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scottishlass... is as sweet as the chocolate bar and as disturbing as the God of war.
How do I love Mars? Let me count the ways...
Summary: Chen Ling (Vic Zhou) and Han Qui Luo (Barbie Hsu) attend the same college. Where Chen Ling is a reckless, sometimes even ruthless young man with a devil may care attitude, Qui Luo is introverted and afraid of her own shadow. Those two unlikely people meet when he is asking for directions and she scribbles them on the back of a drawing of a mother and child she did in a park.
From then on, their lives are never the same and a love drama enfolds of Shakespearean proportions.
Ling seems to be the golden boy of college, a player, womanizer and aspiring GP500 motorcycle racer, he has it all. Fun, women, carefree happiness. But not all is as it seems. Ling is living in the shadows of a dark secret that has almost destroyed him and for all his devil may care attitude, he is a deeply sensitive young man. When he meets Qui Luo for the first time he is disturbed by how timid the young woman is but he instinctively knows that he has to get closer to her, if just for the reason of a newest lay.
Qui Luo on the other hand is timid and shy, almost invisible to the world but for her talent of drawing and painting. When the new school year ends her up in Ling's class, it is inevitable that their paths cross again and again and she doesn't suspect that her meeting Ling and eventually growing closer to him will not only set her free but also dissembles the shadows that lie on his soul.
Ling is the born protector, and he takes on the role smoothly when Qui Luo is bullied by classmates because of his attention. He doesn't want to cause her pain, but as he is evidently being drawn closer to her, he puts her in the spotlight of ridicule and bullying techniques. Then there is his best friend Da Ye who has had a crush on Qui Luo since high school, but never acted on it as she is strange and seem to hate men. Ling also senses that pursuing Qui Luo might end up not being such a good idea, so he hooks her up with Da Ye, which leads them to be tentative friends but not lovers. Da Ye knows, QL is in love with Ling and so steps down and actually helps her winning over Ling.
"Previously, I always thought there was nothing to be terrified in this world. But ever since I met you, I've got a lot of things to be afraid of. Now what I'm afraid most is when you sit on the back seat of my motorcycle. I absolutely can't make any mistake; I can't lose you like that."
No matter what Ling does consciously, he cannot avoid QL, and whenever he resolves to stay away from her, he is drawn to her again and his soul feeds off her calming and soothing presence.
The player who had 8 girls a week becomes a one-woman man, and a tentative love grows between them. A love that is based on trust and friendship rather than the instant gratification Ling was after for so long.
They date for about half a year without them more than exchanging a few hugs and kisses when Ling's past seems to threaten their little happy haven. Shazhi, his old high school flame and also Ling's twin bother's ex, turns up at college and it is QL who forces Ling to face his past and the suicide of his twin. She gives him strength to face the truth, that he might be responsible for his death and that everything that happened afterwards might come from guilt.
"Previously when you or Sheng cried,I would risk my life to eliminate the sources that made you two cry. When Qiluo cries, do you know what? I just feel helpless and don't know what to do. At those time, even I feel like crying."
Even though he is conflicted because of Shazhi and almost falls for her emotional and selfish blackmail, he comes through at the end and follows his heart. In Qui Luo he has found his soul mate who doesn't want him to be strong, but be euqal in whatever they do together.
Ling becomes more sensitive towards himself and also to the ppl surrounding him and even though it terrifies him extremely, he takes a very hard and soul wrenching look within himself. As he accepts more and more of what he is, he also becomes more and more afraid he might harbour deep within a beast that is ready to kill anyone threatening Qui Luo and what he holds dear.
Qui Luo on the other hand gives him the strength to accept and live with the fact that he might have a very violent and dangerous side but that it is but a tiny part of his whole character.
Her steadfast love for him changes his life considerably.
"What I'm afraid is that I'll lose something I cherish most because of you. Now I've found something I want to protect. I've found someone I don't want to lose."
Ling's past as the cruel beater takes an unexpected entry when Fan Tong Dao turns up. A mental patient in the psychiatric hospital, where Ling was send to after his twin's suicide. Tong Dao who has a past of abuse and passive-aggressive behaviour sees Ling as his saviour, as someone who he can totally commit himself to. But Qui Luo who has changed Ling so much in the past year, is in the way. Even though Ling looks through the calm exterior of Tong Dao quickly enough - though believing some of the mind games Tong Dao plays with him and almost accepting that he might be Tong Dao in a way - he cannot prevent Qui Luo from getting harmed.
But Qui Luo is trapped in her past, too, and even though she knows she will always love Ling, she is afraid of disclosing her secret that she was raped by her step-father. Ling is somewhat thrown off that his girl-friend of one year freezes up if he starts making out with her and in his helplessness he reverts to shocking manners. But in the end they also overcome this and they find out no matter what life and fate might throw into their paths ... they will not be defeated, because they both came from tragedies and hand in hand they will continue to live.
When Ling finally confronts her father, for a moment he sees with crystal clarity that he has the capacity of murder within himself (just like Qui Luo who wishes her stepfather dead) but instead of acting on that, he saves the man from falling to death. But here the real trouble starts because QL's step-father accuses him of kidnapping QL and assaulting him. The only way out is the ultimate sacrifice for Ling: Will he stand by and watch QL living under her stepfather's oppressing shadow to pursue his career as a GP racer or will he save her by going to his dad and sacrificing himself - giving up GP racing and becoming his father's successor ...
In the end, it is Qui Luo and her love for Ling who finally sets him free. She might be afraid for him for the rest of her life that something will happen to him on the race tracks, but in her love to Ling she is confident enough to stand beside him, to support him to fulfill his dreams.
Acting:
I don't have to tell you that Vic Zhou is hotness personified but in MARS he is beyond hotness. He is hot, adorable, frightening and sexy to boot. His acting has improved since MG and here he carries the whole series. It is heartwrenching to see him as Ling when he finally admits that he might be responsible for his brother's suicide, or that he is afraid of ending up just like Tong Dao, a sociopath with no moral conscience. Then in the next minute he is frightening when he actually participates in Tong Dao's mind games and almost kills him. Mars is a tour de force.
Barbie Hsu's acting also has greatly improved and her portrayal of timid Qui Luo is heart-wrenching but also lifting at the same time. You believe that she was raped, her whole body language is so shy and timid, and she brings it across with only one look how much she is terrified of becoming intimate with Ling even though he is the only man she is not afraid of.
Addtionally, the rest of the cast is very good. I loved how the director cast each part carefully in order to create an intense drama. Especially An Tun's portrayal of Tong Dao was frightening. Just looking at his beautiful and unmarred yet mostly expressionless face, gives you the shivers. He might be physically beautiful, but looking into Tong Dao's blank eyes, you feel the evil that harbours such beautiful shell.
My own take:
I love this series. Nothing has gripped me so hard quite like it in the last couple or so years. The only two series similar where I had to watch all eps and not miss a little thing, might have probably been Space: Above And Beyond and Farscape.
I have to admit I don't Angst too well, especially if the Angst of the OTP comes from within themselves due to quarrelling and petty behaviour. I think that is one of the reasons why I don't like a lot of Western shows, because somehow the Angst always seems to be superficially thrown in. In Mars the Angst comes from the outside and from events in the past, the choices ppl have made and it is refreshing to see that though the OTP bickers and fights sometimes, it always presents a united front against the outside world. They don't break up over something minor as a misunderstanding, they break up for a day because Ling thinks she cannot trust him. But only for a day, because he and Qui Luo cannot exist without the other. The couple's problems are solved quickly, not too quickly or artificially, but with a care a loving couple might also do in RL. That makes the whole series believable, even though I have to admit that Taiwan sure seems to have a lax justice system ;)
Mars is one of the best series I have seen in the last ten years and I desperately wish they'd get the whole crew together for a follow-up of the series, like Ling's and Qui Luo's years as a GP racer and her as a painter who becomes famous for her race-track paintings. As that is not likely to happen I wish they'd release an English dubbed version of the series (preferably with the actor's own voices) and available overseas. Heck, I'd even settle for a dumb German dubbed version airing here in Germany to spread the greatness that is Mars.
This is no teenage idol happily-ever-after fare like some other Taiwanese series. This is high drama where you root for the main leads and laugh and cry and Angst with them to the very end.
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dorama_chat
How do I love Mars? Let me count the ways...
Summary: Chen Ling (Vic Zhou) and Han Qui Luo (Barbie Hsu) attend the same college. Where Chen Ling is a reckless, sometimes even ruthless young man with a devil may care attitude, Qui Luo is introverted and afraid of her own shadow. Those two unlikely people meet when he is asking for directions and she scribbles them on the back of a drawing of a mother and child she did in a park.
From then on, their lives are never the same and a love drama enfolds of Shakespearean proportions.
Ling seems to be the golden boy of college, a player, womanizer and aspiring GP500 motorcycle racer, he has it all. Fun, women, carefree happiness. But not all is as it seems. Ling is living in the shadows of a dark secret that has almost destroyed him and for all his devil may care attitude, he is a deeply sensitive young man. When he meets Qui Luo for the first time he is disturbed by how timid the young woman is but he instinctively knows that he has to get closer to her, if just for the reason of a newest lay.
Qui Luo on the other hand is timid and shy, almost invisible to the world but for her talent of drawing and painting. When the new school year ends her up in Ling's class, it is inevitable that their paths cross again and again and she doesn't suspect that her meeting Ling and eventually growing closer to him will not only set her free but also dissembles the shadows that lie on his soul.
Ling is the born protector, and he takes on the role smoothly when Qui Luo is bullied by classmates because of his attention. He doesn't want to cause her pain, but as he is evidently being drawn closer to her, he puts her in the spotlight of ridicule and bullying techniques. Then there is his best friend Da Ye who has had a crush on Qui Luo since high school, but never acted on it as she is strange and seem to hate men. Ling also senses that pursuing Qui Luo might end up not being such a good idea, so he hooks her up with Da Ye, which leads them to be tentative friends but not lovers. Da Ye knows, QL is in love with Ling and so steps down and actually helps her winning over Ling.
"Previously, I always thought there was nothing to be terrified in this world. But ever since I met you, I've got a lot of things to be afraid of. Now what I'm afraid most is when you sit on the back seat of my motorcycle. I absolutely can't make any mistake; I can't lose you like that."
No matter what Ling does consciously, he cannot avoid QL, and whenever he resolves to stay away from her, he is drawn to her again and his soul feeds off her calming and soothing presence.
The player who had 8 girls a week becomes a one-woman man, and a tentative love grows between them. A love that is based on trust and friendship rather than the instant gratification Ling was after for so long.
They date for about half a year without them more than exchanging a few hugs and kisses when Ling's past seems to threaten their little happy haven. Shazhi, his old high school flame and also Ling's twin bother's ex, turns up at college and it is QL who forces Ling to face his past and the suicide of his twin. She gives him strength to face the truth, that he might be responsible for his death and that everything that happened afterwards might come from guilt.
"Previously when you or Sheng cried,I would risk my life to eliminate the sources that made you two cry. When Qiluo cries, do you know what? I just feel helpless and don't know what to do. At those time, even I feel like crying."
Even though he is conflicted because of Shazhi and almost falls for her emotional and selfish blackmail, he comes through at the end and follows his heart. In Qui Luo he has found his soul mate who doesn't want him to be strong, but be euqal in whatever they do together.
Ling becomes more sensitive towards himself and also to the ppl surrounding him and even though it terrifies him extremely, he takes a very hard and soul wrenching look within himself. As he accepts more and more of what he is, he also becomes more and more afraid he might harbour deep within a beast that is ready to kill anyone threatening Qui Luo and what he holds dear.
Qui Luo on the other hand gives him the strength to accept and live with the fact that he might have a very violent and dangerous side but that it is but a tiny part of his whole character.
Her steadfast love for him changes his life considerably.
"What I'm afraid is that I'll lose something I cherish most because of you. Now I've found something I want to protect. I've found someone I don't want to lose."
Ling's past as the cruel beater takes an unexpected entry when Fan Tong Dao turns up. A mental patient in the psychiatric hospital, where Ling was send to after his twin's suicide. Tong Dao who has a past of abuse and passive-aggressive behaviour sees Ling as his saviour, as someone who he can totally commit himself to. But Qui Luo who has changed Ling so much in the past year, is in the way. Even though Ling looks through the calm exterior of Tong Dao quickly enough - though believing some of the mind games Tong Dao plays with him and almost accepting that he might be Tong Dao in a way - he cannot prevent Qui Luo from getting harmed.
But Qui Luo is trapped in her past, too, and even though she knows she will always love Ling, she is afraid of disclosing her secret that she was raped by her step-father. Ling is somewhat thrown off that his girl-friend of one year freezes up if he starts making out with her and in his helplessness he reverts to shocking manners. But in the end they also overcome this and they find out no matter what life and fate might throw into their paths ... they will not be defeated, because they both came from tragedies and hand in hand they will continue to live.
When Ling finally confronts her father, for a moment he sees with crystal clarity that he has the capacity of murder within himself (just like Qui Luo who wishes her stepfather dead) but instead of acting on that, he saves the man from falling to death. But here the real trouble starts because QL's step-father accuses him of kidnapping QL and assaulting him. The only way out is the ultimate sacrifice for Ling: Will he stand by and watch QL living under her stepfather's oppressing shadow to pursue his career as a GP racer or will he save her by going to his dad and sacrificing himself - giving up GP racing and becoming his father's successor ...
In the end, it is Qui Luo and her love for Ling who finally sets him free. She might be afraid for him for the rest of her life that something will happen to him on the race tracks, but in her love to Ling she is confident enough to stand beside him, to support him to fulfill his dreams.
Acting:
I don't have to tell you that Vic Zhou is hotness personified but in MARS he is beyond hotness. He is hot, adorable, frightening and sexy to boot. His acting has improved since MG and here he carries the whole series. It is heartwrenching to see him as Ling when he finally admits that he might be responsible for his brother's suicide, or that he is afraid of ending up just like Tong Dao, a sociopath with no moral conscience. Then in the next minute he is frightening when he actually participates in Tong Dao's mind games and almost kills him. Mars is a tour de force.
Barbie Hsu's acting also has greatly improved and her portrayal of timid Qui Luo is heart-wrenching but also lifting at the same time. You believe that she was raped, her whole body language is so shy and timid, and she brings it across with only one look how much she is terrified of becoming intimate with Ling even though he is the only man she is not afraid of.
Addtionally, the rest of the cast is very good. I loved how the director cast each part carefully in order to create an intense drama. Especially An Tun's portrayal of Tong Dao was frightening. Just looking at his beautiful and unmarred yet mostly expressionless face, gives you the shivers. He might be physically beautiful, but looking into Tong Dao's blank eyes, you feel the evil that harbours such beautiful shell.
My own take:
I love this series. Nothing has gripped me so hard quite like it in the last couple or so years. The only two series similar where I had to watch all eps and not miss a little thing, might have probably been Space: Above And Beyond and Farscape.
I have to admit I don't Angst too well, especially if the Angst of the OTP comes from within themselves due to quarrelling and petty behaviour. I think that is one of the reasons why I don't like a lot of Western shows, because somehow the Angst always seems to be superficially thrown in. In Mars the Angst comes from the outside and from events in the past, the choices ppl have made and it is refreshing to see that though the OTP bickers and fights sometimes, it always presents a united front against the outside world. They don't break up over something minor as a misunderstanding, they break up for a day because Ling thinks she cannot trust him. But only for a day, because he and Qui Luo cannot exist without the other. The couple's problems are solved quickly, not too quickly or artificially, but with a care a loving couple might also do in RL. That makes the whole series believable, even though I have to admit that Taiwan sure seems to have a lax justice system ;)
Mars is one of the best series I have seen in the last ten years and I desperately wish they'd get the whole crew together for a follow-up of the series, like Ling's and Qui Luo's years as a GP racer and her as a painter who becomes famous for her race-track paintings. As that is not likely to happen I wish they'd release an English dubbed version of the series (preferably with the actor's own voices) and available overseas. Heck, I'd even settle for a dumb German dubbed version airing here in Germany to spread the greatness that is Mars.
This is no teenage idol happily-ever-after fare like some other Taiwanese series. This is high drama where you root for the main leads and laugh and cry and Angst with them to the very end.
x-psted to
dorama_chat
