Muah!

For the past week, I have only had one thing on my mind - the Taiwanese drama series 惡作劇之吻 (It Started with a Kiss) and its sequel 惡作劇2吻 (They Kiss Again). I adore the two leads of the show, played by Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin - though I am constantly frustrated with them as well. I think that's what I love the most about the show - it's so human.

So the show is about a girl named Xiang Qin and the love of her life, Zhi Shu. The story begins when they're both in high school - XQ is a somewhat simple and blur girl who is the lowest class in her grade. On the very first day of high school, she falls madly in love with the smartest boy in the school, ZS. She harbors this secret love for two years, but finally decides to tell him about it in a letter. ZS completely rejects her in public, and the two become the talk of the school. That same night, an earthquake rocks the city, and XQ's new house is completely destroyed. Luckily, XQ's father's friends offer to house the forlorn family (the friends are super rich :P).

Surprisingly (not), the lovely couple who houses XQ and her dad are ZS's parents! and so the story begins. ZS is a strong arrogant jerk who values intelligence above all things. XQ, on the other hand, is an open, affectionate child, but lives in constant confusion; she's just a little stupid and slow to understand things. ZS is really really cold to XQ (I seriously almost cried, he was that mean) to XQ...but XQ hits it off with ZS's mother, and the two of them hatch a plan so that ZS and XQ will get married. Several disasters, and many years later, the two of them start unofficially "going out". Despite competition for ZS's love, XQ prevails, and in the middle of their college years, the two of them get married. The scene where ZS finally reveals his love for XQ was -so- touching, though he was a complete bastard up to that point.

I am such a sap.

Anyway, that was the end of ISWAK. In the sequel, the couple explore married life together as ZS studies to become a doctor. After deciding to be a teacher and failing miserably, XQ decides to follow ZS and become a nurse. Separations, harsh words, and love making ensue. The drama series ends with the two re-affirming their love for each other.

Lol, I can feel how stiff that summary is, but its actually really hard to describe this drama without going into too much detail! I loved this drama - at first I thought it was overacted, but after a few episodes, I got really into it. Joe and Ariel have amazing chemistry, and the director does a great job of drawing people in. The show was really well received when it came out, and I give major props to everyone involved in the series for keeping everyone interested, since the "type" of show changed so drastically. It started out as a high school love story, switched into college mode, and was briefly filmed in an office - before the second act! In the second part, the series started with them back in college, and then abruptly switched into a hospital drama.

Screw it, I think I'm going to have to do multiple gushing posts about how amazing this drama is. I learned so much about Taiwanese/Asian culture and values. And I think I got some life lessons out of it too...like how important it is to set goals (and work hard to achieve them). I also relearned how important it is to be open and honest and sincere about everything you do - that keeping your feelings bottled up inside isn't always the way to go. And that brains aren't everything.

I'll gush about some of my favourite moments in the series tomorrow :)