“Bangabseubnida yeoreobun!”
I go by R. My hobbies include drawing, watching tons of K-dramas and as a consequence of that I now have mostly Korean artists on my playlist. #noregrets
Here I bring you another first look. This time I’m looking at “Go Go Squid 2: DT, Appledog’s Time” that was released just this year 2021. Its plot surrounds around robot combat gamers.
Starring:
Hu Yi Tian as Wu Bai A.k.a. DT
Li Yi Tong as Ai Qing A.k.a. Appledog
Appledog’s Time
Ai Qing a.k.a. Appledog has been in the Robot games for years. She’s considered a legend and has many fans. Her biggest dream is to win the Asian Tournament. At tonight’s event she will have to go against DT. Whether she loses or wins this round will determine if she can go to the Asian tournament.
DT’s Time
Wu Bai A.k.a. DT is a newcomer to the game. 7 years ago, he first saw Appledog with her then team Solo and decided to also learn the game to get a chance to one day compete with her and stand on the same platform as her. His dream has come true; for tonight, he is playing against non-other than Appledog.
But DT carries a secret with him. He is slowly losing his eyesight and keeps postponing the surgery because he doesn’t want to miss out on playing the game.
Author’s Note
“Go Go Squid 2: DT, Appledog’s Time” sparked my attention by having Hu Yi Tan star in it. After learning that his character also appeared in the first season, I decided it was best to first watch that in order to get a better feeling about de character and the backstory.
I ended up really liking the first season and was looking forward to seeing all the characters again in the second season. I had missed the old Solo team and of course the K&K team.
First thing I obviously noted even while watching the first season, was that Appledog would be portrayed by a different actress in the second season. I really liked the original actress but what you gonna do? I decided that this new actress was probably going to work out great as well.
So… I started watching it… I got very confused… What happened to the CTF championships? Why is Appledog supposedly taking part in robot combat games and has been for years? This was never mentioned in the first season. I wasn’t complaining as I still thought the whole thing was cool. Not as cool as CTF but, you know, cool…
I was very confused
Another thing that struck me was that they introduced each other. They already knew each other from the first season. What is going on?! I decided to keep watching it and I determined that this season must be set in a time prior to the first season and after rechecking the timeframe I was proven right.
But the series threw me for a loop again when it finally caught up with the timeline but nothing about CTF was mentioned. Everything was still about robots. Also DT was behaving like he was the Boss of K&K, like he had the same power his cousin has, when that wasn’t the case at all in the first season of Go Go Squid.
This is when I decided to turn to our dear Mr. Google to ask some questions. I stumbled on bunch of comments that had gone through the same ordeal as me. One comment in particular caught my eye as it said: “It is best to not so much view this series as a season 2 of the original but rather as a parallel universe of it.”
Well, I have decided to do just that and give it a chance. I will however miss the original team a lot! As I notice that most of the actors have changed…
If you have been thinking about watching this series I would still encourage you to do so. I think it will still be a good story by its own.
“Go Go Squid!” is a 2019 Chinese drama that revolves mainly around two teams that frequently take part in CTF [Catch The Flag] Competitions. These competitions have teams try to best each other in solving computer security problems while simultaneously defending their own computer systems against incoming hackers.
Starring:
Li Xian as Han Shang Yan A.k.a. Gun God
Yang Zi as Tong Nian A.k.a. Little Squid
Hu Yi Tian as Wu Bai A.k.a. DT
Li Ze Feng as Wang Hao A.k.a. Solo
Wang Zhen Er as Ai Qing A.k.a Appledog
Lee Hong Chi as Mi Shao Fei A.k.a. Xiao Mi
Chen Xi Jun as Ou Qiang A.k.a All
Gun God
Han Shang Yan a.k.a. Gun God (Li Xian) is a 30-year-old man that used to be part of the famous CTF Team “Solo”, named that after the call name of their leader Wang Hao (Li Ze Feng). When Solo decides to leave the team to care for his daughter, Han Shang Yan decides to retire from the game.
Several years later he starts planning his own company under which he will be training a new generation of CTF players. After his first company in Norway has obtained secure footing, he decides to also open up a branch in China, where he successfully trains a new team named “K&K”.
Although it has now been 10 years since the Solo team disbanded, Han Shang Yan still hasn’t forgiven Wang Hao a.k.a Solo for abandoning their team. Because of his resentment, he even went as far as terminating all relationship with the rest of the members.
Solo now works for a company and is in charge of training their CTF team called “SP”. SP and K&K are frequently competing against each other in championships.
Go Go Squid!
Tong Nian is a 20-year-old girl studying computer science at the university, but is mainly interested in app developing. In her spare time, she makes song covers that she puts online where she already has a solid following under the username “Little Squid”. On some evenings she helps out at her relative’s internet café.
It is at this café that she first lays eyes on Han Shang Yan. Tong Nian is immediately drawn to him. She learns that he is involved with the K&K team and decides to go and check out one of their championships.
***
Han Shang Yan thinks the internet café girl to be slightly annoying. All the more he is surprised to find her at the championship location. Through a misunderstanding he believes her to be the girlfriend of one of his players. After she confesses to him that it was him she came to see, he immediately sets her straight by telling her he’s neither interested nor does he have the time for relationships.
Fate will have it that they meet again at a family and friends gathering. His and her family apparently go way back, especially with his grandfather. They gathered everyone to try setting up Han Shang Yan with Tong Nian’s cousin. To get out of the situition, he convinces Tong Nian to act as his girlfriend.
Han Shang Yan’s grandfather welcomes Tong Nian with open arms. Often inviting both of them over to his house. While spending more time together, Han Shang Yan starts to appreciate Tong Nian.
Will the outspoken and warmhearted Tong Nian be able to break through the barricade around Han Shang Yan’s heart?
Author’s Note
Is this a must watch? In my opinion no, it is not. Do I regret watching it? Definitely not! I would probably even watch it again.
In the beginning I found the main girl’s character to be very annoying. But with time, just like our main lead I started to warm up to her and learned to appreciate her for what she was. I thought that when push came to shove, she would let everyone trample all over her but she surprised me by holding her own against adversaries and also delivering some great comebacks while doing so.
On the other hand, would it have killed them to change her hairdo every now and then? Her half up half down hairdo got real boring real fast.
The show pulled me further in by showing snippets of the past when the Solo team was still together. It made everything more nostalgic and the chemistry among the actors was great.
I loved the computer game aspect of this show, although I would have enjoyed them showing a bit more in detail what was happening on the screens during the championships. I also believe CTF [Catch The Flag] could have been better explained to the viewers so that we mere mortals could all better understand what was going on.
Another thing I loved about this drama was its message on forgiveness. Han Shang Yan needed to first forgive himself and overcome his stubborn pride in order to also forgive his old teammates. All the while his teammates waited for him to come back to them.
If you watched “Go Go Squid!” or decide to watch it, I would like to know what you thought of it. Let me know in the comments below!
“Arsenal Military Academy” is a 2019 Chinese drama set during the Xinhai revolution in 1911.
Starring:
Bai Lu as Xie Xiang
Xu Kai as Gu Yanzhen
Li Cheng-Bin as Shen Junshan
Wu Jia-Yi as Qu Manting
Our story starts here
The Arsenal Military Academy has just reopened their doors with the purpose to train officers and many patriotic young men from all over the country have enlisted.
Entering a Dream
Xie Xang always looked up to her big brother Xie Liangchen and the two shared a close bond.
After his death she is left feeling devastated and alone. She decides to leave Beijing and head towards Shunyuan to fulfill her deceased brother’s dream to enroll into the Arsenal Military Academy.
Taking on his name and disguising herself as a man, she cheats her way through the physical examination and thus manages to become part of the new group of young men accepted into the Academy.
Xie Xang’s only confidant is her childhood friend Xiajun, who is not sure as to what to think of her plan just yet. Xiajun is attending an all-girls university. The same university Xie Xiang’s parents think she is attending after moving to Shunyuan.
“Are you really sure about this?”
After arriving at the Academy, Xie Xang quickly realizes that keeping up with her new classmates is going to be much harder than anticipated.
To her dismay, she finds out the roommate appointed to her is none other than the infamous Gu Yanzhen. A fellow she crossed paths with just the day before and did not have a good impression of.
Poison
Life has taught Gu Yanzhen one thing: His family connections will always get him out of any mess he creates for himself.
Having arrived in town only a couple of days before, Gu Yanzhen feels the need to stir up some trouble again. This leads to an arrest of himself and the innocent Xie Liangchen.
“Hello everyone, I’m Gu Yanzhen.”
Gu Yanzhen’s father, after hearing about the incident, decides that he has had enough. He enlists his son into the Military Academy in hopes that he will finally learn some discipline and stop bringing shame upon the Gu family name. But first, of course, he sends his men to get him out of prison.
With his playful yet arrogant demeanor, Gu Yanzhen falls into bad graces with the head instructor without missing a beat. It doesn’t take long for him to realize, things at the academy run different from what he is used to. The instructors don’t care about anyone’s background but instead treat everyone equally.
“From now on, whoever dares mention their old man’s power with me again, don’t expect me to go easy on you!”
What a nice surprise though, finding out his new roommate is that little fellow he encountered a day before. This certainly should make his stay at the academy more entertaining, since he very much enjoys teasing him.
Despite their constant quarrelling, Gu Yanzhen looks out for Xie Liangchen.
Raging Fire
Shen Junshan decided to give up his medicine studies in order to join the academy. His family is widely known in the business world, as well as in the political circle.
Since his father retired, his older brother started handling most of the family’s affairs. Although some may question the way in which he handles them.
Not crazy about social events, Shen Junshan is all too happy to leave the business affairs to his brother.
Despite his affluential background, Shen Junshan doesn’t look down on others and is always ready to stand up for those weaker than him.
His very driven nature makes him one of the best of his class. He takes pride in his accomplishments and seems to possess all the qualities of a good soldier.
Soldier
Upon entering the academy, Xie Xang’s straightforward personality immediately gains her a handful of friends, as well as a couple of enemies.
Keeping up with her comrades and hiding her real identity is a hard-enough task already. In addition, her roommate has become much too interested in her as of late, which complicates things further.
News have been spreading of a new mysterious leader taking over the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. Xie Xang can’t help but suspect Shen Junshan’s old schoolfriend. Said individual just came into town and seems to somehow be connected with the Japanese.
As the attacks from the Japanese keep increasing, the academy is called upon to send reinforcements. With the future of the country in the balance and their lives at stake, this group of young “men” will have to look past their differences and unite as a team against the enemy.
Author’s Note
First of all, if you haven’t watched it yet what are you still doing here? Go ahead and watch it. It’s a must.
*Beware! Might contain spoilers and fan ramblings*
Arsenal Military Academy was already kind of on my watchlist. The story seemed very interesting to me. I was actually watching “The World owes me a First Love” aka “Lucky’s First Love” at the time. After finding out that the main actress was the same, my mind was set.
This is my third Chinese drama and I am quite honestly obsessed with it. It has now been a month that I finished it and I am still not over it. I loved the characters. Every single one of them. They were all so well written and wonderfully executed.
Bai Lu
did hands down the best job ever in portraying a guy. All the way from her voice to the mannerisms. She even actually cut her hair for the role, instead of opting for a wig or a shaggy haircut that is easy to grow out later. No, she full on cut her hair! As someone who prefers to wear her hair short, I admire that big time. She has set the standards high.
Xu Kai
played the most likeable jerk there ever was ㅋㅋㅋ. Gu Yanzhen’s character development is one of the best. He became a man that took responsibility for his actions but never completely lost his playful side.
Bai Lu’s and Xu Kai’s chemistry was great. They are one of those drama couples you could watch in 10 more dramas together and you’d still be begging for more.
Another Beloved Villain
I admire the female villain in this Drama. Jin Xiarong displays an innocent face for everyone to see but actually hides a dark character underneath. Gao Yu-Er did an awesome job portraying this two-faced personality. Quite honestly the first time she came onto the screen I was like.¨Oh, a nice little damsel in distress.¨ But ooh boy was I wrong. To use the Korean words, – as I’m not acquainted much with the Chinese terms yet – I would just like to say: “Daebak Sakeon!!!” **Clapping enthusiastically**
Tango under the Moonlight
The OST was all around great from start to finish. Fun fact: Except the Intro song, all the songs were sung by the cast members, making the Soundtrack all the more meaningful.
Moving on to the next part I liked about this drama. I know what you’re thinking. Will she ever stop? But I promise, this is the last point I’m making. COSTUMES!!!
I LOVED the costumes! I love how they gave each character their own style and stuck with it ’til the end.
Tailored suits and dresses for the more privileged ones, simple designs for the middle class, and patched up clothes for the underprivileged. As some of the latter made more money, this became apparent in their attire which started to resemble the middle-class designs.
I just so appreciated all the detail they put into the costumes. If I had to pick a favourite wardrobe I would go with Qu Manting’s.
Everything she wore, including the accessories, accentuated her beautiful and chaotic personality perfectly.
Well I’ll stop my ramblings here before I go too far…
Today I would like to introduce my fellow K-drama addict R to all of you. After years of sharing our favourite K-dramas and K-pop songs, she agreed to officially join this blog in early 2019.
Since than she has been chiefly responsible for the media portion of our posts and I am so excited to finally officially introduce her to all of you.
Well, actually, I’ll let her introduce herself. Take it away R.
**********
Hello everyone, this is R trying to write a decent introduction. Just know that writing isn’t my forte, so bear with me here.
This introduction is to let you know how I was first introduced to the world of K-Dramas and K-Pop. I was but a young lass when I first learned about the existence of these magical series.
It was through a Skype chat with my older Sister. She had stumbled upon some nice series, watched them herself and proceeded to tell me to check them out.
Her first recommendation was for me to watch a Korean movie called ‘He was cool’. Being raised to always listen to my elders, 😉 I quickly obliged. Needless to say, I loved the movie and I wanted more.
At the next chat with my Sister she shared with me a site that I could visit and it would show me all of these series with a little summary of what it was about. I was then to click on a series that spiked my interest and be able to watch it.
We did not, however, take into account that I lived in an unpopular country and that said country was restricted to access the videos. I was able to read the summaries though which helped me choose my first Korean Drama.
The Girl who still chose K-Dramas
‘Personal Taste’ aka ‘Personal Preference’ was the first drama I chose. Now all I had to do, was to find a site to watch it at. With the help of my sister I found one quickly and thus the joy began.
The internet speed back than was another obstacle all on its own. But I had a purpose; a destiny to fulfill – so to speak -and I was not about to be stopped by slow internet.
Growing up watching Telenovelas (Spanish Soap Operas) and the unending episodes of drama that come with that, I was pleasantly surprised about how short this drama was. I loved how it didn’t linger on one problem too long and how it tugged at the heartstrings just enough to keep you falling for all the characters.
If my memory serves me right, I watched ‘Boys before Flowers’ afterwards. I wasn´t as thrilled with the drama as many of my co K-drama fans. What got me through it was the So-Eul Couple. I´m watching fan videos of them to this day.
So it should come as no surprise that my next drama would include Kim Bum. I picked ‘The woman who still wants to marry’. After that it was just pretty much one drama after the other.
So beautiful my K-Pop
My K-pop addiction was another thing. I started out listening to the OST of ‘You´re Beautiful’ after having watched the drama. Little old moa back then thought that was it. “That is as far as I´m going down this rabbit hole.”
Good thing for me back then, I still had no idea of the existence of this fore mentioned rabbit hole. So, I went in full speed and just slid down deeper and deeper.
Starting with Ft.Island (or should I say Lee Hong Gi), Lee Seung Gi and then the first Boy group I stanned. (Mind you, stan was more of a name back then and not the term used to describe you rooting for someone, but we gotta go with the times here.) Ahem… B2ST or Beast if you´d like was the group of my choosing. I came in right at the ‘Fiction’ era. What a time to be alive!
As all good K-pop stanners do, I started forcing all my Korean playlists into my friend’s ears. I didn´t get any of them to become as immersed into the genre as I am. (Blame me for my overflowing excitement that probably scared them away.)
I did succeed on some level though. All of my close friends have at least one folder among their playlists named ‘Korean songs’. It’s the little victories that count. 🙂
Do you know Annyeonghaseyo?
Another thing that soon spiked my interest was the Korean language itself. I have always been fascinated with languages.
After looking into the Korean alphabet one afternoon, I was surprised how straightforward it was. With a little practice, I was soon able to read sentences and even scribble some of my own.
Sadly, to this day, I still can’t understand everything. I blame myself, since I haven’t taken the necessary steps to learn more. But I am hopeful to one day being able to hold a full conversation in Korean.
