Rants and Weekly Raves #272 (RAWR)

kakashi: It's almost Christmas, OMG!!!!
SakiVI: I like that cat.
Trotwood: I am not ready for the holiday season at all. I have so much work to do, and people expect me to be festive?!?!
I just show up to parties in a colourful sweater and necklace and eat.
Panda: Currently eating my first meal of the day at 9pm at an airport. So Hi and Byeeee! Happy holidays folks

KOREA

VIP

I got sucked into this because of a scene I couldn't forget that was recommended to me on YT. I could not get out of my head how cool and calm Jang Nara was in this scene. She wasn't going to pretend anymore now that she feels like an idiot because everyone on her team knew about the affair. This scene is from episode 10. I was sucked in and read recaps, and then watched ep 8-12, so I'm caught up. I'm in for this. It's too early, obviously, to claim victory, but we do see that her rival isn't as innocent as her appearance suggests although her emotional turmoil isn't fake. This seems to be another show that understands that its audience is mainly women because despite some of the power the men have in this show, the woman are really the movers and shakers. I'm glad that Jang Nara's character has friends in her colleagues, and I'll be really interested to see how Hyun-A's full on attack on her sexual assault boss (to protect their friend, by the by) goes as well.

Chocolate

JoAnne: This week they use the hospice patients as a way to give us more info about Cha Young and the Lee cousins, Kang and Jun.  The old man who always wants to go eat jajjangmyeon because he thinks his son will come back for him if he waits long enough gives Kang a chance to see how kind Cha Young is, and lets us reflect on the families we make for ourselves when the families we are born into abandon us.   Kang has absolutely drawn into himself because of those vipers, and Jun is clearly the unhappy result of parental and grandparental weirdness - they are super overprotective but oddly dismissive of him and he chafes at their obvious lack of belief in his ability. (Jun is Elf Ears?)

The pretty blind woman with the attentive husband lets us see how sensitive and caring Lee Jun can be, away from the twisted and damaging influence of his family.  She was his first pottery teacher, and he devotes hours upon hours making her a perfect plate.  It's clear that he loves her, and I think she has no idea of that but is fond of him as a friend.  The little boy who's dying shows us a more empathetic side of Lee Kang in his gradual warming toward the boy and Cha Young both and gives them a chance to pair up and work together when the boy goes missing.

Lee Kang has no idea that Cha Young is the little girl from the restaurant, but her brother has finally remembered that name so it probably won't be long before it's not a secret anymore.  The nagging nurse has a lifelong connection to Director Kwon but the subs weren't clear to me if she is LIKE a sister to him, or is an actual sister.  What is clear (I think) is that the woman with Alzheimers that Cha Young has been helping has a past connection to Director K.  He is unusually harsh with her, and then she makes a cryptic comment to the nurse, so I guess we'll see.

Woman of 9.9 Billion/9.9. billion Won Woman

The acting in this show is top notch. Everyone is bringing it to the table here. We've come to expect that from both Cho Yeo Jung and Jung Woong In (the latter makes me kind of sad because I think he's only going to play creeper people when I remember him so fondly as the nice brother in Last Scandal of my Life). But I sometimes think people forget or overlook how good Kim Kang Woo can be, and I only think of Lee Ji Hoon as soft second lead types. Kim Kang Woo was completely heartbreaking standing next to his brother's body in the morgue, and you know he's going to be a force when even the lead gang member guy recognizes/borderline respects his crazy. Lee Ji Hoon really makes his cheating desperate husband character believable and very unlikeable, to it's going to be fun watching him squirm. And I never thought the breaking of a model ship would be so satisfying. It was a very interesting moment when our two leads come to understand each other, but will that be enough to build a partnership?

Crash Landing on You

I'm so behind, so I didn't have time to watch but people are of course talking about it. I mean I almost passed out seeing Hyun Bin in uniform in my twitter feed. Those pics should come with a warning!

CHINA/TAIWAN

Royal Nirvana

There was some problem with subs and episodes coming out because of IRL politics after episode 6, and that is something I absolutely cannot tolerate, so I will wait until this show is completely subbed before I continue.  I watched until 6 and was hooked and then could not take the withdrawal.  It was HORRIBLE.
Didn't get to watch it, too much going down.  

HIStory3: Make Our Days Count

I have finally calmed from my RAGE at that ending of last week's episode. The episode was generally sweet again with some angst when Hao Ting believed that his lust-filled actions scared Xi Gu away, but that really wasn't it. Xi Gu hasn't had anyone love him in so long that the feelings he has for Hao Ting and the promises that the other guy offers--both emotionally and physically--were a bit overwhelming. This is why if there is some crazy amnesia, truck of doom, etc. in the teased time jump for the next episode, people need to be getting out of my way because I will be cutting people down. I already of have a posse of people ready. You've been warned, show.

Some Day or One Day

28 seconds into this week's episode I was already yelling at screen 'WHAT?!"WHAT?!" The show seems to be a slow burn, but it does these really surprising twists. If you are interesting in time travel/parallel universe-type mysteries, you should really watch this show.  There are so many layers to the secret and each episode keeps giving us more and more layers. I'm so curious about where this thread is going that it almost hurts to watch. This week's episode's title is "All My Goodbyes were Practice for Losing You." I think the sadness in this show is even enough for Jo.

Once Upon A Time On Ling Jian Mountain

I really recommend this as the best fantasy show since Ice Fantasy.  The main difference is that the jokes are intentional and they break the fourth wall often and are pretty funny.  It's a master and apprentice show and there is hardly any moping.  That's all I'm going to say because I have to get back to work and my dailies.

JAPAN

La Grande Maison Tokyo

We have another competition coming up and there seems to be spies all over the place! At least, the Serita bit has been resolved. He was so resentful of Obana, so he felt spurred on to steal their signature recipe, and he even quit. But there were several things he didn't count on, which was the outreach that they were going to make to him and what it felt like to be a customer at the restaurant. I really loved the way that was resolved as well as the staff's response to the theft. Anyone who cooks knows that even with a recipe, it is almost impossible to exactly replicate a dish. I was so stressed watching that I forgot that, too. Clearly, the evil competition forgot this as well or he wouldn't have simple given that recipe to one of his chefs to see if he could beat Shohei. Pfft. But now we have a member of the waitstaff from Marie Claire who also wants revenge. How many people were affected by the Paris scandal?! They seem to be in a never-ending stream. 

G-senjou no Anata to Watanashi/You and I on the G-String/You, Me, and Bach 

This is becoming my favorite show. I love how the threesome are becoming such good friends. I also like that there may be a romance out of this as well but that the romance will stem from the solid friendship and support that has been happening. I was really sad that Yuki couldn't make the recital and wouldn't have put it past her MIL to fake an illness to keep her from doing it, but it turns out that she really had a stroke. Hopefully, the care she gets from Yuki will make her see that the person she should be treasuring is Yuki and not her loser, cheating, son. I was a bit concerned when Rihito turned up at the recital because I don't think his concern was really about his brother at all but the potential relationship between his brother and the ex he so unceremoniously dumped. I like her, so I hope the writers don't make her use Rihito to get back at her ex. The brother deserves a comeuppance but not at Rihito's expense.

Ossan's Love: In the Sky

I marathoned three episodes this past week because the subs had been behind, and I couldn't resist to see what was going to happen. There has been equal silly and pathos. I'm amazed how this show is able to balance both. There is a circle of feelings happening now. With Naruse liking Shino, Shino liking Haruta, and Haruta liking Narusa who know where this is going to end? Of course we have Kurosawa lurking and forcing out a lot of confessions, especially once he realizes that his own daughter is out of the running, so he shouldn't feel guilty about acting on his feelings. This show held the most hilarious passive aggressive turned aggressive ping pong session I have ever seen. I wish I was able to get a screenshot of it, but it was all too fast. The storyline with Shino's son made me cry, too, Narusa. Don't judge. Is it too much to want everyone in this show to be happy? 

Follow Saretara Owari

no subs this week

Nee Sensei, Shiranai no?

Because I'm losing my mind and in denial and really really needed some fluff, I started this. We had a makeover in the very first episode.  What makes this different is that both of the leads are professed workaholics but not in traditional fields that we usually see this in dramas--the guy is a hairdresser and the female is a manga author. I'm interesting in following how they figure out supporting each other and fall in love because we know that's inevitable, right?

THAILAND

Until We Meet Again 

Everyone is talking about the classroom kiss because finally FINALLY this slow burn relationship has paid off and Parm can rest assured that Dean has claimed him. EVERYONE knows this so the overbearing Alex needs to back off. We get under the table hand holding and "wearing my boyfriend's jacket" scenes that just make one remember being 14 and wishing you were the heroine in 16 Candles (or was that just me?). Anyway, I like the extreme contrast we get between the past and the present. In the present our main couple not only get the support of their friends but have become mini celebrities on campus while in the past we see both the struggle of In to get Korn to even like him initially but also the concern of his friends and the fact that he has to sneak out of his house to see Korn. We also see Dean's painful flashbacks as well. Will he begin to make the connection?

Blacklist

I've been joking about the dramatic music and awkward product placement in this drama (really who goes to visit someone in jail while drinking a juicebox of chocolate milk?), but I have to say I did NOT expect the twist in this last episode. Will this completely break up the Blacklist group? I think Andrew is genuinely sorry for how everything started because he really did come to see them as his friends, but will they ever forgive him for this? Maybe he will sacrifice himself to get back Traffic's sister? 

Dark Blue Kiss

Sigh. My SunMork pair spent this whole episode apart pining for each other and wracked by guilt and longing while PeteKao break up, but they don't break up for the reasons I wanted them to break up. They break up because of the manipulations of Kon (go away). We spend most of the episode looking at a gloriously sad Kao (New can do forlorn very well--who knew? Directors take note) while everyone an his brother tries to get Kao to realize that he may be throwing away the only thing that made him truly happy. Unfortunately, Kon isn't done with breaking them up, he's also close to ruining Kao's bright future completely. How far will he go to avenge being rejected? 

WESTERN

Baby Yoda & Mando (=The Mandalorian)

Good episode. Nope, I'm not being cynical, I mean it! It was a classic "let's get people in a tight, dangerous space and put a deadly countdown on top" kinda scenario but it worked for me. Somebody forgot to tell a story again, but who cares. Mando is super hot when he does his job and Baby Yoda is super cute whatever he does (some funny bits there too), so all was good. Did I say Mando is hot (when he's not stupid like last episode). I hope he never takes his helmet off.
What if Mando takes off his helmet and looks like Don Trump Jr?  
Ah, I know he looks like Pedro Pascal underneath, so it's alright.