Giuca

Why is beauty so important?

Ever since I started watching asian dramas just over two years ago, I noticed, and for my european mentality rather odd, the importance put on being pretty, beautiful, handsome, cute! Every time people met for the first time, the next phrase after introduction would be "You are so pretty!" (or something similar!). Where I come from, commenting on person's looks/esthetics is considered rude(and used ONLY for children!) so these phrases I often heard in dramas were and still are so disconcerting and extremely superficial in my book!
So, imagine my wonder when I started this jdrama where all everyone talks about is being cute! It is a story of a 29 year old man who has been successful in life only because of his cuteness . One day he meets an mysterious man who warns him that he'll stop being cute when he turns 30. That shakes him up and he starts unwittingly changing also under the influence of a new coworker! She is his complete opposite: serious, rigid and robotic but he falls for her. And he discovers, as well, that he is a competent professional and a caring person, which he never really considered himself to be!
The actors portrayed the characters beautifully. The office drama was not too heavy and even the loosing cuteness plot was not to dramatic: the main character accepted it as a fact and moved on! I have one little casting problem: the mysterious older man is supposed to be the ML's version from the future but the actor playing him is taller than the ML. People usually shrink not grow taller as they age!
In any case this drama is not to be taken seriously: it is a bit of lightweight fluff, fun to watch and very enjoyable and though it mentions the effects of beauty in the work environment, it is not really considered as a major problem!
I would just like to know where this obssession with the outside beauty in asian cultures comes from. I guess I'll need to do some serious research! In the meantime, let's all enjoy this sweet drama!

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Nothing new under the sun

Having watched and mildly liked 2Moons 2 some time ago, I wanted to check out the sequel. I was entertained though not by the drama itself but by the english subtitles that were most of the time gramatically so wrong ; I have discovered a new language! Amazing!
NB.Recently I came upon a tip which told me how to make the subs better on youtube(if there are better subs in another language, you can auto-translate that into english and they are much better!)

The story takes place a couple of years after the previous series! The three couples from it are living together and enjoy their relationships! Pha's cousin Lom (often translated as LOL!) is chosen as his college's Moon but loses the beauty competition. There is another contender for the Moon position, Tatch. They meet, sparks fly, a wannabe girlfriend stirs trouble, a wannabe boyfriend is acting up because disappointed! You classical enemies to lovers trope!
The series is mainly about Lom & Tatch. The three couples (Pha&Yo, Beam &Forth, Ming&Kit) from 2Moons2 are just there in the background and their main and only story is jealousy: fighting and making up!

There is absolutely nothing new about this series (maybe the introduction to the Agriculture College!). The screenplay is all over the place, nothing happens really, it is just moving along.
As for the actors...what to say? The guy playing Lom (Mark Vachara, who reminds me of Earth who played Wayo in 2M2!) is bland, charisma free, single facial expression and cannot act to save his life. He has absolutely no chemistry to speak of with the actor playing Tatch, who also is constantly wearing the same expression: raised eyebrow and a ironic smirk! The rest are hardly any better!
And the worst part were the obligatory trans comic relief characters! Why, oh why are they still doing that??????

What makes this series stand out is the amount of steamy skinship in these consensual relationships! This is so very new in thai bls! Moreover it was surprisingly tastefully done accompanied by gentle music! But there was too much of it! I guess they needed to fill up the episodes so every one of these four couples had their turns(more than one) in showcasing their love for each other in slow motion. And there was a lot of slow motion scenes of them taking their shirts off, swimming etc.

I have been wrecking my brain trying to find something positive to say about it! Still haven't found it! 7/10 for the effort, not the worst bl out there but far from good!

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Food banalities done ok

Two lonely people meet and bond over food. The end!

"No problem is too big that cannot be solved by sharing a meal." "The magic of food that brings people together." "The healing power of food preparation." These are the banalities repeated in every food drama I'd seen.This is a synopsis of a big number of japanese dramas. Japan excels in these. They are always interesting to watch but oftentimes the food preparation takes such a huge part of the drama that the plot is kept to a strict minimum. This can be a double edged sword. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not!

I love dramas where food takes the front stage: they are usually fun to watch. Nevertheless, I am not blind to their flaws. And while I love food dramas, I also need some drama in the dramas I watch.

This is a wholesome, heartfelt and kind drama with a star child actor. Here there is barely any conflict and when there is, is just people misunderstanding and making themselves miserables or sacrificing their own future. One is troubled because of a misunderstanding from childhood (he was adopted, he misunderstood a remark, retreated from any contact with the family who apparently never noticed it let alone talked with him about it) . The other one is looking after his kid brother full time (after the death of their mother he dropped out of college, their father is there but seems like a stranger) not daring to dream about a future for himself. Both these situations are rage inducing where parents pay no notice to their children who feel abandoned whether it is true or not. The two men are wasting their lives being unhappy but not knowing how to escape the trap they were forced into..

They bond over food and help each other heal. The actors are good and the child actor has a well written role, which is so rare, the kid is not overly annoying and whiny but cute and smart! It is worth the watch only for him. Beside these three characters, we barely see anyone else. There is the father going aimlessly in and out of scenes. There is a coworker helping by teaching one of the characters how to make a bento. Everyone is nice, kind and helpful. There is not one single evil character in this drama.

This is a very sad drama trying to be uplifting. The two men have not lived well until they met, their lives are true tragedies. The fact that they help each other in spite of their innate pessimism is a sign of character development and that was nice to see.

The drama is a nice watch if you do not pay attention to all the darkness surrounding the main characters. I was sad and angry when I expected fluff and good food. There was not much of either!

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Magic, martial arts & abs....

I am probably cheating a little bit for my A-Z Watch Challenge since this is the second short episode drama I chose to complete the list. None of others starting with Y, took my fancy so I picked this one: it is short so even if I don't like it, I'll finish it.
The good news? I loved it! I'd compare it to The Killer is Also a Romantic but better. The stories are similar!

Two assassins who work for the same temple, meet maskless and fall in love. The woman is supposed to kill the man but finds it difficult since he does not resemble the evil person she was told about! He reminds her of the person who saved her life three years earlier. While investigating, they both stumble upon a court conspiracy. But even after getting rid of the main conspirateur there seems to be another one.

I am not particularly knowledgeable about xianxia/wuxia lore nor do I know the difference! This one is about princes, some special powers and martial arts. The beginning is funny and maks you think it is a comedy. It took me some time to get used to characters with their many names and titles. Then it gets serious as the conspiracy becomes more obvious and secrets are revealed. But, that said, it was an entertaining ride, without a draggy moment, no time was wasted on superfluous plotlines. The main couple had great chemistry and their romantic moments were swoonworthy!

The woman assassin was so fun to watch when she eventually fell in love and started batting her eyelashes and behaving like a little wife she definitely was not. He immediately put stop to it. He respected strong women and did not want her to change. What a great message to send! For such a short drama, major characters are well drawn. Surprisingly, I did not find anything annoying!

Production value is high: sets and costumes were stunning, direction and fights choreography slick, the music was appropriately uplifting ballads and editing mostly smooth (I managed to notice a silly continuity error: sleeve moving up and down the arm depending of the camera used. There are probably others but I did not notice them, the plot was moving fast forward so I did not have time to notice details much!!!).

Well, this is the kind of c drama I like: short and without time to waste. An excellent and fun watch....

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Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead!

A soapy mix of friendship, lies, death, sex, family and abuse. And secrets! It is very difficult to watch because it is relentless in a negative way: bad things are happening all the time and nothing good happens to anyone. Ever! There is no time to breath, to rest and it did take me almost a week to go through first eight episodes. The rest I finished in a day. The pace got a bit slower and the suspense a bit lighter as the secrets were starting to be revealed one by one. Just like in any drama, the misfortunes have to keep on piling up for a long period in order to have them sorted out slowly.

This is a story of five best friends whose friendship was put on a test and eventually destroyed by the sixth girl. All characters are flawed, trying to survive in a jungle they were thrown in. They are all controlling and trying to manipulate each other with more or less success. They also thought that knowing each other's secrets protected them but it actually made them more vulnerable. And the secrets kept coming to the very last minute of the drama where the grand manipulator was revealed. There was not a dull moment or any major inconsistencies or plot holes. Everything was wrapped up nicely. The only shiny moment in this drama is the cute bl couple who had too few scenes for my liking but luckily for them they were not too important for the plot so they survived.

The acting was perfect. The writing and production flawless: I particularly liked the short pauses between the scenes with a few seconds time lapse views of the city.

PS I Hate You was an excellent single watch , but I do not wish to watch something like this again for a certain amount of time. It is just like korean makjangs: one revenge melodrama every six months is more than enough.

SPOILERS BELOW

WATCH DIARY
The plot: with friends like these, who needs enemies!
Question: who is the Narrator of the series?
So after three episodes here's what I see: on the surface best friends, but really hate each other immensely. The girls cannot stand Meen. She was in love with Pitch but his sister told her friends he was off bounds so they broke up. The sister is dead. Pitch is still in love. Meen has been dating Non for years (since high school) but refuses to be intimate with him. Non sleeps with Wan a rich entrepreneur. What I don't understand is why does not Non break it off with Meen? Does she have something on him? Does not look like it!
The hatred the three girls have for Meen is rather impressive. Why do they hate her so much? Because she's kind and honest (at least so far!)?
There was a 6th girl in their group who dated Wan's brother Win but died and shortly afterwards Win had an accident which left him a vegetable!
Each on their own, Meen and Pitch are investigating what happened at Prae's wedding and why?
The series is amazing: there has not been a dull moment so far as they are hitting us with one revelation upon another constantly! I realized I cannot multitask while watching this!
Can someone explain to me one thing: why are there two women hell bent on keeping Non? Have they actually looked at him? He is a sleazeball, ugly, squishy and at a first glance not worthy of trust. He is not even a handsome bad boy, so why? He looks like an incompetent mob offspring! And squishy! In those godawful tiger & leopard shirts!
And why is Saras scared to death of her grandmother?
Questions just keep on popping in my head while watching but for the moment, no answers!
Ep 5 and Meen is slowly starting to get on my nerves with her self righteous attitude; she's been dating Non for years, barely letting him kiss her let alone more, not really in love with him but refusing to let him go. And then she cries because he cheats on her?!?!? Non is a wimp. Why is someone like Wan in love with him, go figure! Meen is not a nice person behind her sweet attitude!
We found out that Saras has a rich grandmother from hell who never accepted her and who has been abusing her and her mother for years. She is so creepy!
Thank god for Khun and Phu: they are comforting each other. After the initial jerk phase, Phu turned out to be just a little boy lost! Maybe there's more than meets the eye between those two?
Ep 6 and I am starting to feel sorry for those four women: unappreciated and abused by their families and the society: it is no wonder why they turned out to be so hard and unforgiving!
Ep 7 slowly but surely the cracks are starting to show and the girls' real personalities are coming to light! Meen is the first one. She does not love Non, does not want to sleep with him in spite of dating him for years and has the audacity to feel hurt when she finds out he'd been sleeping with her friend. What does she do? Goest to see her ex sleeps with him and then cuts him off because he slept with another one of her friends before they knew each other! Get off of your high righteous horse, Meen and feel the real life!
I am impressed by the way the rape storyline was presented and victim's position made clear. But also, the whole thai society's position on rape and the obligatory woman's fault! It was clearly stated that it is wrong!
Ep 8 and I want to drop this so hard! I cannot stand the creeps surrounding the girls using the fact that they are weaker physically to threaten them and to abuse them. The worst, so far is Wee. He was a charmer but he is actually the most venomous snake.
I know I am only halfway through, and the drama needs to reach its peak for the things to start getting sorted but this piling of misfortunes and extremely frustrating and instead of wanting to match more I want to watch less! The balance in the events is missing!
When they are together the girls are invincible and they managed to save May but it is not enough. Definitely not over yet!
Ep 9 and Prae's mother hears some home truths but does not accept responsibility. What a surprise! And of course she goes off and blames Prae's friends, Meen in particular! What a horrible mother!
Sidenote: maybe I should make a list of others from hell?
Thai men are such machos: they fall for the "damsel in distress" play every single time. I guess the women have learned how to use the downsides of being females in a very traditional society to their own profit. And the men eat it up and ask for more! Goody!
Ep 10 They ALL hate Meen. Why so much hate? Everyone seems to blame her for everything since high school. Prae's death was just the last drop. But...Nothing that she's done so far justifies such amount of detestation. So why? We do not know everything but so far Meen seems to be an honest and a nice person.
And that Wee is a sleazy creep still going around and threatening Wan mostly!
Is there anyone nice in this drama beside the bl couple who is there just to look happy? What's with Wan's mother and her scheming by keeping her son sick? She's a real snake! Just look how Wan recoils when her mother hugs her! Motherly love is hard to find in this drama! The richer they are the worse they behave! The amount of abuse the characters are subjected to is insane! I guess this is a lakorn, right? And this is just 10min into ep 11! Insane!
And don't get me started on incompetent and corrupt police! It is in every single asian drama: a lone wolf policeman fighting against against the entire organisation which is corrupt !
Ep 12 seems like calm before the storm. Some secrets came out in the open. Suicide, abortion...what we need now is a little known trope called amnesia even though it does not fit with the plot here. Maybe the brother when he wakes up will remember nothing.
With the following episodes more and more secrets keep being revealed: drugs, addiction, sex, blackmailing and everything wrapped in dysfunctional parenting with young people trying to break free but using the wrong tactics.Prae was obviously in love with Meen, of the unrequited kind unfortunately. Meen and Pitch are in an on again off again kind of relationship: one secret: we get together, another secret: we break up, the next secret, get together again and so on.... Pal seems to have been a deeply unhappy girl who searched for love and friendship by blackmail. Saras's secret (fake name she gave the policeman boyfriend!) is also about to be found. The final showdown is approaching but the pace of the drama is somehow slowing down. Which is good: I can binge watch it now!
Ep 15 does not matter the circumstances but murder is a murder so how are they going to get away with it? Because they certainly will....
PPL: for the last couple of episodes or so, we are seeing a lot of ads for Suzuki cars which are nicely fit into the plot: a getaway car!
Another thing I need to mention is the short city view time lapse intermissions between scenes: really pretty scenes of Bangkok skyline at sunset or sunrise!
Back to the ep15: they are not getting away with anything, it's impossible!
Ep 16 and Wan's mother is shedding crocodile tears because she messed up and the company is going down the drain so no more money for a lazy drunk like her!
So people are dropping like flies. But Saras managed to tell her grandmother from hell to go to hell. Poor May. But we get to see our cute bl couple bickering at a funeral. We definitely need some light relief because this drama is relentlessly throwing complications and revelations at us.
And again in ep 17 flashback there is that girl with glasses watching them. Who is she? A red herring! In present, in spite of everything that's happened, they are all moving on with their lives, unafraid of any consequences for their actions (dead people keep piling up on their path: they just keep stepping over them going forward!) WOW!!!
What a mother! Stealing her son's inheritance, framing her daughter for murder...Well she's not their real mother! But the kids' father is the worst of them all, taking the easy way out in order not to deal with the toxic family he created!
The only character here with a bit of conscience and naivety is Saras. Though what's with her hair in the end: frizzy but coloured and with visible roots.....
Meen is on her high horse but it somehow seems to good to be true! She's being lied to as well by the person she trusts the most.
The Narrator was finally revealed to be Palana writing a suicide note to her father but ending up changing her mind when she saw the Blossom Squad and decided to create the mayhem which resulted in a number of deaths. All the time looking like an innocent child with a lollipop: Lolita!

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Tasty food is the path to love

Being a woman in a male dominated society has never been easy moreover in rigid rules' dominated Japan in the 50s. Unfortunately, the war had left ryoten without a male head so the young woman needs to get a husband in order to make the business operational. Her younger unmarried sister having eloped, Ichika, a widow, is forced to marry young Amane whose family promised to help them save the restaurant. Ichika is an exceptional cook working in a western hotel (Japan is still under US rule) and manages to blend western and japanese cuisines and make delicious food. Amane, realizing his wife's talent, pushes her to become restaurants chef in spite of customs formally forbidding women to be in the restaurant's kitchen.

Knife and Green Pepper: Ichika's Cookbook is a heartwarming tale about a 34 yr old widowed woman realizing her own worth with the help of a 19 yr old husband.It depicts the society still set in its old ways but shaken gently by the american presence and their customs.

Japanese excell in these cooking dramas and this one is no different: dishes bring people together be it by making them together(Ichika & Amane) or by serving them to "hostile" customers (americans or old respected men). We are privy to food preparation and can witness the pleasure and joy Ichiko derives from cooking. That joy is reflected in tasty dishes bringing happiness to whoever tastes them.

Everything is soft and muted in this drama: the cinematography, the music, the characters. The final song is really good and it plays over credit scene which is a must watch since it shows a scene already seen in the episode but from another point of view which brings additional depth to the characters.

The only problem I had with this drama is a total lack of chemistry between the main leads: their dynamics is more of a mother/son nature than lovers which they were supposed to have become by the end. I could not feel it. And even though Amane is oftentimes assertive and making decisions, as is expected from a sole male member of the house, and Ichika is demure and submissive as she is supposed to be with her husband, as the drama progresses their roles slowly reverse. Never completely, mind you, but they end up at the same place, looking eye to eye. I was not that much bothered by the age difference but even on the first day of their marriage, Ichika took the initiative to protect Amane from unnecessary intimacy when she realized he was ill at ease. Ichika herself had much more chemistry with the hotel chef and I could very well see them having a thing.

But this story was never going to be a conventional one: if you are going to break customs, do it completely and break every interdiction placed upon the characters. They seem to be doing this. Hopefully we will get another season of this drama and see how the characters evolve. This is based on a manga and apparently the drama covers 4 first books out of 10 published (never translated in english though). So there is more from where this came from!

PS Thanks to fansubbers for translating this drama. Such a nice watch!

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Creepy not cute meals

I started watching this only knowing that the episodes were 15min long and I needed something short to watch.

She loves to cook and she loves to eat is the self explanatory english title (thank you Furritsubs!) about two 20 something young women, neighbours and who bond over food. One likes to cook huge amounts of food for the other one to eat under the fascinated smile of the first one.

And that is what I found creepy. Maybe it is a cultural thing so I should not pass judgement but when someone invites you to a meal, wouldn't you expect them to eat with you not just watch you eat? I would but I do not know about Japan!
But it was fun to watch them cook, go grocery shopping and have fun together. Was there a need to bill this as a romance? No!!! Both characters (backstories told) seemed like persons who have never been interested in romance or for that matter ever understood the meaning of being attracted to another person. At one point the cook looks up the meaning of attraction and love between women as if she had never heard of the concept before.

The drama also manages to insert a slight criticism of japanese society and the way the women are viewed: tiny appetites and there only to satisfy men's needs. Both of these women never felt comfortable in such roles and therefore they always felt excluded by friends and family. They found the understanding they needed in each other.

There is deep friendship and understanding between two women but romantic love? I am not so sure! They have no chemistry and I really could not imagine them being more than just friends.

This is the third food love japanese drama I've watched and it left me with feeling confused: where is the romance here? The love of food not the love through food!

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Just AWFUL

How to ruin a perfectly fun and quirky series? Make the main character into a child: complete with making faces, squealing, walking bent over forwards, constantly breathless, googly eyes....and apparently that is considered cute and appealing! The more the FL behaved thus, the more her sex friends wanted her! Really Japan? WTF?!?!?!The body builder sportsman was close second: just as bad. I do not remember they were grimacing as much in first two seasons!

This was the continuation of Momoe/Ken love story. They decided to stop being sluts and date only each other but slowly. The running gag in this season was coitus interruptus: every time they wanted to kiss, something happened to stop them. We went from an adult japanese drama to a classical korean one: full of tropes, unnecessary characters (the sister?!?!?) & storylines and zero skinship. Don't get me wrong, it can be done without but here it was just ridiculous!

We did get some story development about every major character but mostly it was just temporary filler! The whole season could have been done in half the episodes.

There is probably going to be a season 4: they left everything unresolved! Talk about slow burn romance: this one is going nowhere fast!

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Cliché, so what?

I guess, I watched this at the right moment for me: I needed something light, fluffy, with minimal angst and drama. And I got exactly what I asked for. And liked it a lot finding it almost perfect until they hit us with the last episode. This is a story of second chances at love, rectifying past mistakes, repeating the same errors, learning from others, growing as a person, accepting one's flaws, getting better.

Four years ago, they were poor but in love, he had big dreams, she worried a lot. Until she could not stand it any more and she broke up with him. He went on to become a successful internet producer while she stayed down in the doldrums, trying to find a way out and failing, repeatedly. She has a big chip on her shoulder, huge inferiority complex and refuses to accept kindness and help from others. They meet again, sparks fly and in spite of past unresolved conflicts they start dating again. But it is, again, a disaster! Until she finally realizes the error of her ways and mends herself and her relationship. He is a saint basically! He loves her and forgives her all her mistakes and wrong judgements while she holds him responsible for making her feel inferior. All he wants is to help her achieve her dreams, be there for her. She gets it wrong every time. He asks to talk everything out, while she keeps saying he does not understand her without explaining anything. Talk to him so he can understand you, you idiot!

I liked the story. It is nothing new or groundbreaking just a story of second and third chances at love. The first five episodes were extremely well paced and the story flowed nicely with them bickering and fighting, him trying to push out gently the other man in the picture, nice and caring friends (who of course crush on each other!). And then they almost ruined everything with the last episode which was rushed, illogical and unnecessary! So halfway through another one of her depressions, she has an epiphany, gets aware of all her errors and gets back with him! She definitely needs therapy! This is where dramas go so wrong: being in love cures all ills! No! She was traumatized by her injury which stopped her from playing the piano professionally but she never addressed the problem!

This is more of a disappointed rant than a review. I still enjoyed it but it could have been much better!

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Office & Smiles

I do not understand why is this drama called Liar. Does anyone really lie in it? No. But they do not talk to each other.

Narita and Ichikawa are desk neighbours at work. She has a crush on another coworker and he is dating a girl his father chose. They bicker a lot and before you can realize it, they are sleeping together and had fallen hard for each other. The problem is his character: he is abrupt, direct, brutal with a few words he utters. Misunderstandings keep piling up because of his lack of communication that they end up breaking up. They meet again four years later and continue where they left it off but this time around she demands he talks to her and tells her how he feels.

I loved the characters: she is sweet, strong and independent woman. He seems like a brute but he is actually incapable of expressing his feelings. The drama has an interesting structure: the story is told by the both of them, each taking turn in telling the same events. That was original. The opening credits were something special as well: the main actors blindfolded and having paint thrown on them while they silently scream. Metaphor for the pressure the society puts on people?

There were of course a couple of things that were off: the kissing scenes were awkward, they seemed not to know what to do with themselves. The actors were great in everything else but the love scenes were really strange. Another one was the unnecessary subplot with father: since this started as an office romcom there was really no need to go into the makjang territory with the rich father paying off the unworthy woman.

This was a fun, quick watch. I had actually dropped it a few months ago, 10min into the first episode because of a cringy love scene but someone posted about it so I gave it another go. I enjoyed it immensely actually!

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Life & emotions

Who plays the main role of your life? How do you play the main role?

Here is another proof that you do not need huge budgets to make an extraordinary drama. Writing, writing, writing! Someone should tell this to K drama and thai bl screenplay writers....

On the surface a simple story of young people on the cusp of adulthood: finishing school, looking for job, finding love, figuring out who they are and what they strive to become. Slice of life drama, about 12 young people and their main life questions shown, explained and solved in a series of short but tight and to the point vignettes. The characters are a bit stereotypical but the drama is better for it since it talks to everyone.

And we have all been there: how to become a responsible adult?

The acting is top notch especially the actor playing the empath, someone with capacity to understand other people's emotions beyond the ordinary. He brings solace and proposes solutions for his friends' questions about life.

This web drama has that indie feel, the cinematography is actually pretty good since it correspond to the feelings the characters are trying to figure out: sometimes sunny, sometimes blue, sometimes sad.

Definitely worth the watch!

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Love and art

I have been putting off watching this because of the ugly poster: it gives off negative vibes. It made me think that this would be a very weird and unpleasant story.

I couldn't have been more wrong! This is pure and unadulterated fluff! Cute and sweet!

The plot is nothing original and has already been seen many, many times. A writer suffering from writer's block and down on her luck, meets a ghost of a woman in a coma. The ghost who is a painter, offers the writer to stay in her house in exchange for the writer's help sorting her business out before leaving.

There have been many versions of this story and you can see where it will end. Still, the acting is top notch, the two women have great chemistry. The production is correct. It is well crafted short web drama! I would like to know who painted the art on the walls in this drama. It is stunning and thought provoking!

The main topic, beside the love story, is art. How it is made? Why? What inspires you? Who do you make it for? The painter, who is successful sees the writer's struggles but she just watches from the sidelines, knowing from her own experience, that the writer needs to touch the bottom to realize she's going about the writing the wrong way!

This is really an excellent short drama!

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Season 4/5: His turn now!

Our novelist is back home but in spite of all success, she is not happy, missing the emperor all the time. The Book Scholar erases her memory of falling into her own book. But the emperor suddenly shows up wanting to pick up where they left off. When the Book Scholar tries to send him back to his own world, he realizes that the emperor is connected to the novelist too much. She has to find a way to make him want to go back otherwise she's going to suffer because of his presence. Now the emperor has to learn how to live in the modern society.

The comedy is back after the serious third chapter of this story. Unfortunately not as funny as before! Now it is his turn to be fish out of water and try to get used to the new setting. And just like the novelist in the first part, he gets comfortable very quickly and the focus of the story shifts to her workplace, friends and family. Mostly workplace as she tries to sell the sequel to her book and is having trouble being approved by the big boss. The workplace dynamics are quite fun to watch: the jealous supervisor, the love struck boss and his dragon of a mother big boss, the novelist's brainstorming team.... The relationship that stands out the most, though, is between the emperor and his secretary: there is a real bromance(without romance!) in the making there.

The big problem is the production value: the drama looks like their budget was cut in half: the cinematography is ugly, the colours are pale and when colours there are, they are obviously fake. The costumes are ugly, the hair is ugly (why does the emperor sport that horrible army buzzcut?). The music has been reduced to one song: I like it but I need variety.

Nevertheless, it is a fun watch, one cannot help but root for them and wonder if and how they are going to get their happy ending!

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Season 3/5 The plot thickens...

And when the plot thickens, the things get to be too serious!
It was to be expected after two funny and fluffy seasons that some things will have to be sorted out sooner or later and those things are not fun to sort out. So this season was very light on humour and heavy in difficult decisions!

The emperor and our novelist are finally openly in love and being lovey dovey while the entourage is rolling their eyes at all the fluff. But very quickly things start changing for the worse: the conspiracy fromented by the Dowager Empress and the PM is getting into the high gear. At the same time things keep happening to the emperor which are unexpected: the plague (COVID? Anyone?), him getting sick and week more and more often. And the reason is the FL whose unexpected presence completely changed the storyline and the emperor is quietly fading. To save him she needs to disappear.

I liked this season as much as the other two and was not much bothered by the absence of humour. I wanted to see how they were going to wrap the story up. And, frankly they did a great job! The story is basically a search for the man of your dreams and how great it would be to meet him. Our FL got to do that!

I will be repeating myself, but everything is excellent in this drama: from writing, acting, production values, music. I love the music!

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Clueless

I am always sorry to see all the wasted effort actors put into a mediocre result. And they were not shy about it like in majority of korean bls. I wish only the story was more interesting instead of just being a string of clichés.

Starting with the most used and annoying one: childhood best friends who lost touch meet again twenty years later and pick things up where they left off. I wish that for once the childhood trope did not win.

Then there is the completely clueless man magnet, a former idol working as an intern and having three men chasing after him. On the other hand, he looks, behaves and has the understanding of a 12 year old. I don't really get why they would be all attracted to him. His innocence? He needs to be told straight what he has to know, subtlety is not within his comprehension. So the only man who is straight with him, wins! The other two men eventually console each other.

The other Jun, who wins, is a rich and smart individual but he looks off. There was something about him that did not sit right with me, he seemed shifty, manipulative, too smooth to be true. I am not saying that he is like that, he just looked like that. The casting was wrong: I could see that actor play charming and evil psychopath you cannot help but root for!

No one seemed to be bothered about boss/employee relationship. Sometimes I am having trouble accepting certain society rules being broken for the sake of fiction. On one hand, if the rules are not broken there would not be a drama. But what about if they are not mentioned at all? Should they be at least used as guidelines? Maybe in a perfect world! I am too much under the millennials' influence here. Vade retro !!!!

The worst was the music: annoying, soulless elevator music. The budget was tight I guess! The overall production was the ordinary korean web drama quality: cold and unimaginative though, for the first time I notice that the sound was better (no echo!) than it usually is.

It is a watchable webdrama. Instantly forgettable. Everything is a bit off here: pacing, writing, production, acting. If you need something short and not too heavy on brain cells, this is an adequate product. Nothing more, nothing less, just adequate!

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