Saturday, April 04, 2015

Liebster Award

A surprise nomination from a regular reader and commentator junny for the Liebster Award! It totally caught me by surprise so it took me a bit of time to prepare this post. I hardly read any blogs these days (wish I could use the time to catch up on my blogging and reading backlog!) so I am struggling to come up with a list of nominees which meet the number of followers' criteria. Besides, I don't even think that I qualify as a new blog because this site has been around since 2006. Yes, this blog will be 10 years old next year!

Nonetheless, I'll still answer the questions junny posted so that other blog readers can also know more about me and the behind-the-scenes of this blog. In case I don't meet the criteria for this award, can someone please let me know and I'll take down the logo and change the title of this post? Thanks!

1. What do you look for in (drama) blogs to read/follow?
I don't have any particular criteria when it comes to reading blogs. As long as there is information which interests me, I'll check the blog once every few days. As for following blogs, I do read a couple from friends and acquaintances but they are not related to J-ent.

2. Do you have a favourite OTP and why?
It's really difficult to narrow it down to one pair but here are the ones I can think of right now (not in order of preference):
 - Eita & Ueno Juri - they were great in Nodame (no romantic link though) and I thought they were awesome in Last Friends
- Odagiri Jo & Asou Kumiko in Jikou Keisatsu
- Tamaki Hiroshi & Ayase Haruka in Kyouwa Kaisha Yasumimasu (Yeah, I know the drama wasn't that good but I think these two made it bearable for me to stick till the end)
- Kase Ryo & Toda Erika in SPEC
- Tanaka Tetsushi & Nakatani Miki in Ghost Writer
- Nagase Tomoya & Sakai Miki in Hakusen Nagashi
- Kimura Takuya & Matsu Takako in Love Generation & Hero 1
- Osawa Takao & Nakatani Miki in JIN
- Kubota Masataka & Eikura Nana in N no tame ni
- Eita & Ono Machiko in Saikou no Rikon
- Tamaki Hiroshi & Ueno Juri in Nodame Cantabile

3. Have you developed any particular style of writing/recapping/reviewing over time?
I used to do synopsis + reviews but this became more difficult to do as work became more demanding and time-consuming. Nowadays, I just put down the major developments in the story and focus more on the reviews. I did make exceptions for some dramas which I really liked e.g. Seinaru Kaibutsutachi but I doubt I'll have the energy and time now to do that kind of posts for a single drama.

4. How do you keep the blogging momentum going?
Well, that's a question which I would like to find the answer to! It's very difficult to find time and energy during weekdays to blog so my updates tend to be concentrated during the weekends.

5. Do you drink? If so, what is your favourite drink?
Once in a blue moon. Usually, white wine or mojito, depending on my mood, the location and occasion.

6. If you could ask your favourite actor/actress a question, what would it be?
Do you see yourself working in this line forever or have you set a retirement age for yourself?

7. Which country’s dramas do you prefer and why?
Obviously, J-dramas is No.1. HK dramas are a close second. However, for both genres, the biggest grouse I have these days is that they tend to have less-than-satisfactory endings even though the drama was great from start to the pre-finale. I wish that more effort can be put into the endings.

8. Do you have a go-to book or music?
Nothing in particular.

9. Do you have a favourite live-action series?
Nodame Cantabile.

10. On average, how long does it take you to write up a post?
For a news article translation, between 5 minutes and 20 minutes. For a review, can range between a few hours and X-number of days because I tend to rewrite reviews at times. Now, I'm stuck with Kyouwa Kaisha wo Yasumimasu which has been pending for a few months. I'll probably write something else first and come back to it later.

11. Where do you see your blog in five years’ time?
In five years' time, this blog should be 14 years old. That's probably considered a granny in Internet terms. I hope that it's still around by then and of course, wishing that there will be more readers compared to now.

2 comments:

junny said...

Yay, thanks for accepting the nomination! It's been fun reading your answers to the questions! Who cares if this is an old or new blog? It's a blog that deserves more recognition in the Jdrama blogging world, that's for sure! I am totally amazed that you've been blogging for so long, most people would have given up by then. But in a way, I'm glad you persevered because there aren't really a lot of blogs out there dedicated to news and stuff about J-dramas and J-ent in general.

LOL, I was looking at your OTP lists and was getting a bit worried that I wasn't seeing Tamaki and Ueno... then bingo, they are right there at the bottom, hehe. Just my bias peeking in XD I agree with Kimura and Matsu, and also Eita and Ono Machiko, though I'd have gone for Osawa and Ayase in JIN (I find it very hard to warm up to Nakatani as an actress). I still have to watch SPEC, have heard good things about it.

Ohhh, you like HK dramas too? That's cool, they're like my comfort food. I do agree about the endings, it's pretty annoying to have followed what was generally a decent series only for it to flop right at the end. Drives me nuts. And with so many experienced actors leaving TVB, I guess the quality isn't going to improve anytime soon, sigh.

Looking forward to seeing your review about Kaisha! I think you'll probably be much nicer about it than I was, haha.

Chiaki said...

Ayase and Osawa in JIN were OK too but it's just that I don't like the type of little girl admiration for older guy relationship between them. In contrast, Osawa and Nakatani's interaction in an otona-type of friendship where words were not so important yet they could develop this mutual trust and understanding was more appealing to me.

I share your sentiment about the TVB dramas. There's a lot of "recycling" of the same few people because there are fewer actors these days to choose from. Even those who used to be supporting characters are taking the helm as leads. Not that I really mind because some of these actors are good but it does feel a bit odd to see them being the leads. The biggest disappointment I saw in recent months should have been 使徒行者 (Line Walker). It was really good until the last two episodes.

I don't know how much longer I'll take with Kaisha because I find myself having too many negative things to say. It's not all about Fukushi but rather, I have more issues with the story. It's high time I get this done and move on to clearing the increasing backlog of dramas I want to review.