Rants and Weekly Raves #279 (RAWR)

Panda: hi and bye
Trtowood: Wait? What? I barely had enough time to lift up my hand in a wave before you were gone. *sneaks back in to wave at Trot*
kakashi: Hahahahaaaaa. I think I'm borderline sick, I sweated a waterfall at night and everything hurts but I need to go to dental hygiene today and then to a conference. I also made people cry with my last Fanfic chapter and feel very accomplished.

 

KOREA

Want a Taste 

So now that we are all pretty show that that adorable child is really the offspring of the two of the worst people on the show, what is the show going to do? Usually, kdramas, especially dailies really push the idea of blood relations getting back together and mothers with cute children who might be monsters having a redemption arc. But this little boy’s mom is toxic, and now I can’t figure out what she is after by flaunting him in front of his biological father, who happens to married and is her husband’s best friend and both of their agents. I spend a lot of time ff through the plot of Dumb and Dumber (what I’m calling the dumb husband who wants to divorce his wife for the young, cute, dumb rich girl who thinks it’s fine that they get married even though his divorce isn’t final yet. I don’t have any patience for him or his equally dumb sister.

The Game: Toward Zero

At the beginning of this week’s episodes, I was sooo relieved that we had been trolled, but show, did you do that so that our hearts would break even more at the end of this week’s episodes? Are you warning us that no one is safe, and we shouldn’t bother having hope? The commentary on the public’s desire for a story and the repercussions this has on the families at the center of tragedy are really well done here. I know that people are mad that, once again, Lim Ju Hwan is relegated to supporting role and Taec with questionable skill is the lead, but I’m not. Now that we know that Lim’s Do Kyung is the killer in the present day, we should all acknowledge that a) this is the better part for an actor in this drama and b) there is no way that Taec as serviceable as he is in the lead role is ready to pull off the multiple reactions and layers of this serial killer. What I want to know is what is the connection between the present day killer, the past, and our heroine.

Crash Landing on You

Literally still on episode 5 of this. LOOOL. My drama watching mojo needs some adrenaline shots

Tell Me What You Saw

I'm going to admit that I started this show simply because Jang Hyuk looks AMAZING with his long hair. Yes, I am that shallow. I didn't get to watch both episodes this weekend because it's a Sat/Sun show, and the subs weren't up until after I went to work, and I'm too sleepy to watch tonight before bed. I am intrigued though about the history of the mystery that has him in the shadows and his relationship with the lead detective. I like our sort of bumbling heroine detective who is just a hard worker but has that amazing photographic guilt.

CHINA/TAIWAN

Some Day or One Day

In other shows, I exclaim, “how many people have to die before they catch the killer?!?!” In this show, I exclaim, “How many times do people have to die before they catch the killer?!?!” I was feeling bad this week because people said that I should say the show is sad, but if having to identify your fiancé in the morgue a second time after thinking he was dead isn’t sad, I don’t know what is. Now that we know a killer can also travel between times, I’m even more anxious. And who is who? How can anyone know if there are reincarnated versions a person but then those reincarnations actually overlap in different timelines which have different plots. I mean does Chen Ru not die this time? Does that mean that Jun Jie isn’t in prison? Why does it seem like the bad guy retains his memory when going back in time but Yu Xuan doesn’t?!?! Why aren’t more people watching so I have someone to talk to about this?!?! I have SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!

Pillow Book

Yeah... Should have, didn't.

JAPAN

La Grande Maison Tokyo (finale)

Whew! What a ride! This show combines the best of foodie fantasy with the ebb and flow of a great sports drama. The completion is intense, and we get to follow how each of the characters grows through their relationship to their cooking. Obana is like a great coach, recruiting, training, pushing his players to make the best team possible—sometimes going out of his way to force them to take a stand on their values and belive in themselves more. He isn’t just a great chef, but someone who sacrifices himself for the sake of other people’s talents and for food. I was so tense waiting for the outcome of every episode’s competition/challenge and was gasping waiting throughout the finale. What I want to know though is about those snippets of story after the credits are over. These are never subbed, but they include the characters as if they are in another story or an AU. If anyone watched this show, please let me know. I’d recommend this show to everyone.

G-Senjou no Anata Watanashi/You and I on the G-String/ You, Me, and Bach (finale)

This was a finale that felt like your favorite meal of your mom’s. Despite the worry about Yaeko sabotaging her relationship with Rihito. I really liked how they resolved Yuki’s troubles, and I LOVED the teary heart-to-heart that Yaeko had with Yuki with the way eavesdropping should work more in dramas. I was squeeling again with Yuki upon hearing about what happened in the elevator. We also end with a wedding that I did not forsee in a time jump that also worked. Any finale that has me smiling straight through for the last 2/3 is winner in my book, and I’m sad to see this show go.

Follow Saretara Owari (finale)

Wow. I am soooo happy that I waited to watch the last two episodes together. The penultimate episode was fairly short and the last one was the longest (at __ mintes) of the lot, but what turnarounds! I’m going to say that I have never been happier about being trolled in my entire life. I can’t say much about it for fear of giving things away, but it is a great commentary on social media and the lives people live on it vs. reality, but also the question of the desire for posting and fame even if it’s negative over finding real community online.

Kono Otoko wa jinsei Saidai no Ayamachidesu/ This Guy is the Biggest Mistake of My Life

I still thought I would cringe more, but I’m starting to understand Magi’s fetish and attraction to Yui. She is really an interesting heroine. It’s not just that she is the traditional spunky heroine, she genuinely doesn’t take any crap—not just from him but from others. I loved how she took care of those guys who put drugs in her and her friend’s drinks to see if they could take advantage of the sexually and professionally. I don’t blame him for father for her. And it’s interesting that he is the only one that contacted her on her birthday right when she was feeling alone w/o her dog for the first time in nine years. I think she might like him if it weren’t for his fetish.

THAILAND

Until We Meet Again

Well the raft episode has come and gone, and there were many people around the world who probably had to breath in paper bags to get through it. I’m not sure how Parm got through the embarrassment of this trip with his Dean and the swim team because the second hand embarrassment for me was almost too much. I liked how Win told Team that he didn’t have to afraid because he was going to be next to him all the time. That was sweet, but it doesn’t help tha he acts like a wolf otherwise, and I find it amusing that Dean and Parm are so caught up in their own love story that they don’t notice this relationship blooming right under their noses.

Why R U?

Everyone is going googly for the ZonSaif pair. I’m more annoyed by it because Zon’s annoyed by the forced relationship because of his sister’s story. Although I find his nightmare of being in a BL drama with guest appearances from other couples from other BL dramas in the show as if they too are going to their college HILARIOUS. I know they are the main couple, but I’m more invested in the FighterTutor relationship and what is going to happen to the friendship between Tutor and his best friend HwaHwa when she realizes that they guy she is in love with is dating her to avoid his attraction to her best friend Tutor.