Sunday, January 28, 2007

• Peach Girl with Vanness Wu

  Currently Listening Five Years Glorious Collection By F4 see related

  *Spoilers- like always! If  you don't want to know what happens- then don't read here*

  Peach Girl was made AFTER Meteor Garden- in that time period when F4 was riding high from their success and doing their own Twdramas. Ken was in Marmalade Boy - which I loved. Vic was in Mars- which I loved even more, and I'm sure Jerry was doing something. I don't know what and I'm too lazy to search for the answer.

  Since Comic Ritz signed them, it's no surprise that all three of the above are manga adaptations. I've read Mars twice and haven't finished Marmalade Boy yet- but I hated Peach Girl when I read it. I felt that the manga-ka, Miwa Ueda, didn't care much about her characters and jerked them around- in and out of romances and difficult situations- to the point where the reader didn't care who got the girl in the end. I finished the series and promptly gave it away.

  If Vanness hadn't sung and danced in the first ten minutes of Peach Girl, I probably wouldn't have watched it either. I spent the first two episodes grumbling about how much I hated the series.

  With Annie Wu playing the dark skinned innocent love interest and Michelle Gu playing the evil, slightly insane pain in the butt, I didn't care who got the girl- or even who got which girl.

  In fact, I didn't even want to watch them try to figure out who got her.

  The only reason to watch was when Vanness entered.

  At first, Vanness couldn't stand still in any scene, his body erupted with movement, and you saw him nearly exploding out of his skin.

  (His inability to stand still is fine with me, but it's a bad scene stealing technique and not fair to the other actors at the time. I don't remember noticing this trait in Meteor Garden- mostly because he wasn't given a whole lot to do in it, I suspect! He is a lot stiller in Star Runner as well, and I found I missed the hyperactiveness at times.)

  The director started using that excess energy and Vanness was allowed to be himself, he began hitting his marks with out fail. The scenes of him jumping on things, literally climbing the wall, and being playful made you grin. They are priceless classic Vanness- and one of the reasons I love watching him.

  Vanness settled into the role and showed a deeper range of emotions as well as he began fighting for the girl's love.

   

  But at some point the writers broke away from the manga and started putting together a reasonable story.  Slowly I found myself anticipating the next episode and unable to quit watching it. I no longer noticed the long gaps when Vanness wasn't on and started caring about the characters.  They kept you guessing right up to the last fifteen minutes about who would get the girl in the end, and it felt right that you didn't know.  You weren't sure the girl knew her own heart even though you knew the hearts of her suiters. (Even though everyone on youtube thought she'd be insane to not pick Vanness!)

  It's not a "must-own" but it was worth the 13 hours of viewing time and it made me want to see him in something else.

  Whos Who: (from dramawiki)

• Annie Wu as Xiao Tao
• Kenji Wu as Dong Shi*
• Vanness Wu as Ah Li
• Michelle Gu as Sha Huay

  *A side note: Kenji Wu's music career seems to be solid right now. I wonder how hard it was for the young musician to be in something with Vanness and not even be given a song to sing once... sometimes life isn't fair!

  Another odd note: one of the main complaints about Vanness on youtube was his shoes!! The only time I notice his shoes is when he's dancing! :)

• ps. i forgot... pics are from google and here... none of them are mine!

  ---

  If I was to write something for Vanness- what would it need? Hmmm....

• Does it need a role for all four F4?

• Or is it something for him to do alone?

  ...Needs to be challenging, physical, and endearing. Play on his boyful charm, ability to move, and his ease of spirit- yet tap into the darker emotions as well- something complex and warm. Must include Brothers and have a strong love story… as well as a dose of faith and belief in others... can he play a dark brooding character? Is that a good fit for him? What about a character who used to be light and easygoing but changed to dark and brooding. It's about his restoration to the light... I think he could do that.

   

  I think I have the perfect tale... It starts like this....

   

  The gleaming sword flashed in the morning sunrise. The reflecting beams of light danced up and down the blade as it slashed through the air....