You can see part 1 here. Like a bum, I accidentally titled the post “fall”, when it should have been “autumn” to match all the other times I’ve done it! 😒 Oh well.
[white_box] Contains light spoilers (very, very light) for Wise Prison Life, also very text heavy because I am lazy. Pictured image is from Keiji Yugami, episode… something. [/white_box]
Currently
That One Prison Drama / Prison Playbook (or whatever it’s called in your region) is good. It is very good. I’m not tempted by a lot of dramas these days, mostly because I lack the patience for anything reductive. And what’s not to love about a drama set in a prison? This is written by the same person behind the Reply series — I liked Reply 1997 enough, but felt that it got bogged down by the romance/how-I-met-my-husband shenanigans. Prison Playbook has none of that. The writer excels at cha and that’s exactly what this drama is. And don’t even get me started on the friendship between Junho and Je-hyuk. OMFG. I cry. Junho may be a crappy boyfriend (according to his brother) but he’s such a good friend! I hope they don’t spin it off to be some guilt thing like “weh I didn’t talk to him for 10 years, I have to make up for this transgression!” Him doing the bucket list items had me in my FEeliNGS, I really thought there was going to be a love triangle and him going to the same places was just him being a sad sack, lolol.
Speaking of: I do not like the way they’ve cut scenes. It’s so choppy! Like, you’ll have Junho asking Jiho for something… and then 45 minutes later they’ll replay the same scene again, but it was actually a flashback and what we saw earlier was just 50% of the conversation. I mean… what? Sometimes I don’t mind mind it and sometimes I’m really over it. It’s just a bit frustrating when you consider how well they’ve revealed other twists, like Joon-dol’s job or second-generation chabeol (Han-yang)’s girlfriend.
The length of the episodes can also be especially daunting to anyone wanting to start it; they’re about 90 minutes long each. While I think k-dramas are too long as it is (16 episodes on average, 1 hour each… ugh), I feel like every minute of this drama is valuable and I love the insight we get into every aspect of this prison life, the prisoners, and the prison guards. If this is something you’re interested in watching, I recommend starting it NOW rather than later because Prison Playbook is sloooooooow and I guarantee you will hate it if you watch it all at once, lmao. I personally like to watch one episode a day once subs are out, so maybe that’s an approach to try. This is a show that requires TIME. And it goes without saying that I recommend it. Happy to know this is the show I chose to end my drama drought with. — Episode 6
Ito-kun A to E / I personally love and appreciate a drama with an “unsympathetic” female lead, especially because they are highly underrepresented in dramaland. I put “unsympathetic” in quotes because while Yazaki Rio his hilariously judgmental (and delights in using other people’s misery for her own gain), Kimura Fumino makes her lovable. That could be my bias speaking though, lol. As far as Ito-kun goes, a part of me also felt like some of the ladies would do SO much better without a man or would be much better off learning to love themselves (A and D’s friend in particular), but I really loved all of the ladies. And I feel a bit cheated though, since this is actually the prequel to the movie and the episodes are only 30 minutes long! — Episode 6
Okusama wa, Toriatsukai Chuui / I feel so blessed. Finally, Ayase Haruka in a drama I can love! The drama is pretty standard case-of-the-day so far, but what I love about it is the way each episodes ends with Nami and her husband being so. freaking. adorable. Y’all already know I find Nishijima Hidetoshi to be incredibly charming, so each ending is like a dream come true because you can just feeeEEEEeeeEeel the love radiating from the screen haha. I don’t find him paternalistic or anything, just kind, understanding, and sweet. It’s just my luck that I can’t find raws for this though… — Episode 4
Keiji Yugami / Yet another detective drama, but Japan must be doing something right because I keep coming back to them! Asano Tadanobu is a treasure and I find him really funny outside of dramas (see here), so I’m glad Keiji Yugami allows him to do what he does best naturally. The drama itself doesn’t have a particularly unique concept (uptight rookie and a wacky, but wise veteran detective) but it’s interesting enough for me to want to continue. — Episode 5
Considering
Uh, everything? LOL. There’s a lot that I have to catch up on that aired just this year (Totsuzen desu ga, Ashita Kekkon Shimasu being one of them) and many more that I just need to start and somehow… power through in 14 days… 🙃
Completed
The last drama I finished was Rescue Me, which was back in September. And I’m dragging my feet on finishing HitoPa… geez. This was such a dismal year for finishing dramas.
EDIT (12/18/17): Finished Keiji Yugami! Woo!