Rants and Weekly Raves #268 (RAWR)

Trotwood: Where is everyone? Are people still traveling? 
Panda: I have had a busy weekend bingeing The Office and also taking kids on birthday parties. I'm quite tired.
kakashi: Teaching! So much teaching! And now I'm sick, the girl is too, vegetating in bed but thinking I need to go in this afternoon because of... teaching. I wanted to watch Royal Nirvana but I only got to minute 30 before I fell asleep last night. Blame the flu.

KOREA

Tale of Nokdu

I was only able to watch one episode, but we have definitely dropped into sadville. I knew it was coming, but it is painful to watch. I had some hope that our couple might avoid noble idiocy at end of the ep I watched, but the tide could have completely changed. I'm hoping Panda is caught up and can tell us. 
Well, we are definitely well ensconced in Sadville. The best thing is that they only have 3 more episodes so the angst shouldn't drag out to annoying heights. The episodes ended with a separation and our 2 leads now knowing who is who and how they fit. I'm excited leading into the finale this week, I'm so curious to see how it all pans out. 

When the Camellia Blooms

I went back to this show because I was reading the recaps and just wanted to find out what happened. I am very sorry about the death, but my heart was breaking over all the different stories of mothers and their relationships with their kids, but also this idea of how much of their lives moms (and not dads--we aren't talking "parents" here) are expected to give up for their kids and the feeling that they are no longer people but mothers and love that overwhelms them and takes over their personhood. Episode 18 was one of the saddest hours I've spent with a drama in awhile. I cried more over this than even the sobfest that is Until We Meet Again.

Extraordinary You

This show is still getting good ratings but many of the people I know are bored with it. I'm not bored as much as frustrated and am glad that it's ending this coming week just so I can get some answers!! I want answers. Who is in charge really here? Does Dan Oh have to die (and I'm going to say, at this point, I'm sort of fine with that)? Who is the real change agent here Haru or Kyung who seems to have a good side to him in this book but was pure selfish evil in the past? What about his brother? Why do we feel as if he knows more than what he's letting on? And what is the point of including the subplot of Ju Da being aware of the shadows at this stage? Why do I feel like I'm not going to get answers to all of these questions?

Want a Taste (Daily)

I started this daily because it stars the main character from Happy Sisters, but I was so mad after the first week that I wasn't sure I would continue. The saving grace is that everyone in the show seems to be mad at our heroine who has great ability, works hard for her family, and seems like she has a bright future, which is marred by a foolish guy who pursues her relentlessly claiming love. She has good reason to reject him and does so steadily in the beginning. But she is swayed by his persistence which, to be fair, dramas teach us to find attractive. However, he is really immature and doesn't even have any prospects coming straight out of army. Hopefully, we will get to the time jump, too, where she catches him having an affair and gets to spend the rest of the 110 eps finding her way to the guy that she should have been with in the first place. AT least it looks like she will have a successful business.

CHINA/TAIWAN

HIStory3: Make Our Days Count

I know that most people are going to be talking about that kiss (okay those kisses) at the end of the episode between our high schooler and his older crush, but that seemed to be in a completely different show than the rest of the episode which was all burgeoning love sweetness between Hao Ting and Xi Gu. They were just adorable and I'm glad that Hao Ting is really starting to understand the kind of stress that Xi Gu is under--living alone and taking care of himself. To me, the best moment of the episode was when Hao Ting invited him over to his house to study and Xi Gu's confession about how he had been watching him all along, but not in the way that Hao Ting thought but more because he longed to be as bold and carefree as Hao Ting. Xi Gu is so lonely, missing a family, that would love him, support him, and allow him to be a free teenager that watching him eat the fruit Hao Ting's mom cut up for them, made me tear up.

Royal Nirvana 

See above. I kinda want to watch this but so far, it's not gripping me.

JAPAN

Tokyo Dokushin Danshi/Tokyo Single Man/Tokyo Bachelors

This drama came out last spring (dates April 13-June 8), but subs are complete for it now, so I picked it up. It was on my radar because it stars two o my favorite Japanese actors, Issei Takahashi and Takumi Saito. Along with Kenichi Takito, they play friends who are trying to figure out older bachelor life. They seem to have ideal lives--health, good jobs, supportive friends, and freedom--but they are starting to question if they should be looking to marry as everyone suggests. Saito plays Reiya Miyoshi, who is the only one who has been married, and his divorce has made him bitter about love. Taro Ishibashi (Takahashi) hasn't married because the one woman he's loved moved to London. She comes back in the first episode, but that whole relationship is questionable because she's come back in part because she's engaged. Kazuhiko Iwakura (Takito) plays the eldest of the lot. He has a long standing girlfriend who he hasn't proposed to yet, even though he's 45, he's considering it, but the need to take care of his ailing father puts a damper on that. Reading the brief synopsis, I wasn't prepared to like them as much as I do or even at all, but I'm fond of each and happy that their friends. I also love the relationship they all have with Miyoshi's younger sister, who I think harbors a crush on Ishibashi.

La Grand Maison Tokyo

Four episodes of this have been subbed, so I'm taking a chance on this show all or the love of Takuya Kimura. He's been in several things since BG: Personal Bodyguard, but like most Japanese dramas, the subs for those a few and hard to come by. This show intrigued me because it's all about cooking and he plays a master chef, Natsuki Obana, who was at the top of his game in a Paris restaurant that earned 3 Michelin stars, but he is behind a controversial problem and has hit rock bottom and lost not only his friends and reputation. I was hesitant to watch just because I'm tired of the brilliant but such a jerk hero, but please watch the first episode. Obana has taken the pain all on himself because he was protecting his team. He starts working with a woman who has worked 30 years hoping to be a great chef but hasn't succeeded yet. This is going to be full of kitchen battles because there's an indication that Obana was set up, and that whoever did that won't want him back.

THAILAND

Until We Meet Again

This week, we got some fan favorite scenes from the novel. We have both Dean and Parm remember the burnt eggs from their past selves and one go search for that taste and the other explaining to Team why he learned to cook so early. We also, have Dean leaving his notes behind and Parm mistakenly picking them up as well as Parm seeing Dean sleep in library. They seem to constantly floating around each other even conversing through others and food and the  closer they get the more tension there is. What is going on? Why do they both long to meet but feel afraid at the same time? Thus when they finally do, it's pretty tense and sad without either knowing why.

 

 

Blacklist

Things are getting creepier with a new twist and a new game that people play with their phones but involves running around and shooting each other like in laser tag. They think that the God's Hand group is behind it because there is lots of money involved. And now that Title has withdrawn from the Blacklist group, he gets recruited by the student leaders because they think that they have something to do with God's hand. Little does he predict that they have been poisoned with the energy mind boosting drink that the special student tutors have been giving people to help them study better and improve the ranking of the school. Best part of show though is that Fluke Natouch Siripornt orn from Until We Meet Again is a guest star for this episode, playing a sneaky, snarky, top gamer puts one of our heroes in danger.

Dark Blue Kiss

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm bored by PeteKao, which makes me sad. Their plot was the only good things about two previous shows. Their Our Skyy special was a cute delight, but this draggy loop of Pete jealousy is wearing thin, especially when there are so many issues that could be developed in their plot to happiness. Why not explore more the difference in their personalities and status? Pete is wealthy and an average student but has the full support of his dad who knows about Kao and even gives him condoms. While Kao is not out to his mom who relies on him to pay for his own schooling and help out with his sister's education. And one of his students is his mom's boss who is also homophobic. Instead, we just see Pete being petty. Thank goodness we have Sun and Mork, and unfortunately, despite how much I admire some of Pete's insults, I'd rather he and Kao go away and let me spend the entire show with Sun and Mork with Mork confused but trying to pretend he's not falling in love.