Rants and Weekly Raves #306 (RAWR)
Trotwood: I hope other people watched things this week because I didn't have time to watch much. Last week of teaching, mapping out new work responsibilities during COVID, and the slow death of my personal computing device took much time away from watching. I didn't even time to rage bake, which meant a lot more rage, of course.
Kakashi: I am watchig Flower of Evil, enjoying it a lot! And Attack on Titan, but slowly (she said - before staying up until 2am). I'm still reading Historical Romance books like there's no tomorrow. Those books can be slurped up so quickly I do about one a day and immediately forget what it was about. At the moment, I particularly enjoy Tessa Dare (she is very humerous) and Eloisa James.
JoAnne: I'm all about Flower of Evil now that Okay Not Okay has ended. And ended perfectly.
Panda: Ooooh Tessa Dare and Eloisa James :) Noiice. I am also reading everything and am now on season 14 of Midsomer Murders. I had to say bye to Tom B and it hurt. I'll miss his twinkling eyes.
P.S 5 days to Secret Forest 2!!
I should probably watch Season 1.............
Trotwood (Update): I did watch some things guys. I was so tired that I fell asleep before writing! I thought we didn't post until it is Tuesday where I live!! Sorry!
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KOREA
Flower of Evil
I always love the outcasts. Sigh.
An excellent drama. Have I been missing out by not watching KDramas for so long?
Train
I am behind on this by a week so sadly, can't contribute anything.
It's Okay to Not Be Okay (Finale)
Hoooooooo my God, so perfect. I have never been so happy for three characters and several side characters in all my life. Apart from writing and acting that made us love them, it was such a good exploration of what expectations can do to someone, and how the ties of family (born or made) can both heal AND hurt us. That theme was revisited in pretty much every relationship and was dealt with skillfully and unsparingly and yet, despite the pain our characters experienced, healthy love was the star of this show. It triumphed over warped, twisted love every single time, and did it without fairy tales while telling us a fairy tale. How could you not love that? P.S. Hope we don't have to wait too long to see Kim Soo Hyun in the role of ardent lover again because MAMA that was hot.
United Effort to Accomplish One Thing/Chip In
The twists in this story are interesting and amusing--just like when you think you know who the murder is in Agatha Christie and Miss Marple gives some other pieces of information. There are more alliances that I didn't expect, and now I'm just as glad that the horrible father/brother/uncle/baby daddy artist is dead as everyone else. Two more eps this week and I can't wait to find out the whole truth. I love when a show can make a funeral funny and tense.
Mom Has An Affair
So the secret of Suk Joon's birth is out, but I think the show missed an opportunity at the quickness with which they dealt with the death that came after. Perhaps they didn't want to deal with the sad but just get on with the mystery? But the character was beloved, and I'm mad that even though everyone talked about forgiveness, it seemed by this action--death and funeral in less than ten minutes in a show with 120 episodes--that there really was more punishment for the person least deserving. I was also hoping that secretary Ha wouldn't show his hand so quickly!
TAIWAN
Lost Romance
In the alternate world, that unconscious half-brother is the very conscious Marcus, he of panty-destroying fame. At this point he knows Xaio An likes him and he knows he likes her (but she doesn't know that.) He's involved with the ridiculously cute/sweet ChuChu so he doesn't know what to do. I'm pretty certain that his best friend/work colleague QingFung has also fallen for Xaio An, which is funny since they banded together to break up the other two. I like him. He's cute, smart, kind, rich. His only lack is that he's standing next to Marcus, frankly.
The half-brother blondie has shown up in this world now, too, and he's quite observant. It doesn't take him long to figure out what's going on with people's hearts. If he falls for Xaio An too I will laugh but I'll accept it, because she's adorable. He's a tasty snack himself, and with the blonde hair and sharp features what I really want is to see him in some wuxia wearing robes and kicking martial ass.
All in all, Trot, this is one you'll want to watch. We're coming into the finish line now (ep 10 this week, and I think it's only 12) and it's still 97% rom-com hijinks.
PHILIPPINES
Gameboys
This episode was lovely all around. Cai and Gav finally get to meet now that the lockdown has been eased. The tension that was built because Cai thought they' have to break up was clearly not just because he has to move away (they fell in love online), but it goes back more to Cai feeling as though Gave is too good to be true and that Gav would not feel a spark when they actually met. But Gav being his adroable completely besotten self proved that otherwise. I loved watching the reaction videos from around the world. Gameboys actually did an official OST video with Youtubers from around the world who have been making reaction videos because it's so popular.
Hello Stranger
The Phillipines has been pumping out BL Youtube dramas like crazy over the last two months. There have been 8 from my last count with I think 20 more in the casting phase or planned before the end of 2020. Not all of the are created equally by any means. BL dramas often have very green actors, so that can be expected but the production quality of some of these make them look like a group of friends got together to make a show with their dad's camera from the 80s. Still there are other gems besides Gameboys and Hello Stranger is one of them. I've been watching this show on the side and not writing about it here, but last week's episode was so heartbreakingly sad with both Xavier afraid to push after his misunderstood confession and Mico walking away because he can't take only being friends. The acting was stark and on point. But the ending of the ep gave us hope. Another show that has been working in COVID19 into its storyline.
