Rants and Weekly Raves #321 (RAWR)

Panda: I have lost all track of days and time at this point. How is everyone? Hugsss.

Trotwood: COVID has melded the space/time continuum. It's hard to distinguish days and time when you spend so much time in virtual realities, which is what 8 hours of zoom meetings feel like. Kids are in school but then are at school at home. We see so many government protests that I am starting to have difficulty distinguishing one from another because people everywhere seem to be protesting similar things. In the U.S., our election has turned into the movie Groundhog Day. Now with daylight savings time where I live, it looks like midnight by 5 PM. I seem to be dropping more shows than I'm picking up. 

kakashi: I have the sit-at-home fatigue. I am looking forward to things like daily grocery shopping or taking out special waste to the waste collection place. I might go to the office just for the sake of going to the office next week. People are saying to watch Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower. Anyone?

KOREA

My Wonderful Life

There were only three episodes of this show last week and thank goodness because it looks as though we are going into the the noble idiocy phase of the drama. This is the first time (and we ended last week on episode 95) that I've seen the hero seriously disheartened. Even when he thought the woman he loved was his sister and decided to marry someone to protect her (yes the show went there), he didn't look as broken as he does now. I still can't believe that we live in the 21st century, and people can still buy that being with someone who s blind could be a burden, but he's buying it. It plays right into what everyone seems to want, too, which is to break them up. Sigh. I may skip the next couple of weeks and pick it up again to watch the last ten episodes.

JAPAN

30sai made Dotei dato Mahoutsukai ni Narerorashii/Cherry Magic! 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard

The show is still delicious and enjoyable and extremely well executed for such silly premise. The actors really make you buy into this different world order. We learn why and how long Kurosawa has held a torch for Adachi and why, of all the people he could choose from, he was warmed by Adachi's genuine nature. This ep really continues the show's theme that we cannot make assumptions about someone's happiness based on their appearance. I was so happy for him when Adachi confessed not just because I like confessions but because both of them need to hear that they are really seen and the person who thy likes really likes what they see inside of them.

Kono Koi Atatamemusuka/A Warmed Up Love/Do You Want to Warm Up this Love?

Okay. I'm going to be honest. I'm that person that reads the end of book to see who dies, so I don't get emotionally invested in characters or pairings that aren't going to make it. I am still enjoying this show, but the love square that I know people are really enjoying because the writers actually show us why so many of the pairings could work is really making me crazy. I'm really interested in how they develop the new products and am trying to figure out why the managing director is so invested in trying to find some secret about the new VP, but this love square pushed me over the edge of enjoyable angst. Don't know if I will keep watching this instead of other shows. 

Marry Me!

I seriously want to carry these two around in my pocket. Both of them in an awkward situation but clearly so caring for each other. We can't blame Himari's old school friend from thinking that she's being taken advantage of and wanting her to have someone who loves her rather than a government assigned husband. But it was lovely to see that our hero is NOT like the typical tsundere hero who lets' jealousy drive his every action. He supports her visiting with Mitsugi, and her outing with him proves to them both how much she and Shin actually belong together. I'm looking forward to them really getting to know each other now that they don't need to be so careful about feelings.

Neechan no Koibito/Our Sister's Soulmate

I love the focus in so many Japanese dramas on regular people in regular jobs and not just salary men. The joy that Momoko gets out of her job at the home supply place is great to see as well as the way everyone needs to work together to be successful. She suffers major trauma from seeing her parents die, but she finds rewards in the work because she has been able to use it to provide for her family. This episode shows the forging of a tenuous bond with Manato, who has his own trauma. but their bond is forged through the excitement they get from working on the team in the holiday project. I am nto looking forward to the inevitable test once his secret gets out (we still don't know what that is), but I'm hoping that the friendships they both have get them through this. It's got to have a happy ending since it's ending around the holiday season, right?

Shichinin no Hisho/Seven Secretaries

This show is warming the cockles of my vengeful heart. As a person who was bullied pretty badly at school for a couple of years as a kid, I really have a soft spot for shows that spend a lot of time making horrible people feel, well, horrible. I got to watch episode 2, and it looks like this is going to be a "case of the week" show, and I'm all in. This week's episode about a head secretary who lets her power go to her head was satisfying. It's not a show that is breaking a lot of new ground, but if you've ever had a bad boss, or if you've had a bad day at work, you might enjoy it. 

PHILIPPINES

Gaya sa Pelikula/Like in the Movies (finale)

Vlad and Karl come closer together, and we all know--even they know--that they are the OTP; however, they are both at very different stages of their coming out experience. What I loved about the show was that it addressed the ways in which even people who claim to be supportive can be toxic. We all need to be wary of people who claim to be allies but are actually worse for how well-being than people who are outright homophobic or racist. With the strength of the shows in this genre even with the serious constraints of COVID, Thailand is going to have to step up its quality if it is going to remain the leader in this genre. This may end up being one of my top shows of 2020 for it's overall quality.

Pearl Next Door

Pearl faces an interesting dilemma: does she wait and pursue someone she likes who is worried that Pearl is just going to a sexual identity crisis, or does she give the person who is pursuing her a chance even though she's said she just wants to be friends. It's a challenge when she is in the middle. She misses Karleen, but she doesn't want to feel pushy and feels awkward after her confession, and now she has Alex who is writing her songs, sending her gifts, telling her she's beautiful, listening to everything she says. Can she make or let herself fall for this? And how much of all of this is that she feels really lonely because of the pandemic?