Another week has past and this one was significantly more painful than the last. In fact, if the dramas this week weren't wringing my poor abused heart they were shooting up my blood pressure and making my palms sweaty.
Anyone else have a rough week?
Dramas discussed: Last Cinderella, The Fugitive of Joseon, Gu Family Book, Dating Agency: Cyrano, Just You, Jang Ok Jung, Heartless City, I Hear Your Voice, and Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo.
Anyone else have a rough week?
Dramas discussed: Last Cinderella, The Fugitive of Joseon, Gu Family Book, Dating Agency: Cyrano, Just You, Jang Ok Jung, Heartless City, I Hear Your Voice, and Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo.
Last Cinderella Episode 11
And with this episode, I have finally finished this series. I had a feeling after watching episode 10 that it was going to end this way but I can't help but feel like it was originally meant to end with my OTP and then fan opinion made the writer(s) change direction. I found a post on another blog that summarized how I feel perfectly:
And then you have to wonder about Rintaro’s character. Everyone – even randoms in the background- gets a happy ending. He leaves so Sakura gets to be manager and gets her love. Hiroto’s family supports his dream and he gets his love. Shima finds happiness, Chiyoko will get rid of her scar and have a happy family, Miki has a happy home and a wedding. And he moves to New York where he knows nobody to open up a store. Gatta feel bad for him. Someone said he’s the reason others found happiness but unless he’s got a terminal illness and will die in a week or he’s Sakura’s great-grandmother who came down from Heaven for three months to help her find happiness, I still think his ending sucks. What’s the point of his ex-girlfriend coming to tell him he’s happiest with Sakura? Why take such a long time for him to realize his feelings? Sigh.
EXACTLY! If Rintaro was meant to be the end-all "guy 2" why give his character more depth? He really felt like the lead but then he got the short end of the stick in the end. It just felt wrong. Oh, well. I won't be re-watching this one that's for sure!
The Fugitive of Joeson Episode 1
Yey! I'm finally jumping on board this ship! Woo hoo!! Actually, I'm watching this drama with my friend so I may be progressing slowly.
The series took off at a great pace, quickly introducing characters to us and getting right to the point with the story. This is really refreshing for a sageuk (even a fushion one) and it's nice not to be boggled down in politics for once. I think we are going to be in for a wild ride and I can't wait to watch more!
Besides, who can resist Dong Wook and his Facial Expressions of Awesome? Not this fangirl!
Gu Family Book Episodes 23-24
Sigh. So I finished, and if you've checked out my list of drama betrayals post you will already have an idea of how I feel about these last two episodes.
I did not like the ending.
Granted, I do recognize it could have been way worse. I understand that. But one of the things about Gu Family Book is that it continually surprised me by going above my expectations. I don't know how many times I groaned in frustration thinking it was going to go there only to have it throw me a curve ball and go in a completely different, better direction. I think this is one of the main reasons why I ended up loving it so much despite the roughness of the plot.
So even though I worried that it would do exactly what it ended up doing in the finale, I still had hope that it would surprise me just one more time, and Be The Better Drama, so to speak. Unfortunately this is not the case. Here is my review from over at MyDramaList:
I feel very generous with my "good" rating considering the rage I felt after finishing this drama. I was all set and ready to actually mark Gu Family Book as one of my top ten favorites before the last two episodes had to come along and ruin it all. My feelings for this drama went through three stages: this blows, this is freaking awesome, and thisistheworstdramaever.
Plot wise, it suffered. There was an initial direction and motive but nothing was ever executed efficiently and the show really went all over the place. The acting was just okay at best. I love Lee Seung Gi and Suzy both but they have done better. The other actors were similarly awkward for the most part.
Despite these flaws, the relationship between Kang Chi and Yeol Wool was refreshingly sweet and there were many characters who grew on me and made me love them. This was enough for me to be rather forgiving of Gu Family Book's weak points.
Having said that, the ending was unnecessary on so many different levels I cannot even begin to express my disappointment and anger. It was suuuuper out of place and only lead me to the conclusion that this drama did NOT accomplish what it initially set out to do. In other words: Gu Family Book, you fail. I just wish you hadn't captured my heart and taken me down with you.
Dating Agency: Cyrano Episodes 9-10
This is one of only two dramas that were easy to watch this week (the second one being Just You) and I was so thankful for the emotional break. Although, I have to say that this show has just been all around easy to watch so it's not like this week was any different. Sometimes it is nice to just have a light-hearted, low-stakes RomCom that breezes by.
The love triangle did really kick into gear this week, and I can already feel sympathy pangs for Master because I adore him. Hopefully this will force our heroin out of her oblivious bubble though and force her to start taking some risks of her own in the Romance Department. I'm looking forward to it!
Just You Episode 1
So I started a currently-airing Taiwanese drama. It's gotten increasingly harder for me to watching shows out of Taiwan because the quality just never compares to Korean dramas and I find them harder to jump on board. Luckily Just You kicked off with a cute, albeit unoriginal, first episode and I'm happy to say that I think I'll be sticking with this one!
The potential for cute is evident despite the typical plot and it looks like we are gonna get some great chemistry. I kind of feel Office Girls vibes which is a good thing since I enjoyed that drama. Hopefully this one continues it's light-hearted, comedic route.
Jang Ok Jung Episodes 23-24
I'm just gonna post my review from over at MyDramaList for this drama because wasting any more time writing about it would just be pointless (I am so glad it is finally over):
This drama had such a strong, satisfying start that its slow decent into makjang territory was just all the more disappointing. It's almost as if we have two completely different shows here:
The first half - A sweet re-telling of the most infamous woman in Korean history.
The rest of the series - A melodramatic sageuk with bickering politicians and fizzled chemistry.
I love shows that try to shed a new light on popular stories (whether they be fictional or otherwise) because it is always so interesting to see things from a different point of view. I was also so pleased in the beginning of Jang Ok Jung because it did exactly that - it took a typically hated character and gave her a story where we could root for and love her. But then it lost it's original purpose and started sticking more to historical facts and traditional sageuk shenanigans and in the process gave up all of the glorious chemistry between the leads. It also lost its lovely cinematic screen in the later half as well, which was just sad (this drama was so very pretty at first). I would like to blame the ratings for most of this, since even with such a strong start Jang Ok Jung suffered from low viewership. And it's unfortunate but around the time the series started to go downhill is also when the ratings started to pick up (but only slightly) which probably encouraged the producers to continue forcing it down a road it was never meant to travel.
Having said that, I've never read the novel or seen any of the writer's other works so I can't say that either weren't also at fault. I CAN tell you that it is full of disappointment and misfortune. It's such a shame and such a waste of what could have been a very original and beautiful series. Props to the actors for at least giving it their best. Cheers!
Heartless City Episodes 9-10
What a great two episodes! I'm really glad things picked up this week after the lull that was episodes 7-8. I have to say, I think the romance escalated a little quickly (we went from 'they-ve-only-briefly-met-twice' to 'holly-crap-they-are-lovers' but whatever). I really do like these two and I guess I can kind of understand why things progressed the way they did.
The only thing I really think that Heartless City is suffering from is a lack of development in Soo Min's character. She's supposed to be our lead but we still don't know much about her. Granted we get a few flashbacks from her past this week, which was nice, but I find myself struggling to attach myself emotionally to her character because she doesn't feel like she is the heroin.
I think it would have been beneficial for this show to have given Soo Min more screen time in the beginning because I still feel more attached to her older sister (who is long gone) and I should be more on board with Soo Min by now.
Oh well, maybe there is a reason for it. All I know is this show loves it some twists and turns because we get another (possible) totally unexpected twist at the end of episode 10 which makes me want to crack up, actually, at the ridiculousness of it all. We'll just have to see!
I Hear Your Voice Episodes 7-8
Such an emotional week for this drama! Arg. My feels. We get some heartache, heartbreak, sorrow, tension, and fangirl squees. I'm still reeling in aftermath of it all. I was telling my friend (who is also watching this) that I love how, even though it is painful, I Hear Your Voice does emotion and tension so well that it feels like we are right there with these characters. It doesn't feel forced or over-dramatic. It feels real. And I just love that.
Plus? Lee Jong Suk ♥. Need I say more?
Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo Episode 12
As I predicted last week, episode 12 was pretty boring for me. I expect one more week of this at least we launch into the middle of the Angst Arch which I have already suffered through enough with the other editions I've seen. Luckly, this version still throws in moments here and there that are different so I'm not completely bored. I'm still looking forward to when this section of the plot is over. Come on~ drama!
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Well, that's about it! Suffice to say, it was a week full of disappointment and lies and I really hope next week is much better. *crosses fingers*
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