Grand Chinese TV Watching Challenge

[jbradfor]

Already Monday? Another week gone by? [Actually, it's Tuesday, isn't it.]

Watched two more episodes last week, no idea how I found time to manage that last week. This week is looking even worse.

[Hesham119]

hello every one

I know more than a week went by ( may be 2 weeks )

Finished watching 奋斗 episode 3, still cant understand the business part

I will post the new words I got to the related topic

how is every body's progress going ?

Ps: I watch the same episode every day during the week I know its quiet boring but it is worth it

[renzhe]

Ps: I watch the same episode every day during the week I know its quiet boring but it is worth it

It's great, if you have the patience for it. 奋斗 is very useful in the sense that it uses modern and relevant language. I wouldn't dwell on the business part for too long, it's probably the most difficult part in the entire series. If you have questions, post them in the relevant thread, and I'll try to answer them.

Anyway, I've seen the first episode of that mantis show and I've finished the peacock feather, so I'm still in.

[Hesham119]

heres the words I posted

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/17355-first-episode-11-%e5%a5%8b%e6%96%97/page__view__findpost__p__261455

[Hesham119]

It's great, if you have the patience for it. 奋斗 is very useful in the sense that it uses modern and relevant language. I wouldn't dwell on the business part for too long, it's probably the most difficult part in the entire series. If you have questions, post them in the relevant thread, and I'll try to answer them.

Yes the language they use is so colloquial, 陆涛's father also uses so many chinese proverbs and thats so great every episode I learn a new proverb from him

I passed the business part also, may be I will get back to it later

great work with the peacock feathers

may be I will watch it after I finish 奋斗

加油！

[feihong]

I watched the first episode of 肌肉女孩 (a Japanese show with Chinese subtitles), and even though I was only reading the dialogue through the subtitles, I found the show to be willfully, aggressively dumb. I actually liked the premise, though: a financially struggling professional women's wresting club has three months to win a major tournament in order to pay off their debts.

I saw episode 2 of 在线爱. Although I liked the first episode, this episode really deflated my hopes for the show. I admit I don't understand some of the jokes, but the jokes I do get are pretty juvenile. I don't see myself sticking with this show much longer.

I also saw another two episodes of 毛骗. The subsequent episodes were not as good as the pilot, but still okay. This show really doesn't mind showing the grubbier side of China, which is interesting. And although the con artists at the center of the show are likable, the show hasn't yet glamorized what they do.

Finally, I saw yet another episode of 城市猎人. I know I'm missing some things here and there, but I have no desire to rewind and re-read the subtitles. Somehow the revenge thriller aspects have given way to a sappy romance. I hate when Korean dramas do a bait-and-switch like that. This show exists in a state where it's just barely good enough for me to keep watching, and admittedly it's good speed reading practice.

[Sarevok]

I didn't watch anything last week, so I guess I'm out... that was quick

The Mantis Killer completely lost its drive about halfway through the series. It got kinda repetitive and I don't know if I'll force myself to watch it to the end... especially now, since I'll be leaving for China pretty soon (much sooner than I originally expected).

Anyways, if it still means anything, I finished this weeks quota by watching the first episode of 马迭尔旅馆的枪声 today (stumbled upon it while downloading another series from 风行). Another spy flick, but this one seems to be pretty bad right from the beginning (I didn't find any character likable). I can't really recommend it.

[roddy]

If you miss a week, you're not out as such - your GCTWC score drops to zero, but you can just start again. The GCTWC Championship Crown just passes to whoever has been going for the longest, there's no need to maintain continuity right from the start. Also, there isn't really an actual physical crown as such, it's more . . . made up.

[Gleaves]

I only watched cartoons last week, somehow I feel bad counting that. I'm using a 1up and starting over.

I watched the first episode of Mantis Killer yesterday. Very fun with more than a few familiar faces. I'm disppaointed to hear it loses steam.

[feihong]

Last week I watched 3 episodes of 城市猎人. Even though it's descended into a complete soap operatic trainwreck, I have to admit that I'm hooked and can't stop watching. It's got almost every Korean soap opera trope: orphans, North Korean terrorism, characters who constantly use Samsung products and drive Hyundai vehicles, an ill-fated romance, a girl who knows judo*, corrupt government officials, a bumbling comic relief uncle, a mother with cancer, a father in a vegetative state, starving children, protesting college students, nationalism, sexism, filial piety, filial impiety, etc. The only things missing are cross-dressing, cosmetic surgery, and misuse of the word "fighting".

I also watched an episode of 毛骗, but this more restrained show kinda faded into the background for me.

*Technically she should be a Taekwondo expert, but I guess that's the innovative part of the show.

[renzhe]

Judo is extremely popular in Korea. Taekwondo has become a kids' sport nowadays, only competitors do it past childhood.

[jbradfor]

Sigh, I'm out.

Is my life really that busy that I couldn't find one hour -- just one little hour! -- to watch a TV program and keep my 面子 here? I fear the answer is yes.

Will pick this one back up soon.

[Gleaves]

I watched several episodes of Peacock Feather last week. I'm liking it. I'll post thoughts in that thread when I get a little further.

I've been trying out a few Chinese 秦朝 era cartoons - 秦汉英雄传 and 秦时明月 (Qin's Moon). I'm enjoying them both, but I am liking 秦汉英雄传 a bit more. I dig its more traditional animation over the somewhat awkward cgi of Qin's Moon. I'm watching both on qiyi.

[feihong]

Oh, City Hunter, how I hate to love thee. Episode 13 made an abrupt switch to traditional characters for the subtitles. That was just brutal. Apparently I take 1.5 times longer to read traditional characters. But afterwards it switched back to simplified characters. I finished episode 17 last night, so only 3 more episodes to go!

Also episode 5 of 毛骗.

[feihong]

Finished City Hunter last week. It sure ended on a patriotic note! Not too many surprises, except one character's death which was totally meaningless and stupid. This is the first Korean drama I've finished in a very long time. I don't think this was a particularly good one though, I continued watching it out of spite rather than entertainment. Truly a terrible show. However I am rather proud of making through it using subtitles alone.

I decided to watch a number of first episodes so that I don't end up watching the entirety of a terrible show. All of the following shows are non-Chinese, but I followed along by reading the Chinese subtitles.

冻结: A very slow-moving emo Korean vampire series. Meh.

克隆宝贝: A science fiction show about clones and stolen identities. A high school student wakes up in the hospital after being supposedly murdered. Over time he learns that not only has his mysterious birthmark disappeared, a stranger has taken his place at school and at home, with hardly anyone remembering who he is. This show has some promise, although I don't really like the high school setting.

另一面KARA: This show is a turd, although a very polished turd. A Korean girl group gets a new manager, who happens to be a futuristic robot butler that gives them "love missions" that require them to seduce hapless dudes. Truly bizarre and idiotic.

牙狼魔界战记: One of those tokusatsu shows from Japan, ala Power Rangers. Except this one is a lot of cheesy, breezy fun. A dude with a samurai sword has to defend Tokyo from demons. That's pretty much it. Oh, except he can transform into an armored golden wolf for 90 seconds. And he has a magic ring that talks. I want to see more of this show, although I don't have very high hopes for subsequent episodes.

[Gleaves]

I'm back on a decent TV watching schedule and I think this challenge definitely provided the needed inertia.

Last week and this week, I've been steadily watching Peacock Feather, 潜伏 (2 episodes left), and 秦汉英雄传 (about halfway through this cartoon series).

[feihong]

Last week I watched five episodes of 男人帮. Started out OK, but I don't think I will continue with the show.

And I watched more first episodes of Japanese shows that have Chinese subtitles:

堂吉诃德: A social worker and a yakuza boss switch bodies. This show wasn't too bad.

Q10: A high school boy finds a female robot in the science room of his school. I typically don't like shows with a Japanese high school setting, and this show didn't change my opinion at all.

父女七日变: A father and his teenage daughter switch bodies. I was pleasantly surprised by this show.

[feihong]

I watched two more episodes of 男人帮 before I finally decided to drop that shop. And of course, I watched a whole slew of Japanese first episodes:

天堂之花: Post-apocalyptic sci-fi, done poorly.

漂流教室: Based on a classic horror manga, this TV adaptation basically changed everything except the basic premise -- a school gets mysteriously transported to an unknown time and place. I couldn't get much of a feel for this show in the first episode, since it spent most of its running time introducing its many characters and the transport only happened at the very end.

问题男人: A fun action show where a hapless do-gooder basically has the worst day of his life, as he falls into one bad situation after another. This was a very good first episode.

漂流网吧: A net cafe gets mysteriously transported to an unknown time and place. Sound familiar? It's similarly hard to figure out where this show was going, both figuratively and literally.

HUNTER: Nice little comedy about an air stewardess who, through various bizarre circumstances, becomes a bounty hunter. A pretty good first episode.

刺猬男生: About an alternate universe Japan where a race of hedgehog people exist alongside normal humans. Not a great first episode overall, but the ending was so weird, I feel like I just have to watch episode 2.

鹿男与美丽的奈良: The stylized subtitle font made this one hard to follow. It's basically about a research scientist who loses his post and has to move to a small remote town to teach at an all-girls high school. There are a lot of plot points in this first episode, from a mystical fish to talking deer, but nothing feels very consequential. Probably a good show that takes a while to build up.

MM9: About a paranormal animal investigation team. This was just OK. It doesn't seem like the kind of show that is particularly exciting.

圈套: A rather famous show about a paranormal investigation duo. I only watched about half of the first episode but it was very solid. Will certainly watch at least a few more episodes.

[Gleaves]

I tried an episode of 男人帮. i liked it, but it sounds like it loses steam.

I finished off 潜伏。Great stuff.

Has anyone watched the show 一路向南？ It's a travelogue about two guys doing a tour through the Americas. I just watched the first episode, which is about taking a cargo ship from China across the Pacific. From there, it sounds like they plan to travel on land from Alaska to Argentina. Good stuff.

[imron]

Has anyone watched the show 一路向南？

Just watched the first episode then. Looks good, except the first part (5+ mins) of the second episode just seems to be a repeat of the last part of the first episode.