Rewatching the classics

Recently when people asked me what drama I am watching now, I would sheepishly reply that I am rewatching the 还珠格格 series. And all will give me the -_- look. This show is certainly a epic classic that I would be touched no matter how many times I watched it. I've got to admit that 琼瑶 is a very good writer. The thing about rewatching it now is that you could fast forward the parts that you do not like since I have already watched it before and I know the whole story, so no harm in skipping parts.

The best part I like revolves around 紫薇 and 尔康. I always watch in awe beliving in the possibility of such intense love and understanding of each other. It feels too good to be true.

Second part is definately better than first installment. The cast is prettier and more charming. But more draggy with the addition of the 香妃.

I skipped 3rd part totally as the majority of the casts are changed. The 2 female leads changed and somehow the series is just not the same anymore. Of the 4 leads in the show, only 尔康 remains. What a pity actually. Not a perfect competion to the show.

So now, I am catching the remake of the 还珠格格 ironically named 新还珠格格. I thought it will be totally revamp of the storyline like it would be a continuation of story from their children. But it ended up to have the same storyline but with some minor additions to the story. The drama seems to be of a different era from the previous. The headgear is smaller and different (more towards 步步惊心 type) and the era is more acceptable to westerners. So you guessed it. The revamped version has a addition of a westerner who works in the palace as a painter. Furthermore, to my surprise, the emperess is HK actress 邓翠雯. I found the actress looks familiar, but I did not expected it to be her until I googled. Ruby Lin had a guest appearance in the show as 夏雨何.

I'm speed watching the show. Generally, the show follows very very closely to the previous works but it is slightly faster paced than the previous. Though I'm already at the tenish episode of the show, I have difficulty differentiating 尔康 and 尔泰. They somehow looks the same. Perhaps because I am not very familiar with China actors so they tend to look the same to me. As I continued to watch the show, I am consistently comparing the previous series with the current.

For now, I concluded the previous version is better.