Rants and Weekly Raves #278 (RAWR)

Panda: Happy Lunar Year to all who celebrate! This year already seems to be a lot with the outbreak of the coronavirus making it a somber celebration for millions, down to the tragic event that happened last night. All I can say is let's cherish our loved ones fiercely and strive to live a fulfilled life. Sigh.
kakashi: I'm quite sick of 2020's behavior already and demand a refund. 
Trotwood: I'm too sleepy right now to demand anything.

KOREA

Woman of 9.9 Billion Won/9.9. Billion Won Woman (Finale)

This is the way you do a finale. I wasn’t even mad at the way they tried to redeem In Pyo because his closure not only helped insure Seo Yeon’s future but it meant that he wasn’t wandering around somewhere on the planet planning a comeback. I did weep for the losses, and that the real feelings of love between Hee Ju and Jae Hoon. I even liked the open ending between Seo Yeon and Tae Woo. One of my favorite scenes was the one with them sitting together in the dark and his clear forgiveness and thankfulness that someone heard his brother’s last words. And yup, I teared up at the goodbye between SY and Ms. Jang. But what I think I liked most about this drama were the friendships between Tae Woon and Dae Yong and even more so the friendship between Seo Yeon and Hee Ju. Despite the so many reasons why they should be enemies through and through, you know that part of the regret about the affair is because what it has done to this friendship—even if some of this relationship was built on jealousy (SY) and resentment (HJ). At the end, there was no one SY sitting at the floor of the funeral hall trying to convince HJ to get rest & who was the person throughout who was just trying to get SY to leave the country with the money? I’d like to see a special where HJ takes her daughter to visit SY in Tahiti.

Want a Taste

Hae-Jin finally agrees to divorce her stupid husband, but the court makes them submit to a reconciliation period. The thought of staying with him during that time makes her crazy, do she decides to leave home for a break. She shuts the restaurant, leaves her daughter with her mother, and goes away. She makes a gigantic meal for her loser in-law family before she goes, and that is really the moment that they panic when they realize she isn’t coming back and that she’s the main (only?) breadwinner in the family. Geeze. Not only are they cretins, but they’re stupid. The only person who looks for her is Dae-Gu even though they are more frenemies than friends, and he’s resolved to divorce his horrible, cheating wife. I think Hae-Jin might come back if his son asks enough though. DaGu is going to need someone to help with his son since his wife is so horrible no housekeeper will stay now.We’re already over 50 episodes in, so the turnaround and the time for them to start partnering and falling for each other has to begin soon, right? And show, if you pair her very nice brother up with her horrible sister-in-law, I will drop this show like a hot potato.

The Game: Toward Zero

Great opening of a show. I know people have problems with Taec’s acting, but this is the perfect venue for him. His character, who is a person who when they look into someone’s eyes can see the moment they die, is supposed to be rather stoic. I mean who wouldn’t be if they are constantly around death? Ironically, the heroine of the show, Det. Joon Young, is the first person he has ever met for whom he can’t see this. I have a theory why this is, but saying it here would give away the ending of this week’s eps, and I don’t want to so that because I was on the edge of my seat waiting for a miracle until the very end. Joon Young’s dad was a detective who died trying to catch a serial killer, and it seems like the serial killer or a copycat is back after 20 years. This is definitely on my keeper list, at

least for now.

Crash Landing on You

I am really behind on this drama even though I am enjoying it., I finally finished ep 4 of Crash Landing (Seriously tvN STOP with the 2 hour episodes!! I red somewhere that the run time for each episode of the upcoming Wise Doctor Life will be 1.5 hours or so. Wut), and I'm in middle of episode 5. I love that our male lead is so soft and finally have a crush on Binnie. Hopefully by next week I will be a lot closer to the airing episode.

CHINA/TAIWAN

Some Day or One Day

Episode 10 upped the ante with the sadness and the electrifying twists again!!  If I thought this week’s Follow episode was going to be the only one that was going to make me yell out WHAT?!?! At my screen, but no, this episode here made me do that and more. And even with some answers, I have way more questions. I feel like I not only need to make one of those pick character charts like they have in crime shows, but I need to review notes before each episode to be prepared. I’ve got so many questions. Which version of Zi Wei got on the plane? Which version is the one that survived the accident? Who actually killed Chen Yu? Does the psychiatrist really have a brother? If the brother killed Chen Yu, then why did Jun Jie go to prison? How many times must some version of Zi We/Quan Sheng die or almost die? I NEED ANSWERS!!! I hope this show is getting all the love it deserves in Taiwan ratings and then some. It deserves all the praise and more. Wow, show.

A lot of times I don't either feeling like I'm taking a test for which I didn't study in a class with my favorite teacher!

Pillow Book!

Haven't had time!  
Had no idea you were interested in this.
Interested is maybe the wrong word. I consider it my professional duty to at least watch a few episodes.

JAPAN

La Grande Maison Tokyo

too sleepy to watch ep 10 this week, but ep 11 (the last episode) hasn't been subbed yet, so I don't feel so bad.

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

I wish more people watched this show. It's completed subbed, so binge watch it your best friend! If you want inter-generational friendships and mother/daughter stuff and women recognizing their worth through these relationships plus romance, than this is the show for you. I laughed out loud but I also cried, and at this point I was feeling sad that I only had one more episode to go. Yaeko and Rihito finally do get together and Rihito finally confesses, but Yuki also reminds me of myself and why I don’t always enjoy rom-com because at our age that story is usually completely over. Thoughts at the time: I’m concerned though over Yaeko’s assumptions about getting more serious about Rihito. She’s going to talk herself right out of this relationship, isn’t she? Too bad because Rihito has the right level of support but also telling her like it is that can get her out of her frequent funks. We also have Yuki’s rebellion against her husband. He just doesn’t get it.

Follow Saretara Owari

I was so shocked at the end of this episode that I gasped out loud. I was already drafting a commentary in my head about the redeeming qualities of seeking forgiveness and getting through years of guilt. The show relieved my concern about Sotaro using the social media he hated, going against everything he believed, and flipped that narrative to start that redemptive arc. But then . . . wow, and bravo show.

Nee Sensei, Shiranai no? (Finale)

Gentle. That is the adjective I would use for this show. It was soothing and comforting in the same way that Riichi soothed, comforted, supported, admired, and loved Hana. I’m sorry to see it end, but since there really wasn’t going to be any conflict, I can see why, despite it based on a manga, they decided not to drag it out.  I wouldn’t have minded watching them do work challenges and such like it was a reality tv show of their lives, but most people want more conflict in their stories.

Kono Otoko wa jinsei Saidai no Ayamachidesu/ This Guy is the Biggest Mistake of My Life

I really needed something light and even silly to balance out the emotional gymnastics caused by the other shows I am watching. Really, I just wanted some fun and something quick. This show has been quietly popping up, but I wasn’t interested. It seemed the typical cold boss meets accidentally with a contract worker somewhere where they don’t know each other, get in argument, and then she finds out he’s the president. He bribes her for some reason, and hijinks ensue. However, this show has a twist. The heroine, with too much tequila in her system manhandles and tells off an obnoxious stranger in a bar. He does turn out to be the president of her company. She is afraid she is going to get fired. However, the twist is that he falls for her because he likes being manhandled. He begs her to let him be his slave. I was afraid that I’d feel embarrassed watching, but it’s more like Hana Kimi with sexual innuendo than anything else.

THAILAND

Until We Meet Again

It turns out that since that the introductory post about UWMA has been getting a lot of views and that isn’t surprising. Even though, Line tv and Studio Wabi is putting out quite a bit of promotional materials and organizing a lot of fanmeets, I’m not seeing a whole lot of discussions of the show outside of closed chatrooms, especially in English, and now that we have gotten to the point of the story where the relationships between the characters in our current time period and their counterparts in the past are revealed, I’m sure that people watching the show who haven’t read the book might be confused. Initially, I had posted a character chart that one of the people in one of the groups I’m in developed (Thanks, Rick!) in the original introductory posting, but the group felt it revealed too many spoilers. I’m including it here and linking that spot to this now, so maybe we will get more fan discussion of the show. I still think the show is beautifully shot, but the pacing seems too slow. The movement back and forth between Dean’s grandmother seeing both In and Parm was beautifully done.

Why R U?

It’s the first BL drama of 2020 (and this year there are loads), and I started watching because Saint is in it. I’m stunned once again by his breathtakingly beautiful skin. I have never seen anything like it outside of the skin of a 3 month old. Seriously, I was blinded. It’s a silly romp with lots of couples and people forced together for odd reasons, one being that one of the character’s sister’s is writing an online story making her brother a couple with his enemy because she saw them in an accidental kiss. I don’t know if I will keep up with this one because currently, I only like three characters in it and two of those characters are minor characters. This is one of those show that feels like there’s a huge cast of people, so the fact that I only like three doesn’t bode well, but I’m keeping my mind open because I think the couples actually and once the set up stuff is done, it should be fine.