pictured: HYUKOH, “Wanli万里”
What is blogging? How do I Photoshop? Long time no see to whoever is still reading my blog. I had a really busy April for mostly school related reasons, but I am free (for now). Some tings:
Category: watching
-
#FBF = Flashback February!
A few days ago I mentioned that I’d be challenging myself to something different, so for this month I’ll be taking it waaaaay back and watching some oldies (5 years and up)! I usually tell myself every year I’ll watch older dramas, but that usually doesn’t happen unless I get fixated on a certain actor (like that one time I watched six Takenouchi Yutaka dramas in a row) or by recommendation/review.
I actually really love watching old dramas (rewatching the first episode of My Boss My Hero was a TRIP lmfao), so I’m hopeful this is something I can continue on not just for this month but also throughout the year!
(And now that I’ve mostly finished leftovers from last year, I can finally start new dramas. Yiiiiisssss)
-
RE: Unmei ni, Nita Koi
Still watching 2016 dramas but I needed to talk about this one ASAP!
I actually think the premise of this destined romance is pretty sweet. When she was young, a woman named Kasumi made a promise to meet again with a boy she befriended, but not before leaving him with her barrette. Fast forward to the present, and she’s since gotten married, divorced, and is working to raise a high school aged son. The boy she made that promise with (who called himself “Amuro”) STILL has the barrette and always keeps it close by, hoping to be reunited with her again — CUTE, EH?
It’s probably important for me to mention that she works at a laundromat that also handles deliveries to their rich/busy customers. And here’s where things get interesting…
[white_box] Spoilers for episodes 1-5. Tread lightly! [/white_box]
-
Winter ’17, Part 1
New year, new dramas? Not quite…
There were a bunch of dramas I wanted to watch last year but didn’t actually get around to watching. So for most of this month, I’ve challenged myself to only watching dramas I missed out on. The “challenge” wasn’t all that difficult considering that there isn’t a lot to watch right now. Subs are trickling in and the recent batch of kdramas seems mostly unimpressive, LOL.
Completed
Yuusha Yoshihiko to Michibikareshi 7-nin / I think when I last wrote about it I was at episode 3, but I caught up and it just kept getting better! I’m not sure it’ll be back for a fourth season (ending was kind of ambiguous), but if this is the end I’m glad it went out on a high note.
Furenaba Ochin / Not the most disappointing drama I’ve watched, but not one I’d recommend any time soon. While the plot itself is so tired (housewives and affairs), the ending made me WTF. In a bad way. With my entire body and soul. It was just so unnecessary, like the amount of time I spent watching this drama. Shoutout to Hasegawa Kyoko’s new lips tho. (more…)
-
A year in dramas (2016).
JAPANESE
Boku no Yabai Tsuma
Dias Police
Cold Case
Fragile
Good Partner
Juhan Shuttai
Kyouhansha (SP)*
Love Revolution*
Love Song
Nietzsche-sensei
Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu
ONSeirei no Moribito (Season 1)
Slow Dance*
Totto Terebi
Watashi Kekkon Dekinain Janakute, Shinain desu
Yume wo Ataeru*
Kono Machi no Inochi ni (SP)
Gou Gou Datte Neko de Aru
Kuroi 10-nin mo Onna
Kenja no Ai
Suishou no KodouKOREAN
Age of Youth
Baek Hee Has Returned
Beautiful Mind
Entourage
Ms. Temper & Nam Jung-gi
Oh My Venus
One More Happy Ending
Page Turner
Signal
The Good WifeThe King 2 Hearts*
Moonlight Drawn By Clouds
My Wife Is Having An Affair This Week* = did not air in 2016
TOTAL: 34
Not too bad. Maybe this’ll be the year I break 40? Right now I’m still watching Doctor X 4 and Yuusha Yoshihiko to Michibikareshi 7-nin, which I’ll probably just include in my count for 2017. My undisputed favorites this year were Juhan Shuttai! and Signal; the former made me really optimistic about j-dramas again, whereas the latter ruined me and I just had no patience for tired old formulas in k-dramas. Here’s to another year in dramas! I guess my continuing resolution is to try more “classics”, haha.
-
classical dramas
pictured: Page Turner, Secret Love Affair, Cantabile TomorrowI’m more of a jazz person, but there a few dramas who made good use of classical pieces that left big impressions on me and sparked vivid memories of key moments. I kid you not, Mambo was the moment that made me sit up and pay attention to the sweet cherub that is Park Bogum, haha. I was like, “ooh, slay a bit!” Here are some select favorites:
1. Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178: IV. Allegro con fuoco (Antonín Dvořák) (Cantabile Tomorrow)
2. Dance at the Gym: Mambo (Leonard Bernstein) (Cantabile Tomorrow, very inspired)
3. Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18: 2. Adagio sostenuto (Sergei Rachmaninoff) (Soredemo, Ikite Yuku)
4. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 (Sergei Rachmaninoff) (Secret Love Affair)
5. Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace (Ludwig van Beethoven) (Nodame Cantabile) -
#200
“When creatures that cannot live together with humans are ejected from human society, ‘well, that’s life’ is what we would say. We’d say that this must be a job done by someone.”
I haven’t had a drama make me feel this kind of melancholy (in a good way) since Misaeng; you feel it in the first scene when an animal control employee wakes up after having yet another nightmare about dogs speaking to him, and when a vet scolds her mother for feeding stray cats and contributing to her work. It was a good special and if you’re anything like me, you might shed some tears in the first 20 minutes or so. Unlike Misaeng, Kono Machi no Inochi ni peaked and didn’t go anywhere towards the end even though it has all the elements of a worthwhile drama. Still recommended though, especially for anyone who may want to see Kase Ryo and Toda Erika in a drama again.
And as the title suggests, this is my 200th drama!! 🎉 I should do something to celebrate, lol.
-
Autumn ’16, Part 1
TOTAL DRAMAS WATCHED: 21
I just barely passed this amount in last year’s fall roundup, and that was in November! What can I say, weekend marathons are my specialty. Now onto the state of things…
