Rants and Weekly Raves #317 (RAWR)

JoAnne: Things are heating up at work again which means that when I eventually stop, my brain/eyes are tired of watching screens. I think this week I saw Search, TofTN-T, and...oh, I watched Helstrom and really enjoyed it. Not a lot of TV happening here but otherwise things are chugging along. Miss Mouse has a name now - Minnie - and a colorful mouse house with lots of soft bedding to burrow through, and her eyes opened. She's so tiny and soft that my finger doesn't even register when I touch her, and I can barely feel her weight when she snuggles into my hand. We are all in love. Except the cat. The cat is hungry.

Trotwood: I'm completely charmed by your mouse stories, Jo. It's like you are living in a Beatrix Potter book or something, so snuggly, and just in time since we may be getting frost and some flurries this week. I got access to a bunch of Japanese dramas last week, and I liked them all. It will be interesting to see how consistent the subs are.

Panda: I have had an amazing week just by watching Jane A's adaptations - so the P&Ps, S&Ss, Emmas... They have really made me so happy. I also started watching an interesting looking cdrama called Eternal Love about some Peach trees. It's looking good 😁😁

kakashi: Time for my favorite picture...  (the only things heating up here are the Covid numbers, my god, this 2nd wave came much earlier and much harder than anticipated. In about one week, the hospitals will be full here.)

KOREA

Mom Has an Affair (the end)

I haven't enjoyed the last week of a daily so much in a long while. I watched episodes before work (often at 6 AM) just because I was so excited to see what was happening and the comeuppance of all the horrible people was absolutely delicious. In fact, the penultimate episode was so satisfying to my vengeance-craved soul that it took me an hour to watch the 30-minute episode because I kept rewatching scenes. A person back from the "dead" showing up to expose people at a major press covered board meeting is nothing new, but this was done perfectly. Remember long ago I said I loved a secondary character, Secretary Ha? Well that love was absolutely rewarded even though he gets punished, too.

My Wonderful Life

We are definitely in the stage of this daily where our beloved Belinda would be throwing cat toys at the screen. I'm frustrated that our good duo doesn't actually protect themselves better. I mean after everything that Sang Ah has done, why doesn't it occur to anyone that she would cheat to win the competition? Also, why does everyone act like Bok Hee's ex-husband's behavior is normal? Does he really think he would win custody of his kids or has any rights at all when he cheated on her while they were married, currently lives with the other woman right across the street from him, yet still gets mad that she is dating someone else? But just like in Mom Has an Affair, we have a chairman who is genuinely kind and down to earth. I love how he is easily adapting to their new life while his snobbish wife is still acting the old way. We can see why Sang Ah is the way she is.

Search

Really enjoying this one, it's actually a bit nerve-inducing from time to time!  Production values are excellent except for the occasional CGI of the super-fast not-quite-human but...those moments are brief because he's SUPER fast.

Tales of the Nine-Tailed

Oh-ho, they're introducing ANOTHER supernatural creature, one I don't think I've heard of before - Umagi?  something like that.  A dragon!  My high light this week was how all the historic supernatural creatures the gumiho knows hang out at the folk village, in broad daylight.  I really got a kick out of that! 

CHINA/TAIWAN

Falling Into You

No time to watch the episode this week even though it's finally subbed. I'll definitely catch up next week.

Love in Time

I still like them, but I'm annoyed. Our hero has major trauma from being kidnapped as a child. He has suffered from it for years and has had the best treatment money can buy; however, it takes the heroines to do some "treatment" of him in a montage that only took ten minutes of an episode for him to be cured. I've seen this before, so I just rolled my eyes and moved on. HOWEVER, why shorten this just to set us up for the final episodes with the OTP back to being at loggerheads over the same thing that we all thought =had been resolved before: her signing a deal on her own with President Kang rather than merely relying on her husband's company to resolve everything. What part of she wants to be respected for her own work do they not understand? We literally covered this plot line already.

JAPAN

30sai made Dotei dato Mahoutsukai ni Narerorashii/Cherry Magic! 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard

I can't even describe to you how delightful this show is. My daughter just started graduate school and is completely stressed, so I recommended it to her, and she generally doesn't really watch Asian drama at all.  Think of wearing your favorite sweater on a chilly day and snuggled up in bed or favorite chair with your favorite snack and warm drink. It's become an international sensation. I hope it's getting the same kind of love in Japan. It's the kind of show that people watch rewatch all episodes multiple times each week. Everyone's dying at the cliffhanger when Adachi finally gets up the nerve to try to clarify his own confused feelings. But really, this man must be protected at all costs.

Kono Koi Atatamemusuka/A Warmed Up Love/Do You Want to Warm Up this Love?

I ended up really liking the first episode of this show despite thinking as I was watching it that the first ten minutes was probably the worst background exposition I've ever seen in a drama (this is probably not true, but it's what I felt at the time). I hope that the heroine's past becomes more important later, but I can't help but feel that it would've been better if we got it slowly in flashbacks etc. Anyway, this show is about a girl who works at a convenience store and live streams reviews of convenience store desserts who crosses paths with a young CEO who has been brought in to turn around the sales at that convenient store chain. Of course, she ends of working for him. I know that they are going to end up falling in love, but this is a show where I am just as invested in the work challenge as I am in their relationship.

Marry Me!

In this plot, the Japanese government has set up a plan to address the low birth rate, falling population, and unemployment numbers. They are going to pair up unmarried office workers with people who young people who have not been able to find jobs. Our hero has been assigned to be part of the experiment, and though he's always said he never wanted to be married, he agrees to keep his job and because it's his duty as a public servant. Unfortunately, his new "wife, didn't even know her dying grandmother had signed her up. I went into this show expecting a wacky comedy based on this premise, but it was much more heartfelt and heart tugging than I had imagined. I hope the show continues to address with the same compassion as the first episode the real loneliness and stress of being a young person unable to find a place in society and those that do only because their value has been connected to their ability to maintain devotion to a work environment that doesn't really care about them.

Gokushufudo/Way of the Househusband

I was happy to fins subs because several of you recommended the show. I watched the first episode and laughed out loud in several spots. I'm not sure how they are going to keep this up, but I'm going to keep watching if I keep finding subs. Adapted from the manga of the same title, the show follows Tatsu, or the Immortal Tatsu as he's called, a ex-Yakuza (Japanese gangster), who is now a househusband and an excellent one at that. Of course hilarity ensues because he still looks and talks like he's still a yakuza despite wearing his apron and showing off his dishes on instagram. Much of the plot in first episode is about him trying to stay away from the war between rival gangs that is heating up. But I hope we get more about his relations with his wife and her daughter both of whom he clearly adores.

THAILAND

Deja Vu

I live tweeted a friend the entire time I watched the last two episodes of this show because I was so angry and the goddess. Our hero only has 100 days left to be with Jane; that was the bargain, but the goddess decides to test them some more by making him age quickly in all the ways we don't want to age. He quickly begins to lose his eyesight and hand tremors and then losing the ability to eat solids, etc. I know this happens, but I know people in their 80s (my dad is one of them) who though slower than they used to be are still living good lives. Yes, there is a happy ending but not before lots of tears and only in literally the last minute. Pfft.

Oxygen

I continue to ignore the sister/brother story which is such a mess and focus on our main couple who despite the traumatic childhood and crazy father of one are as steady as a rock. The threats are just going to increase from the controlling dad, but I hope they stick to the novel and keep my favorite (but completely underused) drama trope: the couple that fights the obstacles together.

PHILIPPINES

Quaranthing

no episode this week.

Gaya sa Pelikula/Like in the Movies

Lovely episode with both Vlad and Karl starting to expose themselves unintentionally to each other under the guise of a blackout and Vlad's inability to not be both a bit jealous and honest to a fault. The whole episode has such great pacing and visuals and the music in the show continues to be top notch. I'd be impressed even if they weren't filming under strict regulations and small budget. These indie companies are really declaring some independence from the confines of the major studios.

WESTERN

Barbarians

I started this because someone mentioned the beautiful Latin they speak. Sadly, they also speak a perfect modern stage German, which is a bit weird, coming from the lips of the barbarians. I endured it for about 2 episodes but that's it. Cliché, everyone got on my nerves. A waste of time.