friends, they unravel a horrific crime that connected their fathers to each other in multigenerational melodrama Entangled starring Thomas Ong, Jack Tan, Margaret Wang, Kate Pang, and Huang Qi Ming.

In Malaysian dramas, we have 2016’s Persona starring Loo Aye Keng, Kyo, Jojo Goh, Fabian Loo, and Emily Chan. A PI firm takes on sensitive cases while its uniquely skilled agents tackle issues inside and outside of the office. In 2008’s Exclusive Edition (I’ve found sources that also call it just Exclusive), young journalist juggle work, love, and other challenges while reporting on social issues. Age of Glory is a two season series airing in 2008 and 2010. Netflix has both seasons available. The drama is a historical drama harkening back to the early years of independence in Malaysia.

I feel like a complete idiot because I just learned how Netflix does multiple seasons online. Whoops. Hey…all 4 seasons of God’s Quiz aka Quiz from God are available. The 4th season had some interesting story arcs, but the overall main plot tanked. Seasons 1 and 2 were the best in my opinion. 3 wasn’t bad and was way better than 4. But if you are a fan of SuJu’s Donghae…watch season 4 at your own risk.

Viki

You go away for a week and what happens? Lots of additions and Coming Soons! Oh…and when did Viki come out with a new subscription plan called Viki Pass Plus?

If you didn’t know Mandy Wei’s Memory Love has started streaming. English subtitles are in progress on the first two episodes. Boy, I was excited when I saw Nylon Chen’s name on the cast list, but I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. After an accident, Mandy Wei suffers from memory loss. Her boyfriend’s heart (Nylon Chen) is transplanted to a pastry chef played by Andy Chen. Of course Many Tao’s character steals Mandy Wei’s rightful place and our leading lady must regain her memories and her rightful place in life. Oh…and Jolin Chien, Andy Chen’s half-bother also falls for Mandy Wei’s character. This sounds like a mix of Lady & the Liar and Falling for Jung Soon, doesn’t it?

Korean webdrama I Am stars Park Seon Woo and Jung Chae Yeon. A scientist abandoned his children in pursuit of his work in AI. When he finally creates an AI robot, he hands it over to his adult children to keep it out of the wrong hands. You Are Too Much has been added and stars Uhm Jung Hwa as a famous singer who comes into contact with a struggling vocalist who makes a living impersonating her. English subtitles are in progress. Looks like the earliest episodes might be available to everyone with the latest episodes requiring a pass.

I would say you can watch Yoo Joon Sang and Namgoong Min’s latest…but you can’t unless you purchase Viki Pass Plus. This is a locked series, so you have to be subscriber. This new service is $9.99/month or $89.99/$99.99 a year (they do have a 25% discount on the annual plan right now). It’s a bit of a bummer. So Distorted (aka Falsify) is available to Plus subscribers only and follows a journalist who writes about anything (fact or fiction) just for views and a journalist who has not been able to write an article for years as they join hands with a prosecutor to seek out the truth.

Chinese drama The King’s Woman is supposed to start streaming this week, I believe. I have been wanting to watch this. The drama stars the awesome Zhang Bin Bin, Dilraba Dilmurat, Li Tai, and Liu Chang. It’s a complicated love triangle. A woman agrees to marry the emperor to save her lover and starts to fall in love with him. What happens when the lover wants to kill the emperor and take her back?

Another locked series starring Kim Jaejoong, Uee, Baro, and Jung Hye Sung is Manhole. A man with a sweet unrequited love travels back and forth in time to try to win the heart of the woman she loves before she gets married to another man. Sounds like a plot akin to Operation Proposal. I didn’t really like the Japanese drama so I skipped the Korean drama. And…I’ve really been wanting to watch Into the World Again (aka Reunited Worlds) starring Yeo Jin Goo, Lee Yeon Hee, and Ahn Jae Hyun, but this is another Pass Plus drama. Yeo Jin Goo disappears after a mysterious accident. 12 years later he returns and is reunited with his childhood friend. The only problem is he still looks 19 when he is 31!

Taiwanese drama When a Woman Chases a Man stars Tia Li, Hwang In Deok, Yen-J, Andy Wu, and Jason Hsu. When Tia Li is diagnosed with premature ovary failure, she is faced with the probability of infertility. Before that happens she wants to have a baby. Can she find the perfect man to help her with this? Wang Zi and Joanne Tseng star in Attention, Love! Their fathers were best friends. Wang Zi is a man who pays great attention to detail while Joanne Tseng is a very laid back person. As they find themselves attracted to one another, can love overcome their differences?