Rants and Weekly Raves #189 (RAWR)

JoAnne: YES. I created the post EARLY this week so people have plenty of time to kibbitz in between the ranting and raving.
Trotwood: I'm too tired to kibbitz about anything. I'm not watching much either and with all the new stuff coming out, it just makes me more tired and not ready to watch anything new.
Are you feeling better, at least?
No. But I've got dramas and Issei commercials to watch. I also feel like I will only be picking up Japanese shows for awhile. I'm finding it hard to get in the mood to be emotionally manipulated by other dramas.
SakiVI: FYI, everyone I'll be off Rants and Rawrs, mostly, after next week, until third week of June, because Ramadan is starting. I'm cutting my dramas down to two - if I can keep up with them. That's Happy Sisters and Secrets of the Three Kingdoms.
Please note that I spoke of Rim recently and lo and behold, he is IN A DRAMA that starts airing THIS WEEK! Yes, I do take credit for it.
kakashi: I'm just exhausted. Bye.
Panda: Hi! Bye! Didn't watch a sec of any drama this week. Can't wait for the semester to be over.

KOREA

A Poem a Day 

Minho is a little SHIT.

The Miracle We Met 

I've been wanting to ask this, is it a miracle that they met or have they met a miracle? 
I've only seen 3 episodes so I am not sure if they meet a miracle or if meeting is the miracle. I really want to watch this but I have no time at the beginning of the week and by the end of the week there's so much else...

Greasy Melo/Wok of Love (New) 

I enjoyed the first two episodes (or 4, but really 2) but not enough to make time for it. Maybe I'll watch it later this year.  
I know what ship I'm on, but I'm not sure if the writers are on this ship, and I have a sinking feeling that they aren't, so I'm not going to watch anymore and may marathon over the summer if I'm wrong.
It was engaging enough but definitely a little different. Lots of familiar supporting faces and Jang Hyuk is just the right kind of gangster - one who wants to be a legit businessman and take care of his guys, but can't help approaching things in a slightly gangster-ish way.  I'm guessing the ship is leaning in the other direction, though.
This drama is nominated in the "Best Title" category.

You Drive Me Crazy (New and Finale) 

This is a cute couple of hours - two friends of nearly a decade moving into a new stage of their relationship - from platonic to romantic.  Very charming leads, a supporting role filled by that kid from Uniq that I like so much, and a gorgeous hanok for much of the background.
Does the female lead get better after the first ten minutes? I hated her so much for invading his space and drinking his wine and acting like he should think she's cute that I stopped watching. I usually stop watching something if I want to punch a lead within the first five minutes.
She does. She's a bit hyper for my taste but they go well together. You'll see.

Switch 

So far behind, and not hearing good things.  That makes me sad.

My Ahjussi 

I really love Dong Hoon and the people in his world. I love that they actively care about Ji An, I love that even when they hurt each other deeply, they still love each other and find compassion and understanding for each other in their hearts.

On Twitter I described this drama as being like one of those watercolor paintings that are so real they seem like photographs, where the painter's focus on every tiny molecule is what makes it beautiful - we are surprised to see that in some run-down corner we'd otherwise ignore, there's beauty in the flowering weed or the layers of flaking paint. I never mentioned the name of it, and yet more than one person immediately knew that this was the drama I meant.

We have one week left, and it looks like the ending will more than fulfill the promise of the series. I am both looking forward to watching and dreading having it end, this drama that shows the world I see: imperfect, hard, but full of good people and beautiful surprises. I won't remember Joon Young and his minions for long, once this is over. But I will always remember Dong Hoon and his brothers.

Rich Man (New) 

EXO fans must be so happy!
Who? (just kidding)
I've only seen part of the first episode right now but so far, nothing is offending my happy memories of the JDorama, so...UPDATE:  I watched the available episodes and this has started out much much better than I expected.  It was quite fine, actually.  The only thing I missed was that puppy dog sadness Oguri Shun gives off even when he's being kind of a jerk.  Suho doesn't have that, but his rich man was still watchable.

My Husband Oh Jak Doo 

Come on, Show. I'm getting tired (sooooo tired) of the evil producer and the selfish, immature dongsaengs and that USELESS mother that even though I love love love watching Jak Doo and Seung Joo and, yes, Eric Cho - I just want this to be over and our sweet little couple to be free and happy.  UPDATE:  I'm caught up.  FINALLY that nasty Hong has been hung out to dry, though I do suspect he's got one more trick up his sleeve even if he has been disgraced and kicked to the curb.  I think next week is the end of this - the big question asked is if they should marry, and it seems the unasked question is if she's really ready to give up her work and go live on that mountain.  I assume they'll work it out.

Secret Mother (New)

This is the one with Rim, but I haven't been able to watch and don't know that I will.
I watched the first night of episodes and I have to say it's pretty interesting. I think it begins at the end and then we see what happens in the previous three months, but it's hard to say what we really saw since it practically screams 'this is not what it looks like'.  We didn't see a ton of Rimmie but he acquitted himself well.

Lawless Lawyer (New) 

I don't know if subs will be out in time for this posting, but I hear the ratings were really good.
At least there will be timely subs and no hostage situation! 
I haven't seen subs yet, nope.

Happy Sisters

You know how SakiVI and I were so mad that they are pairing stupid spoiled vomit-on-people too often Se Ran with out near perfect singer-songwriter? This was us:

However, unlike our leads above, who are far more benevolent, we went on rage fit until this week when the writers decided to make our singer songwriter a sort of compulsive Korean Pygmalion-type who likes her because he can mold her into a better person. Pfft. We just fastforward their whole plot now. But there is still plenty of crazy with the return of alcoholic birth mothers, more attempts at murder, multiple hiding places revealed, more bonding between the cutest MILs in the world (one of whom regularly headbutts people in a very calm way), HoeJo disguised as a man, and an ex-girlfriend showing up as someone's new personal assistant after being disowned by her rich family. This show is so fun that SakiVI (Hi there!) and I work very hard to try to schedule to watch as many eps together as we can even though we live hundreds of miles apart. 

Yup. That's HoeJo as a man

CHINA/TAIWAN

Secret of the Three Kingdoms 

I'm at our empress begging Ping to run away with her to her father's place because Guo Jia and that evil minion Man (he looks like a wizard, but - psych! - the wizard is Gua Jia) who is always trying to get them killed are both about to get them killed.

And, if I could smack the underground subbers, I would. All week, I've been dying for subbed episodes and been all out of sorts each evening. During a couple of days, I had some time to kill because of waiting on team members, and no episodes. So, I watched some romcom about love healing or something with a robotic kendo instructor and games developer which was so-so when all I wanted was this show, and now, when I'm swamped with work, and I barely have any time to watch, they've posted the 7 episodes. I hate the subbers now. 
(Dear subbers, if you read this, don't get offended, the truth is, she loves you. It's just her way of showing it)

Update: watched all 7, and loving both romances, Emperor and Empress, and Sima Yi and Tang Ying. And crikey, those Cao siblings are really greedy for taken people, namely her for the emperor, and him for the empress.  I mean, you can almost see the drool going down their chins when they look at their respective objects of lust.  
I need to catch up, but I am delighted with what I have seen so far. DELIGHTED.

Meet Me @1006 

Well, this week's episodes were a doozy. We get proof of what we have learned from all time traveling shows: just because you go back in past to change things, some people are just meant to die. I'm hoping though that just because we didn't get to save one person, we can  still save our heroine. I'm still confused by why Muffin doesn't tell her about her death, but then again, she still bugs me some because she seems kind of obstinately stupid--at least for someone as smart as Muffin to fall for. Anyway, there is the whole drug thing and the proof that they find out about the insulin which is more likely the reason behind Jia Le's heart attack. But Ji Rou is super shady. She acts completely suspiciously at the crime scene. Jia Le knows that Ji Rou is behaving oddly. Why doesn't she say anything about the cigarette butt when theoretically that could prove that someone else was there (even if she believes that Ji Rou is innocent)? And now that we know the story behind the animosity between Muffin and Si Ming,  I still don't get it. Muffin went pretty far to get back at those people, but does he really think that Muffin is to blame for their friend's suicide? Shouldn't he be more worried than angry at Muffin's decision to not believe in feelings anymore but to go after everyone with the law even if God is on trial?
I am only one week behind and I insist that we have Muffin and Cutie Pie as end game. I insist.

Moonlight and Valentine/The Love Knot: His Excellency's First Love (New)

Available on BOTH DF (first title) and Viki (second) - a fantasy romance about a love that spans a thousand years. I've seen the first two episodes thus far and enjoyed it - there's humor and mystery and there could be some good chemistry, too. Plus, wonder of wonders - it's only 24 episodes and they're 45 minutes long! PS. Johnny Huang makes me think of Big, a little bit...but someone else mixed in, and I can't think who. Help me!

Between

In case you were wondering, this gets better as it gets going.  Esther Yeh is still too much of a baby talker for my tastes but she's so pretty and likable otherwise...and our two male leads are having fun destroying their handsome guy reputations by being ridiculously fun.  We now know for a fact that even wearing a Superman suit and playing Superman/Batman with a little boy - to include sound effects and flinging himself around the room - Marcus Chang has not lost one bit of his Panty Melt Skills.  I did have a twinge of irrittion this week that he's in the position of giving her less than helpful advice meant to improve her business acumen and she's in the position of breathlessly apologizing for not being there, oh high and mighty business star, but that might just have been my mood.

Tree in the River 

Last week's episodes were unbelievably adorable with the courtship between Da Shu and Zhi He and only hints of the trouble to come. This week, we watched them struggle and their marriage fall apart. No huge villains here: Da Shu has set ideas about how things should be/how he should be and Zhi He would like more of a partnership. Despite their obvious love for each other, they grow apart through loneliness and lack of communication. It's sad watching them go through this but not really all that painful, somehow. (I think that part comes next.) So - it's a 20-episode drama - do we have 8 episodes of sadness and then 4 of them getting back together? I feel like 8 is too many, but it's less than a lot of dramas...PS: Were you surprised about the hidden child between Fen Ni and House? (Also, how gorgeous is Ray Chang?)

JAPAN

Final Cut (finally, Finally the Finale)

Remember when I talked about how following Jdorama as a non-Japanese speaker was a challenge because lots of things don't get subbed or subs drop off mysteriously? The last time I posted about this show was in the RAWR posted on March 20th to say I was waiting for subs for the two hour finale.  Well, the finale (which was really 1.5 hours) was finally subbed this weekend almost two-months later, and I'm posting about it now because my heart rate is too high from watching to go to sleep. I had been warned, but I couldn't wait. I don't want to watch something like this by myself again. It was tense through the end. You keep thinking that it's over, and it's not. I kept looking at the time left, and I noted that I said it must be starting to end now at about the 45 minute mark and then got worried about that because there was still so much time left and so much potential for disaster. The finale started with what looked like a murder attempt that was really a suicide attempt that turned into a fake confession along with fake news to get at the real truth and multiple reveals. Good ep, but I still want to know who Keisuke Nakamura's tech friend was and why he was helping him, but I'm willing to let that go. Kami was fantastic. 

Ossan's Love 

I laugh and laugh so much in this show. Our poor hero needs to speak up for himself and set some things straight, but is it too late? I wonder if he and the waitress will end up together, but my heart really wants him to discover that he's also attracted to men so that Maki can be happy. The show's behind the scenes stuff is great, and they have some hilarious advertisement ideas. 

 

Miss Devil 

Turns out that Miss Devil has been hired as a permanent employee to do employee cost cuts across the board to Saito's dismay. She sends him to a sales department where he is to learn about the department and then make recommendations for which person to cut under the guise of being assigned to various departments to learn about the workings of the company. Miss Devil seems as scary (if not scarier) now, but when Saito makes a recommendation to cut a low performing employee, she tells him how this employee now has a mortgage and that the chief of the area in sexually harassing another worker. Her goal is really to weed out the seedy people, but sometimes people get hurt along the way.

Black Revenge

I seem to not be in the mood for regular fair--typical rom-coms or melos. I want laugh out loud stuff or revenge, which is probably why I'm enjoying Miss Devil and decided to start Black Revenge, even though I haven't caught up with Meet Me @ 1006 or watched any of the new Korean dramas (except beginnings of things). This show, on the other hand, I drank in the two subbed episodes like they were water on a summer day. The only actor I know in this is Hiroyuki Hirayama, and he may end up being an antagonist later. The main character is Saori Imamiya (played by Tae Kimura) who is working at the tabloid that broke a fake scandal about her husband which led to his suicide and the death of their unborn child five years ago. He leaves her a suicide video (which includes the actually suicide) telling her about the three people who are responsible for this fake news. She is determined to make them all burn in hell (her words not mine). It really is fascinating how she goes about getting these people to reveal themselves; however, I'm worried that we have ten episodes, and she's already gotten her revenge on two of the three people. And who are these mysterious people who help her like the bartender guy or the therapist who really should probably be helping her control her vengeful tendencies but who seems to be egging her on?

WEST

Lucifer 

Well, we've all heard the news now: no more Lucifer. I like the show so I was disappointed, but when I thought about what I thought was the season 3 finale and considered that this was all I would ever have to close out the stories, I was MAD. And then I learned there are two more episodes, but even that was bittersweet: one, Charlotte dies; and two, they planned a huge cliffhanger for the season ending episode thinking they'd have to come back for a fourth season after that. So we've apparently already been apologized to for the episode that airs next week since it will 'frustrate viewers.' Good stuff.

Well anyway, I just watched Charlotte die and actually got teary. She was always one of my favorites, whether she was possessed by gods or not. I'm happy that in dying, she was redeemed and taken to heaven. So I guess that's okay.

Rise 

Didn't mention this last week but I watched all available episodes to date - a grittier, less musical Glee, I guess. This time around it's a failing steel mill town, high school theater kids rather than show chorus, and a teacher with lots of enthusiasm and not a shred of common sense. PLUS Rosie Perez, always a plus. Having fairly close-up knowledge of actual theater kids...I like this a lot.

Siren 

I officially no longer care about those colonizer humans and their "grief." Don't go trying to enslave other people and you won't get killed, you idiots.  You deserve every death you get when you go in with bad intentions, Xander, because you weren't out to catch a mermaid to braid her hair, were you?  Catch means you were going to keep her against her will, hence the slavery.  Sod you.  You are responsible for Captain Sean's death, not the absalicious merman who was defending his people and his home against slavers like you.
You are always so vehement about things...Me, I think Xander was trying to make sense of the mystery, and Dad agreed to go in the end - so it's not his son's fault that he's dead now, and even if it WAS, it's still sad for everyone involved. 

Fear the Walking Dead 

We take a bit of a detour this week and learn the story of John Dorie and the Laura he's been searching for - who, it turns out, was the mysterious woman Alicia met at that water tower place.  Just as quickly as he learns that she was there, though, poor John learns that she's dead now.  I hope next week we find out whether Madison is dead or not.

Dear White People V2

I don't think I even took food or potty breaks while inhaling every episode of Season 2 last weekend.  This show is both topical and a complete visual/aural treat, and I want Season 3 now, please.  These kids are on a journey and I may be fooling myself but it feels authentic even if it's couched in privilege.  Maybe especially because it is, to point out that even money can't insulate them from all the things life will throw their way whether it's because they're black or because they're human.
All this and I loved how Sorbet would just show up places.
Figures you'd be in it for the Westie, hahahaha