First episode 70 : 爱情公寓 iPartment

[roddy]

I'm not surprised they can drag on a bit at 50 minutes, I think I said something similar about the first series - half-hour bites are more than enough of this kind of thing.

Can't imagine not having seen the first season would be a problem - it's not like the show is particularly big on character development. That said, the first season is great fun and worth the watch.

Thanks for the torrent link above, have got a few episodes of this to go through when I get the chance / urge.

[Glenn]

Speaking of 關谷, they talk about him like his Chinese is really strange, but as far as I can tell it's pretty close to everyone else's, except maybe a bit choppy in places. Is it really THAT different? How does it sound to everyone else? Also, it seems that the "he says everything with the 4th tone" joke was just for that one sentence in that one scene in the first episode to me, because I'm pretty sure he's covering them all most of the time, at least.

[KonW]

Minor point, but episode 19 has some 神雕侠侣 spoilers. I've never read or watched it, so I don't know if minor or major, but it was interesting to be basically in the same shoes as 关谷。

just some minor spoilers, guess the director assumed that anyone watching the show would have read or at least know some of the story of 神雕侠侣,, which is almost true in china,,

anyway, if you do have read it , you would know that Guangu completely misunderstood it,, in a most hilarious way,, ;)

they talk about him like his Chinese is really strange, but as far as I can tell it's pretty close to everyone else's, except maybe a bit choppy in places. Is it really THAT different? How does it sound to everyone else?

in Episode 8 of II, Guangu suddenly became able to speak chinese in a native way fluently after his accidental intaking of some self-made liquor. comparing the tone before and after would make it more obvious

[skylee]

The discussion makes me want to watch the series. Maybe I will watch it.

[imron]

but as far as I can tell it's pretty close to everyone else's, except maybe a bit choppy in places. Is it really THAT different?

Yes. Very obviously so, with incorrect tones and a strong accent - basically it's the equivalent of say a character in an English TV show putting on/mimicking a Chinese accent. Guangu is basically doing that except he's a Chinese mimicking a foreign (Japanese) accent.

[Glenn]

Right, so I have a really long way to go. Well, good to know where you stand, I suppose.

[imron]

Episode number 11 is also good

[imron]

Just finished watching this now. The last two episodes are also good - although highly derivative of Slumdog Millionaire (with a touch of 不见不散 at the end). Be interesting to see where they go with season 3 - currently votes on the website are for

D over B by almost a million votes.

Hmm, now I might have to go back and watch season 1.

[roddy]

Oh, no surprise they're getting ideas from movies. One of the first season episodes is virtually a shot-for-shot remake of Transformers.

[imron]

The last two episodes of season 2 are basically a shot for shot remake of Slumdog Millionaire

They sure do like to pack in the product placements too - Intel, Wrigleys, Lays, Budweiser - Heh I always found it slightly amusing when they cut to a shot of Yumo alone in the bar with 5-6 empty budweisers in front of her :blink: Although keen eyed scouts will notice that in the last episode she takes a swig from a bottle that still has the cap on

[Glenn]

I just finished watching it, and I guess I don't have to watch (or maybe there'd be no point in my watching) Slumdog Millionaire now.

I gotta say, that felt like a ripoff to me, though, and I'm not talking about them ripping off other movies/shows either.

I'm thinking about going back and watching season 1 now too. By the way, at the beginning of the first episode there's a bit of a hint as to how it ends, although it hardly gives anything away, really. Just sort of a bookend, I guess.

[roddy]

Just watched all of S2E1 - it's ok, but to be honest it makes me more inclined to go back and watch the first season again than continue with the second. I may get through what I've already got downloaded though, and if that's good carry on.

They sure do like to pack in the product placements too - Intel, Wrigleys, Lays, Budweiser

The list of sponsors at the end is impressive -and VeryCD even gets a mention in the thanks.

[边斌同学]

吕子桥：山寨机。。。就是牛！

呵呵

还有。。。一位听众说：对不起，去年去北极时把你妈妈弄丢了，在此点一首孙楠的《你快回来》，请你原谅！

Update: Just watched Episode 1 of Season 2, and it didn't seem too bad. What in particular did you guys not like about it? Personally I'm just glad Wanyu and Meijia left, the unbearably fake "cute girl" act is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Plus I was happy about the return of Zhangwei. Also, was the missed wedding thing supposed to be a rip-off of "The Hangover"?

[AlexBlackman]

Well, I've now watched all 40 episodes and lets just say it grows on you.

Like many of you, Guanggu is by far my favourite character, as we've all been in similar situations to him.

I didn't particularly like Meijia, she was too cutesy, but I didn't mind the others.

They could have made better use of Wanyu's backstory, it's almost not touched on.

I diddn't find the language too difficult, and when it is, it is usually explained away by context/visual cues and Guanggu. I got a lot out of it and I am far from upper intermediate. Despite being set in Shanghai, I can't remember any scenes in 吴语， but there was a very funny scene in episode 9 when 吕子桥 tried to speak 四川话

Can you lot recommend any similar shows?

[johnchenhan]

The first season is interesting.Characters's performances make me laugh.

[feihong]

Just finished season 1 and really liked it. Just started the first episode of season 2. To be honest, I'm bummed by 美嘉's departure. Haven't really formed an opinion on the replacement characters yet, though I noticed that 张伟 already appeared in an episode of the first season.

[roddy]

Will be interested to see what you make of the second season - I couldn't get into it, and as you say, without 美嘉, what's the point.

[feihong]

Yeah, although the season finale wasn't spectacular I thought the hilariously violent coda (courtesy of 美嘉) made it worthwhile. Also, no one can possibly guess what my favorite scene of Season 1 was, just like no one could possibly what my favorite 80's show is.

[renzhe]

The third season was supposed to be out on the 13th of July. Has anybody seen any episodes? I assume that it's not on PPS yet.

[feihong]

I just finished the last episode of season 2 today. Overall it was OK but I didn't care for the new characters. I kept watching it out of inertia rather than because I loved the show. Surprisingly, I had a harder time with season 2 than season 1 in terms of understanding jokes.

I went looking for season 3 episodes but didn't find anything on the major video sites. I did watch most of season 3 "episode 0" though, which apparently is a promotional webcast where they announced the cast of season 3:

All of the original cast members are back, including Lin Wanyu, Lu Zhanbo, and most importantly, Mei Jia. They dropped two of the new characters from season 2, Qin Yumo and Zhang Wei, but kept Tang Youyou. So now there are a total of 8 cast members, with an even number of male and female characters.

I don't actually recommend anybody watch episode 0, it starts out amusingly enough but quickly devolves into indulgent weirdness.

Hu Yifei comes out and does a bizarre S&M lap dance to Lady Gaga's Paparazzi. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you should watch it. If not, avoid like the plague.