50FiftillidideeBrain

✒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

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✒ ⚖️ ?‍ The Old Dame Plays Bingo °8.2° °excellent°

TD is a good old cop drama. Many of the best cop dramas start with the buddies (comrades? cronies?), then the crime, the crookedness, and finally, court… fade out to the harmonica~> country. There's impossible supervisors, unbridled ambition, coworkers who are brothers while others are enemies, departmental friction & competition, blame-gaming, the truthless press, confidential informants, depraved criminals, criminals that are more likable than some cops, and families that are left behind. Every decision and action is second-guessed. Some of the characters are all bad, & nobody is 100% pure. It's an impossible job. Let's not forget, on top of it all, there's corruption.

Benjamin Yuen is HK police detective, Sing: He's got the failed romantic relationship (He's always working) and the kid who longs to see him more often to prove it. His baby-mama (whom he wishes was his wife) was told by her uncle that there's 2 kinds of cops: The greedy (or ambitious) and the wicked. Sing's ambition prevented their marriage.

Sing appears first and he certainly is the main protagonist, but Bingo might match him in terms of significance. Bingo's story arc is the most interesting. He was a recruit who Madam selected to go undercover and she basically used and abused him until he was tarnished beyond repair. Now he's a thief with the heart of a cop. All he wants to do is take care of his mother who's suffering from dementia. While everyone on the force sees him as scum, the viewer must watch him, time and time again, in difficult situations trying desperately to do the right thing. As I'm writing this I'm on episode 21. I don't know what's coming for him. He's a fascinating character and I'm rooting for him.

Ben Wong plays "Samuel”. He's a straight shooter who does not bend easily. He's fair-minded, does not play favorites, and, of course, is the perfect internal affairs officer. Wheelchair bound, he was paralyzed from the waist down in the line of duty. His current wife is a work rival's ex-wife (Kan). His dream is to clean up the force and revamp it. He's a good guy. What he needs to learn are people skills and a little bit of flexibility. While in the wheelchair, Sam gets an action scene. It's amazing!

“It seems I'm not the only one with life imprisonment,” says one criminal to Madam. Kara Wai is Madam Man, the police director. She's better at being a toxic narcissist and bully-boss than a director or a mother. I've known destructive bullies with the exact same smile. The show's opening is her with a post-apocalyptic, scorched earth background. The more we watch her the more it makes sense. Narcissism is merely unbridled pride. Madam has truly convinced herself that Hong Kong is better with her in it. It might fall apart without her! This gives leave for her to do all kinds of things to maintain and augment her power. Would that this was an unusual thing, but it's the norm. Thus that adage about power & corruption and whatnot. In that way, pride is deceitful. It encourages us to lie to ourselves. Pride is probably the most destructive /vice/, but since it's everybody's worst problem, society has decided to collectively ignore it. We don't like narcissists - we can all agree on that - but we excuse our own selfish actions and words. Pride shows up in other ways: Self-absorption (even if it's self-loathing, it's an obsession with self), constant comparing and competition, unforgiveness and bitterness, constantly being angry or offended, and gossip, to name a few. Every society has a pride problem, but in Asia it's weaved into the fabric of society like no other place, it seems. The tragedy is that living a self-first life only leads to one's own misery and the misery of every poor soul around one. {PSA: Stop lying to yourself. Let it go. No one is as important or flawless as we like to believe. The answer is to forget ourselves, but never stop working on ourselves - that and go volunteer or help someone less fortunate. Take a vacation from you; it's quite freeing.}

In typical fashion, management is quite sympathetic to their own perceived plight while looking at underlings as mere ants. Madam is given multiple chances - more than any ordinary employee would be granted. She squanders them all, opting to plunge the knife in deeper.

Madam’s oldest son was murdered by the Beast in an undercover operation a few years back. Her obsession with vengeance against this drug lord has driven her to steamroll her remaining son, Matt, who has turned into a rigid dogmatist about the rules. He takes over as Sing's supervisor. There's constant tension between them over sticking to the ⚫&⚪ script, or doing the right thing (on paper) vs the thing that will actually work and bring about right results. Sound familiar, anyone? There's nothing new about the concept of child sacrifice to ensure success. Joshua pronounced a curse on the rebuilder of Jericho (“he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates”) that was later recorded as fulfilled. GRRM includes child sacrifice in the conclusion of A Dance with Dragons. {Theoretically, we'll read about the end of Stannis & Princess Shireen Baratheon's time together on earth in the Winds of Winter. WoW may never be released, but I digress.} In modern society people sacrifice their kids in more genteel, but equally destructive ways.

Sacrifice is a theme, but the #1 theme in TD is: Don't pi$$ off a woman too much. Madam goes off the rails in ep23! Let's just call ep23 ladies domnificent. “What does macho mean?” Sing gets this question after he told his daughter he used to not care about her mother as much as he should. He was too “macho” then. “Uhhh, macho means a bad guy,” he responds. (The little girl playing Sing's daughter is utterly precious). Treating women (and others) with dignity is one of TD's worthiest themes.

Sing and detective “Happy Kok" are BROS. Yes, one of the characters goes by the nickname “Happy Kok”. It's attributable to culture disconnect, and it's innocent. No matter how conservative you are, if that doesn't make you chuckle a tad, you probably have let your sense of humor dry up. What isn't happy, though, is how Madam did a number on him, too. Furthermore, the woman he fell in love with while undercover is being used up by mob bosses. He can't rescue her.

Some characters are oversimplified, like Benz Hui's smarmy Kan Sir, head of narcotics. He's waaaay out of line, making it too easy for the viewer to see what his character is. More subtlety would be better. Some vignettes and scenes are oversimplified as well. This watch, as a whole, is not. There's an educational benefit to watching: One of the baddies they are after has symphorophilia, or the love of disasters. Per Shortform, It's “a condition in which people find se×ual pleasure in witnessing an accident. In some cases, the condition has driven people to destructive acts.” He also has paraphilia~> He's a freak, and se×ually gets off on dark stuff.

“Am I a cop or a thief? Sometimes I can't even tell.” We follow confidential informants and undercover cops. It gets a little fuzzy telling the difference due to the translation. It seems that their system is a little different than ours in that criminals can become part of the force. To a certain extent, the viewer has to ride along with it. Things aren't 100% parallel to Western ways. In the show, the word “defected" is used to describe confidential informants who have gone rogue. They “can do anything,“ Sing says. They are the “worst criminals.” After a mission that might be deemed a success, but for the tremendous casualties, Sing's focus shifts to Bingo. Sing believes he has correctly pieced together what went wrong and believes Bingo is responsible. His mission becomes: Finding Bingo. He doesn't know that all of Bingo's wrongdoings were ordered by Madam.

Crime, and fighting crime, is shown as a bitter war of attrition. More in the world of crime than the world of law enforcement, Bingo finds himself forced one day to explain to an 11 year old girl that her father is dead, his body won't be claimed, therefore he'll be cremated and labeled “unclaimed remains” and buried in an unmarked grave. She needs to mentally prepare herself because there will be nowhere to go to mourn her father. It's a powerful scene. The outcast cops end up forming a motley crew. “Between cop and criminal, see if there is another option,” Bingo pleads. “I thought I would be receiving flowers from him, but here I am the one buying the flowers.” Just after a man confesses his love to a woman, after she waited for so long, she has to bury him. The show starts to break our hearts.

Based on a true story, TD is a 2019 Cantonese language release that is rated 7.5 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 30 45-minute episodes. Considering the population of Hong Kong (7.346M) this is an impressive production. The budget betrays itself most with the sound quality, which is very 20th century. Once the viewer gets to the last third of the show, s/he has to remind h/hself that this is based on actual events. It gets pretty outrageous. Viewers might think they have an idea of the way the show will go, but there's a plot shift 1/6 of the way in. As the show goes on, the action ramps up and it gets exciting.

This was my 2nd Hong Kong show. Both, though VG, have a coldness. It's too early to tell if that's reflective of the culture. Still fairly new to (and very much enthralled with) East Asian dramas in general, it's weirdly reassuring to see that fundamental human behavior is the same world-wide. Characters who are noble, angry, shifty, and happy are no different at the world's antipodes, but for nominal cultural differences. Sarcasm, love, hatred, joy, and rage look largely the same there as they do here. A mother sobs when she loses her son in Hong Kong the same way she would in New Jersey. Couples bicker the same way too. “Madam” is the perfect queen b!+ch / toxic mother on a crusade for revenge. We root for Bingo (Philip Keung). Some of us have keenly felt the tug-of-war between work and family time, like Sing. The “Beast” looks authentic, not overdone. The girl informant defrosts our hearts and Loony… well, we've all seen terminators depicted on screen before… there aren't many of him, thankfully. As if Loony isn't entertaining enough, Yeung Chiu-hoi is superb as triad psycho, Kong Ching-lung. The acting is truly excellent. All the elements are well done. It's a worthy story told in a worthy way. This is SO worth it!


〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.2 📝8.5 🎭8.5 💓5 🦋3 🎨6 🎵/🔊6 🔚8.5 ♦ 🌞5 ⚡8,2 😅2 😭7 😱5 😯5 😖3 🤔7 💤0


Age 15+ violence, scary, adult situations

Re-📺? I wouldn't hesitate to show this to someone else

Recommendations:
🇭🇰Hong Kong ~
A Beautiful Life-7.4,
Don't Go Breaking My Heart-7.7,
Hong Kong West Side Stories-7.5

🇹🇼Taiwan ~
Black & White-6.8 (it's really pretty good),
Age of Rebellion-9.5

🔮🐉 -
C🇨🇳 ~ Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Love and Redemption 10

⚡/😱/🚀 -
C🇨🇳 ~
The Kings avatar-7.9,
Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!
K🇰🇷 ~
K2 8;
Private Lives 8.1;
Sisyphus 8;
Tunnel 8.1;
Signal 8.6;
The Man From Nowhere 8.9
Black 9;
Squid Game 8.4;
Kingdom 8.3;
Sweet Home 8.4

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✒ ☕️ Son of Privilege ♻ Son of Disgrace °6.5° °trope sampler°

Ah, food. We love to watch it sizzling, basting, bubbling, and we love to watch people enjoying it. Nothing says comfort like food. And what's the deal with chocolate? It's the most comforting food of all. Cha needs chocolate when she's feeling low.

Now also serving: lowkey melodrama. He's a surgeon who injures his hand, she's a cook who loses her sense of taste. They quietly navigate life's numerous heartbreaks and keep trudging on. “I've been running for a long time to come to you. There were times when I wanted to stop… I wanted to flop down and collapse… But because of you, I could come this far.” Our 2 leads have had many encounters over the years.

But first, let's go back to the beginning.

1992: Wando. Not far from Jeju, this cozy little fishing community is all the way at the bottom of Mainland South Korea. When a little girl comes by the restaurant trying to eat what's set aside for the cows, he /has/ to feed her. He invites her back the following day by promising to make her chocolate Shasta. Later that day, his deceased father's rich family comes by. He and his cousin get into an all-out brawl and end up in the hospital. Her family has to leave early and she isn't able to keep her promise to come back the next day, anyway. We see that neither one of them has a settled home life.

1993: Wando. The little girl finally comes back, but the boy has moved to Seoul. Apparently his daddy had run off with the maid's daughter and died not long after he - their child - was born. The privileged family had decided to collect their grandson.

2012: Seoul. He is an adult honoring his mother on her death day. Both parents gone, he's been abandoned in a snake pit. His aunt, uncle, and cousin Joon see him as a threat, and his grandmother, the matriarch, is a cold-hearted authoritarian. The family owns a hospital. He had wanted to be a chef, but he's a doctor. As a patient, she runs into him at the hospital and thinks she remembers him? He doesn't recognize her.

2013: Seoul. Inspired by him all those years ago, she's now a chef. He's been sent to Libya by his hateful aunt and uncle. He almost doesn't survive.

A couple years later, he comes home from Libya and she's dating his friend. Once again, she recognizes him, but he doesn't recognize her. Now that she's seen him again, she knows she can't stay with his friend. Cha has been in love with Kang since the day he fed her. When she breaks up with his friend for “no reason”, Kang is disgusted with her. Cha runs away to Greece.

C is a 2019 release that is rated 89 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 65-minute episodes. Yoon Kye Sang (Malmoe: The Secret Mission, The Kidnapping Day) is ‘he’, Lee “Kang”. We have to wait until deep into ep15 before we see Kang genuinely smile. He spends most of the show looking much like Eeyore from Winnie The Pooh. Ha Ji Won (Secret Garden, Empress Ki, Portrait of a Family) is ‘she’, Moon “Cha” Young. She spends the whole show acting like a trauma survivor, which she is. She never shows much spark of personality. In fact, each of the leads is so low and depressed that one feels sorry for them, but it's difficult to bond with them. They aren't unlikable, but they are a tad uncomfortable.

The ultra attractive Jang Seung Jo (Snowdrop, Death's Game-7.8) is Kang’s cousin, Lee Joon. His father is a fatuous imbecile, while his mother is smart, but conniving & ruthless. He's been pitted against Kang most of his life. I rather enjoy the relationship journey that these two men take. In the waning episodes Joon asks his parents why he even did that? Do they have to hate e/o? He's starting to get tired of it all. This is especially true because he learned of a dark family secret.

Kim Won Hae plays Hospice Director Kwon Hyun Suk. He has 133 credits on MDL. He's everywhere. I've seen him in Signal-8.6, While You Were Sleeping-7.3, Black-9, Clean with Passion for Now-7, The Hymn of Death-8.4, Start-up-8, Awaken-8.7, & Revenant-7.4 as well as his guest appearances in 8 additional features. He is like MSG; he makes every feature more delicious.

Min Jin Woong (My Father Is Strange, Nobody Knows) plays our FL's ne'er-do-well brother, Moon Tae Hyun. She has to get a job to pay off his debt instead of returning to Greece. He continues to plague her for the entire run of the show. He picks up on the vibe between the two leads early on and never fails to make suggestive jokes or comments to them, much to her horror. Once again, there's several child actors who are amazing; Woo Sung Min & Lee Chan Yoo stand out. Screenwriter, Lee Kyung Hee, also brought us Thank You & Uncontrollably Fond. Her first credit is from 1997, and this is her most recent work. The director is Lee Hyung Min of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon & Miss Night and Day.

Even as late as ep9 I was enjoying this. While it's not the masterwork that My Mister-9.5 is, I rather enjoyed the relaxation. Their aimless wandering left nowhere for the show to go, though. The romance trudges along and then sorta happens, with little fanfare. For the most part, the characters are engaging and relatable, while the sedation is the biggest reward. The romance is the weakest part of the finished product. It isn't a great romance. It is debatable as to whether it's good at all. All that can be said is that it should have been better. As a chef, managing heat is her profession. But this romance has no heat.

The show is heavy handed with melodrama, like a triple-thick ganache. It smothers everything. He is giving her a ride and there's an accident. He operates on her to save her life but, in doing so, ends up waiting too long to be operated on himself and his hand doesn't work right afterwards. He can't be a surgeon anymore. At this point, he still hates Cha, so it's a bitter pill for Kang. The family sends him to run the hospice center, where she works already, and she can't quit until her brother's debt is cleared. She loses her sense of taste and smell after an angry patron shoves her and she strikes her head. Given their past traumas, together they make a whole person, I guess. One patient is blind and her case becomes a bit of a situation. One of the cooks at the facility has Alzheimer's, so she's losing her mind - she's out of touch. It almost seemed like there was an overarching message about the five senses, the will, and the brain, but nobody goes deaf, so there can't be. We are left scratching our heads. The taste is Hershey's, not Godiva.

Then they threw in the jellies, nougats, caramels, cherries and toffees - they made trope goulash. Terminal illness. Rich family. Poor family. Missing or absent parents. Toxic parents. Competition. Debt collectors. WKEWY, or we knew e/o when {we were} young. I don't know why I thought they wouldn't do it, but with around 25 minutes to go, they just couldn't help themselves. They brought in the MSS trope.

MSS, or mandatory separation syndrome, is an overdone Kdrama plot point in which a pair, once they get together, are separated. ('I love you! Finally, we're together! Now I'll catch you later...' Huh?). Presumably this is to show that what is between them is true love that stands the tests of time and distance. A generous 15% of the time, it's a good thing and usually shows a lack of originality and poor implementation skills. It's common to see shows that are especially well written take a dive for an episode or 2 in order to wedge in something like this. In C, the MSS is awful. Sure, she's got stuff to work through, but running away is nonsensical. It also made the entire show look like a checklist tutorial on useless overdone tropes. The final episode could have done much to tie the show up nicely and redeem its shortcomings, but it was a disappointment and took things further south.

The writing is C's weakness. It's like a standardized modular home. They brought in that chunk & this chunk & tossed in another chunk & made a chain restaurant melodrama. The acting and directing aren't bad, but they aren't enough to elevate the production. The soothing cadence with the soft strumming soundtrack in the background make it mostly watchable, but the poor wrap up left a bad taste in my mouth.

Once again, here's a Kdrama showing competition killing the soul. Kcountry is a highly pressurized society. Common entertainment themes are toxic parents putting pressure on the children, severe competition, the detachment of those who are privileged from those who are not, and in-fighting among families who are privileged. Kang's father ran away with the maid. He was a son of disgrace. Kang loved his life in Wando but the family came to collect him. It will come out that he is not the only son of disgrace in the family. Many of these patterns are cyclical and many people appear to have everything are not everything they appear to be.

C always circles back to food. Kang was given chocolate by his mother's paramour when he was young. It made a big impression. His mother was on the way to purchase him some chocolates with the plan to take them and Kang back to Wando, but she died in an accident. When Cha was young she waited hours for her mother to meet her at the mall, but mom never showed. What did happen was that the mall collapsed and Cha was stuck there for days. A woman who was trapped and dying under the rubble gave her chocolate. Cha believes it saved her life. Yet she was merely existing until Kang gave her hope for the future. Chocolate (and food, in general) represents warmth, memory, caring, and love; all comforts that were too scarce in our leads’ lives. Together, they learn how to combine the sweet and the bitter into their own special recipe.


QUOTE📢 Everyone is terminally fated to die from the moment that they're born. They just tend to forget that when they're living.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.3 📝5.7 🎭7.3 💓6 🦋4.5 🎨6 🔚5 🤗3 ▪ 🌞5⚡3 😅1 😭4.5 😱2 😯2.5 🤢2 🤔4 💤1

🎵/🔊 7.7 Shazams: Just Look for you, by Ailee; Always be here by Jung Jin Woo; Special, by 유빈; The credits song is You & I by ID:Earth

Rated TV-15 just for language: F💣, $h!+, but there isn't much of it.


Re-📺? Once is enough

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✒ ⭐The Outlier ✴ Xin doesn't have enough Qi ☄ °good°

“I suppose it's not rational to be happy.” There's a point where that's how Xin feels.

TRL opens irrationally. First, there's an irrational client. We also meet an irrational young woman who wants to bail on her commitments so she can go live with her BF overseas. She steals the business's assets and flees from her partner.

Qin Lan (Story of Yanxi Palace) portrays “marriage-is-the-tomb-of-love” Shen Ruo “Xin”. She's an attorney. She's rational. She's calculative and precise. She comes over as cold, but she's not. She's also 33 and slipping into that middle-aged weariness since her youthful delusions are being popped one after another. She's been going out with her boyfriend (Cui) for about 3 months. Let's be precise, shall we? It's been a hundred days. She only dated him on her mom's insistence, and it's obvious that these two aren't on the same wavelength. As soon as things don't go his way, Cui shows an ugly side. Free commercial: if you're dating someone and they get testy the moment they don't get their way, do a Monty-Python-and-the-Holy-Grail and run away. Run away! Run AWAY! It's better to be solo than to be with a manipulator.

Xin has nobody in her life who understands her. Xin's BF certainly doesn't understand her. He didn't last for long. Even though her mother (Pan Hong from Yangtze Town's Springtime) divorced her father, mom is the one who is bitter and lonely. Lin Xin Yi of Drunk to Love You-7 is “Si”, her BFF, who married well enough (she doesn't have to work), but she's idle and discontented. She is going through her own changes and the two friends' lives are now nothing alike.

At work, Xin is confident but disliked over appearing inflexible. Her elevated skills seem to be threatening to others. She uncovers fraud by a client who is suing the company and manages to settle a problematic case for pennies on the dollar. She should have been promoted, but when that irrational client gets a social media campaign going against Xin, her boss seizes that opportunity to transfer her to another unit. Everybody knows she's being pushed out.

Xin gets strength from her hobby of stargazing. “In the 1990s, a space probe took a picture 4 billion miles away from Earth in space. The Earth was like a tiny blue spot in the dark. Later on, an astronomer, Sagan…said that all the happiness and sadness, all beliefs and knowledge… all of it only exists on a speck of tiny dust floating in the sunlight. So, compared to this bright starry sky, all of our troubles are insignificant.” A department change is not going to change her orbit. She will continue to go forward… Until she starts to fall for a guy over a decade younger than she, that is. Now, THAT could be a problem.

Dylan Wang (Love Between Fairy and Devil-8.9 & Meteor Garden-7.4) plays “Qi” Xiao. He excels at playing a damaged, testy, uber-masculine ML. He still makes his characters appealing; he's able to walk that line and counterbalance his characters’ deficiencies with intense sincerity. In TRL his character is more understated and supporting - with awful hair. Qi is smart, resourceful and intuitive about human psychology. He went to law school in order to make money, but his real love is designing jewelry. His business was doing well, but his partner irrationally absconded with all the money so that she could go overseas with her BF. Qi's roommate (Chen Peng from Love and Destiny is Wan Li) knew that he would need a little push, so roomie submits job applications for each of them as he is job hunting himself. This lands Qi next to Xin. The office wasn't the first place they met, however. She ended up in the middle of his pursuit of that fleeing partner, and it wasn't pretty. She refuses to interview him, at first, but as things play out, he ends up being helpful to her and she decides to hire him on a probationary basis. He's now in the administrative department with her; it's sort of like the 13th level basement. They are pariahs.

Dylan Wang is a tad out of a character playing the eager puppy type, though he does it well. He's usually the toxic male who's not /really/ toxic; underneath the prickly exterior, he's always a loving guy. Even as a puppy type, he makes this show better. As his love rival is gaining points, he's in the background rolling his eyes. It's pretty funny. “After working at a big company for a long time, in getting used to a comfortable but restrictive vibe, you'll become systematic. It's only a matter of time before your inspirations disappear.” Qi's friend is trying to warn him. But the dude doesn't realize that Qi's only in it for his boss.

“You're practically a succubus,” Si teases Xin, when it looks like the much younger Qi has a thing for her much older friend. She's the kind of best friend we all wish we had. That teasing only holds up until the new boss, Jie, shows up. Calvin Li, from Hand in Hand, is Xu Ming “Jie”. He's strict and regimented. He likes the finer things in life. When he sees Xin, he /knows/ what he's looking at. It's all work related stuff, but he's finding ways to take up all her time: Dinners, parties, trips... Qi is going out of his mind.

Rounding out the main players is one of Qi's college friends, Song Zi Yan, who has been working with Xin for about a year. The perky cheerleader type, she's always had a thing for Su, Qi's roommate. So, we've got the beautiful smart but overlooked career woman, the upstart fresh faced recruit, his supportive friend and roommate, and the perky cheerleader (the 2ndary couple), plus the rich and powerful boss as a romantic rival (rounding out the 💘🔺). Let's not forget the toxic mother. Yep this is all looking familiar.

TRL is a 2021 release that is rated 8.2 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 35 45-minute episodes. The drama, Find Yourself-8.9, precedes it by a year. It isn't too hard to imagine that this show was made because of FY, which is an exceptional show featuring an older woman and a younger guy. TRL feeds off of it, but it's still its own production. Xin is even wearing a revamped men's shirt in one scene, which is a wardrobe staple for Fan, FL of Find Yourself. Some of Fan's are good, some are passe. Xin's is spectacular.

Office politics and vicious gossip are a topic of the show. Xin has this advice: ”Do you know how to remain undisturbed? Whether you're favored or disliked, remain undisturbed. Don't worry what people say about you. Know your goal. Stay on target and achieve it.” Notice how she says don't believe the good stuff either? Our hearts want to believe the good feedback and discount the negative. Everything should be on the Bell curve. Take the compliments with the grain of salt, and do the same with the criticisms, but never dismiss criticisms out of hand. Always pause and reflect on whether there is some truth to it. Many times there is, and each one of us has room for improvement. That's the key, don't look to the left or the right, look straight ahead, and never stop improving.

The isolation of a successful woman is dissected. “Girls marry high, men marry low. The old saying is true. If a woman has a master's degree, the man should at least have a doctorate.” TRL balks at the idea of having it all. Does anyone actually believe that anymore? Women are always squeezed into a small space. The women in the show are pushed into marriage & having kids or they're denied opportunity /because/ they're married and either have kids, or are expected to get pregnant at any moment. There's as many ways for a woman to live her life as there are women out there. There's no one right answer. Many different people make many different things work. That's the key: Does it /work/? Marriage and children are optional. They're both intended to be lifetime commitments so they shouldn't be taken lightly.

Xin may be the boss at work, but in her private life, she can't shake her mom-boss. Xin did promptly dump that BF, Cui. She never liked him anyway. She broke his heart, but, forget him - She /really/ broke her mother's heart. Her mother is caustic about it and cannot accept the breakup. She keeps pushing Xin to get married. “I feel sorry for any guy that tries to date you.” “/He/ got married. You should be so lucky.” Mom has a 1-track mind! “Time is ruthless for women.” That's how Xin's mom says ‘Happy Birthday’. (Mom don't let up). Once mom learns about Qi, it's: “You are much older than him. You should be more rational.” Mom wants Xin married, but not to a kid! Next, it's:“Don't mistreat my daughter!” Mom freaks out when she finds out that Xin has been harassed by one potential mate. Ironically, no one is hurting & upsetting her daughter more than MOM, though. She pushes and prods, forces and manipulates, she bullies and throws tantrums. This isn't being a good parent. It's fear coming out as poison.

Mom finally forces her into a blind date service. Here's the type of advice she's given before her first blind date event: 1. “PU” means partner’s uncertainty. On blind dates, it's important to lower his PU and pique his attention. The lesser the uncertainty, the stronger the confidence, and he will make more moves. 2. It's unrealistic for those in their 30s to have zero experience. The best answer {as to how many relationships she's been in} is 1-3 relationships. Don't say more than 3. 3. What is “MV”? It's mate value. A woman's MV is not in terms of success at work. It's whether you can be a good wife and mom in the future. So for your hobby, you must mention baking, painting, and flower arranging. These three are the safest. If you say that you're preparing to study child psychology, trust me. I'm sure he'll be attracted to you. 4. Reasons for breakups...That's the most dangerous question that increases PU. It's best to say that it was due to geographical reasons. 5. Don't forget: Don't show your aggressive side. Don't ever say you like going to bars. It's suicide. Not only does it increase PU, but it also clears out MV. “Plooffffff!” Yep, the date counselor said: “Plooffffff!” Xin can't help but wonder if that would still even be her? Why would she put on such a show that she can't keep up indefinitely?

It's not like getting married fixes all of one's problems. Si is married and she's having a tough time. Si admits that she got married to escape her horrible job at the bank. She's been taking it easy at home but that is getting boring. In the first third of the show she's frustrating. She left the workforce and she's now over 30, so nobody wants to employ her. She does find her niche. This is almost always the answer: Don't sit around and wallow in your feelings. Go do something. Better yourself, find something you're interested in, get a hobby, learn something, volunteer.

Si's mother i/l is always nagging the couple to have a baby. She's pushy and controlling. Si and her husband had agreed to not have kids, but he's gone back on his word (probably due to interference from mom) and he is now pressuring her to do so. She thinks she's unhappy with her husband, and she certainly does have valid complaints, but it appears that she's truly unhappy with her empty life and her own emptier self. Chinese shows are very generous to older people who make horrible mistakes and behave terribly. The couple goes to exhaustive lengths to have a sincere discussion with Mom about their feelings on the subject. Frankly, I think a better solution would have been that every time mom asked them to have a baby they leave while saying “You're right Mom we're going to try right NOW.” Eventually, mom will know that mentioning it is only going to make them leave (while leaving the image of them getting-it-on for mom to think about). People who don't have clean motives but still pry in your life aren't entitled to answers. We shouldn't give in to such behavior because we're just emboldening them to do it to the next person. Somebody has to put the brakes on.

TRL drags a tad in the latter half. It would have been better suited for 20-25 episodes. It's simple. Conflicts arise and melt away as if it's kids programming. The romance lacks fire, as well, casting as much heat our way as the stars do. I liked it despite its flaws, but it should have been better. There's more positives than deficiencies, still. The music is very nice.
The “confession scene” in ep27 is pretty good, and later, in ep33, they discuss their relationship with her mother and what they like about e/o. It's lovely. Ep35 sees them acting adorably as a couple. They really do get cute. Two birthday parties are contrasted. One features professionally done decorations and food. It's the best that money can buy. The other one is put together by friends and it comes from the heart. It's not even close, which one the birthday-girl prefers.

The mothers of our leads end up meeting and becoming friends. The first time the four of them eat together it is so warm and lovely. As they're talking and laughing it fades into lilting music and the viewer can sense that this is not the last time they're going to eat together. They'll be eating together as a family. They're already acting like one.


QUOTES📢

What's wrong with kids nowadays?

I feel like the older you get the more aggrieved you are.

Raise your words not your voice.

Love may be the universe's unimaginable miracle.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣7 📝7.2 🎭7.5 💓6 🦋5 🎨6 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚7 ▪ 🌞6 ⚡3 😅3 😭2 😱2 😯1 🤢1 🤔4 💤2.5


Age 12+ for occasional PG language, mild sexual situations

Re-📺? For the romance fan this is worth watching once, but I would like rather check out new content than revisit this crew.


In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

💓 -
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love 7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine;

The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8;
The Sleepless Princess 9.1

K🇰🇷 :
A Witch's Love 7.8;
Love To Hate You 8.9;
Touch Your Heart 8.2;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9;
Hospital Playlist 9;
My Mister 9.5;

🎎 -
C🇨🇳: Overlord 8.4,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style),
The Rise of Phoenixes 9
K🇰🇷:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl 8.5;
The King's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9

🔮🐉-
C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Eternal Love 8.3,
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Love and Redemption 10

⚡/😱 -
C🇨🇳: Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!;
K🇰🇷:
K2 8;
Private Lives 8.1;
Sisyphus 8;
Tunnel 8.1;
Signal 8.6;
The Man From Nowhere 8.9
Black 9;
Squid Game 8.4;
Kingdom 8.3;
Sweet Home 8.4

Japanese🇯🇵 lite romcoms: Maid Sama-10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo-7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4, Toradora-8.5

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✒ ❇☃✴Lost and Found ☸ Bring the 40's Back✳☃❇ °good°

Blame it on the snow

Han “Jae” Hyun & Yoon “Ji” Soo have a record. He's getting out of prison in ep1 (he took the fall for the chairman), and she's explaining why she works menial jobs even though she /almost/ got her college degree (her family record is tarnished). They also have a record with e/o: They dated in college, but that was 20 yrs ago.

We get a few seconds in present day and then we're whisked back to 1993. They meet as the police are scattering a college protest on the 13th anniversary of the 1980 protests against the military dictatorship ruling Korea at the time. These events inspired the partly true/partly fictional film A Taxi Driver-8.4 (staring Song Kang Ho from Parasite-9), which depicts how roughly 3,000 Koreans ended up missing, dead, or presumed dead due to the government's brutal response to the Gwanju demonstrations. 13 years later, the government was still covering it up. Per Wiki “The movement preceded other democratic movements during the late 1980s that pressured the regime into democratic reforms and paved the way for the election of President Kim Dae-jung in 1997, the first opposition candidate to win the office.” From their meeting we toggle back and forth in time.

She pursued him. He was only interested in studies and activism. FF To 2020, he's gone to the dark side. He's a corporate big wheel, and was ‘rewarded’ with a ticket to the /big house/. Now out, and breathing the free air again, he claims he's only interested in enjoying his life as much as possible. In the toggling, we see history repeating itself in ring-theory fashion while their backstory unfolds gradually through ep11.

WMLB is a 2020 release that is rated 85 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 65-minute episodes. Who would like WMLB? One must be right-brain heavy, or moderately emotional (a self-described “romantic,” perhaps) to appreciate this show. Otherwise, all those pesky tears (not that I cried) will just grate the wrong way. WMLB is slow-paced and dripping with sentimentality from the script, to the facial expressions, to the OST. The plot is soapy melodrama. They fall in love in college. She disappears on him. Well into the show, we don't know why this happened, though hints emerge to point at possible family tensions. He's been looking for her ever since she disappeared. At some point, though, he faltered and married the daughter of a chaebol. There are hints that he was in dire need of funds, but also other hints that his moves are not random.

20 years forward there's a pile of refuse that is keeping them separated. First of all, he's married. Secondly, he's married to the conglomerate that owns the business that she's actively protesting against. Third, it looks like if he walks away from his rich wife, he'll walk away with just his underwear. Finally, they each have a son, though she is divorced. Their sons happened to go to school together, and his son is a cruel bully toward her son, which is how they meet up again. The bullying is so oppressive that her son, Young-Min, finally throws a chair at his tormentor. This leads to the couple's reunion (in the principal’s office) and subsequent run-ins with Jae's family. His wife is outraged and wants to make a big deal out of it, while Jae insists they let the school incident slide.

“The fun in your life probably got cut in half,” Ji remarks, when she learns that he doesn't eat ramen much anymore. She's now cr@ppy-poor, and he's cr@ppy-rich. They're both alone and miserable. Just as Ji dogged his steps in the past, never looking to the right or the left, now that Jae has found her again, he's doing it right back to her.

Lee Bo Young is the FL. In Mine-8 she plays a cool Grace Kelly type who could dress a person down with precision. It's a good show and she's the best thing in it. In WMLB, she's been beaten down by life and is emotionally damaged. When we toggle back to her teens we'll see that her father was a cold-hearted tyrant. When her relationship with Jae was cut off, she ended up marrying the wrong man. Each heartbreak was like a sledgehammer to the head, so now she holds her neck stiffly, with head forward and slightly down-turned. She looks like she needs a cervical fusion. It may be good acting, however it's still unpleasant. I want to shake her loose. She starts loosening up a tad in ep11. That's a long way in.

Yoo Ji Tae from The Devil Judge & Oldboy-9 is the ML, Jae. “You seem like a different person than the one I used to know,” Ji remarks. Mr. Yoo, as Jae, is delish. The chairman‘s assessment of his daughter's husband? “ No one is better at getting rid of people.” He used to take the losing side, but now, instead of demanding justice, he specializes in neutralizing contrarians. His wife describes him as an Iceman who never smiles. He is stoic, indeed. His wife, Jang Seo-Kyeong (Park Si-Yeon from Birthcare Center-8.2), is the typical spoiled riche. She's beautiful on the outside, but her insides are rotted. They are married, but very much alone. He did his time alone. She decided to do his time NOT-alone.

There's several fantastic child actors in WMLB. The protags’ kids are played by Park Min-Su & Ko Woo-Rim and they practically give a masters class. Park Jin Young (The Devil Judge) & Jeon So Nee (Parasyte: The Grey-6.9 - She's fabulous) are the couple in 1993.

I love how comfortable they are together. It made me feel warm and comfy. One thing they bond over is the classic movie, Love Letter/Koibumi (1953). It was directed by a woman, Kinuyo Tanaka, and is said to be technically excellent. We can thank JAPANONFILM for the write-up. “Briefly, an ex-sailor scraping by on the occasional translation is offered a job writing letters in English from Japanese women to the American soldiers with whom they slept during the Occupation... Eventually, of course, the woman he loved before the war comes in. His attempt to cope with his love on one hand and her past on the other occupy the rest of the movie, in a complex emotional relationship that is also in a subtle way quite political and racial. The issue for both of them is not just that she slept with other men but that she slept with Americans (she says only one, but a late meeting with a group of street prostitutes suggests otherwise).” Consequently, WMLB has the soundtrack and feel of a movie from the mid-20th. It's an old-timey melodrama, complete with violin music. The movie, Love Letter, deals with moral compromise out of necessity in post-war chaos, particularly what the ‘Have-nots’ must do to survive in the face of the indifferent oppression of the ‘Haves’. Same for WMLB.

WMLB shows us how anger and fear steal peace, love & joy. ‘Does your heart have to run slowly?’ ‘Once it starts to run, it's not easy to stop it,’ says Ji. That inertia works in all directions: love or hate, joy or sorrow, fear or confidence, anger or contentment. Toxic and controlling parents are another theme. Their love was crushed when they were kids. I hate that her father dies right after he finally realizes he was wrong. Couldn't they have some nice years together? It's very bitter. Another theme is that one can't maintain a good relationship with a selfish human. “This is my way of love,” says Jae's wife. No doubt, she's selfish, spoiled, and grossly entitled. She's also a legitimate victim in this show. Being a victim doesn't always make a person right, and even a person who is right is never 100% right. No human ever is. Selfish people are keenly aware of the love they want to receive, yet it doesn't even occur to them to try and /give/ that sort of love.

It isn't perfect. WMLB is simple. Nearly everything works out in the end. Many of the bad actors want to do better, going forward. By ep7 it was clear that the show has too many flashbacks. I tried to roll with them, telling myself they intended a relaxing effect, but I had to start hitting the ff button. The chairman missed some background info about a key player until the trap had been sprung on him. It's an unlikely scenario, and it's problematic to the script.

WMLB keeps a steady temperature like a yogurt maker. It stays in that 97°-99° range, never getting too hot or cold. Am I calling it tepid? Perhaps a tad, but it is more good than not, and it's low anxiety. It's one of many shows that could have easily been better with a pinch better direction and editing, less flashbacks, and an inch or 2 of more depth. The acting is actually superb. This is my only exposure to this director, and when one looks at Son Jung Hyun's body of work, he's been steadily going in the right direction. His low marks are his first works and his highest rated works are his 3 most recent: Should We Kiss First?, Mental Coach Jegal, and Twinkling Watermelon @ a whopping 9.2 on Awiki. He has skills and he is getting better with age ~ just like the romance in WMLB. Screenwriter: Jun Hee Young is just getting started. For a 1st effort, this is good, and her work should bloom in the future, too.


QUOTES 📢

You win a fight by knocking down your opponent, not by holding out and enduring.

It's probably not about how to endure it but how to accept it.

I poise myself on my toes, but I just can't see you. Sometimes my wait lasts longer, and I feel resentment towards you. High up in the sky, fleecy clouds drift away. What song should I sing to reach your ears? We didn't meet, so we can't be parted. Even though we are not parted, I still can't hold your hand. So when my wait lasts longer like this, I feel bigger resentment towards you. ~A Korean poem~


〰🖍 IMHO

📣6.8 📝7.3 🎭7.5 💓6 🦋5 🎨7 🎵/🔊7.8 🔚7 ▪ 🌞5 ⚡3 😅2 😭4.5 😱3.5 😯2 🤢2.5 🤔4 💤3

Poli-wagging 3/10

The soundtrack is beautiful. Shazams: Someday We Will Meet Again by KLANG; If You Just Love by Han Dong Geun


Age 12+ Rated TV-15

Re-📺? no


In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Modern Day -
Crazy Love-7.8,
Racket Boys-8.3
A Witch's Love-7.8,
Live Up To Your Name-7.6
Our Blues-8.5,
Love to Hate You-8.9,
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Her Private Life-8,
Touch your heart-8.2,
Crash Landing On You-9.1,
Oh My Ghost-10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay-9,
Love Struck in the City-7.3,
Law School-8
Hospital Playlist-9,
Move To Heaven-8.4
Call It Love-8.4,
When the Camellia Blooms-8
Mine-8
Misaeng-9.1
My Liberation Diary-8.9
Mother-8.8
My Mister-9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine-9
Parasite-9

Historical/Period -
My Only Love Song-8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Mr. Queen-8.5,
My Sassy Girl-8.5,
Saimdang-8.5,
The King's Affection-8.3,
Mr. Sunshine-9

Action/Crime/Sci-fi -
Descendants Of The Sun-8.3,
K2-8,
Private Lives-8.1,
Sisyphus-8,
Tunnel-8.1,
Signal-8.6,

Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Boys Over Flowers-8.3 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
Heirs-7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows-7,
Something in the Rain-8.6,
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love-7.5.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
You are my destiny-6.8 cute, sweet & 1/2 padding,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9


Consider a Chinese 🎎/🔮 romcom: The Romance of Tiger and Rose-9.8, Love Between Fairy and Devil-8.9, Love and Redemption-10 or Japanese romcoms: Maid Sama-10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo-7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4, or Toradora-8.5

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✒ ⛩️ How To Almost Lose When You've Already Won ✍️ °7.4° °VG°

Falling Into Your Smile-5.7, The King's Avatar-7.9, Love 020 - the movie-5.9 and the show-6.8… here we are again, talking about gaming. ELM is a romance first, though. The ‘games’ are mainly played by the leads. ELM is a 2024 release that is rated 7.9 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 24 45-minute episodes. I enjoyed every one of them. Everyone (who is a romance fan) should like this show.

Zhou Ye (Back from the Brink, Word of Honor) portrays Qian Ling, a novice artist who is on the brink of making it big. Lin Yi (Angels Fall Sometimes) plays Gu Xun, an intelligent but slightly misanthropic game designer. I never saw this actress before, but she's terrific and gorgeous. I've seen the ML in Put Your Head on My Shoulder-7.3, where he plays an even colder, more analytical type; PYHOMS is wonderful in the first half and struggles in the second half. Lin Yi is completely different here. He sells his attraction to Qian Ling so well we can almost taste it. As much as he loves her, he came close to blowing it. Totally. Here's how~>

They are both working at the same gaming company while finishing up at the same school. The company decided to build a new unit around Gu Xun (the 9th business unit) in order to deliver China's first AAA computer game, entitled Heroes Path. Many ups and downs precede this, but Qian Ling gets the opportunity to draw the hero of Heroes Path and design many of the weapons. For most of the show she tries to keep two jobs at the company. Her previous boss (Hong Yao from Story of Yanxi Palace) does not want to let her go. Not only is he competitive with Gu Xun, but Qian Ling is a special talent.

Qian Ling has known for a long time that she's totally into Gu Xun. He takes no notice of her, however. As a tall, good-looking, high IQ type, he's the recipient of female attention quite often. It's just that most girlie-girls are silly and boring to him. The girl who does not bore him is the one he hasn't met yet - in person, that is, ‘Dough Twist’ is one of his teammates in online gaming. Their group (Another Win) is ‘killing it’ together. They each play from home and talk through their 🎧. Dough Twist is fierce, feisty, and just lethal with a joystick, mouse, and keyboard. She's his kinda girl. He's got to get HER in his world.

His 🌏 drops one night when she mentions to the group that she likes a guy at work. He immediately sets out to give her “bad intel” (act cute! Be girlie!) in hopes that the relationship won't work out. He wants this pastry for himself. What he doesn't know is that HE'S the guy, and Dough Twist is Qian Ling.

There's layers of clever irony to the show. He has an online crush on online-her (doughtwist). She likes him (Gu Xun). Gu Xun is jealous of doughtwist's crush (himself). He's deliberately giving her bad dating advice so that it won't work out with his crush - and his advice is working! Gu Xun /can't stand/ Qian Ling. He's undermining his own romance! She's trying to win over Gu Xun by being phony, and Gu Xun hates her. She's completely herself with online him (campushunk), because she doesn't care, and (online) he's besotted with her. They are working (hard) at love without realizing they've already won. They just don't know it. All the wasted effort and longing gives me a smidge of stress. It's amusing and delightful at the same time.

Melody Tang as Chen Xin Yi, + Jiang Yi Ming as Jiang Jun Nan are the secondary couple. He's Gu Xun's right-hand man and she's his new assistant. She has almost debilitating social anxiety. She's sweet and talented, and Qian Ling helps her come out of her shell. The actresses both did Love Like the Galaxy together and Ms Jiang starred in Story of Kunning Palace. The directors are Yu Chung Chung (Love Is Sweet, Once upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain-7.5) & Gia Lee (Hidden Love-7.8, Go Go Squid!). Screenwriter, Xu Ting, wrote Double Love, & Zhao Cong penned Hello Debate Opponent. The original creator is Qiao Yao (Only for Love, Love Scenery). At the halfway mark their charaters’ interactions are strong, entertaining, sincere and authentic - especially for a Chinese modern-day drama. The scenario is actually entirely plausible and heavy on the grins. It's a nifty piece of writing.

Qian Ling finally plucks up the courage to confess her feelings to Gu Xun at graduation. He only knows the phony Qian Ling, the one he created by way of his subterfuge. He gives her a very harsh rejection. THEN, she hates him. Hate? She LOATHES him. Actively. The act is dropped. She gives him a bitter taste of who she really is from that point on. Gu Xun pieces together that she's doughtwist and spends the rest of the show trying to win her back.

It has some minor bugs. The. Business machinations toward the end are, pretty much, nonsensical. When he meets her parents it's painfully goofy, but it doesn't last that long. The secondary romance looked more promising than it turned out to be. It isn't bad, but the first half was better than the wrap up, by far. It should have been better. The last episode was good enough but could be improved upon.

Artistically it's up and down. The Wardrobe is hit and miss but Stella (Yu Xin Yi from Catch Up My Prince) really puts on a fashion show as a company executive. The FL has a couple pairs of star earrings that I like enough to buy. The music is dang near outstanding. It really soars in that category. Shazams: With Me (影視劇《別對我動心》插曲) by Fiona Sit & For You, by Ree Lax - that one is so good I shared it with my son. There's a lovely scene where he's on an upper floor balcony and she's walking by. He takes flower petals and tosses them up to fall down around her.

Overall, the show works for me. The writing (even though it doesn't have a high business or tech IQ which makes it frequently sloppy in those areas) has a high EQ. It's the writing and the 2 leads that bring us Another Win.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.4 📝7.1 🎭7.5 💓7 🦋5 🎨7 🎵/🔊8 🔚8 🤗6 ▪ 🌞5.5 ⚡4 😅4 😭1 😱2 😯2 🤢1 🤔4 💤0


Age 12+ Language: b!+ch; Rated TV-PG-13: Parents Cautioned

Re-📺? won't say no


In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

💓 -
C🇨🇳:
A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5;
Find Yourself 8.9;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8;
The Sleepless Princess 9.1;
Wait, My Youth-8.4

Romance junkies only: Accidentally in Love-6.5 ‘18 B-level scripting, acting, and directing, but still fun/strangely relaxing to watch,
Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine but many object to an outrageous stunt the ML pulls,
Boss & Me-7
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
You are my destiny-6.8 cute and sweet and 1/2 padding,
Meteor Garden-7.4 - 70% flowing 30% dragging and BOF is better,
Hidden Love-7.8

K🇰🇷 :
A Witch's Love 7.8;
Love To Hate You 8.9;
Touch Your Heart 8.2;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9;
Hospital Playlist 9;
My Mister 9.5;

🎎 -
C🇨🇳: Overlord 8.4,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style),
The Rise of Phoenixes 9
K🇰🇷:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl 8.5;
The King's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9

🔮🐉-
C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Love and Redemption 10


Japanese🇯🇵 lite romcoms: Maid Sama-10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo-7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4, Toradora-8.5


Taiwan
Age of Rebellion-9.5,
The Fierce Wife-8 - worth sticking with,
Two Fathers-7.5

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✒ ⚾️ Strikes, Balls, & Prison Walls °8.4° °Excellent°

No sleep. Bad food. Never enough hot water. Smelly, downright mean cell mates. It's cold. It's dangerous. The bullies are too much. Prison is not where anyone wants to be.

Park Hae Soo (Six Flying Dragons, Squid Game-8.4, Yaksha: Ruthless Operations) is our ML, Kim Je Hyuk. He's brilliant. At ⚾baseball. He is, otherwise, a complete dunderhead. (“He's just acting dumb,” says his BFF. “No, he really is stupid about everything but ⚾,” insists his manager). He is capable of occasional flashes of brilliance. He's a simple man, and there can be a brilliance to simplicity. As a top-tier player he's living a top-tier life. Im Hwa Young (Signal-8.6, Birthcare Center-8.2) plays Kim Je Hee, his younger sister. Hyuk is found to have used unnecessary force when he defends Sis against an assault. He proceeded to chase the fleeing brute and smash a 🏆 on his head - fatality. Jail, it is.

There, he's killer at woodshop. I mean, he literally almost /killed/ the woodshop. They move him to gardening. Eventually they set up a training area for him. He has injuries to work back from, he'll be released in a few months, and he's a very popular player. Watch actor/Park closely: His facial expressions make the show. He'll look positively constipated and then spring into affability when forced into a corner. Up until the very last second, the viewer expects him to (maybe) go a different way.

PP is a 2017 release that is rated 90 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 90-minute episodes. All the acting in this show is a delight. We follow Hyuk through his prison odyssey, meeting cellmates and various officers, getting most of their backstories. Jung Kyung Ho (Hospital Playlist-9, Crash Course in Romance) is Lee Joon Ho/JHo. He's so wealthy, he's living a top-tier life among those who live top-tier lives. JUST KIDDING! He's a CO - corrections officer - one of the worst ways to make money on the planet. He's Hyuk's long time friend. In fact, he requests a job transfer so that he can follow Hyuk to another prison and keep an eye on him. Kim Kyung Nam (The King: Eternal Monarch-8, Connection) is Lee Joon Dol Joon, JHo's brother. Jung Woong In plays CO, Paeng Se Yoon. He has a gruff exterior, but on the low-down he helps the inmates more than anyone. I've seen this actor play a ruthless politician in My Sassy Girl-8.5. He's completely different here, much to his credit.

Let's meet Hyuk's cellies.

Jung Min Sung (Record of Youth-5.8, Racket Boys-8.3) is a white collar criminal, Doctor Ko. Dr. Ko was convicted of embezzling 10B won, but we see that his company is the true criminal element. They mistreated him horribly. He actually took the fall for a high level manager. Here's a guy who understands that the pen is mightier than the sword. He will not tolerate violations of the law, ironically. They only get chicken necks and their dinner? That's maltreatment. He files a petition. He needs a book that's not in the prison library? Petition. The guards are cursing at them and being rude? Human Rights violation complaint. Every prison has jailhouse lawyers. They have nothing to do but read the law books all day. Most of them are smarter than most of us. Doc Ko doesn't just hold /officers/ to the rules. He will recite them to his cellmates as well, which often gets him beat up by the most short-tempered of the cellies. In one scene a body comes flying in from off camera onto him. They do that as a running bit in the hilarious show, Arrested Development-10. No doubt, Arrested Development picked it up from cartoons.

Choi Moo-Sung plays a gangster doing a murder stint. He's big and powerful. I've seen him in Han River Police-7.4 (he's a bad guy) & Reply 1988-8.6 (he's a loving dad). In this, he's both. Good, bad, or otherwise, he's always a teddy bear. Jung Jae-Sung is the first cell leader we meet. He's often casted as an @$$h0le w/ power. I've seen him in Hospital Playlist-9, Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency-7.4, My Mister-9.5, Clean w/ Passion For Now-7, The King's Affection-8.3, Pandora-3.9 & Big Mouth-7.4. He's different here. More polite and contained, but, appropriately, there's something /off/. Ahn Chang Hwan (Fiery Priest) as "Crony" is the perfect thug.

Lee Kyu Hyung plays goofy druggie, "Loony”. He's really funny. In Uncle Samsik-8.4 he portrays a beautiful (looking) man who is ‘beautifully’ corrupted and deranged. In Doctor John and Hi Bye, Mama-6.5, he has a more serious role. This dude is an ACTOR. The show wouldn't work the same way without him. He gets some of the best scenes and the best lines. He's childlike, and they all seem to understand that. He's also tired all the time, especially when he tries to break his drug habit. They all end up letting him sleep on their knee or their leg. He's like encroaching flood water, at some point they stop resisting and just let it flow.

Jung Hae In goes to prison. This actor's a national treasure, appearing in hits such as Something in the Rain-8.6, One Spring Night-7.8, D.P.-8.4, While You Were Sleeping-7.3, and so much more. He's a superb romantic ML. When we meet him in PP he's a volatile inmate - He's scary. There's nothing lacking in his performance, I just don't love seeing him this way. Is he my favorite? Not quite: Seo Kang-joon, Song Seung-heon, and Jo Jung-suk are occupying my top 3. Do I put him ahead of Song Kang? Hmmmm. I have a special place in my heart for the teddy bears, too, like Ma Dong-Seok… Well, he's definitely a top 5 for me. In fact, regardless of where I place him in my personal order, his raw natural power of attraction is indisputable. I'm thinking of changing how I refer to him to something like: ‘Jung Hae In…um-Um-UM’ and shaking my head slowly every time I say or write his name😜. Jung Moon Sung plays his brother. He doesn't have any scenes with his Hospital Playlist co-star here, but in HP, all of his scenes are with Jung Kyung Ho.

Krystal Jung (Sweet & Sour-7, The Heirs-7.3, The Bride of Habaek-7, and the enormously fun Crazy Love-7.8) plays Jihoo, Hyuk's ex. They never told his family they broke up, so she's brought into the loop-of-crisis-management and she gets into the habit of visiting him. They broke up because she was convinced she was the only one in love. (Hyuk isn't good at expressing himself. He's just good at curveballs). She's at her cutest in this show. Their relationship is as sweet a thing as I've ever seen. Their theme song is nice, too.

The oft seen Ye Soo Jung is Je Hyuk's mother. I've enjoyed her most in Train to Busan-7.8, the Along With the Gods films, & Mine-8. I'm currently watching her play a Walter White style meth cook in The Worst of Evil. She is fabulous. All visits are one-on-one. Mom and Jihoo pretty much ask exactly the same questions: Are you sleeping? Did you eat? Are you cold? He gives each of them exactly the /opposite/ answers. He lies to his mom about everything and tells Jihoo the truth. Mom is an easy con, but sis? “Do you think I'm a fool?” His sister is perturbed. “Put some thought into your lies!” She isn't as readily fooled.

“Looks like it's going to rain,” (as Hyuk heads to court for the appeal). “Don't let your uniform get wet, it's unlucky.” “See you soon” Chief Jo says. We just learned, guards aren't supposed to say that. The signs are there that Hyuk's several months stint may not get cut short by appeal. The filming is loaded with quality segues & other connections like that. The director is the amazing Shin Won Ho who gifted us with Hospital Playlist-9 & the Reply series. All these shows have the same original creator: Lee Woo Jung. Screenwriter, Jung Bo Hoon, also 📝 Racket Boys-8.3, an adorable family show that fell on the PC sword merely because a player gets booed in Indonesia. The punishment seems to be worse than the crime; RB is wonderful.

The whole prison is abuzz that they have a celebrity in their mix. Hyuk's presence stokes awe, love, snark, and jealously. The warden fawns on him. The Warden's cheerless #2 would prefer to give him solitary for the balance of his stint as Hyuk's mere presence is throwing off the flow. The Warden wouldn't allow that, however. Eventually, Hyuk's band of theives, eh - brothers start helping with his recovery. “How many pitches did he throw?” Dr. Ko, the accountant, is keeping account. He's grilling guard JHo about the particulars. JHo becomes uncomfortable over his lack of detailed observation. “How many minutes did he weight train? You don't even remember that?” How many balls did he throw in the afternoon? What kind of pitches, mainly? What weight were the dumbells? And how many times did he lift them? You kept count, right? You weren't counting?”

“Happy Reform”, the sign says. The theme is prison life and the dignity of every human being. One of the show’s potential weaknesses is that several of these inmates aren't guilty of much, if anything at all. There's 6 men in the cell block and at least 3 of them are innocent, counting our ML who arguably suffered a miscarriage of justice. Even one of the thugs ended up in jail because he was caught up in another man's mess, and while he's committed plenty of crimes, he didn't actually commit the crime for which he was convicted. There are definitely innocent people in jail - But not half of them. We all need to constantly focus on improving, but innocent people don't need reform. Sadly, very little true reforms happen in prison, anyway.

Prison is a small world. Every little thing gets magnified, because most days, not much is happening. When things are happening, it ain't good. So we go from one small but overly magnified incident to another. There's the incident of the embellished watch. The sports festival. The smuggled cigarettes. Trivia night. The singing contest! (The winner gets a day of leave!!! But who is the inmate practicing My Way? They can hear him. They can't see him. He's the one to beat). Ironically, when something significant and deadly serious does occur, it's normally kept under wraps and few even know about it. There's a steady supply of laughs. When Hyuk puts the fork in his mouth at his first jailhouse meal, he's relieved that the food doesn't taste bad. Yes, the cook is pretty good, despite the fact that he's a four-time murderer and guilty of dismembering corpses, his cellmates inform.

Two inmates who are 20 years apart in age discover that they've been writing to the same woman. She told the older one she's 33 and the younger one that she's 25. Neither one of them can give her up. This starts a bitter competition.

Prison ingenuity! A CO once told me that 1/3 of criminals are idiots, 1/3 are very intelligent, and the rest are something else. There were a couple inmates that were so brilliant the officers weren't allowed to talk to them - because the state supreme court always found in their favor. PP shows some stellar prison ingenuity. People, they can make toilet wine out of bread and fruit scraps! If you want to lose a couple hours on your phone, check out The After Prison show on YT. They do recipes more than anything else. Any prison show that doesn't show impressive prison ingenuity is cheating us - There's no way they did their homework.

Good news: They have a TV! Bad news: They only get one channel. When the electrical engineer fails to change the channel with scavenged copper wire, chewing gum, and a jerry-rigged soldering iron, another saves the day by pilfering a remote from the Warden's office. Teamwork. Just like ⚾, prison is better with it.

Oh, no! Hyuk gets a case of the yips. He can't hit the strike zone, all of a sudden. They overthink the cure. He's just not that complicated. Jihoo knows exactly what to do.

One thing I've learned from watching Kdramas is that Korea is no fan of Japan. On trivia night, there's a question about the 1995 Murayama statement, in which Japan's PM, Murayama, apologizes for Japanese atrocities committed during the Japanese imperialism period. To para-quote Wiki, the Japanese army was responsible for the deaths of millions. Actions include a wide range including torture of prisoners of war, forced labor, biological warfare, looting, rape, and the use of comfort women. The contestant got it mixed up with The Kono Statement of 1993, which was an apology specifically regarding the rape and forced prostitution of women by that regime.

More than anything, PP is heartwarming. It's prison; they do show violence and fights, bullying and sexual advances, tensions and heartbreaks, but they keep it fairly tame. Hyuk has to pull a Jamie Lannister. If you don't know what that means, I ain't tellin, but PP tells its audience that if we keep stubbornly plodding away, just like Hyuk, we can come back from anything. Hyuk inspires us to believe that.

QUOTES📢

It's been so long since I've felt like a human being.

If there's a riot tonight, let's give them the warden and run.

Flexibility is essential for this place to operate properly.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.5 📝7.8 🎭8.3 💓7 🦋4 🎨6 🔚8.7 🤗6 ▪ 🌞5.5 ⚡4.5 😅3.5 😭4.5 😱4 😯3 🤢3 🤔4.5 💤0

🎵/🔊8.5 The soundtrack is gorgeous. My Way by The Sinatra makes a showing. Shazams: Would Be Better by Heize; Like A Dream by Park Boram; Bravo, My Life, by Eric Nam; The Door, by Kang Seung Yoon & MINO. The sound of heavy footsteps ends many episodes particularly if drama is looming. It's effective.

Age 15+ w/ the following cautions: R-rated language including F💣s. Violence & references to sex & violence, but it's nothing like a Hollywood feature. Rated TV-15

Re-📺? 👍🏼

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✒ ♥️ Someone Should Love That Lonely Black Dog °8.2° °Excellent°

In HS, “Ko” Ha-neul's life was saved by a teacher who lost his own life in the process. It's an asteroid that changes the trajectory of her life. Years later she's back at school… to teach.

“Every grass seems a weed if you look at it with hatred. Every person is a flower if you look at them with kindness,” Ha-neul muses to herself. Earlier in life, she heard the opposite. “You shouldn't raise a black dog,” Ko is told by a petshop owner when she's young. “It's unlucky. They're {unlucky} from birth.” “That black dog probably continued to waive its tail as soon as it felt someone's presence, with the hope that someone might show it some affection,” we hear as Ko exits with her new fluffy /white/ dog. “But what happens if someone shows interest in the black dog that has always been alone?” That forlorn black doggy made me tear up, and I'm more of a cat person. Cats and dogs are easier to love than humans, but humans need love more. Much more, actually. Pet owners know their ‘babies’ thrive on love; a small investment yields ample returns. Humans take more effort and more patience, and the results are not guaranteed, but the rewards can be incredibly satisfying.

Rumors are churning, however. The buzz is that someone was hired via connections. Ko has done everything on her own, though! She didn't ask her “connected” uncle for help. Nevertheless, she encounters an early frost at her new job.

BD makes the mundane moving. A 2019 release that is rated 88 on AWiki, it is 1 season consisting of 16 80-minute episodes. Most entertainment takes us to places that are more dramatic than life. BD features everyday mini dramas that flare up in life and work. It's the stuff that is stressful to all of us, even though it's the same-old-same-old. What makes it engaging is the acting, scripting, and directing. I recognize the importance of education (it is the 2nd most important thing in society, right behind a decent and moral populous), but education in Korea doesn't interest me significantly. I stuck with this show because journeying with these characters is not only enjoyable, but emotionally fulfilling.

BD sniffs out the politicking involved behind the scenes in education. Most of the teachers are doing their best, paddling against the current and sincerely attempting to make a difference. Seo Hyun-Jin (Dr. Romantic, You Are My Spring) is Ko. She's precariously kind. Coming into BD, I'd only seen Ms Seo as a frustrated FL in the cute romcom Another Miss Oh-7.5. She's wonderful here as a wide-eyed new teacher who wants to fit in & do good while working to minimize the friction between her idealistic dreams and real life. Ra Mi-Ran (Reply 1988-8.6, The Good Bad Mother) plays Park Sung-Soon - “Why did you cause a commotion at the interview?” “I'm the crazy b¡+ch around here, I needed to remind them.” She reminds me of Manager Oh in Misaeng-9.1: You wouldn't pick her out of a lineup as anything special, but she makes the show. Ha-Joon is Do Yeon-Woo. He plays a friendly person in Crazy Love-7.8. He's almost unrecognizable here, which is a testament to his acting skills. The director is Hwang Joon-Hyeok (Song of the Bandits) and the writer is Park Joo-Yeon.

“It seems like cheaters have better lives, nowadays… Is the Republic of Korea the land of civil complaints?” It's the same in the USA. People always take advantage and abuse power. Abuses can become rampant in a free society as freedom grants powers of pushing back and complaining, so it creates an environment where everyone has some power. With all its problems, freedom is still preferable to tyranny, but freedom only works when people are decent. A lack of decency leads to a rageful, complaining, abusive, and cold society. It's lonely to be the one to try and stop the cycle. It takes courage… and humility. Wisdom is knowing when to speak up and when to let things slide.

We must set aside our pride, sometimes, for the greater good. When Ko acquiesces to a bully teacher, she's asked: “That's your way, Miss Ko? I don't like fighting, but I don't like not fighting either.” Her response: “It's not losing… I just thought about what my priorities are. If we keep fighting for power, who ends up suffering the most?” Our pride is usually not the most important thing, though many people act as though it is.

Cultures are different, but people are the same everywhere. There's a myriad of reasons that our educational system is in disarray, but one of them is that, generally, the very best students go on to high paying jobs and don't teach. Before women were permitted in the workplace, teaching was one of the few options available to them. Thus, some of the smartest people, who happened to be female, were teachers. Going back to the mid-20th century isn't the answer, but what we have, currently, is a mess as well. It's obvious that politicians do not want to fix anything. They love their political footballs and they hold onto them tighter than Lucy does when Charlie Brown is trying to kick them. Instead of dumping money into politicians in hopes that one of those narcissists will grow a conscience and try to do some good rather than solidifying their power, the people need to step up. There have been studies to indicate that merely getting rid of the bottom 5% of teachers, the worst performers, could turn our schools around. Students who are performing satisfactorily sometimes never recover after encountering a bottom level teacher. I am not attacking teachers! I come from a family of educators. That's how my father put food on our table. Every profession has poor performers and bad actors. They should be released to go on and do something they are actually good at.

Some countries have mandatory military service. Anything mandatory won't work here, but programs to promote voluntary service, with student loan and tax benefits as well as future job holding/placement, could be an answer - Maybe some volunteers will stay and teach as a career. There are some wonderful programs out there already - a good start. For those who must work a regular job, volunteer tutoring programs might be useful. While not always easy, volunteering can be fulfilling and provide profound satisfaction. Attracting our best to spend a couple years teaching (or other forms of community services) could turn our schools and our society around. Paying taxes and leaving it to the government bureaucrats does not work and it never, ever has.

Ko navigates the school year with its difficulties: Troubled students, difficult coworkers, super-difficult college entrance administrators, extremely difficult parents, The Great Banana Scandal, and some difficult goodbyes. “You can't cover up the sky with your hand,” says the principal to a teacher, meaning one can't force all the kids to see things one's own way, particularly when one is wrong. Ko rarely is the one who is wrong. When things get most problematic are the times when she believes the students are right and the administration is wrong. Ko sees how people gravitate to the prettiest, the smartest, and the wealthiest - the opposite direction of the black dogs. Therefore, looking out for those that are less fortunate takes more energy and more character as it's swimming against the current. “It actually hurts you, in the end, to live with convictions. You just make more enemies of the people around you,” she says in despair, one night. This is true, but it doesn't have to stay that way. Stubbornly proceeding to do the right thing will cause friction, but in the end, with some decency and perseverance, right can prevail. Can Ko prevail?

In ep1 she tries to board the train and stumbles in the rush. She also falls in the school cafeteria. At the end of ep1, she boards the train with /determination/. Ko will prevail because she has /decided/ that she will. Now, she just needs to pass that fl🔥me along to the kids.


QUOTES📢

If you're in complete, pitch-black darkness, all you can do is to keep your place until your eyes are accustomed to the dark.

People with overly unwavering conviction are difficult to deal with. The world they live in is so sturdy, so they refuse to step outside of it.

There's something called the 2-6-2 rule. If you enter a room with 10 new people, 2 will like you, 6 will have no interest in you, and 2 are bound to hate you. It's a rule of nature.



〰🖍 IMHO

📣8 📝8.3 🎭8.5 🌞6 🎨6 ⚡2 🎵/🔊7😅3 😭4 😱3.5 😯4 😖2 🤔6.5 💤0 🔚7.5


Age 11+ Language: b!+ch. Rated TV-15

Re-📺? not against it

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✒ ↩↖⬆↗↪ Who Wrote The Map of Love? °very cute°

Go on a short trip with travel agents. They know how to get around.

Aoi Wakana is Honjoji Rika - she's a bit of a cartophile. She doesn't mind being alone. Not one lil bit 〰 All she needs is a 🗺. Sato Kanta plays Ohara Takuya. Both leads are good, but he makes the show. He's pure & earnest. It's adorable. Kamo is a kitty that he rescued. Abused in her previous home, she's only recently started turning her back to show her tail to him; a sign of trust. So when their workplace announces that somebody #single would be selected to head up the new Anchorage branch (ALASKA!?), he couldn't bear the thought of taking his 🐱 there. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving her with someone else, either.

In the meantime, Rika looked up all the stats for Anchorage and studied it on the map. It's over 5000km from Japan... She ain't going there! When she runs into Takuya on their day off, she suggests they enter a fake engagement and start planning their wedding. That way, they will no longer be considered single, and as such, they won't be forced to move to The Wall, um, I mean Alaska.

Planning a wedding is much like planning a trip, anyway. Rika begins mapping it out. She doesn't just map out the wedding but the whole relationship, rather - dates, cover stories, places. Travel agents? She shoulda been CIA. These 2 are positively brilliant (mostly Rika). They are navigating flawlessly! /Except for/ that one time at work when somebody overheard them discussing their dastardly plans ~ Now they are being anonymously threatened with exposure. OH NO!!!

Forget that! Even WORSE - Their parents found out (half of) the truth. They think their kids are engaged!

Rika and Takuya are socially awkward and withdrawn (they each portrayed trees in school plays). Rika has true grit. She will hunker down and handle situations that arise. He's a big marshmallow. Together, they are just cute. This show is adorbs.

As they get deeper into their ruse, they are forced to get deeper into their ruse. “What!? You are going home and not taking Rika?“ The office is scandalized (if they only knew). Rika ends up going home to meet Takuya's family. They have to act like they are living together and invite the work friends over. Suspicions still aren't entirely diffused so they are forced to scurry for 10 episodes. They scurry so much they hardly realize what's happening to their hearts.

MFTW is a 2022 release that is rated 7.4 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 10 30-40-minute episodes. Kanome Keiko & Takaishi Akihiko are the screenwriters. It was adapted from the manga "Kekkon Surutte, Hontou Desu ka? - 365 Days to the Wedding" by Wakaki Tamiki, whose most popular work is: The World God Only Knows. The director is Miyawaki Ryo.

“When I was little I thought adults were good at everything… But the older I get, the more confused I am about how the world works.” As they spend time together, Takuya gradually opens up to Rika more. Always reserved on the outside, Takuya has no clue that his endearing authenticity is crumbling Rika from the inside out. She's one to chart things out and lay down parameters. With all the sincerity he can muster, earnestly trying to roll with Rika’s crazy ideas, watching Takuya is… Simple and cute… I feel like a hot ☕ cocoa, about now.

It gets more endearing as the episodes trek by. He's shy, but he can rise to the occasion. She's terrified of her feelings. Simply being /touched/ freaks her out, but she's falling for him. She's quite a bit like Kamo.

MFTW is intended to be simple escapism. The pithy soundtrack augments the lite mood perfectly. It is relaxing and sweet. Some will find too simple, but sometimes that is exactly what we're looking for. It's a purrrfectly comfortable excursion.


There's final content after the credits roll in ep10.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.7 📝7.4 🎭7.6 💓6.5 🦋5 🌞6 🎨6 🎵/🔊6.8 😅3.7 😭1.5 😱2 😯3 🤔4 💤0 🔚7.8

Age 12+ Language: su©k; Marital troubles, a kid looks for a missing dad, adult situations - It's all tame but probably not meant for elementary schoolers.

Re-📺? Toss up. I have a Crunchyroll sub now, so I'll checkout the anime next.



In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Japanese lite romcoms: Maid Sama (10), Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo (7.8), Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions (8.4), Toradora (8.5)

Korean Modern Day:
Mad For Each Other 7.8 ~silly fun;
My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks);
A Witch's Love 7.8;
Love to Hate You 8.9;
Her Private Life 8;
Touch your heart 8.2;
Romance is a bonus book 7.9;
Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9;
Love Struck in the City 7.3;
Hospital Playlist 9;
My Mister 9.5;
More Than Friends 8;
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9;
Something in the Rain 9

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⚰ Death Shoots Staight °Excellent°

‘All I ever wanted was a clean death, so I can't die like this.’ Things aren't great for “Jae”.

Then we jump back 7yrs. First of all, though, what is /wrong/ w/ a person who says “all I want is a clean death?” That ain't normal. 7yrs ago Jae witnessed a horror. A man was hit by a car & died, practically in Jae’s arms. Jae proceeds to watch his own demise - in slomo. In present day, he's been job hunting all thos3 7yrs. Now, he might be unemployable.

In ep1, Jae realizes that life scares him more than death. Death is only an ‘end to my pain’ he yells to the darkness & jumps. So he thought. So, why is he opening his eyes again? What's that his ears are hearing? “You mocked me.” Death is talking to him. “You will be punished. You will enter the bodies of those about to die & you will die 12 times for what you said about me.” Death Don't Play. There's a loophole: If Jae can avoid death in one of those bodies, he will live out his life as that person. (‘But I don't /want/ to live,’ he thinks).

Special effects, all-star cast, elaborate sets… This is no small budget show. In ep1 there's an elaborate scene in purgatory w/ thrashing reanimated beings. Then there's a big plane crash. In ep2, school kids' faces morph into truly creepy zombie looks. There's also a thrilling fight scene. In one incarnation, he's an international assassin taking us on a 🏍 chase.

It's mostly well conceived, but not issue free. DG is making a philosophical point; it's not trying to explain the where/why/how Jae got into this insane mess. What happens to the souls of the poor bodies he's taking over? They are gone. He doesn't want to kill off one of his incarnations - more than anyone, he wants that person to live. But that person is already gone. That human is Jae, now. The first half of ep8 hurts. It really hurts.

Seo In Guk (The Master's Sun, Doom at Your Service) plays Jae. This is my first look at him. Kim Mi Kyung is his mother. She has been in about a third of everything produced recently, it seems. She looks great. I had to do a double take. Some of my favs she's been in are Her Private Life-8, It's Okay to Not Be Okay-9, & Saimdang, Light’s Diary-8.5. “Had he been born to a smarter woman this wouldn't have happened," mourns Jae's Oma. It's painful. Then she looks at the plaque on the wall: "The future destiny of the child is always the work of the mother.” So says the quote attributed to Napoleon. Her performance is strong in DG. It's heart-wrenching.

Park So Dam (Parasite-9, Record of Youth-5.8) portrays Death. This actress excels at playing a strong woman. In ROY she plays a sweetheart, but the show doesn't work. She's right in her wheelhouse, here. Nam Kyung Eup (Crash Landing on You-9.1, Misaeng-9.1) portrays Chairman Nam. Go Youn Jung (Moving-8.5, Alchemy of Souls-7.9) is Lee Ji Su, Jae’s girlfriend. She's a keeper. The rather beautiful Kim Ji Hoon makes an appearance as Park Tae U, CEO of Taekang Group. I've enjoyed him in Love to Hate You-8.9, Flower of Evil-8.9, & Flower Boy Next Door-7. He seems to be equally comfortable playing good and bad guys. How did someone who is so pretty end up playing such evil characters? He's attractive, but not simple, I guess. Ha Byung Hoon of Go Back Couple & 18 Again is the screenwriter & director.

Dying in 12 distinct incarnations requires many guest stars. Here's some of what we see in S2.

In S2, Kim Won Hae is a homeless man & Jae's 10th reincarnation. He's in 40% of everything made, I think. My favorite performance of his is in Black-9, but he's a plus everywhere he's seen. Most years he has at least 3 credits, many years he has 6, and in 2018 he was in 13 features! He has 133 credits on MDL. He's everywhere. Besides his many guest appearances, I've seen him in Signal-8.6, While You Were Sleeping-7.3, Clean with Passion for Now-7, The Hymn of Death-8.4, Start-up-8, Awaken-8.7, Revenant-7.4, and I'm currently watching Chocolate.

The great Kim Jae Wook (who is fabulous in Crazy Love-7.8 and Her Private Life-8), plays villain Jung Gyu Cheol, Jae’s 8th incarnation. Not a nice guy. One guy who chases him is Oh Jung Se, who appears in Part 1 but takes on a bigger role in Part 2. He plays a special needs character in It's Okay to Not Be Okay-9, and he's fantastic. In Revenant-7.4, he's a college professor. He also stars in the popular Mr. Plankton. Here, he's detective An Ji Hyeong. Jae’s incarnations get tangled up, partially because he chooses to tangle then, but fate is certainly at play, too. As his many living iterations unfold, a pattern emerges that reveals a certain bad guy who has a common tie to many of “his” lives. Soon, each of his incarnations turns into a mission in pursuit of this troublemaker.

DG gets progressively sadder towards the end of PT2, and when ep8 opens, things appear irreversibly bleak. “So you killed yourself because you felt hopeless? Think carefully, if you really didn't harm anyone.” Death is challenging Jae’s presuppositions. Jae’s been going on about his misery. In fairness, it's real. Life hasn't been pleasant. “It's over for me already so why should I?” “So that you can regret it, and repent.” “Will I go to heaven if I regret it now?” Jae is turning flippant. “Will repenting give me another chance at life? I won't do it.” “You really must not care about anything but yourself.” Death shoots straight. “What else should I care for other than myself?” Jae doesn't sound any differently than the entitled people he's been chasing after. He's been whining that the deaths are not avoidable. He usually dies as soon as he enters the bodies. “Figure out a way on your own; they are all avoidable,” Death assures him.

As life goes by, Jae begins to soften. “Now that I've seen what hell is like, I've realized that being alive in itself is a chance.” Gradually, Jae starts to adjust his outlook. “That's why I don't think it's too late for you yet,” Death isn't harsh for once.

“I don't know who I am anymore.“ Jae moans. Then he recalls Ji-su saying: “People are happiest when they can truly be themselves. In the end, life would be meaningless if you can never really be yourself.” Jae's been living other lives. Sometimes for months. He's done some good. He attends the funeral for the man whose life he just lived - whose death he just died - heroically, I might add - but no one at the funeral knows who he is. Who is he? It's ep7. He is starting to crack.

They eventually show us the despair of Jae’s mother and his GF in the wake of losing him. Suicide just can't be the right option, but it looks differently to me now, after having gone through multiple traumas, then it did before living became so painful. I hate it when people say that those who commit suicide are cowards. I understand the argument and it's not without merits, but I think suicide is more often the result of unbearable pain. Yes, the person's only thinking about h/h self and not the people who have to go on without h/h, or the people that have to clean up and bury the body, but people who aren't well, and people who are in extreme pain aren't really able to think about other people. I've learned that physical pain is nothing compared to emotional pain, and pain is always isolating. It's difficult dealing with someone who's hurting, but if you don't learn how to show them care they will feel isolated. Healing is not in your words, but it might be in spending some time, watching a show together, helping h/h do something around the house. It honestly doesn't take much to make a person feel valued. Be prepared; perhaps what they say will be frustrating. I've also learned that part of love is learning what to ignore.

Jae finally realizes that the death of a loved one is more painful than immolation or death by dismemberment. Jae ends up realizing that he had always been afraid of failure and rejection. That fear is what drove him. Now what he fears is hurting others: “I just want to hug my mother one more time.”

Death made him realize that life is an opportunity, and a small life can be happier and more carefree than a privileged one.

QUOTES🗣

Isn't that what you humans do? You care more about the thorn in your own finger than the knife in someone else's body.

Death is contagious. As I disappeared from the world, my death remained behind with those who loved me.


IMHO〰🖍

📣7.8 📝8.3 🎭8 💓5 🦋3 🎨7.6 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚8.8 🤗4.7 ▪ 🌞4 ⚡6 😅1 😭6 😱4 😯3 🤢7 🤔6 💤0

Shazams: It's a Lie, by Sondia

Age 18+ gore, scary dead creatures w/ big sharp teeth. Language: d@mmit, $h!+, F💣; Rated TV-MA: Mature Audience Only.


Re-📺? I would probably give it another shot

Read More

⚰ Death Don't Play °7.8° °Excellent°

‘All I ever wanted was a clean death, so I can't die like this.’ Things aren't great for “Jae”.

Then we jump back 7yrs. First of all, though, what is /wrong/ w/ a person who says “all I want is a clean death?” That ain't normal. 7yrs ago Jae witnessed a horror. A man was hit by a car & died, practically in Jae’s arms. Jae proceeds to watch his own demise - in slomo. In present day, he's been job hunting all thos3 7yrs. Now, he might be unemployable.

In ep1, Jae realizes that life scares him more than death. Death is only an ‘end to my pain’ he yells to the darkness & jumps. So he thought. So, why is he opening his eyes again? What's that his ears are hearing? “You mocked me.” Death is talking to him. “You will be punished. You will enter the bodies of those about to die & you will die 12 times for what you said about me.” Death Don't Play. There's a loophole: If Jae can avoid death in one of those bodies, he will live out his life as that person. (‘But I don't /want/ to live,’ he thinks).

Special effects, all-star cast, elaborate sets… This is no small budget show. In ep1 there's an elaborate scene in purgatory w/ thrashing reanimated beings. Then there's a big plane crash. In ep2, school kids' faces morph into truly creepy zombie looks. There's also a thrilling fight scene. In one incarnation, he's an international assassin taking us on a 🏍 chase.

It's mostly well conceived, but not issue free. DG is making a philosophical point; it's not trying to explain the where/why/how Jae got into this insane mess. What happens to the souls of the poor bodies he's taking over? They are gone. He doesn't want to kill off one of his incarnations - more than anyone, he wants that person to live. But that person is already gone. That human is Jae, now. The first half of ep8 hurts. It really hurts.

Seo In Guk (The Master's Sun, Doom at Your Service) plays Jae. This is my first look at him. Kim Mi Kyung is his mother. She has been in about a third of everything produced recently, it seems. She looks great. I had to do a double take. Some of my favs she's been in are Her Private Life-8, It's Okay to Not Be Okay-9, & Saimdang, Light’s Diary-8.5. “Had he been born to a smarter woman this wouldn't have happened," mourns Jae's Oma. It's painful. Then she looks at the plaque on the wall: "The future destiny of the child is always the work of the mother.” So says the quote attributed to Napoleon. Her performance is strong in DG. It's heart-wrenching.

Park So Dam (Parasite-9, Record of Youth-5.8) portrays Death. This actress excels at playing a strong woman. In ROY she plays a sweetheart, but the show doesn't work. She's right in her wheelhouse, here. Nam Kyung Eup (Crash Landing on You-9.1, Misaeng-9.1) portrays Chairman Nam. Go Youn Jung (Moving-8.5, Alchemy of Souls-7.9) is Lee Ji Su, Jae’s girlfriend. She's a keeper. The rather beautiful Kim Ji Hoon makes an appearance as Park Tae U, CEO of Taekang Group. I've enjoyed him in Love to Hate You-8.9, Flower of Evil-8.9, & Flower Boy Next Door-7. He seems to be equally comfortable playing good and bad guys. How did someone who is so pretty end up playing such evil characters? He's attractive, but not simple, I guess. Ha Byung Hoon of Go Back Couple & 18 Again is the screenwriter & director.

Dying in 12 distinct incarnations requires many guest stars.

Kim Kang Hoon is growing up! I've seen him in When the Camellia Blooms-8, Hotel del Luna-8.4, Racket Boys-8.3, and so much more. He is Jae’s 3rd attempt at life. He is very much like Jae: Raised by a single mom, bullied and overlooked, no advantages, and he commits suicide. All Jae has to do to beat the game is not kill himself. So Jae doesn't die instantly, like his first 2 incarnations. But he does have to work his way through a severe bullying situation at school. He utterly crushes the bully. He does it so effectively the bully retaliates ☠ lethally. Chalk up another failure!

Jang Seung Jo plays Jae's 4th incarnation. He's been in Familiar Wife-8.5, Snowdrop, The Good Detective, & Chocolate, among others. He's truly beautiful. Often playing someone corrupted or weak, in this incarnation he is an international criminal. He's got 💰. He stole 10 billion from his boss. Unfortunately, every bad guy & cop in the country is chasing him for the massive bounty put on his carcass. This incarnation is big budget.

Then Jae’s an abused infant. It's agonizing. He's entirely aware of what's happening, but he can't communicate. “How can such parents exist?” Jae is thunderstruck. “No one is guaranteed anything in life. You've just been taking everything for granted. You didn't care for life and chose death so flippantly, but that baby didn't even get to make a choice. There are many others like that in the world.” Death has no sympathy for him. That's the drum beat: When there's life there is hope. Appreciate your life and make the most of it. Don't just think about yourself. Have empathy. Others are suffering too. Thinking patterns are like habits, and bad thoughts are bad habits. We need to force our minds to stay positive, and to not give up, or the darkness will envelop us.

Jae is now a model (Lee Do Hyun from Sweet Home & The Glory is Jang Geon U) and he actually meets his own GF, Ji Su. He's able to strike up a friendship with her. She's a writer, so he pitches his idea for a book to her. You can guess what his storyline is: Exactly what he's been going through. He tells her that he had a girlfriend for 7 years, but he was never able to show his best self to her. She's impressed by his “creativity.” She's also impressed by the level of detail and how emotionally wrapped up he is in the story, just like he's experienced it himself, she notes.

🎬

Part 1 gives way to Part 2, which is the payoff for our suffering. We aren't rewarded until the end, so hold on to the ledge and endure it, as PT2 is more difficult to watch than PT1. The following is a rehash of my PT2 review.

In PT2, Kim Won Hae is a homeless man & Jae's 10th reincarnation. He's in 40% of everything made, I think. My favorite performance of his is in Black-9, but he's a plus everywhere he's seen. Most years he has at least 3 credits, many years he has 6, and in 2018 he was in 13 features! He has 133 credits on MDL. He's everywhere. Besides his many guest appearances, I've seen him in Signal-8.6, While You Were Sleeping-7.3, Clean with Passion for Now-7, The Hymn of Death-8.4, Start-up-8, Awaken-8.7, Revenant-7.4, and I'm currently watching Chocolate.

The great Kim Jae Wook (who is fabulous in Crazy Love-7.8 and Her Private Life-8), plays villain Jung Gyu Cheol, Jae’s 8th incarnation. Not a nice guy. One guy who chases him is Oh Jung Se, who appears in Part 1 but takes on a bigger role in Part 2. He plays a special needs character in It's Okay to Not Be Okay-9, and he's fantastic. In Revenant-7.4, he's a college professor. He also stars in the popular Mr. Plankton. Here, he's detective An Ji Hyeong. Jae’s incarnations get tangled up, partially because he chooses to tangle then, but fate is certainly at play, too. As his many living iterations unfold, a pattern emerges that reveals a certain bad guy who has a common tie to many of “his” lives. Soon, each of his incarnations turns into a mission in pursuit of this troublemaker.

DG gets progressively sadder towards the end of PT2, and when ep8 opens, things appear irreversibly bleak. “So you killed yourself because you felt hopeless? Think carefully, if you really didn't harm anyone.” Death is challenging Jae’s presuppositions. Jae’s been going on about his misery. In fairness, it's real. Life hasn't been pleasant. “It's over for me already so why should I?” “So that you can regret it, and repent.” “Will I go to heaven if I regret it now?” Jae is turning flippant. “Will repenting give me another chance at life? I won't do it.” “You really must not care about anything but yourself.” Death shoots straight. “What else should I care for other than myself?” Jae doesn't sound any differently than the entitled people he's been chasing after. He's been whining that the deaths are not avoidable. He usually dies as soon as he enters the bodies. “Figure out a way on your own; they are all avoidable,” Death assures him.

As life goes by, Jae begins to soften. “Now that I've seen what hell is like, I've realized that being alive in itself is a chance.” Gradually, Jae starts to adjust his outlook. “That's why I don't think it's too late for you yet,” Death isn't harsh for once.

“I don't know who I am anymore.“ Jae moans. Then he recalls Ji-su saying: “People are happiest when they can truly be themselves. In the end, life would be meaningless if you can never really be yourself.” Jae's been living other lives. Sometimes for months. He's done some good. He attends the funeral for the man whose life he just lived - whose death he just died - heroically, I might add - but no one at the funeral knows who he is. Who is he? It's ep7. He is starting to crack.

They eventually show us the despair of Jae’s mother and his GF in the wake of losing him. Suicide just can't be the right option, but it looks differently to me now, after having gone through multiple traumas, then it did before living became so painful. I hate it when people say that those who commit suicide are cowards. I understand the argument and it's not without merits, but I think suicide is more often the result of unbearable pain. Yes, the person's only thinking about h/h self and not the people who have to go on without h/h, or the people that have to clean up and bury the body, but people who aren't well, and people who are in extreme pain aren't really able to think about other people. I've learned that physical pain is nothing compared to emotional pain, and pain is always isolating. It's difficult dealing with someone who's hurting, but if you don't learn how to show them care they will feel isolated. Healing is not in your words, but it might be in spending some time, watching a show together, helping h/h do something around the house. It honestly doesn't take much to make a person feel valued. Be prepared; perhaps what they say will be frustrating. I've also learned that part of love is learning what to ignore.

Jae finally realizes that the death of a loved one is more painful than immolation or death by dismemberment. Jae ends up realizing that he had always been afraid of failure and rejection. That fear is what drove him. Now what he fears is hurting others: “I just want to hug my mother one more time.”

Death made him realize that life is an opportunity, and a small life can be happier and more carefree than a privileged one.


QUOTES🗣

Isn't that what you humans do? You care more about the thorn in your own finger than the knife in someone else's body.

Death is contagious. As I disappeared from the world, my death remained behind with those who loved me.


IMHO〰🖍

📣7.8 📝8.3 🎭8 💓5 🦋3 🎨7.6 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚8.8 🤗4.7 ▪ 🌞4 ⚡6 😅1 😭6 😱4 😯3 🤢7 🤔6 💤0

Shazams: It's a Lie, by Sondia

Age 18+ gore, scary dead creatures w/ big sharp teeth. Language: d@mmit, $h!+, F💣; Rated TV-MA: Mature Audience Only.


Re-📺? I would probably give it another shot

Read More

✒ ✂ Social Zombies & Ginger vs Maryanne ⚗ °7.5° °VG°

Who doesn't like looking at pretty things? Who doesn't like looking at pretty people? Living with them is something different, though.

MIDIGB is a 2018 release consisting of 16 60-minute episodes. It floats by as lightly as oil over water; smooth & without ripples. It's not devoid of meaning, but its delivery is cotton balls on a pillow: Soft. The screenwriter, Choi Soo Young, also penned the marvelous Love to Hate You-8.9, which similarly sends a high IQ message with medium IQ verbiage (plus it's full of fun). MIDIGB is prescribed for when one wants to turn h/h brain off and escape. If one is looking for substance or isn't a romcom fan, look elsewhere.

MI-rae (Im Soo Hyang from Graceful Family & Five Enough) has been an outcast all her life. The kids at school say she's ugly. The bullying is so painful that she retreats within herself and tries very hard to not be seen at all. It would have been unbearable except for her best friend and the solo dance parties she has for herself in her room all alone. She's smart, one of the top in her class, so she's admitted to Hankuk U - and she doesn't want college to be a repeat of HS. Even though her father, who adores her, prohibits any kind of plastic surgery, her mom breaks the bank as soon as HS graduation ends. They order up the all-inclusive plastic-redo sampler platter. Mi-rae has the whole summer to recover.

Soon, Mi-rae will realize that it wasn't her body that needed work so much as her unhealthy mindset. Now she gets attention of the opposite sort and is utterly unaware of how to act. She remains uncomfortable in her own skin. Quite coincidentally, my watch roulette landed on a string of shows dealing with appearance and/or body swapping, listed in order of quality: Abyss-4.7 (plenty of good elements and promise, but It ultimately fails miserably) 200 lb Beauty-6.5 (excellent elements but they fail to wrap it in a tight & neat fashion) My Runway-7.5 & The Miracle-7.7 (both are great for tweens & older), and now this. It's a common device, useful for putting our mind and emotions inside of another person for a new perspective.

From one perspective, MIDIGB is complete fantasy: These are college kids in the chemistry program, yet it's full of attractive females. Some of them are super attractive. My niece was a chemistry major and, being the only girl in her department, she was enormously popular. What went around the department was that they should treat her nicely because she's a “unicorn,” being both female and a minority, so she's a rare item indeed. (Our family all thought it was hilarious). Anyway, if you're a dude, and you watch this, and you want to major in chemistry to meet the women, fahgettaboudit.

The acting is competent but all the performances teeter & totter. It's enjoyable. It has its sparkle & flash in places, but it's alittle bit like soda that's lost half its fizz - part of it falls flat. It's missing that /something/ that would make it really special. Its message never gets old. Like vitamins, we need to ingest these truths more than once in a lifetime. Its low points are the attempted comedic scenes right after they make the relationship official, which are so moronic it hurts. Thankfully, those moments are few & clustered in one episode. Some of the costumes are drab, but some of the wardrobe is awesome. Mi-rae wears revamped men's dress shirts. They're so cool I wanna try doing that myself.

New look, new school, new people, new problems. At the after-orientation party, Mi-rae starts learning that she doesn't blend into the background anymore. She's singled out at the talent competition - ‘win one for the team!’ ‘We KNOW you can!’ PANIC❗ Wait… she's been practicing dance moves in her room alone for years. Mi-rae manages to pluck up the courage and does her thing. She's fabulous. She catches the attention of Do Gyeong “Seok” (Cha Eun Woo from Rookie Historian-7.6 & Wonderful World-7.8). He already had /her/ attention. She remembers him from middle school. He already had everyone's attention. He's smart, his father's a wealthy politician, and he's very, very good looking. Cha Eun Woo is a fabulous male lead. So much of romance is conveyed through the eyes. He does a great job with that.

Im Soo Hyang does a nice job playing the pretty girl who feels inadequate. When she gets attention, it happens too fast and there's way too much of it. The show is not instant coffee, it's a slow brew. She may frustrate viewers for taking a long time to sort out her baggage. The truth is that the programming we write about ourselves as children is so baked in that it never comes completely off. What's authentic about Mi-rae is that she still acts like an ugly person who feels s/he must cower in front of others & apologize for h/h very existence. She's certain she's not good enough, and the thought of being gossiped about triggers deeply implanted pain avoidance - understandably so. Another thing that positively nauseates her is to hear a guy tell her that he likes her because she's /pretty/. Hearing that paralyzes her. It repulses her.

Also new are some friends. These school friends are a mostly pleasant group, albeit closer to 2D than 3D. The TA who also likes Mi-rae is a total stud. Not merely nice looking, he is kind-hearted, caring, and protective. "I'm just frustrated that all I can do is punch people," he's shaking his head. I want to punch people who act horribly, also, but I won't get away with it. People who are considered as handsome as he is /do/ get away with a lot of stuff. It's another truth we need to be aware of: A person's appearance affects how we judge their actions! That truth extends beyond the concept of attractiveness. Skin color and ethnicity also pressurize our judgment. That should not be.

Sua is the department belle, and the least pleasant of the bunch. She wants to be important, she wants to be worshiped, and she wants the best guy - the guy who everybody else wants. Guess who that is? She's manipulative and sneaky. I can identify with MI-rae who didn't make many friends in the run of her life. Therefore, she was ill-equipped to deal w/ the potency of a pretty person paying attention to her - someone who acts friendly but stabs her in the back. Mi-rae's a sheep among the wolves - even moreso now that she's pretty. Sua is motivated by pride. People gossip, laugh at, and pick on others to feel better by comparison. It's repugnant. A deeper look at Sua's life informs who she is at present. Strange & obnoxious behavior is often due to pain.

Gossip is a theme. Gossip hurts. Gossipers are just zombies - always👄consuming, always 👄tearing & 👄chewing. Can they be appeased? It's better to beat them back, b/c there's no winning against these mindless mandibles. The nature of attraction is frequently at odds w/ the social zombies who tear at every precious soul. Mi-rae watches them chew up the chubby girl & the guy who likes her as she is. There's many men who want an extra huggable woman. They're shamed into liking something different by the 👄chompers. Next, the girls are “rated” by every duffer & punk-jack@$$ in the school. None of these guys are anything special themselves. In a display of rank irony, Mi-rae, who had been brutalized for being ugly, is subjected to snide remarks about being a Gangnam Beauty, now that she's beautiful. Gangnam is an upscale area and GB means plastic or fake. Mi-rae starts to live in 😱 that someone will learn of her secret: She's NOT pretty; she's just an ugly girl.

"You know, I think my life could have been much easier had I been born less pretty," says our ML‘s mom. Ugly people are treated differently, & so are pretty people. Being beautiful creates a smooth road for life, but it can bring all kinds of wrong attention & get in the way of accomplishments. Over time, the inside of a person shines brighter than their outside facade. The heart & soul can make beautiful people ugly & plain people attractive. I have friends who were gorgeous when they were younger & it netted them nothing. They married the wrong husbands & now they're divorced & unhappy. “A beautiful 🌹. Back then, I had no idea that those words would end up shackling me down,” Seok's mother reflects. She was scooped up for marriage like a pretty ornament. Then, too much pressure was put on her to take on a strictly traditional role & give up her dream. She has a passion to make perfume, but the expectation put on her was to look good & do nothing else. While Mi-rae grew up in a humble but warm home, Seok's living conditions were wealthy, cold, & quickly broken.

Emotional pain can be worse than physical pain. Ask the doctors who fix cleft palates for Operation Smile if plastic surgery can change lives. Anyone who has a feature (like an unattractive nose) that grabs all the attention shouldn't be criticised for tweaking things. Life becomes much easier with the absence of deformities. Just like exercise, however, as something useful, plastic surgery also has potential to morph into an unhealthy obsession. In a world where people are getting "work done" on their gen¡tals, we cannot deny that the looks obsession is out of control. That, coupled with the fact that people no longer value good character and general decency, makes the world a horrible place.

Let's not be zombies. Let's treat everyone with dignity. ‘Beauty is skin deep.’ ‘True beauty always comes from within.’ ‘Confidence is the sexiest thing of all.’ ‘No matter how beautiful a woman is there's a man out there tired of putting up with her $h!+.’ How many ways must we hear it? Looks matter because people are shallow and they will treat people differently based on looks. Shining the light on this social and emotional ugliness is the way to combat it. Even more bizarre, is that women do this crazy stuff more to impress other women than to actually appeal to a decent, mature man - a man who wants a mate for love and companionship, not as a conquest or arm candy. What men and women find attractive is quite different. Gilligan's Island is a silly little show about a diverse group of people stranded on an island. There's two young females in the group: Ginger, the glamorous movie star, and Maryanne, the farm girl. Maryanne is in denim shorts and a gingham shirt. She's in ponytails. She's perky. She's /not nearly/ as attractive as Ginger! Every girl wanted to be Ginger. BUT❕ The polls consistently showed that men prefer Maryanne! Being approachable and comfortable to be around will draw the right people in. Spend that energy working on a sense of humor, but primarily on good character. That is what will draw the right mate in.

QUOTES🗣

You know what's more irritating? I keep trying to fit myself into their standards unconsciously.

A true strong person is someone who tries not to hurt the people who are weaker than them.

The wounds caused by other people get cured by people.


〰🖍 IMHO

🎬7.6 📝7.3 🎭7 💓7.5 🦋7 🌞6 🎨7.4 ⚡4 🎵/🔊 7.5 😅2 😭4 😱3 🤔5 💤3 🔚7.5

Age 12+

Re-📺? Couldn't say, but he's a fantastic ML

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The Ghost in the Machine °7.4° °Good°

🅰® ➡ Alternate reality. The mind makes it real. Isn't that what Morpheus told Neo?

Jung Hee “Joo” moved to Spain w/ her family when she was young. Her parents died /too/ young, & she ended up being responsible for her grandmother & younger siblings. Brother, Jung Se Joo (Park Chan Yeol) is a reclusive gamer. As the show opens, he's developed a groundbreaking RPG (role playing game) & is attempting to sell it. She knows about none of this b/c he's mostly non-communicative w/ the family by nature. He comes & goes sporadically w/ little or no notice. Yu Jin “Woo” works for an investment company & is always on the hunt for new tech. Bro, Se-joo, wants to sell his game. Woo wants to buy it. Before they can meet & make the deal, things go terribly wrong. Se-joo flees. Woo easily gets hooked on the game, but then the game gets its hooks in him. He can't let Joo out of his sight until her younger brother comes back home, as he /must/ purchase that game. That's the setup, & the struggle is real.

MOA, 16 60-min eps in all, is quite different from other Kdramas. I went into it w/o any inform, & it went in never anticipated directions. Our ML must not only run from the police but dodge virtual bullets & knives as he's doing so, b/c he's trapped in the game, & death in the game means death IRL. MOA also ➰🔄➰ through time in circles, cycles, & loose loops. It's not linear. It reminds me of basting stitches: The science, plot drivers, character development, technology, romance, motivations ~ almost all its elements 🅰® not tightly bound & tied off. We kinda wander through it w/ our protags. Park Shin Hye & Hyun Bin can carry a show, & they do: They 🅰® both outstanding. MOA is a fun ride, it just could have been better. It's the disease: 💰BBD, big-budget disease. Sometimes the money gets in the way & distracts from what really makes a feature great. The whole show operates alittle bit like the Bonita Hostal, apart from the 💰.

Is this a romance? Not quite. It's much more of a slow moving thriller that contains a romance. This is only my 2nd Hyun Bin feature. He plays ML, Woo, & is so completely different from CPT Ri in Crash Landing On You-9.1 (make sure to watch that one) that I kept doing double takes. Ri always holds himself stiffly - being near robotic - always speaks in level tones, & his behavior is nearly too perfect. Woo is a jerk. The contrast underscores the acting skills. Most impressive. He lost his first wife to his best friend & she's pregnant now. He's in a rebound marriage & second divorce as the show opens. They fail to go into his psychology, so he remains much of an enigma - we only get glimpses of his backstory & his motivations 🅰® unknown. Is he likable? Dunno. Hyun Bin is likable. He can humanize any 2D NPC. Woo displays negative qualities for most of MOA & then seems to magically morph into a stunning male lead w/ no growth 📶chart or explanation, which is MOA's 〽systemic bug🐜. Park Shin Hye plays FL Joo/Emma, & she already had my 💘. She often plays someone vulnerable, but you should see her snarky @$$-kicking in Sisyphus. She's fantastic. {Woo… Q. Why does she like him? A. He's Hyun Bin (and that's enough? It is, apparently.) That's fair.} There's beautiful romantic moments carried by the actors alone w/o the help of directing or writing. If we knew more about each of them, it would be more rewarding.

Lee Re as Jung Min Joo (Hee Joo's younger sister) is a pistol. She is wonderful in Hello Me-6.7 also. Her relationship w/ our ML is one of the best things in the show. The kids in Kdramas 🅰® mind-blowing, & this kid is the real deal. MOA is visually beautiful. Shot in hi-res, from the start, the filming is big budget. The shots of Spain 🅰® thrilling & feel like a real visit. Some of the suspense music is 80s techno - I couldn't help but smile. 🎶Shazamed: "Is You", by Ailee. Very nice.

This ain’t no feelgood feature, though. Many sad things happen & the air always feels weighty with the constant pressure weighing on our protags. “Given a choice between grief & nothing, I’d choose grief,” wrote William Faulkner. If there is a theme to MOA, it's sadness. Love, loss, & sadness. Our FL is sad. Her friend is gloomy. Her guitar playing is mournful. Our ML is lugubrious, his aid is grimly determined, his best-friend-and-rival is miserable… Well, it would be easier to list the characters that aren't thoroughly morose: Jung Min (Joo's lil sis). That girl is a ray of 🌞. My advice is: Listen to the tune that they 🅰® playing. It's not like they aren't forecasting the heavy rain.

"The crazy have their own logic & even a crazy world has its own rules," concludes Woo. Saying stuff like that does not give show creators leave to throw anything they want into the mix w/ no plausible explanations. MOA has many logical⛔deadends, so it's not for the thinking viewer. To a certain degree, one must turn off the brain to enjoy it. There's nothing wrong w/ that; such entertainment has its place. Every person has h/h tolerance levels, & everyone has h/h needs. They were so close to something exceptional - that is what frustrates. I still enjoyed it, & most watchers do. It does baffle that they felt no need to come up w/ workable explanations for most of the crazy things that happen. They 🅰® too comfortable w/ their inconsistency, & they 🅰® slightly insulting of their audience, given some of the premises… seriously, they want us to take a Blue 💊❗

The cadence is methodical. It doesn't drag…too…much… but it is right on the line. The fact that it's calling attention to itself means some faster pacing certainly wouldn't have been detrimental. Is it slow-paced to fill all 16 eps? (Just make 10 or 12!😤) Before I got to ep16, my wandering eyes read that the ep is "all flashbacks". That's not quite true. They flashback to things we have seen already but also things we have not. We get a look at the future as well. This is the episode that I'm always missing from most Kdramas. More often than not, we get a curtailed ending w/ little or no wrap up, which always feels deflating. Unfortunately, MOA's ep16 didn't reinflate…

Fans 🅰® clamoring for a S2. Who wouldn't 😍 to see them fix the bugs that they left in S1? The actors' schedules 🅰® bound to be a problem so here's a proposed compromise: They don't have to stick w/ only the same primary couple. I would pick it up w/ her siblings, introduce a new character at J One, & get into the geeky side of what's been going on. The Joo/Woo story could be wrapped up ~ more tightly ~ as part of S2 but it needn't be the whole of it. That gives them a chance to make all their romantic fans happy & to scoop up a bunch of Sci-fi fans along the way. I don't think it's going to happen. Those of us that 🅰® asking for it 🅰® projecting what we want onto the ending: We would like for our entertainment to be a little more fulfilling than real life, but we don't always get what we want, do we? Just put one lens on when you watch the show & leave the other one in the case, so that you don't lose sight of what the show is & where it's really going.

Knowing what I now know, would I watch again for the 1st time? Yep. The closeups of Hyun Bin alone 🅰® worth the 16hr investment. Hopefully this helps inform your decision😜.


QUOTE🗣

Why are you apologizing after doing everything that you wanted to do?


〰🖍 IMHO

📣68 📝74 🎭80 💓65 🦋7 🌞65 🎨80 ⚡72 🎵/🔊74 😅20 😭55 😱45 😯67 😖35 🤔40 💤33 🔚67 /100

Age 14+ w/ these cautions: pr!(k × 2; $h!+ × 2; F💣×2; B!+ch × 2; Blood & video game style fighting w/ lots of shooting; A graphic fall that's hard to watch. Rated TV-MA: Mature Audience Only.

Re-📺? Won't say never


Would this be in the top 20 kdramas I'd recommend to a newbie? No.

I am smitten by Asian entertainment, so naturally I'm on a quest for the best recommendations in hopes that my friends & family will enjoy it w/ me. MOA requires a too-high suspension of disbelief. For Sci-fi/action/thrillers/ my current choices 🅰® Sisyphus-8 (same FL), Tunnel-8.1, Signal-8.6, Black-9, & Private Lives-8.1 - imperfect as they 🅰® + some of these 🅰® more romantic than others. Sweet Home-8.4, Kingdom-8.3* & Squid Game-8.4* have plenty of action but also horror. As for romance… Crash Landing On You-9.1* (same ML) is a sweeping feelgood epic, like a Roger's & Hammerstein w/o the musical numbers (but the soundtrack is BOSS), Oh My Ghost-10* is a fantasy-romcom masterpiece, & Touch Your Heart-8.2 is a good-old everyday life Mars-crashes-into-Venus. I don't watch anything that I don't hope to enjoy & am not looking to criticize - I was looking forward to this one, but I can't help but be a bit disappointed by all of the logical sinkholes.

*My family members enjoyed


⚠⚠⚠


⚠❗SPOILERS FOLLOW❗⚠

This is not sci-fi; it's a fantasy about technology w/ 🅾 scientific basis. I stopped bothering over listing the probs b/c they 🅰® recurring 🐜s. Here's examples:

He's attacked while logged out of the game

The lenses 🅰® supposed to be essential, but people 🅰® playing the game w/o them

At what point did NPCs start killing IRL/for real? They didn't in the beginning when he was learning the game & dying constantly

The logic in episode 11 (You've proven your point vs You've proven yourself crazy) & Turn on the server vs Turn off the server is twisted up like a pretzel.

If the brother is hiding, why doesn't he get in touch w/ them? He provides an inadequate explanation. If he was frightened of the game, why didn't he shut down the server? If he was hiding in the game why didn't his body die from lack of food & water?

A video game cannot evaporate matter like bodies, blood, & clothing. That's too far of a leap. Unless, say, the mathematics in the game managed to breach another dimension. Now THAT would be cool. They aren't even trying to make sense of it, though😥.

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✒Weekly Isn't Weakly °5.7° ⏰️ °Sloppy writing/low IQ flushes the ➕message° ?%?

⚖When you're feeling a bit like a tw!t, this is the romcom you watch ~Maybe~ It's perfect to watch for flushing out a tearjerker ~Maybe~ It'll help you lighten up on those pesky heavy emotions ~Maybe~

The good news is it does have its moments. Unfortunately, it's inane, overall. It's stupid like a stupid Hollywood romcom with dumbed-down formulaic writing, and my viewing eyes have expatriated to 🌏 to get away from that junk. Some of the characters' reactions to situations that arise are truly insulting. Then it's insulting to the power of 2, 4, & 8. This we don't appreciate. It's laziness. Perhaps the best thing to be said about RL is that I watched the whole thing. Looking back, maybe that wasn't a good decision, but since I have a lot of ⏳ right now I'm trying to finish the 📺 that I start. If you aren't happy with the earlier episodes, it gets no better. It gets worse. If you are working 5 part-time jobs and don't have much 🕛, this is not the show to squeeze in between shifts to the neglect of better offerings available. It's only worth your time if you are a shut-in like me, or you are seriously in need of something brainless.

Hyuk (Choi Si Won from Work Later, Drink Now) is the n'er-do-well youngest of a Chairman's family. His brother (the beautifully square-jawed Lee Jae Yoon from Misaeng: Incomplete Life-9.1) will take over the business, but schmyuk Hyuk has never been good at anything except playing around and running with women. That kind of thing will generate a scandal or two. One day he dud it - one scandal too many. Chairdad kicked him out with n⚫thing. Nada. Zilch. Just pocket lint. It's so bad with dad that Hyuk must go into hiding. He needs 💰. He has to work, but he has no skills. Fortunately he just met her (Baek Jun played by Kang So Ra) as she lives near his assistant, Jehun/Je Hoon (Gong Myung). That's two people he can turn to in a crisis, and this is a crisis of unimaginable (to him) proportions. You need work? Jun ain't weakly. She's 📆 weekly! 'Okay,' Jun says: '👣Follow me on the temp-job parade!👣'

After a gig or two they end up as janitors cleaning chairdad's office building… with the opportunity to go FULL💲TIME. She's in heaven. He's in hell, worried he'll be recognized, but she guarantees him he won't be. It is hilarious when Hyuk stands in the lobby and realizes that he's utterly invisible when he's dressed as a janitor. It's a great scene. (Psst - do you know the names of the cleaning people at your job? Do you ever thank them? Common courtesy is free; it costs you nothing to say "Thank you.") Once their little gang moves from the construction site to the corporate gig, they face many challenges together, the ultimate one being the quest for full-time jobs. Temping is just so temporary.

On the whole, though, Hyuk is just too childish. This isn't about the actor (It took about 4 episodes before his goofy smile started to win me over a bit. It dropped on me like a cinder block at a construction site - What a cute little winsome, dimpled smile). It's the way the character is written and directed. This actor should never wear black, btw; it's a dreadful color on him. Overall, his character is a poor 💓 lead. Yes, even in a silly romcom, that matters.

"I can't believe she gets comfort from eating a pig's ear." RL does manage to sweep up here and there; at times it's adorable. In episode 6 I actually laughed out loud. Mom, played by Kyeon Mi Ri who often gets the role of a pampered trophy-wife, is precious. (Even she is too often shrill, though). From a Mars & Venus perspective, it's truly humorous how men are devastated when they hear: "I like you as a friend🤝." Men aren't looking for friends, ladies. Women think they're being °nice°, and women can like someone ~genuinely~ but not be romantically interested in the person. Men don't look at personal interactions the same way, as they prioritize other kinds of connections, ahem. This is an illustration of how being °nice°, is just a °nice° term for WEAK. It's better to be straight and forward. Look at the person, ladies, and tell the truth: 'I have no control over my feelings, and that's not the way I feel right now.' Always be kind & gentle, and always be FIRM. Here's the signing bonus: It will get easier. Flex those social muscles. Next thing you know, your whole life is going to change✨.

Jehun (Gong Myung front The Bride of Habaek-7 & Be Melodramatic-8.7) is Hyuk's lifelong friend and assistant. His father worked for the fam, and now he does. In many ways it's worked out well for Jehun, but he and his father have had to put up with alot of demoralizing condescension. It wears on a person. As of episode 11, however, I no longer cared what he was thinking, I didn't care what his motives were, I didn't care about the pain he's had in his life - he's just an a$$, and I couldn't stand him. He's bristly, grumpy, rude, callous, disdainful, cold-hearted, brusque, uncivil, judgmental, unappreciative of his father… he is a consummate jerk. There cannot be a good enough reason for his attitude. There's not many Kromcoms without a love triangle. Je-hun has a thing for Jun and that's added on to the existing pile of baggage. He had plenty of time with her and he never made a move, so he has only himself to blame. But it's much more comforting to project our angst onto somebody else. The truth seems to be that he refuses to accept that he's closed off his emotions. His experiences and the hurts that he's suffered have chauffeured him to a bad place. If we don't face the truth about ourselves we only hurt us - and people are just awful at facing truth. We are the chairmen of excuses and blaming - we exist in lies that we tell ourselves, but these lies eventually cage us. This is another form of toxic weakness: Jehun put himself in a cage and is blaming Hyuk for it, while at the same time, he's blind to how distasteful his personality has become.

Where am I now? Is this Seoul, the city I've been living in all this time?" Hyuk is surrounded by day workers scrounging to be chosen for work, and he's shocked. They've always been there, but he's never seen them before🙈. Every society has people that have been left behind, and we put blinders on because we don't know how to fix it. Then we get used to those blinders and no longer see the disadvantaged, or we tell ourselves (we lie) that they are thus due to their own fault - that's not always the case, and who among us hasn't made mistakes, anyway? RL does have a theme: Noblesse obligue. Those of us that have are morally obligated to look out for those less fortunate. There's certainly a time for giving out freebies, but that doesn't fix poverty. Looking-out means looking beyond throwing 💰 at problems. It also means to be decent/kind/courteous, volunteer, and yes, certainly give to charities that are on the ground sweeping up the debris that most people step over without a glance🙈. If you think that it's just the rich who are obligated, remember that by world standards, the entire middle class in the USA IS RICH. We could confiscate the wealth of the top 3% of the rich in this country and it wouldn't make much of a dent. We all need to do our part. It's not just the jobless, many workers are left behind. Workplaces don't need to be miserable. Bosses have a tiny bit of power, and power is one thing that flushes some of the character turds to the surface. People that abuse power to feed their pride are horrible, and also horribly delusional. How does belittling another person elevate them? It doesn't, but it does reveal how small their minds are. We can talk about laws and oversight, but the truth is that this is a matter of the💛 and we cannot legislate the 🖤. I've seen bully bosses operate and I've been victimized by one. Nobody wanted to speak up. Everyone kept their heads down hoping they wouldn't be the next 🎯. This is where social strength becomes important - we should call out abusive bosses - kindly, gently, and firmly, but not weakly. Noblesse obligue. We need to look out for eachother. Workers Unite!


QUOTE📢

Only those who suffer discrimination can feel the subtle sense of alienation.

Try not to use the third stall in the bathroom on the 8th floor.

2017 release
16 episodes
Directors: Song Hyun Wook(The Golden Spoon-8.1, The King's Affection-8.3) & Lee Jong Jae [Psychopath Diary)

Screenwriter: Joo HyunThe World of the Married

〰🖍 IMHO

📣6 📝5 🎭7 💓6 🦋5 🌞7 🎨7⚡4 🎵7 😅6 🤔3 🔚7

Age 14+? Here's a feature that's on the tween/young teen level but for 1 F💣.

👁📺again? Nope

I was watching Oh My Venus(7.4) at the same time as this. OMV could also be classified as a silly, throwaway romcom but it is so much better than RL, so RL suffered from the side-by-side quality inspection. In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

Mad For Each Other 7.8 ~silly fun;
My Secret Romance 7 (too many flashbacks just ff thru them);
Start-up 7.5;
Her Private Life 8;
A Witch's Love 7.8;
love to hate you 8.9;
Touch your heart 8.2;
Romance is a bonus book 7.9;
Boys Over Flowers 8 ~melodrama to the max;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's okay not to be okay 9;
Love Struck in the city 7.3;
Hospital Playlist 9;
My Mister 9.5;
More than friends 8;
I'll see you when the weather is fine 9;
Something in the Rain 9

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❣ Selfish vs Selfless Love & How to Know the Difference °7.3° °good°

SWNK sticks to the formulas that work. It goes on smoothly and leaves a warm feeling that lingers ~ like a nice night cream. The color palette is urban and mature, but there's a freshness to the lineup that pleases consumers. Take a look at the following free samples⤵

“Chae” Hyun Seung is a trainee at Klar Cosmetics. He's in love with his senior, Yoon “Song” Ah, his "sun'-bae". For those of you not familiar with Asian dramas, that's a HURDLE - Status is everything. (🤔However, with that round pretty face, powerful looking physique and perfect skin, we can't exactly call him disadvantaged). She keeps her comment cards close, but he is certain that Song is very available. Hoping to start a conversation, he follows her outside during the company dinner, only to see how very unavailable she is: She's secretly dating Mgr Lee. After many months with hopes up, his world caves in. Chae heads to his sister's business (a bridal salon) for consolation when the cave-in suddenly 💥: Mgr Lee shows up for a dress fitting with his fiance ~ the chairman's granddaughter ~ NOT Sunbae. This product line hasn't launched yet!

He seesaws on how to handle this ~ ⚖. Should he tell Sunbae? He & Sunbae end up on a crazy ride where they are compelled to act as BF/GF. He's delighted. She's irritated and mostly horrified. That's what she tells herself, but it's obvious that she doesn't mind his company…

SWNK, AKA: Sunbae, Don't Put That 💄 On, is a 2021 release that is rated 89 on AWiki. It is 16 65-minute eps. With more than a dozen features to his credit, the lowest rated at 6.1 and the rest north of 7.7 on MDL, Director Lee Dong Yoon's body of work is solid. The throaty Won Jin Ah, whose most popular feature is Just Between Lovers, is FL Song. Song's jr - ML Chae, is played by Rowoon. He's fabulous in The King's Affection. At a whopping 8.9 on MDL, his highest rated show is Tomorrow. He's got the goods🦋 His lovely baritone voice is warm buttered caramel sauce. Lee Hyun Wook plays Mgr Lee & BF of our FL. Seeming a mostly decent guy in an impossible place, they avoid going too cartoonish with his role. Yang Jo Ah does a great job as co-worker, Yoo Jae Kyeong, who is "on" to them early. The ubiquitous mother, Kim Mi-kyung, makes an appearance in ep11. Her schedule must be brutal; she appears in 3 -8 things a year. Our FL 's roomie, played by Kang Hye-Jin, is adorable and this is her only credited show! I hope to see her again.

SWNK has a quiet competence. With the sheerist of coverage, they keep it light. The viewer can ride along and catch the breeze without getting caked up in heavy drama. Shows like that have their place. When the inkling that it's getting bland surfaces, something catches the attention. There's just a touch of glitter, and no glaring flaws, though there is poor coverage in places. One oddity is when the always-in-slacks Song purchases a 👗 in ep7 (her roomie actually buys it for her when they're shopping) but we never see her wear it! It's like applying 💄 over the lip line - sloppy. Some of the characters are rudimental with an IQ more befitting a kids show. The company president, Lee Jae-Woon (Lee Gyu-Han), is an example. He did make me smile…

"When I'm with you, I don't care about falling. I don't care about crashing or getting lost. I'd welcome it all if I can be with you," Rowoon practically croons in one scene. Here's a tough question: Why do you like person-X? We could list certain qualities, but we don't like everybody with the same list of qualities in the same way, so that answer gets no credit. There's a myriad of things involving the subconscious, and all the senses, that culminate in those 🦋 🦋 🦋 in the stomach. "Unrequited love is nothing more than a selfish thought," we hear. This is more true than not. I'm formulating the theory that a crush is about our projection onto another person, but if it's meant to be, it's °always° mutual. A heart can never be taken or forced, but even beyond that, we still understand very little about the nature of attraction. Research indicates that it could be based on SMELL most of all! Most certainly, we have little control over whom we like, but we do control how we approach a relationship and what we bring into it.

Some people enter relationships with selfish purposes. They drain all the nutrients and never replenish them. Those people only take and never give. In SWNK, Manager Lee's father only sees his son as some /thing/ to use, which causes tremendous strain. It has, in fact, directed his son's life: Manager Lee is not free. Manager Lee is not honest with Song for selfish purposes. Manager Lee's fiance has forced him into an engagement for selfish purposes. Chae's ex wants to get back with him for selfish purposes. Our FL 's mother is selfish in her love. She tries to control her daughter while repelling outsiders. SWNK examines the downside of me-1st relationships. "We must only desire what we can have. We must only challenge what we can handle," spouts the chairman - Control is what he taught his progeny. If you find yourself in a one way crush or an uneven relationship, it's best not to hang on. Let go, and work on yourself. The more we grow and improve, the more satisfying our love lives will be. Other people will not fix our deficiencies - only determination and hard work do that. The one sister had to learn the hard way. The tighter she held on, the more her mate wanted freedom. "Thank you for calling it off. If you hadn't, I wouldn't be living my own life," she later concludes. She had to become fully formed on her own. A friendship that has never been on even footing takes a nasty fall. The two were later able to make peace and forgive. They had to each stand on their own in order to be fully formed. Now they can rely on e/o once again.

Managing fear is part of this. "These people always do that. They tear your heart out and leave you for someone else. Then they come back as though nothing has happened. What's more appalling is that they think that they can undo what they've done," says Song to Chae. They each endured relationships in which the ‘other’ used them instead of treasuring them. It's worthy of reflection. Examine your relationships. Gloss will never be lipstick, and a selfish person will never be the optimal mate. Chae describes himself as a greedy person - He's greedy for a deeper love relationship with her. That's the right kind of greediness and the right kind of selfishness. He wants to show love and to make /her/ a priority.

"I want to give more." Due to her workload, Song isn't giving as much as she's receiving in their union and it's weighing on her. That's the message. Humans are designed to feel fulfillment from giving & helping. Temporary imbalances are unavoidable. As long as she's aware of the deficit and will pay back the debt one day, it's okay. All too many would slowly presume s/he deserves that special catering, which leads to taking our partners for granted. Next, love turns selfish & the relationship suffers. One couple works out an amicable separation because one of them is gay and had entered their relationship as a way to deny it. Amicable or not, their child is devastated. For the sake of the kids, I wish separating parents could declare a ceasefire and live in a duplex or on the same street until the kids are grown - I know; someday, over the 🌈. This couple manages to divorce without bitterness. Our decisions don't affect just us, and we should consider the impact on others before we declare war on our child's father or mother.

SWNK has quality details on display. Almost every ep ends with them looking into e/o's eyes; any exceptions send a message. The wardrobe is gorgeous. I Feel You, by SANDEUL, is Spotifiable. 💄 broadcasts our FL's state of mind. Supposedly a color expert, when she's dating Mgr Lee on the sly, she dons bright scarlet. I think she can get away with that color red, but it is very bright and, perhaps, a signal of trying too hard. As of ep7 her hairstyle and look soften as she softens up to Chae. Next she goes so soft, mid-show, that she's almost colorless. It reflects her pain. She sports a perfect color balance in the latter eps. 💄 connects the 2ndary couple as well. It's love-at-first-sight for him, so, when he hears the clerk tell her that the 💄 she wants is gone /for good/ he says, in effect, "AU CONTRAIRE, I am the company president. I will give you what you desire!😍"

Kron-ih-'kah, if what you desire is a simple romantic escape, SWNK has you covered.


QUOTE📢

What moves a person is your sincerity.


〰🖍 IMHO

📣7 📝7 🎭7 💓7 🦋6 🌞7 🎨8 ⚡3 🎵/🔊7.3 😅3.5 😭4.5 😱2.5 😯4 🤔5 💤2.5 🔚8.5


Age +
Pr!(k × 2 + B@$t@rd "see' kia" is often translated "punk" but here it's stronger.

Re-📺? Probably not, but it's worth watching once for the romance fan.

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Touch your heart 8.2,
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Love Struck in the city 7.3,
Hospital Playlist 9 (it take 2 or 3 episodes to get rolling)
More than friends 8,
It's okay not to be okay 9,
My Mister 9.5,
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