Rants and Weekly Raves #210 (RAWR)
JoAnne: Okay I'm feeling a bit more back on track after vacation upheaval and then last week's madness - how about you guys? Did you rest up and take vitamins so you could tackle debut week for all the new dramas?
kakashi: My life sucks, haha. I used to have fun. I don't even remember what that is anymore. And I'm jealous of all you people who keep watching all these wonderful dramas. Plus now I have a fever and will stay at home tomorrow. Oh goodie, maybe I'll watch some Phoenixes.
Trotwood: I'm exhausted. I have no time and work is piling up. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to get studying done when I have so many projects. I'm watching some shows but only because by the time I get home, I'm too tired to concentrate on work but too stressed to sleep. The political news has done nothing to reduce my anxiety. I gave up on starting any of the new dramas that aired during the week (sorry, Jang Hyuk, I still love you), but since I'm in the mood for revenge, I may start the two new revenge shows airing this weekend although I may not finish in time for the post. WHAT? Someone else is watching a Japanese drama?! (see below). I should be excited, but now I need to add that to my list, so we can discuss. (crawling away wishing to sleep but really to do work)
SakiVI: None of these new dramas appeal to me.
kakashi: My life sucks, haha. I used to have fun. I don't even remember what that is anymore. And I'm jealous of all you people who keep watching all these wonderful dramas. Plus now I have a fever and will stay at home tomorrow. Oh goodie, maybe I'll watch some Phoenixes.
Trotwood: I'm exhausted. I have no time and work is piling up. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to get studying done when I have so many projects. I'm watching some shows but only because by the time I get home, I'm too tired to concentrate on work but too stressed to sleep. The political news has done nothing to reduce my anxiety. I gave up on starting any of the new dramas that aired during the week (sorry, Jang Hyuk, I still love you), but since I'm in the mood for revenge, I may start the two new revenge shows airing this weekend although I may not finish in time for the post. WHAT? Someone else is watching a Japanese drama?! (see below). I should be excited, but now I need to add that to my list, so we can discuss. (crawling away wishing to sleep but really to do work)
SakiVI: None of these new dramas appeal to me.
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| feather fecit |
KOREA
100 Days My Prince
Still watching, still nothing much to say about it. The leads are falling for each other and the prince is becoming a wiser man but he still doesn't really know anything. I thought her brother was the father of the princess's baby but I'm not sure after that scene of them in the woods - I think there's emotion there but he was far too deferential to have ever slept with her.
The Beauty Inside (New)
I always love Seo Hyun Jin on the screen, which is funny because in real life I'd probably find her characters on the annoying side. They let her be beautiful here, which is nice to see, and her top star with a mystery is charming, flaky, vulnerable, and kind. I like her. Lee MinKi is a bit more robotic than I'd like but who cares, it's OMGLeeMinki and I'm going to love his prickly businessman regardless. It's fun to see who she becomes, since it's not limited by gender, age, or even ethnicity. I'm curious to know how/why it began happening in the first place.
Bad Papa (New)
Second favorite of the new shows thus far. Jang Hyuk is reliably good at the simple man/complicated situation trope. All he wants is to provide a comfortable home so his family can be happy, and he'll do just about anything to make that happen. Thus far (one week into the show) he's overpromised just about everything to everyone, lost his job, enrolled in a shady drug trial that gives him super strength and super speed for very brief periods of time and fought for money in a gambling den because in addition to all his normal money woes, his kid hurts someone at school and he needs settlement money for that, plus his rented home is going to be sold at auction, which means he's going to be out his deposit AND homeless. On top of being jobless, with a wife who's about to leave him. Oh and then his very successful nemesis has reappeared. The one who loved his wife before he came along and is suuuuper good looking so that doesn't exactly help him out with his marital woes. See what I mean?
Fox Bride/Where Stars Land (New)
Lee Je Hoon has that disability where you can't feel pain, and I guess it caused him to lose an arm at some point because he's definitely got a metal arm. It still shouldn't be as strong as it is, though, so I wonder what more there is to that story. I'm a little sad, I was hoping he was an alien. Chae Soo Bin is completely lovely and completely annoying. I hope her character does some growing up FAST because the manager in me just wants to fire her and cut my losses.
Devilish Joy
Continues to make my heart flutter at all the right moments. I love her, I love him, my heart breaks for the pain each has suffered, and I'm out for blood when it comes to his awful aunts and his 'doctor'. Also, I cannot wait for Ma Sung to destroy that awful manager who used to represent Gi Bbeum.
The Ghost Detective
Okay, yeah, there are definitely romantic stirrings on BOTH sides. BUT. But but but! It would seem that Lee Da Il is NOT DEAD - instead, he's doing that thing that Hye Sun did before SHE died - his spirit goes wandering. So of course this will end happily, right? They'll prevent him from turning evil (which is happening because he's using powers to do GOOD things) and they'll find his body and he'll wake up and he and Yeo Wool will live happily ever after, right? RIGHT?
I love how you are shouting out all the possible positive scenarios in hopes that the drama gods are listening. I did feel bad for our nice cop. Wow, you really are 2nd lead when you can't even compete with a ghost.
I love how you are shouting out all the possible positive scenarios in hopes that the drama gods are listening. I did feel bad for our nice cop. Wow, you really are 2nd lead when you can't even compete with a ghost.
I liked finding out more about what happened in Hye Sun's life. I can't really blame her for what she did back then, if her dad was going to kill her. But she sure is warped...and now she's just pure evil. I really want to know why she hates Yeo Wool so much.
Yes, this. This is still the thing that frustrates me the most. It better be a good link and not some random connection or that Yeol got the part she wanted in the play at school when they were kids or something like that. How old is Yeo Wool?
Isn't she late 20s or so? I don't know why but 27 is in my head.
Yes, this. This is still the thing that frustrates me the most. It better be a good link and not some random connection or that Yeol got the part she wanted in the play at school when they were kids or something like that. How old is Yeo Wool?
Isn't she late 20s or so? I don't know why but 27 is in my head.
Terius Behind Me
Silly, but enjoyable. They sort of skim some of the details of a spy story on this to give a framework for Terius and Ae Rin to fall for each other, but the really enjoyable spy stuff is the Mom Brigade...it has a name, the (Something) Information Society I think. That's some fun stuff, there. I do also like that Ae Rin, for all her verging-on-overwhelmed ways, is shown to be a smart woman with a spine and really great friends.
Cute show.
I've dropped the show because I can't stand how badly her kids behave. She needs Supernanny to come and bring some order. I'm tired of hearing from people that her kids aren't that bad. My kids wouldn't have been amused either. When my younger daughter was nine, she said that these kinds of kids were the reason why people don't want kids because these were the kinds of kids that gave kids a bad name. The Mom Brigade is great though.
They are cute physically, but they are whiny, impolite brats. Yes.
I can't say I like them, no. I'm in it for the rest.
Cute show.
I've dropped the show because I can't stand how badly her kids behave. She needs Supernanny to come and bring some order. I'm tired of hearing from people that her kids aren't that bad. My kids wouldn't have been amused either. When my younger daughter was nine, she said that these kinds of kids were the reason why people don't want kids because these were the kinds of kids that gave kids a bad name. The Mom Brigade is great though.
They are cute physically, but they are whiny, impolite brats. Yes.
I can't say I like them, no. I'm in it for the rest.
A Hundred Million Stars (New)
Easily my favorite of the new bunch. I am SO CURIOUS about what happened to those three years ago. My guess upfront is that Moo Young is in no way a murderer, but a genius with a photographic memory, no fucks to give, and a solid reason to dislike Jin Kook. I also immediately thought that the man being interviewed wasn't talking about Moo Young when he was mentioning 'that boy' but the picture really makes you think it's him. I'm intrigued by how easily he and Hee Joon flow with each other's lies and wonder whether they run a lot of scams. I even wonder if Hee Joon could be the murderer/boy from the interview. I guess we'll see!
Hand: The Ghost
This week's mini-plot with the little girl has been interesting and very sad. The little girl is that amazing child actor from Mother; she hasn't had a ton to do in this but she makes it count. As for the main story - yes, absolutely the politician Hong Joo is possessed, but it's not by Park Il Do, I don't think. It just seems so obvious - but then, the older priest, Yang, seems pretty obvious also, and he's the only other likely person to me. I mean, he has just as much of a connection to Sharing Hands and has been just as much of a fit for the location timeline, right? And conveniently, he never 'sees possession' in key victims-why is that?
So do you think he is lying about the fact that when a demon has possessed someone for so long, they no longer exhibit the traits of being possessed or at least can control some of it? Hong Joo seems possessed when she was in the bathroom vomiting and freaking out over the rosary. It's like she could hold it in but for so long. I'm interested in seeing what the split up of the different ghost/demons that the girls sees means. I think it was this ability that scared the school security guard and caused him to lose it. I was mad about this one. No one thought to protect that woman from the restaurant? Priest Yang drinks more than anyone in this show. That worried me.
P.S.--I can't believe you did not mention how good our priest looks in his pants. I want to thank the tailor for his archdiocese.
Yes, I believe him. That sounds familiar to me, like I've heard it in stories about possession before. As for his pants...believe it or not, I spend very little time in this drama thinking about how handsome Handsome Oppa is. Raised a Catholic. I just can't with the priest thing.
Are priests not supposed to be good looking?
It feels wrong to LUST after one.
So do you think he is lying about the fact that when a demon has possessed someone for so long, they no longer exhibit the traits of being possessed or at least can control some of it? Hong Joo seems possessed when she was in the bathroom vomiting and freaking out over the rosary. It's like she could hold it in but for so long. I'm interested in seeing what the split up of the different ghost/demons that the girls sees means. I think it was this ability that scared the school security guard and caused him to lose it. I was mad about this one. No one thought to protect that woman from the restaurant? Priest Yang drinks more than anyone in this show. That worried me.
P.S.--I can't believe you did not mention how good our priest looks in his pants. I want to thank the tailor for his archdiocese.
Yes, I believe him. That sounds familiar to me, like I've heard it in stories about possession before. As for his pants...believe it or not, I spend very little time in this drama thinking about how handsome Handsome Oppa is. Raised a Catholic. I just can't with the priest thing.
Are priests not supposed to be good looking?
It feels wrong to LUST after one.
My Only One
Finally got to see some of this - am only a couple weeks behind now. Okay three. I think. Maybe four. Three families, three generations, three social classes, house helpers, birth secrets. At this point my guess is Uee ends up with Former DoughBoy, Playboy and Dadless Daughter get back together when he grows up, and Spoiled Bio Daughter ends up with Dadless Son, who we haven't seen much of. Uee's dad (fresh out of prison but not an evil man) will be coming into contact with the rich families as a driver. Uee doesn't know him, but he knows her, AND the man he went to prison for accidentally killing was the father in one of the rich families, so...drama.
Hide n Seek
Still my crack. Chaerin has finally got divorced from that horrible man and his horrible father, who, although a villain, is pretty funny as villains go with his money meditations. But he literally drove his prior daughters-in-law to their deaths after getting their companies, and Chaerin is the only one to save her family's company and escape his Bluebeard-like house. Of course her horrible ex had to fall in obsession with her and now has entrapped her lover into working for him.
The granny continues to be a rotten old witch from hell, and Chaerin told her the home truth that Granny was responsible for losing her own granddaughter. The adoptive parents continue to be pretty weak, although the dad is finally standing up to granny's verbal abuse. That stuck-up lawyer is also being shown up as Chaerin saved the company. Oh, and Chaerin became a major stockholder, but Granny is manipulating her. Let's see if Chaerin falls for it since she is desperate for her adoptive family's love. She should know better, though.
Also, I love the Viki comments cheering Lee Yoori on.
Player (New)
Fun. Slick. Nothing so far revealed is surprising, but I do like the way they set things up for the prosecutor to come in and make the busts. I am interested in how that relationship developed.
Sunny Again Tomorrow
I see Jo remembered the name of show this time. WHo wouldn't now that she gets to see clips of Mr. Steadfast that my twitter Sunny Again Tomorrow posts from the show's instagram account. As her and she will tell you that Mr. Steadfast's voice is much lower and smoother than you would imagine from looking. The kind of voice that appears in your dreams that you want to rescue you. Good thing, too, since the people in the makjang portion of this show not only made him cry last week but also tried to kill someone (and are now covering it up) to keep them quiet about the show's birth secret. We've a got a coma and mostly likely amnesia caused by coma for next week. Keep strong, Mr. Steadfast! Your girl needs you and so do we.
I really did think it was called Sunny Side Up for a while. I figured the heroine was a poor but plucky chicken farmer or something.
I really did think it was called Sunny Side Up for a while. I figured the heroine was a poor but plucky chicken farmer or something.
The Third Charm
Well, here we were just thinking she ghosted him because she was embarrassed, and I was totally prepared to be upset with her for breaking his heart so badly and not even giving him a chance...turns out that wasn't the case at ALL and now I feel as badly as he does for misjudging her. I'm loving how happy they are at this moment in the story but I'm equally loving Kang Seo Joon in this comic role - he continues to expand his range, doesn't he?
Room No. 9 (New)
I liked the first episode, which basically gets us to the point of the body switch so...nice movement, plot. There's a connection between the young (and probably over-the-line ambitious) lady lawyer and the old, long-imprisoned lady prisoner. Who also has a connection to lady lawyer's boyfriend, perhaps even biological. It's clear she's been given a harsher sentence and kept in prison longer than normal because of that boyfriend's family, too. Looking forward to revenge.
Update: Episode #2 has a big reveal that I loved, loved, loved. Can't wait for next week.
Very interesting that twist. Wasn't expecting and now am wondering who everyone really is. I mean, I know about the two women who have swapped bodies, but what about the boyfriend in the present and in the future? These two women hate each other, so how are they going to work together. Our newly freed prisoner has no knowledge of the law, for example. I also already feel sorry for Oh Bong Sam. He's going to like her but it's not really her and the person he likes is old enough to be his mom and a prisoner just in someone else's body? Is this a 2nd lead role for the ages?
Can we just get through this week before we start freaking out about next week? I definitely did not spend significant time debating whether she was his mom before I realized that would have to mean he was going to have sex with his mom in his girlfriend's body, no sir I did not.
Update: Episode #2 has a big reveal that I loved, loved, loved. Can't wait for next week.
Very interesting that twist. Wasn't expecting and now am wondering who everyone really is. I mean, I know about the two women who have swapped bodies, but what about the boyfriend in the present and in the future? These two women hate each other, so how are they going to work together. Our newly freed prisoner has no knowledge of the law, for example. I also already feel sorry for Oh Bong Sam. He's going to like her but it's not really her and the person he likes is old enough to be his mom and a prisoner just in someone else's body? Is this a 2nd lead role for the ages?
Can we just get through this week before we start freaking out about next week? I definitely did not spend significant time debating whether she was his mom before I realized that would have to mean he was going to have sex with his mom in his girlfriend's body, no sir I did not.
Miss Ma, Nemesis (New)
I have only managed to see the first 30 minutes so far - enough to interest me, though.
Are the drama gods looking down on me with some favor? Did they know I am angry and thus need either full-on fluff or revenge? Did they know that hunting down demons wasn't going to be enough? So they give me a woman around my age who plans her escape from prison (even working out to she has the strength to beat people up) to seek out her daughter's murder? This is interesting. I really want to see what happened. Why is that prosecutor so creepy though? Does she have something on the cops that she can just, literally, smack cops in the face like that like some sort of crime lord or medieval queen? But why state that this show is based on Agatha Christie's Nemesis when it's really nothing like that tale? Oh yeah, and I LOVE Ko Mal Koo, our gardening loving thug.
Are the drama gods looking down on me with some favor? Did they know I am angry and thus need either full-on fluff or revenge? Did they know that hunting down demons wasn't going to be enough? So they give me a woman around my age who plans her escape from prison (even working out to she has the strength to beat people up) to seek out her daughter's murder? This is interesting. I really want to see what happened. Why is that prosecutor so creepy though? Does she have something on the cops that she can just, literally, smack cops in the face like that like some sort of crime lord or medieval queen? But why state that this show is based on Agatha Christie's Nemesis when it's really nothing like that tale? Oh yeah, and I LOVE Ko Mal Koo, our gardening loving thug.
CHINA/TAIWAN
Age of Legends
I'm so obsessed with Qing dynasty shows that I didn't get to this again. It's also a matter of time and storyline, and unfortunately, Age of Legends' story isn't that great. Also, since DF subs are hard to get on my ipad these days, I've just not been watching as much DF.
Rise of Phoenixes
I have not visited with Ning Yi or Zhiwei this week, sadly.
Me neither, dammit.
Me neither, dammit.
Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace
My beautiful precious evil Noble Consort Jia died. Maybe she can come back as a Qing Empire Vampire. And although she was a villain, I cared a lot about her personal tragedy and how her children were maimed, and how pretty she was, and now, if Ruyi goes through trouble, I will be not quite as sympathetic. |
Ashes of Love
Still amuses us even though there's no OTP interaction at all. Night God turned selfish asshole quick, though he is keeping up appearances well.JAPAN
Black Leather Notebook
This is an 8-episode drama on DF which I accidentally marathoned. Temp bank clerk buried in dead dad's debt embezzles money and secrets from her bank job and parlays that into success as a Ginza bar madam. She makes tons of enemies along the way but I never understood their insistence that their ruined lives were her fault, since she was only using what THEY did to help herself. I did totally understand the other reason she was hated, though - criminals or not, people worked hard for what they got and she did not.
Just when she thinks she's made it to the top it all comes crashing down around her ears and she loses everything, including the baby she hasn't even told her lover about. She gets it all back in the end, though. Well, not the lover - he accidentally ends up in police custody, caught in the fall out of a crime his boss committed. And not the baby, of course.
Issues (for me) were the overly dramatic music, the skipping over of any real emotional clarification (hey, it's only 8 episodes, I get it - but there were some abrupt transitions.) THE HAIR.OMG THE HAIR. An entire cast of weathered, middle-aged to elderly men with fluffy high school boy hair. Speaking of schoolboy hair, that cram school director was certifiable. WAY over the top crazy, with a student fetish and a very rapey approach. The final scene: her smile. Was that 'I got this' or was that 'it figures' ?
Now I remember why I didn't pick this one up for my list despite it being completely subbed. What I find interesting is that we are doing shows that star Emi Takei in this section; they are the last two dramas she filmed before taking time off to have her baby. She's actually visibly pregnant in Can I Blackmail You, but wears such lose clothing (in the new style) that you might not notice if you didn't know the back story. And I told you about men's hair in Japanese dramas didn't I? I warned you. I can tell if a drama is Japanese merely by the men's hair now.
Just when she thinks she's made it to the top it all comes crashing down around her ears and she loses everything, including the baby she hasn't even told her lover about. She gets it all back in the end, though. Well, not the lover - he accidentally ends up in police custody, caught in the fall out of a crime his boss committed. And not the baby, of course.
Issues (for me) were the overly dramatic music, the skipping over of any real emotional clarification (hey, it's only 8 episodes, I get it - but there were some abrupt transitions.) THE HAIR.OMG THE HAIR. An entire cast of weathered, middle-aged to elderly men with fluffy high school boy hair. Speaking of schoolboy hair, that cram school director was certifiable. WAY over the top crazy, with a student fetish and a very rapey approach. The final scene: her smile. Was that 'I got this' or was that 'it figures' ?
Now I remember why I didn't pick this one up for my list despite it being completely subbed. What I find interesting is that we are doing shows that star Emi Takei in this section; they are the last two dramas she filmed before taking time off to have her baby. She's actually visibly pregnant in Can I Blackmail You, but wears such lose clothing (in the new style) that you might not notice if you didn't know the back story. And I told you about men's hair in Japanese dramas didn't I? I warned you. I can tell if a drama is Japanese merely by the men's hair now.
Can I Blackmail You/ Ima Kara Anata wo Kyouhaku Shimasu
I watched only ep 7 even though 8 is available because I'm trying to stretch out these final eps that are subbed. Some sites have that it is only 9 episodes, which means I could be watching the last two eps together next week or be waiting months again for an ending. It runs out that Newbie is the brother of Senkawa's dead girlfriend and believes that she was murdered. He also believes that Dean's Senkawa character thinks she was murdered, too. The cases seemed random before, but it looks like there is a link and that link may be Senkawa character, and I don't think it's revenge for one of his intimidator jobs but also connected to her. I'm thankful for the deadpan Japanese humor. There isn't much fun on my drama list lately.
Dean's hair is not objectionable. You are lucky. I'm going to remember the 50-something school director in Notebook screaming 'Love me! I want true love! Love me!' with his fluffy hair flopping around like the bodies of the women he's throwing on beds in his rapey temper tantrums for a long, long time.
Dean's hair is not objectionable. You are lucky. I'm going to remember the 50-something school director in Notebook screaming 'Love me! I want true love! Love me!' with his fluffy hair flopping around like the bodies of the women he's throwing on beds in his rapey temper tantrums for a long, long time.
WESTERN
The Walking Dead (Season 9 New)
Everybody's scattered to the four winds doing this and that and the other thing now that the war has ended. Not everyone is happy about that. I was all set to bitch that Maggie STILL doesn't show, but then we learned that baby Herschel is already several months old. Looked to be 8 or 10 months, I'd say. Herschel's mom finally has enough of slime weasel Gregory's machinations and hangs him. Yes, hangs him. (I cheered but upon reflection, she might have done better to take a page from Rick and just lock him up forever with Neegan.)
The Good Place
Is this whole season going to play on Earth with them alive and Michael and Janet limited to mortal methods of helping our guys? Eleanor and Chidi are very different than before - more like they were toward the end of their time in the The Bad Place than they were on Earth. Still enjoying but not laugh-out-loud funny like the other seasons. Yet.