Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #334
Trotwood: So many new shows out this week. So many shows that I want to like but did not. I'm starting to think it's just me because many people seem to be liking these shows. Instead, I'm finding comfort in webtoons. Are people watching any new shows? Also, I'm willing to have my mind changed about some of the shows that had a lot of buzz that I didn't like. Also, did anyone try River Where the Moon Rises? I'm tempted because it looks like Ji Soo will finally get the girl!
kakashi: I'm in the mountains. It's much too warm, the snow is melting in front of my eyes. Plus, there's Sahara dust in the air, everything looks weird. I've watched zero of nothing, unless you count my rewatch of Attack on Titan together with my kiddo. Also: This was supposed to be a holiday, but I'm working hardcore on an edited volume which I need to get done asap to make time for more important matters. The kiddo on the other hand has an entry exam into junior high/high school in approximately two weeks and is studying every day. I'm nervous and on edge because of it even though she has top grades and they count 50% towards the final grade.
KOREA
Love Scene Number:
No episode subbed this week.
Hello, It's Me
This is one of the new shows that I really wanted to like. I really like the actors playing the two leads: Choi Kang Hee and Kim Young Kwan. I also like the trope of getting to try your life all over again. But I just couldn't like it. I had no patience for his character, who seems pretty harmless but would be also the type of person that I'd kick out of my house and now is going to be mooching off our heroine as a way of him to learn life lessons. And seriously, she doesn't need anymore "children" hanging on to her when the whole premise of this show is that she meets her teenage self who is sorely disappointed in her. This might be interesting if her teenage self was more helpful or even a little nicer, but I really dislike her teenage self; she would have been exactly the kind of girl that I would've disliked as the teenager myself and would've cursed to grow up to be miserable just as she does. Wait. Is this the writer's revenge fantasy?
Sisyphus: The Myth
Long time readers know that I have a serious weakness for Jo Seung Woo. I think he is one of the best Korean actors out there and so versatile with his musical theater background that my sincere hope is that he gets to play a musical theater actor in a drama just so I can see him sing more. Unfortunately, actors with such range often pick dramas that would be fun to be, which makes sense. These do not often translate into dramas I like. This appears to be one of them. I have no problem with the crazy worlds set up like some. I even could get past the ridiculous plane rescue since much of it had to do with the mystery parallel world set up as it did with his geeeenius. However, I don't really feel that much sympathy for Park Shin Hye's character--even though I know I'm supposed to, and I'm not sure I care enough about him to pay attention to the details the way I will seem to need to to understand this world. if I can't seem to find energy for L.U.C.A., where I actually like people, I'm sure I will have time for this. This might be a show where I just read the recaps to follow what happens.
Vincenzo
I wanted to try this because Song Joong Ki looks supper fine in a suit and Giant baby Taec sounds like he might actually play a bad guy. Plus, for bonus. Kwak Dong Yeon is in it, and he really needs to be hired in more stuff and get a lead already. I mean if they can keep hiring Giant Baby Taec, they can surely give him bigger roles, right? Anyway, not time. I thought this looked like something Jo would try. Anyone else?
Miss Monte Cristo (daily)
New daily means new crazy!! Phew, you know you are in for a ride when the first episode opens with the heroine dangling over a bridge while the person holding on to her thinks "If you die, I could have it all." I laughed out loud because the show not only had the super dramatic music playing in the background but actually added rain and thunder and lightning. Of course we have to go back in time to see a group of women who have been friends since high school who look really tight on the outside but only until the "pretty one" of the group realizes that the heroine is engaged to marry the man that she's had a crush on since high school. It quickly falls apart after that. There is really barely anyone I like in the show besides the heroine (daily heroine families are almost always horrid), which is fine because the whole premise is really her "dying" and then coming back for revenge, and as you guys know, I'm all about revenge.
JAPAN
Kimi to Sekai ga Owaru Hi ni/ With You on the Day the World Ends
Didn't have time Sunday or yesterday to watch. No spoilers, please!
Attack on Titan - The Final Season
I'm appeasing myself with a rewatch of the entire series. Currently ending Season 3. I think 3 is my favorite, but I'm not sure, it could also be 2.
Nishiogikubo Mitsuboshi Youshudou
This continues to be a calming drama. This week's episode focused on a woman who was a popular actress before she got married and had a kid. She went to high school with all of the guys at the bar, but she is bitter now. She loves her baby, but is exhausted and depressed that all she has become is this baby's mother and her self has disappeared. Each of our male friends represents different aspects of society's take on her plight. One wants to know if her husband can help her more. Another accuses her of being selfish. Of course, in less than an hour, they are going to wrap it up too neatly, but I did like the blatant questioning and accusations throughout. I wish I could go to this bar for some life advice.
THAILAND
Manner of Death (finale)
I'm feeling sad that this show has ended, not because I think there is more story to tell, but because I like these two actors, and I know that it may be a long time (if ever) that we see Tul Pakorn on screen again. He deferred his entrance to Columbia University, and it's always been clear that he really wants to do something besides act. The finale did what all finales should do--give justice to the bad guys and give our OTP a happy ending. The show always struggled with tone, and the finale did as well. We get these sad scenes with light hearted scenes but some blood thirsty vengeance that despite the ugly human trafficking plot still surprised me. It also had the most outrageous marriage proposal I think I've ever seen, especially after all they've been through. I'm definitely going to miss the lush scenery.
I know some of you are disappointed because I didn't post shirtless pics of Max. His character really didn't have a lot of reasons to be shirtless in drama. However, there was a photo shoot for his upcoming photobook in which you might be interested. 
A Tale of a Thousand Stars
Despite the fact that we have waited for over a year for this drama and finally get to feel vindication that Earth Piripat finally gets another lead role, if you had told me two weeks ago that this would be my favorite show that I'm watching of the bunch, I wouldn't have believed you. However, it is. The serious aspects blend well with the warm aspects. We have some funny bits with side characters who do exactly what they are supposed to be doing without making me hate them. We know there is going to be conflict about this heart and why he has it and whether the villagers will accept Tian if they ever find out. We know that Tian will question his feelings. We are all worried about the fact that he doesn't seem to be following his health regimen. And we all swoon at the way Chief Phupha looks at him. I'm fine with it all, and find myself rewatching scenes because they make me smile. I know I'll probably cry a bunch later, but I'm going to fond of everyone so much at that point that I doubt I will care.
Talay Luang
There are so many lakorns being posted with subs that I don't know where to start. I can't deal with the increasing length of lakorn episodes with many being 90 minutes long and then going on for 20-30 eps when there really isn't that much story to tell just a lot of dramatic music and staring into the distance. The premise of this show attracted me because it was the Thai version of The Prince Who Turns into a Frog, and old Taiwanese dram which I loved. However, that is another Thai drama that came out last year not this one. I watched anyway, and I pretty much fast forwarded through all currently subbed episodes in one sitting with the realization that this show really should be a movie because I don't feel like I missed any plot points. I just want to know how it ends. So I will probably wait until the rest of the eps are subbed, and fast forward through them all to find out how the heroine gets her revenge and her resort back.
