Thoughts about "Melo Movie" / 멜로무비: For the sake of the what-was-not-meant-to-be

To be honest, I was rather apprehensive about watching this drama. 

While I did like "Our Beloved Summer" to a certain extent back then, I wasn't keen on watching another similar romance drama about ex-lovers reuniting with somewhat been-there-done-that vibes. To add on to my concerns, seeing Choi Woo-shik as the male lead again and what the trailer projected made me deliberate longer than expected before finally hitting the play button. It was only after I finished this drama when I finally found out that both dramas were written by the same scriptwriter.

Potential spoilers ahead, proceed with caution!

With regard to the lead couple's love story, I have to admit that it didn't quite resonate with me. Maybe it's just me but I thought that one big reason for this feeling was the romantic chemistry between Choi and Park Bo-young being a tad weak. It felt more like they were more friends rather than lovers. Coupled with the fact that the story of the lead couple was not as heart-wrenching as compared to the second lead couple, it was difficult to feel emotionally engaged when watching them. I do not know for sure but the notably higher number of sweet moments towards the end and kissing scenes sometimes in the weirdest scenario and timing (on the filming set when people were moving around???) stuck out like a sore thumb to me rather than accentuate the romance vibe between them. 

On the contrary, what was more fascinating about them were their individual stories and how they dealt with their own traumas, pain and feelings since childhood, found closure after all these years and sought comfort in each other's presence. In Mu-bi's case, her long unresolved guilt and pain related to her late father as well as the conflicting thoughts in her mind about her career choice were well-conveyed through Park's great acting. As for Gyeom's situation, I really liked Choi's monologues and acting in showing the contrast between Gyeom's cheery facade and his anguish, anxiety and self-doubt hidden deep down. While I was already impressed with Park from her past work "Daily Dose of Sunshine", Choi really surprised me this time with the emotional side of Gyeom which was in stark contrast with his usual cheery and youthful image in variety shows and his roles I had seen thus far.

While I wasn't too keen about the lead couple's love story, what kept me going till the end were the two subplots i.e. the brotherhood of Jun and Gyeom and the second lead couple's love story which were "not-mean-to-be".

Kim Jae-wook was simply superb as Jun who was a very complicated and deep character. Not only did Kim nail the intricate emotions of Jun as a young carer and an elder brother who had given much of his life to care for his younger brother, there was a relatively unknown side to him which was so nice and fun to watch. As the viewers got to discover the other side of Jun, it was so bittersweet because it could have been good if Gyeom got to know all these while Jun was still alive. Imagine the things they could have done and enjoyed more together but it was not meant to be. Ep 7 was the big tearjerker but it was good that the story didn't try to be overly dramatic and splash out on emotional outbursts. Everything seemed to flow naturally as in real life when we may not display our grief openly in times of loss and pain so I think that hit me more than I expected. And grief doesn't pour out at one go and can creep up at unexpected moments more often than we think. In particular, when Gyeom found it hard to go back to an empty home and slept in his car, that was so difficult to watch.

Lee Jun-young and Jeon So-nee had so much chemistry going on between them as the second lead couple who were so much in love but parted ways due to circumstances and changes in their mindsets as they grew up. From students to adults, things had changed between them but it would have been difficult to love with the same intensity and depth without letting the toll of reality weigh them down. The constant tug-of-war between the ex-lovers who still had lingering feelings for each other but found that it was not possible to reconcile despite so - some viewers may not like it that they did not get back together but I could understand why because the story explained it well. While feelings may remain even after people part ways, the intensity and nature of these lingering feelings do not necessarily make it possible for people to get back together. Besides, past trauma, concerns and issues which ended things the first time could still come back to haunt even if both parties had resolved them or talked them through. As such, while it might have been a fairytale ending if Si-jun and Jun-a got back together, I actually liked how things went the other way after they came to terms and healed themselves from the pain of the first break-up to move on.

I did not regret my choice of watching this drama but on hindsight, I thought that the pacing could be improved from Ep 3 onwards. I was quite close to giving this up because I just didn't like the extended focus on the lead couple. In particular, Gyeom's inability to think about anything else whenever Jun had an issue and going off the radar so easily instead of contacting Mu-bi in many ways possible in this digital age frustrated me a lot. Thankfully, as the brotherhood and second lead couple subplots took centrestage in the second half of the story, I was convinced to stay till the end although I would have wanted to see more of Kim Jae-wook. However, it would have been better to make this drama a bit shorter and cut out the fluff to make this more engaging and memorable.

Thoughts about "My Sibling's Romance" / 연애남매 - All it took to ruin a potentially awesome show were 2 gaslighters

After watching so many dating/romance reality shows over the years, I have become accustomed to the fact that a lot of the narratives featured tend to be skewed due to the editing so I don't have much emotional attachment to whether so-and-so ends up with who or whether who dates who after the show. Most, if not all the time, I watch these shows simply from the perspective of a detached observer of human behaviour and treat it like a fictional story featuring non-professional actors.

For this show, although I heard of it last year, I didn't want to wait for the weekly updates and decided to watch it when it concluded. Then again, I forgot all about it until I was reminded of this recently.

It's been a while since I watched something which I thought could potentially be a good one in this genre. As in it doesn't rely on heavily-edited drama and still provides warm vibes with characters who seem kind with well intentions. However, what happened in the second half of this show was simply maddening because everything went downhill, thanks to 2 gaslighters who messed up things for many of the participants.

To begin with, this show had a very unusual setting in that you entered a sharehouse with your sibling and hid this relationship from the other residents. While seeking your own romantic adventure, you can help your sibling in their romantic pursuits. Although it may be awkward and you will feel self-conscious about courting a love interest in front of your sibling, the relationship dynamics between family members also serves to provide some fun entertainment and heartwarming vibes for the viewers.

Or so it seemed to be when everyone was in Seoul.

To be honest, the Seoul arc did have its fair share of drama on the romance side with some experiencing "unrequited love" while some seemed to have developed mutual interest in each other. And since the siblings were revealed very early in the show, it was interesting to observe how different pairs of siblings reacted and behaved towards each other. Along with their family stories, some a bit sadder while some looked like the typical happy family, it made these characters endearing and easy to empathise with. What's more, most of them were not models, influencers or aspiring actors so this sort of made the show feel a bit more "real" compared to other shows when the participants clearly looked more interested in boosting their name awareness or increasing their social media follower count rather than seeking romance. As such, it was quite surprising to hear the topic of "what happens to us after the show" being thrown up repeatedly because some of the participants were clearly looking for a relationship to last rather than matching up solely for the sake of this show. And this showed very clearly in how some of them approached their love interests with caution because they really wanted to be as sure as they could before declaring their feelings for the other party.

Just when you thought that this fun and fuzzy vibe would continue when the setting moved to Singapore, things just went haywire. Or as some participants of Korean dating shows said everyone goes crazy when they move to a place outside of Seoul.

The Singapore arc, albeit short, gave the participants ample time to date 24/7 because they didn't need to go to work during this period. While in Seoul, some participants were so busy that they hardly stayed in the house and could only date late at night or during pockets of free time. This created an unfair situation where those who had more time could cultivate relationships faster and better than the others. However, having all the time in the world certainly doesn't mean that everything will go well because you get to observe things that you probably don't see on a 2-hr date. And that with more time to talk, you find out some things, for better or worse which may change your mind. Maybe that's why people say that the best test of a relationship is when the couple goes on a holiday and spends time together 24/7.

While I do have favourite pairings at times, these people not ending up together may raise eyebrows for a brief moment but once the show finishes, there's nothing to feel unhappy or upset about anyway. However, what got me seriously mad from the Singapore arc was the behaviour of 2 gaslighters who eventually ended up together (good for them though and a blessing in disguise for those who got spurned!). It is the first time in a long while for a reality show like this that I had skipped most of this couple's scenes especially in the last three episodes because their behaviour was seriously off-putting.

While it is perfectly normal to change your mind and heart and like someone else other than your initial love interest, it is definitely not acceptable when you blame your initial love interest with ridiculous reasons for your change of heart instead of coming clean. And it's obvious that your true feelings lies elsewhere right from the start because you were being so disrespectful by talking about another woman constantly while on a date with someone else. To maintain this "consistent and faithful" image, you pretended to keep someone on the sidelines until the very end before blaming her for causing you to lose interest. It's as if you are trying to make the other party feel that everything is their fault through this kind of gaslighting behaviour. She already told you not to confuse her anymore and you kept flip-flopping and were so flippant with your attitude. What's with the open declaration to everyone that you had lost interest in her? More public humiliation for someone who spent a lot of time with you? Couldn't you have made this known only to her and your final choice because they were the only people who should know about this? And yet you can still claim to be honest and sincere in your actions when everything showed otherwise. Don't even get me started on that yellow dolphin-destiny rubbish because you would certainly have repacked your luggage to replace autumn/winter clothes in Seoul with summer ones for the Singapore climate and that bulky plushie couldn't have been slipped into your suitcase by mistake. This move already betrayed your intention to change your mind back when you were in Seoul so don't blame the Singapore trip and the increased exposure time with your initial love interest for this. To make sure that your final choice's second choice would be seen negatively, you even hurt your own sister by adding on to her humiliation in front of the group. That's hardly acceptable behaviour from someone whose onscreen image at first was a loving and protective elder brother.

On the other hand, the female version gaslighter had shifting goalposts on what kind of person she was looking for through this show and kept contradicting herself. It was clear that she was smitten with the male gaslighter right from the start but as he pretended to have the hots for someone else, she gave up and looked for a second choice. However, once the male gaslighter declared that he was on the market again, she swiftly found fault with her second choice and displayed such disinterested behaviour almost immediately yet blamed him for not doing what she expected. Frankly speaking, this just screamed dishonesty and a lack of basic respect for the other party and I felt so bad for the second choice who was still trying to convince her of his sincerity till the end. It was even worse when the second choice mentioned that his ex who resembled this female gaslighter had hurt him badly so I wouldn't be surprised if he became traumatised by the experience this time as a result. In addition, as she kept projecting her elder brother as someone who's so useless and not deserving of the praise and admiration from the rest of the group, it also came across quite evidently that if she had shown the slightest appreciation for her elder brother in any way, he would have reacted differently as well. The rest of the group could see her elder brother's good points (especially how he made meals for everyone - sometimes one by one at different timings, cared for them in various ways and even stood up for the male gaslighter's original love interest by encouraging her to lash out and flare up for how she was treated) and reciprocated accordingly. I certainly wouldn't want to do things for someone who disses me and shows zero appreciation for my efforts all the time. 

As for the Singapore arc, while I really hated to see what happened between the participants, it was no doubt a good travelogue in a sense to showcase the sights here. In recent years, there have been quite a number of Korean shows which filmed in Singapore which I think it's good exposure for us to some extent. However, I also can't help but wonder why they keep going to the same few places to shoot especially some of which are not necessarily the top choice for locals. I felt bad for the cast and crew too because they clearly came during the year-end monsoon season when it would probably rain every day. Coupled with the high humidity after the rain, it was quite painful to see them sweating like mad because I know exactly how uncomfortable that feels. The scene when Cho-A was at Brewerkez One Fullerton was especially memorable. I can just imagine how hot it must be for her because her fringe was sticking to her forehead and her make-up looked like it was melting. Not to mention that the date she had there was simply annoying to sit through because of that male gaslighter.

If not for the gaslighting couple, I think I would have rated this show more highly based on the Seoul arc alone. 

On an ending note, I just want to highlight that I really liked some of the siblings' interactions especially the two sets of Park siblings - Jae-hyung and Se-seung as well as Cho-A and Cheol-hyun. While Jae-hyung and Se-seung may poke fun of each other at times, they stand united as family and have each other's back when faced with a crisis. Likewise for Cho-A and Cheol-hyun who went through tough times, their love and support for each other became such a beautiful sight to behold. From brother-in-law hunter to brother-in-law killer...that was bittersweet but I'm glad Cheol-hyun called out the male gaslighter for his lack of sincerity towards Cho-A. I was really moved when they said that they wanted to show through this show how well they had grown up to be despite their difficult circumstances in the past. Truly impressive to rise against the odds.

Thoughts about "Hyena" / 하이에나 - A bit different yet largely been-there-done-that

After watching "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call", I was in the mood for more of Ju Ji-hoon's works so that was why I finally embarked on this 2020 title which had been sitting in my to-watch list for ages. 

While I do like legal/courtroom dramas, I was a bit apprehensive about watching this partly because of the synopsis which suggested that it was more about the rivalry between two top lawyers who had differing values when it came to dealing with their rich and powerful clients. And since such rivalry stories tend to end up with the leads either coming to terms with their differences and becoming allies and/or lovers, I wondered if it was worth spending so much time watching a been-there-done-that kind of story already replicated elsewhere many times.

The first episode turned out to be very interesting as it actually showed the lead couple falling in love for real despite the circumstances that led to their meeting. The chemistry between Ju and Kim Hye-su was simply sizzling and such a joy to watch. As such, to see them "regressing" from lovers to rivals and the constant tug-of-war between them in terms of their feelings for each other was such a refreshing and unexpected approach to take. Since Kim's character was not the typical weak/passive female lead, it was exciting to see her acting opposite Ju who still managed to hold his own against his senior and not let the pairing appear unconvincing.

The problem was, things sort of spiraled down from there. Since the first episode literally started off with a bang, what happened after that became so predictable and I couldn't care less about their work rivalry because the cases and clients were quite boring. Things did improve a bit from the point they became allies but still, the legal action left much to be desired. Considering that this amounted to a huge portion of the story, there were times when I was really tempted to hit the fast-forward button or increase the playback speed just to get through these parts.

The "conspiracy" or "final villain" part in the second half of the story was also less compelling that I would have expected. To begin with, it was so easy to guess who would be the biggest baddie. Moreover, the process to nab the villain felt a bit sloppy and rushed that I felt as if all that build-up over several episodes amounted to an underwhelming ending. Coupled with how the stepfather threat simply fizzled out too easily, everything just felt like it was all for nothing.

There were also some parts which I felt could have been addressed that might have given the story a bit more depth and complexity:

- Did the biggest baddie have a role to play in his wife's condition? 

- What was the biggest baddie's motivation in pushing for the inheritance tax act? To take over his wife's assets?

- Was the female lead's fixation with the Song & Kim building merely for money or did she actually have a grudge against this law firm?

Although I wouldn't say that I wasted my time on this drama, I thought that it was way too long for a story which could be more concise. The legal parts of it were just not engaging enough and too predictable for me. If you are in this for the sake of the romantic tug-of-war between the lead couple, this should be quite entertaining though.

Thoughts about "Offline Love" (オフラインラブ) - A Japanese romance-travelogue with old-school analogue charm

While I have watched quite a number of romance-reality shows to date, most of them were Korean titles. To be honest, the formula of most dating shows is indeed getting stale and often, I don't really care about who gets matched with who in the end. The draw nowadays for me has got more to do with observing interesting things about human behaviour in unique settings. Nonetheless, the good thing is, some shows are really getting creative with how they come up with unusual situations for romance to take place.

In this sense, "Offline Love" offered a very interesting premise because it was so old-school and analogue. In this digital world where convenience and speed are at our fingertips as long as we have smartphones and the Internet, having your electronic devices taken away for 10 days in a foreign land with nothing but a special guidebook and depending on destiny/chance to meet your match sounds really fascinating. No GPS, no online maps, no social media, no instant messaging, no search engine, cannot take photos and videos on your phone - can you survive without these for more than a week? Under normal circumstances, we probably wouldn't be able to last a day without our devices. And not to mention that you are in a foreign land without a translator app on your phone. What's more, you can't really contact your love interest in real time and have to depend on handwritten letters or meeting up in person to convey your thoughts and make date arrangements.

I've lived long enough to go through the era pre-handphones but wasn't old enough to be able to date at that time. As such, seeing this way of analogue communication was so nostalgic yet refreshing at the same time. Given that the cast in this dating show were 30 and below and wouldn't have experienced the inconvenience of not-so-instant communication in that era, it was actually funny at some point to see how they struggled with this setting initially. However, people do adapt quickly so when they got used to this mode of communication, the awkwardness slowly melted away and the interactions between the cast members got a lot more smoother. Then again, things which wouldn't have been an issue in this era would become more evident such as missing your date literally by inches even though you two are at the same place or that making plans and cancelling them aren't that easy to do anymore. More thought has to be put into the actions and intentions can sometimes be mistaken just by the written word (same issue as with electronic text messages though since there is no tone and facial expression). In a way, that also helped the cast to focus entirely on their dates and love interests rather than be too caught up with using their devices and depend on the convenience of the modern era to play the dating game.

What was also good about this reality show was how it offered the option of not making a choice. One thing which I really dislike about dating shows is that there would often be at least one or two cast members who couldn't find someone they wanted to choose or that the person they wanted was highly unlikely to choose them back. However, such shows never allowed people to leave on their own or give up their choices so it became a torture to see them choosing for the sake of choosing just to follow the rules of the show. I felt bad for the people who had to choose despite their intentions and those who were chosen because it came across as disrespectful and meaningless at the same time. Luckily, this show gave the cast an option to walk away on their own rather than making a silly choice for nothing so I was glad that it gave people the opportunity to do what they felt was best for themselves.

One other selling point of this show was the beautiful scenery in Nice and other cities in southern France such as Cannes as well as Monaco. Even if you view this show simply as a travelogue, I think it was indeed worth the time investment. There were also quite a lot of scenes showcasing the gastronomical delights on offer and the names of the places they visited were all indicated clearly. This will be useful for those planning to visit those places which is a good deviation from most dating shows in the past which tend to hide shop and location names for some reason - perhaps because there wasn't any commercial arrangement to allow that.

Coming to the parts which I didn't quite like - while I thought it would have been interesting to see Koizumi Kyoko as a panelist in a dating show, I was not so keen on having her sandwiched between two comedians who I didn't know in the first place. Nothing against them (despite one of them currently suspending his activities due to an ongoing scandal) but it felt like they were doing most of the talking so Koizumi became more of a secondary panelist who reacted to their questions rather than proactively talking about her observations or sharing her experience. While I can understand that she may not be comfortable leading the conversation, the composition of the panel could be more diversified if there are future seasons. The panelists' sections also felt like they became longer towards the end of the season - was it because there was lesser footage to air or there were more points they wanted to talk about? And accumulating a few scenes before making the commentary may not have been that disruptive because it reduced the back-and-fro but it also created the situation where you had to struggle to recall what happened much earlier in order to understand what the panelists were talking about. And honestly speaking, the set design for the panelists section was a tad disappointing. I also wondered if the panelists were comfortable sitting in those high chairs rather than comfy sofas in a more cosy-looking set than a largely-white background with drawings.

The part about people missing each other on the streets despite being in the same place - I can certainly understand that being possible in real life because there are times when I fail to notice an acquaintance walking past me or towards me until the other party grabs my attention by waving or doing something. The problem is, I would expect the camera crew to follow the cast members quite closely in such shows so I find it hard to imagine being unable to see a group of people gathered on the streets with camera and sound equipment. As such, that got me a bit bothered and wondered if it was an orchestrated move to emphasize the importance of fate and chance in life.

One other thing is the tendency for cast members to be mostly in their 20s and a large number of them being public figures such as actors, models and influencers. While I get it that having young and attractive people appear in such shows is a huge draw for some viewers, I don't really feel or identify with the emotional states of such younger people as relative to my age. And the occupations of these cast members also cast doubt on their intentions by joining these shows - is it for the exposure or are they really in it to find romance? Since they are so attractive in terms of looks, you also can't help but wonder if they need a dating show like this to find romance. And after the show, how many of them indeed continue to date or are they matched up just for the sake of the show? Especially when you consider many to be young actors/actresses, announcing publicly that they are dating someone is probably not what their agencies would want them to do.

As such, I find that these nagging thoughts often affect how immersive and engaging such shows can be for the viewers. That is why I also realised that I gradually didn't care about the pairings anymore and focused more on the process and the peripherals like the scenery when watching such shows. Reality shows no longer grounded in reality can be somewhat of a turnoff, at least to me. However, it's also important to remember that such reality shows are heavily edited and the narrative often skewed to a certain extent so we don't get the full picture about the cast members as well. While I would say that the general flow of this show didn't differ too much from other formats of the same genre, the unique settings and scenery alone should be worth checking out.

【童話故事下集】/ I Am Married...But! 观后感：略欠新意但颇有亮点的故事和演员们

对这部剧会期待主要是因为柯佳嬿和刘以豪。

从预告片来看，两人的配搭看起来挺有新鲜感，印象中似乎是一部会戳中要害又让人有共鸣的写实戏剧。也好在集数并不多，大部分的集数也不太长，两天左右就能够看完，实属零负担，娱乐性满满但又不会无聊的故事。

老实说，这部剧并没有什么惊天动地的情节或与其他类似题材的故事有多大的不同。比较特别的是，它直接把焦点放在“王子和公主结婚之后”的繁琐日常，相对省略了恋爱期的粉红泡泡，呈现婚后的黑与白。通过女主角的内心的OS和脱口而出的金句，适时的把婚姻中的郁闷呈现出来。虽然说有些金句可能比较呛，但好在出口不成脏（最多也只是骂台语的吃屎），所以整体的质感还是不错。剧情的走向倒是挺好猜的，惊喜度和新意就因此有点欠缺。

若只是一味呈现老婆对婚姻所感受的不完美就有点偏驳了。

日常生活当然不可能如童话生活一样完美。跟另一个原本是陌生人的恋爱对象组成家庭，变成实实在在身心灵都是近距离的关系其实不是一件易事。与此同时，没了距离感也等于没了把对方美化的滤镜，变得太熟悉又会少了谈恋爱时的战战兢兢，结果容易把很多事情当成理所当然。还好中后期有描写老公，婆婆等人的观点，把对婚姻的相异看法完整地呈现来，借此强调同一件事其实有很多不同面向和看法。但现实生活中的我们都没有上帝视角，被日常的磨合而造成的心累可能就无法找到出路和解决方法了。

对柯佳嬿的认识主要来自于近几年在Netflix看了《妈，别闹了》和《模仿犯》，两部的风格截然不同，但都对她留下深刻的印象。这次的她演的很自然，又放得很开，跟她那斯斯文文又有点文青的形象很不同，所以相当享受她这次的演出。至于刘以豪，从来没看过他的作品，但这次的妈宝男非常可爱，的确把角色那令人又爱又恨的特质表现地淋漓尽致。配角方面，个人觉得比较突出的就属演婆婆的柯淑勤和中央空调暖男药剂师的曾敬骅。

至于结局部分，可能因为剧集推出时刚好是情人节，又或者是因为不想让此剧变得像是劝人不要轻易跳入婚姻的警示文一样，个人觉得结尾撒的糖有点多。不过幸好没有过于理想化，也没有硬是“解决”了所有夫妻间的课题，保留了互相尚需努力的空间和可能性，所以甜中还是保留了一点现实的苦涩。

Thoughts about "Island / 아일랜드" - A mixed bag of pluses and minuses

I have to admit, the reason why I wanted to watch this was only for Kim Nam-gil.

Then again, it took me more than a year before I finally got started with this. While part of the reason was because I had no access to Amazon Prime until recently, another reason for the delay was my lack of interest in the genre of fantasy style-demon slaying. And even after I could watch this show on Amazon, it took me a couple of months later to hit that play button.

Since I have not read the webtoon before, I didn't know what exactly to expect, the basic settings of the stories and characters nor how the cast matched the original characters in terms of appearance and vibe. As such, I approached this with minimal knowledge and wasn't expecting too much in the first place other than to fulfill my wish of seeing Kim Nam-gil onscreen. 

Interestingly, I felt that this drama had some similarities with "Kingdom" and "Goblin" along the way and kept making notes to compare them in my mind. In terms of the techniques employed in demon-slaying, "Kingdom" was on the analogue side of the spectrum because of its historical setting while "Island" featured some high tech stuff e.g. GPS tracking, mobile phones and car chases. The way the lust demons preyed on humans and multiplied also had similarities. On the other hand, the relationship of Van and Miho reminded me of the couple in "Goblin" in that there was a tragic element that made it difficult for them to be together. And the fact that Van lived for a long time in solitude and couldn't die - that was similar to Gong Yoo's role in "Goblin".

First of all, the pluses:

• The action scenes in the first few episodes were quite sleek and impressive to watch. Seeing Kim Nam-gil fight like that in those black-and-white suits was already worth my time investment to a certain degree. ^__^
• - The strong acting, especially from Sung Joon (Gungtan), Go Doo-shim (Grandma / Geum Baek-ju) and guest star Choi Tae-joon (Kang Chan-hee) left a deep impression on me. 
• Kim Nam-gil was good in his own way too but the way his character Van was supposed to be, he couldn't be as expressive or show much emotion as compared to some of his other roles or his true personality offscreen. This may give people the wrong impression that his acting was stiff though.
• This was also my first time watching Cha Eun-woo and Lee Da-hee in action and I thought that they did decently well.
• Fortunately, the story did explain some of the key questions like how Van became weaker the more he spent time with Mi-ho or why he didn't get sucked into the ground in ancient times when Mi-ho sealed Gungtan and the other lust demons.

Now...the minuses for me were:

• There were some parts which seemingly contradicted each other or didn't seem to fit in quite well with various elements. For example, the parts about how Catholic prophecies were depicting what happened in Korean myths and folklore, Catholic priests sent to Korea to protect the saviour of the world, Western exorcism working its magic on lust demons in Korea or that holy water loaded in shot gun bullets can kill the lust demons that easily towards the end but Van had to do so much and hurt himself just to kill one in the earlier episodes. As such, this made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the story without questioning the logic of these settings.
• The demon slaying scenes relied so much on CG towards the end that it was overkill and tiring to watch.
• The damsel-in-distress setting for Mi-ho was simply too annoying and didn't match her gusty actions and strong/independent appearance at first. While it was logical that Mi-ho had to depend on Van and Johan to save her from the lust demons, I expected that she would become stronger and more significant in the fight against the demons. No doubt she was the person who saved the day, it just didn't match the suffering that the guys around her had to go through just to put her in that position and Lee Da-hee had to make her character look so vulnerable and dependable on Van that it felt so uncomfortable. I hoped that Mi-ho might have been a different type of heroine to hold her own but it was disappointing to note that this wasn't the case after all.
• Yet another drama/movie where Kim Nam-gil's character "died"! 

In view of this mixed bag of pluses and minuses, I struggle to conclude whether I liked this drama. Seeing how the drama finished with an open ending, I also wonder if I would still like to watch a sequel just to tie up the loose ends and find out what the White Sect is all about. Even if Kim Nam-gil returns to headline this drama, I cannot say for sure if I will be onboard again for more of this story.

Thoughts about "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call / 중증외상센터" - A fine balance between the wackiness and seriousness

With no prior knowledge of the original webtoon, I watched this primarily for the sake of Ju Ji-hoon.

As expected, Ju was spot-on with his portrayal of Baek Kang-hyuk with so much finesse, suaveness (both with reference to his looks and performance) and wackiness. While the character might be rude and aggressive at times, it was hard to dislike him at all. Of course, if you had to deal with someone like that in your workplace, this might be a different story though. That being said, the drama may have been led by him and he dominated with his strong screen presence but the supporting cast still pulled their weight to make this a very enjoyable show from start to finish. The veterans such as Yoon Kyung-ho, Kim Eui-sung, Kim Won-hae and Kim Sun-young were pivotal as well in making the cast line-up more well-rounded.

While I have never watched Choo Young-woo in action before, I was very impressed with how he managed to hold his own against the overpowering Ju (in terms of screen presence and his strong character in the story). Of course, Yang Jae-won a.k.a. Anus and No.1 was led around by Baek and subjected to the latter's high demands and standards. However, it was unmistakable that in the span of just 8 episodes, the development of Jae-won from someone who lacked confidence in himself as a doctor to one who could make critical decisions without running away from responsibility and in a logical manner was done in a comprehensive and believable manner. 

On the other hand, Ha Young's character Cheon Jang-mi a.k.a. Gangster who was already a senior nurse with years of experience was comparatively more "developed" in her career compared to Jae-won. As such, the story didn't really need to show her "growing up" but rather how she could thrive in her role as a senior nurse under the right management and the right amount of trust placed in her. Jang-mi had so much spunk and liveliness with the strength of someone who wasn't a pushover despite nurses often being portrayed as those who needed to follow the doctor's lead all the time and their contributions always overlooked or belittled. Under Baek who recognised her talent and contributions, it was obvious to see that while the external environment outside the Trauma team wasn't that friendly towards them, she could still do her best with so much positive energy and be the lubricant for the rest of the team when things got rough and hold them together.

As for the anesthetist Park Gyeong-won played by Jung Jae-kwang, I thought that his face looked a bit familiar but struggled to remember in which work I had seen him before. Although I did some research after watching this drama and found that he appeared in "Save Me" and "The Fiery Priest" before, I have to admit that this still didn't ring a bell to me as to what his roles were in those titles. Anyway, despite his limited airtime here, I thought that his character was quite distinct and the twist towards the end showing his real thoughts and personality added a fine touch to make Park Gyeong a lot more memorable this time.

As for the story, it wasn't a typical hospital/medical drama in the sense that it managed to infuse a lot of wacky and fun moments which would make viewers chuckle or laugh out loud at some of the nonsense on display. However, the humour was well-balanced with the more serious scenes so it didn't feel so heavy and hard to get through. Moreover, the pacing of the story was speedy so 8 episodes flew by so quickly. While I am usually not a fan of sequels no matter how much I like the original series/movie, this is probably one of the few which I would be more than happy to see a Season 2 especially given that the ending had hinted at the expansion of the Trauma team and more resources devoted to them.

Coincidentally or not, there seemed to be some references to "Hospital Playlist" as the facade of the HNUH seemed to be the same as Yulje Medical Centre. In the first episode, there was also a doctor call where the announcement asked for "Ahn Jeong-won" who was played by Yoo Yeon-seok. If you are a fan of "Hospital Playlist", you might want to keep a lookout for these.

If I have to cite one thing which I didn't quite like about this drama, it would have to be the surgical scenes. I appreciated the amount of detail and effort put into such scenes but there was so much blood and organs to see that it made me a bit queasy and I had to look away from the screen when it got too much to take in. Granted that the setting of the story was in the trauma centre and surgical scenes were a fixture, there was no way these could be cut down. However, if you are the type who can't really stomach such scenes, be mentally prepared to manage but I would say that the rest of the drama besides these scenes should be worth your time and effort to stick with it.

Thoughts about "The Glory" - The original is still the best

While this drama has been in my Netflix to-watch list for ages, I just didn't have the urge to get started with this for some unexplainable reason. Was it because I already heard and read so much about the story that I lost interest? Or was it because the number of episodes was a huge psychological barrier for me? 

However, after watching the HK version which was supposedly inspired by the Korean original, I finally got that elusive push to start on this title. Perhaps it's because I wanted to do a compare-and-contrast between both versions. I think that it also had to do with the fact that I wanted to end 2024 with something which I kind of expected to be decent and not be a waste of my time.

Well, I understand now why this drama was so raved about. At long last.

Despite the number of episodes, the running time for each episode was comparatively shorter than most Korean dramas so this helped me to get through the entire drama in a shorter period of time. Coupled with the fact that the pacing of the engaging story was fast but not rushed, it was easy to get hooked and watch one episode after another. I'm actually glad that I watched this after the entire series was released - just imagine the pain of waiting for the next episode when there were cliffhangers and that the drama was released in two parts. And what's critical to the drama's success is that the story was wrapped up in a really gratifying manner with the baddies meeting their deserved ends in the ways which would have hurt them the most.

Great acting from the cast especially Song Hye-kyo and Lim Ji-yeon definitely helped to lift the story to new heights. While Song's acting had to be a bit subdued and outwardly calm at times, the simmering fury within her character Dong-eun was definitely noticeable and the times when she broke down were especially memorable and engaging to watch. On the other hand, Lim had more room to display the varied emotions experienced by Yeon-jin especially in the second half of the drama and her screen presence thanks to her height and image definitely helped to make the character more menacing.

To be honest, I haven't watched much of Song's acting in the past except bits and pieces from "Autumn in my heart" and "Full House" when they were showing on free-to-air TV in Singapore. Even for Lim, the only time I saw her was in "Money Heist Korea" and she didn't appear a lot in that. As such, this drama turned out to be a huge turning point for me because it really showed how the two of them are so good in their acting thus it made sense why they won a number of awards for their performance.

Yeom Hye-ran was good as always while Jung Sung-il turned out to be a surprise discovery for me and I really liked his final scenes when he exacted revenge in his own way. Reuniting with Lee Do-hyun for the first time since "Hotel del Luna" was a pleasant thing even though I had concerns at first about how he was going to play Song's love interest here given their age difference. Knowing that his real life love interest was Lim turned out to be a distraction while watching the drama because I was more interested to see how the two of them interacted on screen rather than get swept up in the romance between Dong-eun and Yeo-jeong. Surprisingly or not, it turned out that Lee and Lim had less than 5 scenes together so it made me more curious about how this drama could have turned out to be the matchmaker that brought them together.

Coming to how the Korean original compares to the HK remake, I think that the former excels in the following aspects:

- Even with lesser episodes, the Korean version's story was "complete" and logical. 

- The cast's acting on the whole was stronger in the Korean version.

While the HK version was quite different in terms of the story such as the motive for revenge i.e. bullying by school bullies vs. sexual assault, the basic settings from the Korean version could be seen here - the person taking revenge represented by the colour black and darkness while the person who did wrong dressed in brighter colours and softer background tones. In addition, the protagonist had to depend on various people to help her in her revenge journey while the baddie had some "accomplices" or associates on her side. However, what didn't work so well for me in the HK version was how so many developments turned out to be too coincidental and too good to be true. Meanwhile, the Korean version showed how meticulous the planning for the revenge was and even if there were distractions or unexpected hiccups, it didn't really derail Dong-eun's plans that drastically. In addition, the background story of how Yeo-jeong and Dong-eun came to know each other and work together on her revenge was carefully laid-out and logical. I just wasn't convinced about the same thing over at the HK version's side - it always felt like the guy liked the female lead so much and did so much even at his own expense but I couldn't get the "why" behind his actions. If the HK version had been a standalone story right from the start and not "borrow" so many elements from the Korean version, it could have been pretty good despite the loopholes. However, due to the Korean version's success, it would have made the HK version pale in comparison.

As for the acting, I think that the Korean cast was generally of a pretty high standard, even for the supporting actors. There were some in the HK cast which I thought was quite weak and not so enjoyable to watch. I also couldn't help but feel that some of them in the HK version were trying too hard to match up to the hype surrounding the Korean version instead of pursuing and showing their unique charms and traits of their characters. That was a pity though because the positioning of the HK version as something inspired by the Korean version would have exposed it to the danger of being compared and affected the "originality" of the HK version despite it actually not being a complete copy-and-paste.

Personally, I am not a fan of remakes especially if the original version had enjoyed huge success. While I don't discount the possibility of the remake surpassing its predecessor in terms of quality and popularity, there is an inherent hurdle to clear because of comparisons made between both versions. And because of my experience so far that I hardly see any sequel or remake being better than the original version, I always tread with caution when it comes to watching such titles. And besides, I do prefer to see new and varied content rather than rehashing the same success formula elsewhere. This time is one of the few rare instances when I watched the sequel/remake before the original but it turned out that the original still had the upperhand in my personal opinion.

Thoughts about "Europe Outside Your Tent: Romantic Italy" - More than just camping this time with lots of local charms

To date, I have watched all seasons of the "Europe Outside Your Tent" series but honestly speaking, the concept was getting a bit stale by now especially when some of the cast members didn't seem to enjoy the camping that much. In addition, it was getting repetitive and somewhat predictable to see the same formula of driving to the campsite, setting up the tents, cooking meals, spending a night and leaving the campsite the following day repeated for a good 10+ episodes. Although there was time given to explore the local sights at times, this was largely limited since it did look like the trips were organised around pretty tight schedules and they had to cover a lot of places rather than spend extended time in a spot.

Among all the installments, my No.1 favourite was the Norway season which was largely due to the breathtakingly beautiful sights there in winter rather than anything special or particularly enjoyable that was done during the camping time. While I did enjoy the previous season starring Ra Mi-ran in France especially the parts when they did activities or went trekking, the new season with a different cast other than Ra was not really high on my list to watch.

This time round, Ra's co-stars were people who she hardly knew or had never met prior to this trip - Kwak Sun-young, Lee Joo-bin and Lee Se-young so it did feel a bit different from the onset compared to the last season. I was a bit concerned that this unfamiliarity might make the vibe a bit awkward but over the course of the trip, you can see that the actresses warmed up to one another naturally and gradually. It was also interesting for me as a viewer to see a different side of the co-stars beyond the impressions I had of them in their works. The funny thing was I actually didn't recognise Lee Joo-bin who appeared in "Money Heist Korea" until much later.

What worked for me this time was that more time was devoted to the travel aspect of the trip rather than the camping. And the amount of cooking scenes was considerably scaled down as the theme shifted from feasting at the camp to comparatively speedier and simpler meals. Not to say that I didn't like watching the cast cook and eat but too much of the same thing can be boring. And there is a high tendency that they tend to cook Korean food rather than taste more of the local stuff but to be fair, they actually modified their recipes when using local ingredients. Although the concept of the show is still about camping, I thought that the balance in this season was better because people surely don't spend all of their days at the campsite only in real life. It makes more sense to incorporate the travel aspect more prominently or else this should be re-positioned as a pure camping show and not a camping + travel show.

A key part of traveling is to explore the local sights and enjoy local food so I was happy to note that the cast got more opportunities to eat out especially when they were in Austria and Germany which were definitely more interesting and enjoyable to watch. However, the tight schedule also meant that things were so rushed during the last two stops that I would have wanted to watch more and in greater detail. I also felt bad for the cast who only had 2 hours of free time to explore Munich. Perhaps when planning the trips next time, it might be better to focus on a single region or limit country hopping to no more than 2 although I get that it's more economical and better for TV to have multiple places covered. Variety is important but I actually want to see more of the things beyond the usual touristy spots and a more in-depth and intimate take on the sights that might not be so accessible or commonly-known.

Thoughts about "Squid Game Season 2" - Deeper into character development but lacking in excitement and novelty

It's been a good 3 years since Season 1 of "Squid Game" took the world by storm and Season 2 is finally released on Netflix. Well, the issue with this is, the long time gap could be this series' undoing in more ways than one. And it's not just the wait between Seasons 1 and 2 but also the unknown gap we will be subjected to while waiting for Season 3 next year.

While I wouldn't count myself as a fan of the series, I thought back then that why it succeeded in making waves worldwide could be attributed to a number of factors:

- the unusual concept of the drama of weaving seemingly simple childhood games into life-and-death situations and testing the limits of humanity

- its underlying social themes about inequality in terms of power, status and money presented through this "mini society" created within the confines of the game

- artistic presentation through its vibrant colours and scale of its sets

- the violence while gory, added a necessary gripping element and visual impact to the story

- interesting characters with their unique standout traits. 

Coupled with the fact that nobody initially expected what was going to come, these sort of helped to fuel the high satisfaction viewers felt. 

The problem now was, how are the sequels going to match up or exceed the success of Season 1? Especially since the sequels are going to be in two seasons?

No doubt that I expected that Season 2 was going to be the connector or transit point to the real finale in Season 3, to have things end on such a cliffhanger and be possibly kept waiting till the end of 2025 (hopefully not!) for the conclusion is not a nice feeling. As such, it wasn't surprising to see the mixed reviews on Season 2 because people expected more but didn't get what they wanted especially after waiting for so long. And to be honest, the games this time were not so exciting and novel than those in Season 1. In fact, a lot of the time was spent on character development and filling in the blanks on their background stories so it was inevitable that there was less room for games or more event-driven scenes. Although I liked seeing the deeper character development which made sense in understanding the characters' actions and motivations, something has to be sacrificed for the sake of this so it could be a conscious gamble to devote time on this for Season 2 and pave the groundwork for Season 3.

In terms of the characters playing the game this time, there were some similarities with those in Season 1 albeit with some tweaks in settings. Some of them were not fully fleshed out though so they might only become more interesting in the next season. Lee Byung-hun's appearance this time seems to have overshadowed Lee Jung-jae in more ways than one so it remains to be seen how the two will battle it out in the finale. However, I think it was Gong Yoo's character which had the most impact among everyone despite the limited airtime he had. Too bad that he's probably not going to be back in Season 3. 

While I wouldn't say that Season 2 was totally disappointing, it did fail to meet some expectations. Whether this will be washed away in Season 3 remains to be seen but there's a lot of loose ends to be tied so I'm a bit concerned if everything will be wrapped up properly by then. And frankly speaking, if the wait for Season 3 takes way too long, it might make it more difficult for the series to regain lost ground in terms of momentum, viewer satisfaction and popularity. I just hope that it won't take another year before we can be done with this series.

【黑色月光】/ "Darkside of The Moon" 观后感：剧情可圈可点，演员各有亮点

起初会想要看这部剧主要是为了杨茜尧，因为当她还在TVB的时候就已经挺喜欢她的演技。对故事内容其实只略微了解为复仇剧，也大概知道主要演员有谁。

当开始看这部剧时，我其实有点讶异。故事的内容和人物设计似乎跟某一部韩剧十分相似，所以我有点怀疑是不是有抄袭的疑虑。直到后来上网找了一下资料才发现原来此剧是摆明“参考”【黑色荣耀】/ "The Glory"的，难怪相似度这么高也没被非议。因此严格来说这应该不是那部韩剧的正式授权港版，比较贴切的形容词是“inspired by”而不是“remake of”。

个人认为，复仇剧一般最精彩的部分通常是复仇的过程，真相或幕后黑手虽然重要但很多时候没有抽丝剥茧和正邪对立的情节来的精彩。就这部剧而言，我觉得过程比结果好看。正义得以伸张的结局虽算意料之内，但就坏人没有得到真正应有的惩罚这点的确不太满意。除此之外，过程中有些不太合理的部分也会让人容易出戏，比如把复仇对象的资料和照片不贴在墙上反而贴在落地玻璃窗这点就怪怪的，就算住在高楼层难道不怕外面的人看得到吗？要复仇却没有隐瞒身份或改个名字就去接近仇家，难道没想到对方会有所防范吗？还有，置入性行销也做得有点不自然，故意拉长close-up的时间太刻意了吧！

其实故事中的幕后黑手和动机在很早的阶段都是呼之欲出的，所以悬疑度不算高这点也降低了真相揭发时的惊讶程度。考虑到这部剧的主题是复仇而不是悬疑，看剧时可能需要调整一下心态，把重点放在过程而不是结果，要不然可能会感到失望。

对于演员们的表演，大家都各有亮点，也有惊喜的部分。杨茜尧在前半部把亦正亦邪的Moon诠释的很到位，到后面差点要完全黑化的挣扎也挺有看头。林夏薇把卓慧云的前后阶段表现的有层次，到了后半段真是让人咬牙切齿。杨与亲姐姐杨卓娜一同演荧幕姐妹颇有新鲜感，看着看着也容易投入。就连一向来演技稍显生硬的黄翠如（纯属个人感想）这次的内心戏着实让我惊艳。所以就算对剧情没有完全满意，演员们的表现却成功为剧集扳回不少分数。

Thoughts about "The Trunk" (트렁크) - A slow burn and intricate love story hidden beneath a crime suspense facade

Potential spoilers ahead!

The way this drama was advertised prior to its release, most, if not all would probably think that this is a crime suspense story. In fact, the trailer seemed to talk more about the suspense part i.e. an expensive-looking trunk in question surfacing from a frozen lake with a dead body rather than the romance developing between the lead characters. As such, that was what got me intrigued and curious about this drama at first. Of course, the fact that Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun-jin's visually-pleasing and refreshing combination was a plus factor too.

As it turned out, the crime suspense aspect was more of a backdrop rather than the main theme. Even the title hardly figured in the entire storyline other than the beginning and the end of the story so it made me wonder if the scriptwriter had suddenly remembered the trunk and deliberately mentioned it again towards the end. Much as I could see why there was a need to refer to the trunk for the romance aspect of the story, the way it was slotted in felt somewhat unnatural. Moreover, the process to solve the murder case wasn't that engaging nor challenging so it did feel a bit underwhelming. If you are intending to watch this solely for the suspense, you might be disappointed in this regard.

While I usually shun love stories in case they get overly unrealistic, cringey or sweet, the romance in this drama was surprisingly grounded in reality despite the far-fetched and extreme settings. Having a company specialising in brokering fake spouses on short-term contracts, an ex-wife arranging such a marriage for her ex-husband with ill intentions, an ex-husband accepting his ex-wife's "kind" gesture begrudgingly or a woman becoming the rental wife for multiple men while pining for her missing ex-fiance - these are interesting premises but unlikely to see in real life. However, the depiction of what went right and wrong for the key characters in their love lives wasn't unimaginable and at times quite relatable. The downside to being so detailed and emotional at times was that the pace of the developments may be a bit too slow to stomach for the impatient.

If not for the fact that the leads were Gong and Seo, I think I might not have finished this or liked the story. While the crime suspense part of the story didn't wow me, their acting and great chemistry on screen made the romance a lot more bearable and very enjoyable to observe from the sidelines. To be honest, I don't think that Jeong-won and In-ji were necessarily the perfect match for each other but the fact that they had some history between them way before the arranged marriage probably helped to create this impression that destiny was at play here. And since they were in an emotionally-detached state at first, they didn't see each other as romantic partners and began interacting as housemates to become soulmates and romantic partners. Perhaps this progression path was what helped them to connect more naturally and gradually as compared to Jeong-won and Seo-yeon who probably started off on the wrong footing. That partners-in-crime thing when they were kids or that they were leeching off each other to feel more complete just felt wrong in many ways.

I also liked the fact that there wasn't a standard formula-type of happy ending because it was definitely for the better that their characters Jeong-won and In-ji had to deal with their own issues and live well first before embarking on the next relationship. At the very least, the story dangled the possibility of them being together in future so there is still some room for imagination for those hoping for happily-ever-after.

On the other hand, Jeong-won's relationship with his ex-wife Seo-yeon provided a lot of highly-charged angst and drama because they were essentially two flawed and broken people trying to seek fulfillment from each other albeit unsuccessfully. The issue was, they never seemed to connect emotionally so they couldn't come clean with each other on what they wanted or could provide to the other party. It might have been easy to blame Seo-yeon at first for her drastic behaviour but Jeong-won also had a part to play in driving her to the extreme. One thing led to another so it became difficult to say who was more at fault in the end. Conversely, Jeong-won's obsession and clinging onto Seo-yeon even after the divorce was largely due to his personal insecurity and childhood trauma although she also fanned his insecurity with her actions. They both needed to get away from each other in this very unhealthy relationship and might not have been able to do so if not for the entry of In-ji as an unexpected factor.

Then again, I am also not convinced about Seo-yeon wanting to extend her contract with her fake husband - I just didn't get the same inkling that she was as emotionally invested in the relationship as compared to him. It felt as if the story wanted to have a happy ending for her as well.

The set design and scenery featured in the drama also deserves special mention for the aesthetics and accentuating the atmosphere and vibe of the story. Jeong-won's huge house but with a cold and empty feel and the wilderness of the freezing lake where In-ji is in her kayak on her own provided a nice contrast with the warm and fuzzy feeling created by In-ji's ex-fiance's apartment filled with his belongings and their happy memories and the scenes where Jeong-won and In-ji enjoyed each other's company. 

Since I think that the drama has probably tied up all the loose ends, I personally don't think that a sequel is needed. While I don't mind seeing Gong and Seo in another collaboration, it's probably unnecessary to come up with a sequel just to offer a clear-cut explanation of whether and how Jeong-won and In-ji end up together or not.

Surprise of the day - Kindaichi Hajime & Nanase Miyuki's happily-ever-after

This was definitely the surprise of the day.

Kindaichi Hajime & Nanase Miyuki already married? And expecting a baby??!

Seeing this screenshot making its rounds on social media was such a pleasant surprise. And as a longtime fan of the "Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo" series, this was really something that should have come a long time earlier than now.

I was still a teenager when I started reading the Kindaichi manga, albeit in Chinese since I was just starting out to learn Japanese. And in order to get the latest release as soon as possible, I had to buy the Taiwanese version instead of the local version so that was a huge investment considering my status as a student then. It was only until much later when I started collecting the Japanese version and had to wait months between each book's release. As for the real-life dramas and anime, I had watched most of them except for the 3rd generation and 5th generations' drama series. 

Honestly speaking, the series actually wasn't that suitable for teenagers. Since every case was about murders, sometimes serial murders and at times involved underaged people being the killers, the MOs and motives depicted certainly couldn't be considered wholesome and healthy for teenagers to read. However, what got me interested was not so much the gore or the motives spurring those killers to exact justice for themselves or their loved ones but rather the intricate plots and the MOs that the killers used to commit their crimes. The twists and turns in some of these stories were so engaging and the gratification of being able to guess them correctly was a huge plus as I got more familiar with the deduction process and became more alert to observe the clues left around by the authors.

However, by the time it came to the 37-year-old Kindaichi series, I started to feel the fatigue from the repetition of the story's format. Things were getting predictable although the MO and techniques used were mostly evolving with the times. Despite so, the motives of the killers and the "truth revelation" process were getting stale. It was also frustrating to have the carrot or rather mystery of what's up with Miyuki being dangled like forever because she never appeared in the new series other than the occasional mention. Given these reasons, I stopped purchasing the manga after Vol. 13.

So...with this new revelation, what does this mean next for me?

For a start, do I want to catch up on the volumes which I missed from the 37-year-old series? Will these feature the story of what happened between these childhood-friends-turned-husband-and-wife? Or will this part only be covered in the "Kindaichi Papa" series which will start in Jan 2025? Then again, the timing of this revelation just makes me wonder if it's a ruse to get old-time fans back for the new series but end up being taken for a ride again.

While it is probably not reasonable to expect too much from this series given that it has gone on for decades and there are limits to how much it can evolve, I certainly look forward to seeing some progression in the key characters' lives. And this is really, a very much anticipated outcome that most if not all fans have been waiting for.

【影后】/ "Born For The Spotlight" 观后感想：演技一流但故事稍显美中不足

如果没有期待，是不是会比较不受伤害?

会如此有感而发是有几个原因的。

首先，在这部剧集推出之前所看到的预告片非常精彩，演员卡司又强大，也就因为如此对它有了更多的期待。然而，期待越大却在发现结果不如预期时大失所望。如果没有期待，就算结果不尽完美，心理上的失落感就不会随之放大。相反的，若是结果比想象中的好，那种意外收获的幸福感和满足感有时会让人回味无穷的。

个人认为最主要的原因就在于预告片把这部剧的很多精华亮点都毫不吝啬地呈现出来，等到看剧集时就会发现好像没有什么新的东西和观点可言，就如底牌早已被人看穿般没了惊喜度和新鲜感。虽然各位女演员们的支线故事都有其精彩之处，个人觉得故事似乎少了一个可以吸引观众看下去的主轴，造成了一个各自精彩但大局沉闷的困境。里面所提及对女演员的刻板印象和偏见又有既视感，少了与众不同的观点或更精致的内心戏。这也就是为什么我在看完前面两集时一度有想弃剧的念头，直到隔了好几天才决定把剩下的集数追完。最后两集和描绘周凡与薛亚之的友情及决裂的那集不可否认很精彩，但就整体来说有种"too little, too late"的感觉，实属可惜。

在故事里，各位女演员们其实也因现实与想象之间的落差所苦，就算观众们不是演艺圈的人也应当可以体会她们的痛与挣扎。就她们各自的支线来说，每一位演员都有各自发挥的空间和亮点。

周凡认为自己对薛亚之付出了真心和诚意，为她好和打抱不平，认为薛与李子齐在一起的不快乐，委曲求全又一直分分合合实实在在委屈了好友，薛决定嫁给李子齐又放弃当演员从周凡的角度看来更是错上加错。然而，周凡的自以为是其实没有考虑到薛的意愿和心情，她所认为的”好”却不是薛所向往的“好”。周凡也错把自己的好意当成是自己可以任意妄为的理由，认为薛会无止境的包容她所谓的善意，丝毫没有考虑后果地破坏薛的婚礼，也难怪踩到了薛的底线让两人老死不相往来。

从薛看来，周凡一直自由自在我行我素，看似好像什么都不在乎，却不费吹灰之力拥有让薛羡慕的东西，包括被评价为天才型演员的赞誉。周凡就算从来没有得过演技奖项却会被大众视为遗珠。反观正牌奖项得主的薛却被批评为不够格的影后又抢了周凡的奖项。可是薛自己一定会觉得自己付出努力应该有资格得到相应的回报，却一直苦于被自己最好的朋友兼最大的竞争者无形中也无意中抹杀掉自己的成就。这时候选择转换跑道往幕后发展的薛其实不一定是放弃竞争或害怕继续被比较，可能就是很单纯的有一个可以转念的契机和机会让她决定息影。但很多人可能就认为没有一个正常的人会放下女艺人的光鲜亮丽而愿意退居幕后支持一个岌岌无名又看似不会成功的导演老公。

讽刺的是，周凡从来都不觉得自己是天才，也常常会对自己的能力有所怀疑。如果她真的是演技一流的演员，为什么专业评审却从来不愿意把演技奖项颁给她呢？事后才说她是遗珠又有何意义？为什么她的努力又要一次又一次被别人评价为好或不好？可能周围的人认定天才不需要努力，但休息3年后回来演戏的时候，周凡总认为自己不能胜任，很努力克服空窗期，练舞练到受伤，可是别人不一定能体会和了解她也需要努力来呈现别人所看到的美好。

黎芯妮曾经一脱成名又因为其性感又有点傻傻的荧幕形象，一直被别人看轻和占便宜。实际上，她只是单纯地渴望被人爱和接受，想的比别人以为的透彻，也没有如外界想象的想极力摆脱这些负面标签，因为她比别人似乎更能接受自己的过去。毫不犹豫地为爱抛下明星身份之所以会让别人意外，可能就在于她真正在乎的并不是别人认为她应该在乎的。

柯丽芬身为单亲妈妈要养活自己的独生女，成为八点档演员，却因此被别人看不起，认为她只会演烂戏又或者不会演戏。但要长时间拍摄这些长篇剧需要多少心力和体力，别人看不到，就算是自己的女儿也不欣赏她，即便她曾经得过演技奖项。其实要拍几百集的八点档长篇剧又要上山下海，虽然剧情有时的确有点莫名其妙又充斥满满的激烈情绪，但没有两把刷子的演员应该也很难胜任吧！

潘茵茵为了维持自己的美貌和体态，付出的努力和心力同样不被别人看见和了解，只会把她当成花瓶。可是若她让自己真的展现出岁月的痕迹的话，别人又会期许她保持永远青春美丽，所以她一直逼自己活成别人期许自己的样子。她的执着可能会让人觉得她很难搞又搞不清楚自己的现状，但她自己应该比谁都还明白自己的局限。当她真的示弱和放自己一马，她才真的活得怡然自得。

游燕芳贵为资历很深又得奖无数的演员，在外界看来可能会无欲无求，应该可以随时放下一切走人。但她其实还是对于当演员有一定的留恋，所以迟迟不肯动手术，也与儿子一家分隔两地。正因为如此，当她终于想开又决定离开工作时，别人才会对她的果断而感到惊讶吧！

至于史艾玛，虽然她的角色到了后期不讨喜，但她的心路历程不难让人理解。因为她想成功，所以她不顾一切牺牲其他在别人看来比较重要的东西，例如友情，爱情和恩情。可是在别人看来相较重要的东西，对史艾玛来说其实并没比当一个知名演员来的重要。每个人所重视的东西不同，虽然她的成功有让人不胜唏嘘的部分，但这只是每个人的价值观不同所导致的落差罢了。

除了女演员们的戏很精彩，经理人的部分其实也很好看。虽然薛，胖姐和壁虎有各自的风格和处事待人之道，他们其实都有一个共同点。他们很了解自己的艺人需要什么，做什么对艺人本身最好，什么是艺人们的强项，也懂得如处理艺人的负面情绪与问题。这些台前的成功其实有一大部分的功劳应该归功于大家所看不到的经理人。

对于跳槽和换经纪人的情节，虽然说从一而终或注重人情义理是很多人歌颂的美德，但在工作上有时又不能太感情用事。就像史艾玛如果为了讲义气而继续跟着胖姐，她能成功吗？相反的，潘茵茵和芳姐如果没了壁虎，她们还能够专心和开心的当女演员吗？可惜的是，对的事跟应该做的事应为相抵触而让结果有所遗憾。

关于女演员们的恋爱，其实各个支线都有挺细腻的描述和呈现。就如柯丽芬跟丈夫那种爱恨交织的深厚情感，很有真实感又笑中带泪的窝心。个人比较喜欢薛跟李子齐在外遇被发现后的发展，冲突中加上满满的压抑和痛快的宣泄，到后来的无奈和释怀，比起其他剧中的恋情和婚姻关系的描写更加有感染力和共鸣。

虽然对此剧不至于百分百满意，但总的来说还算是水准之上，演员们都表现的很不错。只不过剪预告片时如何要达到可以吸引目光，但又要留一手给观众自己在作品中发掘亮点，这的确是一件不容易办到的事。要不然看完之后的感觉大概就会是“只有这样而已？”吧！

Thoughts about Iron Girls / 무쇠소녀단 (Korean)

Watching "Iron Girls" was not a planned decision at all. I wasn't even aware of this show prior to its launch and by the time I saw it on Viu, there were already 3 episodes released. After reading about the synopsis and knowing the cast lineup, I decided to give this a shot.

And wow, this was such an unexpectedly good decision.

Shows featuring celebrities or non-athletes training for a major sporting event or some challenging sports aren't exactly new though. In fairly recent times, I remembered watching another tvN show i.e. "Run" featuring Ji Sung, Kang Ki Young, Hwang Hee and Lee Tae-sun in 2020 where they trained for the Florence Marathon with just one month to spare. Considering the short time frame, the show lasted a mere 4 episodes and to be honest, featured quite a bit of sightseeing in both South Korea and Italy than the physical training or actual marathon itself. And the whole atmosphere was kinda laidback and more of like, "we'll try our best but there is no guarantee that we will succeed". In a way, that was a realistic take on the situation because one month of training along with juggling acting jobs is honestly too much of a stretch. As such, even though one of the four did not complete the marathon, that show was still pretty enjoyable to watch and the outcome of some not making it was expected to a certain extent.

"Iron Girls" is an entirely different ball game. To begin with, training for a full marathon is already quite adventurous. To train for a triathlon in just 120 days and they are not athletes to begin with, I really thought that the idea itself was quite outrageous. Then again, when you consider that the producer is Bang Geul-yi, a former producer of "2 Days 1 Night", I think it does make sense to set such a tough challenge because she had done a lot of these "crazy" things back then so I wasn't that surprised after knowing the PD behind this show. Of the training sessions throughout the season, the top 3 which were especially memorable would have to be the vertical marathon, the swim across Han River and the uphill cycling training. Although I wasn't doing it myself, the sheer torture and physical demands of these challenges really came across strongly on screen.

Among the four actresses featured, I have watched Jin Seo-yeon, Park Ju-hyun and Uie in action before while I only know Seol In-ah from some of the clips I saw before from the drama "Business Proposal". Jin was super eye-catching in the movie "Believer" and I really liked Park's performance in the drama "Mouse" opposite Lee Seung-gi. In addition, I have been following Jin's Instagram for a while so I do remember seeing her doing a fair bit of gym work in her posts. As for their captain Kim Dong-hyun, I've seen him a lot in Korean variety shows such as "Physical 100 Season 2" and "The Great Escape" so it makes sense for him to "lead" them in the physical training along with other experts who joined as guests or Heo Min-ho, a former triathlete who became the regular coach focusing more on the triathlon itself in the second half of the show.

Since I would say that my knowledge of the actresses is still considered quite basic, there were some surprising things which I found out along the way with each episode. Biggest surprise for me has got to be finding out that Park is actually older than Seol - nothing to do with their looks but more of their screen images because I recall seeing Park in more student roles so that sort of gave me the impression that she's very young. Imagine my surprise to hear Seol call Park "eon-ni"! And that Uie was a former swimmer but cannot cycle - I only knew that she used to be in an idol group After School and seemed to have a reputation for being athletic. Or that Jin actually has a phobia related to swimming despite her sporty and fearless image.

What I thought was really relatable and very engaging about this show was how these actresses all had their weaknesses and were not "super-beings" who realistically had a chance at clearing the triathlon from the beginning. And precisely because of this, the show delivered a clear message of how you and I as ordinary folks could also have a chance at doing something very challenging and seemingly impossible by taking baby steps over time. These actresses certainly did not become physically fit for the triathlon overnight as seen during the entire season. Moreover, completion is one thing. Completing within the cut-off time for each round was an added degree of difficulty they needed to factor in when taking on this challenge.

Jin's issue with swimming meant that if she couldn't clear the first part of the triathlon, there was no way she could continue with the other rounds of the event despite being good at cycling and running. Likewise, Uie is a fantastic swimmer but if she fails to make the cut in the cycling round, she also won't be able to take on the running aspect of the triathlon. Seol who is regarded as the sporting genius, has to deal with her weakness in running and as the show progressed, she picked up a number of injuries as well which further affects her ability to complete the entire event. Park started off as being the weakest in terms of stamina and sporting ability but made up for this with her strong will, refusal to give up and sheer hard work. 

To be honest, it was so motivational and inspiring to see them overcome their individual weaknesses and strive towards the collective goal of completing the triathlon together despite the odds against them. From a viewer's perspective, seeing their hard work pan out over the span of 11 weeks and how they managed to achieve something that seemed so impossible at first, that was not just entertainment but a really inspirational tale to watch. 

While I don't think I'll ever be ready to do something as physically hardcore like this, I think the Iron Girls' never-give-up attitudes, the support of everyone around them and their hard work are very memorable takeaways for me as I wrapped up watching this show. Getting started, taking small and steady steps and being consistent - these are very important life lessons to keep in mind.