Tastefully Yours

So, I have finally picked up a new Kdrama...or, at least, I've watched enough of it to justify writing a post. Tastefully Yours has Kang Ha-Neul as jerky chaebol Han Beom-Woo who is competing with his (even more) jerky brother for control of a food empire. They both want to be the heir apparent and their (really really jerky) mother is dangling the carrot in front of them.

The brother, in fact, gets him ousted from his directorship and, desperate to get a three star rating and into his mother's good graces, he finds himself way off in some podunk town with a very talented chef (who's restaurant is kinda going under): Mo Yeon-Joo ( played by Go Min-Si). I'd weirdly wanted to try something with her in it because I've seen all these clips of her in another new show (something about a woman who dies and goes to heaven?) where she's a human cat. It makes more sense than that, but there it is.

Anyway, they are like oil and water but will, of course, find their way to true love. I've seen 4 episodes now, I think, and overall I am enjoying it. He's a true ass to start with and, honestly, hasn't really redeemed himself yet. It's kinda startling as the last thing I watched him in he was such a green flag (When the Camellia Blooms).  

It doesn't feel like this one is going to have any surprises, but that's okay.

Natsume's Book of Friends

A long, long time ago I watched an episode of Natsume's Book of Friends. Years and years ago. I don't know why I stopped...maybe I was saving it to watch with little dude? 

At any rate, I recently started it over again. I'm just about 6 episodes in, but I am enjoying it. Natsume the orphan can see yokai which has made him, similarly to all other characters in every other show who can see them, a bit of an outcast. They chase him, many thinking he is Reiko, his grandmother, who also had the gift. 

She's long gone now, but she left behind the Book of Friends, which has the names of all the yokai that she "defeated". Natsume has, by default, inherited it. And now, the yokai that come across him are of two kinds--those that want to take the book from him to have power over the yokai named within or those who want to get their names back.

Some are nice. Some aren't. A dodgy fellow that seems quite powerful and takes the shape of a cat extracts a promise from Natsume to protect him in exchange for inheriting the book once he dies. He's a bit self serving and I don't trust him (think Moggett), but there you go.

Each episode mostly focuses on a particular spirit, but there's also Natsume slowly interacting with other people. I don't think there's going to be any romance in this one, but that's okay. Maybe more of a found family kind of thing? The episodes are almost all bittersweet so far, so I feel like I have to watch them in small doses. Will post more after I'm farther along.

The Morose Mononokean

I've actually only watched 2 episodes of this so far, but I'm trying to get up to date. There are two seasons of The Morose Monokean, I just realised, which is promising.

Ashiya, the black haired boy, can see yokai (though it's actually been a few months since I watched the first episode so now I don't remember if he's always been that way or if it is recent). On the way to his first day of high school, he gets glommed onto by a fluffy white yokai critter that drains him so horribly that he collapses and falls ill. This continues, day after day, until he's desperate to somehow experience high school life. That's when he stumbles on an advert for someone who can exorcise ghosts.

Through reasons and mishaps, he winds up in debt to the fellow (the somewhat grumpy blonde haired guy) and begins working with him. He soon learns (albeit, this is me in the second episode, so I'm sure there's more to it than that) that not all yokai are bad or evil -- the one that had "possessed him" just wanted to play.

It appears to lean more towards comedic situations than outright drama and I should get back to it at some point. I'm honestly not sure why I haven't watched another episode yet. Maybe I wanted little dude to try it?

Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four!

So...I've watched three episodes of this one: Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! but I haven't watched a new one in over a month now. Maybe two.

It's very classic middle aged man isekai. And there wasn't anything in particular wrong with it, but it also didn't grab me (and it's building up to be an obvious harem show). The thing I did like was that he was unappreciated in real life but the Demon King saw his potential and encourages him to get the job done and he uses the skills he learned from his previous job and applies them to these new, weird situations...showing that everything really is the same everywhere.

The other of the "Big Four" are his likely harem (he wins over the red-haired one in the first couple of episodes) and I'm guessing whoever's hidden in the weird suit is also female. He also looks like every other middle aged guy in one of these shows, but at least he's not as skeevy as some.

So, I dunno if I'll finish it. Maybe. I'm ambivalent but not annoyed.

Bogus Skill Fruitmaster ~About that time I became able to eat unlimited numbers of Skill Fruits (that kill you)~

 I've actually watched 9 episodes of this 12 episode show: Bogus Skill Fruitmaster ~About that time I became able to eat unlimited numbers of Skill Fruits (that kill you)~

Er, so, at first I expected not much out of it. Then, for a few episodes I was pleasantly surprised. Then I was increasingly disappointed and now...well, I think I've given up as it's been a couple of months since I watched it.

In this world, you eat a skill fruit--only one; the next will kill you--and get skills. Light (the dude's name) gets a "bogus" skill of Fruitmaster, which means he can grow great fruit AND he soon discovers he can eat MORE fruit and gain MORE skills. See, that was kind of interesting. 

His best friend, who's a girl, gets a super combat skill and goes off adventuring, even though it was him that had always wanted to do that. Her team, however, are all assholes. He winds up saving her from it and getting her to join him and his little sidekick. Even though the (obviously evil) guild or whatever leader doesn't want that.

So, all this part is fairly okay. And there's bits with a big fight and he gains more skills, etc. and also saves this blacksmith-y talented girl. All interesting.

Then they make the classic mistake and split the party. And the original plot thread goes out the window and suddenly we're following a new thread (that we don't, honestly, care about as much and doesn't make as much sense). 

That's where I bunked off. 

Maybe at some point I'll finish those last three episodes but I dunno. It felt like a bait and switch.

Tying the Knot with an Anagami Sister

Ok. So. I watched one episode of this and I haven't watched another yet. 

I honestly am not sure if I'll go on with it or not. Uryu Kamihate, an orphan and medical/uni student, gets taken in by a shrine as a kind of foster student. The old man (grandfather?) of the three shrine maidens basically says he can inherit the shrine (and a placed to live as he goes to school) if he marries one of the three sisters. He doesn't want to, but he also wants a place to live, this poor unfortunate foster student.

The girls all have distinct personalities -- i.e. the standard harem types -- the lolita youngest, the she-doth-protest-too-much middle, and the oldest sweeter-than-though sorta naive one. And he, of course, is the 'he-who-must-protest-loudly' and get caught in accidentally compromising situations through no fault of his own and wilful misunderstandings. 

Urgh. Actually, now that I'm writing it up, I feel like I probably won't pick this up again. I'm really not a big fan of harem stuff so there has to be something about a show that has that which pulls me in and looking back, there wasn't anything in the first episode which made me think, yah, I'll do this despite the obvious harem. I didn't even particularly like any of the sisters OR the guy.

I know it definitely has its fans and that's totally ok. If I were hard up for a show, I'd probably watch it. But, instead, I'm summing it up here so I remember when next I am looking for something to watch and think, huh, didn't I start that one? 

Kill Boksoon

This is one of the write ups I was very behind on -- Kill Boksoon. I'd wanted to see the movie for ages: assassin mom of a teenage daughter, and the actress from Crash Course in Romance (which could not be any more different from this character).

It's got a bit of a John Wick vibe with the world building around the assassins--she's another one that's been in it since she was young. It's slick and stylishly gritty, though with a Korean-vibe. Not Kdrama exactly, but I think it helps if you've watched them to catch some of the nuance.

I realise as I am typing this up that I don't want to rehash the plot. It's not groundbreaking, but it's solid. I very much enjoyed all the actors and the action sequences. It was a hoot to see Jeon Do-yeon in such a different kind of part after seeing her in a rom-com, though I think she does more of this kind of stuff than the other.

I'd recommend it. I enjoyed it. I would watch it again someday.

Perhaps my last

So, I went to the first lit festival I'd been to in a while. They invited me months ago and I accepted, drawn in, perhaps by their effusive email and the fact that they seemed to actually know my books (including the ttrpg ones). And I'm not saying it was terrible, but it also just made me think that I really don't know that it's worthwhile (or mentally advisable) to do these things anymore.

It started off awful to begin with because I wound up on two weeks of (terrible) jury duty on a mentally draining trial. So I didn't have as much time to prepare as I thought I would -- though, honestly, the prep I did do was fine. But I was going into it stressed. I didn't even book hotel or train tickets until the day before because I wasn't sure if I'd have to be back for another day of jury duty or not on Monday (and my sessions were on Sunday until late and it was far enough away that even if I could catch a train back, it would get me home after 1 am).

Anyway, I went Saturday afternoon so I wouldn't have to run on Sunday and maybe have a chance to decompress a bit and enjoy what I'd been told was a charming town. The hotel was nice, but super expensive on the Saturday night (which I didn't expect them to cover)--double what it was for Sunday night's stay. Walking around it was...well, it was like any random English town that isn't London. Some nice old buildings. Random construction. There were a lot of busy restaurants and bars and I managed to find a place for dinner that got good reviews. It was...okay. The clientele was varied. A few tables of ladies my age or older, dressed to kill and adjusting their boobs (one woman literally couldn't apparently keep her hands off of them, though I'm not sure what she thought the constant pushing up and cupping was going to do...gravity is gravity, ma'am.) Older men, balding, with younger ladies in very short skirts. Reminded me of White Lotus. A few hen-do's, one of which the bride-to-be was so pregnant that I was thinking the wedding better be the next day or she'd not likely make it--she barricaded herself in the toilet and wouldn't let anyone else in for a while. 

So. Yeah. I wasn't overly impressed by the town. I really have pretty much figured out that I like London, but I don't love the rest of England. At least, not to live in. Haven't tried Manchester, so maybe it's okay. I mean, it had better restaurants than Coventry but that's not a steep hill to climb.

Before I even arrived, I'd received a notice late on Friday (too late to do anything about it) that the Waterstones that was supposed to have ordered books for all the visiting authors had somehow messed up my part of the order so that none of my books were available to sell/sign. 

This is not even the first time this has happened to me at an event. Maybe the third. Everyone else's somehow always wind up ordered, but not mine. Do I have a curse?

And they were charging £5 to £10 less for my 2 hour workshop than some other people's sessions (who weren't any "bigger" than I am and were sometimes only 1 hour things). It just felt kind of insulting. 

And, at various times, my name was misspelled -- both first and surname, though not at the same time. The first name gets misspelled all the time in this country, to be fair, but it's still annoying and makes you feel unseen and unappreciated.

The sessions themselves were okay, though not packed with people, and I did well at them. Honestly, I'm really good at it. I had attendees ask me when/where they could hear me speak again, others that stayed late, a few that came to my panel session to hear me speak more.

But, all told, I make very very little money off of these things, especially when they don't even have my books available for sale. They are exhausting, even if I am good at the talking part. From a purely cost-benefit analysis, they aren't worth it. I did help a handful of writers with the workshop, but I could probably start running an online course and keep a discord and reach more people if I wanted to do that.

So, yeah. Maybe it's sour grapes but it never feels like these things work out in my favour.

Suzume

I watched Suzume a while back (on a plane, I think), though it had been on my list for a long time. It's another Makoto Shinkai film, which I generally always find appealing--there's a very dream-like quality to them. 

This one is no exception to that. Suzume Iwato is a 17 year old schoolgirl with a curious mind who lives with her aunt. She has dreams of herself as a child walking through a ruined landscape looking for her mother, but doesn't know what they mean. One day (hello, inciting incident), she runs into a young man not much older than herself (uni aged) named Souta who is looking for abandoned places...with doors. 

She follows him and accidentally releases a keystone (which turns into a mischievous cat) and thereby unleashing some potential earth-shattering problems. Souta is a "closer", something his family has been doing for generations. They hold back this gigantic earthquake-causing worm...ok, as I'm typing this, I realise it sounds very, very implausible. But it doesn't while you're watching, I promise.

For reasons, he gets turned into a three-legged chair and Suzume and he go gallivanting around the country relying on the help of strangers as they try to get him human again AND re-capture the cat. The aunt and a friend of Souta's get involved at the end and everything is very neatly tied off, returning back to Suzume's early memories--she had, indeed, once wandered the Ever After. 

And...that's all I'm gonna say about the plot because, honestly, there's a lot going on and to really explain it would take ages. I'll say that, as with all Shinkai films, it is visually gorgeous, though some people have complained that it doesn't stand up to his other works. It's a coming of age story, but also a heroic, epic journey with sacrifice and love. I really enjoyed it though I can definitely see that the romantic aspect (with Souta) wasn't the original, intentional goal and is a sideline. 

I will possibly watch it again in the future, perhaps with little dude.

The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows

I am not having much luck tonight and I was really just trying to relax. Tried out The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows and it might be good, but half the first episode was about his already formed harem fighting over getting to see him (while he was out on a house call) and eating his dinner that some poor girl had been cooking all day (oh, and she wants to marry him too). It's kind of like it started in the middle.

So. Maybe I'll try another episode another time but there wasn't anything about this one that particularly made me want to try another. Even if he is deadpan.

La Dolce Villa

 Just a very brief post. Tried the (all too American) La Dolce Villa (American writers and production company, though a lot of Italian actors) and made it approximately 20 minutes. Acting was so-so or, rather, like Hallmark movie level, I guess? That kind of slightly exaggeratedness that works better on the stage? 

And considering the year and a half we spent house hunting in Italy and researching citizenship + even the One Euro houses that this movie delves into, it just was totally unrealistic to me. Other than, yes, small Italian towns are in desperate need of new investment and residents. And the whole father-daughter dynamic was meh and I'm sure they'll all be one big happy family by the end but...bleh.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer

So I wasn't particularly looking for (another) new show to watch but was still kind of unwilling to go into the angsty part of Sacrificial Princess...which is how I found myself starting up The Unwanted Undead Adventurer and, I gotta say, I really liked it!

In fact, I think I may very well get the books. I'd thought going in that it was going to be something like Skeleton Knight in Another World but this is not an isekai. And the stories and characters have no relation to each other at all...this one is actually got a fairly good plot going that stands up as not being derivative (at least not much). True, there's almost a harem thing going on, but not really.

But I shall start anew. We meet Rentt right as he's about to die. Twenty-five, he's been a low ranked adventurer for 10 years (and, we learn later, trained for 10 years before that) and thought it a bit of luck that he'd stumbled into a secret part of the local labyrinth...until he runs into a legendary dragon creature and is killed. Or eaten. At any rate, dead.

And not just dead, but undead. He comes to in the next day or so (this in one part that doesn't totally make sense as his equipment looks aged and he's only bone) as a barebones (haha) skeleton. But his mind and memories are intact. He soon figures out that he can "evolve" as he kills other monsters and gets to the point that he's a ghast. 

A lucky encounter sees him save a young adventurer from certain death and he convinces her to go into town and buy him some concealing clothing so he can try and return home. Because if he just wandered in, they'd surely kill him because he's a monster now. He might have actually still been just a skeleton when he meets her, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is that they get back to town.

Now, all this time, we're getting his inner monologue about how he's "just" a bronze level and has been stuck there for years. But it's clear from the townspeople (who are wondering where he is and the ones who immediately recognise him in his disguise) that he's beloved because of his hardworking ethic, his willingness to always help people, and that even though he was low in rank, he was high in heart. He immediately heads to Lorraine, someone he's known for years who is obviously in love with him (to everyone but him, I suppose, as all he focuses on is becoming a mythril level adventurer (and that is the way they spelled it, not mithril??)).

Anyway, she's a scholar and sort-of witchy researcher and he stays with her. I'm not going to rehash all of it, but will say that he proves over and over again what a decent guy he is and, at the end of season 1, has evolved again to be some type of vampire (with wings). There was a season 2 announced, though it doesn't have a release date yet. I'll definitely watch it. 

The worldbuilding seems decent. The side characters are reasonably fleshed out for an anime with a diverse cast, doing a lot with the little screentime they have. And in the last episode, we get the payoff of why he has laboured so hard for so many years--it's revenge. A wolf monster killed his entire family and best friend and he was saved by a mithryl level adventurer, who set him on the path that he's on. He's just a decent guy. Yes, pretty much every woman that he meets gets a heart flutter, but so far there's no romance in it--though clearly Lorraine has been on that ship for a long time. 

So, yes, glad I watched it. Will definitely continue on. Will post about the books if/when I get them.

The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt

I'm trying to actually keep up (I am SO behind), so I'll start my post on The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt as I watched the first episode today.

Crown Prince Wein complains that he wants to sell out his kingdom (his father is ill, leaving him in charge) as it is a far northern itty bitty kingdom without industry or resources. But he gives stirring speeches and his liege lords follow him with smiles. When another kingdom attacks, he's amazed when they not only repel the invaders but then go on to annex their gold mine. And that's just in the first episode.

He's obviously going to have to now come up with more plans to keep the kingdom going, with the help of his capable assistant (the girl in the picture). 

I am ambivalent at the moment, mostly because he's one of those histrionic types when he's alone with just his assistant, though the face he presents to everyone else is very kingly and wise. I do think I'll try another episode or two before I decide though.

Tearmoon Empire

This is a timeslip type of anime -- a selfish princess is executed at age 20 (after spending 3 years in the dungeons) after a revolution, but gets a second chance in Tearmoon Empire, when she awakens 8 years earlier at age 12. At first thinking it was a horrible dream, she realises it is her potential future when she sees her blood soaked diary that she had carried with her to the gallows.

It's a bit Bakarina-like as she's basically trying to avoid doom flags by changing history. And I did enjoy it (other than the chipmunk on helium voice for the main character; it was a bit grating after awhile), but Mia does remain, for the most part a selfish person. 80% of what she does is still very me-me-me, though things work out in this timeline better for everyone. She does show some growth though, when she makes some choices towards the end that aren't wholly beneficial to herself and are focused more on others.

It is a comic take, however, which is why I was watching it. The gains the reputation of being the wisdom of the empire, but it's wholly undeserved. Her "wise decisions" are a culmination of things other people told her in her first go through or people misinterpreting her actions based on the best possible scenario. 

So, it's cutesy. I did like that the first retainer she gloms onto is the servant that didn't abandon her in the last life and she's very loyal. And you do come to learn, by the end, that it wasn't really her bad decisions that led her to the guillotine the first time; there was a plot. If someone had given her the benefit of the doubt or asked a few more questions in her first life, it may not have ended so badly for her. Still, she was a spoiled pain that first time.

I did also like that in trying to save herself, she also saves some others. Notably, Prince Abel who had been destined to be a second son playboy type, instead becomes a true knight in shining armour with her encouragement (I looked it up and they do get married in the books, apparently).

So, yes, I enjoyed this one and I'm glad I watched it. I don't think I'll watch it again or pick up the books, but it's a solid showing.