kittyflumpin

With both the Lost Tomb series and the Candle in the Tomb series I've gotten to the point where at first glance I'm not even sure if I've watched any specific installment of the story (with a few exceptions-- that first Lost Tomb series with Yang Yang as Zhang Qi Ling is something I *definitely* remember). As such, I've basically resolved myself to just taking each series' story at face value and not trying too hard to tie it in with "the bigger picture," since that often just leads to frustration (I even read the 6 books of the Grave Robbers Chronicles that have been translated to English hoping to get some answers about Zhang Qi Ling and just ended up with more questions). I try to just enjoy the adventure and (hopefully) spooky settings/scary creatures (and yeah, sometimes the eye candy in the cast).

I was wondering if this would happen. Same thing happened with the Spring 2020 anime season, with a lot of series being postponed until July (after dropping 2-3 eps already). Oh well, I guess it's a good time to catch up on my *extensive* back catalog.

I like ZYL as much as the next person but this is garbage. It's just an extended advertisement for some anti-wrinkle potion from L'Oreal, in which the company portrays the use of its product as a rebellion against the status quo. The irony in this is staggering. They're basically trying to appeal to women by giving lipservice to "empowerment" (though the use of their product, naturally, in the fictional world) while still playing on their insecurities about aging (courtesy of real-world beauty culture, WHICH THEY PROFIT FROM) to sell them shit like this.

I realized it's just an ad and I shouldn't expect any sort of artistic integrity or actual meaningful message from it. But I've seen other mini-dramas that are just glorified commercials and at least they didn't insult the intelligence of their targeted consumer like this one does.

As for the science fiction commentary on beauty standards, The Twilight Zone did it better (and without missing the entire g-damn point) all the way back in 1960 in the "Eye of the Beholder" episode.

Subscene has them.

I'm so tired of this trope. At least switch the gender roles and let the FL be the eccentric genius, it would automatically be 10x more interesting for that aspect alone.

I can't help but feel that some of the charm of the original is lost by casting idols (esp. for Midori & Sayaka), not to mention trying to pull this off in live action in the first place. I think of how well the anime would seamlessly cast the girls adrift in the (animated) world of their own making while simultaneously demonstrating the concepts they are discussing in each ep, and I'm not sure a live action can pull this off with the same finesse. I suppose I'll give it a shot though. Since the main 3 actresses are all members of the same rotating-member idol group I imagine this will be fansubbed at some point.

Rather than a short drama, think of it as a long commercial. I mean, it's a cute, serialized commercial that I'm definitely gonna watch, but it's still basically just an advertisement for this supermarket chain. At least it's for the store itself and not any particular brand, so they're not constantly posing with products to show off the labels.

OMG YES THAT'S IT. I'm so glad someone found evidence of this crime. I was starting to wonder if I'd imagined it.

I'd forgotten about the random plastic rhinestones that look like they were hotglued to the shoulder pillows though. It's actually *worse* than I remember it, amazingly.

To this day, I am still haunted by a particular outfit worn by Gong Hyo Jin's character in the 2011 K-drama The Greatest Love. I don't remember a lot about the drama but I don't think her entire wardrobe was particularly bizarre. But there was this *one* blouse that had these... pillow-like, stuffed pads (???) sewn onto the shoulders. Not shoulder-pads, attached within the top to give the illusion of broader shoulders; no, these were just attached on the *outside* and I have no clue what kind of fashion statement they were making, except that whoever was in charge of the wardrobe was clearly being blackmailed into using the design (or they themselves were inflicting their own misguided attempt at avant-garde fashion on the viewing audience). Either way, I still remember it almost a decade later (I tried my best to find a screenshot of the offending garment, to no avail).

I thought the same thing-- watching him last year in Original Sin I kept thinking he kind of has naturally pouty lips ("resting pout face"?) and it definitely works to his advantage in this role.

I think the love story part of this drama is lost on me b/c as soon as Aida showed up I was like, "Him. Pick HIM." I'm still thinking it at ep.9, and I'm guessing ep.10 won't change my mind either.

Oh yes, that's what I mean. I had no problem with TP publishing more graphic novels by Western artists-- great!* I just didn't appreciate them telling both the aspiring creators and the consumers that it's somehow "manga" (which, like "anime," is a word that when used in English has certain connotations of a work's origin). Shunning the label of "graphic novel" in favor of "manga" either belies a disparaging attitude towards western graphic novels ("they can't tell compelling stories like manga can!") or a pigeon-holing of manga based on one particular art style ("everything that looks like this is manga!"), if that makes sense.

(*Except that, beyond the labeling issue, a lot of these mostly-young & unexperienced creators also got screwed over in the process.)

Huh, I guess I didn't realize that based on the comments here

Okay, thank you-- this is basically what I wanted to know before I start watching. I kind of figured based on the era it's set in that people would be expected to get married regardless of personal inclination (or maybe he's just bi) so I didn't want to assume the wife was created out of the blue just to "no homo" the story. I'm pretty good at reading between the lines so while of course censorship of LGBQ etc. content is bad, it seems like there's still potential for a worthwhile love story here (depending of course on how they adapt it).

It's just a small moment but I loved that Man being bi was such a casual reveal (if it had been hinted at earlier, I missed it) and his friends (well, Sarawat at least) must already know about it b/c he was gushing about his Mystery Guy (Type) without hesitation.

Do you (or does anyone) know if the character has a wife in the original story? Or was the character invented strictly for the drama to obscure the mlm element?

I think it's interesting that, as far as I can tell, I'm one of the few people that isn't really into the Saifah/Zon storyline at all. I don't hate it, I'm just indifferent to it (whereas I always want to see Fighter & Tutor whenever they're not onscreen). I think the wacky "Zol putting her own brother in a fanfic" angle in the beginning kind of soured me on them, which is too bad. I wish they hadn't included that in the story.

Okay, yeah, this would make more sense imo, that maybe he meant he wasn't gonna go for Round 2 already that same night. Or like, "we're not just gonna stay in our room and go at it like rabbits for the remainder of this vacation" (though god I would watch that too...)

Oh, I vaguely remember this. It sounded like a bad idea from the get-go.

Quite honestly it reminds me of like the so-called Western manga boom in the mid-2000s where certain manga publishers *cough*TokyoPop*cough* tried to convince creators (and consumers) that simply drawing in a certain style makes something "manga", regardless of its origin. There's more to an art form than just aping the superficial aspects.

The whole "pet" premise is really just a plot device for Sumire to feel comfortable showing her true self to Momo (instead of the stifling facade she puts on for almost everyone else, including her initial love interest). At first he accepts the position because he needs a place to stay (he has his own back story goin' on) but needless to say they quickly find their relationship growing beyond the odd dynamic they start out with. It's really quite good (the 2003 drama at least) and the manga, published here in the U.S. as "Tramps Like Us" (presumably TokyoPop figured the "You Are a Pet" title was too bizarre for the American manga crowd at the time) is ~excellent~.