Ghost, Episodes 4, 5, and a TINY bit of 6

So, this is going to be a short entry from me. I've gotten through episodes 4 and 5 of Ghost, and it's kept my attention very well so far. I really do have nothing too bad to say about it, except for one character that just gets on my LAST NERVE...

*rantrantrant*

HYUK JOO IS SO ANNOYING! In episode 5, we find out who the actual killer is, and I guess he's supposed to be the bad guy, but I hate Hyuk Joo more than the bad guy! I had to stop like one minute into episode 6 to complain about him because I literally just screamed in my apartment, "REALLY?? REALLY????" (Although I guess my neighbors are used to my screaming antics from sports by now, so they probably assume I'm watching football or baseball on TV... which I currently am at the moment, but that's besides the point.... ^^;;)

Hyuk Joo hates Woo Hyun because of incidents from the past. Fine. But he hates him SO much, he's getting tunnel vision. He's the Team Leader of the Cyber Security team for God's sakes, but his mind is SO FOCUSED on Woo Hyun, and catching him, and throwing him under the bus, that he fails to even think about the cyber crimes that could um, possibly affect ALL OF SEOUL?? >___< *angry*

Basically, Hyuk Joo has an idea of who "Woo Hyun" really is. So while Woo Hyun and the rest of the cyber team are trying to catch a notorious group of hackers who may or may not have possibly put in a virus that is going to attack a server that affects all of Seoul, Hyuk Joo becomes all excited that OMG Woo Hyun might be Ki Young. When Woo Hyun/Ki Young realizes how/when this virus is going to spread, he makes way to his car (which is in a parking garage of a building because he went to the previous place of where our hackers were hiding). Hyuk Joo basically corners him and is all "AH HAH! I'M ARRESTING YOU FOR SUSPICION OF MURDER, WOO HYUN. OR SHOULD I SAY KI YOUNG???" Woo Hyun yells at him and says that he doesn't have time for this, but Hyuk Joo thinks that it's just an excuse for him to not be arrested.

That's all fine and dandy dude, but while this is going on, all lights go out, the computers freeze, traffic lights go out, people get stuck on elevators, and lights in operating rooms of hospitals go off. And all he's caring about is catching Ki Young/Hades????

Start episode 6. These guys are in the parking garage in complete darkness, and Woo Hyun/Ki Young says to him AGAIN that the real attack was on an electric power company, and they need to go ASAP. Hyuk Joo says, "I don't believe you." (Cue me going, "REALLY?? REALLY?????" and angrily going on to the blogger to rant about this... ^^;). OH YEAH. THEY'RE IN COMPLETE DARKNESS, AND THEY HEAR THE CHAOS GOING ON OUTSIDE, AND HE DOESN'T BELIEVE HIM.

Woo Hyun/Ki Young: "When Seoul is thrown into chaos... will you believe me then?"

YEAH. BITCH. *angry face*

Anyway, I should get back to watching episode 6. If I come across anyone/anything else that bothers me, stay tuned! ^____^

Arang and the Magistrate Ep 4

There's not much real plot advancement in this episode, rather the episode sets things up to allow more progress in future episodes.  They're now positioned more logically to investigate Arang's death and allow romance to blossom.

The special effects in this episode were disappointing.  I'd been happy with the first three episodes, as they stayed with what they knew, resulting in smooth wire-work and smoky ghost effects.  Their use of green-screens and CG here was incredibly unnatural.

So far, one of the most interesting elements of this series to me is the Korean concepts of death and the afterlife.  It's not something I'm well versed in, so their legends, traditions and conceptualizations are novel to me.  In this episode, I was particularly fascinated with their choice of scenery for the River Styx.  Definitely not the Odyssey-inspired river I'm accustomed to.

I also really enjoy the seemingly petty approach the Kings of Heaven & Hell take to dealing with souls.

Summary:
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In this episode, Arang follows the lead ghost-catcher into the afterlife.  After an entertaining jaunt across the River Styx and getting past a creepy guardian-creature-thing (see image), she meets the Emperor Jade and the King of Hell.  They make a deal with her: she will return to being human for three moons.  During that time, if she can find out the truth behind her death and kills her killer, she'll be allowed entrance into heaven.  If she fails, she'll suffer an eternity in the worst kind of hell.  The Kings have a bet going based on her challenge, but its clear they also have a larger goal, perhaps related to the missing souls that were discussed previously.

Arang returns in her spiffy new body, steals some new clothes, and appears before Eun Oh.  He's understandably freaked that she's back, let alone that she got a new human body.  Eun Oh has been coordinating her original body's funeral and leaves her behind to go to the burial.  Interested in seeing her own funeral, Arang disguises herself (poorly) and follows.  On the way, she bumps into Joo Wal, the shady nobleman's son.  When they touch, Joo Wal's ring lights up, seeming to indicate that she's the right girl that he's been looking for.  Just in time, too, because his full moon deadline is only one day away.

Scenes of Note:

• The Kings of Heaven & Hell casually discussing famine and plague as they play Go.
• The super-creepy guardian-creature-thing.

Rich Man Poor Woman Ep 10

Yay, the second to last episode!  The majority of this episode was so warm and sweet.  Of course, being the second to last, it had to end with some sort of sad conflict.  I'm so looking forward to the final episode.  

Summary:

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The episode begins with Asahina's arrest for insider trading.  We don't see the trial, but we do see him settled behind bars.  Hyuga tries to visit him repeatedly throughout the episode, but Asahina refuses to see him.  Asahina reflects from jail on how wonderful their time together at Next Innovation really was.

At the Wonder Wall office, Natsui is giving Hyuga etiquette lessons and critiquing his social skills.  She follows him to various client meetings and gives him a 1 to 100 score after each one.  He's frustrated with the low scores she keeps giving him, but by the last meeting, where he presents a crowd with new 3D scanning technology to allow customers to try on clothing from home, he scores a more-than-perfect 120, even getting some clients' names right.  

Natsui is flustered by how perfect and handsome Hyuga has become, but she's also disappointed.  Now that he's mastered basic social skills and etiquette, she feels she's no longer of any assistance to him.  Having exhausted her purpose, she feels the need to distance herself because she of her feelings for him.  She takes a part-time job at a lab and messages Hyuga that she'll be taking a break for a while.  

With Natsui gone and not accepting his calls, Hyuga sets off on a mission to find her.  He stalks her house and frequent haunts and eventually ends up trying her rural home town.  On the train out, he runs into Yoko, who travels with him for the remainder of the trip.  They stay at Natsui's family inn.  The family, not knowing who they are, gossip about their oldest daughter who declined a prestigious job to start a company with the man she loves.  At this point, Hyuga is clear and open with Yoko about his feelings for Natsui.

Before they leave town, Yoko convinces Hyuga to visit his mother's restaurant.  He doesn't reveal that he's her son, but the visit leaves him satisfied.  He's surprised that he's not hurt or angry.  Yoko suggests that he's no longer searching for his mother and is now yearning more for someone else.  

Back in the city, the Next Innovation accountant had been trying to get Hyuga to come back to Next Innovation.  The company is on the verge of being acquired by a large tech company and the accountant doesn't want to see true innovators trampled under corporate giants.  Hyuga initially refuses, but by the episode's end, we learn that he plans to return to the company.  He leaves Wonder Wall to the three-amigo-coders and also asks the guy he'd previously invested in to support the venture.

Hyuga eventually tracks Natsui down at the lab where she's working.  He approaches her at the bus stop and they both have something to say to each other.  Hyuga chickens out and tells her he came to tell her he's rejoining Next Innovation.  He also tells her that there's someone he's been searching for, but he doesn't say its her.  Instead, he lets her share her piece, which is to inform him that she's taking a job at the lab and needs to do something on her own.  She apologizes for breaking her promise to always stay at his side.  He lies that he hadn't taken the promise seriously.  

They part ways.  As they walk, each looks back, but their timing is bad and their eyes never meet. 

;___;

Scenes of Note:

• Natsui harshly lecturing Hyuga on etiquette and giving him low marks.
• Hyuga searching desperately for Natsui, calling her millions of times and peaking in the windows of her apartment.

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta 5

This episode takes a turn that I was expecting, weakening the story's impact but also making it more palatable.  Ultimately, I'm OK with the change, if slightly irritated by how many problems have and will continue to stem directly from a lack of communication.  If characters just talked to each other in dramas, 99% of the issues would never even become issues...

It's set to continue with the angst and intensity in upcoming episodes, but they're now positioned to at least have the potential of a socially-acceptable happy ending.  But since it's a jdrama, they may decide to eschew the happy ending altogether.

Summary:
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As Kashiwagi is leaving, Uemura returns to the school and makes some attempt to defend him against the students' bullying.  Kashiwagi is awaiting discipline from the school committee and the principal insists he continue coming to school in the interim, to face what he's done to the students and Uemura.  Saeki's mother is keeping her home from school, but Saeki wants to go, saying she has something important to explain.

After school one day, Uemura meets Kashiwagi and explains her doubts that he actually slept with Saeki.  It's too unlike him and he could be covering up for Saeki.  She sets off, intent on finding the truth for herself.

She meets again with Kashiwagi's brother and learns the truth about that night after she left.  Kashiwagi's brother had attacked their mother and the brother had then proceeded to blame his entire life on Kashiwagi. Uemura then goes to the hospital to meet up with Saeki for her side of the story.  Before Saeki explains, Kashiwagi nearly collapses.  The nurse tells her she's anemic and should see a doctor; Uemura leaves again without an explanation from Saeki.

Tired of hurting people, Saeki goes to the school to the school to explain things fully.  As Kashiwagi is facing his students and taking the blame, she interrupts, saying everything was a lie.  We then learn the full explanation behind that night.

Saeki explains to the students about her condition, her dead sister, and her parents' broken marriage.  She says she had wanted to feel like her sister, so she'd dressed and put on make up, gone out that night and allowed herself to be picked up by a random man.  She slept with him and immediately regretted it.  She ran into Kashiwagi at a cafe later that night purely by chance.

Kashiwagi was drunk after the falling out with his brother.  Saeki struck up a conversation with him, then helped him get home that night.  He drunkenly stripped and went to bed and she followed him in without his knowledge.  Regretting her one night stand and wishing it had been with him, she crawled into bed with him and had taken the photo as a keepsake.

In the aftermath, Uemura talks about how everything can return to the way it was, but Kashiwagi worries that Saeki will have no one by her side.  When Saeki shows up to school the next day, Kashiwagi is the only one that greets her.

From a brief flashback, we find out that Uemura is 7 weeks pregnant and also submitted paperwork to cancel their wedding.  As the episode ends, she angstily muses that Kashiwagi may be in love for the first time and that she can't stand in the way...

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 4

Another crazy-intense episode and this time they break out the heavy hitting dialogue, too! This is definitely an "all grown up" series for Miura Haruma (although I suppose he's been playing some really mature roles even since he was a kid in "14 Sai no Haha").

Summary:
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After reading her worrisome journal posts, Kashiwagi runs to Saeki and meets her at a cafe.  Presumably, this is the cafe where they first met? It's unclear how he knew where to find her.  Uemura calls Kashiwagi while he's there and Kashiwagi hangs up on her.  Kashiwagi gives Sonoda's cell phone to Saeki and tells her the entries made him want to "see the real her".  She asks if they can just go back to being student and teacher, but Kashiwagi says he can't pretend nothing happened.

Kashiwagi missed dozens of Uemura's calls while he was meeting with Saeki and sending her home.  They meet in front of a park and Uemura freaks out on him a bit.  She asks if he's in love with Saeki.

The Nurse, Aya, visits a grave site and meets with Saeki's father.  Aya was apparently in the same accident as Saeki and her sister.  She also has a mini-flashback to her phone call to the school--it turns out she didn't tell them about the affair.

At school, Uemura is starting to lose it, while Saeki claims she's trying to forget the entire incident for Kashiwagi's sake.

Later, Uemura and her roommate are opening wedding RSVPs when Uemura begins to cry.  She tells her roommate about Kashiwagi's affair and admits she doesn't feel like herself anymore.  She skips school the next day.

Aya stops Kashiwagi for a chat after school and tells him it's because he's a teacher that she can't forgive him.  Kashiwagi takes it to heart and visit's his family's shop afterwards.  He apologizes in advance to them that things are going to be difficult, but he will work them out.

Kashiwagi then tells Uemura he plans to tell the school he's slept with a student (although to protect Saeki he plans to keep her identity a secret).  Uemura asks him to forget about it, saying that she can forgive and forget, but only if no one else knows what happened.  She freaks out again, asking "What's wrong with living as a scumbag teacher who sacrificed his student for his own happiness?!"  Kashiwagi has too many principles and Uemura feels burdened by them.

Nurse Aya messages Saeki that she's coming to the school to tell them what happened.  She can't let it go.  Saeki runs to stop her, abandoning her cell phone on her desk in the classroom.  A classmate picks up the phone and finds the blackmail photo of Kashiwagi sleeping.  Soon, the entire class knows.

Kashiwagi walks into the classroom and they confront him.  Saeki tries to pass the photo off as something else, but no one buys it.  Kashiwagi admits it and apologizes to the class.  A lot of powerful accusations are tossed around and one kid attacks him.  The teachers get involve, send Uemura home and isolate Saeki in the nurse's office.

As Uemura is on her way home, she gets nauseous and then very worried--perhaps she's pregnant?

Saeki goes to leave with Sonoda but stops when she sees Kashiwagi bowing down to all the other teachers...

Scenes of Note:
There were a ton of noteworthy scenes in this episode, but the best might be the class confronting him.  There are a number of great Uemura-freak-out bits, too.

Taisetsu na Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta Ep 3

Another intense episode with character development out the wazoo--none of the roles are black-and-white at this point.  So much happened in this episode, I'm curious to see how the series will run for 10 episodes if this pace keeps up.

I wonder if it was weird for Toda Erika to be romantically involved with a younger actor?  It's only 2 years, but the difference between a 21 year old and a 23 year old can be pretty big...Miura Haruma was playing a high-schooler just one year ago (Bloody Monday 2) and Toda Erika's been playing post-high school characters since at least 2007 (Liar Game)...

I'm torn between loving the soundtrack by Pink and hating its upbeat placement among really serious scenes.  But her typically angry music sort of fits and it definitely adds to the tension of the serious scenes...

Summary:
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The episode starts with Uemura seeing the blackmail picture of Kashiwagi, sent by Saeki.  She now has no doubt that the two slept together. Before Kashiwagi & Uemura can talk things through, Uemura gets a call that her father's been hospitalized.  The two rush over and nearly run into Saeki at the hospital.  They learn that Uemura's father will be fine with just a hernia and they quickly go to leave.  Kashiwagi heads down to the lobby ahead of Uemura and has just enough time to run into Saeki and the nurse before Uemura catches up.  Saeki happily introduces them to the nurse as "the man I slept with and his fiancee".  Saeki makes it clear to the nurse how much she's enjoying messing with the couple.

In this episode, we learn the details of Uemura's condition.  She has Congenital Ovarian Dysfunction, in which medication is needed to produce secondary sexual characteristics such as breasts and menstruation.  We also learn that Saeki acquired her arm scars in an accident 4 years previous.

Kashiwagi follows Uemura home and says its up to her to decide if she wants to stay together or proceed with the wedding.  Uemura flips out at Kashiwagi, saying that she shouldn't have to decide all the important things and leaves it up to him to think about their future.

At school, they are both noticeably depressed.  Saeki corners Kashiwagi in the cafeteria, promising she'll do anything to separate them.

Uemura confronts Kashiwagi's brother at the family liquor store to ask about the night before school started. The Kashiwagi brothers were together when she had left early, that evening.  Kashiwagi's brother claims Kashiwagi had left early and that nothing had happened.

Uemura and Kashiwagi arrange to meet after school one night to talk things over.  When Kashiwagi gets home, he finds Saeki had used the key to get into his apartment.  Uemura walks in shortly after and almost flees, seeing the two together.  Kashiwagi gives a great little speech about how he loves Uemura and he's sorry that he hurt Saeki, but he has no intention of letting things continue.  Saeki returns the key and flees, while Uemura stays.  Kashiwagi then tells Uemura he wants to cancel the wedding before the school hears anything about the affair.  He's clearly still feeling guilty and wants to protect Uemura.  Uemura leaves, hurt and angry, grousing about how Kashiwagi is too honest and she would have forgiven him.

Saeki flees in tears to Sonoda, her short-haired friend with the money problems.  It becomes clear that Saeki  had been putting on a brave front and she truly did have feelings for Kashiwagi.  She associates Kashiwagi rejecting her with her not being a "real girl" because of her disorder.

Saeki skips school for several days and Sonoda begins to worry.  After Kashiwagi gives a lecture about how "slugs are not defective snails," Sonoda ties Kashiwagi back to Saeki's mystery man.  Saeki had posted the same comment to her blog, saying she'd overheard a man saying that and fell in love with him for it.  Sonoda corners Kashiwagi about the affair, claiming he'd played with Saeki's feelings.

Because Saeki had skipped school for so many days, Kashiwagi has to do a home-visit.  He meets with Saeki's mom while Saeki is at the hospital.  Saeki comes home as he's leaving, along with the nurse from the hospital.  The nurse is now able to connect Kashiwagi as both the guy Saeki slept with and her homeroom teacher.

Saeki and Kashiwagi go for a walk, in which Saeki explains about the accident which killed her perfect older sister, some details about her illness, and her true feelings for him.  Kashiwagi begins to feel bad for her.

Uemura goes to the wedding planning office and picks out the cake and menu.  She calls Kashiwagi to tell him she needs him and still wants to get married.  They're on the verge of making up, when Kashiwagi gets a call that Saeki is missing.  Seeing her recent foreboding blog posts, he gets a bit freaked out and goes running off.  Meanwhile, the nurse calls the school office with some information about Kashiwagi...
Scenes of Note:
The scene where Uemura tells Kashiwagi she still wants to be together on the phone, then Kashiwagi goes running off and you're not quite sure who he's running to...

Lie to Me (Korea, 2011, Cinderella Romance)

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lie_to_Me
Lie to Me is a Cinderella story based on a web of lies.  It's unapologetically cliched and the series of extreme circumstances through which the couple get together are in no way believable.  Nevertheless, the crazy scenarios manage to highlight the couple's involuntary chemistry.  You've got two very strong leads in Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan, although their looks might take some time to grow on you--he's the uber-masculine type (look at those eyebrows) so it weirds me out to see him act dorky and I had a terrible time seeing her as anything but Coffee Prince's Eun Chan.

This series is absolutely enjoyable for the first 3/4 of the series.  There's a love polygon between four relatively likable characters, the main couple has by far the best screen chemistry of the polygon, and the female love rival is neither super-pitiable nor super-obnoxious.  It's always enjoyable to see the lavish gifts and extreme makeover that come with a Cinderella story and Eun Hye's character is a great mix of independent strength and peer-pressured weakness.  The most painful part of the first three-quarters is watching Sung Joon's character, Hyun Sang Hee, play the too-nice, forgotten, underdog love interest. (I seriously love him, but he's even better in Shut Up! Flower Boy Band.)  And even as you feel bad for him, he's fantastic in his role as self-appointed fairy-godmother.  (Actually, the most painful part might be the cringe-worthy setups and coincidences that have the leads embarassing each other in public...but still, totally worth watching up to this point.)

Then comes the last quarter of the series.  It's terrible.  It's honestly bad enough that I would recommend avoiding the entire series, no matter how much I loved the first handful of episodes.  It dives deeper into the realm of painfully forced conflicts and unrealistic separations than any other Cinderella-story I've seen.  Even a Hong-sister's drama's forced separation doesn't compare in senselessness and aggravation.  Grr...it still makes me mad just remembering the last few episodes (and I gave myself several weeks to cool off before writing this summary).

The final three episodes are by far the worst.  While you get something of a happy ending (however dissatisfying it may be) for the main couple, many supporting characters' problems were left unresolved.  One of my favorite characters was almost entirely left in limbo.  What a disappointing end to what had started off as a wonderfully addictive series.