Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #341

Trotwood: I know there are a lot of new shows coming out, and I apologize for not watching much or watching things other people are watching. I'm just trying to get everyone safely through to the end of the semester. I'm going to be honest. I'd rather not "re-open" anything if all it's going to mean is more shootings and more COVID.

Is anyone watching Lee Je Hoon's new drama, Taxi Driver? It also has Esom whom I always love even when I dislike the drama she is in. The synopsis is right up my alley. I didn't have time to start it this week, which means that I probably won't get to it. People either seem to love it or hate it.

kakashi: Heard people bitch about Taxi Driver, that's all :D - hey, so it's Tuesday again. I'm very tired. The weather is crazy, 20°C one day, 0°C the next.

KOREA

How to Be Thirty?/Not Yet Thirty

I'm still watching this show, partly because I love the sets. I mean has anyone seen a laundromat this cute? Each ep is only 20 minutes, too, so my curiosity concerning what they are going to do with the troublesome couple knows no bounds because of the limited time they have left. I really just want her to manage to get through the filming for this movie and work with Song Jae Rim's director character. She needs a real ally at work who appreciates her skills. I don't feel sorry for first love-ex guy at all. But the cliffhanger suggests that we are going to have to have a scandal ahead. My money is on the crazy girlfriend wannabe. (rolling my eyes)

Miss Monte Cristo (daily)

I stalled with watching midweek last week because I was afraid that the drama was going to stop being fun because the collateral damage of the revenge was going to start. Both I and Eun Jo are starting to feel for her ex-fiancé--her love for him is still there under all of her anger--and the more she sees him, the more she wants to put him in the group of people who she wants to rescue or at least not punish as much. She learns that he hasn't forgotten her and loves her still (the fact that he kept the wedding suit she had handmade for him was a nice touch), but when is she going to find out the real circumstances behind his marriage to Ha Ra? That being said, I spend most of my live tweeting on Geum Eun Hwa's clothes. Who dresses like this for work?

CHINA/TAIWAN

Word of Honor ep.22-25

I know. I know. Everyone and his brother has finished the show and are all reading the novel, but us poor Youko watchers have not! We are still going along with our found family's journey to the Four Seasons Manor. These four episodes were just as much an emotional journey as it was for the fighting. I became completely invested in the pairing of  Cao Wei Ning and Gu Xiang this week, especially after the talk he had with Wen Ke Xing and their saving of Cheng Ling. In fact, I thought my picture for this week was going to be of her since I had disliked her so much in the beginning, but have grown to love her and her love for the faithful CWN. Then I thought I'd use a shot from Zi Shu's sharing of his past story with Wen Ke Xing because even though we knew much of the story, the full pain and the extreme guilt he feels was devastating (Zhang Ze Han was excellent here). But then we got this scene--and the found family group hug did me in. I am so happy for them in this moment because we know it won't last. People do not just retire in peace in the martial arts world. 

Killer and Healer (final)

I knew it was going to be bleak when a friend who was live tweeting switched from drinking wine to drinking whiskey  while marathoning through to the end, but I didn't think that the complete tragic arc would gut me as much as it did. I don't drink, but I had made a strawberry crunch cake for Easter and had froze individual slices for later cake needs. Let's just say, I thawed out quite a bit of cake to get me through. I was frustrated by the choices the writer made for a couple of our characters near the end because they seemed out of character, but overall this was a very good show, and I wish more people all over watched it. I have been talking a lot about our heroes and their female friend, but I'm going to end my discussion of the villain Jun Bai, played by Chen Yu Cheng, who has set a standard for villains that is going to be hard to beat, especially because of how he gets to end. Masterful and complex, he keeps the hero alive when he could have easily killed him out of respect. It's clear Jiang Yue Long is the only foe he thinks is smart enough to go up against. His twisted misunderstanding of his own feelings for Boss Yu was fascinating to watch in the way that one recognizes with fascinated horror the beauty of a cobra about to strike, and as much as I was devastated by the end, the ending the writers gave to him for his twisted sense of justice was fitting for him and the show. Bravo, Jun Bai. I hope you get to wear those velvet vests in whatever level of hell you are in.

HIStory 4: Close to You

Last week's episode did not do for me what I think the writers want. They seem to want us to move on from the rape to embracing Fu Yong Jei as a member of this group of friends just because his own step brother insists on forgiving him and allowing him into the friend group based on diaries that Yong Jie kept about him over the years. Pfft. The only thing this episode did for me was show us how easily this couple could have happened if the show hadn't gone the sexual assault route. I'm also tired of places like Soompi praising the show for its "complicated and innovative characterizations" and seeing people debating about what happened or people wondering why some are upset because it's part of the genre. Maybe in 2000 it was, but not anymore. In the way Thai lakorns have started to move away from the slap-kiss genre, so had BLs years ago and this show in this ep only proved how such a detour narratively really isn't needed. Exploring Li Cheng's burgeoning feelings would have been enough plot for this show.

We Best Love: Fighting Mr. Second (series review)

I did not rage quit watching this sequel to We Best Love: No. 1 for You. I just decided to watch it all together when all six episodes were subbed because I was so tired of seeing sequels to shows begin with some unnecessary break up of the completely in love characters. I found it interesting that they not only didn't drag this plot out for very long nor did they drag out the "I'm going to make you fall for me so I can dump you revenge plot" which, ironically, also made me wonder what was the point. We did finally get someone overhearing something by accident that actually is a good thing in a drama though! I even like how the twist they pulled with the program theft. Not a topnotch show but very satisfying and enough where you want to see more of them all.

JAPAN

Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs. Zettai BL ni Naritajunai Otoko

To Mob's dismay and despite his best (hilarious) efforts, his younger brother is now a main character in their BL life. His machinations to keep himself out of the main storylines in this world continue to be hilarious partly because the writer clearly knows all (and I mean all) of the stereotypical meet-cute scenarios of the genre--like when he moves seats because he knows the guy who is sitting next to him wanting to borrow his notes is trying to start something with him. Who knew the guy he set up with him instead already had a boyfriend?! It will be interesting to see how he handles being the brother of a main character. He did have so much friends with his brother's friends. I wonder if they will be his safe space since they all seemingly already have crushes on each other.

THAILAND

Lovely Writer (Update)

As I mentioned, I watch more shows that I write about. I didn't write about this one because I was only watching because I liked Gene and was still annoyed by everyone else. This past week the past between Gene and Nubsib was revealed, and really the show should have told us some, if not all of this sooner because it wouldn't have made Nubsib a lot less creepy. Thank goodness Nubsib called him out on his lies and also questioned his feelings because seriously he was 6 or 7 when he saw Gene last. Well, we know we've only cleared this up to have more drama on the drama set. (rolling my eyes). I probably won't write about this show again until it's over. 

Mr. Lipstick

I can't believe that Shuk and Jo recaps Full House Thai in 2014!! That seems like a lifetime ago! I mention it here because this show stars our loveable Aom from that show as loveable teacher intern Kumerika who had great parents, two extremely overprotective brothers, a gift for making Thai desserts, and a habit of being a klutz. She ends up attracting the attention of her boss who is in charge of the school where she works while his sister is sick, but he is the CEO of a cosmetics company (hense the title). Of course, there is some secret connection in their past and not one but two scheming 2nd FL vying Mr. Lipstick's attention. It has the makings of a lakorn, but instead in borderline Three Stooges. I love her parents and I like Aom and Pae, but I know I only watched as many eps as I did this weekend because I was so sad about Killer and Healer.

Fish Upon the Sky

This is the show that is replacing Tale of a Thousand Stars on Friday, and I feel sorry for any show that is doing that. It has a completely different tone, more on the goofy slapstick comedy side like Mr. Lipstick than straight drama like a 1000 Stars. Another university romance, but at least they aren't engineers! Pi is a dentistry student who has a major crush on a senior, the only person who seems to notice him and not make fun of him. I don't blame him because Mix plays one of those seniors that we all probably had a crush on in university. Problem is that one of his senior's friends whom he hates is also always around. Of course, we all know that Mork is always around because he likes Pi, but also of course, we are going to have to have Pi do a full on makeover to try to win his love before he finds out his real love is right under his nose. Nothing new here, and like Mr. Lipstick I will only keep watching to counter the really dark stuff that I keep watching elsewhere. I'm feeling a lot of fastforwarding coming on.