DEVIL BESIDE YOU

Cast:

Rainie Yang as Qi Yue
He Jun Xiang as Ah Meng
Wang Chuan Yi as Yuan Yi

Synopsis:
The story begins with Qi Yue planning to confess her liking to the basketball team captain, Yuan Yi. She wrote a love letter and plans to pass it to him. Being as careless as only she can be, she has made her confession to the wrong person, who happened to be the school's devil, Ah Meng! (her junior, a first year student in school). She is so shocked and embarrassed to see Ah Meng's face that she drops her love letter in front of Ah Meng and runs away. Ah Meng picks up the letter.

Ah Meng is amused by the whole thing and decides to have some fun with Qi Yue. He threatens Qi Yue to print a thousand copies of her love letter and let the whole school know of her liking for Yuan Yi. In order to stop Ah Meng, Qi Yue agrees to be his 'runner'.

With Ah Meng's continuous bullying of Qi Yue, she is driven to stop all the nonsense by confessing her liking to Yuan Yi again. In this way, she will not be afraid of Ah Meng's disclosing the love letter anymore. To Qi Yue's surprise, Yuan Yi has a similar liking for her.

While Qi Yue assumes that the whole ordeal with the devil is going to end, she receives another piece of bad news - her mom is going to marry the school's chairman who is also Ah Meng's father! That means Ah Meng is going to be her stepbrother.

Qi Yue's love letter is being put up on the school notice board and she misunderstands that it is Ah Meng who did it. She confronts him and storms off. After realizing that she has misunderstood Ah Meng, she apologises to Ah Meng and pleads him to hit her so that she feels better. Ah Meng kisses her instead! Yuan Yi happens to see them kissing and confronts their relationship, Ah Meng yells at Yuan Yi, saying that he wants Qi Yue. After Yuan Yi runs away in anger, Qi Yue looks at Ah Meng and begins to sob. After Qi Yue walks away in tears, Ah Meng has a strong feeling of guilt.

Yuan Yi regrets not believing in Qi Yue and returns to her, asking her out on a date. Qi Yue agrees happily. On their first date, they met Ah Meng again. Qi Yue and Ah Meng have some misunderstandings and they went separate ways.

After the date, Qi Yue left for home. After she took her bath, she fainted and was saved by Ah Meng's father. He brings her to his house to take care of her while her mom was away on a trip. Ah Meng and Qi Yue meet again at his house. She knows from Yuan Yi that she has misunderstood Ah Meng again. Seeing Ah Meng has injured his hand, she offers to clean the wounds for him. Sitting on Ah Meng's bed and putting medicine on his hand, she realizes Ah Meng is staring at her intensely and this makes her heart pound. Qi Yue wakes up and finds herself sleeping on Ah Meng's bed. Apparently, both have fallen asleep and Ah Meng's father has carried her to his bed.

Qi Yue finally realizes that the person she likes is Ah Meng. She tells Yuan Yi the truth and walks away. In the evening, she sits alone at the playground, crying softly to herself for hurting Yuan Yi. Ah Meng finds her and comforts her. She takes a ride on Ah Meng's bicycle. They had a minor accident and both fell on the road, unharmed. Qi Yue asks Ah Meng why is it always so dangerous to be with him. Ah Meng replies her that he cannot stop the dangers but he will protect her. Ah Meng kisses Qi Yue passionately on the road!

Due to their relationship as future stepsiblings, they keep their ?lover? relationship in the dark. Except for some close friends of Ah Meng & Qi Yue, nobody knows of their relationship.

Ah Meng's buddy, Yang Ping, who is in love with Li Xiang, is unhappy to see Ah Meng and Qi Yue together. He wants to get rid of Qi Yue so that Ah Meng can be with Li Xiang. At the school's rooftop, he ambushes Qi Yue and wants to kill her. Li Xiang hesitantly tells Ah Meng of Yang Ping's plan and Ah Meng rushes to Qi Yue's rescue. He beats up Yang Ping and brings Qi Yue home. At home, Qi Yue confesses her liking to Ah Meng and he hugs her, saying that he is happy to know that she likes him.

One fine day, there's this cute-looking young guy who comes to Qi Yue and confesses his liking for her. This shocks Qi Yue and her whole class as he storms into her class and tells her that he likes her and wants her to convey a message to her boyfriend that he wants Qi Yue! His name is Ah Rang.

Yuan Yi casually mentions this to Ah Meng and he storms away in anger. In the evening, he tells Qi Yue that nobody is more confident than him in liking her and she belongs to him only. Qi Yue smiles at his possessiveness.

Qi Yue goes to Da Zhi High School to look for Ah Rang and realizes that he is Ah Meng's younger brother. Yuan Yi tells Ah Meng about this and Ah Meng storms off to look for Qi Yue. At seeing Ah Rang and Qi Yue, he trips Ah Rang and makes him fall to the ground. Ah Meng grabs Qi Yue's arm and walks away. He does not want to talk about his brother at all. Ah Rang is actually harmless, his intention is to attract Ah Meng's attention. He longs for his brother's affection. While arguing with Ah Meng, Ah Rang suffers an asthma attack and Ah Meng rushes him to the hospital. Both brothers patch up. Ah Meng was told that Qi Yue fainted in the hospital. Ah Meng runs towards her. At her home, Ah Meng reprimands Qi Yue for being a busybody and tiring herself out, which is the cause of her fatigue. He is concerned about her and Qi Yue is happy.

Ah Meng's grandma suspects that Ah Meng and Qi Yue are seeing each other. She plans to matchmake Ah Meng with a rich girl, Mei Di. Qi Yue feels sad. At the same time, Qi Yue's first love reappears as her school lecturer (Ah Sheng)! This causes Ah Meng to be jealous and he feels insecure. Ah Meng rejects Mei Di and she left wishing Qi Yue and him happiness. Similarly, Qi Yue tells Ah Sheng that she likes Ah Meng and he goes back to his girlfriend.

While things seem to be going fine again, Ah Meng's mom comes back and wants Ah Meng to go to France with her to pursue his studies. When Ah Meng finally agrees to go with her, Qi Yue is heartbroken. At the playground, Ah Meng tells Qi Yue that she can continue to date other people while he is away but he will always like her only. They hug at the playground.

A year later, Ah Meng returns for Christmas and they meet at the place where Ah Meng first gave her a handmade Christmas tree. He tells Qi Yue that he's back and they kiss.

Review:
I like this drama. To put it simply, I can relate it to "Meteor Garden" which is one of my favourite dramas. Nice girl meets naughty boy and gets bullied by him; the naughty boy then falls for the girl and the girl falls for him too'the naughty boy's fiancée appears; a strong love opponent starts wooing the girl'too many similarities with "Meteor Garden". The plot is somehow more refreshing in "Devil Beside You" than in "Meteor Garden". In "Meteor Garden", it focuses on the strain between the very rich & the very poor, how the couple goes against all odds to be together. In "Devil Beside You", it is the sister-brother relationship that keeps you wondering if they are going to work out.

If "Meteor Garden" is a 5, "Devil Beside You" will be a 4. Reason being it lacks the punch to create a very deep & long-lasting impression of the drama. It is just another good and entertaining drama. There are various classic scenes in "Meteor Garden" that you will remember for life - the first kiss in Dao Ming Si's room; the kiss at the balcony; the beating scene in the warehouse; his love confession to Shan Cai again & again.

If there is a flaw in "Devil Beside You", it will be Mike's script lines or should I say lack of script lines. He is not expressive, the ever classic line that I can recall is ?your liking for me makes me happy??what kind of a romantic script line is this?

Rainie is good here, she looks beautiful and fits the role well. She makes the whole drama exciting. I laugh at her funny acts, get emotional during her crying scenes and of course touched by the various kissing scenes between Mike & her. Not forgetting the songs for the drama, Rainie sings well too.

Another flaw in this drama are the unrealistic characters in the drama. Ah Meng's father is too good to believe. With his level of social status, how could one possibly accept that his son is dating his stepdaughter? He accepts it without question or struggle, it is unbelievable! Ah Sheng's girlfriend is another one. She is too forgiving. She speaks to him as if she is a counselor and not a girlfriend even when he is going to try to woo his childhood sweetheart.

Conclusion:

I would recommend this drama if you are not looking for a strong plot or some heavy stuffs, This drama is entertaining with recommendable acting from Rainie and good chemistry between Rainie & Mike.

WHY WHY LOVE?

Last night, I watch this drama again. I was on the sixth episode I think when I got sidetracked because I was able to grab three online opportunities. Yes! Three! I am one lucky woman. So I decide to close my browser that have Why Why Love episodes with deepest regret. lol.

I admit, although I am a wee bit old for this kind of drama, I still get giddy with the Mike He and Rainie Yang tandem. Just like the feeling I have for the Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin combination. That’s why after watching Devil Beside You I went to dramawiki to check if they still have a drama together. And that’s why I ended up watching this. Eventhough there are negative feedback about it. I just wanted to see Mike He’s handsome face. haha.

Many thinks this drama is a sequel of DBY but its not. Although it also contains the love triangle between Mike He + Rainie Yang + King One. And althroughout Mike He is also called a devil. A very appealing devil at that. haha!

Here is the synopsis from Dramawiki :

Tong Jia Di needs a life besides work, paying down family debt, and more work. So her best friend Jiang Xiao Nan sneaks in a “Love” coupon in Jia Di’s raffle box praying that the lucky guy who draws it will sweep Jia Di off her feet. As it so happens, Huo Yan, the compassionate manager Jia Di has secret crush on, is the lucky guy. But, tho’ the prince can exchange the coupon for Cinderella’s love, it doesn’t mean he will, especially when his devilish younger brother is determined to exchange his “Master/Angel” coupon for her servitude.

Just like in DBY, Rainie’s character like King ONe’s character first. But later she fell in love with Mike He. This is not only romance. They incorporated a little bit of drama and a serious problem that Rainie and Mike would have to endure. I won’t say anything because I am afraid I might give a spoiler. But if you really have some time to kill and wanted to watch something with an eye candy for the lead then go watch this.

AZNV and CRUNCHYROLL have english subs for this drama. The videos of the two sites have also the BEHIND THE SCENES (BTS) of the drama. So its twice the fun.

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Prince hours

Prince Hours (Goong S)

Kategori:	Korea
Sutradara:	Hwang In-roi
Penulis:	In Eun-ah
Produksi:	MBC
Durasi:	20 Episode @ 1 jam
Tgl. Rilis:	2007
Pemain:	Se7en, Park Shin-Hye, Ha Jae-Young, Myeong Se-Bin, Kang Doo, Heo Yi-Jae,
Nilai:	dari 314 pemilih

Tumbuh bersama seorang pria Jo Sang-ki dan hidup bahagia sebagai pengantar mie, Kang Hoo dan rekan-rekannya menghabiskan hari bersaing dengan kelompok pimpinan Bool-bam untuk memperebutkan teritori pelanggan.

Siapa sangka di suatu hari yang cerah, ia diserang oleh segerombolan orang dan nyaris saja diculik kalau saja Sang-ki tidak muncul. Dari sang paman, Kang Hoo akhirnya baru sadar kalau nama sebenarnya adalah Lee Hoo.

Rupanya, sang ibu adalah istri dari mendiang Raja terdahulu yang harus meninggalkan istana akibat terlibat skandal. Belum juga rasa terkejutnya surut, muncul utusan kerajaan yang meminta Lee Hoo menghadap Ratu untuk dijadikan sebagai calon pewaris tahta.

Kemunculan sang pangeran yang telah lama hilang keruan saja memancing reaksi keras dari kerabat kerajaan, terutama pangeran Hyo-jang yang bernafsu menjadikan putranya Lee Joon sebagai pengganti Ratu. Apalagi, sikap Lee Hoo sendiri jauh dari tingkah laku seorang bangsawan.

Serba kikuk didalam lingkungan baru, Lee Hoo terhibur oleh keberadaan salah seorang dayang Yang Soon-ae yang ternyata adalah bekas teman kecilnya. Sempat tidak percaya kalau pemuda itu adalah seorang pangeran, berbagai kejadian membuat Soon-ae serba-salah karena hubugannya di masa lalu dengan Lee Hoo.

Belakangan, keduanya terlibat dalam cinta segi empat. Lee Joon yang telah ditunangkan dengan putri perdana menteri bernama Shin Sae-ryeong jatuh cinta pada Soon-ae, dan Sae-ryeong yang merasa dicampakkan membalas dengan mendekati Lee Hoo. Sikap tulus sang pangeran pelan-pelan membuat gadis yang semula ambisius itu malah jadi benar-benar jatuh cinta.

Situasi semakin panas saat Lee Hoo dan Lee Joon dipertandingkan ke sejumlah kriteria yang disebut Ratu sebagai sifat dasar yang perlu diwarisi putra mahkota. Tentu saja, Hyo-jang tidak tinggal diam dan bersama orang kepercayaannya Shi-yeon berusaha memuluskan langkah putranya.

Puncaknya terjadi ketika Jo Sang-ki berhasil mendapatkan bukti-bukti keterlibatan Hyo-jang atas terusirnya mendiang ibu Lee Hoo dari istana. Berhasil ditipu ibunda Lee Joon, Sang-ki menyerahkan bukti yang didapat pada sang pangeran yang dikira adalah putranya.

Untungnya, Lee Joon berwatak ksatria. Ia malah menyerahkan bukti-bukti itu ke Lee Hoo dan menolak untuk mewarisi tahta meski telah dinobatkan sebagai pemenang dengan alasan dirinya telah berbuat curang. Sudah tentu hal itu memukul Hyo-jang, namun pria tamak itu akhirnya mendapatkan ketenangan setelah terkuak bahwa Lee Joon ternyata memang darah dagingnya.

Dengan dinobatkannya Lee Hoo sebagai putra mahkota, langkahnya untuk mempersunting Soon-ae yang berprofesi sebagai dayang semakin berat. Meski telah diingatkan untuk terus mempercayai sang kekasih, gadis itu akhirnya memutuskan untuk pergi ke luar negeri dan meninggalkan Lee Hoo dalam keadaan patah hati.

Akhir cerita sendiri berlangsung bahagia. Setelah tiga tahun, masing-masing tokoh kembali saling bertemu. Sae-ryeong menjadi seorang guru, Lee Joon menekuni profesi sebagai musisi, sementara Lee Hoo (yang telah menjadi putra mahkota) akhirnya bisa kembali bertemu dan meneruskan hubungannya dengan Soon-ae diiringi dengan restu para keluarga kerajaan.

Boleh jadi, inilah salah satu serial yang paling mengundang kontroversi di tahun 2007. Bagaimana tidak, Prince Hours sempat dianggap sebagai lanjutan dari Goong alias Princess Hours yang mampu melambungkan keempat pemeran utamanya Joo Ji-hoon, Yoon Eun-hye, Kim Jeong-hoon dan Song Ji-hyo.

Percekcokan antara sutradara Hwang In-roi sebagai wakil rumah produksi Group Eight dengan Eight Peaks (yang mengaku memegang hak cerita Princess Hours) membuat serial satu ini mulai merosot rating-nya. Apalagi, banyak yang menganggap bahwa selain cerita yang mirip, keempat pemeran barunya belum mampu menunjukkan akting yang kuat.

Yang menarik, di luar Korea sendiri dukungan terhadap serial yang punya nama lain Goong S ini malah cukup tinggi (termasuk di Indonesia). Tidak bisa dipungkiri, semua berkat Se7en alias Choi Dong-wook yang didapuk sebagai pemeran utama Lee Hoo.

Bila ditilik lebih lanjut, Prince Hours sendiri sebetulnya patut mendapat acungan jempol. Pasalnya, cerita yang dihadirkan relatif lebih cepat dari 'pendahulu'nya. Selain itu, akting ketiga bintang lainnya Hyeo Yi-jae, Kang Doo, dan terutama Park Shin-hye (yang telah dipercaya sebagai peran utama di Trees of Heaven) tidak mengecewakan.

Terlepas dari kontroversi yang hadir, Prince Hours juga menghadirkan sejumlah lagu tema yang memikat. Selain Miracle yang disuarakan oleh Howl (pelantun Perhaps Love alias Sarangeengayo di Princess Hours), Se7en juga ikut menyumbangkan suaranya yang khas di tembang Promise. Pokoknya, tidak lengkap deh kalau belum menyaksikan serial satu ini............(mdL)

series Devil Beside You (Er Mo Zai Shen Bian)

Kategori:	Taiwan
Sutradara:	Lin He Long
Penulis:	Mao Xun Rong, Cao Xiao Ru
Produksi:	CTV
Durasi:	20 Episode
Tgl. Rilis:	2005
Pemain:	Mike He, Rainie Yang, Kingone,
Nilai:	dari 298 pemilih

Jatuh cinta pada idola kampus sekaligus kapten tim basket Shang Yuan Yi, Qi Yue yang adalah mahasiswi tahun kedua memutuskan untuk mengungkapkan perasaannya lewat sebuah surat yang sudah dipersiapkan dengan rapi. Rencananya, surat tersebut bakal diserahkan pada Yuan Yi.

Namun dasar ceroboh, surat itu akhirnya malah salah diberikan pada Jiang Meng yang dikenal sebagai mahasiswa tahun pertama yang berandalan. Saking kagetnya, gadis itu langsung lari terbirit-birit diiringi senyum licik pemuda yang akrab dipanggil A Meng tersebut.

Dari sahabat-sahabatnya, Qi Yue akhirnya tahu kalau A Meng adalah putri dari presiden kampusnya dan kerap menggunakan kekuasaannya tersebut untuk mempermainkan orang lain. Bisa ditebak, Qi Yue juga tidak lepas dari cengkraman pemuda itu.

Berbekal surat cinta yang ditulis untuk Yuan Yi, A Meng mengancam bakal mengedarkan sebanyak 1000 salinan yang bakal disebar ke satu kampus bila gadis itu menolak untuk menuruti keinginannya. Sejak itu pula, Qi Yue praktis jadi budak Ahmon.

Meski benci setengah mati dengan A Meng, belakangan sikap Qi Yue berubah total saat tahu kalau pemuda itu ternyata memiliki hati yang lembut dan baik hati. Begitu juga dengan A Meng, yang mulai jatuh cinta pada gadis lugu tersebut.

Namun di saat hubungan keduanya mulai menghangat, muncul pukulan yang tidak disangka-sangka : ibu Qi Yue yang telah lama menjanda ternyata berpacaran dengan ayah A Meng dan bakal segera menikah. Tidak cuma itu, masih ada sejumlah penghambat yang muncul belakangan mulai pihak ketiga masing-masing pihak hingga ketidaksetujuan nenek A Meng.

Puncaknya terjadi ketika hubungan kedua orang mereka berantakan dan kemunculan adik A Meng yang berencana meghancurkan hubungan kakaknya dengan Qi Yue. Dari situ, mereka belajar banyak tentang cara mempertahankan cinta dari sekian banyak rintangan, yang bahkan sempat memisahkan keduanya selama setahun akibat urusan pribadi A Meng di Italia.

Kalau ada serial yang menghebohkan di tahun 2005 karena tema cukup berani seperti bullying (menyiksa atau melakukan tekanan terhadap pihak yang lebih lemah) dan kisah cinta (calon) kakak-adik, Devil Beside You patut dikedepankan. Jalinan ceritanya dikemas dengan baik sehingga bisa diterima dengan akal sehat dan bukan tidak mungkin merupakan potret dari kenyataan hidup sehari-hari.

Lewat serial ini juga, muncul dua nama idola baru di dunia serial idola Taiwan alias ouxiangju : Mike He dan Rainie Yang, sebelumnya sempat tampil di Meteor Garden dan semakin menegaskan citranya di dunia televisi sebagai gadis berkarakter manja. Selain itu, masih ada sejumlah nama idola lain seperti Kingone, Ivy Fan, dan Figaro Ceng.

Seperti halnya serial lain, tidak lengkap membicarakan Devil Beside You bila tidak menyinggung lagu tema yang menghiasinya. Sebagai lagu utama, hadir Ambigious (Ai Mei) yang dinyanyikan sendiri oleh Rainie, disusul oleh Jerk (Chou Nan Ren) oleh Huang Yida.

Jangan lupa juga, popularitas serial ini juga telah terasa di Indonesia lewat sinetron adaptasinya yang mengundang berbagai reaksi baik di kalangan masyarakat awam maupun mereka penggemar Drama Asia. Kira-kira bagaimana ya sambutan terhadap cerita aslinya????????(mdL)