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xflowerstarx · 8 years ago

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My Lover From The Planet Meow Review

Have you ever pondered what life is out there beyond the stars and what kind of organic life forms or aliens lies out there beyond our galaxy and in the universe? My Lover From The Planet Meow will provide you a lowdown of “Meow/Cat Star People” (which is literally translated into English from Cantonese). In other words, space cats.

My Lover From The Planet Meow isn’t the first time I’ve seen space cats. That honour goes to the sci-fi Canadian cartoon, Atomic Betty, created by Atomic Cartoons. However, it’s the Ratchet & Clank series is what got me hooked on space cats in the first place.

Since My Lover From The Planet Meow is only shown on the TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited) channels, it’s only in Cantonese with Cantonese and English subtitles. The cast of this drama is composed of most of the cast from the TVB Hong Kong drama, Ghost of Relativity.

According to the schedule, there are thirty-two episodes altogether.

This TVB Hong Kong drama is a mixture of romance, science-fiction and supernatural set in modern day, 21st century Hong Kong, genre wise.

This is how the story goes in a summarized form: The Head of Research and Development at HTDG, Garfield, notices a kitten in a window of a pet shop which is tangled in toilet paper and he made the decision to enter the pet shop in order to tell the shopkeeper. Before he had the opportunity to talk some sense into her, she persuades him to buy the kitten, which he names her Miu Miu-miu. Little did he know the kitten is an alien feline that lived in a far away planet in another galaxy? In the midst of a police case, he encounters Cat, who is a committed policewoman. During the mishap and being almost arrested for mistaking him for a cat burglar, he lost his kitten. Feeling sorry for Garfield losing track of his infant pet, Cat’s boss ordered her to help him find the baby cat. Whilst they were searching for said cat, they get to know each other and it isn’t long until they fell in love. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into years, they soon started dating, they got married and they had a young daughter. Everything is right with the world and they enjoyed each other’s company until Miu Miu-miu collapsed after catching a flying insect when it’s causing mischief in their home. With that, she is immediately sent to the vet. According to the veterinarian, nothing is wrong with her but since she is growing old, she’ll die. One night, Garfield, Cat and their daughter buried a white container holding Miu Miu-miu’s corpse inside in the soil before he explained where her spirit will go, it will rest at a distant planet in a far-off galaxy beyond the stars and heavens and she’ll one day return to their planet for a visit as her spirit is whisked off to outer space. At her home planet, Planet Meow, Miu Miu-miu monitors Garfield, Cat and their offspring’s lives on her futuristic, highly advanced, holographic screens. Not being able to stand watching helplessly of her old owner and his daughter being bullied and pushed around by an obnoxious mum and her child, Miu Miu-miu returns back to Earth via a cat-shaped spacecraft and she disguises as a human with the appropriately name, “Miu”, while she attempts to keep her true identity a secret to help her ex-master and his family in their time of need, working with Garfield as his partner at his workplace and assuming the role of his daughter’s nanny due to Cat being devoted to her police career. Upon arrival, Miu realised a lot have changed ten years later. Because of her natural feline behaviour and instincts, she struggles to conceal her secret during her time on Earth.

The three central characters of the drama as follows below:

Garfield (not to be confused with the famous ginger-coloured, Monday-hating, lasagne-adoring cat) is Miu Miu-miu’s former cat owner, Cat’s husband and his daughter’s dad. He is the mild-mannered head of research and development at the HTDG company. He purchases Miu after noticing her being neglected by the pet shop owner. Throughout the show, he have a tendency to over budget which causes him to be constantly scolded by his wife and getting himself into more trouble than he bargained for.

Cat is a dedicated, but bossy and commanding, human policewoman who is devoted to her career and she desire to search for the truth from the facts. She is Garfield’s wife and former girlfriend and fiancé but she is quick to accuse people and jumping to conclusions. She came across Garfield during a police case and she mistaken him for a thief. Feeling sorry for Garfield, she helped him find his missing kitten, Miu Miu-miu and it isn’t long until they fell in love. In spite of her name, she dislikes cats, which is ironic. Therefore, she had a sore spot for Miu Miu-miu/Miu. Due to her career, she neglects her daughter.

Miu Miu-miu is an alien cat hailing from the Planet Meow. She started out her life as an ordinary cat on Earth and she encounters Garfield, who purchases her from a pet shop because the female pet shopkeeper neglected her. When she dies due to old age, her spirit is sent to her home planet. On her home planet, Miu Miu-miu monitors the every day lives of Garfield and his family from her space-age, holographic screens. She returns to Earth when Garfield’s daughter wished her back. Upon arrival, Miu Miu-miu assumes the form of a human (with her cat-like instincts and traits intact) with the aptly named, “Miu”. Once there, Miu attempts to live like a human being whilst trying to keep her secret hidden but she soon realises a lot of things have changed between her and her old master’s family after coming back ten years later.

As far as storylines go, the storyline sounds like it came straight out of a fanfiction. Most specifically, the Ratchet & Clank fanfictions. In fact, I’ve seen or experienced this plot three times in fanfictions such as “Chronicles of Internet Earth” (a crossover between the Ratchet & Clank series and Code Lyoko) by JessieARain (formerly known as Foenix Nightshade), “A Different Kind of Vacation” (a Ratchet & Clank fanfiction) by flerna and “Christmas” (a crossover one-shot between the Ratchet & Clank series and Code Lyoko) by JessieARain.

Throughout the show, Miu attempts to live life as a seemingly normal human being while trying to conceal her secret about her true identity as a space cat alien. Though, she’s not doing a good job of hiding her feline instincts and her secret regarding her being an extraterrestrial from a far-away, different planet. Her aforementioned feline instincts can either hinder her or help her out of hairy situations. The more time she spent with Garfield at his company and outside of work as depicted in the later episodes, the more they expressed love with each other and become fascinated with one another as a result of him being in her debt for assisting him with his project. One thing led to another and before they know it, there were constant near-love confessions until it gets to the point where they shared a kiss at one point when Garfield is lying down on a couch in a horizontal position in a drunken state. I’ve experienced or witnessed this predictable plot before in the Ratchet & Clank fanfictions such as “Time Heals All” by RevenantReaper337, “Whole Again” (not to be confused with Atomic Kitten’s song, “Whole Again”) by RevenantReaper337, “A Different Kind of Vacation” by flerna and “When Worlds Collide” by Madi-Milkshakes.

During the previous episodes, this led me to wonder if there are other space cats out there or secretly living on Earth when it comes to this show and I hoped Miu isn’t the only one.

The storyline of My Lover From The Planet Meow may be unoriginal and an alien cat and a human eventually becoming a couple are unsurprising and cliché but it is by no means unwatchable.

The only thing I never expected is… Spoilers alert! Miu’s landlady, Rose, is eventually revealed to be a space cat as well which I have to admit is a surprising plot twist. Her disclosure shocked me so much, it made me gasp loudly and it completely caught me off guard! After her secret is revealed, she lectured Miu about the history of humans and space cats as well as explaining to Miu that she lived on Earth for 30 years. On the bright side, at least Miu have a fellow space cat to form conversations with.

Regarding the humour, it’s either a hit or miss, depending on which parts, moments or incidents are hilarious or not. However, the level of humour in this show slightly surpassed the humour from the Ratchet & Clank Movie in terms of how the humour is executed or handled. The cat in-jokes and references such as the names of the three main characters, Garfield (not to be confused with the fat, lasagne-loving, Monday-hating cat), Cat and Miu, are a nice touch and are spot on. Sure, the humour sometimes falls flat on itself but I can’t deny the feline traits and instincts Miu, Rose and the other space cats expressed are laugh-out-loud comical and all-around adorable.

Just like for any cartoon, movie, video game, television show or drama and other forms of media and entertainment, there are running gags and this drama is no exception. The running gags are Garfield and his family are petrified of a bug which causes Miu Miu-miu/Miu to leap to the rescue and catches or kills the annoying, airborne insect with one paw or hand, one of the workers at Garfield’s workplace is allergic to cats and space cats (as a result, she sneezes whenever she is within a vicinity of a cat or an alien cat) and Cat chasing after the same criminal in the midst of various police outdoor assignments.

On that note, one of my favourite moments of the show is during the 23rd or 24th episode; Miu is lounging on her bed in her bedroom at Rose’s home. She is conflicted about her feelings about Garfield and she couldn’t get him out of her mind so she switches on her smartphone to call him. Unfortunately for her, he didn’t answer, he is away from his phone in order to reply or he is currently occupied with his commitments or his work. And with that, she opens up her laptop and lets out her pent-up frustration by typing hysterically on the keyboard only for Rose to walk in on her. When she reads the alien cat language on the screen aloud, Miu immediately closed the laptop. In spite of her making an attempt to bottle up her indecisive feelings, Rose knew what’s on Miu’s mind.

Another thing I’d like to point out are the names of the secondary or minor characters and their actors and actresses are unmemorable. In spite of me watching all of the episodes, I can’t seem to remember their names. Although, I can only remember Garfield’s, Cat’s, Miu Miu-miu/Miu’s, Rose’s and Jack’s names. I recall Garfield and Cat’s daughter’s name but I couldn’t remember how to spell it. The same I’d say about the music except for the theme song and the ending/credits song.

Speaking of the music, sometimes outer space-like or cosmic music is accompanied with the typical alien sound effects is playing during a couple of parts of the show at rare times but only when the situation calls for it. This is typical for sci-fi cartoons, shows, video games, movies and other forms of media and entertainment.

Despite my criticisms, they didn’t deter me from watching the show and the episodes gradually become more and more exciting as more secrets and characters are revealed whilst I become more curious of how Garfield or any of the characters (excluding Rose) will react to discovering Miu’s true identity at long last as the plot thickens and the events unfolds.

There are times when there are “Holy s***!” moments such as the almost literal final cat fight between Miu and the evil space cat as they engaged in battle on a roof of a tall building or flat whilst Cat and Garfield looked on with sheer awe, wonder and shocked expressions on their faces and Cat’s boss tends to Natasha in the 30th episode and Miu eventually reveals her secret regarding her true identity to Garfield and Cat in the 31st episode. An alien cat finally telling the truth to his or her friends or family is yet to be seen in the Ratchet & Clank fanfictions such as, “Chronicles of Internet Earth” and “A Different Kind of Vacation”.

If there’s one thing this drama had taught me is there are good and bad/evil space cats or extraterrestrials just like humans

Similar with my situation with books, to be honest I never liked or enjoyed watching TVB Hong Kong dramas throughout the years until this year, I finally found a favourite TVB Hong Kong drama. Out of all of the TVB Hong Kong dramas I took a peek at or watched a tad bit, My Lover From The Planet Meow is the first (and perhaps the only) TVB Hong Kong drama I binge-watched until the final episode.

If I have to be honest with myself, the pacing of the show is admittedly equivalent to the Ratchet & Clank Movie and Kubo And The Two Strings. There are times when the episodes felt they were dragging on for countless hours on end. Thus, making said episodes boring at times. As much as I hate to admit it, but I wanted an episode would end. I’m not sure if this kind of feeling is related to the script or the passé storyline but the humour makes up for the writing, which is a subject I touched upon earlier.

Concerning planet and space cat designs, TVB should’ve been more creative and imaginative with the physical appearances of the planets and the space cats instead of the television company resorting to using ordinary cats to portray as the aforementioned space cats on account of possible laziness. On the bright side, the Planet Meow looked outstandingly astonishing to gaze at. Even though, the 3-dimensional planet models are not up to Pixar or Disney standards but at least they looked presentable and they certainly outshined the quality of the immensely-loathed, plagiarised, unoriginal 3D platforming/collect-a-thon Kickstarter video game, Kewpie-Jazzy, in terms of modelling and animation abilities. There are occasional times when I wondered if TVB used a green screen for the special effects and rendering and compositing skills to merge live-action and 3D/CGI animation together into one show.

One of questions this drama have left on my mind is how Miu, Rose and the nefarious, perverted alien feline are quick to pick up and speak Cantonese, regardless of the fact that they’re aliens from another planet. I initially presumed they could only write, speak and listen in their own alien language.

There is another thing that left me wondering is how Miu suddenly become familiar with utilising modern technology such as a smartphone.

My final verdict is My Lover From The Planet Meow is a light-hearted, feel good show jam packed with feline hi-jinks, love triangles, flashbacks, foreshadowing and cat references galore with plenty of plot twists at every turn, going from one antagonist to another as well as there are incidents where Miu’s alien secret is nearly exposed and there are romantic moments between Garfield and Miu. It is let down by the unimaginative storyline, unsurprising couples, unmemorable characters and music and the underwhelming, bittersweet ending.

As much as I took pleasure in watching the drama, it’s not the type of show I’ll keep seeing time and time again but it’s leaps and bounds above all of the TVB Hong Kong dramas and Chinese films I’ve observed throughout the years. Captain of Destiny (a time-travelling TVB Hong Kong drama about a policewoman from 21st century Hong Kong accidentally got transported via a enormous watery whirlwind to the era where surprisingly kind-hearted pirates ruled the seven seas) comes a close second.

If you’re able to gain access to loads of TVB channels or any of them and if you have a soft spot for space cats or cats in general, then you’re going to get a lorry full of enjoyment out of watching this drama that’s mildly out of this world. Don’t let the uninspiring storyline and the predictable main pairings (Garfield x Cat, Garfield x Miu, Garfield x Natasha and Rose x Jack) discourage you from watching this drama.

Sadly, the only thing that will prevent you from understanding the storyline and what the characters are saying is the language barrier. Unless you can listen to Cantonese, you’ll be able to get a grasp of what’s going on.

If you’re curious about the drama, luckily it’s available to watch on YouTube. Search for the name, “Luca Florey”, and you’ll be able to find episodes 1 to 32. Unfortunately, Luca Florey changed the sound and voice pitch and the pace of the show due to copyright reasons.

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