On mermaids and poopy diapers

I narrowed down my next Kdrama to watch to either The Legend of the Blue Sea or Waikiki. I thought I'd try an episode of each and then pick one from there. I wanted something NON-chaebol and...well, you'll see...

I tried Waikiki first and it might be the first time I really laughed out loud at a Kdrama. Sure, I've smiled before, but this one is seriously funny in a pratfall physical comedy sense that I hadn't seen in a Kdrama before. It's about a group of guys (+ one girl) who own a failing B&B (in Honolulu, Hawaii, I'm guessing, given the name of the drama). One morning they wake to find a baby and expected hijinks ensue. You know, poop. Diapers. A breastfeeding mom (once she comes back). Embarrassment. Public humiliation. So, so so much awkward. There's more but I'm going to leave it for another write up for when I finish watching it because I definitely will go back to it. But...

Then I watched the first episode of The Legend of the Blue Sea. The description says that it's the story of a mermaid from the Joseon era (1500s)...well, here:

Shim Cheong (Jun Ji Hyun) is a mermaid who follows her one true love, a nobleman’s son from the Joseon Dynasty, to modern-day Seoul. Moon’s modern doppelgänger is Heo Joon Jae (Lee Min Ho), a highly skilled scam artist who first becomes interested in Shim Cheong because of a jade bracelet worth $6 million that Shim Cheong wears. (Edit: she's NOT from the Joseon era; she's a reincarnation of the self back then, just like everyone else in this how...man, I hate whoever writes the blurbs)

So I knew going in that Joon Jae was a con man. I did NOT know that he was going to turn out to be YET ANOTHER EFFING CHAEBOL WITH FAMILY ISSUES. But by then I was in love with the characters. So...sigh. Here I go again.

Jun Ji Hyun is particularly a joy as she is so fully committed to her "fish out of water" mermaid on land and the expressions she makes are priceless. Great physical comedy. She's beautiful but obviously not at all afraid to go full throttle crazypants. I will definitely try My Love From the Star someday just because she's in it. I'm actually liking Lee Min Ho more than I anticipated too -- he's a conman but he shows his good heart quite early on (even if he is in denial about his attraction to Shim Cheong). I'd also seen him in clips from another show called Heirs (that I may or may not watch as it's definitely a chaebol-filled fun fest) and he just...well, he looked really smarmy in that. But I'm really enjoying him in this.

And this is a show full of fate & coincidences & mystical realism but unlike Secret Garden or About Time, it WORKS. I love it. I'm about to start episode 9 and oh man oh man oh man, I really really hope it doesn't go south. Because so far, every time I've had a question about the mythology of how the whole mermaid thing works or the bouncing back and forth between the Joseon timeline vs. the modern day one, it has been answered (or you at least get a partial answer and the promise of future reveals).

And the writer is handling the comedy element so well too -- the miscommunication from the straight-talking, very literal minded mermaid to the wily conman that is his own competition/worst enemy. But also the pathos and the heavy moments. Many of the more serious ones so far have been in the Joseon era (other than when Shim Cheong nearly dies after being run over by a car) but they've all worked.

I'm not even minding the chaebol thing too much (maybe because Joon Jae ran away from it all and wants nothing to do with it?) though there is a seriously evil step-mom thing going here (and a possibly evil but possibly good step-brother). If this show can keep it up, it may well end up my new favourite.

Edit: Welp. I'm about to start episode 18 and am in the home stretch now. There are 20 episodes (+3 special things -- I started off with the director's cut versions of episode 1 and 2 and just skipped the normal ones). It has maintained it's goodness. I've had very few quibbles, though the lightheartedness of the early episodes has been going progressively darker as they delve into the depths (and I ain't talking about the ocean). There are still some comedy moments and fluffiness but also plenty of doom and gloom and foreshadowing of coming pain (though also, potentially, hope). I'm pretty sure it will end up mostly happy, though the father-son reconciliation wound up just being a dying confession on the dad's part -- and via voice mail message to boot. So not a lot of closure for Joon-jae.

I'd say the writer has really plotted this one pretty well. The only somewhat issues (at this point), would be that I don't actually see why the Black Widow Evil Step Mom stayed married to Chairman Heo for so long. 17 years. She killed off her other husbands within a year. It might be that she had to wait until Joon Jae disappeared, but that was eons ago as he ran off when he was a teenager and it seems like her plot to kill him off too so he can't contest the will is fairly recent. Also that Real Mom was stupid for not ever contacting her son (or trying to) based on what feels like ONE conversation with Evil Next Wife...I mean, why would she trust what the woman that just stole her husband said? But I can forgive this one as Director Nam's wife had lied and told her Joon Jae was happy & studying overseas. But it is a little weak, maybe because I'm a mom and I would NEVER do what she did (even if she is a sympathetic character).

I think they've done a good job of showing the internal conflict/jealousy in Chi-hyun, the waffling stepbrother. He was manipulated by his mother all along and has realistic baggage. Not sure yet whether he's going to turn out "bad" or "good" but it could go either way and was well done. It's a believable arc either way (good or bad--there's enough evidence for either), though if he'd received true love from his Stepfather, the chance would have been much higher for good. But he didn't get that. Dad, let's be honest, was truly a blind idiot in both the literal and figurative senses. Not even sad that he died, though he really couldn't catch a break. He was weak and selfish (on so many levels) and that's how he wound up where he did.

The Evil Step Mom is actually more of a flat character with no progression. Her motivations remain unchanged and she's really a bit of a generic sociopath. The serial killer dad of Chi-hyun is actually Evil with a capital E but he's got more of a "reason" (if that makes sense) -- he'd carried over the burden of his evil deeds from his last life into this one and they had plagued him and driven him a bit mad all his life. Well, Evil Step Mom sort of did too, but somehow the difference in the actor's portrayal brings more weight to Ma Dae Young. Not that I have any sympathy for him at all; I mean, he's bad through and through.

It's Nam-doo that I think is going to wind up possibly feeling like the big bad. They are teasing it. I'm a little conflicted about that. I kind of expected it (the set up has been going on for ages), but I was also kind of hoping that his better nature overcomes his greed, but with the glimpses of the past Nam-doo in the Joseon era, it doesn't seem likely. But part of the whole thing with this show is -- are we tied to fate? Are they doomed to repeat it?

One thing I wish they had either really done OR not done at all...around the midpoint it seemed like the present was having an effect on the past timeline. Dam-ryung's death date became later than the historical one, he was able to hide/preserve a scroll as a message to Joon-jae, etc. But then there was the tragic end for the original lovers and I'm not sure why they moved the death date? Was it just a red herring to give hope to their story? If so, it didn't last long enough to have a "good" effect on the plot and instead just winds up a note of disappointment. But there's still something going on "back there" as we see memories via the comatose Director (quibble: coma occurs an inordinate amount in Kdramas compared to real life, doesn't it?). I'm sure he'll wake up at the precise moment he needs to...

But. Anyway. The pacing has barely flagged and nothing in particular has been dropped (though I still really want to know why the little girl can hear Chung's mermaid voice). Only a few more episodes to go! Please, please end well.

Edit: (after episode 18) Oh, so glad they didn't go the route to make Nam-doo the bad guy! It was a nice caper twist and worked out believably enough for the characters. You could see him going either way and it was an effective plot twist rather than being something out of left field. Now to see what happens with him and Chung (well, after she survives being shot, because I don't think they actually killed either of them at the end of this last episode when there's two more episodes to go).

Edit: Finished it. Overall, I'm happy with this one and glad I watched it. Is it my fav now? I'm not entirely sure. I feel a bit bittersweet about the end because, while the ever-present Kdrama forced separation thing was used (a three year one this time), I can see that it works okay BUT I really don't think it was necessary -- nor was it necessary for her to wipe his memories yet again (I mean, seriously, his brain's gotta be like swiss cheese). Even though he fought to retain his memories, they weren't complete. Didn't she learn anything? About not erasing love? I get why it was a valid way to go BUT I really wish they hadn't, not when she herself had said she wouldn't erase the memory of his dad from him.

That choice also meant that the ending, once Chung was back in his life again wherein he was the only one to have any real memories of her (and his memories were incomplete and based partly on what he'd documented), didn't contain ANY more follow up of the other characters because it would have been too confusing to hash out in the short amount of time left in the final episode. They didn't even SHOW the wedding (just a picture of them in bridal get up), which was another cheat for the viewers. Yes, it's a story of their destined love but it was also a story about the family that they had created around themselves -- seriously, writer-person, that was an underlying theme for this show--FAMILIAL LOVE--and so this ending with the forced separation and the memory-wipe thing feels like a cop out. So, basically, while it works and it fit the characters okay, it also felt too typical. Like something any drama would have done...so it would have been nice if they had done something else. Something more magical and unexpected. Also, the show talked a number of times about "give and take" -- why couldn't she have given him his memories back? Or why didn't he go to the old sage-y neuropsychologist to get his memories back as he'd done previously? Seems like a plot hole.

Thank goodness Joon-jae had at least thought ahead and created a contingency plan with his journal. Though it really didn't make sense that when she first talks to him in front of everyone he pretends not to know her but then five minutes later finds her so they can re-create their iconic umbrella scene. What was the point of that other than to bring that imagery back? Anyway.

I just counted. Since this new obsession started I have watched (or partially watched) about 18 or 20 dramas. At least half of them have used some form of the forced separation. Whatever I watch next needs to NOT have a chaebol thing or forced separation. Seriously.

But, anyway, 100% glad I watched this one. There were very few things I could fault it on (other than some predictability) and while I wish the end had been a bit different, I can't say that there's actually yet been a Kdrama that I've watched where I've liked the end any more than this one. Does that make sense? There are quite a few ends I've liked MUCH less, that's for sure. I would even watch this one again (with some judicious forwarding). Very much enjoyed Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min Ho. In fact, enjoyed Lee Min Ho MUCH more than I thought I would. Not that I'd seen him in anything other than clips so far from a few different series (like Boys over Flowers and Heirs) but the bits I had seen had made me think I wasn't going to be a huge fan. He changed my mind with this one. He did a lovely job and actually made the romance much more believable than it might have been in someone else's hands. Ji-hyun was just a treat all the way around. Totally adore her. Would also love to have her hair. Ha.

Also quite enjoyed Shin Won Ho (as Tae-ho) -- very sweet (though, really, they didn't have to fob him off as some kind of consolation prize to Shi-ah in the end), and Lee Hee Joon (as Nam-doo) who played that edge of good guy/bad guy so well. Lee Ji-hoon was also really excellent as the conflicted stepbrother.

Edit: (after mulling it over all night when I couldn't sleep) I think I figured out what's really bothering me about the ending and it has to do with the mythology of the show (plus, probably, my growing hatred of the forced separation thing). Throughout the show, it was shown that the mind wiping was not anywhere near a perfect, no error thing -- Joon-jae was getting flashbacks before Shim Cheung even arrived in Seoul. Nam-doo had flashes of memory whenever he stubbed his toe. Even right after she'd performed her mind erasing trick on the tacky rich couple, the lady remembered there was something about Dubai. Many more instances of this. AND the show more or less posits that the effect of the mind wipe is less effective as Shim Cheong is weakened. She is at her weakest point after the gunshot -- I mean, it's the entire reason she leaves for three years! -- and she goes around and wipes the memories of not just one person but LOADS (not just the ones we see, but she would've had to do Detective Hong too and his underling at the very least). And we're not talking small wipes, but big ones, as she's completely erasing herself from 10+ people. Based on what happened with previous wipes when she was stronger, these wipes would be nowhere near complete or perfect. And while people may forget things normally over the course of 3 years, I don't find it believable within the mythological framework that the show built that NO ONE would remember her at all. And thus, the forced separation/memory wipe thing really bugs me and bugs me more and more the more I think about it.

Bleh. Still really enjoyed the show though. Once again, it wasn't until the end that things fall apart. The centre did hold...

So...my ending for this -- they could even keep the ridiculous forced separation thing if they want -- Cheung attempts to wipe everyone's memory and be the Noble Idiot/Martyr, leaves for her deep sea recuperation, comes back. But rather than having forgotten her (maybe they forgot temporarily, maybe they have gaps in their memories, maybe they have remembered more and more over time), they all remember her when she gets back because Joon-jae has kept her memory alive and helped them all to not forget. And that's not even an issue with the mermaid thing because the only other person who knew that was Nam-doo and he finally proved at the end that he was on the side of good. Probably Joon-jae made excuses that she was off recovering somewhere. I dunno. But she comes back and finds herself once again surrounded by the family that she has made for herself and in the arms of her destined love. Then the final bits/epilogue could also include some scenes with the family -- at the very least, the wedding, with Nam-doo giving her away and Real Mom crying and Yoon-na as a flower girl (though they'd probably have to use a different actress to show the 3 year gap), Tae-oh snapping a surreptitious picture and Shi-ah whacking him in the head. All of that stuff. Then, sure, they can move to their cottage on the beach and have the nice cuddly scenes at the end. Fin.

I like that better. That'll be my head canon now.

Oh My Venus

I'd narrowed down my next Kdrama pick to either Oh My Venus, I Am Not a Robot, or The Legend of the Blue Sea (sort of randomly but also with some feedback from a Reddit board). Then I saw a clip from Oh My Venus and decided to go with that (and it was on Netflix).

I'm on episode five now. In the proverbial nutshell, it's the story of a young 30's lawyer who used to be known as the Venus of her neighbourhood but who is now overweight, frumpy, harried and unhappy in her job. Kang Joo-Eun started out as an idealistic lawyer but her boss is trying to beat that out of her so they can just take on lucrative cases from people with questionable morals.

Her longtime boyfriend (Im Woo-Sik) of 15 years dumps her on their anniversary (wherein she was expecting a long overdue proposal) It says in the description that her weight plays a factor but from the actual subtext on the show and the dialogue, that was only part of the problem...it didn't seem like they'd been getting along for quite a while. He's also probably part of the reason she gained so much weight as many of the flashbacks to their high school days show him feeding her (extra ice creams, etc.). But I'd say her work habits are also a big contributing factor (as well as her hypothyroidism...but you don't learn of that until around episode 4).

Through a serious of random embarrassing incidents, she falls into training with one John Kim, trainer to the stars (kinda) who's real name is Kim Young-ho (the stoic type), and his two acquaintances/underlings?, Kim Ji-Woong (the obvious puppy-type of the show who speaks English half the time), and Jang Joon-Sung (the more serious but nice MMA fighter).

Cue comedy workouts and more embarrassing incidents for Joo-Eun, who proves herself to be very determined in the face of these challenges.

I was NOT expecting from anything I'd heard/read about the show or the show description that Young-ho was going to turn out to be a chaebol with crazy family issues (including a dead mother, a tough old matriarch, a crappy uptight dad, a depressed step-mom, and a younger half-brother who's probably jealous + a company job as exec director that no one--including himself--wants him to have except his grandmother). Crappola. It's a Chaebol Trifecta except with more than three. Exactly one of the things I really wasn't looking for in a next show (after Secret Garden, wherein I had hit my limit for chaebol bitchiness in Evil Mom). But I liked the leads enough to keep going and I find their chemistry together interesting. I'm also not generally a huge fan of "I'm ugly so long as I'm fat" stories or "I love you now that you're thin" BUT Joo-Eun's determined attitude is enough to take care of that. So far. And, at least, even though she's supposed to have lost about 15 kg so far (about 33 lbs...dammit, I still can't think in kilos even though I've been away from the US for so long) and they've finally dropped the "fat face" (good job there, makeup people...though the fat body suit is really oddly lumpy), Young-ho still pretty much treats her the same. He's more about the health than the beauty, which is kinda nice and at least it fits with his backstory (mom's death, his health problems).

Anyway, add in a former friend from high school who used to be fat and miserable but is now slim and bitchy (and still miserable), mix in a grudge from said "friend" that really isn't legit and has more to do with how she sees herself than of anything Ju-eun did...and you've got a boyfriend/fiancé stealer in Oh Soo-Jin...who also happens to be Ju-eun's new superior at work. OMG hate her.

So. Yeah. The storyline is nothing to be proud of. It kind of screams I'm Gonna Play to Every Cliché there is, Yeah, Yeah Yeah.

I think I'll finish it but my guess is that it'll be because I'm enjoying the actors (except for the girl who plays Soo-Jin as she's playing it as that cloyingly sweet kind of backstabbing mean girl that really, really annoys me...though I suppose that's the point) and not because of the story/plot. We'll see. More later.

Edit: (through episode 7) There was even a stalker. A STALKER. He was the excuse for her to move in to Young-ho's place and for roommate/cohabitation hijinks to ensue. So, yeah. This show is definitely hitting the highlights of nearly every cliché you can think of. And there's just been the reveal to Ju-Eun (or Joo-Eun, I dunno which) that Young-ho is the biggity-big chaebol heir to the executive director position at a huge company, which comes right on the heels of their first kiss. The teaser for the next episode indicates there will be angst over that, with her feeling that he lied to her. If anything, it would be a lie of omission, I suppose, as he had told her that he was born with a silver spoon and, if she was paying any attention AT ALL, it's quite clear that he's rich as Midas. I mean, really. It's not like she should be totally shocked by this revelation.

And there's going to be a power struggle that coincidentally her ex-boyfriend is in on (he works for that huge company and he and his boss and some other guy are teaming up to try to take power). I'm not looking forward to all that mess, to be honest. All the chaebol-ish machinations are just...eh...annoying. So...I dunno. I'm nearly at the halfway point of the show. The romance part is okay and has progressed fairly reasonably and realistically (well, okay, if you suspend disbelief quite a bit because the situations have all been pretty contrived).

Do like the chemistry between the leads. Like how he took the first step. Like her realistic waffling and confusion but also her attraction to him. Kinda feel like they should have let that develop a bit more before dropping the first (of probably many) bombshell as their bond doesn't seem like it would really be strong enough at this point. But, eh, whatever. It's gonna get worse before it gets better. Just leery that too much of the next 9 episodes is gonna be all the chaebol politics crap. As grandma also seems like she wants to marry him off to some rich princess-type, there's bound to be angst there too. Sigh.

The dudes. All dressed up.

Well, at least I've found some new (to me) actors that I like. Am enjoying So Ji Sub as Young-ho quite a bit. I like his rather dry humour as Young-ho and his slow smiles. And Shin Min Ah as Ju-eun is quite perfectly sassy--even when she's feeling beat down. Also like that Ju-eun has a great best friend and the show passes the Bechdel test. And there's hints of deeper stuff too (said best friend's mother-in-law is experiencing domestic abuse and she's trying to do something about it, there's something going on with fighter guy's past -- WHAT, no way, past trauma??! -- just kidding...they've all got some).

Oh, and the humour is good. Even the budding romance between fighter dude (played by Sung Hoon) and some ditzy actress, which is obviously there for comedic relief. Oh, and I especially like the bromance between the three dudes. They're charming together. Henry, the English speaking one, is floofy adorable and ridiculous. He keeps calling her ma'am.

So I'll keep going. Writing that here now so I can remind myself in another 4 or 5 episodes when I'm pretty sure I'll be really annoyed by the predictable nature of the chaebol plot/ridiculous scandal that shouldn't be a scandal, etc. etc.

Edit: Finished it. Overall, I enjoyed it but it definitely had it's share of shortcomings and all out failures. There were too many flashbacks. Too much time spent on the angsty romance between Soo-Jin and Im U-sik when it was basically rehashing the same thing every time. Was happy that they didn't make Grandma the big bad (she basically caved before she was ever actually a threat to their relationship) but that also meant that there was a lot of buildup that, well, really just fizzled. All of the scandal/chaebol will he/won't he be able to take over the company stuff too -- it was all resolved like poof! magic. I mean, on the one hand, I appreciate that because that was a part of the show I really didn't care for, but on the other, it is a let down as, really, if you get right down to it from a storytelling perspective, it's very weak.

Perhaps the most egregious thing was that they shoehorned another frickin' unnecessary one year separation (why is it always a year, Kdrama writers? Why?) where Young-ho goes off on his own to recover from a serious car wreck (as if this character hasn't spent enough time in hospitals) and doesn't even read the 100+ texts and videos from Ju-eun, even though he obsessively checks his phone and knows they are there. It would have been better (and shown character growth/change) from him to have accepted her love/help. She should have been there with him to support him through his trials. He was there for her, she should have been there for him. It makes for an unbalanced relationship that they did it this way AND she doesn't even call him out on it when he just pops back into her life with no warning. I mean, girl, you cried every day for a year while he was gone and you're just gonna welcome him back with open arms? They'd only been "together" for a brief amount of time and then no contact for a year. I Do. Not. Get. This. Trope. in Kdramas.

But, the chemistry between the leads was great. In my head canon, I'm just going to ignore that episode 16 was ever aired -- in a lot of ways, 15 (or even 14) was a better ending. 16 was full of filler and flashbacks and then some nonsense...and then to make her gain back all the weight at the end because she was 3 months pregnant with twins...yech. Even Young-ho was like, I love you, but they only weigh like 100 grams each right now, let's go work out.  I found that a really annoying note to end on. She should know better. It's NOT healthy to lose OR gain weight that quickly (he was only away for a month! And even with twins you're barely showing in the first trimester so she'd had to have basically eaten like a sumo wrestler and slothed it up on the couch the entire time he was gone for her to gain that much weight that quickly) so that bit of the ending really felt to me like it was undermining the whole premise of the show. I kinda hate it when they choose to play something for laughs (I am totally looking at you, Secret Garden) instead of staying true to the characters. And I was SO annoyed because I knew they were going to do it as soon as they only showed her from the back when she went to pick him up for the airport. I was crossing my fingers that wasn't what they were gonna do...but they did it. Just. UGH.

And then...they actually stuck like a 30 second flashback epilogue showing a young chaebol Young-ho in his wheelchair hanging out in the street all by himself (why?) and a young Ju-eun comes by and plops an ever-loving effing BANDAID on this kid with cancer and tells him it'll all be better now and won't hurt anymore, I promise. Yeah. They just had to go and tack on a stupid childhood meeting. At least it was only about 30 seconds worth. FFS. O fate.

So, am I glad I watched it? Yes, in a qualified manner. I particular enjoyed the two leads and the two dudes. Would I watch it again? Erm, not the whole thing, but I wouldn't turn off a clip of some of the good moments. Definitely would like to see So Ji-sub in something again. He seems to be the slow burn type and I liked his quiet moments in this. Also Shin Min Ah, so long as it's not in another lumpy fat suit. She was best when she was snarky and confident or flirty.

I do think the show failed in a number of ways to deliver on what it could have been, but at least it did it better than some other shows have done. I wasn't as mad at this one as I was at Secret Garden. My disappointment is mostly in what could have been. Really. It could have been SO much better.

A very Happy Merry Happy

We're having a very Japanese Christmas, if there is such a thing. Little dude received 38 manga (including the second Bleach box set) plus some swag (loads of anime/manga keychains in his advent calendar, + a One Punch Man t-shirt + Pokemon jammies) + a new noodle bowl, chopsticks & a dim sum plate + a gyoza maker + lots of furikake & gyoza sauces in his stocking. I got some lovely new Japanese ceramic dishes and mugs and a takoyaki pan. Hubby got a Japanese pickling/preservation book.

We had our traditional Christmas turkey for a late lunch/early dinner, but might try out the takoyaki pan and make some very non-traditional turkey takoyaki later (if we ever get hungry again).

The boys are now playing a combination of Street Fighter (one of my gifts to them) and Terraria. So I'm gonna take a break now and watch some Kdrama and have a bit of quiet time after the flurry of dishwashing.

Secret Garden

Secret Garden is a 2010 Kdrama that I've seen mentioned all over the place as "the best" and "a classic!" with lots of superlatives. So I thought I'd try it. Very very soon I won't be able to binge watch anything anymore (sigh. probably not until after July) so I might as well get some in while I can. I did go through all my book 2 notes today though. Feels pretty solid. You never know after letting them sit awhile, but I think it's good to go. Now I'm just anxious to have my first meeting with the editor. Need to get started! But it is mid-December so chances are pretty slim anything much will happen before January. Anyway.

This drama apparently includes a body swap, though there's no evidence of that so far in the first episode (other than some spooky lightning). It's got the jerky aloof chaebol thing in Joo-won's character (played by Hyun Bin) but we've already seen his softer side (he's got fear issues, for one, and can't even get in an elevator and is a whole cluster of crazy--I like him and the way Hyun Bin is playing him). And there's the poor, unlucky girl in Ra-Im (played by Ha Ji-Won)...who also happens to be a kick-ass stuntwoman (though strangely subservient when she's at work).

There are rich, snotty women as well -- both actresses and heiresses and I'm pretty sure I'll hate all of them. That's okay. I'm supposed to.

And there's a ballad-y singer guy by the name of Oska, played by Yoon Sang Hyun (sporting a much reduced version of that horrible moustache he had in Shopping King Louis and his hair is MUCH better in this one...thank you, O drama gods). He's Joo-won's cousin and Ra-Im is a fan. I'm sure there'll be some confusion and comedic drama there. The second lead girl heiress is after Joo-won but had previously had something going on with his cousin Oska. I imagine that will grow into some kind of weird love square.

And lastly, there's Ra-Im's boss, played by Philip Lee, who I haven't seen before, though I rather wish I had as just looking at him/his character makes me a bit sad that he's destined for Second Lead Syndrome. He obviously cares about her and seems like a good guy.

Wasn't really sure about the whole body swapping thing (I haven't really been in the mood for fantasy stuff lately...haha...you know, the stuff I write...sigh) but I have to say that so far I am liking the characters a lot. Can't say about the story as yet as not enough has happened to suggest anything much (why do so many chaebol's in these dramas own department stores?). Do like that Ra-Im kicks butt. There's 20 episodes, so I'll check in on this one again later. So far it is looking really promising.

Edit: (after episode 2) Ha, I am really enjoying Joo-won's crazy.

Edit: (after episode 8) Well, hmmm. There's been good bits and bad bits and so-so bits. Overall, I'd say I'm enjoying it but Joo-won (both before and after the switcheroo) really pushes things a bit too far into irredeemable territory with some of the things he says and does. Sure, some of it is because he doesn't expect Ra-im to react in the way she does but some of it is really just pretty unforgivable. I don't care how rich you are, you'd think he'd have at least an inkling of a clue. Maybe I'm sensitive to this because I grew up so poor? I don't know. But I do feel like he's hurt her FAR more than he's helped her or made her feel good.

At this point (end of episode 8), they've actually switched back (though I expect it may be temporary), which feels too soon because neither character has really appreciably changed or grown. Some of that is because it has just been played for laughs and ridiculousness rather than actually investing us in the story or going for actual character development. So, yeah, body swap funny business...but it really actually set back the character arcs in many ways. From a storytelling perspective, I'm not sure it really works that well. And considering that there are 20 total episodes, I'm not sure exactly how they're going to wrap this up or why I should root for Joo-won to win Ra-im's heart. He certainly doesn't seem to deserve it so far.

Edit (after episode 9): Yeah, Joo-won keeps doing shit that is just patently unacceptable. Like when he was still in Ra-im's body and his mom calls her/him over and passes over the envelope of money to bribe her to stop seeing Joo-won AND HE EFFING TAKES IT. And spends it on crap for her apartment...which I'm sure he thinks is a nice thing but is actually really inappropriate and un-livable as it's all too big for what space they have. In other words, like him. He might look nice but he's ultimately (at this point) useless and in the way in her life. Ra-im is understandably super upset when she learns he (as her) took the money from her mom. She has her pride. I was actually super glad when she told him she never wants to see him again and insinuates that their story is NOT the Little Mermaid story because she, unlike the little mermaid, does not love him.

Now I'm just kinda waiting around to see if the writer(s) can pull this one around so that I actually want them to wind up together. Oska, with all his issues, is actually the nicer guy in some ways. I am enjoying Yoon Sang Hyun in this part. It's got a lot more interesting emotions to play with than he did in Shopping King Louie. And all that said, I am liking Hyun Bin in his role. But I'm not much rooting for Joo-won.

Edit: (beginning episode 11). Wow. I keep thinking that Joo-won can't possibly dig himself a deeper hole but he keeps digging. It's the freaking pit of despair at this point. How exactly can he ever redeem himself? I honestly don't know. I'm kinda sad that Jong-soo is so obviously playing the part of Never-gonna-get-it Second Lead man. Or Oska, though he's got so many unresolved issues with his ex that it isn't even funny.

Edit: (mid episode 17). Dammit. I call bullshit. On so many things. Agh. Am still enjoying the actors but FFS they had to go and do the whole twisted kismet/fate/past meeting connection thing where Ra-im's father died saving Joo-won in some accident 13 years previous. BAH. And Dear Old Evil Mom figures it out (Joo-won doesn't know yet...in fact, he conveniently ala standard Kdrama plot device doesn't even remember what happened in the accident other than that he's just realised that is where his claustrophobia/elevator problem is from.

And, seriously...I've seen Evil Mom Kdrama characters before but Joo-won's mom takes the cake, shoves it down her throat and goes back for another piece. Worst. Mom. Ever.

I'm going to finish this but...

• It is absolute bullshit (lookit this drama, making me swear and all) that Ra-im, stuntwoman extraordinaire, taker down of purse-snatchers, flying-through-the-air badass can't ever break free when Joo-won grabs her. As he does all the time, including one sort-of rape-y scene which was only saved from not being rape-y in that all he wanted was a hug but still. STILL. 
• The mythology as it stands so far in regards to why / how of the body switching doesn't really make any sense. Did Dear Old Deceased Dad possess the restaurant ahjumma? 
• The kismet/fate thing...Joo-won only ran into Ra-im because he was looking for an ex of Oska's and she was misidentified as the right person. 
• But the whole kismet connection thing in general...WHY. WHY.
• It makes no particular sense that he gets infatuated with her from the beginning nor that he sticks with it.
• It also doesn't make sense that she grows to like him. There's literally no reason for her to other than a) he's kinda pretty and b) maybe he's the only guy that has ever pursued her before but c) he makes her life more miserable than not and those VERY few moments of kindness/softness don't nearly make up for all the other stuff. That pit of despair I mentioned before? Dude. Even now that they are officially "together" he still says the most dumbass shit imaginable. 
• Continuity issues, like Ra-im not recognising the psychiatrist after meeting her, especially when she should remember the meeting as it is how Oska figured out that she was in Joo-won's body
• The psychiatrist...WTH kind of psychiatrist lies to her patient about their trauma in order to "help" them (she, along with the family, has been telling him for years that the accident was a car wreck). Also, it seems she might have dated him at one point, as she had experience with Dear Old Evil Mom paying her off. SO WHY IS SHE HIS PSYCHIATRIST??
• CHARACTER ARCS. As in, characters are supposed to GROW and CHANGE due to the things that happen in the story. Joo-won has barely budged. Ra-im has barely budged. They play to the laughs too many times and waste their opportunities to actually develop the characters.
• How does normal Fireman dad become witchy potion making dad once dead?

There's more, but those are the big things. I'm quite annoyed. 4 episodes to go. I've heard it finishes happy but MEH and BLEH on this crap. I wouldn't finish it if I didn't like the actors and the job they are doing. I'm just disappointed in the story.

Edit: (end of episode 17). FULL ON MAKJANG. Dammit.

And I don't care who you are or how rich you are, you can't just waltz into a hospital and princess carry a coma patient out.

Edit: (mid episode 18) WHAT THE EFFETY EFFING EFF$!£$!???. This took a sharp turn into absolute nonsense. It does not make sense. Dead Dad comes to them in their dreams with more magic flower wine, saying it will end the magic. They drink it. Why would Ra-im drink it? Wouldn't she think, hey, won't I be stuck in Joo-won's body and he'll be stuck in my comatose body? She'd already made the decision to find rain and switcheroo again. Then they both wake up and somehow Joo-won's body is magically back in his house, even though she/he'd fallen asleep at the hospital. They are now back in their own respective bodies. And Joo-won is back to the mental age of 21 and can't remember anything after the elevator/fire accident, including Ra-im, though her name was the first thing he thought of. Amnesia. DAMMIT. They went there.

THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE IN ANY WAY AT ALL.

If Magic Dead Dad could do all this weirdness that has no rhyme or reason to it, why wouldn't he have just stopped her from taking the job that would injure her (and how did he even know?? He was a firefighter!) or, I dunno, told her something instead of all this weird randomness? THERE ARE NO RULES. What was up with the whole weird forest restaurant thing? What was the point of all this??

Edit: (end episode 18) The only thing that saved that episode from being a total waste is that 21 year old Joo-won is kinda hilarious and Ra-im finally grew a backbone. But. Still. None of it makes any sense at all. Did they just throw a bunch of possible plot points up in the air and see which ones landed on the table? If you're gonna create a mythological framework for the story, then effing stick to it!!!!! And make it make sense!!!!!

Edit: (end episode 19) I feel like the dramabeans people summed up my thoughts pretty well in their comments at the end of the recap for this episode.

"I sort of think this drama has a Monet-like effect — from a distance it’s pretty and seems to have all the elements of an engaging, addicting drama, like the beautiful scenery, wonderful acting, engaging music, pretty color palette, and so on. It’s up close that things start to fall apart a bit..."

That says it right there. I mean, there are things that I do really like about this drama but, similar to Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, there are also things I totally want to burn with fire and rain down hellstone upon. Maybe it's because I know how much time I spend on research and building up the rules of any particular book's universe....gah, the amount of stuff I read for my fourth book alone...so...this kind of writing feels lazy. I am affronted. I mean, I'm not perfect by any means and while I've made it on some lists and have received good reviews, I'm not a NYT bestseller or anything. But it kinda bugs me that this is considered such a classic "amazing" drama when it has so many issues with plot and pacing and consistency. If the actors had been any less engaging, I feel like I would have stopped watching it from sheer frustration fairly early on.

It probably should have been more like 15 episodes rather than 20 so the Evil Mom angst could have been cut down. There was just so much of her shrill shouting that it lost it's impact and was wearying rather than shocking. I'm sure it was supposed to be a WHOA moment when she's threatening to remove him as CEO but  my reaction at that point was oh, who cares, no one cares, let's move on, please ... even Joo-won's response was a resigned oh, well, it was bound to happen. Seriously...I don't ever even want to see that actress again in ANYTHING because I'm practically having a physical response of utter revulsion whenever she comes on screen at this point......I'm not kidding...I just looked her up to see what else she's in and am sad to see Descendants of the Sun on her list of credits, as I've been wanting to watch that one....and dude sounds like she's even kinda bitchy in real life. I suppose you could say she's good at her roles to provoke that reaction but stick a fork in me, I'm done.

And, while I love comedy, some of that should have been dialed back so the character development could have been more organic and believable. There's been too much of the same going on -- Evil Mom did basically the same thing through the entire show and she was the big bad (partly because all of the fantasy/magic stuff was so poorly handled and the whole deus ex machina resolution of it all).

Meh. Anyway, one more episode. Will watch it and then wrap this up.

Edit (finished it). Okay. I don't have much to say as the dramabeans people actually said exactly what I was thinking in their final commentary after the recap. All the things. Are we twinsies? Maybe. Triplets? Whatever.

You, Evil Mom. That's who.

While the final episode wrapped things up, mom never relents. They get married anyway but never have a wedding. How they get married is as Joo-won as you get -- he doesn't even tell her that's what they're doing until they are at the courthouse.

Yes, Hyun Bin. I'm pretty sure this is why I finished watching.

We get some voiceovers and a montage of omo! we're happily married now even though mom's an evil bitch! our kids are kinda brats but we're so in love! we even wear matching sparkly tracksuits even though no one else on the planet thinks it looks good! 

Really wish the 5 years in the future Ra-im had at least changed her hairstyle. Anyway. Am I glad I watched it? Erm...75%? 60%? I enjoyed the actors. I will definitely watch Hyun Bin in something again. Yoon Sang Hyun was great as Oska and I appreciate him much more in this than in the other things I've seen with him so far. Kim Sung Oh as Secretary Kim was adorable. I loved all of the Action School Oppa actors, especially Jang Seo Won. Ha Ji Won...she definitely can kick ass.

Did I love the main characters? Well.........honestly, no. I can't say that I completely connected with them and I very much agree with javabeans and girlfriday in that recap that Ra-im's character wasn't developed enough for me to do so. They definitely spent more effort and energy on Joo-won...but they also made him so cluelessly abrasive through so much of the show that he was a hard character to love. Though, to be fair, given the mom he had, it's a wonder he was even remotely a decent human being at all.

I'm kinda annoyed. There was a lot of potential here and so much of the dressing (and the actors) were so good, so I can completely see why people would love this show, but I feel like it was pissed down the drain with what happened with the plot and the poor use of the fantasy elements. It's like a pig with lipstick.

Signed, sealed & delivered

Finally got the contract yesterday (woot!). Signed. Mailed. Two books, one written already, the other due on 1 July...so I gotta get going. And one of the biggest publishers in the world. Eep.

Though it's hard as I've already outlined and written out a synopsis...but I'm not sure yet what they want to change in the first book. Do I go ahead and start the second one? Wait? I dunno. May take a stab at the first chapter anyway.

Also not entirely sure what I mapped out should be the second book. It definitely needs to be ONE of the books, but it could be the third one instead of the second. But it's all kinda up in the air...it's a two book deal that will hopefully turn into more if well received -- the last book has to follow one particular story but different things can go in between. Agh. But if they really only want two, then I'd need to tell that story now, if that makes sense. But there's no way to do that because of timing. I'll be writing the second one while they're getting the first one ready and won't know if they want to do a third until sometime after the first one is out (by which time the second will already need to be written). It's different from the other series I had worked on where the second book wasn't written until well after the first book was out. This is, honestly, more like it's supposed to be. I just have to work on the assumption that it will be successful and they will want a third (or fourth or fifth) book.

But I'm still not entirely positive that this is the one that should be the second book. It's centred on Nasty (Vile the hag's sister) but it could instead be a book about Sumac (who is now a murder chicken with horrible boils) or even Flea (the slightly dangerous shapeshifting pony).

Eh. I guess I'll go with what I've got for now. It can't hurt. It's only words, right?

In other news...all the stress...2017 taxes finally done and dusted. Accountant paid. That song from Cabaret keeps going through my head: money, money, money... Hubby's citizenship now renounced. My appointment coming up. Need to start the 2018 taxes up asap. I hate paperwork. Went back to the gym 3 times this week and it was like starting over again. Still not entirely well either, as voice is still all scratchy. Kiddo stressed as we're having to make him do revision to prepare for the 3 (!) school assessments he's got in January (man, that's gonna be a tough month). The garage door openers only work intermittently...or when the electrician is here. Hubby re-starting up consulting business. We're supposed to go to visit grandparents in Florida next half term break...no idea if we'll be able to or not as finances are a bit up in the air, but really need to as my mom isn't doing well. Dialysis is taking it's toll and her lungs keep filling with fluid. She's barely leaving the house anymore though little sis did take her to Disney recently (in a wheelchair) and they got her on some rollercoasters and she loved them. Glad of that, anyway. Christmas. Playdates. All the things. And now I'm hungry.

But. The contract is signed. That's a good thing.

Of course, this also means that my time bingeing Kdramas and otome is coming to an end, very very soon.

Wednesday 3:30 PM

I had a bit of time while cleaning up my office and one of the Kdramas on my follow list had randomly short episodes (anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes long). It also had older characters (30's...though, yeah, barely and I'm pretty sure the dude was very early 20's when this was filmed--it aired in 2017), which I'm always looking for, though the story is that whole "let's pretend to date to make my ex jealous" thing.

Anyway, it's called Wednesday 3:30 PM (referring to the time of the week/day when women are apparently at their most tired and "ugly").

Seon Eun Woo (Jin Ki Joo) was unceremoniously and quite callously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Baek Seung Gyu (Ahn Bo Hyun). It happens on the same day as her childhood friend, Yoon Jae Won (Hongbin), moves back to town and takes over the cafe (that she was dumped in). He winds up moving in with her (the cafe coincidentally burns down that same day and he has to use the money he was going to use on a house to fix it) and they concoct a plan to get Baek back. Jae Won takes Eun Woo out on these lovely little dates every Wednesday at 3:30 PM and they post pictures of her on Instagram (or something similar) showing how happy she is--making her pretty/happy during a time when all the other women are looking their ugliest. You know, make the asshole jealous.

Watching a movie...

Meanwhile, they are reconnecting. They've known each other since they were little kids. Took baths together. Grew up together. They bicker affectionately. She threatens him with bodily harm periodically. He teases her but from the "now" and the flashbacks, you can see he's always looked out for her too.

Of course, you can see them starting to have feelings beyond friendship, though Eun Woo is still grieving over her relationship as old beau dates a pretty new girl in the office (she works there too; seriously, people, office romance is generally a bad idea, y'know). The complication that will probably cap this off is that Jae Won had a crush on the lady he took over the cafe from and she'll, I'm sure, come back soon. And their plan succeeded -- as of episode 6, ex-douchebag does want her back and has dumped his new girl for his old girl.

It's working surprisingly well considering that the episode lengths don't allow for a lot of fleshing out and the actors are relatively newish to acting. Hongbin is only 25 now (just looked it up) and got his start as a Kpop Idol in 2012. A baby. They are both sometimes a bit stilted with their delivery, but they also have some nice moments; particularly the ones in which Eun Woo and Jae Won are happy together and not angsting over something. It's fairly sweet. The supporting characters are decent enough too. Though the character of the boyfriend is really a total dick. No idea about the actor, though I'm sure he's fine. ;)

With added dog belly!

Might even finish it tonight, since there are only 10 episodes total. Will update this post when done. It's soft, which is, I guess, what I needed today.

Edit: Finished it. It was good. It wasn't AH-mazing or anything, but it was solid. As I suspected, the other lady came back and to further complicate it, she'd been gone because she had a brain tumour. So, yeah, added guilt. Because Jae Won was all ready to go confess. Instead, he winds up running away (to California? Though he winds up in Jinju?), not realising that Eun Woo had already broken it off with jerkface boyfriend.

Actually, that was one of the better moments in the show. Because she left the dude (not even knowing that he'd been out clubbing with babes all the time) for herself. Yes, it was partly because she was in love with Jae Won, but she did it for herself, not for him. Good move, show writer.

There was an unnecessary 1 year separation at the end, but at least it was just a year, I guess. Not sure why this is such a big thing in Kdramas either? Why not a month? A week, even? In a show like this in this situation, it would have been enough.

I did enjoy this one. It's got a very stereotypical plot, but it was fine. It did what it set out to do and had a surprising amount of development considering how short it was. The actors were okay, but, to be honest, there weren't any HUGELY emotional scenes for them to show off in anyway. It's a low key show. In some ways, that's refreshing. They can't ALL be tearjerkers with huge emotional highs and lows, right? That said, the chemistry between the leads was good, though I also can't (at the moment) imagine watching it again. Does that make sense? I almost wish it had been longer and more developed though maybe if it had been I'd be sitting here complaining about how long it was. Ha. Anyway, a solid, sweet little Kdrama. Nothing outstanding, but nothing bad either.

Just You

So, I tried a Taiwanese drama called Just You. It's my first time trying a Taiwanese one. Someone on Twitter had recommended it as a funny, cute story. I've watched one episode.

To be honest, I don't think I'll watch anymore. The acting is a bit...well, it's over-acting. It would probably work just fine as an anime or a manga, but watching it live action was a bit painful, especially the lead actress (and her friends). She yells a lot. Makes exaggerated faces. The pace is also slow. I kept forwarding. Maybe it's the director's style, but there were a LOT of slow shots of inanimate objects or of characters that just went on too long.

It's sort of the classic forced cohabitation/aloof boss/cheerful girl thing. The guy (played by Aaron Yan) is an OCD kind of guy. He returns to his hometown and buys back his old house and a company. The girl (played by Puff Guo -- I couldn't even make that name up) lives in the house and refuses to move out as she's already paid up 3 months of rent. And turns out she also works for the company he now owns. They immediately get on each others nerves. She nearly kills him by adding some kind of seafood to his soup. He's imperious. She's annoying.

He also immediately causes chaos in the company by instituting a dating ban (girl's best friend who also works there was about to get engaged to another guy who works there). So they come up with a plan to get him to fall in love with the main girl.

Eh, I dunno. I can see that later episodes might be really cute and the reviews on this one are generally pretty good but I had to force myself to finish the episode. Maybe I'm just not in the mood? Her screaming really got on my nerves in particular and the dialogue didn't move me. It just felt really typical? Maybe I'll try another episode some other time, but for now I'm letting this sit. There are too many things on my "to be watched" list as it is.

I thought I'd try a recap site just to see and randomly read the recap for episode 7...and even the description of it made it sound kinda annoying. I think I need to just try something else.

You're Beautiful

You're Beautiful was recommended to me by someone on Twitter as a funny, light romantic Kdrama, so I'm giving it a shot. I've watched two episodes so far. And one of my old readers on FB said it was a classic.

The basic story: boy and girl twins grew up at a nunnery/orphanage. The boy left to try and become a famous singer (in order to find his mother, who was supposed to be a famous singer...not sure that makes any sense, but, eh, okay) but the sister stayed behind and has been in training to be a Sister with a capital S. Right before she is supposed to leave for Rome, her brother's manager appears and convinces her to take his place to sign a contract as the brother is in America recovering from some botched eyelid surgery (ouch).

She thinks it will be a one time thing but it winds up (of course) that now she's stuck for a month pretending to be a boy in this Kpop-ish band. There are three other members: the emo lead singer who takes himself very seriously (and has strained vocal cords, hence the need for a new member--though he never stops singing and it's never brought up again so...?), the goofy blonde one, and the more serious sweeter one. Emo dude takes an instant dislike to Go Mi Nam (her brother's name). There are hijinks. By the end of the second episode, the nicest one discovers her secret by overhearing a conversation and the emo dude also discovers it by witnessing what he at first thought was a weird romantic assignation (when the assistant is trying to stuff some fake testicles down her trousers because one fell out while she was dancing). I suspect the silly one won't discover it until towards the end...he's obviously the one that's not supposed to be the sharpest tool in the shed.

It seems funny, which is good. It also seems a bit over the top ridiculous, so I'll have to see if I can take it or not (hahaha, I know, I know, given the books I write that's like the pot calling the kettle black but sometimes you gotta be in the mood for it and so far it just feels a bit like it's trying really hard and the humour isn't effortless). It's an older one (circa 2009) and the production value isn't quite as good as some newer ones I've seen. But, it's not bad either. I'd say it's surprisingly not that dated.

I'd say it's obviously setting her up to be with the tsundere emo dude, though I'm not super fond of him as yet (though at least he takes his music seriously) and I SO want to wash his hair or mess it up or something. Interestingly, I just read that the actor Jang Geun Suk is bipolar so am quite impressed that he's been able to work as an actor since he was quite young. I've known some bipolar people and that's got to be difficult for him.

My biggest issue so far is that the girl character is really kind of...erm...ineffectual? That's maybe not the word. Flailing? I suppose it makes sense for her to be timid given her background -- setting her up as a trainee nun makes it so that she's got no real-world experience, which is good to play with -- but she also seems to have no common sense at all. It kind of feels like she's one of those characters where every choice she makes is the one that's going to lead to more difficulties and misunderstandings --which is, I suppose, what they're basing the comedy on but if she doesn't pull herself together at some point, I know I might grow to hate her.

Like...she's trying to apologise to the emo guy so she brings him tea and a candle. She goes to set it down and accidentally drips wax on the floor. While trying to clean that up, she winds up knocking into his bookcase and spilling CDs and books everywhere. And somehow a fan comes on and blows music papers all over, some going near the candle. Rather than just righting the bookcase (that she's still holding up--she literally would have just needed to stand up), she instead ultimately decides to spit the candle out (in the room of a clean freak, which is when he catches her). It's a bit Laurel & Hardy, the comedy.

She also doesn't much look like a boy. She's too pretty. But I'm not hating it. Hoping that it will wind up being fun and light and not just goofy. Pacing-wise, I'd say it feels a bit slow...though, at the same time, a fair amount has happened in just two episodes. I didn't expect both of the members to figure out her secret so quickly. I thought it would be one, then the other a few episodes later. So that's interesting.

Edit: Okay, I'm through episode 6. Which was fast. But that was because little dude was off at a playdate and hubby was off on business meetings so it was just me and the dog at home. And my ever present box of Kleenex. Oi. I'm sick of being sick. Anyway, I binged the next 4 episodes and I'm liking it much better now. They've even fixed Jang Keun-Suk's hair. (Keun? Geun? Suk? Suek? Why are websites not consistent? I'm not sure which it is)

Park Shin Hye, the actress playing Go Mi Nam...er, Go Mi Nyeo...erm...both...toned down the flailing clumsiness of her character. She's still really playing it on the innocent/unworldly side but I'm not overly fussed because it makes sense for the character. She's clueless about the feelings she's starting to have for Tae-Kyeong (the lead singer/emo dude), though they are definitely starting up. That's also not a thing I normally take well in a storyline (not if a character is past, like, 15) BUT given her nunnery background, eh, okay, I'll roll with it.

Tae-Kyeong's having some feelings too, but if you asked him at this point in the show, he would certainly vehemently deny it. I don't think he has any conscious realisation of it and he's shown by his actions (not just to Go Mi Nyeo but even the "baddie" diva girl/actress Hee-yi) that he's a good guy at heart, no matter how tsun-tsun he is. He can't help it, even when it isn't in his best interest. He's all front and pride.

And you even put on your hat, Shin-woo

Meanwhile, Shin-woo, the nice one who figured out she was a girl immediately, has a serious crush on her and has made a couple of attempts (including possibly the sweetest not-date date I've seen in a Kdrama so far) to come clean to Mi Nyeo that he knows she's a girl...and that he likes her. But it's all about timing and Tae-Kyeong keeps getting in his way (though not on purpose).

I'm kinda sad about that, to be honest. Shin-woo is nice. He's not getting as much character development as he's not the end game (and this was apparently this actor/idol's first turn at acting--he's doing a decent job, especially with what he's given, I'd say, though he can sometimes be a little wooden) but I wouldn't have minded at all if things went that way. Mi Nyeo would probably have easily turned to him more if she knew that he knew her secret; that's why she's come to rely so much on Tae-Kyeong. He's literally the only one she can talk to as herself, other than the Manager (and, come on, he's kinda useless).

They're both good guys though, so it's going to be okay. I'll just feel bad for Shin-woo. He never had a chance.

The one thing I'm currently weirded out about is that the show is hinting that the evil singer woman who is Tae-Kyeong's mother (and who abandoned him) is also the twins' mother. She can't be unless comedic Kdramas go places I didn't think they'd go, but they certainly are hinting it. So, eh, ick. Even though I imagine it's a false flag.

And there's Jeremy (the blonde silly one) who is fighting his own growing attraction to Mi Nyeo, though he still thinks she's a guy and it's weirding him out. I'm waiting to see how they handle that. The Jeremy character is very over the top and looks to also be that idol/actor's (Lee Hong-Ki) first turn acting as well. He hasn't had a chance to do much more than be energetic and confused in an exaggerated way, but that's apparently what he's supposed to do, so it's working. Would be curious to see him in something else to see if he can actually act something beyond puppy-boy. Though he does make an adorable pupper.

I do also appreciate that the actors/idols also sang the songs for real. The OST is good. A little ballad-y for my taste, but really well done. Adding them to my playlist now.

Edit: after episode 8...nice that they gave Jeremy a series of scenes where he could be something beyond exuberant puppy-boy. It was nicely done and sweet. Even though he's not the one from the nunnery, he's almost MORE innocent than Mi-Nyeo in many ways. Glad they gave the actor a chance to show some real emotion. The bus scene was a good touch and struck the right tone.

Still feeling bad for Shin-woo, though I suppose it's his fault...he's had so many opportunities to step forward, but it's like his character really wants HER to be the one to take the actual final step. But he should realise there are so many reasons she would feel she can't (even if she wasn't falling for Tae-Kyeong). He's shot himself in the foot, though he's such a nice guy about it, you can only feel sad for him.

Enjoyed the bits with the old high school friend of Mi Nam's who'd had a crush on Mi-Nyeo. Fun to see jealous Tae-Kyeong, not that he's willing or able to admit that. It seems he's the kind of character that's going to have to be hit over the head with it before he'll admit he has feelings.

If I had written this, what would I have done differently? I'm not sure but I kinda think it would have been nice to go with Shin-woo rather than Tae-Kyeong. Why not let the nice guy finish first for once? Sure, Tae-Kyeong has his tortured past and all that, BUT why does Mi-Nyeo fall for him? While he does help her a lot, her character actually doesn't KNOW about a lot of it. She has no idea that he's pretending to date Hee-yi for her sake, never saw that he spent ages coming up with a signature for her to use, doesn't see him stressing about her when she isn't in front of him. And when she is with him, he ramps up his tsun-tsun ness and spends most of his time (somewhat rightly) insulting her. Meanwhile, Shin-woo is ALWAYS there for her and ALWAYS unfailingly, unflappably kind to her. Why doesn't she see him? He's right there in front of her? Like that not-date date scene, it's like she just can't see what's right in front of her. I suppose it's that bad boy trope, but it does make me wish they'd tried the path less traveled. Not that I'm not liking Tae-Kyeong. Just that we see this all the time. Is there such a things as a Kdrama where the one that feels like the second lead comes out ahead in the end? I'd watch that.

I do think the story is flowing fairly well now, though the silly fantasy digressions, while providing comic relief, actually make things stutter every now and then. That could be a style thing though. This is the first Hong sisters Kdrama that I've watched. From comments on DramaBeans, maybe this is one of their signature things. Still, there have been some really nice moments and I appreciate that. It's got more depth than I thought it would possibly have after the first two episodes.

Also, Tae-Kyeong's mom is just terrible. Why are there no nice moms in Kdramas? As a mother, I'm kind of offended.

Edit: About to start episode 14, so I'm on the downward slope now. As with a lot of Kdramas, things were dragging a bit after around episode 10. I get it. Late middle is the most painful part of a book to write and I imagine it's the same in a show. There's all the things that have built up, things you have to save resolution of until the end, but you have to balance that with keeping interest, etc. Not sure if I've watched a show yet that didn't have this to some extent.

Still, overall, it's carrying on well and it's so nice to see that a lot of the things they set up in the beginning are paying off now in the plot. I do, however, have serious Hee-yi fatigue. The mean girl thing has been drawn out a little too far and even though the dynamic has changed a bit and she's been slightly defanged, she's very one note and it's a bit painful watching her grasping at straws. And the Manager and Stylist have basically been relegated to being in the story for plot convenience rather than being full-fledged participants in the drama. The Stylist is only there at this point to unwittingly provide insider information to the evil Hee-yi that she then tries to use against Go Mi-Nam/Mi-Nyeo. The Manager is there to periodically provide prods to Tae-Kyeong to get him moving forwards (Manager thinks Mi-Nyeo likes Shin-woo).

Was glad to finally get to the point where all the guys officially knew about the deception. Shin-woo, to Tae-Kyeong's uneasy dismay, was the hero there. But it was Jeremy's overjoyed reaction that was precious -- though no one understood why he was so giddy to learn that she was really a girl. He's a bit underused in this show actually. There are some nice Jeremy moments, but I wouldn't have minded more. I actually personally have never liked the blonde idol hair thing, but he's pretty darn adorkable.

Jeong Yong-Hwa (Shin-woo) finally got a chance to shine as well and show us some more solid acting in the scenes where he and Mi-Nyeo are coming up with their "false" dating history...which is really Shin-woo's dream of how things could have gone. It was nicely done and the theme of dark/light was carried through really well from all the star discussions down to the shadows on the wall (though, hey, it is a bit like the writers were trying to hit the viewers over the head with the symbolism since there's been something literally every single episode harking back to it). And the follow up at the airport when he is halfway to confessing and asks Mi-Nyeo why can't they try to "start over" with each other rather than just pretending is heartbreaking. Well done on that scene, though the character once again doesn't go far enough. If he could own the whole truth instead of a half-truth, he might have had a chance. It was nice to finally see him get mad too, though it didn't last long. He's a softie both inside and out.

Tae-Kyeong, like Shin-woo, is often his own worst enemy, though in his case it isn't a romantic complex of wanting things to be picture-perfect but his desire to save face and not "lose" (I get it, I get it, his whole formative years were defined by loss). Their first kiss was both good and bad -- stilted because of that weird hold the frame! thing that drama directors seem to love, but the after was nice -- they were both really shocked. I loved Jang Keun-Suk in that awkward moment and his smile--the real smile he gives later on when he hugs Mi-Nyeo at the convent, is a joy.

And, at least, we find out for sure that Tae-Kyeong's mom isn't the mom of the twins...though she was, according to her, the one who made the dad leave his pregnant wife (!) who died in childbirth. That'll be, I imagine, the last mental hurdle of the show for Tae-Kyeong and Mi-Nyeo -- that her dad is the one that his mom abandoned him for and that the twins' mom was "killed" by that betrayal. But, eh, sins not being revisited and all that. Or, evil mom is just in serious denial because, quite frankly, I don't trust much that comes out of her mouth. She wants the world to suit her.

Anyway, looking forward to the end.

Aw, you little cinnamon bun. I'm sorry.

Edit: Midway through episode 14. This is the episode that convinced me that Tae-Kyeong is actually the right choice for Mi-Nyeo. Jeremy had his big confession moment...or, at least, his planned confession. He was going to go on a radio program and sing a song professing his love. Kudos to him for being the only guy to kind of step up in a reasonable time frame and be TOTALLY clear and upfront when he does (in a way--basically, once he figures out she's actually a girl, he's all-in...he's just WAY too late). It didn't work out for him as he overheard Manager talking to Mi-Nyeo about her liking Tae-Kyeong (though he'd already suspected something and was on his way to ask Tae-Kyeong about it). He wound up on his special bus again (where Mi-Nyeo found him, proving once again that she knows these guys and pays attention, even if no one else does) and still sang the song as she sat across from him, but knowing that it wouldn't be accepted. Poor Jeremy.

But, anyway, it made me think about how both he and Shin-woo are all about the big gestures. Planning out big romantic plans. But Mi-Nyeo isn't actually that kind of person. This is a very sheltered girl. She doesn't really want or need that kind of thing. She just wants love. Love, perhaps, without expectations.

Tae-Kyeong, on the other hand, winds up doing the whole When Harry Met Sally thing of running to find her RIGHT THAT MOMENT (prompted, to be fair, by jealousy that she was supposed to be going off to Busan with Shin-woo) to tell her (finally) he likes her. It's not planned. It's not theatrical. It's simple. All of the moments they've had where they share their feelings have been private and unplanned. So, yeah, I've come around. He is the right guy.

The smile after this is brilliant.

Now they just need to finally put a fork in Hee-yi and get through the final hurdle of the evil mom.

Edit (after the last episode): Okay, I am reasonably satisfied with the conclusion. It was fairly realistic/true to the characters (other than I really don't know that the evil mom would have come around as much as she did). The forced separation (which we knew was gonna happen) was reasonably solved in a way that I think worked surprisingly well.

So, in a nutshell...angst, a bit more cross-dressing by Park Hye Shin, more angst, misunderstandings and too much pride. Tae-Kyung takes drunk Mi-Nyeo's words that it hurts her to see him as she isn't okay and can't be around him when really it's that it hurts her to see him because she loves him so much and doesn't want to be apart. He's all she's been thinking about. She's all he's been thinking about too--but he would never admit that to anyone. He hasn't even talked to her brother. So he resolves, okay, that's it, we're done and he's going to let her go off to Africa. Without telling her, like, anything.

Cue everyone else stepping in.

Jeremy--adorable, fluffy Jeremy--actually calls him an asshole. This may actually be my fav moment of the entire thing.

Hee-yi even rags on him. And Shin-woo (finally) says something (after they've been giving each other significant, wordless glares all show long). Honestly, I've been waiting for him to say ANYTHING. He's known from nearly the beginning that Tae-Kyeong was his competition but I suppose it's only now when he's finally, truly let go, that he can say something. And, dude, even Evil Mom tells Tae-Kyeong not to let go of something precious because he'll regret it.

All of that is finally enough and Tae-Kyoeng goes to the orphanage where she's been working to find her. But she's already gone -- headed to the concert, right before jetting off to Africa. But he does find ample evidence (stars everywhere) that she's been thinking of him.

And it ends as I expected it would from the first time I heard of the song her father wrote (written for the twins' mother, though Evil Mom had wanted to claim it) with Tae-Kyeong singing it for Mi-Nyeo. SO knew that was gonna happen. But that last-ditch romantic effort wasn't quite enough to make her just fold and stay...why not? So the writers could get in one last light/dark bit of symbolism as the stage lights go down and the audience lights go up and he wades out into the crowd of fans to find Mi-Nyeo and tell her he loves her.

I know that sounded a little sarcastic, but, really, I'm okay with that. They went whole hog with what they were doing and that's okay. A little heavy-handed, sure, but okay. It was a satisfying ending.

Then there's a very brief (too brief) epilogue scene where we find out she's still going to go to Africa (?), but she's gonna come back (promise) and they engage in one of their friendly bickering/bantering arguments. Didn't love that, to be honest. I would have appreciated something a bit more fan service-y. Some time together, maybe even a whirlwind series of flashforwards, maybe something with all of the characters, maybe something more romantic than bitchy. But it was okay. Except they had his hair back to the way it was in the beginning. Why? Why, O Stylist? Why did my last glimpse of Tae-Kyeong have to be with THAT hair? Did they film this scene at the beginning? What?

Yeah, anyway. Did I enjoy this one? Yes. More than I thought I would actually (the first two episodes I was kinda iffy about). Would I watch it again? Hmmmm, quite possibly, though I'd probably forward through a few parts. Like, I wouldn't want to sit through watching Evil Mom kill her liver again or Hee-yi primping or, honestly, Manager flirting. Once was enough for those things.

There's not too much I would fault You're Beautiful on. It's fun, it finds a pretty good balance between pathos and humour, the characters and actors are engaging (except I really don't enjoy watching the actor who plays Reporter Kim -- I've seen him in other things and there's something about him that puts my teeth on edge...I'm not even sure what and I'm sure he's a lovely guy in person but I would probably turn the other direction and walk away if I ran into him at a party), the music was good, and even the bits that flagged a bit weren't terrible. I wouldn't say it was my absolute favourite that I've watched, but it's definitely up on the list. There was nothing about it I hated -- I mean, take Strong Woman Do Bong Soon...while I loved much of that one, there were also parts of it that I really hated. I can't say that about this one. I liked it. There was nothing I hated. Parts of it I really loved. I'll keep an eye out for these actors again too--and their music.

Last Edit (I hope): Couldn't sleep for ages last night as the very end of the show kept bothering me. I finally figured out what the end should have been (sorry, Hong Sisters). Scene: the patio/deck of the house. Jeremy throwing another celebratory party with everyone there. Could be in the near future or farther in the future (i.e. Mi-Nyeo's hair grown back out). Everyone getting along. Could show how some relationship progress even (Mi Nam could even be with Hee-yi, though why he likes someone that was that horrible to his sister is a mystery). Mi-Nyeo sitting next to Tae-Kyeong. Comfortable, happy. I think this is actual a much better ending and it could have been really short (even as short as the actual epilogue-y bit) for a few reasons...remember when Auntie is talking about how the house has changed since Mi-Nam arrived and Mi-Nyeo left? How it used to feel lived in? But now it just feels empty? Show that house being lively again. Include ALL the characters. That's how it should have been.

There, fixed it.

Whew.

Whew. So glad that wasn't a trainwreck. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo ended fairly well and I enjoyed the show overall. I wouldn't say the ending was as satisfying as the show as a whole, but it was solid and I can't really complain. Well. Okay, I will. Because I can't help it.

The 15th episode was split into two different points of angst: the return of Joon-Hyung's mother and Bok-Joo making the national team and her worry about having to leave to do that. To be honest, while I am (on the one hand) grateful that they didn't prolong Joon-Hyung's pain, at the same time, they really didn't spend enough focus on that whole arc with the mother. And she got off too easy while he didn't really get enough support. He's excited at first that she's come back and happy, but then he finds out the real reason she came back had nothing to do with him. She needs money for an operation for her new kid -- a half-sister he didn't even know he had.

He confronts his family and there's a big scene and he admits that he's known all along that the postcards and gifts weren't from his mom. He runs away, spending the night at the beach. Bok-Joo does finally find him and there's a good scene in the swimming pool...BUT...eh...I dunno. I know she's not the type of girl to know how to be gentle but FFS there's really no excuse for his mom and I don't know why they had her take that stance--it's as if she was minimising his pain. I don't know why anyone has any sympathy for the mom. They aren't even her blood family and she's ignored all of them for 10 years and suddenly shows up asking for thousands of dollars for surgery for her daughter. In Canada. Which doesn't make sense because they have national healthcare. That, I imagine, is an oversight by the writer who probably didn't realise that wouldn't make sense (should've made her be in the US, where people are dying because they can't afford their insulin prices). Anyway, Bok-Joo was there for Joon-Hyung but not nearly as much as I'd like to have seen. He's carried her the whole show and it was her turn and I kinda felt like she fell a bit short and they all expected him to just buck up and carry on. And they didn't even give that whole thing an entire episode...with the last part being taken up by Joon-Hyung trying to get a place on the national team as well. He does overcome his starting problem but finished second by just a fraction.

It kind of felt rushed and it didn't give his character enough emotional space, but I imagine it was them running out of time. They were nearing the end of the show. And perhaps it's because Bok-Joo is the title character? Perhaps they felt the time was better spent on her? It just seems a shame because the Joon-Hyung character is the one that carried the show.

So Bok-Joo is off on her own in the last episode. Then my next kinda quibble...the whole first part of it is taken up with Bok-Joo getting jealous and listening to her new sunbae's and thinking Joon-Hyung is going to cheat on her and break up with her. When he's never been (impossibly) less than perfect. The only secret he's hiding is that he's helping her dad keep his secret that he's about to get surgery (dad stupidly doesn't want to tell Bok-Joo before her next competition). So it's basically manufactured angst. I get why Bok-Joo would be jealous -- she still feels "lesser" in many ways, but I don't know that that's what I wanted to see in the final episode. She wasn't her best. It does finally get sorted out and she finally realises that it's her at fault.

The very end is two years later when they are graduating. The "in laws" finally meet (though they've been sending chicken and medicine back and forth). We see that Joon-Hyung also made the national team. We see that the one friend has made it onto a pro team. The other is pursuing a different dream. Jae-yi has finally proposed to Dr. Go. Dad looks healthy. Uncle has a better haircut (possibly due to that girlfriend he finally got). The coaches have couple rings. And Joon-Hyung proposes that they get married after he wins gold. They chase each other around a field.

So...okay, I did really like this one. I would 100% watch it again some day. I am glad I watched it. The story and character arcs were all pretty good, with just some relatively small quibbles. I liked that there wasn't too much manufactured crazy drama and it was really a slice of life type of show (no gangsters! no robot arms! no wonky world building!).

I've read/heard from a number of sources that Nam Joo Hyuk is rather terrible in his other roles. I don't know. I just know he was really good in this one. It does make me worry if I want to see him again because I so enjoyed him in this and I don't want to ruin that. He held up in the romantic moments, but also the quiet ones and definitely in the tearjerking ones. He really did an excellent job and it makes me wish I'd had a Joon-Hyung. I mean, I had my husband (then boyfriend) back then but he's just not that type of guy. Ha. No guy is. He's like the Giving Tree of boyfriends.

I liked Lee Sung Kyung more in this one than in About Time (in fact, it made me like that one even less...but that could also be time because that's one of the shows that the more you think about it, the less it works) but she's got some acting tics that do bug me a bit and they are more obvious now that I've seen her in more things. I did really enjoy seeing Kang Ki Young again. I love his comedic timing.

So...am I happy? Yeah. It was good. And I needed that this week especially when so many other things have gone completely off the deep end and life is sideways and pear-shaped. So, thank you, Nam Joo Hyuk and writer Yang Hee-Seung.

I'm nervous

Oh, haven't been this nervous heading into the final episodes of any Kdrama before. I really, really don't want them to screw it up because it's really been just about perfect so far. Well, not entirely true. I was kinda stressed going into Where Stars Land, but that was more like the stress of knowing they were probably going to screw it up. Here I'm really, really hoping they don't. If they don't, I think Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo will officially be my favourite Kdrama so far.

As I suspected, Joon-Hyung has his ah-ha moment first when his roommate asks him if he's been secretly dating and he's, like, whoa, yes I have...by myself. To his absolute credit (because this boy is perfect and therefore very unlikely to exist in nature), he doesn't take long to confess to Bok-Joo. His plan was to give it some time and give her time to get over his brother, but a cameo by Ji-Soo as Bok-Joo's oppa at her part time job derails that.

I don't always like the jealous dude thing but I have to say it worked really well here for the characters and was funny. Also a joy to see Ji-Soo here (he was the other half of the love triangle in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon). But the best part was the next day when the boss is wanting to introduce Bok-Joo to his nephew and Ji-Soo's, like, no, girl, you obviously have a boyfriend already...that dude with the laser eyes... but Bok-Joo was clueless.

Bok-Joo is at first more confused than anything about his confession because she's never even imagined thinking about him that way. He's become an important person to her and an integral part of her life, but I really don't think she ever imagined that there was any possible way that someone like him (popular, good-looking, previous girlfriend all dainty and stereotypically beautiful) would like someone like her (a weightlifting girl who can eat more than the entire gymnastics team -- though let's be real, Lee Sung Kyung is a model and beautiful even if she has a rather unfortunate haircut and wore really frumpy stuff most of the show). Her reaction, literally, is Why? Why Me?

But he talks her into "trying him out" for a month. Or, rather, she doesn't disagree and he moves forwards, trying to incorporate things from her bucket list. They're all really simple things (sharing a drink, going to a theme park during the week, holding hands inside a jacket, a bouquet of a 100 roses) and he does his best to fulfil them. None of them exactly work out as he had hoped, especially the roses, as when he's about to deliver them is right after Bok-Joo gets the news that her father is in the hospital after collapsing after dialysis.

This is one of those moments in the show where Joon-Hyung is just perfect. He immediately puts aside any thoughts of romance and helps Bok-Joo get to the hospital. He's the one who calmly finds out where her dad is and he lets her (and her uncle, who is also in a complete panic) have their privacy with dad. He doesn't even leave the bouquet for her to find; instead, he leaves a bag of things they might need. He's always there giving exactly what she needs at that moment.

I was glad she finally realised it and thanked him the next time they saw each other because for most of this show (and this might be my only actual complaint), Bok-Joo's problems have taken centre stage and she's taken a lot from Joon-Hyung without really having to give anything back. That's going to change in the last two episodes (more on that later), but it was nice to at least see her finally realise it. And to realise just how important he is to her and to declare that she "won't give him up" and will keep him. Awwwww. Seriously. The sweetness.

The next few episodes had some drama related to the coaches and the weightlifting club and Shi-ho (they even managed to redeem her in the end) and it was all good, but what I really loved is how all-in the two of them are once they are a couple. They (especially Joon-Hyung, who seems like a starving man finally allowed a meal) can hardly keep their hands off each other and are just adorable. And Bok-Joo keeps finding her "feminine" side (jealousy, worry over how she looks, worry over how other people will think he's "dating down"). But after all the stuff with Jae-yi, she wants Joon-Hyung to keep their new status a secret until the next semester, worried what their friends will think.

As with all of their plans, this one fails drastically when Tae-Kwon (the roommate) drags Joon-Hyung off to a blind date and Bok-Joo finds out. When the girl keeps grabbing on to a very, very uncomfortable Joon-Hyung, she finally can't take it anymore.

Jealous Bok-Joo

 The reaction of their friends is priceless, though honestly, how could they not have noticed? He's been looking at her with stars in his eyes since the very beginning. But it was funny.

Look! A literal spit-take.

But things are about to get dicey as Joon-Hyung's biological mom has shown up at the end of episode 14, leaving me with just two more episodes to go and oh so hoping that this perfect show stays perfect. I'm ready for Bok-Joo to be the one to step forward and take care of Joon-Hyung for a change. And I want him to get closure with his family situation. And I really, really want this to end in a happily-ever-after kind of way. I need that.