Rants and Weekly Raves #63 (RAWR)

Nabi: Oh my...what?!?!
JoAnne: You heard the man.

Jaehyus: I'm a little out of it. Block B is this week and logisitics for that concert, travel, what to wear, what to carry, etc are taking up my brain. Also, maybe it's because of the concert, but I felt pretty bored by most dramas this week.  
kakashi: Ohhhh, where are you going for that? And I'm totally out of it too. I'm on a Hu Ge rampage and I never want this to end - both Nirvana in Fire and The Disguiser are SO GOOD I don't even know what I will watch after them
Chicago. It's not actually going to be that much different from going locally if I add up all the steps to go out: I'm just adding in a short flight.  Nirvana in Fire is the one drama that kind of held my interest lately other than SFD.
What's with the new obsession with historical? chinese? taiwanese? dramas? I just read a blog post that claims the chinese govt was so upset that kdramas were more popular that they had meetings about how to stage a 'come back'. I guess this is the result? (who is this?)
Bcook! It's Bcook! 

Six Flying Dragons

I caught up this week. I like the Pirates of the Caribbean-esque soundtrack, but the plot was starting to drag for me quite a bit toward the end. Too much politics, probably. Politics is boring. Also, even though there is a "Venomous Magpie" character in the drama, it's Choi Jong-Won's Lee In-Gyum who reminds me of an evil bird. The actor was similarly hateful in Joseon Gunman, but I'm holding out hope that he will die soon in SFD. I can't quite get a handle on Yoo Ah-In's Lee Bang-Won, but maybe that's on purpose? On a more positive note, Yoon Gyun-Sang is much more appealing -- and frankly, believable -- as SFD's sweet, super-strong, slightly stupid swordsman (Moo-Hyul) than he was as the self-absorbed piano geeeeeenius in The Time We Were Not Entertained. Sadly, I can't say the same for Jung Yoo-Mi, whose lisp irritates me just as much today as it did when she first schemed her way through Rooftop Prince. So far it seems like Byun Yo-Han's Ddang-Sae -- who gets sexier by the episode, by the way -- has two potential love interests lined up, and I'm praying he goes for Lee Cho-Hee's clever and adorable Gap-Boon instead of Yoo-Mi's Yeon-Hee. But since the latter is his First Love, I'm worried we're all in for a very lispy loveline instead. You all know Koreans and their obsession with first loves. Sigh.

Awwwww... He's like a giant, very lethal puppy! Be careful raising him, Bang-Won-ah.
Actually, this is one of the shows I liked a lot this week, enough to put everything else down for it.  I like Jung YooMi, and never noticed a lisp.  And I think Gap Boon's love line will probably be with MooHyul.  Nope, don't think you're supposed to get a handle on BangWon because he's extremely cunning, complicated, and self-centered.  Yet, he seems to be doing everything for the good of the country.  However, my reading is that he does everything to fulfil how he sees the world should be, and that vision is very strongly centered on his own wants, not actual facts.  Like many narcissistic people, he's good at getting and doing, but there's that part that is completely cold and totally amoral. Still, that's what will make him king. 
Yes, I'm managing to stay about the same amount of behind on this from week to week, so I don't count it as being behind. I count it as 'keeping my own time.' If it were not for the insane level of excellence of certain Chinese dramas I'm currently watching (ahem) - this would be my crack drama. I'm sorry, Dragons! I really do love you!

Village of Achiara

Bored. I liked three policemen and I like one actress, 
but I'm getting fed up because I do not have clear reasons for people's hate towards each other.  I get fed snippets of why they might dislike each other, but nothing clear.  For instance, I do not understand the pharmacist sister and the dead Hyejin's hate towards Jisook, the samonim beyond sibling rivalry and a mistress's jealousy.  Nor do I understand that brat who I would love to see sent to boarding school, the stricter the better.  If anything, my sympathies are getting stronger and stronger for Jisook, and yet, she's supposed to be this horrible person.  Does not compute. 
On another note, here are the three who interested me, though they knocked out one so Sungjae could look smarter:

Also, is this actress in everything?
Awww, I like her! 
Me too, but it's funny how she keeps popping up.
On the back burner. Actually, on the hot plate next to the stove.

She Was Pretty

The big relationships in this drama really are awfully healthy now, which is especially surprising considering how all of them had huge lies at their centers for most of the show's run. But now the truths are out, the magazine is saved, and everything hunky dory. Which begs the question: What on Earth are they going to do with the last episode? It's either going to be an hour more of sweet and perfect, which, BORING, albeit in an emotionally healthy way, or else they're going to manufacture some huge disaster at the last minute, which is really going to irritate me...
Gah!! Spoilers! ( not really I kinda this would happen. I like predictable kdrama endings.) This one is going to be cute and funny and happy. yay!!! Why did Ten wait till minute 55 to reveal hisself?! *shrug*<--- which pretty much sums up everything about this drama. still...i like. 
This is a puppy I would do more than pat. His voice alone makes me want to do bad, bad things...and then he pulls shit like THIS.
Park Seo-Joon is still doing a fine job with the kissing scenes...short and chaste though they may be.

Cheer Up! / Sassy Sassy Go Go Goooooooo

So, this finally happened:
In other news, Soo-Ah roped Dong-Jae into her life's one and only "Fun Day" while her latest victim was still convalescing in the hospital (although not, as we see above, in any imminent danger), and then made the world's weakest suicide attempt. Suicide is no joke, by the way, but walking veeeeeery slooooooowly into the crosswalk against the light isn't exactly decisive, even if you do live in a country where all the drivers honk for half a block and then swerve around you instead of just, you know, braking. But apparently her cry for help worked, at least with the Cheer Club kids, because they all put in a lot of effort to make and send her cheery (hur!) videos all about how much they love her and miss her while she was hiding in her own, much more private hospital bed afterward. It was such an abrupt turnaround that I almost appreciated the contrast of Soo-Ah's mom, who seemed to have learned nothing from her daughter's obvious misery and distress, and spent the aftermath of her suicide attempt trying to bribe Soo-Ah's many crimes off her permanent record and shuffle her off to study abroad.
The sign says: "Real friends don't push each other down the stairs."
Oh wait, sorry, that's the sign I wrote in my imagination.
I've seen people turn on a dime in real life, so why NOT here? That poor girl needs friends, for real. I have thoroughly enjoyed this drama. Yes, I've even thoroughly enjoyed watching Ji Soo not be the love interest, because damn, Ji Soo does teen heartbreak so very, very well.  
Fair point, unni. Especially since this drama is only 12 episodes long, they really couldn't afford to drag out her forgiveness arc for too long. Also, it's worth noting that the chat room bullying of Soo-Ah in the build up to her suicide attempt was pretty disgusting. I didn't specifically identify any Cheer Club kids as part of it, but it did go by rather fast...

The Merchant: Gaekju 2015

I finally started it, so now I'm only...13 episodes behind! It's too early to know anything for sure at this point, especially since Hyukkie has yet to make his appearance. But in his absence, at least we get some Lee Won-Jong, whom I generally enjoy, being very dramatic:
"Hyungnim! Andwaeeee!"
UPDATE: I'm now only 12 episodes behind...and very, very sad. :-(

Other Stuff

Still not sure I like where they're taking this, but I am quite in awe of Jane the Virgin's writers. They're doing a really good job! 

NO. No, no, no. I decided this week that I really just don't LIKE Michael. There's no reason for it. I just don't. So now I'm kind of pissed. And I'd really like to push Rafael's sister down a few flights of stairs. Repeatedly. After sprinkling them with a mix of broken glass and dog poop. What an irritating, stupid woman.
And hey, have some Wang Kai love - a fanvid with Disguiser footage. WOW, this guy. WOW, this drama... it's very hard to stop watching, it's so INTENSE.

So there's a song running through my head, and it's not this one, but it's been there for days.  I'll just hum a bit for you:  .. everybody Wang Kai tonight!
This is how HuGe looks at people before he kills them
Where is the line?  I hope it's not too long.
Meanwhile on criminal minds, the gang continues to discover the many psycho ways people kill each other. The chick who is not Gabrielle Union (yes, some people do look alike) continues to annoy me on a very low key level. Kind of like your close friend's new friend who starts hanging out with everybody but nobody is quite sure what they're like and they only talk with your friend and you want to be friendly,  really you do, but you secretly think they have no personality and their being around makes you wonder what your friend sees in them which makes you question your friend's judgement which is annoying because that makes you question your judgement in choosing a friend who would be friends with somebody like that.....*takes a breath* not that I know what that's like or anything.