Rants and Weekly Raves #208 (RAWR)

kakashi: I finished watching Fuyao last night, and today, the little one and I started on Ashes of Love. Hilarious so far. I might get annoyed, but she likes it a lot. Not much else happening in my life apart from WORK and a storm warning for tonight. Indeed, the wind is picking up speed outside as I type...
Trotwood: Just saw The Great Battle in movie theater. So many good actors in it, and I did not know that Jung Eun Chae of The Guest and Return was in it. How come I didn't know that? Anyway, I'd recommend going to see it on the big screen if you can because it's pretty much one long epic battle scene.
SakiVI: I went to see The Great Battle with NewKDramaAddict, and it was good! The battle was intense and looooooonnnnnngggg. 
Panda: Bonjour mes amis, ca va bien?

KOREA

30 But 17/Still 17 (Finale) 

Beautiful finale. This drama from beginning to end was simply heart warming. We thank the drama gods for not giving us bitchy second leads or terrible in-laws. We instead had a wonderful tight-knit family of odds and ends that worked exceedingly well. The star was Shin Hye Sun who shone in everything. She's a treasure. Mr Gong's smile also lit up my heart as did Chan :) I am happy Jennifer finally found peace. Very lovely drama. 

So happy that they closed loops and gave us a happy ending! Loved the growth everyone showed, even loved that the uncle's story turned out to be so ordinary. Sad, yes, but not crazy.

Voice 2 

Finale was last week, but I know other people didn't see it. I want to talk people. Let's do it.
There's no way she's dead.  She gave that long look at the other side of the room, you know she was making decisions.

Hundred Days My Prince 

Someone described this as Joseon  Shopping King Louis and I agree except it's definitely more bloody. Our two leads already have this cracky chemistry between them which makes me rub my hands in anticipation for future developments. I also really appreciate that we have a selection of eye candy to go round: From her brother (who has really gone off the deep end and I wonder if his blind loyalty to the Bad Guy has to do with her safety), to the Prince's bodyguard to my mom's favorite - the Bastard smart guard. Anyway, its on its way to being my kdrama crack. 

I didn't expect to enjoy this quite as much as I did but I'm not unhappy about it. Like Panda said, plenty of eye candy - but I'm giving side eye to all y'all who suddenly find D.O. sexy because he still alternates between serial killer and idiot for me.

The Beauty Inside (New)

I thought this wasn't starting until next week.
Who is in it?  
Seo Hyo Jin and Lee MinKi.
Is this what is replacing Time or Life?
You're right, I read my list wrong. This is the one where she changes into someone else one week out of every month.  I'm guessing it's some male writer's thinly veiled joke about the bravery of loving a woman despite her being on her period, in other words.

Devilish Joy 

I'm not sure why Ma Sung is rubbing some people the wrong way because I find him seven different kinds of adorable, but that's okay.  More for me!

Time (Finale)

I took a break from this show because it got so incredibly sad. And then I heard a spoiler from Jo, and I'm not ashamed to say that I skipped the wretched eps and went straight to the finale eps. Seohyun was merely serviceable in this role, which makes me sad because I think in/for someone else, this could've been a life changing role. It was a great role. I did like the fact that people really got to make some changes to how they were going to live their lives. My only real disappointment was that the Mom and Brother were cretins to the end without any punishment.

I haven't been able to do it yet, but even without finishing it I can say I will 100% agree with you. She has been okay, but in the right hands this could have beena blockbuster character. Him too, poor baby...I think he did an amazing job, and I really wish he could have stuck around for the whole thing. I wouldn't wish him to make a different decision and risk his health more but in a perfect world...

Familiar Wife (Finale) 

My Heart <3333 Ep 16 was just a candy bowl for me. I loved it, Loved it. They were like a RL loving couple, so effortlessly natural those 2 babies. She smacked his bum! Rubbed his chest!! And did you see when his eyes became hot when he talked about her punishment?? RAWR. They got their HEA and I am so happy even though that means other TLs are messed up hehehehe. I am going to miss them all- Elf Ears, Sang Sik, Hwan and his continuous breakups, the entire branch... This like 30but17 is one I will rewatch certain episodes when I need them :) 

Loved them all. I'm glad they got their happy endings, and I comfort myself with the knowledge that only one timeline actually exists. That other timeline poofed into nothingness when they left it.

The Ghost Detective 

If we don't find out why that evil ghost is targeting Lee Dae-il soon, I'm going to flip a table. We get some of the reason for why the nurse wants Yeo Wool, but why did her sister have to die first? And the ghost doesn't seem to want her body and seems to resent the nurse for saving her. I'm also torn between liking the fact that all of sudden everyone is loving Daniel Choi and being annoyed that everyone is all of sudden loving Daniel Choi.

Good thing I always liked him then. Did I miss something?  The nurse wanting Yeo Wool is because he wants Ms Cranky Evil to have a body.  Her sister dying wasn't for that, was it?  I don't actually know why her sister was targeted at ALL.  I missed something, didn't I?

The Guest 

I made a comment on twitter that I only watch this show at the gym rather than at night home alone. The possessions are creepy and scary, but I think I'm starting to get used to them and aren't as creeped out by them (especially since it's so hard to see some of it with the lighting) and am now just more afraid of people getting killed. I was so worried about that mom and her daughter that I didn't care about the backstory of the Junkyard brothers at all. I'm so glad that Our Luscious Priest (LP) and our Cute Shaman (CP) finally have figured out who the other person is. All we need is for the cop lady to realize how she is connected and the previews promise that. I'm also hearing how people don't like her, which I find annoying because it's a complete double standard. She plays the stereotypical rogue cop who is a loner and has the one mentor that backs her but will get an ulcer because of it. She isn't that far off the male cop character from Voice2. I love the fact that she can fight like nobody's business. I'm curious if her comment about a 6 year old son is true.

Completely forgot about this.

If you had seen a minute of it I don't think that would be possible.

Sunny Again Tomorrow

Hurray! The second lead couple is now back together because he by chance saw her in a cab on the way to the airport. None of that ridiculous running business. I mean really. We all know how far the airport is from Seoul, right? Anyway, trouble is afoot because our heroine knows that she is adopted and she is getting closer to her birth mother (although only the bad guys knows who the birth mother is). More attempts at overthrowing her but now her boyfriend is going to be taken out as well because . . . evil Aunt resents him for rejecting her daughter as well as wanting to make sure the truth doesn't get out? Pfft. I'm only staying now for the cute because our villain here is more annoying than interesting. But he's so dorkably squishy.


CHINA/TAIWAN

Age of Legends 

Good thing William Chan is hot because the show is only tolerable. However, it is nowhere near the torture that was Side By Side with You, and A-Se is funny, so okay, I will stick to it.

The show's fine so far. It's not GENERALLY my cup of tea but William. Ah, William. He lures us in with his little smile.

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

It continues. It is basically my daily drama. Ruyi is now Top Concubine and Empress In All But Name. This really can't last long. We still have half the show to do.  However, my favorite villainess, Noble Consort Jia, is now getting on the road to her downfall because too much plotting, and an insipid villainess, some Wan character, is on her way up, and maybe, just maybe,  I might drop it at that point. 

Accidentally in Love

I rushed through and watched the rest of the episodes for fear that they'd be taken down again before I finished. This was a delight--silly and fun with bad guys that weren't all that dangerous but a story with some heart. I love the secondary love stories and even the fact that the bad girl gets her own love story, which I usually can't stand. I like the friendship between the guys and the faithfulness of the hero once he realizes how much the heroine means to him. I even became fond of the Barbie meets Fisher Price set design. But this show belonged to Quing Quing, played by Sun Yi Ning, from beginning to end. She is going to be in my list of top female leads of 2018. I enjoyed her thoroughly with her bright spirit and determination and her taking no crap from the mean girls or mean guys  but also her ability to love without being manipulated by it. She never loses who she is even in disguise and who she lives for. I love how often she does the rescuing. It's 30 eps, but each ep is only 30 minutes. Watch. You won't regret it. It's not deep, but it's fun.

JAPAN

May I Blackmail You/ Ima Kara Anata wo Kyouhaku Shimasu

The trials of a Japanese drama fan who doesn't know Japanese continue as we waited several months for more eps of this show to be subbed. We are in the 8th month since the show finished airing, and we finally got episode 6 and 7. Yippee!! However, I decided not to finish watching ep 7 because it looks like it's a major cliffhanger, and the last time I had subs for a major cliffhanger, I had to wait two months to find out if someone died. It really is hard being a fan of Dean Fujioka. We are still waiting on news for Monte Cristo subs. This show is actually pretty good. I'm hoping that it's all subbed by winter break, so I can watch it straight through. I'm sure I'm forgetting important clues in between episodes. With the new addition to the cast (Shitaro Mamiya--our Newbie from BG), it looks as though we are being set up for a conclusion. He isn't everything he appears to be but definitely has a connection to the hero's past love.

Western

Castle Rock (Finale)

I think that guy was really a monster after all...but did he know it?  Did the other world ever exist or was that just a story he told?  I really do not know.