MARS (2004)

MASTERPIECE ( ｡◕‿◕｡ ) Must-see among Taiwanese Dramas !

Excellent drama (voire génial) avec bcp mélo & great actors. Le ton est plutôt gris/noir car il traite non seulement de romance (healing romance) , mais surtout de suicide, harcèlement scolaire et sexuel, inceste, traumas et de troubles mentaux (hôpital psy).

STORY :
Bien écrite mais très mélo, avec des personnages complexes (vu leur vécu) mais leurs comportements ne sont pas tjs cohérents.
- Ce que je déteste dans certains dramas (et ICI aussi), les lovers ou futur lovers, sont traités comme des objets. "you are mine" et "si tu ne la chéris pas, je la reprends" GRRRRRR !
- l'ex, responsable du trauma, qui revient en "propriétaire"sans que le ML ne dise rien.
- compétiteurs en moto GP qui ne s'entrainent pas, passent leurs nuits à boire, etc. C'est un VRAI sport !!

Qq bémols malgré tout :
- les acteurs sont trop âgés pour interpréter des lycéens.
- les coiffures, les vêtements sont très datés.
- C'est un vieux drama dont la qualité de images passe sur Youtube, mais le son est très mauvais :(

Découverte de l'énorme talent de Vic Zhou ❤❤❤❤❤❤ dont je suis devenue une die-hard fan !!

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Deux êtres cassés que tout sépare s'aident à revivre.

Eh bien il est mon N°1 depuis que je regarde des dramas !  

Mars, c’est l’histoire de la rencontre de deux personnes qui en ont vu de dures, qui ont été profondément blessées, mais qui, grâce au sentiment puissant qui naît entre eux, vont réussir à sortir de la hantise de leur passé, non à l’oublier, mais à continuer et et avancer.

Mars, c’est l’illustration du triomphe de la jeunesse, une jeunesse blessée, bafouée, sur une réalité sordide, sur un monde où les certitudes s’effondrent, par la force d’un amour profond et pur et par les amitiés que ces deux êtres perdus suscitent autour d’eux.
La force de cette histoire c'est sa clarté simple, jamais ils ne doutent de leurs sentiments, l'amour est une évidence acceptée, pour eux deux puis peu à peu pour ceux qui les entourent, leur professeur, leurs amis, leurs parents... Ils se parlent sans détour, sans faux semblants, sans non-dits pourrissant la situation.
Le point culminant du drama, pour moi, est le moment où Ling comprend quel est le secret terrible de Qi Luo (que nous savons depuis le début) et sa détresse muette est profondément bouleversante. Le long chemin du retour vers la lumière se fera pourtant.
Chen Ling, c’est Zhou Yu Min(dit aussi Vic) Il a quasiment l’âge du rôle, il crève l’écran par son rire éclatant, sa détresse et son angoisse profondes, il est lumineux et parfois tragique, la couleur rouge l'accompagne, sur lui où dans son environnement elle est présente tout au long de l'histoire. Pour moi, c’est son meilleur rôle !
Vu dans Meteor garden 1 et 2, Silence, sweet relationship, Wish to see you again, Black & White…
Han Qi luo, c’est Barbie Zhu, qui incarne parfaitement cette jeune fille brisée qui reprend peu à peu le goût de vivre, dont on voit revenir peu à peu le rire et la lumière.
Vue dans Meteor garden 1 et 2
An Jun Can c'est  Tong Dao, le Mal incarné. Certains ont dit qu’il était inutile et n’apportait que plus de noirceur à une histoire somme toute assez sombre, mais non, car il est la matérialisation symbolique de l’ombre que Ling porte en lui, d’un passé douloureux, d'un présent difficile, de la folie qui rôde. Il est l'Ombre que suscite toujours la Lumière, qu'il faut combattre, et vaincre.
On dit que les deux acteurs principaux sortaient ensemble et je pense que cela a sûrement aidé à créer cet accord harmonieux entre eux. Toute la distribution est excellente et le ton général du drama n'est jamais sinistre, ni lugubre, il y a de l'émotion, de l'angoisse, mais aussi du rire, de la joie communicative, la jeunesse, quoi !
C’est un drama taïwanais de 2004, les moyens sont modestes, le son pas terrible, l’image un peu grenue, mais il y a une vraie recherche de profondeur dans les dialogues, ancrés dans la réalité, un travail étudié dans les prises de vue récurrentes de vertigineux escaliers ou d’immeuble à la hauteur angoissante suggérant les descentes aux enfers… ou la mort, … ou l’ascension vers la lumière.
Un mot sur l’adaptation : le drama est l’adaptation d’un manga japonais, et il reproduit l’original aux détails vestimentaire du héros près ! Cependant, tout en respectant la grâce et la délicatesse du manga l’adaptation taïwanaise a su lui donner chair en n’édulcorant ni les dialogues ni les situations.
Pour moi, chaque nouvelle vision est une nouvelle découverte de ce drama !
Bon le défaut, (il faut bien en trouver un) c'est comme toujours dans les dramas taiwanais une musique quelconque (sauf la chanson d'ouverture) et envahissante, répétée jusqu'à satiété avec en plus les paroles en chinois et en français par dessus !!! Et encore on a de la chance qu'il n'y ait pas de bandeau d'idéogramme défilant sur le côté de l'image comme dans je ne sais plus quel drama ! mais on est tellement pris par l'histoire, par l'empathie envers les personnages, qu'on oublie ce défaut !

Quant à la fin, eh bien, je l'aime, parce que c'est la Lumière qui l'emporte sur l'Ombre, et que, ma foi, ils l'ont bien mérité !    

En faisant cette présentation, j'ai découvert que l'acteur qui incarne Tang Dao est mort à 31 ans d'un cancer du foie. J'en étais très triste, il était si jeune, beau et plein de talent !

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This is the second drama to have captured my undivided attention. I've never seen a drama that can portray mental illness, suicide, rape and such dark subjects and portray it well.



Vic and Barbies preformances were flawless and spectacular. Other than the 1 Litre of Tears drama, I've never seen such amazing acting.



The director had a habit of not playing music at times which just added to the creepy atmosphere. I thought it worked well with the scenes. When there was music, such as the theme song, they were all well chosen.



This is one drama you won't regret watching.

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Instant Favourite. I had to boot out one my all-time favourite dramas in my list to make room for this one, the moment i finished watching it.
This drama has everything you would expect from and Asian drama AND more. It's all i thought about for days, I literally dreamt of the characters when i slept.
The story, although it is appears to be a stereotypical 'good girl meets bad boy' theme, is actually far more deeper then that. The girl wasn't always so reserved, and the boy wasn't always such a womanizer. It really touches upon the consuming physiological problems that tragedy can create. Its normal to see the male lead 'change' throughout the drama and become a better person while falling in love with the female lead, but it is extremely rare to see both characters changing so much; together.
The acting was amazing. That's to be expected with Barbie and Vic. I laughed and i cried with these characters. I felt their heartbreak as much as my own.
Its the rare kind of drama that gets better with each passing episode, and at the end you just wish you could watch it all over again with new eyes.
I would recommend this to anyone.

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This drama is different. Good-different. Amazing-different. Phenomenal-different. It details the growth and struggles of two young people trying to face their pasts, their fears, and finding solace in one another. There is no overlying mystery plot, no birth secrets, no rich handsome boss/coworker/perfect-man and poor cute employee/teacher/student/average-girl. The attraction begins right away, and the characters are what makes this drama.

I first got into MARS because of Meteor Garden, which also starred Barbie Hsu and Vic Zhou. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from the two of them. Meteor Garden was their first acting gigs, and I figured they didn't have the experience yet to be truly great. Boy was I wrong (and gladly!). The amazing depth with which they imbued their characters left me wanting more in the subsequent dramas I watched. Sigh...

Music/aesthetics wise - this drama was waaaaaay back in 2004, when taiwanese dramas had terrible funding, bad fashion (at least how we would consider it now), and different filming styles. Don't expect amazing packaging or cinematography, and expect most of the boys to wear their hair long. In this case I feel like MARS doesn't suffer from it however, since the character's personalities are the most appealing and strongest parts of the drama. There are two songs that are particularly gorgeous, but most of the other tracks were instrumentals and easily forgotten. Not that that's a bad thing (I'm looking at you Almost Paradise!).

A word of warning however - this drama deals with dark issues, and may contain possible triggers. I'd suggest looking up the summary before watching it, because I know that personally I watched it better knowing the general subject and plot.

Now where to find the next drama up to par with this one?

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A drama with a lot of substance and heart. It handles a beautiful love that is mature and also warms your heart.

The lead characters come from a place of great trauma and carry dark shadows within them, but the feel of the drama is far from gloomy or sad. It is the beauty of the characters that they find happiness and comforts even with a background of pain.
I really liked the character graphs of Chen Ling and Qi Lou. The actors too were perfect for the roles. Every other character in the drama too is well written and real. There are no fluffy or pointless characters.

The drama handles many serious issues in our society and characters with mental instabilities/psychological problems, and it does so with great sensitivity and care.

I liked the music, because I felt it was used appropriately and enhanced the beauty of the scenes. The happy moments had a track that made you feel the happiness, whereas in the more tense scenes, the background score completely stopped, adding to the intensity.

The first half does remind you of Devil Beside You- probably because of the character of the male lead and having been shot in the same campus, but MARS is definitely more intense and on a broader canvas than DBY.

I can't think of any drama that I've as completely appreciated as MARS. It took me in completely, and I will happily re-watch it any number of times.

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I'm a HUGE fan of the manga! and I can say I absolutely loved this drama! It stayed very true to the manga, and for that I am very grateful!

Obviously, I love the story. It has everything, interesting and unique characters with very complex pasts/personalities, amazing character development, and a great ending that leaves the audience not only satisfied but also inspired!

The only annoying part is the fact that for some strange reason they tried to make the characters 2-3 years older! which creates huge inconsistencies, since the whole story would only make sense if they were underage! so yeah, I basically ignored the whole college-grad school references and thought of them being in high-school, going to college!

The acting was good and the main characters had good chemistry!
I would say other than the stupid age shift, this drama had two other problems: bad cinematography and excessive repeat of the music! The lighting in many scenes was off, and the song, even though I LOVED it, was repeated so many times that it kind of annoyed me!

Let me just say this one more time, the story is AMAZING! It has many deep psychological elements to it that makes it one a kind! Although at a first glance it might seem like every other drama, but it's very unique. Give it a shot, I promise you won't regret it!

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I can't believe I took so long to watch this! I had plans last year to watch it as soon as I was done with Meteor Garden. But, you see, the thing is, while watching Meteor Garden, I shipped Si and Shancai real hard. No, seriously, I loved them together so much that whenever Shancai went all girly-girly around Lei (vic Zhou's character), my face would turn as grim as Si's and I literally had to fight the urge to skip their parts, fearing I might miss something important. This, and also I watched Vic Chou in a movie called "loving you a 10000 years" and (no offense) but that is possibly the worst movie I have ever watched in any language known to man. It was just lame. And, trust me, it doesn't take much in a movie or a drama to impress me.

Anyways, back to the drama - WHY DIDN'T I WATCH THIS SOONER?! WAE WAE WAE??? This is just amazing. The plot is so intriguing. Not just the romantic parts but also the stuff about mental illnesses and stuff. It's very thrilling. I LOVE VIC CHOU! I seriously cannot believe he didn't win the best actor award for this drama. Same for Barbie Hsu. I mean, their expressions (once again I'm not talking about expressions of love and longing.)were just so beautiful. Gave me goosebumps the whole time.

The kind of characters they built for this drama really impressed me. Ling is the most perfect guy in the most imperfect sense possible. His shades of his personality and different layers of his character, the laugh, the tears, the past. It just moved me, I don't know why. Same goes for Qui Luo. I love the way her character developed after Ling came into her life. I loved their little shack that they made for themselves. I loved the music of the show. I have most of the songs on my phone.

Coming to the rewatch value, I'll definitely give it a 10 because I already watched it twice (no kidding) and I am definitely going to go watch it again for sure. Especially a few favorite parts for which I even remember the episode numbers now (lol).

I'd say if you are an Asian Drama fan, don't skip this one!

PS- Still can't believe Vic Chou didn't win the best actor award for this. My faith in the world of righteousness is shattered. But I'll try not to dwell on that.

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1) The reason I watched this:

I had this drama on my PTW list for a long time, I've delaying it for ages then one day, I decided to go fo it.

2) Storyline/Plot:

As a person who haven't read the manga and have no idea about this drama's story, I believe that the storyline was somehow strong.

Positive points:

*The plot was set up in a good way plus the story's development was meaningful since it gathered rigid events.
*This is the type of drama that won't let you lose interest in its events simply because mysterious twists were always present.
*This drama's storyline was a great mixture between romance, mystery, psychology and even some little horror moments; that's why I would say that the storyline is rich and enjoyable.
*There were some brilliant suspens moments that would fill you with anticipation and expectations.

Negative points:

*There were some unnecessary events or let's say they were "badly expressed".
*Some moments were really annoying to watch.

Story: 8.5/10

3) Acting/Cast:

*Zhou Vic : he has always been my weakness point but seriously he managed to portray the character in a perfect way.
He completely owned the role whether in sadness, happiness, his gloomy or his cheerful character; he knew how to deliever feelings.

*Hsu Barbie : As an actress she had a good show but I can't say the same about her character which took the wrong turn sometimes.

*The chemistry was one of the greatest chemistries that I've seen so far. I enjoyed every scene they had together.
*The rest of the cast was cool too plus their acting skills were good too.

Cast: 8/10
Acting: 8.5/10

4) The ending:

It one of those endings which anyone would love to see on screen. Overall it was good enough.

The ending: 8/10

5) My impression (How did it afect me):

*It's true that I had to skip some parts in order to make the drama's episodes equilibrated but I never lost interest in its events.
*Zhou Vic was simply amazing here not only as *insert shallow feelings* but also as a good actor who knew how to portray his role.
*Although I liked this drama, I can't say that I was obsessed about it.

My impression: 7.5/10

6) Overall:

*If you want a good change from typical romantic comedies then you like this.
*If you like romance mixed with psychology then this is for you
*If you like Zhou Vic then you need to watch this because this was his best role ever.

Overall: 8.5/10.

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One thing I can say about Taiwanese dramas and I'm just going to put it out there, they tend to do romances better than Korean dramas. Sure, there are exceptions but the more that I watch, the more that I come to this conclusion. This was a GREAT story from start to finish!! 21 episodes and I was never bored!! It took us from the very start of a relationship, to the end. It shows the conflict, very well done as well as the happy times! The chemistry between the two leads, Barbie Hsu and Vic Zhou, off the charts!! The protagonists were many but unlike Korean dramas, those story lines were not dragged out to the end, I hate that!! I especially liked how the secondary characters, Da Ye and Qing Mei were portrayed. We got to watch their story and relationship evolve and you can't help but love that too!! This drama deserves high ratings and the I will definitely be re-watching it and recommending it to my drama buddies!! If you want a really, well-done romance to watch, this is it! Guarantee!!

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In my opinion MARS is a really hard drama to watch...if you want to watch something light right now please don't bother with this one.MARS is my favorite drama out there and I think that it suceded in overlaping even the korean dramas and japanase ones.

Story: It's the most developed one that I've seen until today.It's the full package of romance, action, drama and mistery.It made me fall off my chair from laughing sometimes, but on the other hand it made me use so many many tissues most of the time.Is a very serious story which touches ideas and problems that were never touched once before.

Acting/Cast: What can I say about this....I really loved the chemestry between Barbie Hsu and Vic Zhou since Meteor Garden, but here was really outstanding.I love Brbie Hsu..she is my favorite TW actress, not only she is beautiful but also has great talent.It always seemed to me that she and Vic were soulmates because of their interection and underestanding with each other.The characters were so well portraid that it made the story come alive.

Music: It was really beautiful.Trust me..I don't like TW music..I really find it annoying most of the time but this one was so beautiful that I don't know what to say.The song Ling/Zero described so well the drama that only listenig to it brought my tears.

Rewatch Value: I really don't rewatch dramas often because it's boring for me to know what happens next and so on...but I would definetely rewatch this one..I don't know why but only rewatching some scenes or listenig to the songs makes me shed tears of sadness.For me this drama is one in 5 years or so.

Overall: For me a drama can get 10 points only if it can remain in my head for a long period of time and it can make me compare it with others.This one succeded in this and it also made me to open my eyes and to be happy for what I have because their are many more people more unhappy and with more problems out there than me.

So I think that when you are in a state of mind of watching a REAL love story not a "fantazy" one you should give this try and let it get into your heart

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