Extravagant Challenge (aka Skip Beat): Overall Review

A while back I mentioned a Taiwanese drama, Extravagant Challenge, that I was currently obsessed with. The only reason why I watched this was because Super Junior's Siwon and Donghae were the two male leads, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I loved my first ever Taiwanese drama. Some of you avid manga readers, or devoted anime lovers will recognize it by it's original name: Skip Beat. This live action drama is about a girl named Gong Xi who gives up everything, her home, her education, pretty much her whole life, to helping her runaway, childhood best friend-turned-pop-idol Bu Po Shang. Now I absolutely love Donghae, but I absolutely hate his character. He played the horrible jerk role really well. His character, Bu Po Shang, turns from nice guy to arrogant player, and he starts taking advantage of Gong Xi's kindness, by making him ramyun and cleaning his clothes, paying his bills. And what does she get in return? Squat. Once she finds out how much of an imbecile he is, she is out for revenge. She decides to enter show biz and be more successful than Shang to get back at him. Here she meets Siwon--er-- I mean Dun He Lian. and the whole story unfolds. 


In comparison to K-dramas, Taiwanese dramas aren't that different. You still get the exaggerated acting, and the cliche love triangle. Mostly, I loved the way the plot line was structured, because Gong Xi is that strange girl who beats the odds and she manages to change the lives of each person she meets. It kind of reminds me of Tohru Honda from Fruits Baskets. And knowing me, this drama must have good characters! I love Allen Chao as Luo Lian, the weird but wise president of the company, and Jin Qin as Mr. Du, the comic manager. The conflicts didn't drag on, and Gong Xi was able to reach self actualization. My only problem is the ending! I loved every single episode, but the last episode was an epic fail! I don't think it even constituted as an ending. Like Fruit Baskets, the ending was just another episode. The main conflict wasn't resolved, so how can it be over?! I was expecting a big confrontation and more tension between Bu Po Shang, Dun He Lian, and Gong Xi (and I'm not saying this because I love Donghae). After all, these are the three main leads! Now, I can only assume that there will be another season, because I am not satisfied with this ending. Please let there be another season! Sigh. I guess I'm gonna have to read the manga now. (Just like Fruits Basket).
But check it out anyway, because everything else was superb!

One of my favorite Donghae/Shang parts!

Lastly, I must mention the OST, because it features songs from Super Junior-M. I love all the song from SuJu-M, because the always make me feel so happy! Usually, when you watch a drama, they always use the same songs over and over and over again **cough cough Boys Over Flowers** until you get sick and tired of it. For this drama, I love hearing the music, to the point where I anticipate it! Ok! Now I'm done! Now watch this drama! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
P.S. I'm solely basing this review off the drama, not the manga or the anime because I haven't seen/read either.

-A

*All pictures and credits belong to their rightful owners.*