✒Santa Seoul vs Ancient Curse-Castor 〰 A ♥️ For The Ages °8° °Excellent°
Let's Brew Laughs & Some Abraca〰Boom〰Shakalaka.
Herein is a cauldron of romcom excellence. Is it a bit silly? Absolutely, but in a familiar sense. There's enough good directing, acting, and writing to balance it out. (Just look at the team!). Poof! This is a potion of loves, laughs, & crackling sparks of electricity far exceeding my low expectations. It all makes AW💘 fly.
There's no boil, boil, trouble or toil about it. If a viewer doesn't like AW💘, then that viewer doesn't like simple romcoms that are a happy lift to life's drudgery. If you don't like rom-coms, why are you even watching this? I can't make sense of its rating, particularly in comparison to worse shows that are rated higher. AW💘 just does it for me. I don't understand why What's Wrong With Secretary Kim-6.8 is rated higher. I don't understand why someone would like Abyss-4.7, 100 Days My Prince-5.5, or Bring It On Ghost-4.6, more. But we are all different. I am of the firm opinion that AW💘 Is under appreciated. We tend to overrate our gateway Kdramas and this is one of mine. I decided to pick off an episode here and there again to see if I still felt the same way. I do. These two are superb actors & they connect. They connect like a giant puzzle made out of hot water bottles. Everything fits snug and cozy and warm. The heat just radiates. I wish I could think of a better term than chemistry, but when they look at e/o I can feel it. Even with her bad hair and too much makeup, I can feel the connection. That's literally chemistry at work, given it's a hormonal response. I guess there's no better term. On paper it's mostly standard stuff, but the execution is well above average. I attribute it to the 2 leads; it's not something I can argue out with words, it's more the way they make me feel, but we'll give it a go anyway.
“Are you sure it's an exclusive?” They both put on school uniforms, even though they are each over 30. Ban’s coworker looks concerned, “What's my nickname?” She's practically carefree. “The Witch!” She gives him an evil look as she corrects: “Gwanghwamun Antenna!” Her target today is an actor (soon-to-be politician). He looks like the perfect man, but he's actually got a side piece and an illegitimate daughter. He's at the school for a political appearance, but he's also there to see his 2nd family. Ban is a reporter spying undercover - school uniform and all. She & her assistant end up being chased by school security - and he was paying attention during the morning's self-defense class put on by the police. He's gaining on them! She's desperate.
In the meantime, our ML is a saint. He's spending his day in a 🎅 outfit handing out toys to disadvantaged kids.
How would these 2 ever meet? She steals one of the kid's bikes. That's how. He chases her… for miles. He's tenacious that way. There they go, on one of Seoul’s 16-lane thruways; her pedaling, him running. It's White Day in Kcountry. The radio jockey proclaims: On a day like this, never make a woman angry. Ever. White day is for sending ‘thanks-yous’ for Valentine's Day treats received. Thanks for nuthin.
AW💘 is a 2014 release consisting of 16 60-minute episodes. There's pithy repertoire. Screenwriter Ban Ki Ri also wrote the excellent Missing: The Other Side-8.3, and this director, Lee Jeong Hyo, gave us a string of hits including Romance Is a Bonus Book-7.9 and Crash Landing on You-9.1. Uhm Jung Hwa (Our Blues-8.5, Doctor Cha) is our FL, “Ban” Ji Yun. She's even more beautiful now than when this show aired. Her character is ruthless and without empathy. She tells the children, who by now our ML gathered in her employer's lobby, that there is NO SANTA! (The sooner they learn about the big, cold world, the better.) Park Seo Joon (WWW Sec Kim, Itaewon Class-8.9) is our delish ML, Yoon Dong “Ha”. He looks so young in this! In the 2013 show, I Summon You, Gold!, he's the 4th listed of 5 leads, so this show is his first romantic ML role and seems to have spring-boarded his career. In AW💘, he starts out in the 🎅 suit, until she yanks off his beard & hat, thus exposing the lie of 🎅 to the kids. They'll then proceed to dismantle their very lives.
“If Santa's not real, how about witches?” Ha still hasn't given up. Her response is emphatic: “What's wrong with a witch? It's better than Snow White who only depends on others and causes a nuisance. An independent witch is 💯×s better.” So Ban declares, while standing under the ‘Trouble Maker Magazine’ sign designating her place of employment. Naturally, these 2 loathe e/o from the start.
After the 🎅 Incident, she overhears her coworkers snickering about her. “A witch like that can never get married!” Well, she's 39 and no one's nibbling. They could have a point. Her mother tells her to get married -daily- but it's had nil effect. She could die alone in her apartment and it could be weeks before anyone knows! Her fish would die! The subject of marriage takes her to a dark place. She almost got married… Her fiance, No Shi Hoon (Han Jae Suk of Should My Tears Show & Check in Hanyang), disappeared. Now, Oma is near panicked: “You're almost too old to have a baby!” (Yang Hee Kyung, from Sunny, If You Wish Upon Me, does a nice job as Choi Jung Sook Ban's mother). So mom's a regular at the Shaman's. Officially, the shaman says that Ban lacks yang energy, but unofficially: “Your daughter is “a dirty witch with the energy of a viper!” - This shaman is on point!.
One might expect that when she took that elevator away from him, the kids, and the lobby, that they wouldn't see e/o again anytime soon. Fate intervened later that /very/ night, though. She's at a company dinner and he was invited out by a friend. He sees her get embarrassed 〰 very publicly 〰 and he, the 🎅-soul that he is, takes pity. It's a kissing contest. They share a doozie.
Looking simpatico, they leave together, but as soon as they are out of sight, she's arguing. She doesn't appreciate feeling like a charity case. She's already deduced that her work friends hired the man who embarrassed her. Ha points out that they must have felt very harassed by her if they took the drastic step of banding together to strike at her. He's definitely more mature than her in this scene - & most scenes. As it unfolds, we learn that she has no friends. The one friend she has (Ra Mi Ran of The Good Bad Mother & Reply 1988-8.6 portrays Baek Na Rae) married a guy she hates (Lee Sae Chang from Let Me Be Your Knight). It is so weird to see Ms Ra playing a giggly woman! She's usually authoritative. She's clearly having a blast. She even acts cute with her husband. It made me chuckle, and it made me uncomfortable at the same time. They have a wonderful time together, the 4 of them, at Na-Raes’ restaurant.
Next day: Mom drags Ban, under protest, to the shaman's. Handyman Ha happens to be in another room working on some repairs. He hears it all, particularly mom's sobbing over her daughter's lonely existence. (Narsha is a cutie as the shaman, but she doesn't get much work). After the literal beat down at the shaman's, Ban goes and gets drunk. “All of her relationships started when she was drunk,” we hear from Na-Rae. Ha has /already/ headed out to help her 〰 a bad habit he formed rather quickly. He finds & helps her. She helps herself to /him/. Then she sees his resident card… And his DOB. She is 1.4 decades older than he. 😱
OUT! GET OUT!
What she doesn't know is that he's now living right next door to her, with a friend. He also ends up in a dispute with her company which lands him as her assistant as part of the settlement. They won't be able to avoid e/o. At the same time, she's made an enemy. The actor she exposed is really ambitious. He sued her over her story, but things like that don't work against Ban, so he's resorted to more drastic (violent) measures. Ban’s boss has charged her new assistant with keeping her safe. She can't shake this kid.
That balance of the show is them drawing closer, her being in bigtime denial, and the fiance popping back up making a mess of things. There's a couple of cute 2ndary couples and there's lots of hanging at Na-Rae’s place.
The show does go beneath the surface a few inches to examine how society views older women and younger men. Even Ban's mother, who starts a thing with a man 5 years her junior, has to go through a gut-check when she thinks about her daughter with a man who's 14 years younger.
Society is actually like cat fur. It stands on end when we see something too unfamiliar. A fundamental problem, beyond the darkness that inhabits the human heart, is a lack of exposure. The biggest obstacle to a couple who doesn't fit into the everyday mold is the pressure put on them by everybody else. If you're about to go into an atypical relationship, be willing to leave family and friends behind. You'll likely be able to reconcile, in time; if not, then your F&F are entirely too controlling, and leaving was the right move anyway. These issues are for the couple to work out. Why do the rest of us need to have any opinion on it?
As with every relationship, it depends on the two individuals. People born on the same day at the same time might be the worst couple ever. People born 20 years apart might be a very comfortable fit. Doesn't appeal to you? No one is making you do it. After the movie Harold Maude, I can hardly be shocked at this one. In the movie, Leon The Professional, Natalie Portman plays a 12-year-old girl whose family is slaughtered. She, alone, is alive because Leon rescued her in the nick of time. They were strangers & he took pity on her. The bad guys are determined to eliminate all witnesses, so she has to rely on Leon for safety. She falls into keeping the home. They never kiss: If they had a sexual relationship, he should go to jail. However, as it stands, would I separate these two? Never. There are relationships forged in combat that are stronger than any other bond possible; deeper than most romances. These 2 are different ages, but they have the same sort of pain,and pain does not know an age. With all that being said, a big age gap is nothing compared to looks or weight disparity. If a good looking guy marries a woman who doesn't seem his equal (or visa-versa) there'll be no end of damaged people making damaging comments.
There are many quality touches in AW💘. Over a romcom-style ridiculous misunderstanding, Ban gets into a fight with a woman in a hotel lobby. They don't show the fight. They show a scant second before, and then how everybody's disheveled and miserable at the police station later. I like the way they did it. “Cut out the scar and the flower will blossom again”: The mostly dead plant is a metaphor for their love lives. There's numerous scenes of them in the iconic and comforting courtyard of her apartment complex. It creates a cozy feeling.
Speaking of cat hair, early on Ban’s hair looks awful. Cat lovers know that, depending on a cat's mood or current state of mind, their coats can change instantly. Her hair seems to do that. In the beginning of the show it looks dry with split ends and severely parted in the middle. It's unattractive. As time goes on it gets softer and silkier looking. It's a nice touch. She looks pretty amazing most days. Some of her outfits are dreadful ~ in any culture. But most of them are artful and many of them are sexy. AW💘 is also shoe p0rn. She's got a set of black spike heeled platforms with a hot pink platform bottom. Oh, I L😍VE them.
The office could have been better. Her coworkers are cartoonish. Apparently, in Korea, they love corporate shucking and jiving - more accurately shucking, tucking and ducking. They opted for something simple-minded. The storyline with her ex is almost boring, but that might be by design. Her interaction with Ha is exciting and the contrast is palpable. It's quite sad, though. Especially for her ex. He got a bad deal. His own passiveness, more than anything else, is what caused his misery. They couldn't avoid MSS, or mandatory separation syndrome. After they commit, she just has to go away for a year. It actually fits in fine, here. In most shows it's disastrous.
2 weddings are canceled. The 1st time, it ruins her, the 2nd one brings her back to life. When she's back to work after the wedding is canceled, she's alive again, but her hair is back to matted down and straight, with no personality. It's a severe look. It starts softening back up again when our duo slowly starts to get together again. She's definitely a cat
It's the romance that makes AW💘 worth watching, though. Mr. Park went on to super-stardom because he is adorable. Ms Uhm's laugh is fantastic. Their kissing is hot. The way he holds her face in his hands is sexy & intimate. They feel intimate. For a plant or hyacinth metaphor, the viewer can feel roots growing between them.
Don't watch the show and go on your merry way, because there's a few “don'ts" to be gleaned from these 16 episodes. Don't stare. Don't lose control of your facial expressions. Don't forget to be kind and considerate. Don't try to control anyone. Don't ask the obvious questions that this person(s) has fielded 1000 times already. Don't point the finger at them, even if they're different. Don't be another @$$hole. Mind your own business.
Stay Sexy, Seoul!
QUOTES🗣
She must have saved the country in her prior life
Regardless of east or west, clothes are your wings.
Actually, I was mad at myself, not you.
The important thing is not the proposal but your heart.
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬8 🖊〰7.7 🎭8.3 💓 8.3 🦋8.7 🌞 8 🎨7.6 ⚡4 🎵6.5 😅8.4 🤔4.8 🔚8.4
Shazams: Hello, by Joohee
Age. 15+ Language: b@$+@rd; @ they almost have a one night stand until she sees his driver's license. The scenes hilarious. A ref to watching porn. Rated TV-15: Parents Strongly Cautioned.
👁📺again? Did
Herein is a cauldron of romcom excellence. Is it a bit silly? Absolutely, but in a familiar sense. There's enough good directing, acting, and writing to balance it out. (Just look at the team!). Poof! This is a potion of loves, laughs, & crackling sparks of electricity far exceeding my low expectations. It all makes AW💘 fly.
There's no boil, boil, trouble or toil about it. If a viewer doesn't like AW💘, then that viewer doesn't like simple romcoms that are a happy lift to life's drudgery. If you don't like rom-coms, why are you even watching this? I can't make sense of its rating, particularly in comparison to worse shows that are rated higher. AW💘 just does it for me. I don't understand why What's Wrong With Secretary Kim-6.8 is rated higher. I don't understand why someone would like Abyss-4.7, 100 Days My Prince-5.5, or Bring It On Ghost-4.6, more. But we are all different. I am of the firm opinion that AW💘 Is under appreciated. We tend to overrate our gateway Kdramas and this is one of mine. I decided to pick off an episode here and there again to see if I still felt the same way. I do. These two are superb actors & they connect. They connect like a giant puzzle made out of hot water bottles. Everything fits snug and cozy and warm. The heat just radiates. I wish I could think of a better term than chemistry, but when they look at e/o I can feel it. Even with her bad hair and too much makeup, I can feel the connection. That's literally chemistry at work, given it's a hormonal response. I guess there's no better term. On paper it's mostly standard stuff, but the execution is well above average. I attribute it to the 2 leads; it's not something I can argue out with words, it's more the way they make me feel, but we'll give it a go anyway.
“Are you sure it's an exclusive?” They both put on school uniforms, even though they are each over 30. Ban’s coworker looks concerned, “What's my nickname?” She's practically carefree. “The Witch!” She gives him an evil look as she corrects: “Gwanghwamun Antenna!” Her target today is an actor (soon-to-be politician). He looks like the perfect man, but he's actually got a side piece and an illegitimate daughter. He's at the school for a political appearance, but he's also there to see his 2nd family. Ban is a reporter spying undercover - school uniform and all. She & her assistant end up being chased by school security - and he was paying attention during the morning's self-defense class put on by the police. He's gaining on them! She's desperate.
In the meantime, our ML is a saint. He's spending his day in a 🎅 outfit handing out toys to disadvantaged kids.
How would these 2 ever meet? She steals one of the kid's bikes. That's how. He chases her… for miles. He's tenacious that way. There they go, on one of Seoul’s 16-lane thruways; her pedaling, him running. It's White Day in Kcountry. The radio jockey proclaims: On a day like this, never make a woman angry. Ever. White day is for sending ‘thanks-yous’ for Valentine's Day treats received. Thanks for nuthin.
AW💘 is a 2014 release consisting of 16 60-minute episodes. There's pithy repertoire. Screenwriter Ban Ki Ri also wrote the excellent Missing: The Other Side-8.3, and this director, Lee Jeong Hyo, gave us a string of hits including Romance Is a Bonus Book-7.9 and Crash Landing on You-9.1. Uhm Jung Hwa (Our Blues-8.5, Doctor Cha) is our FL, “Ban” Ji Yun. She's even more beautiful now than when this show aired. Her character is ruthless and without empathy. She tells the children, who by now our ML gathered in her employer's lobby, that there is NO SANTA! (The sooner they learn about the big, cold world, the better.) Park Seo Joon (WWW Sec Kim, Itaewon Class-8.9) is our delish ML, Yoon Dong “Ha”. He looks so young in this! In the 2013 show, I Summon You, Gold!, he's the 4th listed of 5 leads, so this show is his first romantic ML role and seems to have spring-boarded his career. In AW💘, he starts out in the 🎅 suit, until she yanks off his beard & hat, thus exposing the lie of 🎅 to the kids. They'll then proceed to dismantle their very lives.
“If Santa's not real, how about witches?” Ha still hasn't given up. Her response is emphatic: “What's wrong with a witch? It's better than Snow White who only depends on others and causes a nuisance. An independent witch is 💯×s better.” So Ban declares, while standing under the ‘Trouble Maker Magazine’ sign designating her place of employment. Naturally, these 2 loathe e/o from the start.
After the 🎅 Incident, she overhears her coworkers snickering about her. “A witch like that can never get married!” Well, she's 39 and no one's nibbling. They could have a point. Her mother tells her to get married -daily- but it's had nil effect. She could die alone in her apartment and it could be weeks before anyone knows! Her fish would die! The subject of marriage takes her to a dark place. She almost got married… Her fiance, No Shi Hoon (Han Jae Suk of Should My Tears Show & Check in Hanyang), disappeared. Now, Oma is near panicked: “You're almost too old to have a baby!” (Yang Hee Kyung, from Sunny, If You Wish Upon Me, does a nice job as Choi Jung Sook Ban's mother). So mom's a regular at the Shaman's. Officially, the shaman says that Ban lacks yang energy, but unofficially: “Your daughter is “a dirty witch with the energy of a viper!” - This shaman is on point!.
One might expect that when she took that elevator away from him, the kids, and the lobby, that they wouldn't see e/o again anytime soon. Fate intervened later that /very/ night, though. She's at a company dinner and he was invited out by a friend. He sees her get embarrassed 〰 very publicly 〰 and he, the 🎅-soul that he is, takes pity. It's a kissing contest. They share a doozie.
Looking simpatico, they leave together, but as soon as they are out of sight, she's arguing. She doesn't appreciate feeling like a charity case. She's already deduced that her work friends hired the man who embarrassed her. Ha points out that they must have felt very harassed by her if they took the drastic step of banding together to strike at her. He's definitely more mature than her in this scene - & most scenes. As it unfolds, we learn that she has no friends. The one friend she has (Ra Mi Ran of The Good Bad Mother & Reply 1988-8.6 portrays Baek Na Rae) married a guy she hates (Lee Sae Chang from Let Me Be Your Knight). It is so weird to see Ms Ra playing a giggly woman! She's usually authoritative. She's clearly having a blast. She even acts cute with her husband. It made me chuckle, and it made me uncomfortable at the same time. They have a wonderful time together, the 4 of them, at Na-Raes’ restaurant.
Next day: Mom drags Ban, under protest, to the shaman's. Handyman Ha happens to be in another room working on some repairs. He hears it all, particularly mom's sobbing over her daughter's lonely existence. (Narsha is a cutie as the shaman, but she doesn't get much work). After the literal beat down at the shaman's, Ban goes and gets drunk. “All of her relationships started when she was drunk,” we hear from Na-Rae. Ha has /already/ headed out to help her 〰 a bad habit he formed rather quickly. He finds & helps her. She helps herself to /him/. Then she sees his resident card… And his DOB. She is 1.4 decades older than he. 😱
OUT! GET OUT!
What she doesn't know is that he's now living right next door to her, with a friend. He also ends up in a dispute with her company which lands him as her assistant as part of the settlement. They won't be able to avoid e/o. At the same time, she's made an enemy. The actor she exposed is really ambitious. He sued her over her story, but things like that don't work against Ban, so he's resorted to more drastic (violent) measures. Ban’s boss has charged her new assistant with keeping her safe. She can't shake this kid.
That balance of the show is them drawing closer, her being in bigtime denial, and the fiance popping back up making a mess of things. There's a couple of cute 2ndary couples and there's lots of hanging at Na-Rae’s place.
The show does go beneath the surface a few inches to examine how society views older women and younger men. Even Ban's mother, who starts a thing with a man 5 years her junior, has to go through a gut-check when she thinks about her daughter with a man who's 14 years younger.
Society is actually like cat fur. It stands on end when we see something too unfamiliar. A fundamental problem, beyond the darkness that inhabits the human heart, is a lack of exposure. The biggest obstacle to a couple who doesn't fit into the everyday mold is the pressure put on them by everybody else. If you're about to go into an atypical relationship, be willing to leave family and friends behind. You'll likely be able to reconcile, in time; if not, then your F&F are entirely too controlling, and leaving was the right move anyway. These issues are for the couple to work out. Why do the rest of us need to have any opinion on it?
As with every relationship, it depends on the two individuals. People born on the same day at the same time might be the worst couple ever. People born 20 years apart might be a very comfortable fit. Doesn't appeal to you? No one is making you do it. After the movie Harold Maude, I can hardly be shocked at this one. In the movie, Leon The Professional, Natalie Portman plays a 12-year-old girl whose family is slaughtered. She, alone, is alive because Leon rescued her in the nick of time. They were strangers & he took pity on her. The bad guys are determined to eliminate all witnesses, so she has to rely on Leon for safety. She falls into keeping the home. They never kiss: If they had a sexual relationship, he should go to jail. However, as it stands, would I separate these two? Never. There are relationships forged in combat that are stronger than any other bond possible; deeper than most romances. These 2 are different ages, but they have the same sort of pain,and pain does not know an age. With all that being said, a big age gap is nothing compared to looks or weight disparity. If a good looking guy marries a woman who doesn't seem his equal (or visa-versa) there'll be no end of damaged people making damaging comments.
There are many quality touches in AW💘. Over a romcom-style ridiculous misunderstanding, Ban gets into a fight with a woman in a hotel lobby. They don't show the fight. They show a scant second before, and then how everybody's disheveled and miserable at the police station later. I like the way they did it. “Cut out the scar and the flower will blossom again”: The mostly dead plant is a metaphor for their love lives. There's numerous scenes of them in the iconic and comforting courtyard of her apartment complex. It creates a cozy feeling.
Speaking of cat hair, early on Ban’s hair looks awful. Cat lovers know that, depending on a cat's mood or current state of mind, their coats can change instantly. Her hair seems to do that. In the beginning of the show it looks dry with split ends and severely parted in the middle. It's unattractive. As time goes on it gets softer and silkier looking. It's a nice touch. She looks pretty amazing most days. Some of her outfits are dreadful ~ in any culture. But most of them are artful and many of them are sexy. AW💘 is also shoe p0rn. She's got a set of black spike heeled platforms with a hot pink platform bottom. Oh, I L😍VE them.
The office could have been better. Her coworkers are cartoonish. Apparently, in Korea, they love corporate shucking and jiving - more accurately shucking, tucking and ducking. They opted for something simple-minded. The storyline with her ex is almost boring, but that might be by design. Her interaction with Ha is exciting and the contrast is palpable. It's quite sad, though. Especially for her ex. He got a bad deal. His own passiveness, more than anything else, is what caused his misery. They couldn't avoid MSS, or mandatory separation syndrome. After they commit, she just has to go away for a year. It actually fits in fine, here. In most shows it's disastrous.
2 weddings are canceled. The 1st time, it ruins her, the 2nd one brings her back to life. When she's back to work after the wedding is canceled, she's alive again, but her hair is back to matted down and straight, with no personality. It's a severe look. It starts softening back up again when our duo slowly starts to get together again. She's definitely a cat
It's the romance that makes AW💘 worth watching, though. Mr. Park went on to super-stardom because he is adorable. Ms Uhm's laugh is fantastic. Their kissing is hot. The way he holds her face in his hands is sexy & intimate. They feel intimate. For a plant or hyacinth metaphor, the viewer can feel roots growing between them.
Don't watch the show and go on your merry way, because there's a few “don'ts" to be gleaned from these 16 episodes. Don't stare. Don't lose control of your facial expressions. Don't forget to be kind and considerate. Don't try to control anyone. Don't ask the obvious questions that this person(s) has fielded 1000 times already. Don't point the finger at them, even if they're different. Don't be another @$$hole. Mind your own business.
Stay Sexy, Seoul!
QUOTES🗣
She must have saved the country in her prior life
Regardless of east or west, clothes are your wings.
Actually, I was mad at myself, not you.
The important thing is not the proposal but your heart.
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬8 🖊〰7.7 🎭8.3 💓 8.3 🦋8.7 🌞 8 🎨7.6 ⚡4 🎵6.5 😅8.4 🤔4.8 🔚8.4
Shazams: Hello, by Joohee
Age. 15+ Language: b@$+@rd; @ they almost have a one night stand until she sees his driver's license. The scenes hilarious. A ref to watching porn. Rated TV-15: Parents Strongly Cautioned.
👁📺again? Did
Was this review helpful to you?
