Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #349

Trotwood: I'm drowning in being behind in dramas. I've just given up on some, even those I really like. I'm still two weeks behind Miss Monte Cristo, and there are so many more dramas coming our way. I thought I'd have more time once my semester was over, but then I signed up for two Korean classes and there are all those projects to prepare for a fall that still has moving health targets, and I already feel like summer is over.

I love sports dramas, but it looks like I'm not going to even start Racket Boys.

I love Zhu Li Long even more than sports dramas, but there is no way I'm going to have the energy for his 40-episode angst-filled The Rebel though it looks lovely.

KOREA

Sell Your Haunted House

Viki is subbing this drama really slowly, so no. I have NOT seen the last episode because Viki hasn't subbed it yet, so please, NO SPOILERS. The egg ghost is back, and I'm not going to lie, it's always freaked me out. I was impatient only because they had to know that Secretary Choi's life was in danger, but Do Hak Sung is bad to the bone. How many egg ghosts is his evil going to create? I loved watching him lose his supporters left and right, but he is nothing but vengeance, so we knew he would go after our team. This is a show where I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of our main characters die.

So I Married and Anti-Fan

I watched the original version of this and was excited when I first heard it was being made. And then it disappeared, not being picked by any network, and then it came out with little fanfare. I always like Choi Soo Young. She exudes a natural warmth that makes you wish she was your sister in any drama she is in. She doesn't draw me to at least try anything she is in the way other actors do, but if I start watching a drama, I'm always drawn to the characters she plays even if I don't like them that much. I didn't watch Run-on, which was her popular 2020 show, but I did watch Tell Me What You Saw with Jang Hyuk, and she held her own. People can often fade into the background with him, but she didn't. Here, the show is weak and I ended up--on advice of people who have been watching--skipping until about episode 7, and because I'd seen it before and the 2nd leads are so repetative, I didn't miss much. I really like her character here, and it's sooo clear why Hoo Joon falls for her. She is really oozing her natural warmth here, and she's not a sucker. I love when dramas understand that being inexperienced doesn't mean that you have to either be dumb or be a spoiled villain. I also LOVE HER SWEATERS!! I only watch for them. I pretty much dislike everyone else not just the villains but the even the two producers who we are supposed to see as cute because they are in love now, but I still hate because of how they use her. I know they are being set up to end up supporting the leads love because they realize they, too, are in a secret relationship. (yawn)

Dark Hole (final)

Well, the monster reveal was unexpected and a little bit disappointing, but I realize that the monster really wasn't the point anyway. It was all about how people can and cannot choose to be human and what kindness and warmth can do to a person. it is also interesting how female centric this show was. Yes, there were a lot of male roles, even the monster had a male voice. Yes, we do have Lee Joon Hyuk's Tae Han with his own tragic story of his brother's death and his being framed out of a job he loved, but the real stories here belonged to Kim Ok Bin's Lee Hwa Sun and the bullied and abandoned Dong Rim. Even their struggles were mixed up with a female serial killer and a female shaman who was jealous of Haw Sun's "relationship" with the monster. Did the story leave a lot unanswered? Yes. From where did the monster come? What was it's goal really? What did he ultimately want with Hwa Sun? Did the final confrontation seem anticlimactic? Yes. But I think it's because it the real issue wasn't about the final confrontation with the monster but with who could or would be saved and the conversation that Hwa Sun was able to have with Dong Rim. It was a great suspenseful heart racing show that reminded me of the original Aliens movie with Sigourney Weaver.

CHINA/TAIWAN

Please Feel at Ease, Mr. Ling

I was only able to watch three more episodes of this show last week, but it really is my go to fluff and relaxation show. Everyone around them is kind of crazy it seems, ironically except for the male lead's parents. They love her, since her mother was a great friend of theirs and they are sorry for her story, but her relationship with her adopted brother and his sister who is turning into the stereotypical second lead who doesn't deserve the man who really loves her is annoying of course. I keep watching because of our heroine's independence and the fact that she doesn't continues not to cower in front of the people who treat her poorly, which the male lead really likes. They aren't perfect but they actually communicate! Her one blind spot is to the fact that the man who she thinks of as her brother has loved her for forever, and he's struggling to get over it. I hope they don't pair him up with her friend--because he doesn't deserve that headache. I hope she ends up with their new business partner instead.

JAPAN

Love Kome no Okite: Kojirase Joshi to Toshishita Dansi/Romantic Comedy's Rules

If I only have time for one Japanese drama, I'm definitely dropping Love Phantom and picking this one up instead. I almost stopped watching because it seemed to be yet another show about a single woman in her 30s who seems to have it all at work, but then we see her at home where it shows that her life isn't together at all. Then the show will prove that with a little effort, she can find a love that fights the loneliness. Pfft. However, Kujo Ruri isn't like that. She is really good at her job and really put together to the point that all of her staff admires her and asks her for advice. There is a rumor that her boyfriend works in the US, a rumor she neither confirms nor denies, but really it's so she can be left alone and go home to read her manga in her sweats and her messy apartment. She's actually quite content happy; it's her younger brother who wants her to get out. Through a drunk team building scenario, she ends up being taken home by the ML. Because of her "perfection" he asks her if she would be his relationship coach. He's got a crush on someone, and he wants to practice and get advice on how to woo her. Of course she says yes because there hasn't been a challenge she passes up and she's afraid of ruining her rep. But we all know where this is headed. I find myself laughing quite a bit in this show.