Tribute to ARASHI and reflecting on the memories while we grew up and older together over the past 26.5 years

* Photos here as shared on ARASHI's official social media channels - I didn't take screenshots as they requested in the pre-viewing instructions. So it was very surprising to see these nicely-taken, high-resolution shots shared just hours after the show ended.

It's over...and yet not exactly the end, both in reality and psychologically.

This probably sums up best how I am feeling after watching the final concert of ARASHI last night while physically located about 5,300km / 3,300 miles away from Tokyo, Japan, where the action was unfolding. Boy, as expected from Matsujun's perfectionist dedication to delivering only the best, the quality was top-notch and the whole event was so well-planned:

* The biggest surprise for me was that the connection to the live stream never once faltered during the entire 3.5 hour show (and even during the pre-show content section) despite so many people in Japan and beyond watching at the same time! My Internet connection is probably mid-range at best and I was on the highest resolution possible so I was preparing myself mentally that there might be some hiccups somewhere and somehow. 

In order to test out the connection and check out what was the pre-show content they were showing, I even logged in to the streaming portal pretty early in the afternoon. I think the intention of the pre-show was also meant to test out traffic loads on the servers and take remedial action if needed. Brilliant move, I would say. Taking pre-emptive action is better than waiting for things to happen and it requires a certain level of foresight and well-thought plans to do this.

On hindsight, I shouldn't have doubted Matsujun's attention to detail and ability in doing his best for ARASHI's last show. There was not a single moment when I had to wait for the video to buffer and the video and audio were never out of sync. Most importantly, the connection was never lost. Now that he's set the benchmark so high, I think other artists will have a hard time matching this kind of standard if they want to do online events or concert streams of a large scale.

* To be honest I was sort of expecting that the pre-show content would be just a medley of old MVs but there were some "ancient" concert footage included as well. I see this at least as having the sincerity to put in some effort to keep the fans engaged while they waited for the concert to begin. If it was just the MVs, I already have their DVDs. Perhaps one intended effect of seeing the compilation of the clips was also to prepare fans for the finale and take them down memory lane.

* The cinematography was really quite unseen for live-streams. Usually, the camera angles would be quite static since it would be quite difficult to introduce fanciful stuff in live content. However, there were many moments during the concert when I kept thinking that this must be post-edited DVD-level footage and not a live show. This was partly due to the never-disconnected live stream but the varied shots and precise camerawork just showed how much planning was put in to deliver the best viewing experience for fans who couldn't be there in person. And for those who were there, I'm sure that they would be amazed at how the venue looked like in some of the aerial shots - simply breathtakingly beautiful and grand. Fitting for a farewell concert of a national idol group!

Of course...there were things which could be improved:

* The microphone audio during the MC segment and when the members took turns to speak was a bit lacking because it was barely inaudible at some junctures. Hope that this can be refined in the on-demand video coming up soon.

* I saw on social media that there were lyrics onscreen but this functionality seemed to be missing from the livestream for the general public viewing. Was that a function reserved for fanclub members or for all on the Japanese site? If so, it was a pity because I was so looking forward to doing my sing-alongs but I have to admit that I don't know the lyrics to all the songs. Would be good if this is made available to all in the on-demand video.

* The sale of the concert goods was only made available to the general public after the final concert began. Which meant that there was a mad rush online to purchase these for those who chose to concentrate on the concert first rather than split their attention between this and grabbing the concert goods. It might have been better if the start time of the general sale began after the concert ended. 

And so...it was sort of expected that there would be a huge traffic jam online to purchase the goods on the Family Club website. I was waiting for my turn since 10pm (JST) and finally got in around 1am (JST). Luckily, I was able to get in to place my order before they closed the site for maintenance from 2am...phew! And thankfully, I placed my order for the concert DVD and photobook one day before the concert because I got kicked out of the site after placing my order for the concert goods. There were some regular merchandise which couldn't be ordered together with the concert goods so I had to log-in again today to place my order for these.

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Much has already been said about ARASHI's achievements in the media and on social media in the days leading up to this concert and after it. As such, what I'll like to pen here is more about my personal memories with the group rather than repeat what amazing things they've done over the past 26.5 years.

I knew nothing about Johnny's Juniors prior to ARASHI. Neither did I come to know about ARASHI by seeking information about them proactively or come to like them knowingly.

Everything, as they put it, came down to destiny.

Back in 1999, there was this TV show from Japan showing weekly on a channel in Singapore. During those times, access to Japanese shows was very limited. Not to mention, this show was in English which made it all the more rare. While I don't exactly remember the title of the show other than it being from NTV, there was a segment at the end of each episode which featured the top 5 singles on the Oricon chart. Viewers were asked to write in with their views on the show which gave them a chance to win the singles from that week when they were picked as winners. And so, I gave that a shot and happened to win the top 5 singles in the week which ARASHI was No.1 with their debut single. 

Even so, I still didn't become their fan. I did find the song catchy but my level of Japanese proficiency back then wasn't good enough to comprehend what they were singing.

Something probably happened in 2000 that sparked my interest in the group. I believe one huge contributor was their first concert on VCD format which I saw in HMV. Japanese CDs and visual media releases were very expensive in that era, especially the imported ones for a poor student like me. While I don't think that VCD was from Japan, it was probably an official version meant for overseas markets like Taiwan since DVDs were not so prevalent then as compared to video tapes and VCDs. The short story is that, I bought that VCD and watched it so many times with the scratches that still can be seen to this date until I could remember the order of the songs and remembered the names of the members. And since that VCD came with Chinese subtitles, I could finally understand what they were saying and singing.

Around that time, there was an increase in the avenues where people outside of Japan could gain access to Japanese content along with the development of the Internet. In those early days, I remembered wondering why ARASHI was always on Music Station since they were releasing songs every quarter in the early years. And they sang the same song for at least three consecutive weeks before they came back again in a month or so to promote the next song. The longest record should have been "Kansha kangeki ame arashi" which I recall to this day, was sung for at least 5 weeks in a row! I was seriously hoping for them to stop singing that song again and again at that time. Of course, decades later, that song has a totally different ring to it now with feelings that were not as strong and heartfelt when they were just teenagers.

While I wasn't quite besotted with all of their songs at that time, I recalled how I found them to be quite endearing and there was a strange sense of camaraderie that arose from "seeing" them often. Perhaps it was also because I was about the same age as them - it felt like seeing them as friends who were going through the same life stages as me rather than idols who you fantasize or adore from afar. Maybe this was why I never saw ARASHI in a romantic sense. ^__^

However, there was something which kept bothering me in the first two years or so since their debut. I could feel that their music was getting somewhat repetitive and self-replicating that boredom was brewing. While I got that idol songs could be bubblegum pop, I was looking for more substance and variety in their music. Much as I still liked ARASHI, that wasn't enough for me to say blindly that I liked their music in the same way. I was still a student at that time so every dollar spent on their CDs was really hard-earned from my part-time job. And to buy these imported CDs was such an arduous task back then. Was the effort and money which I was putting in coming back in a way which satisfied me? The answer then was no. 

By the time I got to "Boku no tame ni kimi ga iru", I was on the verge of giving up on their music. I told myself that I wouldn't buy any more of their singles after "Jidai" got me pretty disappointed but "a Day in Our Life" convinced me that ARASHI was trying a new direction which I liked. Then again, "Nice na kokoro iki" broke my faith. As such, I stopped buying their singles after "a Day in Our Life". And somewhere around that time, I had to sell off part of my ever-growing CD collection due to space constraints - that was when I sold most of these singles then. Including the very first ARASHI single (first press somemore!) which should be very valuable now...haha!

While I did listen to their releases on and off whenever they appeared on Music Station, I didn't buy every single nor album as like before. My feelings for the group were the same and grew as they appeared more on TV in dramas and variety shows and slowly became entertainers who could hold their own. Even so, I derived joy in seeing them in their comfort zone whenever they were together - you just couldn't fake being happy with your fellow members for such a long time unless you were truly feeling so. And to be honest, the early struggles ARASHI had with their music career turned out to be good for them in the long run - they were driven to succeed but never let that success get into their heads. As they kept saying, whatever they did was ultimately for the sake of ARASHI - to let more people know about the group and that without any of them, the group would not be complete. This was quite rare because in many groups, personal egos, rivalry and personality differences were often the triggers that prevented the longevity of groups. It's hard to love all of your colleagues, what's more - most of the groups didn't get a choice to decide who would be working with them. And as people grew up, it was inevitable that differences would arise.

Many people would probably attribute the resurgence of their popularity and rise to national stardom to Matsujun's appearance in "Hana Yori Dango" and the songs used as themes in the series. However, even before that, what pulled me back to their music world was the song "Pikanchi Double". Although the movie itself was more fun entertainment rather than meaningful for me, that song's lyrics really hit me hard at a juncture in life as a fairly new working adult. The key theme of how the blissful days of being young, ignorant and fearless were gone all of a sudden as reality set in really resonated with me. However, dreams and ideals were actually not lost but stored away somewhere in our hearts so it served as a timely reminder that not all was lost. And that was a signal for me - ARASHI's songs had "grown out" of standard idol fare.

Since then, I became more selective with what I bought. While I could not be considered a "consistent" fan who bought everything or watched everything, I supported in a way which was sustainable for me and in line with my preferences. I think that sort of coincided with my "growing up" along with their "maturing" - rather than supporting them blindly, I chose a way which was comfortable for me.

When the news of the hiatus came, it was not exactly a surprise. To do the same job for decades is already not easy for anyone. What's more, with the constant public scrutiny and the pressure of having to maintain an "idol persona" plus not being free to do what you want including fall in love, date, marry and have kids - it's really not easy. To me, I always thought that if that day came, it would be "all or nothing". Either they all continue or they all leave. So as expected, the decision was to take a break for a while, let Leader do what he wants and keep the options open. And since they prepared a year's worth of programmes to say a proper goodbye, I thought that it was good enough - in fact even more than what I would expect them to do. Then again, life is unpredictable and COVID-19 spoiled their plans. On hindsight though, if it was not because of that, the end of ARASHI might have been in 2020, not in 2026 so the past 5.5 years were "borrowed time" in a sense.

With the utmost sincerity and a proper avenue to say goodbye for real this time, the ARASHI chapter closes. From teenagers back then to being "middle-aged" in our 40s, there were so many memories and enjoyable times over these 26.5 years for me. It didn't matter if they didn't hit the right pitches or were struggling to sing "FIVE" after crying and choked with emotions. Or that they no longer looked like or danced like the idols they were in their 10s, 20s or 30s. The fact that they bothered to come back to close the chapter properly was just commendable. With the concert DVD and photobook only to be out in another 6 months times, the final closure for everyone will probably be at the 27th anniversary.

In the years I've supported various artists/groups, there were some which ended so abruptly e.g. SPEED and sometimes due to unforeseen or uncontrollable circumstances e.g. SMAP and TOKIO. Back then, when SPEED ended, I didn't feel too much because it was sort of expected as they started dabbling in solo music careers. And honestly speaking, it didn't feel like they were best pals anyway. For SMAP, it also didn't hit me much although I felt sorry for their fans for the hardly harmonious way it ended. For TOKIO, I think it was so regretful and there was a bit of anger I had about how it turned out. 

In contrast, I don't have any hard feelings at all towards ARASHI and see it as an inevitable development as people grow up and move in different directions. Just like the friendships we developed as kids, students which take on a different form as we become older. We don't get to see each other that often but whenever we meet up, we can always catch up with each other's lives as if the absence or distance never really matters. As for sadness, I guess I felt it more at the pre-hiatus concert in 2020 than now because things were uncertain then and nobody knew what would happen during the hiatus. Since ARASHI gave ample time for everyone to prepare for this new stage in their lives and they had already given their best while they were ARASHI, it's fine. Just move on and be happy, no matter what you do.

Ending this tribute with these lines from "Typhoon Generation" which seems fitting for this situation:

じゃあ行ってくるから 

OK, I'm heading off now

あっ、さよならじゃないよね

Ah, this isn't goodbye, is it?

また会えるから

We'll meet again

Thoughts about "Lost in Starlight" / "이 별에 필요한" - Rough around the edges but packed with emotional & romantic vibes

While I do watch Korean dramas and variety shows on a regular basis, I don't recall having watched a Korean anime before. As such, coming across this movie thanks to Netflix's recommendation was somewhat coincidental rather than a conscious choice and I wasn't really sure what to expect.

To begin with, I am not really a fan of sci-fi stories set in space but the trailer of this anime movie got me pretty intrigued. It felt like the focus was more on the romance of the lead characters rather than about space and the inclusion of music as a subplot seemed interesting. What's more, based on what I heard in the trailer, the voice actors Kim Tae-ri and Hong Kyung were pretty good so I decided to take the plunge in the end. On a side note, Justin Min who was recently seen in the Devil's Plan 2 is voicing the English dialogue for Jay so you might like to check that out as well.

Honestly speaking, the graphics and flow of the animation didn't impress me that much. There were times when the shape of the characters' mouths didn't seem to sync well with the spoken dialogue and the characters' movements felt somewhat awkward. As such, if you are used to the Japanese-style of anime or looking for something close to what Shinkai Makoto's films offer, this might not be up to your expectations. 

On the other hand though, this rough-around-the-edges charm about the movie sort of accentuates the analogue vibe in Jay's world compared to the digital world of Nan-young. As a result, the old-school and retro vibe formed a nice contrast with the technologically-advanced side in the Seoul of 2050. 

What I actually liked more about this anime movie was the romance of Nan-young and Jay. While there really wasn't anything dramatically new about the progression of their relationship, the fact that they were so different and how they were able to reach out to the depths of each other's souls probably was what that made their mutual attraction so compelling and engaging to watch. Despite not seeing how the voice actors looked like when they spoke, their voices were so good at bringing these two characters to life and I found myself being engrossed with their story, be it the happy or sad times. 

As for the space part, I didn't really feel much for it but was glad that it didn't bring the story towards a predictable and probably not-so-welcome ending for those who were rooting for the couple. On the music side though, I am not sure whether it is due to the subtitles which did not convey the meaning of the Korean lyrics well. Somehow, something feels like lost in translation even with my limited Korean proficiency and that's why I didn't think that the content resonated with me. 

If you are looking for a good romance story with strong voice acting, I would recommend this. However, from the perspective of the animation's quality and the subplots of space and music, I felt that these aspects had room for improvement. Considering that the movie is just 1.5 hours long, it's not too long to sit through but sufficient to tell a comprehensive story with the necessary twists and turns.

Thoughts about "The Devil's Plan Season 2: Death Room" - Satisfied on the whole but the process still needs to be improved

Finally done with this after watching the last three episodes yesterday.

If you haven't watched this and want to avoid spoilers, please refrain from proceeding further with this post.

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Perhaps I should begin with the things which I disliked.

Top off the bat would be the main match games. I thought that The Genius was already complicated enough but The Devil's Plan seemed to take this a notch higher. The irony was, the games in the final actually turned out to be easier to understand. One key element contributing to me enjoying The Genius series was the a-ha moments - when you realise the trick to winning and actually understand the rationale. The thing is, the games in this season were so endlessly complicated that I just gave up trying to comprehend the logic.

While I get it that the production team had to make the games challenging enough for this pool of players since many of them were from top-notch universities or very smart, I wonder if viewers feel the same about the difficulty levels of the games as the explanation of the game rules went on and on until I completely lost the plot. When I don't even understand how the game works, watching how it progressed didn't feel as engaging to me. In contrast, the death matches in the prison were more interesting to watch. 

To be honest, matches which rely on having the most number of allies to win are not so fun to watch especially if the alliances are tight and players do not betray or switch sides for their own interests. That is probably why I prefer watching the 1-on-1 matches where people fight for themselves with their own skills. However, when people band together to gang up on others in games which are supposedly meant to be 1-on-1, that gets on my nerves because it spoils the opportunity for people to win on their terms.

One other thing which really infuriated me was the double standards and hypocrisy displayed by some players who couldn't decide whether to be a saint or devil and/or applied differing standards to themselves and others. In the very first game where people took on roles and had to deceive others to win, I simply don't get the rationale of Kang Ji-young getting mad at Kyuhyun for doing what he was supposed to do by lying to his team. Just on what grounds are you entitled to hold a grudge against him for playing the game as he should? And if Kyuhyun double-crossed his hidden team, wouldn't viewers pounce on him for trying too hard to maintain a wholesome persona as an idol? No matter which route he chose, he would have gotten criticism. As he said in the beginning, he didn't want to behave like he usually did as an idol, host and singer - he just wanted to immerse himself as a player in this game. In view of this, I applaud his courage to do what he wanted to instead of worrying about how he might be perceived for lying to others.

As for Ji-young, there were a number of her actions which also bothered me. Accepting Se-dol's offer to swap places when he actually didn't do any wrong to you? - isn't that because you were reluctant to go to prison in the first place? Then why was Hyun-gyu in the wrong for saying aloud that he didn't want to do the same? I'm sure none of the players, if given a choice, would want to go to prison voluntarily. Or how about claiming to want to save Justin and crying over his impending loss but not actually doing anything to help him other than keep racking up points to save yourself from losing pieces? I would have given her more credit for wanting to save herself first before thinking of others - isn't that what we are told to do in the aircraft safety videos shown before flights take off?

 

When people hold others to high standards and expect unwavering loyalty from others but are lenient with themselves in the name of self-preservation, that just reeks of double standards. Isn't that why some of the players switched sides halfway or last-minute instead of what they proclaimed or promised at first but still had the audacity to come down hard on who did the same thing? How about switching allegiances in a flip-flop manner to plead with the people you were playing against moments ago just because you were desperate to survive? Or how about when Justin was "betrayed" when he proposed an alliance at first to eliminate Sang-yeon but found three of his supposed teammates ganging up against him and the clueless Se-dol? 

And there is a difference between being singled out to be ganged up against by a group vs. choosing to go solo or having to do so inevitably due to the way the game was designed. Se-dol and Justin had to be left out because the game required people to be in groups of 3 and there were only two of them left after all the groups were formed. And there were times in other games when they chose to play on their own terms rather than be part of alliances. This was definitely different from a group of people coming together and deciding beforehand who they want to target for whatever reason.

Oh, before I forget, those who shed tears or looked so sad when someone they had a hand in eliminating left the game - that was downright off-putting. Like Ha Seok-jin said before in Season 1, he couldn't comprehend why such people had the cheek to cry when they did what they did. I cannot understand this kind of behaviour too. People getting eliminated is part of this game. You can feel sad about your allies leaving but seriously, bawling your eyes out is so fake especially when you are the one who brought about the other party's downfall. Especially if that target is from the opposite alliance or someone who you supposedly have no positive feelings for.

In that sense, while some may criticise Hyun-gyu for being ruthless and unfeeling, I applaud him for the fact that he was honest about his ambition and consistent with his actions from the beginning. He was in this show to win the game so making friends with the other players and showing who he really is - that's something he would rather do in the real world. Of course, he could have been a lot more tactful and respectful in how he interacted with the players during the game period but if he had wavered from his stance and gone back and forth, I might have viewed him as being unreal and inconsistent. His emotions and tears were reserved for those closest to him - I only remember him getting emotional when Kyuhyun left. So he's not without emotions but he just doesn't dispense it freely and openly to anyone. Just like how he treated the other girls coldly who expressed interest in him on "EXchange" when he only had eyes for Hae-eun - you can either interpret this as being clear about boundaries or plain rude.

On this topic of consistency and loyalty, I chuckled when Hyun-joon kept asking Hyun-gyu and So-hee what was it that bonded them and Kyuhyun so tightly together. I mean, it felt like he was obviously envious of their bond and wondered how they could believe in one another and have one another's back even when faced with the prospect of their own interests being sacrificed. Wanting to survive by all means is not shameful in this game. What I found irritating was trying to justify the legitimacy of the desire to win as the underdogs standing up against an unfair power balance or being self-righteous about it. 

Besides the time the trio spent together in the living quarters and playing the main matches together, my guess is that the reason for the faith they had in one another was because they never deviated from what they promised. Otherwise, someone as guarded as Hyun-gyu who said from the start that he wasn't in the game to make friends and wanted to do as he wished wouldn't tell them the secret about his win in the special stage at such an early juncture of the game. If he ever felt that they would betray him, I don't think he would have shared this piece of information voluntarily. He certainly wasn't obliged to tell anyone to begin with and could have kept his cards close to his chest. And to be honest, Kyuhyun and So-hee could have done something to save their own skins with this piece of intelligence at any time. So for Hyun-joon to keep asking about this - it just came across as really ridiculous to me and contrasted with the prison group who kept saying that they were together as one but when it came to the crunch, the human nature to fend for ourselves came through. Nothing wrong with this at all but I really didn't like how they tried to put themselves on a higher moral pedestal than the other side.

As for Kyuhyun and So-hee switching to support Hyun-gyu in that game when he was initially lined up with Hyun-joon, I don't think it's because they went back on their word out of plain loyalty towards Hyun-gyu. The problem was, they initially agreed to play with the prison group under the assumption that Hyun-gyu had a partner in Hyun-joon so that the playing ground was more or less level. However, when Hyun-joon betrayed Hyun-gyu, the circumstances changed and they couldn't watch their longtime ally be pushed into a corner like this. If it had been that Hyun-joon stayed faithful to Hyun-gyu in the game but Kyuhyun and So-hee still switched sides OR Hyun-gyu's gameplay resulted in his own downfall but Kyuhyun and So-hee still jumped in blindly to save him, then there is reason to criticise their switch.

As for talk about Kyuhyun and So-hee effectively handing over the win to Hyun-gyu, I think both the living quarters and prison groups did behave in a similar manner. "If I can't win it, I would want someone in my alliance to go all the way and win it". That's probably why Kyuhyun and 7high did what they did - Kyuhyun could have saved himself by not switching over to Hyun-gyu's side but he probably knew and felt that the latter could win it in the end. Rather than him pushing through and eventually losing, he would have been happier to let Hyun-gyu move on as compared to having someone from the prison group win it. 

Likewise, a strong force propelling the prison group was to "take revenge" on the privileged living quarters' group. As such, rather than let Hyun-gyu have his way and sail to No.1 in the semi-final round with no surprises, 7high would rather upset the power balance with his own elimination and let So-hee be No.1 while making Hyun-gyu go to prison (albeit for a few hours only) and face Hyun-joon in the death match. However, if he truly wanted Hyun-joon to make it to the final, he could have considered the other option (despite not knowing the nature of the last death match) although I think that So-hee would also have given Hyun-joon a tough fight like what Hyun-gyu did. Nonetheless, the thought of getting back at Hyun-gyu for whatever he did previously made choosing him rather than So-hee for prison a more attractive option to 7high. As such, I think both sides operated with the same mentality so to blame Kyu-hyun and So-hee for this, it is unfair. And it's also disrespectful to Hyun-gyu whose performance showed how much and well he had done throughout the whole game period to get the final win. If he had done nothing to pull his weight in the alliance and deserve his place in the final, then you might have reason to say that he rode on the tails of Kyuhyun and So-hee to win.

I usually like to support the underdogs who in this case, should be the prison gang. In Season 1, Seok-jin may have been a smart and skillful player but he was against the odds of Orbit's huge alliance which had an advantage in games where the majority could sway the outcome. As such, I rooted for Seok-jin because he was able to overcome that numbers disadvantage, played diligently so as to embody the game's spirit and winning it solely based on skill and in a relatively clean manner. The problem was, I didn't like how the prison group in this season played or simply blamed their circumstances on the other side. It was true that the prison system didn't allow for upward mobility in an easy way. You either needed a huge stroke of luck + a big breakthrough i.e. the special stage to turn the tables or had to do extremely well in the main games to change your fate. The thing is, the prison gang could also have banded together to fight against those in the living quarters for the main matches but personal agendas always took precedence instead of group interests. When these unexpected strayers acted up, it was no wonder that the strongly-bonded living quarters alliance managed to be dominant for a long time. If not for the way the game system was designed to make their alliance "lose" players to the prison with each episode, the prison group might not have a chance at all to put up a decent fight in the later stages of the game. Actually, compared to the first season where there were only 2 sent to the prison each time, the fact that the prison group was maintained at a certain size each time gave them the chance of being able to take advantage of numbers to turn the tables. However, it was not meant to be.

As for the so-called unfairness between the special stages in the living quarters and prison, I thought that it actually made a lot of sense. Think of it this way, the living quarters and prison are meant to mirror the real society where social inequality exists. So for the "rich", survival is not an issue and anything that is a bonus to them is just an extra to enhance the advantage that they already enjoy thanks to their social position. On the other hand, those already struggling need to fight tooth and nail to survive and change their fates. This is probably why Hyun-gyu was not faced with the prospect of elimination while Hyun-joon was literally placed in a situation where if he did not crack the code, he would "die" - both in the game and being drowned by that water in the well. However, it did not mean that Hyun-gyu sailed through with no difficulty because he did spend a lot of time and effort in preparing for the game beforehand and I must say, the game in the living quarters was definitely more challenging than the one in the prison especially the third round which he did not manage to prepare for. While the prison version of the special stage was comparatively easier especially if the player is good at English or is a native speaker, the conditions which Hyun-joon was put under certainly helped to raise the difficulty because when the water was filling up, the time pressure would make it more difficult for him to think properly and react calmly. If not for this, I think viewers would then criticise the prison version as being too simple and awarding a prize not proportional to its difficulty level when compared to the living quarters' version. The significance of the prizes while the same in terms of amount, also had a slightly different meaning. For Hyun-joon, the 10 pieces gave him a chance to enjoy a change in fate and be a force to be reckoned with but for Hyun-gyu, the 10 pieces could have taken on an entirely different meaning if he had used the extra pieces as added advantage to sail through to the final or get some edge in the final rather than to avoid being sent to prison and deal an emotional blow to the prison group who thought that they won the game.

What I really liked about Season 2 was a notable absence of free-riders or those who believed that you can survive just by riding on the tails of the strong players and not pulling your weight in the team. The Orbit alliance was a huge letdown in Season 1 so to see the players this time fighting so hard and being more aware of what they needed to do was good. The benefit of hindsight and preparation definitely shows up here. Of course, for the production team, to see the special stages being cracked so early was a letdown for them. 

If you aren't in this to win it, you probably shouldn't even come to participate. What the Season 2 players brought to the table was not just a stronger awareness (which most of the Season 1 players were unable to benefit from since they didn't know what to expect but there were still some who were more proactive and observant) and desire to win but the willingness to pull your weight to contribute to the team. This was definitely more apparent in the living quarters group where they played their own roles depending on their capabilities. For example, while some may argue that So-hee's approach may seem to be rather passive and was being led around by others in her team or playing second fiddle to Hyun-gyu, the thing is, her knowledge and intelligence were pivotal in helping the team become successful and she definitely made it to the final in a convincing manner.

The part about having hidden rules was actually fine with me because in life, nobody tells you everything you need to get ahead and win so you do have to figure things out on your own. As such, the players who were more observant, paid more attention to details, quick to adapt and think out of the box managed to thrive more than the others. You've got to give them credit for those abilities rather than say that it was unfair to have these hidden rules in the first place.

As for Hyun-gyu's win, some may take offense with his bluntness and ruthlessness in his fixation to win and say that he did not deserve to win but in terms of TV entertainment, I would rather watch a "complete villain" rather than a "half-baked hypocritical saint". I think most people do like underdog stories and the fact that he never stayed in prison throughout the week and didn't actually "suffer" before unlike people like Eun-yu made it difficult for viewers to see him in a more positive light. Hyun-gyu getting a fair bit of hate towards the end by the other players and being singled out for that reason also put him at a disadvantage at times especially when most of his allies except So-hee were gone. On the other hand, So-hee's role as another key brainy member of the alliance while not sticking out too much helped to make the other side's perception of her a lot more positive.

While I do not like the actions which some of the players including Hyun-gyu did, I see them as necessary evils that had to be done within the context and parameters of this game. As such, whatever I was unhappy about or didn't like to see was about the behaviour and actions in the show rather than the individuals as a whole. As what Hyun-joon remarked, the players went through drastic transformations once they were in the game arena despite being really nice people in the living quarters or prison or in real life. As such, I feel that I need to constantly remind myself that this is just a game show and these people were put in extreme conditions. Who's to say that we won't act more drastically or extremely than what these people did? Since the prize money has got nothing to do with me anyway and whoever wins it doesn't affect my life, I'll be content to take on the role as an observer and develop my own take on the situation while try not to get too hung up over whatever happened.

As for the final, I think So-hee did have a good chance to win in the last round and would have been a deserving winner as well. However, due to the stalemate they had, the decisions they made led to the outcome. I don't think So-hee's decision was wrong but she is somewhat more of one who plays safe rather than go big with risky decisions. She was sure that she could give the correct answer by skipping one round and making sure she could win the right to answer while waiting for another 2 free tokens. Then again, Hyun-gyu isn't reckless as well and I think his strong mental strength worked for him. Under such stressful conditions, if you get the answer wrong once, it would have dealt a strong emotional blow to anyone. So-hee also probably underestimated Hyun-gyu a bit because he looked unsure of his answer. If Hyun-gyu had backed down on wagering his tokens, he might not have the chance to give his answer first so credit goes to him for having the guts to press on. And since the fight between them was so tight, I thought that the final in this season was more exciting to watch than the last season.

As they say, history is history. 

If this show is to ever make a comeback...my wish is to see even more aggressive players and gameplay. And games which favour personal skills rather than strength in numbers are definitely my preference. Ultimately, there's only one winner so it doesn't make sense to keep having such games. While I don't deny that the social aspect of such games is important, going solo or keeping your core alliance small as you deem fit shouldn't be penalised. 

Likewise, if you want to go down the path of the devil, be brutal and honest about it. It's not easy though because public perception is a key consideration for the cast, no matter whether you are a celebrity to begin with. And some negative comments can get downright abusive so I understand if the players are apprehensive about doing things in the Hyun-gyu style. If only viewers can see this type of show as "whatever happens in the game stays in the game" and "what you see is only a fraction of that individual's life and character in an extreme setting", we might be able to enjoy this better.

And to the production team - please make the games a bit easier to understand or do something about the complicated ways you try to explain the rules. Or at least, explain in bits at appropriate junctures rather than go on and on endlessly.

One last thing to note, there are some bonus clips at the end of the credits for some episodes but it's easy to miss them because Netflix's default option is to skip to the next episode when the credits roll. Unless you are aware beforehand or have the habit to scroll through the credits, chances are, you would miss them.

Thoughts about "Karma" / 악연 - Largely predictable with a few highlights

I might have set my expectations a bit too high before watching this drama. Or was it the trailer which promised too much but the drama delivered too little?

To begin with, one thing which kept bothering me even before I watched the drama was the original title in Korean and the translated title which did not actually match each other in terms of meaning. 악연 means ill-fated relationship which is in line with what the story was primarily based on i.e. the intertwined ill-fated relationships between the 6 characters. However, the meaning of karma as I understand it from the Buddhism perspective is the sum of a person's actions in the current and previous states of existence which decides their fate in future existences actions and that all actions have natural but often delayed consequences, which can be rewards or punishments. While the story did touch on the consequences of the key characters' actions, these two terms actually refer to different concepts so to have them appear together as the title was something which got on my nerves to a certain extent.

Secondly, the quality of the subtitles (yet again) also raised eyebrows. Despite my low level of proficiency in Korean, there were still some points where I could clearly pick up the discrepancy between what I heard and what was written on the screen. For example, when Shin Min-ah's character Lee Ju-yeon was talking to her boyfriend Yoon Jeong-min (Kim Nam-gil) in the corridor at the hospital, she clearly said that "I'll get going first" but the subtitle was shown as "I got distracted". I really wonder how many of such discrepancies appeared in this drama and/or other works and how many things were actually lost in translation. While it is good to see that Netflix Korea probably has seen the need to produce better subtitles for the Korean productions to go international as seen from this training initiative, I think there's still a lot to be done. And these mistakes are probably due to machine translations which were not checked by human translators for accuracy and nuance adjustments.

From this point onwards, there will be spoilers so you might want to skip the rest of this review if you haven't watched the drama.

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Coming back to the story itself, the main plot running through the drama i.e. the staged accident for insurance fraud was pretty predictable in the sense of how it went haywire. The surprises were actually how these 6 characters were intertwined with one another, some even from decades ago. For example, while the real rapist of Ju-yeon back in high school was Park Jae-yong (Lee Hee-jun), the origin of the karma was Kim Beom-jun (Park Hae-soo) who planted the idea of revenge in Lee Yu-jeong (Gong Seung-yeon). As such, while it may seem like Beom-jun paid the price for Jae-yong's actions, he was not completely without blame. I found this part to be more surprising and interesting than the rest of the revelations such as how Beom-jun was also involved in the insurance fraud part and defrauding Han Sang-hun (Lee Kwang-soo) along with Yu-jeong. 

As for the part about Sang-hun actually being married and cheating on his wife - the story kept giving the impression that he was a hopeless single who was desperate for the affection of Yu-jeong but this twist actually made his character become more of a jerk than a mere victim of a honey trap. Luckily or not, if it wasn't his wife who got a private detective to check on his whereabouts, his death would probably not get discovered until a long time later and the real culprit gone scot-free easily.\

One part which didn't make much sense at first was how Jae-yong's father seemed guilt-stricken over something which only became apparent at the end. It was then I realised that Jae-yong getting away without real repercussions for what he did to Ju-yeon probably weighed on the father a lot and especially after seeing his son live his life in such a way now. Maybe that's why he became so religious and sought forgiveness from God for not steering his son in the right direction.

Kim Sung-gyun's role Jang Gil-ryong felt a bit like an outlier though. No doubt he was the person who took on the job from Jae-yong to kill his father, his background story just didn't seem to gel so well with the rest other than the fact that he used to be in the same prison cell as Beom-jun. 

The thing is, in order to get to the exciting parts of the story, you would need to sit through the first two episodes which honestly to me, were quite yawn-inducing. I was about to give up until the second half of episode 3 kicked up the pace and set things in motion. As such, you will need to have some patience and wait for the best to come.

As for the ending, I would say that it was predictable to a large extent. Of course, those who did wrong would have to be punished in some way since the story's concept included the "karma" element. While Ju-yeon was on the edge of falling into the abyss of evil by taking revenge for herself, it turned out that Jeong-min did the sordid stuff for her instead. As such, she was "saved" in that sense but whether that karma taken on by Jeong-min will come back to her in the future remains to be seen.

In terms of the acting, I thought that Park Hae-soo really stood out. While the 6 characters each had their moments to shine, the fact that Beom-jun was so deeply involved in the lives of the others meant that he was the "actual lead" in this entire story. As such, Park had a lot of time and space to develop his character as The Witness. As for Lee Kwang-soo, I notice that he seemed to be taking on darker roles which run contrary to his usual variety show persona. Maybe he's trying to distinguish his acting career from his variety show one. In this case though, while the dark side of Sang-hun was eye-catching, the moments of the petty and cowardly sides of the character somehow brought back memories of his "Running Man" persona.

While Kim Nam-gil was only in this episode here and there on a special appearance basis, I liked that he actually had more scenes than I initially expected so that was a good thing for me as a fan of his.

It was good that this drama was just 6 episodes. If it was much longer, I might not have finished it or even got started to begin with. The thing is, I expected more to come based on what the trailer suggested but sad to say, it just didn't materialise in a good way.

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.