After watching Goblin, I needed a show that was mostly light and happy but with a good tight plot. Still 17 turned out to be just that show I needed.
The strength of this show is the non-related family that was created, the "found" family. Everyone who lived in that house needed to be emotionally healed in some way. The way they wrote them leaning on each other, greadually learning to trust was a beautiful thing to see. There wasn't one single main character that I didn't like. Even Chan's two high school buddies were embroidered into this family seamlessly. I was particularly happy Fang, the dog, made it to the end!
I liked there that was no jealousy, no back stabbing, no triangles really. Even Chan's crush on Seo Ri was handled well and approprately for the 19 year old he was.
(Sidenote: What is it with the "I like you but know you don't like me but I'm gonna confess it anyway to make myself feel better so I can move on" trope?? It's my number one pet peeve for dramas. Stop it! It's selfish and secretly I think most characters do it to make the person that doesn't love them feel guilty and miserable.)
The relationship between Seo Ri and Woo Jin could have been really, really complicated and messy but the writer choose not to reveal a major secret of her identity until almost the end of the series and I think that was the right decision. They were allowed the freedom to heal from the past, come to love and trust each other and then find out this secret and be able to handle it with the foundation of love and trust they had built.
I did feel a couple of areas needed some criticism. First, it was the mystery of what happened to the uncle/aunt. I felt like that plot line was kinda dropped mid way for a while, then at the end it was warp speed to resolve it. Seo Ri deserved to have the reaction she did but it needed to be earlier in the drama because in the end the emotional bits were too rushed in the final hour. Also, the doctor friend that Seo Ri knew as a child and his belief that she would have stayed by his side when she woke up was unrealistic. Just because he went to med school for her doesn't automaticially grant you the right to claim her dibs on her. And since they didn't really seem to be BFF in high school, the resoluteness he had towards her seemed false. Kudos though for allowing Woo Jin to handle it respectfully without any fists being thrown which unfortunately happens a bit too much in dramaland.
This was my second show with Yang Se-Jong and seeing him go from an isolated, broken man to a warm and loving individual who lights up a room with his smile was such a switch from his Dr. Romantic character. Shin Hye-Sun was fairly new to me. I had seen her in Legend of the Blue Sea previously. She played the confusion of a 17 year old waking up in a new body really well. Ahn Hyo-Seop I didn't realize unti several episodes in this was the same actor in Dr. Romantic 2! He definitely had grown up a lot between these two projects.
This isn't a ground breaking drama but I described it early on as a warm and cozy blanket and I still felt that way at the end.
My rating 4/5 which is interpreted as "Loved it but there were just one or two things that really stuck out as needing to be done better."
Friday, July 10, 2020
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
My First and Probably Last Thai Drama
Recently I stumbled across some videos that YouTube had suggested. They were music videos from the Thai drama "My Husband in Law". The actors were gorgeous of course and I liked the setup. Girl falls for boy young. He falls for her over time. Classic.
After some searching of valid sites with English subs, I finally hit play. The first thing I noticed was the language itself was so different than the Korean I was used to. Not a deal breaker but just something to get used to. The episodes were also really long. Almost an hour and a half each one. Normally that doesn't bother me but it felt like a lot of the episodes were filler.
As the story progressed some other things stood out. Domestic violence. Not in the main couple but a secondary couple. And I'm not talking a hit or a violent wrist grab. He beats her to a pulp several times. Rapes her. And eventually beats up her so much she lands in the hospital. While I never want to see this, if the aftermath was she leaving him and her family being supportive of that, maybe I could deal. But as most domestic violent cases, she doesn't leave him. Her father tells her she has to remain married to him even when he knows he beats her. Disturbing.
Another issue is the use of the word "rape". The married female used it twice to her husband. Wondering if it would be okay to rape him. If it was legal? Maybe this is something culturally acceptable to use that word, but for me, the word is a word that should not be used so casually. It's a serious word. A serious offense. Should be treated as such.
Even if I can put those issues aside, I just didn't like the acting. The style was over the top with a lot of over-reactions and screeching by the females. Just really silly a lot of the time. Mostly from the friends. The female had one female friend that reminded me of how a preteen would react to things.
The plot had a great premise but if I thought kdramas had the market on miscommunication boy was I wrong. The female lead loved the boy most of her life. She spent most of the drama trying to get him to fall in love with her and when he confessed, she suddenly decided it wasn't good enough and he didn't know her well enough. She had secretly planned to leave him and study abroad but found out she was pregnant and moved to another city in the same country. He found her and she refused to have anything to do with him because he needed time to figure out what he wanted. Huh? She then refused to see him or let him be around when she's pregnant. It was non-sensical.
By episode 12/15 I was basically hitting the 15 forward button for most of it. Mainly I wanted to see how stupid it would get. It got more stupid. Now we have pre-eclampia and she needs a kidney donor which of course the husband just happens to be a match.
Overall, it was just too much of everything. Maybe it was a bad script? Others maybe would be better but my feeling is this is typical. It's not for me. I realized recently that I just really love the kdramas format the best. I understand the language the most. I know the actors the best. I like the style and writing the best. So I'm gonna stick to what I know for now.
After some searching of valid sites with English subs, I finally hit play. The first thing I noticed was the language itself was so different than the Korean I was used to. Not a deal breaker but just something to get used to. The episodes were also really long. Almost an hour and a half each one. Normally that doesn't bother me but it felt like a lot of the episodes were filler.
As the story progressed some other things stood out. Domestic violence. Not in the main couple but a secondary couple. And I'm not talking a hit or a violent wrist grab. He beats her to a pulp several times. Rapes her. And eventually beats up her so much she lands in the hospital. While I never want to see this, if the aftermath was she leaving him and her family being supportive of that, maybe I could deal. But as most domestic violent cases, she doesn't leave him. Her father tells her she has to remain married to him even when he knows he beats her. Disturbing.
Another issue is the use of the word "rape". The married female used it twice to her husband. Wondering if it would be okay to rape him. If it was legal? Maybe this is something culturally acceptable to use that word, but for me, the word is a word that should not be used so casually. It's a serious word. A serious offense. Should be treated as such.
Even if I can put those issues aside, I just didn't like the acting. The style was over the top with a lot of over-reactions and screeching by the females. Just really silly a lot of the time. Mostly from the friends. The female had one female friend that reminded me of how a preteen would react to things.
The plot had a great premise but if I thought kdramas had the market on miscommunication boy was I wrong. The female lead loved the boy most of her life. She spent most of the drama trying to get him to fall in love with her and when he confessed, she suddenly decided it wasn't good enough and he didn't know her well enough. She had secretly planned to leave him and study abroad but found out she was pregnant and moved to another city in the same country. He found her and she refused to have anything to do with him because he needed time to figure out what he wanted. Huh? She then refused to see him or let him be around when she's pregnant. It was non-sensical.
By episode 12/15 I was basically hitting the 15 forward button for most of it. Mainly I wanted to see how stupid it would get. It got more stupid. Now we have pre-eclampia and she needs a kidney donor which of course the husband just happens to be a match.
Overall, it was just too much of everything. Maybe it was a bad script? Others maybe would be better but my feeling is this is typical. It's not for me. I realized recently that I just really love the kdramas format the best. I understand the language the most. I know the actors the best. I like the style and writing the best. So I'm gonna stick to what I know for now.
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Goblin Review 7-5-2020
I am writing this as my nose is still stuffy from all the crying I have done over the past 2.5 hours of finishing up Goblin.
Goblin made such an impression on me. It was probably the fastest I've ever watched a show. I cried, I laughed and I kept pressing next video.
As I watched I couldn't help but compare two other KES projects to this, Descendants of the Sun and The King Eternal Monarch. I really enjoyed DOTS. I thought the story was good and the second lead couple story even better than the first. It was also one of those dramas I watched pretty fast but it wasn't perfect and it had some glaring issues. TKEM- my issues with this drama are well documented and it kind of makes me a bit mad that TKEM was such an awful script now. I know that KES can write a fantastic well rounded script with second couples and side characters that enhance and blend with the main story line without sacrificing the main story because I just watched over 16 hours of it.
One thing I will always remember probably the most is the bromance. From the beginning, Goblin and Grim Reaper didn't like each other but they had this bond and funny way of expressing that even though it looked like they hated each other, there was some underlying respect. The amount of comedy surprised me. At times, they were like two little boys even though combined they were over 1000 years of age. Suspicions arose for me early about who the Reaper really was and the reveal made for some terrific albeit torturous scenes of betrayal and guilt. The main theme of forgiveness certainly played out with them and in the end when Reaper finished his last task and Goblin watched him depart, I felt that loss deeply.
Sunny and Reaper. I didn't go into Goblin spoiler free. I knew bits and pieces. Seen screen caps. I did not know about the queen/king angle. Talk about tragic. For a king at 17 to be that influenced by such an evil person, you hated his actions but hated the evil man who raised him more. The king truly loved the queen but in that time and place love wasn't enough and he paid the ultimate price as did she and all the other innocents. In present day, when the truth was revealed, the guilt and shame was so palpable. I am still pondering a little why Sunny went away. The translation was she just couldn't forgive but I have to think about that more. Maybe it was because God kept her memories it was just too much to bear? I was sad Sunny wasn't there when Eun Tak died, she could have helped her brother a lot. When Reaper led her away, I was hopeful that he hadn't used his lives up and finding each other again as an actress and detective and falling in love made for a satisfying conclusion of their story. Goblin seeing them happy made it even better.
Goblin and his bride. This was the plot I had probably been spoiled on the most. I had heard the most critical comments regarding age and such. Usually I am on the first train to board the "it's creepy" express but it just didn't factor into it here for me. Maybe when you are 939 years old age kinda becomes irrelevant? The stylists did a great job of making her look 19/20 and I did appreciate them aging her look when she went to college. Kim Go Eun also played the ages appropriately. There also weren't big displays of affection. I think Goblin tried to respect her age until that moment he knew he was about to die and the desperate kiss was appropriate. The way they depicted choices and happiness hit hard with me and is still sticking with me. I was okay with Eun Tak showing up at the end as a 19 year old versus a 29 year old. Her memories were intact and to her that's where the memories started with Kim Shin. At 19...why would she want to skip that age? She had already skipped 9 years before with him. Now that she found him again she wasn't wasting time.
Deuk Hwa- Having just watched Mystic Pop Up bar I was pleasantly surprised to see Yook Sung Jae in this. He was delightful and maybe showed the most character growth. Although, I felt something was off with him but never did I imagine that God had taken over his body for a bit. Now every time I see a white butterfly, I will remember this show.
One of my favorite aspects though were the tea room scenes, with Reaper giving them the tea to erase their memories and sending them on their way to wherever. Some were harsh like the mean man who wouldn't drink the tea side by side with his driver. Some were really poignant. The old lady who waited for 73 years for her love who fell on the North Korean side of the DMZ. Or the blind man who's guide dog "Happy" was waiting there for him. (That one really got me.) No matter what you believe or don't believe about the afterlife, these type scenes made me really think about my own life and expectations.
I wish in the end we had gotten a little more glimpse into Deuk Hwa's life. He was serving Goblin still but did he marry? Did he have kids to pass on the service to? I would have liked a bit more of the class president friend. Her inclusion felt a bit underwhelming. As did the ghost Aunt at the end but I knew Eun Tak needed that closure. All minor things.
This was my first experience with Gong Yoo but not my last! He had this ability to be sad while smiling that made you feel all 939 years of pain he's endured. His comedic timing was also a surprise. I did it backwards. I watched Touch Your Heart with Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na first and I enjoyed them in that but their performances here blew me away. I probably cried more over their story line than Goblin's. This was my third Kim Go Eun project, TKEM and Tune in for Love being the first two. Goblin was definitely her best work out of the three I've seen.
The sets. Beautiful and ethereal. The music was really good although at times the same song played a bit too much.
As I am a fairly new to kdrama person, I am thinking about if this had been my first one I had ever watched. What my expectations would be for all the rest? Would every thing be compared? Be let downs?
As it wasn't my gateway, I am thinking back to the ones I've seen before and will I view them differently? How will I view ones to come? It set the bar pretty high. Especially for any future KES projects. I've yet to watch Mr. Sunshine mainly because it's a little more violent than I like but it's still on my list.
I'm sad this experience is over. I miss them already.
Rating 5/5 "Absorbed by it. Can't find major flaws. Made me really feel the story."
Goblin made such an impression on me. It was probably the fastest I've ever watched a show. I cried, I laughed and I kept pressing next video.
As I watched I couldn't help but compare two other KES projects to this, Descendants of the Sun and The King Eternal Monarch. I really enjoyed DOTS. I thought the story was good and the second lead couple story even better than the first. It was also one of those dramas I watched pretty fast but it wasn't perfect and it had some glaring issues. TKEM- my issues with this drama are well documented and it kind of makes me a bit mad that TKEM was such an awful script now. I know that KES can write a fantastic well rounded script with second couples and side characters that enhance and blend with the main story line without sacrificing the main story because I just watched over 16 hours of it.
One thing I will always remember probably the most is the bromance. From the beginning, Goblin and Grim Reaper didn't like each other but they had this bond and funny way of expressing that even though it looked like they hated each other, there was some underlying respect. The amount of comedy surprised me. At times, they were like two little boys even though combined they were over 1000 years of age. Suspicions arose for me early about who the Reaper really was and the reveal made for some terrific albeit torturous scenes of betrayal and guilt. The main theme of forgiveness certainly played out with them and in the end when Reaper finished his last task and Goblin watched him depart, I felt that loss deeply.
Sunny and Reaper. I didn't go into Goblin spoiler free. I knew bits and pieces. Seen screen caps. I did not know about the queen/king angle. Talk about tragic. For a king at 17 to be that influenced by such an evil person, you hated his actions but hated the evil man who raised him more. The king truly loved the queen but in that time and place love wasn't enough and he paid the ultimate price as did she and all the other innocents. In present day, when the truth was revealed, the guilt and shame was so palpable. I am still pondering a little why Sunny went away. The translation was she just couldn't forgive but I have to think about that more. Maybe it was because God kept her memories it was just too much to bear? I was sad Sunny wasn't there when Eun Tak died, she could have helped her brother a lot. When Reaper led her away, I was hopeful that he hadn't used his lives up and finding each other again as an actress and detective and falling in love made for a satisfying conclusion of their story. Goblin seeing them happy made it even better.
Goblin and his bride. This was the plot I had probably been spoiled on the most. I had heard the most critical comments regarding age and such. Usually I am on the first train to board the "it's creepy" express but it just didn't factor into it here for me. Maybe when you are 939 years old age kinda becomes irrelevant? The stylists did a great job of making her look 19/20 and I did appreciate them aging her look when she went to college. Kim Go Eun also played the ages appropriately. There also weren't big displays of affection. I think Goblin tried to respect her age until that moment he knew he was about to die and the desperate kiss was appropriate. The way they depicted choices and happiness hit hard with me and is still sticking with me. I was okay with Eun Tak showing up at the end as a 19 year old versus a 29 year old. Her memories were intact and to her that's where the memories started with Kim Shin. At 19...why would she want to skip that age? She had already skipped 9 years before with him. Now that she found him again she wasn't wasting time.
Deuk Hwa- Having just watched Mystic Pop Up bar I was pleasantly surprised to see Yook Sung Jae in this. He was delightful and maybe showed the most character growth. Although, I felt something was off with him but never did I imagine that God had taken over his body for a bit. Now every time I see a white butterfly, I will remember this show.
One of my favorite aspects though were the tea room scenes, with Reaper giving them the tea to erase their memories and sending them on their way to wherever. Some were harsh like the mean man who wouldn't drink the tea side by side with his driver. Some were really poignant. The old lady who waited for 73 years for her love who fell on the North Korean side of the DMZ. Or the blind man who's guide dog "Happy" was waiting there for him. (That one really got me.) No matter what you believe or don't believe about the afterlife, these type scenes made me really think about my own life and expectations.
I wish in the end we had gotten a little more glimpse into Deuk Hwa's life. He was serving Goblin still but did he marry? Did he have kids to pass on the service to? I would have liked a bit more of the class president friend. Her inclusion felt a bit underwhelming. As did the ghost Aunt at the end but I knew Eun Tak needed that closure. All minor things.
This was my first experience with Gong Yoo but not my last! He had this ability to be sad while smiling that made you feel all 939 years of pain he's endured. His comedic timing was also a surprise. I did it backwards. I watched Touch Your Heart with Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na first and I enjoyed them in that but their performances here blew me away. I probably cried more over their story line than Goblin's. This was my third Kim Go Eun project, TKEM and Tune in for Love being the first two. Goblin was definitely her best work out of the three I've seen.
The sets. Beautiful and ethereal. The music was really good although at times the same song played a bit too much.
As I am a fairly new to kdrama person, I am thinking about if this had been my first one I had ever watched. What my expectations would be for all the rest? Would every thing be compared? Be let downs?
As it wasn't my gateway, I am thinking back to the ones I've seen before and will I view them differently? How will I view ones to come? It set the bar pretty high. Especially for any future KES projects. I've yet to watch Mr. Sunshine mainly because it's a little more violent than I like but it's still on my list.
I'm sad this experience is over. I miss them already.
Rating 5/5 "Absorbed by it. Can't find major flaws. Made me really feel the story."
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Oh My Baby Review 7-2-2020
Well.
The pros.
Go Joon is adorable and does comedy really well. This was my first drama with him and I look forward to more. I liked Jang Na ra but she didn't really grab me with her acting style by herself. Together they were nice.
When Yi Sang and Ha Ri had adult conversations it was done really well. I liked it showed the male side of infertility and how much he struggled. I thought Ha Ri was a bit unfair at times to him regarding his struggles. He needed the time to deal with it even if she didn't think she did.
The office gal pals were supportive and that was nice to see.
And while a baby would have been nice, it just wasn't meant to be yet and that's ok. That's life. They learned to be happy with themselves and with the other. Love alone was enough. Though don't miss the extra scene at the end!
The cons.
The lack of kissing. One open eyed kiss the whole time. Hardly any hugging. After today's scenes I am convinced there is a BTS story here we will never know. Maybe some weird COVID clause. Just GLARING omission. The fade out about to kiss made me laugh but hey bare shoulder scene the next morning!
The relentless narcisstic "BFF". I could have taken one episode of it, maybe two but it kept getting worse and worse and no amount of "yeah I was pissed at my ex" makes me forgive him. Not even Yi Sang saying he liked him in the end. I wish more time had been spent on the ex-wife with the post-partum depression angle. It made her out to be so awful but she was really struggling with PPD and that should have been explored more.
No serious consideration for adoption even through the very end.
The Mom annoyed me with her inconsistent behaviors and advice.
I felt the third sperm donor option was annoying for most of it and then became super irrelevant.
Great concept for a drama that was executed well for half of it. Could have easily been 12 episodes because the "BFF" wasn't needed to advance the story and be the end neither was the other male option.
Rating: What started out as a 4/5 "Loved it but issues" dropped over the last four-six episodes to a 2/5 "had a lot of issues with some enjoyable moments with some fast forwarding of the "BFF".
The pros.
Go Joon is adorable and does comedy really well. This was my first drama with him and I look forward to more. I liked Jang Na ra but she didn't really grab me with her acting style by herself. Together they were nice.
When Yi Sang and Ha Ri had adult conversations it was done really well. I liked it showed the male side of infertility and how much he struggled. I thought Ha Ri was a bit unfair at times to him regarding his struggles. He needed the time to deal with it even if she didn't think she did.
The office gal pals were supportive and that was nice to see.
And while a baby would have been nice, it just wasn't meant to be yet and that's ok. That's life. They learned to be happy with themselves and with the other. Love alone was enough. Though don't miss the extra scene at the end!
The cons.
The lack of kissing. One open eyed kiss the whole time. Hardly any hugging. After today's scenes I am convinced there is a BTS story here we will never know. Maybe some weird COVID clause. Just GLARING omission. The fade out about to kiss made me laugh but hey bare shoulder scene the next morning!
The relentless narcisstic "BFF". I could have taken one episode of it, maybe two but it kept getting worse and worse and no amount of "yeah I was pissed at my ex" makes me forgive him. Not even Yi Sang saying he liked him in the end. I wish more time had been spent on the ex-wife with the post-partum depression angle. It made her out to be so awful but she was really struggling with PPD and that should have been explored more.
No serious consideration for adoption even through the very end.
The Mom annoyed me with her inconsistent behaviors and advice.
I felt the third sperm donor option was annoying for most of it and then became super irrelevant.
Great concept for a drama that was executed well for half of it. Could have easily been 12 episodes because the "BFF" wasn't needed to advance the story and be the end neither was the other male option.
Rating: What started out as a 4/5 "Loved it but issues" dropped over the last four-six episodes to a 2/5 "had a lot of issues with some enjoyable moments with some fast forwarding of the "BFF".
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