Q Series: Love of Sandstorm (2016)

Some Taiwanese drama tend to be a little ... uhm... weird? overacted? cringe? writer probably on crack?
Is Love of Sandstorm like that? Hell yes.
But to my pleasant surprise, this drama found somehow the perfect mixture.
It's funny as hell, but the more you think about certain scenes, the darker it gets. For some reason, even as a Westerner I could relate to the characters. The plot isn't even THAT far from reality.

I mean, be ready to get straight to the point. This drama is BLUNT. STRAIGHT FORWARD. You are used to KDrama-World, where the climax is (at max) a sloppy kiss on the couch where the camera slowly focuses to the IKEA flower pot? Oh honey, you're in for a ride. Some scenes made me want to clean my browser history with bleach and damn, I've seen some sh*t.

What you definitely need to know is that the first episode drags a bit. In defense of the writer, he had quite a lot of characters to introduce. But thanks to that, I know who's who. Unlike other dramas where I still don't get who's the protagonist after 5 episodes.

During the drama you'll follow different couples and their plot lines. If you asked me, the parents could have been toned down a bit. No offense, I just don't like "older" couples. And don't get me started on Jiao Jiao - this girl is completely nuts.
I was binge watching Love of Sandstorm and currently trying to function on 2 hours of sleep. Probably shouldn't have binge watched another drama before that. And maybe the only way to enjoy this drama is in the void between madness and a mental breakdown, where you just find anything funny. Idk.

Read More

What I liked about this drama series was that each five of the family members had their own distinct personalities and although they were at different stages in their lives, some of the issues they faced were also shared by another family member. Because of this, characters were able to talk it out and help each other with their respective issues, which was nice to see.

Despite running only seven episodes, I felt that all the family members were given the appropriate amount of focus for their character arcs to be fully realized. Sometimes you might find yourself wishing for one character's scenes/arc to be finished to move on to another one but in this drama I never felt that way. I was equally invested in each of the character's lives and was anxious to see how they would sort out their problems.

However, one of the greatest strengths of this drama is its offbeat sense of humor. This drama deals with common issues such as finding purpose in one's life, infidelity, first loves/making a connection with another person and injects its own brand of offbeat humor to it that made it all very refreshing.

Also, any drama that features characters bonding over their shared love for great Japanese directors such as Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi and Oshima is a win in my book.

The cast features both seasoned actors and fresh faced actors with no prior acting experience but they were all uniformly excellent. Special shout-out to Sakuraba Nanami and her Mandarin skills and to Esther Yeh. In the latter's case, her character could be seen as annoying in less capable hands but she was a scene stealer for me and couldn't help but laugh at her interactions with Chris Wu and the rest of the family members.

I have to thank this drama for introducing me to One Ok Rock and really like how "Wherever You Are" was used throughout the drama.

At only seven episodes, you don't have to invest a lot of time with this one but if you're able to get on this drama's wavelength and enjoy a little wacky humor with your family dramas then I believe you will be rewarded with a gem of a drama.

Read More