KDRAMA
FINISHED Mood Of The Day (1/1): By chance, a man and a woman meet on the KTX train and spend 24 hours in the unfamiliar city of Busan, South Korea. Soo-Jung has been with her boyfriend for 10 years, but their romance is now nothing but a lukewarm relationship. The night before her business trip to Busan, she heard that her friend is getting married to her first love, and feels distracted. On the train to Busan, she sits next to Jae-Hyun, who’s claiming that he willingly jumps into bed with a woman for one night. Falling for her gorgeous hips, he keeps coming on to her during the journey. She tries to push him away, but ends up sharing the car ride to Busan with him due to the sudden breakdown of the train. She begins to slowly open up to him as he consistently tries to win her heart. And as the time passes on the road, she gets to see the true inside of Jae-Hyun hidden behind his featheriness and finds herself attracted to him.
I was hesitant to start this movie originally cause I always find movies where the main couple hang out for one day and fall in love so unbelievable but I ended up biting the bullet and thank god I did! This is one of those super romantic movies that seriously have you believing that true love exists! I was feeling the whole range of emotions from start to finish and the main couple's chemistry was out of this world! I could feel the attraction between the two like a palatable thing and it was written all over their faces the exact moment when they fell for each other which like all the props to the actors for! I loved that Jae Hyun tried to stop them from sleeping together in the hotel not only cause Soo Jung was clearly really nervous but cause he was starting to feel real feelings and they freaked him out. It was no longer just about sleeping with a random woman and he didn't know how to deal which is why I loved that when they did sleep together it was a much more natural thing and it really felt like they fell in love this time. I loved that Soo Jung broke up with her boyfriend immediately when she got back without the thought of having Jae Hyun instead cause she didn't think he'd love her like she did but she knew that after feeling the way she did with another guy, there was no way her lukewarm relationship with her boyfriend would make do. I wasn't down with the misunderstandings but I was so thrilled that Jae Hyun went to find her first cause it had to have been really hard for him and I loved the chase scene through the city and train station to find him. This was a magical movie and I cannot say enough that you have to watch it!! I'd give it a 10 / 10!
I really enjoyed this show when it first started but now I'm feeling less and less interested as the show goes on. I think I was really let down by the premise of this show tbh cause I was expecting more undercover ops by our crew the way most con artist shows are done but it seems like this show prefers to just have our crew chase after criminals the way police do and that wasn't particularly what I hoped for. The cases are a little boring and I'm really not feeling the overarching story which I can't decide if would have been better if it was shown from episode one or if it was cut out entirely. Honestly it feels like episode 1 was so far off from what this show has become that they really should have done it differently. It was a surprise to find out that the mole for that person was the right hand man for Prosecutor Jang but I like I thought it was cause that person kidnapped his wife and his newborn to blackmail him into doing it cause I didn't see the investigator as a real villain based on how he tried to warn Jang off from going out there. I was also surprised to find out everyone in the crew had a connection to that person but I really shouldn't have cause honestly it's such a Ha Ri thing to get a bunch of people connected to his big case since personal stakes always makes someone fight harder. I really felt for Byung Min this week cause the poor guy felt so guilty and it wasn't really even his fault cause he had no idea what he was doing in the past. Jin Woong was a little less involved cause all he did was capture one guy and Ah Ryung was in the same place as Ha Ri really in that person killed her dad. I'm not really worried for Jang cause I'm sure he'll be fine but I'm looking forward to seeing how that person and this whole operation will be taken down in the finale by our crew.
If this show has taught me anything this week, it's that every single person excluding our main couple is the damn worst. Why is it so freaking hard for anyone to tell the truth? Jin Gook is clearly lying cause he's trying to cover up his misdoing/guilt but the doctor literally let a child leave a hospital just for shits and giggles and then refuses to tell Moo Young what his past is? Moo Young is a 30 year old man. He can handle the freaking truth. But let's circle back to Jin Gook who I just cannot with anymore! I've tried and tried to understand where he was coming from with the whole Moo Young is probs not a good person and he's probs not someone I'd want my sibling to date but he lost me this week. He's officially unhinged and every time he starts shouting instead of talking at a normal human pitch, my skin crawls. He's resorted to stalking and threatening and now even stabbing and I'm starting to wonder if maybe he's the real villain here with his obsession with his little sister and his need to control her every move. He literally told Jin Kang that he could straight up do anything to keep them apart and I can't believe that Jin Kang is STILL staying with him after that. I would be horrified and freaked out and move the hell out that very second! The police are just as terrible with the boss being like I'm covering all this up to save face and his idiotic female officer who's like lie lie lie about everything as long as you're happy! WHAT ABOUT THE POOR GUY HE TRIED TO KILL???? It's even worse cause we're getting bits of what happened and it doesn't paint Jin Gook in a good light at all. I'm thinking that Moo Young's criminal father was friends with Jin Kang's dad which makes our couple childhood friends and that Jin Gook was hunting Moo Young's dad to arrest him but he found Jin Kang's dad in Moo Young's house and accidentally shot him thinking it was Moo Young's dad which Moo Young and Jin Kang saw. The two ran to her father in a panic and accidentally knocked over that kettle burning both of them. Meanwhile Moo Young's dad was running from the cops or something and fell off a cliff. That would fit with what the doctor said but also with Moo Young's memories. The other option is that Jin Gook killed Moo Young's dad in revenge for killing Jin Kang's dad and the doctor is flat our lying to Moo Young for who knows what reason. Either way Jin Gook shouldn't despise Moo Young the way he does cause none of that was Moo Young's fault and it seems like according to that female cop, Jin Gook hates him cause he is a reminder of the horrible thing Jin Gook did. The second option would at least give Jin Gook a slight reason to worry about Jin Kang and Moo Young dating but still not enough to try to kill my baby! Deep breathes girl deep breathes. On a happier note, domestic Jin Kang and Moo Young was everything this week. I loved seeing how she forced him into buying a whole bunch of appliances and how he even tried to reach out to her brother cause he knew how much she loved him (only to be shut down cause Jin Gook is the worst.) There's just something so sweet in how he looks and touches her like she's the most precious thing in the world to him and how desperately he hugs her when he's worried she might leave him cause he's so used to rejection and I liked his foreshadowing to her about how if he ever says that he hates her he will be lying and to ignore it. It was also super sweet how he basically told her that if she wants to leave him that he'll let her go but he'll always wait for her to come back by talking to the cat cause it was so unlike the old selfish version of Moo Young who wouldn't care how much she was torn between her brother and him. Wow that was a long and rambly review but I had so many thoughts.
One thing that's refreshing about this show cause there's a spy storyline added to the romance is that silly tropes are ignored or fixed within one or two episodes so we don't have to sit in the angst of characters doing dumb things. When Ae Rin found out that Bon and the NIS crew knew that her husband was murdered and that Bon approached her at first to find out if she knew anything about her husband's death, she accepted it without going into a tailspin about whether Bon actually cared about her or was using her all along and she didn't blame the NIS crew for lying. Like a smart human being she understood that everything Bon did recently was real and that the only reason they lied was to protect her like what she did with her friend's husband who died. I also loved that Jin was playing double agent (as I called last week) and his bromance with Bon really makes you forget how horrible he was at the start of this show. On the other hand, I don't understand how dumb Ji Yeon is honestly cause she constantly keeps throwing Ae Rin into terrible situations and even if she's not officially a NIS agent, she's so wrapped up in every step of the CornerStone operation whether she knew it or not at the time that of course her name would be a red flag and now the Voice knows it too and she's working at his house and I really didn't think it was going to go well but it looks like we're not going to tread down that path anyway since we've already infiltrated and escaped with what we wanted. The show seems to like us to believe that Bon gets shot or hurt pretty much every week but like every other week, I'm sure he's fine. I also kind of wish that we could find out which of the NIS agents are good cause I'm tired of being anxious around both and it would be super helpful to have a higher up on our side who we can actually trust!
CDRAMA
This show is super silly and so good honestly and it's interesting cause I'm really enjoying this world we're in and how the show has mini arcs each week basically. I think it's a bit refreshing compared to other wuxia shows were the whole story is about a quest cause I always end up caring less about the quest than the characters interacting with each other and that's what this show feels like. I wasn't the biggest fan of the case with the skinchanger but I'm really enjoying the stuff with the bastard brother this week cause not only is he hilarious and seriously messing up everything in our world but it's leading to fun new dynamics. I'm still super in love with Mu Le and I adore how much he adores Yuan An and how she lights up around him too though she doesn't know it. The whole Lan Zhi thing is interesting cause he's clearly into her and she has a crush on him but like neither are saying anything and it's going to suck hardcore when he realizes she got away. They also seem to be setting up this thing with Lan Zhi and the Infanta but I don't really care for her so I'm meh about that. I also wonder if Mu Le is from another dimension or world or if he's straight up just from another kingdom cause we never did get told what this world is made up of besides the kingdom we're in. It's a little interesting how far we are diving into magic like for some reason I figured most of the magic would be in martial arts but now we're talking voodoo and skin changing. I do like the idea that it's all connected to the beads so most normal people can't do it.
Honestly I really liked the sad ending that this show had cause it just makes all the sense in the world that Lin Dong could only really get rid of all the Yimo by losing everything that ties him to the world and I loved that it was Huan Huan who was his last obstacle. I mean of course I would have loved it if they were able to live happily ever after but being a hero in this kind of story always needs a sacrifice and we should have all seen it coming after Lin Dong needing to lose his eyesight to defeat one Yimo King. My big problems with this show were the pacing and the amnesia Ice Master thing. There was literally no reason that the Ice Master was the only one who had to do what she did and if in the end Lin Dong had to choose the world over his love, why bother with the angst due to memory loss? It seems redundant. The show also had a problem with pacing cause we spent episodes upon episodes doing nothing in season 1 and then literally jumping from scene to scene with major changes happening offscreen this season to move the plot forward. I'm thrilled though that Lang Tian seemed to have died cause I would have been pissed if he was able to be redeemed and happy with Qing Tan when he ruined so many lives cause though she deserves to be happy, he did not. I super didn't expect the older fox girl not only to die but then be brought back to life. It was cute though that she and Xiao Yan ended up marrying each other in the end. I was also glad that Lin Dong didn't end up with Qing Zhu romantically cause that would have been spitting in Huan Huan's memory and poor Qing Zhu who would be a substitute! I'm not sure if that blurry image of Huan Huan at the end was supposed to be one coming from another plane or if that was the idea that he'd meet her again in another reincarnation but either way, I'd like to imagine that eventually these two will find each other again. I'd give this show a 9 / 10!
JDRAMA
FINISHED Daytime Shooting Star (1/1): Yosano Suzume is a naïve, country girl who transfers to a high school in Tokyo. When she gets lost on her first day in the big city, a man named Shishio comes to her rescue. He turns out to be her homeroom teacher. Suzume begins to develop feelings for Shishio that she has never felt before… “I’m in love with you.” Suzume’s straightforward confession of love places Shishio in an awkward situation as her teacher. While Shishio grapples with how to respond, Suzume’s classmate Mamura, who supposedly has an aversion to girls, tells her he’s in love with her. What will become of Suzume’s first love…?
I normally hate romances when there's a power dynamic like with a boss/employee or a teacher/student so I wasn't sure if I wanted to check this movie out at first but then I heard that Suzume chooses her classmate in the end so I decided why not and I ended up having a ton of fun. It was weird though cause I went in ready to hate the teacher but ended up being just as torn as Suzume as to which guy she would pick. It helped that Shishio was super handsome, looked really young and met Suzume as a customer at her uncle's cafe first. They also ended up having a lot more chemistry than Suzume and Mamura did and I loved that he was smart enough to realize though he loved her too, it wasn't right to be together while she was his student. On the other hand, Mamura was so preciously in love with her and would do anything for her that it won my heart over. I really forgot while watching this that I knew Mamura was the one she would pick in the end cause until the moment she told Shishio that she was in love with someone else, I was so involved in the love triangle which again isn't a trope I love cause I always end up having a favorite and then being annoyed when the other is showcased. I loved watching Mamura win Suzume over slowly and how her affection for him grew. I also loved the friendship between Suzume and Yuyuka Nekota who started out the mean girl but ended up being a really good friend of Suzume's! I'd give this movie a 10 / 10!
FINISHED Marmalade Boy (1/1): Koishikawa Miki, a high school student, is told by her parents that they are getting a divorce and swapping partners with another couple. The other couple have a son called Yuu, whom Miki becomes attracted to after moving in together.
Honestly I really don't know what I was expecting when I started this show except the main couple looked cute in some images I saw and I ended up really enjoying myself but mostly just cause of the main couple which was fine cause I don't really go into romantic movies for the plot lol! My brain told me that Miki was a bit of an airhead and it seemed kind of silly how quickly Yuu fell for her especially since we're told he doesn't really believe in love but my heart melted due to their great chemistry and the angst we went through when Miki and Yuu thought they were siblings. It's honestly kind of funny how much Japan likes their sibling incest and I was relieved that it was all a misunderstanding in the end cause I wanted this couple together! I loved their first kiss and how much pain he was in when he thought they were related but my favorite moments all took place after Miki went to visit Yuu from when he broke down and told her the truth about why they broke up to when they decided to spend one last day together to the way they clung together and the night they spent together being unable to sleep. You could really feel the desperation and angst and it was everything. The families were beyond hilarious cause who even swaps partners and then decides to live together like damn that's weird but it led to some funny moments so I didn't mind it too much. I had a lot of fun and cause of that I'd give this movie a 9.5 / 10!
One of the oldest and possibly most used tropes in romance is the whole amnesia/memory loss story and honestly I'm such a loser cause no matter how many times I watch it, I will in fact cry every single time and unabashedly say that it's still one of my favorite tropes. I just find something so romantic about both sides of the story: the amnesiac falling in love all over again and/or remembering despite the memory loss cause the love is so strong and the other making the amnesiac fall in love with them over and over and/or not caring that the memory loss happened cause they love the amnesiac so much. All of this happened in this movie and I loved it so much. Yamazaki Kento who played Yuuki was such an absolute cutie (especially when he smiled) and it was so interesting seeing him play such a warm character after loving him in Todome no Kiss where he played such an asshole! I loved the building friendship between Yuuki and Kaori and how he came up with the adorable idea to exchange a diary with her (though I didn't understand why Kaori didn't do that in the first place to remember people/things.) I also loved that he was the one who reached out her before anyone else but that he was such a sweetheart and backed off when he though Kaori loved someone else. Honestly I cried when she looked through that flipbook comic and the only thing I think this movie could have done better was let our main couple kiss cause I thought they were precious! I also would have liked more of a solid ending cause like she seemed to remember everything before the accident but she still forgot every new thing every week which is strange cause the doctor made a point of telling us that she only had the memory loss to protect herself. I'd like to imagine that Kaori would remember Yuuki from now on but I have a feeling she won't though I don't mind it that much. I'd give this movie a 9 / 10 and definitely say you should check it out cause it's precious.
Being on the Japanese movie kick that I'm on, I decided to check this movie out for no particular reason and I ended up feeling pretty ehh about it cause though I enjoyed the main couple, their love story didn't exactly feel great to me. I liked the idea that Gen liked Shima who liked Wao who liked Gen's sister and that Shima decided to accept Wao as her brother after their parents got married and she found out who he really liked but after this the story went haywire. Gen seemed to not even know how he felt and dated Shima's friend who set her up on a date without another guy. Though I liked that Shima broke up with him as soon as she realized that she actually liked Gen, it was super weird that she was jumping from one guy to the next and it was no wonder that Gen was confused. I was glad that they made it clear that Shima was leaving for Tokyo at the end cause she wanted to pursue her dream and not cause she was running away but they never really told us what her dream was (ballet maybe but idk) so it really didn't feel all that real. The kiss Gen and Shima shared at the end was sweet but not enough to save this movie for me. I'd give it a 8.5 / 10!
xoxo Allie
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