Rants and Weekly Raves #280 (RAWR)
Trotwood: I'm plowing through even though this past week was such a sad week for our drama family. I want to say publicly how much I appreciate you guys--the writers and the readers. Watching and writing about dramas together has made the world a brighter place for me. I know I can come here or twitter and someone will make me laugh no matter what is going on in RL.
kakashi: R.I.P., Bel. Congrats, Parasite.
JoAnne: Two times this weekend our community has come together in unanimous feeling - sadness over losing Bel so soon (and the sharing of stories was wonderful on Twitter) and joy that Korea smashed yet another awards show here in the US. Tributes for both were very much deserved.
Panda: It is absolutely amazing how meeting people online over shared love for choc abs and dramas can lead to truly real and deep friendships. Last week I lost a wonderful and dear friend after a grueling fight but I know she is a better place with no more pain. R.I.P Bel. We'll miss you terribly.
Yesterday night was such a fun night for our community. I had absolutely no idea the Parasite crew would have such a history making night and I feel so proud! Just look at our Woo-Shik! From Rooftop Prince to the Oscars!!!! That's a bad-ass trajectory. Congrats guys.
kakashi: R.I.P., Bel. Congrats, Parasite.
JoAnne: Two times this weekend our community has come together in unanimous feeling - sadness over losing Bel so soon (and the sharing of stories was wonderful on Twitter) and joy that Korea smashed yet another awards show here in the US. Tributes for both were very much deserved.
Panda: It is absolutely amazing how meeting people online over shared love for choc abs and dramas can lead to truly real and deep friendships. Last week I lost a wonderful and dear friend after a grueling fight but I know she is a better place with no more pain. R.I.P Bel. We'll miss you terribly.
Yesterday night was such a fun night for our community. I had absolutely no idea the Parasite crew would have such a history making night and I feel so proud! Just look at our Woo-Shik! From Rooftop Prince to the Oscars!!!! That's a bad-ass trajectory. Congrats guys.
KOREA
Want a Taste
So I’m definitely taking a break from this show. I am starting to be more invested in the two leads now that they recognize that they are friends and that both have gotten rid of those trash spouses; however, the show is going to force the silly sister-in-law and the FL’s bother pairing which means that there is no justice in the world. I might check in to see what is happening after another 20 eps, but there won’t be updates from me about show for at least another two weeks.
The Game: Toward Zero
Things I thought while watching this episode: 1) I only genuinely like Joon Young (the FL), so I guess it’s a good thing that they are making the “vision” of her future disappearance the linchpin of this show. 2) Why do people ask horrible questions? No one asks our super villain either obvious or interesting questions or anything that will actually help case 3) Are we supposed to believe that Tae-Pyong traveled from the US to Korea all by himself at the age of 6-8 to find this Teacher Baek who also can see people’s deaths? Is there a network? How did he even have enough money for flight and bus fair to find him? 4)No one thinks to find non blood-covered clothes for this little boy who rescues someone from committing suicide? Come on, people. I know for a fact that you could’ve gone to any mart or subway station and found a shirt for a kid for $5. 5) You know the press portrayal is horrid if the show is making me feel more sorry for a cop who framed an innocent man as a serial killer than I do for a news reporter.
Crash Landing on You
On TList I wondered if perhaps when Binnie is swoony in real life, if Yoon Mirae magically appears to set a musical mood as well. One can only hope. loool
Is it the uniform? Is it the sweet hero shtick?? All I know is I never swooned for Binnie before, but in Crash I am practically melting each time he gives one of his little half-smiles.
Is it the uniform? Is it the sweet hero shtick?? All I know is I never swooned for Binnie before, but in Crash I am practically melting each time he gives one of his little half-smiles.
Tell Me What You Saw
This is a pretty bloody show, so if you’re squeamish, you might not want to watch; however, you’d be missing out on a very interesting drama. It doesn’t seem that new despite the whole mysterious warehouse where Jang Hyuk’s master profiler, Oh Hyung Jae, lives and the fact that our heroine, Soo Young, has a special gift. I like that besides her gift, she’s just fairly ordinary. She’s not a bumbling earnest character like so many FL, but she’s also not a geeeenius. However, she has potential to be a good detective because she uses the information gotten from her skill effectively. I wasn’t sorry about the deaths in this episode—horrible people all the way round--but I also know that the show is just setting up how terrifying our villain is so that we are afraid for the people we like. As I said to Panda, when you a show has a team picture like this, we know one of them is going to die, right?
My Holo Love
Very well done. Best human to non-human but non-alien love story in KDrama.
CHINA/TAIWAN
Some Day or One Day
Episode 12 is only subbed at 16% where I live. This is NOT a show that you should watch unless you understand absolutely every line because you are still going to have to think very hard about all the twists. There are only 13 episodes total, so maybe next week, I'll be able to talk about it all in one go.
A Little Thing Called First Love
@skimmedmilkdrama has been blasting her twitter feed about this show, and after this difficult week, I was looking for a soft show, I started. Five episodes later, I’m probably going to keep watching. I don’t think I love it the way she does, but I’m finding it comforting. It’s the typical regular girl who is nice with braces who falls for the best looking campus leader guy. The difference is that he’s actually really nice and the conflict is not about her but about his relationship with his best friend turned new step-brother. It’s very obvious that he likes her from the beginning, but it never occurs to her that he could because well, she’s actually realistic. Let’s be honest, the thing that makes the least sense is that he only has the two friends or that the girl that becomes her best friend doesn’t already have best friend; however, I’m fine because I’m not here for a whole lot of conflict.
JAPAN
Kono Otoko wa jinsei Saidai no Ayamachidesu/ This Guy is the Biggest Mistake of My Life
This continues to be a lark because I really like the heroine a lot. She just has such a I don’t have any f----- left to give looks, but really is a nice person on the inside. She genuinely feels bad that she doesn’t get to say Happy Birthday, and I think she fund those sycophant ladies annoying not because she is jealous (I don’t think she is at that stage in relationship yet), but because it’s treatment like theirs that has made her boss so eager for harsh treatment.
Shiranakute Kariyama/No Need to Know/Off the Record/
I started this show with no preconceived notions, but I adored Yoshitaka Yuriko in I Will Not Work Overtime, Period, so I decided to watch even though only one episode is subbed. I was definitely rewarded with a sharp episode with a surprise cliffhanger. The first episode established the premise. Yuriko lives happily with famous translator mother and works at a top tabloid newspaper; she’s quite good at her job, elevating her stories beyond tabloid fodder but working scandal to warn people against fraud. Her mother dies early in episode whispering that Yuriko’s biological dad is Keanu Reeves. The real story is more surprising than this, and Yuriko wants answers.
Sousa Kaigi wa Living de!/The Investigation Meeting is in the Living Room
I’m going to admit right here that I liked Murder, She Wrote and Scarecrow and Mrs. King. I like neighborhood mysteries and cases of the week. I bring this up here because this show reminds me of those shows with a dose of Jdorama wackiness. The Morikawa family solves mysteries. The wife/mom, Shoko, is an actual detective in a special crime unit. In this season (there was a first season), he is trying to continue his work as a mystery writer, but his popularity as a blogger because of his life hack discoveries as a househusband has taken over much of his time. Even their son, Nao, helps. It’s an interesting family dynamic with them working to solve mysteries without revealing Shoko’s real job. Unfortunately, they now have a suspicious neighbor who is sure they are up to something.
THAILAND
Until We Meet Again
@zgzeonnie said in our BL book club group chat that “this ep is an overdose of angst with a touch of cute,” and I couldn’t agree more. We open with another sad sequence of InTouch with his niece whom he adores. She has grown up to be Dean’s mom, and the minute he sees her, Parm faints. It’s so sad him remember how much In loved his niece and feels how much he misses her as well as the fact that he thinks she doesn’t remember him. There is so much tenderness in this episode: Alin & Parm, Dean & Parm, Alin (Dean’s mom) & his dad, Dad & family. The family gathering could’ve went horribly wrong, but this new group has learned its lesson.
Why R U?
So, I basically fast forward through the cute ZonSaif plot because I can’t enjoy how everyone is manipulating Zon. I know many people like this type of humor, but I don’t. My focus, and the reason I’m sticking to show, is because I’m interested in the FightTutor plot and how Fight is going to get himself out of the mess he has made with the relationships he is in. His plan to date the girl he was afraid would date the guy he likes but is afraid to admit he likes is backfiring spectacularly. I do like how they are setting her up to have a very nice guy in the end since Day is clearly in love with her, and they are not resorting to making her a harpy, which is what often happens to the “girlfriend option” in BL dramas. She is actually really nice and is probably just blinded by Fight’s hotness rather than being in love like she says. But who can blame her?
