#jdrama thoughts

[k-odyssey]

Starting Eye Love You as a distraction on a rainy day and it's very cute and fluffy so far. In a way that I actually like, although we're definitely in the realm of "no such person exists" when it comes to the ML. Leaving little notes with people's food deliveries... drawing cute otters on them... He's the younger, quirky Korean man you'd make up after watching lots of romantic kdramas.

When (spoiler for ep 2 I guess) he becomes an employee at her company, she reacts with the appropriate amount of horror for a boss when their crush is now their subordinate. She is acting ridiculous about it, but it's the first time I've seen it portrayed like this in a drama. Usually it's the employee panicking about finding out their new CEO is their crush. And the CEO just abuses their power to get closer to them. So to me this is kind of a refreshing take. Curious how it'll go from here.

[infriga]

Finally tried out a Japanese Drama.

It was cute but MAN was it cheesy lmao.

[thisisarashian]

Watching a bit more of MuzuKoi while I wait for Rachel and… Oh man… that boat scene was BRUTAL. And?? He just lays down on the couch afterward?? Ohhhhh man. Like don’t get me wrong, Reiji Samejima is an ASSHOLE but he’s so lonely and pathetic and I am so sad about this dumb drama like wtf

I like how there are these moments that are being shown where he’s by himself, very small (physically, I mean, but also metaphorically). These moments where he’s super vulnerable are really sad and pathetic and now I’M sad ;;

[liszts88keys]

Ahhh...just watched the second episode of kyou wa kaisha yasumimasu..and it's so cute! Every scene is so damn relatable, gosh...now I'm gonna be craving every Wednesday.

[k-odyssey]

I watched a couple of eps of Mr Bride. For no particular reason. Gotta watch those viki dramas to feel like my subscription is worth it!

So far, I like the idea of it more than the execution.

Pros:

I love Hayami as a character. She's perfect from the outside. Her (male) colleagues have put her up on the pedestal of Perfect Woman, which in their eyes is also perfect housewife. She's excellent at her job, always put-together. They assume she's got a squeaky-clean house and culinary talents. To me, it was a relief and a comfort to see her messy, dirty house. Surely, no one has the energy for all that! And she sure doesn't.

She keeps fighting the idea that women should inherently be good with chores, as she should! (Side note: the way the one sleazy guy tries to propose his son in marriage to her. like WTF!!!)

There's a tension between how she sees herself, how her parents (they know she's messy), her friend and her colleagues see her. That's interesting to explore! I guess the one person beginning to see the many sides of her is Yamamoto.

When she ends up in the "husband" role, the drama is challenging the viewer to think about gender roles and the distribution of house work, and I find it an interesting angle.

Yamamoto's family structure is different, and it's cute how motherly his brothers are!!

Cons:

The idea of first cohabitating is so out-of-the-blue. Not sure how Hayami could possible agree to it. In that tiny room. With a colleague. And it's not like she has ANY romantic feeling for the boy. So far, they're giving brother/sister to me.

That's my issue. Lack of romantic anything. It's supposed to be a romcom. It's still early, but Yamamoto feels like he has a school crush on Hayami. And she (amazingly) has no idea. I don't really ship them.

Again, how'd they just decide to live together as "husband" and "wife" and never examine how weird that was... no talk of romance. only when pressed by the brother.

It might change, but even with reverse genders, I don't like the idea that one of the two does all of the chores and the other gives them money. If they share a space, they should share the tasks? Idk. I'm a messy person myself, but when I live with someone, I clean up after myself. Otherwise, isn't he just a live-in servant? Especially when they become a couple, that'd be such a weird dynamic. She could at least the grocery shopping/laundry or whatever.

Not sure how much more of this I'll watch since I've got as many pros as cons on my list, and no one in this is the kind of dreamy that might convince me to keep watching for entirely superficial reasons...

[k-odyssey]

enjoying hold my hand at twilight very much.

[k-odyssey]

jdramas i’ve been watching

this is the post that i accidentally deleted last week & wrote again from memory. i’ve finished Kabe-Koji-Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to be Recognized now! i liked it a lot.

SILENT

i already talked about silent. it’s such a thoughtful depiction of friendship and love in the broad sense. i thought that minato was frustrating but he feels like a real person. i’m glad that he apologized and reconnected with sou. i actually thought, when he was breaking up with tsumugi, "no don't do it! she loves you!" i could see what he couldn't through his veil of self-doubt. even if sou and tsumugi have a special bond, i could see them remain friends and being ok with that? tsumugi was sincere.

for sou tho, it's a matter of thinking his hearing loss would make him a bad partner. so it's great to see him change and grow and open up to the idea that he’s as good as anyone.

also the way tsumugi told minato post break up what she loved about their relationship was touching. i've never seen a broken up couple have such a good conversation. unless maybe they were meant to get back together later in the story.

KABE-KOJI-NEKOYASHIKI-KUN DESIRES TO BE RECOGNIZED

gotta love a character that has a shrine to their popstar childhood friend but acts cold in front of them. i gotta say i’m used to boybands as portrayed in kdramas, shiny smile is??? it’s a different vibe. they don’t scream “cool.” the theme song is catchy tho.

it’s a lovely story cuz it’s about two people making each other want to be better. and thinking you know someone has it easy when they could be struggling as much as you are. also it’s very funny. issei is so kind to a paparazzi that he feels bad for following him around.

ETERNAL YESTERDAY

this is one of these dramas with an impossible premise. like, how is the plot supposed to fix it?? i’m still not sure where we’re heading, but i’m enjoying the ride.

this confession scene was so intense. i’ve seen so many of these and honestly it’s hard to create such tension and anticipation leading up to it, since we all know the characters love each other. i was captivated. the stakes felt high.

[k-odyssey]

So i only started Silent cause it was on my dash & i was curious. It’s become the most compelling thing i’m currently watching.

Well, i just looked up the director and now it makes sense how a drama can be this good with a plot this basic. It’s the Cherry Magic director, Kazama Hiroki!!!

There’s usually nothing that frustrates me more than a character who hides away when he’s sick, intentionally hurting the one they love so they leave and don’t see them like this. But i’m not mad at Sou!!!

I can see the situation from his point of view. It’s not misplaced pride. He was still a kid. Going through such a life-changing illness must be hard enough as it is, having to worry about others as you’re trying to adapt would be tough. It makes sense that he would feel like a burden, even if friends and lovers wouldn’t see it that way.

They could get distant from not being able to communicate as they used to. And people with disabilities are often treated differently, he could’ve worried about seeing that change in the people he loved.

Minato, on the other hand, makes me mad. And it’s not from a lack of effort on the drama’s part to humanize him. He just feels so selfish to me, thinking only about his own hurt. I can’t blame him for being upset, but why does he insist on speaking to Sou’s back when he knows he’s deaf? It’s especially jarring when we’ve seen Tsumugi get it right and make an effort to speak Sou’s language.

If he wanted to be heard, he could write him. As it is, he’s just taking his frustration and culpability out on him, without giving him a chance to reply. He never even thinks of asking Sou how he’s been.

I have to admire Tsumugi’s confidence in her own feelings. She’s so sure that she loves him. But her and Sou are so effortless in comparison. When they’re together, it feels like they’re fully present. When she and Minato are together, it seems Sou is always on at least one of their minds.

Oh, I just remembered how Sou got mad at Tsumugi on the day he picked up the earbud and signed at her, knowing very well she wouldn’t get it. He was putting up a barrier. Now Minato has done it in reverse. But I still feel different about both scenes: in one Sou is asking Tsumugi to accept the current situation (he’s deaf, they’re in different worlds now), in the other Minato is prisoner of the past (”how could you do this to me”).

The one thing he has going for him is that he’s not jealous. He’s actually heartbroken that his friend hid his illness from him. It’s just that he seems to be taking Sou’s disability personally? Like something that was done to him. I feel funny about that.

Tsumugi is so empathetic in contrast. Before even asking why Sou kept this a secret, she tries to learn sign language. And she apologizes about things she said back then that might’ve given him a hard time!!! Two people could not be reacting in more different ways.

[k-odyssey]

I didn’t think I’d ever be recommending a drama with a title like “Old Fashion Cupcake” tbh but go watch it!! When I tell you my eyes were stinging this whole episode. I love ‘em, not just as a couple but as characters too.

[k-odyssey]

updates on what im watching:

Our Beloved Summer - 2 eps left. i think i said it already but this is more of a comfort show for me. in a good way. i wasn't sold on it at first but i love it as a character study. i got to the part where yeon soo gets scared of them breaking up again, cuz once it's happened it feels uncomfortably probable that it could happen again. feels like a very human thought. she's uncharacteristically silly about it. tries acting different out of fear. it felt out of character, yet understandable. i like the drama's point of view, which is empathetic & kind.

Thirty-Nine - just started. took me a minute but im in. id probably watch anything for son ye jin, she's just so radiant. also loooved jeon mi do in hospital playlist. but yeah. two people openly saying they wanna sleep together on day 2 and doing it is such an oddity for kdramas & i wouldn't mind seeing more honest conversations like that one. and like, one night stands seem to always come with negative consequences, usually. but so far so good. tho obviously this isn't going to be an actual one night stand.

some other things ive been watching:

Cherry Blossoms After Winter - im more lenient with short BL dramas but yeah. this one's very cheesy and slow at times. how long do we need to linger on their faces while nothing is happening? ive started the last ep but i think i won't actually finish.

Promise Cinderella - jdramas aren't afraid of making a highschooler and a 29 (or 27?)-year-old end up together turns out. there's even another jdrama that's just come to viki with a similar premise. i watched most of this even tho i feel somewhat uncomfortable. the power imbalance is kind of shifted since the 17-year-old is a rich boy with a penchant for manipulation but. it's kind of funny and unsettling all at once.

The Full-time Wife Escapist - yet another contractual marriage. at first i liked it a lot, the FL is so lovely, but it's no Shanai Marriage Honey. by which i mean i don't ship it that hard and there's a lot of effort being made to hide their feelings and ML is just not as attractive (a lot of that is cuz of the way he acts, he's not super comfortable in his own skin, which could be cute but he shuts her off so).

[k-odyssey]

From Five To Nine thoughts

I started From Five to Nine for no particular reason—it was just right there on viki's list of newly released dramas (it is from 2015 tho)—and it actually turned out to be good!!

My expectations were low enough that I started from episode 3 (I went back to the beginning later). But I find it so funny. It's such a feel-good! I love Junko's family and their silly, fast-paced conversations, all of the running jokes and both leads.

It's a pretty unique set-up. He's a buddhist priest and she's an english teacher. She's tricked by her family into going on a blind date with him. He immediately congratulates her on becoming his wife. She's not into it but stays for the crab.

I do have a soft spot for a lonely orphan boy who acts cold but is actually tender-hearted. He's been raised with a kind of ascetic mindset and her loud, messy family is such a departure from everything he's ever known. He's so genuinely happy to around them and it's lovely.

His grandmother is so involved in his life, so controlling. She has big plans for him. In contrast, Junko's family is satisfied with his mere existence. Around them, he can just be himself and that's enough.

He's also somehow both wordly (great education, perfect english, mature from a young age, expensive car and private jet??) and a complete novice when it comes to dating & things outside of his temple bubble. The man has never had instant ramen. In Japan.

It's charming to see how much of an idiot he can be, and how earnest. The way he wants to celebrate the most mundane anniversaries of their relationship. He's just so unapologetically over-the-top and fun to watch.

Sure, he's too insistent, follows her around like a lost puppy. But when she declares that she never wants to see him again, he plans on disappearing from her life.

Junko is the kind of easygoing, lovely person that anyone and everyone falls in love with. Like, there's three grown men and one child who confess to her. Jdramas....

She is great, though. Ambitious. Driven. Kind. Puts herself first, without being a bitch about it. In a healthy way. Like no, she won't give up her NYC dreams for a man (well, unless she really does love him) and yes, she will banish him from her life if he betrays her. Also she's cute.

She does have a tendency to literally run away from her problems and avoid difficult conversations and it makes her seem a little silly but very human.

I had mixed feelings about the Yuki reveal, just cause, why make them scary?

Also mixed feelings about Takane's grandmother who gets away with being a pretty terrible person. In the end, you do get where she's coming from, but it's very obviously wrong. She's not sorry about looking down on Junko, not sorry about raising Takane to be such a lonely child, and not sorry about sending his brother away and treating him so badly. She's still an interesting and funny character, but I can't help hating her a little, and I wish she knew how wrong she was.