Rants and Weekly Raves #292 (RAWR)
JoAnne: We had two days of sunshine! In a row! It's a quarantine record! I actually got to go outside!
kakashi: This is week 490802098 of quarantine and our lockdown is lifted next week, May 11. I kinda feel like I'm in that place between 0 and 1.
Trotwood: We've had lots of sun, and even one day where it was warm, but I feel under a cloud seeing all these crazy people demanding (with guns mind) that we open everything back up even though people are still getting sick and dying and I'm afraid that we'll have to open up too soon. I went to buy another sympathy card last week on my one day i the office, and there were only 4 left.
This appeared on Nextflix Thursday, I guess? I didn't realize until I was watching it that all 10 episodes dropped at once. I had no idea what it was about, but I clicked play and ho hum, it's about this boring cookie cutter bland high school student and I'm thinking nahhhhh but then...holy shit, he runs an escort service! And Choi Min Soo is his muscle! And then he's getting blackmailed by the most natural born gangster girl you ever could think of, but not for long. Things go spectacularly wrong for everyone - they couldn't go any other way; this HS is riddled with escorts, thugs, blackmailers, and pimps and you know Korea has to deliver the 'don't try this at home, kids', right?
No real surprises, other than the more than ample allotment of fake blood - but well-acted and entertaining for all that. I particularly liked the tender turn of the relationship between gruff Mr. Lee and the HS hooker. Watch this! Just, you know, save the later episodes for when you're not eating.
In the
2nd episode, we find out why our hero, Shota, “does nothing” when his
next client hires him to walk with him to work. It turns out that the client is
not being harassed or anything but just under so much pressure that he
basically suffering from anxiety. I’ve been wondering what Shota’s wife thinks
of all this, but turns out that Shota stopped smiling and wished tomorrow
wouldb’t come at his old job. It’s interesting to me to see so many Japanese
shows in the last year especially be offering options for just checking out of
the crazy work as duty ideals.
kakashi: This is week 490802098 of quarantine and our lockdown is lifted next week, May 11. I kinda feel like I'm in that place between 0 and 1.
Trotwood: We've had lots of sun, and even one day where it was warm, but I feel under a cloud seeing all these crazy people demanding (with guns mind) that we open everything back up even though people are still getting sick and dying and I'm afraid that we'll have to open up too soon. I went to buy another sympathy card last week on my one day i the office, and there were only 4 left.
KOREA
365: Repeat the Year (Finale)
This show ended with 12 episodes which is only the second
thing that is similar to the Japanese drama. I’m glad it was only 12, it didn’t
need any more, and I hope kdrama writers will take note, but probably not
because I’m not sure it made the ratings to make a lot of people pay attention.
I heard negative things about the finale, but I really really enjoyed these
last two episodes. They pealed back the layers of the ways people were
entertwined—how some of it was random and how some of it was not and the way
everyone was affected by multiple layers of lies. Still, people did care about
each other. For example, I think Shin helped our leads because of the way Ga-Hyun saved her daughter and Secretary Song got to hear the truth because she and
Shin had become close enough to know details about the other’s lives. It would
have made me sad if Hyung Joo ended without her, but not only do we know this is going
to be a crack pair, but he’s finally going to get the autograph he’s always
wanted. I liked that we didn’t get a big romance. They were busy trying not to
die. I’m tired of watching shows where things are in dire straits but somehow
people are taking time to make moony eyes at each other. The cops get engaged,
but even they focus on work and their friends. Good job show.
Good Casting
This was a show that I really really want to like. It has
everything I’m in the mood for: older female leads, kick ass fight scenes (and
the one in the prison kitchen is a doozy), people motivated by revenge and
redemption, and a sense of humor. But I have to say, I wasn’t feeling it the
way I hoped. They really went for the humor, but the backstory is too dark for
the show to be light. And I’m tired of Sung Hyuk playing these bit parts where
we don’t see him after one or two eps. I also don’t like the link we have
between the heroine and the newbie and I don’t know if I want to be around when
they find out how they are connected over a death unless they bond completely.
The King: Eternal Monarch
You know what? I like this silly drama. I don't feel swoony about the OTP but I like 'em fine and Lee Gon is a cutie pie, admit it. The war scenes were silly and what the hell with that space between one and zero? Apart from Evil Samchon being hot, I really don't care about that part of the plot. I just like seeing the doppelganger pairs, and I like all the pretty, and I desperately want Sad Puppy Cop to be happy, but we all know it won't be with his first (and so far only) love.
Between one and zero is = the superposition of the qubit in quantum mechanics. KES has discovered the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) = there are an infinite amount of worlds and Schrödinger's Cat can be both alive and dead at the same time but in different world. Much more mind-boggling: I thought Maximus was male and now I'm confused... that horse is a lady?
PS I fell asleep watching episode 5. But it WAS late and I WAS very tired.
And: I'm so into him -->
Between one and zero is = the superposition of the qubit in quantum mechanics. KES has discovered the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) = there are an infinite amount of worlds and Schrödinger's Cat can be both alive and dead at the same time but in different world. Much more mind-boggling: I thought Maximus was male and now I'm confused... that horse is a lady?
PS I fell asleep watching episode 5. But it WAS late and I WAS very tired.
And: I'm so into him -->
ExtraCurricular
This appeared on Nextflix Thursday, I guess? I didn't realize until I was watching it that all 10 episodes dropped at once. I had no idea what it was about, but I clicked play and ho hum, it's about this boring cookie cutter bland high school student and I'm thinking nahhhhh but then...holy shit, he runs an escort service! And Choi Min Soo is his muscle! And then he's getting blackmailed by the most natural born gangster girl you ever could think of, but not for long. Things go spectacularly wrong for everyone - they couldn't go any other way; this HS is riddled with escorts, thugs, blackmailers, and pimps and you know Korea has to deliver the 'don't try this at home, kids', right?
No real surprises, other than the more than ample allotment of fake blood - but well-acted and entertaining for all that. I particularly liked the tender turn of the relationship between gruff Mr. Lee and the HS hooker. Watch this! Just, you know, save the later episodes for when you're not eating.
Want a Taste (Finale)
They
really added things up until the very end with this show. 124 episodes and they
managed to even have a hit and run accident with one of the main characters
while saving his ex-wife from getting run over by the ex-wife of her fiancé
while she was crossing the street to give him a wedding invitation. Cheesy yes,
but they had one of the best confrontation/exposure scenes I’ve seen in awhile
and the real scumbag people get deliciously punished. Happy endings all round.
CHINA/TAIWAN
Amensalism
I really like the heroine in this drama and the woman that
she works for now. I’m hoping that they didn’t allow this woman to be kidnapped
and have this extraordinarily long scene that really did nothing much for the
story just because they really are going to write her off like her father does
to her character in the show. I’m thinking that the real reason why he doesn’t
want her around is because he’s still hiding his secret. However, this is one
of those shows that is hurt by the director rather than helped. The characters,
their relationships to each other, and their challenges are really interesting,
but it’s like the director wants to use every trick he/she learned in art
school. Too much use of slo-mo. Too much use of music when not necessary.
Scenes that drag on too long. Still, I keep watching for the characters and the
fact that no one seems dumb.
Girlfriend
This
show continues to be what I want, comforting use of tropes with enough
freshness that I’m charmed. It is good to see a hero who isn’t falling for the
ex-girlfriend’s tricks—I watched the scene where he shows her the video of her
being a jerk more than once—and a MIL who genuinely would rather have a nice
hardworking daughter-in-law than someone famous or from a good family. The 2nd
couple have gotten past the lie, and I think they are going to be a solid
couple that works to bring our leads together. I like how our heroine—though feeling
intimidated and unsure of herself also doesn’t let herself be trod upon. I’m
sure we are going to have angsty times to come because the exes here—man the
female’s leads ex is such entitled smug trash who clearly only wants her back
so she can only depend on him—are not going away any time soon unfortunately. Wouldn’t
it be refreshing if their behavior just pushed our main couple together more?
Ancient Detective
The
reason why I started watching this is because someone on twitter posted a clip
of the female assassin character and being really tired of weak female
characters lately, I was sold. Plus, there are only supposed to be 24 episodes,
so I should be okay with it. I’ve only watched six episodes so far, and I’m
interested in the mystery and really wanting to find out what really happened
in the past. I like the lead, who seems to be the only person in this world who
doesn’t know how to fight, and his brand new best friend—who looks like he’s
going to play wingman to future romance with the assassin.
JAPAN
Rental nan mo shinai hito/Rent a Person Who Does Nothing
In the
2nd episode, we find out why our hero, Shota, “does nothing” when his
next client hires him to walk with him to work. It turns out that the client is
not being harassed or anything but just under so much pressure that he
basically suffering from anxiety. I’ve been wondering what Shota’s wife thinks
of all this, but turns out that Shota stopped smiling and wished tomorrow
wouldb’t come at his old job. It’s interesting to me to see so many Japanese
shows in the last year especially be offering options for just checking out of
the crazy work as duty ideals.
THAILAND
2Gether
Let’s
get the discomfort out of the way. Mil’s determination to get Tine needs to
stop. He’s been told more than once and has heard it from everyone that Tine
and Sarawat are a couple, but he just keeps pushing his suit as if Tine is
going to change his mind. Not attractive, dude. Especially not in this episode
when we get the flashback to end all flashbacks. In love Sarawat is a sight to
see; he’s positively giddy at the idea of seeing the person he fell for at the
concert again. The whole video that he made if his wish came true was just so
unabashedly love filled that the most hard-hearted person would’ve had a hard
time resisting, but Tine already likes you dude. It was a flashback felt in
hearts of fans all over.
My Engineer
This is one of those shows where you wish the main couple
would just break up. They have good chemistry, but they are actually pretty
unhappy with each other because Duen is always so nervous and afraid of what
they might do when they’re alone and Bohn is crazy jealous every time another
guy so much as breathes near Duen. They both need to grow up. I was almost
distracted from this realization by the beauty that is RamKing when King knew
just by looking at Ram that he was going through a hard time. I sure hope that
his dad really isn’t cheating on his mom. That scene where Ram admits that King knows him best was perfect. Everyone does ship them, but they are such good friends first before anything.
