Rants and Weekly Raves #170 (RAWR)
kakashi: Welcome to 2018's first RAWR! May this year give us plenty of good dramas to love and bad dramas to rant about.
Trotwood: I need fun in my dramas not just cute but fun. That is scarce. Maybe it's my own sense of humor or lack thereof.
JoAnne: I like there to be some humor, particularly if things can be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I also like a male lead I can lust over, a female lead I can want for a friend, a supernatural element, and for there NOT to be screeching and slapping.
So do I, but I haven't gotten here yet.
Trotwood: I need fun in my dramas not just cute but fun. That is scarce. Maybe it's my own sense of humor or lack thereof.
JoAnne: I like there to be some humor, particularly if things can be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I also like a male lead I can lust over, a female lead I can want for a friend, a supernatural element, and for there NOT to be screeching and slapping.
KOREA
Two Cops
I've seen up through episode 10 now and it's a fun watch, overall. Both male leads are reliably entertaining and I like Hyeri when she's not called upon to cry. We know she'll end up with Jo Jung Seok and that makes us feel sorry for Kim Sun Ho, but he'll probably end up with his pickpocketing, loyal girlfriend and that's not so bad.
Jugglers
Every year for the past three or four, I have asked for a drama about all the great show secretaries in the coming year. Jugglers is NOT that show, but it is a show recognizing great secretaries, and it made me laugh out loud on the treadmill on Sunday. I've always liked Daniel Choi--have since Baby-Faced Beauty--so it is delightful to see him in something I enjoy. I realize that I've never seen Baek Jin Hee in anything and feel sorry because I also really like her in this as well. We have made a turn now that her boss is starting to actually like her and like her before he finds out the real truth about how she got fired from her previous job.
So there was this discussion about Daniel Choi's (I like him too!) hands on twitter. Hehe. Some people cannot watch this drama anymore without looking at his hands.
I keep meaning to look up the definition of yaoi. (Also, count me in as a Choi fan.)
So there was this discussion about Daniel Choi's (I like him too!) hands on twitter. Hehe. Some people cannot watch this drama anymore without looking at his hands.
I keep meaning to look up the definition of yaoi. (Also, count me in as a Choi fan.)
Just Between Lovers
Watched all available episodes in mostly one go and champing at the bit for more - absolutely lovely drama. It has a tenderness to it, in the telling and the showing - hard to explain. For me, anyway. Not a bad actor in the bunch and a compelling story about trying to live after a horrific event. Very little yelling, no screeching, and even the people you don't really like have actual human layers. No cardboard cut-out villains here. Give it a try, you won't be sorry.
Smart Prison Living
I managed to get back to this and while the 90 minute episodes are a commitment, this drama is just pure pleasure through and through. I'm all caught up and the friendships are touching, the dark humor is perfect, and I like how they constantly subvert our expectations.
They're killing Kdrama with 90 minute episodes. They really shouldn't.
This goes by pretty fast.
They're killing Kdrama with 90 minute episodes. They really shouldn't.
This goes by pretty fast.
I'm Not a Robot
How many times can you say a couple is adorable? Our male lead is almost unbearably so; cute, lonely, afraid, a bit demanding...but someone who really tugs at your heartstrings. Also, kind of dumb. How does he not realize Aji 3 is human? Falling for each other is in full swing, regardless, and I'm trying to brace myself for the fallout when he realizes he's been lied to by so many people, including his 'one and only friend in 15 years.' Sigh.
At least some people took issue with the gender stereotypes in this show. Thoughts?
Ji Ah is hemmed in by the domineering older brother, to an extent, but how often do you get a girl inventor? Never. Thumbs up. I don't get as worked up as some people about Aji. She's a robot - by definition a tool to be used. And how do you drum up funding from men for expensive experimental robot technology? Make it pretty. The pervs are automatically going to think about sexbots anyway. Plus it would be a very different drama if Yoo Seung Ho fell for a robot that looked like HyunSik. (But I'd watch that.) Actually, I just think the Professor is hung up on his ex. I mean, he used her face, and Aji is just Ji Ah backwards.
At least some people took issue with the gender stereotypes in this show. Thoughts?
Ji Ah is hemmed in by the domineering older brother, to an extent, but how often do you get a girl inventor? Never. Thumbs up. I don't get as worked up as some people about Aji. She's a robot - by definition a tool to be used. And how do you drum up funding from men for expensive experimental robot technology? Make it pretty. The pervs are automatically going to think about sexbots anyway. Plus it would be a very different drama if Yoo Seung Ho fell for a robot that looked like HyunSik. (But I'd watch that.) Actually, I just think the Professor is hung up on his ex. I mean, he used her face, and Aji is just Ji Ah backwards.
The Black Knight
I'm more and more into this every week, for sure. By now we've learned the back stories for our two immortals and while I should feel some sympathy for Sharon, I just can't muster it. You'd think by now she would realize that this is not her guy, even if he was her husband briefly.
Bad Guys: City of Evil
No, Trot, Santa is not bringing us subs. I know that we've been really good girls, but I guess this was too much even for him. I'll keep looking, though.
I really can't figure this out. This happened the last time for the first Bad Guys. However, that turned into a sleeper hit. I get that there is no idol in it, but still there have been lots of dramas like this. Maybe it will get subbed when it's all done like Argon did.
Update: For Christmas we received a miracle and 4 episodes were subbed. Just as I finished writing a heartfelt thank you to the subbers and was about to press play on episode 4 (yes, I watched it all in one go because yes, it's just that good) - they announced that for 'personal reasons' they wouldn't be subbing any more episodes and hopefully one of the legal sites would pick it up. We must have been terrible people in our past lives, Trot.
Got about 15 minutes into episode 1 when you guys said only subs until 4. I've stopped. Also because the first episode is TOO LONG. Please, Korea, shorten your episode length.
I really can't figure this out. This happened the last time for the first Bad Guys. However, that turned into a sleeper hit. I get that there is no idol in it, but still there have been lots of dramas like this. Maybe it will get subbed when it's all done like Argon did.
Update: For Christmas we received a miracle and 4 episodes were subbed. Just as I finished writing a heartfelt thank you to the subbers and was about to press play on episode 4 (yes, I watched it all in one go because yes, it's just that good) - they announced that for 'personal reasons' they wouldn't be subbing any more episodes and hopefully one of the legal sites would pick it up. We must have been terrible people in our past lives, Trot.
Got about 15 minutes into episode 1 when you guys said only subs until 4. I've stopped. Also because the first episode is TOO LONG. Please, Korea, shorten your episode length.
Hwayugi (new)
I'll start this week because I just found out that Moony is in it. Is it fun?
Oh my goodness, YES, it is fun. Unfortunately, no new episodes until January 6th, and fingers crossed they get their shit together because behind the scenes is apparently a MESS. This worries me greatly because in front of the camera is exactly what I like and I want MORE.
Oh my goodness, YES, it is fun. Unfortunately, no new episodes until January 6th, and fingers crossed they get their shit together because behind the scenes is apparently a MESS. This worries me greatly because in front of the camera is exactly what I like and I want MORE.
The Unit
My Beloved is the best, really. I think I said that last week, too. It's just that he's such a good mentor to these guys! Firm and honest, but always, always, always tempered with a true understanding of how they feel, and peppered with reminders that no one ever/fiance/wife as a placeholder for when his real girlfriend comes back. REALLY knows who's going to be a big star until someone actually becomes a big star. I love his realistic optimism and his kindness, as well as his strong feeling of the responsibility that comes with being a senior in the business. And the kids! They compete hard, but they root for each other, truly. I don't know if it's all a big act or what, but I like it way better than the bitchiness we so often see in reality shows here.
NOT-KOREA
I Dou I Dou I Dou
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| NO ONE LISTENS TO ME |
Tientsin Mystic
First episode is recapped and will soon be posted! I've only seen episode 1, loads of fun. I think I'll like this.
Nirvana in Fire 2 (new)
I hear good things!So do I, but I haven't gotten here yet.
See You in Time (new)
From Taiwan - a guy reviving a cycling team suffers from time anomalies as he falls for his assistant. Many, many pretty people, interesting tidbits about racing, and they (at least once) try to prevent crimes from happening before they happen. I really like the leads, who are new to me. Warning: only one episode a week.Jao Sao Chapor Kit (2015)
I don't know if Shuk wrote about this when it came out, but this is one of two lakorns I marathoned this week. It's a wacky comedy about a playboy type guy who really wants to marry his girlfriend, but she has decided to study abroad to see if he can turn around his ways. His parents want him to marry a Hi-so girl of their choosing. Of course, he decided to hire someone to pretend to be his girlfriend. Of course his best friend helps him. Of course, the girl he picks doesn't put up with his crap but also makes his grandmother and all the servants love her and also happens to have been college friends with his girlfriend who also happened to save her life (literally from drowning) and her dad's life (literally by helping to find a doctor), so when the two inevitably fall in love it becomes a problem. Hijinks ensue plus, because it's a lakorn, shots are fired.
Rak Kan Panlawan
This is the second lakorn I marathoned and finished between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I know everyone was looking for a drama about a woman who has dated women throughout college and was in fact super popular with women because she looks like the maknae of your favorite idol group. She gets her heart broken, again, by a woman and decides she is done with women and wants to date a man instead--really one man. The guy she's had a crush on since college.He is wonderful, but he's got a cheating girlfriend whom he innocently loves. Our female lead happens to work for a zoo and dreams of working at an aquarium. She gets a new boss, our male lead, who doesn't want to work here (it's a family business but he resents his father), and who doesn't like her because he thinks she stole his girlfriend, which is understandable since she is the person his ex-girlfriend dated right after him. Hijinks ensue. Education about zoo animals is shared. Aquarium corporate intrigue occurs, and there are more love triangles than you can count.
Kon La Kop Fah
I wrote the above when I thought we were doing a RAWR last week. Since then, I have marathoned another lakorn (while struggling to recap another ep of Cubic). This lakorn has Great Warintorn Panhankorn as the the lead and man is he great. I was swooning with every scene despite his major anger management issues (which I have to say they talk about a lot but really in my mind don't manifest themselves until much later; I was angry at all the stuff he was angry about in the beginning, too, and if I had been tricked to give up some of my rubber plantation land, I might have rammed a fence with my jeep). Anyway, he is proof that you can look mighty might fine in tshirt and jeans and boots. The heroine is annoying in the beginning, but there is a tragic backstory that breaks up a epic bromance and there are lots of surprises and beautiful vistas even by lakorn standards. I'm going to admit though that I really stayed to watch Great be in love.
