The Mysterious Village in the Deep Deep Woods °8.3° °excellent°

For as much as I liked this show, I don't have much to say. In part, that's because not much can be said without spoiling something. I went into MTOS knowing nothing and I'm glad I did. The mysteries undergo a gradual-unravel. The viewer that comes into the show with even half of the answers is MISSING half of the fun.

MTOS follows a string of murders and missing persons - some new, some old, some very old. The viewer watches police as they investigate, and follows the families, friends and the victims themselves. It is utterly heartbreaking, yet it is lined with hope. It is a 2 season 2020 release, rated 89 on AWiki and consisting of 26 60ish-minute episodes. Currently, the very popular S2 is not available for streaming. S1 is just 12 episodes.

The acting is truly superb. Go Soo (Heart Surgeons, The Flower in Prison) is Kim Wook. He witnesses the abduction of a woman which makes him the next target of the gangsters - they saw him seeing what they did, and they don't like witnesses. He must run for his life and his running takes him to a very strange village.

Heo Joon Ho (Kingdom-8.3, Why Her?-8) plays Jang Pan Seok, a man who lives in the village. His life ended when his daughter was abducted over 15 years ago. He spends his time handing out fliers, visiting the police, and chasing leads - most of them false. Ahn So Hee (Thirty-Nine, Eulachacha Waikiki S2) plays Lee Jong Ah, one of Wook’s coworkers. She is super-cool. Her part is cool, but the coolness really seems to the actress herself. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her. Ha Joon (Black Dog-8.2, Destined with You, Crazy Love-7.8) plays Shin Joon Ho, a cop who appears to have much more head than heart. Two residents of the village are Seo Eun Soo (Dr. Romantic, Duel, Chief Detective 1958) as Choi Yeo Na and Song Geon Hee (SKY Castle, Lovely Runner) as Thomas Cha. Ji Dae Han (Chicago Typewriter) really shines as Officer Baek Il Doo. I can't explain it, but midshow I realized that every line he uttered amused me immensely. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him as well. The director is Min Yeon HongInsider from Ugly Alert. The screenwriters are Ban Ki Ri from Who Are You and Witch's Romance, and Jung So Young - a first effort.

MTOS is more a crime thriller than anything else, but it is quite unique. While many horrible things happen, it somehow manages to send the viewer off strangely uplifted. It's a horrible world with horrible things going on all the time. We are blessed if we can find any decent companions with whom to brave the elements. Wook navigates heartbreaks while forming firm alliances with worthy allies. By the end, he's missing much less despite his losses. He is able to reconcile with his past and go forward as a better man. Would that each one of us could.

〰? IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 8.3
Writing 8.4
Acting 8.8
Art 7
Sound & music 8
Ending 8.4

LEVELS
Warmth 6
Action 5
Laughs 3
Tears 7
Fright 4
Tension / Anxiety 4
Gore 3
Thought provocation 4
Snores 0

?8.3 ?8.4 ?8.8 ?7 ?/?8 ?8 ▪ ?6 ⚡5 ?3 ?7 ?4 ?4 ?3 ?4 ?0


Age 15+
Violence and extremely sad subject matter

Re-?? Yep


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

Crazy Love-7.8,
Mystic Pop-up Bar-8.2
Inspector Koo-8.4,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Hotel del Luna-8.4
Black Dog: Being A Teacher-8.2,
Move To Heaven-8.4,
My Mister 9.5,

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Every Sunflower Needs Its Sun °7.8° °cuteness overload°

Adapted from the novel, "She’s a Little Crazy”, WIFTY is as cute as cute gets. Zhang Miao Yi (Exclusive Fairytale) plays FL Su Zai Zai. She might be alittle crazy, but she's also like sunshine. Crazy, in this case, means an uninhibited, hyper-focused go-getter. She's gonna go get herself Zhang Lu Rang (Zhou Yi Ran from The Legend of Zhuohua, Falling into Your Smile-5.7). He's gloomy and more like the moon, but he likes sunflowers. Lu Rang is good at every subject but English. Languages are a snap for Zai Zai, but she struggles with everything else. They end up tutoring eachother. After you meet Lu Rang's mother, it makes sense that he likes Su Zai Zai.

WIFTY is a 2023 release that is rated a high-flying 9 on MDL. (Romance fans love it, yo). It is 1 season consisting of 24 cuddly 35-minute episodes. They fly by quickly. Jiang Zhi Nan (The Best Day of My Life) as Jiang Jia & Bian Tian Yang (Bright Time, Song of Youth-7.2) as Gu Ran round out the 2ndary couple. They are fun. (“As dumb@$$ he is, he actually didn't fall for my trick. This is so odd. What's more, how does he manage to be so obnoxious?”). Actor, Bian Tian Yang, and his part, are adorable. The director is Mao De Shu (Lovely Us) and the screenwriters are Yue An & Tao Kai Xin who also collaborated on Let's Meet Now.

The original creator is Zhu Yi of the wildly popular show, Hidden Love-7.8. Consequently, WIFTY and HL are very similar. They are both low drama ride-alongs. The viewer hangs out with these simple characters throughout several years of their simple lives, but not much happens. That isn't to say that WIFTY isn't lovely. It is absolutely darling. WIFTY and HL are low on complexity, shade and tension, but they are high on romantic charm and the Prozac effect. They both include likable characters with some growing up to do. They both feature a FL who suffers from an instant crush that lasts for (presumably) a lifetime. Both cover from middle school to first post-grad positions. And both promote relaxation and tranquility. The viewer is unlikely to cry, will probably smile but not laugh, won't experience much angst or frustration, and will feel at peace. There will always be a place for such entertainment. To be fair, I will rewatch a feature that is of sub-standard quality yet it touches the heart before a piece that is intelligent and technically perfect but emotionally flat; but when it comes to rating a show, technical skill and the way it moves the heart are both important. A low degree of difficulty does lower the maximum potential score.

What they do in WIFTY they do well. The music is solid. They play a snippet from Brit rockers, Queen, for a hot 5 seconds. It was amusing and quite unexpected. Before, by Zeyué is Shazam-worthy. The acting is excellent. The protagonists are engaging and there's some great dialogue. Long before they become a couple, our couple works on English prepositions and contrapositions together.

“If I exist, my love for you exists.”

“If I don't like you anymore, that I would no longer be me.”

It's a sweet scene.

“You don't necessarily have to become the sun. If you're willing to, you could be a star, a street light, or a firefly. They're all capable of shining when they want to shine. When they don't feel like shining they can slack off,” we hear in a challenge to shine as brightly as possible,

WIFTY shines as brightly as possible. Su Zai Zai is as unforgettable as she is adorable. While it's unlikely to appeal to anyone who isn't a serious romance fan, the show is simply delightful from one end to the other. If romance is your thing, make sure to exult in its warmth.


〰IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 7.8
Writing 7.7
Acting 8
Romance 7
Flutters 6
Art 5.5
Sound & music
Ending

LEVELS
Warmth 7
Action 3
Laughs 4
Tears 2
Fright 1
Tension / Anxiety 1
Gore 1
Thought provocation 3
Snores 0

?7.8 ?7.7 ?8 ?7 ?6 ?5.5 ?/?7 ?8 ▪ ?7 ⚡3 ?4 ?2 ?1 ?1 ?1 ?3 ?0

Age 13+
It's very clean. They do cohabitate prior to marriage

Rated
TV-PG: Parental Guidance Suggested

Re-?? Very Possible

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;
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
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;

Period -
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

Fantasy
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

Action/horror -
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

Read More

Grasp Those Stars & Hold Tight °7.8° °VG°

Here's a romance that's a warm and sticky sweet bun with a nice cup of chamomile tea. We're talking very low drama. Romance fans will find it charming and relaxing. I certainly did. Others might be underwhelmed. We meet Sang Zhi (Zhizhi) in middle school and follow her through several years of her life. In ep1 big bro brings his friend, Jiaxu, home. Zhizhi is smitten. Jiaxu is thoughtful and kind towards her. He always has time for her, which only fans the flames as the years roll by.

HL is a 2023 release that is rated a whopping 9 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 25 45-minute episodes. Zhao Lu Si (Who Rules the World-7.5, I Hear You-7, The Romance of Tiger and Rose-9.8, Love Like the Galaxy) is FL Sang Zhi. I've liked her in everything I've seen so far, but my respect for her abilities took a leap forward with this show. Feisty and full of life describes most of her characters. Here, she's shy and demure (though she's capable of pulling some bold moves, we'll see). Even her body language says she's not fully grown. While in HS, her gangly walk is the pièce de résistance of her act. She's extremely impressive, particularly when one factors in how different she is from her other performances. I am a fan.

Chen Zhe Yuan (Our Secret, Handsome Siblings-8.7) play ML Duan Jiaxu. He's a sparky, mischievous brat in HS, a show that I love. In HL he's calm and thoughtful. Victor Ma (Detective Chinatown, Moments We Shared) is big brother Sang Yan. He may be the big brother, but he's a bit of a brat, always calling Zhizhi “Little demon”. The director is Lee Ching Jung (Go Go Squid!, Everyone Loves Me). The screenwriter is Ou Si Jia of Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities, and the original creator is Zhu Yi of the show, When I Fly Towards You-7.8.

The day Zhizhi meets Jiaxu she has a dilemma. She's in trouble at school and her parents have been called in for a teacher conference. She somehow persuades Jiaxu to pose as her brother for the conference. He attends, explaining that the parents are out of town. Crisis deleveled. That favor creates a bond between them that will never be broken. Zhizhi ends up at college in Jiaxu's hometown, and he is the only person she knows there. Sang Yan asks friend, Jiaxu, to look out for his sister. Jiaxu does. Zhizhi was already looking at Jiaxu… and only him.

I watched HL back-to-back with When I Fly Towards You. They are similar - same author. They're relaxing, they really couldn't be sweeter, and they both lack depth. Other than a stalker connected to Jiaxu over a mistake his father made, the biggest problem the characters face in HL is Zhi's milk allergy. (The show presents the 5 year age difference as a big issue. It certainly is for teens, but once they are both in their 20's it isn't worth mentioning). That's okay; there's a nice big space with comfy couches for such wind-down watches. It does lower the degree of difficulty, though, and thus the maximum score. One the one hand, to do a slice-of-life feature in which not much happens, yet it is still a great watch, takes skill. On the other hand, for a feature to be in the high 8's and above, there should be complexity and these 2 shows have none. They can be every bit as enjoyable as, and the ones we rewatch before more highly rated shows. Entertainment that touches the heart is meritorious regardless of technical lapses. WIFTY gets a higher cuteness rating because the female lead’s character is ridiculously and relentlessly cute, while HL is more tranquil. It's almost plodding, but never boring. These shows are for romantiholics only, and look at the ratings - romance junkies are very satisfied. If you want to expose a friend, who is only a casual romance watcher, to a youthful Chinese romance, I suggest A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5 or Wait, My Youth-8.4.

HL may lack deeper shading but it has no flaws. Every element is done well. The music is quite nice, however Shazam only had titles in Mandarin. Some did pop up on Spotify. Modern-day Cdramas have gotten better. Before 2019 most are deeply flawed, though not without their charms. One of the best things about Cdramas is what I call their Prozac effect. They are designed to quiet the mind and calm the spirit. If anxiety is up, a Chinese modern-day romance like HL could very well help level the mood. At one point Zhizhi pumps her fist in the air and gives Jiaxu the common Kdrama encouragement: “FIGHTING!” The most recent Cdramas have been acknowledging the popularity of Kdramas, and I suspect it's a call out to what has inspired their growth. I love it.

I also loved HL. Will you? If you call yourself a romance fan, maybe. Probably. If you consider yourself a romance /junkie/ then there can be no doubt; check it out!


〰? IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 7.5
Writing 7
Acting 8.3
Romance 7
Flutters 6
Art 6.5
Sound & music 8
Ending 7.7

LEVELS
Warmth 7
Action 3
Laughs 3
Tears 3
Fright 1
Tension/Anxiety 2
Gore 0
Thought provocation 3
Snores 0

?7.5 ?7 ?8.3 ?7 ?6 ?6.5 ?/?8 ?7.7 ▪ ?7 ⚡3 ?3 ?3 ?1 ?2 ?0 ?3 ?0

Age 12+ for mild sexual content

Rated TV-Y7: Directed to Older Children

Re-watch? It's not impossible, but there's a long list of other shows that would precede it in a rewatch.

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;
? I Hear You ‘19 7.3, so cute but with many flaws
? You are my destiny 6.8 ‘20 cute and sweet and 1/2 padding
Find Yourself 8.9;
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;
Eternal Love 8.3,
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

Read More

Sleeping B!+ches Bite °Excellent°

Su Jae (SJ) “sure is acting up.” That's what her boss says after he finds out that she's snatched files & replaced them w/ manhwa (comics). Is the plot alittle outrageous? Sure. It actually holds together very well, but it's not free of logical problems. For instance, remains are found at a construction site when it makes no sense that the bad guys would have allowed them to be found. It's sloppy. Also, a tragedy occurs at the end of ep14 that feels especially painful & completely unnecessary. Though it lends to symmetry in the plot development, the scene is ham-handed.

However, there's plenty more + than -. The closing scene is beautiful. The music is excellent. ‘Beautiful’ by DOKO & ‘What about us' by HAJIN are both Shazamable. Craft-wise, they send messages w/ color. SJ's wardrobe is almost always black & white which represents the hard lines she's adopted over time. It begins in black & white. Our female lead is wearing white. Then the director introduces the color red: Red lipstick & red blood splatters. SJ wears rich blues for trials - apparently, juries everywhere like blue. All of a sudden, in ep3, she shows up in a bright peach suit. Maybe that doesn't sound pretty, but it looks fabulous on her. Why the color change? Well, she's had a significant emotion-altering interaction w/ Gong Chan. (It would be too difficult to describe it, you'll just have to watch it for yourself). She has softened up. By the show's end, she is in color regularly. She's freely living a full spectrum life.

WH is about Power & corruption & the abuse the powerful heap onto those below them… especially women. The context is the pressure cooker that is Korea. In ep1 we see a suicide: Korea has the 4th highest suicide rate in the world. Exams, constant bullying, gossip, & impossible parents are ubiquitous themes in Kdramas. Under extreme pressure most will hunker down & go w/ the flow, too many will commit suicide, & some may act out. When they try to toss SJ away w/ the trash, she decides to act out. Bravo!

Seo Hyun Jin plays SJ. I've seen her as a new, bright-eyed teacher in Black Dog-8.2 & a fed-up woman who can't get a break in Another Miss Oh-7.5. She's beautiful, but she's got that down-on-earth neighborhood girl quality to her which goes beyond looks or acting capability; it's presence. She can act, too. K-actors act w/ every muscle in their bodies. Her walk kills me in WH. She's stiff as a board, yet so eloquent. It is completely different from how she walks in other shows. Extraordinary. Her performance is the best thing about a very good show.

SJ is a trial attorney. A formidable one, specializing in undermining the credibility of an opposing witness's testimony. The more we learn of her backstory, the more her behavior makes sense. At the start she was a nobody who couldn't look her co-workers in the eye, but now /they're/ terrified of /her/. But the old-boys-club cannot tolerate this capable woman in their chauvinist sphere.

SJ's a fundamentally decent person w/ a dream to go all the way to the top - it's a dream that cannibalizes decency. Initially, she seems impervious to everything. We learn that she's been #refusing to show her fragile side. She's ‘gritted her teeth, held it in, & held her ground.’ Flashbacks show the sweet girl she was, the way her father brought her up, & the way her immediate underlings are fiercely loyal to her. Yet she's rude to a waiter, she's disdainful of children, & she's a monster to clients of opposing attorneys. She's starting to act like the 1%ers. Success, power & money are corrupting, indeed. In ep1 she's on the cusp of becoming a blood sucking parasite. But irony comes crashing down, splattering her & shaking her conscience loose. The crashing irony is a tragedy arising from one of her cases & public opinion turns toxic. Her boss sends her into hiding: She must ride out the scandal while being an adjunct prof at law school. The rich-and-powerfuls were happy to make use of her at their convenience, but now they're letting her know exactly what she is: Disposable. “I'll stand in a high place & look down on them all!” SJ screams her vow to the waves.

Hwang In Youp (The Sound of Magic) is Gong Chan. He's changed his appearance, so SJ doesn't recognize him, but she represented him years ago for a murder case in which he was innocent. The reason he's in law school is because she inspired him all those years ago. He comes on strong & it works rather well. The romance gets crankin pretty quickly. In fairness, Gong Chan seems to have had it bad for yrs. But when SJ learns who he truly is, what will she think?

Heo Joon Ho (Missing: The Other Side-8.3) owns the law firm as Choi Tae Gook. He seems level & fair, but he is something else behind closed doors. His sons admire SJ. Bae In Hyuk (My Roommate Is a Gumiho) plays Choi Yoon Sang, his youngest son & admirer of SJ. What dimples! An avg student, in the past she tutored him. Now he sits in the back row of her new class. Lee Cheol-Min (My Only Love Song-8.7, Love to Hate You-8.9, Mr. Queen-9 & dozens more) usually plays a goof but he does a nice job as a “bad guy” in this. Everything about him is completely different. Even though I recognized him I still had to look it up to be sure. The director is Park Soo Jin of The Hymn of Death-8.4, While You Were Sleeping-7.3, & Dr. Romantic.

It all gets off to a very rocky start. SJ is no softie & the students‘ initial response is to rebel. SJ shows up at her 1st class w/ about a minute left. She writes on the chalkboard: “I will never let my client go to jail.” Chalk drop. She exits. In class 2 she brings them case files & assigns complete verdict analyses. It's only 50% of their grade(!) “How do we do it?” One student wants guidance. “Figure it out,” is her laconic response. Immediately, her class is under threat of being canceled, but she's no rookie. Putting college students in their place is child's play & she's never going to spoon feed her students.

The class is seated by GPA & formed accordingly into teams for group projects. The last row of the last students form their motley group; then they form a bond. Two of those students already have a connection to SJ - her boss's son & her forgotten former client. Other members of the motley team are a middle-aged woman who is a former cop, a girl who was sexually harassed by a prof, & another boy who was weak. The student council bullied him and he refused to testify on behalf of his abused friend for fear that it would affect his standing at school. SJ gives him strength enough to find his footing.

The theme is to treasure those you love & live a clean life worthy of them to avoid future regrets. This is also very much a girl-power show. SJ is a minority w/ educational & background disadvantages. It's a higher hurdle in Korea than it is in the USA. Like other minorities, she gets no benefit of the doubt, no head start, & zero 2nd chances. No room for error. It's a triple-thick glass ceiling. She has to be 10×s as good as her competition. She'll have to make some pretty bold moves.

It's true that women's rights aren't settled in the USA, but Asia is worse. Stalking & harassment protection are decades behind the USA. SJ is reluctant to help the student that was molested because the chance of success is slimmer than SJ's legs. She encourages the student to focus on her goal & nothing else. That's practical advice & sometimes it's the best course. But there's another side to the coin. Gong Chan challenges SJ. He points out that if the prof gets away w/ it then he'll do it again. “Then it won't be {Professor Seo’s} wrongdoing, but ours,” he explains.
When no one challenges powerful abusers they just get emboldened. Weakness enables evil. To be a woman is to be subjected to sexual misconduct, indignity, molestation… or worse. Besides the off-color, inappropriate remarks, there's the inappropriate touching. Men shouldn't be touching you, ladies. I know what it's like to have that happen & freeze in the moment, only to be furious at myself later for not doing anything. It often happens in a place where the power balance is out of whack, like a doctor's office. If you break their nose or knee their groin that is what they deserve. We should start a dense fund. Maybe someone has.

A good society is one where the people stand up to wrongs. We shouldn't let anger control us, though, as there will never be an end to wrongs on earth, and none of us are mistake-free. “Is the world a fair place? Unfortunately, the world is never fair. So is it impartial? Not even for a moment. The era of unfairness & partiality will continue. Perhaps it may become worse. However, everyone, we have our last bastion. That is the law - In the world that's never fair, where things have never been impartial. While applying the law to everyone fairly & impartially, all of you must fulfill your duties & responsibilities. Lawyers must rectify the law that waivers in the face of money & power & defend justice.” Beautiful words from baddie, Choi Tae Gook. True words - even when spoken by one of the perpetrators of partiality & unfairness. It's fascinating how intelligent, successful & wealthy people know how to say the right things. They've severed their hearts from their brains, though. They act upset about the awful state of things, but since the world's been good to them, they easily accept it as fait accompli. People for whom the system is working are never motivated to change it. They step over the homeless & never give it another thought. It's called compartmentalization. They still thoroughly believe themselves to be right & decent & good. The human heart is quite deceptive & we are all blind to our own stuff.

In the end, SJ adopts a more others-focused life and steps put of the rat cage. Her conclusion: “The fact that every day is entirely mine. That I move & decide w/ my own will. The results are also entirely mine. Those things were more decent than I thought. Whether the results are good or bad, I rejoice in the good things, & if not, I just say, “so what?”, curse, & move on… I'm content w/ myself living this way.”

Smart girl.


QUOTES

I'm so sick & tired of money.

A single “I believe you” can help a person breathe & move on.

Nothing is more powerful than honesty.

Don't give power to the greedy; don't give money to the ignorant; & don't give a sword to the insane.

“It was a shameful life, looking back.“

I didn't want to suck.

His pride in cooking is almost a disease.


〰? IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 8
Writing 8
Acting 8.5
Romance 7.6
Flutters 5
Art 7
Sound & music 8.4
Ending 8.3

LEVELS
Warmth 4
Action 4.5
Laughs 2
Tears 4.5
Fright 2.3
Tension & Anxiety 3.5
Gore 2
Thought provocation 4.8
Snores 0

?8 ?8 ?8.5 ?7.6 ?5 ?7 ?/?8.4 ?8.3 ▪ ?4 ⚡4.5 ?2 ?4.5 ?2.3 ?3.5 ?2 ?4.8 ?0

Age 15+
R-rated language, F?s
Murder, affairs, pregnancies, violence.

Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned.

Re-?? Sure someday

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

Crazy Love-7.8,
A Witch's Love 7.8,
Another Miss Oh-7.5,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Touch your heart 8.2,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Inspector Koo-8.4,
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Hospital Playlist-9, Black Dog: Being A Teacher-8.2, Law School-8,When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Call It Love-8.4, Blood Free-8.5
My Mister 9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9

Read More

Ashley Wilkes & Rhett Butler Vie For a Pixie Urchin °8.4° °Excellent°

“When I was a little girl, I wished I could grow up faster… become the lead actress and save the world... But when I grew up, I realized I'm just an ordinary girl. But being ordinary doesn't cause youths to lose their brilliance… if you compare youths to a song, some songs are fast. Some are slow. Some are pop songs. Some are classical songs. Some are at the top of the list. Some are not cared for... But I believe no matter what kind of song and melody they are… when sung, someone will be touched and gain a lot of strength from it. We are racing against time in our lives. How many times have we clenched our teeth wanting to sprint forward? …Wait for a while. Please wait for a while more. Let us cherish it more, embrace it, and shine once again.”

Thus concludes WMY. So what happens before the end?

First of all, Su Cancan just adores Lin Jiaze. It's been about 6 years. Why can't she get near him? She's always running into his prickly misanthropic friend, Lan Tianye. He's nothing like the cheerful, fresh-faced Lin Jiaze. Lan Tianye is downright mean.

WMY is a 2019 release that is rated 82 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 24 adorable 45-minute episodes.

We meet them in middle school. Su Cancan & Lan Tianye are deskmates for 6 years. We go to college with them. Some go abroad for a stint. Grad school. Career. Some of the romances work out, some don't. Some are tested to the max.

Li Jia Qi (Liars in Love) is Su Cancan. What an adorable little urchin she is. Zhao Yi Qin (Butterflied Lover, Hard to Find) portrays Lan Tianye. His voice is delish. It's like warm butterscotch sauce over chocolate cake. I've only seen him in Accidentally in Love-6.5, a very cute show with B-level scripting, acting, and directing, but it is still fun/strangely relaxing to watch. He is one of the best things in the show. This guy is a superb romantic ML and the reason WMY is so good.

Li Ge Yang In (Blossom) Lin Jiaze, our Ashley Wilkes. He's wholesome and handsome and perhaps lacking in sex-appeal compared to our ML. Wu Shuang Yi (Run for Young) is Tao Ya Ting, the gorgeous top student & top musician. She's perfect. So perfect her female classmates loathe her. Xu Meng Yuan (Love in Between) is Su's BFF, the irrepressible and vivacious Xu Mei Li. She's loyal and true. Leo Dong (Immortality) plays Tang Xing Yi who shares a hate-to-love relationship with Mei Li. The director is Shen Qin Yuan of The Eyas.

The Romance is well above average including the kissing scenes. The ML sells this one. Su is no Scarlett O'Hara, but the two guys remind me of Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind. Ashley may hang around, but he doesn't really have a chance if the exciting Rhett Butler's around.

I find it difficult to not compare this show to other Chinese teen-to-adult romances that I've seen recently. The first 10 or so modern-day Cdramas I saw were of very low quality, with stunted scripts, wooden acting, and subpar filming. (They still have their charm and are oddly relaxing, so I kept tuning in). At the same time, Chinese historical and fantasy works were superior - some of the world's best. It was almost like China, a country that lags well behind in the area of freedom of expression, didn't know how people should behave in the current day. They seem to have gotten the feedback. All of a sudden, their modern-day features have improved dramatically. Cdrama or otherwise, WMY is one of the best youthful romances I've seen, along with A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5. Both of them don't have alot of room for improvement. They are the full package with likable characters, good scripting, directing and acting, solid romance and plenty of flutters in the stomach. They feature tension and drama. Two other excellent romances are When I Fly Towards You-7.8 and Hidden Love-7.8. Both of them are as cute as cute gets, yet they both lack complexity and tension. That can be a good thing for times when the anxiety is up: Such shows can be better than Valium. But these shows have a lower degree of difficulty. They are flatter road than WMY and ALTCFL which have higher highs and lower lows. Regardless, all 4 features are worth a romantiphile's time. For the even more devoted romantiholic, some other shows that might resonate are: You Are My Destiny 6.8 (cute, sweet and 1/2 padding); Put Your Head on My Shoulder-7.3 (with the first half at 8+ and then a big drop off in the second half which is a 6); Meteor Garden-7.4 (70% flowing 30% dragging, and Boys Over Flowers is better); and I Hear You-7.3 (so cute but with many flaws).

One reason the romance works so well is that, regardless of how oblivious Su Cancan is, Lan Tianye is focused on her. He is very attentive and patient. He's thoughtful & kind. He's very attracted to her. And he's gorgeous every moment he's doing all of that. It's all swoonworthy. Su Cancan may not be the most beautiful girl, but she's the cutest cutie. She has a comfortable warmth that draws a person in. It feels authentic that boys would be attracted to her.

The music is quite good. Find Your Way Home was the one title I caught. Most had no English titles available.

Another recent change in Cdramas is the shout outs to Kdramas, which must be huge in China. Shows from 2019 forward frequently make reference to watching Kdramas. WMY is no different. A couple characters mention Kdramas with affection. It seems to me that China is tipping its hat to the party that motivated their improvement the most.

In WMY, we all benefit from that!

〰? IMHO

?8.3 ?8 ?8.4 ?7.5 ?7 ?6.5 ?/?8 ?8 ▪ ?6 ⚡3 ?3.5 ?4 ?1 ?3.5 ?1 ?3.5 ?0


Age 13+
Language: rare PG-13 words- @$$, $h!+

Re-?? For sure!

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;
Find Yourself 8.9;
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;

Period-
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

Fantasy-
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


RATINGS
Directing 8.3
Writing 8
Acting 8.4
Romance 7.5
Flutters 7
Art 6.5
Sound & music 8
Ending 8

LEVELS
Warmth 6
Action 3
Laughs 3.5
Tears 4
Fright 1
Tension & Anxiety 3.5
Gore 1
Thought provocation 3.5
Snores 0

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River Cops Red Smoke & Golden Ferrys °7.4° °VG°

HRP it's a cop drama that not only stays afloat, but it actually sails at times. It opens like a typical police action thriller. The bad guys, their big guns out, bust up a cruise and take hostages. Where's the police when you need them? Trust me, the police are all over this one.

There's nothing atypical in HRP, but coming up with entirely new things with any regularity is getting to be largely undoable. So we must look at the execution, and the execution is competent. Nothing more, nothing less. If you enjoy cop dramas, you should like this one. HRP is a 2023 release that is rated 83 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of a mere 6 55-minute episodes. It's miniscule compared to most Asian dramas that typically go on for 20+ hours.

Here's our misfit heroes:

Kwon Sang Woo (Why Her?-8, Queen of Mystery) is officer Han Du Jin. He's a specimen and a dedicated officer. He's tasty enough to inspire a crush or two.

Bae Da Bin (It's Beautiful Now, Do You Like Brahms?) plays “weirdo” Do Na Hee. She's tough. She did military service. She can fight. She's a man's man, but she's a woman. She's also head over trotters for Han Du-Jin. He acts like he doesn't like it, but… She's awesome - the very best thing about the show.

Kim Hee Won (Misaeng: Incomplete Life-9.1, Moving) plays Lee Chun Suk, a River officer who can't swim ~ the only one of his kind. He isn't one to seek out danger or extra work, either. When the time comes, we see that he will get the job done. Shin Hyun Seung (So Not Worth it, Be My Boyfriend) is Kim Ji Soo, the fresh faced kid on the force.

The prolific Sung Dong Il is Chief Do Won Il. He has a special relationship with Na Hee. I like the guy. So Far I've seen him in 200 Pounds Beauty-6.5, Along With the Gods 2: The Last 49 Days-6.7, Reply 1988 (still working on it) The K2-8, The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2, The Cursed-8.3, Hospital Playlist-9, & Sisyphus: The Myth-8. The only show in which he felt slightly out of place is The Cursed. In everything else he shines.

On team villain we have:

Lee Sang Yi (Once Again, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, When the Camellia Blooms-8) is the overly privileged bad guy, Go Ki Seok. He's a tad cartoonish, not that people like that don't really exist. The actor is with a prostitute in one scene and acts out having an orgasm - something I've not yet seen in a Kdrama. Like everything else the character does, he is all-in. It's a very convincing and intense climax. The scene is not gratuitous as it underscores his pathetic loneliness. He's also a baseball fan. I like that about him…

Jung Young-Joo (Move to Heaven-8.4, Lovely Runner) is the scary Madam Choi, another excellent character for which this actress is perfect. Total Dragon Lady. Choi Moo-Sung (Stranger S2, Prison Playbook, The Good Bad Mother, Reply 1988) is top villain, Hwang Man-Dae. I've only seen him in Reply, and he'll always be a big cuddly bear to me. Even as a bad guy, he's teddy-felon. Screenwriter & director Kim Sang Cheol (The Forgotten Bag) is primarily responsible for this show.

This is a simple but competent crime thriller and it is solid for the subset. The characters are fleshed out well enough and the tensions are mostly credible. There's great action and moments of brutal violence. One very cool underwater scuba fight is reminiscent of Sea Hunt and other 70's adventure shows. There's also a fantastic fight in a cramped car. HRP probably won't convert anyone to this genre, however. It serves to feed an established appetite.


〰? IMHO

?7.4 ?7 ?8 ?5.5 ?5 ?7 ?/?6 ?8 ▪ ?4.5 ⚡7.6 ?3 ?3 ?4 ?2 ?5.5 ?3 ?0

Directing 7.4
Writing 7
Acting 8
Romance 5.5
Flutters 5
Art 7
Sound & music 6
Ending 8

LEVELS
Warmth 4.5
Action 7.6
Laughs 3
Tears 3
Fright 4
Tension / Anxiety 2
Gore 5.5
Thought provocation 3
Snores 0


Age 16+
Sex depicted - even without nudity it is graphic.
Language: $h!+ dhead, F? @$$h0le, but it is sparse.

Rated
TV-15/TV-MA

Re-?? Probably not, but it is worth seeing once. I wouldn't miss a S2.

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

Modern Day -
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Crash Landing On You 9.1,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,

Action/Crime/Sci-fi -
Descendants Of The Sun-8.3,
Inspector Koo-8.4,
Vagabond-8,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Law School -8,

K2 8,
Private Lives 8.1,
Sisyphus 8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6,
Blood Free-8.5
D.P. -8.4,

The Cursed 8.3,
The Wailing-8.8,

Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Black 9,
Squid Game 8.4,
Kingdom 8.3,
Sweet Home 8.4

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Gold Spoons, Dirt Ones & Keeping Up the Act °5.8° °bland°

Here's a recording of beautiful people. There's beautiful actors, beautiful wardrobe, beautiful makeup, and tepid drama. This record is dinged from overplay.

The charming Park Bo-Gum (Reply 1988) plays ML, Sa Hye-Jun/HJ, a man who is hustlin. He models, auditions, and acts. He earns actual money by being a bodyguard… and serving tables at a BBQ joint… and slinging sandwiches at Subway. What does he want? He wants what top star Park Do-ha has. Like Do-ha, HJ has lots of fans. He has fans at every gig, including Subway; he just doesn't have enough to lift his career out of the sub-floor. As the sun rises on the show, it's setting for HJ and his career aspirations. Ep1 features scene after scene where he is chided, cajoled and cheated in an effort to convince him to cut away from his dream. He's been putting off his military service, but he's at the point where he's about ready to get it over with. Grandpa is his primary supporter; grandpa, his BFF Won Hae-Hyo, and though unknown to him, also makeup artist An Jeong-Ha/JH. In reality, JH is his biggest fan. As it turns out, JH is given a chance to do makeup at a fashion show that HJ will be in. So they meet.

ROY is a 2020 release that is rated 87 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 67-81 minute episodes. The FL, JH, is played by Park So-Dam. She looks sweet and her smooth face says young innocence, but “She's gotten weird after starting college. She only speaks the truth.” She's so genuinely nice that her character becomes boring. In Parasite, she plays the conniving Kim sister, Ki-jung, and she's anything but boring. I didn't even recognize her! That's acting. In ROY she's crazy bout HJ. She hasn't lost her head though. On one level she understands that she's in love with the /idea/ of him. Anytime we have a crush from afar, whether it be somebody famous or somebody we see everyday, we only have a crush on the idea of that person. Remember that before getting too lost over crushes and obsessions for people that you don't even know. “I think giving love is easier than receiving love,” JH says. She loves the feeling that love gives her, so she rides with it, but she doesn't take it too seriously.

Kim Jin-U is played by Kwon Soo-Hyun & Byeon Woo-Seok plays Won Hae-Hyo. They've all been friends since grade school. Hae-Hyo is HJ's BFF and an aspiring actor/model who comes from a wealthy family. His cloying mother, Kim I-Yeong (Shin Ae-Ra from Ugly Alert and Iron Daughters-in-Law) has been in the shadows working towards his success with every mean$ at her disposal. Mom is always at odds with her domestic helper, Han Ae-Suk (Ha Hee-Ra). There's little she can do about it as Han Ae-Suk's son is HJ, her son's best friend. Furthermore, she has grown reliant on Ms Han. Those facts leech contention into their relationship. Mom is jealous of the love, respect and attention her maid gets from her son. She is a narcissist in designer ruffles and blatantly talks to her kids as if everything about them, ultimately, is about her. Every thought in her head is about her. We've all seen destructive parents like that.

The director is Ahn Gil-Ho (Stranger, Memories of the Alhambra-7, The Glory). His works are very popular. I've only seen ROY and MOA, both of which have positives and negatives. Both could be better. Writer Ha Myung-Hee (Temperature of Love, Doctors) hovers mostly in the 6's on IMDB. ROY fits their resumes; it's okay but not great. The spark is missing.

With an IQ hovering around 85, ROY is designed for relaxation and is neither excessively idiotic nor intelligent. The plot and dialogue are simple to the point of exasperation. It passes the time. Eps1-10 are solidly around a 7. Then it starts to drag. This is another example of content perfect for 10-12 episodes (but not 16) that gets degraded when it's stretched too far. It forces the viewer to have internal conflict: I like this show, that slow part is no big deal… that poor plot point, that idiotic conversation, that irritating scene are no biggie… not /really/…right? It puts our logic at odds with our emotions. I'm tagging this problem malcontent - MAL-content. It causes discontent. Logically and technically, ROY is not good. Emotionally, it somehow is with its relax-a-while charm.

Into ep6 I was startled to realize that very little has happened. That trend continues. In chill-out fashion, the viewer hangs out with these characters for awhile, but for a slice-of-life piece to work, the characters have to draw us in. The viewer must enjoy hanging with them, and the human factor must feel authentic. ROY flounders in those categories. For instance, the FL is horribly boring. As this actress is not boring in other features, we must look at the writing and directing. It starts in ep12 - ROY becomes less pleasant and more of a chore to watch. By this time less is happening, not more, and it seems obvious not much is gonna happen, and if something does happen (it doesn't) it will be too little too late.

“When it comes to love, I'm a 9 year old kid,” muses JH. Her parents split when she was younger and the hurt never healed. This is a romance between 2 decent, almost saintly people. In real life that is as lovely as it gets, but for entertainment, tension is needed to create something truly special. Early on I felt nothing between them. She's bland; he has a tinge of aloofness to him.

“Being shallow isn't bad, it's all about your preference,” says HJ's mgr, Min-jae (Shin Dong-mi - She's adorable). That's essentially ROY's justification for itself. It seems like they set out to create a show around Park Bo-Gum's good looks. Nothing more. Whether that's enough to overcome its record of mediocrity is up to personal taste. (I'm not even saying that's an easy decision. He's nice to look at and quite a good actor. I find myself wavering…)

There's praiseworthy samples as well. “I'll uphold my values no matter what.” The two leads are excellent role models and if young teens will watch the show it is a good choice for them. “To an actor, a spoon is just a utensil,” opines HJ. Gold spoons and dirt spoons are a topic, referring to the “haves" and the “have-nots”. Some kids get the benefit of money from their parents and some inherit values like honesty and loyalty. Few get both.

It gets warmer, and the director does have his moments. In ep3 they are out in the rain and look into eachother’s eyes. The rain stops and then starts again slowly. It's a very nice shot. In addition, the music is VG. ‘Shine On You’ is worth a Sahazam.

The best takeaway is when we hear this ~ “There's 3 ways to male the best use of your time: Live in the present, learn from the past, plan your future.”

Should your future include a viewing of ROY? I must vote “Pass.” In fact, with the benefit of foreknowledge I wouldn't opt to watch it for the first time. However, Park Bo-Gum does shine. If you are a fan of his then you'll want to go on the record with ROY.


QUOTES

"There's no worse punishment than having to put up with your child talking down to you all the time."

The con artists are the problem, not the victim... Anyone who goes on about being the victim is rarely the victim... The biggest @$$hole in life is somebody who goes on about being the victim when he's the assailant.


〰? IMHO
Directing 6
Writing 6
Acting 7.5
Romance 5
Flutters 4.5
Warmth 4.5
Art 6.7
Action 2.5
Sound & music 7.5
Laughs 2
Tears 3
Fright 1
Tension 2.5
Gore 3.8
Thought provocation 2
Snores 3.5
Ending 6

?6 ?6 ?7.5 ?5 ?4.5 ?4.5 ?6.7 ⚡ 2.5 ?/?7.5 ?2 ?3 ?1 ?2.5 ?3.8 ?2 ?3.5 ?6

Age 13+ ROY is relatively clean with the following cautions: Language - b!+ch, b!+chy, $h!+, $h!++y - it's rare. A designer propositions a model - also relatively mild

Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned.

What do I recommend? Glad you asked!

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

Modern Day -
Crazy Love-7.8,
A Witch's Love 7.8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Her Private Life 8, 99 days with the Superstar-7,
Touch your heart 8.2, Another Miss Oh-7.5,
Crash Landing On You 9.1,
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Because This Is My First Life-7.7,
Love Struck in the City 7.3, Familiar Wife-8.5,
Hospital Playlist 9, More Than Friends-8,
My Mister 9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 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 -
K2 8,
Private Lives 8.1, Descendants Of The Sun-8.3,
Sisyphus 8, When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Black 9,
Squid Game 8.4,
Kingdom 8.3,
Sweet Home 8.4

Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek 7,
Heirs 7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows 7,
Something in the Rain 9,
C: Well-Intended Love 7.5 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 historical/ fantasy 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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♥️ Yourself {but don't LUV yourself ;)} °7.5° °VG°

Han Seo Yun (played by Park Ji Yeon from Imitation) dreams of being a model, but she always seems to fall a little bit short ~ She's simply not tall enough. She hasn't given up yet, though. At a tryout where top models are the judges, she encounters supermodel & judge Na Jin Wook (Kim Dong Ho from Undercover). He seems to think it's his job to yank off the bandaid - he tells her to give up. She'll never be a model. Not unless she grows a few inches. Seo Yun is devastated. Later that evening her friends are consoling her at the karaoke bar while he, at the same time and place, has been dragged out with his friends for some karaoke.

Then things go sideways. They both end up on the roof when a big jolt of lightning strikes. Just like that and flash: Body switch! She's been a fan of his for a long time. He has nothing but disdain for her, but they'll have to work together so that neither ruins their respective lives. She's going to have to be a model - a male model. He has to go to school and take tests. No one can understand why Jin Wook is now taking orders from a HS girl. They must quickly figure out a way to ‘undo the done’.

Quite coincidentally, my “watch roulette” landed on a string of shows dealing with appearance and/or body swapping. Listed in order of low to high quality, I ended up watching MR in tandem with these shows: 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 fashion it tightly & neatly) The Miracle-7.7 (great for tweens & older: It's excellent), and now this. It's a common device that is useful for putting our mind and emotions inside of another person. Also a common theme in anime, it's a look from a new perspective.

The leads scorch this runway. These kids can act. He has to play a teenage girl, and she has to play a man. And they do it very well. Watching her, in his body, interact with her girlfriend is particularly funny. Sometimes laugh out loud funny. In the USA we have some fantastic actors, without a doubt, but we have many more personalities. It's not a criticism, it is merely factual. For example, I have loved watching Ray Liotta ever since the 1986 movie Something Wild with Melanie Griffith. Regardless of the feature, he seems to only play: Ray Liotta. He's just one of many - actors who deliver delight with every moment on screen largely by playing identical roles. The point is that Hollywood's a little bit out of balance when it comes to personalities vs serious ACTORS, and many of our most talented actors are imported from the UK. Americans that aren't watching foreign features are missing some of the best acting the world has to offer.

The romance is good. The situations, the timing, the writing, the acting, the directing - it's all done with a skilled hand. It seems like it will be a shallow and empty show, but it maintains its self-respect. The interactions feel real and the attraction seems genuine. It's in their eyes. Good romance conveyed through the eyes, IRL and on film.

There's weaknesses. It falls short in some areas. They could have played up the new difference in strength a little more. She is now he. She can push him around some - and he definitely has something coming. They missed some opportunities to have more fun with that. There's some plot devices that feel wedged in poorly, like the mini drama in which an ankle injury might get in the way of an important show. The weirdest thing about it is how they become attracted to eachother. Can you imagine kissing yourself? I can't. I know we're supposed to love ourselves… but that doesn't mean we're supposed to LUV ourselves…

Nevertheless, at a mere 6 25-minute episodes (it's short!) this is a great choice for teens and romance fans.


✏〰 IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 7.4
Writing 7.5
Acting 8
Romance 7
Flutters 7
Sound & music 6.6
Art 7
Ending 8

LEVELS
Warmth 5
Laughs 5
Thought provocation 5
Snores 0

?7.4 ?️〰7.5 ?8 ?7 ?7 ? 5 ?7 ?/? 6.6 ?5 ?5 ?8

Age 14 minimum ~▶ A$$, assh0!e, sob, bi+ch; reference to anal sex (in the context it was a rumor and the comment was for humorous and ironic effect)

Re-watch? Not opposed
Recommendations for Kidz viewing

4+ My Neighbor Totoro-8.2, Ponyo-9.1

5+ Balto-8.3

6+ D4DJ-7.5

7+ Cardcaptor Sakura-7.4

8+ Spirited Away-9

9+Trollhunters-9.5 (slightly scary. Worst language is “butt snack”)

10+ C Accidentally in Love-6.5 B-level scripting, acting, and directing, but still fun/strangely relaxing to watch,
Holes-8,
Howl's Moving Castle-8.9,
K A Love So Beautiful-7,
My Dog Skip-8,
K Part Time Idol-5.5 (suicide addressed),
Paulie-7.4,
Saiki-8,
KSpark-6.4,
K Strongest Delivery Man-6.6

11+ Belle-8.5,
K Flower Boy Next Door-7,
Girls Und Panzer-8.1 (1 each d@mn, he!!),
Labyrinth-7,
C-A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Love Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4,
K The Miracle-7.7,
One Piece-7.5 there is scattered PG-13 language,
Watership Down-8.5


12+ K 99 Days With the Superstar-7,
Colourcloud Palace-8,
Farming Life in Another World-7.7,
Goonies l-8,
Here Comes Miss Modern-7.8,
Hotel del Luna 8.4,
Jumanji-9,
K My ID is Gangnam Beauty-7.5 ,
C Love Between Fairy & Devil-8.9,
Piano In The Forest l-8,
K So I Married My Anti-fan-6.8,
Your Lie In April-9

13+ K Boys Over Flowers-8.3 ~ melodrama to the max;
KCinderella and the 4 Knights-5.6,
K Heirs-7.3,
K My Shy Boss-6.5,
K Playful kiss-7.3,
Princess Resurrection-7.6,
Senryu Girl-7.5,
Special A Class-8.2

14+ My Runway-7.5
Princess Principal-8.6,
Toradora-8.5,

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Sista Twista ❕Tween Alert❕ °7.7° °So Cute°

Shi-ah/☆ (Kim Na Hyun from I Started Following & Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938) and Shi-ah/☆ (Kim Na Hyun from I Started Following & Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938) and Shi-yeon/¥ (Hong Yoon Hwa from Wok of Love) are fraternal twins. ☆ is a mean girl, ¥ is a lost girl. ☆ is perfect, beautiful, in a dance group, and has 3-million-with-an-”M” followers on social media, while ¥ is obese and rarely leaves her room. During a “family” interview with ☆, ¥ is cloistered in her room. They won't reveal the embarrassing, ugly sister to the general public. When out of her room, ¥ tries to slip by at school without being noticed. She's counting the days till graduation. In HS, the sisters never see eachother; partly because ¥ is in self-imposed solitary confinement. When they do come across eachother, they're always 2 terse syllables away from triggering a fight.

The Miracle is a short Kromcom consisting of 12 15-minute episodes (about the length of Avengers: Endgame). If you're used to watching Kdramas with eps that can be easily north of 90 minutes, this goes so quickly it's jolting. It is perfect for tweens and teens. It grabs the viewer right away, it has a positive message, and it's as cute & sweet as a kitten shaped lollipop. These kids can act. Kdramas spotlight one child actor after another who are just spectacular, and these girls are no exception. Everything's pretty in the show without being overdone. Not a high budget feature, it still flows seamlessly without ever calling too much attention to itself, its sets, or its costumes. It's all a clean canvas for the human story, which is the star of this feature.

While ☆, the beautiful sister, is out leading a glamorous life, ¥ walks through the neighborhood looking for her lost dog. There's a lady flat on her face in the grass! She pulls her up, dusts her off, and takes her back home. This beldam does a card-reading as a “thank you”. One thing leads to another… ¥ leaves the shop with a wish granted and a magic talisman necklace. Then tomorrow comes. Each sister collapses simultaneously. When they wake up, they've switched bodies. They did NOT switch personalities.

Switching bodies means switching lives. School, career… each has alot on the line. Now each has to be the heroine in her sister's life, Girl group? Dancing? How can ¥ do that? Fortunately, she's been dancing in her room. She knows all the moves. What ¥ doesn't know is that everybody hates her sister. ¥ isn't the least bit hateable. At the dance gig, ¥ lays eyes on the male teen idol. She would never have a chance with him. But maybe she does in ☆’s body… ☆ isn't the kindest. But ¥ is a sweetie. ☆ has to go to school as the shy, fat girl. She steps into an environment where everybody mocks her sister. Well~~> ☆ doesn't take much to mocking. She is going to shake everything up. What will people think?

That's what the show is about.TM reinforces the value of inner beauty and shows how cruelly people (still!) treat those they consider unattractive, or beneath them. No matter how much we all preach against it, this is a common human failing. Think of it like taking your vitamins, the work is never done. When the sister swap occurs, ☆ is able to experience ¥'s miserable life. They have to switch rooms, so ☆ ends up reading ¥'s diary. She imbibes the excruciating humiliation and the utter hopelessness that her sister’s been feeling.

The show reinforces that inner beauty with confidence and courage are what harmonizes a life best. ☆ had the looks but, over time, became an ugly person. ¥ is regularly called ugly in the show, but she's kind, sensitive, thoughtful, and has the voice of an angel. {Per Hong Yoon Hwa’s bio, she's an actress and comedian but not a singer. That cute girl with the extra throaty voice shouldn't have the clear soprano that she showcases. She's convincing with the lip syncing, though} ¥'s first interaction with an outsider in TM is when she's helping a woman who's in need. Sadly, she's relegated her best qualities to the emotional prison of low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is a form of self-absorption. It's not healthy, and it's not okay. Any person too wrapped up in h/herself will become miserable. Finally, while confidence is the key, too much confidence leads to arrogance. It should always be tempered with humility because there's always somebody out there smarter, better looking, and more talented than you are, then I am. Overconfidence is living a lie, and is toxic not only to oneself, but also to everyone else.

Confidence is always the sexiest thing, but ¥ would never be able to find it on her own. Parents of unattractive children need to love and emotionally nourish them more, yet studies show that /even parents/ love and respect unattractive kids /less/! Children in danger of being ostracized over looks (or anything else) need to be handled tools by which to survive. We had a kind-hearted kid in our life who experienced some bullying at school. It's nothing unusual. When we talked about what one boy was saying to hurt his feelings, we worked on some comebacks. Fortunately, it worked like a wonder. Not everybody's a natural humorist but humor is the best diffuser, and humor can be learned. We told him to not defend himself, just make a joke out of it. He was able to do that. (I'm still working on this. Watching your charges surpass you is certainly a thrill).

Sibling relationships are also examined. Now that the girls must interact once again, they start to recall the fun they had when they were kids. In the run of these 12 episodes, ¥ does NOT lose any weight, even though the looks-oriented ☆ is in her body. In fact, ☆ can't stop eating when she's in ¥'s body. At first, like on a holiday, she enjoys eating everything in sight, to our amusement. She tries to go out and exercise. When she passes an open restaurant with the food displayed out front, exercise is over. “I can't stop these cravings!,” she moans. The experience broadens their perspectives and gives them a new view on life. They each come out better for it. ¥, who has a beautiful voice, is able to gather the pluck to show at a music audition. ☆ gave her the info and told her: "You had better go, I pulled a lot of strings for this." They end up improving eachother's lives. ¥, the sweetheart, makes friends out of ☆’s enemies. Chubby or not, ☆ still has that confidence and she puts ¥'s enemies in their place - DOWN.

The show is amusing. While there weren't laugh-out-loud lines, I grinned through the whole thing. One of the cutest scenes is day 1 of the switcheroo. ☆ hands a shirt to ¥ and says “Wear this”. ¥ looks at it and comments on how it looks like children's clothes.

Whether the clothes fit or not, TM will definitely fit into your family viewing time.

〰️QUOTE〰️ I guess not everyone can fit in children's clothes

✏〰 IMHO
Directing 6.7
Writing 6
Acting 7.8
Romance 7.6
Flutters 7.8
Art 7.5
Action 5
Sound & music 9
Ending 6.5

LEVELS
Tears 7
Thought provocation 5
Snores 0



? 7.7 ?〰 7.8 ?8 ?7.7 ?6.7 ?8.2 ?7.1 ?/?7.6 ?6.5 ? 7.1 ?8.3

Age 11+ this is perfect for tweens and young teens and adults will like it too.

Re-watch? I'm looking forward to showing this to some of the young girls in my life.

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Goodbye Concentration Camp ⛺️ Hello Glamping °8.4° °excellent°

CIL is a show that shows us what happens when a stormy cloud latches on to a gloomy front and electrifies it. It brings together the manic and the depressive in nature's way of bringing balance to the force. Sim Woo-Joo hates her father, who had abandoned them (her, mom, sister/Sim Haesong, and brother/Sim Ji-Gu) for his mistress (THAT woman) years ago. Watching her is like watching the backstory of a supervillain. If she had a theme song it would be The Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black. She attends dad's funeral. (in a leopard dress and red spiked heels) and lets it be known. Han Dong-Jin is a slumped pile of suffering on long legs. He exudes depression more than Joni Mitchell or Radiohead. More than Eeyore, even. His one love is camping. His company brings together vendors for outdoor living fairs and exhibitions. (He does all the work and his partner does all the golfing). He is also the son of THAT woman. Crashing the funeral wasn't enough. SWJ decides she's bringing HDJ down.

Soon, SWJ realizes she'll have to queue-up to bring HDJ down. He's down already because of his ex. The only thing he has going is his company. The crows and raccoons have rifled through most of that already. As she's implementing her plan she grows more uncomfortable with her goal. HDJ is not the bad guy. All the critters around him are. Though morose, here's a handsome, perfectly good man. He's been dropped in the dirt, but all she needs to do is brush him off alittle. To begin, all she needs to do is take his hand…

CIL is a 2023 release that is rated 90 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 60ish-minute episodes. The directors are Lee Gwang-Young (The Secret Life of My Secretary) and rookie Kim Ji-Yeon. The writer, Kim Ga-Eun, is another rookie. If this is what they can do right out of the gate, we can look forward to great things from them.
SWJ is played by Lee Sung-Kyung (She's marvelous in Cheese in the Trap as the borderline Baek In-Ha). SWJ let heartbreak make her hard and mean. She decided to be hateful. Sis, Haesong, put her efforts into becoming lovable. She looks to boyfriends as substitutes for her father's love. Brother, Sim Ji-Gu, is played by Jang Sung-Bum, who has a voice like an angel. He's the baby and is somewhat insulated from the pain by the women in his family. He dreams of a singing career while SWJ insists he spend all his time studying for the Civil Service exam. THAT woman is portrayed by Nam Gi-Ae. She's a force. Playing #313 guest in 2015's Oh My Ghost10 led to 25 mostly bit parts. Next, she is the ML's mother in When the Weather is Fine9 & quite a different Oma in 2020's Flower of Evil8.9. Since then she's been in 19 not-bit-parts >8/yr. I'm not the only one who thinks she's capable. HDJ is played by Kim Young-Kwang. His hands are often bleeding. He's always getting cut. His mother abandoned him when he was a kid and his GF dumped him a few years back. He's been slowly bleeding out for most of his life.

The Romance is a tranquil campsite with a warm kindling fire... And a river of lava flowing 10ft beneath the surface. The two leads are under a weight of grief. There's a China-sized wall between them. She's been out to destroy him over his mother’s transgressions. He promised himself he would not be hurt, nor would he be abandoned, ever again. Will we get to see them smile freely? The audience knows her secret, and we know that the truth will come out. As we get to know all the characters more, the more wary we are of the truth being told - It is going to hurt. The more we know, the more we know it will hurt. Romance is in the eyes, more than anywhere else. In ep15 he manages to go from gloomy eyes to lovey-eyes - he does it better than my cat, and that's saying alot. My kitty has the best lovey-eyes. In ep16 we get to see some smiling eyes.

CIL is a thoughtful commentary on human relationships. The show is quiet. The viewer feels like s/he is watching the grazing heard from the quiet of the woods. Wolves are prowling while the prey are tending to their daily routine, mating up, and vying for power. The themes revolve around hurt, revenge and weakness - and the enslavement those bring - but also endurance and forgiveness, with the freedom they bring.

Revenge. ‘Do you crash your ex's wedding?’ He sincerely wants to know. Her: ‘Yes, you get revenge by any means possible. You trip your ex if you have a chance.’ Him: ‘No, you'll have to live with that horrible memory and that empty feeling the rest of your life.” Oprah is attributed with stating that if you're 40 and people call you “nice” there's something wrong. “Nice” is often substituted for “weak”, and weakness invites aggression. She tells him this. She tells him people are trying to take him down and pick his bones because he's too easy. He's been focused on pain. Endurance. Pain. ENDURE! “I keep going back and forth.” “Just deal with it,” she says. Athletes know all about it, she'll tell us. So does he.

CEO Shin let wounded pride fester inside of him. He, perhaps unwittingly, let a desire for 1up-manship take over his life. He was the original malefactor. HDJ simply reacted accordingly and left his company. CEO Shin then let a desire for “revenge” take over his life. He allowed HDJ to live in his head which prevented him from moving forward freely. HDJ enslaved himself in grief. SWJ enslaved herself in rage, grief, and vengeance. CEO Shin enslaved himself in pride and vengeance - false vengeance, at that, as he had no valid complaints. “I've been living like a crazy person as if I was possessed by something. I ended up coming this far. I wanted to stop, but… I don't know what else to do with life. I'm so terribly sorry.” In the end he was left with regret, which leads us into ~>

Forgiveness. CIL is satisfying and inspiring and as good as it is because it has a true and positive message. It offers solutions that we all can use. All of our protags are called upon to forgive. They aren't called on to forgive small things, either. We see how forgiveness brings release, Forgiveness doesn't mean we let go of justice or proper punishment - That is not a requirement. Forgiveness is us releasing ourselves along with the offender. It's stepping out of the cage of bitterness and hate. It is freeing ourselves, though it ain't easy. I find that trail too rocky and difficult without a lot of prayer and divine help.

Our leads are no lazy slouches and neither are the directors. The filmcraft is excellent. CIL drops tasty tidbits along the trail to keep us following along. There's connections made with good use of dialogue, camera shots, and the actors themselves. Many lines have double meanings. Juxtaposition is used cleverly. CIL is often accompanied by pensive, somewhat melancholy piano and the whole show is like a concerto of such music. It's sad, hypnotic, emotional, and oddly relaxing. What Can I Do, by Hyunji, is Spotifyable. They do some fun shadow animation as HDJ conjures up some of his favorite camping memories. The well-off people drink at a bar that looks like it's on the inside of a cob of roasting corn. “I think I'm going to cry,” Haesong says happily, because she sees SWJ holding a man's hand. The camera pans to a woebegotten pharmacist… In one episode, Haesong is wearing a top that has two fabric straps hanging from her left shoulder, and her work name tag is pinned in such a way that they make a big “A” on her chest, resurrecting Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter. Haesong has dated alot of men. She is looked at, by some, as tarnished. By ep15, Jun and Haesong are unconsciously matching their clothes. Quality touches such as these turn a good feature into an excellent one. CIL is excellent.

As moody and methodical as the pace is, there's smiles to be found. “His house is big, but there's nothing in it. Just like him.” HDJ‘s misery is reinforced to the point of humor throughout the show. “How could you 3 make so much drama every day? You guys make trouble one after another. It's almost like teamwork, ” remarks Jun. SWJ isn't much of a people person. “I'll pretend being ignored is all in my head,” is cheerful CEO Sun-woo's response to her non-response. ‘It's good to be gathered with you all - You who trust me least in this world, but cherish me most,’ Jiju quips at one point. It's all good for regulating the pressure valve and providing sufficient release.

HDJ and SWJ are seen walking alone in every episode. One beautiful irony is that his mother had been an obstacle in all of his relationships, but she ultimately brought him together with SWJ. She is the broken road that led them to eachother, and forgiveness paved the road. God bless that broken road - They don't have to hike alone ever again.


〰️QUOTES〰️

Do you know what the most loyal thing in the world is? A sense of foreboding. Animals know that an earthquake will happen and take shelter. Even animals are able to protect themselves.

If an issue can be solved with money and time then it's not a problem.

Nobody cares about loyalty anymore, so why should I? It only stabs you in the back.

✏〰 IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 8.3
Writing 8.5
Acting 8.5
Romance 7.7
Flutters 7
Art 6
Sound & music 7.8
Ending 8.5

LEVELS
Warmth 6
Action 1
Laughs 3.5
Tears 4
Fright 2.5
Tension T Anxiety 4
Gore 2
Thought provocation 6.5
Snores 1

?8.3 ?8.5 ?8.5 ?7.7 ?7 ?6 ?6 ⚡1 ?/?7.8 ?3.5 ?4 ?2.5 ?4 ?2 ?6.4 ?1 ?8.5


Age 13+ with the following cautions: This is an adult romance that is mostly quiet and respectful and conservative. The benefits outweigh the liabilities. Not much physical contact is even depicted throughout its entirety, but we do see couples kissing in bed. A man invites a woman to spend the night. There is violence that is depicted without being fully shown as the screen goes black. The ML's mother always has a man in her life. Language: PG-13 here and there.

Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned.

Re-watch? Very likely

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?Expires Before Episode 10 °6.4° °somewhat good°

A brief encounter with Dae Hyun, our saintly male lead, prompts orphan, Jung Saet Byul (who is currently raising her younger sister) to fall in love. He goes on with his day, but she is smitten for life. Fast forward 3 years and she goes to work for him at his convenience store. While people of her status are overlooked by the world, she manages to distinguish herself with her hard work and intelligence. She, °inconveniently, puts the hook-kick to his love life, however, through a series of misunderstandings and other blocks. There is no mistaken understanding when it comes to her, though: She's marked him for clearance; °her clearance to purchase him°, that is.

Rated 7.6 on MDL, BSR is much like unexpired convenience store fare - edible, somewhat good, but not very good. It degrades from being pleasant to being a bit of a chore in the last third. Knowing what I now know, would I go back and watch it again for the first time? That's almost a coin flipper. My answer is "no", but many people will enjoy watching this show - for good reason. Everyone is entitled to their form of wind-down entertainment, and BSR has obviously done the job for many viewers who have received it well. There are gems tucked away like Korean beef and fresh green onion in the ramen. They have plenty of good ingredients, but they didn't incorporate them well. Just go into it with your eyes open(ha!). If your enjoyment level starts declining, know that it doesn't get better later. It fizzles and flattens.

Let's talk about the fizzle first. They have fun with the girl fights. There's Flying Kicks and flying bodies all over the place. They even do the Matrix Reloaded burst-out-of-the-pile-up. They have animation overlay to show eyes with hearts or to bleep out some language. All of it's cute and fun. I was thrilled with the first couple episodes.

They lay out clear character contrast in the opening shots of ep1. She's leading a gang brawl. He's saving a kitten. (Gimme the perfect combo, indeed!) Sadly, he doesn't notice her for 2/3 of the show. Forget her, °I was frustrated! Most viewers want to see him take notice in little ways early on - let's get those dogs on the warming rollers! It takes a while for them to get toasty, right? It's a pity that all we see is his pity, or his overlooking her. Very gradually, they bond - soon the two communicate naturally by intricate hand ✌?✊️ signals. Nobody else can understand, but they somehow do. It's one of the cutest things about the show.

There's a handful of excellent scenes… brilliant really. "Let me go through the expired goods," she says, when the girlfriend walks in the store. He goes to a college reunion and everyone is practically dressed in monotone. They look a boring bunch. He has the most color in a pale green sweater, which could signify that he's still green. He's still a bit naive. She doesn't have a HS diploma, but she is not green. She loves green things and flowera, though. Our FL knows the meaning of every flower. I loved it and it makes me want to learn more of them. We will see each female lead have a talk with the other that leads to a situational change. It's skillful mirroring. Kdrams love the ♥️?. (It's not a love triangle if a third party is interested in one of them, but they only have eyes for eachother, is it?) There's some truly funny moments that are muted, slightly, by other clumsy humor attempts that fail. The closing of episode 12 is fresh - stunning, even.

The best thing about BSR is Kim Yoo Jung playing Jung Saet Byul. She's gorgeous. Her smile is brighter than sunshine. If she went past the freezers she could "melt all that stuff". Also, she can wear tan or white and look good, which shouldn't be allowed - I hate her, lol. Her friends are likable, as is the ML's BFF. The secondary romance is painfully goofy at times, but overall I enjoyed that couple more. Kim Sun Young as Kong Boon Hee, Dae Hyun's mother, is a blast. She commands the screen. Watching her makes me happy. I suppose I'm a true fan.

As for every other character… yuck. His father is contemptible. I want to strangle him every time he's on screen. It's not okay to be that lazy and irresponsible. They get offended when somebody hurts dad's pride. He deserves so much more than hurt feelings! What °pride? ...Pride in what? Breathing? Dae Hyun. He's the ultimate good guy, but they fail to sell "everybody's doormat " as a romantic lead. He is in a current day relationship with a woman when the show begins, and it's a mostly positive relationship; at least, his GF is not the cartoonish villain that they'll often show in romcoms, which is appreciated. He's a wonderful human being, but he's missing sex appeal. He's too wimpy! Ji Chang Wook plays Choi Dae Hyun. He plays a similarly nervous guy who is upended by a woman, in Lovestruck In The City, which is far better than BSR. He's great in K2. It's not the actor's fault, it's how they wrote and directed him.

Our leads' °besties° have instant ✨️ . Their relationship is easily more fun than the primary romance. "If I had love in My heart, I'd want the expiration date to be ten thousand years away." "Just call me ten thousand years." Yep, that's how GMO the dialog can get in the show. To be fair, that's between a pair that is comic relief, and they say a lot of very slurpy things. It's almost slapstick, but hey, they're fun. The director tries to wedge in a little too much nonsense, so the eyes will roll at times.

BSR becomes a bit of a slog to stick with it as the episodes roll on. Despite many nice touches like animation overlay, snappy cutting, and pauses that enhance, they don't have enough content to fill more than 10eps competently. Most of the characters are not relatable enough to truly draw the viewer in, and many of the plot drivers and vignettes are boring. Unfortunately, after the initial taste sensation, the expiration date is met long before the episodes expire.

✏〰 IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 7.2
Writing 5.7
Acting 7
Romance 6
Flutters 4
Art 6.5
Sound & music 7
Ending 7.5

LEVELS
Warmth 6
Action 4.5
Laughs 4.3
Tears 2
Fright 3
Tension T Anxiety 4.5
Thought provocation 4
Snores 4

?72 ?57 ?70 ?60 ?40 ?60 ?45 ⚡ ?/?70 ?43 ?20 ?30 ?45 ?40 ?40 ?75

Age 13+ The show is tame.
No language cautions. They touch on eroticism via the friend's webtoon. Fighting.

Re-watch? Never

{BTW, our ML is BFF with a guy that actually has a tan! Eum Moon Suk plays
Han Dal Shik (Dae Hyun's best friend). He looks so much like a friend of mine (who happens to be Hispanic) that I could only smile and smh every time he appeared on screen. I never plan to go down a rabbit ⚫, but here we go: When you watch East Asian dramas you would think everybody there is paler than Tom Brady, which is tedious. (In my own family there's a South Korean who is darker skinned than the African American. Just sayin...) East Asia's multi-millenia love of pale skin is connected to wealth & status. Field workers are tanned by the sun while the wealthy have a cave-dweller-like vitamin-D deficiency. We will hear Dae Hyun's family talk about their pride more than twice, and that is what it's all about. I am in love with Asian entertainment. I hesitate (or voice qualifiers) before recommending it to my African American friends and family, though, because it's as colorless as the show Friends. People insist on judging people based on things for which we have no control. Is anything more meaningless than a person's looks? Nobody has a choice of parentage or their skin color, so what is there to judge? Furthermore, much of European (and by extension, the USA's) history has been bleached. Early pictorials of Jesus showed a milk-chocolate skin tone until racism gripped the middle ages. Bible scholars will tell you that there aren't any white people in the Bible, except perhaps, some tangential bad actors. (In Poland they never adopted the Caucasian Jesus and kept the old paintings). The legend of the leprechaun was probably based on real-life Africans visiting Europe with gold. Africa was loaded with gold in ancient times, and there were Africans that navigated the world in canoes with gifts and exotic animals. They were masters at reading the sea currents, or the superhighways of the sea. The legend degraded over time to what we see now. That's two examples from a whole universe most people didn't know existed, Other than the good old vices of pride and prejudice, I cannot tell you why our world history has been color-lifted, but it is a fact. So, if we point at the East, three fingers are pointing back at the West. The result is that we remain divided. We should challenge them to open their eyes to the full spectrum of human beauty and diversify more, but also be patient with Asia. We all have deficiencies to work on. I am respectfully and patiently calling them out on this tired old mindset. Let's not start on the way they beat up on orphans…}

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Snack on Cotton Candy & Put Stalkers On Ice °6.7° °good°

Assistant chef, Jin-Hu (Lee Suk-Hyeong from Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha & Lovestruck in the City-7.3), is walking down the street in a tucked-away neighborhood. His boss's new restaurant is set to open there. He looks to the left at passersby: ‘That woman shoved a man's body in a refrigerator with the help of’ (his head moves from 9 o'clock to 11 o'clock) ‘her daughter and’ (1 o'clock) ‘granddaughter’. His head turns to 3 o'clock. ‘That woman tried to stab someone last night.’ His head keeps moving right to 4:30. ‘And that man struck a pedestrian with his car and attempted to bury him alive.’ Tough neighborhood. What do you even feed a crowd like that?

Eun Gye-Hoon & No Da-Hyun: Here's 2 people living a very unhealthy lifestyle. She can't sleep (stress, bills, past due notices, unpaid rent, lying to her mother about her office job - she quit - Oh, she's got a stalker, too). He can't sleep because he has this weird synchronicity thing where he's suddenly feeling her emotions, so when stress keeps her up, it keeps him up, too. When she cries he probably won't be able to hold back the waterworks, either. He's a chef, so he cooks to settle himself down. They aren't sleeping, and they are eating in the middle of every night.

That's not the beginning, though. As Link opens, EGH is buried in grief ever since his twin sister went missing, presumed murdered, at age 10. His family died that day. The family of his friend, Ji Won-Tak (Song Duk-Ho - May I Help You, Cheer Up) also died that day because Won-Tak's father was accused of the murder. Even though he was acquitted, the stigma remained, as the phrase “insufficient evidence” is not sufficient to clear a person's name. NDH is overshadowed by a shady past - it's literally shaded from her view. She has no memories of her childhood. She's only partially present and living. They are halves of a whole.

Link is a 2022 release that is rated 87 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 60ish-minute episodes. Yeo Jin-Goo (The Crowned Clown, Hotel Del Luna) is EGH, the ML. His voice is delicious. EGH is a high level chef. ("When the cook is emotional you can taste it. I won't tolerate any personal feelings in MY kitchen.” He sounds rough, but a moment later he tears up and passes out. What is that about?) Mr. Yeo looks completely different from his Hotel Del Luna days. The shape of his face used to be triangular; now it's more round. Triangle or circle, he usually plays a square, & he's pretty uptight as Link opens. FL, NDH, is brought to life by Mun Ka-Young (Welcome to Waikiki, True Beauty).

“These aren't my tears I'm crying right now.” EGH is tearing up and cracking up all at the wrong moments. He's been through this before. He once had synchronicity with his sister. He experienced her emotions and reactions as if they were his own. Now it's happening again. His sister couldn't be aIive, could she? No, he's certain she's gone. He felt it. He could feel her terror, and then the connection broke; that was 18 years ago. Now, he must get himself together in time for the Gourmet Fair.

‘You shouldn't be too perfect or you won't be approachable,’ NDH's mom points out. Little does mom know that NDH is far from perfect. That company job that mom is so proud of? NDH quit that a long time ago. She scrambles to work part-time jobs and she is behind on all of her bills. Hopefully she'll bring in some good tips from the Gourmet Fair. Soon she's slinging too many trashbags and dirty dishes to even think. Love? Notta thought. NDH has never had a good man in her life.

Link is cotton candy, not gourmet fare. It's loosely linked together, but it will pass the time pleasantly for many. It wasn't until the later episodes that it started wearing on me. Here's yet another show that suffers from too many bread crumbs in the meatballs. They don't have enough good content for 16 episodes, but its problems go beyond a good edit. After 10 eps or so, it degenerates into decline & collapse mode, like a botched soufflé. The supposed premise of the show, his synchronicity with her and his ability to feel what she's feeling, adds very little excitement through ep11. It's almost besides the point. Perhaps it helped draw him to her, but people fall for eachother anyway. Synchronicity need not apply. They don't clearly lay out how he knows he's feeling /her/ emotions. The first couple eps are slightly haphazard. The logic behind some of the actions, reactions, and motivations is weak, unconvincing, and downright tasteless. I was stuck in Link’s terminal lukewarmness - it wasn't bad enough for me to abandon but neither was it good enough to enjoy. By the end I lost hope that it would recover and was dreading watching the 1 ep/day I forced on myself like bad leftovers. Worst of all, Link attempts to lighten the load of heartbreak, but it comes right up to the line of making light of heartbreak. The plot is sad, and what happens stings. What's most sad is that it could have been better.

It's ironic that this show features a top level chef, yet the show itself is barebones. No extras. No garnish, no special sauce, no BAM. The premise of the stalker and the refrigerator is a tad weak. Jingeun is irritating. How does NDH's family even make enough to live? Nobody is ever in the restaurant. They should have some weirdo regulars. They don't do a good job building up the tension. This is a town where everyone should be a suspect. We should get to know each one and be shocked when the true killer is revealed. The bad guys shouldn't drop from nowhere when the show is 60% done. It feels like cheating. We don’t know this person. We know this person has done bad things but we are detached. We don't hate, like, or fear this person.

Formulaic is a criticism, but there are formulas for good storytelling. If show creators want to deviate from the formula, it had better be good. Link isn't all that good. Ep15 is VG. It starts out weak because it must clear up a mess left by previous eps, but it puts the show back on track. Ep16 is also good. It's mostly a wrap-up, something sorely missing from many prior years’ Kdramas. They also had more opportunities for laughs and better romantic moments. Hong Jong-Chan also directed Her Private Life-8 and Live Up To Your Name-7.6, two shows that are rock solid with few deficiencies. Writer Kwon Ki-Young's Hello Monster & Suspicious Partner are quite popular. This is just an off project for them.

Link Is not fusion food; it will only feed romance junkies. It doesn't cross genres well and it will not attract new regulars to Korean programming. Anyone who doesn't like romantic and somewhat sentimental features might want to skip it. Still… I believe it's worth watching once. Some of the tastier selections include NDH's Oma and grandma, who seem like they have a dark side. Grandma turns out to be a profoundly good person. They manage a plot twist or two. Their first date: urgent care and a CT scan. We learn that we can't bury everyone who bothers us - the problem is there's not enough land. I like the secondary relationship with the cops.

“I don't have the courage to be happy,” EGH admits. Truth is the 1st step in healing. The average person tells three lies a day, and some psychologists say that we lie more than 200 times a day, we're told. That includes the lies we tell ourselves. The most common lie that men and women tell is: “I'm okay.“

“Some people don't look forward, they look backwards. They live with regrets, bitterness and longing.” It occurs to NDH that these people do not see her, they see someone missing from their past; NDH is just a placeholder. In ep15 they cover if, if, IF ~>> Endless self-reproach, accusations, and regret. One character had faced cruel and entirely unfair judgment and cannot forgive h/hself. There are a couple of characters who feel a weight of responsibility when they did nothing wrong. In a vat of self-absorption, they feel compelled to turn themselves in, and it is less than convincing.

The vibe is somewhere between offbeat and strange. The characters are not fully developed. Mom and grandmother are a bit inconsistent but they grew on me. They're somewhat ridiculous but charmingly ruthless (Ye Soo-Jung from Stranger and Mine(8) is always good, and she's having the time of her life in this role). This is not Gordon Ramsay's kitchen, it's more Flo's diner. However, I appreciate the good, which outweighs the bad. It does contain some of the most romantic words I've ever heard: “Do you want anything to eat? Whatever you want, I'll cook for you.” Whew. ‘Scuse me while I sit and fan myself…


〰️QUOTES〰️

Yummy food brings you joy.

Life is a comedy in the long-shot and a tragedy in close-up. ~Buster Keaton~

Questions are more important than answers ~Einstein~


✏〰 IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 6.5
Writing 6.5
Acting 7.5
Romance 5.3
Flutters 5
Art 6
Sound & music 7.3
Ending 7.7

LEVELS
Warmth 4.5
Action 5
Laughs 2
Tears 6
Fright 4.7
Tension T Anxiety 3
Gore 3
Thought provocation 4
Snores 3

?6.5 ?6.5 ?7.5 ?5.3 ?5 ?6 ?/?7.3 ?7.7 ♦ ?4.5 ⚡5 ?2 ?6 ?4.7 ?3 ?3 ?4 ?3

Age 14+ Scary and violent elements; Language: $h!+

Re-watch? This one's in the good-to-pass-the-time category, but I may never pass this way again….

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?Don't Boo Talented Kids! ~❎️~ This Couldn't Be Cuter? °8.3° °Excellent°

This is a charming coming of age tale against the backdrop of country life and high school sports.

RB is a great show for families to watch together, as long as the subtitles aren't an obstacle. Qualities that the show reinforces include: Loyalty, standing up for what's right, defending the weak, hard work, compassion, respect, and teamwork.

It follows badminton teams from schools in rural Korea. There's not alot to do in a town that doesn't have sufficient population to support many forms of entertainment. It's even difficult to get wifi. Sports and friendships are what the kids work on most. We follow them through regular match-ups, individual and team competitions, and various family dynamics, as they gradually become a cohesive unit. The show, additionally, addresses the problem of vicious hazing and other abuses that can arise in a group of uber competitive Type-A personalities.

Positive cross-generational relationships are displayed in RB. The elderly couple that lives down the road loves to host the kids. They share a meal and, more significantly, their wifi. In return, the kids help them with reading and operating their cell phones. It's darling.

YIKES! A Fight❕ We see another side of the coin in a town hall where a village elder and one of the young players tackle eachother over conflicting ideas over how to generate more business in town. The problem, apparently, is that they have matching personalities;)l. Neither one of them has good ideas anyway, smh. It's a funny scene.

The kids help plan a birthday party for the oldest grandma in town. The whole thing is precious. As grandma is from Busan, can you guess what movie they played? Yep, the Zombie thriller: Train To Busan. All Young-tae saw was that the title contained the word "Busan." Some of the party-goers didn't open their eyes for 2 hours, lol.

It's impossible to review this show without addressing the controversy that has arisen around it. In ep5, an athlete was met with some boos while playing in Indonesia. There were some that saw this as an insult to their country. In The West we generally don't understand much about Asian culture. It does appear that they are sincere about their complaint as it is a matter of their honor, and we should accept that. However, being offensive was obviously not the intent of Netflix & the show creators.

Instead of giving feedback, a world wide vocal group took to their keyboards and attacked the show and Netflix as if insult was intended. It spread over social media and the ever-outraged went out of their way to give the show a low rating. Most Kdramas have under 3000 viewers on IMDB registering their ratings of a given show. Contrast that with RB, which had a whopping 24k ratings of "1" weeks before all the episodes were out❗ I actually watched RB to find out how bad it was. I'd never seen such a low rating on IMDB.

I wonder if most of the people on the train-to-umbrage actually saw this show before they rapaciously rambled down the tracks? Anyone posting a review having never watched the show is neither genuine nor trustworthy. The show creators are much tougher on their own country than anywhere else. I initially breezed by ep5 and never noticed anything offensive. (To be fair, I'm originally from right outside of Philadelphia, where the fans are notorious for being ill-behaved. I'll grant that my bar must be a little skewed downward by that;)

There's no perfect country. Perhaps everyone should unclutch their pearls, remove the shuttlecock from their eyes, and take a wider-angle view of the issues here: What happens in ep5 is trivial compared to what actually goes on in sports.

Fans in Wembley Stadium have booed during other team's national anthems.

It's shocking to hear that fans in Spain have done monkey chants and thrown bananas at African players⁉️.

Sadly, fans in Philadelphia really did boo Santa and throw snowballs at him.

Suspicions were raised against the New England Patriots that they had listening devices planted in the away locker rooms. Peyton Manning would not discuss anything sensitive in the locker room at Gillette Stadium. Tony Dungee would not allow his players to have possession of their playbooks as anything left in their Boston hotel rooms was liable to end up with Belichick's staff prior to the game. There's other stories of away locker rooms with poor lighting, bad smells, no heat or the thermostat not working right, no hot water, etc etc. Are the outraged here even sports fans? If so, they would know that some fans can be rabid maniacs. Right or wrong, sports is a venue that fans utilize to vent their frustrations.

I've even seen reviewers sneering at badminton: They write that it is a poor concept for a show. Badminton happens to be quite popular in all of Asia. The competition is intense, with the shuttlecocks, or birdies, typically flying off the racket at speeds up to 250 mph. Speeds have been recorded as high as 267 mph. This makes it the fastest sport in the world. That shuttlecock would win its share of pro drag races at those speeds.

Most of the actors in this show are KIDS. They all delivered first rate performances. People are heartless to trash the WHOLE show into which these kids clearly put their whole hearts. Their efforts deserve praise. Kang Hoon-kim (Yong-tae) is particularly special. He is a scene stealer; a top-shelf talent. Tang Joon-sang, who plays Hae-kang, is also quite talented. He plays a boy with Aspergers in Move To Heaven, and the sweetest North Korean soldier ever, in Crash Landing On You {Don't miss that one, btw}. The parts are characters that are completely unique from each other, and he's convincing in these roles. Ahn Se-bin plays the coach's youngest daughter, age 5 or so. She steals every scene she's in, and she also teaches the elderly couple how to read. It's cuteness overload.

Finally, the whole show is cuteness overload. It couldn't be more adorable, and these kids could not be more precious. So give it a fair go and cheer these kids on; even if you are a Pats fan :) ;)

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GMO with the MOJO ⚗ The Birth of the 6 Bajillion Won Man °8.5° °innovative wows°

Okay, it's time to pick off another ep of BF. ⏱… ⏲… Where is it? What's wrong with my continue-watching…? Where's the beef? Hulu?

WHAT!?!

That's all there is? Just 10 eps? A cliffhanger?

I'm usually bringing up the rear guard and watching the older shows, which are all completed, so I haven't had this happen to me in a long time. Now I have to wait for S2 and it hasn't even been announced yet, smh.

Don't let that scare you. Unless people watch it, they won't make another season, and we should get another season of BF. It's excellent and has the potential to be a 9+. I've held back because it ain't over yet. As is, it's quite a rush. Let's get into its DNA.

He's got what she needs.

Ju Ji Hoon (Hyena, Kingdom-8.3) is Woo Chae Woon. He's ex-mil and now high-level security. He's about more than babysitting CEOs, though. He's on a mission to uncover the truth about a terrorist bombing that took place under his watch where he was one of the base commanders overseas. He's one of those guys - Like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. He's lethal. Usually more like a statue in the corner, he doesn't show much emotion.

Han Hyo Joo (Moving, W) is Blood Free’s CEO, Yoon Ja Yoo. With her background in the sciences, she's quite stoic herself. Hints surface of past traumas. She started the company, which makes cultured meat, in order to provide human beings with a drug, parasite, and cruelty-free food supply. Things are going well. They've released their beef and are preparing to launch their seafood line. Just wait and see what they get into next.

Our ML's resume fits our FL’s job search parameters so perfectly that she's suspicious. She's not stupid, afterall. Yet Ji-hoon gradually gains her trust, then her admiration, then more. Plus he's a good cat-dad. Men that like cats are largely secure with themselves. It's a good sign.

BF is a 2024 release that is rated 88 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of a MERE 10 50-minute episodes. Screenwriter, Lee Soo Yeon, also wrote the popular Stranger. Instant stardom: This is director Park Chul Hwan's 1st effort. Wow. Other main players are Lee Hee Joon (Mouse) as PM Seon Woo Jae, and as aids to the powerful are Lee Moo Saeng (Cleaning Up, Maestra: Strings of Truth) playing On San, Jun Suk-ho Kingdom-8.3, Call It Love-8.4) is Seo Hui, and Park Ji Yeon (A Model Family) as Jung Hae Deun. Jeon Gook Hwan (Crash Landing on You-9.1, Empress Ki, and nearly everything else) is perfect as the former Prime Minister/ grandfather to the current one. He actually loses it in one scene, which is something new. As one could imagine, it's frightening. He's everywhere because he's authentic.

BF's successes in the lab threaten the power structure in K-country. The plot centers around corporate espionage and other intrigues. It's a hot second before the government steps on the mess and makes everything worse.

BF touches on the cruelty of the meat industry, but only slightly. I've considered going vegetarian, but I'm not quite there yet. The changes I have made are 1. I eat little meat, and 2. I insist on organic and humane products. A healthy person doesn't “need” meat but 2 or 3 times a week, if at all. Our food supply is polluted with chemicals, and our meat is polluted with them as well. {All those ingredients most of us can't pronounce? I've learned the hard way they have a cumulative and deleterious effect on our health, particularly gut health. Maladies that barely existed in the mid-20th are rampant now - IBS, Crohns, and mental health, such as the anxiety and depression epidemics. Serotonin receptors are in the gut (? Yep!), so poor gut health absolutely affects mood. I probably never would have made changes if my condition hadn't become ultra-extreme. GIGO (garbage-in-garbage-out) applies to our physical health, not just computers. A good start is to wean off of GMO wheat, grains, corn, and all sugar, which only harms and has no nutritional benefits whatsoever. Same goes for pet food.} Animal cruelty is just absolutely wrong. It is inexcusable. By now, the cruelty involved in the meat industry is common knowledge, so to be willfully blind to it is to be party to it. There is no room for it in Hinduism, Buddhism, or Judeo-Christian belief (yes, traditional Hebrew worship involves animal sacrifice, but the whole point is that it is supposed to hurt. It is supposed to make humans reflect on the consequencesof their tresspasses and regret the hurt that we cause). Regardless of belief-system, it is patently obvious that it's wrong to be cruel to animals except to the most ardent subscribers of “survival of the fittest.” This isn't political. I am not political. Politicians-at-large let our food supply become polluted and it's keeping us down. Politics is the new racism, and we've never sorted out the old racism. People make a mess of everything, and it's all for nothing.

Moving on…

There's a rich and powerful family depicted in which the grandfather, father, and son all have their own agendas and work at odds with eachother. So sad. This is contrasted with our ML who is making sacrifices for his niece and working for the sake of his lost comrades. He lives to bring them justice. It would be lovely to not have to worry about money. Sadly, many rich people don't manage to be happy, either. They develop habits and appetites, based on greed and pride, that can never be satisfied.

The writing is just splendid. Only the most finicky left-brained types will object to the plot twists. I found viewing pleasure near frictionless - an easy glide. BF is slick as culture in a petri dish. It's weighty. The CEO has a tremendous burden on her and the viewer can feel it. They build tension steadily. Slick techno music accompanies the tense scenes. There's respectable action in ep3. As of ep7, BF develops into an excellent thriller. There's a Hollywood style gun battle in which our protagonists are quite fortunate in their ability to avoid being shot while being amazingly accurate with their own shooting skills. Still, it works. There's very cool VR search technology featured while the actor is using VR gloves (Like Minority Report). Save a life - A very cool medical device inhabits BF's basement (Like The Fifth Element-8.9 and Prometheus-8). “Good artists copy, great artists steal,” per Picasso (if he even came up with that. Whether that quote is his original words has been brought into question, in full-circle irony. It amuses me to think that he plfered that line). The camera work, acting, directing, writing all blend together to culture a quality product. One can't pilfer that. They constructed this excellent work one cell at a time.


✏〰 IMHO
Directing 7.5
Writing 8.3
Acting 8.5
Romance 6
Flutters 5
Art 8.2
Sound & music 7.8
Ending ?

LEVELS
Laughs
Warmth 3.3
Action 7.8
Tears 5
Fright 4.5
Tension T Anxiety 4
Gore 6
Thought provocation 5.5
Snores 0

?8.5 ?8.3 ?8.5 ?6,?5 ?8.2 ?/?7.8 ?? ▪ ?3.3 ⚡7.8 ?1 ?5 ?4.5 ?4 ?6 ?5.5 ?0


Age 15+ for Violence. One stabbing scene is gritty. American style shootouts. I don't have any notes on language but it's likely some scattered PG-13 vocalization.

Rated TV-MA: Mature Audience Only.

Re-watch? This is a prime candidate to crank up for the family in my attempt to broaden their viewing horizons. When S2 comes out (nothing official is set yet) I will probably rewatch S1.


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

Modern Day -
Love to Hate You 8.9,
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,
Descendants Of The Sun-8.3
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Hospital Playlist 9,
Move To Heaven-8.4
Mine-8,
Call It Love-8.4,
Iris,
Anna-8.1,
My Mister 9.5,
Hymn of Death-8.4
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9,
Mother 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 -
Glitch-8,
K2 8,
When the Camellia Blooms-8,
Inspector Koo-8.4

Private Lives 8.1, Vagabond-8
Sisyphus 8, Law School -8
Tunnel 8.5,
Signal 8.6,
D.P. -8.4,
The Cursed 8.3,
Flower of Evil 8.9,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Parasite-9,
Black 9,
Squid Game 8.4,
Kingdom 8.3,
Sweet Home 8.4
The Wailing-8.8


Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek 7,
Heirs 7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows 7,
Something in the Rain 9,
C: Well-Intended Love 7.5 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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The Water God Saves a Drowning Woman ♥️ For Romance Lovers Only °VG°

Here's a show about how the anchor is pulled up from a generations-long curse & Nam Joo-hyuk is put in his proper place.

BoH is one of my guilty pleasures. The term “guilty pleasure” is overused & misused. Most commonly it's thrown in b/c we're embarrassed about what we like or we're throwing cover over something we've enjoyed for fear of being mocked. For a GP to actually be a GP, there must be something to feel guilty about, meaning it has to be a show that is more than alittle flawed, but we just like it. Any fair assessment has to be a combo of technical competence & how it touches the♥️. Critics often focus more on the technical b/c that is measurable, while matters of the♥️ are subjective. How the receiver takes them matters as much as how the messenger sends them out. We have to be vulnerable to admit what our♥️ likes, & that makes it scary. BoH has lots of flaws - so many logical problems, so many missed opportunities, & if one steps back & really thinks about So-ah’s story, it's so So SO SAD! But I've already watched it twice & I'm sure I'll watch it again, b/c I'm a bit of a romance junkie, & BoH gotz goodz. I'll take a flawed show in which the director can give me the flutters, merely by showing closeups of the actors’ hands, over Citizen Kane 6 days a week. I'll watch CK on the 7th. Technically excellent shows give me a thrill, but left-brain thrills are just trills compared to right-brain dopamine. Anyway, romance junkies! You'll love this one! Everyone else - probably not.

BoH is comfy & soothing while being surprisingly sensual at times. Based on the Kmanga, Bride of the Water God, it's a tale of the future king of the heavenly realms who must come to earth & complete tasks in order to ascend to the throne. Habaek (Nam Joo-hyuk from Start-Up-8) is that future king. So-ah (Shin Se-kyung Rookie Historian-7.5) is a psychiatrist who has no peace in her life. Nothing has ever gone right. She is drowning in debt and, well.... forget romance! She doesn't have the time or energy for that. Unbeknownst to So-ah, things are even worse: Her family is sworn to serve the heavenly realms whenever needed. Habaek somehow lost his powers when he descended, so he is going to need a lot of help… But So-ah is a mess! Even more worse, b/c she's from a line of divine servants, she's a god magnet.

House cleaning 1st. Besides the logical problems & missed opportunities, there was no follow-thru on many ideas. They dropped things here & there that initially made a splash, & then they let them sink to the bottom, forgotten. Habaek's powers, or lack of, are inconsistently handled. There are ill defined rules of the game, a thing too common in Kdramas. Not only does it get confusing, but it feels like they are cheating by making stuff up as they go. Before setting sail, they should clearly define the fantastical world depicted & stick to the parameters that they've set down. After 16+ hours of content, couldn't they have allowed a little more time for a thorough wrap up? We don't know what happened with most of the characters, & I would have liked a peek at what the coming days & years would look like. This is also too common and always yields discontent. It adds up to mandatory deductions. From a craft standpoint, BoH is at level 5~6 but as a romance it's a 7~8.

So-ah is in a submerged cage. She's drowning. Her altruistic father never had time for the family. Only child?!? Their house was always full of needy orphans. Ultimately, dad left on another goodwill mission & never returned. Her assistant recalls how evil she was as a child. From her perspective, she’s the victim. To dad, everyone else was more important than she. (It's a reminder that our perspectives often aren't the full story). Her dream is Vanuatu - a beautiful sea ~ sand ~ wine & song ~ she wants the life of a god. Her reality, though, is prison. Her clinic is in a lower income area with bars on the windows. She literally lives behind bars. She's floundering in the dissonance between how she's compelled to live & how she wants to live ~ she's human.

Habaek begins as demanding & dismissive. It's amusing that he calls her his servant, but he always ends up helping her. As he acclimates to life on earth, it becomes clear that something dark is afoot. He & So-ah must wade through perils to right wrongs before all of creation goes under. In the background other gods are making trouble & complicating things; most have no respect for So-ah. One person that does respect So-ah is Shin Hoo-ye. He likes everything about So-ah, which makes Habaek gradually more irritated & determined to show his own worth, even w/o his powers. The oft overdone ♥️⚠ makes a little more sense here given who So-ah is.

They ain't subtle. Like in The Terminator, clothes don't survive world-transference, so Nam Joo-hyuk is in the buff at the start. Rap music beats as he walks to So-ah like a model (though I can't say what he's modeling - The scene isn't a tad overdone, though; he's worthy of it). The director was able to make simple scenes sizzle with moments that practically steam up the lens with their sensuality. At times, just a touch is enough. Shots of hands moving slowly until the tips of their fingers separate are just beautiful. The soundtrack complements it all superbly. Glass Bridge, by Savina & Drones, made the romantic scenes flow deeper & stronger, like a wave washing over & the only way to escape the power is to drop under. I've got Glass Bridge & Savina & Drones on a variety of playlists. Ty, BoH.

One thing that is not lacking in BoH is the acting. Nam Joo-hyuk is fine, though I'm not sure if anyone cares about his acting. He plays Habaek who sits atop the world with no equals. He's never had to give anyone else a thought, so he has quite a bit of growing to do. Shin Sae Kyeong plays Yoon So-ah. I've seen her in Rookie Historian(7.5) & Run On(7- but the 2ndary couple’s ♥️ is a 9). She has an acerbic wit & authoritative air that lends to her playing a mother-lover in these shows. I like her, but I'm not partial to the mother-lover in a romance. Here she's gasping for air & she's fantastic. The superb actor, Im Joo Hwan, is Shin Hoo-ye. I'm a fan since Oh My Ghost(10). Just don't watch him in The Spies Who Loved Me(4) b/c it's awful. Krystal Jung is the petulant Mu-ra. She's got the best drop-dead stare - quite natural for a spoiled god. She's great in the hilarious Crazy Love(7.8) & even better in Sweet & Sour(7) and of course, she stars in the legendary Heirs(7.3). Gong Myung is Bi Ryum, another spoiled god. He's got a beautiful baby face. I'm currently watching him in Be Melodramatic, which is outstanding. I'd say skip Revolutionary Love(5.7) - not worth the ⏲ & his character is one of the worst things in RL.

Viki-9.2; MDL 7.4; Awiki 87; IMDB 6.9. BoH ‘s ratings are all over. Director Kim Byung-Soo doesn't have any duds. His low water mark, Bubble Gum @6.3, is his only feature rated under 7 on IMDB. Nine: 9 Times Time Travel is the high mark at 8.1. The very popular A Korean Odyssey(7) is the only other work of his that I've seen, & it's pretty much the same story. The “issues” made me crazy, yet I loved the show anyway. Both of these shows are too sloppy to appeal to anyone but a romant-i-phile. Mr. Kim's name in the credits is a draw for me, & to be honest, I would probably enjoy watching Nam Joo-hyuk in any show, good or bad.

Mr. Kim works in excellent shots & imagery. Hou-ye is also behind bars. His office is cave-dark & coldly industrial, with bar imagery on either end. It's a metaphor for his earlier life. Somebody goes through a window & the movement of the broken glass is beautiful, like it's water circling round them. Gorgeous. While there are not many action scenes, the stunts during the parking garage scene are excellent. In a scene or two, their clothes form ☯ as they embrace. There's reverses. In eps1&9 they kiss, & the scenes switch which one of them has closed eyes. In ep13 they both close their eyes.

There's laughter & warmth. Koreans & food - even when there's gods that don't get hungry they can't help having them go out to eat anyway. Why does Asian entertainment always feature eating while Hollywood starves us? The result is that their stuff has more warmth. Role reversal shopping is pretty funny. He has no clothes, so off to the fitting room scene they go. What's funnier is that tight-fisted So-ah buys him a suit that doesn't fit right. You get what you pay for, So-ah;))! The police want to know if there's anyone who might want to kill her? Her assistant immediately responds by giving names, Misters A-L, & blah blah blah, “I can't count them with my fingers…” She's utterly shocked. She had no idea.

They do go below the surface briefly. Instead of just one villain, everybody did wrong. Everyone has to live with regrets. Much of the angst in the show could be traced to a father's lack of love or attention. There's beautiful moments such as this poem about two people in love, as when you're in love even dandelions look beautiful & bright: ‘The dandelions beneath the telephone pole swayed brightly. I've come to believe that there is no such thing as coincidence in love. I've come to trust that the universe calculates even the littlest things, such as the winged stroke of a butterfly, in order to make two people fall in love.’

The name So-ah means: Beautiful waters. Drowning. Her whole life she's been drowning. The beautiful water god saves her. He turns her horror to honor & love.


〰️QUOTES〰️

The ones who smile during hardships are the winners. The ones who endure it are lesser. The ones who cry are losers.

It's in our language. We put action first in our sentences, while they put nouns first.


〰 ✏ IMHO
Directing 6.7
Writing 6
Acting 7.8
Romance 7.6
Flutters 7.8
Art 7.5
Action 5
Sound & music 9
Ending 6.5

LEVELS
Tears 7
Thought provocation 5
Snores 0

Age 15+ for mild sexual content

Re-?watch? GP

?6.7 ?6 ?7.8 ?7.6 ?7.8 ?7.5 ⚡5 ?9 ?7 ?5 ?0 ?6.5

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