PrettyCarEye

In your opinion, not in mine.

If this is true, praise the lord! LOVE him, but can't stand her.

Arasseo, arasseo, I don't like it either but you've made your point.

Bahaha! Dramaland is so full of BS!

Who is the baby daddy?

How is it?

I'll respond over on your feed wall. Seems like we've hijacked the Another Oh Hæ Young's thread! haha

Welcome back! Glad you had a nice time in KSA.

Yeah, one time I very half-heartedly tried to study Japanese and I ran screaming in the other direction as well. Way too complicated and time consuming. Try to learn kanji & hiragana was like pulling teeth. I dropped that like a hot potato. I find the Korean alphabet a lot less complicated to learn, and I can even read basic words and sentences based on my own self-study. I've finally booked my trip to South Korea for July so when I get there maybe I'll look into taking some Korean classes while I'm there.

There was an attempt at mystery in Tokyo Bandwagon, but it isn't a serious driver of the plot. Either the 'mystery' is revealed after one episode or it's very predictable and probably wasn't really a mystery in the first place. Its used more as a gimmick. I think you'd be very disappointed if you decide to watch the drama because of the mystery. There is none, basically.

I've been hearing about White Christmas since I entered dramaland. I've never been tempted to start it. Doesn't it have our friend you don't like, Sung Joon?

Have you seen Kazokugari? It came highly recommended to me as a mystery/psychological suspense thriller. I watched the first episode and remember it didn't really pull me in, but of course one episode alone isn't enough to draw a conclusion. I intend to pick up again later and give it a fair chance. Sounds like a drama you'd enjoy though.

I prefer to marathon too, rather than wait every week for new episodes. I don't have the disciple or the patience, esp when the drama is good.

It's a job. He's a grown man with a family to provide for. How do you think he earns money if he doesn't work?

This also happened in HapiMari. If you believe dramas, it would seem like Japanese women love stringing men along by always having a backup in case things in their current relationship don't work out.

Nice family drama with some lovable characters and surprisingly great music, but quite underwhelming.

It had some amount of family warmth, but not enough to really capture my heart. It had some amount of comedy, but not enough to make me double over with laughter like I did when I watched Brother Beat, for eg. It had a spot of romance, but not enough to make me smile & be all warm and fuzzy inside. Though quite cute together, the leading couple never kissed or embraced even once! In fact, there was hardly any touch contact between any of the characters! So weird for what's supposed to be such a close-knit family, but that's Japanese drama for you. Smdh.

The Hottas were great though, and my favourite character was of course rocker dad, but nothing really happened to make me desperate to watch the next episode. It was too easy to set aside in favour of something else. I'm giving it only a 6 because it was so bland. Good, but bland. Too bland.

Yup, Easter is over for this year. Went back to work on the 18th, that's why it might take a while to respond.

KSA ... I would love to visit there, but I hear it's hard to get a tourist visa because basically they're so rich they don't need tourism dollars! May I ask why you're going? Vacation?

I love the Korean word for 'Hey!' ... 'Yah!' And in Japanese ... 'Oi'! Actually 'oi' is quite popular in Jamaica where my mom is from. When i heard it in J-dramas I was so surprised. Goes to show that we're separated by language & culture, but at the same time we're not.

I don't use 'Ah chincha' so much but I do love how it sounds. Really looking forward to seeing Korea as we see it in the dramas! :)

If I had the patience to learn Mandarin, I would. I like the sound of it. I love listening to Wallace Chung speak! His voice and his Mandarin is so manly & sexy to me, although I can never tell if he's being dubbed or not. haha

I tried self-studying Mandarin for a while but gave up because it was sooooo complicated with all those different sounds! You'll have one word and depending on the pitch of your voice it changes meaning. Aish! I had to stop. lol German ... I actually started learning it at one point (I lived in Austria for a year), but I dropped it because it was another complicated language and like you I don't really like the sound of it either.

What are you watching now? I just finished Tokyo Bandwagon ... a nice little family drama, but quite underwhelming. It had some amount of family warmth, but not enough to really capture your heart. It had some amount of comedy, but not enough to make you double over with laughter like I did when I watched Brother Beat, for example. It had a spot of romance, but not enough to make you smile & be all warm and fuzzy inside. Though quite cute together, the couple never even kissed or embraced once! That's Japanese drama for you. Nothing really happened to make you desperate to watch the next episode. I had no problem putting it on hold several times before finally finishing it yesterday. I think I'm going to give it a 6 simply because it was so bland. Good, but bland. Too bland.

Are you kidding me? What made this drama great was indeed the fact that the romance went totally against the grain of the usual childish, idiotic & cheesy type romance that's common in the Asian drama sphere. For once I didn't have to roll my eyes until they almost fall out of my head. I hope they kill all the classic romance bs & continue with interesting & fresh!

It's really funny. I don't particularly care for the sound of Japanese, although now I don't mind it as much as before. To me it sounds very guttural and harsh. Korean is a more fun, melodious language, with interesting sounding words like 'Buh', 'Arraseo', 'Wæ', 'Bitchoseo' ... haha. I ramble in Korean to myself all the time, using these and other words.

I absolutely hate triangles, but I do like secondary couples. I'm a sucker for romance so the more the merrier. Especially if they're cute wihtout being cheesy, like the secondary couple in Heart to Heart (I doubt you've seen that drama because it's not your type). I want all the couples in the drama to get their happy ending. I can't stand tragic melos that just down your room! Ugh!

Haha ... the submission mentioned herein is as far removed from the bible as one can get! Submission in this context refers to a type of sexual activity in which one partner acts as a Dominant and the other a submissive. Usually the Dom, as the name suggests, dominates the sub sexually. To be a submissive it means one surrenders him/herself completely to the sexual demands of the Dominant, who is usually called Master or Mistress. I don't want to get into too much details here, and shock the good people of MDL, but you can google this type of submission and see for yourself if you're still curious.

In Sealed, the D/s dynamic was very toned down (compared to how it's usually done in the West), but very clearly evident nonetheless. To a viewer who is not familiar with this lifestyle, some of the male lead's actions will appear borderline abusive, but seen in the context of a D/s relationship it made his brutish behaviour more palatable since the submissive (the heroine) gives him permission to dominate her. Rather than him making demands & he getting his way. If the sub doesn't cooperate and willing to play, then the Dom simply does not Hard to explain but I hope you get the gist.

Oh, you're going abroad? Where to? Hope you have a nice trip. I adapt to languages very quickly so as long as a drama catches my attention, I don't care what language it's in as long as there are subtitles. I'm looking forward to starting Snail, but like you I can't deal with 21 episodes now, now that the Easter holiday is over. Cheers.

Moral of the story: As much as we all love the idea of love, marriage isn't about love, it's about loyalty. Loyalty will remain between a married couple long after the love is gone. Therefore, you have affairs and become emotionally entangled with married people at your own risk.

The entire cast & crew did a superb job. While affair themes always make me uneasy, I have to say this was an incredibly well made film. The script is solid -- the symbolism and subtext woven into the narrative elevates the plot and is as far removed from cliche as you can get. With such great material, the actors were able to give effortless performances that fill you up with emotion, and even empathy for these characters who would've otherwise been quite unlikable. By far, one of the better films about infidelity out there.

I don't think he would have left his family even if he knew she had left hers.
After the fashion show he was ready to throw everything away and run off with Sang-min. Sang-min too was ready to give up everything to be with him, but then her husband and son turned up. She went home with them out of guilt, but only to realize that she can't deny her feelings any longer, however, by the time she comes to this realization it was too late.

Why?

Because when Hi-kong himself went home and his wife empathized with how tough things must have been on him ... for the first time in a long time he felt like she really SAW him, finally she SAW that she wasn't the only one who was suffering. Hi-Kong was also suffering and lonely.

By her acknowledging this, Hi-Kong felt guilt and renewed sense of responsibility and obligation toward his family, even though he had fallen deeply in love with Sang-min & wanted nothing more than to drop everything and run to her. This sense of guilt and renewed responsibility was re-enforced when his daughter begged him not to leave them (him standing on the ledge was a metaphor for his relationship with Sang-min, but to his daughter it seemed like he wanted to leave via suicide). When the child looked at him, beseeching him with her eyes, then hugged him ... that was the turning point for Ki-Hong. That's when he knew he could never leave. His wife and daughter depended way too heavily on him. I think he stayed mainly for his daughter, but his wife is so unstable that if he upped and left her she'd probably end up doing something really stupid and he didn't want to do that to her or his kid.

Back in Finland, he's once again reminded of this fact when he's about to take off after Sang-min but then he caught his daughter's eye through the window.

I'm not really a fan of affair movies, but I have to admit this was very well done. Lots of great subtext and symbolism here. The movie doesn't insult your intelligence by spelling everything out for you, but depends on the strong foundation of the script and the incredible acting chops of the leads to tell a rather heartfelt story. They did a fantastic job!

Your English is absolutely not terrible. I'm always so impressed with learners who have such wonderful command of a language that is not their native tongue. Of course, English is a global language but still, you all speak way better English, in addition to other languages, than English speakers, esp Americans, can speak a foreign language.

You shouldn't worry about stuff like good language, and certainly not on the internet! You're not sitting a language exam after all! :D And rest assured most natives don't have a perfect command of the language either, including yours truly so girl, you're good!

I speak a smattering of Spanish & French (I seem to remember a lot more Spanish than French though). Nothing close to how well you write English. My French kind of deteriorated when I moved to Northern Europe, but I hope to start practicing again someday. I want to be fluent in French, Spanish & Korean within my lifetime. I had to pause my Korean lessons due to other life commitments, but I'm so looking forward to going to Korea this summer for vacation. I'm wondering if I should enroll in language classes there or continue to self-study and get occasional help from a tutor.

Yes, Jung Woo Sung is the lead in Athena. I think he's fantastic at what he does. I haven't seen him in anything yet where I didn't like him. I had to chuckle at your comment about SLS because that goes to show how completely opposite our drama tastes are. It's not that I don't understand the appeal of the 2nd lead, but for me I always root for the guy who I know is gonna get the girl. LOL, why set myself up for disappointment? Also the fact that most 2nd leads have no pride whatsoever, always chasing after some guy/girl who clearly doesn't want you ... I usually shake my head and wonder what the hell is wrong with you, get a damn life already! hehe

Even after they've been rejected a MILLION time they're still hanging around like a mangy dog. I find them super annoying. I also get annoyed when the leads keep hanging around them too for no justifiable reason. Nah, not totally my gig. LOL But hey, to each their own. Variety is the spice of life, right? I love hearing why people love what they love or hate what they hate, esp when it's opposite to my own preferences. Through the influence of discussions with other drama friends my preferences evolve and change fairly often.

I'll leave you to google what submission is all about. I don't know if the showrunners of Sealed made a conscious decision to make a drama about submission, but because of the circumstances the characters found themselves in, it became a key part of the plot. It's certainly way, way, way tamer than Western shows with similar theme, but I was so glad to watch a really grown up drama without all the cuteness and cheese. Anyway, yeah, totally not your cup of chai, though. Stay far away! :)

What may be your cup of chai is C-drama When A Snail Fails In Love. I came across it on my list yesterday and I immediately thought of you as I considered if I should start it myself. I like the sound of the plot and the trailer gave a good impression of the show. I'm definitely going to watch it at some point. The male lead is a hot and he's a total badass with some sick martial arts skills. Our heroine is no weak link either. Though apparently she can't fight like the hero, she's a master criminal profiler. The drama seemed pretty action-packed with an order of romance on the side. Perhaps you can look into it and see if it might tempt you to give C-dramas another chance. It seems right up your ally as the romance is not the focus. In fact, according to people who've watched it romance takes up only about 20% of the plot. Personally, I would have definitely preferred more, something closer to 50-50 is just about right for me ... but for you this sounds like a perfect combination!

I will visit Morocco someday soon for sure! So many of my friends have been there and loved it. I'm kind of kicking myself for not taking the trip, but because of bad planning I had to drop it for this Easter, but a trip later on this year or next Easter is definitely in the works! :)

Yes, it is easy to fall into that trap. It happened to me after watching Pride, Buzzer Beat, Orange Days, Brother Beat ... all of which had really satisfying endings. Then, man, the more I watched the more I realized these shows were the exceptions. Not the rule. The rule is for everything to fall apart in the last 1 or 2 episodes, leaving you feeling dissatisfied af, like you've been punched in the stomach.

I learned this hard way when I watched dramas like Cheap Love & Aishiteru to Ikketure (and many other romance related j-dramas). Aishiteru to Ikketure was so good for the first 9-10 episodes, so so good. I was absolutely loving it and it was a sure 10 up to that point ... then I watched the last 2 episodes and got the shock of my life. Same goes for Cheap Love. I was like how the hell could they end the drama like that ...??? Just because they want to avoid a so-called ''cliche" ending! The ending literally made NO sense compared to the rest of the show. So I agree with you wholeheartedly when you say it's better they give us a cliche ending than a stupid, totally nonsensical one.

Cute stress buster with a pair of very attractive leads. I am now a fan of Dean Fujioka. The guy sure is a looker! Chemistry was good and for once you got a fairly decent kiss in a j-drama. Too bad one kiss is all you'll ever get.

While I never root for 2nd leads, Yagami-kun was a sweet guy. It was hard not to like him.

That said, I didn't like how Chiwa was always hanging around him. It felt like she was keeping him on retainer so that if she SUSPECTS her husband is cheating, she'd go ahead and cheat on him too with Yagami. Made it seem like she wasn't serious about her marriage. She was way too self-centred and unwilling to give Hokuto the benefit of the doubt, esp as she was running around claiming to be in love with him. Not to mention she was totally leading Yagami-kun on the whole time.

Your hubby doing something you don't like? Talk to him and tell him how his behaviour makes you feel, get concrete evidence that he is in fact cheating on you ... instead of jumping to wild conclusions and running off with another man the minute you have an argument. I mean, every time her husband wasn't around she was with another man. Going over to his house n sh--, not once, not twice but three times! Inviting him into your marital home, not moving away as he's about to kiss you ... IN your marital home. NOT cool. There's a reason why God made man and woman. So that things can happen. And things were bound to happen the more she put herself in compromising situations.

Sure, Hokuto was also hanging around his ex, but that was purely professional. And clearly if he had a choice in the matter he'd've chosen to be with Chiwa instead so it's not at all the same.

Anyway, it all worked out in the end. Hapi Mari.

Yeah, this is not unique to just this drama. I can promise you. It's pretty much the rule, rather than the exception, for Japanese dramas to derail in the last 2 episodes, esp in this genre. Watch enough and you'll realize this pretty quick. That's why I got in the habit of checking the endings of most J-dramas before starting them, if I'm not in the mood for any unpleasant surprises. Nothing pisses me off more than investing hours of my time and energy into a drama only to be disappointed by a crappy ending!