Rants and Weekly Raves #284 (RAWR)

kakashi: It's my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not in the mood for much partying unfortunately
Panda: Happy. Happy Birthday dear Kakashi!!! Mmmmmmwah!!! Even though you're not in the mood, still wishing you a kick-ass year (just like you). Hi everyone! I'm here and felt I was beginning to sound like a broken record. Still not watching ANY dramas but 13th, I'm going ro be in front on Netflix eagerly consuming Kingdom s2 :)

Trotwood: Oh my! Happy Birthday to you. Sorry you aren't in mood for a party, but will you have cake at least? I'll eat cake in your honor.
JoAnne:  Happy Birthday to our most benevolent leader and dear friend! ot is I'll eat some cake for you too - especially if Trot is making it!
Well, I did party a bit yesterday. And tonight I will eat hotpot. it's nothing like in earlier years though where I celebrated for an entire week.....

KOREA

I'll Find You on a Beautiful Day

People are loving the pacing of this drama, but I’m not sure yet. However, I do love that Hae-won is not having any of Bo-Yeong’s woe is me apology. People who are really sorry rather than just sorry for themselves don’t apologize like that. I'm not a good person, so I would be perfectly happy if there was no forgiveness in this plot. I’m now more worried than curious about why Eun-Soeb is so often in the mountains and knows the mountains so well. But I’m happy that he has Hae-won and not just his mother who is looking out for him first.

The Game: Toward Zero

I’ve spent much of my time on this show either berating its logic or praising the skills of the villain to make me feel sorry for him. However, I would be remiss in ignoring how well this show makes us believe in the comradery and real love the team members have for each other. I shouldn’t be surprised since the years of tragedy and revenge was sparked by such love—the love that Woo Hyun had for his best friend and SooYoung’s dad that caused him to fabricate evidence to punish the man responsible for SY’s dad’s death. I’ve felt sad in this show before, but this episode made me tear up. The humor and pain that was combined in what they think might be their last day was touching to see. One more week, folks. Thank goodness because really I want to know what happens and for it to end.

Tell Me What You Saw

HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS HOLY SMOKES!!!! I often start thinking about what I’m going to sayin RAWR while watching the episodes. After the first of this week’s episodes, I was going to write about the poignancy of fighting to find the truth, and how the show revealed how important for Soo Young and her dad to get justice even if the statute had passed. I was even still focusing on that despite the violence and the reveal about the team leader, which I had sort of guessed, but then the end came and WOW. I watched the last five minutes three times because it took me that long to believe what I saw with my own eyes.

CHINA/TAIWAN

Because of You

Talk about people who are dense. We are taking bets on twitter about which of the brothers is going to admit that he’s in love with his best friend first. Geeze, guys. I know your father’s dastardly ways have messed you up psychologically but when you practically break down a door to stop a girl from trying to have sex with your friend, it’s a sign.

JAPAN

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

No one should have expected Mishima to give up on getting her man, but showing up on their date is a bit much. However, you can’t really expect Sato to wonder about what Amagi thinks of her when he allows this to happen. I mean is he trying to make her jealous? I’m glad Aida asked that but also that bossman asks his friend what he thinks of Sato. Aida is starting to really like her in his nerdlike way, and that makes me sad for him. In the real world, he’d be a better boyfriend than the crazed bossman, but . . . 

I love how she wasn't even surprised that her boss is spying on them from on top of the car!

Shiranakute Kariyama/No Need to Know/Off the Record

Kate struggles with covering a murder case this week because she not only believes there is more to the story (just like she feels about her own father’s case) but also because it forces her to debate how much they should publish stories on circumstantial evidence and gut feelings. She is really good at her job, but it makes her wonder about this gift a bit. The story is a success, but this is the first time we see her questioning that success. We get to watch the two men in her lives still watching her. He ex, Nonaka has been asked out by a co-worker, but I’m not sure how long this will last since he is still so touchy about anything to do with Kate. Odaka seems to be both pulled by their long-time friendship and a desire to keep his distance from her.

THAILAND

Why R U?

Progress!! We have Fighter and Tutor now admitting their feelings to each other. That whole discussion with Tutor’s sister was great, but I think what really pushed Fighter over the edge was seeing how sad and alone Tutor really is, especially now with his sister moving to Germany. However, such a moment and a roof scene like that usually comes at the end of a drama, so I’m wondering what’s going to be the problem. We know that Hwa has already moved on . . . And just when you think that Zon/Sai can’t get any cuter after the whole blanket scene, we get Sai supporting Zon during his freak out before the performance and poor Sai’s hilarious attempt at covering up his morning would. They are such good friends now that what would have chased Zon away before is now just something that makes him feel embarrassed for the both of them.

2Gether: the Series

More cuteness with Tine working too hard to stay in the music club despite Sarawat’s promise to help him and bonding over similar music tastes. You can tell that Tine was moved by the song, but also he was hurt when Sarawat denied that they were seeing each other. He believes it is because they had an agreement to fake date to help him avoid Green, but I think it’s because he is a bothered that Sarawat would choose his image with his fans than their friendship because I think Tine believes inside that they are friends now. Sarawat though has been flirting with him w/o him understanding since the beginning, so it was great to see Tine’s reaction when Sarawat changes course and becomes more blatant.

You know a song is good and perfectly matches mood when it makes you stop watching and look it up to download

Girl Next Room: Motorbike Baby

This is another GMMTV show, but it’s like they felt sorry for all the attention they were giving to the BL dramas and remembered that they had some good actresses that needed more than best friend roles. The show stars Mook as Sundae, one of four female students who move into an all-female dormitory near campus run by a very strict woman and her teenage son. They all have very distinctive personalities and will clearly have their own loveliness. Mook actually stars opposite her real life boyfriend, Toy, and they have some bad history where they dated in high school and then he disappeared for some reason (probably tragic) because now, despite him being a top student in high school, he is a motorbike taxi driver. It's uncommonly silly but a perfect anecdote to me being swallowed by COVID-19 preparedness work last week.